You gotta be someone, you gotta be strong, when you got the goods y'know you can't do anything wrong

[gobetween]

There'd been a few days since his visit to Bridge after his illness, following dropping by Perdita, and now here he was racing through the tunnels doing it all over again. This time involved a quick vault through the T. Matthew Fraggle Room, one moment spent to get his bearings, and then off he went again.

The world on the other side would require just a bit more caution, but hopefully Louie would be rather close to the Fraggle hole and he wouldn't have to spend time looking for him.

Comments

[gobetween]

"...He did, huh." He sighed, started to sweep a hand back through his hair, paused when he saw it was the bandaged one, then just let it drop instead.

"I was picked to write and sing the Glory Song. It's supposed to be this whole big deal, the song that summarizes the current generation of the Rock. And I was having a lot of problems with it, mostly because all the noise that was going around kept breaking my concentration. So... I asked for a little peace and quiet, and... everybody listened."

Break over, he picked up the handles of the wagon and strained against it, pulling it onward.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie nodded, adjusting his hold on the radish a bit. "Right, 'cause they need the music..." He gave up, finally, on trying to get comfortable like that, and instead leaned his back against the radish.

"Kinda amazing, though," he murmured. "I mean, you got the whole Rock to listen to you. I guess people down here really do look up to you a lot, huh?"

[gobetween]

"I think more they knew how important the Glory Song was." Right now, he wasn't feeling like someone to be looked up to, but- maybe that would change after he finished what he needed to do.

"We didn't know about the Ditzies at the time, and without the music they started dying. The few remaining tried to reach out, but they couldn't tell us what they needed, and with the caves in darkness, Fraggles started passing out. Wembley and I..." He paused, feeling a pang of regret, then brushed it aside. "...we were the last ones awake, and even then only just. We tried to drag Fraggles outside to where there was light, but Wembley- he was too weak, and it wasn't long before he passed out too, just like everyone else."

The wheels trudged over the dirt and rocks, Gobo plodding along the same. "It looked pretty hopeless. Only light could wake up the Fraggles, and I didn't know what would bring the light back. The Ditzies were dying, the Fraggles would die... And it was all my fault." That last word fell a bit harder, going with a bit of a dip in the path.

"So... I did what I always do, when I feel bad. ...I sing. It was quiet, and somber, but it was enough." He lifted his head then, looking up toward the ceiling, the glistening rock above them. "The Ditzies began to reappear, began to light. I realized, then, just what I'd been missing, what others tried to tell me was missing. My song lifted, and with it the light and the Fraggles. And that song would go on to become the Glory Song, but I never forgot what I learned that day."

Gobo hesitated a moment, looking ahead. A bit of color was spilling out of a tunnel mouth some distance away, and he stared at it in thought, tail flicking. Then he redoubled his efforts, heading straight for it, a new determination on his face.

"I may mess up, a lot, but the answer is usually easier than it seems, and if I do what I always do," his sentence lulled enough for the sound of a few notes to filter out of the tunnel ahead, "then it'll all be alright."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie listened to the story carefully, his eyes widening at the realization of just how dire the situation had been. He really wished, now, that he hadn't brought it up - but something seemed to click in Gobo at the end, and while it was hard to say if it was for the better or not... Well, it was a change from the gloom. It couldn't be all bad, right? Still, Louie was worried with just how hard on his friends, and on himself, Gobo was being.

The music coming from the tunnel coming up was a welcome distraction, and he looked ahead towards it. "Wait..." The sound didn't sound like it was coming from instruments. "Huh?"

[gobetween]

Gobo was silent, though this time it really was the effort of pulling the cart. Maybe he really should've had Louie help- Ah well, too late now.

Soon they turned the corner and walked into an immense cavern full of stalactites, a few of which glowed on and off in rich colors, playing a tone each time they did. The shifting patterns were due to touch, and there were other Fraggles ahead of them. Three certain Fraggles, one of which heard the wagon's wheels and turned, glaring as Gobo came to a stop.

"Clef? We got company. It's Go-Back and the cluck."

[talkyourwayout]

"Woah."

Even Louie felt some awe, looking at that cavern, but it was covered up by nerves when he heard one of Clef's buddies speak up. He shrank down a bit where he sat in the wagon, and then further as Clef walked over with a growly grunt.

"What do you want, weirdo?"

[gobetween]

"I want to apologize." He sighed, lightly rubbing the back of his bandaged hand; careful eyes would note a little smudge here and there at the knuckles, and he avoided these spots. "Even if what was said made me angry, I was wrong in lashing out. So, I wanted to bring this," he turned to gesture at the radish behind him. "And..."

Gobo paused, uncertain. Then he sighed and dove into it anyway, looking back. "Ask if you were all from Fraggle Cave."

What happened next was rather rapid, but as soon as he said that one of the others lunged forward and snatched him by the front of his shirt, giving him a little shake.

"Listen here, Fraggpole-!"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie flinched, moving to cover his eyes, but-

"Lay off, Gray," Clef sighed, glancing from his friend to the radish, then to Gobo. Then he headed over to the radish, from the opposite side of where Louie was seated, and prodded it idly with one finger.

"You figured that out, and you still want to apologize?"

[gobetween]

Gray glanced toward Clef, then at Gobo and let him down rather roughly. He stumbled back a half step, then brushed the front of his shirt down.

"Yeah, 'course I do. That makes what I did even worse. Fraggles don't fight Fraggles, that was the whole point of that day, wasn't it?" Gobo looked at the three of them in turn, then walked closer to Clef, hands out.

"I... wasn't there at the time, but Mokey was the one the others had captured, and she and Red told me everything later. I can get why you must've left the Cave, and come here, I really can. And- that's why you're in Singing Cavern too, right? You don't have places like this down there..! Going someplace new is what you felt like you needed, really needed. And... I can get that, too."

He placed a hand on the radish too, the other gestured toward Clef. "So, please. Nobody has to know you're from the Cave, if you don't want them to. I know that we Rock Fraggles are kinda seen as natural enemies to you guys, and- and maybe that was why you were mean earlier! But it's okay, okay? I want to move past that, and help you guys get what you want. What you need."

A small half-smile, a faint chuckle with it. "It's what I do. When I'm not rocking things up, anyway. I promise."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie was peering over the top of the radish, and he saw Clef's eyes go wide.

"It... Yeah," Clef mumbled. "It was the whole point, I guess, huh? We all, y'know, really wanted to come out here - needed to, like you said - but it's still hard to adjust. That's really why we..." He trailed off with a sigh, lowering his head. "You're alright, Gobo. Uh... You, too," he added, looking up at Louie - who was quick to dart back down, more because he was embarrassed at being caught than anything else, by that point.

Clef just chuckled, softly. "This is a real nice radish. Thanks."

[gobetween]

Gobo listened to that, nodding a little in understanding. Then he smiled, dipping his head some.

"You're welcome. Louie?"

It looked like they might be ready to go, but then- "H-hey, wait!" One of the other Fraggles, Gray, stepped forward, though when Gobo turned to look they seemed suddenly sheepish. "W-we, uh... We need names. Rock names. Clef came up with a good one! Something we heard on our way here. But we don't really know enough about fun stuff to think of any others..."

Gobo, surprised a moment, then smiled. "Rock Fraggle names, huh? Yeah, I can help with that."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie climbed out of the wagon, then, smiling a little as he tapped the tip of his bill.

"Yeah, I can help, too. I may not be a Fraggle - or well, just an honorary one, anyway..." He snickered before continuing, "but I'm pretty good at coming up with ideas."

[gobetween]

"There, y'see? We can do it together! The real Fraggle way." Gobo glanced at them with a smile, then held his hand out to Clef to shake.

[talkyourwayout]

"Heh, well... Thanks," Clef said, reaching out for Gobo's hand. As he shook it, though, he frowned - and glancing down revealed the bandages. "...I did that?"

"No, you didn't," Louie mumbled, shaking his head. He clapped a hand on Gobo's shoulder with a cheeky smile. "But hey, names, right?"