A/N: I need you guys' opinion. Should I bring Henry in or not? Tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: I tells you that I don't owns da Labyrinth! I tells you!
April explored the bog for a while until she came across a reeking stream. The bridge was guarded by a fox that was riding a dog.
"Hi there." April cooed, petting the fox's head. "Aren't you a cute little feller?"
"Why thank you ma'am!" The fox beamed.
April jumped back and rolled her eyes. "Of course you can talk. I'm April, and I was wondering if I could cross your bridge?"
"You can't fool me Sarah! I know you when I see you." The fox laughed jollily.
"You must have me confused with my mother." April corrected him.
"Oh! Are you play-acting or whatnot? What are you pretending to be? Whatever it is it sure is ugly!" The fox squinted at April and she realized his vision wasn't very good.
"Hey! I'm not ugly – never mind. Can I cross your bridge with my friend Daphne?" April asked, rubbing her forehead wearily.
"But of course Sarah! Where is your friend?" The fox asked as Daphne strolled up. "Ludo! Good to see you again noble beast!"
"Can we cross now?" April sighed.
"Go ahead." The fox moved his dog and April and Daphne crossed. When they were on the other side of the stream they waved to the little dignified fox.
"I bet Mom knew him." April groaned, "She must have befriended the whole labyrinth."
"Ride?" Daphne asked.
"That'd be great." April hopped onto her friend's back and urged the troll forwards.
In the castle:
Jareth was watching April and her troll friend as they escaped the Bog of Eternal Stench and went on through the labyrinth. He grimaced.
It must be a tradition in their family to beat the labyrinth, that or I'm slipping. The Goblin King thought miserably.
Sasha was trying to teach the goblins in the throne room how to play Duck-Duck-Goose. None of the goblins could grasp the concept.
"Why am I calling everyone ducks?" One goblin asked when he was It.
"I don't know," Sasha admitted, "You can call them whatever you like as long as you call one person 'goose'."
The goblin walked around the circle merrily and patted each of the other goblins on the head. "Smelly, smelly, really smelly, GOOSE!"
The goblin that was chosen got up and bashed the other one on the head. "I win!"
Sasha sighed; it was the third time this had happened. "No! You don't hit him! You tag him!"
"But this is funner!" The goblin whined.
"The correct term is 'more fun'." Sasha reminded him, "Goblins obviously aren't good at grammar or Duck-Duck-Goose so let's play tea party."
The goblins perked up. "Party?"
"Excuse me Mr. Goblin King? Where could I find a tea set here?" Sasha asked a moody Jareth.
"Hmm? Tea set? I don't believe we have one." Jareth said, stretching in a manner that reminded Sasha of a cat.
"Oh," The little girl frowned, "When is April going to get here? She can make anything into a tea set!"
"I don't know when she'll get here. Hopefully never." Jareth hissed.
Sasha crossed her chubby arms and glared at him. "That's no way to talk about a lady. Henry would beat you up if he were here."
Jareth rolled his eyes. "Why do you keep talking about that Henry?"
"He's much nicer than you." Sasha replied as sassily as an eight year old girl can. She stomped her foot and turned back to the goblins. "Let's have a ball, and no one is allowed to invite the Goblin King."
Jareth blinked. Ball? That's right. Why hasn't Hedge given April the peach yet? He may need a trip to the bog. Then Jareth made a mental note, I really need to replace the fox that guards the bog; he keeps letting people out.
In the labyrinth:
As April rode Daphne toward the castle she couldn't help but wonder about Hoggle.
I wonder where he went. I hope nothing bad happened to him. April pondered.
"Hog." Daphne grunted.
"Hoggle? Where?" April asked leaping from the troll's back.
"There." Daphne extended a furry finger and April looked to where she was pointing. Sure enough, Hoggle sat on a stump not far ahead of them, sulking.
"Hoggle!" April called.
The little man looked up from his sulking and smiled briefly at April. He beckoned her over and she obliged.
"Where were you?! I was so worried!" April exclaimed looking over her friend.
"You were worried?" Hoggle inquired skeptically.
"Well," April became stoic again, "Not really. I didn't want any innocent creatures getting hurt."
Hoggle snickered and then scowled at thought of what he was about to do. If he didn't though, the king would find something horrible to serve as punishment. Hoggle was basically immune to the bog by now but there were other punishments that could be much worse.
"Hey, are you hungry?" Hoggle asked nervously.
"Um, not really. The bog smell is still kind of hanging to Daphne and it's making me sick." April laughed.
"Maybe later?" The little man queried.
"If I'm not already in the castle I'll take whatever you've got." She thought about what she had said, "Unless it's totally disgusting."
After a while the wind carried the remnants of the bog smell away from the little group. Hoggle turned to April. She chuckled good naturedly as her stomach growled.
"Is the offer of food still on the table?" The girl smiled, keeping all thoughts of Jareth buried under thoughts of a home cooked meal.
"I've got some fruit if you want it." Hoggle held the peach up to April.
She grabbed it and was about to take a huge bite when she noticed something. "I can't eat this."
Hoggle's palms grew sweaty. "W-why not?"
"I'm allergic to peaches." April shrugged, "You got anything else?"
Hoggle's eyes bulged. "Allergic?"
"Yeah, whenever I eat one I swell up like a birthday balloon and I can't move. I'm immobilized." April explained to the panicking Hoggle.
"And you know this from experience?"
"No. My mom told me that when I was two she gave me some peaches and it didn't end well. I think it's a genetic thing because my mom never touches anything peach. No peach shampoo, cake, candy, gum, soap, anything. She won't even touch tropical flavored stuff."
"What if she was lying? I remember her eating peaches in the labyrinth when I offered her some." Hoggle questioned.
"Why would my mother lie to me? And why is this such a big deal? You said you had fruit, have you got anything different?" April growled.
"Um…" Hoggle took the peach back and smiled when it changed into a plum. "I have this."
April smiled. "That's better; I love plums." She opened her mouth to take a big bite and Hoggle cringed. The juice smeared on April's face when she ate the plum. Purple juice was everywhere. "This one is really juicy, huh?"
Hoggle nodded, feeling sick. April wiped the juice off of her mouth and her legs buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground, unable to move.
"Hoggle, what did you do?" April quavered from the ground.
"I'm sorry! He was going to hurt me!" Hoggle blubbered.
"I hate that Goblin King." April seethed before going unconscious.
A/N: I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I don't really like Sir Didymus so he probably won't be in the story much more. Sorry.
