(Ozma's Plan)
*October 21st, 1905*
*Land of Ev*
Dorothy and Ozma continued to smile at each other while Ozma looked towards the window and noticed that it was getting quite dark.
"It's getting awfully late, maybe we should return back to Emerald City, Dorothy, would you like to come with us?" Ozma had spoken out to her friend as this was met with Dorothy nodding her head rather enthusiastically as she wanted to hang out with her friends once more.
"Of course, I know for a fact that we can save the royal family if we all can band together" Dorothy had responded back in a cheerful tone of voice as this was heard by Langwidere who had another idea in mind.
"You guys don't have to go through the trouble of getting back to the Emerald City and I was thinking of allowing everyone to spend the night here and there's plenty of space for everyone" Langwidere had suggested to the girls while Ozma was rather pleased to hear this as she smiled back at Princess Langwidere.
"That would be wonderful and thank you so much for the offer. We can also continue discussing ways to reach Nome King's kingdom as well" Ozma had spoken back while bowing to show respect which prompted Dorothy to do the same thing as Langwidere began to speak once more.
"That would be great and I'll call upon my maid to get everyone's beds ready while I'll change into a new head" Langwidere had spoken out to the girls as she walked over towards the door to take care of her duties as this left Dorothy and her friends alone.
"So, how do we get to the Nome King's kingdom? It's underground so it would be quite challenging since we don't have the tools to reach it" Dorothy had asked her friend in a tone of curiosity while Hungry Tiger nodded his head in agreement.
"She's right, It's gonna be quite the task to even dig a hole into the ground and even if we do, you guys would all starve like me!" Hungry Tiger had chimed into the conversation as this made Ozma think about their plan for a moment before she quickly came up with an idea.
"We'll have to head towards the edge of this kingdom, that's where the entrance to Nome King's kingdom is at and It's only gonna take us a few days but we should be able to arrive in time" Ozma had responded back as Dorothy and the others nodded their heads in understandment while Scarecrow began to speak up in regards to their plan.
"W-What?! If we're truly going to the edge of Ev than that means we must face off against the Iron Giant?! The guardian of the Nome Kingdom!" Scarecrow had spoken out in a cautious tone of voice as this brought curiosity to Dorothy as she began to speak.
"Iron Giant? Is he some type of mechanical man like Tik-Tok? If so, we could ask him nicely or something like that" Dorothy had asked Scarecrow as her answer was met with Scarecrow shaking his head indicating that it wasn't possible to negotiate.
"He is, he was created by Smith and Tinker for the Nome King and it's sole duty is to protect his king, no matter the person. He's truly a terrible beast that we should avoid at ALL costs.." Scarecrow had answered back in a very cautious tone of voice while Tin Woodman nodded his head in agreement.
"He's right, perhaps there should be another way to reach Nome King's kingdom without the need to go to the edge of Ev.." Tin Woodman had spoken out as well while Lion and Hungry Tiger nodded their heads in agreement as well; however, Dorothy didn't seemed fazed by this.
"I see, well, I guess we'll just have to either talk to him or defend ourselves if it comes down to it and we have Ozma as well! I'm sure she's powerful enough, right?" Dorothy had spoken out to her friends as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
"Of course but engaging with the Iron Giant is quite risky, we should take another alternative if we want to avoid…" Lion had spoken out; however, he wasn't able to finish what he was trying to say due to Dorothy gently slamming her hand on the table which startled Billina.
"I know! But we still have to try! Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Lion! We've faced off against Kalidahs, Crows, Bees, Wolfs, and other such terrible things in Oz, right?! We can't allow some guardian to discourage us! We have a mission and it's to save the Royal Family of Ev from the Nome King and besides, Taking that path is the our only option so we can't not give up, not now!" Dorohy had vented towards her friends while Ozma watched everything with a smile on her face as she wondered what Scarecrow and the others would say next.
"S-She's right! I'm the King of Beasts who slayed that giant spider! I can't take the easy way out! I'm with her. Let's all save the family as one big group!" Lion had spoken out to everyone in a proud tone of voice while Tin Woodman stood up looking rather proud.
"I'm with you! I've slayed forty wolves with ease and besides, I have my friends to protect as well so I can't let them down" Tin Woodman had spoken out as well while Scarecrow was the last to stand up as he was finally on board to take the path that lead to the edge of Ev.
"I'll go but Dorothy, promise me this! If things get impossible than we must find another way, okay? No matter how long it takes for us to get to Ev" Scarecrow had spoken out to Dorothy as he and his friend had finally came into an agreement.
"Got it, you have my word. I just hope that it doesn't have to come to us fighting him but I also refuse to back down as well" Dorothy had spoken back as she and Scarecrow had shaken heads while Ozma watched everything with great interest.
"Then it shall be decided! We all shall take the path that leads to the edge of Ev; however, I must warn everyone that this journey could be quite dangerous since we're dealing with the Nome King and his servant, the Iron Giant but with everyone's help, we can conquer anything!" Ozma had spoken out to her friends in a tone of joy as she and everyone else let out shouts of praise as the sound of the doors finally opened to reveal Langwidere's maid.
"Good Evening, my name is Nanda, Princess Langwidere will be in her room for the rest of the night so I'll be in her place; however, I've still managed to prepare everyone's beds" Nanda had spoken out to Ozma and the others while bowing to show respect.
Nanda was a woman in her thirties with beautiful brown hair and wore a large apron.
"Good evening to you as well, We'll be heading to bed in a few hours but we all thank you for the hard work.." Ozma had spoken out while she and her friends showed their thanks by bowing which made Nanda smile.
"You're welcome and If you guys ever need anything then please ring the bell, okay? I'll be heading off now so enjoy the rest of your stay" Nanda had spoken out to the group as she smiled and proceeded to walk back into the kitchen to finish cleaning thus leaving Dorothy and the others alone once more.
"Aww man! I should had eaten her when I had the chance but my conscious prevented me from doing so and now I'll starve!" Hungry Tiger had complained while Lion began to remind him about earlier.
"You've already eaten right before we left the Emerald City, don't tell me your stomach can't be filled up unless you eat another living being" Lion had spoken out to his friend as Hungry Tiger; however, his friend wasn't having any of his talks.
"I knoow! But my consciousness seems to reject those types of foods which makes me awfully famished! '' Hungry Tiger had responded back as this made Dorothy giggle as she walked over to her new friend and proceeded to give him some advice.
"I have an idea, why not just pretend you're eating a juicy fat human or something while you are eating something then surely your brain will think you are eating what you perceive" Dorothy had advised to Hungry Tiger as this seemed to lit a spark on the tiger's head which made him smile warmly at his new friend.
"I-I never really thought of that, I'll try to do that first thing in the morning! If someone serves me steak than I'll imagine eating a fat, juicy, and very tender baby! I really hope your advice helps! Thank you so much!" Hungry Tiger had spoken out in joy while Dorothy and the others laughed rather nervously to themselves.
"I guess that solves his issue, I hope.." Ozma had uttered out as she turned her attention over to Billina which piqued her interest.
"Dorothy, If I may ask, what happened to your dog? I don't seem him anywhere and it also seems that you have a new pet" Ozma had asked her friend in a tone of curiosity as Dorothy began to answer her question.
"Toto? He's back at home in Kansas and as for the red hen, Their name is Billina but I couldn't really tell if it's a boy or a girl so we decided to just name it Billina anyways" Dorothy had answered back as this seemed to have finally get Billina talking in regards to that information.
"I'm a girl! A female chicken is a hen while the males are roosters. Couldn't you tell the difference?!" Billina had spoken out in a rather annoyed tone of voice while Dorothy began to defend herself rather politely.
"I'm only thirteen years old so I'm unable to tell clearly and not even my Uncle Henry wasn't able to tell the difference but I'm at least glad to know that you are a girl so that we won't have to debate on that" Dorothy had spoken back to Billina while Ozma watched their conversation with great interest.
"Something tells me we might just succeed in our mission after all.." Ozma had thought to herself as she let out a smile of confidence while knowing in her heart that things might just work out in the end.
The rest of the night went peacefully as Dorothy and her friends ate dinner, engaged in fellowship and finally prepared themselves for bed time while Scarecrow, Tik-Tik, and Tin Woodman guarded the palace due to them needing any form of sleep.
*Palace bedroom*
Dorohy and Ozma shared the same room together as both girls were preparing for bed.
"So, how does it feel being a girl now? I know things must have been challenging for you at first if i'm not mistaken" Dorothy had asked her friend while setting up her side of the bed while waiting for her answer.
"It feels wonderful! I feel like I've been truly living my best life ever since I've became a girl all those years ago" Ozma had responded back in a cheerful tone of voice while she was putting on her sleeping cap.
"I'm glad to hear that, I just can't believe Oz or rather Oscar would just sell you out like that! I never knew he would stoop that low.." Dorothy had spoken back while showing a hint of disdain towards Oscar as she finally climbed into her side of the bed while Ozma did the same thing.
"I was pretty surprised as well but more importantly, I believe I may have found the reason why you were sent here without any possible explanation. "Ozma had spoken back to her friend as she looked at her in the eyes while both girls were laying down and facing each other as this piqued Dorothy's curiosity.
"And what's the reason?.." Dorothy simply responded back while waiting for an answer as Ozma began to speak back.
"Awhile back I did some research to the silver shoes which you were wearing back when I first met you and I've discovered something rather shocking about them…" Ozma had explained to Dorothy as this caused the young girl to raise an eyebrow.
"The silver shoes?! They fell off in the deadly desert when I was sent home, right?!" Dorothy had spoken back to her friend in surprise as Ozma nodded her head in confirmation.
"Correct; however, I have discovered that the silver shoes were not the Wicked Witch of the East's but rather they belonged to me.." Ozma continued to explain to Dorothy as this revelation surprised the young girl.
"W-Wait?! The silver shoes were originally yours?! But how did they end up in her possession before I accidentally killed her.." Dorothy had asked her friend once more as Ozma began to speak once more.
"I've did some royal paperwork and along the way, I've discovered that my father King Pastoria crafted the shoes as a gift for me once I ascended the throne; however, Oscar of course would sell me to Mombi while the Wicked Witch of the East would snag my silver shoes and well, the rest is history; however, I feel like the silver shoes somehow called you here.." Ozma had explained to Dorothy as this made the young girl's eyes widen in surprise.
"N-No way.." Dorothy had uttered out in surprise as the young girl tried to process everything she was learning; however, all that she knew was that she'd most definitely pay Oscar Diggs a visit once her adventures in Ev were finished.
*Edge of Ev*
The edge of Ev was rather cold, windy, and filled with barren rocks and mountains as Kaliko was standing in front of the Iron Giant with a smile on his face.
"Iron Giant, our majesty senses that Princess Ozma and her royal court are heading in this area in the next few days or perhaps hours! Your job here is to eradicate them!" Kaliko had commanded the Iron Giant while the giant machine nodding it's head in understandment.
"Understood! I shall eradciate ANYONE who dares to step foot into the king's domain!" Iron Giant had spoken out in a very robotic and menacing tone of voice as the giant machine grabbed its giant ax and prepared itself for battle as things were slowly heating up between Ozma's forces and Nome King's forces.