Sarah ran.

And ran.

And ran.

She didn't know where she was going or what was happening, all she knew was that he scared her. The way he looked at her with large eyes and his teeth barred reminded her of a wolf's teeth.

She was getting out of breath so she slowed down. She realized that her aimless wandering lead her to somewhere dark and dreary.

"Oh boy." She looked up and around. The trees were tall, with leaves covering so much area that it was almost pitch black. It was so dark and creepy, and she couldn't even see how the heck she had gotten here. Where was the path she was on? Did she even take a path?

She looked out into the trees. "Hello? Hoggle? Sir Didymus? Ludo?"

She didn't know why she would think that they would hear her. Of course they wouldn't, she had shut the door on them.

Sarah wrapped her arms around herself, anxiety and fear starting to set in. She had nothing on her but the clothes on her back. What if someone or something attacked her?

Damn her. Jareth had no right to speak to her the way that he did, but if she was smarter, then she should have kept her temper down and not thrown insults at him. She could have stood up to him in a way that wouldn't have made him be so angry.

Now what? Should she go back to the castle? What then? Would Jareth throw her in a dungeon? He didn't seem like he would but it wasn't like she knew him well or at all besides the fact that he got mad pretty often.

"Hoggle?" She called again.

There was a bit of rustling. Her eyes were still adjusting to the darkness.

The trees parted, a creature coming towards her.

Sarah froze in place.

There was a creature in front of her that was the size of an elephant. It resembled a very hairy spider but with a million legs and each leg had a sharp, pointed end as a claw that could skewer her easily.

Its beady, glowing eyes looked down at Sarah with interest. She was frozen in fear, unable to move at such a disturbing creature.

It lowered itself, and she felt a sort of sucking motion at her hair. She realized that it was smelling her. It opened its mouth and she could see saliva coating around two enormous fangs the size of her arms in preparation to devour her.

It got her to snap out of her frozen state.

She ran.

Sarah was not the fastest person, but she was very quick at thinking. She dove under bushes, around trees, anywhere so that she could get away from that monster. She heard it using its claws cutting through the trees to look for her. And it didn't help that she was wearing a dress and impractical shoes either!

Sarah heard a rip from her side. One of the claw/leg things had gotten stuck in her dress and was tearing it!

Sarah tried to yank the dress away but couldn't. She watched in horror as another giant claw came down to strike her.

She covered herself with her arms and closed her eyes, knowing that it was futile, bracing herself to become a monster's meal.

"HALT!"

That was NOT the sound she expected the monster to make.

In fact it sounded like...

...Jareth?

She opened her eyes and saw him in front of her, shielding her from the monster. With wings?

Yes, those were wings. They reminded her of his barn owl wings but larger. He looked like a guardian angel, protecting her from any kind of harm. His wings were glowing, giving him a look of majesty and power.

His wings were spread so widely that she almost couldn't see the monster. In the dark, he alone illuminated the surrounding area. He was shirtless, allowing her to see the muscles on his back from where his wings protruded from.

"I command you, as your king, to leave her alone." Jareth's came in low and deep, as if it was hitting her very soul. "Let her go."

Sarah heard a very high, very sharp hissing sound coming from the monster. It backed up very slightly.

Jareth wasn't buying it. "Leave." He commanded once more.

Faster than Sarah could have comprehended in real time, the monster threw a claw at Sarah. Jareth twisted his body, enveloping his arms around Sarah, pulling her towards him. His wings enveloped them in a sort of protective cocoon.

Then The Goblin King screamed.

Sarah looked up at the agony on his face, twisted with utter horror and terror. Looking down, she felt her stomach turn at seeing the claw pierce through his wings, feathers lost and the sound of bones breaking. The claw reaches far enough to give a nasty scrape on his side.

Jareth, still holding onto Sarah, twisted his whole body and wings. The monster didn't expect such force and yelled in pain as Jareth twisted so hard that the claw detached from it, still stuck in Jareth's wing.

He beat his wings and ascended into the bright sky, the broken claw unceremoniously falling back into the forest. The monster could be seen running away, the leaves of the trees vibrating in the direction of its path.

If Sarah hadn't felt such shock over the situation, she would have been awed at the sight of the golden sun shining upon the flowers and beautiful plant life of the kingdom.

Jareth's breath was slowing. His grip on her was still strong but he was weak and in pain. His wings were trying to beat as hard as they could but were directionless.

Sarah could tell he was also in shock and may not be thinking clearly. "Over there, to your left." She said gently, guiding him. "There's a hilltop."

Jareth's eyes were glazed over but did as she told. He flew down to the hilltop, his feet gently touching the grass. Once Sarah's feet were firmly on the earth, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed on the ground.

Sarah tried to catch him, but she wasn't expecting how heavy he was. For someone as lithe and lean as he was, he sure had more muscle weight than one would have thought. He practically fell on top of her before rolling onto the ground.

His eyes were still closed. He gave a few coughs before curling up in a fetal position, seemingly asleep.

Sarah was utterly confused. She had thought he was going to vaporize her when they were by that peach tree. He not only did not vaporize her, he came to save her, putting himself in harm's way for her sake. He was even delicate with her as he set her down before rolling over in exhaustion.

She pushed his body so that he was laying on his side and not face down, letting him breathe and to keep the weight off of his injured wing, which was still spread out. Sarah already felt sorry for him as anyone would feel for an injured person but knowing that he saved her life and to see such a majestic being in such a state made her heart break.

She put a hand on his shoulder, not quite sure about touching his bare skin but needing to rouse him. "Jareth? Hey, you have to get up."

All she got was a tired and annoyed grunt from him. She took off her cloak and put it around him to keep him warm.

"Please?" She moved his hair from his face so that she could look into his eyes. He bit his bottom lip, a little whimper escaping from his lips.

Sarah instinctively caressed his hair a bit, trying to give him a sense of comfort. His head turned to her automatically, almost as if he was craving for her touch. She smiled a little, remembering how Toby used to do the same thing when she comforted him.

"Jareth, I can't carry you back. You have to get up." She said again, just as gently. "I'll help you get there, okay?"

Jareth's eyes opened just a crack. His eyes darted to her hand in his hair, making his eyebrows furrow a bit.

Sarah quickly removed her hand from his hair, her cheeks reddening. What was she thinking, touching him like that? Maybe he hated to be touched or maybe he just hated her or maybe he thought she was stupid or maybe-

"Sarah?" He croaked out.

Sarah tried to not blush so hard. "Yeah?"

Without another word, he took her hand and grasped it tightly.

Sarah held his hand back, holding it tightly in comfort. His eyes looked very soft and tired as he gazed upon her face. She was about to ask him how he was feeling when she heard some commotions around her.

She looked around, realizing that they were at the gates in front of the castle, goblins giving them weird looks.

Jareth let go of her hand.

Oh.

He was only holding onto her to transport them together. Not because he wanted to actually touch her.

Wait, why did she feel disappointed? It wasn't like she cared for him any more than she would a stranger.

At least that's what she told herself.

She shook her head to clear it. This was not the time for such contemplations. She turned to the goblins. "The King is hurt! I need help to move him inside!"

The goblins bumbled around, a few ran around trying to find something to move him in like a bed. Most of them were confused at the sight of him and his wings.

"He has a wing when he's fae!" One yelled. "Ahh!"

"No, he has two wings!" Another yelled. "Like a chicken!"

"But he doesn't look like a chicken."

"Maybe he's secretly a chicken. Kinda like how he's secretly an owl sometimes!"

"Maybe he STOLE the chicken wings."

"I want a chicken wing!"

"To eat or to fly with?"

"Why not both?"

"I don't think we should eat his wings though."

"Wings aren't even tasty! The best part of the chicken is the thigh!"

"I DON'T LIKE EATING CHICKENS. CHICKENS ARE FRIENDS, NOT FOOD."

Sarah groaned. It was bad enough with humans but even worse with goblins in a time of crisis.

"Sarah!"

Sarah looked in front and saw Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Ambrosias. They gasped at seeing Sarah's clothes all tattered and their eyes bugged at seeing Jareth's wings.

"Are ya hurt?" Hoggle asked her.

"My Lady!" Sir Didymus called out. "I heard thy cry for help! It is my duty as a knight to be at the aid of those who need-"

"Stop talking." Jareth groaned. He shivered a bit, clutching Sarah's cloak closer to his body for warmth.

Sarah had an idea. "Ludo, do you think you can carry him?"

"Me?" Ludo looked unsure about carrying Jareth. Sarah couldn't blame him, Jareth wasn't exactly the nicest person, to say the least.

Hoggle made a face and huffed a few words that sounded like profanity.

"Please, for me." Sarah begged them. "I can't help him alone."

At this, all three friends thought back to when they said "should you need us..."

Well, this if there was a time she needed them, it was now.

Hoggle undid his own cloak and gave it to Jareth, pressing it to his wound. Sir Didymus had some rope to bind it all together.

Ludo lowered himself and carefully put a hand under Jareth's back. Jareth shook in pain but otherwise betrayed nothing in his face. The gentle giant cradled him as carefully as he could.

When they got inside, Ludo set the king down gently on the bed. Sarah thanked her friends, promising to catch up later.

She had a king to help heal.

*gasp* what? Jareth saves Sarah? Why? Well, we will see why he does! I think you can all guess that he's not evil, that this is him being selfless for really the first time ever. I mean he was gentle and kind to the babies he's met but that's not really showing that he would put someone else over his own health. Was this scene okay? I hate writing these scenes because I have no idea how to describe anything lol

I hope you guys liked seeing Sarah's friends, I realized that lately, I haven't included them in my stories. Which is a shame. But they have a bigger influence here! Please let me know what you think of them as well as Jareth and Sarah (and the goblins too, like how's Evie).

And yes, he has wings! My friend Maire Grey (who is on this site and you should definitely check out her stories) inspired me with this idea!

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