Dungeons and Dreams

Tommy

That morning, Tommy woke up in a completely unfamiliar shack. That wasn’t new by any means, considering that he was on the run from his past.

What was new, however, was the incredibly soft pile of fabric he slept on, blocking off some of the discomfort that came with sleeping on the floor. It was possibly the most comfortable he’d woken up, which was a nice surprise.

The snoring was also sort of new, seeing as he’d been on the run for awhile now. 

He sat up with a small groan, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he recalled what had happened last night.

Tubbo seemed pretty chill, and Tommy could definitely see himself being friends with the halfling in the future. Hopefully the near future, because Tommy didn’t know how long he’d be staying here otherwise.

The little shack was pretty dark thanks to the lantern being out. There was some light coming from the cracks and holes in the worn out walls, but it wasn’t enough to see much of anything. Briefly, Tommy contemplated lighting the lantern so that he could get his gear back on, but he wouldn’t want to wake the other if he wasn’t already.

If the snoring meant anything, Tubbo was still asleep, so Tommy probably had a little while to think about everything that had happened and what he was going to do from here before he could do much of anything that needed light. Though, he wouldn’t really be able to light the lantern anyways since he had no means of starting a fire.

He turned to look at Henry’s stuffed face, the plushie nestled in his lap after he had cuddled it that night. He stroked the cow’s head with a smile, without a care of whether or not Tubbo saw.

Honestly, following a random person he’d just met into an otherwise abandoned shack wasn’t exactly his brightest idea. Even if they were both runaways, he had seen plenty of runaways stealing from each other - Hell, he’d done it a few times himself when he got a bit too desperate! This whole thing really could’ve been a huge trap, and he would’ve walked right into it.

Though, he was sure that if Tubbo tried anything, he would’ve been able to deal with it. He was the Biggest Man and Sneakiest Rogue, after all!

But, Tubbo hadn’t tried anything, so he didn’t really need to worry about that, now did he?

He did, however, need to worry about what he was supposed to do from here. He.. didn’t really know what city they were in at the moment, so he wasn’t sure how far from his parents he was, as a result. Of course, it wasn’t like Tubbo had led him very far from the alley, so he was still pretty far from them, but he didn’t know if they were chasing after him or not.

They might be, seeing as Tommy was their rogue. Sure, they’d trained him themselves at first, but Tommy had gotten most of his skill on his own, and they weren’t as young and healthy as he was, so they depended on him to do a lot of the sneaky stuff that they weren’t able to. And because of that, there was a good chance they’d be trying to find him and get him back.

That was.. Probably something he should tell Tubbo, if he planned on sticking around. He’d rather not endanger the other without him even knowing.

But, he’d also really rather not talk about what he’d done because of them, so maybe he’d just say that he pissed off some criminals and leave it at that.

Before he could think on the topic any more, he heard Tubbo groaning awake. Tommy turned to look at him, to see the halfling stretching his arms out, yawning.

“Mornin’, Tubbo,” Tommy greeted as the other sat up, looking at him blearily.

“Morning,” Tubbo responded, sitting up as he spoke, “I like your cow” 

He nodded in response, patting Henry’s head, “This is Henry, the poggest cow in existence. He says he appreciates it.”

“What’s pog?” Tubbo questioned, lighting the lantern as he spoke.

“Pog is pog,” He declared, crossing his arms and nodding as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tubbo gave a confused sounding laugh in response, “Alright bossman.”

Now that the lights were on, Tommy stood up, starting to put his gear on when Tubbo spoke up again, “Hey Tommy? Are you planning on sticking around? Cus I’ve got some plans for where I’m heading to ‘nd shit, so if you wanna stay I should probably brief you up on everything.”

Well, here comes the hard part, then. Figuring out whether or not he’d be able to continue making friends with Tubbo or not. If Tubbo didn’t want to be around him thanks to the potential threat it brought, or if Tubbo was heading for the Esempi regions…

Tommy nodded in response, continuing to put his gear on, “I mean, as long as you’re alright with it and you’re not heading anywhere I’m trying to avoid, yeah. Though, I should probably mention that I may or may not have some criminals trailing me…”

Tubbo looked up at that, “Oh? Why’re they after you?”

“Well, they might not be, I dunno for sure,” he shrugged, “It’s nothing big, just pissed off the wrong people and that. You know how it is.”

The other gave an understanding nod, “Yeah, I get that. Well I mean, not exactly, but similar. I’ve pissed off people I shouldn’t have too, not that it matters much now.”

Tubbo hadn’t noticed that he was fibbing a bit about how he got criminals on his tail, then. That was good, he’d rather not have to explain why he was lying about it on top of the parent situation..

“I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it if they are after you, though.” Tubbo continued, “I mean, between you and me? I’ve got some serious martial arts training, plus I’m great with a blow dart. Between that and your sneaky rogue stuff, we can deal with them no problem!”

“You’re talking my language, big man!” Tommy grinned, “So then, where’re we headed to?”

“Well,” Tubbo began, “What I’ve been doing is I’ll stay in a town for about a week at a time, do some jobs n shit to get some money, and then I go to the next town. I'm hoping to get to Manberg"

"Manberg? Why there?" Tommy asked, staring at him in confusion and surprise, "isn't that place like, one of the worst cities to be in? Since Schlatt does all his restrictions and taxes and shit?"

The other nodded, "Yeah, if you're a citizen. But he can't tax us if we aren't citizens, and the people there are pretty desperate for people who'll work for cheap. I'm thinking that if we go there, we can get some money at an actual job, and we wouldn't have to pay taxes as long as we don't actually own whatever building we live in. I mean, as long as you still want to come"

Well then… Manberg really wasn’t the best place to live, filled with oppression and ruled by a greedy man. Tommy didn’t know the exacts of it, he’d never been one for political stuff like that, but he’d heard horror stories of it, and it really didn’t sound pleasant. Sure, it was alright to visit if you didn’t mind the high prices that most of the decent shops had, but to live there? Not so much. Plus, it was pretty close to Esempi, which was what Tommy was trying to avoid…

But Tubbo’s plan sounded like it could actually work… He nodded, “Sounds like a plan, then”

“Alright!” Tubbo cheered, grinning at him. 

Then there was a growling noise. “We should probably go get breakfast.”