Labyrinth {x fem. reader)

Chapter 5: A Familiar Dream

The rotting smell was harsh on Y/n. Almost harsher than how she had been treated that day. It was almost enough to make her cry. She heard struggling gasps from below. Y/n glanced down and saw that Hoggle was hanging off of a thin branch that had grown out from the wall. Y/n crept around a ledge and stayed balanced against the thin edge.

Hoggle tried to steady his breathing, but all he got was the bog. He gagged at the strong scent. "Oh, ew!" he tried not to grab at his nose in fear of falling from to branch and into the bog.

"Oh, my gods..." Y/n gagged as well. "It... it's just- I can't even-" she couldn't form words to describe what she smelled or felt.

"It's...the bog of eternal stench." Hoggle gasped for air.

Y/n held onto the side of the opening where they came from and bent down. "Come on!" she called for Hoggle. Her other arm was out, reaching for him. Hoggle let one hand go and grabbed onto Y/n's arm. She easily lifted him up and helped him onto the ledge.

"Oh, why did you have to go and do a thing like that for?" he grumbled, thinking about the time before they got stuck.

Y/n shuffled to the side, trying to get closer to land. "Do what?.....you mean rescue you?" she questioned him, not understanding.

"NO! You hugged me." Y/n just rolled her eyes at his words.

"I was just happy that you came back for me, especially since I was in trouble."

Hoggle froze as he tried to think of a good reason to come back. "I was just trying to... make sure those firey's weren't lighting the forest on fire. Yeah, that was it." he flinched when some stone fell from behind him, splashing into the bog.

Y/n glanced back at him, careful with her steps. "Firey's? I called them mistake pigeons. Though pigeons are weird themselves..." Hoggle felt himself hold in a laugh from her remark.

Before he could respond back, Hoggle tripped over his own feet causing them both to fall forward. Y/n let out a shriek before she was caught by furry arms. She looked up and saw that it was Ludo.

"Ludo!" she cried out, happy that he was okay. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Ugh, smell..." Ludo slowly complained. Y/n quickly noticed that Hoggle was missing.

"Wait, where'd Hoggle go?" she questioned, landing on the ground. She tried to look around for a dwarf. Y/n heard some struggling and noise from down below.

"Get off of me!" his voice yelled. Y/n glanced down and saw that Ludo was squishing Hoggle to the ground. Ludo noticed and slowly tried to get up. Y/n grabbed his hands and pulled him up to try and help.

Once free, Hoggle let out a gasp, trying to get air. He looked up at Ludo, ready to yell at him. He stepped forward, but Y/n held her arm out to stop him from getting any further. "Woah, wait! It's alright, we can all be friendly."

She gestured her hand out to Ludo first. "Ludo, this is Hoggle, a friend of mine," she then gesture Hoggle over "And Hoggle, this is Ludo, another friend of mine." as she introduced them, her face contorted into a disgusted from the smell wafting into her face from a nearby breeze.

"Ugh, smell..." Ludo groaned loudly.

Y/n just nodded, now covering her nose with her hands. "Oh gods, this place stinks. Literally and physically." Hoggle plugged his nose, groaning in disgust.

While looking around, Y/n saw an old wooden bridge that led across the bog to the other side. Her eyes went along the other side and she saw a forest that avoided the bog completely. "Hey, it's a bridge. Maybe it can help us out and closer to the castle." Before Y/n could take a step, Hoggle stopped her.