The Wonderful Land Of Oz

Chapter 70: (The Emperor's Tin Castle)

(The Emperor's Tin Castle) 

*June 16th, 1906*

*Winkie Country*

Dorothy finished hugging Tik-Tok before looking back at her friends with a smile. "Friends, this is Tik-Tik, a machine man created by Smith and Tinker. His thoughts, actions, and everything else are winded up, just like a clock" Dorothy spoke to her friends in excitement while Tik-Tok slowly tipped his metallic hat with respect.

"I-I h-ope t-o m-make t-time. I-I'm P-pleased t-to m-eet Dor-othy's fr..." Tik-Tok attempted to speak; however, his time was running short as he became silent which surprised Polychrome and the others.

"Is he okay? It seems he was going to say something before becoming silent. Is he sick perhaps?" Polychrome asked Dorothy curiously before having her question met with the girl shaking her head in denial.

"No, he only can talk and operate if we wind up his clock every so often. This moment just happened to be one of those times in question" Dorothy explained to Polychrome while winding up Tik-Tok once more as the machine man began to speak.

"Pardon me for running down. I was a-bout to say I was v-ery p-leased t-o meet Dorothy's friends. I h-ope to make everyone happy" Tik-Tok spoke once more before letting out a smile which made everyone else smile.

"It's pleased to meet you, I'm Polychrome, daughter of King Rainbow. I'm pleased to become your friend" Polychrome greeted Tik-Tik warmly while Shaggy Man and Button-Bright followed suit.

"And I'm Shaggy Man! I hope my love magnet can make you and the hen love me as much as you love her" Shaggy Man greeted Tik-Tok and Billina while tipping his hat and finally, Button-Bright was the last to introduce himself.

"B-Button-Bright.." Button-Bright spoke rather shyly while Dorothy smiled at what she was seeing before gently picking up Billina to hug her warmly.

"And this is Billina, my former red hen who moved to Oz just a few months ago. Isn't that great or what? And also, I'm glad everyone can become good friends as well" Dorothy spoke to everyone warmly while hugging Billina which made the red hen smile warmly.

"Oh! Since you're here, I've got some rather good news to tell you, do you want to hear it?" Billina asked Dorothy; however, right when the young girl was going to respond to her question, Toto began barking furiously at Billina which in turn, caused the red hen to squawk back before speaking to Toto.

"Hey! What's the big idea?! You are always barking at something! What's the stitch?" Billina responded to Toto in annoyance while Dorothy gently placed her down before going over to Toto.

"Stop Toto! Billina is a good friend so please don't scare her, okay? You must never hurt her at any costs' ' Dorothy advised Toto rather sternly while the dog made a few annoyed whine sounds before settling down.

"I can't help it.." Toto thought to himself in annoyance before settling down.

"Sorry about that, Toto always tried to scare Billina back when she was in Kansas, my Uncle Henry always had to make sure that those two weren't in the same place by any means possible" Dorothy spoke to her friends while chuckling to herself while Billina shook her head in disappointment before speaking once more.

"What a brute! The poor little thing can't even talk.." Billina spoke out while letting out a smile that offended Dorothy lightly.

"Toto can talk! He just chooses not to. He uses his tail to wag and uses barking and other things to communicate, Billina, you wouldn't need words to talk with." Dorothy responded to Billina's claims while the red hen shrugged off whatever her former owner had to say.