A/N: Wow. nine chapters on one story in four weeks. That's a record. I
usually can't focus on one plot for that long-then again, this plot has
almost morphed beyond recognition, so I guess it doesn't count. Oh well.
Labyrinth isn't mine, it belongs to Henson-you should know that by now.
Lyrics are "Seven Years" by Norah Jones.
:~:*^*:~:
"Eyes wide open
Always hoping for the sun
And she'll sing her song to anyone
that comes along"
Chapter Nine: And Along Came Mippin
Amber shook her head as she realized she had been startled out of a light doze by something-a sound, or movement somewhere below her. She peered over the edge of her leafy nest, and found quite a scene below.
Jareth had awoken to find only the newcomer, Mr. Hummin, staring intently at him. Not a very reassuring sight. It seemed Amber had woke in the midst of a conflict. She climbed slowly back down the tree, and silently watched the two fighting from beneath the shade of its leafy boughs.
"Who, exactly, are you?" Jareth asked of Hummin, his elegant tone not belying his cautious anger.
"I am Chetter Hummin, a robot. You are King Jareth, I presume, leader of this realm?" Hummin kept a voice as calm and grave as his countenance.
"Yes. What is your business here, Mr. Hummin?" Jareth struggled to stay composed-it seemed this was more of a mental struggle, a battle of wits-or perhaps only a game of whose-is-bigger.
In any case, Amber was getting tired of it, so she walked out from her shady hiding place and spoke up, "His business is to assist me. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
The pair blinked at her for a moment, as if trying to contemplate how anyone could be so daring as to step into the middle of such an important matter as their conversation had been. Finally, Jareth muttered something that sounded like a negative response to Amber's question, and she nodded, "Good. Then let's get going-we haven't got all day."
She started her way back determinedly in a beeline towards where exit two was supposed to be, and it was all the other two could manage to follow behind obediently. Amber had bigger problems to worry about than their little rivalry, and as she plowed her way to exit two, she couldn't help wondering if someone-or something-else prowled along behind their little group... leaves don't rustle on their own.
Suddenly, out from the trunks in front of her stumbled a tiny white kitten and what looked to be a young hobbit lass. Amber just gaped in amazement for a moment, then spoke, "And who are you?"
The hobbit girl tossed back her sheet of dirty blonde hair, and stood, her wide eyes growing even more so in fear, "Name's Mippin, let me alone-I have a ways to go, yet."
Amber raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "What makes you think I would hinder you-Mippin, was it?"
Mippin nodded, "It was. I would think you might hinder me if you knew my business."
Amber decided she might hinder the child yet, "Your business? And it would be...?"
The hobbit shifted uneasily from foot to foot, "To rescue Asherlynn, The Hobbit Queen-I was sent by the Mayor of Hobbiton."
Amber mused over this bit of information, then spoke further, "Asherlynn? I know her-I'm off on the same mission, though probably for different reasons- my name is Amber, by the by. So, they send children now, on their missions, the hobbit folk?"
"Lady, I wasn't sent. I was chosen. If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit big for a hobbit of my age-I'm only 6, and already 3 feet in height. That's mighty big for a hobbit-I'm a half-breed-half-human, I am. So it followed naturally that I was to rescue our human Queen." Mippin took on the tone of a teacher addressing a remedial student, explaining the fundamentals of learning.
Amber wondered why they would send a child so young all alone-no, she corrected herself-alone with only a kitten as a companion-on such a potentially dangerous mission. Amber said to the girl, "Well, would you like to travel with me? I think you would be safer if we went together, and we're on the same mission, besides."
Mippin nodded, "Alright, but the cat comes to-I could hardly leave him all on his lonesome."
Amber smiled and held out her hand, "Of course."
Mippin scooped up the cat in one arm and placed her other tiny hand in Amber's. The two walked on, and one would think Amber had entirely forgotten the other members of their little ragbag band had she not shouted back over her shoulder, "Hurry up, boys."
The man and robot scurried along in the wake of the two females, obeying Amber's motherly and commanding voice.
:~:*^*:~:
Meanwhile, back at exit two...
:~:*^*:~:
Around dawn, Asher and Hoggle had made it down the seemingly unending flight of steps. Hoggle shut the door to the dungeon tower of exit two, and both turned to look out before them. Asher tried almost in vain to keep herself on her feet as she looked out at the scenery-no ground beside the tower at all.
They were standing on an old, creaky wooden dock, one that had no railing of any kind to keep you from falling off the side, and the murky waters around it looked to be hundreds of feet deep. Hoggle glanced at her concernedly, and took her hand, pulling and leading her towards a small raft.
She seemed to freeze up a little more with every step they took, so that by the time they were standing on the dock beside the little raft, Hoggle was literally dragging her forward.
He pinched her hand lightly, and Asher gave a tiny yelp, "Ow... why did you do that?"
"Welcome back to reality. There's no way I'm going to be able to get you into that raft if you're not going to move on your own at all." Hoggle said with a note of irritation.
Asher frowned, "Well, that's easy for you to say. What if I fell in? This water looks so deep... and I don't know how to swim!"
Hoggle laughed-and didn't stop. He just laughed harder and harder. Asher, needless to say, was a bit perturbed by his actions and finally yelled, "WHAT IS SO BLOODY FUNNY?"
Hoggle slowly regained his composure, and with an amused grin on his face simply stated, "Here, let me show you." He stepped over the edge of the dock, and just as Asher was about to let out a terrified scream as she watched him sink into the water-well, he didn't sink that far into the water. It came to his knees, which was a distance of less than three feet.
Asher just sat there gaping like a fish out of water for a few minutes. She finally blinked herself back to herself, and it was all she could do to stammer out, "But I-it-it looked like it was... how is that possible?"
Hoggle grinned, "A simple illusion to scare prisoners into staying put. Of course, I don't like to get my legs wet when I can help it, so I prefer poling that raft across, but if you'd rather walk, the option's open."
Asher winced at the mention of walking through the lake and said with a hint of embarrassment in her voice, "Um... I think I would rather we pole this raft across-I don't fancy wading in that dirty lake water."
Hoggle nodded, "Well, step onto it and have a seat. Actually, I think I'll pull it across, come to mention it."
Asher stepped onto the raft and took a seat. Seemingly out of nowhere, Hoggle took up a rope that was tied around one end of the raft, and walked along at a good pace out across the water. Asher lapsed into silence as she glanced at the far shore. Hoggle trudged on, leaving her to her own thoughts-she knew they were in for a long bit of work.
Soon, they came to the other end of the lake and Asher saw what she had taken as flat land was really a vast stretch of what looked like brown glass with green smears. Hoggle stopped, "And this is where things get interesting. Welcome to the next leg of your escape-trudging across the Take-it-For."
Asher scrunched up her face in an expression of confusion, "The Take-it- For?"
Hoggle nodded, "Yes, the Take-it-For. It changes to whatever the traveler happens to take it for. So if it appears to you as bog water, it changes to bog water. For most inexperienced travelers of the Labyrinth, this is as close as you get to the actual Bog of Eternal Stench, because that's what travelers expect it to be. The real Bog actually spans several hallways in the Castle."
The raft bumped against the edge of the stuff, and Asher stepped onto it. She extended a hand to the surface, and it felt just like cool glass. Hoggle smiled, "Well, that's an original idea-glass. I never thought about it, but it does kind of look like it."
He stepped on, and the space around his body seemed to be simply gaseous vapor swirling about his legs with an unknown ground below.
Asher blinked in amazement at this different perception for a second, and then just walked on across the glassy surface beneath her own body. The further she went in this topsy-turvy place, the more frequently odd and inexplicable things happened. She was certainly going to have a story to tell when it was all said and done.
:~:*^*:~:
"Eyes wide open
Always hoping for the sun
And she'll sing her song to anyone
that comes along"
Chapter Nine: And Along Came Mippin
Amber shook her head as she realized she had been startled out of a light doze by something-a sound, or movement somewhere below her. She peered over the edge of her leafy nest, and found quite a scene below.
Jareth had awoken to find only the newcomer, Mr. Hummin, staring intently at him. Not a very reassuring sight. It seemed Amber had woke in the midst of a conflict. She climbed slowly back down the tree, and silently watched the two fighting from beneath the shade of its leafy boughs.
"Who, exactly, are you?" Jareth asked of Hummin, his elegant tone not belying his cautious anger.
"I am Chetter Hummin, a robot. You are King Jareth, I presume, leader of this realm?" Hummin kept a voice as calm and grave as his countenance.
"Yes. What is your business here, Mr. Hummin?" Jareth struggled to stay composed-it seemed this was more of a mental struggle, a battle of wits-or perhaps only a game of whose-is-bigger.
In any case, Amber was getting tired of it, so she walked out from her shady hiding place and spoke up, "His business is to assist me. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
The pair blinked at her for a moment, as if trying to contemplate how anyone could be so daring as to step into the middle of such an important matter as their conversation had been. Finally, Jareth muttered something that sounded like a negative response to Amber's question, and she nodded, "Good. Then let's get going-we haven't got all day."
She started her way back determinedly in a beeline towards where exit two was supposed to be, and it was all the other two could manage to follow behind obediently. Amber had bigger problems to worry about than their little rivalry, and as she plowed her way to exit two, she couldn't help wondering if someone-or something-else prowled along behind their little group... leaves don't rustle on their own.
Suddenly, out from the trunks in front of her stumbled a tiny white kitten and what looked to be a young hobbit lass. Amber just gaped in amazement for a moment, then spoke, "And who are you?"
The hobbit girl tossed back her sheet of dirty blonde hair, and stood, her wide eyes growing even more so in fear, "Name's Mippin, let me alone-I have a ways to go, yet."
Amber raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "What makes you think I would hinder you-Mippin, was it?"
Mippin nodded, "It was. I would think you might hinder me if you knew my business."
Amber decided she might hinder the child yet, "Your business? And it would be...?"
The hobbit shifted uneasily from foot to foot, "To rescue Asherlynn, The Hobbit Queen-I was sent by the Mayor of Hobbiton."
Amber mused over this bit of information, then spoke further, "Asherlynn? I know her-I'm off on the same mission, though probably for different reasons- my name is Amber, by the by. So, they send children now, on their missions, the hobbit folk?"
"Lady, I wasn't sent. I was chosen. If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit big for a hobbit of my age-I'm only 6, and already 3 feet in height. That's mighty big for a hobbit-I'm a half-breed-half-human, I am. So it followed naturally that I was to rescue our human Queen." Mippin took on the tone of a teacher addressing a remedial student, explaining the fundamentals of learning.
Amber wondered why they would send a child so young all alone-no, she corrected herself-alone with only a kitten as a companion-on such a potentially dangerous mission. Amber said to the girl, "Well, would you like to travel with me? I think you would be safer if we went together, and we're on the same mission, besides."
Mippin nodded, "Alright, but the cat comes to-I could hardly leave him all on his lonesome."
Amber smiled and held out her hand, "Of course."
Mippin scooped up the cat in one arm and placed her other tiny hand in Amber's. The two walked on, and one would think Amber had entirely forgotten the other members of their little ragbag band had she not shouted back over her shoulder, "Hurry up, boys."
The man and robot scurried along in the wake of the two females, obeying Amber's motherly and commanding voice.
:~:*^*:~:
Meanwhile, back at exit two...
:~:*^*:~:
Around dawn, Asher and Hoggle had made it down the seemingly unending flight of steps. Hoggle shut the door to the dungeon tower of exit two, and both turned to look out before them. Asher tried almost in vain to keep herself on her feet as she looked out at the scenery-no ground beside the tower at all.
They were standing on an old, creaky wooden dock, one that had no railing of any kind to keep you from falling off the side, and the murky waters around it looked to be hundreds of feet deep. Hoggle glanced at her concernedly, and took her hand, pulling and leading her towards a small raft.
She seemed to freeze up a little more with every step they took, so that by the time they were standing on the dock beside the little raft, Hoggle was literally dragging her forward.
He pinched her hand lightly, and Asher gave a tiny yelp, "Ow... why did you do that?"
"Welcome back to reality. There's no way I'm going to be able to get you into that raft if you're not going to move on your own at all." Hoggle said with a note of irritation.
Asher frowned, "Well, that's easy for you to say. What if I fell in? This water looks so deep... and I don't know how to swim!"
Hoggle laughed-and didn't stop. He just laughed harder and harder. Asher, needless to say, was a bit perturbed by his actions and finally yelled, "WHAT IS SO BLOODY FUNNY?"
Hoggle slowly regained his composure, and with an amused grin on his face simply stated, "Here, let me show you." He stepped over the edge of the dock, and just as Asher was about to let out a terrified scream as she watched him sink into the water-well, he didn't sink that far into the water. It came to his knees, which was a distance of less than three feet.
Asher just sat there gaping like a fish out of water for a few minutes. She finally blinked herself back to herself, and it was all she could do to stammer out, "But I-it-it looked like it was... how is that possible?"
Hoggle grinned, "A simple illusion to scare prisoners into staying put. Of course, I don't like to get my legs wet when I can help it, so I prefer poling that raft across, but if you'd rather walk, the option's open."
Asher winced at the mention of walking through the lake and said with a hint of embarrassment in her voice, "Um... I think I would rather we pole this raft across-I don't fancy wading in that dirty lake water."
Hoggle nodded, "Well, step onto it and have a seat. Actually, I think I'll pull it across, come to mention it."
Asher stepped onto the raft and took a seat. Seemingly out of nowhere, Hoggle took up a rope that was tied around one end of the raft, and walked along at a good pace out across the water. Asher lapsed into silence as she glanced at the far shore. Hoggle trudged on, leaving her to her own thoughts-she knew they were in for a long bit of work.
Soon, they came to the other end of the lake and Asher saw what she had taken as flat land was really a vast stretch of what looked like brown glass with green smears. Hoggle stopped, "And this is where things get interesting. Welcome to the next leg of your escape-trudging across the Take-it-For."
Asher scrunched up her face in an expression of confusion, "The Take-it- For?"
Hoggle nodded, "Yes, the Take-it-For. It changes to whatever the traveler happens to take it for. So if it appears to you as bog water, it changes to bog water. For most inexperienced travelers of the Labyrinth, this is as close as you get to the actual Bog of Eternal Stench, because that's what travelers expect it to be. The real Bog actually spans several hallways in the Castle."
The raft bumped against the edge of the stuff, and Asher stepped onto it. She extended a hand to the surface, and it felt just like cool glass. Hoggle smiled, "Well, that's an original idea-glass. I never thought about it, but it does kind of look like it."
He stepped on, and the space around his body seemed to be simply gaseous vapor swirling about his legs with an unknown ground below.
Asher blinked in amazement at this different perception for a second, and then just walked on across the glassy surface beneath her own body. The further she went in this topsy-turvy place, the more frequently odd and inexplicable things happened. She was certainly going to have a story to tell when it was all said and done.