Only in Dreams
By Lyris Mendax
Rating PG
Part 9 What comes off
A soft yawn tried to pull it's way from sleepy lips as I worked in partial darkness. I had done it again working till I was ready to drop, getting lost in my stories. New ideas twisting their way across the page as my fingers tried to dance across the keyboard with a light tapping of sound. I had been working upon three new stories now, odd that suddenly everything would try to come together for me.
It was like a bug had bitten me and the itch called writing would take a long time to go away. That pleasant feeling one might get from a light scratching was one of the best I could feel, but then we all know how it is. You hit it once, then you hit it again until nothing but the need to keep at it takes over and your obsessed with your need for relief that you give up many simple and needed things just so you might be able to get in another scratch. Oh how sweet it felt to do so.
A light touch of the keys and a rich rare smile, 'yes that was perfect!' I had to giggle at what was taking place. Suddenly I was hit by another sharp yawn. A shake of my head and I looked for what would help ease me, and possibly make it so that I might be able to work a little longer. "Mmm coffee!" I reached for the cup I had sitting or at least it should have been sitting upon that small desk. I had balanced it upon a few disks that I never really used and a stack of papers that I always seemed to need. My hand moves and I felt nothing. A blink of my sleepy eyes and I move to look for that cup. No it was not in it's normal place. Then I saw it, hovering in the air, moved by unseen hands.
A clumsy move and I am out of my chair, really I was ready to drop. The cup moved teasingly out of reach, dangling just at the tips of my fingers. A grab and it moved, I tried once more and found that I was almost upon the bed. A sudden push and I was out.
I 'the poor sleepy bard' tumbled into my own bed and found the softness of it's pillows, that sweet warmth, of it's blankets hard to resist. A grumble was the last of my protests against the needed rest as two young boys got me covered up and a young girl used her magic to put the cup stilled filled with warm coffee into a waiting sink. Another moment of fighting it and the battle was lost; sleep had finely and completely taken hold.
"See I told you she needed us." Sarah said small hands resting upon her small hips, a stubborn shift of her chin as if using it to prove her point. Her storm like eyes shining with a little because of the use of magic.
"Ok ..Ok you where right." Rionu answered her as Jareth moved to pull the covers a bit closer to the womans body. "Now can we get out of here?"
It was then that a sound from the computer got the three children's attention. "I want to try it." Jareth said suddenly, moving to sit before the odd box. "It doesn't look that hard." He took a look at the keys then got a very puzzled look. All the letters seemed wrong, but that was only because he was use to what was used in the lands, and not in the mortal world.
Rionu saw his puzzled look and started to laugh. Sarah crept a little closer and peeked upon the keys. "Wow .. she makes it look so easy." A small hand was moved and she pressed upon one key, suddenly a letter or rather a whole string of them made their way across the page. The girl giggled and pointed to the screen. "Look what I did!"
The others soon joined in the game, and the screen was filled with many lines of many letters. They got bored with the game after a time and left for home. Much later I after my much needed rest found that I had quite a mess to clean up. Part of me was still puzzled over how I might have typed upon so many keys in my sleep and still ended up in my bed after doing so. Oh well, it was another mystery to solve at another time.
"Out you go!" said the wicked Queen to the boys. "Fend for yourselves as you may. Fly off as voiceless birds!"
(The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen)
The sounds that where coming from that single, angered faerie was much more than what many had expected to hear at such an early hour in the morning. She had made a mess of the room that she was in and was proving to everyone that she knew many languages, mostly because they were being used in the most vaguer and colorful of ways.
Tibi was the first to make it into the room and he had a hard time getting hold of the angered faerie. Even after he had gotten his hands upon her she fought like the devil was after her, and that his very touch was something that might destroy her. "Anise what might be wrong." Why was she doing this is Sarah's room of all places speaking of which, why hadn't the little princess made a sound yet why was she not awake yet. He already knew that she was not that heavy of a sleeper.
With a mighty twist of her small body the faerie moved from his hold and spat out another running of curses. "Mé amárach maraigh siadsan." Was the last that she managed to spit out before she was sized again, and held tightly, even if Tibi was doing his best not too cause her any true harm.
She had to take one look at his face to know what he was thinking, a quiet growl and she could see the glow in his eyes. "I'll help you kill them myself, if she has come to any harm, Anise." He takes a long look around the room, part of him marveled at the damage that this small being was able to do in such a short time. "We should tell the queen what has happened. I already know that we will have to look for her, but maybe they," he was thinking of the royals in the castle. "Will have a way of helping us."
Meanwhile in an almost forgotten part of the labyrinth, Sarah was doing her best to keep warm and get a little more sleep. She heard a soft tapping noise, then a sound of a sharp laugh. Suddenly it got much warmer for the little girl her soft blanket suddenly felt very heavy. The little girl peeked out and found herself looking into a pair of large glowing eyes, that sat in a face of a wild critter, with bright red and yellow fur, long body. It had a very wild and unkempt look about it. It gave a lazy smile to the little girl, it large ears seemed to move as it lifted it's head and got a better look at what it had found.
It gave a lazy smile and lazy almost cat like purr. It seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction from the child. Soon it got one and it was not what it had expected. Suddenly both hands move to cover large ears as Sarah gave a startled and very pricing scream. With a frown the it pulled upon it's ears making them pop off, it hoped that, his doing that would help to stop him from hearing that high pitched yell. Sadly that did not work. So he put his ears back on, got off the blanket and the girl that was covered by it. A quick move of his hand and he reached into her small mouth. Two long fingers took hold of the child's tongue and pulled, trying to stop that sound.
It worked but not in the way that he had planned upon. Suddenly a sharp pain filled him, as Sarah moved to save her tongue, by biting upon his intruding fingers. With a sudden yelp he hopped back and shook his hand trying to push away the sudden bit of pain. A stunned look as something occurred to him. A look at his wet fingers and what was no longer being held by them. "Hey!" He said at last. "Why didn't your tongue come off?"
That made the little girl blink and shift a little in her makeshift bed then she moved to get a better look at the creature. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. "Of course it doesn't." her young voice still sounding a little shrill , as it hit upon the higher tones. She pulled the blankets a little closer and tighter about herself.
The goblin blinked his large eyes then smiled as he tilted his head to the side. "So why are you here?" Slowly he was sooting closer to the child, he was a little cold after all and it had felt so warm sitting upon the child and what was covering her. He was not in the mood to make a fire just yet. That might call to the others and he was not sure if he wanted to start playing the game again.
"What are you?" The goblin asked as he tilted his head a little to one side, a step closer and it looked like he was going to take another jump. Before she could answer he did and landed upon the blanket once more. He gave a blink and took hold of the edge of the blanket and pulled upon it, working it so that he might be able to peek over the edge of it.
"I'm Sarah!" The edge of the blanket was lifted and she felt the chill of the cold air again. The child shivered and tried to cover herself a little better once more. "What are you?"
"A Sarah? I've never seen a Sarah before." A shake of his head, he let go of the blanket for now, at least he felt warmer just by being on top of it. "I am a Firey." He started to purr like a cat again and offered a smile to the 'Sarah' he had found. The others would have a hard time, understanding what a 'Sarah' is. The goblin thought to himself. "So Sarah's can't take things off?" Head tilts as he asks.
A quick shake of her head and the girl almost giggled. This thing was so silly looking once you get past the fact he could pull off his ears. "I can take some stuff off." She held up her hand and then moved a single finger to her mouth. She bit down upon the nail and pulled a part of it off. Still keeping the tip of her nail in her mouth she then moved so that she could put the piece of it in her palm. She lifted her small hand and showed it to the goblin with a smile.
He got a look of delight and plucked up that nail holding it lightly in his hands then made a quick grab, taking hold of the hand it had come off of. He looked at her small fingers and found the one with the missing bit of nail. A smile as he touched the finger to the fingernail. He blinked then tried again. A sudden look of disappointment, his ears drooped a hint of a frown that soft purr of his stopping. "It will not go back on." He looked at 'the Sarah' again, feeling very sorry for her. She would never know the fun of the game then. But then he could be wrong, maybe he was not doing it the right way.
Sarah nodded softly, "You're right it will not go back on. Only clothing can come off and on. Not nails, skin, or hair." She had learned about her hair the hard way, she had cut a bit of it off then tried and tried to get it back on. It took her a few hours of scolding and then her mommy and daddy telling her why, before she fully started to understand.
"Hmm it's not like that for Firey's we can take off anything we want and then put it back on. It's part of a game we play and very fun." The goblin gave a happy smile and shifted a little upon the top of the blanket. "So why are you here?"
The child blinked then sat up, she took a little time to think upon this question. Why was she here? Well Tibi, said they had come to see Jareth the goblin king, Cwen had brought them to meet all the people in the castle. She frowned a little something did not feel right. The child bit a little upon her lower lip then she recalled a little of her strange dream. That voice telling her that this was not right that she was not safe. 'What could it mean?' She gave a heavy sigh, and tried to recall all of it, only to get a light tap upon the tip of her small nose.
"Well?" The Firey asked with a tilting of his head. He even pulled off one of his ears and moved it a little closer to the child so that he might catch all of her words in it. "Tell me, tell me!" He seemed wanting to learn as much as he could about what a 'Sarah' really was.
"Tibi said we are here to see Jareth." She said at last, backing a little from that ear, her eyes fixed upon it as it was held just before her lips. "I like Jareth he's my friend." She was telling the truth she liked him even if he did seem like a bad boy at times. She then recalled what he had given to her and looked about quickly, did she still have it or was that gone to? Their was a tinkle of sound, and she watched as the ring dropped out of the blankets, and onto the cold ground. She moved quickly after her ring, tossing her blanket to the side, covering the Firey, with it making him become lost in the sudden bit of darkness.
It may have been dark but it was nice and warm, the Firey, gave a happy purr 'the Sarah' he had found forgotten for the moment as he gave into the bit of warmth.
Sarah picked up her ring and looked to the place she should have seen her new friend, only to find that she was looking at a wall that seemed to come from nowhere. "Hello" she yelled only to have her voice tossed back at her, and twisted in a few ways. She gave a whimper of fear then and sat upon the cold ground that ring of hers held tightly in her small hand. For the first time since finding herself in this strange place, Sarah felt alone and very afraid.
Back at the castle a mad hunt was taking place. Tibi after putting together why Anise had been upset was quick to wake most of the castle with a few shouts and curses of his own. He then started moving from room to room, taking time to tare each of them apart. Jareths room had been the second one that he had stumbled into, after he had taken time to pull apart his own.
Tibi advanced upon the sleeping prince and ripped away his covers, almost hoping that he would find Sarah snuggled in the blankets with him. Part of him was slightly relived when he had not. The sudden feel of cold made the prince shiver and move to cover himself once more. When he could not find the covers he sat up and looked about the room. Bits of his dreams could be glimpsed in his mismatched eyes before he gave a quick blink and found himself looking upon the angered face of Tibi.
"Where is she?" was his snarled demand then Jareth found himself moving quickly from the bed as a grab was made for the front of his night shirt. A ripping of cloth and Jareth fell back, landing upon the cold floor.
A bit of a smirk graced his lips at that stunned look upon Tibi's face then he moved to get dressed. "You know, most people would think that your some kind of pervert." That got a sound of outrage and it was not from the large man, but rather the small faerie that had been in his room as well. "Why don't you get the others up again little bug, and I'll get dressed." The peach-blossom faerie gave another sound of outrage, just before she flew out of the room, making the young prince laugh as he started to pull on his clothing.
His laugher stopped and quickly when he caught the look upon Tibi's face. "Sarah is missing." The man said with a frown and dark look, his cat like ears moving to press back upon his head slightly. "I had hoped that she might have gone to you last night, because of how close the two of you seemed to be getting." He looked around the room and then started to pace about. "I can smell traces of her here but they seem." A slight shrug of his shoulders, as he stopped for a moment, and fixed the young prince with a fresh glare. "A little off."
Jareth moved to his closet and slipped inside, most of what would need would be in easy reach from in their. He pushed away his sudden feeling of alarm. She is alright he thought to himself. Just lost for now, and in this castle that is very understandable. Like the labyrinth the castle was a living thing and would shift and move from time to time. Only a few things would stay in place at all times.
Tibi was looking under the princes bed when, a startled sound came from the door way. He looked over the edge of the bed and saw, Cwen, Chaointe, and Curran, all standing in it, all looking upon the mess that had been made of the room. Jareth was just stepping out of the closet a sad look upon his face, his clothing changed for the day. He looked upon the three as they all seemed to try and walk into his room at the same time. A quick shake of his head and he moved to Tibi's side.
"She's not in here Tibi."
The only other person that had not been in the castle, when they had found out that Sarah was missing was the one who knew why, now he would look like the big hero and not his stupid brother. She should still be asleep, so she would be easy to find. As soon as everyone started to hunt the castle for her he was making his way back into the Labyrinth, using the spell he had made to take him back to her. Ah their she was still covered by that warm blanket. The one he had tied his spell to, Rathlin, moved to pick her up again and stumbled a little, because of how heavy she felt. 'Was she this heavy before?' he asked himself then shook it off, he would not worry about that. All he would have to do is get her back into the castle and to the table fore breakfast. With all the panic that was going on it would be so easy.
The prince had to tilt his head a little at the odd sound coming from the blankets, was she purring? No she shook away that idea must be his imagination again. It took him a little longer than before to find his way out of the Labyrinth this time maybe it was because she was so heavy, or was it because the living maze wanted to keep them both trapped here? The prince pushed away that idea, He would not think upon it.
By the time he had made it too the doors of the castle, almost all the adults were standing their, watching him as he moved, that made him change his steps, so that he stood taller and showed a bit more of his pride. A hint of a sneer upon his handsome face. "Look at what I found in the Labyrinth." he started to say as slowly he moved to open the blanket, only to be greeted by a wild mass of orange and red fur, that was purring as it slept.
At the sudden feel of cold, the fiery awoke and gave a startled cry, large hands moving in shock, a few bits of it's body falling off. It tried to run a few steps to get away and back to the others in the living maze, only to find that most of the royals had stepped into it's path, and what was worse, the queen was glaring right at him only it was not right him she was looking behind him at well of all things the one that had carried him out of the maze, another royal, only this one it did not like at all. A quick blink of large eyes a pointing of his shaky finger. "HE DID IT!!" Was shouted out by the fiery as it moved to duck behind him, thinking at least it could get out of some of this trouble right? Well maybe. At least the hated prince would get in trouble too.
"I know you all want to kill me now right? At least I have a fix to my not being able to get on the net, and got my A-drive fixed. That's good right? I had to cut it here or you would have never gotten the chapter. I would have kept going with it."
Thanks for reading everyone!
Lyris
C&C is welcomed and I will always try to listen, even if I don't always understand. LFGv2.0 a! gf ml fl loc-Co LFW
Disclaimer: I don't own Jareth or Sarah, or the Labyrinth, I just like to write about them. I do know that they belong to Labyrinth Enterprises, Henson Associates inc., LucasFilm ltd. & maybe a few other companies I don't know about. All poems / songs used in this story do belong to me, if you would like to use any of them please ask first.
