Turn Back Time: It Was Never Meant To Be

Chapter 9

Before he could step foot into the forest, Sapnap appeared. He came out from the trees and charged him.

Startled, Tommy turned and ran back to the castle. He needed to think of a plan, and quickly. Something told him that Sapnap wasn't just out for the disks, but Tommy's life as well.

He reached the castle once again. The stone walls rose up in front of him as he burst inside, Sapnap yelling and taunting him the whole way. He ran a different way than he did the first time. As he ran deeper and deeper into the castle with Sapnap hot on his tail, the stone floor gradually turned to wood planks, then to broken and dirty wood planks. He found this out the hard way, and tripped.

Sapnap was only yards behind him, and catching up quickly. Tommy stumbled to his feet and gasped for breath, ignoring his newly ripped pants and bleeding knees. He never once took his hand off the discs.

Dread started to form in Tommy's stomach when he realized that he was running into a dead end. The only light coming from overhead windows and torches. He passed an open door, but couldn't risk stopping. The dead end approached sooner than expected. Suddenly, Tommy was trapped against the wall and Sapnap, who was wielding a diamond sword.

"The discs, kid," Sapnap breathed, also out of breath.

A plan started to formulate. Tommy put on a scared look and put his hands up. In his left hand were the discs. "Well shit, you got me."

This caught Sapnap off guard, and he lowered his sword.

All at once, Tommy pushed off from the wall and skidded under Sapnap's legs. He bolted for the open door.

Sapnap whirled around and reached out for Tommy's shirt, but missed and stumbled. This gave Tommy the time he needed to reach the room and shut the door behind him.

Once he was inside, he seemed to be blinded by the amount of light. His back pressed up against the door, and Sapnap pounded on it. Tommy slid the lock into place, though he doubted it would stop him for very long. Once his eyes adjusted, he found himself in a room full of armored people, all staring at him. Tommy nearly jumped out of his skin until he realized what he was looking at were not people.

Armor stands filled the room, with all different types of armor fitted on them. Tommy realized that this was just an extra storage room, since the armor that anyone of importance worse was usually enchanted. These were just plain, unenchanted sets of armor, except for a single chestplate that was made of netherite, and was enchanted. Tommy had never seen netherite in person, as it was hard to get and only available to the wealthy. He wondered what enchantments were placed on it.

A table stretched out along the back wall, and was filled with weapons. Some looked newly forged, and others looked on the verge of breaking.

Sapnap pounded on the door again, and the lock began to splinter. Quickly, Tommy located a worn pair of diamond leg armor, the strongest pair of leggings that was there, and fitted it on his body. He'd only worn armor once before, when Phil was teaching him how to sword fight.

Tommy, age nine, Techno, age sixteen, were standing on opposite sides of the yard.

"Remember Tommy, lift and block," Phil reminded him.

Tommy nodded and lifted his sword. It was made of iron, and only slightly worn. It was heavy for a nine year old, but Tommy was determined to prove that he wasn't a helpless child anymore. The leather chestplate and helmet he was wearing were making him sweat as the sun shone down on them, and the helmet kept slipping down over his eyes.

Technoblade held his stance with ease, looking bored as Phil talked to Tommy. Before this, Tommy had only fought with Phil. Wil never wanted to practice with him, and Techno only agreed because he knew it would be an easy feat. His light pink hair was tied back into a braid, and his tusks stood out against his pale skin. He had abandoned his glasses somewhere on the sidelines. His body was positioned at a 45 degree angle, ready to strike. Tommy mimicked him and waited for Phil to count them off.

"One, two, Techno--" Phil started. Before he could finish counting, Techno had already sprung into action and was sprinting towards Tommy. He could do nothing but raise his sword to block as Techno's sword came down. The metal scraped against each other in an awful sound that Tommy would never get used to.

"Element of surprise, Tommy," Techno growled low enough for only Tommy to hear. Tommy in return released the tension of the swords and swung again, just for Techno to block it. He spun and struck again. And again. And again. All Tommy could do was block. Finally, Techno managed to get him in a position where he could twist Tommy's sword out of his hands, and the iron weapon fell to the ground.

"That was easy," Techno laughed as Tommy stared at his sword in the grass.

Phil walked over and put his hand on Tommy's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Techno has been training most of his life, don't forget."

Tommy wiped his nose and picked up the weapon. "Again."

Tommy finished fitting the buckles of the leg armor to his legs, then the shiny netherite chestplate to his torso. The diamond boots and helmet were too big for him and left them on the stand. He picked up a rusty iron sword and turned to face the door.

One more pound, and the door broke open. The broken lock and splinters now littered the floor.

"You are such a pain in the neck!" Sapnap growled.

"Thanks! I try," Tommy responded smugly. He felt stronger in the armor that he had and Sapnap did not.

"Wait, where did you get that chestplate?" Sapnap faltered for a second, genuinely curious and even somewhat weary.

"It was literally just sitting on an armor stand. You of all people should really know to not keep netherite out in the open."

Before Sapnap could respond, Tommy swung first. Element of surprise, Techno's voice rang in his head. Sapnap blocked, and rebounded with a jab. If it weren't for the armor, it would have pierced his abdomen.

"You don't understand, that chestplate is Dream's. You'll be in so much shit when he finds out," Sapnap said.

Tommy hit again in a side swing, and put Sapnap in an awkward position to block it.

"Even better," Tommy huffed, his arm straining from the weight of the sword.

Sapnap pulled away, and Tommy slowly maneuvered his way to the door, but only made it halfway until he had to duck from his sword. Sapnap continuously jabbed and swung, and Tommy spun and blocked. He suddenly darted to the other side of the room and positioned Sapnap in front of the door.

This dude really is stupid, Tommy thought. Sapnap then decided to charge, his cloak flowing behind him. Tommy smiled to himself. He positioned his sword outwards towards Sapnap, and dived. His body slid under Sapnap's arm and the sword ripped a side of his cloak off. The orange fabric hit the ground more heavily than it should've. As Sapnap turned, Tommy snatched the fabric and found that he had ripped off a pocket, and inside was an object. There was no time to look at it. He kicked open the door and ran for it. Along the way, he undid the leg armor and dropped it behind him as he ran. He kept Dream's chestplate bucked tight onto his body.

When he dared a look behind him, he saw that Sapnap was not following. He slowed to catch his breath, and found his way to the outside again.

His thoughts turned to Tubbo. Was he still in the castle? Disregarding his mind telling him to look for him, he knew the first priority would be to get the discs somewhere safe.

He remembered the ripped cloth that he gripped in his hand. When he opened the pocket, he nearly cried with relief. The missing disc, Cat, was inside. Now he had to return home. Tubbo would want him to.

Tommy does steal Dream's chestplate in the streams and Dream gets really pissed about it. The gist is the same. I had to rewrite a few upcoming parts, which is why there were no updates the past few days.
I am also quarantined, so hopefully I'll be able to write a lot. take care of yourselves <3