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psyga315 · 3 years

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Sometimes It's Worth It All to Risk the Fall... A Rewrite of Volume 8, Finale

This part is going to be the most heavily overhauled part of the Volume, since we’re going to be moving the two final episodes over to Volume 9. As such, we get two full episodes worth of content that will be wholly original. For right now, however, let us begin with…

Trial

We open with Ironwood greeting Qrow, knowing full well they are done being friends.

“Qrow. I’m only going to ask this once. Stand. Down.” He stands up, getting a hold of one of his guns.

“No. You’ve done some stupid things in the past, but this… this takes the cake.” Qrow slowly approaches him.

“I’m not the one who ran through someone with a blade. You’re a madman, Branwen.” Ironwood said.

“I’m not the one who killed him, genius. But go ahead, keep being a bone-head. Worked wonders for you in Beacon, and I’m sure it’s doing wonders right now.” Qrow knows this is a deep wound and he salts it.

“I have done nothing but my hardest to pick up the pieces Ozpin left behind. If he were here right now, he would see the work I’ve done and marvel.” Ironwood clearly doesn’t want to fight Qrow and tries to delay this as much as he can.

“And yet, here you are, leaving behind pieces for us to pick up. Oz would be really proud of you, James… No… Friends call you James. To me, you’re nothing but a bloodthirsty general.” He then opens fire as Ironwood dodges out of the way. The two have a rather intense gunfight set to a rock song. It’d be a Quarreling Song between Qrow and Ironwood, sung for by Jeff Williams and Caleb Hyles respectively, in which it argues whether sacrifices are necessary. Ironwood argues that sacrifices are indeed necessary for a better future while Qrow argues that no one needs to sacrifice their life if it’s going to be in vain. For this hypothetical song’s title, something like “No Heart, No Brain” or something that ties into them being the Tinman and Scarecrow. That or if you want to be cheeky, “Sacrifice, Pt. 2”.

We have to remember their characters up to this point, especially for the rewrite. Ironwood believes sacrifices need to be made, thanks in large part to learning under Ozpin and getting the wrong ideas from him. Mettle kicks in to stop him from worrying about sacrificing things like Mantle or his army. Qrow, on the other hand, has a crisis of faith with Ozpin and believed that every sacrifice made was for nothing. Ironwood only served to bolster that reminder and have him realize that every Headmaster has sacrificed only for their own personal gains. What makes it worse is that the people sacrificed were almost always his close friends: Clover sacrificed by Ironwood, Shiro (and others) sacrificed by Lionheart, and Summer sacrificed by Ozpin.

This sets up an interesting crossroads where both Ironwood and Qrow, who would otherwise be heroes given optimal circumstances, are villains or close to being one. Ironwood’s office gets shredded as Qrow pulls out all the stops, transforming into a bird to disorientate Ironwood, using his bad luck to cause Ironwood to fall over or run out of bullets, and using his weapon to cut into Ironwood. In the middle of this, Qrow brings up how he sacrificed nothing, only for Ironwood to reveal his broken body and reveal that he has indeed sacrificed himself. He just has the misfortune of living through it and not dying like the rest of the heroes, not to mention the curse of knowing your sacrifices were for nothing.

The battle ends with Qrow breaking a window and having Ironwood on the ropes, Palpatine vs. Windu style. He holds Ironwood at sword point. Ironwood’s aura breaks and his Semblance goes with it. He is stuck in a pile of remorse and regret. He looks up to Qrow and tells him to finish it. Qrow, however, just says:

“You don’t get to rush this.” Just before he hits, though, an arrow whizzes past him.

“That was a warning shot.” Robyn said.

“I didn’t realize idiocy is a disease. This monster’s too dangerous to be kept alive!” Qrow said.

To make a long chat short, Robyn tries to argue with Qrow that killing Ironwood isn’t the answer, that it won’t bring Clover back, the usual ‘if you kill him, you’ll be like him’ bullshit. Qrow brings up that every moment Ironwood is alive is a chance for Atlas and Mantle to fall in flames. They could change it for the better, but it has to start by killing Ironwood. Just as he’s about to pull the trigger, we hear two clicks. One is from Qrow’s gun, the other is from Mettle.

“So… What you’re saying is that I’m the sacrifice needed for Mantle’s future?” Qrow’s eyes widened as he gets up and points his gun at Qrow’s head. “Do it then. Shoot me like I am one of your soldiers. You’ll realize then just how easy it is to shoot anyone who poses as a threat…” He aims his second gun at Robyn. “Or a hinderance.” There’s a tense moment as either person is just moments away from killing someone. Then…

Ironwood puts his guns away and calmly walks off. “You don’t have the resolve to finish what you’ve started.” His Aura gives way yet again, having only recovered enough just to use Mettle one last time. Qrow is left there to ponder if he was about to do the right thing. Robyn comes over to comfort him.

We cut to the whale. We see Weiss and Winter do a sisterly team up to fight the Grimm armies as the Ace Ops wonder what to do about the bomb. Harriet votes to have Ironwood arm it anyways, knowing that, chances are, it will blow up while Marrow votes not to. However, they don’t need to wait for long as they see that the bomb is armed and ready to go off in an hour. They turn to see Watts holding a phone and smirking.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that Watts had hacked into the bomb using the credentials from Ironwood to activate it. The reason for the time delay is so that they can take the bomb and bring it to Mantle, blowing it up and making it look like Ironwood did it to force its people to comply. Before the Ace Ops can rush him, Neo and Cinder leap in and make short work of them. However, they are the Ace Ops for a reason. Marrow Stays Cinder and holds her in place long enough for Harriet to rush over and kick her.

Vine holds Neo in place while Elm smashes her. Basically, the two pairs mess up Cinder and Neo until Watts hacks into their weapons and makes them work against them. Fast Knuckles freezes up and locks Harriet’s upper body in place, Fetch flies back to Marrow and smacks him, and Timber refuses to come out of the inappropriate launcher mode. In an effort to get it unstuck, Elm smacks it and accidentally causes a missile to launch, with Watts guiding it towards Marrow. Vine uses his Semblance to block the missile but it blows up and drains his aura, right as his throwing star comes back and stabs him in the chest.

The Ace Ops have no time to even say goodbye to their mortally wounded friend as they are stuck right where the villains want them. Despite this, they manage to have one final stand. Harriet gets so pissed that she breaks her own weapons and runs over, smacking Neo with a Gravity Bolas. Elm uses the blunt end of the launcher to attack Watts and get him to relinquish his phone. And, of course, Marrow uses Stay one last time on Cinder and Neo, freezing them in place. However, he’s drained and is about to lose control at any second.

Harriet comes in clutch, however, fastening the bolas around Cinder’s neck and trying to choke her out with it. This triggers Cinder’s memories of when she had the collar and it’s a baaaaad move on Harriet’s part. She bursts into flames, knocking Harriet’s aura out just as Marrow’s runs out too. Cinder rips the bolas from her throat and, wanting to get revenge, is about to grab Harriet’s neck with the Grimm hand. However, Marrow runs in and takes a mortal wound. Harriet becomes distraught and sees as Marrow dies without any sort of last words. Vine had expired a few minutes prior. With them dead, the two remaining Ace Ops are at the villains’ mercy when suddenly Cinder gets sniper rifled. Cinder turns to see Ruby and co arrive, now having finally evened the odds.

But then, Cinder sees Emerald and the true title of Trial comes in as Cinder tempts Emerald to return to her side. This is Emerald’s trial. Is she truly remorseful for what she’s done or does she only care for Cinder?

That’s when we cut to black…

Midnight

Ooooooh yes. Yes, we are doing this.

We open with Qrow, slinking through the Atlas halls. Everyone is noticeably gone from their posts. He realizes that Salem’s forces are causing the priorities to shift to her. Otherwise, he would have been gunned down. All he has for opponents are robots that have gone haywire from Watts’s hacking and engage in kamikaze attacks. Unlike in the original, though, Qrow doesn’t just fire once then give up, but rather apathetically cleaves through each of them. He drops his weapon and lets the last one finish him off, but Robyn comes in and shoots down the robot before it can explode.

She confronts him for his suicidal behavior and Qrow admits that killing Ironwood to save Atlas and Mantle would fall under the logic of sacrifice that he loathes so much. Not to mention the unrest that would come from his death as he experienced first hand with Lionheart and Ozpin. He asks Robyn if people would cheer for his death, to which Robyn instantly rejects. His death will not solve anything. Yes, he needs to answer for his crimes, but a summary execution will only make their situation worse.

What they need is a revolution. Something to upend the system of an Atlas council overlooking Mantle and neglecting their needs. She briefly mentions how this was a problem with Mantle even before Ironwood took his two seats, since Mantle has been stigmatized heavily for causing the Great War. Maybe even hint to that idea I had written a year ago where the Mantle that actually caused the Great War became Atlas, left the rest of Mantle to take the fall, and that Ozma was well aware of this but let it happen anyways because “we are in a time of peace”. Qrow seems to be moved by Robyn’s words and promptly joins her side. We’ll see them commandeer an aircraft that’ll get them to Mantle later in the episode.

Another scene that will be later in the episode will be Jacques and the Councilmen figuring out how to restore the heating to Mantle. Not a huge scene, but just to catch us up on where Pietro and Maria have been, as they find themselves also working with Jacques to fix the problem. We can even have a funny quip from Jacques where he wants to go down as the man remembered for saving Mantle and everyone being like “bruh, you put it in this situation in the first place.”

Emerald and Cinder stare each other down. Ruby goes up and tries to Silver Eyes the problem away, but Neo rushes her, with Yang rushing to her defense. We get a good look at Ruby & Yang vs. Neo while Watts takes on Blake and Yang. Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Oscar rush up to Emerald as Cinder taunts Oscar about how he lost the last time. Oscar retorts that he won’t be fighting alone this time.

As Team ALPN/ORNJ/JNPR2 fight Cinder, Emerald is frozen in fear. On one hand, she doesn’t want to fight for a Grimm commander seeking to destroy the world. On the other, she really wants to stand by her waifu’s side. Unfortunately for her, Cinder begins to gaslight her or whatever abusive partner trick this is:

“Come now, Emerald… You remember how poor and desolate you were before I found you… I picked you up from the gutters and gave you a life you could have only dreamed of.” For the first time, though, Cinder sounds incredibly genuine with what she says. As she does, we cut…

To a younger Cinder. This is where the flashback kicks in. However, we’ll be expanding on this quite a bit. For one, we can see Rhodes try to get Cinder out of her confinement, only for someone (tempted to make it a younger Ozpin, as though Cinder killing him back in Volume 3 would be some form of karma but might be too dark) to stop and tell him that “we live in a time of peace.” This sets Cinder off something fierce, since people would rather turn away from uncomfortable subject matter. The story continues as normal until Cinder kills Rhodes.

We get a montage of Cinder trying (and failing) to adapt to her life of freedom, ironically proving Rhodes right that she’ll never stop running. I’m thinking a few montages where she goes from town to town, working for a bit before either her past catches up to her (wanted posters, most likely) or she is reminded of her painful experiences, in which case, she runs more.

We’ll see her meeting with Salem, though my idea of how, admittedly, would be too fanservicey. Something “she ends up seeing what Salem’s old team used to be like and it was filled with people who are clear counterparts to the team she’s currently with, like Merlot is Watts, Tock is Tyrian, and this big buff girl based off Helios is Hazel.” Realistically, I’d see the classic WTCH set up. The long story short of it, though, is that Salem asks Cinder a question:

“You keep running from a society that is filled with problems but you never stopped to ask yourself… What do you want most of all?”

And that’s when we get Cinder saying her desires that she said in V3.

Cut back to the battle at hand as Cinder offers Emerald to join her side. And, shock of shocks…

She accepts. She immediately backstabs Oscar and Jaune, allowing Cinder to rush past Nora and Ren to grab the bomb and commence the bombing of Mantle, ranting about how Atlas had ignored the people in pain for far too long and that now it’s time to pay for their actions. However, just she is about to gloat about having power, she notices that Jaune and Oscar… weren’t really there. She realizes what just happened as she sees Emerald joining Ruby and Yang’s battle against Neo, just long enough to grab the Relic of Knowledge.

“What are you doing!?” Cinder asks her.

“Before I work with you and take even more lives… There’s something I want to know… Jinn!” Emerald shouts into it as Jinn appears. Without any hesitation (knowing that Cinder or someone else can easily steal the final question from her), she asks: “Does Cinder… truly care for me?”

Jinn looks to Emerald and pouts. Her power could be used for anything… And yet, like before, she is used to air out dirty laundry.

But, she complies and gives her a look back at her past. We see the scene in Volume 3 where Cinder meets Emerald unfold, this time in Maya, where we see things from Cinder’s perspective. When she cornered Emerald and noticed how desperate she was, she was reminded of herself. She thought about how Rhodes took her under his wing. She offered to do the same, almost genuinely. It seems as though Emerald got her answer…

Then we see her interact with Emerald on different occasions, including when she slaps her. We get deep into Cinder’s thoughts about how she viewed Emerald as the weak self she discarded long ago and thus, she treats her like shit because of her past. Not even taking her recent action to defend her at Amity with the slightest amount of gratitude.

Jinn concludes the flashback by telling her “yes, she did truly care for you… But that has long since went away. I hope it was worth it.” Jinn then returns to the Lamp as it dims. A moment of silence later and Cinder is furious. Not just at the fact that Emerald wasted a question, but that her past was revealed to all of her worst enemies at once. She rushes to kill Emerald, Emerald freezes and flinches in shock… And then…

STAB!

Cinder finds herself impaled on Crocea Mors. She coughs up blood as she sees Jaune in front of Emerald.

“So… that’s how broken you truly are… I have nothing left for you… but pity.” Jaune takes the sword out, refusing to kill her. Though, it looks to be a mortal wound. Emerald’s eyes widen as Cinder begins to writhe at her wound. Her arm goes out of control, and she begins to hyperventilate.

“No… I won’t die… to a mere insect like yourself! Do you realize who I am!? I am strong! I am feared! I’m…”

“Weak.” Ruby tells this to Cinder. Her eyes then begin to glow as Cinder goes “oh shit”. With nowhere to go, she takes the full blast of Ruby’s silver eyes, which also turns the immediate area inside of Monstra into stone. Cinder notices her arm begin to shrivel but still trying to stretch to its length. Cinder’s on her last legs and she knows it. She desperately tries to find some way to linger on…

And that’s when it dawned upon her.

Immediately, she cheap shots Ruby with a fireball and flies off. Neo holds off Ruby and Yang to distract them. Cinder sees Salem, still on fire (though the embers and stasis seem to be dying down) and, clutching to her wound, tells Salem that, yes… Without her, she is nothing. But, because of her…

She will be powerful.

Her Grimm hand impales Salem’s chest and begins to absorb the magic from her. Salem can do nothing but watch as her magic is being drained. However, it became fortunate that Cinder doesn’t steal her magic. As she sees the stab wound close on Cinder, Salem realizes that Cinder is robbing her immortality and lust for destruction. Though, not entirely.

See, they were curses from the Gods and not directly magic. As such, trying to absorb or otherwise destroy them wouldn’t exactly work. Not even Maidens can hope to replicate it, so the most it gives Cinder is a healing factor and, as the Brother of Darkness’s curse came from the Grimm Liquid… Oh yeah.

Cinder’s arm begins to grow more onto her body and she cackles in a maddening fit of laughter as the Grimm part over takes her, almost like a certain black goo. It then engulfs her head, creating a sort of Grimm helmet. We are introduced to the Hound 2.0: Cinder Fall.

One immediate difference is that she retains not just her Maiden powers, but also her intellect (‘haha, Cinder is dumb though!’, I meant as in she’s not as brainwashed as the previous Hound). She thanks Salem for the gift as Salem glares at her. Obviously, this moment has become Cinder’s “letter of resignation”. Now she goes back into the fray with her new powers in tow. I don’t want to say she goes all Mortal Kombat 9!Sindel on their asses, but… It’s a new power upgrade for Cinder and her big W for this volume. Try as they might, they can’t land a decisive blow against her. Winter is the closest, but she’s also the one that almost gets mortally wounded.

Cinder takes the bomb, with only ten minutes left on it, and flies out with flaming Nevermore wings. That’s when Penny interferes and the two have your boring superhero dogfight you’ve probably seen Nerdstalgic take the piss out of. Look, not all fights can be winners and you need at least one bad fight for this rewrite. However, visually, it is pleasing to see with Cinder and Penny blasting fire and ice at each other, utterly decimating both Atleasan and Grimm armies.

Meanwhile, RWBY manage to beat their foes now that ALPNE joined up as back up. Now all that’s left is to take on Cinder and get the bomb back. Weiss and Winter dual summoned a Nevermore and they try to rush out, but unfortunately, Salem’s timer has just run out and she is free to curbstomb them. Ruby tries to get her Silver Eyes to work on Salem, believing that, since she’s part Grimm, maybe that could stop her in some way, but Salem immediately goes right for her and smirks.

“You will be a fine addition…” She drags Ruby, shrugging off any and all attacks on her, while she finds a pool of Grimm Liquid. Ruby knows what she is planning to do… But, just then…

Boom!

Harriet and Elm come in and knock Salem by surprise. Harriet says that this changes nothing about them wanting to arrest RWBY, just that they have a bigger fish to fry. Salem goes for a 1v12 and… well, if people insist that Adam and Ironwood wouldn’t be able to solo half that, it shouldn’t come as no surprise that Salem finds herself on the losing end of the battle. This was the outcome she wanted to avoid for so long: unity. Despite the division she gave onto Atlas and RWBY, they still manage to work together to overcome her. Worse still, Neo and Watts decide to join the winning side and defect to Cinder.

However, the battle, now that everyone else is getting involved, becomes chaotic. In the chaos, Harriet takes the phone from Watts and renders him useless in battle while Yang finally beats Neo and sends her flying. During this battle, Cinder finds a weak spot and exploits it, mortally wounding Watts and sending him falling to his death to the city of Mantle.

Cinder, now edging to the brink of insanity, takes the bomb in her hands and rushes to detonate the bomb at Mantle. However, Ruby stuns her long enough for Penny to take the bomb. Realizing what must be done, Ruby and Penny look at each other. Of course, Ruby insists she drops the bomb and gets out of there, but Penny tells her like it is.

“I’m tired of letting people decide for me… All it’s done is make this situation worse. So, please… Let me make my own choice.” Penny hands Ruby her Floating Array and flies off to the whale. After a few moments… boom. The bomb goes off and destroys the whale. Cinder is furious at having lost the opportunity to obtain her powers, but then she gets a big surprise when she gets stabbed in the back by Winter. Making matters worse is that Ruby’s eyes go off and clear away some of the Hound armor on Cinder, forcing her to retreat. Still, a massive win on Cinder’s part as she gets away with a lot more power than what she started the volume off on.

We end with everyone gazing at total awe at the explosion going off. We see that Penny had sacrificed herself to hold the bomb in place so that it destroys only the whale and makes Salem’s regeneration time the longest it’s been. About twelve to twenty-four hours.

Which brings us to our final episode:

Creation

It has been an hour since the bomb went off. The heat on Mantle begins to be turned on again, however the Mantleans are still afraid of Atlas for their willy nilly neglect. They do not trust Jacques as the person who restored the heat, but they’re not going to tear him limb from limb when he comes on to announce his role in saving Mantle. However, that’s when the civilians point out his ships that rescued people were destroyed by Grimm. As a result, they blame him for killing more Mantleans and they shun him. I want his comeuppance to not be some sort of “lol, boom” and then he’s dead. Give him consequences that are inherently tied to his character.

Just before things get into a riot, Robyn and Qrow arrive to try and calm down the situation, reminding them that the Grimm will only make their situation worse. Robyn doesn’t make a rousing speech (since the episode will be pretty long already) but she asks whoever would be willing to finally stick it to Ironwood and the Atlasian Council to come with her. People comply, with Qrow slinking away into the background.

We then cut to RWBY and the rest at Pietro’s shop where he learns the unfortunate news. Despite knowing he can bring her back, he’s still upset because he doesn’t really know if he’s able to split his aura again. The despair he feels causes Emerald to be remorseful at the fact that she killed Penny and made it look like Pyrrha did it. Ren then notices some aura petals coming from the Floating Array. He realizes that Pietro may not even need to split his aura, then asks Ruby, since she was the last person Penny spoke to, if she had received the Maiden powers. She shakes her head and Winter can confirm that it hasn’t gone to her either.

Ren then confirms his suspicions. Penny is still alive, since she would have otherwise clearly had Ruby or Winter in her mind when she died. There’s a short scene that confirms that, yes, she had backed up her aura in the Floating Array. Now comes the solution of rebuilding her and transferring the aura over. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done, as the Grimm invasion left Pietro’s shop ravaged and Atlas is still engaged in battle with the Grimm (albeit now at a reduced level than when Salem was invading). Not to mention that Pietro is branded as a criminal. Penny is stuck in this state of being and knowing that causes Ruby to have a breakdown.

She realized that this was the massive consequence to betraying Ironwood’s trust and trying to win a battle with just their group. This is followed with a brief bit where both sides talk about how they basically failed what they set out to do. However, Oscar brings up that even though they have failed, they also succeeded. Salem’s suffering the greatest setback she’s ever had, they made Ironwood’s dream a reality, and they managed to Mantle. He admits the chances someone will come to Atlas’s rescue are slim to none, but what matters is that they had the truth come out.

He pauses.

“Speaking of the truth…” He closes his eyes and lets Ozpin take over.

Immediately, RWBY, Jaune, and Nora turn their weapons on him. Ozpin calmly addresses his people.

“I know you have a reason to despise me. I also know that you’ve walked a day in my shoes and have learned the painful lesson I had learned. However, you confronted the consequences of your actions instead of running away like I have been doing all my life. This past day has taught me just as it had taught you. And I feel like I should share with you what I know about the Relic of Creation.” We’re not gonna drag with lengthy exposition, so after that, Harriet, Elm, and Winter arrive. They were told by Ironwood to take them to the Vault. Not as criminals…

But as challengers.

We cut to the Vault where Ironwood is standing by the door. His posture is relaxed, yet there’s tensed shoulders. He sees some guards enter the room and allowing RWBYALPNE in. He’s surprised that Emerald’s with them, but he nonetheless lets her in.

“What is this about? If you still want to levitate Atlas into the sky…” As Ruby was about to bitch at him, Ironwood shakes his head.

“This entire kingdom will crumble if we continue to bicker. I’ve seen you lot risk everything to save everyone. I’ve also heard of Penny’s… sacrifice.” He frowns a bit before he continues. “However, Salem will not stay dead for long. However, with the Relic, we can ensure that she can.” Oscar seems perplexed with the idea.

“You know that Salem can’t be killed. Many have tried, even herself. What makes you different?” Ozpin asks.

“…” He acknowledges Ozpin’s return for a moment before he talks. “I will use the Staff to recreate the bomb, then merge it with Salem’s remains. When she reforms, the bomb will be fused to her and will be detonated, restarting the process over and over. The Staff can’t destroy her, but what it can make will.”

“But… then Atlas will…” Weiss said.

“I know. But that’s a sacrifice I am willing to make. Or… at least that’s what I want to believe.” As he says this, Ren can see the purple petals of fear and he is the first to step up.

“But you don’t, do you? You don’t want to commit to it and take responsibility.” Ren said.

“I have always taken responsibility for my actions. And this is just another one.” He then holds his arms out and tells them the reason he called them here. “It’s time for you to take your responsibility. Fight me for the right to use the Staff.” As he says that, guards flank the door leading to the Vault, making a simple B-line impossible without getting shot. Harriet, Elm, and Winter join his side, even when Ironwood insists that they stay out of it. However, he can’t fault them for doing what their heart desires. He steps forward, guns drawn as we hear the Mettle click. The petals on him turn white. Ren calmly closes his eyes.

“You can’t be serious… We’re going to trounce you!” Jaune chuckles only for Ren to tap his shoulder.

“This isn’t a test of strength… This… is a question that must be answered: ‘can you match my resolve?’” With that, “Be Strong, Hit Stuff” plays as the group engage in battle against Ironwood. As stated before, Ironwood is fighting a losing battle, but it gets dragged out on the merit that both of them have run ragged. It breaks down to some smaller scale fights: Winter vs. Weiss and Emerald (ironic given how the Openings always had the two fight each other), Elm vs. Ren and Nora, Harriet vs. Jaune and Blake, and lastly Ironwood vs. RBY.

These become more philosophical debates in the form of battle. The Schneebowl ft. Emerald is about devotion to your savior, as Winter and Emerald were pulled out of shitty lives but placed in the care only for their use to their plans. Elm vs. Renora could have the hotly debated “was Mantle more important than Atlas” discussion. Harriet is lashing out about her loss of her friends to Jaune, who just goes “yeah, I know that feel, bra” throughout the whole fight. Harriet, mid-fight, reveals Marrow’s motivation to join the Ace-Ops was to better the relationship between Humans and Faunus. She even reveals that she was a Faunus herself, but that she took a more drastic measure to hide her Faunus traits and removed the rabbit ears she had.

However, it’s Ironwood vs. Ruby, Oscar, and Yang that gets the most focus. We have Yang and Ironwood trade punches as we finally hear Yang thank him for the prosthetic. He apologizes if he ends up breaking it during the fight and that, regardless of outcome, he knows Pietro will make Yang a new one.

Finally, we have Ruby and Oscar’s fight with Ironwood which will no doubt fan the flames of Rose Garden shipping and cause a delicious flame war to follow. They come to blows with the fact that they trusted so little in each other, Ruby calling him out for expecting people to follow his orders exactly and Ironwood calling Ruby out for being exactly like Ozpin and asking him when she would have told him the whole truth if Mantle wasn’t at risk.

By this point, Harriet, Elm, and Winter lose, with Weiss and Winter having a badass final strike. At the same time, Qrow and Robyn come onto Atlas with the HH in tow. I’d say that RT would have had an entire army of rioters accompany them, but because of recent events, they decided to nix that idea and just have the HH.

Ironwood manages to take Yang out, predictably breaking her arm. Oscar is tired out because he and Ozpin just took hours of torture at Salem’s hands. It’s down to him and Ruby, but they’re both tired out. Ruby uses the last of her Aura to boost herself to Ironwood and, using Penny’s sword, chops off Ironwood’s robot arm, literally disarming him. Ironwood’s Aura is turned off and he realizes his path, his resolve, couldn’t match that of Ruby’s. Instead of blubbering or ranting, he calmly tells Ruby that whatever she plans to do with the Staff, she must take note that she will endure the consequences. He’ll probably instruct her that the genie inside the Staff will want blueprints. With that, the gang head over to the gate to open it using Penny’s swords as a sort of key.

Yang stays behind and tells Ironwood that they apologize for omitting the truth, but before she could finish

Ironwood turns to Winter, Harriet, and Elm and is about to calmly give them his last order as general, when suddenly…

STAB!

Qrow impales Ironwood from the back.

“I made a promise that you’d take the fall… No matter what.” Qrow coldly whispers to Ironwood. He lets Ironwood bleed out as he faces the remaining Ace Ops. Holding onto Clover’s charm, he taps into his Semblance and causes each of them to fumble and lose their weapons. Robyn comes in and yells at Qrow.

“DAMN IT! THIS ISN’T WHAT WE AGREED ON!” Robyn loaded her gun, but notices it jammed… Another use of his Semblance.

“Sorry, tuts, but in a revolution, the tyrant often loses his head.” Qrow smirks and is about to behead Ironwood, only to see Yang from afar. She had witnessed him stab Ironwood. Ruby comes back to check up on Yang and sees the bloodied general. Yang calls him out on betraying them, believing Harriet to be right, only for Qrow to retort that she betrayed them all, then asks her a simple question:

“When you were in the Vault, you knew your mother was the Spring Maiden, right?” With that, the other shoe finally drops as Ruby looks over to Yang and realizes this mini-betrayal. “You talk a big game about having people tell you the full story but when it’s your turn, you decide to omit crucial facts.”

Ruby, having been personally betrayed by her own sister, hurries off into the vault and proceeds to shut the rest out. Not even Oscar can break through the door. Harriet loses it and believes the gang was in on this, but seeing how they betrayed they feel, she quickly assumes that, no, they didn’t know Qrow turned traitor despite her warning. Qrow smirks and flies away via bird transformation. Robyn finally gets her weapon ready and fires at Qrow, only for bad luck to activate again, ricochet and stab Harriet right in the chest. Her fate is left ambiguous.

Ruby activates Ambrosius and the scene goes pretty unaltered except for the choice in music. It’s now a more dark, sinister song, almost in tune to Salem’s theme or even the song used when she begs the God of Darkness to bring Ozma back. This is to play into the awareness that, like what Salem did long ago, Ruby is going to indirectly doom Remnant to bring back a loved one. And that there are going to be consequences for her trying to fight for every life.

As Penny is “revived” and given her human form, Atlas begins to fall and everyone can see and feel it. Ironwood chuckles and in his last words, he gives everyone his final order: Save yourselves. We end with Penny asking Ruby what she had done as Cinder looks at the falling Kingdom and chuckles to herself, giving us the final word:

“In the end… Chaos wins.”

Stinger

Qrow witnesses the fall of Atlas for himself, but looks to a list he has written down. On it are two people: Tyrian and Theodore. He smirks, then flies off.

Conclusion

And that was how I would rewrite Volume 8. Honestly, this was a bit of a work to give every arc a pay-off and I feel like it might have been better off if a few were excised. There are obviously still problems, such as this still not being Weiss’s story like it was hyped to be. However, the overall point is to fix some major problems with Volume 8 and obviously, the piss poor fight with Ironwood was what motivated me to do this rewrite.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Let me know your thoughts down in the description below.

#RWDE #RWBY #Rewrite #Volume 8

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mirkwoodshewolf · 4 years

Text

Wizard of Oz Queen x pre-teen reader Chap. 3; Meeting the handsome Scarecrow

*Author’s note*

And here we go with the first person to fully join on your quest, and who (with the help of some Wattpad users) on who helped me choose the role for the Scarecrow in this Queen style fic. So I hope you enjoy this part and until the next part comes out which will be very soon :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@simonedk

@queensdivas

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@platawnic

@queendeakyy

@kairosfreddie

@geek-and-proud

____________________________________________________________

Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the…..oh great. Now instead of just one yellow brick road, as soon as we reached a cornfield, the yellow brick road now broke away into a fork-like path with two roads going left and right, and the last going straight on.

“Oh great. Now which way do we go?”

“Pardon me, that way is a very nice way.” A voice said. I turned around but saw no one. No one except a scarecrow that was pointing towards the road that went right.

He was—a strangely handsome scarecrow to say the least, I mean if I were a bit older I’d fall for his looks but right now my biggest concern was who had just spoke to me.

“Whose there? Show yourself!” it was then Toto started barking right up at the scarecrow. “Oh don’t be ridiculous Toto, scarecrows can’t talk.”

“Although that way looks just as nice too.” The voice said again. I looked back toward the scarecrow and saw that he was now pointing in the other direction. Wait what?!

“Wait a sec—wasn’t he just pointing the other direction?” I asked Toto who just looked up at me.

“But then again people do go both ways.” This time I saw for myself. The handsome scarecrow talked. He talked! And was now pointing in both directions with his arms crossed over him.

My mouth was gaped in shock. I walked up towards him and asked him.

“You! You did say something didn’t you!?” He shook his head as he bit his lip. He kept shaking his head till finally a wide, cheeky grin spread across his face and he nodded. “Are you doing that on purpose? Or can’t you make up your mind?”

“That’s just it, I can’t make up my mind. I don’t have a brain, only straw.” He said as he gestured to his long straw-like hair that fell past his shoulders.

“Then how can you talk if you don’t have a brain?” I asked him skeptically.

“I don’t know. But most people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?” he retorted back.

“Yes I suppose that’s true.” I walked up to him and I continued, “Well since we’re now talking to one another, introductions are in order.”

“Why yes, yes indeed.” He said with a bright smile.

“Good afternoon Mr. Scarecrow.”

“Good afternoon to you my dear.” He bowed his head. “How are you?” he asked me.

“Very well thank you, and you?”

“Oh sadly I am not doing very well at all.” He said glumly. “You see it’s quite impossible to be good when you’re stuck here all day and night with a pole shoved up your back.” He said as he dangled there along the wooden pole.

“Yeesh, that does sound uncomfortable.” I groaned. “Can’t you get yourself down?”

“Down? Well no you see I….” he tried to reach back but he couldn’t quite get his arms to reach all the way behind his back.

“Here, let me help you.” I said as I came around and got behind him.

“Ohh that’s very sweet of you. Thank you, thank you.” I felt around the pole but I couldn’t feel a string that usually holds a scarecrow up (or at least that’s how we hold ours up back home).

“Umm…..I uhh I’m afraid I don’t see a string or—”

“Now I’m not one for thinking much, but maybe if you just bend that nail in the back maybe I’ll slip off?” I looked at the pole and low and behold there was a large nail.

“I see it, you ready?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, 3, 2, 1.” I counted down before I bent the nail back and like a shot, the scarecrow exclaimed as he fell right off the pole and collapsed right on the ground, some hay falling right out of his shirt.

“Oops there goes some of me again!” he laughed as he picked up the ball of hay. I ran over to him and asked him worriedly.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Oh no, no, no, no. I just keep picking it up and putting it back in again.” He said as he stuffed the hay back into his shirt. Like a newborn colt, his legs wobbled as he stood up. “Man it feels so good to be FREE!!” he suddenly spun and toppled over the fence and fell on the other side.

I shrieked and hopped over it and knelt down beside him. He quickly got on his hands and knees as he said to me in a strange overly excited tone.

“Did I scare you?”

“No, no. I just—thought you hurt yourself?”

“So that’s a no?” his tone quickly changed to a solemn one. I shook my head no and that’s when he sat down on his bum and stated glumly, “I didn’t think so.” A crow soon perched itself on the fence cawing. “Boo! Scat! Get out of here!”

The crow showed no sign of leaving as it now perched on top of the scarecrow’s head and picked off some of his hair before flying off. The scarecrow with a look of defeat blew a puff of air as he said.

“Yah see? I can’t even scare a crow. They come from miles around just to eat in my field and laugh in my face. God I’m such a failure. If only the farmer’s daughter didn’t wish for a handsome scarecrow then I’d show those crows a thing or two.”

“That’s why you want a brain. So that you can find a way to scare them off.” I answered softly. He nodded sadly.

“I’d even be better if I were made scary and brainless. That way one look at my face, and them crows could be flying for the hills.” He said as he pressed his chin to his fist.

“Well I don’t know about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…..it’s not necessarily the crows but just in this moment now. Had you been made with a scary face, I—don’t think I would even be brave enough to help you down.”

“You wouldn’t?” he asked as he looked at me curiously. I nodded.

“But just know that if you were my scarecrow back in Wales and they saw you walking and talking, the crows would be scared to pieces.”

“They would?” his tone spoke with excitement. I nodded. “Where’s Wales?”

“That’s where I live. And I want to get there so badly that I’m going all the way to Emerald city to get the Wizard of Oz to help me.”

“You’re gonna see the Great Oz!?” he said with wide eyes in shock. I nodded again. “Do you think that if I went with you, that he could get me a brain?”

“I couldn’t say. But even he didn’t, you’d be no better off than you are now.” He shrugged and bobbed his head muttering.

“That’s true, that is true.”

“But it’s best if you don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve got the Warlock of the West after me, and I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“Oh that guy? Please. He’s about as frightening as a fruit fly. Plus he walks like he’s got a hump on his back.” I choked out a giggle. “Besides, I’m not afraid of anything!” he gloated. Before he suddenly shrunk down and looked around before leaning in close to me. “Well—Except a spark of fire.” He whispered.

“I don’t blame you.”

“But I’d crossover a thousand fire fields at the chance of getting a brain. Look,” he took my hand in both of his. “I won’t be any trouble to you because I don’t eat a thing. And I won’t try to manage things because I can’t think. Oh please oh please won’t you take me with you?”

With that puppy eyed look he was giving me how could I possibly say no?

“Okay. You can come along with me.” I said proudly. The scarecrow smiled widely and cheered as he hopped up.

“WOO-WHOO! WE’RE OFF TO SEE THE GREAT OZ!!” Once again he stumbled around but I managed to catch him in time before he fell over again.

“You’re not starting off so well though.”

“Oh don’t you worry I’ll try though. Really I will.”

“To Oz?”

“To Oz!” we then skipped on down the road straight ahead and wondered further down the yellow brick road. While we walked along the path, the scarecrow and I shared our life stories and I even told him of how I got to the land of Oz.

With each word I told, he listened intently and not once interrupted me with questions until the end of my tale.

The day went by and soon it was starting to get dark. So far the scarecrow and I hadn’t seen a single trace of a house or farm anywhere. As night finally fell upon the sky, I let out a quiet yawn.

“Maybe it’s best we make camp for the night (Y/n).”

“No, no it’s fine I can…..” I was interrupted by another yawn. The scarecrow looked at me with crossed arms and a ‘you were saying’ look. “Okay maybe I am getting a little tired.” He chuckled and guided me over to the open fields.

“Here, you can sleep right here.”

“But what about you?”

“Oh don’t you worry about me I’ll be fine. I’m a scarecrow, we don’t really sleep. Kinda a 24/7 job to always be on guard.” He found a patch of grass that had no visible trace of soil or dirt being shown. “Here we are, lay down here.” He helped me lay down and that’s when Toto came up and lay close beside me.

“Thank you scarecrow.”

“Don’t mention it. Here, take this too.” He then took out a bunch of hay out from his shirt and padded it together before laying it down in front of me.

“No, scarecrow I—”

“You helped me off that pole and believe me a cricked neck is nothing to look forward to when you wake.” I smiled up at him and rested my head on the pile of hay. The seed head of a few pieces of hay tickled my nose but after brushing it away I felt better. “If you get cold just let me know too, I can give you some more hay to keep you warm.”

“Thanks scarecrow, goodnight.”

“G’night (y/n). Sleep well.” He whispered softly as I felt his hand rest on my arm. Soon enough I fell fast asleep with the scarecrow guarding me all through the night.

My last thought was that he started to remind me of someone back home. But it wasn’t Auntie Em or Uncle Henry. It was like—darn it why can’t I remember his name? But even for the short amount of time when I met this man back home, he reminded me of the scarecrow.

Protective, kind hearted, loyal, always had a child-like excitement to him, and he might’ve been handsome too. I wish I could remember his name, then I could tell scarecrow about him and how probably him and the man back home could’ve been best friends with each other.

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rebelquilts512 · 5 years

Text

The Wizard of Fulcrum

So my high school’s musical this year was The Wizard of Oz and since I was in it, (For those of you who are curious, I was a tree, a munchkin, and a citizen of the Emerald City) I had been surrounded by the story and songs of The Wizard of Oz since we started rehearsals in late August. I decided that since I was seeing so much of The Wizard of Oz, I might as well put it to fan fiction use and make a Rebels AU. I hoped to get this done by the time the show was over (the show ran November 8 to 10) but that didn’t happen. (I had up to the scarecrow scene done by then though)

This is an AU of Rebel Assault where instead of crashing in the Capital City, Hera crashes her X-Wing outside the city in the plains around some rock spires or whatever the weird mountains are called. So Hera isn’t captured by the Empire (the Ghost crew finds her before they do), and a lot of the back-half of season 4 doesn’t happen.

Some scenes are a little iffy. It’s hard to combine Rebels characters with Wizard of Oz characters. That, and I think I’m overdue for a Rebels re-watch.

Now that all that’s been established, this fic has been brought to you by Star Wars Rebels, the Wizard of Oz movie, and the Wizard of Oz stage musical.

There will be a cast list at the end. AKA What Wizard of Oz roles each Rebel character played, or what I intended them to play.

Reblogs, comments, and likes are appreciated.

--------------------

Hera was disappointed, to put it lightly. She had hoped the squadron would have been able to get passed the Empire’s defenses on Lothal and destroy the Tie Defender factory. But alas, the Empire was ready for them and most of her fighters were either destroyed or shot down.

Hera herself had been hit and was now hurtling towards the planet’s surface. She, with a little help from Chopper who was fortunately unharmed, managed to steer their descent away from Capital City and towards the empty plains beyond.

Hera was starting to lose control as they fell towards a cluster of rock spires. Her X-Wing scraped the side of one of them and Hera banged her head on the console. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was......Minister Tua?

***

When Hera came to, the first thing she heard was Chopper cursing and yelling for her to wake up and see what was outside.

It took Hera a few tries to get the hatch open, but when she did she was assaulted with color.

Hera hopped out of her X-Wing and looked around. Chopper used his rocket to get out of the astromech socket.

They appeared to have crashed in some sort of town square. They were standing on a plaza of multicolored bricks arranged in strips that formed a swirl design. There were huge brightly colored plants everywhere and the plaza was surrounded by equally as colorful buildings.

“Chopper, I have a feeling we’re on Lothal anymore,” Hera said, looking at the droid.

Then Hera looked down at herself. The red pilot’s outfit she had worn for the attack had been replaced by a brown leather lace up vest over a cream colored shirt and a midi length orange skirt with matching leggings and brown boots. It was similar enough to her usual pilot outfit that Hera figured it must have been based off of it.

She started to walk around, trying to figure out where she was. Chopper followed close behind.

Then Hera heard music. She turned around and saw a small circle coming towards her. It almost looked like a bubble, but the outside of the circle was white while the inside was black, somewhat obscuring the bubble effect. The circle grew larger as it approached her, until it landed on the ground in front of her taller than she was.

“Definitely not on Lothal anymore,” Hera mumbled.

A woman emerged from the circle as it faded away. She was a tall Togruta with blue eyes, orange skin, and blue and white striped lekku. Her montrals were covered by the hood of the long white cloak she was wearing over her white dress. In her right hand she held a white staff with a ring on top. She seemed familiar, but Hera couldn’t place how, and Chopper wasn’t offering any suggestions.

Hera took a few steps back.

The Togruta stepped toward her and asked, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

What?

Hera glanced around her. “Me?” she asked. “I’m not a witch at all. My name is Hera Syndulla, from...Lothal,” She decided to name the planet she had just been on.

“Oh,” the woman replied. “Well is that the witch?” she asked, pointing the tip of her staff at Chopper.

“Chopper?” Hera asked. “Chopper’s my droid. He may be a little mischievous and cranky at times, but he’s no witch,”

“Hmmmm,” the woman hesitated, “Well I have to say I’m confused. The Lonchkins called me because a new witch has just crashed a large metal contraption on Maketh Tua, the Wicked Witch of the East. And there’s the metal contraption,” She gestured to the crumpled mess of Hera’s X-Wing. “And here you are, And that is all that’s left of Maketh Tua,” She used her staff to point to the pair of legs sticking out from under the X-Wing wearing glittering pale blue shoes. “And so what the Lonchkins want to know, is are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

“I already told you,” Hera said. “I’m not a witch at all. Witches have mystical powers and do cruel and crazy things to people,” She based her knowledge on what Ezra, Kanan, and Sabine had told her of their experience with the Nightsisters on Dathomir.

Then there came the sound of high-pitched laughter.

Hera looked around to see where the sound came from.“What was that?” she asked when she couldn’t find anything.

“The Lonchkins,” the woman replied. “They’re laughing because I’m a witch. My name is Ahsoka. I’m the Witch of the North,”

“You are?” Hera asked. “Really? Well, you’re not what I expected a witch to look like,” But appearances can be deceiving, Hera reminded herself.

“People are often surprised by what good witches look like,” Ahsoka told her. Then she made a large sweeping gesture with her arms. “The Lonchkins are happy because you have freed them from the Wicked Witch of the East,”

“Freed them?” Hera asked, “You mean the Lonchkins, or whatever they are, were enslaved by this Maketh Tua, the Wicked Witch of the East?” Hera narrowed her eyes, feeling less sorry for landing on the witch. “What are Lonchkins anyway?” Hera asked as an afterthought.

The high-pitched laughter came again.

“Yes,” Ahsoka answered. “The Lonchkins are the little people that live in this land, called Lonchkinland. And now, you are their national heroine,”

Ahsoka turned and opened her arms. “It’s alright,” she said, probably to the Lonchkins “You may all come out and thank her,”

Then, a bunch of very small people (the tallest didn’t even reach Hera’s chest) emerged from their hiding places in the plants and buildings and moved towards her and Ahsoka. They didn’t all look human. Hera could pick out a few species that she recognized, just in miniature.

Chopper cursed aload and Hera hoped that no one else understood Binary.

Ahsoka lead her to the center of the swirl in the middle of the plaza. All the while encouraging the Lonchkins to come closer. “Come out and meet the one who has freed you from the Wicked Witch of the East. She’s come all the way from Lothal”

“Well I didn’t intend to crash on her,” Hera admitted as the Lonchkins surrounded her, “But from what you’ve told me, I can’t say I regret it all that much,”

The Lonchkins didn’t seem to care much about that as they started celebrating.

Hera was pulled into the mix and lead to a carriage pulled by two small black horses. She was sat down and promptly thanked by some of the Lonchkin citizens.

Hera was just going along with whatever they were all doing at this point.

“Let the news be spread that Maketh Tua is dead!” Ahsoka proclaimed, raising her hands above her head.

The carriage started moving towards one of the larger and more extravagant looking buildings as the Lonchkins continued to celebrate. Chopper, upset at being left behind, turned on his rocket and flew over to her, surprising the Lonchkins even more.

The carriage stopped in front of the door and a Lonchkin wearing a very tall hat and a large pocket watch came out followed by a few others, with less extravagant hats and no pocket watches.

He helped Hera out of the carriage (although Hera didn’t need it) and removed his hat before saying, “As mayor of the Lonchkins City in the county of the land of Fulcrum, I welcome you most regally,”

He was prevented from saying anything further by a little concern of whether the witch was really dead, which was solved when the coroner confirmed her death, that Hera didn’t pay much attention to.

Then the mayor turned to the crowd of Lonchkins and said. “Then, this is a day of independence, for all the Lonchkins and their descendants! Let the joyous news be spread, the Wicked old Witch at last is dead!”

A cheer erupted from the Lonchkins crowd before they went back to celebrating, letting everyone know of the witch’s death.

Hera was welcomed to Lonchkinland by assorted groups of Lonchkins. Then the mayor proclaimed that she would go down in history, which Hera just took in without thinking much about it.

The Lonchkins were still celebrating when there was boom and a cloud of gray and red smoke appeared, sending the Lonchkins screaming and running back to their hiding places.

When the smoke cleared, there was a woman standing there. She was human, with bobbed black hair and wearing a long gray dress and a tall wide brimmed hat. She held a broomstick in one hand. She started walking around menacingly, terrifying the Lonchkins. She stopped by Hera’s downed X-Wing and looked around it. She definitely looked like a witch, but at the same time, she had a familiarity that Hera couldn’t quite figure out.

“I thought you said she was dead,” Hera whispered to Ahsoka.

“That was her sister,” Ahsoka answered. “The Wicked Witch of the East. This is Arihnda Pryce, the Wicked Witch of the West, and she’s worse than the other one was,”

“Who killed my sister?” the Witch of the West asked threateningly. “Who killed the Witch of the East!? Was it you?” she asked Hera.

Hera stood up tall. “I did,” she admitted. “Although it was more of an accident,”

“Well my little Twi’lek,” Arihnda Pryce replied. “I can cause accidents too-!”

“Aren’t you forgetting the Kyber Slippers?” Ahsoka interrupted.

The Witch paused. “The Slippers,” she said with a grin. “Yes!”

“The Slippers,” she said as she walked back to where Maketh Tua’s legs were sticking out from under Hera’s X-Wings. As she reached for the shoes, they disappeared and the legs flattened.

“They’re gone!” the Witch exclaimed. “The Kyber Slippers!”

She turned and stomped back over to Hera, Ahsoka, and Chopper. “What have you done with them?” she threatened. “Give them back to me or I’ll...”

“It’s too late,” Ahsoka interrupted again.

“There they are,” she said, pointing to Hera’s feet with her staff. “And there they’ll stay,”

Hera was surprised to see that her boots had been replaced with the Kyber Slippers.

“Give me back my slippers,” Arihnda Pryce ordered. “I’m the only one who knows how to use them. They’re of no use to you. Give them back to me! GIVE THEM BACK!”

“Keep tight inside of them,” Ahsoka told her. “Their magic must be very powerful, or she wouldn’t want them so badly,”

“You stay out of this Ahsoka or I’ll fix you as well,” the Witch snarled.

Ahsoka smirked. “You have no power here, and you’d better go before someone crashes something on you too,”

The Witch took a quick searching glance at the sky. “Very well, I’ll bide my time. And as for you my fine lady,” she said as she pointed at Hera. “It’s true I can’t attend to you here and now as I’d like, but just try to stay out of my way. Just try!”

Chopper took this opportunity to zap Arihnda Pryce with his shock prod.

She jumped back and growled at him.

“I’ll get you my pretty,” the Witch snarled at Hera. “AND YOUR LITTLE DROID TOO!”

The Witch stepped away and disappeared into another cloud of gray and red smoke, which then turned into a pillar of fire, and when that disappeared she was gone.

“It’s alright. You can get up. She’s gone,” Ahsoka told the Lonchkins. “It’s alright. You can all get up,”

Then she turned to Hera. “I’m afraid you’ve made rather a bad enemy of the Wicked Witch of the West. The sooner you get out of Fulcrum, the safer you’ll be,”

“Oh, I’d give anything to get out of Fulcrum,” Hera said. “But...what’s the way back to Lothal? I can’t go the way I came,” Hera eyed her crumpled X-Wing.

“No that’s true,” Ahsoka said. Then she thought for a moment. “The only person who might know would be the great Wizard of Fulcrum himself,”

“The Wizard of Fulcrum?” Hera asked. “Can he be trusted?”

“Yes,” Ahsoka answered. “I trust him,”

“He lives in the Crystal City, and that’s a long journey from here. Did you bring your broomstick with you?” Ahsoka asked.

Hera gave her a confused look. “No,” she replied. “No I didn’t,”

“Then you’ll have to walk,” Ahsoka said. “The Lonchkins will see you safely to the border of Lonchkinland. And remember, never let those Kyber Slippers off your feet for a moment, or you’ll be at the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West,”

“But how do I start for Crystal City?” Hera asked.

“It’s always best to start at the beginning,” Ahsoka replied. “And all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road,” She gestured to how the strip of yellow bricks branched off and lead through the city.

Hera and Chopper moved to stand on what was now known to be the Yellow Brick Road and looked out in the direction they were heading.

Then Hera turned back to Ahsoka. “But what happens if I...” she started to ask.

“Just followed the Yellow Brick Road,” Ahsoka interrupted as she started fading into her white and black circle until she completely disappeared. Then the circle shrank and flew off.

The Lonchkins waved goodbye as it disappeared from sight.

“Well that’s one way to get around,” Hera mumbled.

Then she turned to her droid. “Come on Chopper. Let’s get going,”

They followed the Yellow Brick Road through Lonchkinland. And true to Ahsoka’s word, the Lonchkins stayed with them until they reached a gate that was probably the border of Lonchkinland.

They continued down the Yellow Brick Road as the Lonchkins waved goodbye. Hera spared a wave back at them before heading on her way.

After a while, Hera and Chopper reached an intersection. The Yellow Brick Road branched off into three separate paths.

“Now which way do we go?” Hera asked after looking down each path.

“Uuuuuh...” A voice said behind her. “Well that way is a very nice way,”

Hera turned around and saw a scarecrow hanging on a pole with one arm pointing to the path on her right. Then she looked around. “Who said that?”

Chopper started blabbering and pointed at the scarecrow.

“Chopper it’s just a scarecrow,” Hera scolded. “He can’t talk,”

“Course it’s pleasant down that way too,” the voice said again.

Hera looked up and saw the scarecrow pointing to the path on her left. “Huh, wasn’t he pointing the other way?” she asked Chopper.

Chopper replied that of course the sack of hay had been pointing the other way.

“Of course people do go both ways,” This time Hera saw the scarecrow cross his arms over each other and she was sure he was the one talking.

“You did talk, didn’t you,” Hera said as she approached him.

The scarecrow just stared at her. Then slowly he nodded.

“Are you doing that on purpose?” Hera asked, annoyed. “Or can’t you make up your mind?”

“Well that’s the problem,” the scarecrow replied. “I can’t make up my mind. I don’t have a brain, just straw,” He lifted his hat to show the straw sticking out of his head that looked a little like hair.

“Then how can you talk if you don’t have a brain?” Hera asked.

“I don’t know,” the scarecrow said. “But I guess I need a way to ask my questions somehow. And I’ve been told I ask a lot questions,”

“Alright,” Hera said, unable to come up with a good argument. “Are you okay up there?” she asked as she climbed over the fence and got closer to him.

“Not really,” he admitted. “I’m stuck up here with a pole up my back all day,”

“Can’t you get down?” Hera asked.

“No,” the scarecrow answered, reaching behind his neck. “Cuz’ I’m tied to the pole,”

“Little help?” he asked.

“Oh of course,” Hera said, walking behind the pole.

“Thank you,” the scarecrow said.

Hera started fiddling around to see how to get the the scarecrow down. “Hey Chopper, can you give me a hand with this?”

Chopper came rolling over.

“Have you tried pulling the nail down in the back?” the scarecrow asked. “I don’t know if it will work, but it might,”

Hera found the nail he was talking about and pulled. As soon as she did, the scarecrow slid down the pole and on to the ground.

When he landed, some of his straw flew out. “Oops, there I go again,” the scarecrow said as he started gathering the straw.

“Are you alright?” Hera asked as she came up to him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to stuff this back in,” The scarecrow said, sticking the straw in his green shirt.

Then he stood up and started to take a step. “It’s good to be free...” he said before he tripped over the fence and landed on the ground.

Hera gasped and rushed over to him.

“Did I scare you?” the scarecrow asked with a grin.

“No, I’d thought you’d hurt yourself,” Hera replied, concerned.

“But I didn’t scare ya?” he asked.

“Of course not, it takes a lot more than someone falling over to really scare me,” Hera said.

“Didn’t think so,” the scarecrow said disappointedly, resting his elbow on his knee and setting his chin on his hand.

Hera finally got a good look at his face. Besides the faded red patch over his nose, he had a brown patch that covered his chin. And his eyes. His eyes were a sparkling teal that stood out against the rest of his face. Hera also noticed a bundle of straw that stuck out the back of his head under his hat that almost looked like a ponytail. His features seemed familiar, but Hera couldn’t remember where she’d seen them before.

A crow flew over and landed on the fence beside them.

“Go on. Get outta here!” the scarecrow said, waving his hand at it. “Shoo!”

The crow poked at him a bit and then flew away.

“See? I can’t even scare a crow,” he said. “I’m a failure, because I haven’t got a brain,”

“Well what would you do with a brain if you had one?” Hera asked, unable to stop herself from getting pulled into this conversation.

“Well if I had a brain, I could find the answer to any question had,” the scarecrow answered, standing up. But he stumbled when he tried to take a step and Hera had to stand up and steady him.

“I’d been able to understand how things happen and why they happen a certain way,” he continued, starting to walk around. “I could even figure out new ways of doing things,” He said as he turned to face her and spread his arms out wide, walking backwards. Then he tripped on a loose brick and fell flat on his butt on the Yellow Brick Road. A few clumps of straw fell out of him when he did.

Hera couldn’t help but chuckle at his antics. She walked over and helped him gather up his straw. “Well there certainly aren’t any scarecrows like you on Lothal,” she commented, which was true.

“Lothal?” the scarecrow asked. “Where’s Lothal?”

“It’s where I was before I ended up in Fulcrum,” Hera answered. “And I don’t know how to get back. That’s why I’m going to Crystal City to see if the Wizard of Fulcrum can help me,”

“Oh, and Chopper too,” she added as the droid came up to her.

“You’re going to see a wizard?” the scarecrow asked. “Do you think if I came with you the Wizard would give me some brains?”

“I don’t know,” Hera answered, realising he was offering to go with her and she found she didn’t mind that prospect. “But even if he didn’t you wouldn’t be any worse off than you are now,”

“That’s true,” the scarecrow admitted.

Then Hera remembered the Wicked Witch of the West.

“Wait, maybe you’d better not. I’ve got a witch mad at me and you might get into trouble,” Hera said.

“Witch?” the scarecrow asked. “I’m not afraid of a witch. I’m not afraid of anything,”

“Except a lighted match,” he added, more quietly to just her, tugging on a bit of straw.

“I don’t blame you for that,” Hera replied.

“But I’d face a whole box of them for a chance at getting some brains,” the scarecrow said. He turned to face her. “Look, I would be any trouble because I don’t eat a thing, and I won’t try to manage things because I can’t think. Won’t you take me with you?” he begged.

Hera found that she couldn’t deny him his request. And it would be nice to have someone other than Chopper for company. Plus, who knows, maybe he’d be helpful in dealing with the Wicked Witch.

“Well of course you can come,” Hera said, standing up.

“Alright!” the scarecrow said as he joined her. “We’re off to see a wizard!” He jumped in the air. He stumbled when he landed and Hera had to catch him before he fell.

“You’re not starting off very well,” Hera said as she helped him stand again.

“Oh I’ll try. Really I will,” the scarecrow said.

“Well, to Fulcrum?” she asked.

“To Fulcrum,” the scarecrow confirmed, offering her his elbow.

“By the way, what’s your name?” he asked.

“It’s Hera,” Hera answered, taking his elbow. “And that’s Chopper,” she pointed to the droid. “What about you?”

“You can just call me Scarecrow,” he replied. “I don’t really have any other name to go by,”

“Okay,” Hera said. “Let’s get going,”

“Yeah, but which way do we go?” Scarecrow asked.

They ended up choosing the path that went straight through the intersection after Chopper pointed out that Ahsoka, the Good Witch, probably would have told them if they needed to turn anywhere.

They continued walking for some time. They talked along the way. Scarecrow told her about how long he’d been trying (and failing) to keep the crows out of that field and all that had happened during that time. Hera told him about what had happened before she ended up in Fulcrum and what she’d been doing since she arrived.

After a while, Hera started to feel hungry.

“You’re hungry?” Scarecrow asked. “But I thought only crows got hungry,”

“All living things need to eat,” Hera said, although she was reminded of how often she skipped meals in order to get more work done.

I don’t need to eat,” Scarecrow said. Then his eyes widened. “Does that mean I’m not alive?”

Hera shook her head. “No, Chopper doesn’t need to eat either and you both are some of the liveliest people I know,”

“Why, thank you,” Scarecrow said. “Just for that, you can eat as much of my hay as you like,” He reached in his shirt to pull out a handful and extended it to her.

Hera giggled. “That’s very sweet of you, but I can’t,”

“Why not? I’ll be fine,” Scarecrow said. “As long as my legs are stuffed enough to walk, it doesn’t matter what shape my top half is in. Besides I’d rather make sure you’re alright,”

“No,” Hera said. “It’s just that I don’t eat hay,”

“Oh,” Scarecrow said, lowering his hand. “Well if you say so,” He stuffed the straw back in his shirt.

Then Hera noticed something in the trees. “Oh look Scarecrow, apples,”

“Apples,” Scarecrow repeated. “What’s apples?”

“In the trees,” Hera answered, pointing.

Scarecrow looked. “You mean those little red birds hanging upside-down by one leg?” He asked.

“No, they’re something you eat,” Hera said as she walked up to the tree. Although some birds can be eaten, she thought.

Hera tried to pick one, but then her hand was suddenly slapped away.

“Ow!” she yelped.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the tree asked accusingly.

“Well we’ve been walking a long way and I was hungry,” Hera said automatically. Then she paused. Something wasn’t right here. “Did you just say something?”

“She was hungry,” the tree mocked to the other trees.

“She was hungry,” another tree repeated.

“How would you like it if someone came up and picked something off of you?” a third tree asked.

The trees had a point, but Hera would be more sympathetic if they weren’t actual talking trees that bore actual fruit that would eventually fall off and would grow back every year. Besides, Hera’s day had been crazy enough already and she didn’t need trees with attitude added on to that right now.

Chopper zapped the first tree, but it had no effect.

“I keep forgetting I’m not on a sensible planet any more,” Hera groaned.

“Come on Hera,” Scarecrow said. “You don’t want any of those apples, yuck,”

What was he doing?

“Are you implying that my apples aren’t what they ought to be?” the first tree asked.

“Oh no, it’s just that she doesn’t like little green worms,” Scarecrow replied.

“Did he just say we had worms?” the first tree asked the others.

“That’s what it sounded like to me,” the second tree said.

“I’ll show ya how to get apples,” Scarecrow whispered to Hera. Then he started leading her away, taking louder to the trees as he walked. “Sure you got worms; worms, caterpillars, probably a whole bunch of woodlice too,”

The trees gasped offendedly. “How dare you! Let him have it girls!”

The trees started throwing apples at them and Scarecrow turned around in time to start catching them. Hera turned around and gathered the apples that had ended up on the ground, with Chopper’s help.

They all had their arms full before the trees stopped throwing apples at them.

“Run, Hera!” Scarecrow yelled.

They ran down the Yellow Brick Road dodging apple projectiles.

Once they were out of range, Scarecrow turned around and performed a rather clumsy bow in the trees’ direction. “Goodbye ladies! Pleasure doing business with you!” he said before continuing to get away from them.

They ended up with more apples than Hera could eat. Fortunately Hera’s skirt had large pockets that held most of the leftover apples and the rest were tossed in the bushes for the wild animals to eat.

The Yellow Brick Road lead them into a dark forest. The bushes were so overgrown they covered parts of the Road, making Scarecrow stumble more than usual, and the trees blocked out the sun almost completely. Hera, Chopper, and Scarecrow stayed close together as unseen creatures made noises all around them.

“Don’t like this forest,” Hera said. “It’s dark and...creepy,”

“I’m not really sure,” Scarecrow commented. “But I think it’ll get darker before it gets lighter,”

“Do you think we’ll meet anything in here?” Hera asked, to both Chopper and Scarecrow.

“We might,” Scarecrow replied. While Chopper said he wouldn’t let anything touch her.

Suddenly the air was filled with a great roar of anguish that made Hera jump and Scarecrow stumble backwards.

“What was that?” Scarecrow asked once he recovered.

“I don’t know” Hera answered, glancing around.

Then there was a despairing cry that activated Hera’s kindhearted desire to help someone in need.

“Sounds like someone’s in trouble. Come on, we need to see if they need any help,” Hera said, gesturing for Chopper and Scarecrow to follow her as she left the Yellow Brick Road and took off in the direction of the cries.

“Are you sure about this?” Scarecrow asked as he trudged after her.

“Yes!” Hera answered, looking back at him.

“Is she always like this?” Scarecrow asked Chopper.

Chopper replied that yes, yes she was. Although Scarecrow couldn’t understand his answer.

Hera went around a tree and gasped at the sight before her. When Scarecrow and Chopper caught up to her, they were equally as shocked.

There were remains of over a dozen huts that looked to have either been burned or crushed.

A sob drew their attention away from the destroyed huts to a hairy purple beast kneeling in a pile of rubble.

“It’s...gone. It’s gone!” the beast sobbed and Hera, Scarecrow, and Chopper approached. “Why?”

“Are you alright?” Hera asked, concerned, as she kneeled down next to him. This close, Hera could see that he had heavily muscled arms, tall pointed ears, and lime green eyes. Again, he seemed familiar, but Hera couldn’t figure out for the life of her where she’d seen him before.

“It’s gone! The Wicked Witch destroyed everything,” the beast cried.

“What’s gone?” Scarecrow asked.

The beast finally looked up at them. “My village,” he answered. “It was my job to protect them and I failed,” He stood up and Hera stood up with him. “I failed. I don’t have any honor or courage,”

“Oh, don’t say that,” Hera comforted. “I’m sure you did everything you could,” She and Scarecrow started to guide him away from the village and toward the Yellow Brick Road. “That doesn’t mean you don’t have any honor or courage,”

“If I had any, I sure as hell don’t anymore,” the beast grumbled.

They were silent for moment, until they reached the Yellow Brick Road.

Then Scarecrow asked, “Hera, Do you think the Wizard could help him too?”

“I don’t see why not,” Hera said.

“Who? What?” the beast asked.

Hera turned to face him. “We’re on our way to Crystal City to see the Wizard of Fulcrum, and were wondering if you’d like to come with us to see if he can help you too,”

“Are you sure you want me to come with you?” the beast asked.

“Of course,” Hera reassured, placing a hand on his arm.

The beast looked at her, then at Scarecrow and Chopper. “Alright, I’ll come with you,”

Hera smiled. “Great,”

“Oh, and I’m Scarecrow, she’s Hera, and that’s Chopper,” Scarecrow said, pointing to each of them in turn. “How ‘bout you?”

“Lasat,” he answered.

“Okay, let’s go,” Hera said.

Lasat and Scarecrow both extended their elbows to her and Hera took them. They walked down the Yellow Brick Road for a few minutes before Lasat suddenly stopped.

“Wait, what if the Wizard won’t help me, or any of us, when we get there?” he asked.

“I’m sure he will,” Hera answered. “I doubt the Good Witch of the North would have had me travel such a long way if she didn’t believe he would help,”

There was a loud cackling laugh from one of the trees. The group turned to see the Wicked Witch standing beside the tree a few feet away from them.

“You call that long?” Arihnda Pryce snarled. “Why, you’ve only just begun,”

Lasat growled. “You,” he accused, approaching her with a fist raised. “You were the one who-”

He was cut off as a wave of the Witch’s hand sent him stumbling back.

“Yes, and it almost served its purpose,” she replied coldly. She took in the entire group. “And now I see your helping the little Twi’lek along, my fine gentlemen,”

Scarecrow slowly moved in front of Hera.

The Witch noticed.

“You stay away from her, scarecrow or I’ll stuff a mattress with you,” Arihnda Pryce threatened. “And as for you, Lasat, I’ll turn you into a throw rug,”

“I’m not afraid of you!” Scarecrow said bravely.

“Well that just proves you don’t have a brain,” she responded. Then she started doing something with her hands. “Here scarecrow, allow me to educate you. Want to play ball!”

The Witch produced a fireball and threw it at their feet.

Scarecrow was the one panicking the most as they all scrambled to get away from the fire, until Chopper put it out with one of his attachments.

“Just remember scarecrow, helping that Twi’lek reach the Crystal City could be you last burning ambition!” Arihnda Pryce finished as she disappeared in another cloud of gray and red smoke.

“I’m still not afraid of her,” Scarecrow said, straightening up after she was gone.

“I’ll see you get safely to the Wizard whether I get a brain or not,” he told Hera. “Stuff a mattress with me, heh!” He waved his hand at where the Witch had been.

“And I’ll see you reach the Wizard, whether I get honor and courage or not,” Lasat added. “Throw rug? Ha! Let ‘er try and make a throw rug outta me!” He glared at the spot the Witch had been standing.

“Thank you,” Hera said. “You’re the best companions anyone could ever want on a journey like this,

“Although I wish I could remember why you both seem so familiar,’ she sighed. “Well I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. We know each other now and that’s all we know right now,”

“That’s right,” Scarecrow replied.

“We do,” Lasat added.

“To Fulcrum?” Scarecrow asked, extending his elbow again.

“To Fulcrum,” Lasat repeated, copying him.

“To Fulcrum,” Hera confirmed, taking their elbows again.

They continued to walking down the Yellow Brick Road and out of the dark forest without any further interruptions. (Unless you count Scarecrow’s stumbling)

They continued down the Yellow Brick Road. Hera and Scarecrow filled Lasat in on their stories and why they were going to Crystal City while he told them about what his life had been like in his village.

Eventually, they came upon a light curve in the Yellow Brick Road. The group would have continued on if a flash of silver hadn’t caught Hera’s eye. When she turned to get a better look, Hera couldn’t believe what she saw.

She lifted her arms to stop Lasat and Scarecrow. “Wait,” she said.

Even Chopper stopped.

“Look,” Hera said, pointing. “ It’s a person made out of metal,”

Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, and Lasat approached the figure. Up close, it looked distinctly female, but it was hard to be completely sure with the helmet they were wearing. It was stuck in a running position, as if they were frozen mid-stride, and they were holding a dagger in each hand. And although their body looked to be completely made of metal, the metal being was also wearing armor that, along with the helmet, was covered in faded streaks of color, like it had been painted at some point but had been left alone since.

As they were looking at it, a muffled noise came from the metal being’s mouth and they all looked up.

“Did you say something?” Hera asked.

The metal being repeated themselves and Hera understood what they said.

“They said oil can,” Hera told the others.

“Oil can what?” Scarecrow asked.

“Oil can,” Hera repeated, looking around.

“Oh,” Hera said when she saw Chopper found it. “Thanks Chopper. Here it is,” She took it from him and faced the metal being again. “Where do you want to be oiled first?” she asked.

The metal being tried to say something else, and this time Scarecrow was the first to understand.

“She said her helmet,” Scarecrow said, taking the oil can from Hera. He oiled the helmet everywhere he could reach on his side, including where the helmet met neck, before Hera took it from him to get the other side.

When they finished, Hera placed both hands on the helmet and tried to move it. “Can I take this off?” she asked.

After receiving a muffled affirmative, Hera tugged the helmet off.

“Th-th-thank you,” the metal girl said. “Now people can actually hear me. My helmet was so rusted I couldn’t get a sound out. Oil my arms please. Oil my elbows,”

With her brown eyes and multicolored metal hair, Hera thought she looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite remember where she’d seen anyone like this girl before, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had.

Hera, Scarecrow, and Lasat passed the oil can around and oiled her arms.

“And my legs too, please,” she added.

They continued to oil her until they were pretty sure they had gotten everywhere. Then Lasat tried to help her move her left arm and nearly got stabbed in the eye for his efforts. Hera tried to help her move her right arm and successfully pushed it down. It fell with a clang.

“Does that hurt you?” Hera asked.

“No,” the metal girl said with relief. “It feels wonderful. I’ve had my arms stuck like that for ages,”

“How did you ever get like this?” Hera asked.

“Well,” the metal girl replied. “When I was flesh and blood like you, I left my family to work for the Wicked Witch of the West. I was one of the people who made weapons for her armies and my family was proud. An accident cost me my body, but fortunately I knew a Beskar worker who gave me a new body just as good as my old one and I could still wear my armor. Then I got a little too carried away in my experimentation and the Witch took advantage of it, so I left. I tried to go back to my family, but they had heard about what my invention had done to our people and rejected me. They chased me out of their territory and I just kept running. Then I started to rain and I rusted solid before I could find shelter. And I’ve been here ever since,”

That was way more information than Hera had expected, or asked for, or what was considered normal any other place she’d been, but alright, at least it was informative.

“Well,” Hera said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re alright now,”

The girl’s head turned sharply toward her. Her neck creaked and she grimaced. “My n-” she started, but Scarecrow already had the oil can and oiled her neck.

“Alright?” she asked. “Just bang on my chest if you think I’m alright,”

Hera, Chopper, Lasat, and Scarecrow hesitated. Hera certainly wasn’t expecting the conversation to go in this direction.

“Go ahead, bang on it!” the girl said again.

Finally, Hera hit the girls chest. There was a revertabrating bang.

“Wow, what an echo,” Scarecrow observed.

“It’s empty,” the metal girl sighed. “The Beskar worker didn’t give me a heart,”

“No heart!” Scarecrow, Hera, and Lasat all blurted out at the same time, although Hera wasn’t entirely sure why she did.

“Of course I don’t have a heart!” the beskar girl wailed. “How could anyone who did what I did ever have a heart!” She started to cry. Then her face started to stiffen unnaturally.

“I think you’re rusting again,” Hera said, drying the girl’s eyes with the handkerchief she just happened to have in her pocket. Then she took the oil can from Scarecrow and oiled her face again.

Lasat and Scarecrow started whispering. Then Lasat said. “We’re going to Crystal City. Why don’t you come with us to ask the Wizard of Fulcrum for a heart,”

He looked at Hera to see if she was okay with it. Hera didn’t have a problem with the girl coming along so she gave him an encouraging smile and a nod.

“Do you really think he would?” the beskar girl asked.

“At this point,” Hera answered. “I’d be surprised if the Wizard refuses to see any of us, with the size of our group,”

“Alright, I’ll go with you,” the beskar girl said after a moment,

“Great,” Lasat said with a grin. “I’m Lasat, she’s Hera, he’s Scarecrow, and that’s Chopper,”

“Call me Beskargirl,” she replied.

“Alright,” Hera said. “Let’s get going,”

The quartet linked arms and continued down the Yellow Brick Road.

***

Far away in her castle, the Wicked Witch of the West was watching them through her crystal ball.

“Aha!” she laughed. “So you won’t take a warning. All the worse for you. I’ll take care of you now instead of later,” Arihnda Pryce walked over to a nearby table and started mixing something. “When I have those Kyber Slippers, my power will be the greatest in Fulcrum!” She picked up what she’d been mixing and walked back over to her crystal ball. “And now my beauties. Something with poison in it I think, with poison in it, but attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell,” She laughed and started sprinkling her mixture over her crystal ball. “Poppies!” she chanted. “Poppies! Poppies will put them to sleep,”

“Now they’ll sleep,”

***

Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Lasat, and Beskargirl followed the Yellow Brick Road through some more trees and came upon an enormous poppy field.

“There’s Crystal City!” Hera guessed, pointing to the tall sparkling city on the other side of the poppy field. Strangely, the Yellow Brick Road curved around the poppy field instead of cutting straight through. “We’re almost there. If only the Yellow Brick Road didn’t curve so much,”

“Well we could just run across the poppy field,” Scarecrow suggested.

“Yeah, that’ll be shorter,” Lasat agreed. “Let’s go!”

Hera couldn’t see why they couldn’t just cut across the poppy field. “Sure, come on Chopper. It’ll be faster this way,”

They all started running across the poppy field. It wasn’t long before Hera and Lasat started lagging behind.

“Come on! Come on!” Scarecrow called.

“Hurry! Hurry!” Beskargirl shouted.

Chopper was a bit concerned with Hera’s pace but continued moving.

Scarecrow and Beskargirl reached a small hill.

“Oh, look!” Scarecrow shouted, when he reached the top of the hill, pointing towards the city. “Oh. Look, you can see it here. Crystal City!”

Hera was the last one up the hill, and she was breathing heavily. Lasat was too.

“What’s happening?” Hera panted. “Something’s wrong. I can’t run anymore. I’m so tired,”

Hera didn’t understand why she suddenly felt so tired.

Scarecrow reached for her hand and Chopper put a manipulator on her back.

“Here, give us your hands and we’ll pull you along,” Scarecrow offered, taking her hand.

Hera felt like she needed to lay down. “No,” she said. “I need to rest for just a minute,” Hera lowered herself to the ground and laid down among the poppies.

“But you can’t rest now, we’re almost there,” Scarecrow protested.

Chopper prodded at her arm, but she had already fallen asleep.

“Ooooh,” Beskargirl groaned and sobbed at the same time.

“Hey, don’t do that. You’ll rust yourself again,” Scarecrow told her.

Then Lasat yawned. “Come to think of it,” he yawned again. “A couple of winks wouldn’t be so bad,”

He started to lay down but Scarecrow and Beskargirl stopped him.

“Don’t you start it too,” Scarecrow scolded, setting him back up.

“Maybe we could try and carry Hera,” Beskargirl suggested.

“I don’t think I could, but we could try,” Scarecrow replied.

They let go of Lasat to go over to Hera, and as soon as they let go, he toppled over and fell asleep.

“Oh, look at him,” Beskargirl groaned. “This is terrible,”

“Come here, Beskargirl. Help me,” Scarecrow said, reaching for Hera.

Both of them, and Chopper, tried to move her, but she wouldn’t budge.

“Oh, this is terrible,” Scarecrow said. “Can’t move her an inch,” He looked around. “This has to be a spell,”

“The Wicked Witch,” Beskargirl gasped. “What do we do?”

She looked around. “Help!” She screamed. “Help!”

“It’s no use yelling at a time like this!” Scarecrow shouted. “Nobody will hear you!”

He looked at Hera’s face again. Chopper was still beside her and was pointing her gently with his manipulator, but she wouldn’t wake up. She looked so peaceful.

“Heeelp!” Scarecrow suddenly yelled. “Heeelp! Heeelp!”

The Good Witch’s white lined circle appeared, although Scarecrow and Beskargirl couldn’t see it. She looked through it and saw their predicament.

“I hear you Scarecrow,” Ahsoka said. “And although I cannot undo the magic of the Wicked Witch, perhaps a little magic of my own will help,” She waved her staff and snow started to fall over the poppy field. Then she disappeared.

“It’s snowing!” Scarecrow exclaimed.

“No it isn’t,” Beskargirl replied doubtfully.

“Yes it is,” Scarecrow insisted as the snow got more visible. “Maybe it’ll help,”

“Oh, it couldn’t help,” Beskargirl said, already stiffening, as the snow covered the sleeping curse and Hera started to wake up.

“It does help,” Scarecrow said, kneeling beside Hera. “Hera, you’re waking up!”

“Oh,” Hera yawned as she sat up.

Lasat yawned loudly and sat up. “Unusual weather we’re having,” He commented as snow covered his head.

Then they all noticed Beskargirl. She was frozen in place as she was covered in snow.

“Look, she’s rusted again,” Hera said. “Give me the oil can, quick!”

Hera, Chopper, and Scarecrow got up and started searching for it.

“Where is it?” Scarecrow asked.

Lasat noticed there was something under his bottom and reached for it.

“I just realised something,” Lasat said.

“What?” Hera asked.

“I was sitting on it,” He replied as he got it out and handed it to her.

Scarecrow and Lasat helped Hera oil Beskargirl so she could move again.

***

Back at her castle, the Wicked Witch of the West saw that Hera was awake through her crystal ball. She was not pleased.

“Curses! Curses!” Arihnda Pryce fumed. “Someone always helps that Twi’lek! Shoes or no shoes I’m still brave enough to conquer her! And woe to those who try to stop me!”

***

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Hera said once Beskargirl could move again. “Look! Crystal City is closer than ever,”

The group linked arms and walked through the rest of the poppies and back onto the Yellow Brick Road. They were almost to Crystal City.

***

The Wicked Witch snarled. “That’s it! I’m going to Crystal City myself!” She got on her broomstick and flew off towards the Crystal City.

***

Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat reached the gates of Crystal City. They were shut, but there was a rope with a tassel on the end of it hanging from the doorframe. Hera pulled on it and a bell rang.

A small round door opened just above their heads and a man stuck his head out.

“Who rang that bell?” the guard asked. He looked old, had a bald head, fluffy white beard, and brown eyes. Just like almost everyone else Hera had met in this land, he bore a sort of familiarity Hera couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“We did!” Hera, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat said at the same time.

“Can’t you read?” the guard asked.

“Read what?” Scarecrow asked.

“The notice!” the guard answered.

“What notice?” Hera and Scarecrow both asked.

“It’s on the door,” the guard replied. “As plain as the nose on my face,” He looked around as if he looking to point it out to them. “It’s...aahhh, oh,” he said when even he couldn’t find it. “Just a minute,”

He disappeared behind the door and reappeared with a sign that he hung on a hook next to him. Then he shut his little door.

Hera, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat gathered around the sign and read it aloud.

“Bell out of order, please knock,”

Hera knocked and the guard opened his little door again.

“Well, that’s more like it,” the guard said. “Now, state your business,”

“We want to see the Wizard!” Hera, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat all declared.

The guard shook his head. “The Wizard? But nobody can see the Great Fulcrum. No one’s ever seen the Great Fulcrum! Even I’ve never seen him,”

“Well, then how do you know there is one?” Hera asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn’t appreciate being made to come all this way for nothing.

The guard clearly wasn’t expecting that question. “Because he...ah... because...because...” the guard fumbled. “Well if there wasn’t a wizard, then why would you be here? Now go on, you’re wasting my time,” He moved to disappear behind the door again.

“But I’ve got to see the Wizard,” Hera said. “The Good Witch of the North sent me,”

The guard’s eyes flared in recognition. “Ahsoka?” he asked, then his eyes narrowed. “Prove it,”

“She’s wearing the Kyber Slippers she gave her,” Scarecrow said pointing to Hera’s feet. Hera stuck out her toes so they were more visible.

The guard bent over for a better look. When he saw the shoes he smiled. “So she is. Well bust my buttons! Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” He asked. “That’s a horse of a different color! Come on in!”

The guard disappeared again, but it wasn’t a full second before the gates opened and Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat got their first look at Crystal City. There were people everywhere, just walking about their business.

A carriage pulled by a white horse rode up to them. “Cabbie! Cabbie!” the driver shouted. He looked almost exactly like the guard; the exception being he was cleanly shaven and wore a near permanent grin. This meant he also bore the same confusing familiarity as the guard. “Just what you’re looking for! We’ll take you anyplace in the city you want!”

“Would you take us to see the Wizard?” Hera asked.

“The Wizard?” the driver repeated. “The Wizard? Well...I... Yes, of course! But first I’ll take you to a little place where you can tidy up a bit,”

“Oh, thank you so much,” Hera said as Scarecrow helped her into the carriage, after which he and the others followed her in. “Although that really isn’t necessary as we need-” Hera cut herself off as she got another look at the horse pulling the carriage, for it had turned purple. “What kind of a horse is that? I’ve never seen a horse like that before,”

The driver laughed. “And I doubt you will again! There’s only one of him! He’s the horse of a different color you’ve heard about!”

“Oh,” Hera said as everyone took their seats.

The driver drove them through Crystal City as the horse continued change from purple to red to yellow and other colors, fascinating Beskargirl.

As promised, the driver did take them to a place where he insisted they get cleaned up.

Scarecrow got fresh new straw, Beskargirl was polished and got her dents fixed, Hera’s dress was cleaned and her nails were polished, and Lasat’s fur was washed and trimmed. Even Chopper was wiped down.

Just as they were all walking out, everyone looked up at the sky and the townspeople screamed. The Wicked Witch was flying above them, with a cloud of smoke trailing behind her, and she was writing with it.

“The Witch!” Hera exclaimed. “She followed us here!”

“Surrender Hera,” Beskargirl read aloud.

“Hera? Who’s Hera?” One of the townspeople asked.

“The Wizard will explain it!” Another one suggested.

“To the Wizard!” A third announced.

“To the Wizard!” the crowd repeated as it started to move.

“We’d better hurry if we’re gonna see the Wizard,” Scarecrow said. Then Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat took off.

They didn’t manage to beat the crowd to the Wizard’s door. A guard was standing at the top of the steps trying to calm them down. He had amber eyes, strawberry-blond hair, neatly kept mutton chops, and wore a stoic expression. He was also yet another person Hera thought looked familiar but couldn’t remember why.

“Here! Here!” the guard shoutd. “Everything is alright! Everything is alright! The great and powerful Fulcrum has matters well in hand!”

“I hope,” Hera heard the guard say under his breath.

“So you can all go home,” the guard continued to the crowd. “There’s nothing to worry about. Go on! Get out of here. Go on home now,”

Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat pushed their way up to the door as the crowd started leaving and approached the guard.

“Excuse me,” Hera said. “We want to see the Wizard right away. All of us,”

“Orders are no one can see the great Fulcrum,” the guard replied. “Not nobody, not nohow,”

“Please, it’s very important,” Hera insisted.

“Not nobody, not nohow!” the guard repeated.

“But she’s Hera,” Scarecrow piped up.

“The Witch’s Hera?” the guard asked. He thought for a moment. “Well that makes a difference. Just wait here and I’ll announce you at once,” He turned around and walked through the door.

“Did you hear that?” Scarecrow asked. “He’ll announce us at once! We’ll get what we want in no time!”

Chopper beeped out a long string of binary and waved his arms around.

Hera smiled. “Yeah Chopper, I hope we’ll get back in time to get back in the fight,”

“Yeah, things’ll work out for everyone,” Lasat added with a hopeful grin.

“Wait Hera,” Scarecrow said, placing a hand on her arm. “What do you mean ‘get back in the fight’? Is there something wrong in Lothal? What are you fighting there?”

Hera sighed. “Yes, you see-”

She was cut off when the door was flung open and the guard stepped out.

“The Wizard says go away,” he announced before turning around and going back inside, shutting the door behind him.

“Go away?” They all repeated.

“Looks like we came a long way for nothing,” Scarecrow said solemnly.

“Oh,” Hera sighed, sitting down on the steps, the others kneeled down and surrounded her. “I thought I was getting back to the Rebellion,”

“Don’t worry, Hera,” Beskargirl comforted. “We’ll get you to the Wizard,”

“We certainly will,” Scarecrow declared.

Behind them, the guard had opened a small window in the door and was watching them.

“The Empire has such a strong grip on Lothal and so many other planets,” Hera continued, crestfallen. “We were trying to destroy their Tie Defender Factory so the Rebellion would have a better chance of succeeding, but I don’t think we made it. Now I’m stuck here and I don’t know what’s happening on Lothal right now,”

The guard’s face softened. He was suddenly concerned about this Lothal and what the Empire was doing to it. “You needn't worry anymore,” the guard said, making everyone turn to look at him. “I’ll get you in to see the Wizard somehow. Come along now,” He disappeared behind the door again.

Then it opened and Hera, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, Lasat, and Chopper all walked through. There was a long corridor. They all walked down it until they reached a set of doors, which they all stopped in front of.

“Here we go,” Scarecrow said as they all steeled themselves.

“Come forward!” a large booming voice commanded as the doors opened.

“Karabast,” Lasat said.

They all linked arms and walked into the room. There were trays of smoke framing what looked like an organ. They erupted into fire as an face appeared on the organ.

“I am Fulcrum!” the face announced with the same booming voice from before. “The Great and Powerful!” Pillars of smoke and fire rose as he said those words. “Who are you?”

Hera stepped forward. “I’m Hera Syndulla,” she answered. “We’ve come to ask you-”

“Silence!” the Wizard interrupted.

Hera took a step back.

“The Great and Powerful Fulcrum knows why you have come,” he continued. “Step forward Beskargirl,”

Beskargirl had no choice but to do as he said.

“You dare come to me for a heart, do you?” the Wizard asked. “You clinking, clanking, clattering mass of malformed metal!”

Well Hera thought that was unnecessary.

“Y-yes sir... yes your honor,” Beskargirl stuttered. “You see, a while back we were walking down the-”

“Quiet!” the Wizard interrupted, sending Beskargirl scurying back the the rest of the group.

“And you, Scarecrow!” the Wizard continued. Scarecrow stumbled forward. “Have the effrontery to ask for a brain. You billowing bale of bovine fodder!”

Again, Hera thought that was a little to much.

Scarecrow had ended up on his knees. “Y-yes your honor... I mean your excellency...” He fumbled. “I mean your Wizardry...”

“Enough!” the Wizard shouted. “And you, Lasat!” Lasat stepped forward and looked up at the Wizard’s face. “Well?!?”

Lasat stood frozen, unable to get any words out.

Hera had just about enough of this. She pushed past Lasat to face the Wizard herself. “You should be ashamed of yourself!” Hera scolded. “Scaring us all when we came to you for help!”

“Silence, Twi’lek!” the Wizard ordered. “The magnificent Fulcrum as ever intention of granting your requests!”

Well he sure had a funny way of showing it.

Even Lasat perked up at the Wizard’s announcement.

“But first you must prove yourselves worthy, by performing a small task,” the Wizard continued.

Now what?

“Bring me the broomstick of the Witch of the West!” the Wizard declared.

That?

“But we’ll have to kill her to get it,” Beskargirl said.

“Bring me here broomstick, and I’ll grant your requests,” the Wizard repeated. “Now go!”

“But what if she kills us first?” Lasat asked.

“I said go!” the Wizard ordered.

“Alright, we’re going!” Scarecrow hollered as they all rushed out of the room.

Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat received directions to the Witch’s castle from one of the guards and started on their way.

They reached the Haunted Forest some time later. Beskargirl had her daggers out and Hera, Scarecrow, and Lasat had all they could find in Crystal City that they thought could be of use.

There was a sign that read:

Haunted Forest

Witches Castle

1 Mile

It pointed in the direction they were headed.

Below it, another sign read:

I’d turn

Back if I

Were you!

They all took a deep breath and continued on. Lasat started growling as they walked.

Strange noises started coming from the trees. They looked and saw owls and vultures with glowing red eyes, and there was an unrecognizable howling noise that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

“I have a feeling there are spooks around here,” Scarecrow said.

“That’s ridiculous,” Beskargirl replied. “Spooks. That’s silly,”

“Don’t you believe in spooks?” Lasat asked.

“No, why-” Beskargirl started to answer before she started flying upwards, much to everyone’s shock. She crashed down a few yards in front of them.

Hera, Chopper, and Scarecrow rushed over to her. Lasat had froze in the spot they’d all been standing before.

“Are you alright?” Scarecrow asked as they helped her up.

“Oh yeah,” Lasat said. “I believe in spooks alright,”

***

The Wicked Witch was watching them through her crystal ball.

“You’ll believe in more than that before I’m finished with you!” Arihnda Pryce cackled.

She turned to her best warrior. He had gray skin and eyes, sharp teeth, arms that were longer than his legs, and spikes that ran down the center of his very tall forehead.

“Rukh, take some soldiers to the haunted forest and bring me that Twi’lek and her droid!” she ordered. “Do what you like with the others, but I want her alive! They’ll be no trouble for you I’m sure,”

Rukh turned to leave but the Witch stopped him.

“Take special care of those Kyber Slippers. I want them most of all!” She added. “Now go! Go!”

Rukh left to gather some troops and set off to intercept Hera and the others.

***

Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat had gotten back on track and heading towards the Witch’s castle. They stopped when they saw Rukh and the Witch’s white and black clad soldiers coming towards them.

Then quite honestly, they all panicked. There were way more soldiers than they were prepared for. They all took off in different directions. Chopper stayed with Hera, but everyone else was by themselves.

Rukh went after Hera while the soldiers chased Scarecrow, Lasat, and Beskargirl.

Hera tried to lose Rukh, and then tried to fight him, with Chopper’s help, but it was all in vain. Rukh grabbed her and headed back to the castle, with a disabled Chopper under one arm.

Scarecrow, Lasat, and Beskargirl did their best to fight off their attackers, but they all failed.

Once Rukh signaled that he had Hera, the soldiers retreated back to the castle.

“Uh, help! Help!” Scarecrow shouted when they were gone. He’d been, quite literally, ripped apart and his straw was everywhere.

“What happened to you?” Beskargirl asked as she and Lasat approached him.

“They tore my legs of and they threw them over there! Then they ripped my chest out and they threw it over there!” He said, pointing in all directions. “And-”

“Well, you’re all over the place,” Beskargirl interrupted.

“They sure knocked the stuffings outta ya, didn’t they?” Lasat commented, with a bit of humor.

Scarecrow didn’t appreciate the sentiment. “Don’t just stand there talking!” he barked. “Put me together. We’ve got to find Hera!”

Beskargirl and Lasat gathered up the loose straw and put Scarecrow back together.

“I bet that was the Witch’s men,” Beskargirl guessed. “Which means Hera’s probably at the Witch’s castle,”

“Good thing we were heading there anyway,” Lasat responded.

By that point, they had Scarecrow standing and were gathering the last pieces of him.

“Are you ready?” Scarecrow asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Lasat answered. “Here’s your hat,” He handed it to Scarecrow.

“Thanks,” Scarecrow said, taking it from him. He secured the hat on his head. “Let’s go get Hera,”

***

Hera and Chopper had been taken to the Witch’s castle.

“What an interesting little droid,” Arihnda Pryce commented as she flicked Chopper’s antenna, much to his annoyance. Then she had Rukh grab him and carry him under one arm, as she turned to Hera and approached her. “And you, my dear. What an unexpected pleasure. It’s so kind of you to visit me in my loneliness,”

Hera tried to get Chopper away from Rukh but he growled when she approached. She turned back to the Witch and asked. “What are you going to do with my droid? Give him back to me!” she demanded, wishing she had her blaster.

“All in good time, my little Twi’lek,” the Witch replied. “All in good time,”

Hera was getting angry now. “Give me back my droid,” Hera threatened.

“Certainly,” Arihnda Pryce assured. “When you give me those slippers,”

Hera looked down at her feet where the Witch had pointed. “But the Good Witch of the North told me not to,” she protested.

“Very well,” the Witch growled. She marched over to Rukh. “Throw that droid off the mountain and let him get crushed!” she ordered.

“No!” Hera screamed. This Witch may be wicked, and who knows what she’d do to Fulcrum once she had the Kyber Slippers, but with her own galaxy in such turmoil, Hera had bigger problems to worry about, and she couldn’t lose her oldest friend over a pair of shoes. Besides, surely both Ahsoka and the Wizard would have enough power to stop the Wicked Witch. “You can have your old slippers but give Chopper back to me!”

“That’s a good little Twi’lek,” Arihnda Pryce praised. “I knew you’d see reason,”

The Witch knelt down to grab the Kyber Slippers. When her fingers were an inch from the shoes, lightning shot out of the tips and shocked her hand.

“Aahhh!” the Witch screamed as she recoiled.

“Sorry, I didn’t know that would happen,” Hera apologized. “Do I still get Chopper back?”

“No!” the Witch yelled. “Fool as I am, I should have remembered! Those slippers will never come off, as long as you’re alive,” she snarled.

Well that’s gonna be a problem Hera thought.

“But that’s not what’s worry me,” the Witch continued. “It’s how to do it. These things must be done delicately, or you hurt the spell,”

Chopper used this opportunity to zap Rukh hard enough to drop him and made a run for it.

“Go Chopper! Go!” Hera shouted.

“Catch him you fool!” Arihnda Pryce ordered.

Rukh chased Chopper through the castle.

“Go Chopper! Find the others!” Hera shouted as the Witch’s soldiers joined the chase before Chopper blasted off the drawbridge and disappeared.

“He got away,” Hera breathed a sigh of relief. There was still hope yet.

“Which is more than you will!” the Witch snarled. “You’ve been more trouble than you’re worth one way or another! But it’ll soon be over now!” She walked over to a table and picked up an hourglass. “You see that?” She asked, before she flipped the hourglass so sand was pouring into the bottom. “That’s how much longer you’ve got to be alive, and it isn’t long my pretty. It isn’t long! I can’t wait forever to get those shoes!”

Part of her wondered why the Witch didn’t get it over with now, but Hera supposed the Witch had preparations to make so she didn’t mess up the spell. Another part of her was thankful that she had some time left, if not so that Chopper would have more time to get the others and find a way to help her.

The Witch shoved the hourglass into the hands of one of the guards by the door. “Take her to the dungeon!” she ordered at him and his companion. “And make sure she knows how much time she has left!”

Hera tried to fight the guards, but they easily overpowered her. They hauled her out of the room and down the stairs to the deepest bowels of the castle where the dungeon was. Then they tossed her in the closest cell.

Hera landed on her hands and knees on the dirty stone floor.

The guards shut and locked the door behind her and placed the hourglass where she could easily see it, but wouldn’t be able to reach it.

Hera had just started to get up when she heard a noise coming from the dark corners of her cell.

“Hello? Is someone there?” Hera asked, standing up and taking a step forward.

There wasn’t any reply other than the sound of someone hiding.

“It’s alright. I’m not gonna hurt you,” Hera reassured as she approached where she thought the noises were coming from.

Her eyes had adjusted to the dark by the time Hera reached what she thought the noises were coming from.

What she saw surprised her. It was dirty, shaggy haired teenager who looked like he hadn’t eaten in a long time.

“Please don’t hurt me. The Witch has done enough,” the boy whimpered.

Hera placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. The boy stiffened at the contact.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” Hera said gently. “The Witch doesn’t like me either. Can you come into the light please?”

The boy nodded and followed her out of the shadows.

Hera gasped when she saw him in better light. He was human, with shaggy blue-black hair and bright blue eyes that poked at Hera’s memory but didn’t spark anything definite. His clothes were dirty and ill-fitting, and he was indeed as thin as Hera suspected.

Hera suddenly remembered the leftover apples that were still in her pockets. She took one out and offered it to the boy. “Are you hungry?” she asked.

The boy hesitantly took the apple from her and retreated a few steps back. He glanced at her nervously before digging into the apple.

He ate down to the core faster than Hera anticipated. He looked at her expectantly and took a step forward.

Hera smiled. “Don’t worry. I have more,”

She produced two more apples from her pockets and gave them to the boy.

The boy ate his fill of apples while Hera looked at the hourglass and how much sand was already at the bottom.

“What’s your name?” Hera asked, turning back to the boy. “I’m Hera,”

“The Witch and her guards just call me Lothrat,” the boy admitted. “I don’t think I’ve been called anything else,”

“How long have you been in here?” Hera asked.

“As long as I can remember,” Lothrat answered. “Since I was seven,”

“I’m sorry,” Hera said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“What are you doing in here?” Lothrat asked. “The Witch is more of a kill or torture to death type. I’m pretty sure she’s forgotten all about me,”

“The Witch wants my shoes,” Hera replied as she stuck her feet out to show him the Kyber Slippers. Lothrat’s eyes widened when he saw them. Hera pointed to the hourglass. “The only way she can get them is if she can kill me without ruining the magic, so she given me ‘til that hourglass is empty to live while she gets things ready,”

“Wow,” Lothrat commented. “That sucks,”

Hera snorted. “Yeah, my only hope is that my friends can find a way to help get me out of here,”

“Good luck with that,” Lothrat said sullenly.

***

Meanwhile, Chopper had made it down the mountain and found Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat, who had just started on their walk through the woods again.

“Look there’s Chopper!” Beskargirl pointed out. “Where’d he come from?”

Chopper came up to them, tugged on Scarecrow’s arm, and started beeping frantically.

“Hey!” Scarecrow realised. “He can show us exactly where Hera is! Come on!”

Chopper took off in the direction of the castle and they all ran after him.

Eventually they had to climb the mountain. Chopper simply used his rocket to go from ledge to ledge. The others had a harder time. Beskargirl’s metal body made it difficult for her to grib the rocks properly, so she relied on Lasat to help her over the more difficult patches.

“I hope my strength holds out,” Lasat grunted.

“Me too,” Beskargirl added.

It wasn’t long until they reached the Witch’s castle and hid behind some boulders nearby.

“Is that it?” Lasat asked, pointing at the castle.

“That’s the castle of the Wicked Witch,” Beskargirl confirmed.

“Hera’s in that awful place?” Scarecrow asked.

“Oh, I hate to think of her in there,” Beskargirl sniffed. “We’ve got to get her out,”

“Don’t cry now,” Scarecrow said gently. “We haven’t got the oil can with us and you’ve been squeaking enough as it is,”

“Who’s them? Who’s them?” Lasat asked, pointing at the Witch’s soldiers guarding the front entrance.

“I’ve got a plan how get in there,” Scarecrow said, glancing at the guards.

“He’s got a plan,” Lasat repeated to Beskargirl.

“And you’re gonna lead us,” Scarecrow continued.

“Me?” Lasat asked.

“Yes you,” Scarecrow answered.

“I...I gotta get us in there?” Lasat asked.

“That’s right,” Beskargirl confirmed.

Lasat took a deep breath. “Alright, I’ll go in there for Hera. Wicked Witch or no Wicked Witch. Gods or no gods. I’ll tear ‘im apart! I may not come out alive, but I’m going in there,” He got more ferocious as he said each word. “There’s only one thing I want you guys to do,”

“What’s that?” Scarecrow and Beskargirl asked.

“Talk me out of it,” Lasat’s voice fell and his eyes were wide.

Scarecrow and Beskargirl shook their heads.

“Ooooohhh,” Lasat groaned.

***

The pile of sand at the bottom of the hourglass continued to grow.

***

Lasat, Scarecrow, and Beskargirl got closer to the castle.

They didn’t notice the three guards coming up behind them until the guard tackled them behind the rocks. Chopper joined in the ensuing fight.

By the end, all three guards were knocked out and Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat put on their armor. Or tried to. The armor clearly wasn’t made for a lasat, so Lasat couldn’t get it to fit right. It wasn’t perfect on Beskargirl or Scarecrow either. They watched the rest of the guards march into a line that looked to be going into the castle.

“Come on,” Scarecrow whispered. “I’ve got another idea,”

Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat crept up to the gate and situated themselves at the end of the line. Chopper sneaked up behind them as they made their way into the castle.

Once they were all inside, Scarecrow stuck his arm out and pulled them into an alcove as the soldiers went on to wherever they were going.

“Where do we go now?” Beskargirl asked.

“Yeah,” Lasat agreed.

Chopped did a quick scan for Hera. When he beeped and waved at the others and took of in the direction of the dungeon.

“There!” Scarecrow pointed.

They followed Chopper down the stairs and to the dungeon.

“Hera, are you in there?” Scarecrow called, taking off his helmet. The others did the same. “It’s us!”

Hera heard them and ran to the door of her cell. “Yes, it’s me!” she called. “I’m locked in!”

Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat came up to her cell door.

“We’ve gotta get her out,” Lasat said. “Open the door,”

“Hurry!” Hera said urgently, glancing at the hourglass. “We don’t have much time left!”

Scarecrow, Beskargirl, and Lasat shed their disguises and tried to open the door. They used one of Beskargirl’s daggers on the lock and the door swung open.

Hera rushed out. “Chopper!” she exclaimed, kneeling and running a hand across his dome. “I knew you could do it,”

“Hurry! We’ve got no time to lose!” Scarecrow urged, trying to get them to go.

“Wait,” Hera said, going back into her cell.

She took Lothrat’s hand. “Come with us,” she offered. “You can be free,”

“All I ever wanted was a home,” Lothrat admitted.

“The Wizard of Fulcrum could help,” Scarecrow suggested. “And if not, you can just stay with us,”

“Okay,” Lothrat finally said. Then he followed Hera out of the cell.

“Now we got to go,” Hera said.

They all rushed up the stairs and to the main gate.

The doors slammed shut before the could get through.

The Witch laughed and they all turned around and saw her standing at the top of the stairs to her room. The empty hourglass somehow in her left hand.

“Going so soon?” Arihnda Pryce sneered. “I wouldn’t hear of it. Why, my little party’s just beginning,”

“We’re trapped,” Lasat said as the Witch’s soldiers surrounded them.

The soldiers pointed their weapons at them but didn’t attack, yet.

“That’s right,” the Witch cackled. “Don’t hurt them right away. We’ll let them think about it a little further,”

Scarecrow looked up and noticed that the candle-lit chandelier above them was supported by a rope. He followed the rope with his eyes until he saw where it connected to the wall, which happened to be right beside him.

“Mind if I borrow this?” Scarecrow asked, taking one of Beskargirl’s daggers.

He cut the rope and the large chandelier fell right on top of the soldiers.

“Seize them! Seize them!” the Witch screamed as Hera, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, Lasat, Lothrat, and Chopper ran down a nearby corridor. “Stop them, you fools! Stop them!”

“Seize them! Seize them!” the Witch continued to scream, coming down the stairs to lead her men after them.

Hera, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, Lasat, Lothrat, and Chopper had hidden behind a wide pillar. They waited until the Witch and her men had past before they started up the stairs.

It wasn’t long before the Witch caught on and turned around.

“There they go! Now we have them!” Arihnda Pryce exclaimed when she saw them on the stairs.

“Half of you go this way! Half of you go that way!” the Witch ordered, planning on cornering them. “Hurry! Hurry!”

Hera, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, Lasat, Lothrat, and Chopper ran out to one of the walkways connecting the towers.

The tower they got to was just an empty room without a viable way out of the castle.

“Where do we go now?” Lasat asked.

Scarecrow noticed the walkway to the next tower looked clear. “This way. Come on!” he urged, motioning them to follow him.

They’d made it halfway across the walkway when the Witch’s soldiers started coming out of the tower they were heading towards.

“Back! Back!” Scarecrow shouted as they all turned and went back to the tower they were in before.

Soon soldiers were on both walkways and it wasn’t long before they were cornered.

The Witch laughed as she entered. “Well! Ring around the rosie. A pocket full of spears. Thought you’d be pretty foxy didn’t ya! Well!”

“The last to go will see the first four go before her,” Arihnda Pryce threatened, snarling gleefully and menacingly.

Now Hera was scared. She didn’t want to see the Witch kill her friends in front of her.

“And your scrappy little droid too!” the Witch added.

That was even worse.

Then the Witch stuck the brush of her broom into the torch hanging on the wall nearby. It easily spread the fire to her broom.

Scarecrow’s eyes widened in fear as she brought the broom closer to them.

“How about a little fire, scarecrow!” the Witch cackled.

She jabbed the broom at him and suddenly his arm was on fire.

Scarecrow started screaming. “Help! I’m burning! I’m burning!”

Hera screamed too.

Chopper was stuck behind Lasat, so Hera grabbed the bucket of water she found on the ledge behind her and threw it over the fire.

Enough water got on Scarecrow’s arm to put the fire out, but Hera overshot her mark a little bit and the rest of the water landed on the Witch.

“Aaahhhhh!” Arihnda Pryce screamed. “You cursed brat! Look what you’ve done!”

The water fused into her skin, which started to run down her face.

“I’m melting! Melting!” the Witch screamed as she indeed started to melt and collapse onto the floor. “Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought a Twi’lek like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness! OOOhhhh!”

It wasn’t long before there was nothing left of the Wicked Witch than a pile of her clothes.

What just happened? Hera wondered as she stared at where the Witch was terrorizing them a minute before.

“She’s dead,” one of the soldiers said after a moment. “You killed her,”

“Well I didn’t mean to kill her,” Hera said. “I didn’t know that would. It’s just...” She pointed to Scarecrow. “He was on fire...”

“Hail to Hera! The Wicked Witch is dead!” the soldier announced.

“Hail! Hail to Hera! The Wicked Witch is dead!” all of the soldiers repeated, kneeling before her.

“The broom,” Hera murmured.

“May we have her broom?” Hera asked the main soldier.

“Take it,” the soldier answered, handing it to her.

“Thank you,” Hera said. She turned back to Scarecrow, Beskargirl, Lasat, Lothrat, and Chopper. “Now we can go back to the Wizard and tell him the Wicked Witch is dead!”

Hera, Chopper, Scarecrow, Beskargirl, Lasat, and Lothrat went back to Crystal City and were immediately brought to see the Wizard. Although there was a brief argument with the guard on whether Lothrat could be let in or not that was soon resolved.

“Can I believe my eyes?!?” the Wizard questioned when they came back to see him. “Why have you come back?”

Scarecrow, who had been holding the broom, handed it to Hera, who stepped forward.

“We’ve done what you told us. We brought you the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West,” Hera answered. “We uh... melted her,”

The Wizard chuckled. “Ah, you liquidated her, eh? Very resourceful,”

“Yes sir,” Hera replied. “So we’d like you to keep your promise to us,”

“Not so fast! Not so fast!” the Wizard shouted. “I’ll have to give the matter a little thought! Go away and come back tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow!” Hera protested, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You’ve had plenty of time already!” Beskargirl added, stepping up beside Hera.

“Yeah,” Lasat agreed as he and Scarecrow joined them. Lothrat hesitated before he came up behind Scarecrow.

“Do not arouse the wrath of the Great and Powerful Fulcrum!” the Wizard yelled. “I said come back tomorrow!”

Chopper picked up something on his scanners and decided to investigate. He rolled around a wall and disappeared behind a curtain.

“If you were really great and powerful you’d keep your promises!” Hera accused.

“Do you presume to criticize the Great and Powerful Fulcrum?” the Wizard retaliated. “You ungrateful creatures!”

Chopper pulled back the curtain to reveal a man standing in front of a bunch of mechanical contraptions.

“Think yourselves lucky that I’m giving you audience tomorrow!” the man spoke into a microphone and took the voice of the Wizard. “Instead of twenty years from now!”

The man turned around and noticed that they were all staring at him. “The Great Fulcrum has spoken!”

He frantically pulled the curtain around him.

“Pay no attention to the man behind that curtain!” the Wizard ordered. “The Great Fulcrum has spoken!”

Hera walked up and pulled the curtain back again. The man revealed had a straight white beard, mustache, and hair and blue eyes.

“Who are you?” Hera asked.

“Well...” the man answered. He turned back to the microphone. “I am the Great and Powerful...” He turned away from the microphone and back to them. “Wizard of Fulcrum,”

“You are?” Hera questioned. “I don’t believe you,”

“I’m afraid it’s true,” the man/Wizard admitted. “There’s no other wizard but me,”

“You fraud!” Scarecrow accused, clearly upset.

“Yeah,” Beskargirl and Lasat agreed. Even Lothrat nodded his head disapprovingly.

The Wizard nodded. “Yes, you’re exactly right. I’m a fraud,”

“You’re nothing but a liar,” Hera concluded. “The kind who’s a cruel man,”

“No,” the Wizard shook his head. “I am a good man. I’m just a... bad wizard,”

“What about the heart you promised Beskargirl?” Scarecrow asked, his voice rising. “And the honor and courage you promised Lasat?”

“And Scarecrow’s brain?” Lasat and Beskargirl asked together.

It’s not like they’d forgotten about Lothrat. It’s just that he wasn’t here for when the Wizard made his promise so technically the Wizard didn’t know what he wanted yet, and they figured right now wasn’t the best time to bring it up anyway.

“Well,” the Wizard replied. “I’ve figured out that having a brain doesn’t mean that someone is a good thinker,” He turned around and started rummaging through a box. “What makes a good thinker is being able to understand and apply information to anything,”

Finding what he was looking for, the Wizard stood and handed Scarecrow a gold and crystal blue cube. “This holocron possesses great knowledge, but only someone who yearns for it can access it,”

Scarecrow examined the holocron. All of the corners turned and a blue light illuminated Scarecrow’s face and traveled up his arms.

“The force acted on an object is equal to its mass times the acceleration,” Scarecrow suddenly said. His face lit up. “Hey! I’ve got a brain!” He turn to the Wizard. “I can’t thank you enough,”

“You’re welcome,” the Wizard said. Then he turned to Lasat. “As for you, now for what I know of Lasats, they have a strict code, particularly in the Honor Guard,” The Wizard walked over to a closet as he continued to talk. “You believe to have broken it, and that is why you do not believe you have honor or courage. I heard what the Witch was doing to Lasat villages and I can honestly say that the mere fact that you survived shows that you possess the traits you believe to be missing,” The Wizard took something out of the closet and handed it to Lasat. “Maybe this will convince you,”

Lasat stared at what the Wizard handed him. It looked like a weapon of some sort.

“A borifle,” Lasat whispered.

The Wizard smiled. “I thought you’d recognize it. You are worthy of it,”

Lasat continued to stare at his borifle. Then he smiled and tightened his grip on the weapon.

“Thanks,” Lasat replied. “I don’t know what to say,”

The Wizard turned to Beskargirl. “And as for you young lady. You want a heart,”

“Yes sir,” Beskargirl answered.

The Wizard looked her up and down and noticed her colors, some faded more than others.

“I think I have just the thing for you,” He said after a moment. He rummaged around a bit and produced a small, red, heart-shaped metal object. He handed it to her. “Hear you are,”

Beskargirl ran her fingers over the object until she found a hinge. She opened the case and gasped at what she saw inside. It was a case full of paints and brushes. Almost automatically, she picked up a brush and started painting her armor, helmet, and hair. It wasn’t long before she was covered in bright colors.

Beskargirl sighed. “I can’t believe I have a heart again,”

The Wizard’s eyes landed on Lothrat, who straightened up under his gaze. “I don’t believe we met before. Who are you?”

“I’m Lothrat,” the boy admitted. “I just want a home,”

The Wizard stroked his beard. “I’m afraid that I can’t help you with that, son,” He replied.

Lothrat deflated. Then Scarecrow wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“Don’t worry. You’ve got us,” he reassured.

Lasat, Beskargirl, and Scarecrow all gathered around Lothrat next to Hera and Chopper.

“Hey!” Scarecrow exclaimed after a moment, turning back to the Wizard. “What about Hera?”

“Yes! How about Hera?” Beskargirl agreed.

“Yeah, Hera next,” Lasat added.

The Wizard stroked his chin again. “Yes Hera-”

He was interrupted by a loud siren and the whole room shook.

“What’s happening?” Lothrat asked panickedly.

There was a clatter from behind them.

“Hera look out!” Scarecrow shouted right before something collided with her head.

The next thing Hera knew she was laying on her back surrounded by blurry faces.

***

“Hera? Hera, can you hear me?” voices asked.

Finally Hera managed to open her eyes. She was surrounded by Kanan, Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb. They were all leaning over her in concern.

Hera reached her and down until her fingers brushed the top of Chopper’s dome. It was then that Hera realised she was in a medical bed.

“Hera, it’s us,” Kanan said, placing a hand on her arm.

Hera looked up at him and smiled, as everything started coming together. “I know,”

“You crashed pretty hard,” Zeb commented. “And we’re lucky we found you before the Empire did,”

“I’m fine. I think,” Hera said, trying to sit up. She touched a hand to her forehead. “Although I think I just had a really weird dream. Chopper and I were in a very strange place and all of you were there,”

“What happened?” Ezra asked.

Hera looked at all of them before saying the first thing that popped into her head. “ Well, Governor Pryce tried to set you on fire,” She told Kanan, pointing at him.

“Well I’d like to see her try,” Sabine said with smirk. “Especially now,”

“Why? What happened?” Hera asked.

“One of the Rebel fighters the Empire shot down landed in the fuel depot and it exploded, taking all the fuel with it,” Sabine explained. “All Imperial factories on Lothal are down,”

“So the mission wasn’t a total failure,” Ezra reassured.

Hera smiled. “Well I’m glad I’m back. And I know that I love you all,” She grabbed Kanan’s arm and pulled him towards her. “Especially you,” she said before she kissed him.

“Now I know I’m home,” Hera said after she broke the kiss.

Cast:

A very confused Hera Syndulla as Dorothy Gale

Chopper as Toto

Kanan Jarrus as The Scarecrow

Zeb Orrelios as The Cowardly Lion

Sabine Wren as a genderbent Tinman

Ahsoka Tano as Glinda the Good Witch

Maketh Tua as the Wicked Witch of the East

Arihnda Pryce as the Wicked Witch of the West

Rex as the guard to the gates of the Emerald City

Gregor as the carriage driver/owner of the Horse of a Different Color

Alexsandr Kallus as the guard to the Wizard’s chamber

Ryder Azadi as the Wizard of Oz

#star wars rebels #wizard of oz #star wars rebels fanfiction #hera syndulla #chopper #kanan jarrus #zeb orrelios #sabine wren #ezra bridger #ahsoka tano #maketh tua (briefly)#arihnda pryce #rex (briefly)#gregor (briefly)#ryder azadi #ironically the wizard was never actually a fulcrum #I spent way too much time on this

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forkanna · 6 years

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The small lump in the corner that was Dorothy only seemed briefly startled when Glinda came to get her the following morning. However, she was far more surprised when instead, she went to the Tin Man's cell.

"So we're going to do a thing," the blonde witch began uneasily. "You… have to have figured out by now that we can't just let you run around willy nilly. You attacked Nessa more than once, and the threats you made were pretty graphictitious! So while I-"

"HMMHHPHH!" he growled through the makeshift gag.

"Enough of that, now," she warned in a sing-song, as if scolding a small child. "Anyway, you're going to be moved upstairs into one of the other rooms, and I'm going to try to tinker with you for a while. Maybe it'll do some good, maybe not. But all the same, I think we should give it the old Shiz try, don't you?"

Clearing her throat, Dorothy approached the bars and whispered meekly, "You aren't going to hurt him, are you? I kn- I know he hasn't been kind to you, but he's been most kind to me!"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head," she replied in a soft, consoling tone. "I can't promise what I do won't hurt, but I'm not going to do anything purely to hurt him. My hope is that I can help him some way or other. And if I can't… well, I guess we could just pop him right back into this cell afterward. No harm done."

Then Glinda unlocked the cell and went inside, securing manacles around his wrists and arms and legs — ones not bolted to the wall. Once he was secure enough that he could not escape or attack, she released him from the wall and stood back, raising her wand.

"Alright, let's try this one again… bubblitio!" Nothing. She took a deep, calming breath and attempted, "Bulbulious bubblissimo! Bumbulous bumbletonia! Spheroidimax voluminia!"

"Uhmmm," the Scarecrow that was Fiyero said as Glinda waved her wand frantically. "None of those sound like very magical words."

Her lips pouted at him and her brow furrowed. "And just whom amongst us is a witch? You? I don't believe so!"

"You're not much of one, either," the Lion grumbled lazily from atop his paws.

"Hey! That isn't very kind!"

"I'm not much of a Lion myself; no offense was intended."

Shrugging that off, she narrowed her eyes and tried the first word again, focusing hard. "BUBBLITIO!"

This time, an almost invisible pink film began to wrap itself around Boq. His metallic eyes went as wide as could be to see the magic actually taking shape this time, and he looked at Glinda with a mixture of anger and betrayal. But she did not acknowledge his gaze, and merely sighed.

"You brought this on yourself." When he didn't react, she shook her head sadly and began to back out of the cell, wand raised to direct the bubble she had formed. "A pity, a real pity, Biq."

He only began to struggle and grunt once the bubble began to move him, muffled though his cries were. Casting a semi-apologetic look over her shoulder at the others, she continued to bounce him up the stairs.

"You and I need to have some serious discussion, little boy of tin. And why don't we try out some things from the Grimmerie, too? That sounds like so much fun!"

~ o ~

Elphaba only waited a few minutes after Glinda left to slip down into the dungeons. Both the Lion and Dorothy recoiled to see her, tall and imposing, green and black, framed by the stone doorway. Fiyero, of course, merely watched all parties with curiosity.

"H-Hello," Dorothy attempted in a nervous tone. "Is… is it alright if I ask-"

"Not yet," Elphaba said, dragging a simple wooden chair from the table by far wall over to the Lion's cell — a few inches out of reach of his claws should he suddenly decide to take an idle swipe at her. But she did not sit just yet. Instead, she opened Fiyero's cage, and simply stood back to let him exit.

"Much obliged," was all he said, cheerful as ever.

"What?!" Dorothy gasped in a hushed voice, watching him fetch two other chairs from the table. "Wh- but I… I thought you were going to let me out if I behaved, I didn't… you aren't even shackling him! I don't understand!"

"No, you don't," the witch said evenly, tossing the same old cuffs through for her to put onto herself. Her eyes were sad and wary, but she did as she was silently bade. As her captor unlocked the door, she went on, "But you will. If you listen, and try not to ask too many questions, I think you'll find you understand a great deal…"

~ o ~

Hours passed, and Glinda found herself flummoxed. She had paged through every single page of the Grimmerie, skimming the contents with her eyes, and she was no closer to finding anything that would make any difference as far as Boq was concerned. This was made all the more frustrating by the fact that she was not nearly so adept at Lurlinic as her chartreuse counterpart, and the meaning of certain phrases or passages eluded her. Still, she had been hoping that persistence would pay off where education failed.

"Fine," she finally sighed, drooping against the arm of the chair she had sank down into already, the book hanging limply from her hand. "I know a spell cannot be undone once it's cast, but there has to be a way to… to de-tinnify you! Something in here, not to undo the spell exactly, but that would still turn you into a normal Munchkin again!"

Of course, Tin Man had nothing to say. At no point had Glinda felt comfortable removing his restraints, so she hadn't. His large, sad eyes continued to follow her everywhere while she stood to replace the book on a table, as if pleading with her to see more than was visible.

"Enough, Biq. I don't care how long you give me the puppy dog eyes."

Still he stared. Bitter tears began to slide down his cheeks as he sat in the chair opposite her, unable to do anything else.

"You'll only rust if you keep that up." Throwing up her hands, she snapped, "What did you think would happen?! The moment Nessa lets you go, you start to run away? To what, find me?" She let out a blast of laughter. "Hate to break it to you, Munchkin Boy, but I've never even had the tiniest shred of interest in you! Just because you liked me doesn't mean I had to like you back!"

His face turned away. She wanted to feel less hatred, less annoyance at his attitude and more compassion toward his obvious grief, but it wasn't going to happen. Even though Nessa had done things to him that weren't fair, there were reasons for that. And she intended to set the record straight.

"I should have been this honest with you from the beginning," she confessed. "You… you really don't deserve it now, but you did then, and… and so did Nessa. That part is your fault; I know there had to have been a thousand times you could have told her you weren't interested, and all you did was go along for the ride. And then you complained too late, and… well…"

A muffled sob filled the room. To try and put some distance between herself and the source of her annoyance and grief, she crossed to the window, grasping the ledge and staring out over the jagged rocks of the Kells both near and distant, down at the village of Kiamo Ko.

"I know Nessa shouldn't have trapped you in Munchkinland or cast any spells on you that she didn't understand; nobody's saying any different. But does that really make it right for you to try to kill her? None of us is free from guilt for this, Tinny. I wasn't honest with you, and you weren't honest with Nessa. So easy to start out that way, huh? Best of intentions. And we really loused things up." Turning again, she fixed him with a curious gaze, wringing her wand in her nervous hands. "Isn't it funny how Nessa was the only one who was honest from the beginning? She may have failed in other areas, but by golly, she was always truthful about her feelings for you. Just… funny."

Then she strode closer and spat at him, "But all you know how to do is lie. You lied to Nessarose about your feelings for her, and you lied to Dorothy about Elphaba and I." When recognition sparked behind his eyes, she growled, "Yes, that's right! I know all about that! How could you tell her she and I are… that we would do things like that? To a girl barely old enough to start holding hands?! Shame on you! Makes me wonder if you ever did have a heart in the first place!"

Things were going nowhere fast. Grunting in sheer annoyance, she made a couple of quick swishes with her wand and wrapped his chair with more ropes.

"Obviously, I can't do much for you right now. But I'll… I'll try again tomorrow, I guess. Sorry." The last word might have sounded insincere, but Glinda meant it deep down. She didn't even wait for a response before grabbing up the Grimmerie and heading for the door; even if he did respond, it wouldn't be anything worth hearing.

Within minutes, she was descending back to the dungeons again, having stashed the book somewhere safe. Though she had high hopes everything would have gone well with their other prisoners, she could not risk the Lion pouncing on her and stealing their most powerful artefact.

The scene laid out before her was an interesting one, to be sure. Fiyero was sitting lazily in a chair near Elphaba's, and the Lion was lying in the cage with his great, shaggy head on his paws. The manacled Dorothy, however, was cross-legged in her seat, leaned forward with rapt attention. This was obviously the greatest number of direct answers she had ever received from anyone since being tossed into Oz, and she was drinking them in like a parched wanderer of the Shifting Sands.

"Well, I think you're very brave to try and rescue them," she was assuring Elphaba. "What I don't understand is, why does the Wizard want them to be silent in the first place? Surely he can be the President without doing that, he already is one and they haven't bothered him so far!"

"President?" Fiyero asked, the word sounding as unfamiliar coming from him as it did in Glinda's ears. But Elphaba answered her question instead of focusing on Fiyero's remark.

"He needed a scapegoat — no offense to Dr. Dillamond. As I said, we've had a few droughts, and the Wizard hasn't handled the economic recession very well. It was either start squandering his treasury to balance things out, or find something to distract the citizens of Oz, to keep them from blaming him and rioting. It's a calculated diversionary tactic."

Dorothy bobbed her shoes-that-wouldn't-come-off up and down and frowned down toward the stone floor. "My Uncle Henry says we're just coming out of another one of those 'recessions', too. I don't know much about it, except that we haven't had much to eat, or money for new clothes. That's why..." She bit her bottom lip.

"Go on," Glinda said gently a moment later, startling her and the Lion very slightly. "That's why…?"

"Oh… hullo, Miss Glinda. W-well, I know it's silly, what with everything you're troubled with. But I should like to have my gingham dress back, if we c-can manage it. Aunt Em had to henpeck Uncle Henry for weeks to buy that, because she said a girl ought to have a proper dress for Easter Sunday! A-and the thought of going home without it..."

Once she had shaken off wondering what "gingham" and "Easter Sunday" might mean, Glinda was a little shocked to see that Dorothy looked ashamed. It spoke volumes about her family; she was less afraid of her their reaction and more worried about disappointing them, inconveniencing those she loved.

"There, there," she shushed her as she walked over to pet along her shoulders. The girl sighed despondently, but did at least seem calmed. "If the rest of our plans work out, I promise we'll search the palace. And if we can't turn it up, we'll make you two new dresses! The best Oz has to offer!"

Though she rolled her eyes, Elphaba refrained from commenting on whether or not she considered this important enough to discuss. Instead, she told the young lady, "For now, I'd like an answer."

"Answer? Oh…" She gulped, glancing over at Fiyero and back. "I'm just a girl, I can't fight, or use magic, or do anything useful. What difference does it make if I join you?"

"I'm not saying you have to face the Wizard head-on," Elphaba assured her. "Just don't get in our way. Your moral support is better than opposition."

Glaring at Elphaba for the callous way she had phrased things, Glinda added, "And you'll be plenty useful! Besides, we don't only want you around because of that — we like you! Don't we, Elphie?" No response. Glinda kicked her. "Don't we?"

"I don't dislike her," she offered more truthfully. "Other than that nasty business of trying to kill me."

"You know we're pals, Dorothy," Fiyero put in, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. "I owe you for rescuing me from that cornfield, at the very least! But I can't ignore how badly the Wizard's treated my old classmates. Ooh, it chafes my straw! So I'm sorry to say it, but if you keep supporting him…"

At that, Dorothy quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, I'd never dream of saying it's alright! What all he's done, and then lied about it all to me! I don't understand how he came to be in charge of Oz in the first place, an old humbug like him!"

The two witches shared a weary look. Never had they expected to be history teachers when they enrolled at Shiz, but that seemed to be their fate for the afternoon.

"Let's go upstairs to get something to eat," Elphaba recommended gruffly, pushing to stand. "Nessa should have one of her infernal stews ready to force down."

"Can you bring me back some infernal stew?" Lion asked as they stood. "I'm so hungry; milk only goes so far for a full-grown Lion, and I don't much care for vegetables. Even an old bone would be something."

"Of course," Glinda told him. "We'll bring it with us when we return Dorothy."

As they ascended the steps, Elphaba began, "The Wizard came to us… oh, a couple of decades ago. We were all too young to remember what the time before he ruled was like, I'm afraid — but we know from our studies that our previous queen, Ozma the Billious, had left behind a newborn when she was poisoned; we don't know the gender, there was no formal announcement — already unusual in and of itself. But it's assumed it was a succeeding princess, because that child vanished when the Wizard flew into our world in a foreign contraption the likes of which we had never seen before."

"Poisoned?!" Dorothy gasped.

"Yes," Glinda supplied. "A pretty unregal way to die, isn't it? Her husband was supposed to look after the heir, but… well, he died, too. Boating accident. Worse yet, nobody knows how it was done, or who's responsible for either deaths or the baby disappearing. Still a mystery."

"But… but that's how my parents died," Dorothy was breathing. "On a boat. Imagine that."

Elphaba was shaking her head. "I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was all the Wizard and Morrible's doing. True, he had not arrived yet when the Ozma line ended, but who's to say he hadn't arranged for it beforehand? Or his 'secretary' could have been laying the groundwork."

"Conspiracy theories are fun, aren't they?" Fiyero observed with a light chuckle. "But it might be smarter to stick to what we know, and what we have to do."

"Right. Go on, then."

Somehow, his painted-on eyebrows arched high. "Me? You know what kind of student I was!" But he shrugged and went on, anyway. "Simple, really. Everyone thought the old Wizard was magical because he flew into our world from another, and that made it pretty easy for him to claim the empty throne. Right place, right time."

Head shaking much like Elphaba's, which amused Glinda to notice, Dorothy said, "If he really did kill either of them… oh, even the baby… that's one of the most awful things I've ever heard! And he's never been thrown in jail?"

"How can we? He's the jailor." Elphaba huffed in annoyance as they came to the kitchen and pushed inside. "And there's nothing we can do to prove what he's done, either way. At least Glinda and I are witnesses to the way he tricked us into transforming the Monkeys. If there are any witnesses to his alleged murders, I haven't found them, and I doubt they'll come forward now."

"Such light conversation," Nessa observed as she toiled over the stove. "I was just standing here, lamenting that you two have taken the more interesting jobs and left me to be scullery maid, but perhaps I haven't missed anything, after all."

"You haven't," Glinda sighed, breathing in deeply. "Mmm, that smells good… I'm starvatiously hungry!"

Dorothy glanced down at the plates and silverware laid out for the four of them who actually owned stomachs, then back up to Elphaba. "Can you at least move my handcuffs in front of me so I don't need help to eat?"

As no one much wanted to spoonfeed her again, they relented, and Dorothy did her best not to drip on her dress as they discussed all that had transpired. Nessa looked morose when Glinda reported her failing at improving Boq's outlook on life or his physical condition, but did not say a word; she seemed entirely defeated in that area. Privately, Glinda thought that was for the best - the faster she moved on, the better. Even if she was somewhat spoiled, she deserved better than a man who wanted to chop her head off.

"I'm not sure what I can do for you," Dorothy finally told them as Glinda and Elphaba were washing the dishes and Nessa was disposing of the scraps. "But if you'll just… help me with two things, I'll do whatever I can, anything at all!"

"The shoes and the dress?" Elphaba guessed.

"Oh… three things." When the green lips pursed, she rushed ahead, "I forgot about the dress already! The other thing was to help me get home, if you can. Of c-course, I'm only asking you to try your best, you know. If you can't, well… then I guess I'll live here forever with these heavy shoes weighing me down."

"That, we will promise," Glinda said for all of them. Elphaba shot her a look, but she ignored it. "We'll do what we can, and if we can't, then we'll figure out somewhere for you to stay in Oz. Deal?"

"Deal." She held out her manacles to be unlocked, and they blinked at her. Slowly, an inch at a time, she lowered them as she whispered, "Oh… am… I still… going back to the dungeons?"

Glancing at the other two briefly to gauge their responses, Glinda then walked over and freed her. Dorothy turned a smiling face up toward her that was so earnest she couldn't help but grin back. "Good. I'll just take you to get washed up again — even if you'll have to hang your feet out of the tub."

As they walked down the hallway, Dorothy slipped her hand into Glinda's, which surprised her very slightly. But she squeezed it in comfort; she could only assume the girl was still scared of the big, drafty castle, and the less alone she felt, the better.

"Miss Glinda… thank you so much. I know we've only just met, but I… feel like you're how I'd like my mother to have been, if I could remember her."

"M-mother?!" Glinda burst out in mild surprise.

"OH! Oh, is that not alright?" she breathed. "Of c-course, I didn't mean to say you're old enough to be my mother! Not a w-woman so young and lovely as you, not at all! But only… you're so kind, and thoughtful, and I'm sure it's because of you that I'm not a prisoner anymore. I can't believe I was ever afraid of you, or thought you were a deviant!"

Entirely mollified, the Witch of the North had to chuckle — mostly in chagrin at her own overreaction. "Fine, fine, I'm glad to have helped how I could. You are a sweet little thing, all in all, aren't you?" As they came again to the bath, she said, "Of course, I can't promise you anything… certainly not that we'll live to see the end of this fight with the Wizard, or that we'll find a way to send you back to Amerikansas, but…"

"You'll do your best," Dorothy finished for her, squeezing her hand again before she began to help heating the water. "That's all a girl can ask."

~ o ~

"...and that was the last spell I tried," Glinda was telling Elphaba as they fell to the task that they had both been putting off for far too long: unpacking. It had taken some careful plotting to retrieve their few effects from the cave behind Wicca Falls, and since then too much had been transpiring to worry about opening the pair of disparate trunks and making a good run at their contents. Presently, half of what they owned was strewn across the bed, the rest either hung up properly in one of the wardrobes or stacked on the vanity. Privately, Glinda lamented not being able to use said vanity for its intended purposes, but there was no place for that type of "vanity" in their current lives.

"I can't say I'm surprised, Glinda. You know that spells can't be undone, and it's slippery work even changing them somewhat the way we already have with Boq. Tampering further… if we do succeed, he'll either wind up dead, or completely unrecognisable."

A sigh welled up powerfully from the pit of her stomach, but ended up sounding pathetic and soft when it came forth. "You're probably right, but I'd still appreciate it if you could take a look for yourself. I mean, you're clearly the better witch between us, right?"

"Only through study," she hedged. Then she stood a little straighter, shooting over her shoulder, "At what point did we start embracing the word 'witch' instead of hating it? When did that happen?"

"Search me, Elphie; I just work here."

Tutting briefly, Elphaba laid out a few of her older school effects from within her travelling cloak. A sniffle threatened to break free from Glinda when she recognised the Shiz guidebook, small bound leather tome that it was, lying next to the green bottle and a few spare coins that weren't even accepted outside the Emerald City as valid currency. Much though she protested, her Elphie truly was a sentimental creature.

Something stirred in the back of her mind. It took her a long second or two for it to bob its meandering way along to the front, and until that point, she hadn't even been sure what the stirring was in relation to.

"Nessarose isn't much of a witch at all," her roommate was saying as she put away a few of her dresses, more neatly into one of their closets than previously. Plenty of room to work with in there, now that they had cleared away some of the decrepit old junk. "However, I think she might have an aptitude for magic if she works on it as hard as she's worked at making her awful stew into tolerable stew. Just needs a swift kick in the-"

"That bottle."

"Hm?" Glancing down, she picked the bottle back up, then stared over its mouth at Glinda. "What about this bottle?"

"Didn't you tell me once before that it was… important to you, for some reason?" Even now, Glinda was still barely aware of why this mattered, but the threads were beginning to weave themselves together now.

"I did. It was my mother's. Father would often tell me that it was a prized possession, and she never wanted to be apart from it. When he would ask, she would simply state that it reminded her of her firstborn, but…" One shoulder rose and fell. "I got the feeling that wasn't the full story. Or at least, old Frex didn't believe it was."

"Hm."

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing." Keeping her tone carefully distant, aloof, she went on, "Just that… it looks conveniently similarly to the bottle the Wizard was drinking from when we dropped in on him."

Elphaba started, glancing between her and the bottle. "Really? Well, it's just a green bottle… no label to say what's in it. Could have been just a similar shape."

"No, not similar. The same. I'm telling you, whatever's in his, or used to be in yours, it's the exact same type of bottle, shape and colour."

This silence was a bit longer and quieter than the previous one. Glinda wouldn't have guessed that silences could be quieter or louder; they were either silent or they weren't. Until now.

"No. Well, I mean… maybe she visited the Emerald City. Could have been anything."

"Could have."

"Then why are you bringing this up? We have a lot to do."

"Elphie…"

Exasperated, she threw up both hands. "What am I supposed to do? How do you want me to react to this news? So my mother and the Wizard both have identical vessels for holding liquor. Big twigging deal. Dorothy and Nessa both have shiny shoes; maybe they're related."

"They are. The shoes, not Dorothy and Nessa," she snapped when Elphaba raised her eyebrows at her. "Both are because of our spells! So they are connected! And it might be the same with the Wiz-"

"I don't believe you really believe this, this… what was it Fiyero said? 'Conspiracy theories'. That's what you're spinning. Wilder and more fanciful by the minute, if you think I'm going to follow your logic to where it's leading."

Glinda's hands went to her waist, impatient at the attitude she was receiving. "I'm not outright saying anything! Just bringing up possibilities! What you do with them is up to you!" When she got no answer right away, she approached Elphaba, grasping her forearms to stop her from continuing to dig in her closet. "Elphaba, please? Just… doesn't it sound like something we ought to try figuring out?"

"Maybe. Another time."

"But we don't have-"

"I need to finish this. Either with your help, or without. But for now, I can't…" A slight flicker of pain showed in her eyes before she mastered it, suppressed it and returned her features to their quickly-becoming-normal steely resolve. "We need to worry about how we're going to depose the Wizard and bring peace to the Animals. That's first. Secondarily, we have to keep an eye on Dorothy, and look through the Grimmerie for the sake of a stupid, ungrateful wretch of a tin can."

Feeling stupid for having brought the whole thing up, Glinda strode for the door. "Fine, Elphie. I can tell when I'm not wanted around. I'll see you at supper."

As she slipped out of the room, she just scarcely caught Elphaba's sigh. She probably felt bad for being unpleasant just then, but couldn't quite find the humility to chase after her. Maybe that was for the best; this way, they could both have a few minutes with their own thoughts to ponder the situation and to let their tempers settle.

But she certainly wasn't going to let the matter drop. Not if it meant what she thought it might.

To Be Continued…

#The Coven Of Oz #forkanna writes #wicked fanfiction #femmeslash #gelphie #forkanna the writer

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cephalo-bot · 6 years

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A Really Long Post About why the Tin Woodman is Great.

So I don’t clog up your dash, I wrote this intro about what I have to say and you can read more under the cut if you would like. The title should be pretty self-explanatory, I want to talk about the Tin Woodman from the Oz books and share my opinions on why he’s a great character.

The Tin Woodman first appeared in the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was written by L. Frank Baum and published in 1900. He’s an automaton woodcutter who used to be a regular human named Nick Chopper, the first book doesn’t mention his real name but the other thirteen books in the series refer to him as both Nick Chopper and the Tin Woodman. Although I love the movie version of the first book and Jack Haley was perfect in his role, there was a lot that the movie left out that I want to go over.

The first thing I want to talk about is his backstory, in a magical land where scarecrows talk and shoes are magic, you don’t question much, but there’s a very specific reason for the Tin Woodman’s existence. He used to be a regular human who was the son of a woodman and lived in Munchkin Country, which at the time was ruled by the wicked witch of the east. His father died when he was young and he took care of his mother until she eventually died. He wanted to get married so he wouldn’t be lonely and soon fell in love with a munchkin girl named Nimmie Amee. Neither of them had very much money and couldn’t afford a wedding or a house, so Nick worked harder than ever to earn the money they needed and to build a house. Nimmie was a slave for the wicked witch of the east who didn’t want Nimmie to get married so she could keep working for her forever. So the witch cursed Nick’s axe so whenever he was working, the axe would slip and cut off one of his limbs. Whenever this happened, he would go to the tinsmith, named Ku-Klip, who made him mechanical prosthetics to replace his lost limbs. Eventually, Nick’s arms, legs, and head were replaced with tin prosthetics until the axe cut his torso in half and completed his transformation into the Tin Woodman. At first, he liked his new body that shone brightly in the sunlight, never grew hungry or tired, and was much stronger than his old body. But he soon forgot all about Nimmie and could no longer feel human emotions, one day he got caught in a rainstorm where he rusted solid and stayed that way for a year. During that year, he had time to reflect and remembered everything about Nimmie and that he still loved her. Since he no longer had a heart, he felt that he couldn’t love her and having a heart would be the only thing that would make him happy. And you know how the rest of the story goes.

It’s such a charming and heartbreaking (heh) story about a man who gets too caught up in his work and looses both himself and the woman he loves. the Tin Woodman has been my favorite character for a long time but his backstory and other things from the books gave me a new appreciation for his character. A small production company called Whitestone Pictures actually made a beautiful short film about the Tin Woodman’s backstory that I highly recommend watching. There’s also an off-broadway show called The Woodsman directed by James Ortiz, which is an adaptation of the same story that I haven’t had a chance to see yet, but the soundtrack is amazing. I can understand why they left this part out of the movie, it would have been way too much exposition, and it’s a little dark which wouldn’t have fit the cheerful tone of the movie.

Another scene from the book that stuck out to me was when he accidentally steps on a beetle and is so distraught over taking an innocent life that he starts to cry, which causes his jaw to rust shut. He makes some frantic hand gestures and the Scarecrow helps him out, once he can speak again, he ironically states: “This will serve me a lesson to look where I step. For should I kill another bug or beetle I should surely cry again, and crying rusts my jaws so that I cannot speak. You people with hearts have something to guide you and need never do wrong, but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful. When Oz gives me a heart, of course, I needn’t mind so much.”

This scene and many others show that not only does the Tin Woodman have a heart (which was the whole point of the first book is that the wizard didn’t change anyone because he didn’t have to) but it also shows how he was affected by his past. We aren’t given much information about who Nick Chopper was before he became the Tin Woodman but he has a clearly defined personality in the rest of the story. An origin story like his could cause a character to become jaded and bitter, but with the Tin Woodman, it’s quite the opposite. He is now more determined than ever to better himself and fix his relationship with Nimmie. He also makes sure to be kind to every living creature and is loyal to his new friends (like the scene where he faces forty wolves to save them but I’ll get to that part later.) In a later book, he tries to find Nimmie again so they can finally get married. It turns out that she married a frankenstein man named Chopfyt, who the tinsmith made out of the human remains of Nick Chopper and a soldier named Captain Fyter who had the same fate as Nick. She is happy with her life and states that she wants to be left alone and not be disturbed by visitors. The Tin Woodman is disappointed but takes the rejection like a decent human being and goes back to Winkie Country where he is emperor (I forgot to mention that at the end of the first book he become emperor of Winkie Country after the Wicked Witch of the West is killed.) I’m pointing this out because I have seen so many stories where a character can’t take rejection and forces their loved one to be with them. It can make for a good story when done well but it’s gross and I’m tired of it.

Of course, there is a stigma around male characters who are gentle and emotional. They are often the comedy relief and presented as weak, usually as a foil character for the strong emotionless hero of the story. Also, keep in mind that the Oz books were written in the early 20th century. Long before this trope was popular. The Tin Woodman completely destroys all stereotypes about men who are emotional and gentle. He allows himself to cry and be vulnerable but it is never treated as a joke or shown in a way to make him appear weak. He is also never portrayed as an overdramatic emotional basket case, he’s portrayed as a human. This isn’t his only personality trait either. He’s a strong fighter and tends to face large hoards of things by himself. Like the forty wolves in the first book and the flock of jackdaws in the second book. The Tin Woodman may be a peacemaker but he is a very capable fighter when he needs to be. He’s also a little vain and takes an entire day to polish himself. He like flowers, he can sing, he thinks puns are annoying (which I think is funny how he is not having it with the Woggle Bug’s puns but politely endures the Scarecrow’s constant dad jokes.) I could go on but the point is that he’s a well written and developed character who will forever be timeless.

This was supposed to be a short appreciation post but my hand slipped and I accidentally wrote an essay. The Oz books are great and I wish they got the attention they deserve. Return to Oz is the closest thing we have to a book accurate movie adaptation but hopefully, we’ll get more movies in the future. There is a wonderful book accurate comic series by Eric Shandower and Scottie Young that you can read here. The art is beautiful, the character designs are charming, and they’re a perfect adaptation of the books. Boomerang has also released a new cartoon called Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. It’s a simple show that was meant for younger kids but it has a lot of characters and lore from the original books. It’s a great introduction to Baum’s world for younger kids and I hope it encourages them to read the books. That’s all I really have to say for now but I’ll probably be making more posts like this in the future.

#the wizard of oz #l frank baum #tin man #tin woodman #nick chopper #nimmie amee #oz #oz books #oz series #the wonderful wizard of oz

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demilillith · 6 years

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Some extra about my OC’s so I’m on track with organization and such:

Demi:

Lives in an apartment with his best friend who pops in time to time to help him on, both are going through their own things, but don’t hesitate to help each other out. @beowulf-fang-fist‘s OC Olliver happens to be this roommate/bestie!

Demi is interested in tattoos, but because he has never gotten one, he likes Henna a lot more since it’s temporary and allows him to change it if he doesn’t like the outcome

Has a scar from slashes he had when fighting off rouge demons, or, so he says...

Can become a werewolf if he so chose from spells he learned as well as wearing the pelt of the dead wolf that he had befriended. He claims that being one is like “being renewed and together in one furry package.”

While he’s a stripper, Demi’s demure attitude and more “professionalism” makes him very popular in the clubs: The “don’t speak, show” attitude he goes about things leaves most patrons to imagination of his real personality.

When Demi dances, he loses his ambitions and becomes a completely different person.

Demi wants to emulate Sailor moon and other characters he’s seen through finding manga that’s been tossed down into the Underground, but it’s mainly one off mangas / episodes on tapes that he sees that he models a lot of his actions to. You won’t notice though, his cheerfulness and positivity knows no bounds anyhow.

Demi does have a pure demon form, however, he doesn't have much control over it and doesn’t know how to bring it out aside from what’s called a “Trance” where his emotions push him over the edge and forces him to become a full incubus in order to “preserve himself”

If Demi wants to, he can mimic other demons and such through spells and contracts, for example: With ifrit, Demi’s horns become more similar to the beast of flame and he becomes much more beastial. With Parvati Demi is himself, but, the two wear matching outfits in order to perform a dance together OR the two ravage whomever is in front of them with two tridents or “trishulas” in Hindi.

Demi has a knack for picking people out with his observations that come off both innocent though much more sharper, but he chalks it up to being a people person

He has a tramp stamp (TB-Drawn, I need ideas / inspirations but thinking of having a star / heart)

Blowjob Lips™

Works as a stripper, an on and off model / fitness shop clerk, and at times Ifrit’s personal assistant when need be. He has many jobs, but, he somehow finds a way to do it all without much thought.

Has the ability to Pictomance, meaning if he draws on himself, the henna will be able to be manipulated to bring out actual spells from it, as well as make magic through his own art. Demi’s more of a henna enthusiast though, but his art is something he holds to himself.

His tarot card is the Fool arcana Fimbulvetr:

Despite being a forest guardian, he looks at himself like a soldier who survived a war and is the only who one has come back. Most of his birth and his “future” frightens him and makes him to cling to affection believing that he won’t get that the next day.

His mastery over the spear is amazing but, Fimb is much more like a fencer the way he uses Gungnir. He wants to use a rapier one day, but thinks it’s best to use the tools he was given.

Despite being a great warrior / strong person in general, Fimb suffers still from bad self esteem that makes him push himself harder to be the best: When he doesn’t realize he’s fine the way he is, demon infested or not.

Nordic names / old English comes second nature to him, though he’s still learning to read “modern” languages, Fimb has a distinct knack for being able to read runes and see them appear in places near nonsensical without much knowledge as to why.

Likes having his hair brushed, but always is conscious about his hair length, if it’s too long, maybe he should cut it...

While Fimb gives nicknames to everyone he meets, they are very few who are called by name in his book: Be wary, there’s a REASON he does so, whether he doesn’t like them or because he shows them true respect (In which he will always refer to them as “Sir” or “Ma’am”.)

Once thought Demi was some outlandish prince so had to break out of the habit of calling him “Milord”

While he loves that Demi reads him stories and tomes he has, Fimb’s favorite story is the “wizard of oz” because he personally sees himself as the Scarecrow of the story.

Oddly despite being so young in terms of chronological years, Fimb has an amazing span of memory / understanding of history and myths as it stands, so much so Demi and him have debates on the purpose of the Aesir and the fall of Babylon.

Can whisper and talk to the trees by placing his hand on them, when hunting this becomes a valuable asset as he can track others through the “trees’ eyes”

Gungnir can pierce and expel demons / heal if Fimb chooses, however, Gungnir is rumored to have it’s own conscience that Fimb can speak to, and Fimb alone.

As his hat is also “alive” due to being possessed by a demon that came out of Fimb’s eyepatch when he made the mistake of opening it, it has stuck with him since despite badmouthing that he will “leave and cause chaos” because it knows that if he tries to, Fimb can easily destroy him. He now takes the form of a sense of a “guide” to Fimb similar to how Morgana from P5 follows the protagonist and makes their own assumptions or observations.

His arcana is considered the Hierophant

Parvati:

While she’s a powerful goddess and mother in her own right, Parvati suffers from the worry that she’s not “needed” in the world and she’ll fade away like “the other pantheons” because while she is inherent as “Shakti” (Female energy of the universe that manifests in creation and other aspects in life alongside the male counterpart as Bhraman), Parvati as an identity can “fade” if people do not believe in her, just like other “gods”. Belief is power, and without it, she has none.

Parvati comes across similar to Saeko / Ms. Smith from Persona 1 as well as Aradia from Nocturne: Without her power, Parvati is without any way to protect or help others, she can only provide hope. However, it is this hope that may actually spur others to action, and Parvati looks at this as her special skill. A mother may know best, but a friend can be the difference between a war and peace.

Wistfully thinks of her husband Shiva, and won’t say where he “is”. It’s assumed that because Demi has Parvati “connected to him” and has lost all of his memories, Parvati’s left with a fragmented space to be in since her contract stipulates that she will always be with him, but is meant to be with her husband as well. As Demi doesn’t know Shiva, she cannot return to him. This is one of the reasons she plots to steer Demi to “becoming himself again” in order to go back to what things were before

She has danced / taught Demi holy dances in order to better protect himself as well as shown him how to summon demons in the form of allowing her to call her via a dance or by burning seals. Demi is able to calm beasts and other creatures through his dances, but depending on the dance, also changes the outcome of the dance he performs: I.E: A simple routine can bring forth fire or even heal, but an actual routine can cleanse and expel demons. This process takes a lot out of Demi depending on the intensity but he’s been known to go into what’s called a “Trance” and immediately shift into an actual demon and perform a dance that can completely demolish things in his way. (Parvati herself is able to do this, though depending on her emotions / intensity she can become Durga or Kali like in the legends of her backstory. Kali being a terrifying goddess who wears the skulls of her enemies as a garland and a skirt of arms while Durga is the embodiment of Parvati’s righteous anger. Both are extremely powerful but she loses all thought as Kali)

Ideally she tries to help Demi with his boy problems, but, she’s more so the type of parent who asks, “So, do you think he’ll make a good husband? I want you happy!” But she means well, she also makes sure to ask Demi for his boundaries now that he’s far more vulnerable than how he was before.

She’s VERY much like Starfire from Teen Titans, the Hindu traditions she participates in is something she takes very seriously, however sometimes the practices seems very outlandish to Demi as... Well... A boy’s gotta eat meat to get the beef and Parvati is known to fast the most out of all the deities because she is a goddess of the family, marriage, and orphans. The fasting is meant to bring forth good fortune, and tries to put this on Demi who she sees as her son, but we all know Demi’s habit of having meat everywhere.

Her Arcana is considered the High Priestess Persephone:

Her “appearance” is never the same, and I look at her like Rupaul / a drag queen who consistently pulls off so many looks that you simply cannot leave her in one specific portrait or outfit.

Because she is a trans woman, her development is more so towards “This is who I am, and I love every minute of it.” and she’s meant to invoke that in her walks, her way of dress, her attitude and her ideals

She is professional with Demi, as he’s her best dancer, but, she sometimes overworks him under the basis of his “work” of weeding out rogue demons and saving humans in the Underground is work for the benefit of the entire District.

Persephone is the queen of the underworld in that Hades is her husband and while this IS true, and she doesn’t deny or agree that she IS the real Persephone; She has gemstones upon gemstones that demons under her power wear them on their person. Demi wears an opal choker to “bring out” his true form, which Persephone knows would transform him into a demon, but WHAT demon, she didn’t know.

“Good and evil are concepts in the way that men whose hearts are not strong enough must argue. We all know what is good and evil in our hearts, and those change over time and in our ideals. Think about who you are, as a person, before attempting to label others.”

Despite being someone so reserved and so... “Mysterious”, Persephone is meant to drag on the question of “Who is the person you want to portray yourself as?” And I think her character is the best way to do so, the way she interferes with Demon’s ploys but all for the sake of the District, she may come across as unfeeling or rather more uptight, but she knows well and means well after living so long

Hades stole her away when she was being abused by her father and allowed her to “be herself” in the Underground. She doesn’t talk about the events, but, Hades wears white gloves in order to respect her boundaries on touching and reclines as her “shadow.” Hades himself is more akin to her “servant” and has passed on leadership of the District to her in his stead many years ago.

Her favorite accessories are long nails and she enjoys spas/manicures and other beautification past times

She personally oversees her club and makes sure her workers are well cared for as well as given a chance to use their talents to the fullest (I.E, her way of saying “Do what you like, but the minute you hoe it up it better be away from my club.”)

Her club is named La Pomme de Grenade, bonus points if you learn the translation, but, she’s very big on the club itself, sometimes singing blues while Hades plays the piano. Her songs have stricken the hearts of demons and beasts, leaving them weeping as she belts out a tune that sings to the soul.

Her arcana is the Empress

Ifrit:

He has taken up residence in a penthouse that Demi frequently visits to maintain their “contract”

It’s rumored that when he was once a warrior, a certain summoner he knew died due to his carelessness as a beast. It’s unknown why, but he feels a familiarity towards Demi and unfortunately, places this same overprotectiveness on him to make up for the mistake he had long ago.

He doesn’t know how to deal with the loss he had had, and so attempts to use Demi to fill the guilt in him, if he protects and serves Demi, then he is fixing the mistake he had.

Tries very hard to change/control the environment he is in, but doesn't realize this may hurt others, and I want this to be a big dynamic with Demi, while Demi is his summoner / he’s his sugar daddy, Ifrit tries much too hard to make things “better” for Demi and his own demons under him. This gets him much respect from the denizens working under him, as well as fear from his enemies as a pseudo mafia boss.

He enjoys the idea of being a “King” and if you were to call him “My liege” or “Sir” you get +3 affection / kink

+3 affection / kink if you have the balls to try and be dominant with him.

Money and business are now his game, and when it comes down to it, he will show up to facilitate deals. If such is the case, broken knees and body parts are common, as he sees it as a way to train.

Ifrit is a complex character that brings out the sexualized aspect of Demi, in terms of being his sugar daddy and part of his demonic contract is that Demi is to give him affection / intimacy / attention and Ifrit will grant him power, money, and well, whatever he’d like to eat afterwards.

Thiddies out™ was a look made by him.

Someone really asked to see Ifrit break their head / melon with his thighs and canonically now Ifrit can do that, his kink though is displaying strength so you’re only making him stronger y’all

“Nuh-uh, I don’t have a death wish.” “But you can handle it! Yes it’s much bigger than--” “I’m not ready to die today Ifrit.” “What if I sit--” “You’re trying to kill me, I don’t even have life insurance.”

If you ever need to know about what Ifrit wears to his “private” gym, know that it’s one of those 80′s shorts that gives you the perfect shot of that fire elemental ass and boots. He likes the idea of being “prepared” to fight with little to wear just like when he squares up when summoned.

Once nearly spent a fortune to buy a vintage Digigar game to play on console. Demi had to hear what Digigar evolutions many digigars had for an entire month.

When he first met Demi, he whispered huskily in his ear for a private dance and after taking him home, Demi found himself treated out to breakfast in bed by servants at hand and foot. It was this event that spurred Ifrit to create a contract when he realized how much Demi “needed to be cared for”. (In reality, Demi isn’t used to such treatment, so when he comes to ifrit thanking him repeatedly, it simply makes Ifrit’s ego bolster into the idea that he’s taking care of him.)

“Call me... Daddy, my little prince.” “Is that all? I thought you were gonna tell me not to call you Big Guy.”

Wants Demi to be exclusive with him, but, in terms of having a job with him and him alone: He can’t, however, because of Persephone having right over him as Demi’s “boss”.

Grab his horns and suddenly you’ll have a more intoxicated and energized Ifrit on your hands. He’s truly the ride or die of your life if you try him.

When ifrit is summoned, his clothes are burned off and his beard grows on fire. The design is similar to the retro final fantasy Ifrit, but rather, Ifrit’s taste in clothing still has him in very skimpy outfits to retain SOME modesty rather than none.

Grappler Dad™

“Come at me, with your full strength if you dare!” “It was funny the last 7 times but now you need to turn yourself around so I can come.” “Oh...” “..Fine. FIE, MILORD, I AM READY TO BE TESTED.”

He’s a soft man please don’t hurt him he already has to worry about his summoner being a stripper / witch like he doesn’t need more issues at this point lmfao

The type to softly rub his thumb over your mouth and call you beautiful as he probably raws the fuck out of you like this is how I Stan my man.

He has tired eyes from so many things he had to do and witness, but the minute his eyes go sharp, your life is going to be obliterated.

Has bought Demi things to wear, but, gets flustered at the idea of wearing similar things in his own right.

Was once given the opportunity to strip in the club for once, but the idea was simply Persephone musing out of jest with “an old friend”

Likes to trace Demi’s henna with his fingers

He’s very dominating, liking to be hands on and very very husky in his words and word choice

While he’s a goofball and soft, he’s still very much a sharp and disciplined individual who simply wants to be validated for doing his best and give love to people to make up for the love he feels he didn’t deserve.

Scruff his beard and he groWS STRONGER HEED THE WARNING SHEEPLE.

His arcana is the Emperor

Venus:

She doesn’t like sweets, but does love ice cream and will try her best to eat some everyday (”I eat ice cream whenever I feel like I wanna treat myself!” “You eat it everyday” *Eats ice cream gawking at the person*)

Based off a cousin who was mocked for her weight, Venus is the epitome of beauty and show business, and is currently on the DL to making her comeback

Demi inspired her to comeback after living in a life of boredom and excess believing that the business stole her creativity and she personally covers for him like a mother hen, though, he’s still pretty star struck his favorite celebrity speaks to him so casually

She doesn’t openly display “magic” rather, her songs and singing are the key to her siren like call. She’s still pretty upset about how music has “changed” so far and wishes the new idols would get some sensibility in their songs and dances.

The “Birth of Venus” was her greatest song and a ballad for the lost woman above ground who somehow made her way to the place where the demons cherished her when the humans reviled her.

When waking up in the morning, she looks in the mirror and struts for good luck.

Thinks of having a talk show to spill the tea and the gossip on the regular... but, can’t help but feel most of the celebrities are fake people with nothing interesting about them besides sex appeal in Eros.

Can incite others with passionate speeches about love and life

“Baby baby don’t you cry, tomorrow’s gonna be a better day...”

She’s best described as someone who KNOWS she was fake before, in her smile, in her actions, and she’s now renewed to find purpose and meaning in her life, through Demi’s interaction with her while incognito

She was forced to choose a lifestyle / major in highschool she didn’t like, and then was going to be forced into a marriage with a man who did not love her that ended up causing her to stumble into the Underground with a mysterious train ride.

She’s probably one of the few humans to ever survive being in the underground without fading away and turning into a wisp of a soul to be eaten by demons; at this point she doesn’t think she’s still human, but now she’s Venus, once more reborn

Likes to lay in bed thinking about what to do tomorrow, but can’t help but want to just stay in retirement and relax as much as she liked

You couldn't go past a newsstand without seeing Venus’ beach catalog with her pictures on the front cover

Entire District is here for her performance

“BODY LIKE WOW, PUSSY ABOUT TO END THIS DROUGHT.”

“Newsflash, asshat, I’ve never liked fat phobia, I love my body big or small.”

Has squared up with Ifrit despite knowing he’s Demi’s sugar daddy, the two have a... “special” relationship in that they would never work together unless the situation calls for it. An intense situation. Venus straight up would square up with Ifrit on a random whim like people don’t realize beyond the public eye they’re not on the best terms. The reason being Ifrit doesn’t take her seriously and

Her special “magical skill” is called Love Handles, a song that refreshes and reminds people they’ll be alright in the end, even after the worst things happened.

“Don’t just trust someone else because they were in power, we can learn things and do things without the need of others handing it to us! Fight! Strive for the things you worked so hard for in life and take it!”

She advises people on love and other areas of life with her social media pages and blogs!

If you know media, you know Venus, no excuses.

EDNA MODE IS HER GREATEST INVENTION

Her arcana is Temperance

#Lore #Long post #OC: Demi #oc: persephone #oc: parvati #OC: Fimbulvetr #OC: Ifrit #OC: Venus #God this was awesome to write!

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