Fiyero was shell shocked. That seemed to happen quite a lot when Elphaba was involved. One second they'd been having a perfectly pleasant conversation, and the next she was gone. Now he stood frozen, trying not to panic as his mind raced.
He couldn't run off and leave Glinda and the Lion on their own. They were fast asleep and would be unable to run or to defend themselves if someone found them. Despite knowing it was foolish, Fiyero was itching to run off after Elphaba. He knew it was the last thing she'd want him to do, but he supposed now was not the time to start taking that into account.
After a few moments Fiyero finally convinced his legs to move. He turned and ran back toward Glinda and the Lion. "You two! Get up! Someone may have found us," he said. He tried to keep his voice loud enough to rouse them, but low enough that it wouldn't carry. He crouched down, placed his hands on Glinda's shoulders, and gently shook her awake.
Glinda's eyes fluttered open. "Fiyero?" she mumbled. He could hear the confusion in her voice. To their right, the Lion shot up into a sitting position.
"Whozzat?" he shouted in alarm. Fiyero shushed him.
"Get up. We may be in trouble. There were footsteps nearby. Elphaba flew off to check it out," he said in a hushed voice.
The two were on their feet in seconds. Fiyero turned his head wildly, straining his ears for any sign of what might be going on. He could hear shouts coming from somewhere nearby.
The three looked at each other. Before anyone could react, Fiyero shouted, "Wait here!" and ran off towards the sound of the disturbance.
Fiyero sprinted for all he was worth. He stumbled as his foot snagged a tree root, but it didn't deter him. He stopped and glanced around frantically, searching for something to tell him which way to go. He heard the shouting, slightly louder now, ahead and to the left. He took off running.
Fiyero was already breathing heavily by the time he could make out figures in the distance. As he came upon the scene, he leaned up against a tree for support and kept out of sight.
It was members of the Gale Force, just as they had feared, but to Fiyero's relief it appeared to be a scouting party. There were only five guards in the group. There were likely more men in the nearby area, but Fiyero hoped to be far away before they could call for backup.
The guards had their gazes fixed on the sky. Looking up, Fiyero could see Elphaba perched on her broomstick high above them, and his heart rate quickened. Apparently she hadn't been able to avoid being spotted.
Fiyero wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't a match for five guards on his own, especially without any kind of weapon at his disposal. He could run back and attempt to take Glinda and the Lion to safety, but that might mean losing track of Elphaba again. Fiyero couldn't bring himself to risk it.
He was still running frantically through various scenarios in his head when the sound of a gunshot made him jump. One of the guards was pointing a smoking rifle skywards. He had clearly panicked and fired his weapon without orders, for the men around him seemed as startled by the sudden noise as Fiyero was.
Fiyero glanced upwards at Elphaba and was relieved to find that the guard had clearly missed his target. She hovered in place for a moment, and then in the next second she swooped down in front of the guards, clearly intent on taking advantage of their confusion.
The next few moments were a blur of panicked shouts and motion. The one guard who had his rifle out had not yet reloaded, but the other members of the party were already reaching for their weapons. Fiyero found himself preparing to dart from his hiding place.
It was the sudden change in the air that stopped him. All at once, it seemed to have taken on some sort of static charge, and the hairs on the back of Fiyero's neck stood up. He could see that Elphaba's hair and cloak had begun to whip around her, though Fiyero could not detect even the slightest gust of wind from where he was standing.
The guards had frozen in place, though it seemed to be from fear and not from magic. Fiyero could see now that they were all fairly young, possibly just out of training. Some of them were clutching their guns close to their chests, but they seemed to have forgotten how to use them. Elphaba, for her part, looked as menacing as Fiyero had ever seen her. She had pulled the brim of her hat low so that it cast an eerie shadow over her face, and the unnatural wind whipping at her clothes and hair only added to the effect.
Without warning, five rifles went flying in five different directions, and the last of the guards' courage seemed to go with them. Abandoning all sense of duty, the five men practically stumbled over each other in their haste to turn tail and flee. Fiyero found himself slightly appalled by their cowardice. Clearly whoever had replaced him as captain of the guard wasn't running a tight enough ship.
A loud crack split the air and Fiyero flinched and turned away involuntarily. For a moment he thought it was another gunshot, but when he turned back to the scene it was to find Elphaba with one hand raised in the air and the five guards sprawled across the ground in uncomfortable looking positions.
Elphaba began to look around wildly, as though she couldn't remember what direction she'd come from. Fiyero took that as his cue and stepped from his hiding place.
"Elphaba!" he shouted, waving her over. She seemed aggravated by his presence but not entirely surprised. She hastened her steps.
"Where are the others?" she asked. He could see that she was out of breath and her hair was windswept.
"I woke them up and told them to stay hidden," Fiyero said, though he was not quite paying attention. He was distracted by the sight of the guards still lying in the clearing.
After a moment he asked tentatively, "Are they…." He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He didn't want to imagine that Elphaba could casually murder five men in cold blood, but he realized he didn't quite know what she was capable of.
It seemed to take Ephaba a few moments to gauge his meaning, but when she did, she looked affronted. "Of course not!" she said, as though it were the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. "They're unconscious."
Fiyero nodded, trying not to let the relief show quite so plainly on his face. Without another word, he turned and began jogging back toward where he'd left Glinda and the Lion. He could hear Elphaba following behind him on foot, her broom tucked under her right arm. Fiyero realized how much this was slowing Elphaba down. She could have hopped on her broom and been miles away by now if she didn't have three tagalongs to keep an eye on.
They reached Glinda five minutes later, and Fiyero thanked the Unnamed God that he'd managed to find the way back. She seemed anxious, and Fiyero noted with some apprehension that the Lion was nowhere in sight.
As he drew closer, Fiyero could see that Glinda was less than pleased with him. "Fiyero Tigelaar, how dare you wake us up and then go running off and leave us here!" she huffed, hands placed on her hips.
Fiyero winced and responded, "I'm sorry! I didn't really have time to think clearly."
Glinda didn't acknowledge his apology, but instead turned and directed her attention to Elphaba. She seemed to grow concerned when she laid eyes on her friend. Elphaba had paled considerably, and she was still breathing heavily from their brief jog through the forest. She looked like she was about to collapse, and it seemed whatever Glinda had been about to say was momentarily forgotten.
In the small stretch of silence, Fiyero finally voiced his concern. "Where's the Lion?" he asked.
Glinda threw her hands up, exasperated. "He ran off! A whole lot of good he would have been if something had happened! He left me on my own without a second thought. We heard gunshots or something. It scared him senseless, and he ran off into the forest."
Fiyero glanced around, but he knew it was impossible to look for the Lion now. The Cat was faster than they were, and they had no idea which direction he'd gone. Fiyero could only hope the Lion had managed to get to safety and would be able to take care of himself.
"What happened anyway?" Glinda asked.
Elphaba managed to answer Glinda's question in between her gasps for breath. "Just a small group of Gale Forcers, but there may be more nearby. We need to move," she said. She was staring off into the forest, and Fiyero could tell she too was conflicted about leaving the Lion behind.
He could also see the state Elphaba was in. He imagined that her display of magic must have taken a lot out of her, given her lack of proper food and sleep. "Are you sure you're up for that right now? You look like you need to rest," he said
Elphaba only narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm fine, and we don't have a choice. We need to put a fair amount of distance between us and the guards back there. We'll stop to rest as soon as possible, but if we don't go now, we'll almost certainly be caught."
Fiyero saw the truth in her words, but he was still reluctant to agree with them. Elphaba wasn't the only one looking worn out. None of them had really had a proper rest since the day before, and even then, only for a few short hours. He wondered how long they could push themselves like this before someone gave out.
There was no use arguing about it right now, and so Fiyero slowly began forcing his reluctant legs into motion. With one last glance behind to make sure they weren't being followed, the three of them set off toward Kiamo Ko once more.
They walked quickly and in complete silence for what seemed like an eternity, though whether the silence was a product of fear or exhaustion was anyone's guess. They hadn't seen any signs of Gale Forcers since they'd left the other group behind, but they all knew that didn't guarantee their safety. They tried to veer left and right in their attempt to throw off any pursuers, but the strategy also added time to their journey.
Everyone was looking a bit worse for the wear by this point. They had been eating very meager meals and hadn't slept in almost 24 hours. Glinda, in particular, looked as though any step might be her last, though she hadn't said much in the way of complaint. Fiyero imagined she didn't have the energy for it.
It wasn't until they'd been walking for two or three hours that Elphaba halted their progress and deemed it safe enough for them to rest. It wasn't clear to what extent she believed it, but it was plain to see that their small group couldn't go on much longer in their current state.
When they stopped to make camp, Fiyero silently moved and took up his post for the first watch. Elphaba eyed him for a moment as though she might protest, but Fiyero held his ground, and she eventually sighed and began to make up a bed without complaint. Fiyero knew she would never admit it, but it was clear that the magic she'd used earlier had taken a lot out of her. She needed the rest more than he did.
When they began walking again several hours later, everyone seemed to be in slightly better spirits. Elphaba was the first to speak. "So, I got a bit of information from those guards back there," she said, directing her attention towards Glinda. "They kept shouting at me, asking where I'd taken you. It seems that Morrible and the Wizard have told everyone that I broke out of the dungeons and kidnapped you against your will. They haven't implicated you in my escape at all. If you want to, it should be safe for you to return to the Emerald City. If Morrible and the Wizard have opted to make you a victim in all of this, they can't very well turn around and arrest you when you get back. If you play along, they should be forced to restore you to your old position."
Glinda seemed to take a moment to process this new information, but after a time she responded, "I don't think that's the best idea right now. We've traveled a long way, and I don't exactly feel up for heading all the way back on my own. I'll stick with you two for now and consider my options later."
They passed out of the forest not long after that. Being out in the open without the dense trees to hide them seemed to make them all a bit ill at ease, but thankfully it didn't last very long as they soon passed into the rocky, mountainous region of the Vinkus that would bring them up to Kiamo Ko. Fiyero knew the path well, but the terrain was still difficult and made for slow going.
They decided to sleep again when night fell, as it was too difficult to find their footing in the dark. They managed to find a cave to hide out in for the night, which served to put their minds at ease, even though they were quite certain no one had followed them out of the forest.
When they finally saw Kiamo Ko looming over them in the distance, Fiyero could feel the relief well up inside his chest. There had been times on this journey when he'd been sure they'd never make it, but now the end was in sight. The next ordeal was going to be explaining his presence, and the strange company he was keeping, to the guards on duty.
"Who goes there?" someone shouted as they drew nearer to the front gates. Fiyero was aware that Elphaba had tensed and seemed ready to bolt at any moment. Swallowing his own apprehensions, Fiyero tried to look as authoritative as was possible in his current shabby state.
"Prince Fiyero Tigelaar," he shouted back, his voice belaying a confidence he didn't quite feel.
Luckily, it seemed that even unshaven and dressed in someone else's mismatched clothes, Fiyero still looked enough like himself for the guards to recognize him. "Prince Fiyero!" one of them said as they snapped to attention.
Fiyero waved off the formalities and nodded to the two guards manning the entrance. They were familiar but he didn't know their names. They seemed surprised to see him, but it was nothing compared to the expressions on their faces once they laid eyes on Elphaba. Still, they said nothing, obviously trying as hard as they could to keep their attention focused on Fiyero.
"My uh…friends and I were planning to stay here for a while. I trust no one else has been here?" Fiyero said, ignoring the guards' discomfort.
For a moment it seemed that the men hadn't heard Fiyero, before one of them seemed to snap out of his daze and responded, "Uh, no sir. No one's been through here for months now."
Fiyero nodded again and beckoned for Elphaba and Glinda to follow him. The two guards opened the heavy doors for them, and then scrambled out of the way as Elphaba moved to pass them. Elphaba seemed to be caught somewhere between embarrassment and frustration, but she said nothing as she and Glinda followed Fiyero into the castle.
The entryway looked exactly as Fiyero remembered it from the last time he'd been there, probably when he was around fifteen or sixteen years old. He pushed down the feelings of nostalgia and turned to face his travel companions, who had now become his guests.
"There are a fair number of rooms in the castle, so you can pretty much pick whichever ones you'd like. I'm going to go talk to some of the guards, and then I'll see if any of my family members have left clothes here that I can offer you," said Fiyero.
Glinda nodded, her continued annoyance at Fiyero barely masking the fact that she was overjoyed to be inside an actual building again. "Restroom?" she asked curtly, glaring at him.
Fiyero sighed and pointed her in the right direction, which left him and Elphaba standing awkwardly in the entryway. She seemed almost shy now, as though she didn't know how to act in someone else's home.
"So, which way is that tower you mentioned?" she asked.
Fiyero smiled. "I thought you were joking."
She returned his smile with a small one of her own and responded, "I would never joke about such matters."
They held each other's gaze for perhaps a few moments too long, before Fiyero cleared his throat and said, "Take the first right upstairs, go to the end of the hall and then follow the ominous, winding staircase all the way up. You can't miss it."
Elphaba nodded at him, and then turned and began to make her way upstairs. He watched her retreat as the reality of the situation finally started to settle in. He was staying in his family castle with his ex-fiancée and a witch he had strange and confusing feelings for. He shook his head to clear the thought away and then decided to focus on finding the head of the castle guard.
It didn't take long. As Fiyero watched Elphaba disappear at the top of the stairs, the portly captain, whose name was Torvok, came stumbling up to Fiyero, confused and out of breath.
"Master Fiyero," he said, panting slightly as he straightened up and saluted. "Forgive me sir, we had no idea to expect you. Last we'd heard, you were being held captive in the Emerald City."
Fiyero was surprised by the news. He knew that rumors of his capture had been spread to lure Elphaba into the city, but he hadn't realized that meant the public would believe them as well.
"Is that the last word anyone's had of me?" he asked, wanting to know exactly where he stood in the public opinion.
The guard looked slightly nervous as he responded, "Yes, sir. Last I heard, anyway. They said you'd been arrested for aiding the Wicked Witch of the West."
Fiyero wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he decided to just be blunt. "Her name is Elphaba Thropp," he said, "and she's going to be staying with us for the time being, so try to treat her like any other guest."
The captain seemed confused by Fiyero's statement. "I'm sorry, sire. Who is Elphaba Thropp?"
"The Wicked Witch of the West, as you called her." he responded, ignoring the look on the guard's face. "Her real name is Elphaba Thropp." He let that sink in for a moment, and then he added, "Lady Glinda, my former fiancée, is with us as well. I believe she's just headed off to the bath chambers."
The guard sputtered a bit, still clearly trying to come to terms with what Fiyero was telling him. Finally, he managed to choke out, "I'm sorry, sire, you'll excuse me if I'm a bit confused."
Fiyero sighed, not feeling at all up to the task of explaining everything just now. After a slight pause, he responded, "Is it alright if I explain everything later? We've had a very long journey and I'm completely exhausted. For now, please inform the guards about our guests and tell them to be on their best behavior." With that, he turned on his heel and began to make his way up the stairs, leaving the baffled captain in his wake.