The Lazy Haven Chronicles - A Taste of Madness
Disclaimer: I don't own Lazytown or Latibaer. Neither do I own anything created by White Wolf Studios. I make no money from this an am not attempting to infringe upon the respective companies' copyrights or intellectual properties.The LazyHaven/Taste of Madness universe, with all its changes, developments, plots, character histories, and everything included are, however, mine. Please do not use them without permission. I'm fairly easy to contact and willing to listen to any proposals you might have.
LazyHaven and Taste of Madness is meant for a mature audience. It is, essentially, a mix of Lazytown and Latibaer with the World of Darkness. Please keep this in mind and respect the material rating. There is romance, there is adventure, there is sex, there is lots of slash, there is violence, there is horror, and any other number of things. Some people may find parts of the storyline disturbing. You have been warned.
Prologue
It had seemed like the perfect night to end the perfect day. The hike had gone well, with nary another soul in sight but the three of them. It was just the sort of relaxing withdrawal from society, even if itwas small-town life, which they always seemed to crave. They had even been given the unexpected gift of a small patch of cloudberries, stumbled upon when the little one raced off the path a short ways, chasing a fleeing red tail.
Camped snugly in a little open space in the woods, there had been nothing but a glittering expanse of stars above and an answering flicker from the campfire, the whispering of the trees and insects giving voice to the night. Eventually, the three of them turned in, tired and happy from their day of exploration.
A heart-stopping cry jolted him awake, youthful eyes snapping open just in time to see the shredded fabric of the tent fall down, blinding him for a moment. The sounds assaulted him first, more screams rending the night, punctuated with sharp cracks, ripping, whimpers and an odd, wet slurping. Struggling out from his sleeping bag and from beneath the ruined tarp, the scene that reached his eyes made little sense to the seven-year-old mind. Sharply angled, monstrous, humanlike creatures flocked around smaller objects, leaning in or touching pieces to their wetly stained mouths. One finally took notice of their observer, a red glowing orb flicking over his shoulder to eye the boy.
"…look, Hans. It appears we get to have a little treat after our dinner."
The rest began to turn, chuckling among themselves, flashing too-long teeth even as they wrung the last few precious droplets from what was left of the campers. Watching them slink closer with wide eyes, the numb confusion finally left the boy's mind. Turning, he sped off through the woods, hounded by the gleeful howls. They knew such a small mortal couldn't go far; there would only be the thrill of the chase before the inevitable outcome.
Scattering the last of the ashes, Björn dusted his hands off, scanning the nearby trees again. The track markings had indicated a survivor, but so far whoever it was had eluded his detection. Small and light, whoever it was… is, he corrected himself, scanning up another creaking tree for any hint his target had managed to climb up. Though that wouldn't have saved him from the Leeches. Just the wolves that came after…
Finally spotting a change in the direction of the prints, his eyes widened as his gaze hit an unnaturally battered rock ledge. Stone dust and shard covered the ground among broken chunks of the cliff face, looking for all the world like a team of workmen had gone a bit crazy with some sledgehammers. A glance and a quick whiff of the air was enough to tell him that no mortal remains lay among the rubble.
Creeping cautiously towards the vertical fissure in the rock face, he slid his blade out without a second thought as a pair of electric blue eyes came into view, the owner wedged somewhere far back in the crevasse. "Come on out where I can see yeh, nice and easy there…" A fearful blink was all he got in reply. Grumbling to himself, fully expecting the hidden creature to be the scrawny runt of the pack in a crude daylight shelter, he dug a mirror out of his pack and started in surprise when the reflected sun revealed a dirt-smudged boy instead. Sheathing the blade with a grunt, Björn stepped closer and beckoned at the darkness. "Come on out, boy. The beasts are gone. No one's goin' t'hurt yeh…"
It took a good couple of minutes before the boy seemed to believe him, sliding into the dappled sunlight and revealing a shock of golden hair to match his brilliant eyes. Clearing his throat awkwardly, the hunter offered up his water flask and a piece of hard tack, not sure what to do with this new complication. Kids. Why's it gotta be kids, eh? Pocketing the processed biscuit when the little one ignored it, Björn crouched down to get closer to eye level. He's a runt, so he's gotta be the kid of those little campers. "What're yeh doing out here, eh? You out here with yer parents?"
Haunted blue eyes turned to look at him, nodding once before downing the rest of the man's water. The color seemed to be returning to his face now that he was out in the sun, even after his traumatic experience.
"Hmm. Do yeh remember anything that hap-" Cutting off when the kid's head drooped, he mentally tried to backpedal. Shit. "Ah, well… Those monsters been taken care of, kid, but yer p-… We're gonna have to figure out what to do with yeh. You got any relatives nearby?" He sucked in another curse as the tiny blond shook his head. "…well, we'll figure something out. You got a name, kid?"
Handing the empty flask back to the hunter, the boy's gaze flickered back in the direction of the ruined campsite before returning to the taller man's face. "…Kjell Luftsen," he finally replied, looking more than a little lost for having his future and past ripped away in one night.
"Kjell, eh. Don' worry, boy. I know some people yeh can stay with, and they'll help yeh look for the rest of yer family. Uncles and whatnot," he finished lamely, still unsure of what he was supposed to do while saddled with a brat. "Let's get yeh back to town, eh?" Scratching at an itch on the back of his neck as he sorted through the mental list of trustworthy agents he knew, he gave the boy a warning glance. "I wouldn't go mentionin' none of this to anyone else, neither. They'll either think yer crazy, or start asking inconvenient questions, if you ken."
Nodding in understanding, remembering similar warnings from his parents, Kjell silently followed Björn back towards Kiruna, his feet seeming to barely touch the ground.
"Sit down, Kiruna."
"I'll stand, if you don't mind, sir," the shorter man replied, shifting back and forth from one foot to another as he tried to keep still. He flashed an apologetic smile towards his superior as the man quirked an eyebrow in irritation at his fidgeting.
"We've decided you've completed your training. There's nothing more any of us can teach you without you getting out there and getting some experience under your belt. To that end, we're giving you an area assignment." Holding up a silencing hand as the youth opened his mouth, he shook his head. "No, son, you're not going back to Sweden. You should know better than that. No emotional involvement, and no operating somewhere where you might be recognized. We've got something else in mind for you."
"We've got a bit of bad news along with the good. You remember one of your mentors, Svalbard?" At his protégé's nod, he continued. "He had an assignment to investigate the area you're being sent to. It's not considered dangerous, but we've had usual readings from the area, and Svalbard's since disappeared. We've already got a cover story for agents operating in that area – you'll be presenting yourself as his successor. As far as the people in the region know, he's just decided to retire. You'll be taking over his work as well as investigating his disappearance. From now on you'll be adopting the name of Sportacus 10. We'll send you a full debriefing and all the documents later today; for now, I suggest enrolling in some Icelandic courses. Dismissed."
Stepping forward, a thousand questions dancing on the tip of his tongue, newly-promoted Agent "Kiruna" took one look at the sour expression on Director Thule's face and decided to beat a hasty retreat instead. I guess I can always ask the other guys. "Sportacus"? Testing out the new codename in his mind, he shrugged and raced off towards his quarters. It could be fun! He tried not to think about the nagging worry of what might have happened to his mentor in a region that was considered so secure.
A/N: This has been... almost 2 years in development. This story will eventually exceed the limits imposed on fiction material. The full story will be available on the Livejournal Lazytown Fanfiction community, most likely on and will at some point have its own website, as there is a vast amount of material that goes with this story. It's about a Trilogy in length - I'm currently at about 1000 pages and still writing, if that gives you any indicator.
My apologies to those waiting on TTF. -.- I simply feel this series is of higher quality, was written when I became more familiar with the series and all the characters, and the storyline is closer to my heart.
The main slash pairing isn't who you think it is. Lazyhaven and Taste of Madness is the first fan creation featuring this pairing.