Blind Tommyinnit by: impcraig

Chapter: 2 Weird Sounds and Familiar Voices

The cold air bit the exposed skin of his face and hands, somewhat painfully. He could feel the presence of another man infront of him as a sword was placed gently in his hands. The metal handle was freezing against his flesh.

"Tommy," The blond's head angled in the direction of the voice, a chill making its way up his spine. "Now that you're blind, I'll have to teach you how to survive..."

The last week and a half had been somewhat exhausting, both physically and emotionally. Techno was adamant about physical prowess, forcing the boy to eat at least two meals a day and some light exercise. It had proven to be beneficial in the end, when holding a sword went from shaking hands to a firm grip.

"You'll have to trust all of your senses, not only your eyes."

Tommy nodded, fingers tightening around the sword in his left hand. "You need to stay on guard all the time."

The clack of shoes against the stone ground was loud to Tommy's ears, which had become arguably more sensitive since becoming blind. The sound of metal against leather peaked the boy's attention. "Every sound can be a threat..."

More footsteps, this time nearing him. Tommy could tell that they were approaching from the front, the hood on his head mildly muffling his hearing. "Or a friend."

Rustling of clothes insinuating movement were drastically closer now. Tommy's fingers were practically digging into his right hand palm from the tension. "Or..."

He could hear a rush of air and instinctually raised the sword to defend his head. A large clang of metal against metal left a brief ringing in his ears. "You're better than I expected..."

The swords dragged against each other as Techno drew it to his side again. He stepped back once and gave the mop of blond hair a brief pat. "You need to study the sounds, and you will be fine."

And so he did. Tommy would spend hours just sitting in his room, standing outside, or even walking in the woods. He'd occasionally be accompanied by Techno or Phil, but he much preferred going on his own.

He worked first on disterning footsteps; figuring out which ones were Techno's and which were Phil's. It was actually somewhat difficult. Both walked lightly, most likely from having years of survival training, so hearing any outward differences was hard. However, Tommy learned how Techno walked more on his toes, making his footsteps just a bit louder.

Next was the different noises animals would make in the wilderness. The first time he went out in the woods, sword strapped to his side, Phil had offered to come. It was a very bad idea in the end, as the extra sounds of fabric and the crunch of footsteps in snow was very off-putting.

Tommy went alone the next time.

He sat in the snow for what felt like hours and didn't bother leaving until he felt the chill in his bones. He was able to tell the difference between a rabbit's hopping, an arctic foxes' pounce, and a sheep's step. It didn't mean much to anyone but Tommy, who saw this small improvement as progress.

Tommy was able to learn the sounds of nearly everything around him soon enough; the footsteps of a living creature, the clink of objects against each other, and even the smallest noise was disternable now.

It was an achievement to him and he had boasted about it plenty to his house-mates. Phil was more outwardly proud than Techno was, but Tommy could tell the piglin hybrid had the inkling of pride in Tommy.

"Hey Tommy?"

"Up here!"

Tommy wasn't given his own space to live in, but only because there wasn't anywhere for him to live, really. Techno had his bed upstairs, Phil had his home in L'manburg, and Tommy slept on the couch. He wouldn't dare complain, it was so much better than the pile of hay he had in exile. He also wouldn't admit that he liked the feeling of Techno's bed a lot more than the couch. But, again, he'd never complain about it.