[A Dark Secret Lies Upon This Academy]

[Chapter 14]

"Tubbo, shush. Now is not the time." Ranboo whispered.

"Tommy, why are you here? Hell, how are you here?!" Wilbur power walked towards him. His group followed him at the back.

"You were keeping secrets from me!" Tommy yelled. "You were being shady and shit!" He continued.

"So I was curious and followed you." Tommy mumbled.

Wilbur slowed down once he's in front of his little brother.

"I admire your bravery, Toms." Wilbur gripped both his shoulders.

"But that was very dangerous. You could've got in trouble. I don't need another family member to die." The last sentence made Tommy and Techno flinched.

"For context, our mother died." Techno loudly whispered to the others. They nodded solemnly.

"Please Tommy, this is for the sake of your safety. Don't be reckless." Wilbur pleaded.

Tommy frowned, like a child if you take away their toy.

"Fine." Tommy pouted.

The brunette smiled. "Now go back, you 4."

"What?! No!" Tommy's temper flared up again.

Wilbur's smile faltered. "What do you mean?"

"I've went this far and you're telling me to go back?"

"Yes. It's dangerous out here, Tommy. There are a lot of mobs, like endermen."

Ranboo frowned at Wilbur. "That's mean."

Wilbur's eyes widen. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ranboo. I didn't mean to offend you."

"What if you're the one who doesn't come back safe?" Tommy continued. "I would lose 2 other people in my life, Wilbur!"

The statement made Wilbur and Techno stunned. "Oh dang." Someone said amongst the crowd.

"So what you're implying, is that no one should be here at all?" Sapnap spoke up. "Supposedly, we are breaking the rules." Bad pointed out.

"And now we're heading back??" Everyone in this situation were quite confused.

"No. No one is heading back." Dream announced.

"Except Tommy and his friends." Wilbur added.

"I won't." Tommy glared at Wilbur. Both of them had a scowling contest.

"What's the matter with us joining you guys? We're not that far off." Tubbo asked.

"You could die, Tubbo!" Wilbur said bewilderedly.

"Anyone would die at some point." Ranboo thought out loud.

"Yeah, it's just the matter of time and place." Jack piped along.

Wilbur was speechless. Well, everyone was speechless, not knowing how to react.

The silence was deafening.

"Uhm, anyways. Why don't we stick together? As what Ranboo mentioned about us dying at some point, wouldn't it be better to have more people protecting each other?" Tubbo suggested.

"At least when we-" He added.

"-if-" Ranboo corrected.

"-when we die-" Everyone looked at one another, some whispering, asking why did Tubbo insist it's when and not if.

"-we'll die together!" Tubbo said with an oddly upbeat tone.

"Tommy, why would you bring this terrifying child?" Wilbur whispered.

"I think he's going to kill us." Tommy said under his breath.

"I, uh, I agree with Tubbo. Not about the dying together." Dream immediately followed up the last sentence. 

"I think it'd be best if we protect each other. Y'know, more manpower."

A smug smile crept onto Tommy's face, as a frown formed on Wilbur's.

"Fine. But please don't be reckless." Wilbur pouted.

"Mmm, no promises." Tommy then scurried behind Ranboo, using him as a shield.

"Well then, let's continue."

             * * *

The whole group finally arrived at the cozy village and went to a specific house. Wilbur stepped in front of them and knocked the door.

The same man opened the door. Wilbur flashed his best smile.

Schlatt sighed and pinched his nose bridge. "You really did it. Might as well bring the whole school, kid."

Schlatt let the kids in and decided that his house is way too small for all of them. So now they're outside, sitting.

"So-"

"You're Mr. Schlatt!" Dream pointed at him.

Schlatt glared at him. "Yes. Now don't-"

"Schlatt, who are these children?" An familiar voice spoke. Schlatt let out a string of curses.

"Calm down." The familiar voice walked out of the dark.

It's a man. Very tall man. And seems to be a creeper hybrid. The children find him scary, since they know thay creepers are dangerous.

The man noticed it and smiled. "Don't be scared. I won't hurt you."

Despite the assurance, the children were still alert.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Awesamdude. But call me Sam."

Sam and children conversed for a while. The more they talked, the more the children were more open to him.

"Can I speak now?" Schlatt grumbled.

"Go ahead."

Schlatt opened his mouth when someone let out a scream.

"For fuck's sake, can I fucking speak?!" Schlatt yelled in frustration.

"GO AWAY, PUNZ!" The same voice that screamed, shouted.

Then 2 teenagers walked into the scene. They're at each other's throats.

Literally. There's knives included.

Sam sighed and broke them apart. "Stop roughhousing. We have guests." 

"Oh hey." The one whose name is probably 'Punz' waved at them. The other one also waved.

"This is Punz, and that's Purpled. They're both brothers." Sam gestured at them.

Dream and Punz made eye contact. It looks like they would be great friends.

"Can I speak now?" Schlatt looked so done. "Go ahead." Sam said.

And with that, the goat hybrid spoke about the history of Inbetween Academia.

Words: 864

...

I'm so sorry.

I neglected this fic.

I lost motivation for this, because now the plotline is just so messy.

But, I think I'm regaining some motivation, mostly because I'm anxious about my readers.

So, thank you for being very patient :)

Also, thank you for the 14k! Really appreciate it.

Now, I have something to tell you.

I may or may not have made another dsmp fanfic, starring Ranboo our beloved. And I haven't publish it, but I've made the title and cover.

Originally, I was gonna publish it anyways. But I sorta change it to a goal. If I can finish [A Dark Secret Lies Upon This Academy], I'll publish my third book.

And all my books are slow updates (sorry ;-;). But it'll be worth it. Once I can balance school with writing, I'll try to improve.

That's all for now, g'bye!