Oz: The remake of the tale 1.10

8. Scarecrow Stand.

It was night when we decided to rest in a makeshift shelter just off the yellow brick road. Droid as usual offer to stand guard while we all rest. Scarecrow made a small fire there for the coming cold night draught. I have on my new pantsuit but I put on my dark jacket and curled in my legs to rest. Toto, my adorable furry ball was at my lap adding in more warmth. I looked at Scarecrow who curled herself on her new overcoat of the dark skin from the predator which Droid killed.

"Scarecrow, where are we?" I asked her.

"It looked like a farm field but I am not sure. When we reached here it was near dusk and the skies did not helped much. Maybe cat knows." But we cannot find the cat. Its probably gone off hunting for mice. I smiled and laid my back on the shelter.

I was awaken by some shouting in my ears. I opened my eyes to find the droid standing before me.

"Scarecrow missing. I did not detect her leaving here, or any one coming near us. At dawn, I find her missing." The droid was showing some anxiety on the missing companion. That did not occurred to then, but soon I recalled later. I pulled myself up and told droid that she could had wandered off.

"Wandered off? She could be compromised." I was momentarily taken aback by droid concern. I offered to search for her.

"Cat, did you see her?" The cat purred and used her claw to flick at the mice he taken liberty of last night.

"It must happened at my meal time." The cat purred back. "I would help you find her once I ingested the last morsel."

Our search proved fruitless.

"She can't go that far." Droid expressed its concern. Unknown to them, Scarecrow was not far from their last search boundary. She is bounded spread eagled on a high pole hidden by the planted crops. The crops are a breed of the corns that grew back home in real Kansas.

"Help! I am here. Droid! Dorothy" Scarecrow shouted out loud.

"Meow," Scarecrow heard the purr and looked down. Its not Cat but a creature that looked like a winged creature. If you considered one that meows instead of a chirp.

"I am El of the Birdie; we are a breed that is local to this area. We feed on the fields but we feared the feline, so we imitate their calls." The creature purred to shows its stealth moves.

"So why take me instead? I am not taking part of your ritual."

"So you know why we placed you there? I am surprised that with your gender limited knowledge, you might not know." The Birdie snide back. "You are only a female, but we lack Munchkins since the Witch' death."

"I know your ritual. So you grab the only Munchkins to satiate the Crows feeding." Scarecrow laughed out. "You are all a pathetic lot."

All around her, among the crops; more birdies appeared. There are dozens of them, and they were hiding here. If they are found in the open by the time crows come, they would be dead. Its a ritual to string up the Munchkins on the stand to scare them off. If the crows see the Munchkins in the field, they would leave it. They cannot tolerate the Munchkins presence.

There was a catch; the crows would killed the Munchkins before leaving.

The birdies all chirped their word of thanks before disappearing.

"The crows are coming." The birdies chirped out.

Scarecrow looked to the sky and saw the dark swarm coming. She then start her last rites chant as a Munchkins.

Demon calling us in
Vesting us with fear in our thoughts
Backed with morbid feelings

Our prayers ignored and unheard

With the faith we hold on inside

I embraced the true faith
Take my naked body but leave my soul
For the true faith that would take me.

I find myself in the land of salvation
I see myself among them
I am them and forever unbounded
By the restraint of the body.

"Aargh!" She fell.

The pole collapsed and she find herself on the ground faced down. She can hear the swarm approaching but they are not attacking her. Some one or something is helping her. She can't move her head as it was set in tight but she can hear the fight. Crows are dropping as she can feel them dropping. It was like hours when she could feel the calmness settling in.

She felt herself lifted out and then she saw the carnage. There was Droid standing there with his battle axe dripping body liquid. All around them were dead crows. A crow here is unlike those of Kansas'; here they grow them bigger and instead of claws on their feet, they have fingers with claws. Their beck are longer and curved down like the parrot. They used that to tear off strips of flesh.

The crows here are flesh eater.

"Droid, can I be released first?" Scarecrow spoke up as she spit out the mud in her mouth.

The droid cut her bindings and pulled up the Munchkins. For once, Scarecrow hugged her metallic companion. She let off her emotions on the metal chest plate of the droid.

Then the cat appeared with a birdie in his jaw. He dropped the dead birdie and smiled.

"I dislike them imitating my kind."

Droid looked at the cat and then walked away. It did not go far but paused at the edge of the field. It looked at the yellow brick road and ran a diagnostics in its system.

"System, replay the battle."

The image showed from the viewer of the droid was it moving rapidly on its triangular tracks. Its sensor picked up the pole and the person on it. It stopped as it soon it reached the pole. It was looking up to the pole from behind the Scarecrow. It then saw the incoming threat and the droid did the only thing it was programmed to do.

It pushed the pole down and stood over it. It stood over Scarecrow and then swivel the battle axe. In its right hand, it activate the mini phaser on the finger tips. Then it spread out its hands to welcome the crows.

"None may touched her except me" The droid send out the signal by signal to the crows. But the crows came, and the battle axe swing without stopping while the mini phaser fired without the need to aim. Where it was needed, the droid used its body as shield to block the crows. It even used its lower limbs to kicked if need be.

It was not a coordinated fight but a brawl.

"System, end replay." The droid paused. "Erase the record."