(The Emperor's Tin Castle)
*June 16th, 1906*
*Winkie Country*
Dorothy finished hugging Tik-Tok before looking back at her friends with a smile. "Friends, this is Tik-Tik, a machine man created by Smith and Tinker. His thoughts, actions, and everything else are winded up, just like a clock" Dorothy spoke to her friends in excitement while Tik-Tok slowly tipped his metallic hat with respect.
"I-I h-ope t-o m-make t-time. I-I'm P-pleased t-to m-eet Dor-othy's fr…" Tik-Tok attempted to speak; however, his time was running short as he became silent which surprised Polychrome and the others.
"Is he okay? It seems he was going to say something before becoming silent. Is he sick perhaps?" Polychrome asked Dorothy curiously before having her question met with the girl shaking her head in denial.
"No, he only can talk and operate if we wind up his clock every so often. This moment just happened to be one of those times in question" Dorothy explained to Polychrome while winding up Tik-Tok once more as the machine man began to speak.
"Pardon me for running down. I was a-bout to say I was v-ery p-leased t-o meet Dorothy's friends. I h-ope to make everyone happy" Tik-Tok spoke once more before letting out a smile which made everyone else smile.
"It's pleased to meet you, I'm Polychrome, daughter of King Rainbow. I'm pleased to become your friend" Polychrome greeted Tik-Tik warmly while Shaggy Man and Button-Bright followed suit.
"And I'm Shaggy Man! I hope my love magnet can make you and the hen love me as much as you love her" Shaggy Man greeted Tik-Tok and Billina while tipping his hat and finally, Button-Bright was the last to introduce himself.
"B-Button-Bright.." Button-Bright spoke rather shyly while Dorothy smiled at what she was seeing before gently picking up Billina to hug her warmly.
"And this is Billina, my former red hen who moved to Oz just a few months ago. Isn't that great or what? And also, I'm glad everyone can become good friends as well" Dorothy spoke to everyone warmly while hugging Billina which made the red hen smile warmly.
"Oh! Since you're here, I've got some rather good news to tell you, do you want to hear it?" Billina asked Dorothy; however, right when the young girl was going to respond to her question, Toto began barking furiously at Billina which in turn, caused the red hen to squawk back before speaking to Toto.
"Hey! What's the big idea?! You are always barking at something! What's the stitch?" Billina responded to Toto in annoyance while Dorothy gently placed her down before going over to Toto.
"Stop Toto! Billina is a good friend so please don't scare her, okay? You must never hurt her at any costs' ' Dorothy advised Toto rather sternly while the dog made a few annoyed whine sounds before settling down.
"I can't help it.." Toto thought to himself in annoyance before settling down.
"Sorry about that, Toto always tried to scare Billina back when she was in Kansas, my Uncle Henry always had to make sure that those two weren't in the same place by any means possible" Dorothy spoke to her friends while chuckling to herself while Billina shook her head in disappointment before speaking once more.
"What a brute! The poor little thing can't even talk.." Billina spoke out while letting out a smile that offended Dorothy lightly.
"Toto can talk! He just chooses not to. He uses his tail to wag and uses barking and other things to communicate, Billina, you wouldn't need words to talk with." Dorothy responded to Billina's claims while the red hen shrugged off whatever her former owner had to say.
"Nonsense! Toto can't even apologize using words." Billina responded once more while Dorothy closed her eyes before shaking her head in disapproval.
"It's not nonsense. Toto says he's sorry for scaring you, and that he'll try to love you for my sake, isn't that right, Toto?" Dorothy responded to Billina yet again before turning over to Toto, waiting for a response.
"S-Sorry for scaring you and I'll try to love you…" Toto finally spoke out before looking over to his side in embarrassment which made Dorothy smile warmly before hugging him.
"See? Toto apologized and he meant every word of it as well so no need for grudges' ' Dorothy spoke to Billina once more while kissing Toto much to the dog's dismay.
"Well, I accepted his apology but anywho, I got good news to tell you. I've hatched out ten lovely chicks! I've even named them Dorothy, isn't that great?!" Billina spoke to Dorothy once more as this made the young girl smile warmly at what she just heard while jumping up and down in excitement.
"How wonderful! I'm happy for you and naming your children after me is such an honor. It makes me happy" Dorothy responded with a warm smile on her face while Polychrome began to speak out.
"I don't mean to interrupt but what brought you and Tik-Tok here?" Polychrome asked the pair curiously while Tik-Tok began to respond swiftly.
"Princess O-Ozma s-aw y-you people i-n the m-magic mirror. So she s-sent us t-to take y-you guys to the E-merald C-ity s-since s-she co-uld not do it herself.." Tik-Tik explained while Dorothy's face quickly lit up with joy as she began to speak.
"Her birthday party?! She must originally have attempted to contact me in regards to that but since I wasn't home, Ozma got worried.." Dorothy chimed into the conversation while Billina nodded in confirmation.
"Indeed, Princess Ozma saw you and your friends walking here just a few minutes ago and she sent us here using the silver shoes to retrieve you guys" Billina responded, which made Dorothy smile warmly.
"I'm glad to hear that and We should get going. Tin Woodman's castle isn't too far from here so we should visit him" Dorothy spoke to Billina once more before she and the gang began to resume their journey while talking along the way.
The gang walked across the beautiful road that led to Tin Woodman's castle, going across a few small rocky mountaintops before finally coming to a stop just a few feet away from the castle.
"Wait, doesn't the Wicked Witch of the West live here or did she move? Sorry for my lack of knowledge on the subject." Polychrome asked her friends while giggling to herself rather innocently before being answered by Dorothy.
"Oh no, I killed her by dashing a bucket of water on her six years ago. It's a long story but let's just say the Winkies are living in peace and harmony now" Dorothy responded while Polychrome nodded in an understanding way.
"Oh? That's wonderful! I always heard she was a bad person so I'm glad she's been taken care of" Polychrome spoke to Dorothy before looking over to see the beautiful yellow castle which amazed her and the others.
"W-Well I'll be! This castle is marvelous indeed! Truly home to a splendid king" Shaggy Man spoke out in awestruck while Dorothy and the others nodded in agreement.
"Is it a toy?" Button-Bright asked curiously while Dorothy shook her head in response before speaking.
"No, It's the home of my dear friend, Tin Woodman…" Dorothy responded with joy, knowing that she was finally at one of her safe havens which was the home of her friend.
The gang made their way toward the entrance of the castle and entered its gates and from there, the gang walked across a beautiful garden filled with statues of Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Lion, and more of their friends. The garden was also a beautiful golden color filled with beautiful roses and flowers, followed by a beautiful waterfall that could be heard in the distance
"Woow, you must be famous here! That's wonderful.." Polychrome spoke in awestruck while Dorothy nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I've saved the Winkies and my friends from the Wicked Witch of the West so my stature was built in my honor and surface to say, I'm pretty proud of myself.." Dorothy responded while letting out a warm smile before turning over to see Tin Woodman waving at her which made her even more happy.
"Dorothy, It's been a while! How glad I am to see you again, how have things been?" Tin Woodman greeted Dorothy joyfully before being met with Dorothy running over to hug him warmly.
"Tin Woodman! I've missed you so much! We have plenty to catch up on but before we do so, I must introduce you to my new friends that I've made along the way so I hope you don't mind" Dorothy spoke to Tin Woodman with joy before walking over to introduce her friends.
"This is Rainbow's daughter, Polychrome. She's super sweet and beautiful" Dorothy spoke to Tin Woodman while Polychrome waved at him which made him smile.
"She has the most lovely eyes that my eyes have ever laid upon" Tin Woodman greeted back while tipping his hat in respect before moving on to Button-Bright and his presence surprised him.
"And what happened to him? This poor lad has a fox head yet he has human hands like you and Polychrome.." Tin Woodman asked Dorothy while observing the nervous boy before having his question answered by her.
"His name is Button-Bright and unfortunately, his head has been turned into a fox by King Dox but we're hoping that Ozma can restore him to normal when we arrive at the Emerald City" Dorothy explained to Tin Woodman as the tin man nodded in an understanding way before speaking to the boy.
"Don't worry, Ozma will restore you to your old self but in the meantime, you'll just have to bear it.." Tin Woodman advised the boy before patting him on the back before moving over to introduce himself to Shaggy Man.
"I'm Tin Woodman it's a pleasure to meet you" Tin Woodman greeted the man while shaking his hands with him. "Most certainly, I'm Shaggy Man, I hope we can become good friends" Shaggy Man responded, shaking his hand as well which made Dorothy smile.
"Now then, I can't allow my guests to leave empty-handed. I shall prepare everyone a feast before y'all have to leave for the Emerald City, how does that sound?" Tin Woodman offered his new friends and Dorothy as this was met with excited reactions from the gang which made him smile.
"Of course, that would be lovely. We have plenty to catch up on anyways so having a wonderful meal would be perfect" Dorothy responded to Tin Woodman while smiling.
Our heroes are inching closer to the Emerald City but first, they must catch up and spend time with Tin Woodman beforehand.