Introduction: I'm actually writing this before I've even posted up the first chapter. I'm on a major roll here. I also just re-watched the movie and still have no idea how to reproduce Hoggle's way of talking. And there is plot to this. GOOD plot. Believe me. I just haven't gotten to it yet. Also, I know the majority of Laby fanfiction likes to portray Jareth as a... very good and caring person. And no doubt he is, but I tend to believe that he'd never show anybody that side of himself. So, though he may act evil in my fic, he isn't. Not really. He just likes to act that way.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or any of its characters and I am not making a single bit of profit out of this.
Excuses: I have a preoccupation with princes and seductive Goblin Kings.
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Prince Frog
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Chapter 2: Change Leads to Odd Situations
Hoggle was falling. Fast. And he couldn't see the bottom. No matter how much he flailed his newly found long limbs he couldn't slow himself down. Screaming into the oncoming rush of air was to no avail. All the obscenities that had left him moments before came back to him and he yelled them into great oblivion in which he was falling. He cursed Jareth, he cursed goblins, he cursed all kings and princes, and he cursed himself for being so stupid as to trust Jareth.
Then there was light.
An all encompassing and suffocating light that drowned him in its glory and brightness until he couldn't breathe.
And then it stopped. It stopped so suddenly Hoggle thought he would hurl the contents of his stomach up on the welcomed ground. Instead, he re-swallowed his lunch and gazed about him. Parking lot almost empty of cars. Where in the seven hells... school. Sara's school. He recognized the high school grounds of his beloved friend and nearly puked all over again with nervousness. The Aboveground. The only place the dwarf-prince Aboveground before was Sara's bedroom. This was new. The sky was different, as was the air. Less clean, but clearer, somehow. Aboveground, a place coveted intensely by the Goblin King.
A white SUV drove into the parking lot. Hoggle's first reaction was to run and hide, but he stood his ground, reminding himself he looked damn fine as he was now, if his face wasn't green.
"I can't believe you forgot a change of clothes."
"Can it. I think it was my unconscious desire to not have to wear that strappy black dress you gave me. Pull over here."
The car parked at the other end of the lot, and a black haired girl jumped out. "Be back in sec!"
Hoggle stood stunned as Sara made her way over to him. She was wearing a pair of denim jeans with black converse high tops. Her flannel jacket was green and blue, covering a rather sexy black tank top. A refusal to conform. She smiled at him when she passed by, but that was it.
Oh, yeah, she couldn't recognize him.
"Sara!"
She turned and looked at him he trotted on over.
"Um... I'm sorry but do I know you?" she asked.
All right. Think of something cool and sexy to say. "You don't know me but I know you." Oh, great. Way to go, Hoggle.
A moment of surprise passed over her face. Then she smirked. "Well, I think I can say that I don't want to know you. So I think I'll be going now." She turned away and began walking to her locker.
"No! Wait! I'm sorry!" he called after her.
Her pace sped up. "No, I don't think so." She turned to see if her was following her, which he was. A moment of fear. "Look! I'll have you know I have a boyfriend who's big and I'm a pretty muscular girl myself..." she yelled back at him, still walking. Well, now she was running.
"Don't run way! Wait! Ah, hell... I KNOW ABOUT THE LABYRINTH!"
That stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned. "What?"
Hoggle got caught up to her, panting. "I know your name's Sara and you conquered King Jareth's Labyrinth over a year ago to get back your baby brother."
Sara looked up at him, suspicious. Though it was nice to have her look up at him. "How did you know that and who and what are you?"
"I, ah... happen to be a resident of that kingdom."
"What's your name?"
"Hah... Frog." She stared at him. "Well, that's not my REAL name, but it's what I go by."
Looking him up and down (and Hoggle could tell she was pleased), she asked, "And what are you?"
"A prince." Big smile.
"Riiight... I guess everything isn't the way it seems. Walk me to my locker and we'll talk."
"Okay."
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The Goblin King of the Labyrinth rolled his eyes. "Brilliant job, you buffoon. Keep this up and we'll have you married by midnight," he said to no one in particular. All right, he can admit it to himself. He was jealous. Figures the dwarf can go Above when he can't. Fairy Tales always work like that. But Jareth knew some things that the tellers of Fairy Tales didn't. Fae always did things with reason, and always with a double angle. Fae are very self-serving creatures, and they play by the rules of Fae, which no one else knows. And in the games they create, they always win. But if, perchance, they don't, they always get even.
The King held out his hand and a crystal goblet of blood red wine appeared in it. Taking a delicate sip, he congratulated himself on his latest plan on Sara. The human girl intrigued him, and he was determined to win the next game. Now, possession of her wasn't enough, not hardly. Possession was an idea of the lesser Great. And Jareth was most certainly not lesser.
He laughed as he downed the rest of the thick, red liquid.
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"What do you know of the Labyrinth?" Sara asked as they turned the corner.
"Well, everythin', really. I live there."
"Ah. And you're a Prince... how?"
"Ummm... well you see, it's like, er, how to put it? I'm Jareth's... nephew, see, and by blood lineage that means-"
"The Goblin King has a sister?"
"Well, yes. He has lots of family, actually. Multitudes of brothers and sisters, and too many fiancées to count-"
"FIANCEES?"
"Er, yes. Jareth never gets rid of any of them, he just adds more to the mix-"
"Hmph. Is he married?"
"Oh, LORD, no. He's not exactly the marryin' type, is he? I think the first girl almost got him there, but that was aroun' the time the Labyrinth was bein' built, so he got off track. Some girl's always out for half the kingdom, but he has a thing with women, see? You, refusin' him an' all, were the closest I've ever seen him to bein' serious about-"
"Me?"
"Would you STOP interrupting me?"
"Oh, sorry. We're here." She carefully entered her locker combination, blocking Hoggle's view of it. "So, tell me, why are you here?"
"Er, you invited me?"
"I did what?" Sara asked, startled, taking a plastic bag full of clothes out of her locker.
"You invited me. No one Underground can get Aboveground without being invited."
Closing her locker, she said, "But I didn't. Why would I invite you and how? I don't even know you. Look, there's a pre-graduation party I got to go to." She paused. "But I want to talk to you more. There are a lot of things I was never able to understand about the Labyrinth." Sara muttered for a second, and Hoggle could have sworn she mumbled, "Like how to get back."
"Well," he said. "Your party doesn't start until later, right? An' I have nowhere to go. We can go get... food, or something, an' I'll give you a ride to your party when it starts." And no, Hoggle didn't know how he was going to get a ride, let alone pay for a meal, but he could get past those obstacles when he came to them. Sticking with Sara was the most important thing.
She looked surprised. "Yeah, I guess that would work. Come with me while a tell Jared I'll meet at the party and after we'll go to Starbucks."
Jared? Oh, yeah. "Uh, sure."
They walked in silence back to the parking lot. Sara seemed mildly surprised and irritated at herself for going with Hoggle. But she needed to know more about the Labyrinth, and Hoggle knew it bothered her how little she knew about her experiences there. He could give her a lot of information, but whether or not Jareth would be mad at him for giving it away was another matter. Please let it be okay.
Back at the parking lot, Jared was rather pissed that Sara had taken too long and was with another guy, a handsome other guy. "What took you so long and who's this guy?" he asked, opening the car door.
"Jared, this is an old friend of mine, Frog. We haven't seen each other in ages and we have a lot of catching up to do. He says he can give me a rid to the party, so could I meet you there?"
"But..." Jared paused to glare daggers at Hoggle. "This was kinda supposed to be a date. What kind of name is Frog any way?"
Sara smiled patiently. "It's still is a date and I'll still be going home with you afterwards." She leaned into the car and kissed him full on the mouth. "Okay?"
That seemed to pacify him a little. "Okay, but don't be late," he growled. "Do you need your bag in the trunk of the car? It's open."
"Thanks," she said, slightly relieved Jared was okay with it. She moved around to the back of the car to get her other stuff.
Jared eyed Hoggle up and down, as is trying to find something wrong with him. He leaned over closer to Hoggle, Jared's face shifting to a menacing smile. His voice quickly becoming deeper and commanding and undeniably familiar. "If she isn't there by 6:30 sharp and I can't find her anywhere Aboveground, there'll be hell to pay."
All Hoggle could do was answer an affirmative "Meep."
Sara came back around the car, Jared's face transforming itself back to what it was before. "All right. Bye, sweetie," she said, kissing him one more time.
"See you later," he returned, kissing her back possessively. Hoggle felt like groaning.
Hoggle and Sara backed away from the car as it started up. Jared waved one last time at Sara, glared at Hoggle, and drove off.
After the moment of silence, Hoggle stated, "You're a very good liar."
"I've had great practice with my parents," she responded, smiling guiltily. "Take this," she said, handing Hoggle her bag she got from the back of the car. "Right now it's 3:30 and the party starts at 6:30. That gives us three hours for you to tell me everything you know about the Labyrinth and the Goblin King. Starbucks is two blocks down. Let's go."
Hoggle felt like cheering as they walked down the sidewalk. Three hours with Sara! How long had it been? He reached into his pocket and found, much to his delight, a cell phone and a wad of money. Perfect! Perhaps he could applaud Jareth just this once. What was the cell phone for? Figure out later.
Jared's threat drifted back into his mind. Wait a sec, why did he use the term 'Aboveground'?
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All right, pretty boring chapter and I'm not that great of a writer. Next chapter is going to be pretty much Sara and Hoggle ('scuse me, Frog) discussing the history of the Labyrinth and Jareth, but the one after that is going to be fun!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or any of its characters and I am not making a single bit of profit out of this.
Excuses: I have a preoccupation with princes and seductive Goblin Kings.
------------
Prince Frog
------------
Chapter 2: Change Leads to Odd Situations
Hoggle was falling. Fast. And he couldn't see the bottom. No matter how much he flailed his newly found long limbs he couldn't slow himself down. Screaming into the oncoming rush of air was to no avail. All the obscenities that had left him moments before came back to him and he yelled them into great oblivion in which he was falling. He cursed Jareth, he cursed goblins, he cursed all kings and princes, and he cursed himself for being so stupid as to trust Jareth.
Then there was light.
An all encompassing and suffocating light that drowned him in its glory and brightness until he couldn't breathe.
And then it stopped. It stopped so suddenly Hoggle thought he would hurl the contents of his stomach up on the welcomed ground. Instead, he re-swallowed his lunch and gazed about him. Parking lot almost empty of cars. Where in the seven hells... school. Sara's school. He recognized the high school grounds of his beloved friend and nearly puked all over again with nervousness. The Aboveground. The only place the dwarf-prince Aboveground before was Sara's bedroom. This was new. The sky was different, as was the air. Less clean, but clearer, somehow. Aboveground, a place coveted intensely by the Goblin King.
A white SUV drove into the parking lot. Hoggle's first reaction was to run and hide, but he stood his ground, reminding himself he looked damn fine as he was now, if his face wasn't green.
"I can't believe you forgot a change of clothes."
"Can it. I think it was my unconscious desire to not have to wear that strappy black dress you gave me. Pull over here."
The car parked at the other end of the lot, and a black haired girl jumped out. "Be back in sec!"
Hoggle stood stunned as Sara made her way over to him. She was wearing a pair of denim jeans with black converse high tops. Her flannel jacket was green and blue, covering a rather sexy black tank top. A refusal to conform. She smiled at him when she passed by, but that was it.
Oh, yeah, she couldn't recognize him.
"Sara!"
She turned and looked at him he trotted on over.
"Um... I'm sorry but do I know you?" she asked.
All right. Think of something cool and sexy to say. "You don't know me but I know you." Oh, great. Way to go, Hoggle.
A moment of surprise passed over her face. Then she smirked. "Well, I think I can say that I don't want to know you. So I think I'll be going now." She turned away and began walking to her locker.
"No! Wait! I'm sorry!" he called after her.
Her pace sped up. "No, I don't think so." She turned to see if her was following her, which he was. A moment of fear. "Look! I'll have you know I have a boyfriend who's big and I'm a pretty muscular girl myself..." she yelled back at him, still walking. Well, now she was running.
"Don't run way! Wait! Ah, hell... I KNOW ABOUT THE LABYRINTH!"
That stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned. "What?"
Hoggle got caught up to her, panting. "I know your name's Sara and you conquered King Jareth's Labyrinth over a year ago to get back your baby brother."
Sara looked up at him, suspicious. Though it was nice to have her look up at him. "How did you know that and who and what are you?"
"I, ah... happen to be a resident of that kingdom."
"What's your name?"
"Hah... Frog." She stared at him. "Well, that's not my REAL name, but it's what I go by."
Looking him up and down (and Hoggle could tell she was pleased), she asked, "And what are you?"
"A prince." Big smile.
"Riiight... I guess everything isn't the way it seems. Walk me to my locker and we'll talk."
"Okay."
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The Goblin King of the Labyrinth rolled his eyes. "Brilliant job, you buffoon. Keep this up and we'll have you married by midnight," he said to no one in particular. All right, he can admit it to himself. He was jealous. Figures the dwarf can go Above when he can't. Fairy Tales always work like that. But Jareth knew some things that the tellers of Fairy Tales didn't. Fae always did things with reason, and always with a double angle. Fae are very self-serving creatures, and they play by the rules of Fae, which no one else knows. And in the games they create, they always win. But if, perchance, they don't, they always get even.
The King held out his hand and a crystal goblet of blood red wine appeared in it. Taking a delicate sip, he congratulated himself on his latest plan on Sara. The human girl intrigued him, and he was determined to win the next game. Now, possession of her wasn't enough, not hardly. Possession was an idea of the lesser Great. And Jareth was most certainly not lesser.
He laughed as he downed the rest of the thick, red liquid.
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"What do you know of the Labyrinth?" Sara asked as they turned the corner.
"Well, everythin', really. I live there."
"Ah. And you're a Prince... how?"
"Ummm... well you see, it's like, er, how to put it? I'm Jareth's... nephew, see, and by blood lineage that means-"
"The Goblin King has a sister?"
"Well, yes. He has lots of family, actually. Multitudes of brothers and sisters, and too many fiancées to count-"
"FIANCEES?"
"Er, yes. Jareth never gets rid of any of them, he just adds more to the mix-"
"Hmph. Is he married?"
"Oh, LORD, no. He's not exactly the marryin' type, is he? I think the first girl almost got him there, but that was aroun' the time the Labyrinth was bein' built, so he got off track. Some girl's always out for half the kingdom, but he has a thing with women, see? You, refusin' him an' all, were the closest I've ever seen him to bein' serious about-"
"Me?"
"Would you STOP interrupting me?"
"Oh, sorry. We're here." She carefully entered her locker combination, blocking Hoggle's view of it. "So, tell me, why are you here?"
"Er, you invited me?"
"I did what?" Sara asked, startled, taking a plastic bag full of clothes out of her locker.
"You invited me. No one Underground can get Aboveground without being invited."
Closing her locker, she said, "But I didn't. Why would I invite you and how? I don't even know you. Look, there's a pre-graduation party I got to go to." She paused. "But I want to talk to you more. There are a lot of things I was never able to understand about the Labyrinth." Sara muttered for a second, and Hoggle could have sworn she mumbled, "Like how to get back."
"Well," he said. "Your party doesn't start until later, right? An' I have nowhere to go. We can go get... food, or something, an' I'll give you a ride to your party when it starts." And no, Hoggle didn't know how he was going to get a ride, let alone pay for a meal, but he could get past those obstacles when he came to them. Sticking with Sara was the most important thing.
She looked surprised. "Yeah, I guess that would work. Come with me while a tell Jared I'll meet at the party and after we'll go to Starbucks."
Jared? Oh, yeah. "Uh, sure."
They walked in silence back to the parking lot. Sara seemed mildly surprised and irritated at herself for going with Hoggle. But she needed to know more about the Labyrinth, and Hoggle knew it bothered her how little she knew about her experiences there. He could give her a lot of information, but whether or not Jareth would be mad at him for giving it away was another matter. Please let it be okay.
Back at the parking lot, Jared was rather pissed that Sara had taken too long and was with another guy, a handsome other guy. "What took you so long and who's this guy?" he asked, opening the car door.
"Jared, this is an old friend of mine, Frog. We haven't seen each other in ages and we have a lot of catching up to do. He says he can give me a rid to the party, so could I meet you there?"
"But..." Jared paused to glare daggers at Hoggle. "This was kinda supposed to be a date. What kind of name is Frog any way?"
Sara smiled patiently. "It's still is a date and I'll still be going home with you afterwards." She leaned into the car and kissed him full on the mouth. "Okay?"
That seemed to pacify him a little. "Okay, but don't be late," he growled. "Do you need your bag in the trunk of the car? It's open."
"Thanks," she said, slightly relieved Jared was okay with it. She moved around to the back of the car to get her other stuff.
Jared eyed Hoggle up and down, as is trying to find something wrong with him. He leaned over closer to Hoggle, Jared's face shifting to a menacing smile. His voice quickly becoming deeper and commanding and undeniably familiar. "If she isn't there by 6:30 sharp and I can't find her anywhere Aboveground, there'll be hell to pay."
All Hoggle could do was answer an affirmative "Meep."
Sara came back around the car, Jared's face transforming itself back to what it was before. "All right. Bye, sweetie," she said, kissing him one more time.
"See you later," he returned, kissing her back possessively. Hoggle felt like groaning.
Hoggle and Sara backed away from the car as it started up. Jared waved one last time at Sara, glared at Hoggle, and drove off.
After the moment of silence, Hoggle stated, "You're a very good liar."
"I've had great practice with my parents," she responded, smiling guiltily. "Take this," she said, handing Hoggle her bag she got from the back of the car. "Right now it's 3:30 and the party starts at 6:30. That gives us three hours for you to tell me everything you know about the Labyrinth and the Goblin King. Starbucks is two blocks down. Let's go."
Hoggle felt like cheering as they walked down the sidewalk. Three hours with Sara! How long had it been? He reached into his pocket and found, much to his delight, a cell phone and a wad of money. Perfect! Perhaps he could applaud Jareth just this once. What was the cell phone for? Figure out later.
Jared's threat drifted back into his mind. Wait a sec, why did he use the term 'Aboveground'?
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All right, pretty boring chapter and I'm not that great of a writer. Next chapter is going to be pretty much Sara and Hoggle ('scuse me, Frog) discussing the history of the Labyrinth and Jareth, but the one after that is going to be fun!