They were deeper in the forest long before noon. Bo told Dorothy all about the creatures of the forests in Oz; he told her about the ones you could eat, the ones you couldn't eat but were not dangers, and the ones you should steer clear from. He also told Dorothy about the Animals, with a capital A. They were sentient creatures who resembled the species of many different animals, but they were sentient and they were perfectly capable of communicating with any other people.

"If you see any peculiar trees, stay clear," Bo told her. "They put up a nasty fight. And the kalidahs are half lion, half bear, and not a single one of them are Animals. But they're wicked smart, and they'll tear anyone to shreds. Hell, they even tear each other to shreds sometimes."

Dorothy had told Bo hours before that Glinda had done something that the witch had said would protect her, but he just scoffed openly at it.

"At any rate, it'll last less than two weeks, and it probably won't protect you from kalidahs or the trees," Bo said. A toothpick was clenched between his top and bottom teeth, and he gave it a thoughtful chew. "But it should protect you from Maridina, the Wicked Witch of the West. At least against minor attacks. People say all the time that Maridina is more powerful than her sister was."

This didn't make Dorothy feel any better or safer, but she did find out that Bo had a tranquilizer gun in his right index finger and a laser gun in his left index finger. He had limited ammunitions for those, however, so he would have to use them only when the situation called for it.

The pathway of the yellow brick road here was not like the parts where the fields and fields of crops were. Here, the cement that held the yellow bricks together were caked with mud, dead and rotting leaves covered it in inconsistent patches, and some parts had fallen into complete disrepair, which made it difficult for Effigy to register where she was walking. Dorothy had to help her sometimes, especially with the rough patches.

The trees further in at this part of the forest were mangled, overcrowded, and choked. Many of the branches were so intertwined and tangled that there was barely enough light to see by, so Toto had his nose light on to be helpful to his companions.

The forest was, on a whole, very quiet, which was slightly disconcerting for Dorothy after the noisy fields she had walked through the day before. She wondered if this part of the yellow brick road was where so many went missing.
Her question was answered when the four of them came across a few bones-- bones that appeared to belong to a Munchkin. They found the shattered fragment of a skull that appeared to have been a piece of the eye socket, as one edge had a smooth inverted curve. They also found what appeared to be a shattered femur.
Dorothy swallowed a lump in her throat. Bo gently put the bone fragments beside the road and covered them with dry leaves.

"We'll be alright. I'll protect us," Bo told her as he stood up and stepped back onto the yellow brick road. "I've got the lasers and tranquilizers, remember? And, if I run out of those, I've got a small hatchet in my bag. Better than nothing. Does the dog have anything on him?"

Dorothy glanced over at Toto as they continued on down the road.

"I don't know," she confessed, "He seems to only show me his features only when it's absolutely necessary."

Bo gave a nod. "And Effigy wouldn't have anything-- she's a nanny bot, right? Unless she was designed for one of those effulgent families that Malideena was out to kill."

"Then how come she was never used before?" Dorothy questioned, kicking at a pebble.

"Maybe the family was killed before they could," he said darkly as he glanced over at the android.

"I have no record of any effulgent families," Effigy said, "It would be in my programming if I were designed for a particular family."

Dorothy shrugged and adjusted the straps of her backpack. The group fell silent as they continued along the way.

A few hours later, the heard a low growl. Bo held out his hand to signal for them to stop.
Dorothy froze and clenched her fists, preparing to run or fight as she heard the click of a tranquilizer and the buzz of a charging laser in Bo's fingers.

Effigy turned her head slowly as she scanned the surrounding area, while Toto seemed to be registering the sound.

A blur of browns and yellows burst from the trees with a roar. Dorothy stumbled back a bit as Bo let out a yell and fired at the creature.
The tranquilizer hit the creatures shoulders; it slumped over and fell on to the center of the road.

Dorothy panted and ran back over to Bo, seeing that the creature was knocked out cold. As her adrenaline rush slowed a bit, she fully registered what the creature was.

A lion.

Bo stepped away from the creature some, panting heavily.

"Alright, Gale?" he asked, glancing back at her for a second.

She nodded. "Are you alright?"

He nodded and crouched down beside the creature. He yanked the tranquilizer from the lion's shoulder quickly and stuffed it into his pant's pocket.

"It shouldn't be out for long," Bo said quickly. "We should get--"

The lion suddenly let out a yell of pain, and a sound that Dorothy thought was a whimper of pain.

"Why did you have to do that?" the Lion said with a whine.

"You tried to attack us, you son of a--" Bo began, but was interrupted by the Lion's loud sobs.

Dorothy stared at the Lion for a long moment, then gave her head a shake.

"Why did you do that?" Dorothy said, raising her voice slightly so he could hear her over his loud, obnoxious sobs.

"You scared me," the Lion sobbed. "So I wanted to scare you right back."

Effigy stepped towards the Lion and patted his head with her hand lightly.

"I am Effigy, and I am Dorothy's personal robotic caretaker. But I will help you. What is wrong?"

The Lion didn't stop crying even with the android's programmed words of comfort. He buried his face into his folded front legs, hiding his eyes.

Dorothy rolled her hands into fists, her entire body tensed in annoyance at the Lion. She released a thin breath and stepped closer to him.

"Try to stop crying," she said, inhaling sharply through her nose. "It's not helping anything, and you really don't have any reason to be scared."

With that, the Lion popped his head up, his mane flying behind him.

"Scared? I'm not scared," he said with a loud sniff. "I'm Luav, and everyone is scared of me. I'm not scared!" He leapt up onto his feet and shrugged his shoulders so they appeared to be higher than they really were.

"Then why did you just say that we scared you?" Bo asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Did I say scared?" Luav asked pompously. "I meant to say surprised. Not many people are brave enough to enter this part of the forest!"

"No, they're smart enough to avoid an annoying little coward like you," Bo said, "You think people want to talk to scum like you?"
Dorothy's eyes flashed a little. "That's not very nice."

"I don't care about being nice, Gale. He's a little--"

"That's enough," she cut in, "He doesn't deserve your criticism. He already knows what he just did was stupid."

"Yeah!" Luav shouted. "Wait, what?"

Dorothy put her hands on her hips. "Look, just apologize to him, and we can get going. Or I'm leaving without you, along with Toto and Effigy."

Bo rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Fine. I'm sorry for saying that stuff, Lion."

"Good," Dorothy said. "Thank you."

"Apology not accepted," Luav said with a huff.

"Where are you going anyhow?" he asked with a sharp flick of his tail.

"The Emerald City," Dorothy replied. "I'm going there to see the Wizard."

"That sounds pleasant," Luav said with a purr. He peered down at her silver boots. "Is that why you're wearing those?"

She glanced down momentarily, then looked back up at him.

"Yeah, pretty much. Glinda made me take them."

"Who's Glinda?"

"She's the Good Witch of the North," Bo answered sharply. "She's an ally to the Munchkins."

Luav gave him a confused look. "Why would she be East if she's of the North?"

Bo shrugged.

"I do not compute," Effigy said.

"Neither do I, Miss Robot," the Lion said with a short shrug. "So, what are you going to see the Wizard for?"

Within three minutes, Dorothy and Bo explained why the both of them were headed to the Emerald City, what they wanted from the Wizard, and also what options they had for what to do with Effigy once they got there.

"That sounds all fine and dandy. May I come along?" Luav asked.

Dorothy let out a frustrated sigh. "What for?"

The Lion brushed his tail against his flank a bit bashfully. "I want to learn some self-improvement."

"Self-improvement? C'mon! Isn't that something you're supposed to do for yourself?" Bo yelled, throwing his silver hands up in the air.

"I don't know how it's done, though," Luav said. "Everyone needs help sometimes, and sometimes people need it more than others. I definitely need all the help I can get."

Dorothy glanced at Bo. "Would you be okay with him coming with us?" she asked him.
"One more person couldn't hurt, right?"

Bo sighed. "They say the more, the merrier, but I think that's complete--"

"Don't say that last part," Dorothy snapped quickly.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. But what is he going to contribute to the group? We've got you, the witch-killer, Effigy for parts or whatever, Toto for scouting and stuff, and me. I've got the common sense and all-around knowledge of Oz, as well as a sweet tranquilizer gun and laser shooter all in my fingers."

Luav flicked his tail. "I can hunt. I could probably scare off any scar-- I mean, dangerous, beasts."

"But that's my job," Bo hissed. "You can just come in and invite yourself in when you aren't needed."

"Anything else you can do?" Dorothy asked Luav, shooting Bo a nasty glare.

The Lion stroked his chin with his front paw for a moment, pondering. After a moment he set it back down on the ground and nodded.

"I can talk to the Animals in the area-- they would give us food and shelter when we need it," Luav said. "They would give it to me since they are all terrified of me."

Bo snorted a little. "Fine. I suppose that might come in handy."

"Well, you're in with us now, Luav," Dorothy said. "Let's get going then."

"Wait just a second," Bo said. "Doesn't the Wizard only do stuff for others if they do stuff for him?"

Dorothy gave a thoughtful hum. "I think Glinda did mention that. But I mean, from what she said, I did the Wizard a huge favor by accidentally landing my ship on the Wicked Witch... So maybe he'd help you all if I put in a good word?"

"But that wouldn't be fair to piggy back ride on your accomplishment, Gale," Bo said with a shake of his head. "You're helping me. Of course you can."

He shook his head again and let out a sigh, his hands tangled around the straps of his backpack. He stomped his foot down a little.

"Fine, if you insist. But if the Wizard doesn't let us do that..." He sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I've heard that he's got high standards."

"I'll help you, then. Alright?" Dorothy said.
Bo looked her in the eye and nodded.

"Glad we got that settled. Can we get going now?"

The rest of the group, with the exception of Toto, who couldn't nod but wagged his tail instead, all nodded and began walking down the yellow brick road once again.