The Hunt
The Labyrinth was eerily quiet that morning. No, Sarah thought, revising the statement. It was not that it was quiet; there was an absence of sound. All the usual noise, the hustle and bustle of the city, seemed to have disappeared. She looked out the window overlooking the city and noticed that there seemed to be a distinct lack of goblins. Which begged the question; where was everyone?
Jareth had disappeared while she had been getting dressed, so patting Max's head on her way past and telling him to stay (not that he understood the command yet), she made her way to the throne room.
As she approached the room, she could hear voices. Many, many voices. She mused that this would usually be the point where someone told her she was insane, but thankfully when she rounded the corner she saw that the voices belonged to people. Well, people in a loose sense of the word… It seemed that there was quite possibly the entire population of the Labyrinth compressed into the room. She blinked at them before edging towards the throne where her husband sat.
"Um, Jareth?" He looked up at her and broke into a grin.
"Ah, there you are. Good, we are all here then. We can start."
"Start what?" She asked, gazing out at all the people – no, creatures squashed into the room. She waved over at Ludo, easily spotted due to his size, and Sir Didymus sat upon his shoulder. She imagined Hoggle was somewhere at Ludo's feet.
Jareth stood and clapped his hands together, gaining the attention of the room. "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to the thirty-eighth annual hunt." He paused, ginning as a cheer came from the crowd. "I hope you are all prepared…" there were jeers, and several goblins and various other beings lifted baskets and nets. "Good," Jareth said, looking satisfied. "In that case, I will keep you no further. I will remind you; be vigilant. We cannot afford to have one escape, or need I remind you of the last time that happened?" Clearly he did not, as there were shudders from the crowd and nods of determination. "Very well. I declare the hunt…" he paused, this time for dramatic effect, "begun!"
There was another cheer and the occupants started to funnel out of all exits. Slowly, they left until there were only a few stragglers, Jareth and Sarah.
"Jareth?" Sarah said, now feeling very confused.
"Yes, dearest?" He sat back down in his throne, one foot up and resting his head on his hand and his elbow on his knee.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, did I not tell you?" He looked vaguely surprised and motioned her closer. She sat in the space and leaned against his leg, watching him and waiting for him to continue. "Every year we have a hunt during which all the citizens of the Labyrinth scour it to search for the infestation," he explained.
"Infestation?" She repeated in confusion. "Of what? What are you hunting?"
"Eggs," he said grimly.
"Eggs," she said, raising a brow.
"Indeed."
When he did not continue, she said, "Why are you hunting eggs?"
"Because if we do not find them all before the end of today tomorrow they will start hatching. And once they start hatching there will be no end to our problems…" He said darkly.
"Okay," Sarah said slowly. "What are they?"
"Terrors," he muttered, glaring across the room. "Evil little things that breed uncontrollably and destroy everything, eating everything, digging everywhere…!"
"So I take it they're bad," Sarah said, starting to feel worried. "How exactly did they get here then?"
Jareth sighed. "It always happens, every year. No matter how many defences I put up, it always manages to get in. It lays its eggs all over the place and we have to search for the things, making sure we do not miss even one; the effects can be disastrous."
"Jareth," Sarah said in an exasperated tone, "what are they?"
He blinked and looked at her, before saying disgustedly, "Rabbits."
Sarah couldn't help but laugh as she said, "Oh come on. Rabbits? Rabbits don't even hatch from eggs!"
He frowned and said, "Maybe not in your world, but here they most certainly do."
Sarah shook her head. Who had ever heard of a rabbit that laid eggs? Sure, Spring was a time for all the baby animals to come out, but rabbits with eggs… She paused, and the dots started to join in her head. "Wait," she said slowly in a suspicious tone, "do you mean the Easter Bunny?"
"I have heard it called that, yes," Jareth said, conceding the point.
"You're literally hunting the Easter Bunny's eggs, then?" Sarah said, trying to wrap her head around the concept.
"I cannot just let them breed here," he said, clenching a hand. "For years it came to the Labyrinth, leaving its offspring only for them to eat everything and leave only when there was nothing left… So, nearly forty years ago I decided enough was enough, and we started to hunt them."
"I see… And what happens to them after you've hunted them all out?" She asked.
Jareth shrugged and said, "We toss them out of the Labyrinth. Outside our walls the fabric of reality is flimsy at best. I presume they fall into another reality, after their mother."
He motioned for her to stand and got up himself, his clothes changing somewhere between sitting and standing. Now he was dressed in sturdy clothes, though still of the tight, revealing variety. He held out a hand to her, a smirk in his eyes and said, "Now then, my dear Queen. How do you feel about going for your very first hunt?"
She laughed and smiled, taking his hand and noticing her own clothes changing (thankfully not as revealing as her husband's) and said, "I think I'd like that."
AA
So far as Sarah could tell, it was chaos. There was a mad run around as no house was left un-searched, no chicken left alone (though Sarah had a suspicion the goblins just had a weird fixation with bothering chickens) and no stone left unturned. It seemed that most of the residents of the Labyrinth started within the city and moved out into the Labyrinth after.
Chaos it may be, but it was incredibly fun chaos.
Jareth was not participating. Rather, he watched and if he spotted one of the eggs, he pointed them out to whoever was closest. When Sarah asked him why he was not gathering eggs too, he had said it would not be fair, due to the competition.
"There's a competition?" Sarah had asked.
"But of course," Jareth had replied. "Why do you think they are so enthusiastic?"
She had tried to find out what the prize was, but he had just smirked and told her that she would find out in due time. He had also pointed out that as Queen she could not win the prize, though she was welcome to carry on hunting. He then smirked at her basket and told her that there was not much chance of her winning anyway, if that was all she had to show for her efforts so far.
Sarah had bristled at that; she had three eggs at that point which she had thought reasonable, considering her competitors had much more experience than she. Jareth had just laughed and gone back to strolling through the streets.
She still only had five eggs. She looked into the basket Jareth had given her and sighed. Perhaps she would just be better observing like Jareth was.
It was not as though the eggs were difficult to spot either, she though to herself ruefully. True to form, the Easter Bunny's eggs were brightly coloured, garish and sometimes patterned, standing out against the palette of browns and greens that made up the city. It would probably be harder to spot them outside the city, but for now they were incredibly misplaced. The only reason she could come up with to her lack of success was that everyone else was much more practised.
"Sarah!" She turned and saw Hoggle heading towards her.
"Hoggle," she said with a smile.
"How are you finding the hunting?" Hoggle asked, his own basket in front of him.
"Okay, but I'm not having much luck," she said with a sigh. "I've only got five eggs." She peered into his basket and asked, "How many do you have?"
"Only eighteen at the moment, but there's a goblin over there with twelve at least and he hasn't been paying attention to his basket for a while…" Hoggle eyed up the goblin who was attempting to reach into the guttering on a house while his basket stayed at his feet.
"Hoggle," Sarah said in an admonishing tone. "That's cheating."
Hoggle chuckled and said, "No wonder you only have five."
Before Sarah could question him, Hoggle let out a groan and shouted, "Them's mine! I had my eye on them first!" Sarah turned and saw a firey making off with the goblin's basket, having kicked the box out from under its feet and leaving it hanging there on the guttering.
"Great, now I'm going to have to find someone else to pinch 'em off," Hoggle muttered.
"Am I missing something?" Sarah said, but Hoggle was already wandering off, eyeing up the other creatures surrounding him.
"My lady!" She turned and saw Sir Didymus on Ambrosias with Ludo following behind.
"Sarah!" Ludo said happily, stooping down and swallowing her in a hug when he was close enough.
"Hi Ludo," she said, hugging him back. "How are you?"
"Good," Ludo said with a dopey smile. "I gots nine eggs!"
Mentally Sarah berated herself. Even Ludo was better than her at this. "Well done Ludo," She said. "How about you, Sir Didymus?"
"I hast twenty-three," Sir Didymus said proudly, pointing his nose in the air with a smug smile. "And I have not resorted to the under-hand tricks of my fellows!"
"I've only got five," Sarah said mournfully.
"Persevere, my lady," Sir Didymus said encouragingly.
"I think I'm missing something about this game," Sarah said, looking about. Many of the other creatures had baskets full of eggs, and she said, "Everyone else seems to be doing so much better…"
"They rely on trickery to win this game," Sir Didymus said.
"What sort of trickery?"
"They steal from one another whilst their backs are turned, they hide eggs away in secret places to reclaim later, which is a rather foolish tactic as they are followed and have the eggs stolen from them anyway," Sir Didymus explained with a sigh. "I do not believe this game has been played fairly once since its creation."
"Oh," Sarah said with dawning understanding. "That's what he meant… Everybody cheats in this game, so playing fairly doesn't get you very far."
"But one does keep one's integrity," Sir Didymus pointed out. "I believe that is far more important."
Sarah smiled at him. "You may be right. Has anyone tried to steal eggs from you yet?"
"Twice, and from Sir Ludo, once," he said. "Sir Ludo fell on his opponent however, forcing the cad to give up his prize. I myself battled the two who dared to steal from myself, and overcame both adversaries easily."
"No one's tried to steal from me yet," Sarah said, privately thinking they must believe it was not worth it.
"No one would dare steal from the Goblin Queen, my lady!" Sir Didymus said with a smile. "They know better."
She laughed and said, "Ah well. There's not much point to my hunting anyway. Do you two want help?"
"We were trying to decide where to search next," Sir Didymus said. "I wish to search around the Bog, but my brother complains of a mysterious odour there which I have yet to smell."
"Smell bad," Ludo interjected, looking miserable at the suggestion.
"How about you go over to the Bog and me and Ludo will meet you in the forest?" Sarah suggested.
"A wonderful suggestion, my lady. I do not expect to find many eggs there; There are never usually that many around the Bog," Sir Didymus said. "Come, Ambrosias, to the Bog!" Sarah could have sworn she saw the dog sighing in resignation before turning and heading out of the city, but that would be silly… right? She shook her head.
"Come on Ludo," Sarah said with a smile, taking the great beast's hand. "Let's go hunting."
AA
Sarah and Ludo explored the forest, Ludo getting eggs from high in the trees and Sarah stooping down into holes and finding some there. Sir Didymus joined them about midday, and they moved through the Labyrinth in their search.
They met Hoggle in the hedge section, and he deigned to join them. It felt a bit like old times, she thought to herself. Before she was married, back when she had been trying to get the castle at the centre of the Labyrinth. She couldn't stop the soft smiles on her face and she would not have wanted to.
Jareth met them once briefly, stealing a kiss from Sarah before grinning and vanishing off somewhere, no doubt to torture some poor soul. Sarah had sighed happily, causing Hoggle to roll his eyes and stomp off. She caught up with him and took his hand, squeezing it and walking with him. He cheered up after a while, especially when Sarah told him that he, Sir Didymus and Ludo might as well have her eggs (fifteen now) since it wasn't like she could win anyway.
They were in the stone section when a spindly bird-like creature tried to steal an egg from Hoggle. It would have managed it too, if not for the fact that Sarah had been standing right behind it when it dipped its long beak over Hoggle's shoulder into the basket. Sarah had surprised it, causing the egg to pop out, like a piece of chicken from chopsticks, and fly through the air. Both Hoggle and the bird leapt up, pushing each other out of the way to try and catch the airborne egg. It was all rather comical to watch, Sarah thought, especially when Ludo ended up catching it in his basket. The bird had eyed Ludo warily before evidently deciding it was not worth it and scuttling away.
"Thanks," Hoggle said to Ludo, holding out a hand to reclaim his egg.
"Nuh uh," Ludo said, shaking his head. "I caught it, mine."
"What?" Hoggle said, stamping his foot. "It's mine, give it back!"
Ludo grinned and shook his head again. Sarah could tell he was only teasing Hoggle, but the dwarf seemed to be getting quite irate.
"You can't just take it 'cause of dumb luck!" Hoggle argued. "I found that on my own, fair and square, now give it back!"
Ludo appeared to consider it before eventually handing the egg back. Hoggle quickly took it back, holding it close and grumbling. Ludo's laughter rumbled off the stone walls, joined by Sir Didymus' and Sarah's, and Hoggle realised they were joking with him. He grumbled some more, but there was less vehemence in it now, and soon they were back to laughing and joking.
The rest of the day was spent happily enough, only having to defend their eggs from others three times. Eventually, the light started to fade and a horn sounded from the direction of the castle.
"Better be getting back, then," Hoggle said.
Sarah sighed. They had made it all the way to the outer gates of the Labyrinth and she was not relishing the idea of having to traipse all the way back through again. "Isn't there a short cut?" She asked, looking at them imploringly.
"Of course," Hoggle replied, giving her a look. "You just need to know where."
Sarah remembered a boy a while back who had found a short cut and sighed to herself. Perhaps it had been a matter of her not asking the right questions again that she had never found any.
Hoggle led the way through a wall and she soon found they were on a pretty much direct root to the castle. This would have made things so much easier, she mused to herself. She watched as Sir Didymus, riding his 'noble steed,' spoke animatedly to Hoggle about jousting, a pastime he did not often get to indulge in, while Hoggle nodded absently. Sarah nearly tripped over, but Ludo caught her and righted her with a smile. She grinned back. No, she thought; if I had not taken the route I did I would not have the friends I have today. I would not be where I am today. She smiled, knowing she would not trade them for the world.
Once they were back in the castle they made their way up to the throne room along with all the other residents of the Labyrinth. Sarah smiled at her friends as they packed themselves into the room.
"Good luck!" She said with a grin, as they moved over to a booth to deposit their eggs.
She made her way up to the throne where her husband sat. He grinned at her and made space for her to sit with him.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asked, pulling her close.
"Yes," she said, smiling warmly. "It was really nice to just be with my friends."
"I'm glad," he told her. "Although I am rather jealous."
One side of her mouth quirked into a smile and she said, "Oh?"
"You spent the entire day with them and not me," he said, raising his brows.
She laughed and said, "Considering I usually spend all my time with you, one day is not a lot. Plus I'll make it up to you later…"
He smirked and said, "I will hold you to that, my dear."
She laughed lightly and then gestured to the inhabitants of the Labyrinth that were gathering and said, "So, what happens now?"
He glanced over them and said, "The eggs are collected and counted for each person, whereupon we have the post-hunt celebrations and I announce this year's winner."
"Post-hunt celebrations sound fun," Sarah said with a smile.
"Indeed. Though some of the dancing leaves a lot to be desired."
AA
Sarah found that the eggs were counted by using a series of complicated weights and pulleys bought together in a mechanism she did not quite understand. There seemed to be little point to it all, bar the very end, where as each egg dropped softly down it nudged a marker, counting off the eggs. It did this in a tally system, and each competitor's name was written at the start of the parchment and the results could then be taken away. It took a while to process, but Sarah could guess why it was used. The goblins were not exactly reliable in their counting.
Once the results were taken, Jareth himself would conclude the winner. He told Sarah it was only fair, since he was the only one not taking part. "Unless, of course, you want to help me?" He had added.
"Tempting, but no," Sarah had told him sweetly. "Have fun, though."
Jareth had frowned, but did not bother to argue. Sarah left him to it and found her friends once more, enjoying the variety of foods set out for their guests to enjoy.
The goblin band was… interesting, to say the least. The first time she had heard them, Sarah had been surprised to find that interesting was not necessarily bad. Their instruments were unconventional, but it appeared the goblins had music in their hearts and that managed to win out over the fact they were playing instruments made from things like a bit of drainpipe or dustbin lids with elastic stretched over. It would have been exceptional were it not for the fact that the goblins insisted on singing, too. The voices she could put up with, just, but the words… Apparently, 'I Caught the Chicken as A Present for You, But You Didn't like It So I Gave It to Her Instead (So Why Are You Mad At Me If You Didn't Want It?)' was one of the most popular songs in their repertoire. It also had one of the shortest titles, making Sarah wonder if that was a directly correlative thing. Despite the lyrics, she was having fun dancing with her friends. Jareth had been right; the dancing of some was cringe-worthy, reminding her of an uncle who had danced at the reception of her wedding. Perhaps that was where they had learned it, she mused.
It was during the fifth chorus of 'A Good Goblin Nose Knows to Steer Clear Of the Bog in Warm Weather Whatever Whether It Makes Your Journey Longer or Not It's Not Worth the Snot That You Got That Now Tastes Of Bog Smell' that Jareth appeared, causing a hush to come over the crowd and the band to quickly silence. He grinned out over them, holding in his hand an envelope.
"I have here the results from the hunt," Jareth said, smirking at them all fidgeting in anticipation. "It was an admirable effort this year, and I feel confidant that all the eggs were found." A cheer rose from the crowd, and many of them looked pretty smug. "Without further ado," Jareth continued, "I would like to ask my wife to announce this year's winner."
Sarah smiled and blushed slightly as all eyes landed on her. She quickly made her way to the small stage, taking Jareth's hand as he helped her up. He handed her the envelope and she opened it, recognising his strangely loopy and spiky handwriting. She read the name and frowned, mentally phrasing it in her head before saying, "Lychesticia Alboniscicus!"
There were groans and angry stamping from those who did not win, and Sarah scanned the assembly before spotting one of them coming forward. She was not entirely certain what it was, but it looked rather like an overgrown rat standing on its hind legs, apart from its bluish colour and large elephant style ears. Once it had reached the stage it grasped Sarah's hand and said in a high squeaky voice, "Thankee, your majesty!" It moved on to Jareth and bowed saying, "Thankee, your majesty!" again. Jareth inclined his head slightly towards it.
"Now all that remains is for you to claim your prize."
The creature – Lychee Albusnus? – looked excited; at least, Sarah thought it did. It bounced up and down a bit and its ears perked up, anyway. Sarah looked from it to her husband, intrigued as to what the prize was.
Jareth raised one hand and a crystal formed. He stared at it for a moment in concentration, then held it out to Lucia Alba-Sinuses who eagerly but oh so carefully took it from him. "Thankee, Thankee, your majesty!" It squeaked, bowing a few times as it backed away. Jareth clapped lightly, inspiring a few others to clap too. Sarah joined in, but still was not entirely certain what the prize was.
"All that leaves me to say is enjoy the party," Jareth said, before taking Sarah's hand and leading her off the stage.
"What was that?" She asked him, as the band started up again ('I Don't Know Which Way I'm Going But It Would Be Much Easier If I Didn't Have To Worry About Your Need To Set Things On Fire All The Time').
"What was what?" Jareth said, pulling her to him to dance. It was quite upbeat and Jareth was showing that he must have taken dance lessons at some point that included Salsa.
"The prize," Sarah said, allowing him to spin her around.
"Oh, that." He pulled them back together, only to break away and move around her before holding her close again. "That was a dream."
"A dream?"
"Indeed," Jareth said, dipping her and leaning over. Perhaps, Sarah mused, this was not the best time to be questioning him and mentally pushed it aside, trying to remember to ask him later.
Eventually the party wound down and the hall emptied. Sarah had been pleasantly surprised to learn that it was tradition for Jareth to sing one song, and that thankfully Jareth did not sing songs like the goblins did. His was a simple song (with goblin accompaniment that worked, oddly enough) called 'Golden Leaves' and Sarah had enjoyed it. It certainly did not hurt that it was like he was singing to her, almost just for her the whole time.
It was late, though, and she really wanted to curl up in bed.
"You look tired." She turned to see Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus.
"Yeah, I am," she admitted, stifling a yawn.
"Then thou shouldst, retire, my lady," Sir Didymus said.
"We were just coming to wish you goodnight," Hoggle said with a smile. "It was fun, today."
Sarah smiled warmly in return. "It was. I really don't see you guys as much as I would like."
"Well, you know where to find us if you want to, er, 'hang out,'" Hoggle said, trying out the term he had heard Sarah use.
Sarah knew he wasn't trying to make a point, but it still sort of hurt. She should make more of an effort to see them…
"We'd best be off," Hoggle said.
"Bye Sarah," Ludo said, wrapping her in a very hairy hug.
"Bye Ludo," she said fondly.
"I bid thee goodnight, my lady, and only the sweetest of dreams," Sir Didymus said with a bow.
"Night, Sir Didymus," she smiled, curtsying in return.
Sir Didymus and Ludo went on ahead as Hoggle said, "Well, g'night then, Sarah."
"Goodnight Hoggle," she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Hoggle frowned a bit at that, but did not say anymore as he lurched towards the exit.
"A lesser man might get jealous." She turned to see Jareth standing behind her.
"Good job you're not a lesser man, then," she said as she leaned in to him sleepily.
"You should go to bed," Jareth told her, kissing her forehead. "I will deal with the stragglers."
"Okay." She did not even feel like arguing on this one. "I'll see you in a bit." She gave him a small chaste kiss before heading up to their bedroom.
Jareth watched her leave before turning back to the hall. He made short work of evicting those remaining, and though ordinarily he would not approve of such laziness, he left the cleanup for in the morning.
He went over to the huge pile of eggs. He formed a crystal in his hand and threw it at the pile, causing both to vanish. He then formed another crystal, in which could be seen an overview of the Labyrinth. With concentration, glowing spots started to appear in various places; eight in total. He called them to the crystal and viewed them. Eight eggs missed. Better than last year, he thought. He closed his hand on the crystal and it winked out of existence.
Of course, really there was no need to hunt for the eggs. Jareth could very easily dispose of them himself. But of course, he smirked to himself as he made his way up to his bedroom where his lovely wife was waiting, where was the fun in that?
Long Author's note this time, so apologies in advance.
Again, I'm sorry this took so long. I think my updates are going to go from weekly to fortnightly. I can't do all my university work and do this at the same time every week, so now expect it every other week. There's also plot bunnies attacking me over Torchwood as well (Anyone watch that? I'm guessing not…) so I'm trying to satisfy my writing urges for that as well as keeping on top of this.
I was planning on posting this chapter at Easter, but as I think I mentioned, I just couldn't get it to work. I really wanted to post this, though, as I wanted to explore Sarah's relationship with her friends more. They always seem to be surplus to the author's needs in fanfiction, even though they featured more in the film than Jareth ever did. I'm guilty of this too, so I wanted to give them a chance to shine…
I think I managed to scare a couple of you who reviewed this time – my deepest apologies, heh. Just ignore me and I'm sure I'll go away.
I have a question to ask – in America (don't you just think of Yu-gi-oh: the Abridged Series whenever you hear that?) how does the school system work? At what age does a child start school, what year do they start at, etc. In England they start off in reception class, then move on to infants (lower then upper), then Juniors (again, lower then upper. Each has two years, which caused us as kids to call it, lower lower juniors, upper lower juniors, lower upper juniors and upper upper juniors… Yes, we were weird) amounting to six years in primary school. After that is secondary school and you just get called years 7-11 and finally sixth form with lower sixth and upper sixth, or college (I don't know what they call themselves; I did sixth form) and finally on to University (which is where I am now, whoo). You guys have to stay at school until you're eighteen, right? (We only have to until we're sixteen, heh) What exams do you take and when?
Sorry, it's just I've tried finding out this stuff before, but there does not seem to be a clear explanation anywhere, and for a chapter I have in mind I kind of need to know these things. It would also be useful for future reference. You can just PM me that though…
And finally, I appreciate reviews. I was amazed and very pleased with the feedback I got on the last chapter. You guys are awesome and it really makes my day when you tell me you enjoy what I write. Of course, if you ever have any criticisms then I'd like to hear that too, since the whole point of this is to help improve my writing skills. Do not be afraid! Although I doubt you would be, I'm not even on the same continent as most/all of you, so it's not like I could seek retribution even if I did know who you were... My point is, let me know what you think (about the chapter. Though if you feel like divulging anything else, I'm always enthusiastic to chat to random people).
