(Dainty China Country)

*July 18th, 1900* *

*Day 38, Afternoon*

Two days had passed since our heroes had departed from the Emerald City as the gang had finally come across the Ancient Forest; however it was blocked by huge trees who had rather angry expressions on their faces; however, this didn't faze the gang as Dorothy began to speak.

"Excuse me, could we pass by? We're on an important mission to see Glinda, The Good Witch of the South…" Dorothy had asked the trees in a polite tone of voice; however, the trees had shaken their stumps rather angrily as they began to speak.

"Oh really? Do you have any proof?! If not, then SCRAM! We were planted by our majesty before you and your little friends were even a thought! Our goal is to protect Glinda and this forest from harm" The Tree had spoken out in a rather stern tone of voice while Scarecrow had walked over so he could say his piece.

"Well, I'm the new King of Oz, bestowed by Oz himself! So, would you kindly allow us to pass? We don't mean no harm" Scarecrow had asked the tree in a rather stern tone of voice; however, he felt himself being picked up by one of the trees which prompted him to let out a yelp of surprise.

"H-Hey! Put me down!" Scarecrow had cried out as he was in the air much to the shock of the others as the tree began to speak.

"You heard him! Leave this place or we'll do much worse!" The second tree commanded in a gruff tone of voice as it had used one of its branches to throw Scarecrow back a few inches as he had fallen back to the ground while Tin Woodman helped him up.

"Scarecrow! Are you okay?!" Tin Woodman had spoken out to his friend as he was met with a nod of confirmation from Scarecrow as he sighed in relief before looking over to see the trees attempting to grab Dorothy while it was speaking to her.

"Scram!' Nobody gets past the Fighting Trees! Now return to wherever you came!" The Fighting Tree had spoken out as it attempted to grab Dorothy as the young girl screamed in terror; however, Tin Woodman quickly managed to run towards the scene and used his ax to deliver damage to the Fighting Tree as it managed to cry out in pain and during this, Cowardly Lion had seen a pathway to enter the forest.

"Guys! I've found a way for us to enter the forest! We just gotta keep those darn trees distracted first! Cowardly Lion had spoken out to his friends as this brought relief to the faces of Dorothy and Scarecrow.

"You're right! Let's hurry before any more of those troublesome trees show up" Dorothy had spoken out as she, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion had quickly ran towards the entrance which was available while Tin Woodman had seen this with a confident smile.

"Sorry, but we're on a mission here and I'm sure Glinda will explain this to you people once she meets us.." Tin Woodman had spoken to the Fighting Tree while laughing as he quickly followed his friends while two more Fighting Trees followed him on his tail as they meant business.

"Stop!' Don't let them pass us! We can't fail Glinda!" One of the Fighting Trees had spoken out as it had used one of its branches to quickly chase the gang; however, Tin Woodman stopped in his tracks to quickly use his ax to deliver some mighty blows towards the two Fighting Trees as they had cried out in pain and finally, Our heroes had finally made it pass the Fighting Trees and had entered the Ancient Forest while cries of defeat from the Fighting Trees could be heard.

"Did we escape them? I sure hope so…" Dorothy had asked one of her friends while Tin Woodman had shaken his head in denial as they were still running from the threat.

"Not quite, We gotta climb that huge wall!" Tin Woodman had spoken out while pointing at the beautiful white porcelain wall as the band eventually had stopped right in front of it to catch their breaths.

"Man, That was scary! Those trees are rather stubborn but I'm glad we've escaped them but how do we cross over this large wall?" Scarecrow had spoken out in confusion while Tin Woodman had suggested building a ladder.

"Simple, we build a letter by using whatever we have, does that sound good to everyone?" Tin Woodman had answered back to Scarecrow as for the next few minutes, everyone had helped in building the ladder while Tin Woodman had used his strength to place it on the side of the wall as in the end, everyone was ready to climb the ladder.

"I guess I'll go first and be sure to hold the ladder tightly for me, okay?" Dorothy had spoken out to her friends as they nodded their heads in understandment while the young girl took a couple of deep breaths before climbing the ladder until she had finally arrived at the top and let out a gasp of shock.

Before her, there was a great stretch of country having a floor as smooth as glass and shining, white as the bottom of a big platter. Scattered around were many houses made entirely of china and painted in the most beautiful and brightest colors. These houses were quite small, the biggest of them reaching only as high as Dorothy's waist. There were also pretty little glazed barns, with glazed china fences around them; and many cows and sheep and horses and pigs and chickens, all made of china, were standing about in groups.

"Gosh, this is beautiful…" Dorothy had uttered out while coming to her senses as she walked over to check on her friends as she saw Scarecrow and Tin Woodman who was carrying Toto sitting on Cowardly Lion as they managed to reach the top as they were captivated by the beauty of China Country.

"And I'll be! I have never seen anything like this before! It's simply marvelous" Scarecrow had spoken out in awestruck while Tin Woodman nodded his head in agreement.

"I agree, It's like we're in an entirely different world" Tin Woodman had chimed into the conversation while Toto ran back to Dorothy and returned to her basket.

"It's truly beautiful but I hope we're not being rude by disrupting their peace but maybe we should ask for directions just in case we get lost" Dorothy had suggested to her friend as everyone nodded their heads in agreement as they carefully slided down until they had reached the village as many gasps and whispers emerged from the small China dolls who were captivated by their sizes.

"Everything is so small, we're like giants compared to this!" Scarecrow had spoken out in awestruck while everyone else nodded their heads in agreement as the gang carefully walked across the beautiful village until being stopped by a general and his army.

"Halt! Who dares enter our territory! You guys may be bigger and stronger; however, we shall never allow any harm to come towards our village!" The general had spoken out while motioning his hands over as more china dolls had slowly walked over while pushing a cannonball while Tin Woodman motioned his hands for them to stop.

"Oh no, we're not here to hurt you guys, we're on our way to see Glinda but we had a small mishap with some troublesome trees and we just were passing by" Tin Woodman had spoken out as this was to no avail as the general didn't want to hear it.

"Nope, we don't trust outsiders like you and we don't know if you guys intend to overthrow Glinda as well" The General had spoken out as he attempted to fire at the gang; however, this was stopped by their ruler as she had motioned her hands for them to stop.

"That's enough, I believe their word. They don't seem all that harmless to me and please excuse my manners but I'm the princess of the China Country, a marvelous land where we're all dolls with the difference that we can all move and talk freely as we wish" The China Doll Princess had explained in a calm tone of voice while the general and his men had retreated.

"Fascinating, I've heard of such a place but I never thought something like this would have actually existed!" Tin Woodman had spoken out in a tone of awestruck while the China Doll Princess let out a cute giggle as she further explained her home.

"It's quite understandable since it's hidden in this forest but many years ago, we all lived amongst the people of Oz but most of our people was faced with discrimination just for being different and it had gotten to the point where Glinda used her wonderful magic to build a place for us where we can all live in harmony under her protection and this is how we came to be" The China Doll Princess had explained to the gang as they were amazed at the story while feeling bad for their hardships as well.

"That's terrible but I'm glad Glinda gave you guys a good life and I don't mean to be impatient but could you show us the way out?" Dorothy had asked the princess in a polite tone of voice as the China Doll Princess had smiled before pointing her finger in the south direction.

"Just head south in that direction; however, be warned that a terrible and fearsome creature lives within the forest so please be careful, okay?" The China Doll Princess had spoken out in a cautious tone of voice while looking back to see the gang having concerned looks on their faces before Cowardly Lion had broken the silence.

"Well, we'll just have to face the creature if it comes down to it and I'll use my courage to help my friends as well!" Cowardly Lion had spoken out in a motivated tone of voice while his friends nodded their heads in agreement.

"He's right and we truly appreciate you for the warning but I guess this is goodbye and thank you once again for showing us the way.." Dorothy had spoken out as she showed her thanks by kneeling down to give the princess a small kiss on her head as the gang had resumed their journey once more.

"Goodbye and be sure to tell Glinda I said hi as well!" The China Doll Princess had spoken out while waving her tiny hands in farewell as she had seen the gang making their ways towards the other side of the wall.

"Okay, we should slide down carefully one at a time, okay?" Scarecrow had advised as he managed to slide down carefully which was followed by Dorothy, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion doing the same thing.

The travelers had now found themselves in a disagreeable country, full of bogs and marshes and covered with tall, rank grass. It was difficult to walk without falling into muddy holes, for the grass was so thick that it hid them from sight. However, by carefully picking their way, they got safely along until they reached solid ground. But here the country seemed wilder than ever, and after a long and tiresome walk which had taken an hour, through the underbrush they entered another forest, where the trees were bigger and older than any they had ever seen.

*Day 38, Night*

"Woow, this forest is very delightful!" Cowardly Lion had declared while Scarecrow seemed to disagree with his words as he had a rather confused look on his face.

"I don't know about that, It seems rather gloomy.." Scarecrow had uttered out while Dorothy and Tin Woodman nodded their heads in agreement as our heroes knew they had to get out of the forest or else they'll have to face the terrible beast whom the China Doll Princess had warned them about.