𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣? (dream smp au)

Chapter Two 😩

narrator pov
cw: disassociation, trauma tings 🥴, swearing obv

Tommy slowly fluttered his eyes open with a groan and aggressive stretch. He didn't know exactly where he was, he knew he was knocked out and taken somewhere but his small minor brain was still trying to comprehend this all. He curled his arm in front of him and slightly under his pillow as he stared into the distance. He could've sworn he heard the distant voice of two people talking to each other, they didn't sound like any of the dream team, one sounded like he had some italian accent? Nonono it was definitely more western but with the same oomph. It was a New Yorker one! Tommy had no real frame of reference for that one, so it was shocking he knew at all.
Tommy deeply sighed with a small shh at whatever was talking to him. He threw the blankets to the side and slowly pulled himself out of bed. The room he was in was dimly lit with a lantern on the oak night stand. It didn't seem this place really had any electricity to spare, Dreams room and the living room seemed to have some, but that was the extent. Dream always said he had important business to attend to which involved the lights and what not, and the living room having lights was "just a given."
Tommy walked around his room, he couldn't really remember going to sleep here so it was justified to go look around. It was very bland, almost nothing in there, minus a dresser and night stand of course. Feeling a sharp pain in his stomach followed by a growl, Tommy inferred it was about time for breakfast. He inched over to the door, listening for any sounds of footsteps. After a moment of listening, he assumed there was no one in the house.
He slowly pushed the door open, he could distantly hear people laughing and joking outside. And the distant smell of food? Consider him sold!
Tommy crept out of his room and followed the scent to the front door. Upon looking out, he saw Sapnap, Quackity, and Eret just hanging out by the fire, Sam was behind them eavesdropping, and working on a structure of some sort, and Dream was approaching the fire to take a break and be a part of the conversation.
"Did Quackity always have wings?" A voice said harshly.
Tommy jumped and looked behind him, no one, must've been the same voice as earlier.
"Probably? I never cared to notice, I guess. But I'm about to go speak to them, so I need you to shut your New York-ing ass up, okay?" Tommy snapped back, with only a faint growl as a response, followed by complete silence.
"Oh, hey Tommy!" Quackity smiled as Tommy sat next to Eret on the ground, only to violently pick at grass. Sapnap joined in the greetings as he looked over the fire to stir the soup that was cooking above, "yeah, hi! You look down, didn't sleep well?"
"That's probably an understatement, Sapnap. After you KNOCKED ME OUT." Tommy remonstrated.
"Hey! That's not even how that happened, YOU tried to steal my sword so I responded accordingly, okay!?"
Tommy stared Sapnap down for a moment, narrowing his eyes before sighing and abruptly looking down to continue picking at grass. There was a moment of silence. The fireplace had always been known to have Sapnap at basically all hours of the day, and others would gather around here to have a more chill atmosphere. The seating was made up of a tree stump, a fallen log, literally just a small blanket, and a half broken white lawn chair. It was a little before noon, as indicated by the sun's location in the dull blue sky, covered with layers of clouds.
Dream's house and Quackity's were the closest to the center of the dome and were subsequently surrounded with more valuable resources. They were also the two biggest, as they housed more than just one person while other homes were being built. Technoblade's house did seem to out class them in the land it owned, as it was built next to a wheat and potato farm.
The house, that significantly stuck out from the rest due to its farmhouse appearance and how it completely dwarfed the others, was also a hub for training with multiple dummies of monsters, accurate to size and weakness. For the time being Techno was training Tubbo with the supervision of Puffy.
As Tubbo was practicing throwing axes and knives at these dummies, Puffy was casually watching from a safe distance and listening to Techno. Techno was rambling while cleaning the skull of a massive kill he got when he left on a mission, it was of an ancient Greek hero Atalanta. "-So her father, a king of some place I've forgotten for the moment, left her on a mountain. And of course she would've died repeatedly if it wasn't for the perfectly timed arrival of a mother bear, who took Atalanta in as one of her cubs. But as cool as it is to be raised by bears, it wasn't meant to be, and she was found by a troop of hunters who take her in as their own. They teach her about clothes, civilization, language, all of those interesting things. She grows up to be this extremely skilled hunter, who at some point beats King Peleus in a wrestling match. If you don't know who King Peleus is, try Achilles' dad, just so you get how monumental that is.-"
He went on like this while working very hard on this skull, cleaning every piece of it with extra precision and care. Techno was always ecstatic to tell these types of stories whenever he could get the chance. It was hard to tell in his tone of voice and expression, but when a man of few words rambles about one topic a lot it's easy to infer. He cut himself off abruptly, "Tubbo straighten your arm. Put more force in, even the slightest sliver of weakness can and will be your downfall. You should've learned this." Tubbo corrected his posture with a passive aggressive sigh. Techno rolled his eyes and continued his story.
Soon, Sam joined the others around the fireplace with the calm humming he typically did to self sooth. Tommy instantly noticed something about Sam that he'd ver seen before, "Hi Sam, what's that over your eyes?" He asked curiously.
"Oh. The piece of cloth?" Sam hesitantly pointed to the cloth over his eyes. Tommy nodded in response and leaned slightly more in Sam's direction, intrigued.
"Oh well... Its- It's- I've noticed certain things seem to tick me more often since the whole outbreak. And I've found a multitude of ways to keep me calm and not overwhelmed. I do not know exactly why it works or why I need it, but I do. So when I'm out of the house or around more than one person at a time it is typically wise to just wear it."
"Oh...That makes sense I guess. Also, can we eat yet?" Tommy asked, hunching over and staring at the fire and the pot over it that still let off that ever tantalizing scent. Sapnap nodded, "I think so," he peered over the pot and stirred it once again. "Yeah, looks,,,, edible? You guys help yourself, I'm gonna go help around camp." He stood up before dipping on these hoes.
Tommy smiled, he hasn't had like a proper meal in days. He sat back up straight and picked up a small metal bowl and poured himself some soup with the ladle in the pot. There was absolutely no self control whenever the food was actually in his hands, starting to eat with a spoon before just tilting up the bowl and slurping down the whole thing with a stream of the broth running off his chin.
No one really knew what was in the stew, nor did they seem to care. It looked like some wild rice soup, but no one could be sure. Everyone helped themselves, it even gathered the attention of Techno and a few of the other more closed off individuals. Even Callahan was sitting by the fire joking with the others, many of the people in the group had made an effort to learn sign and when some didn't others would translate. It was a very easygoing and calm atmosphere, Tommy even found himself laughing and joking along even if he felt that everyone here still hated him or didn't want him here.
Food seemed to bring everyone together, no doubt it was scarce in this day and age, but how it brought the team together, despite backgrounds, belief, or family left Tommy in awe.
He missed them while he was away, more than he'd ever care to admit.
He had been away for so god forsakenly long he had forgotten what this feeling was, the feeling of belonging, the feeling that this was sure to last.
Tommy was snapped out of thought due to an all too familiar voice saying, "Well! If it isn't the one and only Tomathy Careful Danger 'Big T' Innit!"
"Tubbo!"
Tubbo sat down next to Tommy with a vibrant grin and wave. He seemed to have gotten a new wardrobe. Netherite armor over a muddied black collared shirt, it looked worn out, as if it was the shirt he uniformly wore under armor. The armors back had a convenient little sheath that kept Jack Manifold's trident in it, just in case it was needed. On his belt there was a bag that was probably storing a weapon or valuable resource as well. His ram horns seemed to have almost fully grown in, just to top off the transformation. Even his mannerisms had changed, he seemed he had more pride. Tommy had assumed it was due to how much work he probably had to put in when this all went down. And the fact he was exposed to several more people he had hardly known. And oh how people can change when you put them in a world with life threatening situations every which way you look.
"Happy to see you back, Big T!"
"Happy to be back!" Tommy said without a moment of hesitation before continuing, "what have you been up to since this all went down? I see your horns grew in."
Tubbo looked down and towards the fire, he hated the fact he actually had his horns. They made him look like a spitting image of his father, and he hated that, with every bone in his body, he hated that.
"Ah...Nothing much, Technoblade started training me. Teaching me how to blacksmith, how to defend myself, etc. I've actually gotten really good at the blacksmithing part, as you can see by my new armor! Pretty cool huh?" Tubbo said, trying to continue the conversation instead of feeling bad about his horns.
Tommy smiled and chuckled, though he felt this odd aura in the air. As if the very world around him had a sting of sadness and guilt. Tommy knew that wasn't him who did that, he was happy to have his friend back! But something, like a third party individual, who was witnessing this was experiencing mental pain and Tommy could feel the effects of that. If that makes any sense.
"Hello fellow minors." A voice said behind them, Tommy jerked around to look at who said it. It was the overly tall memory boy, who was squatted down behind them. There wasn't that much that had changed about him, other than the fact his hair was grown out and even more messy and there were a few scars tattered over his face and body. Techno had made him a new fit after the tux got overly worn out, so now he looks like some eerie victorian prince.
"Hi Ranboo!" Tubbo said happily, "where've you been for the past few days?"
Ranboo just shrugged and looked down. Weird. But we don't expect anything different tbh. Ranboo stood up "any of you want to go outside of the dome for child related shenanigans?"
Tubbo and Tommy looked at each other with a questioning glance before Tubbo shrugging and the other nodding. And with that they were off, Ranboo led the way out of the dome with Tubbo and Tommy close behind. Tommy didn't really have anything to defend him, but Tubbo and Ranboo seemed like they did, so Tommy pretended to be a part of the armed and dangerous gang.
Fake it till you make it ong.
They were walking through tall grass near the exit, making conversation and the others informing Tommy of the layout of the place. On the other side of the dome all of the tall grass was dead, with only red spiked roots running through it, seemingly draining all the energy from it.
It was around noon, Tommy assumed as he looked up near the sun with his left hand guarding his eyes from the vicious rays of the sun, those same rays cast a golden haze over the surroundings. Giving it a border line cinematic feeling. As he left the force field, Tommy prepared to experience some pain just from the mfin force field, but it didn't feel like anything. He looked behind him and only saw these distant ripples from where it opened drift off to make the field active once again. Tommy made a 'not bad' face along with a nod.
"Tommy hurry!" He heard from behind him, "oh sorry!" Tommy responded before running after the others.
As they were just heading off to god knows where, Tubbo was telling the other two what's been going on around camp since they had been gone.
Long story short, nothing interesting, Dream hangin out and literally everyone else being mentally ill or having daddy issues, typically both.
While they were still being lil drama spreading bros, Tubbo proposed they go down to the remains of Snowchester to pick up some "-non uranium related things-". Not having anything better to do, they agreed, it actually wasn't too far just a little more north.
After trucking through the plains and into the snowy forest, and as Tubbo was loudly singing wild world by cat stevens, Ranboos ear twitched and he stopped in his tracks, putting his hand on the handle of a sword on his side. He looked behind him and shushed Tubbo before whispering, "there's something following us. Be quiet and if you have any weapons please get them readied."
Tubbo, without hesitation, grabbed the crossbow that was conveniently held in the side bag kept on his belt and threw it over to Tommy before getting out his trident. As Tommy looked down at this crossbow, trying to process why it was now in his hands, an extreme expression of horrific fucking terror appeared on the other twos face.
Ranboo was right, and they found themselves face to face with something they had never even heard of before. It had the build of a rhino, was reptilian, as far as they could tell, covered in rock looking spikes with a skull crushing crest over its head that pulled down to its lower torso. It was a deep char black, only few places on the rock-like features were branded with long magma colored lines that looked as if it was seeping through the rocks. The beast huffed, sending smoke out of its nostrils and into the cold air that truthfully bit to the bone.
Tommy finally looked up, his shoulders dropping as he fell speechless, the only thing that could come out of that mouth of his was a simple "...fuck."
Out of seemingly no where the beast roared out and ram towards them, as Ranboo dived towards it, sword in hand ready to kill this hoe, Tubbo grabbed Tommy's upper arm and just dipped, running for the hills.
They began to slow down once they had found a place hidden under a giant mfin rock that blocked mostly everything except for one small entrance.
As Tubbo jogged in, still dragging Tommy, he interrupted with, "Tubbo! Isn't it kin- WE JUST LEFT RANBOO TO DIE."
"Nonono Tommy, he'll be fineee. That man always seems to come out alive."
Yeah, even if he is right, Tommy didn't trust that and pulled himself from Tubbos grip, accidentally knocking him off balance in the process. "I'm going back, Tubbo!" Tommy said as he slowly stepped back, crossbow in hand. There was a single shot loaded, but Tommy is far too arrogant to ask for more arrows so he just sprinted back to save his friend.
Ranboo was being held against the rock by the creatures front talon thing as it went in to kill him, but Ranboo held the sword against the animals crest making it not be able to advance unless Ranboo weakens or adjusts his grip at all. Which now that he thought about it was absolutely terrifying, but he could hardly think, damnit. Why? In this one life threatening situation, why is everything getting so blurry? Why doesn't he feel like he's in his own body? Why can't he tell what he's feeling? WHY IS IT SO GODDAMN BLURRY?
Ranboo felt his breathing begin to speed as he felt himself, his very own being, drift off. Just when he began to drop his sword the strength he put into it, Tommy ran around the corner yelling, "PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE, BITCH." Before shooting the monster in the eye with the single arrow he had. The monster roared out in agony, rearing up on its hind legs as it did so.
"I didn't mean me! I am short and small, just uh, not Ranboo either!" Tommy panicked, holding his crossbow to his chest, before the beast began to charge towards him.
Ranboo, in an unconscious state, only being guided by either his subconscious or an outside being, got off the rock and ran towards the creature. Taking leaping strides each time, before he jumped in the air and stabbed it in its side. As it whipped around trying to hit Ranboo with its crest, he went down yanking the sword from its side and viciously stabbed it into the beasts chest. As it roared out and slowly lost its balance Ranboo slid out of the way.
Dust flew around them cinematically as Ranboo slowly became conscious again and Tommy just stood there. Watching. Very confused on why Ranboo is now having a whole ass anxiety attack over the fact he's now covered in blood.
Tubbo ran over to them, slowly stopped next to the group. Tommy and Ranboo both looked at him very hurt.
"What?" Tubbo asked, clearly not understanding why they're mad at him.
Ranboo just had a moment of 'how do you not know you just left us', shown through very confusing expressions on his dumb lil face.
Tommy chimed in to clarify, "YOU LEFT US TUBBO, RANBOO HAD TO FIGHT THE THING. IT WAS VERY COOL OF HIM, BUT VERY UNCOOL OF YOU."
Tubbo just shrugged and looked at the corpse of the beast, before walking over to Ranboo and helping him stand. "Uh, on a better note, I did get the ura- NON uranium." Tubbo said walking Ranboo over to Tommy by very violently holding his hand and pulling him. (they're best friends, ur honor.)
Tommy lead the group back to the haven for food and the chance for Ranboo to have a mental break.

well there we go!!
sorry for taking so long! writers block is a bitch i swear and my brother was busy so this ones all by yours truly.
it's mainly just a filler chapter to flesh out some parts abt the characters and how they are now.
we'll try to make next chapter 10x more interesting guys, on my mama.
anyway,
До свидания!
-archieeee