The Revolution of Oz

Chapter Twenty-three: The Lion Approaches

Dorothy walked the rest of the afternoon. As the sun began to set, she did not even bother stopping. Though it was dangerous in the forest, especially at night, and she was alone, she did not stop. The sooner she got out of there, the better for her.

She didn't even Toto with her to light her path or ward off any attackers...

There was the distant howl of a kalidah, and a shiver shook up Dorothy's spine and she rubbed her arms, suddenly cold. She had no idea what she would do if she ran into any kalidahs... they were mostly hunters, so she could try to play dead, but they were also scavengers at times, Bo had told her, so pretending to be dead wouldn't help her in a situation in which she encountered one or multiple kalidahs.

It was going to be a long night, and all Dorothy could do was walk through the forest. She didn't have anyone to talk to, not even Luav.
What was he up to, now anyway? He hadn't even returned to the hotel before she, Bo, Effigy, and Toto had left...

He hadn't even told them where he was going, or what he was up to, except that it was "too important" for them to know or even inquire about.

It didn't even matter, anyway.

Dorothy jumped at almost every sound she heard in the forest-- the snapping of a limb as a deer had limped around the trees, the twittering and squawking of hatchling birds, the sudden buzz of an insect, and even the sound of her own footsteps against the unmaintained yellow brick road. As she tried to pick up sounds of anything possibly dangerous close to her, she became overwhelmed by the various sounds. Her brain became sore and numb as she tried to shut the sounds out.

Soon, she just held her hands to her ears in a last ditch attempt to shut out all sounds to give her overwhelmed ears and brain a break.
All she had to do was walk.

Walk.

Walk.

Walk.

All she had to do was walk all the way back to the Emerald City. She knew that it would be too conspicuous to have the monkeys take her back, and besides that, she had realized that she had lost her ear piece.

But she had to get going. For the Munchkins Incognito Coup of the East. To make things up to Aras for bringing in a spy into their midst. To get Bo back to safety. To kill the Wizard.
She had to do this.

For Bo.

                    ***

Dorothy knew that she was closer to the edge of the forest, as a small sliver of light pierced the darkness and even the darkest of tangled tree branches overhead. She was exhausted now-- her legs were screaming with each step she took long before she had even reached this part of the forest, but now she couldn't feel them at all. They became stiffer with each passing step.
She fell down to her knees, then laid down onto the bricks of the road.

Dorothy let a single weak sob.

She was never going to make it soon enough to rescue Bo.

There was a rustle in the trees close to her, and there was a deafening roar. She shut her eyes tightly, half hoping that whatever it was would just kill her right there and now and put her out of her misery.

Something scraped the yellow bricks of the road, coming closer and closer to her.

"Dorothy?" a familiar voice asked.

She looked up to see Luav, who had his big head tilted at her her. She let out a huge sigh of something like relief.

"It's just you."

"Yes," Luav said dryly with a flick of his tail. "It's just me."

"What are you doing here?" Dorothy asked, standing up with a wince.

Luav let out a purr that sounded somewhat like a sigh. "Well, remember how I was out and about in the City all the time while were staying there these past few weeks? Well, the Wizard recruited me for a job. He promised that it would give me courage." He let out a purr full of laughter. "He is a wonderful leader, Dorothy. Shame you don't hold him in higher esteem."

Dorothy glared at him. "If you support him so much, why are you even here?"

"Oh, he gave me a job," the Lion replied with a bored-sounding yawn. "He wants me to take you back to him."

Dorothy's eyes flashed. "Go on..."

"He has something to tell you apparently, but he wants to tell it to you in person. He says that the entire fate of the planet rests on a proper conversation with you or something like that." Luav had a bored expression on his face as he swished his tail in disinterest.

"I'll go with you. You don't have to arrest me or anything," Dorothy said, raising her hands in the air as a show of surrender.

"Eh, I'm not here to arrest you. Just take you to the Wizard whether you want to go or not."

"I was just on my way there, anyway," Dorothy said, feeling herself become revived with new energy. "You're doing me a huge favor, really."

Luav narrowed his eyes a little. "You're up to something, aren't you? Oh well, I don't care. Let's get going back to Oz. If you climb onto my back, I'll carry you, and it will be much faster. We'll be stopping halfway, though, since some more of the Wizard's officials shall be meeting us with a vehicle to make the journey even faster."

Dorothy nodded and did so, grabbing a fistful of his mane to hold onto.

"Ouch! Don't pull too hard," Luav growled.

"Sorry. Let's go," Dorothy said, and Luav began to run quickly on the yellow brick road.