AN: Just a few quick notes before we begin. First off I actually managed to
skip a whole chapter. If you would kindly look back you will see it has now
been added (titled 'Killer salad?'). This is what happens when you post at
4 am. Second to Zabella, Megan, screamin_psiren and Amii, a big thanks for
the reviews so far. Third to Redaura, extra big thanks for all the support,
both through FF.N and in the random, sporadic moments I catch ya online. To
Mandy (TopazQueen1188) it's great to hear from people who read the original
(ditto to Redaura) and also I'd like to explain about the sequel. As you
have no doubt noticed FF.N has a new policy banning NC-17 fics. As such
'Only in Fairy Tales' was removed and is being rewritten to comply and I
will start reposting that just as soon as I am done with this one. (which
shouldn't take much longer). On the wedding night, that chapter has been
written (Ask Redaura if you need confirmation) and the only thing that's
keeping it from being posted is of course the new policy (which I'm sure
I'll find a loop hole for any day now). Ok, that's concludes the mindless
babbling portion of tonight's show and now back to the studio...
Having left Milia they walked quickly over the surface of the waste land, taking care to avoid the other metal structures. If they got stuck with a riddle for every one, then they'd never make it out in time.........if at all.
"Well she was..." Susan began, looking for the right word.
"Lonely," Kara said quietly, still feeling bad about making her cry. Hunter wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer, as if that action could keep her from all of the negative feelings.
"How much further is it?" asked Susan.
"Haven't a clue," Hunter answered looking around. They could see the walls of the Goblin City resting on the horizon but the distance was impossible to judge. So they walked, and kept on walking.
"I'm hungry," Susan announced a moment later.
Kara's stomach growled loudly. She looked down and the back up, grinning sheepishly. "Translation, me too." She looked around. Nope, no conveniently placed MacDonald's here. Damn! And they were the one thing you were supposed to be able to rely on when it came to getting food no matter what distant land you were in. then she started to giggle at the image of the Labyrinth having its own drive trough staffed by goblins. Hunter glanced over at her and started laughing too, having followed that entire train of thought.
"What's so funny?" demanded Susan.
Kara shook her head. "Never mind," she mumbled.
The landscape was changing again. Tufts of yellow grass began appearing in the cracks and before they had gone too far, the ground beneath them was becoming green and springy once more. The air was cooler too and Kara didn't even want to begin trying to explain how everything could change so rapidly and so definatley.
The walls of the city were closer now.
Kara sighed.
"What's wrong?" Hunter asked. The bond between them should have let him know what was wrong without words but right now Kara had raised a shield. It wasn't intentional, he knew, because she wasn't even aware their was a bond much less how to shut him out of her thoughts, but often in times of stress walls are erected subconsciously. He frowned at her.
"Nothing," she lied and managed to keep herself from sighing again. She was almost at the castle, had almost made it. And when she got there she would go in, save Arron, go home and forget. See simple, or it aught to be. Besides, she scolded herself, how can a relationship with a vampire from another world be healthy? How can a relationship with a vampire be healthy, period?
They found a winding road and stepped on to it, each lost to their own thoughts.
Kara's mind was in turmoil. Go home, forget, she kept repeating it like a mantra and while, on one hand, she knew she should do exactly that there was still a huge part of her that wanted to stay. She wanted to see what Hunter's kingdom was like. Maybe she could stay an extra week? Have a sort of vacation? Or maybe a month? Or maybe just forever? She wondered what would happen if she sat right here on the road and refused to move until the thirteen hours were up? It's not like Arron was that important anyway.
Ok, bad thought, she told herself. You made a mess, so fix it. She sighed and kept moving. Yes Arron was an ass but despite that she'd never seriously meant for him to become a goblin.
Then she stopped suddenly as a new thought came into her head. "Hunter, how do we get through the gates once we get to them?" she asked, remembering the fight with the gate keeper in the movie.
"Just leave it up to me," Hunter beamed not-so-reassuringly at her. Kara shrugged. Not the answer she'd wanted to hear. She'd wanted something more along the lines of 'oh well, guess we'll never get to the castle. May as well sit here until the thirteen hours are up.' It wouldn't be such a bad thing if she could blame it on someone else, right? She could picture it now. 'Gee Arron, sorry you're a goblin now but y'see there was this gate keeper and he said we couldn't come into the city to save you so what could we do?'
Yeah, right, and her house was made of marzipan.
She resumed walking, musing quietly to herself.
"Why do you think Jareth let you come with me?" she asked suddenly. "If you know you're way around, isn't that cheating?" Yey, see it was all Jareth's fault. Well if it weren't for Jareth she'd never have met Hunter in the first place.
"Technically its not cheating, no, since I'm not one of Jareth's subjects and I don't think there's a rule that says you can't seek outside assistance. Besides if this boss of yours is so much of a pain you wished him away then maybe he's giving Jareth hell and he wants you to come and collect as soon as possible."
Kara shrugged. She was going to blame Jareth anyway. She'd work out the full argument as to why it was all his fault later. Right now it simply was.
Hunter wrapped and arm casually around her shoulders and had to fight not to crush her to him as the gates loomed before them, casting a shadow over the small party. The symbolysim wasn't lost on any of them.
Kara gazed up at the high metal monstrosities that kept the city safe from invasion and wayward babysitters. Hunter squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.
"So what now 007?" she asked.
"What?" Hunter asked, puzzled.
"Never mind. How do we get in?"
"By doing this," he answered pulling her behind a low stone wall. In the process she fell over, knocking them both to the ground and she found herself lying on top of him. "Um." she began, slightly embarrassed, "Not that I'm complaining but how does this help?"
"Well...we...uh...oh hell," he whispered. He pulled her down against him and his lips crushed against hers. After a moments hesitation, Kara let her eyes close and returned the kiss, putting every ounce of passion, desire and pain into it that she could. Her mind opened up to his like a flower and they tumbled together in the dark and kept on falling, each loosing themselves to the other. Hunter rolled over, pining her body beneath his on the soft ground, moving his lips from her mouth to her throat, tracing his tongue over the wound that still remained form the forest, drinking her down in all but the last possible way. His mouth trailed along the skin exposed by the opening of her shirt and then retraced its path back to her mouth. Her hand were buried in his hair and she held him against her, trying to keep the moment, willing time to stop. For them. For a moment.
The shrill sound of someone whistling cut through the air and straight through the hope that maybe the Powers That Be might be generous for a second or two.
"Hunter..." she gasped, her immediate thought being, what now?
"Shush!" He said quietly. Moving slowly and reluctantly away from her to crouch behind the wall and watch the approach of a lone goblin that was wandering along the path towards the city. Hunter was poised and ready in an instant and when the goblin was near enough, he stepped out from behind the wall. Kara understood without being told that she should stay where she was. Which was a good thing because with the lingering impression of Hunter's mouth on hers and the ghost echoes of him in her mind, she wasn't sure she trusted herself to stand.
"Hello," Hunter greeted the goblin, pleasantly enough.
The goblin stopped abruptly, noticing Hunter for the first time. He looked him up and down before saying, in a thin, scratchy and rather unimpressed voice, "What do you want?"
Kara wasn't sure if the goblin was male or female.
"Well actually." Hunter began, but didn't finish because he lunged for the goblin mid-sentence. It never had a chance to react before Hunter was holding it in the air by its long, hooked nose. "You are going to help us get into the city, little friend," he informed his captive with a chilling smile.
Having left Milia they walked quickly over the surface of the waste land, taking care to avoid the other metal structures. If they got stuck with a riddle for every one, then they'd never make it out in time.........if at all.
"Well she was..." Susan began, looking for the right word.
"Lonely," Kara said quietly, still feeling bad about making her cry. Hunter wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer, as if that action could keep her from all of the negative feelings.
"How much further is it?" asked Susan.
"Haven't a clue," Hunter answered looking around. They could see the walls of the Goblin City resting on the horizon but the distance was impossible to judge. So they walked, and kept on walking.
"I'm hungry," Susan announced a moment later.
Kara's stomach growled loudly. She looked down and the back up, grinning sheepishly. "Translation, me too." She looked around. Nope, no conveniently placed MacDonald's here. Damn! And they were the one thing you were supposed to be able to rely on when it came to getting food no matter what distant land you were in. then she started to giggle at the image of the Labyrinth having its own drive trough staffed by goblins. Hunter glanced over at her and started laughing too, having followed that entire train of thought.
"What's so funny?" demanded Susan.
Kara shook her head. "Never mind," she mumbled.
The landscape was changing again. Tufts of yellow grass began appearing in the cracks and before they had gone too far, the ground beneath them was becoming green and springy once more. The air was cooler too and Kara didn't even want to begin trying to explain how everything could change so rapidly and so definatley.
The walls of the city were closer now.
Kara sighed.
"What's wrong?" Hunter asked. The bond between them should have let him know what was wrong without words but right now Kara had raised a shield. It wasn't intentional, he knew, because she wasn't even aware their was a bond much less how to shut him out of her thoughts, but often in times of stress walls are erected subconsciously. He frowned at her.
"Nothing," she lied and managed to keep herself from sighing again. She was almost at the castle, had almost made it. And when she got there she would go in, save Arron, go home and forget. See simple, or it aught to be. Besides, she scolded herself, how can a relationship with a vampire from another world be healthy? How can a relationship with a vampire be healthy, period?
They found a winding road and stepped on to it, each lost to their own thoughts.
Kara's mind was in turmoil. Go home, forget, she kept repeating it like a mantra and while, on one hand, she knew she should do exactly that there was still a huge part of her that wanted to stay. She wanted to see what Hunter's kingdom was like. Maybe she could stay an extra week? Have a sort of vacation? Or maybe a month? Or maybe just forever? She wondered what would happen if she sat right here on the road and refused to move until the thirteen hours were up? It's not like Arron was that important anyway.
Ok, bad thought, she told herself. You made a mess, so fix it. She sighed and kept moving. Yes Arron was an ass but despite that she'd never seriously meant for him to become a goblin.
Then she stopped suddenly as a new thought came into her head. "Hunter, how do we get through the gates once we get to them?" she asked, remembering the fight with the gate keeper in the movie.
"Just leave it up to me," Hunter beamed not-so-reassuringly at her. Kara shrugged. Not the answer she'd wanted to hear. She'd wanted something more along the lines of 'oh well, guess we'll never get to the castle. May as well sit here until the thirteen hours are up.' It wouldn't be such a bad thing if she could blame it on someone else, right? She could picture it now. 'Gee Arron, sorry you're a goblin now but y'see there was this gate keeper and he said we couldn't come into the city to save you so what could we do?'
Yeah, right, and her house was made of marzipan.
She resumed walking, musing quietly to herself.
"Why do you think Jareth let you come with me?" she asked suddenly. "If you know you're way around, isn't that cheating?" Yey, see it was all Jareth's fault. Well if it weren't for Jareth she'd never have met Hunter in the first place.
"Technically its not cheating, no, since I'm not one of Jareth's subjects and I don't think there's a rule that says you can't seek outside assistance. Besides if this boss of yours is so much of a pain you wished him away then maybe he's giving Jareth hell and he wants you to come and collect as soon as possible."
Kara shrugged. She was going to blame Jareth anyway. She'd work out the full argument as to why it was all his fault later. Right now it simply was.
Hunter wrapped and arm casually around her shoulders and had to fight not to crush her to him as the gates loomed before them, casting a shadow over the small party. The symbolysim wasn't lost on any of them.
Kara gazed up at the high metal monstrosities that kept the city safe from invasion and wayward babysitters. Hunter squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.
"So what now 007?" she asked.
"What?" Hunter asked, puzzled.
"Never mind. How do we get in?"
"By doing this," he answered pulling her behind a low stone wall. In the process she fell over, knocking them both to the ground and she found herself lying on top of him. "Um." she began, slightly embarrassed, "Not that I'm complaining but how does this help?"
"Well...we...uh...oh hell," he whispered. He pulled her down against him and his lips crushed against hers. After a moments hesitation, Kara let her eyes close and returned the kiss, putting every ounce of passion, desire and pain into it that she could. Her mind opened up to his like a flower and they tumbled together in the dark and kept on falling, each loosing themselves to the other. Hunter rolled over, pining her body beneath his on the soft ground, moving his lips from her mouth to her throat, tracing his tongue over the wound that still remained form the forest, drinking her down in all but the last possible way. His mouth trailed along the skin exposed by the opening of her shirt and then retraced its path back to her mouth. Her hand were buried in his hair and she held him against her, trying to keep the moment, willing time to stop. For them. For a moment.
The shrill sound of someone whistling cut through the air and straight through the hope that maybe the Powers That Be might be generous for a second or two.
"Hunter..." she gasped, her immediate thought being, what now?
"Shush!" He said quietly. Moving slowly and reluctantly away from her to crouch behind the wall and watch the approach of a lone goblin that was wandering along the path towards the city. Hunter was poised and ready in an instant and when the goblin was near enough, he stepped out from behind the wall. Kara understood without being told that she should stay where she was. Which was a good thing because with the lingering impression of Hunter's mouth on hers and the ghost echoes of him in her mind, she wasn't sure she trusted herself to stand.
"Hello," Hunter greeted the goblin, pleasantly enough.
The goblin stopped abruptly, noticing Hunter for the first time. He looked him up and down before saying, in a thin, scratchy and rather unimpressed voice, "What do you want?"
Kara wasn't sure if the goblin was male or female.
"Well actually." Hunter began, but didn't finish because he lunged for the goblin mid-sentence. It never had a chance to react before Hunter was holding it in the air by its long, hooked nose. "You are going to help us get into the city, little friend," he informed his captive with a chilling smile.