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!]

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"Every last bit," agreed the shuffling heap of junk which, if one cared to look down, did, in fact, have a head. It was just a little obscured by the weight of the clutter on its back. "All of it, too. You just aren't looking at it right, dearie."

"Maybe some of it could be useful..." she said. It wasn't like she hadn't raided the junkyard for spare parts dozens of times over. "You wouldn't happen to have a map in there anywhere, would you?"

"A map? A map? Where are you going?" The Junk Person... The Junk Lady seemed genuinely curious, now. "There can't possibly be anywhere you would rather be, out there. It's all maze and bog, maze and bog. Nothing of any interest at all. Dangerous, too."

She could say they were going to the castle and see what happened, but she didn't want to reveal what was going on. She was paranoid enough to not trust walking piles of junk with people attached. "It'd just be nice to know where we're going," she said vaguely. "It's easy to get lost."

The Junk Lady took a moment to give that statement the consideration that it deserved, and then gave her head a nod, looking about as sympathetic as a shrivelled hag who was buried underneath a heap of garbage could possibly look.

"Very easy," she agreed, "if you go back out there. You should stay here, all of you should. Yes, you'll always know where you are if you stay right here. Safe and found."

Possibly not sound, but found, absolutely.

Yeah, staying here was not happening. "I don't feel very found right now," Jaina pointed out.

"You're in the Junk City," the Junk Lady replied, as though that answered every question that Jaina could possibly pose. "Very close to a comfortable place where you can take shelter for the night. It's very dark out there, isn't it? You wouldn't want to be out in the dark in a maze like that. No good, it's no good, Dearie."

Jaina actually didn't want to be in the dark in the maze, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen. She didn't think this woman would be very helpful, but maybe she could find some things out. "Where is this shelter?" she wondered.

Oh, the magic words! The Junk Lady flashed Jaina a smile that was intended to look warm and reassuring, making a reach for her hand so that she could lead the way.

"Right over here, Dearie," she said, heading towards something that might be a touch familiar to anyone who knew Ben. "Right over here. (http://community.livejournal.com/fh_adventures/5164.html?thread=827692#t827692)"

Oh, Jaina knew that ship, and stopped right where she was.

Cursing. Loudly.

Oh, such language! How unbecoming of such a lovely young lady!

"Is there a problem, dear?"

She'd wash Jaina's mouth out with soap, except the Junk People were under the impression that soap was something of a filthy habit to get into.

"Um. That... shelter used to be something else, I think. And I'm pretty sure that something else belongs to my cousin." At least he wasn't here right now.

"Oh." She paused to consider the implications of that... for a moment or two, at least. "Well, finders-keepers, isn't that what they say? And he won't be going anywhere in it right now, anyhow, and it's cold. Isn't it cold? You should come inside, dear. It's nice and warm in there."

Junk People were kind of pushy, for such hospitable beings.

"I'm not cold at all," she said. "Finders keepers? Really?"

"Well," the Junk Lady wheedled, "this is a junkyard. This is where things go that people don't want, isn't it?"

It made sense to her, at least.

"No, it's where we dock our ships! We both want and need those," she insisted.

She was so afraid for her own ship right now. And her poor droid might have permanent trauma.

"Oh? Well, come inside, then, and we'll see what we can do about that..."

Or they could stand out here all night arguing about who owned the ship. Either way worked well enough for her tastes, so long as it stalled Jaina and her companions for a while. Maybe an entire day, wouldn't that be nice?

"You know what? No," she said stubbornly. "And it means we won't stay, if that's how you're going to be about it."

And, all at once, the Junk Lady's face went from pleasant (if a bit eerie) to utterly enraged.

"Oh, no, no, no, you don't want to do that! There's nothing out there for you, nothing at all. Here's where you need to be. Here's where you'll find everything you're looking for."

Everything. Barring, perhaps, a few people or other. Nothing important out there at all.

It was bad that the enraged face didn't much affect an annoyed Jaina at all, huh? Yeah. "Well I found something I'm looking for, and you're being impossible about it, so as far as I'm concerned, this isn't where I need to be."

"And you want a map," the Junk Lady scoffed. "A map here will do you no good. No good at all."

She shook her head, seeming practically disgusted by the thought.

Who in the world asked for a map of the Labyrinth? It wouldn't be any good unless the map changed from one moment to the next as well, and even then, you would get tripped up if you took the pictures on the paper for granted.

"No sense. No sense about you."

Part of Jaina wanted to ask about her StealthX and Sneaker, but... she could always get a new StealthX and droid. If she wasted too much time arguing over material things, they chanced losing people, and that was so much more important.

"Well, thanks for being absolutely no help," she bit out, entirely annoyed.

"Ungrateful," the Junk Lady muttered, shaking her head and turning to shuffle away. "Ungrateful, spiteful girl..."

If nothing else, she supposed she could be satisfied that she had, indeed, been no help at all.

A job well-done, that.

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Outside the Labyrinth

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town

Re: Talk to the residents of Junk Town