The Resurrection Quest part 8
Hoggle walked toward the mess tent after a hard day of drill. Finally, he would get a break from the strenuous activities and enjoy a somewhat relaxing meal..... well... by army standards.
"Hoggle," a voice called f4rom the side of the tent, "I need to speak with you."
Hoggle's eyes widened as he heard the voice... This can't be happening! He was SO CLOSE to a semi-hot meal and it looked like he would have to miss that now. He sighed and trudged over to where the voice was.
Looking at him, Hoggle gave a somewhat surprised expression when he found Tristan standing there, "SIR!"
Tristan gave a faint smile at the greeting Hoggle gave him but that smile was short lived as he remembered what he came there for. "Hoggle... I need to talk to you in private...."
Hoggle frowned as his stomach protested this activity that didn't involve food but Hoggle reluctantly nodded and complied... following Tristan to the outskirts of camp, far away from the other soldiers.
"I'm sorry I pulled you from your meal," Tristan apologized, "but I assure you there will be plenty of time for that later. You see... I_" Tristan paused as he noticed Hoggle biting his lip, trying not to say something. Tristan rolled his eyes, "what is it?"
Hoggle shook his head which clued in Tristan that it wasn't a very nice remark.
The commanding officer sighed, "Hoggle.... say what you're thinking. Its hard for me to do my job if I'm not aware of the mindset of my troops. Now.....what were you going to say?"
Hoggle gave a defeated look as he reluctantly answered, "I was going to say 'tell that to my stomach 'cous I'se hungry!"
Tristan chuckled but caught himself. Putting a serious face on he got back to the task at hand, "Sorry Hoggle... This is a bit more important than lunch. ... It's a rather delicate matter and I need your help. It will require me transferring you from the army back to the castle."
Hoggle' ears perked up at the mentioning of this, "Wot?"
"I need you to work at the castle."
Hoggle was ecstatic, "That's great!... Wait a minute... wots the catch?"
Tristan smiled, "I need you to track down a person in the castle and keep an eye on the people around her. You'll then tell me everything that goes on while I try to solve her situation."
Hoggle looked confused, "Her?... situation?," he repeated, trying to understand the scenario, "But why me?"
Tristan sighed and leaned closer, not wanting to take the risk of being overheard. "Because I need someone who I can trust and won't blab to Anya what we are doing," he whispered.
"You mean Anya doesn't know of this?," Hoggle asked, "Why would I keep something from her? It's suicide to do something that stupid! I AIN'T D--" The last few words were muffled as Tristan put a hand over Hoggle's mouth.
"Quiet you moron!," Tristan whispered harshly, "If Anya gets wind of this we won't be able to help Sarah!"
Hoggle's eyes widened even more at that, "MMMPPHH!!!" This just caused Tristan to hold his hand over Hoggle's mouth even longer until he was sure Hoggle wouldn't say anything else. When he felt it was safe, he lifted his hand and looked at Hoggle with a look so serious that one could tell the situation he wanted to fix was a rather dangerous one.
"Will you help me Hoggle?"
Hoggle nodded.
**********
"...49 bottles of beer on the wall... 49 bottles of beer.... you take one down and pass it around 48 bottles of beer on the wall. 48 bottles of beer on the wall.... 48 bottles of beer... you take one down and pass it around...47 bottles of beer on the wall..." Cole sang boredly as sat in the middle of the oubliette.
Jareth shook his head as Cole started another verse of that song. "Cole, Stop it."
"...47 bottles of beer..... you take one down and pass it around 46 bottles of beer on the wall...."
"Cole stop it."
"...46 bottles of beer on the wall..."
"Cole..."
"46 bottles of beer..."
"COLEEEE..."
"you take one down and pass it around.."
"IF YOU DON'T STOP I SWEAR I'LL NAIL YOU ON THE WALL WITH THE OTHER 45 BOTTLES!"
Cole stopped singing and looked over in the direction Jareth's voice came from, "FINE, I'll stop.......spoilsport."
Jareth rubbed a temple as he started to understand what would motivate so many people to wish children away..."Cole... have you even considered LOOKING for a way out? There's a door in this oubliette.... USE IT!"
Cole smirked, "You could have mentioned that earlier."
"You wouldn't let me," Jareth countered, "Just started to sing like a bloody lunatic!"
"Well at least I don't dress like one."
Jareth glared at Cole and pointed a finger at him, "Don't .....push.... me...."
"Whatcha gonna do?," Cole asked as he located the weird door thing and moved it against a wall and opened it, "Hmm... dead boy?"
Jareth gritted his ghost teeth. "Just.... a few... more... hours..."
**********
Sarah looked around the room she had been placed in. It looked relatively similar to the room she was in earlier so why did they find it necessary to move her?
She then remembered Tristan. They pretty much ignored him when he tried to make them stop. Were they making sure he didn't know where she was? she groaned. Tristan had been her best chance to get out and help Jareth. Whoever ordered for her to be moved apparently wasn't keen on the idea. And she had an idea who as well...
The one taking Jareth's place.
Ohh... it made perfect sense.! If Jareth came back to life... the throne was his... and new ruler would be out of a job... It was a warped version of job security.
"You seem to have it all figured out," a voice said from behind her.
Sarah jumped slightly and turned immediately around to see a short old looking Dwarf that was looking back at her, a slight grin on his face as he stepped closer to her.
"The name's Doc," he said, raising his hand to shake Sarah's. Seeing her trying to hold back a laugh he frowned. "No I'm not that Doc. I don't know a Snow White, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, Happy, or Grumpy....Well.. I guess Anya could qualify as Grumpy but still.."
He wandered off a bit as he looked at Sarah as if she made him think of something else. He shrugged and got back on track.
"So... you think Anya doesn't want you to help bring Jareth back to life? Yeah.... I guess that would be the LOGICAL explanation but things don't always turn out to be logical in this world.," Doc commented, "The truth is that Anya doesn't know. She never allowed Tristan the chance to tell her."
Sarah gave a confused look at what Doc said but finally spoke up, "Then... why would she have me moved here?"
Doc gave a slight frown and looked away from her, "To be perfectly frank its to help your execution go off without a hitch."
"WHAT?!"
"Well you see the great council has deemed it necessary to execute you for the assassination of a highly favored king.. Anya has no choice but to comply. But knowing Tristan, she wants to make sure he doesn't do something stupid like break you out.... That would just complicate matters."
Sarah sat down in shock, "I'm going to be killed?"
"Well essentially that's the plan.," Doc answered, "It should do your heart good to know that Tristan is trying to help. He's even enlisted the help of your friend Hoggle in an effort to find out where you are. Knowing him, he'd succeed at getting you out so you can help Jareth. Good for you... bad for him and Hoggle."
"How is it bad for them? I'm the one being executed," Sarah answered.
"Well its a funny thing about the laws of the kingdoms... Someone has to be punished for the crime... If not the guilty party......"
"Then the person who helped them gets the punishment?"
"Yes that's the idea," Doc answered, "the way Tristan is doing it will cause him to succeed in breaking you out... but at the cost of his and Hoggle's life."
Sarah shook her head, "I can't let that happen."
Doc nodded, " I understand. Which is why I am offering my assistance. The way Tristan' doing this will work.... but it'll obviously point him out as the scapegoat. Your only two options is to either allow him to break you out and pray that you can resurrect Jareth before Tristan's execution or... Leave Now..... with me.... no traces... nothing that can get Tristan or Hoggle in trouble...."
Sarah frowned as she thought about it. "Well I don't seem to have as much choice in the matter as you think. I can't allow Hoggle and Tristan to get hurt when I can easily avoid that problem."
Doc nodded, "Very well, come with me."
**********
Tristan and Hoggle arrived at the astle quickly which allowed Tristan time to say one more thing to the Dwarf next to him.
"Don't fail me, Hoggle."
With that, Tristan made his way to the throne room to see if Anya had returned there. Perhaps he could convince her not to go through with the order or maybe allow him a bit more time to correct the matter.
As he reached the throne room he was pleased to find Anya in fact had returned to her throne. The Queen however was still apparently pissed off.
"What is it this time Tristan?!," she snapped at the mage, "This better not be about this Sarah matter."
Tristan frowned. This may be harder than he thought...
"I'm sorry Anya but this does concern Sarah," Tristan apologized, "I would like to allow her for some leave."
Anya scowled at Tristan, "You want me to allow one, who is to be executed for the assassination of a respected king, leave? HA! She's got you wrapped around your finger Tristan. Once she's out of reach of the guards she'll just ditch you and according to law, you'd end up taking her place because you'd be responsible for her escape. She stays locked up. Understand?!"
Tristan merely closed his eyes and reopened them after taking a deep breath, "I understand what you are saying Anya. The Council has put their word in and you must comply... take the life of one who MIGHT HAVE taken the life of a king. I also thank you for your concern about my situation by explaining what could happen if she escaped."
Anya looked at Tristan questionably, "Might have?... Tristan.. Jareth's dead.... She killed him. Where the hell did you get MIGHT HAVE from that?!"
Tristan inwardly smiled but maintained a serious look on his face. Ok... Anya was going to listen to his argument after all... perhaps there was hope. "Anya, If Jareth turned up alive... would you still be required to follow through with the execution?"
Anya gave a skeptical look as she answered, "No I wouldn't...the circumstances for which the council came to their decision would be no more. I'd stop the execution and give word of the new situation so the council could adjust their decision."
"So in layman's terms, Sarah wouldn't be labeled as a killer?"
Seeing Anya nod in response to his last question his smile shone through. "Then I have a solution..."
**********
Hoggle wandered down the hallway looking for any indication to where Sarah could have been taken. Perhaps extra guards or an area that was restricted.
No such luck.
Hoggle grumbled as he leaned against a wall. HE had checked the dungeon area, the regular guest rooms , even the meeting halls.... Which left the towers. ALL THOSE STAIRS!! GAH!
Hoggle sighed as he slid to the floor, allowing his legs some time to relax. Pulling out a biscuit, that Tristan had gotten for him to make up for the lost lunch , he bit into it and swallowed, sending the growling stomach a reward for doing without food for so long. As he rested his head against the wall, a faint sound reached his ears.
Hoggle looked around curiously and was disturbed to find no one nearby. That voice.... it sounded like Sarah's... but where?
Hoggle looked around again as he seemed to hear a response to Sarah's question. He wasn't imagining the voices... so where was it coming from?!
Passageways?...
Just the, Hoggle realized he was sitting next to a small gap between two bricks in the wall. Of course! They were in a hidden passage way. Her and the Doc! But why would Sarah want to go to Jareth's tomb?
Shrugging, Hoggle Scrambled to his feet and rushed down the hallway in search of Tristan.
**********
Cole blindly crawled through the dark tunnel he had found with the door. All that guided him was a sliver of light that seemed to be beckoning him. Oh he hoped it lead somewhere good...
Jareth's ghost seemed to disappear as Cole entered this tunnel. No wonder. The guy was a ghost.... he could just appear on the other end. So it meant that only Cole would be getting dirty from this.
As he wondered about what possessed him to volunteer to help Jareth, he realized that the dank earth that was once below him was now wood. The light he was following was much larger now too. It had sort of a rectangular outline to it.
Hearing a board creak, Cole froze as the floor seemed to be giving way.
"Not aga-", Cole said just as the wood gave way and he fell through the quickly forming hole in the space below him.
**********
Hoggle walked toward the mess tent after a hard day of drill. Finally, he would get a break from the strenuous activities and enjoy a somewhat relaxing meal..... well... by army standards.
"Hoggle," a voice called f4rom the side of the tent, "I need to speak with you."
Hoggle's eyes widened as he heard the voice... This can't be happening! He was SO CLOSE to a semi-hot meal and it looked like he would have to miss that now. He sighed and trudged over to where the voice was.
Looking at him, Hoggle gave a somewhat surprised expression when he found Tristan standing there, "SIR!"
Tristan gave a faint smile at the greeting Hoggle gave him but that smile was short lived as he remembered what he came there for. "Hoggle... I need to talk to you in private...."
Hoggle frowned as his stomach protested this activity that didn't involve food but Hoggle reluctantly nodded and complied... following Tristan to the outskirts of camp, far away from the other soldiers.
"I'm sorry I pulled you from your meal," Tristan apologized, "but I assure you there will be plenty of time for that later. You see... I_" Tristan paused as he noticed Hoggle biting his lip, trying not to say something. Tristan rolled his eyes, "what is it?"
Hoggle shook his head which clued in Tristan that it wasn't a very nice remark.
The commanding officer sighed, "Hoggle.... say what you're thinking. Its hard for me to do my job if I'm not aware of the mindset of my troops. Now.....what were you going to say?"
Hoggle gave a defeated look as he reluctantly answered, "I was going to say 'tell that to my stomach 'cous I'se hungry!"
Tristan chuckled but caught himself. Putting a serious face on he got back to the task at hand, "Sorry Hoggle... This is a bit more important than lunch. ... It's a rather delicate matter and I need your help. It will require me transferring you from the army back to the castle."
Hoggle' ears perked up at the mentioning of this, "Wot?"
"I need you to work at the castle."
Hoggle was ecstatic, "That's great!... Wait a minute... wots the catch?"
Tristan smiled, "I need you to track down a person in the castle and keep an eye on the people around her. You'll then tell me everything that goes on while I try to solve her situation."
Hoggle looked confused, "Her?... situation?," he repeated, trying to understand the scenario, "But why me?"
Tristan sighed and leaned closer, not wanting to take the risk of being overheard. "Because I need someone who I can trust and won't blab to Anya what we are doing," he whispered.
"You mean Anya doesn't know of this?," Hoggle asked, "Why would I keep something from her? It's suicide to do something that stupid! I AIN'T D--" The last few words were muffled as Tristan put a hand over Hoggle's mouth.
"Quiet you moron!," Tristan whispered harshly, "If Anya gets wind of this we won't be able to help Sarah!"
Hoggle's eyes widened even more at that, "MMMPPHH!!!" This just caused Tristan to hold his hand over Hoggle's mouth even longer until he was sure Hoggle wouldn't say anything else. When he felt it was safe, he lifted his hand and looked at Hoggle with a look so serious that one could tell the situation he wanted to fix was a rather dangerous one.
"Will you help me Hoggle?"
Hoggle nodded.
**********
"...49 bottles of beer on the wall... 49 bottles of beer.... you take one down and pass it around 48 bottles of beer on the wall. 48 bottles of beer on the wall.... 48 bottles of beer... you take one down and pass it around...47 bottles of beer on the wall..." Cole sang boredly as sat in the middle of the oubliette.
Jareth shook his head as Cole started another verse of that song. "Cole, Stop it."
"...47 bottles of beer..... you take one down and pass it around 46 bottles of beer on the wall...."
"Cole stop it."
"...46 bottles of beer on the wall..."
"Cole..."
"46 bottles of beer..."
"COLEEEE..."
"you take one down and pass it around.."
"IF YOU DON'T STOP I SWEAR I'LL NAIL YOU ON THE WALL WITH THE OTHER 45 BOTTLES!"
Cole stopped singing and looked over in the direction Jareth's voice came from, "FINE, I'll stop.......spoilsport."
Jareth rubbed a temple as he started to understand what would motivate so many people to wish children away..."Cole... have you even considered LOOKING for a way out? There's a door in this oubliette.... USE IT!"
Cole smirked, "You could have mentioned that earlier."
"You wouldn't let me," Jareth countered, "Just started to sing like a bloody lunatic!"
"Well at least I don't dress like one."
Jareth glared at Cole and pointed a finger at him, "Don't .....push.... me...."
"Whatcha gonna do?," Cole asked as he located the weird door thing and moved it against a wall and opened it, "Hmm... dead boy?"
Jareth gritted his ghost teeth. "Just.... a few... more... hours..."
**********
Sarah looked around the room she had been placed in. It looked relatively similar to the room she was in earlier so why did they find it necessary to move her?
She then remembered Tristan. They pretty much ignored him when he tried to make them stop. Were they making sure he didn't know where she was? she groaned. Tristan had been her best chance to get out and help Jareth. Whoever ordered for her to be moved apparently wasn't keen on the idea. And she had an idea who as well...
The one taking Jareth's place.
Ohh... it made perfect sense.! If Jareth came back to life... the throne was his... and new ruler would be out of a job... It was a warped version of job security.
"You seem to have it all figured out," a voice said from behind her.
Sarah jumped slightly and turned immediately around to see a short old looking Dwarf that was looking back at her, a slight grin on his face as he stepped closer to her.
"The name's Doc," he said, raising his hand to shake Sarah's. Seeing her trying to hold back a laugh he frowned. "No I'm not that Doc. I don't know a Snow White, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, Happy, or Grumpy....Well.. I guess Anya could qualify as Grumpy but still.."
He wandered off a bit as he looked at Sarah as if she made him think of something else. He shrugged and got back on track.
"So... you think Anya doesn't want you to help bring Jareth back to life? Yeah.... I guess that would be the LOGICAL explanation but things don't always turn out to be logical in this world.," Doc commented, "The truth is that Anya doesn't know. She never allowed Tristan the chance to tell her."
Sarah gave a confused look at what Doc said but finally spoke up, "Then... why would she have me moved here?"
Doc gave a slight frown and looked away from her, "To be perfectly frank its to help your execution go off without a hitch."
"WHAT?!"
"Well you see the great council has deemed it necessary to execute you for the assassination of a highly favored king.. Anya has no choice but to comply. But knowing Tristan, she wants to make sure he doesn't do something stupid like break you out.... That would just complicate matters."
Sarah sat down in shock, "I'm going to be killed?"
"Well essentially that's the plan.," Doc answered, "It should do your heart good to know that Tristan is trying to help. He's even enlisted the help of your friend Hoggle in an effort to find out where you are. Knowing him, he'd succeed at getting you out so you can help Jareth. Good for you... bad for him and Hoggle."
"How is it bad for them? I'm the one being executed," Sarah answered.
"Well its a funny thing about the laws of the kingdoms... Someone has to be punished for the crime... If not the guilty party......"
"Then the person who helped them gets the punishment?"
"Yes that's the idea," Doc answered, "the way Tristan is doing it will cause him to succeed in breaking you out... but at the cost of his and Hoggle's life."
Sarah shook her head, "I can't let that happen."
Doc nodded, " I understand. Which is why I am offering my assistance. The way Tristan' doing this will work.... but it'll obviously point him out as the scapegoat. Your only two options is to either allow him to break you out and pray that you can resurrect Jareth before Tristan's execution or... Leave Now..... with me.... no traces... nothing that can get Tristan or Hoggle in trouble...."
Sarah frowned as she thought about it. "Well I don't seem to have as much choice in the matter as you think. I can't allow Hoggle and Tristan to get hurt when I can easily avoid that problem."
Doc nodded, "Very well, come with me."
**********
Tristan and Hoggle arrived at the astle quickly which allowed Tristan time to say one more thing to the Dwarf next to him.
"Don't fail me, Hoggle."
With that, Tristan made his way to the throne room to see if Anya had returned there. Perhaps he could convince her not to go through with the order or maybe allow him a bit more time to correct the matter.
As he reached the throne room he was pleased to find Anya in fact had returned to her throne. The Queen however was still apparently pissed off.
"What is it this time Tristan?!," she snapped at the mage, "This better not be about this Sarah matter."
Tristan frowned. This may be harder than he thought...
"I'm sorry Anya but this does concern Sarah," Tristan apologized, "I would like to allow her for some leave."
Anya scowled at Tristan, "You want me to allow one, who is to be executed for the assassination of a respected king, leave? HA! She's got you wrapped around your finger Tristan. Once she's out of reach of the guards she'll just ditch you and according to law, you'd end up taking her place because you'd be responsible for her escape. She stays locked up. Understand?!"
Tristan merely closed his eyes and reopened them after taking a deep breath, "I understand what you are saying Anya. The Council has put their word in and you must comply... take the life of one who MIGHT HAVE taken the life of a king. I also thank you for your concern about my situation by explaining what could happen if she escaped."
Anya looked at Tristan questionably, "Might have?... Tristan.. Jareth's dead.... She killed him. Where the hell did you get MIGHT HAVE from that?!"
Tristan inwardly smiled but maintained a serious look on his face. Ok... Anya was going to listen to his argument after all... perhaps there was hope. "Anya, If Jareth turned up alive... would you still be required to follow through with the execution?"
Anya gave a skeptical look as she answered, "No I wouldn't...the circumstances for which the council came to their decision would be no more. I'd stop the execution and give word of the new situation so the council could adjust their decision."
"So in layman's terms, Sarah wouldn't be labeled as a killer?"
Seeing Anya nod in response to his last question his smile shone through. "Then I have a solution..."
**********
Hoggle wandered down the hallway looking for any indication to where Sarah could have been taken. Perhaps extra guards or an area that was restricted.
No such luck.
Hoggle grumbled as he leaned against a wall. HE had checked the dungeon area, the regular guest rooms , even the meeting halls.... Which left the towers. ALL THOSE STAIRS!! GAH!
Hoggle sighed as he slid to the floor, allowing his legs some time to relax. Pulling out a biscuit, that Tristan had gotten for him to make up for the lost lunch , he bit into it and swallowed, sending the growling stomach a reward for doing without food for so long. As he rested his head against the wall, a faint sound reached his ears.
Hoggle looked around curiously and was disturbed to find no one nearby. That voice.... it sounded like Sarah's... but where?
Hoggle looked around again as he seemed to hear a response to Sarah's question. He wasn't imagining the voices... so where was it coming from?!
Passageways?...
Just the, Hoggle realized he was sitting next to a small gap between two bricks in the wall. Of course! They were in a hidden passage way. Her and the Doc! But why would Sarah want to go to Jareth's tomb?
Shrugging, Hoggle Scrambled to his feet and rushed down the hallway in search of Tristan.
**********
Cole blindly crawled through the dark tunnel he had found with the door. All that guided him was a sliver of light that seemed to be beckoning him. Oh he hoped it lead somewhere good...
Jareth's ghost seemed to disappear as Cole entered this tunnel. No wonder. The guy was a ghost.... he could just appear on the other end. So it meant that only Cole would be getting dirty from this.
As he wondered about what possessed him to volunteer to help Jareth, he realized that the dank earth that was once below him was now wood. The light he was following was much larger now too. It had sort of a rectangular outline to it.
Hearing a board creak, Cole froze as the floor seemed to be giving way.
"Not aga-", Cole said just as the wood gave way and he fell through the quickly forming hole in the space below him.
**********