A/N I had this idea about a sequel to "The Princess and the Goblin. Also, I support FroglipxIrene; I don't know why, I'm weird that way. This story was based on a video I saw on YouTube, The Princess and the Goblin in the Princess and the Frog. Parts were inspired by LunaTicWTF's FroglipxIrene videos. I own nothing except my OCs. Enjoy.
Chapter 21
Dances and Plots
Later, Froglip and Irene were sitting in the grass; the princess had picked a dozen peaches, and had them spread out on the ground. "Why were you running away from home?" She asked, taking a bite out of a peach.
Froglip sighed. "I got back home last week, and was 'warmly' welcomed by my parents. My mother practically smothered me. Then they tell me they hired Dirtclaw to find me, who would also be my right-hand-wolf."
"Dirtclaw? Who's that?"
"You've never heard of Dirtclaw the Wolf Assassin? He's famous for his wolf murders."
"Goodness!" Irene's eyes widened frightened.
"I'm sorry if I scared you." Froglip rubbed her right shoulder. "Anyway, a week later, he left me in a gorge, saying him and Mother had a surprise for me. Next thing I know, a cattle stampede is running towards me!"
"Oh my! What happened?" Irene gasped.
"What do you think? I ran for it! I climbed up into a tree, but that was no good. I saw Mother and Dirtclaw on the edge of the cliff. Mother jumped down and saved me, but she got pushed away by the herd. She jumped out and onto the side of the cliff. I went around, trying to find where she was climbing to help her. Then…" He sniffed and rubbed his eyes before continuing, "I saw her falling into the herd."
Irene gasped.
"Once the herd was gone, I went down to find her. I found her. She…she…" He began shaking as tears fell out of his eyes. "She didn't make it. She was dead."
Irene's eyes widened; her heart was breaking for her dearest friend. "Froglip…I…I'm so sorry." She whispered; tears began brimming in her eyes as well.
"D-D-Dirtclaw came up. He said it was my fault it happened, and told me to run away, and never return. I ran, and was chased by a couple of wolves. I managed to escape, but collapsed in a desert." He sighed shakily; tears continued to fall.
"Froglip…" Irene whispered. A single tear ran down her cheek. "I'm sorry." She laid her hand on his left shoulder; he winced, hissing painfully. "What's wrong? What did I do?"
He carefully lifted his cape off of his shoulder; there was a big ugly bruise from where he hit the ground during the stampede.
"Oh my!" Irene gasped. "I had no idea! I'm so sorry!"
"It's not your fault." Froglip smiled, amused by her constant apologies. "You didn't hurt me that bad."
Irene nodded. "I'm sorry about your mother. I…I know how it feels to lose a loved one."
"Your mother?"
She nodded. "She died when I was very young."
Froglip's heart cracked a little for her. He had his mother for 18 years, and she only had hers for who knows how long. He was the luckier one.
"Well," Irene sniffed, wiping her eyes with her cloak. "At least I have my father, Turnip…and you."
Froglip nodded; there was a loud growl. "Ohhh, I'm starving." He groaned, placing a hand on his stomach. "The last time I ate was dinner two days ago!"
"No wonder your stomach's complaining." She handed him a peach. "This ought to do."
Froglip grabbed the fruit and ate half of it, spitting out the pit. "At the moment, I would hardly care if it were something I'd usually eat or not, so long as it's edible." He said; juice ran out of his mouth.
Irene laughed. Grazzlegritch climbed onto her lap and rubbed her hand with his head. "Grazzlegritch missed you as well." She said, scratching behind the Goblin Cat's ears. "He came last night, probably looking for you."
"Hmm." Froglip smirked, scratching under Grazzlegritch's chin. "I missed him too." He looked up at Irene. "You have a little fruit on your face."
She rubbed her cheeks with her hands. "Did I get it?"
"Uh…" He licked his thumb and rubbed her cheek near the corner of her mouth. "There."
Irene didn't know what to say; she was surprised that Froglip rubbed her face with his thumb. Her heart was racing, and her breathing was short. "You ok?" Froglip asked, snapping her out of her trance.
"Y-yes, I'm all right." She nodded.
He smiled and looked ahead, munching on his peach. "You know what I miss most of all?" He asked. "The night we danced."
"I miss that as well." Irene sighed, smiling. "It was the most magical moment of my life."
"Mm-hmm." He stood up and held his hand out to her. "May I have this dance, your highness?"
She smiled, placed her hand in Froglip's, and stood up. "Yes, you may." She carefully placed her right hand on his left shoulder, trying to avoid the bruise; he laid his left hand on her waist and held her left hand in his right. They slowly spun and danced; Grazzlegritch climbed up a tree, curled up on a branch, and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, several yards away, StormCloud and RiverRush were walking in the woods, searching for prey. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a whole cow!" RiverRush groaned.
"I'm so hungry, I could eat a Goblin!" StormCloud said, moving a rotten log up with his snout.
"Hey! What's that?"
"What?"
"I hear something." RiverRush said, perking his ears up.
"You're imagining things." StormCloud said.
"I'm not! Listen!"
StormCloud sighed and perked up his ears. At first, nothing; then, he heard laughing. "It sounds like a human."
"There's something else. C'mon!" RiverRush bounded forward and ran through the brush.
"Wait up, young pup!" StormCloud followed close behind.
Soon, the wolves approached a cabin. "I thought that cabin was abandoned years ago." StormCloud said thoughtfully; he turned to RiverRush. The young black wolf's ears were bent back, and his eyes and mouth were wide open. "What's wrong with you?"
"Look!"
StormCloud looked; his eyes widened as he gasped. It was Prince Froglip Goblin! He was still alive! And he was dancing with a human! She had a pink dress, a blue cloak with the hood down, long reddish-brown hair, and blue eyes. She was smiling and giggling as she and the Goblin Prince danced faster. Froglip was laughing as well.
"I don't believe it!" StormCloud growled quietly. "He's still alive! And dancing with a human, nonetheless! How dare he?"
"Let's kill him!" RiverRush nearly leapt out of the bushes.
"No!" StormCloud grabbed and pulled him back by the scruff. "We need to tell Dirtclaw!"
"What! Why!"
"Dirtclaw said only to alert him if something is important! This is important! Come on!" He turned and ran towards the Goblin Kingdom. RiverRush glanced back at the dancing Goblin and human and ran after his partner. "Hey! Wait for me!"
Back at the Goblin Kingdom…
Curdie was still trapped in the cage, which was in Dirtclaw's room; said Wolf-Bat was lounging on his back, chewing on something.
"There's a spark inside us," Curdie sang quietly. "That we can all ignite. And all that's dark inside us, will flicker into light."
"Kid, you've been sthinging that sthong for the pastht five hoursth!" Dirtclaw lisped; he spit a small round bone at the cage. "If you're going to sing, at least sing something a little, I dunno, bouncy."
"Hmmm." Curdie smiled mischievously. "It's a small world after all!"
"No-no-no!" Dirtclaw yelled, covering his ears with his paws. "Anything but that!"
Sighing, Curdie began singing something else, "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, da-da-da-da, there they are, standing in a row,"
Dirtclaw, enjoying this, bobbed his hind foot and head to the singing. "Dum-dum dum-dum,"
"Big ones, small ones," Curdie continued. "Some as big as your head." He groaned. "At least I never had to do this for Froglip." He muttered.
"WHAT!" Dirtclaw yelled, leaping at the cage. "What, did you say?"
"N-nothing!"
"Never, ever, mention his or her name in my presence!" He growled. "I'm the king! UNDERSTAND?" He shoved his snout into the cage between two bars; his sharp white teeth nearly grabbed Curdie's nose.
"Y-y-yes, your majesty!" Curdie whimpered, crawling backwards away from those sharp teeth. "You are the king."
"Hey! Dirtclaw!" A female voice yelled.
"Oh, what now?' Dirtclaw groaned.
Two female wolves walked in. They were both tan in color; one had brown eyes, while the other had blue. The brown-eyed one was named Hazel; her twin sister was Peanut. Peanut was the one who yelled. "We have a bone to pick with you!"
"Let me handle this." Hazel muttered; she turned to Dirtclaw. "Dirtclaw, there's no food, or water. Me and my sister are hungry."
"It's the Goblins' job to provide the food," Dirtclaw groaned, rolling his eyes. "You know that."
"Yes, but they won't hunt." Peanut pointed out.
"Ohhh, eat the kid." He pointed his paw at Curdie.
"What! Me? Y-you wouldn't want me! Look at me!" He protested. "I'm just skin and bones."
"Oh nonsense, my boy. You have meat on your bones." Dirtclaw chuckled. "And anyway, you'll do just fine for an appetizer."
"And I heard things were bad under Randes." Peanut muttered to her sister.
"What did you say?" Dirtclaw growled.
"I said Ran-" Hazel jabbed her sister in the abdomen with her paw, with her claws extended. "Ow!" She exclaimed; she realized her mistake. "I said, um, this place is the bee's knees."
"…Indeed." Dirtclaw said, raising one eyebrow. "Now get out."
The female wolves trotted towards the exit; Peanut stopped and turned to the Wolf-Bat. "B-but we're still hungry."
"OUT!"
The females jumped and ran out. Sighing heavily, Dirtclaw collapsed on his back and draped his paw over his face, covering his eyes. "She said you-know-who's name." Curdie said; the twins were part Winged-Wolf.
"Whose?"
"Hers."
"…I'll let it pass, for those females are too stupid to realize what they've done."
"Dirtclaw! Dirtclaw!" StormCloud and RiverRush ran into the cave.
"What now! And how many times must I tell you to call me 'Alpha Male'?"
"You can be called DarkFang for all we care!" RiverRush snapped. "We were hunting in the woods, and you know who we saw? Froglip!"
"WHAT?" Dirtclaw roared; the wolves and Curdie had to cover their ears. "THAT GOBLIN PRINCE; THAT FROGLIP, IS STILL ALIVE?"
"Froglip's still alive?" Curdie gasped.
"Yes!" StormCloud nodded at Dirtclaw. "And-and he was dancing with a female human! She had red hair, blue eyes, and wore a pink dress."
"What did he say?" Curdie asked.
Dirtclaw threw a glance at the miner boy. "I thought you said he'd die in that desert!" He growled.
"She must have rescued him!" RiverRush exclaimed.
"Of course! That Princess Irene must have found him in the desert, and saved him from the brink of death." Dirtclaw snarled.
"Irene?" Curdie gasped.
"What were they doing?"
"Dancing." StormCloud said. "Just dancing."
Dirtclaw chuckled. "Just dancing." He repeated. "I had a feeling he would, what with him falling in love with young Princess Irene."
Curdie's eyes widened. "What?" He asked softly.
Dirtclaw turned towards the human boy, grinning. "You didn't know? You didn't know how the princess and the Goblin grew closer together, and eventually, the young prince fell in love with the princess?"
Curdie sank down into a sitting position, not remembering when he stood.
"What should we do, Alpha Male?" StormCloud asked hesitantly.
Dirtclaw turned to the gray and white wolf and smiled. "Nothing. I have a plan."
A/N Wow, this was a long chapter. 8 pages on Microsoft Word, which is long for me; I usually use 4 or 5 pages per chapter.
I got the idea for the part where Froglip rubs Irene's cheek yesterday. Sometimes I get ideas for my stories, and if I remember them, I use them.
Curdie singing "It's a Small World After All" and the "Coconut Song" (?) was inspired by the Lion King. I named the two female wolves Hazel and Peanut as references to my food allergies.
This chapter is titled "Dances and Plots" because Froglip and Irene dance again, and Dirtclaw is plotting...something.
GDenofa: Yeah, I guess I like drama :)