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apachefirecatTitle: War
Fandom: Labyrinth
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Fieries, Sir Didymus, Trely
Rating: R/M
Summary: In the wake of Jareth's disappearance (see the author's Labyrinth 2), war comes to the Labyrinth.
Word Count: 1,462
Written For: FFFC August Amnesty: r11.13: Dancing, r11.14: Travel, and r11.15: Fluff
Warnings: Part of the author's ongoing Labyrinth 2 series.
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
"YOU AREN'T HIS FAVORITES, DADDYO!"
"Yeah! We're the cool ones!"
"We're the rocking ones!"
"We're the Fieries!"
"Hey, we could make a song out of that!"
"If Kingie was here," the little Goblin who had the honor of shining Jareth's boots proclaimed, lifting her tiny, green face up with dignity, "he'd put you in your place! You're the ones he banished for setting fire to the castle!"
"He didn't banish us!"
"I am the oldest Goblin! I remember!"
"Really?"
"If you remember, we should take your head!"
Up until that moment, the Fire Goblins had been dancing around the little Goblins who still called the castle their home, but now they began to close in. They bounced off walls and down from the ceiling and started circling around the eldest Goblin. "Call for help!" she squeaked to the other Goblins. Some of the bigger, male Goblins began to close in around her, but the Fieries just grabbed their heads and sent them bouncing down the palace walls.
It was the Referee who managed to reach the little Goblin called Trely before any of his crew. He swiped a claw over her tiny head, snatching some of her few, scraggly hairs out of her head as he did so. "You are right about one thing," he acknowledged thoughtfully. "Jareth does like you. That's why you get to lick his boots clean." He pondered the issue for a moment. "You're nothing but a bit of fluff, but you could prove useful."
Trely stuck out her tiny jaw. "I won't tell you nothing!"
"Which means," the Fiery said, spreading his fangs slowly wide open with a sinister smile, "you'll tell us everything." He reached out and grabbed two more heads. He smashed them so hard together that he knocked them out with each other's head. Then, right before the terrified Goblins who were now beginning to all squeal loudly, he hooked his claws into their eyelids. "Dirt Goblins don't have much brains. None of you do," he muttered, glancing balefully at his own men, "but it's a shame to waste even a little brain. Wouldn't you agree?" He dropped one skull and cracked the other one open, showing Trely the insides of her friend's head. The tiny Goblin screamed, turned white, and fainted. "Take her, boys," he commanded, "and let's beat it!"
"But, Referee, we want to have fun!"
"Yeah, you said if we came all this way, we'd get to have some real fun with the Dirt Boys!" Another Fire Goblin waggled his orange head and big ears while shaking his long, colorful tongue at the group of Earth Goblins currently trying to tug Trely's small body away from the Fieries. "You're not gonna get far with her!" He pounced forward, and they screamed and started running as one.
Yet, as hard as they were trying, they clearly were not going to get far, and the King was gone. They had plenty of time in which to have fun, the Referee knew as he began to relax, plenty of time to scheme and to take whatever, or whoever, they chose from the castle. "Fine." He waved his long, bony fingers at the Trely and the other Dirt Goblins. "Do as you will with them, as long as our travel is complete by sunrise."
Something was coming, he knew that much. He could practically feel it in his bones. His ears warned him, too, as they flopped up and down on his feathered head. "Just make sure you keep the old girl alive. She'll be useful to the cause. The rest..." He grinned. The Dirt Goblins screamed; several knocked themselves unconscious by running into each other. "...have fun."
The Fire Goblins were just beginning to descend upon the Earth Goblins when a loud, long howl echoed throughout the castle. Rocks began to rumble; the very castle began to shake. The Referee looked back down the long hallway and grabbed his whistle. He barely had time to blow his whistle before two lumbering beasts appeared at the end of the long hall.
"CHARGE!" Sir Didymus screamed. His lance already drawn, he barreled down the hall straight into the Fieries. He knocked them away from the Earth Goblins before beginning to charge further down the hall, straight at the Referee. "I REMEMBER YOU!" he cried.
"And well you should," the Referee said with a smile, "but you won't catching me tonight, old dog! RETREAT!" he bellowed.
"But -- " one of his men started.
"STAY AT YOUR OWN PERIL!" He leaped out of the window, knowing the Knight could not follow him.
"But -- "
"What's p-peril?"
"Hey, daddyo! Wait for us!"
"Isn't that against the rules?"
"He makes the rules!"
"After him!"
"You'd best hasten after your Referee!" Sir Didymus leapt toward the window, knocking several of the Fire Goblins' heads off of their shoulders with his lance, but the heads just followed the bodies that were thrown out of the window by the Fieries who had kept their heads.
"Hey, isn't that against the rules?"
"That is against the rules!"
"Hey, man, that's no fair!"
Sir Didymus snapped at the head that was bobbing up and down in the window and flapping his ears as he cried out at him about unfairness. There were many things unfair with this world, from the fact the King had disappeared practically overnight with no warning or sign as to where he had gone, the brute who had taken his eye was now in charge of the Fieries, the most dangerous creatures in the land, and they had attacked those with the most meager brains who had been left, or so they had thought, unprotected in King Jareth's absence. He charged toward the window, snapping fiercely, and the head fell backwards out of the window.
"AND STAY GONE! LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL THAT THE EARTH GOBLINS ARE PROTECTED! IN THE KING'S STEAD, HIS ROYAL KNIGHTS REMAIN, AND WE WILL MAKE CERTAIN THAT ALL OF HIS PEOPLE ARE UNHARMED!"
He released a series of barks, further threatening the Fieries what he would do if they dared return again, but he was stopped abruptly by Ludo's grave, sad voice. "Friend Didy?" the big guy, who had never been able to completely pronounce Didymus' name, called.
Sir Didymus looked over his shoulder and saw Ludo looking down at the two Goblins whose heads had been burst open. He picked up the head that had been shown to Trely, the base of the skull in one hand and the part that had been sliced off in his other. "What... happened?" he asked Sir Didymus.
Sir Didymus looked at the scene before him for a long moment. He sniffed, tears suddenly dripping off of his whiskers. In all his many years serving the King, this was truly the darkest day he had ever witnessed. "War has began, Sir Ludo. That is what has happened." He moved slowly forward, his heart aching. He knew it was up to him to explain to his friend and to the Goblins what had happened, but right now, he had no words.
He trembled as he cried. It was up to him to lead and somehow protect them all! Oh, Jareth, he yipped, my King, where are you?! He would never have forsaken them. Sir Didymus knew better, but where, oh where, was their King? Where was their protector? And with him gone, who, or what, was to come next? The Knight dared not show it, but slowly, inwardly, he shook and trembled as badly as his steed.
He glanced toward the doorway, but Ambrosius had already fled. "We must gather everybody," he told the Goblins. "Start with Hoggle, his nephew, Wyrm, and his Mistress." When they only continued to look at him balefully, he shouted, as the King had taught him to do when trying to command such feeble minds, "GO NOW! TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!"
Then he moved to Trely and slowly woke her. "Mistress Trely," he spoke softly, ever respectful, "how do you -- "
But she would not allow him to finish his sentence. "The girl," she told him, speaking weakly. "We must find the girl."
"Which girl?"
She already knew, though, and he nodded in agreement. "Sarah."
They needed their Queen now more than ever before. If he was to have a chance of saving their people, he could not do it without help. Trely's eyes rolled back into her little, green head. Sir Didymus sat back on his haunches and, for the first time in many, many years, the brave Knight allowed himself to simply howl and howl and howl. The one reassurance came to him in the knowledge that if Jareth did somehow hear him, he would surely hasten back from wherever he had gone.
The End
Fandom: Labyrinth
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Fieries, Sir Didymus, Trely
Rating: R/M
Summary: In the wake of Jareth's disappearance (see the author's Labyrinth 2), war comes to the Labyrinth.
Word Count: 1,462
Written For: FFFC August Amnesty: r11.13: Dancing, r11.14: Travel, and r11.15: Fluff
Warnings: Part of the author's ongoing Labyrinth 2 series.
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
"YOU AREN'T HIS FAVORITES, DADDYO!"
"Yeah! We're the cool ones!"
"We're the rocking ones!"
"We're the Fieries!"
"Hey, we could make a song out of that!"
"If Kingie was here," the little Goblin who had the honor of shining Jareth's boots proclaimed, lifting her tiny, green face up with dignity, "he'd put you in your place! You're the ones he banished for setting fire to the castle!"
"He didn't banish us!"
"I am the oldest Goblin! I remember!"
"Really?"
"If you remember, we should take your head!"
Up until that moment, the Fire Goblins had been dancing around the little Goblins who still called the castle their home, but now they began to close in. They bounced off walls and down from the ceiling and started circling around the eldest Goblin. "Call for help!" she squeaked to the other Goblins. Some of the bigger, male Goblins began to close in around her, but the Fieries just grabbed their heads and sent them bouncing down the palace walls.
It was the Referee who managed to reach the little Goblin called Trely before any of his crew. He swiped a claw over her tiny head, snatching some of her few, scraggly hairs out of her head as he did so. "You are right about one thing," he acknowledged thoughtfully. "Jareth does like you. That's why you get to lick his boots clean." He pondered the issue for a moment. "You're nothing but a bit of fluff, but you could prove useful."
Trely stuck out her tiny jaw. "I won't tell you nothing!"
"Which means," the Fiery said, spreading his fangs slowly wide open with a sinister smile, "you'll tell us everything." He reached out and grabbed two more heads. He smashed them so hard together that he knocked them out with each other's head. Then, right before the terrified Goblins who were now beginning to all squeal loudly, he hooked his claws into their eyelids. "Dirt Goblins don't have much brains. None of you do," he muttered, glancing balefully at his own men, "but it's a shame to waste even a little brain. Wouldn't you agree?" He dropped one skull and cracked the other one open, showing Trely the insides of her friend's head. The tiny Goblin screamed, turned white, and fainted. "Take her, boys," he commanded, "and let's beat it!"
"But, Referee, we want to have fun!"
"Yeah, you said if we came all this way, we'd get to have some real fun with the Dirt Boys!" Another Fire Goblin waggled his orange head and big ears while shaking his long, colorful tongue at the group of Earth Goblins currently trying to tug Trely's small body away from the Fieries. "You're not gonna get far with her!" He pounced forward, and they screamed and started running as one.
Yet, as hard as they were trying, they clearly were not going to get far, and the King was gone. They had plenty of time in which to have fun, the Referee knew as he began to relax, plenty of time to scheme and to take whatever, or whoever, they chose from the castle. "Fine." He waved his long, bony fingers at the Trely and the other Dirt Goblins. "Do as you will with them, as long as our travel is complete by sunrise."
Something was coming, he knew that much. He could practically feel it in his bones. His ears warned him, too, as they flopped up and down on his feathered head. "Just make sure you keep the old girl alive. She'll be useful to the cause. The rest..." He grinned. The Dirt Goblins screamed; several knocked themselves unconscious by running into each other. "...have fun."
The Fire Goblins were just beginning to descend upon the Earth Goblins when a loud, long howl echoed throughout the castle. Rocks began to rumble; the very castle began to shake. The Referee looked back down the long hallway and grabbed his whistle. He barely had time to blow his whistle before two lumbering beasts appeared at the end of the long hall.
"CHARGE!" Sir Didymus screamed. His lance already drawn, he barreled down the hall straight into the Fieries. He knocked them away from the Earth Goblins before beginning to charge further down the hall, straight at the Referee. "I REMEMBER YOU!" he cried.
"And well you should," the Referee said with a smile, "but you won't catching me tonight, old dog! RETREAT!" he bellowed.
"But -- " one of his men started.
"STAY AT YOUR OWN PERIL!" He leaped out of the window, knowing the Knight could not follow him.
"But -- "
"What's p-peril?"
"Hey, daddyo! Wait for us!"
"Isn't that against the rules?"
"He makes the rules!"
"After him!"
"You'd best hasten after your Referee!" Sir Didymus leapt toward the window, knocking several of the Fire Goblins' heads off of their shoulders with his lance, but the heads just followed the bodies that were thrown out of the window by the Fieries who had kept their heads.
"Hey, isn't that against the rules?"
"That is against the rules!"
"Hey, man, that's no fair!"
Sir Didymus snapped at the head that was bobbing up and down in the window and flapping his ears as he cried out at him about unfairness. There were many things unfair with this world, from the fact the King had disappeared practically overnight with no warning or sign as to where he had gone, the brute who had taken his eye was now in charge of the Fieries, the most dangerous creatures in the land, and they had attacked those with the most meager brains who had been left, or so they had thought, unprotected in King Jareth's absence. He charged toward the window, snapping fiercely, and the head fell backwards out of the window.
"AND STAY GONE! LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL THAT THE EARTH GOBLINS ARE PROTECTED! IN THE KING'S STEAD, HIS ROYAL KNIGHTS REMAIN, AND WE WILL MAKE CERTAIN THAT ALL OF HIS PEOPLE ARE UNHARMED!"
He released a series of barks, further threatening the Fieries what he would do if they dared return again, but he was stopped abruptly by Ludo's grave, sad voice. "Friend Didy?" the big guy, who had never been able to completely pronounce Didymus' name, called.
Sir Didymus looked over his shoulder and saw Ludo looking down at the two Goblins whose heads had been burst open. He picked up the head that had been shown to Trely, the base of the skull in one hand and the part that had been sliced off in his other. "What... happened?" he asked Sir Didymus.
Sir Didymus looked at the scene before him for a long moment. He sniffed, tears suddenly dripping off of his whiskers. In all his many years serving the King, this was truly the darkest day he had ever witnessed. "War has began, Sir Ludo. That is what has happened." He moved slowly forward, his heart aching. He knew it was up to him to explain to his friend and to the Goblins what had happened, but right now, he had no words.
He trembled as he cried. It was up to him to lead and somehow protect them all! Oh, Jareth, he yipped, my King, where are you?! He would never have forsaken them. Sir Didymus knew better, but where, oh where, was their King? Where was their protector? And with him gone, who, or what, was to come next? The Knight dared not show it, but slowly, inwardly, he shook and trembled as badly as his steed.
He glanced toward the doorway, but Ambrosius had already fled. "We must gather everybody," he told the Goblins. "Start with Hoggle, his nephew, Wyrm, and his Mistress." When they only continued to look at him balefully, he shouted, as the King had taught him to do when trying to command such feeble minds, "GO NOW! TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!"
Then he moved to Trely and slowly woke her. "Mistress Trely," he spoke softly, ever respectful, "how do you -- "
But she would not allow him to finish his sentence. "The girl," she told him, speaking weakly. "We must find the girl."
"Which girl?"
She already knew, though, and he nodded in agreement. "Sarah."
They needed their Queen now more than ever before. If he was to have a chance of saving their people, he could not do it without help. Trely's eyes rolled back into her little, green head. Sir Didymus sat back on his haunches and, for the first time in many, many years, the brave Knight allowed himself to simply howl and howl and howl. The one reassurance came to him in the knowledge that if Jareth did somehow hear him, he would surely hasten back from wherever he had gone.
The End
