A World of Darkness (DSMP Horror AU)

Smiling Swamp

I wasn't sure how long we had walked when we reached the swamps. We had stopped to rest twice where I slept for who knows how long while Tubbo kept a lookout for danger. I asked Tubbo if he ever slept after the first stop and he said yes but it's never as frequently as fallen humans. I later asked him how he kept track of time since it was always the same level of dark but he said little lambs (That's what they called themselves apparently) have an internal clock and only a quarter of a shifting, or week as they call it in my world, had passed since we left his house. Talk about weird.

The trees in the swamp were a lot different than the ones in the forest or scattered in the meadows. They drooped and had all their gloomy shriveled-up leaves touching the ground, making an archway with their trunks while the trees elsewhere were a lot straighter and seemingly more alive. For some reason, it seemed even darker and murkier here than anywhere else in this dark world but that could have just been me. Tubbo had said there were a lot more dangerous beings here but we haven't run into any yet. I look towards Tubbo, who is currently leading the way through the dreadful place, carefully avoiding large puddles of what looked like mud.

"Hey, Tubbo?" I say.

"Yes, Tommy?" Tubbo replies.

I can see his blue eyes flicking around the swamp through the sockets of his skull mask, scanning the area for either Wilbur or danger.

"You said an old friend saw Wilbur heading here? Who were they?" I ask.

Tubbo slows down & looks at me.

"Puffy. She does a lot of traveling these days. She stopped by the cottage while you were sleeping and I mentioned that you were looking for your brother." He tells me.

"Puffy? Is she like you? A little lamb, I mean?" I ask. Tubbo nods

"She used to live in the village back when it was bigger. She mentioned that she was on her way to the dire caves and wanted to stop by and say hi. Can't imagine why she would want to go there. That's probably the most dangerous place here, aside from the beyond."

"What's the beyond?" I say, ducking down to avoid hitting my head against a tree trunk as we walk under the archway of a drooping tree.

"If you remember the map, it was the blackness surrounding the whole world. Nobody goes there as it is said that whoever does would meet a horrible and excruciating death. I don't know if that's true but everyone that has tried to go there has never come back and I don't intend to try it myself." He says.

"Do you think there could be a way out from the beyond?" I question.

Tubbo stops walking completely and turns around.

"No. You shouldn't go there. There is no way out of this world and I don't want to see you killed." He says firmly.

I was a little shocked at Tubbo's response. There is no way out? So that's it then? I'm stuck here forever? I let out a small gasp and my knees buckle. Tubbo looks at me concerned.

"Are you okay Tommy?" He asks.

"I just thought...I'm trapped here? There's really no way out?" I say quietly, staring at the ground. "What if you just haven't found it yet?" I say, willing myself to believe it.

"There's no way. I...I'm sorry." Tubbo says and avoids my gaze.

I look up at him and he looks away from me. I look around and realize a strange fog has started to set over the swamps. I look back at Tubbo but he continues to avoid my gaze and starts walking again. I silently follow him feeling strangely empty inside. Maybe if- When I find Wilbur, we can figure something out together. There has to be a way. There just has to, right? I mean, I can't be the only fallen human here. There have to have been others who have come before me & have escaped.