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Return to Oz: Chapter 2

For FriskeCrisps

By Draconicon

Does this guy ever stop talking in rhyme?

Theo shook his head as he untangled another weird set of rhymes from the Nome he was locked up with. The rocky creature always spoke in couplets, and while he could understand what Rame was going on about, there was always a second or two of delay while he untangled the meaning in his head.

Not a bad thing, overall, but annoying when he knew that they didn't have much time.

The young wolf stretched out his legs, the Ruby Sneakers on his feet glittering even in the low light of their little cavern cell. It was another reminder of the way they needed to hurry. As the prisoner of the Nome King, he only had so much time before the big rocky ruler decided that he needed to get those shoes off. As far as he had been able to learn, the sneakers were something that the king considered stolen, and imperative for another operation that he had planned.

An operation that he needed to stop, if he wanted his friends in the Emerald City to be okay.

He tried to focus on Rame's ramblings, but the rhyming was getting harder and harder to keep track of, and soon, the wolf sighed and held up a hand to interrupt him.

"I...sorry, Rame, but I need to get to the point."

"Points abound underground. What point will you sound?"

"...I need to get out of here. The Nome King is going to attack the city."

"Which one, which one? Many under the sun."

"The Emerald City. What else...you know what, never mind. But he's going to try and attack it, and I have to get out of here and warn them."

Rame was silent at that. The wolf paused, but forced himself to push onwards. He needed help, and Rame was the only one around that could give it.

"But I have to get out of here to do that, and there's no way that I can do that on my own. You've been...well, you say that you don't like the Nome King or the other Nomes, and that they don't like you. Have you ever thought about leaving here, about trying to find your own life?"

"There's very little to think. Only given it a passing wink."

"But do you -"

"World outside looks so soft. Could be better, aloft."

"Um, what does that mean?"

"A rock like me, so white, might find it better in the light."

"Is that a yes?"

"Rame wonders at your mind; it seems so slow at times."

That's because you won't come out and say it straight! But he didn't say that out loud. The last thing he needed to do was offend his ally, particularly when they weren't even out of the cell yet.

He turned around, looking at the hole in the wall. It was too high to reach on his own, even if he tried to climb up that smooth wall. Even if he jumped as high as he could, even if he tried using some sort of acrobatics - which he didn't really know - he doubted he could have reached it. But now...

"Alright, let's get out of here."

"Getting out means a plan. Will you share, little man?"

"Well..."

The wolf paused. Honestly, he had been hoping to get out of the pit by climbing onto Rame's back and leaping for the hole in the wall. It was good enough to get him out, but now that he was really thinking about it, he had no idea how he was going to get his cellmate out with him. Unless there was a rope or something on the other side, but he doubted that he would get that lucky.

His silence stretched on for almost a minute before the white Nome shook his head.

"The plan is not complete. Shall we rest our feet? Let you think and plot, or move ahead and worry not?"

"Well, if I can't get you out -"

"A Nome has ways, as many as days. Let's get you out, and then you can pout, waiting for me, free as can be."

He swore that the rhyming was getting worse and more convoluted, but if Rame really did have another idea...well, time wasn't on their side, and they needed to get moving.

Rame ambled over towards the wall, his hulking mass looking bigger than ever as he stepped out of the shadows. The Nome prisoner was more different than the others than the wolf had realized, at first. Not only was he lighter in shade, but tremendously cracked looking. It was like there were lines of faults running through his rocky body in every direction, just waiting to be hit the wrong way and leave him shattered.

On the other hand, the big Nome was smoother, too. Though he had the jagged look that the others shared along his back, his face and his arms looked like someone had taken a rasp and rubbed them down, taking away the worst of the bumpiness that rocks tended to have. As Rame leaned down and Theo pressed a hand to the Nome's arm, he was surprised to feel that it had little to no bumps at all. Even the cracks felt smooth.

"The little man should climb; we don't have much time."

"Right, right. Thank you."

He pulled himself up onto the big rock's back, thankful that there were some handholds back there. No sooner had his sneakers left the floor, though, than Rame started standing up. He held on for dear life as the rock moved faster than he thought possible, almost losing his grip in the first few seconds. He flailed about, kicking his feet until he got them secured.

As Rame reached his full height, Theo found himself almost face to face with the hole in the wall. There was a little bit of light out there, a torch or two, and it cast enough light for him to make out the hallway. He glanced back and forth, but he couldn't see any Nomes waiting for them, and there were no shadows that might give away someone hiding out of sight.

"Let go of my back and jump. Worry not; you're not a chump."

He swore then and there, if he got out of this alive, he would buy Rame a poetry book, if for no other reason than the Nome needed to know how actual poetry sounded.

Pulling himself up to the tallest point of his companion, Theo pulled himself together. He wobbled back and forth, almost falling off of the smooth head of the rocky creature, before he was ready. Just had to make one jump. Just one. As long as he didn't think about the long fall or the fact that the hole was really small or that the noise of landing on the other side would get someone's attention, he should be fine.

Biting back a whimper of nervousness, the wolf pulled himself as far back as he could before taking a running leap. He managed three steps before he kicked off of the Nome's head, soaring through the air -

SMACK!

And cracking his head on the very top of the exit. He'd jumped just that little bit too hard, and he almost knocked himself out as he went through the hole. He did end up spinning round and round, and spun right into the wall on the far side of the tunnel.

"AGH!"

He barely kept it from becoming a scream of pain as he slammed into the rock, his eyes rolling back as he felt his body flatten, then slump down against the floor. His head hurt like hell, and the world spun around him, the flames of the torches coming little fairy lights in his vision.

"Take the path on the right; you will not have to fight. I will find you soon, as long as you don't find doom."

Doom...I really...really hope that's a person.

Theo bit off another whimper as he pulled himself to his feet, trying not to think of the ache in his head or in his back. If he had hit the rock as hard as he thought, he was pretty sure that he had injured something, but this wasn't the time to think about it in any detail. He had to keep moving, and he had to hope to heaven that Rame wouldn't do anything to get him in trouble.

He started walking, his hand on the wall to guide him along. The tunnel stretched into darkness, and soon, he was surrounded by it.

#

Theo had been walking for nearly an hour - or at least, what felt like it - before he came to another intersection in the tunnel. He paused there, collecting his thoughts as he looked this way and that. There were no signs of other Nomes, nor any other people. No animals, no little markers to show what was down either of the other paths. No...nothing.

Slowly, he slumped down against the rocky wall, settling into a little alcove that was cut out of the wall. His head rested in a cut-out bit, probably where some gem or something had been before the Nomes had found it, and he fought back tears.

What am I going to do? I'm don't know where I'm going...I don't know what's down here. And how am I going to find the Emerald City when I get out? I don't even....I don't...

A little tear started working its way free of the corner of his eye, and his chest tightened on him. He could already feel a good cry working its way up, and he knew that if he started, he wasn't going to be able to stop.

Theo shook his head. He wished that his old friends were here with him. He wished that he had Lion around, to have a little laugh with and feel brave next to. He wished that Tin Man was here, to give him something to smile at. He wished that the Scarecrow was around, so that they could make a plan.

Heck, he even wished that Roro...

Oh no...Roro!

He'd left him behind in the pit. Left him behind with a Nome that wouldn't stop talking, who might not bring the dog along. The wolf immediately leaped to his feet, intent on going back the way he came, when -

Boom.

The echo came with a shockwave through the wall, and he shivered, ducking back into the alcove. Something was coming, and it felt...big.

Boom....Boom...Boom...

"What is that?"

He couldn't help but shiver as the sounds got louder and louder, and the vibrations and shockwaves through the wall got more and more intense. In seconds, he almost felt like he was getting knocked away from it, barely keeping his grip on the wall as it got worse and worse.

Boom...Boom...BOOM!

The last one knocked him off of the wall, and the wolf hit the floor hard. He rolled over immediately, whipping his head around to see where it was coming from. Nothing, nothing but -

Where he'd been standing, the wall suddenly cracked, right at the gem-line. Another boom, and a fist punched through. A white, cracked-looking one.

"...Rame?"

"I told you, I would catch up. Did you think it was a bluff?"

"I...I don't know. I didn't know you could...why didn't you do this in the pit?"

"It would take too long, and you would be wronged."

"Woof!"

"Roro?! You have Roro?"

"The dog followed behind. Leaving him would be unkind."

"Oh thank you...thank you so much."

He shook his head in relief, stepping forward to help as much as he could as Rame pulled the cracking wall apart. The wolf wasn't much help, admittedly, but he did the best he could, dragging the different smaller pieces out of the way while the Nome plucked apart the larger ones. Thankfully, it didn't take long, and Rame stepped out of a newly created tunnel.

As he did, several pieces of white rock hit the ground. Theo shuffled them out of the way, then paused as he picked one up. It was...it was one of Rame's finger rocks, and it had a huge crack and break down the middle of it, right down to the point where it must have split off of the hand.

"What...Rame, did you -"

"White rock is a soft rock. Is easy to lose a block."

"Does...does it hurt?"

"I am used to it by now. No reason to have a cow."

"But I wasn't...You lost a finger!"

The Nome shrugged, and Theo just didn't have anything else to say. The big guy seemed alright with it, even if the idea of losing a finger was utterly terrifying to the wolf. Maybe Nomes didn't have the same idea of pain as he did?

Regardless, he dropped it like it was a hot potato, and gestured towards the intersection of the different tunnels.

"Which way do we go next?"

"Ahead, as far as I can tell. It is the only one feeling well."

"Alright..."

They started walking, the trudging, heavy steps of the Nome following behind the wolf's quiet jog. He had to move faster to keep ahead of Rame and avoid getting stepped on, something that was entirely new in his experience. He kept his eyes peeled, but there was so little to see, and as Rame was walking so loudly, there wasn't any way for him to listen for someone else.

The only plus was that the walking must have sounded similar to all the other Nomes around, unlike the clicks that would come from his sneakers if he had been alone. All the stomping would definitely cover that up.

On and on they walked, moving through the underground tunnels. Occasionally, they passed by a bit of rock that looked a little prettier, a little more gem-like, but deep in these tunnels, it seemed like it was mostly made of rock. Theo soon found himself shaking his head to keep focused, keep awake, and he didn't like that.

"How far is it to the exit?"

"Not that far away. Should reach it in a day."

"Oh, that's - wait, a day?! Rame, we need to get out of here now!"

"There is...a shortcut, but -"

"A shortcut? Why aren't we using it?"

"It takes us through a long field, where few succeed and most yield."

"But this is an emergency. We need -"

"The thief of gems."

"The rock of them."

"They are out."

"Must raise shout."

Theo groaned, hearing the rhyming chatter of other Nomes. As he looked back down the tunnel, he saw a couple of them picking up speed while a third was running off, no doubt going to get help.

"Looks like we need a faster route now. Take us to the shortcut, Rame."

"I don't have a choice. Run without voice."

The white Nome took off at a speed that the wolf could hardly believe, barreling down the tunnel without much grace, but with the power and force of an avalanche coming down a mountain. Each step made the floor shake, and he was bounced forward behind Rame as much as he ran behind the big guy.

Thankfully, Rame's bigger size seemed to shake up the other Nomes as well, as their pursuers seemed to have a bit of trouble keeping their footing. Not as much trouble as he did, but enough to slow them down.

Maybe we have a chance after all.

#

Or maybe we're all gonna die!

He screamed as they went flying out of a hole in the mountain slope, shooting through the air and over a small forest.

"What were you thinking?!"

"This is what you asked. I fulfilled my task."

Theo knew that much was true. He'd begged for the shortcut, and he'd gotten it. They were thrown down a rocky tube, which had been smoother and slicker than anything he could have imagined. They picked up speed as if they were in freefall for almost a minute before the tube suddenly turned around and launched them through the air, and now...now, they were getting a very bad flying lesson.

Their speed carried them over the forest, but Theo was worried about where they'd land. Roro was riding on his back, stuffed into a little pack, and the little dog was barking in his ear as they kept soaring.

Were they going to splat? Were they going to hit the ground and just end their adventure here?

Suddenly, beyond the last vestiges of the trees and at the start of a set of hills, he spotted a lake. A very big lake. A very deep looking lake. And thankfully, they were flying right towards it. Theo braced himself, just in time.

SPLASH!

It felt like he had landed on the hardest, thickest bundle of hay in the world, and his skin prickled beneath his fur as if he was getting poked by a hundred thousand different points. The wolf bit his lip to keep from groaning and losing his air, and struggled towards the surface with limp limbs. It felt like a minute before he reached air again, and he gasped for breath.

"Ah...ha....ha..."

Panting for breath as Roro started paddling for shore, the wolf looked back the way they'd come. The mountain was a good half a mile away, and they'd landed somewhere...somewhat safe, at least. At the very least, the two of them had a good lead.

"I guess...I guess I should have trusted you, Rame. Thanks for...Rame?"

He turned in place, treading water as he looked around for the big rock, but he couldn't see him.

"Rame? Rame, where are you? Rame?!"

There was no answer. Theo started to panic, his eyes going wild as he paddled towards the shore, worried about his only companion. Had he landed further in the forest, maybe? The rock might have been heavier and fallen closer to the mountain. Not to mention that Rame had been quiet after the question. Maybe -

As he reached the shore, he saw bubbles rising out of the lake, and he paused.

"Rock...Oh."

No wonder he hadn't seen Rame. The Nome was made out of rock, after all. He must have sunk as soon as they hit the lake. The bubbles moved around, and he followed the line of them as they came closer and closer to the shore.

Sure enough, the white giant rose out of the water, deluges of it running down his limbs and back into the lake. He blinked several times - something that was markedly disturbing, with stone eyes and eye-lids - and shook his head slowly.

"It is soft down below, but back I wouldn't go."

"Are you okay, Rame?"

"Yes, I am fine. Water softens, with time."

Well, at least there was that. He nodded, and then took another look around.

As much as he'd hoped that he'd know where they were once they were out of the mountain, he still didn't recognize anything. This lake and the forest beside it weren't familiar to him, and the hills and plain stretching out in the other direction didn't look familiar either. But it did look more colorful than the mountain and the badlands around it, so it seemed like that would be the best way to go.

He glanced at Rame for confirmation, but the Nome was already on the move. He groaned, patting his leg.

"Come on, Roro."

The little dog jumped to catch up with him as he jogged up to the Nome, keeping up with him with a little difficulty.

"Why are you in such a hurry? We're off the mountain. We've gotta be safe by now."

"Soon the King will send his men. We don't want to be around then. Nomes and soldiers and beast aplenty. Many, many more than twenty."

"You really, really stretched that rhyme."

Once more, Rame shrugged, and once more, Theo really wished he had that poetry book to give the big guy.

Still, it was a good point. Better to keep on the move, even if the Nome King wasn't chasing them. They only had so much time, and the more space between him and the mountain, the better. And if they were being chased...

Well, they had a lead. They better use it.

#

It had only taken another hour before the ground started to shake with the sound of pursuit. Rame had felt it first, and Theo only a few seconds later. They didn't need to talk; a single shared look was all they needed to pick up the pace and get running.

Unfortunately, Theo started running out of energy not long into the chase. The hills were long, and stretched out a long way before the plains in the distance. He panted and groaned as he kept having to run downhill and then run uphill, and his lungs burned with exertion. He started pulling on Rame's arm, trying to get some support, but every time he got a grip, the Nome's strange smoothness only made him lose it again.

"I...I can't keep...going..."

"Either we run or we hide; being caught we can't abide."

"Where can we hide? All that's around are hills."

"There are places, on the maps. Of course, there are also -"

As they hit the top of a hill, Theo heard a loud crunch underfoot. A split second later, the entire hill seemed to open up around them, swallowing them into a huge hole. As they fell through a strange trap-door, he completed the rhyme for Rame.

"Traps..."

They fell for a surprisingly short time, considering the deep tunnels of the Nomes, and landed in yet another lake. Theo groaned as he floated on top, not even bothering to swim. He was too tired, too exhausted to fight anymore.

At least the trap door closed behind them, he noticed. It left them in darkness, yes, but it was better than getting found by the Nomes. He hoped.

It didn't take long for the silent dark to be broken, with little candle lights and small squeaking footsteps. The wolf turned his head as he floated, realizing belatedly that Rame's underwater movements were carrying him towards the edge of the lake. Seeing what waited for them, it suddenly felt like a bad idea.

The small lake - more of a pond, now that he saw it clearly - was surrounded on all sides by an army of mice. And not pesky field mice, like he was used to back home, but hordes, swarms of white and brown and black mice, each one with eyes shining with intelligence and armed with ropes, needle-swords, and little bows and arrows. There had to be thousands of them, if not hundreds of thousands.

Even as Rame started to rise from the water, they threw their ropes. They were little more than string and twine, but as they went flying over Rame's back, covering Theo as well, the sheer number of them pulled him flat and kept him from struggling. The mice climbed up the Nome, and before he was even able to pull himself free of the water, they had wrapped him so tightly that he fell over, his legs pinned together and his arms tied at the side.

With Rame stuck on his stomach and Theo tied to the Nome's back, neither of them could so much as move as one of the mice climbed onto his stomach. It wriggled up, darting to his chest before standing on its short hind legs, and pointing a needle sword at his face.

"You are the prisoners of the Mouse Kingdom. Any last words before you're tried for trespassing and invasion?"

"Trespass - We didn't want to come here! We fell in."

"A likely excuse! There isn't a man or woman in Oz that wouldn't invade the Mouse Kingdom, is there, my people?"

"No there's not!"

"We are the shining envy of the entire world. Our underground kingdom, filled with lovely folk and wonderful craft, would draw anyone from anywhere. If you think to deceive me into believing that you merely fell here, you must be worse than invaders. You must be spies!"

The mouse leaped even closer, the tip of that needle almost poking him on the nose. Theo's eyes went wide as he leaned back, trying to keep as much distance from that little poker and his sensitive nose as possible.

"Not talking, eh?"

"W-well, it's, uh, kind of hard with a, um, sword pointed at me."

"You expect me to lower my weapon in front of dangerous individuals like yourself? Ha!"

The mouse spun, gesturing to his people.

"What is the first law of the Mouse Kingdom?!"

"Your weapon is sacred, and can never be taken away!"

"And the second?"

"Anyone that tries to take it away is an enemy!"

Theo couldn't believe what he was looking at. A whole army of mice, and worse, ones that were complete lunatics about things. Laws about weapon treatment? Trying to ask for a bit of peace making you an enemy? What in the -

Whip! The needle was back, this time almost inside one of his nostrils. The mouse smiled, flicking his weapon around.

"Well, you heard it, spy. You made yourself an enemy of the Mouse Kingdom, and as such, you have to pay the penalty. You know what that is."

"Um. I, uh, don't..."

"Bark!"

He glanced around, seeing the mice lassoing Roro as he pulled himself out of the pool as well. The little dog put up quite a fight, but he wasn't able to get away from all the mice around him. However, he did suddenly put up one paw and point, using his nose and it, towards Theo's legs.

The mice around him glanced up, looking more irritated than anything else, but one of them stopped and stared, then pointed.

"Your majesty!"

Theo was relieved to see the sword move away from his nose, even if the mouse looked more annoyed than attentive.

"Yes, yes, what is it?"

"The intruder's sneakers. They're - they're the Ruby Sneakers."

"What?!"

The king - it seemed - leaped down, and quite a few others leaped up. Rame was thankfully still, not dislodging any of them, and Theo groaned as he felt quite a number of them squirming around along his legs, along his feet, along his knees. They were tickling him like mad, but he didn't dare squirm.

He felt a couple of shoves along his sneakers, the needle swords probably poking them but not getting through.

Well...maybe we're not dead after all...

In short order, the mouse king was back on his chest, sword at his side instead of in his hand.

"You've been granted a reprieve...if you can prove who you are."

"I...I'm Theo. I, um...I ended the Wicked Witch of the West, last time I was here."

"Who did you do it with?"

"Um...I was with Scarecrow, Lion, and the Tin Man..."

There were a number of gigglers among the mice at that, and Theo blushed a bit, realizing how that could have been taken.

"I, I mean, they helped me."

"And how did you leave?"

"I was told to click my sneakers together, and I'd go home. But...they only told me after I got left behind by the wizard going away."

The king nodded, and flicked his tail. Suddenly, the bindings on him were cut loose, and he was able to sit up. The other mice scattered, giving Rame room to stand. That, unfortunately, didn't go so well, and Theo went tumbling off, landing in the pond again.

As he surfaced, sputtering, the mice helped him out. The king waved for him.

"We need to talk."

#

It didn't take long to tell the story of the Nome King and his plans of attacking the Emerald City. While the mouse king didn't have much worry about his own lands, his people were more concerned, and he bowed to their will.

A young volunteer, by the name of Mandelbrod, joined them as a guide. The mouse warrior took a spot on Theo's shoulder, riding along in a little pocket that the mice had sewn into his clothes when he needed a rest. The mouse guided them out of the underground kingdom to the biggest exit. Even that was barely large enough for Rame, and the mice gave them scathing looks as they left.

However, they were on the surface again, and well eastwards of the direction they had been traveling, as far as Theo could tell. He glanced towards the setting sun, and shivered a bit to himself.

A whole day wasted. Who knows how much the Nome King has already mobilized. Scarecrow, I hope that you're doing alright, and I hope that you're ready when I get there. We have a lot of work to do.

Mandelbrod guided them towards a river that went along the sides of the plains, and they started walking along it. The little mouse was loud and commanding, and always had something new to tell them.

"Watch out for that rock. It has a secret tunnel down to the Conclave of Crabs, and they don't like having visitors."

"Hey, don't touch that tree. It's grown from the sacred sprig of spring, and the songbirds will have your head."

"I said left, you dullard! Do I need to stab your neck to get you to go in the right direction?!"

Again and again, the mouse kept piping in with the most annoying bits of advice, and by the time that they made camp for the night, Theo was wondering how much of it was true, and how much of it was the mouse taking advantage of his chance to boss around two people much larger than himself.

He pulled himself in next to Rame after getting a fire set up, and sighed softly.

"Do you think we're going to get there in time?"

"With a proper guide, time is on our side."

"But do we have a proper guide?"

"I heard that!"

Mandelbrod threw something - a pine nut, perhaps - with enough force to make Theo grunt at the impact. He rubbed his neck, shaking his head.

"Maybe we should have picked a different mouse..."

"I'll have you know that I'm a perfect guide. Why, just last year I was guiding all of our new soldiers up and down this river, and I..."

Theo tuned him out, leaning against Rame instead. At least the big Nome was quiet.

The End