Wonderoz Chapter Seventeen: Dorothy

That night while everyone was asleep Dorothy snuck out of the camp and back up the trap door into the Tulgey Wood. And for the hundredth time that day she reached into her pocket and rubbed the little matchbook that was from her beloved little sister, Alice.

The night air was invigorating and was filled with little glowing bugs that looked like a cross between a light post and a dragonfly. The little bugs all had different colors and flashed them on and off, talking to one another in a splendid fervor.

Dorothy tapped the little emerald on her lapel and the bright green light pointed through the glowing bugs and through the trees and darkness. The little critters congregated around the light and Dorothy as if they knew exactly who she was and where she was going.

“Enchanting little things aren’t they?”

Dorothy jumped and turned to see Nick standing in the entrance to the cave. She sighed in relief and smiled. “Did I wake you?”

“I haven’t slept in years.” Nick chuckled. “No need to, you see, when you have no heart.” He held out his gauntlet and an orb of the bugs congregated there. “They’re called borogoves.” He sat down on a rock and sighed softly.

Dorothy moved her mouth to the word silently as she watched them dance around in a sort of synchronized swim.

“People say they’re the only things that can ward off a Jabberwocky.” He turned to her, his eyes flashing brighter with the borogoves. “Isn’t that fascinating? These little things?”

“Maybe its what they’re talking about.” Dorothy said, holding a gaggle of the candy colored bugs in her cupped hand. “They must be singing a song he doesn’t like.” She released the borogoves and they burst forth in a frothy display.

“Perhaps.” Nick sighed.

“Or the Jabberwocky just doesn’t like color.” Dorothy sighed as the borogoves flew corkscrew around her arms and fingers.

“I killed a Jabberwocky when I was a young man.” Nick replied. “Not long after I became the White Knight. This was back when Ozma was still a princess.”

“How old were you?”

“Just a boy really.” Nick answered. “My whole family had been knights in the royal army. I was the only one to slay a Jabberwocky, aside from ancestors in legend.”

“That’s pretty amazing.” Dorothy hugged her knees up to her chest. “Well, I say that just from gleaning. I actually have no idea what a Jabberwocky is.”

“They’re bad enough that I’m the only Chopper to slay one!” Nick laughed proudly at first, and then fading into sad. “I actually only just remembered that.” He looked back over at Dorothy. “I remembered something else today too.” Dorothy met his eyes. “And I am quite disappointed in myself. I know why your name sounds so blasted familiar.”

Dorothy felt a lump come up in her throat. “You remembered me?”

“Oh, Dorothy.” He said shaking his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

The girl shrugged, a few borogoves fell from their perch. “I guess I just didn’t want to scare you.”

“Honey,” Nick laughed. “You could never scare me. Lurline knows you tried when you were little.”

Dorothy beamed. “So you do remember!” A few tears splashed down on some low flying borogoves and they flew away with them. She stood and went over to Nick and held his hand.

Nick held up his free hand and squeezed his thumb and forefinger together. “Very little.” He sighed shaking his head. He cupped both Dorothy’s hand in both of his gauntlets. “Very little. But the closer we get to the East the more I begin to remember.”

“That’s because your body is in the East.” Dorothy said, her eyes following the green light of the emerald. “We can get it back when we save Alice.”

Nick chuckled softly. “Your mother would be so very proud of you.”

Dorothy turned back to him and squatted down on a toadstool so she was at eyelevel with him. “Where is Mother? Is she okay?”

Nick brought his hand to his helmet and sighed. “Darling, if I knew we wouldn‘t be in the middle of all this. Lurline only knows what your mother has done with herself now.”

Dorothy furrowed her brow. “Who is Lurline? Is she a witch too?”

Nick chuckled. “No, Darling. Lurline is the goddess of Wonderoz, our creator.”

“Oh.” Dorothy mouthed and leaned back. “I keep expecting some sort of big, giant miracle cure for all of this to magically appear. But so far it has all only been a small succession of tiny answers.”

“Miracles are a big deal, no matter how small they are.” Nick reached out and put his hand atop of Dorothy’s head.

Dorothy’s eyes wandered back out into the trees and she saw flashes of bright pink amongst the shadows. She stood up and pointed. “There’s something out there.”

Nick turned to look over his bulky shoulder. “So there is.”

The borogoves suddenly gathered all around Dorothy and spiraled up and down her like a barber pole.

“There is a Jabberwocky nearby.” Nick whispered.

Dorothy started. “A?” She gulped. “I had the impression there was only one. And that you killed it! But the way you say it I’m led to believe there are more.”

“Of course.” Nick chuckled as he got to his feet. “If there was only one then there wouldn’t be anymore, would there?”

Dorothy swallowed. “Oh my.”  The pink flashes started getting bigger and louder. They sounded like laurel bushes on fire. And the smell that was wafting towards them made Dorothy think of drying paint.

“Is it heading this way?” Dorothy gasped.

Nick moved his axe over his shoulder. “We need to warn the others.”

Dorothy took a deep breath. “Why didn’t I bring it with me?” She hissed at herself.

“What?” Nick asked.

“My basket!” Dorothy slipped back down through the trap door and raced back towards the tent. She clamored inside and snatched at her basket.

“Dorothy?” Flinch groaned sleepily. “What’s going on?”

Dorothy hesitated for a moment before saying it to Flinch. “There’s a Jabberwocky headed this way.”

Flinch jumped to scream but Dorothy held him back and wrapped her arms around his jowls to keep him quiet. “Be quiet! I’m going to try and lead it away from the camp. You stay here.” She released him and turned to leave the tent.

“Are you serious?” Flinch gasped. “You’d have to be crazy to think you could take that thing on by yourself!”

Dorothy looked back at him and shrugged. “Maybe I am. But if my Dad can slay a Jabberwocky then maybe I can protect people from one.” The flaps of the tent closed behind her and she went back up the hole.

She stood in the mouth of the cave and started searching through her basket. She pulled out a bottle and saw a tag attached to it.

I labeled these for you so you’d know what to do with them.

This one says: Drink Me!

Love, Maddox

Dorothy grimaced. “You couldn’t of also told me what it does?” Her world suddenly turned pink and all the hairs on her body stood on end. She looked at her hand and saw flashing purple sparks fly between her fingertips.

Dorothy scanned the area, twisting her head this way and that. “Nick?” She called out.

I shouted out at her, “Run you stupid girl!”

Dorothy turned and looked up. Squatting on the top of the cave sat the creature known as the Jabberwocky.

“Oh my!” Dorothy gasped.

“Run!” I shouted again.

Finally her feet took off underneath her and she sprinted forward. The Jabberwocky roared in it’s screaming, uffish way. I have never been fond of the Jabberwocky breed. They happen to be quite cute when they are young, but the older they become the more horrendous in appearance they become. This Jabberwocky happens to be extremely old. Actually older than the one Nick slew years ago and it had been called the oldest in all of Wonderoz. This Jabberwocky was so old he now has to run on all fours instead of his back legs like most young Jabberwocky.  His neck is snakeishly long, head massive, and eyes bulbous. He also had a thick heavy beard of tentacle-like whiskers and buckteeth on top and bottom of his mouth. His fingers, too, had started to sprout feathers! I don’t believe I have ever seen a Jabberwocky so old and so ugly.

But what was remarkable was that Jabberwocky take stages in life in terms of their powers. This one spit pink lightening-fire. Most young Jabberwocky spit either pink fire or purple lightening. As babies they spit pink bubbles filled with static. As teenagers it either becomes little cherry bombs of fire or lightening. Then the older they get the more oomph they have. As such, as I said before, this Jabberwocky is very old, very powerful and very ugly!

But back to Dorothy and her blight.

She was running with the Jabberwocky galumphing behind her, snorting and snarling like an overweight pig. Dorothy took to the bottle of red in her hand. East magic she recalled and popped the cork. She slung the decanter back against her lips and swallowed. In that moment she was engulfed with the pink-hot flames and lightening of the Jabberwocky.

“Dorothy!” Both Nick and I shouted in unison, although I doubt Nick heard me over the calamity.

The purple haze floated and shifted lazily in the midnight air. Suddenly it was cut in half and some sort of long hammer struck the Jabberwocky upside its gargantuan disgusting head.

Dorothy parted the purple haze and held in her hand what was once her basket but had now transformed itself into a war hammer of great length and weight. Her hair was much frizzier than before and stood erect in the air emitting pink and purple sparks. But aside from that she was completely unharmed.

Invulnerability, the other side of the Mad Wizard’s label read. That idiot finally labeled his crazy concoctions! He was slowly becoming less annoying to me. But not by much.

I came towards Dorothy and wrapped myself around her along with the tiny borogoves. “Its old. Its time is coming soon. You don’t need to defeat it.” I whispered.

“Just outlast it.” Dorothy whispered and our eyes met in a split second. She couldn’t see me but in a strange way I knew she could. Her eyes then cast upwards back at the Jabberwocky who had now regained himself and screamed in her face.

“Shut up!” Dorothy swung her war hammer/basket and caught it in the eyes. Her basket became stuck and she grunted. “Oh come on!”

The Jabberwocky roared again and reared up on its dusty old legs. Dorothy, clinging with all her might to her basket/war hammer, was sent flying up in the air. Suddenly, the Jabberwocky’s eye became dislodged and Dorothy went flying outward.

Flinch came running out of the cave with Eye on his back and they both shouted out, “I’ve got ya!” But Flinch jumped up into the air and Eye fell off his back. Flinch caught the hem of Dorothy’s coat in his mouth and tossed her onto his back.

Meanwhile the Jabberwocky, having lost his eye, screeched and cried angrily and collapsed onto the ground and turned into a immense cloud of borogoves that flew up into the air and joined the rest of the borogoves in lighting the woods.

Dorothy and Flinch landed with a heavy thud just in time to be engulfed in the borogove insurgence.

“My Jabberwocky never did that!” Nick gasped as the borogoves floated up through his armor and into the sky.

“Are you alright, Dorothy?” Flinch panted.

Dorothy squeezed tighter onto Flinch’s neck. “You’re the one whose shaking.” She chuckled. “Oh, Flinch! That was so amazing! You were so brave.”

“I…I don’t know what came over me!” Flinch collapsed onto the ground. “I think I’m going to be ill.”

Dorothy kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Dorothy!” Eye ran up and flung himself at Dorothy, wrapping his gangly arms around her. “You’re okay! You’re really okay!”

“Yes Eye, I’m fine.” Dorothy put her free arm around his waist and patted him on the back. “Thank you too.” She pulled back and looked down at her basket. The handle began to draw back and the Jabberwocky’s eye slipped off the basket and flopped onto the ground before Flinch.

“I am going to be sick!” Flinch cried and dashed off behind a tree.

Dorothy kneeled down and poked at the big, goopy thing. “How weird.” She cooed. “Ah!” She gasped as the eye started to peel back like a banana and inside rested  what looked like a rock the color of pea soup.

“Is that…?” Eye gasped.

“A puppy Jabberwocky.” Dorothy whispered and reached down to pet the little thing.

The rock shifted and out popped and oversized head that looked up at her with big, googly eyes. “Haaaaaa!” I cried.

Dorothy turned to mush and she pulled it out. “Its so cute!”

The little baby looked like a turtle with a calf stuffed inside. Its head was massive and cow shaped with oversized, black eyes. His fur was the color of toffee. It had tiny wings on its back it wouldn’t be able to use until it was at least three decades old. Its forelegs were like kitten paws and its hind legs like a cow’s but with toffee colored scales and white hooves. It barely yet had a tail or neck, those would come with age as well. For now it was an adorable little thing.

“Hee!” It cooed and licked Dorothy’s chin and up her nose.

“You aren’t going to keep that thing are you?” Eye gulped.

“Its just a puppy.” Dorothy said stroking its forehead. “I can’t leave him here by his lonesome.”

“Hee-ha!” It purred.

Nick came forward, a huge dent in his breastplate and the side of his helmet. “Is everyone in one…oh! Is that a puppy Jabberwocky?”

“Dorothy thinks she can keep it!” Eye gasped.

“Well of course she can.” Nick scoffed. “Young Jabberwocky are very wonderful pets and bring good fortune.”

“Say what?” Eye coughed.

Dorothy stood back up and hefted the baby in her arms. “You wanna come with me, little fella?”

“Hee! Hee! Hee!” The baby squealed excitedly. “Bop!” It burped and mouthful of frothy pink bubbles that exploded into a buff of smoke and static.

“What are you going to call it?” Nick asked, stroking the small critter’s head.

Dorothy sighed, “The only good name I ever liked for pets, Toto.”

“Toto?” Eye mouthed.

Poor unimaginative Dorothy.