Disclaimer: Don't own labyrinth or the goblin king. All other non-movie
related characters are the product of my deranged imagination and I cannot
be held accountable for their actions due to the court ruling that I am
insane.
She didn't find herself in the stone courtyard as she had expected. Instead she found herself on a barren piece of land facing the entrance of a cave.
Damn! And I thought I'd simply have to stick with the movie! Should have known better!
She sighed and, with a fatalistic shrug, went forward into the cave entrance. It was dark inside and smelled of dampness and mould and something else Kara wasn't sure she really wanted to contemplate. The floor at the entrance was smooth and slopped down into almost complete darkness but the occasional torch set in the stone walls offered some light. She thanked whoever had the presence of mind to put them there, not caring if the someone was Jareth.
She followed the path down, pausing long enough to take a torch from the wall, having no desire to find herself in absolute darkness if the line of torches did not continue. Looking around she found the path she was walking to appear consistent and utterly unchanging. There were a few loose stones but that was about all the scenery on offer.
After what felt like eternity of walking and occasionally stumbling, the passage she was in branched of in three separate directions. One went straight ahead and the other two went off at angles on either side. She looked about her for a clue as to which one she should take.
Each passage had a carving above it. One looked like fire, one was a tree and one simply had three wavy lines.
"Which tells me what?" she muttered into the gloom. "Ok, need to think. Well we have fire, a tree and some squiggles." She tapped her foot, "So one takes me to fire or someplace really hot. One takes me to a forest and the third..."
"Do you know it's a sign of madness to talk to yourself," squeaked a voice from somewhere near her ankle. She jumped, momentarily startled, before looking down. A mouse sat on the ground, indifferently cleaning its whiskers.
"Some would say it's a sign of madness to believe a mouse just spoke." She said.
"Well I did so you must be mad," it started to giggle in a high-pitched, musical way. She shrugged. It was entirely possible the mouse was right. Maybe she was in a mental hospital suffering form sever delusions and trapped in her own insane world. Maybe she just ate some bad Chinese food.
She shrugged. Whatever was going on, she was here now so she may as well just get on with it. "I'm Kara. Do you know which way I should go? I'm trying to get to the castle."
"I'm Susan," the mouse said. "One takes you to the heart of the forges, not pleasant. One leads to the forest and the other will drop you in the river. The very cold, very strong river."
"Oh. Think I'll take the forest, thanks." She started to move off before some agitated squeaking stopped her. She looked back down at the mouse.
"Don't leave me!" It squeaked. "You can't! I'm afraid of the dark and it's taken me days to get this far." Kara sighed and crouched low to the ground. She held out a hand, "Come on then." The little mouse scampered over and ran up her arm, settling lightly on her shoulder.
Kara stood and proceeded to go into the passage marked with a tree, thinking this was too easy. The clues hadn't even been that difficult to figure out. The passage was long and seemed to swallow the light from her torch.
"Did you hear that?" Susan asked her.
"Hear what?" Kara responded absently.
"That," Susan hissed.
Kara stopped walking and tilted her head. Straining her ears to listen.
Then she heard it.
Or though she did.
The sound of something moving behind them.
"Any idea what that is?" Kara asked.
"No," Susan squeaked. She sounded terrified.
And she had good reason to Kara discovered a second later as something lunged at her from the shadows. She threw herself of to the ground purely on instinct and it barley missed her. Susan's small claws dug into her shirt in an effort to stay on her perch. Kara dropped the torch, but it thankfully stayed lit.
The thing turned and Kara got her first real look at it. Her first thought was snake with legs as her mind made a desperate effort at switching gears to make sense of what she was looking at. Then she realised. Only the top half was snake like, a head on a long thin body with no shoulders arms or neck, but the bottom half was closer to wildcat though it was only the hind legs and tail, which tapered into a very threatening looking tip.
"Which Muppets reject would that be?" Kara said, mostly to herself. It hissed at her and she flinched, pushing herself slowly on to her knees and never taking her eyes off it. Unfortunately it was returning the favour with a gaze that held three little words. You are food.
Kara's fingers groped blindly for the torch and she missed four times before her hand closed around it and she was able to draw it to herself. It was about that time the thing lunged for her again and she screamed, waving the torch wildly. She felt it connect and was momentarily set off balance as the thing wailed in pain, falling at her feet. Not wasting any time Kara jumped over it and began running.
For a while the only sound was her laboured breathing and the sound of her feet slapping against the ground, but when the minutes passed and that's all she heard she began to slow to a jog.
"Do you think its following?" she asked Susan.
"No, but keep going anyway."
"What the hell was that?" Kara asked.
"I have no idea. Never seen one before."
They both lapsed into silence and Kara continued forward.
After a time the passage opened into a wide round space. Kara just had time to take in the other passage opposite her before her torch went out.
Susan started to squeak in panic, trying to burrow into Kara's shoulder.
"Hey! Quit it! You're fine, just hold still, alright?" Kara instructed but after the encounter with the demented snake thing she really couldn't blame her. Susan stopped attempting to burrow into Kara's shoulder but Kara could still feel her trebling violently.
"How are you enjoying the game so far?" asked an all too familiar voice behind her.
She didn't find herself in the stone courtyard as she had expected. Instead she found herself on a barren piece of land facing the entrance of a cave.
Damn! And I thought I'd simply have to stick with the movie! Should have known better!
She sighed and, with a fatalistic shrug, went forward into the cave entrance. It was dark inside and smelled of dampness and mould and something else Kara wasn't sure she really wanted to contemplate. The floor at the entrance was smooth and slopped down into almost complete darkness but the occasional torch set in the stone walls offered some light. She thanked whoever had the presence of mind to put them there, not caring if the someone was Jareth.
She followed the path down, pausing long enough to take a torch from the wall, having no desire to find herself in absolute darkness if the line of torches did not continue. Looking around she found the path she was walking to appear consistent and utterly unchanging. There were a few loose stones but that was about all the scenery on offer.
After what felt like eternity of walking and occasionally stumbling, the passage she was in branched of in three separate directions. One went straight ahead and the other two went off at angles on either side. She looked about her for a clue as to which one she should take.
Each passage had a carving above it. One looked like fire, one was a tree and one simply had three wavy lines.
"Which tells me what?" she muttered into the gloom. "Ok, need to think. Well we have fire, a tree and some squiggles." She tapped her foot, "So one takes me to fire or someplace really hot. One takes me to a forest and the third..."
"Do you know it's a sign of madness to talk to yourself," squeaked a voice from somewhere near her ankle. She jumped, momentarily startled, before looking down. A mouse sat on the ground, indifferently cleaning its whiskers.
"Some would say it's a sign of madness to believe a mouse just spoke." She said.
"Well I did so you must be mad," it started to giggle in a high-pitched, musical way. She shrugged. It was entirely possible the mouse was right. Maybe she was in a mental hospital suffering form sever delusions and trapped in her own insane world. Maybe she just ate some bad Chinese food.
She shrugged. Whatever was going on, she was here now so she may as well just get on with it. "I'm Kara. Do you know which way I should go? I'm trying to get to the castle."
"I'm Susan," the mouse said. "One takes you to the heart of the forges, not pleasant. One leads to the forest and the other will drop you in the river. The very cold, very strong river."
"Oh. Think I'll take the forest, thanks." She started to move off before some agitated squeaking stopped her. She looked back down at the mouse.
"Don't leave me!" It squeaked. "You can't! I'm afraid of the dark and it's taken me days to get this far." Kara sighed and crouched low to the ground. She held out a hand, "Come on then." The little mouse scampered over and ran up her arm, settling lightly on her shoulder.
Kara stood and proceeded to go into the passage marked with a tree, thinking this was too easy. The clues hadn't even been that difficult to figure out. The passage was long and seemed to swallow the light from her torch.
"Did you hear that?" Susan asked her.
"Hear what?" Kara responded absently.
"That," Susan hissed.
Kara stopped walking and tilted her head. Straining her ears to listen.
Then she heard it.
Or though she did.
The sound of something moving behind them.
"Any idea what that is?" Kara asked.
"No," Susan squeaked. She sounded terrified.
And she had good reason to Kara discovered a second later as something lunged at her from the shadows. She threw herself of to the ground purely on instinct and it barley missed her. Susan's small claws dug into her shirt in an effort to stay on her perch. Kara dropped the torch, but it thankfully stayed lit.
The thing turned and Kara got her first real look at it. Her first thought was snake with legs as her mind made a desperate effort at switching gears to make sense of what she was looking at. Then she realised. Only the top half was snake like, a head on a long thin body with no shoulders arms or neck, but the bottom half was closer to wildcat though it was only the hind legs and tail, which tapered into a very threatening looking tip.
"Which Muppets reject would that be?" Kara said, mostly to herself. It hissed at her and she flinched, pushing herself slowly on to her knees and never taking her eyes off it. Unfortunately it was returning the favour with a gaze that held three little words. You are food.
Kara's fingers groped blindly for the torch and she missed four times before her hand closed around it and she was able to draw it to herself. It was about that time the thing lunged for her again and she screamed, waving the torch wildly. She felt it connect and was momentarily set off balance as the thing wailed in pain, falling at her feet. Not wasting any time Kara jumped over it and began running.
For a while the only sound was her laboured breathing and the sound of her feet slapping against the ground, but when the minutes passed and that's all she heard she began to slow to a jog.
"Do you think its following?" she asked Susan.
"No, but keep going anyway."
"What the hell was that?" Kara asked.
"I have no idea. Never seen one before."
They both lapsed into silence and Kara continued forward.
After a time the passage opened into a wide round space. Kara just had time to take in the other passage opposite her before her torch went out.
Susan started to squeak in panic, trying to burrow into Kara's shoulder.
"Hey! Quit it! You're fine, just hold still, alright?" Kara instructed but after the encounter with the demented snake thing she really couldn't blame her. Susan stopped attempting to burrow into Kara's shoulder but Kara could still feel her trebling violently.
"How are you enjoying the game so far?" asked an all too familiar voice behind her.