A/N: Thanks to those of you who gave a review! Sorry I can't reply to each one individually, but please, don't let that stop you from sharing your views! I hope you continue to enjoy the story. ~Kat~
The Magic Of Dreams
Chapter Two
The shadow of a dragon glided over the goblin city, causing the goblins to look up to the skies. She was sleek and powerful, her scales were black and shone like obsidian against the rising sun. The undersides of her wings were purple with yellow and red markings, her tail was pointed, like the end of a spear, and deadlier than her razor sharp claws.
She swooped down upon the city, breaking the morning silence with her resounding roar, her sea green eyes shone brightly as the denizens ran for cover. Gathering her wings, she pulled the wind beneath her and gained altitude, roaring in delight as she flew out over the Labyrinth. The goblins came out of their hiding places, and went about their daily routine, grateful that she wasn't in a fire-breathing mood this day.
It had been three years since the king had brought the dreamer back with him, and every morning she would soar the skies from sunrise to sunset, choosing a different form, seemingly at random, each day. Whether she be a dragon or a griffin, sometimes a phoenix or a hydra, she was always a creature that ruled the skies. Only after sunset would she return to her human form, share her meal with the king, and often lose herself in the king's library. But sometimes, though not too often, it was said that the dreamer and the king would spend private time together, though no one in the goblin city knew exactly what that meant.
Sarah saw Jareth appear on the hill with her keen eyesight as the labyrinth sighed with his return. He had gone to retrieve another wisher to run the labyrinth. It was a teenaged boy this time, and as she watched Jareth explain the rules of the game, Sarah got a strange feeling from the boy. Realizing just in time that she was quickly approaching the bordering walls of the Labyrinth, she turned into the wind and flew out towards the canyons.
She'd discovered that she could change into any creature she desired every morning, and took full advantage of it. Jareth had watched her closely at first, and she hadn't held it against him. He had been true to his word, and had provided for her very amply, but this new found freedom to soar the skies was insatiable to her, and with her desire to continue living her dream, she did her best to abide the rules and simply stay out of the Goblin King's way.
But, with every creature she chose to become, came the instincts and attributes of that creature. Today, as she soared as a mighty dragon, her instincts told her that the boy was hiding something. There was a darkness surrounding him that Sarah had never sensed in a wisher before, and decided to keep an eye on this one. Jareth had told her not to interfere, he never said anything about simply watching. She circled the mountain range, and played in the drafts of the canyon for a while before heading back towards the labyrinth to see how far the boy had gotten on his journey.
Sarah caught sight of the boy long before he was aware of her flying overhead. Just as she drew closer she witnessed him pull out a switch-blade and grab a handful of the very eyes of the Labyrinth. Without hesitation she tucked in her wings and swooped down upon him, announcing her presence with a resounding roar that echoed halfway across the kingdom.
XxXxX
"Your Majesty!" the head sergeant of the goblin army bellowed frantically as he raced through the castle. "Your Majesty! Your…" Finally seeing the king at the end of a corridor, the goblin sergeant ran quickly to catch up. "Your Majesty!"
"What is it, Goffrey?" Jareth retorted with impatience.
"It's the dreamer, your Majesty!" he exclaimed urgently. "She's attacking the wisher running the Labyrinth!"
"What?" Jareth exclaimed with both disbelief and horror. He had noticed her flying as a dragon that morning, a little too close to the bordering wall for his liking, but she had circled back and went on her way. "Are you certain? She's never bothered the wishers before."
"Yes, your Majesty." Then added in a cautious voice. "Unless you know of another black dragon with green eyes, Sire?"
Without wasting another second, Jareth disappeared from the corridor and appeared in the outer passage of the Labyrinth. The boy had barely gotten inside the walls, why would Sarah go after him? So far she had barely annoyed Jareth at all, which was actually annoying to the Goblin King, but none the less, she had always steered clear of the wishers previously.
Jareth stood behind Sarah, watching how she stalked the boy, making him walk backwards with his hands up and rambling for his life as he shook with pure terror. Her head was low to the ground, her wings tucked tightly against her body to fit in the narrow passage, and her tail sliced the air with agitation.
"Sarah," he called in a collected sing song voice.
She stopped advancing on the boy and pulled her head up short, turning it on her long sleek neck to look back at him. Her eyes cleared of the fury he had seen in them when she had first turned her head. She snorted softly, a small waft of smoke escaped her nostrils, telling Jareth exactly how irritated she had become.
She faced forward again as the boy screamed for the Goblin King to help him, to save his life. She gathered herself like a cat ready to pounce, every muscle in her body moved in one fluid motion as she suddenly lurched herself high into the air, flapping her wings only once before turning to land behind the boy, trapping him between herself and the Goblin King. With a stomp of her foot, and another smoky snort, she spurred the boy to run towards Jareth, closing the gap with slow precise movements.
"You never said anything about dragons!" the boy screamed, reaching Jareth in a panicked run. "There were no dragons in that book!"
Jareth ignored the boy for the moment and watched Sarah carefully, intently, as she continued to come closer. She halted suddenly, her eyes never leaving the teen, glaring at him with fury, and flicked one sharpened claw with purposeful precision along the stone. Jareth heard the distinct sound of metal sliding on stone, and dropped his gaze towards the ground.
"What is that?" he asked rhetorically, though his tone hinted of curiosity. He looked up at Sarah, his chin rising arrogantly. "Return to the castle," he commanded her evenly.
She pulled her head up high on her elegant neck and backed up a step, her eyes full of surprise. Lowering her head slightly, she stomped her clawed foot, snorting with defiance as her eyes grew darker. Why should she be punished when the boy was the one who had done wrong? Or almost had anyway.
"You honestly don't expect 'him' to tell me what he's done, do you?" Jareth quipped in an indignant tone, fully understanding her indignance of being sent to the castle.
Sarah turned baleful eyes on the boy once more, extending her foreleg while lowering her head threateningly.
"I'll tell!" the boy screamed, moving to stand behind the Goblin King. "I was going to cut off the eyeballs!" he cried. "I wanted to take them back with me to prove I was really here! Then that thing came flying out of nowhere and tried to eat me!"
Again, Sarah pulled her head back, arching her neck gracefully with a look of distain in her eyes. 'Eat you?' she thought. 'Eww. I don't think so. I'll burn you to a crisp, though.'
"Highly unlikely, that," Jareth retorted cynically, glaring over his shoulder at the boy cowering behind him. He now fully understood why Sarah had acted as she had, she had been defending the labyrinth. He found himself indebted to her, and wasn't quite sure how to address that issue. "Return to the mountains," he commanded Sarah. "Until sunset, that is."
Having permission to leave and enjoy the rest of her day, Sarah gather herself and launched into the air. Gaining altitude on powerful wings, she roared exuberantly as she flew across the labyrinth, heading east towards the mountains.
Jareth turned to the boy, faced with a dilemma that he'd never had to deal with before. The boy had brought a weapon into the labyrinth, and something told Jareth that this wouldn't be the last time he'd have to face this challenge. The mortals were changing their way of living Aboveground, their children weren't so innocent as they once were, bringing danger into his realm along with their dreams. 'Perhaps Sarah would have an idea for this problem,' he thought whimsically, glancing into the sky to see her flying off in the distance.
"I think you should give me my brother back just for having a dragon attack me!" the boy demanded.
"You think that, do you?" Jareth responded, smirking at the boy with amusement. "I think you should have read the book with just a bit more attention. It clearly states that there are dangers untold, dragons included." He turned his back from the boy, magically picking up the switchblade from the ground. "You have eleven hours to complete the labyrinth and reach the castle beyond."
"Eleven! I just got here!" the boy declared exasperatedly.
"Yes, eleven." Jareth stated evenly, looking down at the boy. "I've taken two hours from you for carrying a weapon in my kingdom, and threatening my subjects. You would do good to hand over any other instrument you may have upon you before you continue."
"That's all I got with me," the boy stated. "I just got it yesterday from my uncle."
"And now it's mine," Jareth informed him in a sing song voice, disappearing before the boy's eyes.
"That's not fair!" the boy shouted into the air. "I want that back when I beat this fucking thing! Do you hear me?!" the boy turned around within the corridor and glared at the eyeballs that watched him from the wall. "What the fuck are you looking at?!" he yelled at them, and made the biggest mistake of his life as his foot struck out and kicked the cluster, scattering them to the ground.
XxXxX
The vibrant colors of sunset illuminated the throne room as Sarah entered on foot, her skirt swished around her legs as she walked. She had eventually learned how to change herself back to human form without having to fall asleep, and waking up in the Goblin King's bed with nothing but a sheet covering her. He had tried to embarrass her at first, making subtle innuendos while suggestively twirling her hair around his fingers. But, she refused to give him the satisfaction of destroying the bliss she felt at having her dreams at her fingertips, and pretended that his advances fell on naive ears.
They had become friends of some sort over time. She always dined with him for the evening meal, and often joined him for a game of chess, or the like, in the library. Their conversations were usually light and interesting, though they had occasionally turned heated when she simply disagreed with his logic on a particular topic. So far, she had managed to live up to his expectations of her, as far as she knew anyway, and adeptly knew when to avoid him when he was in a foul mood, keeping herself out of trouble.
Until this day, when she had interfered with a wisher, the number one rule he had bestowed upon her for keeping her in his kingdom. She stopped before the throne with great trepidation, she had no idea what kind of punishment he would set upon her. She silently watched as Jareth idly amused himself with the boy's switch-blade, flicking his wrist to pop out the cheaply made alloy, only to retract it again. Apparently he had been sitting there repeating this for some time.
"Your actions this morning greatly surprised me, Sarah," he stated evenly, his focus still on the weapon in his hands.
"He was going to hurt a part of this place," she replied defensively. "I couldn't let him get away with that!" She took a half step closer as she pleaded on her own behalf. "I live here, too. This is my home as well as yours, and every other living thing here." She waved her arm grandly in a circle for emphasis. "And I know I'm not supposed to interfere, but…"
"I've decided to grant you a wish for your generosity." He interrupted before turning his attention towards her. Her selfless act towards the labyrinth required recognition, granting her a wish seemed the best solution, though he was fully aware that she could wish to return Aboveground. "Anything you desire shall be yours for defending the labyrinth this morning."
"I'm not in trouble?" she asked, dumbfounded.
"Surely not," he stated agreeably.
"I want a snack fest," she declared after a mere second's consideration.
"A what?" he asked, swinging his legs around to sit forward upon the cushions. His expression wrinkled with absolute confusion at never hearing of such a thing.
"A snack fest," she repeated. "I want hot pizza with melted cheese and pepperoni, a big bag of barbeque chips, a two liter bottle of soda, and a gallon of chocolate ice cream with fudge and sprinkles!"
"I grant you anything you want, and you wish for food?" he demanded incredulously, despite his earlier foreboding. "Junk food at best!"
"Have you ever 'had' a pepperoni pizza?" she asked indignantly, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Surely not!" he exclaimed with disgust. He'd seen his goblins tearing at those things many times, and the thought of having one anywhere near his mouth was simply horrid.
"Then, you wouldn't understand," she affirmed.
XxXxX
Jareth readily granted Sarah her wish, even succumbed to her request to eat the foul substance in his private chambers, after she pointed out that she wasn't sharing her prize with the goblins. Knowing that once they caught scent of the food she wouldn't be safe anywhere but in his presence, he gave in to her request.
He watched with an expression of disgust as she tackled the thing with no more grace than the very goblins she was hiding from, shoving a quarter of the tip of pie slice into her mouth while making extremely obnoxious, and arousing, noises of pleasure as she chewed with her eyes closed.
"Must you make those noises while you eat?" he finally asked, when she reached into the box for another slice, lounging on the opposite side of his bed with his back propped on high pillows.
"I can't believe how much I missed this," she answered, still gnawing on a mouthful of the last slice. "I swear, I could eat this whole thing by myself!"
"That, I have no doubt," he replied dryly, entwining his fingers together upon his mid-section. "But, continue with less noise."
"Since when are you all mister manners?" she asked, pausing with her next slice at her lips to look at him. "We eat with our fingers all the time."
He shifted his eyes to hers, fixing her with his piercing gaze. "You will stay in my bed tonight, if you utter one… more… noise."
Her eyes flared mischievously, causing her to smirk, before sinking her teeth into an oversized bite of the slice in her hands. "Mmm," she groaned, rolling her eyes closed as the taste of melted cheese, sauce, and pepperoni filled her mouth.
He stared at her confoundedly. She had always bulked at his threats to make her sleep in his bed before, yet she was purposely tempting him to follow through with it this time. "You will not be granted one of my shirts, either." He informed her firmly.
"Wouldn't be the first time, Jareth," She mumbled with a mouthful, having the decency to cover her mouth with a hand. "I've woken up in this bed more times than I can count, why would me sleeping in here tonight be any different?"
"I never said anything about sleeping," he replied, his tone dropping suggestively. She stopped chewing, her back became rigid as she snapped her head up to stare at him wide eyed. Jareth smiled at her knowingly.
"Oh." She lowered the half eaten slice back to the box, trying to chew what was in her mouth really fast. "That's not… that's not fair," she stated, swallowing in mid sentence. "You never threatened me like that before."
"You never enjoyed your meal so… amorously before," he countered in silky smooth voice.
She felt her face fill with a heated flush, traveling all the way down her neck, at his deep suggestive tone. He'd made mild advances upon her occasionally, but nothing she couldn't ignore or pretend to not understand. But, she also knew that he'd caught her more than once watching him, whether she was human or otherwise.
She found him very fascinating to watch, and him being attractive was an understatement. The way he moved with a natural grace was simply spell binding, and Sarah often had to stifle a laugh when he would break into a small dance step, moving his entire body to some unheard tune in his head. He was simply captivating. But that was one dream she was afraid to give into. She loved her life in the labyrinth, and was afraid that if she got too close to the king, then her dreams of being able to fly would stop. It was the last part of her innocence that she had left, something she was certain enabled her to dream with such vivaciousness.
"Is that your request?" she asked, knowing full well that it wasn't. Jareth was very careful of his demands and commands of her, only once using the word please towards her, and she had excused him of that being a request. He had simply wanted her companionship after dealing with a very difficult wisher. The girl had actually attacked him when he had stepped too close to her. Sarah had wanted to beat the living crap out of the girl when she had seen the marks on his face, though she never told him how defensive she had felt on his behalf.
"You know very well that it is not," he informed her irritably. "You were warned and purposely defied me." Something he regarded as a treat coming from Sarah. She very rarely spoke against him, or defied him in any way, which was absolutely infuriating when he knew she was more than capable of it. So many times her eyes had flashed dangerously with her ire, instantly preparing him for a well desired confrontation from her, only to leave him extremely disappointed when she had swallowed her temper and acquiesced to his command. Those were the times that Jareth was reminded exactly how much Sarah had grown, matured, in her world.
"You plan to make this very uncomfortable for me, don't you?" she asked, pushing the pizza box away, suddenly losing her appetite.
"Not at all," he replied, feeling regret for ruining her moment of joy for the other worldly food, though not enough to rescind his command. "Come, sit closer," he told her in a casual tone, patting the bedding near his side. "Bring your food with you, perhaps I'll try some of it after all."
Resigned, Sarah quietly moved the pizza box closer to the head of the bed, grabbing the bag of chips and the large bottle of soda, she then walked on her knees to the center, settling herself with crossed legs between Jareth and the pizza box. She purposely sat by his side, near his waist, with her back to his face, hoping that he really wasn't intending on making her sleep with him. Odd how it never bothered her to wake up next him, yet the thought of having to fall asleep with him being so close was very disturbing.
He raised a hand and idly played with her long hair, twining small locks between his fingers only to let her tresses slip through. He'd always been fond of running his fingers through her hair, and Sarah had never bothered to question or deny him the small fetish. "How do you manage to lay your hair flat and even?" he asked gently, wanting to relieve her of her defensiveness. "When every other living thing in this kingdom, including myself, possesses not one tamed strand of hair amongst us."
Sarah shrugged nonchalantly, knowing that he was trying to be amicable, which was very hard for him sometimes. "I don't know, maybe it's the berries I found on the far side of the labyrinth."
"Nothing grows on the far side of the labyrinth," Jareth remarked with a frown.
"Yea, it does," Sarah insisted mildly. "It's only a small area, but there's shrubbery, a few tree saplings, and some berry bushes. I found it the first time I flew as a dragon, who have very good instincts, by the way."
"Of that I'm aware," he replied distractedly, trying to place where she could have found growing life in the area she was referring to. "Are you certain you hadn't went beyond the borders?"
"Yes, I'm certain!" she responded defensively, scooting away from him to stand at the foot of the bed, turning back to face him. "I've never went beyond the borders! NEVER! Why do you insist that I purposely defy you when I don't!"
Jareth gazed upon her intently with a raised brow. 'She's completely agitated!' he thought to himself with elation. Her breathing was erratic, her entire body flushed with her temper, her eyes flared darkly at him, and he hadn't seen her place her hands on her hips in that manner in such a long time, that it put a smirk of amusement on his face.
"You don't believe me, do you?" she asked incredulously. "Then, I'll prove it!" she declared. "Tomorrow morning, just before sunrise, fly with me and I'll show you where it is!" she stalked away from the bed, heading towards the door. "And I'm not staying in here with you if all your going to do is insult me and blame me for things I haven't even done!"
Undeterred, since he had magically locked the door, Jareth glanced curiously at the box of pizza. 'What is in that?' he wondered, blaming the Aboveground food for her sudden erratic behavior.
Suddenly she spun on her heels, and strode towards his bed with purpose. "And I'm taking my food with me!" she declared, grabbing the bag of chips and the soda bottle. Jareth grabbed her wrist with quick reflexes when she reached for the pizza box, making her pause, but otherwise seemed to have expected this reaction from him.
"Join me upon this bed, and remain with me for the night, Sarah." It wasn't a question, there were no alternatives, he told her she was staying the night with him, and he had meant it. He released his hold of her expecting her to obey him without further argument, even though a small part of him hoped she gave him just a little more defiance, for the past few minutes had been delightfully entertaining.
She begrudgingly complied and plopped down on the bed, sliding closer to him before he had to tell her to do so, but not as close as she had sat before. Crossing her legs, she plopped the bag of chips within the folds of her calves and thighs, and opened the bag with gusto. After munching noisily on a handful of them, she gruffly grabbed the bottle of soda, and rested that on her ankle. Twisting the cap with zealousness, she squealed as the soda exploded and sprayed all over everything. Jumping from her seat, she knocked over the bag of potato chips, scattering them all over, as she climbed from the bed, almost knocking the pizza to the floor.
"Are you quite finished making a mess?" Jareth asked patiently from behind her when she had turned back to face the bed. Spinning around she met his amused gaze with a worried expression.
"I'm sorry," she stated in a small voice, still holding the fizzing bottle in her hands. "I forgot it was shaken up when I dropped it onto the bed. I didn't get you wet, did I?"
"No," he stated reassuringly, stepping around to the other side of his bed. "Luckily for you I am more than adept at having to jump out of the way when a mess is about to happen. I am the king of goblins, after all."
"Good thing, that," she whispered with relief, then frowned at the bottle in her now wet and sticky hands. She glanced through lowered lids to watch Jareth return to his former position on the bed, and frowned even more. "I'll go find some clean linens and clean up that mess."
"Don't bother," he told her simply. "There's still more than enough room for both of us to share."
Suddenly his kingly oversized bed didn't seem so oversized when she gauged that only about half of it hadn't been effected by her thoughtlessness. 'Damn,' she thought, slowly returning to the bed, climbing up from the bottom to crawl along the center, closer to his side than she was comfortable with to avoid the soda spills. 'He's going to milk this for everything its worth, I just know it!' She froze in place halfway from the foot of the bed, when she lifted her eyes to meet his. "What?" she whispered with uncertainty. She'd never seen that expression on his face before, and had no idea what it meant or what he was thinking. "What have I done wrong now?"
She stared at him with uncertainty in her eyes as she waited for him to answer her. The trouble was, he couldn't answer her right away from the reaction he was having by watching her crawl up the center of the bed towards him. The way her hips swayed, how her breasts strained against her restrictive blouse, how her back arched with every motion of her legs, and then she raised her face and looked right at him. It damn nearly knocked the breath from his lungs, but definitely made coherent speech a problem.
Jareth tentatively took a bite from the slice of pizza he had taken into hand, and chew it once, his expression showing exactly how much he didn't like it. With about as much grace as a goblin, he turned his head and spit it out onto the floor. "That is the most repulsive thing I have ever had in my mouth."
"Here wash out the taste with this," she stated, offering him the big bottle of soda. "If you don't mind that I've already drank out of it, that is." She was extremely amused by his sudden display of propriety. With all the meals they had shared, he had never once shirked at using his fingers, or talking with a mouthful of food, and even has been known to use his sleeve as a napkin! She found herself laughing out right at the wary look he set upon the dark, bubbling liquid.
To show good faith, Sarah removed the cap from the bottle and raised it to her lips. Tilting her head back, she guzzled down some soda, making a sour face when the fizz tickled her nose. "Damn, I really miss this stuff," she commented just before belching loudly. She blushed while covering her mouth. "Excuse me."
Jareth looked at her with surprise then laughed uproariously. "I will try some of that," he told her, putting out his hand for her to give him the bottle of soda. After chugging some himself, he got the strangest expression on his face as he stared at the offending bottle. "I think I've poisoned myself."
"Oh, you big baby, come here," She laughed, scooting closer on her knees to his side to pat him non too gently on the back a few times.
"Stop that!" he commanded, pushing her over onto her side with a wayward arm, his other hand clutching at his stomach. "I feel…" Suddenly, a belch louder than Sarah's erupted from his throat, throwing Sarah into a fit of laughter. "It seemed much more impressive when that happened to you," he commented lamely, eyeing the bottle of soda warily.
A small band of goblin guards rushed down the corridor to the kings private chambers. Raising their spears and axes, they were about to barge into his majesties room to defend him from the creatures that bellowed inside, when the uproarious laughter of the king and the dreamer were heard through the thick wood. Gazing at each other they slumped their shoulders dejectedly before returning to their posts.
Just over two hours later, the king's bed was littered with half emptied pizza boxes. Sarah was sprawled out on her back diagonally, strategically positioned in between and around said boxes with the empty soda bottle in the crook of one arm. Using Jareth's stomach as a pillow she contentedly gave in to sleep.
Their evening had been full of laugher and fun, in general. Jareth had been surprised to discover that he favored a variety of pizzas, though abhorred pepperoni. The horridness of the soda had passed as soon as the belching had begun, turning it into a belching contest with Sarah. He breathed deeply, feeling his stomach starting to complain about all the alien food in it. But, he hadn't had this much fun in a very long time.
Turning his head to the side he lazily raised a hand and brushed aside a strand of her hair from her face. "Why don't you ever ask me for anything?" he questioned quietly.
She took a deep waking breath, and shifted slightly to her side. "Because you give me everything I need."
"I've given you nothing," he argued pleasantly.
She raised her head to look up at him, her face still flush from all the excitement of their shared evening. "Then you take too much for granted, because I could live like this forever." She lay her head back down, closing her eyes with a sleepy sigh, never seeing the frown that marred Jareth's exquisite features.
"I want you to remain on the ground tomorrow," he informed her simply. "There's going to be high winds gusting throughout the kingdom, and I don't want you injured."
"Yes, Jareth," she whispered, slipping into sleep.
XxXxX
Jareth lounged lazily upon his throne in the main hall, bored out of his mind. Not only that but his stomach still protested all the soda he had consumed the night before, rumbling and gargling within his mid section.
He watched with disinterest as a grayish little bird with a long tail skittered across the floor in front of him, his horde of goblins in fast pursuit. They'd been chasing the thing for the better part of the morning, with no success of even getting close to catching it. He let his head fall backwards over the arm of his chair, hoping that someone would wish away a child just for something to do.
Sarah hadn't been in his room when he awoke soon after sunrise. Though he knew she hadn't taken to the skies, he otherwise had no idea where she had gone off to. He could use his crystal, he knew, but for the moment he relished in tormenting himself just by not knowing something. It was a rare treat for him since he usually was aware of most everything that was going on at any given moment. Which had gotten extremely boring after a time.
The little gray bird came swooshing past him once more, the horde following it, shouting uproariously at getting closer to it than they had managed before. Then the horde split in two groups, one half following the bird, as the other half ran around the other side of the throne. Jareth watched lazily as the little bird skid to a sudden stop, looked behind itself, then forward, realizing it's peril.
With a shake of it's feathers, and a flick of it's tail, the thing turned around and headed straight for the goblins racing towards it. But, as they closed in on the tiny thing, it began to grow in size, changing from a gray, long tailed bird into a brown and white chicken. The goblins stopped so suddenly that they fell into each other, watching as the chicken's legs grew longer and thicker under its plumping body. Veering off to the side, the strange bird raced to the other side of the throne room, it's wings enlarging to match its legs, while its body grew to the size of a boar.
The creature turned and fixed it's now ugly, big eyed face in the horde's direction, scratching it's foot along the stone intimidatingly. It stood taller than the king himself, with huge wings and big feet. A long neck protruded from a gray and black feathered body. The goblins turned and ran screaming, never before seeing such a thing! The ostrich gave chase, tirelessly keeping the goblins running around the city.
'Well, at least I know where Sarah is,' Jareth thought dryly. He should have realized that she wouldn't go far from the castle, or the city itself, since he had told her to remain on the ground. He rarely restricted her freedom of flying, but the few times that it had been necessary, she had always remained close to the castle, if not inside for the duration of the day.
He had somehow missed the opportunity to make her his, to have her by his side, to keep her for himself. It was his own fault, he realized. He should have been more demanding of her when she had awoken in his bed that first day. But he had been completely taken with her ability to dream herself into changing her very form, that he had allowed her freedom to do whatever she chose.
The labyrinth had given her the gift of living her dreams, while Jareth secretly hoped that he would be a part of those dreams. But she never came to him, for anything it seemed, unless he specifically called upon her. Even then, though her company was pleasant and enjoyable, she remained reserved and distant from him. Jareth found himself just as lonely with her living within his kingdom as he had been before her return. He simply couldn't be the tyrant and force himself upon her, no matter how much he wanted her for himself.
He suddenly had the feeling of being watched and opened his eyes. Rolling his head to the side, he saw the odd looking bird, Sarah, simply standing in the middle of the empty throne room watching him.
"Well?" he questioned with impatience. She remained unmoving, her green eyes, enlarged to fit her form, seemed to absorb him completely. She raised one foot and slowly, hesitatingly, stepped forward then stopped again. "What is it, Sarah?" he asked cautiously, having the feeling that something was wrong. Swinging his legs to face forward he was about to stand when the skies suddenly turned dark and a clap of lightening resounded like a canon.
Sarah jumped four feet sideways in fright, her wings flew open defensively, her eyes startled and wild, while honking some strange sound of alarm. Without another glimpse towards Jareth she ran for all she was worth up the stone steps towards her private chambers.
She changed back to her natural form after reaching the top of the steps. Leaning heavily against the stone wall, she held her stomach with both arms as she tried to catch her breath. She had no idea that ostriches were so attune to human, or close enough to human, emotions. She had been thoroughly entertaining herself chasing the goblins around, when she suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. The feeling of forgotten dreams, of lost hope, of an emptiness that nothing seemed to fill. She had followed it, finding herself standing before the king. The closer she had gotten to him, the stronger the feelings were. It left her weak in the knees, even in the form of an ostrich. It never occurred to her that he would be so lonely, wanting of companionship, just needing someone to be with him.
She wasn't sure what she had intended to do by stepping forward, but the sudden storm outside had taken care of any decision she may have had. Being startled, her instinct to run had been too overwhelming to ignore, and quite possible, a good thing. She entered her room, shielding her eyes from the gusts of wind blowing through the open windows. Rushing forward, she untied the rolled up tapestries, fastening them at the floor to block the high winds better. She turned around to find Jareth standing in her room.
"Why had you come before me, Sarah?" he asked with mid concern, noticing how she looked away from him uncomfortably.
"I… I don't know," she answered nervously, flitting around her room, fixing things that had been knocked over by the high winds. "I suddenly had this overwhelming feeling of… that something was wrong. But, it must have just been the storm I sensed." She paused in her movements to address him directly. "I didn't mean to run like that, but I can't always control overwhelming instincts of the creatures I become. The lightening really frightened me."
"You're sure that's all?" he asked skeptically. He hadn't seen her act this nervous around him since her first visit to his labyrinth, and even then, her behavior seemed different somehow.
"What else could it be?" she asked lightly with a shrug, smiling at him convincingly.
Only he wasn't convinced. If anything, her attempt to be casual gave him more reason to question her. He moved closer to her, studying her intently as he closed the space between them. "Sarah, since your return, have I given you reason to not trust me?"
"No," she answered quietly, staring up at him. "Why?"
"Because I get the distinct impression that you're lying to me, and I don't understand why."
"I… I don't like being an ostrich," she told him as a way to change the subject. "I think I changed back too soon, I still feel nervous and scared."
"Of that I'm sure. But, not because of the form you had chosen, but, perhaps what you felt instinctually while in that form. Am I right?"
She couldn't lie to him, he knew about shape shifting far better than she did. He knew she sensed his emotions, and he would know if she blatantly lied to him right now. She nodded her head, diverting her eyes to the side.
He stepped in closer, leaning over her to speak directly into her ear. "Remember what you felt, Sarah, the next time your soaring the skies in elation."
She turned her head to meet his gaze only to find him gone. In the short time she had taken to decide whether to go after him or not, she felt the shimmer of a mortal entering the kingdom, and the Labyrinth's deep sigh of the king's return. Knowing she wouldn't be dining with the king that evening, she felt both relieved and anxious of how to deal with this sudden situation she found herself in.