Chapter 14 - The living, the dead and the undead!
******
A/N to Clover the Sea-Beast : Good question! Yes he does but he forgot how to talk
after he was tortured by the Earth scientists. Just to clarify.
******
The trio walked solidly for three days. Only stopping when the light no longer allowed
them to continue. Then they would set up camp again, too exhausted to say anything
or complain. They just ate and slept. The road was far too hard for pleasant
conversation. Hilarity was just glad that she was sharing a tent with quiet sleepers.
She wouldn't have been able to bear it if this journey was a repeat of the "snoring
incident" that she had experienced one fateful week with her father. It was meant to be
a pleasant camping trip, quality daddy/daughter time, taking photos and sleeping
under the stars. And then the snoring started! Enough said.
They covered about thirty miles a day. Forty if the weather was nice, which it wasn't.
The land certainly gave off a deadly quality. Just miles and miles of craggy hills with
the occasional dead tree, there was not a living soul apart from them. The birds didn't
sing cheerfully like they did anywhere else in the world, but Hilarity could have sworn
she had seen vultures circling. The weather as I said earlier was far from pleasant. The
dark clouds never left the sky and the same pale light was always upon them. White
forks of lightening split the sky in the distance. It looked like it was congregating in a
certain place. That must've been the entrance to the Land of the Dead, she thought.
There were few real dangers. Jareth had explained that most of the creatures lived in
the forests.
"We don't have to go though a forest do we?" Hilarity had asked nervously.
"There's nothing but forest eventually." Came her reply.
"Um....refresh my memory, but what kind of creatures live here?"
"The living, the dead and the undead. They all have their bad sides."
"Undead? Not vampires and stuff! Oh, damn it!"
On the fourth day they finally reached civilisation and their moods lifted. They even
considered kissing the ground. People! Houses! No more (sodding) goblin bread!
However the elation soon wore off when they actually saw the village. The tern 'ghost
town' had never been more appropriate. This was because half the inhabitants where
spirits, and not the drinkable kind. It was basically a few groups of houses that clung
to the outer walls of a particularly threatening castle. The people they encountered all
seemed to be intent on getting home as if they were late for something. The sun was
going down and they all had a sneaking suspicion about these people's anxiety. Still
beggars can't be choosers and they quickly rented a room at town's (only) inn, the
Seven Knells. The place was pretty empty. Both Hilarity and Jareth considered
shouting out "Hey, who died?" but thought against it. From the few local who were
there, they learned that the town was called Unterweg and that they were only a days
walk from the river Tartarus, but when they asked questions about the nearby castle or
the Land of the Dead or if he had seen any infant pyromaniacs anywhere, the barman
nervously changed the subject.
"Um....lovely weather we're having!" he whimpered as Jareth repeated his question.
"No, not really. Now answer my question." He ordered, magic or no magic he could
still put on his usual display of kingly confidence.
The poor man trembled and whispered "It's too dangerous to talk here. Whatever you
do, don't go outside at night or talk to anyone who does!"
"Why?"
"You are in danger. They are watching you."
"Who?"
"His subjects."
"Who's HE. Are you talking about...?"
"SHH!!! Don't mention his name!" This was all he could get out of the terrified
barman so he picked up the three pints of Guinness and joined the others. This was
certainly a strange place.
******
The night closed in and after a hearty dinner of stew and mashed potatoes (which was
unusually garlicky), the three of them retired to their room. There were only two beds
and Jareth did not fail to notice how eagerly the other two were to pair up. He had to
admit, they looked cute together.
******
Darkness.
Silence.
*Tap*
Hilarity awoke. What time was it? Where was she? And what the hell was that thing
grabbing on to her? Oh, night, freaky land, Thomas...right.
*Tap*
What was that?
*Tap Tap*
"Jareth!" she whispered. There was a sleepy groan. "Are you asleep?"
"Yes!"
"Did you just make a noise?"
"What noise?"
*Tap*
"That noise!"
She heard Jareth shift around irritably "S'just the wind. Go back to sleep."
Silence. Maybe it was...
*Tap, Scratch, Tap*
It was coming from outside the window.
"Jareth....JARETH!!!"
"WHAT?!?"
"There's something out there!"
"Oh for the love of...!" he lit a candle and stormed over to the window "There is
nothing out there. Please watch while I demonstrate." He flung the window open...
*BANG* "YEEEAAAARRGH!!!!" *CRASH*
Hilarity rushed over and looked out the window. Outside on the ground lay a very
pissed off looking vampire who had landed in such a position that he straddled the
stake of a wooden fence that ran outside the building. Jareth must've pushed it off the
windowsill when he opened the window. The pair of them winced. That's gotta hurt!
******
A/N to Clover the Sea-Beast : Good question! Yes he does but he forgot how to talk
after he was tortured by the Earth scientists. Just to clarify.
******
The trio walked solidly for three days. Only stopping when the light no longer allowed
them to continue. Then they would set up camp again, too exhausted to say anything
or complain. They just ate and slept. The road was far too hard for pleasant
conversation. Hilarity was just glad that she was sharing a tent with quiet sleepers.
She wouldn't have been able to bear it if this journey was a repeat of the "snoring
incident" that she had experienced one fateful week with her father. It was meant to be
a pleasant camping trip, quality daddy/daughter time, taking photos and sleeping
under the stars. And then the snoring started! Enough said.
They covered about thirty miles a day. Forty if the weather was nice, which it wasn't.
The land certainly gave off a deadly quality. Just miles and miles of craggy hills with
the occasional dead tree, there was not a living soul apart from them. The birds didn't
sing cheerfully like they did anywhere else in the world, but Hilarity could have sworn
she had seen vultures circling. The weather as I said earlier was far from pleasant. The
dark clouds never left the sky and the same pale light was always upon them. White
forks of lightening split the sky in the distance. It looked like it was congregating in a
certain place. That must've been the entrance to the Land of the Dead, she thought.
There were few real dangers. Jareth had explained that most of the creatures lived in
the forests.
"We don't have to go though a forest do we?" Hilarity had asked nervously.
"There's nothing but forest eventually." Came her reply.
"Um....refresh my memory, but what kind of creatures live here?"
"The living, the dead and the undead. They all have their bad sides."
"Undead? Not vampires and stuff! Oh, damn it!"
On the fourth day they finally reached civilisation and their moods lifted. They even
considered kissing the ground. People! Houses! No more (sodding) goblin bread!
However the elation soon wore off when they actually saw the village. The tern 'ghost
town' had never been more appropriate. This was because half the inhabitants where
spirits, and not the drinkable kind. It was basically a few groups of houses that clung
to the outer walls of a particularly threatening castle. The people they encountered all
seemed to be intent on getting home as if they were late for something. The sun was
going down and they all had a sneaking suspicion about these people's anxiety. Still
beggars can't be choosers and they quickly rented a room at town's (only) inn, the
Seven Knells. The place was pretty empty. Both Hilarity and Jareth considered
shouting out "Hey, who died?" but thought against it. From the few local who were
there, they learned that the town was called Unterweg and that they were only a days
walk from the river Tartarus, but when they asked questions about the nearby castle or
the Land of the Dead or if he had seen any infant pyromaniacs anywhere, the barman
nervously changed the subject.
"Um....lovely weather we're having!" he whimpered as Jareth repeated his question.
"No, not really. Now answer my question." He ordered, magic or no magic he could
still put on his usual display of kingly confidence.
The poor man trembled and whispered "It's too dangerous to talk here. Whatever you
do, don't go outside at night or talk to anyone who does!"
"Why?"
"You are in danger. They are watching you."
"Who?"
"His subjects."
"Who's HE. Are you talking about...?"
"SHH!!! Don't mention his name!" This was all he could get out of the terrified
barman so he picked up the three pints of Guinness and joined the others. This was
certainly a strange place.
******
The night closed in and after a hearty dinner of stew and mashed potatoes (which was
unusually garlicky), the three of them retired to their room. There were only two beds
and Jareth did not fail to notice how eagerly the other two were to pair up. He had to
admit, they looked cute together.
******
Darkness.
Silence.
*Tap*
Hilarity awoke. What time was it? Where was she? And what the hell was that thing
grabbing on to her? Oh, night, freaky land, Thomas...right.
*Tap*
What was that?
*Tap Tap*
"Jareth!" she whispered. There was a sleepy groan. "Are you asleep?"
"Yes!"
"Did you just make a noise?"
"What noise?"
*Tap*
"That noise!"
She heard Jareth shift around irritably "S'just the wind. Go back to sleep."
Silence. Maybe it was...
*Tap, Scratch, Tap*
It was coming from outside the window.
"Jareth....JARETH!!!"
"WHAT?!?"
"There's something out there!"
"Oh for the love of...!" he lit a candle and stormed over to the window "There is
nothing out there. Please watch while I demonstrate." He flung the window open...
*BANG* "YEEEAAAARRGH!!!!" *CRASH*
Hilarity rushed over and looked out the window. Outside on the ground lay a very
pissed off looking vampire who had landed in such a position that he straddled the
stake of a wooden fence that ran outside the building. Jareth must've pushed it off the
windowsill when he opened the window. The pair of them winced. That's gotta hurt!
