The Valley

we were born in the shadow

"You three want to explain this?" Wilbur said as Tommy was woken with a start with Wilbur chucking something into his chest. Tommy blinked awake, seeing a very angry Wilbur standing there, and Ranboo and Tubbo just waking with confusion.

Tommy picked up the crumpled piece of paper and opened it up, his eyes going wide. It was the news clipping he had found.

"I have no idea what that is!" Tommy laughed, a bit too loud. Wilbur's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms across his chest before crouching down.

"Tell me why I found this in your room and tell me why my God damn mother is in it?" He demanded. Ranboo, the traitor, confessed.

"Tommy went to Phil's office and found that and he wanted me and Tubbo to help find out what happened because you've all been so good to us and we wanted to do something for you!" He blurted out, Tommy elbowing him in the side.

"Ow! What was I supposed to say?" He hissed. "Wilbur would've found out." Ranboo mumbled. Wilbur sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Why?" He asked quietly.

"We already told you, bitch! We wanted to find this Kristen lady so we can maybe give Phil some closure." Tommy huffed, crossing his arms.

"First of all, that's not 'this Kristen lady', that's my mother. And that's super dangerous, if Dreamcatcher is involved. You can't do this-"

"But we've already made some progress!" Tubbo argued. Wilbur held up a hand for silence.

"Let me finish. You can't do this alone. I'm going to help."

"But why!?" Tommy demanded.

"Because that's my mother. I don't know what happened to her and I want to know. Phil never talked about mom after she left." Wilbur explained. "If you let me, and  Techno, in, then I'll keep your secret."

Tommy was about to protest, but Ranboo nodded. "Okay, Wilbur." Tommy gave the taller boy a betrayed look, but Wilbur seemed pleased.

"Why do you even want to help?" Tommy muttered, huffing a bit as he stood up, stretching.

"Because I don't know what happened to my mom, I hardly know anything about her. I want to find out what happened. I want to see her again." Ranboo nodded and Tubbo took Wilbur's hand, who was shaking.

"She might be dead, Wilbur. She probably is, but we're gonna find her and give her an actual funeral." Tubbo said gently. Wilbur nodded, wiping his face with his sleeve. Tommy suddenly felt very bad and Ranboo looked worse.

Ranboo hugged Wilbur, to which the brunette accepted quickly. Tommy looked down. Ranboo was the only one who could even understand what Wilbur might be going through. He never got a funeral for his parents, they were burned to ash, there were no bodies. At least Tubbo and Tommy didn't know their parents.

"Sorry I just... I never knew I'd get this opportunity. Dad... Phil still misses her, even if he doesn't talk about her."

"It's okay, Wilbur. We're gonna do this!" Ranboo said, trying his best to be cheerful. Wilbur nodded, pulling away from Ranboo and looking at all three of them.

"So," Wilbur said, "Let's see what you guys got so far."

***

Because the crime scene had been scrubbed after the kidnapping, there wasn't much to go on, but Ranboo, and his strange informants who he only called 'The Council', had found something. They flipped over the bulletin board, revealing their leads. A few newspaper clippings, some sticky notes tacked on, all connected with purple thread.