It had been a very dull, boring, rainy, and dreary day, as it usually was in Sarah William's world. She had once again come home late in a hurry, Merlin by her side, trying to outrun the approaching thunderstorm. She had been unsuccessful however, and was currently changing out of her soggy maiden's dress.
Her stepmother, Karen, had been a bit more lenient with Sarah's disheveled appearance than she had been the previous week when Sarah had returned from the park drenched. It seemed that Karen had been a lot more easy-going with quite a few things recently, but perhaps it was just Sarah's change in behavior.
Last week, when Sarah returned from the park, her attitude towards her baby stepbrother, Toby, had change dramatically. Sarah blamed it on an odd dream she had that night.
She glanced at her nightstand and smiled fondly at the bookend sitting beside her lamp. The crude-looking figure had been a character in the bizarre adventure she had dreamt up for herself.
"Hoggle," she sighed. That had been his name.
The dream had been a particularly vivid one, seeming almost real. It was an incredibly uplifting dream, as well. Although stressful and somewhat scary at points, the friends, such as Hoggle, which Sarah had picked up along her journey, had made it all worthwhile. She had fought hard to rescue Toby, who she had so dumbly wished away, but, despite her determination to get him back, she found herself slightly brought down as her time in the Labyrinth was brought to a close. Sarah had been overjoyed when her friends told her that she could call upon them whenever they were needed.
It had hurt her deeply to find that the next day, no matter how hard she tried, none of them would answer. After the third day of failed attempts to contact her friends, she had finally given up, facing the depressing reality that it had all just been a dream.
A crying Toby snapped Sarah out of her dreaming. Several weeks earlier, she would have been extremely annoyed at such a disturbance, but now she smiled as she made her way to her parents' room.
"What's wrong, Toby?"
Her fingers felt for the light switch, and immediately the bedroom was flooded with light. Sarah stood shocked and silent as she tried to process what she was seeing.
A man was standing beside the crib, one of his hands patting Toby, trying to get the baby to stop his crying. As the lights came on, the man's head snapped around and Sarah caught site of his face.
He was quite attractive; not at all the type of person Sarah would have expected for breaking and entering. His reddish brown hair brushed the top of his shoulders, and his surprised eyebrows were plastered high above his crystal blue eyes.
The man slowly backed away from the crib, holding his hands in front of him.
"Who--"
Sarah's words were cut short as the man rushed forward, making his way out of the bedroom, and knocking Sarah down in the process.
"Stop!" Sarah yelled, jumping up, and following the strange man.
Sarah chased after the stranger, suddenly alarmed as she realized he was running into her bedroom. She picked up speed and tried to catch up to him. Luckily, she got enough proximity between the two of them for her to see as he disappeared into her closet.
He was going to hide in the closet? Sarah thought, mentally laughing at his amateur camouflage.
She tiptoed her way to the closet, slowly turning the doorknob as she grabbed a statue off her dresser.
"Ha!" Sarah cried, as the door swung open.
Huh?
Much to Sarah's surprise, the uninvited visitor was gone.
Darkness there, and nothing more.
"Shut-up," Sarah said to herself. "He has to be somewhere."
Sarah tugged on the overhead light cord, and pushed the clothes apart. She was met with more clothing, so she pushed these apart as well, and...was met with even more clothing. Sarah set down the statue, and stepped into the closet, pushing her way through the clothing.
She felt smothered as she took several steps forward, reaching her hand out and expecting to touch wall. However, she just continued to encounter more and more clothing.
Sarah was in the dark, having left the overhead light somewhere back. As she clawed forward, she realized that she was no longer touching clothing.
This hanger feels like wood.
Sarah took a step forward, and felt the floor beneath her give. The foot broke through the...Branches? that were covering the ground, and Sarah found herself falling through a hole.
"Ouch!" Sarah whispered loudly as she met the bottom of the hole with a thump.
Something, somewhere in the pitch black hole, moved, and Sarah froze.
The stranger!
Sarah clenched her eyes shut, and began to hold her breath, hoping that whatever was in the hole with her, would leave her alone and let her rot away in peace.
Suddenly the inside of Sarah's eyelids changed from black to red, and she recognized that there was light coming from somewhere. She opened her eyes, and indeed, there was the stranger, a lantern in hand, searching the floor for something.
The oubliette.
"I'm in an oubliette," Sarah thought aloud.
The stranger looked up from his work, and gave Sarah an annoyed expression.
Are his eyes really blue? Sarah thought again, this time to herself.
She leaned forward and studied his face, trying to decide if he eyes were blue or clear.
"Who are you?" Sarah said at last.
The stranger looked up again, he had almost forgotten her presence. He said nothing, however, and ignored her, continuing his search for the unknown object.
"Please," she continued. "I need some help...could you help me?"
"You were able to find your way through the Labyrinth the first time." He paused, his back still turned towards her, "Surely you can manage."
Sarah sat silent for a moment. It wasn't until she had thought about it thoroughly that she realized he was being quite rude to her. His voice was very enchanting. A slight Scottish accent weaved its way into his words.
"Even the first time I had help," Sarah reasoned.
"Well, don't be expecting any this time," the stranger snapped.
The accent's charm suddenly wore off, and Sarah felt herself grow angry.
"Why were you in my parents' room?" Sarah demanded. "You're with Jareth, aren't you?"
The stranger looked at her.
"Jareth lost. I won, fair and square."
The stranger said nothing.
"Look, I'm sorry if he's a sore loser, but I didn't wish for anything, and--"
"Would you shut-up?"
Sarah stood, speechless.
The stranger picked up a door, and put it against the wall, his hand on the knob.
"Do you want out of this oubliette?"
"Yes," Sarah replied, finally finding her voice.
"Then shut-up and come on."
Sarah obliged and quietly followed the stranger into the light.
A/N: This story, although the introduction was considerably different, was previously titled as "Untitled Labyrinth FanFic". I think I like this beginning better. I had decided I wanted to a take a less melodramatic approach to introducing the story. Anyway, the plotline is still basically the same as the other, but luckily, since I never got past the first chapter on the other fic, no one will be able to tell the difference!
Reviews are much appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth. I do not own Labyrinth. I do not own Labyrinth.