fh_adventures | Outside the Labyrinth

Outside the Labyrinth

It seemed the time for research and planning was through. In Jareth's address to the island, he gave them twenty-four hours to traverse a Labyrinth that seemed to change on a whim in order to take back the friends that he had stolen.

Team Distraction was entering first. Anyone with as much power as this Jareth seemed to would probably have some nasty surprises in store. They'd go in ahead of the second group to spring as many traps as they could while the other team ghosted in and headed directly to the castle.

Well, that was the plan, anyway. Let's see how long things went as smoothly as our would-be heroes would like.

[For the members of Team Distraction, please! If you want to RP out how the teams were formed and decided, there is a place to do so here! ~~Wait for OCD or the biting fairies will get you~~ OCD ready to go!]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"Duh, I like it; it's mine," Kennedy answered.

She hadn't regretted the loss of the necklace as much at the time, but there were things... Sookie losing her grandmother, Dru losing her dad, Tara's clear affection for her mother... Kennedy hadn't seen her mother in eight years, and suddenly that little bit of connection seemed that much more important.

Except.

Bobby was in there somewhere, and Sookie'd looked like hell ever since, and the only way Kennedy knew to try and make things any better was to come on this mission.

She was leaning forward to let the woman put the necklace around her neck, but there was an unpleasant chill starting along her spine.

"Hey!" Leia said. One hand flew to her neck to make sure her necklace was still there (it was), while the other grabbed at the pony that should've been back in her room. "Give me that! Where did you get that? That's mine!"

And while waiting for everyone else to regroup, Rinoa happened to notice her new friend inside, staring at a beautiful apple.

She didn't trust the Junk Lady. Nor did she like the way she was leaning over 'Dite.

Rinoa stepped in to the store again, determined not to look over at where the music box might still lay.

"Dite?" she said, reaching to lay a hand on the goddess's shoulder. "Karla's waiting."

"I found it," the woman sniffed, perhaps a little indignantly. "It isn't my place to know where these things come from, only that they wind up here."

In the junkyard.

That poor, poor pony.

"That's it, Dearie. That's it. We'll put this pretty necklace on you, and then you can look at it in the mirror for as long as you want. Won't you like that?"

She would, wouldn't she? Like to just sit and look at the necklace forever? The lady had the pendant around Kennedy's neck, now, and was fumbling with the clasp.

"Give it back!" Leia said. "My father gave that to me." It was special. It had even survived Silent Hill.

That was one hardcore pony.

"Well, what's the magic word?"

Yes, she was absolutely going to be petty about any 'gimmie gimmie's that came wandering through. Honestly now, children these days had no manners at all.

Look at it in the mirror? Hello, suspicion-y vibes. Not that Kennedy had a low opinion of her own looks, but come on, there was a line. Also, see above re: creepy.

She jerked back abruptly, biting back a flash of worry about breaking the chain. "Thanks, but I'd rather just take it with me."

There were more memories, but they were all obliterated by Rinoa's hand landing on her shoulder. She looked up, blinking, then looked down. Suddenly it was just a trinket, beautiful, surely, but -- nothing important.

Her beauty was a birthright. Her friendship with Karla had been earned, a trust granted for who she was, not how she looked.

"I'm coming." She tossed the golden apple up in the air in the vague direction of the Junk Lady. "Keep it. I have something better now."

And she joined Rinoa outside the place. "Thanks."

"That's more than a regular gun, huh?" Jason said. "I hope it works too. It's sucked to not have people's powers to rely on. I didn't realize how much I'd gotten used to those kinds of things."

Leia grit her teeth and put on a pleasant smile. "Please may I have my pony back?" she said as nicely as she could manage.

"Any time," Rinoa said, offering Dite a rueful smile. "They had ... something important in there, of mine. You, too?"

After so many hours tromping around the maze, somewhere warm seemed like incredible luck. Scully ducked her head inside and took a deep breath. "Your home is... charming," she said, not really having to lie.

'Dite hoped it wasn't real. If it was, this Hyne gave gods a bad name.

She and her family could do that all on their own, really.

"You know, Rinoa, it doesn't matter if the power you have comes from him or not." She tilted her head. "What's more important is what you do with it." 'Dite raised her sword. "I used to think I'd never hold a sword, but -- it doesn't matter. As long as I'm using it for good, does it matter what the tool is?"

And there went the pony, being deposited unceremoniously in Leia's hands.

"And see if I give you the little pony hairbrush I found this morning," the Junk Lady grumbled.

The Lady angrily thrust her hands forward, trying to get the necklace back onto Kennedy. "No, no, NO! You'll put it on! You like the necklace, you said so! I've got other things you like, too!"

"Thank you," Leia said with a sigh of relief, tucking it safely away. She was going to have it steam cleaned as soon as she was out of here.

"Now I don't suppose you can tell me how to solve the labyrinth?" she said, deciding to push her luck.

"Solve it? Why would anybody want to go and do a thing like that?"

Really. It was such a nice junkyard, wasn't it? With a cozy place right over there (in Ben's shuttle, poor Ben) to spend the night, to get out of the cold...

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea," Jason said. He was as eager to get with the rescuing as anyone else, but while he knew he could function on only a small amount of sleep, he wasn't sure about everyone else, so sleeping was definitely the safer option. "I can take the second shift, I don't mind. If some people are really tired, they can go at the end."

And creepy had just done a nosedive into outright disturbing, not to mention the Junk Lady's insistence had just bumped right up against the brick wall of Kennedy's instinct to balk at being told to do anything.

"Okay," Kennedy snapped, leaping back a step. "I happen to like things? But I have a lot of them, so you really obviously haven't met me. Hell, I can do all the shopping I want on my phone."

When she could get a signal, which was definitely not now, but details.

"And thing is? I love this necklace, but the reason Mom gave it to me isn't going to be a hell of a lot of use if I just stick around. In fact, that reason's why I need to jam. Like now."

"Oooooh, yes, Dearie, very charming," the pile of junk agreed graciously. If Scully were to look closely, she'd notice a head sticking out of it, from much lower in the pile than you'd think could be holding all of that up. "Come in, come in. It's ever so cold out there. Come in and get warm."

She reached out a leathery hand to take the girl's. She should come in! She should see all the wonders the Junk Lady had to offer. Some of them were ever so familiar!

Even if these people were the invaders on the island, it wouldn't pay to annoy them, or attack them right off. And this woman seemed-- harmless? Scully reached for her hand, and looked around, amazed at everything she'd managed to acquire. "Where on Earth did you get all this?" she marveled. "And why are you keeping it all?" Some of it looked valuable, some of it looked like just plain junk.

"Because I want to find my friends," Leia said. "Your crazy king or whoever he is has them."

"Why am I keeping it?" The Junk Lady stared at Scully as if she had asked why she was hanging on to her head. (She had red enough hair for a Firey. It wasn't that outlandish.) "Why am I keeping it? I have a whole room filled with treasure! Don't you see the treasure, Dearie? Perhaps you just aren't looking right."

No one thought it was treasure, at first. Everyone did eventually.

"Oh," admonished the walking rubbish heap, "you don't want to do that. They're probably happy right where they're at. And I think I have some more ponies, inside."

Ponies, Leia! All the ponies you could ever want!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 6 of 9

Outside the Labyrinth

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Gather in front of the entrance!

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Gather in front of the entrance!

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Keep Going!

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Welcome to the Junk Lady's abode

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town