Traveling wasn’t new to Elphaba, but she also grew a sense of what roots might have felt like from time to time to the point that she never got use to picking up and leaving a area she might have lived for a month or so. She decided it didn’t suit her, and wondered if this was what that old Elephant Woman knew at the time they had met long ago. She always thought of that old woman, the lion with the elephant skin, and wondered what it all meant and if she was going in the right direction. It infuriated her that her life might be dictated, and she felt haunted by the presence of her old teacher who tried to manipulate her to becoming something she wanted for her own gain. Either way, she didn’t like not feeling she was in power, and would turn direction on a dime when traveling as if to spite some hanging shadow that might be saying ‘yes, go this way. It’s what I want.’ Just in case. As it was, she felt herself move farther and farther to places unknown, following a heard of mingling prey animals that she stalked and picked upon. She didn’t feel low of stature, as being a lioness never came to mean she was above the hyenas and other scavenger animals that traveled around her, and she moved without a air of superiority. This didn’t keep the other animals away, not willing to near the crimson lioness.
As it was now, the herd was settling and Elphaba rested under the shade of the tree, licking her paws of a few nicks and scraps from travel. Part of her wondered how far they would travel, how far she would travel, and where she was going. Part of her wanted to see the sea, something she heard from Turtle Heart, the lion who lived with their family while she grew up. Thinking back, she wondered how far she was from her small pride.
