Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Alright everybody, gather around!”

Anthony’s voice echoed from the living room of Wiggle House. Everybody’s conversations quieted down, and they turned to look toward the oldest Wiggle, who was the leader of them all. Even the Wiggly Friends were looking towards Anthony with curiosity and anticipation. The only person not looking at Anthony was Captain Feathersword, who was standing next to the Blue Wiggle with an excited grin. His feathered hat was not on his head. Instead, he had it in his hands, the hat itself filled with small paper strips.

Everybody gathered around the two with a sense of anticipation. Anthony looked around the crowd to make sure everybody was looking and listening. Tsehay, Evie, Lachy, John, Simon, Caterina, and Lucia were all there. So was Dorothy, Wags, Henry, Shirley Shawn, Bubbles, Buddy, and Bok was also watching while perched on one of the Tree of Wisdom’s branches. He nodded, satisfied. “As you all know, my friends,” He began with a soft voice, “We’ve all been given enough time off our shows for a holiday! As such, we’ve all put our ideas in Captain’s hat…”

Anthony gestured to Captain Feathersword’s hat, which was brimming with paper scraps. Everybody’s eyes were locked onto the hat, Feathersword spoke this time with a hearty chuckle, “Hoo hoo hoo! Except for me, since my idea was picked out last time!” He beamed, and Anthony laughed.

“That’s right, Captain. Now…” The Blue Wiggle looked to the crowd, looking to see who should draw from the hat, “...how about… Tsehay!” He called out, watching as the Yellow Wiggle perked up as her name was called, “Why don’t you do the honors?”

The rest of the group chimed in with agreement, and Tsehay stepped up with great excitement, “Oh wow! Really? Me?” She asked, as if she couldn’t believe it. Captain Feathersword grinned and held out his hat towards her, “Of course, Tsehay, me hearty! Now, give us a good draw, would ya?” He encouraged, giving her motivation. Tsehay took a deep breath in an attempt to contain her own excitement, as her hand raised high to dig deep into the pit of papers. “Alright, here I go!” She exclaimed, closing her eyes and diving her hand in with childish glee. Papers rustled as she frantically dug her hand through the scraps, almost making a few spill out. Tsehay’s face contorted with deep concentration, before she finally settled onto something. With a flourish of papers, she pulled out a single piece from the hat.

Everybody oohed and ahhed as she started to open her eyes, and unfold the paper scrap to see what it said. “Oh! This one is from Bok!” She exclaimed, causing everybody’s eyes to light up with intrigue. Bok themselves happily wiggled on the Tree’s branch, causing the Tree of Wisdom to laugh deeply, “I’d say Bok here is rather happy to have his idea chosen from the hat!”

Tsehay, Anthony, and Captain Feathersword all smiled at Bok, before Tsehay began to read out where Bok’s idea would be. “It says here, that Bok would like to go to the UK!” She spoke slowly, a bit puzzled, “But… haven’t we all been there before?”

Anthony raised a brow too, curious, “Maybe so, but I suppose going to England again wouldn’t be such a bad idea.” He suggested with a smile. Captain Feathersword nodded, “There’s plenty of stuff to do in any country! No matter how often you go somewhere, there is always something new to see!” He agreed.

Suddenly though, there was the frantic rattling of googly eyes. Bok was shaking, and the Tree of Wisdom took a moment to lean in and listen to what Bok was trying to say. “Yes?... Yes?... Oh really?...” The Tree muttered, growing more intrigued the more he heard. Once Bok was done, the Tree spoke up, “Our friend Bok says that he does not want to go just anywhere in the UK,” He translated, “He says to read the full thing.”

Tsehay looked back down at the paper she’d pulled out, Anthony moving to peer over her right shoulder to read too, and Feathersword soon joined to her left. Their eyes went from left to right, before they spotted a small scrawl on the bottom. Their eyes collectively widened as they read it out loud. “It says here…” Tsehay spoke slowly, “The specific place Bok wants to go to is… a small town called ‘Dillydale’.”

There were murmurs of confusion from the crowd. Nobody had heard of such a place, that was until Simon soon raised a finger, “Oh, Dillydale! ” He exclaimed.

“Huh?” “Huh? “Huh? “Huh?”

A chorus of ‘Huh’s echoed from the crowd, as everybody’s eyes soon came to Simon. “What is Dillydale, Simon?” Caterina’s voice came, a bit confused, but Simon just smiled.

“Dillydale is a town in England, home to these people called the Mr Men, and the Littles Misses,” He explained intellectually, making everybody murmur in surprise and curiosity.

“But… What is a Mr Man?” Lucia urged, to which John soon chimed in, “And what is a Little Miss?”

Simon laughed, before he began to explain, “Mr Men and Little Misses are these funny sorts of people who are named after their nature! They live all over the UK, but Dillydale is where the highest concentration of Mr Men and Little Misses live. They typically capture their nature to a T.”

A ripple of curious murmurs began to comb through the crowd, especially as Bok nodded enthusiastically. Tsehay smiled, before turning to the two eldest behind her, “Well, I suppose Captain is right! No matter how many times you go somewhere, there will always be something new to see.” Captain Feathersword stepped back and had a proud look on his face, almost preening at being right. Anthony chuckled, and looked towards the crowd, “Well, I guess that settles it! We’re heading to the UK for Dillydale!”

Captain Feathersword enthusiastically added, “I’ll get my ship and crew prepared for the voyage!” He was about to head out to get started before he perked up, “Oh! I might need a little help for that.” He added sheepishly.

Anthony and Tsehay were quick to get to him, “We’ll help you, Captain!” She beamed, and Anthony nodded.

He turned back towards Simon, “Would you and Lachy like to come too?” The Blue Wiggle asked, to which Simon paused.

“Well, there’s a bit of a problem with that.” He hesitantly explained, pointing behind him.

The whole group looked over to where Simon was pointing, to see… Lachy, asleep. Everybody groaned mildly, and Caterina spoke up, “Oh dear… looks like we’ll have to wake him up.” She held up her hand, as she announced, “On the count of three!”

“1… 2… 3…”

“ WAKE UP, LACHY!!” A chorus chimed, the sound of their voices echoing through the room. Lachy jumped up, his eyes bulging out of his head as he looked around in confusion, “Huh-?... Oh!” Finally he gained a bit of recognition in his eyes, “Are we drawing from the hat now?” He asked curiously.

“Oh, Lachy!” Everybody simultaneously spoke.

Chapter Text

After a long, and only mildly rocky journey, the Wiggles had all successfully gotten to  Dillydale!

Captain Feathersword docked the ship, renting out the space for a total of three weeks. Or… at least, he tried. When he had gone up to where he was supposed to pay, he was greeted by a green-looking person with a pinkish cap covering their eyes. They were sleeping, snoring absent-mindedly at the fact that a friendly pirate ship had docked in one of the areas. “Ummm… excuse me, me hearty?” He tried to speak, gently tapping the figure with the hilt of his feathery sword. He tilted his head as the person continued to snore soundly. Feathersword hummed in deep thought, before he got an idea. “1… 2… 3…” He brought his sword up, and soon yelled as loud as he could, while swishing the feathery blade to the person’s nose, “ WAKE UP, ME HEARTY!! ”

…

Feathersword stopped tickling when he soon realised that not even the Wiggles’ signature wake up call was working. “Ah, erm… I suppose I’ll just hand over some cash, and my phone number, for when he wakes up.” He took out a generous amount of money, which the Wiggles had all transferred to pounds beforehand, and put it on the counter along with a hasty note with his phone number scrawled on the page. As he walked out he mused to himself quietly, “Wow. That man is an even deeper sleeper than Lachlan .”
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Soon, after some mild hiccups with a particularly scatterbrained front desk, the Wiggles were soon all checked into their rooms in the Dillydale hotel. Most of them were all fairly tired after getting into the hotel, especially Lachy as he’d already taken a nap the second he’d tried his bed. Everybody was in pairs, Anthony and Simon, John and Lachy, Captain and Wags, Henry and The Tree, Caterina and Evie, Lucia and Tsehay, Dorothy and Shirley, and while Buddy had a single room, the hotel also provided a small hand-puppet-sized bed for Bok too.

Captain was unpacking his jackets and hanging them in the wardrobe, as Wags took a nap in his bed. Feathersword could hear the little whines and whimpers of Wags’ dreams behind him, and he smiled in slight amusement. Just as he was getting finished unpacking though, he heard a knock to the door. Curious, he approached the door to find Dorothy standing there, “Oh! Ahoy there, Dorothy!” He greeted cheerfully, Dorothy giggled and greeted back, “Hello there, Captain.”

“Did you need something, me hearty?” Feathersword asked curiously, and Dorothy nodded in affirmation.

“I know everybody is a bit tired, but… I really wanted to have a bit of a walk around to see the sorts of things Dillydale has to offer,” The dinosaur mumbled shyly, “I was hoping you might still have enough energy to walk around for a bit? I asked Shirley, but they preferred to give their hooves a rest.”

Captain Feathersword thought for a bit. While it was true, the voyage here had been long and tiring, he’s never been one to shy away from adventure. He may be old like Anthony, but he still had a lot of spring in his step. He smiled, “Of course, Dorothy! It’d be nice to give these sea legs a stretch.”

Dorothy’s eyes lit up, “Oh, thank you, Captain! Come on!” She gestured for him to follow, and without another thought, the pirate jauntily followed along.

Walking around Dillydale was quite the sight, it was a fairly populated place. It was almost like a mini-country, one direction you could find rural-y sorts of areas with farms and the like, the other way you may find high skyscrapers… it wasn’t the most consistent place, but the Mr Men and Little Misses roaming around seemed to know what they were up to. Speaking of the Mr Men and Little Misses, most of them didn’t seem to pay the two any mind. They all seemed either too focused on what they were doing, or they would glance at them and simply not ask any questions. It’s not everyday they see a human walking around, but a pirate and a dinosaur is definitely not something one sees in their lifetime. The two swore they could overhear a conversation from a pair of Mr Men.

“Oh, no, no, no! Mr. Stubborn!! Look over there!”

“Over where, Mr. Nervous? I don’t see anything out of the ordinary!”

“Th-th-th-there’s a d-d- dinosaur and a p-p-p- PIRATE running around!!”

“No, Mr. Nervous, those two are just in silly Halloween costumes.”

“B-b-b-but… it’s not Halloween, Mr. Stubborn, a-and I’ve met pirates and dinosaurs before!! Th-they’re utterly ruthless…”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Mr. Nervous? That is not a real dinosaur or pirate. They are just a couple of costumed people.”

Captain Feathersword and Dorothy looked at each other in bewilderment, “ Costume? ” Feathersword muttered while scratching his head.

“And, ruthless? ” Dorothy echoed, looking just as puzzled.

“That Mr. Nervous has definitely never met a rosasaur like you, Dorothy.”

“And I expect he’s never met a friendly pirate like you, Captain.”

As they both walked, Captain Feathersword’s expression turned pensive. “I’ll tell you what,” he thought aloud, “I’d say that Mr. Nervous needs a tickle.” He declared, raising his feather sword with a twinkle in his eye.

Dorothy tilted her head, unconvinced, “Maybe, but I think that would just scare the man.”

“Oh, come now!” Feathersword argued in a lighthearted fashion, “If I gave him a good tickle with my feather sword, he’d realise we mean no harm!” He turned on his heel with an excited grin, “Come on! I’m sure he can’t have gone far-”

Just before he could look for the nervous Mr Man, a white glove grabbed him by the shoulder to stop the friendly pirate in his tracks, “ Captain… ” Dorothy muttered, her motherly tone turning somewhat firm. Feathersword grinned sheepishly, straightening himself out and bringing his sword back to his side. He coughed and cleared his throat, “Ahem-! Mm- yes, err.. The walk. Heh heh.” As they continued on their way, Feathersword got an idea, “Oh! But- what about we sang that one song about walking?” He asked with enthusiasm.

Dorothy looked over, a gentle smile gracing her face. “Oh? Which one, Captain?” She asked knowingly. Feathersword’s eyes gleamed as he began to explain.

“Oh, you know! It goes like-” Without missing a beat, the pirate quickly skipped ahead of Dorothy, marching a long to an imaginary beat as he began to sing without a care, “Walk, On the way to school! Walk, To the swimming pool! Walk, To your favourite park! Walk, But not after dark! Waaalk Everywhereee!!”

Dorothy smiled wider as Captain Feathersword began to sing out, herself beginning to hum along. It wasn’t long until she was walking, wheeling, and even jumping along with Captain’s singing. Now, they hadn’t realised it, but some of the Mr Men and Little Misses had overheard Feathersword’s singing.

“I wonder… why are those two singing and dancing, without any music?” A curious voice piped up.

“Hehehehehe!” A giggly voice soon piped up after, “Singing and dancing without any music! Ahahahahaha! How funny, Miss Curious!”

“I do have to say that is quite amusing, Miss Giggles,” A long winded voice added, before beginning to ramble on, “You know, I’ve never actually seen a pirate and a dinosaur singing and dancing before! But I suppose I can cross that off my bucket list! Not that it was on my bucket list beforehand, I mean the song is quite catchy and all, but anyway-”
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Meanwhile, as Dorothy and Captain Feathersword were singing as they walked, two others were walking about too. In one of the parks, Mr Tickle and Miss Sunshine were also out for a walk, but with a bit more purpose. Miss Sunshine skipped along with a basket in hand, a bright smile on her face, the kind of smile that just lit up the whole room. She wasn’t called Miss Sunshine for nothing! As she was skipping along though, her footsteps making the grass rustle beneath her, she suddenly jumped a mile as she felt something poke her side. She squealed, a cute yet startled noise, as she looked around for the culprit. Her wide eyes soon squinted as they fell upon Mr. Tickle, who was quickly receding an arm while trying to hold in his playful grin. She giggled and shook her head, not too upset, “You just couldn’t resist, could you, Mr Tickle?”

Mr Tickle’s eyes widened, putting a hand to his chest as he feigned innocence, “Who me?” He asked incredulously, as if he was offended at the idea that he could’ve been the cause, “Why, I’ve never tickled a soul!” He lied in such a painfully obvious way. There was a pause… before the both of them started laughing! Ah, it was true. Mr Tickle isn’t called that for nothing either.

“So, you said we were here to do some flower-picking?” Mr Tickle asked curiously, to which Miss Sunshine nodded enthusiastically.

“Oh yes! Ever since spring came, there's been flowers, flowers, and MORE flowers!!” She squealed, almost bouncing up and down on her tiptoes. “Oh, I just love flowers! Love them, love them, love them!” Mr Tickle just smiled as he listened to Miss Sunshine go on. “I love yellow flowers especially though, just take a look around!”

Around them, among the footpaths and cut grass, was a small field-like area where many flowers were blooming. There were buttercups peeking through the grass blades, and daffodils sprouting from their seasonal confines. Marigolds greeted the open air, as small bumblebees landed carefully on their petals for a quick drink of nectar. There was even a small area of sunflowers that were diligently following the sun’s gaze; they'd only been planted recently but it seemed like they were thriving. “Huh, they are quite pretty.” Mr Tickle commented, making Miss Sunshine pipe up.

“Yellow flowers have to be my favourite!” She spoke, before she turned to Mr Tickle curiously. “Do you have a favourite type of flower, Mr Tickle?” She asked expectantly. Mr Tickle was, frankly, a little caught off guard. The question had never been something he’d given much thought to before. “I’m not sure…” He paused, before he asked playfully, “I don’t imagine there’s such a thing as a tickling sort of flower, is there?”

Miss Sunshine giggled, and shook her head, “Ohhh. No, I don’t think there’s such a thing as a tickling flower, Mr Tickle.”
Mr Tickle just shrugged, “Oh well, it was worth a try.” He mused. Before he could say much more though, Miss Sunshine suddenly gasped, “Oh my gosh, is that a dandelion!?” She’d already whizzed past Mr Tickle, skipping over to go see the dandelions further out. He just chuckled, sitting down on the grass to watch as Miss Sunshine ran off to go frolic through the flowers. It wasn’t often that he was the ‘mature’ one in a situation, but he supposed he could get started on some flower picking for Miss Sunshine… well, except the sunflowers, those were still new. With the help of his stretchy arms, all he had to do was spy a few flowers from a distance, and then carefully pick them with his nimble fingers. It wasn’t that hard for him, and he paid special attention to pick any yellow flowers he could see, as he knew she’d appreciate it.

Just as he was about to stand up with the flowers he already had in hand, he looked over and noticed something curious… “Hm?”

There, in a bush of roses, surrounded by the crimson red of other petals, was a singular yellow rose. He was stunned, he never believed such a colour could exist on a rose, much less in a bush full of red ones. He approached the bush slowly, as if the roses may come alive and snap at him, but his eyes were fixed on that yellow rose. It was so… different. Even if the thought of its thorns would have dissuaded him, the impulse to tickle was completely snuffed out of his mind. With a few more cautious steps, he soon approached the singular bush where the yellow rose grew. One hand stretched forwards, fingers gently caressing the golden petals, completely mesmerised…

“Wow…” He murmured, never once could he recall being so captivated by something before. Slowly, the corners of his lips twitched upwards, his fingers tracing down to the rose’s stem, avoiding the thorns, “Now aren’t you pretty…” He whispered. However, before he could pick off the rose, another hand suddenly grasped its stem. Mr Tickle’s beady eyes bulged out of their sockets as another set of fingers clutched his own, the grasper completely oblivious of what they’d just done.

“DOROTHY! DOROTHY!” A strange voice called out from in front of Mr Tickle, beckoning the smaller man to look up. There he saw a man. Not a Mr Man, a human man! The man was dressed in full pirate attire, with a rather peculiar sword in their other hand, “COME AND LOOK AT THIS! IT’S A ROSE AND-AND IT’S…” The man’s one uncovered eye suddenly flicked down and from there, the two made eye contact. Mr Tickle stared in disbelief as the pirate’s head suddenly snapped down to look at him. From there the two just… stood there, frozen. They were both so caught off guard, Mr Tickle couldn’t even think of tickling the pirate in front of him.

For a few seconds, neither of them moved.

Then, the pirate quickly recovered. He let go of the rose, and Mr Tickle’s fingers, as he regained his composure, and greeted in the way he always does, “Ahoy there, me hearty! Sorry, I didn’t know you’d already seen that rose.”

Mr Tickle blinked, before he shook himself out of it, “O-Oh, that’s no problem at all, umm…” He tilted his head, before he circled one of his hands to encourage the pirate to introduce himself, “Mr…?”

The pirate beamed, and he brought forwards a hand to shake, “Captain Feathersword, me hearty! And who might you be?”

“Captain!” Mr Tickle exclaimed in pleasant surprise, reaching a hand to give the Captain a shake of his hand, his other hand reaching up to tip his hat like he always does. “Mr Tickle, at your service! It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Then he paused, an inquisitive look on his face.

“Hang on a minute.” He mumbled, looking up at Feathersword curiously, “...Feathersword?” He asked curiously. Captain Feathersword just laughed, and raised his feathery sword up so it was in view of Mr Tickle. The feathers on the sword softly flowing with the breeze, “Indeed! I’m not called ‘Feathersword’ for no reason, matey.” Mr Tickle just looked at the sword in awe. He wasn’t stupid, he was a tickler full time! He knew that sword wasn’t made of feathers for no reason. His eye squinted at the Captain, before he raised a brow. He silently gestured between himself and Feathersword knowingly, “Are you…?”

“Hoo hoo hooo!” Captain Feathersword laughed, almost immediately recognising Mr Tickle’s question, “Well, since your name is ‘Mr Tickle’...” He mused, humouring the Mr Man’s curiosity, “Yes, I’d say we both have very similar interests!”

Mr Tickle was intrigued, and a little competitive. A mischievous thought entered his head, as he feigned a yawn, stretching his long arms out dramatically. Feathersword watched with surprise and curiosity as he saw the orange man’s arms turn long and wriggly before his very eyes. “Well, a feathery sword may be useful, but…” Mr Tickle muttered smugly, “I don’t think it quite tops having these long arms. These can stretch for miles.”

Captain Feathersword was confused for a moment, until he recognised that cheeky glint in Mr Tickle’s eyes. It was the same glint that Feathersword himself would get whenever he was in a tickling sort of mood, though Mr Tickle’s words also held hints of a challenge to them. He smirked, brandishing his sword, “Do you really think I can’t avoid those arms of yours?” He asked, in the same way two siblings may tease each other, “You underestimate how fast these sea legs can carry me.”

“Wanna bet?” Mr Tickle challenged, cracking his knuckles before going into an offensive stance. His fingers were already wiggling, as if he couldn’t wait to dig them into the pirate’s side. Captain Feathersword chuckled, and he too brought himself into a battle-ready position. His sword was in front of him, the fluffy plumes poised and ready to swipe with playful fury, “Aye, I do.”

Mr Tickle’s arms raised, ready to pounce. Captain Feathersword started wiggling his feather sword with tickly intent, and then…

“Mr. Tickle? Where are you?” A high-pitched voice called out, the figure of Miss Sunshine returning from the distance.

“Captain! Have you run off again?” Another more motherly voice rang out, as Dorothy the dinosaur began to approach with a romp-bomp-a-stomp.

Mr Tickle and Captain Feathersword paused, their preparations for an ultimate tickle war temporarily halted. They looked behind themselves to their approaching friends, and then back at each other.

“...Truce?”

“...Truce.”