The world that they faded into was dark. Last Sarah had been in the
Underground, it had never grown really dark. The sun had seemed to stay in
the same place despite the hours that ticked off as she made her way
through the maze. Now standing outside the walls of the labyrinth, the
darkening night made the land seem more sinister.
On her first visit to these walls, the area had been teeming with fairies. That was when she had met Hoggle, he was spraying to get rid of the infestation of the little things. She had thought it was cruel, to kill something that was so small and delicate. Then she picked one up, and even as it lay dying in her hands, it still had the malice to bite her. Now, not a fairy was in sight. The walls had been over grown with crawling vines that seemed to writhe in the moonlight.
Next to the little pond where she had first spotted Hoggle, a small fire blazed. Jareth let go of her hand and moved over to sit by the fire. Sarah hesitated a moment then followed, sitting on the opposite side of the flames form him.
"Aren't we going in there?" She nodded to the labyrinth.
"Don't be so impatient, Sarah." He lounged by the fire, ankles crossed, propped up on one elbow. "Once the doors open, we'll have thirteen hours to get to the center. "
"When will the doors open?" Sarah laid the full pack on the ground next to her. She sat hugging her legs to her chest, her chin resting on her knee. She was impatient to get started and get this done with. She wanted to see the person who had threatened her friends right before she ground him into the dirt.
"They'll open when the trial shall begin."
"So you don't know."
Jareth sighed. "No."
She didn't want to spend the next thirteen hours fighting with this man. Perhaps, if she were to make an effort not to bait him, he would respond in kind and they could make it through this like civilized adults. "Jareth, why are you doing this? I mean You're the king of the labyrinth, why would you agree to this challenge?"
"It is not always enough to simple have the title of king, sometimes you have to prove you have the right to that title, and if I..."
His words were cut off as two sections of the labyrinth swung out on invisible hinges. Quickly, Jareth got to his feet. With a wave of his hand the fire went out.
Sarah also got to her feet, she bent down to pick up the backpack again and when she straightened he had changed. His clothes had changed into something that she considered to be a bit more sensible, black leather pants, with black leather boots that went to his knees. Unlike the pair that he normally wore, these had no heels on them and would be more suited for hard travel on foot. His shirt was the same style, a painters shirt of blue silk left open across the chest with a spill of ruffles at the sleeves. He wore an intricate black leather belt that from which hung a sword with a wicked looking edge. Her mouth gaped a little at the sudden change, then she remembered that she was not a fish and closed her mouth.
"Well? Don't just stand there, it won't stay open forever." He strode off to the doors, his long strides quickly crossing the distance.
Sarah had to jog to catch up to him. No sooner had they passed the doors, they swung shut with a loud thump that reverberated through her bones.
On her first trip through the labyrinth, when she entered, she had been able to go left or right. The corridors down both ways had been covered with a kind of fungus that had one eye on a strand of brown moss. The eyes had seemed human and had unnerved her, but had not quite scared her. Now, standing just past the entrance, there was no corridors leading off to either side. They stood with the apparently solid wall at their backs and a straight corridor leading them forward. The darkness of the night made it hard to see the path in front of them.
"Guess there's only one way for us to go." She hitched her bag on her shoulder getting it more comfortable for what she knew would be a long trip.
"Thank you for point out that conclusion. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't had you here to guide me." Jareth continued walking down the corridor confidently.
Sarah walked up and grabbed his arm. "Look, It's not my fault that you made a bad bargain, but I did decide to help you get out of it, the least you can do is act a bit more civil to me."
He glared at her, stepping closer to use his height over her as intimidation. "You think I made a bad bargain?" His voice was low and dangerous. He was trying to get her to back down from him, figuring maybe if he started off right, he could keep matter between them in his control, where they belonged.
Rather than stepping back like he had anticipated, she instead took her own step forward, leaving just inches between them. "Don't try to scare me Jareth, it won't work. I can still leave you to deal with this yourself."
He smirked down at her. "Actually, no you can't. Once those doors closed behind us, the only way out of here became the gateway at the castle. If I could count on magic to be reliable, I would simply have the labyrinth create a path for me straight from here to the city, that includes the magic that would be needed to send you home. Now, you can either help me get there, or you can remain in here forever."
Sarah's eyes widened. When she had agreed to help him, she thought that she would be able to leave if things went wrong. "That's not fair!" The words were out of her mouth before she could think to stop them. Being near him seemed to have regressed her into an arrogant teenager who thought everything had to react as she thought they should.
The smile that he flashed her reminded her of a feral cat. "There are those words again. And just what do you consider 'fair' these days? What a pity, here I thought you had finally grown up." He turned away from her in dismissal and started forward again.
Sarah stared after him a moment before following after him. She would get him to the center of the labyrinth, but when this was over, she was going to make him regret toying with her.
An hour later they had found their way out of the stone corridors of the entrance area of the maze. More accurately, they had been chased out. After walking a while in silence, they had come to an intersection in the corridors. Sarah had suggested they go left. Jareth insisted that it would only take them back to the beginning and had stalked off down the right. That corridor had been blocked half way down by the sight of a large bird. It was nearly as tall as Sarah, snowy white feathers. Its talons looked like metal and made a clicking noise against the stone as it scraped at a rock. It opened it's large beak and screeched at them.
Without thinking, Sarah took a step closer to Jareth. Unlike the creatures she had encountered before, this thing did not look in the least bit friendly. "What is that?" she whispered.
Jareth didn't answer her, instead he drew the sword at his waist, and held it out in front of him ready to defend. "Go back, we'll go the other way."
Under other circumstances, Sarah would have gladly taken the opportunity to say I told you so. However this bird chose this moment to fly upwards into the air and dive at them. Jareth, turned and pushed her to the ground to avoid the charge. In doing so, the swooping bird managed to tear it's claws across his shoulder. He bit back a cry of pain. The talons were metal, iron, and the scratches burned his skin.
As the bird rose again to make another charge, he jumped to his feet and pulled Sarah up with him. "Run. Now!" He pushed her ahead of him, running close behind her with the sword still held in his hand. Every time the bird got dove for them, he would pause and slice at the incoming attack. It would dodge a way , and circle to attack again.
They reached back to the point where the intersection had been. The corridors had changed. Sarah now leading the retreat as Jareth kept the thing back, didn't bother to wonder at this, she had grown used to the path changing on her during the first trip, instead, she simply bolted down a different corridor and prayed that they weren't heading back towards the entrance.
They raced through the stone corridors and finally broke out into an open field. Sarah stumbled as she expect her foot to meet hard stone and instead landed on cushioned grass. She landed on her hands and knees. She felt around on the ground, finding a few good size stones. She climbed to her feet to see the bird nearing the exit, still chasing them. She took one of the stones and hurled it as hard as she could, praying under her breath for her aim to be good enough to hit the bird. As soon as one stone left her hand, she threw another. She heard as one of the stones made an impact and the bird screeched in pain. She threw another one and heard another screech. Picking up on her idea, Jareth also started throwing rocks at the creature.
Soon they were watching as the bird flew back into the corridors to get away from the flying rocks. Once gone, Sarah collapsed to the ground. She was out of breath from running and her cheeks were flushed from the exertion and adrenaline. "well gee, that was a fun time."
She looked up at him. Unlike her he was not winded from running, but he was paler than he should have been. "Are you okay?"
He simply nodded, not bothering to speak.
"Look, We can't get through this not talking to each other. How about a truce?" Her blood was still rushing through her, and despite the danger, she couldn't help but feel a certain level of excitement. It was the kind of excitement that she had been seeking when she had tried to take up rock climbing. "I'll try not to insult you, you try not to insult me, and hopefully we can get through this quickly. What do you say? Sound good?"
He nodded silently.
Sarah looked at him as she got to her feet. She had the impression that he wasn't hearing a word she said. "And then when we get to the center of the maze, I'm going to dump you in the bog of stench, dress all the goblins in frilly pink dresses, and teach them all to sing it's a small world after all."
Again he nodded, still keeping his silence.
Sarah sighed, slipped the bag off her shoulder and walked over to him. "Jareth?" She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked up at him, trying to get him to look at her. She saw him wince as she touched his shoulder.
"I'm fine," He managed to force the words out. "pick up your bag and let's go." He opened his eyes and looked down at her. She didn't move. "Now, Sarah."
He still looked pale. "No, you're hurt." She moved to step around him to look at his shoulder but his hand caught arm and held her in front of him.
There was a tightness to his eyes as he tried to focus past the searing pain that threatened to overwhelm him. It wasn't a life threatening injury, but it had been iron and it would take hours for the pain to completely disappear, and days for the wound to heal. "Sarah, I said to pick that damn bag you insisted on bringing and we will continue on."
"And I said I wouldn't be treated as one of your subjects!" Still she did walk over to the back and lift it up.
Jareth thought that she was going to do as he said and he concentrated on not letting the pain bother him. He started to walk across the darkened field.
"Where are you going, get back here." She called after him, but he didn't stop. She ran after him, still holding the bag rather than slipping into the shoulder straps again. As she neared him, she saw the tears in the back of his shirt. She grabbed his arm to try to stop him and then regretted it at the sharp intake of breath it produced. "sorry."
"Sarah, there is nothing to do be done at the moment but to go on." He tried to be patient with her and explain. "The claws were made of iron, it just has to run it's course."
"Nonsense." She pulled a flashlight out of her bag and switched it on "We can at least make bandage it to make sure it stays clean."
"And what do you suppose we bandage it with?"
She pulled the first aid kit out of her bag. "I told you I wanted to be prepared. Now hold still." She opened the first aid kit and sorted out the items she thought she might need. She looked up at him thoughtfully for a moment. "Um. You actually need to sit down. You're to tall for me to work on like this."
Figuring it would be quicker to let her work than to argue, he carefully sat down on the grass.
"And um.....need to take the shirt off."
He pulled the shirt out of his pants and started to pull it off but found that the movement caused even more pain in his shoulder. "Work around it." He half snapped at her.
"Don't be stubborn." She snapped back. Then she leaned over him and carefully helped him out of the shirt.
The scratches one the back of his shoulder were and angry red and hot to the touch. She winced in sympathy. "Oh Jareth, that has to hurt."
"You are quite talented at stating the obvious, aren't you." The cool air did make the wound feel a little better, but the burning was still there.
Quietly, she took a small bottle of antiseptic and doused the wound with it. She expected a his of pain as the liquid hit the open gashes, but he just sat there seething. Working quickly before he changed his mind, she carefully rubbed a liberal amount of ointment that the first aid kit said would help relieve the sting of cuts and aid healing. When she was done with that, she placed two pads of sterile gauze over the wounds and held them in place with white medical tape. "There, how is that."
Surprisingly, as she rubbed the ointment in, the pain had seemed to greatly diminish, and by the time that she had finished with the bandaging, it had all but disappeared. "Actually it feels......better." He had been hurt by iron before, and no matter what his healers had tried to do for him, nothing had managed to stop the pain as she had been able to.
"Good!" She sounded quite pleased with herself. She shut off the flashlight and put the items back into the kit then slipped it back in the back pack. When she was done, she looked over at him to find him watching her. He hadn't put his shirt back on yet, and with out the distraction of worry in the way, she was able to appreciate the sight of him. What she had first thought of as skinny or trim, turned out to be well define, although hidden in the billowing folds of the shirts he usually wore. His skin had been smooth as she had tended his wound and she wondered what it would be like to curl against his warm chest, close her eyes and....
She was thankful for the darkness of the night to hide the blush that had blossomed in her cheeks as she realized where her own thoughts were going. Shouldering her back pack again, she waited until he had put his shirt back on. "Alright, let's get going." She strode past him across the field hoping to come across a path soon that would lead them to the next part of the labyrinth.
On her first visit to these walls, the area had been teeming with fairies. That was when she had met Hoggle, he was spraying to get rid of the infestation of the little things. She had thought it was cruel, to kill something that was so small and delicate. Then she picked one up, and even as it lay dying in her hands, it still had the malice to bite her. Now, not a fairy was in sight. The walls had been over grown with crawling vines that seemed to writhe in the moonlight.
Next to the little pond where she had first spotted Hoggle, a small fire blazed. Jareth let go of her hand and moved over to sit by the fire. Sarah hesitated a moment then followed, sitting on the opposite side of the flames form him.
"Aren't we going in there?" She nodded to the labyrinth.
"Don't be so impatient, Sarah." He lounged by the fire, ankles crossed, propped up on one elbow. "Once the doors open, we'll have thirteen hours to get to the center. "
"When will the doors open?" Sarah laid the full pack on the ground next to her. She sat hugging her legs to her chest, her chin resting on her knee. She was impatient to get started and get this done with. She wanted to see the person who had threatened her friends right before she ground him into the dirt.
"They'll open when the trial shall begin."
"So you don't know."
Jareth sighed. "No."
She didn't want to spend the next thirteen hours fighting with this man. Perhaps, if she were to make an effort not to bait him, he would respond in kind and they could make it through this like civilized adults. "Jareth, why are you doing this? I mean You're the king of the labyrinth, why would you agree to this challenge?"
"It is not always enough to simple have the title of king, sometimes you have to prove you have the right to that title, and if I..."
His words were cut off as two sections of the labyrinth swung out on invisible hinges. Quickly, Jareth got to his feet. With a wave of his hand the fire went out.
Sarah also got to her feet, she bent down to pick up the backpack again and when she straightened he had changed. His clothes had changed into something that she considered to be a bit more sensible, black leather pants, with black leather boots that went to his knees. Unlike the pair that he normally wore, these had no heels on them and would be more suited for hard travel on foot. His shirt was the same style, a painters shirt of blue silk left open across the chest with a spill of ruffles at the sleeves. He wore an intricate black leather belt that from which hung a sword with a wicked looking edge. Her mouth gaped a little at the sudden change, then she remembered that she was not a fish and closed her mouth.
"Well? Don't just stand there, it won't stay open forever." He strode off to the doors, his long strides quickly crossing the distance.
Sarah had to jog to catch up to him. No sooner had they passed the doors, they swung shut with a loud thump that reverberated through her bones.
On her first trip through the labyrinth, when she entered, she had been able to go left or right. The corridors down both ways had been covered with a kind of fungus that had one eye on a strand of brown moss. The eyes had seemed human and had unnerved her, but had not quite scared her. Now, standing just past the entrance, there was no corridors leading off to either side. They stood with the apparently solid wall at their backs and a straight corridor leading them forward. The darkness of the night made it hard to see the path in front of them.
"Guess there's only one way for us to go." She hitched her bag on her shoulder getting it more comfortable for what she knew would be a long trip.
"Thank you for point out that conclusion. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't had you here to guide me." Jareth continued walking down the corridor confidently.
Sarah walked up and grabbed his arm. "Look, It's not my fault that you made a bad bargain, but I did decide to help you get out of it, the least you can do is act a bit more civil to me."
He glared at her, stepping closer to use his height over her as intimidation. "You think I made a bad bargain?" His voice was low and dangerous. He was trying to get her to back down from him, figuring maybe if he started off right, he could keep matter between them in his control, where they belonged.
Rather than stepping back like he had anticipated, she instead took her own step forward, leaving just inches between them. "Don't try to scare me Jareth, it won't work. I can still leave you to deal with this yourself."
He smirked down at her. "Actually, no you can't. Once those doors closed behind us, the only way out of here became the gateway at the castle. If I could count on magic to be reliable, I would simply have the labyrinth create a path for me straight from here to the city, that includes the magic that would be needed to send you home. Now, you can either help me get there, or you can remain in here forever."
Sarah's eyes widened. When she had agreed to help him, she thought that she would be able to leave if things went wrong. "That's not fair!" The words were out of her mouth before she could think to stop them. Being near him seemed to have regressed her into an arrogant teenager who thought everything had to react as she thought they should.
The smile that he flashed her reminded her of a feral cat. "There are those words again. And just what do you consider 'fair' these days? What a pity, here I thought you had finally grown up." He turned away from her in dismissal and started forward again.
Sarah stared after him a moment before following after him. She would get him to the center of the labyrinth, but when this was over, she was going to make him regret toying with her.
An hour later they had found their way out of the stone corridors of the entrance area of the maze. More accurately, they had been chased out. After walking a while in silence, they had come to an intersection in the corridors. Sarah had suggested they go left. Jareth insisted that it would only take them back to the beginning and had stalked off down the right. That corridor had been blocked half way down by the sight of a large bird. It was nearly as tall as Sarah, snowy white feathers. Its talons looked like metal and made a clicking noise against the stone as it scraped at a rock. It opened it's large beak and screeched at them.
Without thinking, Sarah took a step closer to Jareth. Unlike the creatures she had encountered before, this thing did not look in the least bit friendly. "What is that?" she whispered.
Jareth didn't answer her, instead he drew the sword at his waist, and held it out in front of him ready to defend. "Go back, we'll go the other way."
Under other circumstances, Sarah would have gladly taken the opportunity to say I told you so. However this bird chose this moment to fly upwards into the air and dive at them. Jareth, turned and pushed her to the ground to avoid the charge. In doing so, the swooping bird managed to tear it's claws across his shoulder. He bit back a cry of pain. The talons were metal, iron, and the scratches burned his skin.
As the bird rose again to make another charge, he jumped to his feet and pulled Sarah up with him. "Run. Now!" He pushed her ahead of him, running close behind her with the sword still held in his hand. Every time the bird got dove for them, he would pause and slice at the incoming attack. It would dodge a way , and circle to attack again.
They reached back to the point where the intersection had been. The corridors had changed. Sarah now leading the retreat as Jareth kept the thing back, didn't bother to wonder at this, she had grown used to the path changing on her during the first trip, instead, she simply bolted down a different corridor and prayed that they weren't heading back towards the entrance.
They raced through the stone corridors and finally broke out into an open field. Sarah stumbled as she expect her foot to meet hard stone and instead landed on cushioned grass. She landed on her hands and knees. She felt around on the ground, finding a few good size stones. She climbed to her feet to see the bird nearing the exit, still chasing them. She took one of the stones and hurled it as hard as she could, praying under her breath for her aim to be good enough to hit the bird. As soon as one stone left her hand, she threw another. She heard as one of the stones made an impact and the bird screeched in pain. She threw another one and heard another screech. Picking up on her idea, Jareth also started throwing rocks at the creature.
Soon they were watching as the bird flew back into the corridors to get away from the flying rocks. Once gone, Sarah collapsed to the ground. She was out of breath from running and her cheeks were flushed from the exertion and adrenaline. "well gee, that was a fun time."
She looked up at him. Unlike her he was not winded from running, but he was paler than he should have been. "Are you okay?"
He simply nodded, not bothering to speak.
"Look, We can't get through this not talking to each other. How about a truce?" Her blood was still rushing through her, and despite the danger, she couldn't help but feel a certain level of excitement. It was the kind of excitement that she had been seeking when she had tried to take up rock climbing. "I'll try not to insult you, you try not to insult me, and hopefully we can get through this quickly. What do you say? Sound good?"
He nodded silently.
Sarah looked at him as she got to her feet. She had the impression that he wasn't hearing a word she said. "And then when we get to the center of the maze, I'm going to dump you in the bog of stench, dress all the goblins in frilly pink dresses, and teach them all to sing it's a small world after all."
Again he nodded, still keeping his silence.
Sarah sighed, slipped the bag off her shoulder and walked over to him. "Jareth?" She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked up at him, trying to get him to look at her. She saw him wince as she touched his shoulder.
"I'm fine," He managed to force the words out. "pick up your bag and let's go." He opened his eyes and looked down at her. She didn't move. "Now, Sarah."
He still looked pale. "No, you're hurt." She moved to step around him to look at his shoulder but his hand caught arm and held her in front of him.
There was a tightness to his eyes as he tried to focus past the searing pain that threatened to overwhelm him. It wasn't a life threatening injury, but it had been iron and it would take hours for the pain to completely disappear, and days for the wound to heal. "Sarah, I said to pick that damn bag you insisted on bringing and we will continue on."
"And I said I wouldn't be treated as one of your subjects!" Still she did walk over to the back and lift it up.
Jareth thought that she was going to do as he said and he concentrated on not letting the pain bother him. He started to walk across the darkened field.
"Where are you going, get back here." She called after him, but he didn't stop. She ran after him, still holding the bag rather than slipping into the shoulder straps again. As she neared him, she saw the tears in the back of his shirt. She grabbed his arm to try to stop him and then regretted it at the sharp intake of breath it produced. "sorry."
"Sarah, there is nothing to do be done at the moment but to go on." He tried to be patient with her and explain. "The claws were made of iron, it just has to run it's course."
"Nonsense." She pulled a flashlight out of her bag and switched it on "We can at least make bandage it to make sure it stays clean."
"And what do you suppose we bandage it with?"
She pulled the first aid kit out of her bag. "I told you I wanted to be prepared. Now hold still." She opened the first aid kit and sorted out the items she thought she might need. She looked up at him thoughtfully for a moment. "Um. You actually need to sit down. You're to tall for me to work on like this."
Figuring it would be quicker to let her work than to argue, he carefully sat down on the grass.
"And um.....need to take the shirt off."
He pulled the shirt out of his pants and started to pull it off but found that the movement caused even more pain in his shoulder. "Work around it." He half snapped at her.
"Don't be stubborn." She snapped back. Then she leaned over him and carefully helped him out of the shirt.
The scratches one the back of his shoulder were and angry red and hot to the touch. She winced in sympathy. "Oh Jareth, that has to hurt."
"You are quite talented at stating the obvious, aren't you." The cool air did make the wound feel a little better, but the burning was still there.
Quietly, she took a small bottle of antiseptic and doused the wound with it. She expected a his of pain as the liquid hit the open gashes, but he just sat there seething. Working quickly before he changed his mind, she carefully rubbed a liberal amount of ointment that the first aid kit said would help relieve the sting of cuts and aid healing. When she was done with that, she placed two pads of sterile gauze over the wounds and held them in place with white medical tape. "There, how is that."
Surprisingly, as she rubbed the ointment in, the pain had seemed to greatly diminish, and by the time that she had finished with the bandaging, it had all but disappeared. "Actually it feels......better." He had been hurt by iron before, and no matter what his healers had tried to do for him, nothing had managed to stop the pain as she had been able to.
"Good!" She sounded quite pleased with herself. She shut off the flashlight and put the items back into the kit then slipped it back in the back pack. When she was done, she looked over at him to find him watching her. He hadn't put his shirt back on yet, and with out the distraction of worry in the way, she was able to appreciate the sight of him. What she had first thought of as skinny or trim, turned out to be well define, although hidden in the billowing folds of the shirts he usually wore. His skin had been smooth as she had tended his wound and she wondered what it would be like to curl against his warm chest, close her eyes and....
She was thankful for the darkness of the night to hide the blush that had blossomed in her cheeks as she realized where her own thoughts were going. Shouldering her back pack again, she waited until he had put his shirt back on. "Alright, let's get going." She strode past him across the field hoping to come across a path soon that would lead them to the next part of the labyrinth.