The Wizard of Paws chapters 12-14

Chapter 12
This Is Not Good


"Oh no!" Destiny yelped. "Werren! Werren! Close your eyes or you'll go blind! Dorothy, put the glasses back on him!" Dorothy quickly tied the glasses back on Werren's nose. He opened his eyes. "Ack! Who turned out the lights?" He barked. "Oh, no..." Destiny muttered. "Werren? How many paws am I holding up?" "...One?" "Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no--can you see anything?" Destiny was pacing around the room nervously. "Nothing. I--" Werren stopped. "Is this permanent? Tell me!" "I...I don't know." Destiny said. "I'll go get a doctor!" Destiny fled. "Werren," Checkers said, "in case you're wondering, you're about to run--"
THUD!
"...Into a wall."
Werren said something colorful. "A BIT OF A SLOW WARNING THERE!!!" He shouted at Checkers, who stepped back. "Calm down, Werren," Dorothy said meekly, not liking the shouting. Destiny returned with a green St. Bernard. "I am Dr. Ernie," he said. "What's wrong with your friend here?" "His glasses fell off and he had his eyes open just long enough to damage them," Destiny explained. "He's blind." "I see," Dr. Ernie said, watching Werren bump into a doghouse. "How long must I suffer?" Werren howled. "Precisely how long were his eyes open?" "2.42 seconds," Checkers answered. "How did you do that?" Dorothy asked, amazed. "Internal stopwatch," Checkers said. "Amazing!" Dr. Ernie marveled. "That's very rare in Scottish terriers. Though according to my calculations, your friend here--" "My name is Werren," Werren growled. "--Sorry. Werren here ought to have his eyesight back in about...five weeks, though there may be side effects." "FIVE WEEKS?" Werren shouted, and he fainted. 


Chapter 13 
A Search


Werren came to a few minutes later. "I have another request for Paws," was the first thing he said. "And I'm not waiting overnight. I don't know about you guys, but I'm breaking into wherever Paws is. G'bye!" With this, he ran out the door.  "I'm going after him. There's no way he'll get back here otherwise," Destiny said, running after him. "Wait for me!" Dorothy said, chasing after her. Checkers sat there for a minute. "Well don't just leave me here!" He got up and followed them. 


By now, Destiny and Dorothy had caught up to Werren, who was about to run straight into a green marble pillar. "STOP!" Dorothy shouted. Werren managed to make a hairpin turn and skid to a stop right at Dorothy's feet. "Where is the throne room, anyway?" He asked irritably. "It's a five-minute walk to your left." Destiny said. Dorothy picked Werren up and carried him there, much to his humiliation. "Where's Checkers?" Destiny asked after a while. "He's still where we left him," Dorothy said. "I hope."


Checkers was in fact desperately trying to find where his friends had gone. "Have you seen a werewolf, a silver dog, or a human anywhere?" He kept asking. Either nobody knew what he was talking about, or they gave him directions to where they were, but by the time he got there, they had left. "Ugh. What now?" Checkers sighed, flopping down on the green ground. Then he heard a familiar noise. Something along the lines of bushes rustling...He looked up. Since when had there been an indoor garden? And then Loco came bounding out of the topiaries, singing something horribly off-key. "What's up with you?" Checkers asked. "Oh, a little doggie gave me some green stuff that tasted funny," Loco said, twirling around. Checkers stared at him blankly. "There he is!" Emmet said, stopping Loco before he fell over. "He broke into the City and then he wouldn't stop talking, so I gave him a concoction Dr. Ernie made so he would fall asleep, and then we could sneak him out... Turns out, the only effect it had on him was to make him act horribly drunk..." Emmet whispered. Checkers nodded. "Honestly, I see little difference." Loco began to mutter something about how he was Captain Hook, Peter Pan will pay for stealing the peanut-butter cookies, whatever that was. "Well, I think I could get him out anyway..." Emmet began dragging Loco towards the door. "Oh, by the way," Checkers added quickly, "do you know where Dory and the others are?" "Second star on the right, straight on 'til morning," Loco said. "Thanks!" Checkers called after him, searching for a star. 


By now, Dorothy, Werren, and Destiny had reached the throne room. "Wait!" Destiny said. "We have to wait for Checkers. It wouldn't be fair to go in there without him, after he's tagged along with us all this time." "I suppose you're right," Dorothy said, sitting down on a bench. "Are we there yet?" Werren asked. "Yes, but Checkers--" Suddenly, Checkers jumped up on the bench next to Dorothy. "...Hi, Checkers. Come on, let's go!" Dorothy said, jumping up. While they were walking towards the throne room, Dorothy whispered to Checkers, "how'd you get here so fast?" "I found a star on the floor and went to the right of it," Checkers said simply. 


Chapter 14
The Great Paws


"HALT!" Said two guards at the same time. They were both green-furred golden retrievers with little green hats on, and they stood in front of the throne room. "Why are you..." began the first one. "...Here to see Oz?" The other one finished. "I'm blind, she's lost, she wants her family back, and I dunno about him," Werren said, pointing first to himself, then to Dorothy, then to Destiny,  then to Checkers. Or at least he thought he did. "Okay..." "...Then. Right this..." "...Way!" The guards said, and they opened the doors to the throne room. 


The throne room was very dark and very ominous. Suddenly, a very loud voice penetrated the silence--
"I AM PAWS, THE WISE AND--"
"Cut to the chase!" Werren said. 
"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!" The voice echoed, and Werren quickly shut up. 
"I AM PAWS, THE WISE AND NOW IRRITATED. WHAT TO YOU WANT? I HAVE NOT GOT ALL DAY!" 
Dorothy stepped forward. 
"I am Dorothy, and I just got back from a land much like this one. I am here because I was caught in a flash flood, and now I would like to return home. Can you do that?" 
"LET ME CONTEMPLATE THAT. YOU, BLIND ONE, WHY ARE YOU HERE?"
"I was going to ask you to cure my fear of the moon. I'm a werewolf. But then, I was tragically blinded, and there's no way I can survive for five weeks without eyesight. Can you help me?"
"SAME ANSWER. SILVER ONE, WHY ARE YOU HERE?"
"I was taken by the Flying Monkeys to the Witch's castle, but I fell out of the helicopter. My family, though, is still out there, and I need your help to get them back." 
"I SHALL SEE TO THAT. YOU, CHESSBOARD, WHY ARE YOU HERE?"
"It's a CHECKERBOARD, not a chessboard, for one, and for two, I'm here because I need concentration." 
"OH, THAT'S TOUGH. I WILL GIVE YOU ALL MY ANSWER. I KNOW HOW YOU CAN HELP YOURSELVES. GO TO THE CASTLE OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST. THERE, YOU WILL BE IMPRISONED, EXCEPT FOR THE HUMAN. SHE WILL BE ENSLAVED."
"That's not helpful at all!" Checkers barked. Werren started growling. 
"HUSH AND GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! YOU WILL ALL SEE HOW THIS WILL WORK SOON ENOUGH. NOW GO!"