From the shadows, raspy murmurs and hisses could be heard. The sounds of scrapes and claws hitting the ground reached Jareth's ears. The goblins came to their king, slowly approaching him on his throne, all the while cautiously watching him. They were never too sure of their masters' mood, as it would often change as quickly as lighting flashes in the sky.
"My subjects! I see that you, like the labyrinth, have undergone some changes... some intimidating changes. Excellent. In fact, some of you look more like gargoyles than goblins! Without the wings of course."
It was true. The goblins were more fearsome-looking than they were the last time Sarah saw them. They were bigger, including their teeth, which were longer and sharper. Some goblins had spikes on their bodies, others had horns, and some had long lashing tails like whips. Even a select few had combinations of all these characteristics; however, all had giant ears to hear their prey. They were extremely diverse in physical appearance. It certainly would make the goblin city a much more interesting place to visit.
"Massstteerrrr..." A weasel looking goblin hissed at Jareth. "Yes? What is it?" "The girl..." It questioned. "What of her?" Jareth reached into the air and a crystal appeared on his fingertips.
He let it roll up and down his palm effortlessly. "Will she be brought back?" Jareth's eyes pierced the goblin like ice daggers from the arctic troll lands of Rictic.
The goblin gulped and quickly scuttled backwards away from his master. "No... disrespect... sir. My apologies." It wheezed looking around itself nervously. "I see there has been some talk during our slumber. Telepathy between goblins in a state of hibernation is a curious thing indeed."
The goblin king cocked his head to the side, looking at his goblins. "Let's take a peek and see how 'the girl' is doing." Mismatched eyes gazed into the crystal to reveal an older Sarah Williams. The goblins hustled around their king and looked up into the crystals as well. They began scurrying around, with many of them scampering back to the catwalks and perches others gathered around the throne. The crystal glowed and showed them what they wanted to see.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Jareth inquired as he peered into the crystal.
He saw her, Sarah Williams, with her long, dark hair pulled back, her forest green eyes blazing. She wore those human leggings known as jeans and a jacket made from leather. It was quite late in the evening, Sarah was racing through a dimly lit forest, but she wasn't alone. In front of her was another girl, who was a little shorter, but also slightly older and appeared to be of Asian descent. She wore a pink hat topped with cat ears. Her hair was jet black, pulled into low pigtails that dangled over her shoulders. In addition to her cat-ears, she also wore protective gear- kneepads for her legs and an armor vest covering her chest. On her armor vest, she sported a yellow pin that read 'Rude Girl'. Her wrists were adorned with multiple colored bands and she wore gloves upon her hands. She was an odd-looking girl compared to Sarah. The two girls skillfully leapt over fallen branches and zipped swiftly around boulders covering the forest floor.
The Goblin King arched an eyebrow, murmuring to his subjects, "Something is amiss. Things are not what they seem." The goblins hissed and sneered, while watching their master and waiting for further reaction.
Jareth lazily leaned back on his throne and observed the scene unfolding before him. The girl in front of Sarah abruptly stopped running. Her face, a portrait of terror, turned to look behind her.
She screamed "Little bird!" To Sarah's left, a humanoid creature appeared, launching itself towards Sarah with claws stretched out. Without hesitating, Sarah swiftly crouched down swinging her right leg in a semi-circle, knocking its feet right out from under it. "Satsu, go on! Leave this thing to me."
Sarah looked over her shoulder at her female companion. "I'll catch up I promise. There isn't time, just go!" The woman shook her head with hesitation in her eyes. "Go! Now!" Sarah demanded. "Robin... I'll be waiting for you at the rendezvous point. Don't be late!" "I'll try not to be." Sarah replied coolly staring down the creature that was coming for her. Satsu turned on her heel and took flight once more.
"Cut! That's a wrap folks! Sarah, Lynn, good job both of you. Lynn, I'll see you next week." Lynn waved at the man who had called a halt on the scene. She said goodbye to Sarah who was wiping her brow with a towel and proceeded off the set. The director, Mike, climbed down from his chair and headed towards Sarah. Mike was in his early forties and had bright red frizzy hair and green eyes like Sarah's.
"Hey, Sarah, good work again. You really managed to capture your character." She turned to Mike and smiled at him. "Thanks Mike. I appreciate that, especially since I consider this my first real acting job. It sure beats a cat food commercial- not that I didn't enjoy doing the commercial. I just enjoyed this more."
Sarah looked up at him and laughed. He chuckled at her comment. "Of course, of course. Even though we only had you for a few episodes your character could come back later on in the season." Puzzled, Sarah's eyebrows rose and she gently bit her bottom lip.
"I was under the impression that Robin's life was taken by Bernard... I mean the Gilgabeast." Great, Sarah thought. I like Mike, he has been a great director and he is really nice, but I hope he isn't going somewhere beyond acting. I'm not the kind of girl who belittles herself by sleazily offering services in trade for a job.
Mike quickly looked taken aback. "Oh, well of course. Robin is killed by the Gilgabeast, but this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer we are talking about here. You played a promising young slayer. Who knows what the producers and writers are going to do. They could easily bring Robin back as a ghost, or have her possessed or some other supernatural nonsense like that."
Sarah felt her cheeks flush and she glanced down at her feet. Of course, that is what he had meant. It was silly of her to think he might have been suggesting something else. Sarah looked at him again and smiled nervously. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry, that didn't occur to me. I hope they do bring Robin back. I really enjoyed playing her. Hey, listen, I hate to run but it is kinda getting late and my house isn't as close to the set as I would have liked, plus I need to let my cat, Celest, out so she can stretch her legs."
Mike nodded appreciatively. "Sure thing. Be sure to drive safe." She reached over and gave him a quick hug. "I will! Thanks again Mike. I hope I get to see you soon, if not, take care." With that, Sarah gathered her things and headed to her parked car in a clearing next to the set.
"Whew! What a night! I am so sleepy." Sarah yawned and checked her watch as she let her car heat up. "It is already past twelve in the morning. Celest isn't going to be too happy with me. She loves hunting at night. She will just have to get over it tonight."
The Goblin King watched Sarah's car drive away from the forest, onto a curvy main road heading towards some distant mountains.
"Intriguing. So this is what has become of your life, you precious little thing. I do believe you will not obtain much rest tonight Sarah. In fact, I give you my word." With a snap of his fingers, the crystal vanished. Jareth looked down on his goblins and smiled.
In a cool voice, he said, "We shall need a room prepared for our..." Jareth pretended to fumble with the word, lightly tapping his chin with his index finger. With eyes dancing full of mischief, he finished, "guest, but as we all know, our 'guest' will be the new eternal resident here in the castle beyond the goblin city." He broke into sinister laughter.
The goblins immediately accompanied his laughter with their ominous laughter. They began scurrying around, some flew to the catwalks and perched. Cackling could be heard on the wind that night. The king of goblins was going aboveground and would not be returning alone.
AN: 9.17.11 Chapter Three Little Bird Revised.