Sam and Ludo entered a dark forest with several low hanging branches already beginning to block their way. Light brown trees marked the sides of a path. Gray boulders popped up randomly and the trees seemed to sparkle just slightly.
"Well this is nice?" Sam said as he and Ludo walked a little ways into the forest. "It doesn't seem too bad, right?"
Ludo seemed to disagree since he was making strange noises under his breath. "Ludo scared!"
"Hey, it's all right," Sam said comfortingly and held out his hand. "You can hold my hand until we get through this, okay?" Sam pulled the large creature along all while amusingly thinking that it was funny how such a big creature was so easily frightened. You really couldn't judge a book by its cover.
"See, Ludo," Sam said softly, "nothing to be afraid of." Ludo gently pulled away from Sam, his fright apparently gone. Sam smiled as he continued to walk further into the forest.
Suddenly Sam heard a soft 'oh' behind him and the loud stomps of Ludo disappeared. He whirled around, looking for the yeti.
"Ludo?" Sam asked once he saw that Ludo wasn't behind him. "Ludo? Ludo?" Sam shouted. "Ludo, where are you?"
Meanwhile, Jareth was doing his best not to think of the boy who was running his labyrinth and was trying to focus on taking care of the young child who had been so selfishly wished away. She was actually pretty cute in a helpless way although she did seem to enjoy crying. The goblins weren't that frightening, besides their smell, but the child seemed to think so.
The goblins were actually playing some game of theirs. They ran around the throne room chasing a ball and screaming to each other.
"Get the ball in the-"
"Da da da-"
"You see-" the goblins shouted.
Jareth smiled down at the child he was bouncing on his knee,
"She's actually quite lively, got my eyes." He then directed his thoughts away from how that was possible while the goblins cackled away. Jareth paused, hearing something, a perfectly spherical crystal appeared in his hand and he watched Hoggle grumbling as he moved through the jungle.
"Hoggle! Help!" Sam must've noticed the dwarf gone, or upon being alone, panicked. A panther's smile toyed with Jareth's lips until,
"I'm coming, Sam!" No. This mustn't be allowed. Jareth left Tabatha on his throne and almost teleported onto Hoggle,
"Well, if it isn't you." Jareth purred, although he was seething, "And where are you going?" Hoggle shifted his weight from leg to leg,
"Well, uh, the boy gave me the slip, but I-I hears 'im now. So I was going to find 'im and bring 'im back to the beginning... like-like you told me to..." The dwarf trailed off. Leaving Jareth a moment to tame the unusual feeling of jealousy that had boiled up when he saw Hoggle going to the rescue. He gave a mirthless smile,
"I see. You understand, I thought, for a moment, that you were running to help him." Which you were... "but oh no, not after my warnings, that would be stupid." Hoggle looked increasingly more uncomfortable,
"You bet it would! Me? Help him? After your warnings?" He laughed nervously, and Jareth found it harder to keep his lightly amused smile in place of a snarl. He's mine, Hogwart. Mine. He almost jumped as that thought crossed his mind, and then decided to ignore it, like he was trying to ignore the jealousy. Of Hoggle, of all people.
Jareth glared slightly at Hoggle when he suddenly noticed something different about the dwarf and bent down slightly to get a closer look. As he thought, the porch of trinkets that Hoggle usually wore was missing and he wondered if the missing jewels had something to do with the dwarf's sudden act of bravery. Yes, that must be it. But if it was anything else, then poor Hogwarts would definitely pay for ever thinking that such a lovely creature as Sam could ever love a beast such as him.
"Oh dear, poor Hoghead," Jareth said, flashing a quick smile, and thinking that the dwarf was anything but poor.
"Hoggle," Hoggle corrected though the king ignored him.
"I've just noticed that your lovely jewels are missing." Hoggle gave a start at the news and looked down at his side as if he couldn't believe it but as he looked his king in the eyes again, the memory had clearly been remembered.
"Uh, oh, yes!" Hoggle stuttered, "So they are. My lovely jewels are missing." Jareth cocked his head to the side slightly. Considering how possessive he had seemed of the jewels, the dwarf didn't seem very worried about the missing items. So that meant that he likely knew where they were and there was only one person that could get away with such a thing. His dear, precious Sam had stolen the dwarf's jewels. The thought nearly made him cackle with joy. Oh that naughty boy.
"Ludo!" Sam yelled and Jareth looked up slightly. Who was he calling for and why was it not him? Oh well, soon enough that boy would be screaming his name if Jareth got his way. The king stood abruptly, growing more and more troubled by his thoughts. They weren't very fitting of a king.
"I'd better find 'im!" Hoggle said, drawing Jareth's attention back to him. "But first, I'm off to go take the little man back to the beginning of the labyrinth."
A plan began to form in Jareth's mind and he smiled. Oh yes, that was an excellent plan to get Sam to fall for him. That foolish boy didn't know who he was messing with and Jareth would make sure that he would never forget just who the Goblin King was because he was about to become his whole world.
"Wait!" Jareth commanded the retreating dwarf. "I've got a much better plan." He froze and waited as Jareth quickly summoned a ripe peach into his hand. He rolled it around and was satisfied with the spell. He tossed it to Hoggle who caught it with a surprised look. "Give him that."
"What is it?" Hoggle asked, staring down at the fruit.
"It's a present," Jareth replied. Oh yes, it would be a present of both of them.
"It won't hurt him, right?" Hoggle asked and the king felt rage well up inside of him. How dare this little cockroach question if he would ever hurt that darling boy? Why would he ever dream of harming such a beautiful creature when he could simply have him by his side?
"Now, why the concern?" Hoggle continued to shift his weight back and forth,
"I won't hurt him." It was almost physically taxing for Jareth to keep the word 'duh' from leaving his mind, it was almost painfully obvious,
"Come, Hogbrain! I'm surprised at you! Losing your head over a boy." Even one as lovely.
"I ain't losing my head!" Hoggles voice was slightly more shrill as he got defensive, which stirred Jareth's mixed rage and jealousy,
"You don't think a young boy could like a repulsive little scab like you. Do you?" Do I? Jareth paused and half ignored Hoggle as he stammered,
"Well, he said we was-"
"What, friends?"
"Ahh, it don't matter." Jareth refused to allow himself to wonder how much it did matter. These thoughts were far from his aloof self, he wasn't sure how much he liked them in hindsight. It was hard for the king to admit how much he liked them in the moment.
"You'll give that to him, Hoggle. Or I'll tip you headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench." Jareth could almost see Hoggle give in when he said,
"Yes. Right." And started to leave. A thought crossed Jareth's mind and he spoke before he could filter the jealousy from the phrase.
"And, Hoggle, if he ever kisses you, I'll turn you into a prince." The dwarf's eyes widened in shock,
"You- you will."
"Prince of the land of stench!" Mirthless laughter came right on its heels as Hoggle's surprise and hope dissolved from his face and he hurried away.
Meanwhile Sam was wandering around the forest, looking everywhere for his large and furry friend. He called his name a few more times, hoping that he would somehow hear. He just didn't understand what could have happened. How did Ludo just suddenly disappear on him? Had Jareth done it? But why would he do something like that? He couldn't be that cruel, right?
"God damn it, Jareth; you just love messing with me," Sam mumbled as he trudged into a clearing. He looked around and spotted a circle of rocks in the center. He slowly approached, trying to figure out its purpose but the only thing that came to mind was the rocks were used to contain a campfire.
A loud snap sounded behind the boy, causing him to whirl around. He didn't see anyone at first as he peered into the dark forest then he heard a quick tap, tap from behind him. He turned on his heel again, bright eyes furiously searching for who or what had made the sound.
"What's going on?" he whispered, not fully meaning for the words to slip from his lips.
A loud yowl suddenly split the air along with loud laughter. Sam scanned the area surrounding him again before several red creatures leapt out of the woods at him. He stumbled back. "What do you want?" he demanded. Then he realized that perhaps that was a silly question as it should really be the other way around.
"Yahoo!" one replied as another seemed to hear his question. It gave him a large grin.
"We're out to have a good time!" it replied as it began to dance. Sam stared at the strange creatures, taking in their red skin. They sort of looked shaved, similar to a poodle's haircut. Orange, red and white fur covered their heads, chests, hips and part of their thighs, along with their ankles. Their stomachs and legs were pink skin. They had human like hands and feet but long claws. They also had long ears. Some of the faces were long and had an animal like snout but one had a more human like face with a large nose. The four creatures just shook their hips, surrounding Sam.
"That's right!" another creature replied to the first.
One of the creatures dragged its foot along the ground and tossed something into the circle of rocks, creating a campfire.
The others yeah and cheered and then they burst into song.
"I don't have no problems!" one sang and the others joined in and chorused, "no problems."
"Ain't got no suitcase!"
"No suitcase!"
Sam began to back away from both the strange creatures and the fire. He glanced about, trying to keep all of them in his sight as they danced around and hung off of the trees that surrounded them.
"Ain't go no clothes to worry about, ain't got no real estate or jewelry or gold to hang me up," the creature sang. Sam frowned. Why were these things singing about such normal things? Was this world not so different from his own or did they just know about real estates and suitcases for some reason?
"I just throw in my hand," the leader sang as he removed his hand and then tossed it into the fire.
"Throw in his hand!" the others sang. Sam quickly backed away, wondering just what insane creatures he had run into. Give him the goblins any day, they were much better than these things.
"With the chilliest bunch in the land," the leader sang again and then pointed to its hand which had somehow regrown even though Sam had seen him remove it and burn it. What were these things and how did they have instant regeneration?
"They don't look much," the others sang.
"But they're sure chilly chilly. They're positively glow glow, huh!"
"Chilly down with the wild gang! Think small with the wild gang! Bad hep with the wild gang!" they sang and danced around Sam. Meanwhile, Sam was beginning to panic a little and was seriously hoping that he could somehow escape but they had him completely surrounded and he still wasn't sure just what they wanted. A dance partner? That he could do but what if he ended up offending them or something?
"Don't lose your head!' one shouted and Sam wondered if their heads were another thing that they could lose.
"When your thing gets wild… chilly down, chilly down with the wild gang!" They got down like they were going to do a pushup before springing up to dance again.
"Hey, I'm a wild child!" one of them called.
"Walk tall with the wild gang!" they all shimmied along to their song.
"Whoo! Walk tall!" a very tall one of the creatures yelled, drawing himself up to be even taller.
"Good times, bad food!" they sang, still dancing.
"Bleh! Blud blud blud blud!" the creature with the most round and fairly human like face stuck his tongue out and shook his head back and forth. His tongue was between his fingers to create the noise and Sam just looked on, slightly horrified by what he was seeing but he wasn't sure why. The creatures were just so weird and they seemed like they could be out of a nightmare.
"When your thing gets wild chilly down, chilly down!" Sam began to wonder if there was a little bit more meaning behind this song but didn't think too much about it. He just wanted to get out of there.
Suddenly the main singer poked out his eyes with two of his fingers. Sam felt sick as he backed away. Well it was clear that these guys were missing some nerves because it didn't ever look like that hurt. How did these things function?
"Yeah!"
"Roll 'em!" the creatures cheered. The one with the missing eyes shook his eyes and then tossed them across the ground.
"Snake eyes!" they cheered as the eyes rolled to a stop and glowed red. Sam wasn't sure if the red was from the fire or as a warning to leave before things got any worse. He was going to take it as the latter if only to get out of there.
He backed away as the creatures laughed and the one with the missing eyes scooped them up and tossed them into the air. Sam wondered what he was doing when he opened his mouth and caught them like grapes. With an exaggerated gulp, he swallowed the eyes then opened his actual ones to reveal that the eyeballs had returned to his head.
"All right!"
"Whoo!" they cheered. One took its head off and began to toss it around. One bounced it like a basketball until the head got sick of it and bit the arm of the one bouncing it. The head was tossed away to another two, one of whom removed its leg and used it as a golf club to the hit the head.
"Fore!" he shouted as the head went flying back its original owner.
"So when things get too rough," the one whose head had just been returned sang.
"Your skin is dragging on the ground," the one with the deep voice sang as it dragged one its friends along on the ground.
"And even down looks up," another sang.
"Down looks up!" the others chimed. Two of them hung down from the trees, slightly trapping Sam for a few seconds as he stared at the two of them. He was curious about these creatures but also scared of them.
"Bad luck!" the one with the deep voice said. Sam couldn't help but wonder if that was actually part of the song or if the creature was saying it was bad luck that Sam had been caught sneaking away. He didn't get an answer as they laughed before breaking into song each again.
"We can show you a good time!" one sang as another rolled by, using its head like a wheel. Sam blinked and wondered if he had been drugged for the first time. It seemed fairly likely considering what he was seeing right now. The only question was when he had been drugged and who had done it. He hoped it wasn't Jareth. It would definitely take away his appeal if Sam found out he was into drugging people.
"Show you a good time!" the others sang.
"And we don't change nothing'," one sang. That didn't sound dirty at all…
"Nothing' at all!"
"Just strut your nasty stuff, wiggle in the middle, yeah! Get the town talking, by god," one sang as they others began their chorus.
"Chilly down with the wild gang!" One ran by with its limbs all in disarray. It looked a little bit like a dog or something but much more scary.
"Think small!" one said as it also ran by not looking like its normal self. It looks more like an ostrich than anything else. Suddenly it fell forward and two of the creatures sprang apart.
"Think small with the wild gang!"
"Bad help!"
"Bad hep, happy wild gang!"
"Hey, listen up!" one called as one stomped its foot so hard, its leg came flying up and hopped away.
"When your thing gets wild, chilly down, chilly down with the wild gang!"
One suddenly came up behind Sam as he began to sneak away and grabbed his head.
"Shake your pretty little head!" it commanded.
"Tap your pretty little feet," another said as they surrounded him. The one holding his head began to yank and Sam let out a yell of pain. He began to shake his torso, trying to get him off as he grabbed the creature's hands and began to pull them away from his head.
"Good times, bad food!" they sang.
"Come on, come on!" one said.
"Hey!" the one on Sam's back said as he fell off. "His head don't come off!"
"Of course it doesn't!" Sam yelled as he backed away, breaking the circle the kept him from running.
"Hey mister, where you go with a head like that?" one of them asked. Sam gave him a confused look before sprinting off in the other direction and through the twisting, dark forest. He so was not in the mood to deal with anymore of that craziness. He was already crazy for not trying to get away sooner but they had just been too weird to turn away from. The only redeeming factor was in the fact it wasn't a hallucination. His neck really hurt.
"Hoggle!" Sam screamed as he ran. He was hoping for some kind of help in order to get out of this place."Hoggle! Ludo!" He continued to yell for his friends but no one appeared magically in front of him so he just continued to run in the hopes of getting out of this place or at least escaping the creatures that were chasing him. Soon he couldn't hear the strange beings following him and he slowed his pace to a light jog, and eventually a walk. Sam sighed and rubbed his neck, leaning against a massive stone wall that was almost like the first he encountered. It spread its arms almost infinitely, but they were adorned with tall dark vines.
"Hey, you can look like us!" Sam's head swiveled to the source of the shout. The birdlike creatures were dancing toward him, apparently having caught up to him.
"Get a saw!" Sam moaned and started to move down the wall, looking for vines that stretched all the way to the top, with no avail. They got closer, playing volleyball with their heads. Sam pressed himself against the wall, not entirely sure what to do, until a branch poked him sharply on the shoulder,
"Hoggle!"
"Come on!" Sam grabbed the gnarled branch and began his ascent. However, he only got part of the way up when one of the creatures lunged at him and accidentally pulled him off of the branch. Sam let out a scream as he fell down, the creature on his back screaming and apologizing as they both neared the ground.
"Jareth!" Sam screamed, shutting his eyes and waiting for the pain of the fall. But it never came.
Sam slowly opened his eyes, and was met by a mismatched gaze staring down at him. He heard the creatures that had been chasing him running away with whispers about the fact that the king was there. Sam just kept staring at the eyes of his savior, his heart beating so quickly that he was thought it must be approaching the speed of light.
"T-Thank you," Sam whispered as he was slowly lowered to the ground. He and Jareth held each other's gazes for another few moments before the king summoned one of his glass orb and disappeared with a flash. It was only after the man had left that Sam felt like he could breathe normally and his adrenaline began to die down.
"Sam!" a voice called down from the high wall that Sam had been attempting to climb. He looked up to see Hoggle was again looking down on him and he waved to his friend. The branch was lowered once again and Sam began to scale the wall once again, but he felt as if he was floating.
Jareth had saved him. The king had saved him. The thought brought a smile to his face but he was quick to reprimand himself. This was the man that had stolen his little sister, although at his own command, and had thrown him into this mess where he was sure that he was going to be home late and have to explain to his parents where he and Tabatha had gone which he most certainly wasn't looking forward to. Honestly, what had he even been thinking considering the fact that he had 13 hours to find his sister. 13! His parent were supposed to be home by midnight.
Finally Sam managed to reach the top of the wall and looked out at the forest that he had just passed through.
"Is yous alright, Sam?" Hoggle asked and Sam looked down at the dwarf who was gazing up at him with worry clear in his gaze.
Sam shot him a hopefully reassuring smile and nodded. "Yeah, thanks for coming to save me."
"Well I didn't really save yous," Hoggle mumbled and Sam bent down so they were at eye level and gave the dwarf an even bigger smile.
"Well I'm standing on top of this wall because of you, right?"
"Yous also almost fell cause of me."
Sam rolled his eyes as Hoggle shifted from side to side.
"It was my own fault along with that creature's. If you hadn't been here they would have caught me sooner."
Hoggle still didn't look convinced and Sam sighed before grabbing the dwarf and pulling him into a hug and he leaned down to give the dwaf a friendly kiss on the head but immediately Hoggle began to freak out and tried to wiggle out of his grasp.
"No! No! No!" Hoggle yelled as Sam grabbed hold of him yet again.
"Why? It's just a kiss," Sam said although he didn't try to kiss the dwarf again.
Jareth, who was watching Sam in one of his crystals, nearly summoned a storm with the roiling emotions that came with Sam, that beautiful, determined creature whom he had just saved hug Hoggle. And try to kiss the dwarf no less! Jareth was simply glad his threats had gone through Hoggle's cowardly little head. But... Sam had tried to kiss him. Hugged him. What could it mean? Was Hoggle actually a threat?
"It's just a kiss" Jareth's train of thought was derailed at how casual Sam was, it was almost painful. The Goblin King paused, this wasn't a sensation he was used to. He didn't want to think of the emotion that had welled up behind his deep jealousy. As king he had always had everything he wanted, what was this? Jareth stood from his throne, ignoring the goblins that scattered from the way of his rapid pace, he stared out the window, out at his labyrinth. Just a kiss. Without thinking, he waved his hand, sending Hoggle and his precious Sam to the Bog of Eternal Stench. After, Jareth leaned against the window pane and tried to come to terms with the alien, hopeless, undeniable longing.
Meanwhile, Sam and Hoggle had just started to look for a way down the other side of the wall when the ground gave way beneath them and they were sent tumbling down a dark tunnel. Sam let out a scream as he traveled down through the darkness.
He landed with a thump on a narrow pathway, in the worst possible place he could imagine. Hoggle had not been exaggerating when he said the bog of eternal stench was horrible. Sam could almost taste the noxious fumes clawing at the back of his throat. He gagged as every repulsive odor fought for attention, in an oozing sludge of rotting fish, decaying flesh, sour milk, spoiled eggs, melting tar, and every gut wrenching smell to ever curse the planet.
Sam's first instinct was to hold his nose, but then it seemed like he was tasting the toxic tendrils of smell. Nothing seemed to help but he was unable to dwell on the smell as Hoggle was dangling above the bubbling swamp by a narrow slice of stone.
"What's that smell," Sam asked as he grabbed Hoggle and dragged him him onto the narrow pathway.
"It's the Bog of Eternal Stench," Hoggle wailed as he clung to the wall.
"It's disgusting," Sam whispered as he and Hoggle began to edge along. Sam wrinkled his nose as the smell seemed to get worse by the second. It now smelled like a middle boys' locker room, a dog's puke after it had eaten its poop, and a dressing room after a dance recital. It also smelled slightly like old blood.
"Well you really got his attention," Hoggle mumbled. That peaked Sam's attention.
"Whose attention?" Sam asked and then screamed as the rocks nearly gave way beneath them. Somehow they managed to crawl across the opening to a now safe part of the ledge.
"Jareth's! Why did you have to go and say that? 'It's just a kiss!'" Hoggle mocked.
"Kisses aren't that important. It's a sign of love or friendship!" Sam halfheartedly defended himself. He was mainly focused on the fact that Jareth had reacted after he had nearly kissed Hoggle. Why did the King care? Unless… he cared about what Sam was doing?
The idea sent a thrill through Sam but he immediately began to try to calm himself down. He shouldn't get ahead of himself but why else would Jareth do such a thing? Hoggle was speaking, but Sam found himself not paying attention. He was too busy trying to control his heartbeat, which seemed to be twice as fast as it should be.
"...And to give you,"
"Hm?" Sam finally started listening, right when Hoggle was interrupted by a familiar roar. The roar seemed to shake the rocks that they were but Sam managed to maintain his balance despite the rumbling beneath his feet.
"Smell!" He turned in the direction that Ludo's rumbling voice had come from, and when he looked in the direction of Hoggle, the dwarf had disappeared. Sam rolled his eyes as he called, experimentally,
"Hoggle?" Ludo approached him, and Sam gestured for the beast to follow him toward the somewhat muffled shouting.
"Get off me!" Sam saw Hoggle trying to shake off what looked like a squirrel-fox hybrid, it was snarling something about not being allowed to cross the bridge, but then Hoggle flew backward and the thing, whatever it was, disappeared.
"Come on, Ludo," Sam said as he approached Hoggle and helped him up. Hoggle was mumbling something under his breath but he stopped when he saw Ludo standing behind Sam.
Hoggle let out a yell and stumbled backwards. "Sam!" Hoggle stuttered and before he could say anything else, Sam cut him off.
"This is Ludo. He's a friend of mine. Ludo, this is Hoggle," Sam introduced. Hoggle continued to stare at Ludo in horror but slowly nodded.
"Smell," Ludo whined again.
"You're right. Let's get out of here," Sam said.
"Well there's a bridge," Hoggle said and pointed toward it.
The group slowly approached the bridge which was just a plank of wood covering a large span of swamp water. There wasn't really a rail although there were a few branches that seemed to be attempting to replicate such a thing and it seemed a little dangerous to cross.
"Hey Hoggle, what would happen if we fell into the bog?" Sam asked as they stood before the bridge.
"You step in this stuff and you'll stink forever," Hoggle replied, staring in horror at the bubbling bog.
"Well that's just great," Sam muttered. "Well, I guess we should get going." He walked forever and was about to climb onto the bridge when a voice called out.
"Stop! Stop, I say!" the voice called and a small fox appeared. Sam stared at it in curiosity. It was dressed in a fancy suit with a feathered hat. He was carrying some sort of staff and he looked a little like a noble man. Had this been the creature that Hoggle had been fighting just a few minutes earlier?
Hoggle glared at the fox. "Yous need to let us cross."
"No one shall cross the bridge without my permission!" the fox declared. He brandished his small rapier and bared his teeth. Sam opened his mouth, then closed it again, thinking. Unfortunately, Ludo growled
"Smell!" And swung his his arms in the general direction of the fox,
"Smell? Of what speaketh thou?" He drew in a long breath through his nose, Sam almost stood open mouthed in amazement, "The air is sweet, and fragrant." What? He must've adapted? This made some semblance of sense. Some semblance but he didn't understand how you could adapt to the changing smell. Was it a cycle?
"The smell," Sam said, gesturing around at the bog.
"I smell nothing," the fox said and drew himself up. "I live by my sense of smell."
Sam nodded slowly and began to edge forward, trying to get onto the bridge but was stopped by the fox once again. "None may pass without my permission!"
A sudden thought hit Sam and he smiled. Well, if all they needed to pass was this fox's permission then surely all they had to do was ask for it, right? Before Sam could do so however, Hoggle shoved past the fox and ran onto the bridge. Sam gasped as the dwarf ran toward the narrow piece of wood that bound the two sides of the bog. It didn't look safe and the thought of the smell forever being attached to someone was honestly horrifying.
The fox whirled around as Hoggle reached the edge of the bridge and slowly began to cross. "Hold! I don't want to hurt you!" the small creature shouted and turned to follow the dwarf but Ludo stepped forward and swiped at the fox, grabbing the staff that the fox waved in the air.
"Hoggle, what are you doing?" Sam shouted as the dwarf was nearly halfway across the wooden plank already and didn't seem to care that his two friends were left to deal with the fox by themselves. It also hadn't occurred to anyone else yet that even if they did manage to get past the gatekeeper, or bridgekeeper, that Ludo probably wouldn't be able to cross. The bridge was too thin and looked too unstable for the large yeti to cross safely without falling into the bog. The bridge shook when Hoggle ran across it and he was by far the lightest of them all. The thin railings that surrounded the bridge weren't going to be much use if the bridge fell. Honestly, was anyone thinking when they had created this place?
For the moment, Sam seemed to be the only one who was thinking at all. Ludo had stolen the fox's staff, and it was snarling as it yanked its weapon free, the flamboyant yellow feather that adorned its hat shaking as it freed the staff. It whacked Ludo's knee, and when Ludo bent to attack him, the fox scurried onto his back,
"I can conquer this mountain!" Ludo reeled as the fox started hitting him on the head, Sam started forward, thinking he could help, but then he paused. Even if Ludo did win, they still had the problem of crossing the tiny bridge.
Ludo growled. He was blinking rapidly as the fox continued to hit the poor beast over the head and suddenly swung his head forward, causing his attacker to grab ahold of two long locks of hair. The fox swung forward onto Ludo's face and hung there for a few seconds.
Ludo moved his hand close, probably to grab the fox and remove him but his attacker wasn't finished and bit the yeti's finger as it moved closer. Ludo cried out in pain and Sam moved forward to help, unable to stand being such a kind creature in pain, especially over a misunderstanding.
Fortunately, it seemed Ludo had the situation under control and pulled the fox away, though it still clung onto the finger. With a mighty swing, Ludo threw the fox into some grass, a good ten feet away from them. Sam rushed forward to check on Ludo as the yeti brought his hand up to his face to see if he was bleeding. Sam had barely taken two steps before the fox reappeared.
Sam thought that might be the end of it but the fox let out a battle cry and began to whack Ludo's leg again. The yeti stared down at the fox for a few seconds before looking around, apparently trying to find something. Once again, Sam stood back, reminding himself that Ludo would be fine and that the fox surely couldn't do any major damage to the kind but large creature.
Ludo found what he was looking for and picked up a large, broken tree branch from the ground. He began to swing, trying to clobber the fox into the ground. However, the smaller creature had the advantage of speed and continued to dodge each of Ludo's swings. The fox did seem to be enjoying himself, now laughing and taunting Ludo. "Haha! Thou must do better than that!"
The two continued to try to fight for another few moments. Soon the fox retreated into a small tunnel in a tree and Ludo smashed the opening. Sam was actually worried for a few seconds that Ludo may have hurt his attacker but a few seconds later, the fox's head was popping out of a hole in the tree truck with a kind smile on his face.
"Enough!" the bridgekeeper declared. "Never have I met my match in battle, yet this noble knight has fought me to a standstill."
Sam took this chance to approach his friend and finally check on him. "Are you alright, Ludo?" he asked, grabbing the yeti's hand to examine for any damage. To his relief, it seemed that the fox's teeth hadn't broken any skin and his hand was fine.
"Smell," Ludo replied and Sam nodded. He was glad that his friend was alright despite their present circumstances.
"I, Sir Didymus, yield to thee," the bridgekeeper continued, almost indifferent to the brief interruption. "Come! Let us be brothers henceforth, and fight for the right as one!" Now that the newly introduced Sir Didymus was no longer attacking his friend, Sam thought him rather amusing, and actually good at heart. They had, after all, only quarreled due to his "sacred vow."
Ludo carefully pulled Sir Didymus out from the tree in which he sat in. Once the fox was safely back on the ground, the knight thanked the yeti with a foxy grin.
"Ludo get brother!" the yeti rumbled, also smiling.
"Well met, Sir Ludo," Sir Didymus replied. Sam smiled at the two, glad that they were getting along so well. Then another thought struck Sam.
"Sir Didymus," Sam said and the fox turned to face him.
"Yes, dear boy?" the fox asked.
"Would you be willing to teach me how to fence?"