Chapter Text
“Sit with me, Tubbo. Right now we could… I mean, we could just run away from here and we’d never have to-”
“We could start a new life.”
“We’d have everything we’d ever wanted.”
“We’d have everything we care about. And we’d never have to-”
That was as far as that conversation had gotten before the idea had been shut down. At least, verbally that is. No matter what Tubbo did, that conversation stayed in his head throughout the week of him building and preparing for the festival. Every block he placed, every game he made, the idea of getting out, of not being involved clouded his mind. It was just something that sounded so nice.
Perhaps they shouldn’t have even had that conversation, Tubbo pondered. He and Tommy both knew that they had too much on the line and far too many responsibilities to simply run away… but… Tubbo and Tommy were both only 16 years old. Tubbo shouldn’t have to be a spy, a job that could get him jailed or- or worse if Schlatt found out. Tommy shouldn’t have to live in fear every day as Wilbur descended further into madness and as his worry for L’Manburg and reclaiming it, increased. They really shouldn’t have these responsibilities, that Tubbo understood.
Tubbo has had a lot of time to think since the election, since he had been told to hunt down Tommy and then had only pretended to do so. Tubbo had thought about a lot of things and one of the biggest had been why Tommy had been made Wilbur’s right hand man. Because yes Tommy was very passionate about L’Manburg, and yes Tommy would do anything for L’Manburg, but just as those can be seen as good things, they can also be bad in the terms of a political influencer, and Wilbur should’ve known that, right? Especially considering the two were brothers.
Tommy was too passionate, commonly to the point of violence, and for a nation based in pacifism, that wasn't a good quality for a leader. Tommy was too selfless, to which he even gave up his most precious possessions for a sliver of freedom that was soon taken away despite everything they had fought for.
Things were different now though. Nowadays, every conversation with Schlatt or Quackity left Tubbo exhausted. He flinched every time Eret or Fundy were in his vision. He looked on painfully every time he spotted Niki sneaking around as quietly as she could, unable to help her. Every time he saw Wilbur out of the corner of his eye he looked away, his heartbeat pounding in his ears and overtaking any sound that could be heard at the thought of the TNT being placed beneath him, waiting to blow at the push of a button.
Tubbo struggled to sleep almost every night, his fear and trauma overwhelming him. But when he could sleep, and when it wasn’t nightmares, Tubbo dreamt of a world where he and Tommy didn’t have to fight. Of a place where they could be safe. Of a place where they would be allowed to be the children that they are, even if Tommy would forever deny it.
Tommy was in the same boat as Tubbo, unable to sleep. However, in Tommy's case, he is haunted by the sounds of Wilbur and Technoblade wide awake in the center of the ravine, planning for the explosions and the horrible monsters they wanted to summon. Tommy really didn’t know what to do; he knew there was no way in hell he would be able to stop Techno physically if it came down to it, which meant Wilbur would also be impossible to stop so long as Techno were around. Really, the only chance he had would be to use words, but so far- and the festival is in 2 days at this point- he has been utterly unsuccessful in stopping his brothers.
Neither of them were listening to him and neither of them were even thinking about the people they were going to hurt, they were only thinking about destruction and chaos. Not even Dream was doing anything to stop a section of land so close to his own from being blown to bits, and he was the Admin! In fact, he was supporting the idea for some reason! Tommy was still in shock that Dream had provided so much TNT, and Tommy truly, truly wished Philza were here. He’d be able to stop them. Phil was their father after all, even if the three of them called him Phil most of the time. But, they hadn't seen or spoke to Phil a long time. It was nothing new to Tommy, Techno, or Wilbur, and only a little disheartening that Phil had something similar to wanderlust, meaning he was probably not living in the same home that Tommy and Wilbur had left him in last. His case was different from wanderlust in the way that he didn’t mind settling, but similar in that he would never stay in one place for too long. The longest he’d spent in one place, other than to raise the three of them, had been 5 years, and that had been an extreme. Either way, Phil was gone, off somewhere in the world looking for challenges and living a dangerous, yet fulfilling life that Tommy could only dream of at that point, and that meant Phil would probably be impossible to track down.
Also like Tubbo, and inspired by his thoughts of Phil, Tommy’s mind had been occupied by their conversation on running away whenever he wasn’t trying to tell Wilbur and Techno that what they were planning was wrong. They shouldn’t have had the conversation at all, Tommy knew this. Because now that they’d had it, Tommy was sure that Tubbo wouldn’t stop thinking about it, and neither would he, but that didn’t make it any more attainable. It was a fantasy. It was impossible. Tommy couldn’t just leave Wilbur to his pain. Tommy couldn’t just leave while knowing that they planned to hurt everyone at the festival. Tommy couldn’t just leave while knowing there was possibly something he could do to stop them. He had to stay. He had to look after Wilbur. He had to try. He had to, since no one else would. It was his responsibility.
Unlike Tubbo, Tommy had not had a lot of time to himself to really and truly think about everything that had happened and his involvement in it since their banishment. Tommy did not have the time to process the fact that he had been in a war and had been almost fatally injured by the very man providing Wilbur with TNT. Tommy did not have the time to truly process just how bad the separate betrayals of Eret and Fundy had hurt him. Tommy did not have the time to think about the amount of pain both mental and physical that he had been through since the beginning of the first war.
It all had yet to be processed, and thus, albeit unknowingly, was hurting Tommy more and more each day as it was forced to be bottled up in place of concern over the festival and everyone involved in it.
On the morning of the festival, Tubbo woke up feeling sick, and had almost vomited out of anxiety. Tommy woke up exhausted from arguing with Wilbur and Techno all night to no avail. However, the world didn’t care about how they were feeling. It didn’t matter that they didn’t want to be there. They had duties they had to attend to, and them feeling sick or tired wouldn’t stop time from passing.
As the time for the festival continued to approach, Tubbo did his best to calm his nerves and Tommy continued to try and talk Wilbur out of it. Techno had already left by the time he woke up, concerning Tommy, but there was nothing he could do about it. Techno had actually been invited to the festival, unlike he and Wilbur.
Tommy reluctantly, yet also desperately, despite the contradiction in those words, followed Wilbur as they snuck into Manburg territory and decided to hide on the NASA building and watch from there. Apparently the button to set off the TNT was behind the White House. Good to know.
The festival took a long time to start, and every time Quackity or Schlatt’s heads even so much as twitched towards their direction, Tommy’s breath caught and he yanked Wilbur down and out of sight. He knew they were in a stupid spot, right in the eyesight of the president and his vice, but this was what Wilbur wanted and Tommy couldn’t stop him. When the festival finally did begin, almost everyone that was attending flooded in at the same time and took to their seats. It was actually kinda freaky, when Tommy thought about it, but that wasn’t important.
Before the speech began, Tubbo spotted Tommy on top of the building. They shared a look and a nod, then turned their attention away just as quickly. They couldn’t risk it. Not at this point in the game. Either way, everyone had arrived, and Schlatt then began his opening speech.
“Hello everybody! Welcome to the Festival of Manburg!” He clapped as he spoke, and the crowd cheered, Fundy at the forefront, “I’ve invited all the citizens of Manburg and some very close friends of mine to enjoy the festivities that this nation- something- I dunno, uh, basically, I just wanna throw a party. You guys know me, I’m a partier, I enjoy a good party, you know? So uh, I decided to put one together for you all, so we could all partake in the fruits of this beautiful country.” After that he trailed off on something about lettuce? Tommy was too tired to really think about it though. Schlatt picked it back up a second later though, “Anyway, thanks all for being here, uh we’re gonna just- we can just have- we can just party for a while, because that’s what parties are all about!”
Tommy ignored the awkward democracy cheer that Schlatt called for and instead looked to his right, and accidentally straight into Badboyhalo’s eyes. He immediately blocked up the hole and looked away, hoping that Bad would stay quiet. After a minute passed and nothing was said, Tommy let out the breath he was holding, mentally throwing a million thanks Bad’s way. Who knows what Wilbur would’ve done if they’d been found out.
After the speech finally finished and the festival fully began, Wilbur and Tommy began to argue again, and Tommy felt like maybe he was getting somewhere. As time passed and it became night, Wilbur seemed to become more hesitant on blowing their old home to smithereens. Progress! Tommy continued to point out how happy everyone looked and how excited they all seemed for a festival, and they even called in Tubbo for his opinion. However, by the end of that conversation, it had somehow become Tubbo’s choice on whether or not to blow everything to bits depending on what he said in his speech.
Tommy was pissed that Wilbur would put that pressure on Tubbo and did nothing to silence his rage against Wilbur. Then, to make things worse, Wilbur pointed out that Schlatt would’ve known Tubbo’s speech from reviewing it. Wilbur made it sound like a good thing by his tone, but in reality, he was throwing Tubbo to the wolves. If Tubbo didn’t say the line, Schlatt would know and ask about it, and if he did, the place would be blown up!
Meanwhile, Tubbo, now panicking, was trying to calm himself and think things through as he returned to Schlatt’s side and participated in the festival until it was time for his speech. His anxiety had reached an all time high after the responsibility Wilbur had dropped on him, not to mention its implications for that matter, and while he didn't think anyone had noticed, he shared a glance with Techno, who frowned at him in concern. Tubbo had to thank Techno for distracting everyone while he ran off, even if Schlatt had sort of paid attention to him despite Techno’s distraction, which worried Tubbo.
He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but Tubbo felt like Schlatt was watching him closer than usual. Perhaps… after the mess with the tunnels- No. No, Tubbo couldn’t afford for that to be the case. Not now.
The group moved from the dance floor and roller coaster to the boxing ring, and there were many (ridiculous) matches before Tommy whispered to him that the speech needed to begin. Tubbo climbed up on the podium and Schlatt gave his little speech, one which warmed Tubbo’s heart and quelled his worries since it was about how hard Tubbo worked and how Schlatt was grateful for him. Then, Schlatt and Quackity took to either side of him, and Tubbo took a deep breath before beginning. Tubbo didn’t want to blow the place up, he decided. He wouldn’t say the code words, but… Schlatt knew his speech. Either way, he wouldn’t say those words. He wouldn’t let Wilbur do it. He shared a look with Tommy on top of the NASA building and gave a shaky smile before quickly looking away so as to not bring attention to them. He loved L’Manburg too much to let this happen.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “I’m actually too short to reach the microphone, so it doesn’t- quite like Schlatt- but, a wise man once told me that L’Manburg was like a lettuce. There’s so many layers of tasty and healthy goodness, and once you wash off all the capitalist worms off the surface, it’s a pretty damn good meal.” Tubbo paused as Schlatt and some others began to clap in amusement, “S-Schlatt-” curse his stutter, “has successfully washed all of the insects off our great nation, and with that he’s allowed the goodness and the tastiness to shine through.” Schlatt interrupted him for a brief moment, then Tubbo continued, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to look around at what we’ve built today. Look at each other, all of this thanks to democracy and the leadership of JSchlatt.” Some clapped once again, mainly Quackity, Fundy, and Schlatt himself. “And isn’t that what this festival is all about? Democracy. Our people have been beaten down by royals and by dictators for so long, now we are finally free. Free to elect who we want, free to live how we want, and most importantly free to go wherever we want without the confines of those huge, black walls.” He was at the end now, and his heart was beating so quickly, “So with that in mind, I want to thank everyone for coming to this wonderful event.”
That’s when it all went wrong. Schlatt began laughing. An unkind, amused laugh, that made Tubbo’s heart drop.
“What’s wrong, Schlatt?” He asked hesitantly.
“No, it’s just-” he cut himself off with a sigh, the amusement still in his voice, “I was just thinking about it, Tubbo. You know how we like to have fun,” Tubbo voiced his agreement warily. “You got anything else in the speech, big guy?”
“Uh, no…” and then, accidentally, “Let the festival begin!” Tubbo’s eyes widened as soon as he said it, and his eyes were too focused on Schlatt to see it, but Wilbur had grinned crazily and started making a dash for the button, while Tommy tried to stop him. That had been it. Those were the code words-
“You done with the speech?” Schlatt interrupted his thoughts and looked into his eyes- as if he saw right through everything- and Tubbo took a shaky breath.
“Yeah, I’m done with the speech Schlatt.”
Then, suddenly, Tubbo was completely boxed in by yellow concrete and a fence. Trapped, as he didn’t have his tools on him after the boxing matches. The goers of the festival looked at each other questioningly as Tubbo continued to ask what Schlatt was doing even as his heart dropped further and further in his stomach. He knew. He knew! Somehow Schlatt knew, just from Tubbo hesitating to say those words? Either that or-! Had Schlatt already planned to do this?
“Tubbo, Tubbo, I’ll cut to the fucking chase, alright?” Schlatt began, sounding pissed, “Tubbo, I- and I mean, it really sucks for me to say this, really. Right here in front of everybody, it’s kind of awkward.” Niki begged for his release in the background, but she went ignored. “Tubbo, I know what you’ve been up to.”
“What have I been up to?” Tubbo tried weakly as a last resort, but deep down he knew it was helpless. What was going to happen to him? Was Schlatt going to throw him in jail or- or kill him? Tubbo’s ears began to ring and his vision tunneled to the ground in front of him as Schlatt explained that he knew Tubbo was a traitor, that he was a spy for Wilbur and Tommy. He talked about the tunnels, the library, and his conversation with Wilbur and Tommy even just earlier. Tubbo knew he’d seen it, damn it.
Then, Schlatt called Technoblade to the podium. Suddenly, Technoblade appeared in front of him, looking nervous and confused. Suddenly, Schlatt was telling Techno to execute him. To kill him. To… To betray him, Wilbur, and Tommy. Techno tried to joke it off, unsure of why Schlatt would ask him, but Tubbo knew how Techno was when it came to socialization and peer pressure. Suddenly, Schlatt was pulling something out about them knowing each other for a long time, of which Tubbo wasn’t sure was even true, but it didn’t matter because it had already affected Techno.
Tubbo looked up, above Techno, and spotted Tommy out of the corner of his eye and his heart dropped further. Tommy looked terrified, even though Techno should be on their side. Wilbur was whispering for him to be strong, to not be worried, that Techno was on their side, but Tubbo got the feeling he wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed, no matter what.
Almost everyone watching was protesting what Schlatt was trying to do, even Quackity. But Tubbo knew it didn’t matter. Schlatt wanted him dead, and so it would be. Even if the President had to do it himself. For a moment, Tubbo closed his eyes and started to accept what was to come. When he opened his eyes, there was a crossbow in his face, and exhaustion overtook him. Tubbo could no longer see any whispers coming in from Wilbur, meaning even Wilbur didn’t know what was going on now.
“Tubbo,” Techno began, “Tubbo, I’m sorry.”
He truly looked pained, and Tubbo had to question whether or not Tommy or Wilbur had whispered anything to him. Surely not if Techno had raised his crossbow at him, but why not? Why haven’t they told Techno what to do? As Tubbo looked into his eyes, all he saw was confusion and pain.
“I’ll make it as painless and colorful as possible, Tubbo,” Techno finished. Niki was crying in the background, and Tubbo thought he might’ve even seen Fundy’s ears flatten against his head. Tommy wasn’t looking anymore, just staring at the sky with an unreadable expression, which Tubbo didn’t blame him for, but Wilbur was staring with dead, unnerving eyes, that made Tubbo look away.
Techno apologized once more, saying something about peer pressure, and then a firework blew up, hitting him straight in the chest, sending him flying back against the blackstone of Schlatt’s chair and then through it. Tubbo cried out in pain as Techno let off another shot, which missed him by a hair and instead hit Schlatt and Quackity, knocking them both out. Everything was ringing, Tubbo couldn’t hear anything, and his vision was fuzzy and full of colors, and his mouth tasted of blood, and the world smelled of ash, and all he felt was pain pain pain pain pain. More colors entered his fuzzy vision. Red and white. For a moment, Tubbo thought it was more fireworks and whatever little amount of panic he could muster up came forth, but then the colors spoke.
“Tubbo?” Ah- it was Tommy. He was here- Tubbo tried to get out a response, but he passed out right as Tommy screamed his name.
Tommy held Tubbo in his arms, completely ignoring the world around him as Techno fired off rockets into the crowd below, knocking out everyone and inflicting heavy injuries. All he cared about was Tubbo. Tubbo who was bleeding heavily, Tubbo who was dying . He let out a pained scream, but it did nothing to stop the chaos around him.
Quackity woke up in a daze, and Purpled came running in. Tommy fended them off with a growl, not letting go of Tubbo. Then, ignoring as Wilbur screamed in the distance about the button, Tommy grabbed Tubbo and pearled as far away as he could. Tommy didn’t even notice the wound Ponk gave him as he fled, he just kept running.
Tommy, with all the strength he had in his young, injured body, hefted Tubbo onto his back, and bolted for Pogtopia where bandages and medicine lied in wait. It took him longer than usual to get there, and he ignored all the yelling coming from Manburg, but when he finally made it, he laid Tubbo down on the bed above their ravine and immediately began wrapping bandages around his wound and applying pressure as best he could. His skin was so burned and- and his breathing was ragged, but he was breathing and that was all that mattered. It just needed to stay that way. Tommy could do that… He hoped.
“Tubbo- Tubbo- Tubbo, c’mon buddy, c’mon,” Tommy repeated over and over under his breath in desperation as he followed through with all the medical knowledge he knew from anyone who’d ever taught him. Tears filled his eyes as he worked and his hands were so shaky, and Tommy wished so badly that he didn’t have to do this, that there would be someone else who could help him, but no. Everyone was back at the festival, probably knocked out or fighting against Technoblade except for a few people and who knew where they'd been all day.
As soon as Tubbo’s breathing evened out a little, after the momentary panic of making sure he wasn’t dying, Tommy quickly went to wet some towels before returning to keep applying pressure on the main wound. As he kept pressure, he also tended to Tubbo’s other wounds, mainly a burn on his face that coated his left eye. Tommy couldn’t worry about how this would affect him later, all of his focus had to be on keeping Tubbo alive.
Tubbo’s shirt had been almost completely singed off, and the overall sight of everything- Tubbo lying there, unconscious, but obviously in pain, the terrible wounds to his chest, face, arms, and neck, and just the entire idea that his own brother had done this to his best friend made Tommy unsure as to whether or not he’d ever be able to forgive Technoblade for what he’d done.
About an hour later, when no one had yet turned up to Pogtopia, and Tubbo had stabilized for the moment, Tommy made his decision. He grabbed two backpacks and filled them with essentials. It would be hard to carry both bags and Tubbo, and Tommy was suddenly grateful for Techno’s odd habit of taming so many horses.
Tommy saddled up 2 horses he found, bitterly using knowledge from Techno, and spent some more time tending to Tubbo before doing anything else.
Suddenly, noise from below erupted. Techno and Wilbur had returned and were looking for him, based on the angry calls of his name he heard from Wilbur. Tommy stood up from his kneeling position next to the bed with Tubbo, dropped the note he’d written, grabbed his best friend carefully, and left the dirt shelter. He settled Tubbo on top of one of the horses as safely he could and grabbed the reins before hopping onto his own horse. He spared one last look at Pogtopia before he turned right back around and pressed his legs against his horse to begin his journey.
we’ve had enough. goodbye.
-Tommy (and Tubbo)
Tubbo blinked his eyes open, wincing in pain at even the slightest movement of his left eye. At first glance, he believed he was in Pogtopia’s ravine, but upon closer inspection, he could hear rain not too far away, which he wouldn’t hear if he were deep in a ravine. He began to panic lightly, but then, Tommy appeared in his vision. Well, his half-vision. He had noticed pretty quickly that his left eye was bandaged.
“T-Tommy?” he croaked out, wincing as his chest moved from the breaths he was taking.
Tommy whipped around, and stared at Tubbo in shock, “Tubbo..? You’re awake!” Tommy ran to his side and knelt next to him, “Oh my gods, I’m so glad you’re awake- I was so worried-”
“W-where are we?” Tubbo coughed out.
Tommy’s eyebrows pinched in concern, and he bit his lip, “I… Tubbo- I ran.”
Tubbo was confused, he ran? From what? The last thing he remembered- It all came crashing back into him with that thought. Schlatt. The Festival. His speech. Technoblade. Fireworks. Colors. Pain. Pain. Pain-
“Tubbo! Breathe, big man, you gotta breathe with me Tubbo,” Tommy suddenly called to him.
Oh. Had he started panicking? Oh- Tubbo tried to copy Tommy’s breathing, but it only resulted in a painful wheeze.
“Shit,” Tommy muttered, and Tubbo, at this moment, noticed how flushed Tommy’s face looked, “I’m sorry Tubbo… I know it hurts, but you need to calm down. Everything’s alright, Big T. We’re okay.”
Tubbo’s eyes watered, and he looked at Tommy sadly, “I thought he wouldn’t hurt me? Wilbur said he wouldn’t hurt me, Tommy.”
Tommy choked back some tears, “I know Tubbo… We didn’t think he would. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry he did this to you.”
“I-It’s not your fault, Tommy,” Tubbo weakly grasped onto Tommy’s sleeve to emphasize his words. Then, without getting a real answer to his question, Tubbo passed out again.
The next time he woke up, Tubbo was on the back of a horse in a plains biome, it took him a moment to find that Tommy was to his left guiding his horse while on his own. Tubbo turned his head to Tommy to fully look at him since his left eye was still covered, which caught his attention. Tommy immediately stopped the horses by a tree and lifted Tubbo off his horse as carefully as he could- while for some reason only using one arm- after he set up a spot for them to lie in.
This time, Tubbo’s mind was a little clearer, and for a moment neither of them spoke. Then, Tubbo spotted a bandage on Tommy’s neck that trailed down his arm and wondered if that was why Tommy hadn’t used that arm a minute before. Tubbo reached for it, asking about it nonverbally. Tommy turned his attention to his right arm, and grabbed Tubbo’s hand in comfort.
“I’m okay. It was just- Ponk caught my arm as I pearled away from the fight…” Tommy informed him. “I’ve bandaged it, and I should be fine… I hope… It was pretty deep…”
Tubbo frowned in concern, then took a shaky, painful breath, “Where are we Tommy?”
Tommy looked down at Tubbo and sighed, “I- Tubbo I ran away-”
“You said that Tommy, but… really? We’re out? Gone? How far..?” Tubbo tried to process it.
“I- It’s been 10 days since the festival, Tubbo,” Tommy gave in reply, “3 since you last woke up.”
“Oh,” Tubbo whispered in shock. “Have we been traveling the whole time?”
Tommy nodded. There was a pause before he figured out what to say next, “I- I’m not really sure where we’re going, but- I wanted to get away. I wanted to leave. I’m sorry Tubbo, I know I should’ve asked-”
Tubbo shook his head, cutting Tommy off, “No, it’s alright. I- ever since our conversation before the festival I’ve been thinking about it-”
Tommy nodded, “Me too, but still-”
“Have you… You must’ve been working so hard Tommy. Taking care of me and traveling at the same time all by yourself,” Tubbo whispered in realization, eyes widening.
“I-” Tommy cut himself off, unable to keep going.
“I’m sorry, Tommy. You shouldn’t have to do this-” Tubbo’s heart felt like it was in his throat, and tears wanted to gather in his eyes.
Tommy shook his head, “I couldn’t do nothing, Tubbo. I don’t regret anything about this, only that I couldn’t keep you from getting hurt.”
Tubbo giggled, a welcome sign to Tommy, “That’s such a you thing to say, Tommy. We are 16 though, remember?” Tubbo sighed, getting sleepy, “You shouldn’t have to take care of me so much... I’m older anyway.”
Tommy scoffed and wiped his tears, “Yeah, whatever. You’ll just have to repay me later,” he joked with a smirk. “Get some more rest, the sky looks pretty clear right now, so I’ll let us sit here a while longer.”
Tubbo was already out by the time Tommy finished his sentence.
About half an hour later, Tommy carefully put Tubbo back on his horse, packed their belongings, got on his own horse, and continued the journey.
Tubbo was right… These travels had been difficult. There had been so much rain, and each time he had to search as quick as he could for a cave or some kind of shelter. He’s had to fend off mobs, and build so many dirt shelters to keep Tubbo safe at night, and feeding the horse had started to become a struggle even though they themselves had plenty of food.
Tubbo kept spiking with fevers, and Tommy even caught one 4 days prior, after it took too long to find shelter on a stormy night. That night had been awful, and he’d spent 2 days in the same cave, before his fever let up, one of those days being when Tubbo had woken up. He’d had to make sure Tubbo wouldn’t starve while in his coma-like state, and he’d had to filter water, and he’d had to make sure they didn’t get any more sick from their wet clothes. He was exhausted, but he knew that he couldn’t stop. Not yet.
He’d had to ignore so, so many messages in chat from everyone, wondering where he’d gone. He’d had to watch as messages in chat turned from angry to concerned to desperate to wondering if he’d died. The only one he’d messaged back was Niki, to inform her that they were fine. He asked her not to tell anyone anything, and Niki was pretty good at sticking to her word, but he also knew how empathetic she could be for others hurting. He knew that she'd probably tell someone that he’d messaged her, but he found that he didn’t really mind. It’s not like they could find him and Tubbo.
Tommy didn’t know where they were going, he didn’t know when he was going to stop. He didn’t know what he was waiting for, but his gut was telling him to keep moving, so he did.
That night everything changed when he approached the edge of a desert. He’d almost turned to go around it before he spotted something odd. High up in the sky, possibly at the height limit before it would have gotten hard to breathe, there was something that looked like a creeper face, and another platform that was black. In his curiosity, he continued forth, despite it being night, and was rewarded upon spotting torches placed everywhere. No mobs were around him, they would be safe.
But still, this meant someone was here. Was it possible that someone had built out this far? Someone from Manburg or the Dream SMP? He’d traveled hundreds of thousands of blocks. There was no way… but… who was it then?
As he traveled alongside the desert, more things appeared around him. There was an iron farm to his right, underneath the black platform he’d spotted, a house to his left, and a creeper farm a little further left under the creeper face high in the sky. In front of him was the ocean, an island full of cows, and a little further to the right in the ocean, a place that looked like a home for bees. Tommy’s heartbeat picked up. Who was here? Would he have to fight again?
Suddenly, there was a figure approaching from the sky over the ocean, and Tommy began to hear wingbeats. Tommy’s mouth dropped open. There was no way. It was impossible. There was no way he had just stumbled upon- Slowly, as the figure got closer and as Tommy’s heartbeat quickened, Tommy fully recognized the huge grey wings and the green and white hat of the man who had taken him in so many years ago and he hopped off of his horse in shock to stare.
Tears flooded Tommy’s eyes as he stood frozen, watching his dad fly in. The tears spilled over right as Philza landed next to his house, and the silence of the night was interrupted by his sobs.
Philza pulled out his sword immediately at the sound and turned towards him. Phil also froze as soon as he processed what he was seeing. Tommy couldn’t imagine how it looked. His son, who should be nowhere near him, was stood there, bandages covering his right arm and neck, holding the reins of 2 horses, one of which was carrying an unconscious Tubbo who was covered in bandages.
“Dad..?” Tommy choked out, sobs rising out of his throat.
“Oh my gods,” Phil dropped his sword with a clang and ran over to his son, “Tommy-? Tommy, what the hell?”
“Dad,” Tommy was unable to say anything else before Phil engulfed Tommy in a hug, and Tommy let his sobs out as he held tightly onto his dad with his uninjured arm. The crying came easier to him as the familiar, warm, and large wings wrapped around him. Phil was obviously very confused, but Tommy couldn’t bring himself to explain anything as he continued to sob into his father's shoulder.
“Is this..? Is this your friend? Tubbo?” Phil suddenly spoke up after a minute, and Tommy realized he’d dropped the reins of the horses.
Tommy gasped, grabbing the reins back, and his tears stopped right at the mention of Tubbo, “Dad- please- help us. I’ve done my best, but Tubbo’s still really hurt.”
Phil blinked at him, before he looked at Tubbo and snapped out of his confusion in favor of lifting Tubbo carefully off the horse and ushering Tommy inside the house. Tommy tied the horses down to a random fence post his dad had outside his house and followed him in.
Phil quickly set Tubbo down on the bed in the middle of the house and jumped downstairs. Tommy listened as he rushed around, too tired to question anything. Phil returned quickly with some medicine and fresh bandages.
“What kind of injury is it?” Phil asked him suddenly.
Tommy blinked the exhaustion out of his eyes, “It’s uh- It’s a really bad burn…” Tommy elected to avoid the cause of the injury for now.
Phil nodded, and disappeared for another moment to get burn cream. When he returned, he carefully unwrapped Tubbo’s bandages on his chest and eye. He inspected the wound, and his eyes softened a little, “You did a very good job Tommy. Tubbo will be alright.” He took a closer look at the damage around Tubbo’s eye, “His vision may suffer a little, but from the look of the burn, that isn’t your fault at all.” He applied the burn cream and wrapped Tubbo in clean bandages, also setting a regen potion next to him for when he woke up.
After setting a wet cloth on Tubbo’s forehead, Phil came over to Tommy.
“Let me see your arm, son,” Phil spoke softly.
Tommy took in a deep breath and shot a glance downwards at his right arm, losing himself to his memories.
The injury had been extremely hard to deal with. Not long after he’d left Pogtopia with Tubbo on horseback, he’d started getting dizzy. Only then, did he realize just how badly his arm had been cut and that the only reason he’d been able to get Tubbo out of there and bandage him even semi-properly had been adrenaline.
After noticing his dizziness, finding a spot to sit down, and wondering why he was hurting so badly, Tommy finally recalled the wound from Ponk. When he had taken a look at his right arm, it was almost completely covered in darkening blood and his shirt had been ruined. It stung and it burned and Tommy was getting tired of seeing red everywhere he looked, but he also noticed that his neck hurt whenever he turned it, and that was when he realized that Ponk had also hit his neck slightly. It was at this point when he’d begun to panic rather than be tired, and it only got worse when he tried to move his arm and it barely even twitched. Frustrated tears had gathered in Tommy’s eyes as he tried to take a deep breath and move on to cleaning the wound and bandaging his arm as best he could.
As he went on with the bandaging, trying to ignore the thoughts in his head and the tears in his eyes, Tommy’s arm started to listen to what he wanted it to do over time. It was a huge relief that there was hope for his arm, but Tommy had already known that it would be real bad if he didn’t get help soon. Still though, he’d sworn to himself that he wasn’t going back to that place of war, so he’d wiped his remaining tears, finished tending to his arm as best he could with one hand, and only took a bit longer to rest before getting up and continuing to move forward.
Tommy snapped back to reality when Phil called out his name with a concerned look. Tommy took another deep breath, this time a shaky one, and told Phil that he couldn’t move his arm.
“What?” Phil blinked, trying to process what he said. Before Tommy could even open his mouth to repeat his words, an extremely concerned look appeared on Phil’s face, and he quickly took Tommy’s right arm into his hands and began to unwrap it after making sure he wasn’t hurting his son.
After hastily unwrapping it, Phil frowned with a sharp intake of breath upon seeing that it wasn’t a burn like Tubbo’s, “Tommy… This is a sword wound.”
“Y-Yeah, I know,” Tommy nodded jerkily, trying to not think about it.
Phil took a deep breath, but apparently decided to refrain from asking questions. His hand shakily traced the wound that trailed from the top of Tommy’s neck down to his elbow before Phil snapped out of it. He applied the necessary medicine to his arm, rewrapped it, gave him some pain meds, and also a regen potion to drink.
“Tommy… you were cut very deep. From the looks of it the swing was upwards, right? You’re extremely lucky, if that’s the case,” it obviously pained Phil to say this at all. “It would’ve been a lot worse if it were a downward swing.”
“Yeah, he, uh, he got me with an upwards swing as I was pearling away…” Tommy trailed off.
Phil took a deep breath, “I’m not going to ask questions right now, but Tommy… Your arm...” the last part was whispered with the most pained look Tommy had seen on Phil in pretty much ever.
Tommy’s eyes widened upon seeing the expression and he didn’t know what to do. “I’ll be alright, Dad,” he tried to comfort him, but his own voice was shaky and choked up from oncoming tears.
“Oh, Tommy,” Phil reached over and hugged him as he let out his sobs.
Then, after pulling away from him when his tears had subsided, and asking if he was alright with just his eyes, Phil stood up and went downstairs again after receiving a nod from him. He returned with some extra blankets, set up some beds against the wall, and Tommy moved over to them, exhausted. Phil sat in the bed beside him and let Tommy lean on him. Phil brushed his hands through his hair after pulling the blankets on them, helping him drift off to sleep.