The Winner's Prize

Disaster

What did you guys think? The song is called 'Kiss You' by Jareth the Goblin King, aka David Bowie. I hope it wasn't too sudden.

Unfortunately, its not all roses and butterflies from here on out:( Things are gonna start getting pretty serious, so listen up, and pay attention, cause some stuff from some previous chapters are going to come back to haunt a particular character.

~~~

Jareth walked to the carriage, grabbing the last of his bags, and brought them to his tent. It had been five days since they left the castle. Everything was going well, Jareth thought. He knew that by taking the slow route would give him and Sarah more time together, and now, they were falling for one another. Since the night he sang to her, and they shared a kiss, they stayed by each other more. They would hold hands, hug, snuggle together by the fire on cold nights......Jareth knew that they would grow close, but he didn't know they would grow this close.

"Jareth!" Sarah called from her tent.

He loved the sound of his name on her lips. She had only just begun saying it, and he knew already, the name was suited to be called forth from her mouth for years to come. And maybe soon.....a desperate cry of passion, as they shared in lovers embrace..........

"Jareth! I can't find Zaapa!"

Jareth sighed. He walked over to her tent, and found her bent over, looking underneath her bed.

"Where did you see him last?"

"He was in here, and then I turned my back on him for a second, and now he's gone!" She said frantically.

Jareth gathered her up in his arms, and smoothed out her hair. "Its alright, Love. Calm down. We will find him. I'm sure the evil little thing is around here somewhere, probably munching on some baby fairies-"

He stopped, when she looked up to glare at him.

"That's not funny." She said angrily.

Jareth smirked. "It is a little bit."

She hit him, and stormed out of the tent.

"Oh come on, Love. I only jest." He called after her.

He was lying of course. Jareth hated the devil creature with a passion. It took to scratching the outside of his tent at night, making as much noise as it possibly could just to keep Jareth awake. It would bite his ankles every time he held Sarah, and it even started getting into his clothes, and ripping them apart with its elongated fangs. He wished that it was gone for good. He was actually starting to get excited for a moment.

"There you are! Don't ever do that again, do you hear me?" He heard Sarah say outside her tent, and his good mood was soured.

He groaned, before walking out to see Sarah cuddling the ugly blue creature. Jareth would never understand why she liked it so much. He stopped right next to where they were sitting, and scowled at them.

"Oh joy, you found the little demon. I just don't know what we would do without him." He retorted, and began to walk away.

"Zaapa is not a demon. Your just a big-"

A sudden feeling of being watched was present, and Jareth stiffened. He knew Sarah could feel it too. There was an evil presence amongst them, and Jareth knew at that moment, they were doomed. A spine chilling screach rippled through the air, right along the tree line. Jareth turned to look at Sarah, horror he was sure was present on his face as he yelled.

"Sarah, run!"

She stood up, and ran towards the tents behind them. Jareth followed Sarah, both of them running in the opposite direction. He couldn't hear if the creature was following or not, but he pushed to keep moving forward. Jareth cursed when Sarah tripped over a root, and fell, sending Zaapa flying through the air to hit a nearby tree. Jareth pulled her to her feet, and she ran to grab Zaapa.

"Leave it!" He called to her, but she didn't listen.

She bent down, and gently lifted him up.

"I'm not going to-"

A blood curdling scream escaped her lips, when she turned towards a twig snapping in the woods, just in time to see the creature emerge, grabbing Sarah in its claws. It was a white banshee, a dreaded creature that pleagued these woods. Spines like a dragon, and claws much the same, but no wings, and no eyes. It screeched again, making Jareth cover his ears, groaning in pain. He had to act fast. He made two crystals appear, and he threw one at trees that were standing right next to the banshee, hitting them at the base. The magic went into the roots, and they came up out of the ground, wrapping themselves around the white banshee. The roots pulled it down to the ground, pinning it there so it couldn't move. It started to struggle, and Jareth knew its bonds wouldn't last long. He rushed up to the claw that held Sarah, and pried the fingers away. Sarah jumped into his arms, and he pulled her away from the now escaping creature.

Jareth and Sarah speed through the woods, the banshee close behind, and getting close with every moment. Jareth left several diversions, but he could do nothing more than that without reaching his magic limit. They came to a great mountain, the one that was between them, and the city, and they began to climb. The banshee had a hard time, seeing as how it didn't have any eyes, and all it relied on was sound, and smell, but whatever it wanted from them, it was going to get it.

~~~

It was dusk, and they were still running when they came to the bottom of the mountain again on the other side. Jareth could hear the creature gaining on them, as they began to slow. They were both exhausted, but the banshee wasn't giving up. And as they came to a clearing, they found out why.

There, on the other side, was a black banshee. And that's when Jareth realized that they were doomed the whole time. They ran them til they were bone tired, so that they couldn't fight back. And now, they were trapped.

Sarah turned to Jareth, hopeless. "What are we going to do?" She panted desperately.

Jareth stroked her cheek, comforting her. He looked behind them in time to see the white banshee emerge from the trees. Then both banshees started to circle them. Jareth watched each one, hopeless himself. There was nothing he could do without breaking the terms of his imprisonment. He watched as the black one came forward, and snatched Sarah from his grasp.

"Sarah!"

A claw wrapped around him as well, yanking him into the air. And as he dangled there, he watched in horror as the white banshee threw its head back to let out a screech, just before taking the hand with Sarah in it, and slamming it to the ground.

Time slowed as he watched the dust settled, revealing Sarah's lifeless form lying in the dirt. Jareth watched the blood trickle away from the back of her head, and soak into the earth. Her brown hair sprawled out all around her, framing her beautiful face as though for a royal funeral.

The pain suddenly gripped him, his pendant burning as he cried out. But, this was not it. He no longer cared what happened, and reached deep down inside him to retrieve the powerful magic he had once held long ago. With all his fury, and rage, he released it, sending the magic towards the bashees. They screeched in pain, writhing on the ground, as they were slowly burned from the inside out. Jareth didn't stop until their bodies were ash on the ground.

When he had calmed down enough, he ran to Sarah's side, scooping her up in his arms.

"Oh, Sarah."

Jareth looked up at the sky, and he knew what he would have to do.

"Please forgive me brother."

He held his hand of her face, sending all his magic into her body. He could feel her whole being under his fingertips. He felt the wounds on her body, and he directed his magic towards them. They slowly stitched back together, leaving faint scarres. When they were all healed, he sent a shock of electricity through her, making her body jolt, and her eyes flew open as she gasped for air.

"Its alright, Love. You're safe." He cooed.

She nodded slightly, just before her eyes fluttered, and her head fell back over his arm.

~~~

Ok, this chapter is a bit rough. I plan on going back through and editing. You guys are welcome to correct any grammar, spelling, or punctuation mistakes;)