Chapter 7: The junkyard
When Ripki came to, she noticed she was no longer pressed into the chest of the king, but against a pillow, which held a familiar scent, one that reminded her of home. As her vision cleared she reached over to her bedside table and placed on her glasses when it hit her. My bedside table! I'm in the labyrinth! Unless… She looked around for signs it may have been a dream and caught sight of Yumiko curled up in the seat by the bed. Rip Van swung her legs over and began to gently shake the sleeping nun, who roused and rubbed her eyes like a small child.
"Oh, hello Rip Van. Do you know I just had the most wonderful dream? We went to the labyrinth and met the goblin king and made friends…" Yumiko trailed off as Rip Van showed her something that made them both realise they weren't dreaming. In the corner of the room, was a small junk lady, munching on some form of food, not paying attention to the two girls, but instead glancing at the collection of books she had in her possession.
"Look, she's eating a cookie!" And Yumiko stomped over, snatched one of the cookies from the junk lady and bit into it, before spitting it out. "It's disgusting! Taste's like old Rubbish!" As the habit slipped of she dropped her stance into battle mode. Yumie looked around the room and was very cat-like in the way she moved. "Something's not right here." She stated before slicing the poor old lady into. She disappeared into a poof of glitter and at that moment the room itself began to shake and mould over. They barely managed to get out of the door before the entire place collapsed and they saw they were still inside the labyrinth.
Yumiko quickly turned to Rip Van and asked, "Quick, what's the time? How long were we out?!" She stated almost frantically, allowing Yumiko to wake up and take control. Rip Van picked up her clock and showed the face to the worried nun; 15 minutes to get to the castle or they wouldn't be able to see the king. They both darted out of the junkyard and headed towards the walls, where the castle gates and a large robot-which seemed to have its axe stuck in the wall-came into view, before Yumiko glanced about and sighed in frustration.
"I wish the gang was here!" She yelled as she rushed towards the gates and arrived just as a poof of glitter shot Ludo running in her direction and scooping her up in his arms.
"LUDO!" She exclaimed happily and clinged to the large, furry beast, who nuzzled into her like a teddy bear. She looked over to see Rip again cuddling Didymus, who this time was smart enough to hug her back and squeeze her equally hard so they both had to let go for air. I didn't think vampires needed air. Yumiko thought and was just about to question her friend when a more important subject matter arose; Ambrosias was yet again missing. Rip Van walked about and Yumiko was now on her feet and about to wonder off when she felt a disturbance near her; or better yet, under her.
"Eeek-Wait…" Yumiko said with a small squeak then confused face, before lifting up her skirts to reveal Ambrosias, snuggled against her legs again.
"You know Ambrosias, maybe Dok should take a look at you. Or better yet, get some training sessions with Captain." Yumiko stated as she let the dog wonder out from between her legs again, back to his awaiting owner. As she glanced at the gates where a large robot stood and thought to herself. If only we could have a battle strategy. We need someone who's been here before but can easily scare away the goblins, unlike Ludo and Didymus, don't want to get them into trouble. As if reading her thoughts, Rip Van cleared her throat to get Yumiko's attention and when she turned, she smirked at the light bulb almost visible above the vampire's head.
"We could call on…you know who." Ripki said, touching her finger to the tip of her nose twice in code that Yumiko immediately smiled and proclaimed, 'of course!'
"I wish Heinkel was here!" Yumiko started, but this time, nothing seemed to happen. Both girls looked around before staring at the gates before them.
"It didn't work!" Rip Van moaned, but was cut short by a voice behind her.
"OM NOM NOM NOM NOM!" yelled Heinkel, enough to make Ripki squeak and bolt to hide behind Yumiko, whom was still trying not to run away screaming. As they both regained their composure they turned towards the female priest, clad in her usual garb, lighting a cigarette casually. She blew out some smoke and looked at them through her dark glasses.
"Never thought I'd be here again." She stated casually, noting Yumiko's shocked face at her remark, but before the nun could ask what she meant, Rip Van leapt forward and threw her arms around the priest happily. She pulled back and began skipping merrily around her.
"You're here! You came! That means you can help us the rest of the way there!" She chimed happily. She stopped for a second and pulled Yumiko in to skip, whilst she grabbed Didymus and began swinging him around like a small child.
As Yumiko skipped almost merrily around her friend and Rip Van joined in Heinkel arched her eyebrow and gave a long, thoughtful puff on her cigarette. "Screw this, I'm going home." She stated, before turning to walk away from the city, only to be stopped by Yumiko clinging like a koala to her leg, whilst Rip Van got on her knees and gave her the 'puppy dog eyes' routine.
"Ah Frick," She mumble and dropped her head, "Ok! You win, I'm coming." They began to walk off, when a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Perhaps ladies I could…urm…join you?" The small voice behind them said and they turned to see Hogshead staring down at his feet.
"Hoggle!" Rip Van exclaimed happily at the little man who had appeared behind them, fiddling with his hat nervously. Rip Van dived at him and clutched at the small man, squealing in his ear for him not to disappear like that. She straightened herself up and instead of sticking to formalities, grabbed his hand and began to stride forward, with Boris ready in her other hands.
"Ahhhhh, Anticipation, anticipation, anticipation. We're ready for war! Vat a tragedy. Vat a comedy." She chimed happily to herself as Yumiko and Heinkel prepared themselves to. They let Ludo push open the doors and they were immediately greeted with drunken banter and the sounds of guns and war.