And the crystal ball just keeps rolling ;)
"And Hoggle—if she ever kisses you, I'll turn you into a prince." Jareth said in an almost serious tone of voice.
"You will?" Hoggle said suspicious.
"Prince of the Land of Stench!" Jareth laughed watching Hoggle shake his head and disappear around the corner of the hedge maze. In the distance he could hear the girls desperate pleas to her newest companion, a Labyrinth troll called Ludo. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, Jareth summoned his disguise from earlier.
"Time to pay you a visit my dear," he chuckled as he slipped on the ragged cloak and mask.
"Damn, twice in one day!" Sarah growled under her breath. It had seemed safe enough when she and Ludo came through the door. But then he'd just disappeared without warning. And now she was alone. Again.
The woods seemed to fold in towards her even as she thought of the fact that she was alone. It made her skin crawl. This whole place didn't make sense!
"Ludo where are you! Oh, please come back!" she called again.
Nothing.
Until the bushes shook in front of her.
"Ludo? Is that you?" she said timidly with a small spark of hope. There was a loud groan, deep and hoarse from beyond. No, definitely not Ludo. Looking around her quickly, Sarah picked up a large fallen branch in case whatever was coming intended to make a meal out of her. She raised the branch and prepared to swing, her heart at the back of her throat.
The bushes parted. "Alms, alms for the poor! Spare a coin or two for a poor beggar!"
She couldn't believe it. It was the blind beggar who she'd met in the tunnels. Sarah relaxed and smiled at seeing a familiar face before she dropped the branch. The beggar swerved his head in the direction of her footsteps.
"Who be that?"
"It's me Sarah, from the tunnels?"
"Ahh, pretty doxy, it is! You got out of them tunnels, eh?" he said fumbling to find a comfortable spot on the fallen log beside him.
"Yeah, I got out. But now I'm lost again and I've lost my friends as well. The Labyrinth—this place—it's insane!" she blustered before taking a seat next to him. They sat quietly for a minute, letting the sound of the woods fill the space instead. It was calming; even though Sarah knew there wasn't a whole lot of time to waste she wanted to just stay and sit comfortably right there and relax.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Sarah pulled out the fabric from her jeans pocket "here's your hankie from earlier. Thank you for letting me talk." His head tilted to the side as if he were watching her somehow. "Nay, you keep it. Ain't got much use for it meself."
"But—"
" S'alright, really." He said pushing her hand away. Sarah pocketed it once again, although a bit confused.
"How did you get out of there so quickly, I was sure it would have taken a long time considering how impossible this place is." Sarah asked while propping her chin up from her sitting position on the log to watch him. The beggar wiggled his fingers and grinned. "Magic!"
She laughed. Of course. Just like the door Hoggle had made to get out of the oubliette.
"I could use some magic right about now. I just seems that the more I try to find my way to the castle the more lost I get." She sighed.
"Come, come now, where's your sense of adventure? Look round where you be. This place be full o' magic an' such! Ya need to get lost 'afore you find what ya need," he explained. Somehow it made as much sense as to what the Wiseman had told her.
"What like "The way forward is sometimes the way back?" sort of thing?"
"S'right."
"That makes as much sense as—well it just doesn't!" she pouted. The beggar had the audacity to laugh long and hard over that.
"You sound like a child who can't 'ave a sweetie! How old may ye be?" he croaked. Her face went hot; what was that supposed to mean?!
Sarah crossed her arms and turned away from the beggar. "I'll have you know that I'm fifteen, so old enough to not act like some spoiled, screaming, brat." She said haughtily.
"Indeed?"
"Yes."
"Well now, that is something," the beggar chuckled again. Her heart seemed to be fighting her brain on what she'd just said.
"Oh, who am I kidding? I am a spoiled brat! The way I acted cost me Toby, and now look where that's gotten us. What if…what if I don't make it in time? What happens if he gets turned into a goblin? I'll never see him again and then I really will be alone," she whispered to herself. Apparently the beggar had sharp enough ears to have heard her. Interesting…
"What's all this then 'bout being alone? Surely ya' got's parents?" he asked. Jareth watched through the fabric covering the masks eyes as she shrugged, her face blank and eyes listless.
"You know, I'm not really sure anymore. I use to have two parents that really cared for me, but that changed when my mom—!" she couldn't even finish.
"Oh. She leave you then?"
"Yeah, she did. And then my stepmother came into the picture. I couldn't believe my dad would just go and marry someone after only a few months of knowing them! I can't stand her! But then—Toby came into the picture as well…"
"You're brother?"
"I'd felt so alone without mom, and dad never seemed to have time for just me anymore. When Toby was born I felt so much love—I wanted to protect him from everything in the world that would hurt him, but at the same time I think I started to resent that he was the center of attention instead of me."
Jareth frowned. This couldn't be the same petulant girl he'd encountered at first, this just couldn't be. This Sarah was…sadder for lack of better words. There was no more of that fire he'd seen in her eyes when she dared defy his offer of dreams. This was a young woman who'd experienced loss at a time that could never be reordered. She may have gotten older but she hadn't really grown up yet. The revelation was surprising but not enough to alter his own plans.
"What about you? Do you…have anyone?" she asked timidly.
"Wha—eh, no! No I…I don't. I can't remember if I did or not to tell you honestly. Time moves differently here so I don't know anymore." It was as close to a truth as he would ever admit. And he would leave it there.
"That must be hard then," she said. He nodded slowly "Yes. Yes it is."
They sat again in silence; a few minutes had passed when it felt like forever stayed. A moment later he dug through the folds of the fabric he wore and produced what Sarah would only describe later as the most perfect peach in the whole world. It was beautiful and the aroma of ripe juice made her mouth water and stomach growl greedily. Her frustration was gone immediately and was instead replaced by hunger.
"Found the jackpot when I got out o'those tunnels. Mmm, the smell alone led me right to 'em." He smacked his lips together, ready to take a bite, but suddenly stopped mere inches from putting the soft flesh of the fruit to his lips.
"Bless me but I am a thick'un! Sittin' right next to a lady an' not offer'en her o' bite!"
"What?! Oh no, really that ok," Sarah said, hastily putting up her hands in the universal code of "no thank you". Who knew when his last meal had even been? Or what it had been; this place didn't exactly scream "Eat me, Drink me!"
"Oh come now, ya need all the strength ya can get if'n you're goin' ta plan a rescue. Here take it." Grasping her hand in his own, he deposited the perfect peach onto her palm. It was warm and the smell was intoxicating to her. She could only stare at it.
"I—I don't know what to say. Thank you."
He smiled and shrugged.
"But I think tis only fair that ya give me somethin' for it. A trade." There was always a catch and he loved to play his cards right each time.
Sarah didn't have anything left to give away. Hoggle—wherever he was now—had her bracelet and she'd already given him her ring. What more could she trade in exchange?!
"I—I'm sorry but I don't have anything left to—" she started but was cut short by his hand gesturing her to be quiet.
"See'n as I know where there be more o' those I can always get me another. How 'bout you trade me…" he put a finger to the side of his long nose in thought "…a kiss in exchange."
"What!?" Sarah nearly fell off the log at that. Oh this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up, Jareth thought himself fiendishly clever.
"Seems fair don't it?"
"Well I… I guess. Alright, a kiss in exchange then." Her face was so hot from blushing! She didn't have to do this though, she could just hand him his peach back and refuse flat out. This was probably a bad idea. He waited on the log facing her as if he didn't have anything better to do or places to go. Time was ticking by painfully every moment she wasted. Sarah bit her lip nervously for a split second before she realized that he hadn't said where he wanted the kiss; two could play at this game.
Smirking like the cat that'd got the cream, Sarah leaned forward slowly and sweetly kissed the cloth over where both the beggars' eyes should be. There she thought.
Unfortunately the mood was destroyed completely by an ambush of red and orange creatures jumping out of the bushes screaming bloody murder. Later, Sarah would wonder where the beggar had disappeared to when the chaos happened.
*Jareth takes off disguise* "Bloody creatures! I'll toss the lot of them into the Bog for sure!
*Authoress* "Oh come on, the plot needs to keep rolling otherwise there wouldn't be a story."
*Jareth* "Hmph!"
*Authoress* "Sigh. All right I'll make it up to you later, I promise."
*Jareth* "... alright. Don't defy me."
*Authoress* "Who? Little old me? Never."