In Your Arms

"Yes! She is my best friend! And I love her!" Glinda declared loudly. The Ozians all wailed in horror while Madam Morrible smirked.

"You see?" she bellowed with a cruel and sadistic pleasure. "Yes! Our Glinda 'the Good' is an ally of the Wicked Witch! And tell me, good people, what do we do with scum like that?!" she gestured for the crowd to answer.

"Execution!" they cried in unison.

"That is right!" Morrible cackled, almost psychotically, then she gestured for the nearby Gale Force soldiers to take Glinda away. They did so without hesitation, dragging the blond off to be hanged, but she did not go down without a fight.

"Let! Go! Of! Me!" she snarled, kicking, clawing, biting and punching at whatever she could reach.

Glinda's open resistance to her execution only made the crowd even crazier than before and it soon became a miracle that the entire country of Oz didn't go deaf from all the screaming and roaring. For a moment, even Madam Morrible looked worried, like she was genuinely afraid that she might've pushed the crowd too far and would be unable to reel them back in. But it didn't take long for their bloodthirsty shouts to infect her as well and soon, she was just as beside herself as the rest of the crowd was.

But while Morrible and the rest continued to hoot and holler, Glinda and the Gale Force soldiers continued their little back-and-forth battle. Glinda lost dismally, being outnumbered four to one. It didn't take long for them to subdue her, throwing her violently to the ground and kicking and beating her as hard as they could. Her blood began to flow freely across the pavement and when the crowd caught the first sight of that little scarlet wave spreading out across the stones, the frenzy became even more volatile and vicious. Glinda could only lie there, helpless and defenseless, as she was brutalized and spat upon by her captors. But then, somehow, against all of that riot and chaos, one voice managed to rise, literally, above all of the others.

"STOP!" one simple, single, short little word was shouted out and the entire crazed mob heard it, falling into an eerily perfect silence at once. All heads turned towards the source of the sound, upward. There, suspended in the air on a broomstick, was the Wicked Witch of the West herself! People began to moan in fear and anger, pointing at her as she shouted down her next command.

"LET HER GO!" Only the Gale Force refused to cower as the green-skinned monster continued to hover over their heads. But their numbers were so small that all the Wicked Witch had to do was swoop down and scare them away from Glinda's body. The Gale Force retreated while the green witch scooped up the once-good witch and flew away faster than she had come.

"Elphie!" Glinda rasped as the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, slung her over her back. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you, you little idiot!" Elphaba snapped, but Glinda knew that behind the harsh words, Elphaba was terrified for her friend's sake.

"Thanks, Elphie," Glinda replied weakly, nuzzling Elphaba's back with her bloody face as they flew off together.

"THERE SHE IS!" Elphaba and Glinda had been headed back to Elphaba's castle in the west when suddenly, the two turned to see the Gale Force men flying after them on their own flying-contraptions. What ensued was an all-out air attack. Elphaba steered the broom with mad expertise as she tried to evade the Gale Force. She swerved this way and that, dipping and diving to evade all their weapons. Glinda hung on for dear life as Elphaba continued to whip them around and through the darkening sky. All around her, she could hear angry shouts and commands from the Gale Force. One, in particular, stood out to her.

"FIRE!" that was the command. Half a second later, Glinda shrieked in agony as she felt something sharp piece her side and sink deep into her body. Suddenly, then, she was falling, falling into darkness, and it felt just like falling off a broom...