The original Princess and the Goblin story is owned by George MacDonald, and the movie by Entertainment Film Distributions and Budapest Film. Any unrecognized characters are mine.

Guest: Thank you very much :) I'm glad that you see great improvement, and I hope you like the rest of the story. I think you'll see it differs quite a bit.

Irene snuck down the halls and out onto the ramparts until she found the dungeon. She shook her head with a sigh when she saw the guards were fast asleep. It worked in her favor right now, but any other time she would be sorely disappointed, to say the least.* At the moment, she snuck by them, nicked the keys from one of the guards, and peeked through the window in the door.

She could see Froglip sitting in the cell in the straw. He was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed, and looked both angry and grievous.

Now that there were bars and a door* between them, Irene couldn't help but examine the goblin. He was just as she remembered: light-green skin, dark-pink hair, just as wild as it was years ago; dark green claws and ears, single-toed feet, a bulbous nose, and round yellow eyes. He was still tall and lanky, and wore his black and pink cape, skull-shaped pin, and dark-teal loincloth. What was different, however, was that his skin looked darker, even in the dim light of the moonlight seeping through the barred window, and he looked a bit more muscular.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly and carefully unlocked the door, pushed it open, tiptoed inside, and shut it behind her as quietly as she could.

Froglip's ears perked up at the unlocking sound, and he pulled a darker glare at the door. Instead of one of the guards, or even the Sun-King, to his surprise, he saw the Sun-Princess sneak in and close the door behind her. Her golden-orange hair was loose and fell to her waist, and she wore a light-pink nightgown that bunched lightly around her shoulders and fell halfway down her shins, and furry light-brown slippers. Around her wrist was a circle of keys, and she held something wrapped in a piece of cloth.

She turned to face him, looking a little nervous. Her round face had lost its baby fat and become slightly more angled, especially with her chin and cheekbones. Her whole body was more mature, making her look the picture of a young Sun-Woman. However, her round teal eyes still had the wonder and innocence of a child, yet some maturity that came with the past ten years. She wore a golden necklace, with pigeons and a rose, around her neck, a golden ring with a fire opal on the pointer finger on her left hand*, and a silver ring that resembled clasping hands on the ring finger of her right hand.

They stared at each other, mostly out of curiosity rather than hostility, until Froglip finally broke the silence, "What do you want?"

Irene blinked in surprise, took a deep breath, and said "I want to talk to you about your parents."

He flinched at the mention of his parents, and glared at her. "There is nothing to talk about," he growled, turning away slightly. She noticed his lisp wasn't as heavy as it had been ten years before, or earlier that day.

"Well, I have something to talk about," she insisted, stepping closer to the bars. "And I am here to say that we are innocent."

"Of course you would say that," he scoffed.

"No, I mean it. We found one of our own, dead in the woods. The spearhead," she shook the clothed object she had in her hand, "came from his spear."

"So you found a dead Sun-Man, congratulations," he said sarcastically, turning his head towards her. "How do you know he didn't die from his injuries against my parents?"

"He had black fur in his wounds. Do your parents have anything with black fur?"

"... No, but that doesn't mean anything."

"Of course it does!" she exclaimed, freezing and looking back to make sure she wasn't heard. She didn't hear the outside guards awakening, or even speaking. In a quieter voice, she continued, "It means he was killed by something else. Probably whatever killed your parents. They took his spear and framed us."

Froglip let out a chuckle. "You have quite the imagination, don't you, Sun-Princess? What kind of animal would be smart enough to do that?"

Irene scowled angrily, clenching her fists. She knew she was right, and had to make him believe her.

Before she could say anything else, something bumped into her, panting heavily. She looked to the side, and jumped in surprise; she barely had time to cover her mouth to not scream. It was a brown goblin with reddish-brown pigtails and dirt-colored pants. When he saw her, he gasped in shock, but managed to not make any sounds.

"Glump?!" Froglip exclaimed, while still being quiet. "What are you doing here? And how did you know I was here?"

"I-I figured the Sun-P-People would lock you up," he whispered nervously. "I was a-able to climb the-the walls, and I s-saw the Sun-Princess c-come in here." He wrung his hands and glanced at Irene several times as he spoke, looking very frightened. She was confused by this, until she remembered that her people had fought back against his and won. And they still knew how to fight against them. "And I h-have news about you-your parents' deaths."

"What more can there be?" Froglip growled. "The Sun-People killed them. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But we didn't!" Irene protested.

"She's right."

Froglip's head whipped towards Glump so fast, his hair flew about. "What did you say?" he asked slowly.

Glump's face paled slightly, and he took a step back. "Th-the Sun-People didn't kill them."

"Then why did you say they did?"

"B-b-because the re-real killer told me to."

"You saw him?" Froglip jumped to his feet and gripped the bars tightly. "Who is it, Glump?! Tell me!"

"Shhh!" Irene hissed. "Someone will hear us, chase him away, and then we'll be back to where we started!" She turned to the brown goblin and asked gently, "Who killed the goblin king and queen, Glump?"

Glump glanced between the former goblin prince and the Sun-Princess; the former looked frantic and irritated, probably because he was taking so long in revealing the real murderer, and the latter appeared patient and nervous, since the murderer was probably something she was unaware of.

Finally, he took a deep breath and said, "It-it was... Dirtclaw."

Irene furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, having never heard of "Dirtclaw". When she turned to Froglip, his entire expression had changed: his eyes were wide, his jaw slack, and his ears bent down so low, they pointed to the ground.

He looked horrified.

"Are you sure?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"Positive!"

"You saw him?! Did he have the scars on his shoulders?"

"Yes, he did!"

"Who is Dirtclaw?" Irene asked.

"He's a monster," Froglip answered with a slight growl. He stood up and raised his arms dramatically as he continued, "He's a large wolf, with fur as black as night, red eyes as dark as the blood he drinks, and claws the color of the earth he walks upon. His body is covered in scars, and he has wings on his shoulders like that of a dragon."

Irene quirked an eyebrow at the goblin's theatrics, and glanced at Glump questioningly. "It's true," he nodded. "I've seen him, now and years before."

Froglip blinked, as if a thought had come to mind. "If you saw him... and know what he did... why did you not tell me?!" he hissed angrily.

"B-because he told me not to."

"... What?"

Glump had been patrolling through the tunnels long after delivering Froglip's message to Suevite and Dolomite. He felt sorry for the queen and king, and decided he would try harder to get Froglip to come home.

As he approached the village, he saw something in the shadows. He squinted his eyes, and gasped sharply at what he saw. When the creature froze and turned towards him, he covered his mouth and ducked behind a stalactite. He trembled in fear, knowing what he saw: it was Dirtclaw. He knew that wolf anywhere, especially with his wings and scars. What was he doing here? He hadn't been seen for over ten years.

He heard Dirtclaw snort, and listened as his footsteps took him further into the village, claws clicking as he went. Gulping nervously, Glump followed after the wolf, quietly yet carefully, until he saw him duck into the stone palace.

His eyes widened in realization at what Dirtclaw probably had planned. He ran into the palace, but found he was too late: Dirtclaw stood over Suevite, holding his paw over her mouth, and he had just shoved a broken spearhead into her throat. Glump stood still, shaking in fear, with his hands pressed tightly against his mouth, until Dirtclaw moved to Dolomite. The brown goblin turned and ran until he was out of the palace and in the tunnels. He leaned on his knees and panted heavily, feeling scared, sick, and utter and complete guilt. He had never felt like a coward more than he did in that moment. His mind tried to rationalize that he wasn't a designated goblin guard, and so wasn't strong enough to fight back against the wolf. Not to mention he would have easily killed him.

It didn't help him feel better.

His ears perked up at the sound of screaming. His heart dropped when he realized Dirtclaw's crime had been discovered. When he turned around, he was practically nose-to-nose with the wolf. He jumped back with a small scream, and fell on the ground. Almost automatically, Dirtclaw pounced on him, one paw on his throat. "What did you see?" he growled.

"I... I..." Glump chocked, grasping at the wolf's leg.

Snorting with a shake of his head, Dirtclaw moved his snout close to the goblin's ear and whispered, "If anyone asks, you are to tell those goblins that the Sun-People did this. It shouldn't be too hard to believe, but you are to tell them. Otherwise..." He clutched at Glump's throat, causing him to wheeze and his eyes to bulge. "Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded frantically. "Good. Oh, and should you see your dear prince, tell him the same. You may just survive if you do." Stepping on his throat, the wolf slunk out of the tunnels, glancing back once, as if to emphasize what he was to do, and disappeared.

Glump pushed himself up, coughing and gasping for breath, and felt at his throat. He didn't feel any cuts or blood, but it did feel very tender, and he knew it would bruise later. Once he fully caught his breath, he hurried back to the palace, already finding a large crowd. When he was asked if he saw anything, he stammered that he hadn't but was confident that it was the Sun-People that had done it. They took his nervous manner as him being shaken about the king and queen's death, and believed him; especially since it seemed logical that the Sun-People would do this. He turned and ran down and out the tunnel that would lead him to Froglip.

"I'm s-s-sorry, Your Highness," Glump said, falling to his knees. The paw-shaped bruise was visible on his throat by now. "I couldn't stand the thought that that monster got away with it. I-I had to tell someone!"

Irene almost found it hard to believe that there was an animal like Dirtclaw that had wings, while not being a bird, and could speak. But, then again, she lived in a world of goblins, so it couldn't have been much of a stretch. And if Froglip believed Glump, it must have been so.

Froglip was still silent, processing what he had just been told. He was very angry that he had been lied to, and that Glump had let it all happen, but nothing could be done about it now. Now there was a monster on the loose, and who knew when he would strike again.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Glump and the Sun-Princess cried out in surprise, pointing at the window behind him; she dropped the object in her hand, cloth falling to reveal the spearhead. When he turned to look, his eyes widened.

There, through the bars of the window, stood a large black wolf with red eyes and a wide grin.

* The guards in the movie didn't seem very competent; they let the Goblin Pets get right in, even when one of them jumped off of one of the guards' heads. Plus, other than the goblins, there doesn't seem to be a lot of trouble, so they're probably used to having easy guarding jobs, thus being able to catch a few extra Zs.

* The cell that Froglip's in was the one that Curdie was in when he was injured. There weren't any bars in there, just a door, but I decided to take artistic liberties on that front, since dungeons usually have bars (these ones are the criss-crossing kind, rather than the standard vertical ones)

* In the book, it was stated that Irene's ring had a fire opal on it. In the movie, she put it on her left index finger. I figured there was no need to change the placement; plus, Grandmother Irene was probably able to resize it as Irene grew up.