SBI Oneshots

Hardship in Warfare (2)

      Techno led the group to a small cave, big enough to fit the four of them and a fire to stay warm. Wilbur stood in the back while Tommy and tubbo were in the middle, almost like a protective circle around them.

      They walked into the cave carrying a pile of sticks and rocks, already starting to form a fire pit. Tubbo frowned and said goodbye to the bee on his finger, slightly waving at it when it flew away. "Goodbye, Jared!"

      "Did you seriously name the bee?" Techno asked, setting down the last of his rocks. Tubbo laughed.

      "No. The bee named itself. It told me." Wilbur looked up from the newly formed pit, raising an eyebrow at the boy who was now sitting criss-cross applesauce on the cave floor.

      "That's his power. He's a bee whisperer." Tommy said, disinterested in helping start the fire. Techno huffed, rubbing two rocks together to create a spark. Wilbur hummed.

      "And what about yours?" He asked. Tommy looked around the cave, eventually finding a small vine hanging from the wall which he started walking towards. His hand gently touched the plant and it grew a soft, yellow flower, fully blooming in a matter of seconds. Tubbo beamed and whistled a soft tune, causing a bee to fly in the cave and collect the fresh nectar from the flower.

       Techno smiled at the scene, finally creating a good enough spark to start the fire. "Do you know if anyone else survived Astra's invasion of your town? Parents, friends, neighbors?"

      Tubbo and Tommy glanced at each other, a flash of pain in their eyes as they were brought back to old memories. "Our parents were killed years ago. We used to live on the other side of Britain, but our town was the first one Astra took over. Tubbo and I didn't understand why she was aiming for us specifically, but we pieced it together when we saw that only people with powers were getting killed."

     Will's eyes softened. "How did you two get away?"

      "Our parents were friends, so they were together when we were attacked. Tubbo's mum had the power to teleport other people and objects, so she teleported us away while she and our other parents distracted the soldiers. They were killed shortly after she teleported us." Tubbo stared at the bee on the flower, eyes glossy from tears that threatened to spill.

      Wilbur and Techno shared a look. "Our dad did the same for us, but we don't know if he's dead. We just know that he sacrificed himself so we could get away." Techno took his sword out and started to clean off the dried blood from earlier. "He was a good man."

      A calming silence filled the air as the four warmed up by the fire, each silently thinking about whatever came to mind.

      "What about you guys? What are your powers?"

      Will smiled, making a transparent guitar appear out of thin air. "I can control emotion through music. Let's all cheer up, eh?" Wilbur strummed his guitar, and Tommy and Tubbo both perked up instantly, suddenly not as sad as they were a moment before. Techno stayed the same.

      "Woah, shit. That really works. Why isn't techno affected?" Tommy pointed to the man with pink hair who still had a frown on his face as he stared at the fire. His ears perked up when he heard his name.

      "Well, one: I can control who is affected, and two: We are twins so he wouldn't be affected anyway. I don't know why the twin thing works like that, but the same thing goes for his powers. He can't do anything to me." Techno smirked a little.

      "My power is a bit more vulgar." Tommy raised an eyebrow, curious. "I control blood. If I know what the person looks like, I can make their blood just... stop flowing, and then they're dead. That also means I can literally make blood float out of their bodies and drown someone in it." Techno stopped cleaning his sword and grabbed a rock, sharpening it. "Fun fact: I'm the reason that soldiers always wear masks."

    Tommy laughed. "Of course."

      A gentle breeze wafted through the cave, ruffling the hair of the four men inside. Each shivered, scooting closer to the fire in the middle, watching as the flames created sparkles in the others' eyes.

      "When are you going to teach us how to survive?" Tubbo whispered, trying to create conversation. He was always a people pleaser.

      "I'm thinking you two stick with us for a few days, seeing how Wilbur and I operate, then I'll start teaching you how to fight." Tubbo hummed, hugging himself a little tighter to keep warm. While the fire helped, it wasn't keeping them as warm as they would like. Tommy scooted closer to his friend, sharing their body heat.

      Eventually, they all fell asleep, Tommy using his powers to create a wall of plants at the cave entrance to hide them. Only, they didn't know that the plant wall was the reason for what would happen next.

      It was the middle of the night around 3 AM when the plants started moving and a man entered the cave. He had angle-like wings and was obviously injured, looking for a place to rest.

      Techno wasn't quite asleep yet. He was simply closing his eyes while trying to pass out, but thank god he didn't. He saw the man go into the cave, then quietly grabbed his sword, raising it to the man's chin while backing him into a corner.

      It was dark, they couldn't see who the other was, but a glint of light showed in the man's eyes, and Techno's sword fell to the ground.

      "Phil?"

      The man's eyes widened as Techno backed away, going to start the fire again to bring more light into the dark space. Two rocks sparked against each other, and a fire came to life.

      The bright light and intense heat caused the other to wake up, slowly tuning in to the world around them. "How- We thought you died?"

      Phil didn't seem to understand what was happening, his eyes half-lidded and his lips separated as he slowly breathed. He was obviously beat-up, having plenty of bleeding cuts on his face and who knows how many other wounds on his body. His clothes were also blood-soaked, and his wings were missing plenty of feathers, something that was revealed when he collapsed to the ground.

      Techno caught him, the sudden noise being the final thing to stir Wilbur awake, his eyes widening at the sight of his dad passed out in his brother's arms. "Why is he here? How did he even-:

      "I don't know! But he's injured! Help me!" Techno picked him up as gently as he could while Wilbur took out his water bottle and a few rags, softly dabbing them on Phil's face cuts.

      "What's going on?" Tubbo said, squinting his eyes at the brightness of the fire.

      "This is our dad! He found us, but he's hurt!" This shocked Tubbo to the point that he was awake, but he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he simply walked over to the pair, gently rubbing his thumb against a small cut on Phil's cheek, the wound healing instantly.

       Techno glanced at the boy, suddenly much calmer than he was a moment ago. "You can do that? Well, hurry and help him more."

      "Please!" Wilbur added. Both twins were scared, feeling useless as Tubbo started rubbing his hands against a plethora of bleeding gashes on the man's body. They occasionally shared a moment of eye contact, before going back to silent watching their father be healed.

      Then, Phil woke up.