The Raven and The Wolf [discontinued]

The Ballet of a Traitor

A cold breeze drifted through the open window. Wilbur sat with his head brought down to his hands.

He had to make a choice, he had to choose between Eret or Dream. He didn't want to betray Dream, but he didn't want to kill Eret either.

He stood up, pacing back and forth around the room, mumbling to himself.

  He froze and perked up as the doorknob turned. The door creaked open and Tommy stepped in.

  "Oh, hey Tommy, " Wilbur greeted his brother. Tommy nodded in acknowledgment. "You okay?" Wilbur asked picking up on Tommy's somber look.

  "Yep, perfectly fine, " Tommy spoke in a way that Wilbur couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Tommy, you can tell me-"

"I'm fine Wilbur!" Tommy snapped. Wilbur was taken aback by the sudden yelling. The two stared at each other. Tommy's anger slowly melted into sorrow.

Wilbur stepped forward. Embracing his brother as tears gathered in Tommy's eyes.

Tommy grasped Wilbur's coat, sniffling as tears ran down his face. "What's wrong?" Will questioned again, a sympathetic look painted on his face.

"What isn't wrong?" Tommy chuckled lightly. "Don't just laugh it off, Tommy, " Wilbur said, Tommy remained silent.

  Tommy pulled away from his brother slightly. Will put a hand on Tommy's shoulder, coaxing him over to a chair.

  Tommy reluctantly sat down, Wilbur sat next to him.

  "Tommy, is everything okay? Are you okay?" Tommy remained quiet.

  "You're usually so happy. I mean, you're Tommy Innit! You find humor where no one else can. But, you just seem different lately. Tommy are you okay?"

  "What's the point, Wilbur? Why are we even still here?" Tommy spoke shakily, "I should have died back in exile, why am I even still alive?" Tommy's voice broke as tears ran down his face.

Wilbur didn't know what to say. His eyes fixated in shock and despair as he stared at the cynical boy.

Without speaking he pulled Tommy into a hug, "It's going to be okay, " Wilbur muttered.

Tommy pushed him away, standing up, his back turned to Will, "Don't you have a country to blow up or something, " Tommy sneered.

Wilbur watched in disbelief as Tommy walked away, opening the door and walking out of the room.

What did I do wrong? Wilbur thought to himself, yeah, I blew up a country, that's what I did wrong.

Wilbur sighed, cupping his head in his hands. He could never wrap his head around Tommy, one minute he was finally opening up to him, the next he was yelling at him and storming off.
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  "Fundy!"

  Fundy heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned around to see Eret walking toward him. He smiled, "Hey Eret!" Although once he caught sight of the solemn look on Eret's face his smile dimmed.

  "You good, man?" Fundy questioned. "Fundy I need to talk with you, " Eret said, their voice dark and somber. "Okay? Is everything alright Eret?" Fundy's fox-like ear twitched.

  "No, it's really not Fundy, " Eret mumbled. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" Fundy questioned further. Eret took a deep breath, "You can't be mad at me for this, " Eret looked up, meeting their almost-son's baffled gaze.

  "Eret, you're worrying me."

  "Just please, promise you won't be mad."

  "Eret I'm not promising anything, I don't even know what it is so please, just tell me."

  Eret sighed, they closed their eyes, preparing to get yelled at the second the words escaped their mouth. "Fundy... I'm on my last life, " Eret said, their voice was almost a whisper.

  They didn't open their eyes. "What!" Fundy exclaimed. "What the hell! How is that even possible! You were had all three a day ago! This is just some sick joke, isn't it? Isn't it!"

  Eret waited to make sure Fundy was done. "I was on two lives for a while Fundy, but I lost my second only two days ago, " Eret explained, trying to remain as calm as possible.

  "And you didn't even think to tell me!" Fundy yelled. Eret looked off to the side, the crushing weight of guilt made it hard to breathe.

"I didn't want to worry you, " Eret mumbled. "And you think I'm not worried now! What, were you just going to wait until you died! Let us just assume what had happened when you were gone for good?"

Eret remained silent, so did Fundy. The silence was uncomfortable, the air was filled with sorrow and pain.

Eret looked up, opening their eyes. The anger on Fundy's face melted away, into what Eret couldn't figure out if it was sadness, disappointment, or a mix of the two.

He looked off to the side, closing his eyes, "who knew? Did you tell anyone when you lost your first life?" His voice was now a pained whisper instead of a yell.

"Ranboo... I told Ranboo, " Eret uttered.

Fundy laughed slightly, "of course... I should have known you'd tell him over me, " Fundy's words broke Eret's heart more than anything else.

"Fundy, wait-"

"No, no, I understand, he's just more important, " Fundy sneered, turning around to leave.

"Fundy!" Eret lunged forward, grabbing Fundy's should in a last effort to get him to listen long enough Eret could explain themselves.

"Do you even see me as your son anymore Eret!" Fundy snapped around, tears running down his face.

Eret pulled back, horrified by the statement.

They seemingly couldn't speak, couldn't open their mouth to object, only to stand in stunned silence as they choked back tears the best they could.

"Once a traitor, always a fucking traitor, " Fundy whisper under his breath as he turned around. Walking off, this time without interference from Eret.

Eret dropped to their knees. Their sunglasses fell off as streams of tears raced down their face. Their hands on their shoulders as they dug their purple, pink, and blue painted nails into their shoulder blades.

They smiled to themselves slightly, sniffling, they struggled to speak through the tears. They still managed to whisper to themselves.

"You're a traitor Eret... They'll never see you as anything else."
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Word count-1028

It's been too long since I've written good old Tommy angst :]