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Continuing his adventures through Oz, Theo has a close encounter then meets a rather strange traveling companion; a skunk scarecrow who'd love nothing more than to have a brain.

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"If He Only Had a Brain"

Not long after departing the village of munchkins, Theo noticed that his legs were growing tired. He looked down at his feet, watching the rubies in the sneakers he wore shone brightly in the sunlight as he made his way along the yellow brick road. The day was clear overhead, hardly a cloud in the sky above, a cool breeze blew in from the north, likely a gift from Glen to assure a safe journey for the young wolf in this strange, new world. The weight of Roro in his backpack proved to be a bit much, so he had put the dog outside of his carrier and placed him on the ground. Roro complained for a good bit, but eventually slipped into being overly happy to trot alongside his master as they made their way down the road.

Eventually, the two of them came across a rather peculiar road sign; no words were written on it, only strange symbols carved into bits of wood that pointed in several directions; one to the left, one to the right, which followed the yellow brick road respectively, then one diagonally up, and one that pointed straight up into the air. Slowly, Theo followed the sign and looked straight up to see a solitary cloud hanging overhead. "What a strange place this is, isn't it, Roro?" He asked. Roro barked and turned around once or twice before seating himself by Theo's feet. He chuckled. "What am I going on about? It's like I expect you to talk back or something."

Theo slung his backpack from his shoulder and crouched before it, opening the main pocket. He extracted the small pouch of food he had been given by the munchkins and pulled out a thick, large muffin. Taking a bite, he was surprised. "Oh, wow!" He exclaimed. "I was just thinking I was craving a banana-nut muffin and I find one on my first try. Isn't that amazing, Roro?" He asked as he peeled a small chunk from the pastry and fed it to the dog, who ate it ravenously. "It's like it read my mind... but that's silly, isn't it?"

"What's silly is a tiny creature's butt that's in my way!" A high pitched voice made Theo shriek and fall forward. He turned around quickly to see a large cart behind him, and an even larger black-coated bull hitched to the cart. Then a very tiny mustached man with a brown bowler hat on top of his head appearing from behind the cart.

The man was only half the height of the smaller wolf, Theo gawked a bit at his rosey cheeks, his brown, tweed-looking jacket and his thin wide lips that curled into an uncontrolled smile. "Oh! I'm s-sorry!" Theo exclaimed. "I didn't even see anyone else on the road and--"

"Yeah, yeah. Nice excuse." The munchkin scoffed, waving his hand at the wolf. "Look, I'm coming back from market, I am tired and I am cranky. So please, if you would get out of my way, I would like to get home."

Literally it seemed as though the man and his cart had come from nowhere. The yellow brick road stretched back in a single solitary line back to Munchkin Village for what seemed like miles back. "Of course." He said, stepping back. "And if you don't mind, sir. Do you think you could tell me which road to take that will lead me to the Emerald City?"

"Why would I know that, boy?" The munchkin asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Do I look like I am made of wealth for travel? How often do you think I've even been to the grand city?"

"Oh. Sorry." Theo apologized with a frown. "I'm just trying to make my way there, Glen told me that I'd find it if I followed the yellow brick road, but he didn't tell me that the road branched off..."

"Oh, well if the good witch of the North didn't even want to go out of his way to take you there, it shouldn't be my problem. Now move!" He said, starting forward with his cart suddenly.

"Oh, wait wait!" Theo exclaimed, seeing his muffin in immediate danger of being crushed. But it was too late, and the wheel ran straight over it, smashing the greater part of it flat into the ground. "Aww!" He whimpered in disappointment as the dwarvish man noticed the damage.

"Aw, gee. I'm sorry about that kid. I guess when I'm in a rush I just stop thinking." Suddenly, Theo's stomach growled, causing Roro to bark and hop on his shoe excitedly. "It sounds like you're pretty hungry, too." He said. "Let me make it up to you, kid. Come to my home, my wife should have a delicious lunch made. I don't see an issue with a last minute guest to come visit."

"Re-really?" Theo asked in surprise. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Oh of course not. I need to make it up to you, and it'll give me a chance to be a good host instead of a rude passerby. Come on! Any friend of Glen's gotta not be all that bad!" He laughed as he suddenly grabbed Theo around the waist and hoisted him up into the cart. Roro barked and hopped up after him, seemingly avoiding gravity and jumping several feet into the air to land beside the wolf. "The name's Byron by the way. Nice to meet you--erm..."

The pause struck Theo suddenly. "Oh, I'm Theo. And this is my dog Roro. We're... sort of new here." He smiled pleasantly.

"Well you don't gotta worry none about that." Byron said as he began to lead the bull, who pulled the cart along. "We've got the last farm on the outskirts of Munchkin Land. I'm sure my wife would be thrilled to meet you two, and perhaps she will know better to which direction you'd need to take along the yellow brick road to get to the Emerald City."

"That would be really appreciated, thank you!"

The road remained a yellow brick one as they traveled along, even traveling down the right fork it didn't change direction or color after that, which made Theo believe that maybe they were headed in the right direction after all. Sitting back in the cart he put his hand down and found sacks of what looked like wheat, flour, sugar. Various bags of seeds for corn and other vegetables lined the cart. Various farming tools also lined the bed of the cart, rattling as the rumble of the bricks underneath met the wheels. Sitting at the edge of the cart, Theo observed the road behind them, at this point he couldn't recognize the Munchkin Village even back as far as the horizon; the streak of the yellow brick road came from the hills. He kicked his feet idly over the tailgate and watched as the road passed under him at a fairly quick pace. After some time, the wheels slowed and the cart came to a stop. Turning around, he could see that Byron had walked away from the bull and was crouching over several small, red capped mushrooms. He looked up at Theo and smiled.

"Sorry about the delay, I'd forgotten I was supposed to gather red caps for the stew at dinner. You're more than welcome to stay for that too, Theo."

Theo smiled. "Maybe, I like mushrooms." He said. "But I really should head off as soon as I can."

Byron smiled as he put several small mushrooms in a sack and tossed it onto the cart. "Suit yourself!" He chuckled.

It wasn't long before they made it to a small house in the middle of a vast field. Theo's mouth hung open as he gawked at how small the house seemed to be from a distance. The walls looked like logs, but they were pastel colored, white smoke poured from the chimney on top as the shingled roof reflected the sunlight like tiny stars amassed along the surface. The door was a red color and looked like a barn stall door where the top and bottom could be opened separately, a short cobblestone walkway led from the door to where Byron finally stopped the cart. "Ah, home sweet home." He said proudly as he hopped down from the bull and unhitched him. "Belinda! We have company! Add a place for another setting..." Roro barked, grabbing Byron's attention. "Pardon! I mean two settings!" He said with a laugh. "Why don't you go inside, Theo and introduce yourself to my wife? She'll be pleased as punch to have some company!"

"S-sure." Theo said as he slid off the tailgate of the cart and landed on the ground. Approaching the house, he slung his backpack over both shoulders, and Roro barked, trotting up alongside him. As he reached for the brass knob on the door, he was startled to see the top part of the door swing inward and a woman's head poke out.

"Oh! Hello!" She exclaimed. The munchkin was a pretty and proper girl, she looked human like her husband, though her proportions were much smaller; she had rosy cheeks and a pursed pair of red lips. Locks of long blond hair tangled in braids slung over each of her shoulders. She wore a bonnet and what looked like a strapped shoulder sundress. She giggled at the sight of Theo. "Look at this then! Such a cute little visitor!" She rubbed Theo's scalp. "It is such a pleasure to meet you!"

"Dear, could you be sweet and start bringing this load into the house?" Byron said as he unhitched the bull from the cart. "I need to put Bron away, he gets uppity when he's not in his barn."

The thought confused Theo for a moment, as he had not even noticed a barn on their approach. "Of course, darling." Belinda said as she backed out of the half-door and opened the lower portion. To Theo's surprise she was actually half his height, she just seemed much taller in the door due to a step ladder or something that wasn't obviously evident at the moment. "Oh, dear. Why don't you go run along? I've got lunch cooking, but it won't be ready for about another hour. Feel free to enjoy the sights of our farm, I will ring the bell when lunch is ready.

"Oh, okay!" Theo said cheerily as he firmed his backpack onto his shoulders. "Come on, Roro! Let's go explore!" He said, pulling open the pouch for his bag and Roro happily bounded into it.

The fields were awash with gold-topped wheat, corn and surrounded by a maze of tall grass that tickled Theo's nose as he ran through it. Looking up at the sky, he enjoyed how much taller the grass was in comparison to him, the blades of gold and green loomed over him, adding finger-like shapes to the blue sky above. After about twenty minutes of mindless wandering, Theo was glad that he could look over his shoulder and still see the outline of Byron and Belinda's house in the distance. Discarding his backpack and placing it down, he giggled as Roro's head popped out of the bag and barked at him. Lazily, Theo sighed and fell back to the ground, landing on the plush, warm grass under him. He looked up and could see a few clouds now, slowly scrolling across the skies far overhead.

"Ah, this is the life, isn't it Roro?" He asked. "Nothing but playing all day and laying under a beautiful sky... fresh air, no pollution. Just... perfect." He yawned and stretched, his hand brushing across something. As he looked he realized they were red capped mushrooms; they were a lot like the ones that Byron had picked up earlier, except these had white spots on them. "Ooh! Yummy." He said as he grabbed a mushroom and shoved it in his muzzle. "You know... a wolf could really get used to this."

After several minutes though, Theo began to feel strange. Sitting up he gasped as it felt like he sat up and was suddenly a hundred feet in the air. Looking down, he could see himself staring blankly up into the sky as cold chills crawled along his flesh. He looked at his hand and tried to speak, but watched as the letters for his words spilled from his mouth and onto his hand, his hand then seemed to move within a blur and he felt like he no longer had a physical form.

Falling back, Theo could hear himself scream in surprise, but the sounds echoed as he fell into a deep sea of water. He felt the water on him like a blanket of cold ice and he bellowed out, his voice gurgled, but he didn't seem to be having any trouble breathing as he sank deeper and deeper into the water. He swung his arms back and tried to balance himself, the images of a great green city appeared before him, and for a moment he thought he'd actually made it to the Emerald City. But he thought that couldn't be possible, and images of Bastion and Glen appeared before him, they looked like they were battling; beams of fire and light swirled about them and then shot toward Theo who put his hands up and screamed only for nothing to happen. When he put his hands down this time, he found himself flying uncontrollably over a dark forest. He looked up to the sky only to find that it had gone dark. To his right, he saw Bastion flying on a broomstick, pointing at him and laughing maniacally as Theo realized he was flying on his bare feet. He wiggled his toes as a stream of red light poured out from the backso f his heels. He rocked back and forth, trying to keep his balance, but that only made things harder and he wobbled uncontrollably.

Theo's feet pitched forward, causing him to fall forward as well. He cried out as he ran his fingers uselessly against the gravity of the dark night's light. He gasped as he found himself falling toward a castle with tall, dark towers, the sound of Bastion's laughter now pouring through his head.

Suddenly, Theo found himself in a dark cave. He was surrounded by stone and cold rock under him. Naked and shivering he wasn't sure where he was until a bright white light illuminated the cavern. He looked up and could see a shape hovering toward him; it was Glen and he produced the most heartwarming smile that Theo had ever felt. "My spell of protection will keep you from harm Theo." He said. "But you must hurry to the Emerald City; Bastion will stop at nothing to take back those Ruby Sneakers and imprison you in his castle..."

There was a radiant warmth emanating from Theo's forehead where Glen had kissed him, and at that moment the light flooded his vision, he couldn't even ask Glen what road to take to the Emerald City.

Theo awoke with a start, bolting upright on a soft bed. Layers of blankets fell off of him and he looked around. He was inside a house now, but he didn't recognize where he was until he looked outside and saw Byron's cart sitting empty now beside the window.

"Oh! Thank goodness you're awake!" Belinda exclaimed as she rushed into the room and put her hand on Theo's forehead. "It seems the fever's broken."

"What... happened?" Theo asked.

"These are what happened." Byron interrupted, waving discarded pieces of mushroom and dropping them to the floor. Inexplicably, the pieces of the mushroom evaporated into small black spots as they turned to ash on the wooden floor. "Spotted Red Caps are the most dangerous mushrooms around."

"I... but I saw you gathering them." Theo said.

"Och... my sweet wolfie." Belinda lamented. "You saw Byron picking Red Caps. But the spotted ones are extremely toxic! It was a wonder you survived. Black magic can conjure the mushrooms, only a source of pure goodness can stop them."

Theo gasped and placed his fingers to his forehead. Glen's kiss had saved him from the poison it seemed. "Glen had... given me a spell of protection." He said. He frowned as he looked up. "But that wasn't very wise of me to eat something I didn't know, was it?"

"I'm afraid not." Byron said. "Well come have some dinner and fill up. We'll get you to bed and make sure you have a fresh start in the morning. Hopefully this little incident has taught you a valuable lesson."

"Oh yes. It really has!"

It was a hearty meal for both Theo and Roro as Theo told the farmers the details of his dreams, Belinda momentarily worried Theo by saying that the dreams sounded like scattered visions and that his adventures in Oz had only just begun. But after the meal, Theo found himself a very, very good night's sleep and awoke before dawn the next day. After leaving a note of thanks, and leaving behind a nice pastry for both Byron and Belinda, Theo and Roro crept out of the house just as dawn was beginning to illuminate the horizon and they returned to the yellow brick road shortly after.

As they walked, Theo's confidence began to reassert itself and he began to remember the goal of his journey; to find the Emerald City and to ask the Wizard of Oz for help in returning home. He grew very upbeat all of a sudden and began to skip a bit more merrily along the route. He'd overcome something very frightening and would make sure never to fall for such a foolish trap again. Bastion had to have conjured those mushrooms for him to find and eat, but Glen's magic protected him. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching his goal...

His determination ebbed as he reached a spot in the road where the yellow brick road went off in two completely different directions. One direction seemed to continue along the hillsides and disappear off into the distance, while the other vanished into the start of some very strange forest. He stepped a few inches onto the road the continued straight in front of him, then frowned and returned to the crossroad. He started down the second road, and then had second thoughts about entering the woods. "Oh, no..." He lamented as he sat down on the wooden slat of a tall fence separating him from a field of corn. The appearance of a scarecrow at the edge of the field, hiked up on a post almost five feet over him only served to unnerve him.

The scarecrow seemed interesting; he looked like a skunk on stilts. A ratty hat and loosely knit tunic as well as a pair of tattered pants made up the majority of his outfit. His wrist and ankle cuffs and his midsection were tied to the post by ropes and likely to prevent the stuffing from pouring out. He'd noticed also that the scarecrow's neck was also tied off with rope, but otherwise he seemed fairly lifeless. Theo frowned and returned his attention to Roro. "Now, which way do we go?"

"I hear that way is very nice!" A voice startled Theo who suddenly jumped to his feet and spun around to look at the scarecrow. Surprised, Theo noticed that the scarecrow's left arm was now pointing in the direction of the hilly route.

"That's... strange." Theo said, looking at Roro. "I could have sworn he moved."

"Of course, I hear that way is a more adventurous path!"

That voice again, Theo jumped and looked at the scarecrow, who was now pointing to the right, straight down the forestry path. "He... he moved again!" Theo surmised. "Roro! Did you see that?" He asked the dog, but Roro simply growled and yapped.

"Of course, I wouldn't go either way." The voice again spoke and when Theo looked at the scarecrow a third time, both of his arms were out, pointing in both directions.

Theo stared at the scarecrow this time, searching for any hint of life. But the figure remained completely stationary, and convincingly lifeless. "Did... did you say something?" He asked the scarecrow. Fervently, the scarecrow shook his head 'no'. "But! You just moved!" He exclaimed, again the skunky scarecrow shook his head, but it suddenly dawned on him that he was moving it seemed, and his shake casually shifted to a nod as he smiled at the wolf. "You... you're alive!" Theo exclaimed.

"Well... I guess so, but I wouldn't exactly call myself living." The scarecrow responded. He sighed. "I have been stuck up here for the longest time, I don't even know if my legs work so how could I really call myself alive?"

"If I get you down, do you think you could show me the way to Emerald City?"

"Nope." The scarecrow responded.

Theo frowned. "Well, why not? That's pretty rude!"

"Oh, not at all!" The scarecrow answered. "You see, I'd be grateful if you could get me down, but I don't know where the Emerald City is. Or where any city is for that matter, I've been stuck to this pole since I can remember."

"Oh... that's sad! You poor thing."

"Well, it's not all bad. I get a great view of the field from here and--" His voice trailed off as a large black-feathered crow landed on his shoulder. "Oh come on, add insult to injury why don't you?" He asked the bird. "Well, go on. Shoo! Shoo!" He shouted then groaned. "Look at me, I'm so pathetic, I can't even scare a crow."

"Well, why not? I can think of a million ways to scare crows."

"You see? That's exactly my problem!"

"What?"

"Well, when the farmer made me, he put stuffing there..." He gesture to his leg. "And there..." He puffed out his chest. "Even in my head. But the problem is he didn't leave room to put a brain in there." He frowned. "I haven't got a thought between two hay needles."

"Oh, you poor thing." Theo frowned. "Well, let me try and get you down." He said as he ducked under the fence and stepped up onto the perch where the scarecrow's feet were.

"You will? Aww shucks! That's great! Thank you! Now, if you could just get my belt over the pole in my back I should just fall free." He leaned up against Theo as he tugged up on the rope bound around the scarecrow's waist. He'd already freed his hands from their spots on the cross bar and as soon as he felt the belt pull free the scarecrow felt as light as a feather and they teetered back toward the ground. "WHOAAAAH!" The scarecrow shrieked as the both of them fell to the ground. The skunk rolled like a tumbleweed and landed face down on the road.

"OH! Scarecrow I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" Theo asked, rushing over and brushing the skunk's clothing off as he teetered and tottered to his feet.

"Am I hurt?" He asked, still stumbling and staggering. "I'm on top of the world!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up and nearly falling backwards, forcing Theo to catch him. "Oop! Sorry. But look at me! I can move!" He got up and began to bounce around freely, almost dancing as he stumbled across the road, catching himself on a fence post before righting himself again. "Okay, okay. So I have my field legs, but I'll get it back, it's like riding a bicycle."

"Have you ridden a bicycle before?" Theo asked.

"No." The scarecrow admitted. "I don't believe I have! But I hear it's easy!"

"So what do I call you?" Theo asked.

"Huh?"

Theo smiled, amused at the scarecrow's innocence. "Your name, silly. My name is Theo."

"And... my name is silly?" He asked, confused.

Theo laughed loudly. "No! I'm just asking you, what sort of a name does a scarecrow have?"

"Well... I guess I was never given a name. But since I am a scarecrow, why not just call me... "Scarecrow"?"

"Well! Pleased to meet you then, Scarecrow." Theo bowed. "So, did you want to come with me to go see the Wizard?"

"The Wizard?" Scarecrow asked, scratching his scalp, prompting Theo to sit down on the fence's middle board. "Why are you going to see a wizard?"

"Well. I'm going to see him because I heard he is a powerful wizard and could possibly send me back to my home."

"Oh. I see." Scarecrow said, leaning on the fence. Amused he looked at Roro who had growled a bit and was sniffing at bits of straw now sticking through the end of his pant cuffs. "Say... Theo, do you think that... if he's as powerful as you say... would the wizard be able to give me a brain?" He asked, pointing at his own scalp.

Theo giggled at the scarecrow's mannerisms and pondered for a moment. "Well, I don't know." He admitted. "But I don't see why we couldn't ask him!"

"Really? You truly want me to tag along with you? I wouldn't be in your way?"

Theo smiled. "Oh, I think it'll be okay. You're nice and lonely, and it would be good to have someone to talk to..." Theo was interrupted when Roro barked twice at them, making Scarecrow jump slightly. "Well... that can talk back anyway. I wouldn't leave you out, Roro, you know that."

"Well shucks!" Scarecrow laughed in amusement. "I'd be delighted!"

"Unless you'd rather go back to your post, I'd understand if you didn't want to hang out with me." Theo said with a snide smirk as the crow again landed on Scarecrow's shoulder.

Abrasively, Scarecrow shrugged his arm at the crow, causing it to take off from his shoulder as he extended his arm out for Theo. "To the Emerald City then?" He asked.

"To the Wizard of Oz!" Theo announced as he hooked his arm under the crook of Scarecrow's elbow, and together, they skipped down the path leading toward the forests beyond the field.

TO BE CONTINUED