Nope, this story isn't over quite yet and I haven't given up and I haven't forgotten you all. I was just preoccupied by the fact that I didn't like my initial draft for this chapter well enough to actually upload it. I was in a very sad state of mind and, as a result, the chapter was very sad as well. Believe me, you would not have been happy with that one.

But here's chapter seventeen, anyways. Hope you're happy with this.

Chapter 17

Sarah sat in a stone hut – large in comparison to most of the others situated throughout the gorge, but small when one took into account the occupants within it. An eight-foot-tall ginger beast, a human girl, and a dwarf took up most of the room, although there was also a six-year-old boy asleep in a far corner, next to a furry white and grey sheepdog and an exhausted Changeling girl, who leaned against the wall rather than lay down as if she thought it was her duty to take up as little room as she possibly could. The gentlemanly fox-guard Sir Didymus sat patiently on a pillow on the floor, having given up his chair to Sarah in a customary act of chivalry.

"Sir Didymus, I'm fine if you want your chair back," Sarah said. "Really – a pillow would be just-"

"I would not – nay! Could not dream of such a thing, my lady!" the vulpine knight cut in sharply, waving a paw in the air and lolling his head about enthusiastically.

The truth was, the chair that Sarah had been given to sit on was a tiny thing that looked like it'd been whittled from twigs and pieced together with dried grass, and Sarah was afraid that, any moment now, the thing would give way and send her crashing to the floor. She nodded, smiled weakly and sipped her tea from a chipped off-white cup, cringing at the bitter taste for a moment before setting the cup and saucer on the dirt-packed floor next to her.

"It's nice seeing you two again," Sarah said wistfully for the third time that night. "Really. I… I can't believe we actually found you. It's so…"

Hoggle rolled his eyes and groaned, "Aw, yer not gonna start on that cryin' again, are ya? I really couldn' stan' another bout o' that nonsense."

Sarah shot him a look before turning back to Ludo and Didymus, leaning forward carefully to rest her elbows on her knees. "You never explained how you got here, guys. What happened?"

Didymus tilted his head at an odd angle; his eyes stopped their usual mirth-fueled glimmer and were instead replaced by the sad sort of remembrance of someone shifting into their memories. It was similar to the look the Hoggle had when Sarah first visited him in the castle jail, and for the first time Sarah really noticed how much he'd changed in the long five years since she'd seen him. His muzzle was covered with grey hairs and his reddish-orange coat was also sprinkled with them, his overall look seemed more mature and his nature, though still quite loud and excitable, also seemed to have matured.

"After you left we attempted to leave the Labyrinth altogether, but when we reached what should have been the Forest…"

"Nothing," growled Ludo helpfully, and Didymus nodded.

"Yes, nothing… But there was really nothing left for us to do. We could still leave, of course, but then where would we go? I'd lived in the Labyrinth my entire life, and Brother Ludo here as well… This was all we knew…"

Ludo nodded his burly head, "Ludo home. Stay."

"So we decided to make the best of what we had. Ludo used his rapport with the rocks to our advantage and we spent nearly a year creating a community here."

"Ludo speak with rock friends. Asks them for help. They help, and we make home."

"A rather good one, too, if I may say so myself."

Smiling, Sarah patted Ludo's furry arm. "I'm happy you guys are alright… I don't know what I'd do if… if…"

"Oh, no," grumbled Hoggle from the corner. "Not this again."

She couldn't help it. Sarah burst into hysterical laughter punctuated by sniffles and occasional tears. Seeing her friends again made her so unbelievably happy that she couldn't express her feelings in actual words. Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus seemed to understand, however, because each of them showed their appreciation for her in their own ways. Ludo affectionately patted Sarah's head, Didymus smiled his canine smile, and Hoggle tried his best to show as little emotion as he possibly could; only allowing the slightest glimmer of happiness leak through his façade.

Outside, through the small, round window next to the hut's door, Sarah saw that the sky was getting brighter. It didn't seem like that much time should have passed since she'd arrived in the Gorge Village. It'd flown by so quickly with tea and food, stories and explanations and friendly reunions, but now Sarah could feel the exhaustion that came from carrying squirming six-year-olds down precarious cliffs, traveling and walking and worrying. Sarah felt that, maybe, the worrying was what took its toll on her the most.

Despite her comfort within the cabin, despite the pallet that Ludo had prepared for her next to Toby and despite her desire to just fall into it and sleep for years, Sarah was still well aware that Jareth was watching her. She knew that he could especially reach her through her dreams and that thought made sleep seem like a dangerous journey. If she slept, and he got to her, what would he do? Would it help him find her? How close was he, exactly?

And, especially, how long before they'd have to start running from him again?

They'd be so much safer if they'd just keep going, if they'd just pack up then and there and start again, but though Sarah tried to move herself, tried to get up with the intention of waking Thilly and Toby, she found that she couldn't move. Her eyes were so heavy and her legs felt like lead or, in contrast, like malleable rubber. She could feel her heartbeat, could see the brightly lit, congenial faces of her friends, and then nothing.

Hoggle looked at Sir Didymus, who looked at Ludo, who shrugged and sighed in his heavy, slow way before hefting his bulk from off the floor of the hut and leaning over the still form of Sarah Williams.

"Sarah?" Ludo questioned, his voice little more than a low, grumbling growl.

When she didn't move, he prodded her with a fingertip and moved with unnatural quickness to catch her as she leaned dangerously to the left. With another low growl, he lifted her from the little chair she was sitting on and carried her to her section of pillows next to her brother, tucking a blanket around her with a gentleness that should have been impossible for such a massive creature.

"How long do you think it will last, hm?" Sir Didymus asked, turning to Hoggle.

"She only took a sip or two of 'er tea, so it won't be more'n a few hours. She'll actually rest this time, tho – none o' that thrashing and crying like she'd been doin'."

Sir Didymus nodded, getting up to inspect Sarah more closely. "That sounds most unsettling, Brother Hoggle. Most likely Jareth's work, no doubt about it."

"Well, tha's the name she kept sayin'. 'Least, tha's what is sounded like."

Ludo moved to stand next to Didymus, quirking his head slightly. "Sarah dream?"

Hoggle nodded, also getting up from his sitting position to look at his friend. "She was dreamin'. Don' really knows what about, but she can't have been happy about none of it. She shouldn' dream for this spell, tho. Nope, pure sleep all's the way through."

Didymus trotted to Sarah's forgotten teacup on the floor, picking it up and giving it a sniff. "Oh! Hoggle, how much of that herb did you put in here? It only calls for a pinch, you know – this much, it must have been the most bitter thing she'd ever tasted! The Lady would likely think me the worst tea maker in all the kingdom!"

Moving to take the cup from Sir Didymus, Hoggle gave a grumble. "Oh, your sniffer's out of it ag'n, you li'l rat. I ain't put much in it." But when he sniffed the tea himself, he flinched back in surprise.

"Hm… Well, maybe I put a li'l more'n what I shoul've… Anyways, all the better since she didn' drink that much. Now she'll get a proper rest and she'll be none the wiser."

Sir Didymus shrugged and took the teacup from his friend, opening the door and pouring the contents outside. He put the now-empty dish into the washbasin and brushed off his paws.

"Well then. It seems that there is nothing left for us to do now than get a proper rest ourselves. Good sleep, all."

"Good sleep," chorused Ludo and Hoggle simultaneously as the fox-knight settled next to his sleeping dog Ambrosias.

Hoggle sighed and pulled a blanket from the traveling pack, wrapping it around himself and settling next to the door – far enough away from the rest of them as to respect his personal space, but close enough that he didn't feel cut off from his friends.

However, Ludo lingered. He slowly lowered himself to a sitting position on the floor, leaning against the stone wall of the hut and staring at Sarah intently.

"Good sleep, Sarah," he said at last, barely audible and hardly recognizable as actual words.

Yeah, so in the first draft Sir Didymus had died and Ludo was taking care of Ambrosias and it was all very depressing. Then I realized that, not only did I not want this chapter to be that sad, but I would have to have Ludo explain how they got to living in the Gorge, and it's really hard to give exposition when the character only speaks in monosyllables. So be happy that the rambunctious rat-fox-knight Sir Didymus is alive and well, and express that happiness with lots and lots of reviews, please.