Ephemeral

6

Hey guys! Sorry this is late.. again. I'm not great with time management (obviously). Feel free to write in the comments some questions, comments, or theories about the book and I'll respond to them all! Thank you for reading.

Succeed or fail, pt. 2:

Tommy followed Tubbo, Ranboo, and Secret outside. She seems to have calmed down, at least a bit.. Thank the gods, Tommy couldn't help but think to himself. Standing outside with a sword in both of their hands were Niki and Wilbur. Each of them handed a sword to Tubbo and Ranboo respectively, and stood back in a line with Philza and Technoblade.

Tommy joined the lineup and unsheathed his own sword, seeing as everyone else had done the same. Secret stood in front of them, looking as stiff and serious as a drill sergeant. Not that she didn't look like that always, it was just a bit more exaggerated at that moment.

"Alright everyone, as you all know, we're having a war with Dream in exactly thirty days, and we need to train. Some of you need this preparation more than others," she glanced at Tommy not so subtly, "but all of us could sharpen our skills, even if only a little bit. If we're gonna beat Dream and his crew, we need to be good. Like, really good. Based on the current skill levels of us all, I decided that Techno, Philza, Niki, and I will be training you four." She looked at Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, and Wilbur.

"We're training based mostly off of your experiences with battles, or lack thereof, in the past. Without further ado, Niki, you'll be training Wilbur. Philza, you're with Tubbo. Techno, you will train Ranboo, and I will be working with Tommy." Secret stared hard into Tommy's eyes. He froze under her gaze, afraid she was only doing this 'training' so she could 'accidentally' skewer him and get on with her life. Before she could predict his thoughts, Secret looked away.

"Come on! Standing around here isn't getting you any better. Chop chop!" She hopped on the top deck and Tommy raced to catch up with her. Once he was up there, Secret sighed and closed her eyes.

"Alright. One thing." She started. Tommy straightened his shoulders and nodded, "I did not appreciate being called a bitch earlier today, and if it happens again we both know what will happen. Lucky for you, this time Phil was there to stop me. Understand?" Tommy's face was drained of color. He literally could have died, right there, ten minutes ago. Thank you Phil, my lord and savior.

"Yes." He looked down.

"You better understand, kid. Now let me see what level of awful your form is." She changed the subject instantaneously,

"My form is great, thank you!-" Tommy started to complain, but one sharp glace moved his hands and feet into his assumed fighting position.

"Gods it's worse than I thought." Secret muttered under her breath, "First of all, your foot position is way off. Move them to the left a bit." Tommy did as Secret said, adjusting them until she gave a nod of approval.

"Better. Now you have to grip your sword like this," She stabbed her sword into the deck before shifting Tommy's grip higher on the hilt.

"Now swing at me." She pulled her sword out of the wood in one fluent movement. Tommy was confused, but awkwardly swung his sword to the left, not even getting close to her. Secret rubbed her temples.

"This is going to take a while, isn't it."

This back and forth fighting went on for the entire day,

and eventually everyone was satisfied with their work and they were all able to go inside. Well, everyone except for Tommy and Secret, since Tommy (of course) couldn't seem to get the technique correct.