Title: Nightmares and Dreamscapes- Chapter 14/?
Fandom: Lazytown
Pairing: Sportacus/Robbie
Rating: T
Summary: There is no such thing as magic...right? However, when Robbie starts noticing something strange about Sportacus and unusual things start occurring in Lazytown, that belief just might have to be changed.
Author's Notes: I found those notebooks I need. Now, I just need to work those ideas into the plot I already have, dang it. Plus: right now, I only have a vague idea where I'm going. YAY. (Or not.)
They continued walking. The forest got darker and darker as they walked, the trees getting thicker and taller. Wisdom walked briskly, sure of his path, while Sportacus kept stumbling, unsure of where to actually put his feet. Every once in a while, Sportacus would see the flicker of light from a memory out of the corner of his eye, but usually they were too far off to see what they were.
Sometimes, he would pass one of the memories and see them as they played.
There was the customary flash of light and Sportacus nearly tripped over a root as a memory started. As he pushed himself off the damp ground, he saw how the view of the memory bounced, up-down, up-down, accompanied by the sound of loud, echoing gasps. Robbie's eyes followed the path of a lined track that appeared to be outside somewhere.
There was a sudden, echoing laugh. "You have one more lap to go, Robbie!"
The view panned over, across trees and blue skies, to land on a man. He was tall, broad-shouldered and almost overly muscular; messy brown hair flopped over narrowed, brown eyes. "C'mon," the man encouraged. "One more to go, son." This man…was Robbie's father?
Suddenly, Robbie's mother Lily Rotten walked into the picture; she did not look at all pleased. She swatted the man on the arm. "Stop it, Robert," she scolded. "He didn't do anything wrong."
The man scowled. "Lily, he's been skipping classes at school. That's not a good thing. We need to stop it now."
Lily scowled right back at him. Sportacus almost smiled at the familiar expression. "We've seen his grades though. He says the classes are boring, and I believe him." Robert almost opened his mouth again, but Lily continued. "I don't care what you say." And she turned her back on him to face Robbie.
Her smile was bright. "Let's go to the bakery, okay? We can get some cake, alright?" The view bobbed and she got closer as Robbie moved towards her. A small child-hand took hers and they walked off together, the memory flickering off.
"ELF!" Wisdom called. "Stop lagging, or else you're going to get lost in here!" Sportacus hurried after, getting close to Wisdom. Wisdom scowled as he walked. "They are only memories," he impressed. "We need to keep focused."
They passed another tree that had flickering light on it. This view was of Robbie's home, blue walls and orange chair present but glass tubes and messy worktables missing, although the scene was strangely blurry. "I've sold the house and the bakery," Robbie whispered in a lost, echoing voice. "This is all I have."
It was hard to breathe as Sportacus watched the view go completely blurry and the memory suddenly flickered off. "What…what was that?" Sportacus asked.
Without looking, Wisdom said, "The All can tell you when you free him." A sigh. "Now, come on, elf."
More walking, and more tripping, and Sportacus ignored any and all flickering lights he saw, aware that they were in the privacy of Robbie's mind. He caught strange images—a ramshackle house lovingly filled with mementos, a colorful bakery, the pale, locker-filled halls of a school building, Robbie's lair, the empty, pale halls of some other building. He let them pass by without comment, averting his eyes so he would not get caught in them. As he continued to stumble and trip his way through the darkening forest, the distance between him and Wisdom got farther and farther.
Another memory flickered onto the tree next to him. The view was the pages of a book. Then the book suddenly got ripped away, a sneering voice saying, "Look it, it's nerdy Robert Rotten. Whatcha doing, nerd? Something dumb, isn't it?" The book was dropped to the grass, pages crumpling as it landed.
Sportacus froze as the view went up. There were three nondescript teenagers, the ringleader grinning maliciously. Robbie's voice, still young and disdainful, said, "Reading, which is something far beyond your grasp."
Sportacus wanted to stop this memory, stop whatever this bully was going to do, but this memory would continue to play, hauntingly so. So, he turned from the tree and started trying to find his way again.
Then, "What are you boys doing?" It was an older, deeper voice that said this, commanding.
Eyes wide, Sportacus turned back to the memory. Next to the bullies was Sportacus Nine, his Pabbi. He wore the yellow clothing that was so familiar at home, the crystal a single, shining spot on the vest. Expression shifting, the ringleader smiled cheerily up at Pabbi. "Nothing. Just trying to invite Robbie to play with us, Sportacus."
Pabbi grinned back down at him and ruffled the boy's hair. "Get going. We're all meeting in the courtyard." The three teenagers ran off happily, chattering between them.
The view went down as slender hands picked up the book and dusted it off.
"Robbie," Pabbi said in a tight voice. Sportacus winced. He had heard that voice as a child, that I-know-you're-hiding-something-and-I-will-find-out-what tone. It had always pulled out his guilt and discovered what recent trick he had played.
"Were those boys doing anything to you?" Pabbi asked. The tone of voice was changed now to soft and concerned.
The view went to Pabbi, who had arms akimbo on his waist, face in a soft expression. Then the view went back down to the book as thin hands tried to straighten out the bent pages. "They weren't doing anything," Robbie bit out.
Pabbi sighed. "Okay, but you know if they ever do, you can just come and talk to me." He sounded reluctant to let go of the subject. His voice seemed to soften even more as he continued, "Robbie, I had just heard of your father's death. I just wanted to say—"
"Leave me alone!" Robbie said forcefully. "I can take care of myself!"
Another sigh from Pabbi. "I know you can Robbie. Just…if you ever need to talk to somebody, you can come to me."
"Sure. Whatever," Robbie spat.
"We'll be playing in the courtyard if you want to join us," Pabbi said softly. The view went up as Pabbi actually walked away from Robbie. The world went blurry and then the memory flickered off.
Suddenly, there was the sound of sniffling which lacked the echo of the memories. Sportacus started at the noise and slowly walked forward. "Hello?" he called gently to the shadows. If there was something out here, hurt…
"I hate that memory," Robbie's voice said mournfully.
Sportacus took another step forward and saw the huddled form in the shadows. "Robbie?" he asked softly. He wanted to reach out and drag the man to him, make sure everything was alright, but he had to be careful. If he were hurt…
Robbie turned to him. There were tears trailing down his face, his mouth trembling the slightest bit. He wrapped his arms around himself and curled even deeper into the shadows. One hand clapped up to his mouth as he sobbed and Sportacus's heart broke.