Wolf's Challenge
Jareth: What do you feel when I kiss you?
Sarah: Your lips, your hands…(cut off)
Jareth: No, I mean emotions.
Sarah: I feel... fear, a bit... Fear that you will leave again
let me go
stop, love... that I could really love you... willingness to do what you want... because I know that you have my best interests in mind...
Jareth: I will be your slave
Sarah: (whisper) Fear me, love me, do as I say…
-The Original Dialogue by Wolf.at.Heart.
Disclaimer: I do not own what is written above, hence the phrase "original dialogue by" nor do I own anything in Labyrinth or any of Jim Henson's works. I have stated this in about ten other places, so you can go check out my other Labyrinth stories. (oh the shameless advertising).
Chapter One—You Stalk your Prey before you Pounce
Sarah stood in front of her mirror, debating. She wanted to see Hoggle and Ludo, and Didymus, and all of them, but she wasn't sure if they would come. She had defeated the Labyrinth, right? So what if the creatures left? She preferred not knowing to knowing the awful truth, at least then she had something to hope for. She didn't have to go through every day, knowing she could never see her friends again. She didn't have many friends Aboveground, just David and Patricia and of course Toby, her little brother. He was only five years old, but was still more interesting than half of her senior class. Sarah knew that her Stepmother didn't like the way she was influencing Toby, and Sarah knew that Toby was becoming a fantasyphile like she was. Sarah knew that Karen would want an accountant for a son, but Sarah was damned if she had an accountant for a brother!
She still didn't know. Perhaps she wasn't the most logical thinker (actually, that was pretty obvious) but she really didn't want to stand in front of an empty mirror with the world crashing around her ears. It had crashed before, and she was left trying to pick up the pieces of her former life. It crashed a little softer when she had the Labyrinth to dream about… until she had lived it. Now a combination of fear and wistfulness came over her, leaving an empty whole in her stomach.
"Hoggle?" she finally asked her mirror, hoping her father, (or worse, her Stepmother) couldn't hear her talking to no one. Psychiatry was not something she wished to engage in, as the giver or the recipient. "Hoggle? I need you Hoggle, all of you."
Nothing happened. Sarah was just about to crash on her bed in despair when a face did appear, but it wasn't Hoggle's face. It was hairy, but it wasn't Ludo, and it was canine, but it wasn't Didymus.
"Hello, my pet!" it sneered. Sarah knew that the creature was behind her, but she obstinately stared at the mirror, hoping it was an illusion, a dream. Pretending was better than Knowing. Then she felt the hand on her shoulder, the unnaturally long fingernails biting through the silk. She was turned, not by her own will, and stared up into the hairy face. He was like a bear…or a wolf. A wolf-man, a werewolf… I am alone in my room with a werewolf…I'll never survive! she thought desperately. After a moment of staring, she croaked, "You're not Hoggle." The man laughed. "No." he agreed. "I am not."
He didn't say another word, but picked her up and they were out the window. The Labyrinth lay before them, spread out on a hot brown hillside like a painting. There was the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. There was where Jareth was, or once was. She was sitting on the wolf-man like one would a horse, though horses rarely wore homespun cotton and rarely panted like dogs as they ran. They were also slightly less hairy, at least in Sarah's experience. The wolf man was excited. He hopped a little and yipped. Sarah almost allowed herself to smile, but not quite. She was still a hostage in a strange world that had tried to kill her on multiple occasions.
Wolf-man stood, tossing her off his back like a cape. She lay in the dusty earth as he walked away and down the hill. He turned, and with a perk of his wolf's ears (she wasn't sure if he had human ears too, but it was making her curious), he said, "Well, come on then!" He's more puppy than wolf! she thought, but then he bared his fangs, sharpened as a carnivore. She whimpered and stood up. As she followed, she couldn't help but stare at his tail. It was a huge wolf's tail, and it was waging. This place just gets stranger and stranger…
Wolf-man led her to the gates to the Labyrinth. And there with a yip and a howl, he seemed to vanish away. Just remember… Everything seems possible, and nothing is what it seems…
Did that mean that nothing was possible?