Infected

6 - Learning

"Hi Tubbo," Crumb said as she ran over to them. "I was doing something with my dad, you're Tommy right?"

"Yeah," Tommy looked over at Tubbo, silently asking if she thought he was the Avatar as well. Tubbo nodded, making Tommy silently groan. "You are?"

"Crumb," She said, then looked back at Sam and Eret. "Why is Sam here?"

"Well my brother got four of his friends to train me. I don't know what bender Skeppy is, but I would assume he's a waterbender," Tommy shrugged, he hadn't thought anything of them each bending a different element.

"But doesn't he think you're only an earthbender," Crumb pointed out, "why have you learn from the other elements as well?"

"Huh, I never thought about that," Tommy said, he would have to ask Clay about it. There was no way he knew Tommy was the Avatar before he did.

"Well since Skeppy is a waterbender, and he isn't here," Puffy started, "don't you need a fill in?"

"I don't know," Tommy said, he had originally thought Clay would have found a replacement or Skeppy would have come today, but neither seemed like the case so far. Inside Bad was on the phone with someone.

"Still no sign of him," They asked.

"No," Bad paced around the desk where the telephone was. "I know it's only been a day, but what if we could have done something? What if he's hurt? What it's done something to him? What-"

"Okay, calm down Bad," They said, "I'll check on him tomorrow if you want."

"No, I'll do it," He insisted, "I don't want you getting hurt as well, Ant."

"How about we both go," Antfrost offered, "and possibly bring someone else along, just in case."

"Okay, yeah, I'll do that," Bad said, "I have to go. Meet me later today, at the spirit portal."

"Will do, and Bad," Ant said.

"Yes?" Bad said.

"Skeppy will be fine, he'll stay strong," Ant said, and the line disconnected. Bad had thought the same thing about him and Ant, yet they nearly lost themselves.

"Hi Bad," Tommy called when he came outside, narrowly avoiding a water blast from Puffy.

"Tommy," Bad said cherrily, "good to see you here."

"You toooooo," Tommy was sent flying back by a well placed water burst.

"Oh my spirits, are you okay," Puffy said, running over to him as Tommy held his leg, trying his best to hide his wincing. He was screwed if Clay found out he hurt himself.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," a red mark had started to form on his leg, he must have knocked into a rock that had been poking up.

"You sure," Tubbo said, no longer talking about the red mark, but the small bruises dotting his lower thigh alone.

"Of course," Tommy said, quickly pulling down his pant leg as he noticed everyone staring. "It's just a mark. I'll be fine."

"Okay," Tubbo said, clearly now was a bad time to ask about the bruises. "I know you won't be against airbenders, but maybe we could improve your technique by training as an airbender."

"Fine," Tommy sighed, he knew what Tubbo was really trying to do, but he was doing his best and wasn't trying to push it on him.

"Great, follow me," Tubbo stood up and jogged off, with Tommy following behind.

"What was that about," Eret asked.

"I have no idea," Sam said, "I hope Tommy's okay. Maybe we should take him to a doctor or something."

"That might be a good idea," Eret said, they had no idea what Tommy's home life was like, and it wasn't like he was open about it. "But he might not be too happy to, and there's always the chance he'll tell Clay."

"And Tommy wouldn't be allowed to see us anymore," Sapnap said, "You guys didn't see him yesterday. Something is definitely up with him and Clay, he was apologizing for almost everything and looking to Clay for approval."

"Oh, hi Sapnap," Eret said, turning to him. "Good to see you. Can we expect George as well?"

"No, Sam asked for me to fill in for him today," Sapnap said, he didn't know why, he just knew that Sam needed someone to take his place.

"I have a missing person's case I need to be working on," Sam said, being careful not to reveal too much. He looked over at Bad when he said the next part, "Skeppy isn't the first person to go missing in the spirit wilds."

"Well be careful with that Sam," Bad advised, "if you ever need back up you know where to find us."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sam said, he started to walk back to the bridge connecting the island to the mainland, and past where they watched airbenders weave through spinning gates.

"How exactly is this supposed to help me," Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This exercise trains you to be intune with the wind currents, feel them, and act on a moment's notice." Tubbo explained, "it'll help with avoiding attacks without getting too exhausted. Just keep your mind clear and focus on the moment."

"That, I can do," Tommy watched as the gates kept spinning, his first instinct was to try to figure out a way through before, but that didn't seem like a possibility. Not being able to think of anything better he charged into the course, and got flung right back out after running into the first panel.

"Erm," Tubbo tried to think of what Master Jinora would do with struggling airbenders, "say here, I'll be right back."

"Okay," Tommy watched as Tubbo ran back towards the main building. He came back with a green cloth in hand.

"Bend down," Tubbo said, "I'm going to tie this around your eyes."

"Okaaay," Tommy had no idea what he was doing but sat on his knees so Tubbo could do what he said. "How am I supposed to see?"

"That's the whole point, Tommy, by covering your eyes you think less like an earthbender and have to work off instinct," Tubbo said, making sure the cloth was secure and helped Tommy stand back up. Tubbo then pushed Tommy into the course, it took a few times but with a little forewarning Tommy was able to successfully get through without hitting a single panel. He eventually took off the blindfold, but they couldn't quite get the same results.

Clay had mostly left Tommy alone, watching from a distance. He didn't trust Tubbo nor any of the other Airbenders, but for the moment he had to just wait and observe. As 2 o'clock neared Tommy said his goodbyes and met Clay at his car.

"So, who was that kid you were hanging out with," Clay asked as they started on the road. "You were training right?"

"Yeah, we were working on reflexes, he was teaching me what he knew," Tommy said.

"What's he like," Clay said.

"Tubbo, he's my age," Tommy said, trying to think of something that would convince Clay to trust him. "I'm pretty sure he's mentioned that his dad is President Schlatt."

"Okay, so who's the kid who dragged you off," Clay asked, he assumed he was related to the Airbender that he had talked to.

"That's Fundy, his dad, Wilbur, is a non-bender, but he's an airbender like Philza," Tommy said, "Phil's the guy with the green and white hat."

"Well, depending on how much improvements you've made, maybe we could go back tomorrow," Clay said, Tommy internally sighed, he wasn't in trouble. But after all that had happened he felt a bit overwhelmed, and hoped that Tubbo hadn't gotten his hopes up that he was the Avatar. Sure he was lucky, but not that lucky.

I apologize for the slow updates, I'm just super busy with school and I ran into a writer's block. So next chapter will start to look at Techno's story. Thank you all for reading and please vote and comment!

QotC: What bender do you think I made Karl? He will have a bigger part in the future btw.

Peace out benders and Minecrafters from around the world!