The Witches of Oz

As she flew above the clouds Elphaba wondered if Fiyero would still be in the forest or if she should go towards Kiamo Ko now. She decided to drop down into the forest, in case he had taken shelter from the storm there – there was an abandoned woodcutter’s house fairly close to where they had been, she decided to look there first.

“Fiyero,” she called out softly, not wanting to announce her presence to anyone unfriendly even though the woods were supposed to be empty. “Fiyero are you still here?”

“Elphaba!” Fiyero heard her voice and ran out of the hut. “I was about to come after you, are you hurt? What happened?” His last question took on a quizzical tone. “Where’s your hat?”

“Fiyero!!”

Elphaba dropped the broom and wrapped her arms around him.

“She’s dead, Fiyero, Nessa’s dead and Glinda suggested it to them. She knew what they were doing. Oh you won’t believe what I did! The Wizard’s guards tried to arrest me and I used my magic on them.”

“What?” exclaimed Fiyero.

“Oh don’t say it like that, I didn’t kill anyone! I just threatened to flatten the Governor’s house and burn down the forest to make them take a message to the Wizard for me, that’s all.”

“That’s all,” repeated Fiyero in a stunned manner.

“Other than the things I said to Glinda, but she started it. Calling my sister’s death an accident when she knew all along!”

“Elphaba… you know I love you but I wish you wouldn’t get that look in your eye when you’re standing so close to me.”

“Perhaps we should find something else for me to take out my anger on,” she suggested in a sweet-sarcastic tone. “What about the Emerald City?”

“This isn’t like you. I know you’re upset about Nessa but…”

Elphaba pulled away and waved her arms in the air.

“Don’t you see, it’s not just Nessa, its Glinda and the Wizard and… and everything! Oh Fiyero…”

She dropped to the ground and sobbed loudly; Fiyero sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders making shushing noises.

“Talk to me, please, Elphaba.”

“Just listen to me!” She shook her head frantically, “I don’t want to be like this, I don’t want to be angry but I’ve been forced into it! You saw what he did to Doctor Dillamond, maybe other people can stand by and let these things happen but I can’t and I won’t! I swore I’d fight him until the day I died and I meant it!”

She pulled away from him and stood up again.

“All of Oz has been afraid of me for years, called me a Wicked Witch and worse, well I have had enough. If they want a Wicked Witch then they are going to get one and I will give them a reason to fear me!”

“Listen to yourself! You don’t sound like you!”

“You still don’t understand do you? This is me, Fiyero, this is who I am and…” She took a deep breath. “…This is who I have always been and if that’s not what you want…”

She looked at him then at the ground.

“Don’t you understand, I have to fight... I’ve tried fitting in and it doesn’t work. I decided that first day at the palace that I was going to live by my own rules. No one wanted me so I decided not to need them.” She laughed ironically.

“The Wizard didn’t believe me when I told him I like being alone... but it’s true. The Animals never looked at me like the people who are supposed to be so much more civilised do.”

Fiyero was not exactly speechless but he could tell that Elphaba needed to say these things to him and she was clearly confused about whether or not she wanted to be angry and well... wicked.

“They were always grateful for my help; they were certainly never embarrassed to admit to each other that they knew me even a little!”

By now she was pacing backwards and forwards in front of the small house waving the broom in front of her to emphasise her points.

“All I ever wanted to do, from the moment I found out that I had these powers, was to do good things, to help! I believed in the Wizard, and I wanted to help him keep Oz wonderful. Even when Doctor Dillamond told me something was happening to the Animals I never suspected the Wizard had anything to do with it! I thought if I told him about Doctor Dillamond...well, you know it didn’t work out that way.”

“You could have stayed... if you worked with the Wizard all of Oz would have accepted you... you must have been tempted.”

“Well of course I was tempted!” exclaimed Elphaba, her temper flaring up again.

“But the things he wanted to do, what he tricked me into doing, it wasn’t right! I couldn’t live with myself if I had done it... and what’s the use of being loved by everyone if you hate yourself? No! I would rather be hated by everyone!”

“I never hated you... you’re the only person who’s ever called me stupid to my face. It was... refreshing. Of course you were also the only person who ever saw the real me.”

“And now you’re seeing the real me. I’m an angry bitter woman, Fiyero, and I can admit it, I’m tired of trying to lie to myself. I keep telling myself, and everyone, that I want to help, but maybe I just wanted people to look at me and say that I am a good person... maybe the problem is that I don’t believe it.

My sister reprimanded me for ‘helping Animals I’ve never even met’ and not helping her. It never even occurred to me, how was I supposed to know I could enchant those ridiculous shoes to make her walk? And look what came of that? But then do you even know about Boq?”

“The Munchkin who followed Glinda around at school?”

“Oh yes, and my sister was so in love with him, and when he found out what I’d done for her he wanted to run to the Emerald city and tell Glinda how he felt about her. Of course I just had to leave the Grimmerie open on the ground like a complete idiot... I was so surprised when she started calling for him, all I could think of was hiding! Then Nessa, she had no idea what she was doing, she just started reading it all wrong and he would have died! I had to cast another spell; I was just trying to save him...”

“Are you going to tell me...?” asked Fiyero cautiously.

“She shrank his heart so I... I cast a spell... I really didn’t know what to do sometimes... sometimes the book changes, gives you a spell for what you want to do... I wanted to save him, anyway I could, so I... well that is the spell it... it turned him into... tin, so he wouldn’t need a heart.”

“Of course you’re a good person,” Fiyero reassured her immediately. “It’s not your fault if things don’t turn out quite the way you expect them to!”

“What am I going to do? I can’t back down but it’s not like I want to hurt people, I want to stop them from being hurt but they don’t know they’re being hurt!”

“Why don’t you start by taking a few deep breaths and standing still for half a second? You may not have noticed but you’re wearing a ditch into the ground.”

Elphaba stopped and put her hands on her hips.

“That simple?”

“Of course.”

“Oh Fiyero,” she said, laughing and hugging him. “I do love you so much!”

“Now that look I like!” he replied, returning the hug and kissing her quickly. “Feel better now?”

“Well,” said Elphaba thoughtfully, “I still have the urge to make very small pieces out of large buildings but I do feel better now.”

“Sorry I asked,” murmured Fiyero.

“I’m sorry my joke was so bad that you missed it,” replied Elphaba playfully.

“You never did tell me where your hat went.”

“I lost it,” replied Elphaba shortly.

“That’s it?”

“More or less.”

“How did you lose it?”

“Glinda was hitting me with it when the guards came. I didn’t particularly want to ask for it back.”

“Glinda was hitting you! What in Oz name for?”

“We were having a discussion... about people taking things that don’t belong to them.”

“What? Did she take something of Nessa’s before you got there?”

“Oh Fiyero,” replied Elphaba with a sigh and a smile. “You have no idea do you?”

“I’m just having trouble working out what Glinda could have that you would want... oh... I see... it’s something you have?” Elphaba nodded and he continued. “You got into a fight with Glinda about me?”

“You sound surprised.”

“It’s just not something I would expect you to do.”

Elphaba crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against a nearby tree trunk.

“Well she started it!”

“That’s not what I meant... but uh I don’t think I’ll say what I meant because it doesn’t exactly sound the way I mean it.”

Elphaba looked at him; one of those expressions that could mean anything but in this case was just her wondering if it was worth asking him to clarify.

“Are you going to say something?” asked Fiyero almost nervously, it was rather nerve wracking to be in love with someone who was so... unpredictable.

“Hmm? I’m not sure yet, I was just... thinking.”

“So I see. Do you ever stop? Thinking I mean.”

“Not so far,” she answered with a shrug. “How close are we to the road? Those guards will be coming through here to get to the Emerald City and the girl too.”

“What girl?”

“Oh I didn’t tell you about that did I? The one whose house was flying through the air and killed Nessa... it wasn’t her fault though. I suspect that Madame Morrible had something to do with it, after all weather magic is one of her many specialties. It was our dear Glinda’s idea judging from what the guards said.”

Elphaba was getting angry again and she started pacing around the clearing again.

“Of course she probably didn’t think they would kill my sister... she’s been telling everyone how wonderful things are for so long that she can’t see that they aren’t!”

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” snapped Elphaba, spinning around and gesturing wildly.

“Getting angry with me.”

“Oh that,” she realised then protested. “I’m not angry with you!”

“Then why are you yelling at me?”

“I’m not yelling at you!”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“You’re doing it right now!”

“Not on purpose!”

“Well then why don’t you stop?”

“Because there’s no one else here and if I don’t yell I might do something worse!”

“Oh, well in that case, carry on.”

“I can’t now, I feel bad about it! You do know I didn’t mean to be angry with you?”

“All things considered I’m certainly not going to take it personally. Elphaba, you’re allowed to be angry and you’re allowed to grieve but right now I think we should get out of the woods, or at least away from the road.”

“All right. All right. I know.” She took a deep breath and stopped pacing. “I know.”

A sharp loud barking interrupted them and a little black dog ran towards them followed by a girl in a blue and white checked dress.

“Toto! You come back here right now! We’re supposed to be staying on the road!”

Dorothy skidded to a halt when she saw Elphaba and Fiyero.

“Hello again,” she said with a polite smile. “I’m sorry about Toto, I think he likes you.”

The little dog had stopped in front of Elphaba and looked at her until she picked him up and petted him.

“It’s quite all right,” she said smiling at the girl. “Fiyero. This is Miss Dorothy Gale. Dorothy, this is Fiyero Tiggular. Dorothy had the misfortune of being stranded here when her house was caught in that twister we saw.”

“Oh I see. Where are you off too then?”

“Well after Miss Thropp...”

“Elphaba.”

“After Elphaba left, there was another woman in a bubble and she told me to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City – like you said someone probably would. She didn’t seem very certain about how to get there though, am I going the right way?”

“You certainly are,” said Elphaba. “Just follow the road through the forest and keep going straight ahead on the other side.”

“Thank you. If you please, I shall keep going now so I can get out of the forest before it gets dark.”

“When you get to the other side you’ll find an empty hut, it’s there for travellers to use.”

“It was nice to have met you again, and to meet you,” she added to Fiyero. Elphaba handed the young girl’s pet back and they watched her disappear along the road.

“She has no idea who you are does she?” observed Fiyero.

“No. She only stared at me for a moment, such a sweet little thing, she actually apologised because it was her Aunt and Uncle’s house.”

“And you actually told her to go to the Wizard?”

“She’s just a strange little girl from another land; she has nothing he wants so she’s not in any danger. Now, weren’t we about to leave?”

“Ah yes. Deeper into the forest or towards Kiamo Ko?”

“The broom can take two but we’ll need a couple of days to get there and there’s a storm heading in. I think it would be best if we fly low through the forest and find a place to spend the night out of the weather.” She gestured wryly to the bare patch she’d worn into the ground. “I think it’s rather obvious that someone has been here.”

Fiyero looked at the broom extremely sceptically.

“Are you sure? I mean it looks very flimsy.”

“I have done this before,” replied Elphaba with a smile.

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s much easier to keep people on than it is small Animals because you have to put them in a basket and hope you don’t hit a sudden downdraft. It’s very exhilarating if you don’t have to worry about keeping the passengers on though – it’s the most amazing kind of freedom, seeing the world all spread out below you.”

As she spoke about flying Elphaba turned her face towards the patch of sky barely visible through the trees and smiled softly.

“You wouldn’t believe how many Birds I startled the first few times. There aren’t very many around now though most of the ones I saw were flying west or south.”

“I’ve noticed that there are hardly any Animals left in Oz, my father wrote that many of them were seeking refuge in the unclaimed grasslands.”

“Yes I know. One of the Elder Animals went to ask his permission to go there.”

“They do no harm there and come to no harm. Where would they go in the south though? It’s all swamps and bogs and Quadlings of course.”

“I really don’t know, we thought it best if those of us staying in Oz didn’t know where the rest were going. Come on,” she added, with an apprehensive glance at the forming clouds. “There’s a system of caves in the middle of the forest where we can stay for a night.”

“I’ve never heard of caves in this forest before.”

“That’s because the lions, not the Lions, tend to eat anyone who comes across them.”

“And you want to go there?” exclaimed Fiyero.

“Oh you should see your face!” gasped Elphaba before dissolving into a fit of extremely girlish giggles.

“I’m glad you find me so amusing,” he said, not sounding at all amused.

“I never said.” she took a deep gasping breath. “That there weren’t Lions there, they just don’t stop their kin from eating people but they know me and I won’t let them eat you.”

She managed to finish the sentence then dissolved into laughter again while Fiyero just watched her in a bemused fashion.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh like that.”

“You just looked so funny.” She gasped and smiled at him. “Ready to go?”

Fiyero gestured in the direction of the broom.

“Whenever you are.”

Elphaba smiled and picked up the broom.

“No nasty comments while we’re in the air or you might find yourself getting dumped from several kilometres up.”

“You’re not seriously suggesting it can understand me?”

“Of course it can, it is a magic broom after all. I don’t quite know how it works but the broom knows when people are saying things about it – it nearly jumped out of my hand when Glinda called it...” she lowered her voice and whispered “A ‘filthy old thing’”

“I’ll be sure and think before I talk about your...err...very nice broom.”

They stayed low, under the canopy of tree branches, and Fiyero clung to Elphaba a little tighter than was strictly necessary until they landed, with a heavy thump, in a spot almost identical to where they had left.

“I think the ground is moving,” said Fiyero who was standing perfectly still.

“It’ll stop soon; you’re just unbalanced from the flying. Try to be quiet we don’t want to attract too much attention.”

“I thought you said they knew you,” said Fiyero.

“Sometimes the lions get here first,” replied Elphaba blandly.

“Oh.”

There was a low rumbling growl in the bushes nearby and Fiyero pulled Elphaba closer to him.

“This seems like a good time to leave.” he muttered.

“They’d have us before we got off the ground.” she whispered back.

A large lion leapt into the clearing and growled at them.

“Stop that ridiculous display at once!” snapped Elphaba in an authoritative tone, stepping in front of Fiyero.

“Who are you calling ridiculous?” growled the Lion.

“The sorriest excuse for a bundle of fur with legs I’ve seen in my life!”

“Elphaba? Is that you? I’m so sorry; all I can smell at the moment is soldier.”

The Lion peered short-sightedly across the clearing and relaxed.

“Yes it is me, and the soldier he’s with me, you can trust him.”

“I do apologise. Please come along.”

“Fiyero, this is Edest, he’s the leader of the Lions in the forest.”

“Any friend of Elphaba’s is welcome here; many of our people owe their lives and voices to her.”

Fiyero looked at her, she couldn’t see the expression because he was behind her, he was slightly in awe of the fact that she was a friend of this frightening creature.

“Thank you.” said Fiyero nervously.

“Come along young man, I won’t bite.”

With a Lionish sort of laugh he led them through the forest to a cave.

“Come in, come in, no need to stand on ceremony,” said the Lion. “Hello the den, I’ve brought some visitors! You’ll never guess who’s here, it’s Elphaba!”

“Elphaba!” A chorus of Lion, and other Animal, voices rang out through the cave.

“You might want to stand back,” murmured the Lion to Fiyero who was standing next to Elphaba.

He shrugged in confusion but did as the Lion suggested a bare moment before Elphaba knelt down and disappeared into a small crowd of loudly purring Lions, a few Cats, and some cheerfully barking Dogs who telling her at the top of their lungs how much they missed her and how happy they were to see her again.

“When she said the Animals liked her, I had no idea,” he muttered, more to himself than to the Lion next to him.

“Humans,” sniffed the Lion derisively, “sometimes have trouble seeing past their noses, whereas we Animals see with our noses as well as our eyes. Why are you here human soldier?”

“I’m here because...”

A dozen different replies came to mind but he settled for the most honest one.

“Because I love her. She’s confusing, temperamental, I don’t understand her at all but I love everything about her.”

“I thought so.”

“Why ask then?”

“It seemed like you needed to tell someone.”

“I want to shout it from the rooftops but I doubt she’d let me.”

They both turned towards the swarm of Animals; occasionally there was a flash of black cloth, or hair, and green skin but mostly all that was to be seen was the Animals.

“Most of them are very young and enthusiastic,” explained the Lion. “It’s good for her too. I can always tell that it makes her feel better to know that she is helping us.”

“Do you think she’s going to come up for air anytime soon?” asked Fiyero politely.

“Oh they’ll be at this for a while yet, come along further in and I’ll find you an empty place to sleep.”

“Thank you.” said Fiyero, following the Lion. “So how many Animals live in this forest? You don’t have to tell me of course,” he added hastily. “It’s just that I was under the impression that there were no Animals left in this part of Oz.”

“The Munchkin woodcutters have never ventured this far into the forest because of the lion so no one noticed when Lions started joining them. The Cats and Dogs just decided one day that they would escape before they could be persecuted. There are a few others that are nocturnal and some that are out hunting at the moment.

Oh and one foolish youngster who disappeared a few days ago – he can talk but rarely does, a terrible trauma in his cubhood, he will be sorry to have missed Elphaba...” The Lion paused thoughtfully for a moment then carefully sniffed Fiyero. “I thought I recognised the scent under that soldier-smell, you’re the other one who helped rescue him.”

“The other one? You mean the Lion cub I helped Elphaba rescue lives here, well how about that.”

Fiyero smiled fondly as he remembered one of the things she’d said that day: “I don’t cause commotions, I am one.”

“Here we go then. This cave has never been used by Animals, it’s dusty but clean and there should some more blankets around somewhere.”

“It looks likes someone lives here,” observed Fiyero. There was a neatly made bed of blankets on a wide ledge and some folded clothes on a high shelf of rock.

“This is where Elphaba stays when she’s here,” explained the Lion. “I assumed that would be fine.”

“Oh I don’t mind but... well she might... you know?”

“If she does there is an empty room next door.”

The Lion nodded and walked back to the hallway, Fiyero noticed that there was a curtain, currently drawn back, over the doorway.

There was a bit of light filtering through from the ceiling and he managed to find a lantern and light it so he could look around. There was another stone ledge that looked as though it had been used as a desk at some point; there were some books and pieces of paper on it. Curiously he picked up one of the papers; it was a map of Oz marked with roads he’d never seen before.

“They’re Animal paths,” said Elphaba as she entered the room and stopped in the doorway. Startled, Fiyero dropped the paper and turned to face her. She was holding her cloak in one hand and her hair was all tangled up from the boisterous reunion with the Animals. The way he stared at her made Elphaba self-conscious and she tried to smooth her hair out one handed.

“Uh the Lion brought me here,” Fiyero explained to fill the awkward silence.

“Yes. He told me,” she gestured around the room. “It’s not much but it has been home for a few years.”

“The Animals looked happy to see you.”

“I was happy to see them as well, it’s a shame Cub wasn’t here... he would have liked to meet you again.”

“Yes, the big Lion told me he had been here.”

“Oh.”

“So you live here?”

“Yes I do, not all the time though.”

“Doesn’t it make you nervous, being surrounded by all of these Animals?”

“No, I feel much more comfortable then I do when I’m surrounded by people.”

“Oh. I guess that was a really stupid thing to say.”

“No... Not really stupid.”

Fiyero looked at her for a moment then burst out laughing.

“I walked right into that one!”

“Yes you did,” agreed Elphaba, joining in with a soft chuckle. She sat down on the bed and crossed one leg over the other to start unlacing her heavy boots. Fiyero leaned against the desk and just watched her, trying to think of something to say. He jumped as Elphaba tossed the boot across the room and it hit the wall with a thud.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I do that when I’ve had them on for awhile, I don’t normally have company.”

“Maybe I should get out of your way,” he suggested cautiously.

Elphaba let her foot drop to the floor and nodded reluctantly.

“Of course. I wasn’t thinking... there’s an empty room... umm it’s just down the hall...”

Fiyero was so busy noticing that she was nervous he couldn’t tell that she didn’t really want him to leave. He walked to the doorway and was about to leave.

“Fiyero...”

Elphaba was on her feet, one boot and all, before she realised what she was doing, Fiyero turned around.

“Yes?”

“Umm...” She couldn’t think of anything to say, she was so tired, she just suggested the first thing that came to mind. “Help me brush my hair?”

“Certainly,” agreed Fiyero considering it a fairly harmless activity. Silently Elphaba put her cloak down, took off her other boot, and then picked up a hairbrush from the desk. Fiyero was taller than her so he stood behind her, carefully picked up a section of hair, and started teasing out the knots as painlessly as possible.

“It is so long,” he commented quietly. “Doesn’t it get in the way?”

“Sometimes but I remember that my mother liked it long so I keep it that way.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard her mentioned, always the Governor but rarely his wife.”

“She died, when I was five, when Nessa was born.”

“I’m sorry.”

He put the hair over her shoulder and moved onto the next section.

“Nessa looked a lot like her,” remarked Elphaba quietly. “Our grandmother sent us, well Nessa really, some portraits of our mother when she was younger – after she married father they lived with her – and it was like a mirror for Nessa.”

“All done,” announced Fiyero after a few silent minutes. “Elphaba?”

“I’m sorry,” she yawned, “I was nearly asleep on my feet.”

“Well I guess I should let you get some rest then...”

“You could... Fiyero... you don’t have to leave... I... I would like it if you stayed here... night time is so lonely.”

She sounded the way she felt, nervous and scared of rejection.

“Would you like me to go while you get changed?” offered Fiyero understanding that she was only asking him to be there while she slept.

“Yes please,” she answered with a blush that didn’t quite show up against her skin. Fiyero nodded and left the room, closing the curtain behind him while admitting to himself that he was sorely tempted to peek through.

“I’ve got some spare clothes in my bag.” He’d picked it up on his way out. “I’ll just be next door getting changed.”

Fiyero had changed into the spare clothes Elphaba had persuaded him to pick up on their way out of the City, put the others on the bed for lack of any better place, and went back to Elphaba’s room.

“May I come in?”

“Yes,” replied Elphaba after a moment of thought. “But if you laugh I’ll tell the Dog who snores the loudest that you want company for the night!”

It was a very half-hearted threat; nonetheless Fiyero schooled his face into a properly serious expression and pushed the curtain aside. Elphaba was leaning over the desk in her nightgown... it was pink and not just pale pink but a bright cheerful colour of a shade he would expect Glinda to wear (and in fact Glinda did wear that colour). Elphaba’s bare arms contrasted oddly with the colour and, perhaps as a result of her ‘it’s only a nightgown’ attitude, somehow it suited her.

Elphaba turned around and folded her arms, with her hair in a single braid and wearing her glasses she looked about ten years younger.

“Oh just go on and laugh! It’s not like I ever expected someone to see me wearing this ridiculous thing!”

“It certainly is... different but I wasn’t going to laugh, I promise.”

Elphaba raised an eyebrow then shrugged and carefully took off her glasses to place them on the desk. On an impulse Fiyero put his arm around her waist and gently led her to the bed.

“Sleep,” he said. “Before you pass out on your feet.”

“I was just...” protested Elphaba, about to say she was studying her maps.

“They’ll be there tomorrow.”

Elphaba surrendered with a smile and pulled back the blankets. Fiyero noticed a jagged, faded, scar on her left arm.

“How did you do that?” He asked as she sat down and lifted her feet onto the bed.

“I broke my arm about four years ago, ran into a bad storm over a mountain range and hit the ground like a falling boulder. That was the first, and I fervently hope the last, time I’ve ever seen one of my bones, fortunately there was a doctor nearby.”

“It must have hurt.”

“The only thing drowning out my screaming was the thunder,” she replied almost casually. “There are worse kinds of pain I think.”

There seemed to be nothing to say to that so Fiyero turned out the lantern and found his way back to the bed by the moonlight that filtered in from somewhere near the ceiling. The ledge-bed was very soft and wide; he managed to lie down next to Elphaba without touching her. She curled up on her side, facing him, and closed her eyes.

“Sweet dreams Fiyero.”

“Good night Elphaba.”