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TW// Descriptions of blood and injury/mild gore
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Tommy trudged through the thick snow. His tattered clothing doing nothing to keep him warm, causing his body to shake uncontrollably. Despite the fact that his feet were completely numb, they carried Tommy to what may well be his death.
Tommy winced as he stepped on a rock, man he missed his shoes.
‘Just a bit longer,’ Tommy thought, tightening his arms that were wrapped around his stomach, ‘He won’t find me out here, just a bit longer.’
Tommy’s head began to spin at the thought of Dream, the man who had just nearly killed him in an attempt to run away from his exile. Those thoughts and the cold caused Tommy to feel very lightheaded, and before he knew it, he was on the floor.
“I can’t die because of that bastard,” Tommy’s voice was a shaky whisper, barely heard over the sound of his chattering teeth, “He got a lucky shot on me, sure, but I can’t die to his blade.”
Tommy attempted to push himself up, but his arms fell under the weight of his body, causing his face to crash back into the ice below. And he began to cry all the tears he had left. Tommy was almost grateful for the leftover tears, as it provided a slight warmth as it rolled down his cheeks.
Even though they provided warmth, they signaled he had lost. He had lost his fight with Dream, with the Gods, and with the world. Here he would die from his lost battle, alone in the cold, craving his tears as they were the only thing giving him warmth.
Tommy shut his eyes and curled himself into a tight ball. If he was going to die, he didn’t want to feel the snow, it would only remind him of how alone he was. There was no mourning family in a warm room, there was no blanket over him in a medical bed, there was no warmth to this death. Only cold loneliness.
“Tommy?”
Tommy recoiled at the voice. He couldn’t hear it over the sound of his beating heart and the chattering of his shivering self.
Then there were two warm hands on him, soon followed by something soft. Tommy wanted to jump away from what could be Dream coming to bring him back to exile, but he couldn’t. He sunk into the warmth, letting his whole body go limp, just enjoying the warmth and soft scent of bread coming from whatever he was wrapped in.
.
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.
Tommy slowly drifted his eyes open; he wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, nor how he woke up, he should have been dead.
Tommy pushed himself to sit up, wincing at the pain from his stomach. He examined the area, starting with the bed he woke up in.
He was covered in a blanket with fur on the bottom, and a soft red fabric on top. There was a small stuffed polar bear on the edge of the bed, it had a small collar on it reading “Steve.”
Then Tommy examined the actual room. It was a small attic, made of mainly spruce, which provided a nice smell of wood, mixing with baked potatoes, presumably from whoever actually lived here’s dinner.
Right! Tommy jumped out of the bed, he had no idea who even lived here, let alone if they were a threat.
Carefully, Tommy stalked to a ladder at the edge of the attic. He laid down on the floor, much to his discomfort, and poked his head down the ladder.
There was a room with chests, a furnace, and pretty much everything you would expect to be in a standard kitchen. There was no one there though, Tommy assumed whoever owned this house had left or was down in the bottom level below the kitchen.
Tommy stood up again and slowly climbed down the ladder, freezing whenever it creaked. Eventually though, he reached the floor, and saw a large spruce door.
Tommy slowly opened the door and poked his head around it, looking to see if his kidnapper was outside. He didn’t see anything, and he prepared himself to make a run for it.
“Well, you’re awake sooner than I expected.” A gravelly voice said from behind Tommy, “I haven’t even gotten to check if you’re injured, why and how are you out of bed?”
Tommy turned around and met the face of Technoblade, staring down at him with an unreadable emotion, “Techno?”
“Yeah hi, whatever, answer my question.” Techno scoffed lightly, “You shouldn’t be awake right now, let alone up and walking, go back to bed so I can see if you’re injured.”
“I’m fine Technoblade,” Tommy chuckled lightly, “Why would a big man like me be injured?”
“If ‘big man’ isn’t injured, why is he grasping at his stomach like that?” Technoblade pointed at Tommy’s arms, which he hadn’t noticed were wrapped around his stomach again.
“Stomachache,” Tommy shrugged, moving his arms, “You know, poor food and diet can lead to stomach problems.”
Techno stared at Tommy for a minute, “Ok, fine. Just go back to bed, I’ll make you some soup.”
Tommy reluctantly nodded. He didn’t like that he was in The Blade’s house, but he really couldn’t say no to free food. He hadn’t had a proper meal for a while.
Tommy climbed back up the ladder and sat on the bed.
“Stop hurting already,” Tommy whispered to himself, “No one can know Dream did this to me, so stop.”
A few minutes later, Tommy heard the creaking of the ladder, followed by Techno whispering to himself not to spill the soup on his ‘new cloak.’
“Here,” Techno handed Tommy a small wooden bowl full of an unknown soup, “This will help your stomachache.”
“What’s in it?” Tommy asked fearfully, he’s been weary of food gifted to him because of not knowing if Dream had poisoned his food or not in exile.
“Chicken noodle soup,” Technoblade pulled a small stool out from under his desk and sat across from the bed, “It’s not poison, I’m not that rude.”
Tommy hesitated as he stared at the liquid. Cautiously he brought the spoon to his mouth and swallowed the soup.
Techno then watched as Tommy downed the entire thing in 2 minutes.
“And that was the last of my chicken broth,” Techno sighed jokingly, “I’ll have to make more I see.”
“That soup was amazing Techno!” Tommy’s eyes shone at the wonderful food, he was so used to eating expired meats and cold soup in exile, actually fresh food was amazing to taste again.
“Yeah, yeah,” Techno took the bowl from Tommy’s hands, “Ok, cool, you’ve eaten, now go back to sleep. You’re not done recovering from the cold.”
“I’m not tir-”
“Don’t care,” Techno stood up, cutting Tommy off, “Go to sleep.”
Tommy watched Technoblade climb down the ladder, then he swaddled himself up in the soft blanket, falling asleep quickly.
.
Tommy woke up similarly to how he did when he first got here, however there was a strange weight on his legs
He sat up and saw, folded very nicely, some new clothes. Including a fancy collared shirt, some brown pants, a pair of brown leather boots, and a blue cape lined with fur.
Tommy got out of bed and started changing into the clothes, choosing to ignore the pain as he bent down to put his pants and boots on, and especially ignoring the worry his fresh white shirt would soon turn red.
Then he made his way down the ladder, where he saw Techno putting away a small kit.
“Did you make this?” Tommy asked, looking behind himself at the symbol on the cape, “It’s fucking amazing man!”
“I did,” Techno nodded, grabbing an axe, “Now come on, that’s not free. Help me get some wood.”
Tommy shivered at the thought, “Uhm- yeah sure man.”
Tommy grabbed the axe from Technoblade, and the two headed out towards a nearby forest. Tommy shuddered as he recognized this to be the forest he ran from Dream in.
Techno took note of the way Tommy’s walking had become stiffer, and that he was looking around a lot.
“What, did you see a bear or something?” Techno asked, stopping to turn to Tommy, “They’re harmless, don’t worry about it.”
Tommy chuckled nervously, “Ha- yeah, just a bear. I’ve never seen one before, so I was just a bit worried.”
Technoblade shrugged and started cutting down a tree, soon Tommy joined in, cutting down a tree not far from Techno.
It didn’t take long for both of them to have gathered a fair amount of wood, each having about 32 logs.
“Ok, we’re done,” Techno sighed, picking up his last log, “Let’s head home, I’ll make you more soup.”
Tommy picked up his last log and nodded to Technoblade, handing him back the axe.
“You can keep it,” Techno said, handing it back, “I’ve got more, I don’t mind.”
Tommy chuckled and grabbed the axe back, “Thanks man.”
“Lighten up man,” Techno laughed, pushing Tommy, “It’s no fun with you just being quiet and sad.”
Tommy tripped and fell at the unexpected shove, landing on his stomach, he groaned loudly.
“Oh, uh, sorry,” Techno crouched next to Tommy, who was curling around himself on the floor, “Are you ok?”
“Yeah, ‘m fine.” Tommy’s voice sounded strained, “I landed on my stomach is all, there was a rock there.”
Techno helped Tommy stand up, but Tommy wouldn’t remove his arm from his body.
“Are you sure?” Technoblade asked, taking note of that, “I know belly flopping onto the floor isn’t fun, but this seems worse than it should.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Tommy groaned, moving his arm away to cause less suspicion, “Like I said there was a rock there.”
“Whatever,” Techno kept walking, “Let’s get back before mobs spawn.”
Tommy nodded, watching Technoblade walk for a little bit.
'Just don't let him know.' Tommy thought, looking at his stomach, 'It'll be ok, just as long as he doesn't know.'
Things carried on like that for weeks. Techno having things for Tommy to do, and Tommy finding more excuses for the pain. It eventually got to a point Techno just stopped asking, since Tommy would just say something new every time.
“Yeah, I just ate something funny last night.” Even though Techno made sure his food was fresh and healthy.
“I just fell again, nothing bad.” Even though Techno never heard Tommy fall.
“Your dog jumped on me.” Ok yeah that one that was true-
But every time Techno offered healing potions or anything of the sort, Tommy would refuse because “I’m not injured, I don’t need healing.” And other excuses similar to that.
But then the day came, where Technoblade would take Tommy to L’manberg.
“Are you ready?” Techno asked, watching Tommy adjust his chest plate.
“Yes, I think I’m ready,” Tommy exhaled, he was ready, “Let’s just do it.”
“Wait,” Techno turned around to his chests, and handed Tommy a bunch of regeneration potions, “Take these. I don’t care for your dumb excuses, you may well get hurt today, so take them.”
Tommy hesitated before grabbing the potions. He was damn past infected now, so it wouldn’t matter if he even drank one, but part of him desperately wanted to chug one down right then and there. Maybe, if it wouldn’t help him, it would help the pain that still affected him all these weeks later.
“Thanks,” Tommy put the potions away, “Let’s just go, yeah?”
Technoblade nodded, and the two walked out into the frozen snow, making their way towards L’manberg.
Traveling through the nether, it only took them about 15 minutes to get to L’manberg. They snuck their way around the different buildings and structures in the Dream SMP, slowly advancing to L’manberg’s border.
Once L’manberg was in view, Tommy and Techno paused to scout out any L’manbergians who might be a problem, but they saw no one.
“Ah, so that’s where you went.”
Tommy froze. Why was he here?
“Dream?” Techno stood up and turned to the masked man, “It’s been a while.”
“That it has,” Dream lowered his head, and stared at Tommy, “I do believe you have something of mine.”
Techno followed his gaze to Tommy, then looked back at Dream, his face beginning to contort in anger, “I don’t think so.”
“Techno,” Tommy tugged on Techno’s cape, biting the inside of his lip, “Please, don’t let him take me.”
Techno huffed, “I won’t, don’t worry Theseus.”
“Techno, I’m losing my patience,” Dream clenched his fist, “Hand over what is mine, I have to bring him back to exile.”
“No.” Techno smiled, drawing his axe, “I don’t think I will.”
“Fine then,” Dream drew his sword, “Have it your way.”
Dream lunged towards Technoblade at the speed of light, slashing at his armor, making a large cut in the metal with a horrible scraping sound.
Techno used the fact that Dream was up close to raise his axe and slam it down towards Dream's arm, but he dodged out of the way just before it made contact.
Techno used his left hand to grab Dream’s mask, and slam his head towards the floor, breaking off half the mask.
Dream kicked his foot into the small area of Techno’s stomach that had no armor, causing him to let Dream go and back away.
Dream then swiftly looked at Tommy, who was now left completely alone. Dream ran at the boy, swinging his leg toward his back. Tommy arched his back to dodge and-
rrriiIIIIIIPPPPP
Tommy screamed as he felt his body explode with pain. It was a loud scream that came from his heart. And he knew that was it, the secret was ripped open.
Tommy fell to the floor, breathing harder than normal. He tried to keep himself on his knees, but he toppled over onto the floor, his shirt started to feel wet and sticky.
Techno instantly snapped to attention at the sound of Tommy's scream, launching his leg into Dream’s back. He stumbled towards the floor, just as he was about to stand up, Techno thrust his foot into Dream’s back, pinning him to the floor.
“I think your time is up, Dream.” Technoblade raised his axe above his head, ready to swing it down into Dream, ending the fight.
“WAIT!” Dream coughed, “You can’t kill me Techno… you know this. We made a deal.”
Techno tightened his grip on his axe, “You want to call in your favor?”
“What, no!” Dream coughed again, trying to push Techno off him, “We agreed that-”
“Well then, you die,” Techno shrugged, swinging the axe down.
“FINE, fine!” Dream screamed just before the axe made contact, “I’m calling in my favor, let me leave alive.”
Techno hesitantly removed his foot from Dream’s back, “Get out of my sight.”
Dream pushed himself up to his feet and ran off, quickly leaving the fight. As soon as Dream was gone, Techno ran over to Tommy, who was still lying on the floor. He crouched down and put Tommy’s head in his lap.
"Tommy?" Techno asked, examining Tommy, "What's wrong, I don't see anything?
"I'm sorry Techno."
“What do you mean?” Techno asked quietly, looking at Tommy’s face.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy’s eyes began to well with tears, but these tears weren’t a warm comfort, they were just tears, “There’s nothing you can do.”
Techno looked around Tommy’s armor once again and noticed red seeping into what was meant to be Tommy’s white shirt. Techno carefully lifted Tommy’s chestplate off, feeling a pang of guilt as Tommy winced.
Techno starred at the large area of Tommy’s shirt, now a deep red color. Slowly Techno peeled the shirt off, feeling disgusted as it clinged to Tommy’s stomach. And there he say it.
A large gash wound, reaching from the bottom of Tommy's rib cage down to just above his hip. Around the wound itself, the skin was a disgusting green-ish brown.
“Heh, worse than before,” Tommy lightly chuckled at the sight of the wound.
“Tommy,” Techno studied the wound, “How long have you had this?”
“Since you found me in the snow,” Tommy sighed, “I did a damn good job of hiding it, didn’t I?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” Techno looked back at Tommy's face, “I could have helped you.”
“It’s ok Techno,” Tommy sighed, feeling his limbs start to go numb, “There’s nothing you can do now.”
“Tommy?”
“I’m sorry, Techno.” And Tommy closed his eyes.