Sarah and Nell had been walking for less than five minutes. They had come out of the shopping district and down some stone streets that contained, what seemed like, terraced houses. They had kept on walking, with the houses becoming more infrequent but larger. Eventually, they started to walk into some woods. The path was fairly straight, with no confusing twists and turns until they came to a large clearing. It was at this clearing that Sarah gasped.
"We're here."
It was Rusty Drop, and it was indeed, as Nell said it was, quite small. It was full of several large houses and cottages, with their own perfect little front gardens. The houses were Tudor style and perfectly maintained, which greatly contrasted with the shack like ones in the main part of the Goblin city that protected the castle. The pub that Nell had mentioned was situated in the far right corner of the little village, next to a Tailor's and a florist's. Sarah giggled.
"What is it?"
"Well, I never expected to see a tailor's and a florist's seeing as though the Goblin city has a shopping district." She smiled, wiping away a tear. "But the village as a whole is beautiful."
"Ah, well, not every goblin can be bothered to go to the shopping district to mend clothes, and why go to a florist's that is nowhere near wildlife when the nicest flowers are in your own backyard?"
"You've got a point. So, are there any goblins that live in this village? Do you live here?"
"There's one or two of the more sensible goblins," Nell chuckled, who'd ever thought of sensible goblins? "But on the whole, this is home to the creatures who get annoyed by the goblins."
"Hoggle being a definite one." Sarah replied.
Nell smiled, "Of course. He does like some goblins, but others just get his temper flaring. Then he ends up on Jareth's wrong side."
Sarah felt a little pain in her chest at the mention of His name. She had avoided saying his name for years, and here was a goblin who chucked around His name frequently.
"And that Hoggle is always getting on His Majesty's wrong side. I remember the time when he actually made him 'Prince of the Land of Stench' all those years ago." Chuckled Nell.
Sarah was astonished, "Jareth actually lived up to his promise?" As His name escaped her mouth, her stomach bubbled and tightened, as though a giant invisible hand was clamping it harshly.
Nell laughed hysterically, tears beginning to escape her closed eyelids. She was able to control her laughter, wipe away her tears and coughed a few times before she said: "Of course he did! Jareth never goes back on his promises! Wait, it was after you left that he did that."
"But, I mean, he already punished Hoggle! Hoggle had just rescued me from the Fierys and next thing I knew, we were at the Bog of Eternal Stench."
"Oh, dear, are you sure that you didn't just step on a trap? They're everywhere after the Forest of Night, especially with all the hidden passages that lead straight to the castle. They're greatly needed around there. But after the Fierys moved in, they were a good enough distraction to send runners the wrong way and into the Bog. But then again, the goblins hate it when Jareth changes parts of the Labyrinth without telling them," Nell began to laugh again. She was a cheery little goblin. "They usually end up in the Bog without doing anything wrong and incurring punishment ha ha ha!"
Sarah smiled at the little goblin woman; she smiled at the mention of Hoggle's, her friend's, name and she laughed at the thought of goblins accidentally finding themselves at the Bog of Eternal Stench – even though she wouldn't wish anyone to that dreadful place.
"Nell, where exactly is everyone?" Sarah asked softly, curious to see her friends again.
Nell stopped laughing and paused. She frowned, looked around and thought for a while.
"Well, Hoggle would either be spraying the fairies or-"
"But Hoggle wasn't at the gates of the Labyrinth," Sarah interrupted sheepishly.
"Well then, he'll most likely be gardening then. Or he could be around the castle."
"What about Sir Didymus and Ludo?" Sarah inquired.
"Ah, that's trickier. Didy will most likely be doing something for the King,"
"D-Didy?" Sarah beamed at Nell, like she was not hearing everything.
"Don't ever tell him I told you to call him that! None of the women around here say it to him to his face, or he ends up reciting his full title and what his job entails exactly." Nell looked exasperated.
"Okay, okay. So it's something you all call him as a nickname?"
"It shortens it for conversation. Having to call him 'sir' or 'knight' all the time, when he isn't even one!" Nell chuckled. "Well Didymus will most likely be in the goblin city or in the castle. As for Ludo, he might be re-building somewhere, anywhere."
"After a runner has been through?"
"Yes, exactly. Most goblins are as thick as mud; even their pet chickens are smarter than them. But you see goblins are fantastic at building and metal work, so after a runner has been through the Labyrinth, some goblins are sent off to re-build parts of it. Your friend Ludo is a stone-caller, as you must already know, so he helps move the larger rocks, boulders and bricks into place."
Sarah looked, well, defeated. After years of believing (or making herself believe) that her adventure was a dream she had the chance to be reunited with her friends and they weren't there to greet her. She didn't expect them to come rushing to her and forgive her, after all, she did cover her vanity mirror to keep them out of her room and her life and then she refused to believe in anything. After ten years, she wouldn't blame them if they hated her. Of course to them, it was longer than ten years. Would they even remember who she was?
A/N: Gah, I have writer's block! -.-
Sorry for this chapter and actually, all my chapters. This is my first story and as I know where I'm going with it as a whole, it's just writing everything in between.
Inspiration has to strike soon! Or maybe I'll just not update it for a few months until I work everything out and then update it frequently after that. I have no idea :S
Anyways, thank you all for reading and – you know the drill by now :D