Post by tanithpanic on Aug 30, 2011 19:30:55 GMT -5
CHANGED
(Okay, I'm going to take a chance and post this fic, or at least the first chapter, and see how I go with it. I'll try not to say too much about this plot, but this is a 'what if' story set after the end of the musical. It's quite a dark story in places, and there's no guarantee that favourite characters will survive till the end. One more note, in this version the rumour about water melting Elphaba is nothing more than that. A rumour.)
1 SEEKING REFUGE
“I'm hungry.”
“You're greedy.”
Smit and Mellou glared at each other. Both animals were tired of walking, yet would have died in the roadside before they'd abandoned their beloved mistress and her... friend. Smit, a small mongrel, could never quite figure out this creature that Elphaba called Fiyero. He wasn't animal, he wasn't human, but he could talk and he was kind to them. Mellou, the little black cat, knew full well what he was, but she wasn't telling Smit. If the stupid dog hadn't worked it out for himself, let him go on wondering.
Smit just wanted something good to eat and some water. He knew that Elphaba would find something for him as soon as she could, but didn't think there was any harm in reminding her. Mellou was hungry and thirsty too, but had too much pride to admit it.
“Are you tired, Fae?”
It always came as a surprise to Smit that the creature beside Elphaba talked with a human voice.
“A little, Yero... if we can get to the next village, and just one person opens the door to us, gives us food, we'll manage.”
“Come, love.”
He put his straw arms around her, giving her support in his clumsy way. He himself could have gone on walking - well, shambling - indefinitely, but knew she needed to rest. Her broomstick, once a necessary form of transport for her, had long been burned. It would have been too easily recognised, even from a great height, by those who remembered her. Now they could only travel on foot.
They found no help in the village. People either stared insolently at them, or backed away. One brute had thrown a stone at Smit, and the dog had whined in pain as it had hit his side. Mellou, surprisingly, had stood on her hind legs, hissed, and showed her claws to the man. She denied that it was because of Smit, she just didn't like the man, she maintained.
“If we could only find a stream, or some berries....”
“Fae, my love, you need to take care. Some berries could kill you. Oh, sweet Lurline, I wish I could help, find you food... somewhere to rest.”
“We can sleep in the woods, Yero, when we reach them, but I doubt I'll sleep with empty guts.”
“Oh, I know!” whined Smit.
Mellou hissed and spat at him in contempt.
Fiyero, though now not supposed to possess a human heart, was hurting inside for his Fae. She'd been through so much, and now, even though they were well away from the Emerald City and the fools who believed them dead, she was still suffering. How long before she was forced to drink water that could have been poisoned, or berries that could cause her to die in agony? Had she escaped death at the hands of the brainwashed mob of witch hunters only to face a slower end from natural causes?
It wasn't just food and rest that Elphaba craved. She would never have admitted it, it would have been a sign of weakness, but she missed human company. She missed her former friend, Glinda, who had shown more backbone at the end of their friendship than she'd probably shown in her whole pampered life. And, oh, sweet Oz, she missed Fiyero's human body. She missed that handsome face and his passionate but sensitive love-making. Once, just once, she'd known that pleasure before events had overtaken them and she'd been forced to change her lover into a shambling heap of straw with a face like a caricature instead of the handsome face she'd loved. However kind he still was, however witty, he wasn't the man who had taught her how to make love. That man was gone for good now, and she had to accept the fact.
“Isn't that ... a light in that hut?” barked Smit as they neared the edge of the woods.
“Have a care, Mistress”, cautioned Mellou.
Elphaba, however, threw caution to the winds. She would risk whatever lived in that hut or Oz knew, she and the animals could die of hunger and exhaustion and Fiyero would be left to mourn for ever.
Resolutely, she knocked at the door.
(Okay, I'm going to take a chance and post this fic, or at least the first chapter, and see how I go with it. I'll try not to say too much about this plot, but this is a 'what if' story set after the end of the musical. It's quite a dark story in places, and there's no guarantee that favourite characters will survive till the end. One more note, in this version the rumour about water melting Elphaba is nothing more than that. A rumour.)
1 SEEKING REFUGE
“I'm hungry.”
“You're greedy.”
Smit and Mellou glared at each other. Both animals were tired of walking, yet would have died in the roadside before they'd abandoned their beloved mistress and her... friend. Smit, a small mongrel, could never quite figure out this creature that Elphaba called Fiyero. He wasn't animal, he wasn't human, but he could talk and he was kind to them. Mellou, the little black cat, knew full well what he was, but she wasn't telling Smit. If the stupid dog hadn't worked it out for himself, let him go on wondering.
Smit just wanted something good to eat and some water. He knew that Elphaba would find something for him as soon as she could, but didn't think there was any harm in reminding her. Mellou was hungry and thirsty too, but had too much pride to admit it.
“Are you tired, Fae?”
It always came as a surprise to Smit that the creature beside Elphaba talked with a human voice.
“A little, Yero... if we can get to the next village, and just one person opens the door to us, gives us food, we'll manage.”
“Come, love.”
He put his straw arms around her, giving her support in his clumsy way. He himself could have gone on walking - well, shambling - indefinitely, but knew she needed to rest. Her broomstick, once a necessary form of transport for her, had long been burned. It would have been too easily recognised, even from a great height, by those who remembered her. Now they could only travel on foot.
They found no help in the village. People either stared insolently at them, or backed away. One brute had thrown a stone at Smit, and the dog had whined in pain as it had hit his side. Mellou, surprisingly, had stood on her hind legs, hissed, and showed her claws to the man. She denied that it was because of Smit, she just didn't like the man, she maintained.
“If we could only find a stream, or some berries....”
“Fae, my love, you need to take care. Some berries could kill you. Oh, sweet Lurline, I wish I could help, find you food... somewhere to rest.”
“We can sleep in the woods, Yero, when we reach them, but I doubt I'll sleep with empty guts.”
“Oh, I know!” whined Smit.
Mellou hissed and spat at him in contempt.
Fiyero, though now not supposed to possess a human heart, was hurting inside for his Fae. She'd been through so much, and now, even though they were well away from the Emerald City and the fools who believed them dead, she was still suffering. How long before she was forced to drink water that could have been poisoned, or berries that could cause her to die in agony? Had she escaped death at the hands of the brainwashed mob of witch hunters only to face a slower end from natural causes?
It wasn't just food and rest that Elphaba craved. She would never have admitted it, it would have been a sign of weakness, but she missed human company. She missed her former friend, Glinda, who had shown more backbone at the end of their friendship than she'd probably shown in her whole pampered life. And, oh, sweet Oz, she missed Fiyero's human body. She missed that handsome face and his passionate but sensitive love-making. Once, just once, she'd known that pleasure before events had overtaken them and she'd been forced to change her lover into a shambling heap of straw with a face like a caricature instead of the handsome face she'd loved. However kind he still was, however witty, he wasn't the man who had taught her how to make love. That man was gone for good now, and she had to accept the fact.
“Isn't that ... a light in that hut?” barked Smit as they neared the edge of the woods.
“Have a care, Mistress”, cautioned Mellou.
Elphaba, however, threw caution to the winds. She would risk whatever lived in that hut or Oz knew, she and the animals could die of hunger and exhaustion and Fiyero would be left to mourn for ever.
Resolutely, she knocked at the door.