Tricks and Treats

8 - Till Death Do Us Part

Tommy was 16 and didn't have many friends. Most were gone, dead or abandoned by him. Tubbo was his best friend, his brother from another mother, but Tubbo was absent, ever since they came back from imprisoning Dream. JackManifold was there but he seemed distant most of the time. Tommy felt close to Sam Nook but he knew it wouldn't last.

Tommy felt alone. Sometimes he felt desperate. Sometime he felt like his life was balancing on a wire with the wind battering him down. Sometimes Tommy wondered why he didn't climb to the roof and jump off. Those thoughts were there for a fraction of a second, but they started to add up, getting more frequent. But Tommy didn't want to die. Standing at Wilbur's grave, Tommy didn't want to die.

Maybe it was because they met at Wilbur's grave. Maybe it was because Tommy needed a friend to help him with his loneliness. Maybe it was because Tommy had once thought of her as his Mother. There could have been a hundred reasons why Tommy followed Niki, talking to her about anything that crossed his mind, but the one thing that mattered was that Tommy went with her.

Niki seemed lost in her world as she lead Tommy to what she said was her second home. Tommy didn't want to ask what was wrong because Tommy knew that he wouldn't be able to fix it but he would tear himself apart to try. Tommy remained talking about animals and farming and women, anything that wasn't pain or grief or Wilbur. Especially not Wilbur. Tommy knew Niki's mental state was because of Wilbur. That man had scarred them both but in two different ways. They both saw Wilbur differently, before and after his death.

"Stay here, Tommy," Niki whispered before turning around, walking away, boots crunching in the snow. Tommy did as she asked, standing in the cold with a thin jacket. Tommy stared at Niki's footprints, watching them fill with snow as the flakes fluttered from the sky. Tommy was about to call out when a noise erupted.

His body was flung forwards, fire eating at his shirt to blister his skin. Tommy was tossed on the ground, his vision flashing between the sky and the muddy snow. Tommy hit against a tree, the bark cutting into his skin as the impact shot up the tree. Tommy felt a ringing sound cracking his skull, his eyes turning to the side to see a fiery hole in the earth.

The pain was everywhere. His back and wings had been burned, and his arm was bleeding from multiple cuts. His pants and shirt were ruined with scorch marks and tears. His heart was beating fast while smoke clawed out of his lungs. A headache threatened to rip open his skull, so Tommy let the headache pull him into a comforting darkness.

When Tommy had opened his eyes again, his body felt numb and he was half buried in snow that was dyed red. Tommy tried moving but everything protested with sharp stings shot to his brain. Thankfully, the ringing wasn't there and the headache had dulled. Tommy thought about staying there, but he didn't want to die. Tommy saw the fading blue in the sky, and knew that night was approaching. Tommy would need a fire, food, medicine, and shelter to survive. However, his number one objective was shelter. That was key to surviving the night.

Tommy used his pale white arms to push his body upwards, wings flexing towards the sky. They could move easily enough, but Tommy didn't know how to use them. Plus, some of the feathers were still small as they had to regrow. Tommy bundled his body together to preserve warmth as he pulled himself along the snow, a trail of blood following him.

"There's a cave over here. We can chop down trees to build a fire," Freya said, appearing at the edge of Tommy's sight, pointing towards the left of Tommy's initial path.

Tommy followed Freya's instructions, and he did find a cave hidden in a mountainside. It was a small cave, but it didn't bother Tommy since it was the size of an average room. Tommy checked his inventory to see a stack of wood and a torch. Tommy was thankful that he hadn't lost his stuff as he used the torch to set the planks on fire.

After warmth had filled the cave, Tommy followed Freya's instructions on how to dress some of his wounds. He didn't have bandages, but Freya recommended some berries that could be mashed together to create a paste that would harden into a pseudo bandage. Tommy snacked on a few berries as he made his plan.

"Here are the facts. Niki brought me to that location, so I can't trust her. That test site for the nukes was known only by two people, however, Tubbo and JackManifold. Tubbo wouldn't even tell me where the landing zone was," Tommy explained in his situation.

"We don't know who to trust, then. Where will we go? Tubbo, Jack, and Niki know where you live so you can't return there," Freya responded, helping Tommy sort out his next actions.

"No. Tubbo would never do that. He's my best friend. We've fought wars side by side," Tommy argued.

"You fought wars side by side with Jack and Niki," Freya replied instantly, like she knew Tommy would bring up that point. Freya knew that Tommy would defend Tubbo until the bitter end.

"This is different, okay? Tubbo would never, ever do something like this," Tommy snapped. He knew Freya was right, but he didn't like admitting that his hallucination was correct.

"Tubbo would do something like this, Tommy. Don't let friendship blind you. Tubbo exiled you. He's capable of that. He'd put the safety of others before your happiness," Freya explained. "You also said something upsetting to him that might have tipped the balance."

The discs were worth more than you ever were

Tommy regretted those words, and Freya knew that, too. Tommy hated her. He hated who Freya was in his life, and he hated how that woman had found a twisted way to return to Tommy's life. What he hated most of all was that Freya was right. Tubbo and Tommy had seen the ugly sides of each other, and while Tommy didn't want Tubbo to die, he didn't know if the same could be said for vice versa.

"Where do I go, then? If you have all the answers," Tommy said in his anger. Tommy was being petty, but that didn't make him want to stop any time sooner. He wouldn't apologize. Not to the past made into a person by his insanity.

"Captain Puffy might be good, but she has ties to Niki. Sam is our best option since he has shown an invested interest in protecting you," Freya said, not minding Tommy's attitude as she stared at him from across the fire. When the fire rose and fell back down, Freya was gone.

"Bitch," Tommy said to himself, tears already dripping from his eyes. He was scared. He was spending the night in a cave near a nuke site with explosion wounds where no one knew he was. To them, Tommy was probably dead. No one was looking for him. Maybe they were celebrating. Tommy could see Tubbo, Jack, and Niki toasting to their victory. It made Tommy sick to his stomach.

Tommy was sobbing. He tried spitting out curses and hate words, but they faded into quiet screams of pain. Tommy couldn't loose his friend like this. Tommy couldn't lose his mind like this. Tommy couldn't die like this.