Disclaimer: I do not own Ducktales or any of its characters. I'm glad that C.S. Hanners from Instagram gave me the opportunity to write these two! ;-;
*Note: I started writing this before the finale, something I've seen, though I won't really be including any spoilers or mentions to it in this fic.*
Just Sleep, Just Dream
Whistles and chirps echoed out into the night, mixing with the soft forest breeze. Leaves rustled, blocking out patches of the stars from view. The fire—the only light source around for miles—flickered and crackled with the rest of the noise, a soft lullaby from the bugs and wind sweeping over the area.
It was perfect… in a creepy sort of way.
Lena leaned back against a tree, as far away from the fire as she wanted to be. Her sleeping bag kept the bark from scratching her, the fabric forming a soft cocoon around her lanky body. Every so often, her legs would shift, moving to a more comfortable position against the hard ground.
She was a night owl through-and-through. It probably had something to do with the fact that she had been formed from shadow magic, but the night revived her in ways sleep sometimes couldn't.
The moon beaming moonlight down onto her face… the gentle breeze keeping the summer night from being too hot… the mess of fresh nature smells that a cheap candle couldn't match…
She'd get to sleep soon, but absorbing the beauty of the night was much more enticing.
Lena's eyes roamed over the other sleeping bags, all containing the bodies of her friends. Huey was sprawled out close to the fire, limbs splayed out at several different angles and loud snores echoing from the young duck's mouth. Violet laid out on the other side of the fire, on her back and arms crossed over her chest. She matched the pose of a dead pharaoh perfectly. Louie cuddled a thick wad of hundred-dollar bills on the other side of Huey, his arm clutched over the wad as if he thought someone would dare try to steal the money from him. Webby slept on top of her sleeping bag, and the handle of the battle-axe she had brought along rested in the middle of her open palm.
The other child named Boyd, someone Lena was just getting to know, slept away from everyone else. His back was turned to the rest of the campsite, and Lena had no idea if it was because he hated everyone or was just too shy to lay next to the others.
He was a weird one.
The past day had been interesting for the most part. With the Junior Woodchuck Annual Camp-with-Friends event the only thing on Violet and Huey's minds, they had followed the scout leader's instructions and brought along friends outside of their troop. Violet had chosen Webby as her friend (there was no way Lena could have been jealous, what with the way Webby begged to go along), and Huey had brought along Louie since Dewey and Della were off on an adventure with flying practice.
Lena hadn't thought anything of the whole thing until Violet asked her to come along on the trip for Boyd.
Outside of Doofus and Huey, who were also in the same troop, Boyd didn't have many friends. The little parrot stayed away from most people, preferring to keep close to Dr. Gearloose and Fenton, and it didn't do well for his social life.
Lena had known that she had been asked so Boyd wouldn't have to be completely alone. As someone who knew what it was like to be alone with no friends, watching others have people leap out to do something special with the other…
A long sigh blew out of her beak. She shifted in her sleeping bag, stretching her legs against the fabric for more comfort. Her eyes flicked to Webby and Violet, and a soft smile stretched along her face.
She was lucky to have them in her life.
Warmth and love burned in her chest, and it wasn't a moment before she reached over the edge of her sleeping bag, unzipped it, and wiggled out of the comfortable cocoon.
With great ease, Lena tip-toed over to her sister and best friend. Her fingers twitched, and blue fire danced along her index and middle finger. The moment Lena drew close, she wiggled her fingers, making sure the magic at her fingertips wouldn't wake them, then laid her hand over Violet's forehead.
The library. There were so many books that Lena couldn't see an end to it all. Shelves snaked around in jagged pathways, mimicking the way Lena had seen Violet string together her notes over supernatural creatures.
A lone table sat in the middle of the organized chaos. A bright light beamed down from the ceiling that wasn't there, perfect for reading. Violet sat in the wooden chair; her eyes locked on the page in front of her. Silence filled the enormous space, and every few seconds, Violet hummed and turned the page of her book.
Lena shook her head as her hand raised from Violet's sleeping form. The smile on her face from before warmed, and with a careful movement, Lena pressed a kiss to the top of her sister's head, right where the hairline met forehead. "Love ya, sis," she murmured. "You keep reading to your heart's content…"
Lena shuffled over to Webby next, calling more magic to her hands. "Don't suck me in this time, Pink," Lena joked, wiggling her fingers over Webby's forehead. "I know you can see me when I show up, but let's not pull me into your adventures and make my unconscious form nearly suffocate you."
Fingers touched forehead.
Lion roars boomed out over the space, shaking the rainforest's trees. Frozen rain, pelting down from the sky, created an unending drumbeat of noise. Screeches from what sounded like a herd of angry monkeys added to the discord, blocking out any possibility of quiet.
"WHEEEE!"
Webby shot out of the foliage, waving a machete in one hand and a tiny top hat with a pink bow in the other. Her feet pounded against the ground. Her eyes kept forward, and only when the screeches reached a fever pitch did the young duckling look over her shoulder.
"COME AND GET ME, YOU RAGGEDY HOOLIGANS!"
A snort came from Lena. "Oh yeah, you definitely got that from your granny." She shook her hand away from Webby's head, disrupting the magic. "I haven't heard 'hooligans' from anyone unless it's from someone who lived during the time of the dinosaurs."
Webby murmured in her sleep, and her fingers tightened around the battleaxe's handle before falling limp to the ground.
"Glad you're having fun, Pink."
Webby grumbled something unintelligible in return.
The magical girl chuckled, then gently patted her hand on Webby's forehead. "Sleep tight, and make sure that if you see dream me in there, don't let the gems of eternal oblivion or whatever get me."
"Mm… hm…" Webby hummed.
Lena rolled her eyes, but paused when a noise of discomfort echoed in her ears.
She turned her head to the direction of the sound. Boyd shuffled in his sleeping bag, and a look of fear and misery painted the little parrot's face. His sleeping bag had been pulled up around his shoulders, and by the way the bottom of his sleeping bag moved, it gave clear indication that he was trying to run in his sleep.
Curiosity and pity wormed their way into Lena's chest, and the duckling shuffled over to where Boyd slept. Even if she wasn't that close with Boyd, surely, she couldn't leave him trapped in his nightmares?
Magic danced along her fingers, and as Boyd whimpered and kicked out, Lena pressed a hand to his forehead.
Nothing.
Lena blinked. She double-checked that her magic was over her fingertips, that the magic wouldn't wake Boyd up, and that her focus was fully on the spell. Once more, she lowered her fingers to Boyd's forehead.
She couldn't enter his dreams.
Suddenly, Boyd thrashed out. Lena leapt back, narrowly dodging a tiny fist, and watched in horror as Boyd's body tangled up the sleeping bag. Arms waved to try and escape, and legs kicked out with urgency-
Gentleness be darned.
Hands latched onto Boyd's thrashing form. "Hey, hey, Boyd!" Lena shout-whispered. "Come on, wake up! It's just a bad dream!"
Blue eyes snapped open, and almost immediately, tears rolled down the young parrot's cheeks.
"I'm sorry!" he yelped, his hands pushing the sleeping bag off of him. "I didn't mean to hurt you-"
Lena clapped a hand over the parrot's beak. Her other hand lifted to her mouth, and she mimed a 'stay quiet' motion before nodding her head to the other sleeping campers.
Boyd froze. His eyes looked over to where Lena nodded to, and guilt flashed over his face. As Lena slowly dropped her hand, more tears dripped down from the rims of his eyes.
"Oh… ever so sorry." He blinked, gasping for air. It was clear he was trying his hardest not to cry. "I… It wasn't… I didn't mean-"
"Hey, it's okay, little bud." Lena pulled back from Boyd, giving him some space to breathe. "You must've had a heck of a nightmare."
He fell quiet.
Lena sat back against the ground, resting her forearm over one of her bent knees. Chirps from the forest filled the silence between them, taking away any awkwardness either of them felt.
Boyd kept his eyes away from Lena's. He curled in on himself, making himself smaller with every moment the guilty expression deepened on his face.
What was his deal…?
With a sigh, Lena leaned over and bumped Boyd's shoulder with her fist. "You wanna talk about your bad dream?"
"Erm." Boyd looked at her like a deer caught in the headlights. "That… is not necessary."
"Hey, I know how to deal with nightmares," Lena said, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "If there's anything I learned from the time my aunt kept invading my dreams to torture me with nightmares about becoming the monster she was, it was that talking about it with friends really helps."
At that, Boyd perked up. Curiosity shone on his face. "I… What happened to you?"
"Oh, right, you don't know that much about me. I'm kinda surprised Huey didn't tell you." The magical duckling shrugged her shoulders. "Basically, I had a lot of nightmares at one point, something that my magic reacted to, and it only stopped when I had help from my friends." Lena shrugged again. "Figured that you would feel better if you talked about it with me. Nightmares are something I'm familiar with."
Boyd blinked. "You are… magical? A magical being?"
Lena cocked her head to the side, chuckling. "Did no one tell you anything about the girl you'd be spending time with on this camping trip?"
A sheepish expression crossed his face. "Erm, well, Huey mentioned that you were someone who was straight to the point and liked to-" the little parrot's hands lifted up to make air quotes "'-chill.'"
One corner of Lena's mouth lifted up higher than the other.
Boyd tilted his head to the side, confusion mixing with his actions. "You… you do like to 'chill', as I've noticed."
"But nobody told you that I can make blue magic shoot out from my fingertips?"
The confusion only deepened on the little parrot's face. "…No."
Lena shook her head, laughing under her breath. "Alright, alright… guess if we're gunna be spending even more time tomorrow with the whole ropes-course thing and the go-kart building, I should tell you a little about me…"
She settled back, pressing her hands flat against the ground behind her. "So… I'm not a normal kid. Like, not at all. My aunt formed me from shadow magic, and I'm like her shadow, but also a separate person."
Boyd lifted a finger, but Lena cut him off. "Yeah, don't ask," the girl said. "I barely know how all that works, but as long as I exist and don't have to be tied to my aunt, then I'm chill with not knowing the other parts to it."
The little parrot dropped his hand, then mimicked the same position Lena sat in.
"So, I'm a girl that was formed out of magical powers," Lena continued. "There was a big fight between the McDucks and my aunt, and then I was in the Shadow Realm for a few years." She waved a hand in a circular motion, eyes looking off to the side. "It's like a… parallel dimension thingy that exists between our world and it. Like I could see and hear everything that was going on, but no one could hear or see me."
Blue eyes widened. "Fascinating…" Boyd murmured.
"Not when you're trapped in it." Another sigh blew through Lena's beak. "But it all turned out well. Webby and Violet helped pull me out, and they helped give me a physical form all my own. They helped me a lot after too. Helped me get used to my own magic, helped me fight off my aunt, and gave me the courage to become a sorceress that can do magic better than my aunt ever could."
Soft silence fell between them before Boyd sat up and rubbed his hands together. "They sound like really good friends," he said, a wistful touch to his words.
"Yeah, and I wouldn't give 'em up for the world." Lena glanced at her friend and sister before turning back to Boyd. "So, what about you? What's your story, and is it something causing the nightmares?"
The little parrot tapped his index fingers together, clearly anxious, then let out a huge sigh. "Um… will you… If you-" He shook his head, then took a deep breath. His face brightened, still lined with a nervous nature. "Hello. I'm Boyd, a definitely real boy."
The corner of Lena's mouth twitched up higher. "I got that."
Boyd lifted a finger to his lower beak and tapped at his chin. "I was created in Tokyoke, Japan. Dr. Gearloose and Dr. Akita built me as the city's defender, someone to act as a shield in case of any kind of nation-wide emergency."
"Wait?" Lena's eyes widened. "'Built?'"
Shyness crossed over the little parrot's face. "Oh, so the others… didn't tell you…" He shuffled in place for a moment, then held his hand out in front of Lena's face.
Light sparked over his fingertips, and Lena watched as panels of fake skin shifted aside to reveal robotic parts underneath. Sharp lines of electricity ran along the boy's inner hand, all different colors. Even with the minimal light, Lena could see the advanced circuitry running through the young boy's hand.
"I'm… a definite real boy, but I'm… also…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Wonder sparkled in Lena's eyes, and she raised a finger to poke at the metal. Sure enough, cool titanium met her fingertip, and a sharp whistle of admiration blew through her beak.
"Whoa… you're really somethin' alright…" It explained why she hadn't been able to project herself into his dreams. Robots were a completely different playing field compared to their organic counterparts.
"Erm, yes, I am a robot, but I'm most definitely a real boy!" There was a hint of desperation to it, like he was terrified she wouldn't believe him. "Dr. Gearloose told me that I was."
"And he's right."
A sigh of relief, just discrete enough that Lena almost didn't catch it, left the smaller boy. His mouth curled up into a smile as the panels on his hand shifted back into place.
Lena shrugged her shoulders. "What? I can't judge where anyone comes from, not with the fact that I was made out of literal shadow magic." She leaned over and gave a soft punch to Boyd's arm. "If there's anyone that can understand what it's like, it's me."
Boyd relaxed and pulled his hand back to tuck into his lap.
"What else you got? Any more stories you got to share? How do your dreams work?"
Blue eyes looked up and off to the side, and Lena picked up a soft click of whirring gears. "Well… I met Louie at a party after Mr. Beaks found me and took me in. Then Louie stopped me from hurting people and I got adopted by the Drakes…" He jolted, another bout of shyness draping his shoulders. "I joined the Junior Woodchucks, then went back to Tokyoke recently to clean out all the bad stuff in my programming. That's when I was more-or-less adopted by Dr. Gearloose. He aided me in choosing my programming, and I've been living in his care ever since."
Boyd paused, taking a moment to let the information dump sink in. Lena nodded, her mind already organizing the facts.
"So, have your nightmares been about that Doofus kid?" Lena asked after her brain catalogued everything she had been told. "I've only been around him for a couple minutes at a time, but-" she shuddered "-I think I might just stay away from that guy."
Boyd bobbed his head. "That seems to be the general opinion of Doofus Drake," he murmured before clearing his throat. "But I do not have nightmares about Doofus Drake or of my time spent with him. At least, not much?" He shuffled in place. "My dreams are different from others."
"Alright then, real boy," Lena said, sitting up and tucking her arms over her pulled-up knees. "Hit me with it."
"Erm… you… don't actually want me to hit you, do you?"
"Oh… No, it's just an expression." Lena shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, lemme know what goes on in that head of yours when you fall asleep, or go offline, or whatever you do."
Another beat of quiet passed, and Boyd's expression gave every indication that the little bird was thinking about how to phrase his next words.
"Well…" Boyd paused again, mimicking the shrug Lena had done. "My dreams aren't really dreams. When I go offline, my memory banks replay certain past events from any point in my life. They can mix together, creating a sort-of dream, but mainly it's like fractured clips of random moments of my past."
A sinking feeling pulled at Lena's heart, and realization began to dawn on her. "Oh… Boyd…"
The little parrot looked away from her, more content with staring at the ground. "Dr. Akita programmed me with a 'World Breaker Protocol,' meaning that when it was activated, I would become his weapon to destroy the world." A shaky breath drew into his beak. "I ended up in Duckberg because I had been deactivated. Previously, I had attacked Tokyoke… I had… destroyed much of the city and hurt so many people…"
Lena's face changed, breaking from the uncaring mask she usually wore and slipped into something more serious. "…Did your dreams play that back? Is that why you were having a nightmare?"
His hands rubbed over each other, picking at any loose feathers or synthetic skin. "I was technically in that memory. However, my memory banks also clipped in my memory of the second time I attacked Tokyoke… a few months ago, when Huey, Dr. Gearloose, and Fenton took me to the city to try and fix my programming." Boyd's beak trembled. "I was… some form of conscious during the attacks. I wasn't completely there, but there was a part of me that saw everything I did. It's the part that Dr. Gearloose talked to when I nearly destroyed the city for a second time, and…"
"I was chasing after Huey," he finally blurted out. "I was chasing after Dr. Gearloose and Fenton and everyone I care about and everyone was begging me to stop." The choked sob echoed in the space between them. "I saw the terror in their eyes, and I tried everything to fight my programming, but everything I did was against my will. I lifted my hand and I…"
The little parrot hiccupped on his words, and the soft shine of tears stained his cheeks.
A gentle hand laid over his right shoulder. "Hey," Lena said, finally speaking up. "You don't have to finish the sentence if you don't want to. I think I can figure out what happened next."
Boyd lifted his head, and Lena felt pain rip through her chest as watery eyes looked up to her.
"I've had a similar past," she started. "When I was under my aunt's control, she used me as a puppet to hurt the McDucks, and she had a special love for hurting Webby to better control me." A rough swallow ran down her throat, and she shuffled over to Boyd's right side, keeping her hand on his shoulder. "I hurt them. Like, a lot. I could see everything my aunt was doing to them, but it felt like I was trapped in a giant glass box that I couldn't get out of. Crystal-clear detail of the destruction of the McDucks and Duckberg, but no way to fight my way out of seeing it."
"And… the McDucks trust you now?"
"Yeah. I'm part of their family now." She looked back to Boyd, and the memories of Webby and Violet tugged a smile onto her face. "There were things I did in my past that really hurt others, and I've done everything I can to make up for it. I've done that, and even though I still have nightmares of turning into a monster like my aunt, I've learned that my friends and sister are always going to be there when I wake up to let me know otherwise. I am not the person my aunt wanted me to be, just as you're not the person that Dr. Akita guy wanted you to be." She tilted her head and flashed him a soft, comforting smile. "I don't know much about you, Boyd, but I don't think any of your dreams could ever come true anymore. You're way too strong to let yourself hurt Huey on purpose, and I bet ya that Dr. Gearloose and Fenton would find a way to save you before you could hurt anyone."
The hand on his shoulder curled into a loose fist. "You're a cool dude, Boyd," Lena said, bumping her fist against his shoulder. "I can tell you from personal experience that you aren't the same person you are in your dream… memory… things."
Boyd's hand rose up and pushed across his eyes, rubbing the tears away. A small smile teased the corners of his beak. "You… know so?"
"Trust me," Lena winked, her hand settling back against the ground. Certainty filled every one of her words. "I definitely know so."
The little parrot fell silent. His smile finally broke through, and he looked to Lena with stars in his teary eyes.
After a moment of rubbing at his face, he spoke up again. "Miss Lena… If it's okay with you…"
Her mind knew exactly what he wanted.
Lena chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Alright. But I'm not usually a hugger, so no throwin' yourself on me at random times."
Gray arms wrapped around her neck, and Lena felt Boyd hug her. His neck drooped over her shoulder. "Thank you, Miss Lena. Thank you for the talk."
"Don't mention it, little dude." Lena reached up with her hand and patted the smaller boy's back. "If you ever need to talk to someone about your past, I'm here to help where I can." As he pulled away, Lena swished her loose bangs. "We're not so different, you and I. Might as well help you since I've gone through it all before…"
The hope that shone in Boyd's eyes was worth every second of the late-night talk.
He settled back down in his sleeping bag, looking back down at the camping gear under him and slipping his feet back under the cover. Lena moved, getting up so the parrot could get back into the bag.
She had a sneaking suspicion…
Lena was quiet, calling magic to her fingertips and using simple telekinesis to grab her sleeping bag from across the campsite. The bag clapped into her open hand, and as the blue magic dissipated, she laid it down a few feet away from Boyd's.
"I think now's a good time for me to head to sleep, hm?" she said, a knowing tone in her voice.
Boyd nodded, holding the edge of the sleeping bag. "You… are sleeping next to me?"
"Yeah, if you want me to. That's always helped me through a rough patch of nightmares—Webby and Vi sleeping next to me so that they can always help me through it." Lena slipped back into the sleeping bag before looking back to Boyd. "I'll be here if you have another one of those nightmares. Doesn't matter if you hurt me, I'll be here to help you when you wake up."
All worry and fear left Boyd's body language, and serenity settled between them as they laid back against the ground.
Above them, stars twinkled and flickered. The same breeze that Lena had been listening to before her talk with Boyd returned, cooling the summer humidity. Soft sounds from the forest dulled, creating the perfect natural lullaby to fall asleep to.
"Lena?"
She closed her eyes, tucking her arms under her head. "Yeah, Boyd?"
"…Thank you. And I really mean it. A lot more than you can imagine."
A scoff puffed in her mouth. "Trust me, I think I can imagine."
"Goodnight, Lena. Have sweet dreams."
Exhaustion pulled at her conscious, and Lena finally let sleep wash over her. "Night, little dude, and you have good dreams too. Lemme know… if any nightmares… come…"
Lena slept through the rest of the night without interruption, and when she woke up in the morning, she found Boyd still asleep in his bag, a content smile spread across his beak. She found that she liked that smile on the boy's face, and promised to do what she could to keep it that way.
HHH, this took me so long, but the story's finally done!
I had a lot of fun writing this story, and I'm so glad I got to write for the wonderful characters of Ducktales! If you want to see amazing Ducktales art, I highly suggest checking out C.S. Hanners on Instagram. She makes such beautiful works, and I'm so glad I was able to do an art trade with her!
Thank you all so much for reading and supporting! :D