Tricks and Treats

3 - Listen With Your Heart

Tommy was 16, and mining for resources for Sam Nook. He swung his pickaxe into the ground, watching cracks form in the blocks before they suddenly appeared in his inventory. Tommy continued with his methodical movements on auto pilot, keen eyes searching the cavern for specific materials.

"I have an idea. How about you play some music?" A voice asked with a tilt of her head.

Tommy looked up at Freya, who sat with her legs swinging on a small half wall of blocks. Freya was Tommy's personal ghost, a phantom of his past that materialized to help him. Freya had a loose drape ponytail of white hair on her left shoulder, and shimmering blue eyes like crystalized ice. She wore a coat with fur trimming and a fur belt that faded from light blue to light purple. Freya had high, sharply defined cheekbones and really pale skin, like a true ghost or elf.

"I don't know if I want to attract anyone by playing music," Tommy responded before returning to his work. Tommy looked at his inventory to see how many stacks he had. With quick math, Tommy realized he needed to get two more stacks before he was done with one item on the list.

"Tommy, Dream can't hurt you anymore. He's in prison," Freya said, hopping down from her wall to walk towards Tommy. She stopped right behind him, reaching a hand for his shoulder.

"If I know Dream, I know that prison can only hold him for so long. He's manipulative and cunning. Dream has someone else under his control right now. I don't know who, but I hope they can handle it," Tommy replied, walking away before Freya could reach his shoulder.

"I suppose. Who else do you not want to find you? I know BadBoyHalo is a little unhinged, but I'm sure he'll come around to his same sane self," Freya laughed with optimism in her voice.

Tommy glared at her. He hit the blocks with his pickaxe again. Tommy tried releasing pent up energy that way. It was healthier than yelling at the first person he saw, Tommy's usual method of getting out aggression. Before Wil- before he was gone, someone told Tommy he should try other methods to relieve stress.

"Tommy, are you down here?" Someone called out. Tommy didn't reply, tensing up as he checked his inventory for weapons. Tommy pulled out an iron sword, holding it in position as he pulled on the hat Sam Nook had given Tommy for defense purposes.

"Hey! It's Captain Puffy! We like her, right? She's never been mean to you. She gave you those gapples before your fight with Dream," Freya called out as she lifted herself to see who was climbing down. Freya waved at Tommy before disappearing, maybe to stay out of Tommy's way when Puffy came down to chat.

Tommy put the weaponry away, but he kept his defense up and stayed on high alert. Tommy made sure to act like he was engrossed in his activities while his eyes kept sharp focus on the entrance. If Puffy tried a sneak attack, Tommy would know she wasn't a friend but a foe.

The anthropomorphic ram came into sight, all signs of weapon and armor absent. Puffy smiled at Tommy, her boots hitting the rock blocks Tommy was standing on to find diamonds. Puffy brought out a strawberry tart from her inventory, handing it to Tommy as a sign of peace. "I thought you might be hungry from all your hard work, so I went to Niki's bakery to get this for you."

Tommy stated at the tart, sniffing it to see if it was good. The scent of strawberries filled his nose. Tommy sat his pickaxe down, taking a bite of the still warm treat. The sugar and jam overtook his taste buds before fading away as Tommy finished. Puffy smiled at Tommy. "Niki told me to tell you that she made it with love!"

"That's sweet of her," Tommy muttered as he continued with his work. To his surprise, Puffy summoned a pickaxe from her inventory to help mine away the blocks and find diamonds. When she did find diamonds, she let Tommy keep them. "What are you doing?"

"I'm helping! Sam Nook told me about the hotel, and I wanted to help you make it," Puffy said. Though, her true motive was because her little duckling had hurt Tommy, and Puffy felt obligated to help Tommy. She did love the hotel idea. Puffy and Ranboo had discussed once how everyone should be on one side, and Puffy saw the hotel as a chance to reunite people.

"Thank you, Captain," Tommy said with a huge smile. His smile faded when his vision began to blur. Tommy took a deep breath, setting his pickaxe down. Tommy felt his stomach churn in his gut as a fire spread through his veins. Tommy twisted uncomfortably as the pain became sharper. Tommy closed his eyes, rubbing his head to feel sweat beads starting to form. Tommy vaguely heard a voice around him before someone pulled him into their arms. Tommy cuddled into the warmth, allowing his body to become numb. After a few seconds, Tommy closed his eyes to surrender to the darkness.

——

Captain Puffy was alone. She was in a cavern underground, holding a sickly child that was passed out. Puffy stared down at Tommy, absolutely no idea what to do. She felt his forehead for a fever, and constantly checked his breathing, but she couldn't do much else for him. Puffy checked her inventory for a healing potion but she didn't find any.

Puffy pulled out her chat box, and started to whisper to Awesamdude: Tommy passed out in the mine. I don't know what happened. He had a fever and his sweating. Heart rate is steadily increasing.

Puffy checked her menu to find the coordinates. She whispered the numbers to Awesamdude. Puffy received a brief reply that Sam was coming. Puffy held Tommy in that time, hoping to keep him stable. Unfortunately, that wasn't working. Tommy had become worse.

He was whimpering in his sleep, and his heartbeat was getting faster. Puffy started to noticed that his sweat was turning into a light shade of pink. The shades kept getting darker until they were rose petal red. Puffy rightfully began panicking when Tommy was sweating blood. She whispered to Awesamdude to hurry up.

The anthropomorphic creeper hopped down into the cavern. He took a look around to find the anxious Captain Puffy and dying TommyInnit. Sam approached with a healing potion in hand. He pulled open Tommy's mouth to pour the potion down his neck. The two adults waited with bated breath until Tommy's blood sweat became clear again. Puffy checked his heartbeat to find it slowly going back down.

"What happened to cause this?"Captain Puffy asked herself with a questioning look at the blonde. "I came down here to see Tommy working on collecting diamonds. I gave him a strawberry tart I bought from Niki for him. After he ate, we both worked on collecting diamonds. Suddenly, Tommy stopped and starting shaking. When I came up to him, he fell into my arms."

"I think it was poison, Puffy. I think Niki poisoned the tart," Sam said, adding in his head that Captain Puffy was equally likely to be the poisoner since he had no proof.

"She would never do that. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe she accidentally used bad strawberries or Tommy ate something poisonous earlier," Captain Puffy insisted. Niki and Puffy had a complicated relationship. They went on a date, and exchanged promise rings, but they found themselves on opposing sides for a lot of things. Their relationship had become strained and they rarely talked about what was becoming of them.

"In any case, I'll take him back to my house so I can monitor his stability. It may take a few healing potions to flush out the poison," Sam said, taking Tommy into his arms. Sam stood back up, walking away from Captain Puffy. He filed away in his head that Captain Puffy and Nihachu needed to be watched out for- just in case.