Scarlet Depths Chapter 18, a labyrinth fanfic

Leont's song is copyright me, and the Monty Python quotes belong to Monty Python (hard to tell, I know). anyways much love! enjoy!

The island was beautiful to say the least. The ocean water was clear, and trees were plentiful. Around the beach there were several palm trees, and as they approached the center the pant life turned into a rainforest. The five beings decided they had to find somewhere to hide, because the dragon would see the pieces of their ship and know exactly where they had gone. The island was the only one for miles around, and was not exactly hard to find.

They decided before long that they needed some sort of shelter, as the Fae and humans were not as durable as the vampire. So Leont was elected to go find a place for them to stay the night, as he could move faster without the other four to slow him down. The two Fae and the two humans stayed on the beach, where it was very open.

Vorian took Jareth aside to talk to him about the vampire. It was dangerous to be here with him, no matter how decent his manners. A hungry vampire was a dangerous one, and Leont wouldn't have a food source if they were stuck here…except his four companions.

Trinity knew the gist of what the men were talking about, and so took the opportunity to move closer to Evelyn.

"Evelyn?" she said nervously, "Can you come with me for a sec?"

"Yeah?" Evelyn was confused. "Why?"

Trinity gave her a meaningful look. "They don't want us going anywhere alone. And I have to go."

Evelyn understood, and they stood up, and headed for the woods.

Jareth noticed the women walking away, and turned towards them. "Where are you two going?"

Trinity bit her lip before replying. With her guy friends at home, she would have no problem speaking out loud where she was going, but here…

"Um, me and Evelyn were just going into the woods for a second…"

"No," Jareth said. "Either Vorian or I should accompany you. There is a vampire on the island."

"I know," the small woman said, turning red, "But I really don't think that…"

"Yes," the goblin king said firmly. "It is necessary."

Trinity scowled at him. She always got annoyed at him when he shifted into his commanding persona. "Look, Jareth…"

He glared at her, annoyed at her for going against him. Didn't she know how dangerous her position was? "Trinity, you will listen to me," he ordered. "I will not allow –"

But Trinity had lost it. "No!" she snapped, "I will not listen! And you will not order me around! I have to pee, and I'm pretty sure neither you nor Vorian want to be around for that! No offense, but I don't think you or Vorian would be that much protection against a vampire anyways, since neither of you have power! So if you will please get off your royal soapbox and sit on your royal butt, me and Evelyn will be right back!" She wheeled around and stomped towards the forest.

Evelyn gave Jareth a reproachful look, and followed her friend. She was a little embarrassed by Trinity's outburst, but was more embarrassed for the men. Both of them had frozen, shocked.

Jareth was the first to move, crossing his arms and huffing, stalking a few paces down the beach. He was fuming, partially to hide his embarrassment.

Vorian cleared his throat, and occupied himself with studying the horizon.

When the women returned, Jareth and Vorian had not moved. Trinity and Evelyn looked at each other awkwardly.

"I guess I should apologize," Trinity said, sighing.

Evelyn smiled. "Probably. He's only trying to keep you safe."

"Yeah…" Trinity sighed again, and walked over to Jareth.

He heard her approach, and felt her arms slide around his waist from behind. She leaned against him, and took a deep breath.

"I'm glad you survived without your powerless fiancé to protect you," he said bitterly.

Trinity stiffed, hurt. "Look, I didn't mean…"

"Oh, I'm sure," Jareth said, not responding to her touch. "Like I could have protected you anyways."

"Now stop that," the woman said, clenching her hands into fists. She withdrew her arms, and he turned to face her. He was hurt when he saw the angriness and pain in her eyes.

"Look," she said, "I was coming over to apologize, but if you're going to be like this…"

Jareth saw he had hurt her, and softened. He uncrossed his arms, and took a step towards her. "I'm sorry," he said, putting his arms around her. "I just…"

"Want to keep me safe," Trinity said, hiding her face in his chest.

Evelyn's face was still flushed, and she kept away from Vorian. She felt like he had been crowding her again, even though she knew he only wanted to keep her safe. Still, she was nervous. She didn't like the idea of Trinity and her being alone on an island with three men, one of who was constantly thirsty for blood. Of course, she didn't like the idea of them not being alone.

The rainforest behind her seemed a whole lot scarier all of a sudden.

It was mid-afternoon when Leont returned and told them of a small clearing under the shelter of the rainforest canopy. It was close to the beach so they could watch for other ships, but they couldn't be seen from above thanks to the leaves. It was quite spacious, he said, and would be ideal shelter for the night. The clearing was about a two miles from where the companions were stationed on the beach.

When Trinity heard this, she groaned.

Jareth looked at her, confused.

"I haven't eaten anything since last night," she suddenly realized. "That's probably why I snapped at you this morning, Jareth. Two miles is a long way, that's all."

The goblin king felt a pang as he remembered his fiancé's low blood sugar, and he frowned. "I could carry you," he offered.

Trinity laughed. "Hopefully it won't come to that. Nah, I'll walk with Evelyn."

"If you're sure…" Jareth trailed off as he helped Trinity stand up, and she swayed on her feet.

She walked to Evelyn and took her place at her friend's side.

"Leont should have found a food source," Jareth muttered to Vorian.

The pirate king had very sharp ears, and heard this comment. "We have plenty of food here!" he said brightly from a few dozen feet away. "Why, there are millions of coconuts, my dear ones!"

"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?" Trinity muttered to Evelyn in a false British accent.

Evelyn giggled.

The men looked at the girls, curiosity in their eyes.

"Nothing," Evelyn said.

The smaller woman wasn't finished, however. When the men had turned around, she continued.

"They couldn't have been carried by a European swallow!" Trinity said in a slightly different tone. Then, she switched again to say, "Well, it could have been an African swallow!"

The older woman finally laughed out loud, and Trinity laughed with her. The men turned and looked again, with several raised eyebrows.

"Monty Python," the smaller woman said cheerfully, "You guys wouldn't understand."

Three pairs of eyes blinked at her for a few seconds, but then Leont turned to lead the way to the clearing.

XxXxX

They were able to make it all the way, but Trinity and Evelyn immediately sat down when they reached the clearing. It was shady and cool under the leaves. There was a fallen log on one side that provided a natural bench, which the women sat on. Trinity stretched her legs out in front of her, very much like a boy. Her bare feet were sore, but she was grateful that she hadn't found any thorns.

Evelyn, too, was barefoot, but was trying to act ladylike. She knew Leont was uncomfortable with seeing her legs through the tear in her dress, and was glad hers hadn't torn off to the knee like Trinity's had. She was quite comfortable with her full-length dress.

The three men stood in the middle of the clearing, discussing survival tactics.

"I say, I think we should go to bed with the sun," Leont said, "A fire would be visible from the air, even with the canopy above us."

"You said that gate would hold him for a couple days!" Vorian said, irritated.

Leont shook his head sadly. "I cannot promise anything. Dragons are beyond my knowledge and experience."

"How long, exactly, are we going to be here?" Jareth wanted to know. "My people need me at home."

"Until someone comes to rescue us," Leont said, "Or until Master Vorian's powers return and he can provide us safe passage."

The water prince didn't like the pressure that put on him, but he said nothing. Light was fading under the trees, and he knew that something would have to be done soon about food.

"First thing's first," Vorian said. "We need food."

"Aye," Leont agreed.

Jareth and Vorian looked at each other nervously.

"I meant you all," Leont said, stumbling over his words.

"Yes," Jareth said, "Well…"

At that moment, three coconuts fell and landed behind the goblin king. He jumped, and whirled. When he saw the three harmless coconuts sitting in the dirt, he blinked.

"Dinner is served," Vorian said, chuckling.

It wasn't hard to get the outer husk off of the coconuts, but getting the inner shell to break was a different story. Jareth and Vorian could have gotten them open easily enough with their powers, but Vorian's hadn't returned yet and Jareth's didn't work outside his kingdom. So the two of them struggled just like any human.

Trinity and Evelyn watched, amused, as the men tried different ways to break the shells without any sort of tool whatsoever. They tried not to laugh when the attempts grew more and more ridiculous.

Leont had gotten his open on the first try, and offered the two halves – neatly split – to the women, who sucked down the coconut milk thirstily. They nibbled on the meat like popcorn as they watched the Fae men struggle.

Finally, Vorian realized Leont had gotten his open neatly, and went up to him for help. Without batting an eye, the vampire coolly flicked the side of the coconut with his middle finger. It held steady in the water prince's hands for a moment, then a crack formed neatly all around the shell. Vorian blinked, and showed the two halved to Jareth. The goblin king also enlisted Leont's help, and soon the two Fae and two humans were well fed, and growing sleepy.

"What about you?" Trinity asked Leont, as she leaned against Jareth in the dark. "Are you going to need anything?"

Leont smiled, and even in the dark they could see circles beginning to form under his eyes. "No. I will be fine without, thank you."

"Oh. Okay," the small girl acknowledged, cuddling sleepily to the goblin king. He held her gently, knowing that she wouldn't want to spend the night in his arms. It wouldn't be good for them right now.

Evelyn leaned against the fallen log, a little ways from the others. Her eyes were beginning to close, but she wanted to wait until the others went to sleep before she did.

"I say," Leont said softly, "I know it's a bit early, but you all need some shut-eye."

"What about you?" Vorian asked suspiciously.

"Vampires don't sleep," Trinity mumbled into Jareth's shirt.

Leont smiled, his purple eyes closing. "She is right," he said.

Trinity gave Jareth one last hug and kiss goodnight before getting up out of his arms and walking over to Evelyn, and plopping herself down by the fallen log. The women huddled together as the temperature dropped slightly, and tried to sleep.

"Someone should sing to us," Trinity muttered, half-jokingly.

Leont was the only one who heard her comment, and obliged.

The dark of night

Consumes and kills

You try to fight

But no one else will

You cannot hide

You cannot fight

You can't confide

With the dark of night

But then I see

Oh, I see a star

Streak across the sky

And there you are

Filled with light

And my life has meaning

Darkness drowns

Despairs and slashes

He wears a crown

Of crystal ashes

I bleed for you

Oh dark of night