A/N: I just wanted to thank you for all your wonderful comments and critiques. I hope you continue to enjoy reading the story as much as I do writing it.
Title: The Unexpected (Chapter Eleven)
Fandom: Labyrinth
Spoilers: The movie
Rating: Pg-15 (-ish, since Toby has to deal with a bit of violence)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth of anything related to it. I'm not making any money off this story.
Timeline: Takes place approximately twenty-two years from where the movie left off.
Summary: Toby's always lived his life by the natural laws—laws of science and reason. The sudden disappearance of his newborn nephew, however, brings to light a whole new meaning of reality...
"This sucks."
"Shh," Toby hushed, "It'll work."
"Does anyone else remember the dragon or was I hallucinating?"
Smorf smiled in an odd way, pointed little teeth bared sarcastically. "Of course."
"Ha. A troll with a sense of humour."
"Goblin," he corrected.
"Toe-mah-to, toe-may-to—what's the difference?"
"You little—"
Toby stole the rock from Smorf before either of the two could do something they would regret. The goblin huffed angrily behind him but he left Toby to his own devices as the human knelt before the fissure.
It would be a tight fit but he wasn't a claustrophobic.
He was an acrophobic.
Toby squinted at the speck of light at the far end. When they first made it across the chasm he thought the fortress's wall would be flawless—until his party rounded a corner and found the crevice. It was about a foot taller than Toby. The real issue here was the width...and the length. He'd have to wriggle ten feet or so to get to the other side, Smorf in tow and Elliott...
"I can't carry you tucked under my arm. I might drop you," Toby muttered, "Can you roll through?"
"I'm more than likely to get stuck."
"Then I'll have to tie you up."
"...What's the supposed to mean?"
"Smorf, do you have anything I can use?"
The goblin nodded, reaching around his waist to untie a cloth he'd been using as a make-shift belt for the scabbard of his lost spear. It wasn't long but it surrounded most of Elliott as Toby wrapped it once around the stone. Tying the ends together loosely, he slipped his left arm through the loop and pulled the strap of the crude bag up onto his shoulder.
"You need to lose weight, Elliott," he joked.
"I did. It's not my fault you keep every piece you find."
Toby remembered the quarter-sized chip in his pocket and instinctively reached inside to see if it was still there. It was. He'd have to remove it once he changed clothes—the ones that smelt heavily of the ointment the Hunter and his companions had salved over his wounds. The gauze was beginning to loosen anyway and the scent was beginning to give him a headache...
"Ready, team?"
"Aye," Smorf piped.
"Onward!"
Toby turned the right side of his body into the crevice and, looking toward the light at the end, slipped gently inside. The temporary tunnel was tight across his chest at first, letting up a few inches further in when it became a little snug around his hips. A minute later Smorf squeezed in behind him.
"...Tommy, I think I'm going to get stuck."
Elliott bumped against Toby's ribs and laughed, "Sounds like I'm not the only one that needs to lose a little weight."
"You stu—"
"Can we argue on the other side?" Toby pleaded, reaching blindly to his right until he felt Smorf's clawed hand close around his own. "If you get stuck, just tell me and I'll tug you out."
"...Thanks."
"No problem," he replied, squirming through a particularly narrow space. His ribs protested against the blatant abuse and he thought Elliott might've gotten jammed at one point until the rock wriggled in the bag and twisted his way through. Halfway there, they stopped for a short break. There was kink in his neck and a few of his previous cuts were reopening, but he was just so damn close to Jonathan...
He was going to make it. It didn't matter what he had to go through now—it was well worth the time he saved in getting here.
"So...I take it you're not afraid of closed spaces?"
"Nah. I was always kind of partial to hide-and-seek as a child."
Smorf squeaked behind him suddenly and Toby tugged his hand hard—the goblin popped free of his predicament and laughed nervously. "Please, tell me we're almost there."
"Three feet, I promise. Actually...I think..." He stretched his right arm forward, twisting his body in place until his fingers brushed the mouth of the crevice. Taking another awkward step forward, he bent his fingers around the stone and tugged himself a few inches closer to the end, "...give me a second and I'll—"
He gasped as a cold, bony hand shot out into his narrow field of vision and curled around his wrist.
Before he could shout a warning to Smorf, the hand pulled him viciously through the crevice and out into the open. He released the small goblin's hand just in time, saving him the pain of being dragged across the jagged rocks.
Falling to his knees (the injured one throbbing painfully upon impact) he scrambled to his feet and backed up against the wall next to the crevice. Tearsa stood there, as cold and beautiful as marble, though her face was cut up around her left cheek and her clothes were torn. Murderous intent shone in her eyes, right hand reaching into the folds of her gray robes to produce her switch.
"Human blood, as you can imagine, is a rarity in this world."
Toby opened his mouth to protest (or yell, rather) but she flicked the switch forward, lunging like an expect fencer, and its sharpened end pierced the strap of Elliott's make-shift bag, puncturing the muscle above his right breast.
"An infant's is pure enough to be considered a delicacy," she continued, applying pressure. Toby bit back a cry and grabbed the switch with both hands, trying to prevent its cruel advance toward his heart, "but I think yours will do just fine. You're remarkably virtuous for a man your age."
"Witch!" Smorf screamed from where he was wedged in the crevice, "Traitor! His majesty pardoned you from your past indulgences in the human world and permitted you to settle in these lands. He should've tossed you to the wolves! How dare you—"
"Quiet!" the Barghest shrieked, pulling her provisional sword free of Toby's flesh as she fixed her gaze on the darkness of the fissure. "I am the master of my being! Your pretentious barriers mean nothing to me."
"He'll seal you away forever!" Smorf spat heatedly.
"I'll silence you forever," the woman growled, taking a step closer to the fissure and pulling back her arm in preparation of stabbing the trapped goblin. "I'll skewer you like the rat you are—"
"Tom!" Elliott hollered as Toby collapsed against the wall. Tearsa's eyes flashed dangerously, hell-bent on killing the goblin, as Toby kicked out with his uninjured leg. He caught her in the front of her knee, listening to an unexpected 'pop!' as it gave out beneath her.
Not having much time to think, he grabbed the end of her switch and yanked it free of her grip as she struggled back to her feet. They were in an empty alleyway, a tall, crooked, three-storey house obscuring his view of the street. It was eerily quiet, almost as though Tearsa had scared away everyone on the block. Toby doubted anyone would make it to them in time even if he managed to yell loud enough.
Searching frantically for an escape route, he darted toward the mouth of the alleyway.
Tearsa was hot on his heels.
The woman had already changed form, slamming into the back of his legs hard enough to knock Elliott's bag off his shoulder and the switch out of his hand. He hit the ground with a solid thud, having the wind knocked out of him as he struggled to reach for the weapon, and released a strangled cry of pain as her claws dug into his calves.
He stretched his fingers as far as he could manage to make a grab for the switch, brushing against it briefly before Tearsa viciously tugged him back, taunting him.
"Elliott, save him!" Smorf hollered from his current trap.
"Hit her!" Elliott ordered, wriggling in the make-shift bag, "Come on, Tom—throw me!"
"Elli—"
"NOW!"
His fingers caught hold of the bag and he closed his fist around the cloth, twisting awkwardly onto his back as he swung Elliott at Tearsa's face. The beast moved as though to protect herself but Toby had the advantage of close-quarters and Elliott connected solidly with her head. Toby winced at the sickening crack and watched as Elliott tumbled free of the cloth beside him.
Bloodied, Tearsa fixed her cold eyes on the stone as she lashed out with a violent swipe; something Toby had seen her use before on the Hunter. Elliott was sent flying into the crooked house.
And shattered into pieces.
Horrified, Toby's own eyes stayed focused on his demolished companion as Tearsa turned her attention on him. Placing one paw over his sternum, she leaned forward and pressed down. Hard.
Something else hit her in the face.
A flash of light burst in the small space between them and Tearsa jumped back with howl of rage. She battered at the sparks in her face and continued to back away.
It was then that Toby realized pieces of her slick black body were collapsing to the ground, almost as though she was made of sand. Said sand glided across the earth and around Toby.
He turned his head and watched as it collected itself in a small vial, one which had been tipped over only a few feet away. The Hunter stood beside it, still covered entirely save for his eyes, as he watched Tearsa dissolve with a minatory flare.
He looked satisfied when he bent down to cork the vial, putting an end to Tearsa's savage rampage.
"Tommy!"
Toby sat up. Slowly. He stared at Smorf as the goblin darted down the alley toward him, not quite knowing what to say or do about Elliott.
The goblin gave Toby a quick one-over before glancing over at what remained of the talking stone...
"Elliott..." Toby murmured as he struggled to his feet. The Hunter reached out to stop him but he brushed the man's hand away as he rushed to his fallen companion. Kneeling, he picked up an egg-sized chunk of the once-babbling rock. "Say something..."
"...Tommy, are you alright?"
His leg hurt something awful and Tearsa's first stab was beginning to throb; he was bleeding but not enough to cause need for alarm. Anything he had to complain about couldn't even begin to compare with Elliott's unexpected sacrifice...
"He can't be dead...he's a rock."
"He's the first of his kind that I've ever heard talk," the Hunter replied quietly behind him, "Once upon a time, he probably came from a mountain. This is just another transition for him."
"Maybe it's a start-over," Smorf offered hopefully, although he himself didn't sound too convinced, "We'll hold on to him...until he comes to his senses..."
Toby nodded numbly as he helped Smorf collect what he could recognize of Elliot's pieces. The goblin gathered them in his old cloth and tied it up when they were done.
Glancing over his shoulder at the vial in the Hunter's hand, Toby asked. "What did you do to her?"
"I sealed her away," he explained, "by order of the king. In a thousand years or so she'll be released for a trial...No doubt, she'll be sealed up again..."
"Serves her right..." Smorf muttered, "I think you should pitch that bottle into the Bog..."
Smorf said something else but by then Toby had tuned them out. He knew Elliott was a rock and that there was probably a way to communicate with him again...but the fact that he ended his own existence just to help Toby was...
Well, he thought it was something Sarah would do. If she was here, she'd be fighting tooth a nail to get her son back.
"Come," the Hunter ordered loudly behind Toby. The young man pushed himself once more to his feet and paused a moment to regard the strange man.
"Where?"
"Not the castle, if that's what you're thinking," the man glanced down at the vial, "I think you and your friends have done more than enough to deserve a little leniency in your challenge."
"I have to find—"
"—your nephew, I know. But you won't get into the castle looking like that. The guards were given specific instructions to arrest you upon arrival."
Great...he knew it wasn't going to be a picnic trying to get inside the castle but he'd been hoping Elliott would take part in the whole process of brainstorming...
After a moment, Toby nodded and took a step after the Hunter. The man had already pivoted on his heel, marching to the end of the alley with a hint of urgency. Toby's leg was really starting hurt at this point but there was little he could do to remedy the injury until he found somewhere relatively safe to recuperate.
Smorf gave him a look of pity and hobbled alongside him as he limped after the Hunter.
He still had Smorf...but both of his companions had been volunteers in this challenge. Elliott even said so himself; he wasn't afraid of turning into dust. Toby just didn't think he would be the cause of his friend's demise...What about Smorf...É
"...Cheer up, Tommy. He was prepared to do anything to save you and your nephew."
"It wasn't in my intentions to let Tearsa destroy him. I failed him."
"He said he wasn't afraid to go."
"But he didn't want to go."
"Yes he did," Smorf stopped and Toby paused to wait for him, "He wanted to die standing...so to speak. Didn't you ever get the feeling that he thought his existence as a stone was an unfulfilling one? I think if he had a choice, he would've chosen the short and noble path any day over the long and dreary one."
"I..."
"Argue it any way you like. Just, save your nephew. That was Elli's goal."
Toby nodded solemnly.
Elliott wouldn't want his destruction to hinder their journey. He was courageous for a rock...a great deal braver than Toby...
Still, it wasn't going to feel the same crossing the finish line without him...
