Ephemeral

1

Chapter 1: Now or Never

July 3rd was a perfect day. The air was dry and warm, the perfect temperature for a nice stroll in the forest or a nice picnic with your friends. The sun shone brightly, enough for you to need to put on a bit of sunscreen to keep your skin from burning, but it felt refreshing compared to the usually dull, chilly weather of the Dream SMP. The grass and leaves and flowers thrived in the perfect weather, showing off their most beautiful, vibrant hues. Every living thing arched to the sun, like the plants and animals wanted to enjoy every single second of this perfect day. Everyone in the SMP did.

The Dream SMP was a large mass of land, practically in the middle of nowhere, where an extremely small population of 39 resided. Why only 39 people in this huge, vast, country? Well, the Dream SMP had become a place very prone to conflict, war, collateral damage, and theft. Over many years, even the most stubborn residents moved away, their homes robbed or destroyed, and left the last few poor troublemakers to battle it out.

However, unlike most days, today was one of the few days where everyone decided to get along, even if just for a little while.

During this perfect day, Tommy and Tubbo, the best of friends in all of the SMP, and arguably the best of friends to ever meet sat on a wooden bench, talking about all of the regular, silly things teenage boys usually talk about on the daily. You know, girls, video games, murder, war. Just like any normal pair of best friends would.

To be frank, this bench they sat on was less of just 'a' bench. It was pretty much their bench. They sat there almost every single day, now practically leaving a permanent indentation on the rough oak, claiming it as their own. It had become such a routine, they nearly ran out of things to talk about. "Nearly" is key, because as we all know, best friends never run out of things to talk about.

"I am planning to expand my home, it's a bit boring living in just a plain old hill." Tommy started, his english accent accentuating over the word 'boring'. Tommy had always lived in the same place since he moved to the Dream Smp. He found a nice hill, and as any perfectly normal teenager would do, dug a large hole inside, placed a door in the front, and called it a home. Since then, Tommy had improved his 'home' quite a bit, making it have two main rooms instead of just one, but it still didn't satisfy him.

The first room simply had some storage containers, a locked chest that usually carried his most prized possessions, unless he had them on his person, and a stove. Yes that is literally quite all. The second room was not any more elaborate. It was just a plain, stone room, with a red twin bed in the corner. As you can imagine, he got very bored of the bland design of his place of residence.

Hearing the news of Tommy changing his home turned Tubbo's expression from one of content happiness to one of shock. After all, this hill was Tommy's only ever "house" in the SMP, and no matter how many times it got blown up or looted by his enemies he stuck with it. The house almost seemed like a part of Tommy, not just the place where he slept at night.

"But you've lived there your entire life!" He protested, exaggerating a bit on the 'entire life' portion.

"No, no, no, no, no." Tommy started to explain, "I meant I will be expanding my home, I reckon I could hollow out the entire mountain, and then make a second floor underneath it." Tommy clarified, waving his arms in excitement. Tubbo's face lit back up,

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I have a room on the second floor?" Tubbo's hands curled into excited fists as he bounced in his seat.

Tommy laughed, "Yes Tubbo."

"Can my bees have a room on the second floor?" Tubbo's voice got even higher pitched than it already was, Tommy rolled his eyes jokingly,

"Yes Tubbs."