Subdued, Sarah stood, trying to work her overwhelmed mind around what her life would be now; what she had lost. It didn't help that Jareth was still staring at her, smirk more prominent than ever. But the challenging glint in his eyes, the triumph in his posture- that did push her to act. Trapped she may be, but she was still strong. With enough will, there was always a way. It may take time, but she would find a way out. Yes, she would! And when she did the first thing she would do would be to smack that arrogant smirk right off his face! Filled with renewed purpose, she rose his gaze to his. The first step was scouting out the situation.
"What next? If I'm going to live here, where will I sleep, eat?" Her voice was defiant, but fear began to thread its way through her chest as his smirk grew even wider.
"You're always so independent, Sarah. Now you want me to take care of you? Oh, no. I'm sure you'll find somewhere to stay; the goblins in the city can be quite," he paused, looking around as if searching for the right word. Finally, he turned back to her and the feral smile was once again present, "accommodating… once you find something they want. As for food, you can eat with the army- I will expect you to start lessons at 3 and run until 13, taking groups of at least nine at a time. During your lessons, lunch and dinner will be delivered." Sarah tried desperately to keep her lip from quivering, facing him even while pressure formed behind her eyes. For a moment, all was quiet. Each of the pair simply staring at the other, wordlessly expressing their feelings of triumph and defeat.
Abruptly, Jareth broke contact, forming a crystal on his hand.
"Go, now. There is a goblin waiting for you outside the door. Any concerns should be brought to her, and she will advise you on the areas of the castle which are off limits." Sarah opened her mouth briefly, before shutting it; realizing she had no idea what to say. Instead, she simply nodded and trudged to the door. She never looked back. Never saw the mismatched eyes of the Goblin King following her, the crystal forgotten on the floor.
It was hours later when Sarah stood, swaying on her feet, surrounded by a swarm of goblins. Her guide, Rumple, had dutifully shown her the many doors of the castle Sarah was not to pass. So many in fact, that when Sarah asked where in the castle she could go, she got only a mystified shrug in return. The tour had taken over an hour, leaving Sarah exhausted when she returned to the city. Of course, her day was not over yet. No, Jareth would never give her a day off for something as minor as being dropped in the middle of a whole new world. Sighing, Sarah went back to her attempts at explaining the sounds the letter 'A' represented. She was beginning to wish she had just tackled Jareth and gotten a good night's sleep in an oubliette somewhere. But there was no use in could have's. She was here now, and she had a job to do.
"So, I've been through the sounds. Who can tell me what this symbol stands for, now?" She pointed to the 'A', hoping that maybe they'd finally got it through their skulls. They had skulls, right?
"I think it's one of them ninja Goblins from across the city doing the limbo!" A rather lopsided goblin proclaimed. A series of shouts backed him up, but were matched by an equal number of jeering asides.
"Ninja goblins! Everyone knows that's a pile of puppy dogs tails, it is!"
"You always think its puppy dogs tails!" The group chorused, erupting into chaos as they all pushed and shoved, jumping up to screech what they thought it was.
"Enough!" Sarah thundered, glaring at the gathered assembly. As if on pause, they all stopped, only their eyes moving to stare at Sarah. She took a deep breath, forcing down her frustration.
"Sit!" She commanded, the same iron lacing her voice. Every goblin sat, silent. For a moment all was still.
"Ok, once more! This is a letter. It is called 'A'. Depending on what position it's in, with what other letters, it can be one of these sounds…."
Four hours later, it seemed they had finally mastered the first letter of the alphabet. Just in time, as dinner was delivered. Sarah, already pale thinking of teaching the letter 'A' to another nine goblins tomorrow, grew even paler when she saw the 'food'. It was moving. Grey, slithery and moving. She tapped a goblin on the shoulder as it passed.
"Uh, what is this?" She couldn't help the note of panic that entered her voice.
"Slimy snails!" He announced, grinning from ear to ear.
"And puppy dogs tails…" a meek voice interrupted.
"There's no puppy dogs tails!" The whole group chorused, laughing and jeering. Sudden as that, the last meal was grabbed and the sound of slurping filled the cabin. Sarah's stomach started to turn and she shoved her bowl across the table.
"Ah, this one bit me!"
"Ha ha ha ha!!"
"Ya gotta eat em from the tail firs', Gamble!"
"Orf ya jus' ea' em alls at once, le' 'em bite eachother! Another goblin proclaimed through a full mouth.
Sarah had become more and more pale, feeling the bile rising in her throat. Sprinting out into the streets, she barely made it to an empty corner before throwing up.
Rumple found her curled into a ball there an almost an hour later.
"Tall- tall? Hey! Hey,Taaall-taaaaaaaaall?" The goblins had taken to calling her that due to her height. Miserable and hungry, Sarah childishly refused to answer, instead curling farther in on herself. Mumbling sounded above her a second before she was jabbed with a sharp stick.
"Ow!" Sarah scrambled to her feet, glaring down at the offending goblin. Rumple merely nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. No sleeping on streeties!" Anger burst out of Sarah at this.
"Well then where am I meant to sleep! I'm tired and I'm hungry and I don't know anyone and I'm meant to leave everything that I ever knew and what?! What am I supposed to do!!" The last was shouted right into the little goblin's face. An unearthly keening sound rose from it. It took Sarah a moment to realize it was crying. Immediately, she was besieged by guilt. It rose in her like a wave, bringing her to her knees with its force. Hesitantly, she put her arms around the wailing goblin.
"I'm sorry," she murmured to it,
"I didn't mean to shout at you. Hey, how would you like a pretty ring? As thanks for helping me?" Slowly, Rumple's eyes started to clear, taking on an excited glint. Reaching one of her grubby hands forward, she yanked the ring off Sarah's finger, staring at it in wonder.
"For me?" She asked in bewilderment. Sarah nodded and was tempted to leave it at that; after all, she'd make the poor thing cry… but…. She still needed a place to stay and she didn't exactly have many bargaining chips.
"Yes, it's for you. But you need to let me stay at your house, alright? And can you tell the cooks that I can't eat anything that's alive," Sarah considered before adding, "or any animals at all, I need human food, alright?" Rumple seemed to think this very funny.
"Human food. What you want that icky for? You not human." Sarah frowned, staring intently at the goblin.
"Yes, I am. So do we have a deal?"
"Ok-ies," Rumple sang, still chuckling away, and led Sarah to her new home.
A/N: Ok, so I decided to try making it a chapter story. Good or bad, tell me what you think! I've got a few ideas for where it'll go, so hopefully the updates won't be more than 4 or so days apart. Also, I'd like to say thanks to all my reviewers, you've all been really helpful!
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it is the wonderful work of Jim Henson and not mine :(