The Rockrose and the Thistle

A single thread hangs limply down (and I breath not now, not now)

TW: Death, gore

Tommy had a very good memory. It was something he prided himself on, remembering so much. But sometimes it could be a curse. In one instance, he wished for nothing more than to be able to forget.

Tubbo and him were as thick as thieves, left in L'Manberg and raised by the town, mostly Puffy, Sam and Niki. They had as good a childhood as two orphans could, though Tommy longed for more. When the famed adventuring party, the Dream Team, came to town, Tommy devised a plan to meet them.

Him and Tubbo went directly to them, Tommy begging to learn how to swordfight while pointing to Tubbo learning a bit of magic from Niki. After hours, days of begging and pleading Sapnap finally convinced Dream to teach them some things.

"They have the drive to do it, Dream! You know it and I know it." Tommy had overheard, "And if no one tries to teach them they're gonna go out and do something stupid."

"Fine, but if they get hurt or whine or anything then they're out. We don't have the time for this."

From that moment, Tommy swore that he would do everything to impress them. He got up extra early, dragging a bedraggled Tubbo around town to the edge of the forest.

The training was hard, but Tommy was up for it. Sapnap taught him how to fight, though he'd dodged all attempts to teach him magic. Magic was for wimps and Tommy wasn't a wimp.

Tubbo had latched onto Sapnap and Niki's magic lessons, eventually being able to summon a swarm of bees, learning as much as he could of the practice.

"C'mon, Tommy! Parry!" Sapnap yelled, grinning. Tommy growled, lunging at Sapnap but the man easily parried the sword again. "Like that!"

"Shut UP Sapnap! You are so stupid!" Tommy shouted back, his knees buckling as Sapnap crashed his sword down onto his.

"You can do it Tommy!" Tubbo cheered unhelpfully from the sidelines. Tommy glared at him. Tubbo was lucky, he was being taught by Dream and George, both of which didn't use swords. Dream was best at hand to hand combat and George favored long-range weapons and stealth. But Tommy wanted to be a warrior, so his only choice was Sapnap.

"Don't get distracted." Sapnap said, delivering one good kick to Tommy's chest, sending him falling onto the floor, his sword falling out of his grasp. He offered him a gloved hand, which Tommy accepted. He stood on his feet, wiping his brow and picking up his sword.

"Let's go again, I can do this." Sapnap shook his head.

"No can do Toms, gotta head out with those two idiots." He laughed, gesturing to where George and Dream were waiting, George polishing his arrows. Tommy frowned, crossing his arms.

"But you promised. You promised I'd get extra training today!" Tommy argued. "You had to leave early last time! I'm not gonna get better if I can't train with you!" Sapnap just sighed, running a hand through his hair as he sheathed his sword.

"Go train with Sam. Or Puffy, she's good at the sword." Tommy shook his head stubbornly.

"No, you're the best swordfighter that lived in this town! I wanna train with you." Sapnap exchanged a look with Dream.

"We'll train more tomorrow, right now we gotta go." Sapnap finally said. "Monsters to be hunted, gotta keep L'Manberg safe."

"I still don't see why we can't come with you! We've been trained well enough, with expert hunters, we'll be safe!" Dream and Sapnap shook their heads as Tubbo walked over, his bow slung over his back again.

"Tommy it's fine! And Puffy's really good with swords, she's been teaching me to block them with my dagger and shit!" He said cheerfully. Dream nodded in agreement.