Oh Brother Of Mine

8

"Techno!" Tommy jumped down to Techno's room, "Techno! Techno!"

"What Tommy?" The blood witch asked, sitting up.

"You said you'd take me to the border today!" Tommy said.

Techno groaned, "what time is it?"

"I dunno." Tommy shrugged with a smile.

"Just- is the sun up yet?" Techno sighed.

Tommy nodded, "yeah."

"Fine." Techno rubbed his eyes, "give me a bit to wake up. Have you eaten yet?"

"Uh, no..." Tommy told him.

"There's golden apples in Ranboo's cabin." Techno mumbled, "check on how he's doing for me?"

Tommy nodded, "alright."

The blonde scooped up Wilbur, carrying him out of the room. The two made their way to the other cabin. Tommy smiled up at the morning sky. Wilbur meowed, crawling up onto Tommy's shoulder as the boy pushed open Ranboo's door.

Aimsey thumped their foot in protest as sunlight streamed into the cabin.  She hopped off the bed, putting his paws on the door to push it closed. Wilbur hissed at the rabbit, swiping out at him. Aimsey thumped again, shaking their head at the cat.

"Knock it off you two." Tommy huffed, pulling the cat back.

Wilbur gave a soft meow, looking up at Tommy. The blonde rolled his eyes, starting to search for the golden apples.

"Tommy? What are you doing?"

Tommy jumped, looking up quickly. Ranboo was sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, Techno asked me to grab some golden apples." Tommy told him.

Ranboo nodded, shakily getting to his feet, "here, I'll grab them for you."

"Shouldn't-" Tommy started at Ranboo nudged him out of the way, "Shouldn't you be resting?"

Ranboo paused, "don't tell Techno."

Tommy laughed lightly, "sure, as long as you're okay."

"I am." Ranboo smiled softly, handing Tommy a few golden apples, "Techno just gets overprotective sometimes."

Tommy's eyes flicked to the black mist, "are you sure?"

Ranboo nodded, "yeah, I'm sure. Now don't tell Techno? Please? He'll kill me."

"Okay, okay, I won't." Tommy laughed, "thanks for the apples. Now go lay down and rest or something."

"You sound like Techno." Ranboo rolled his eyes as he wobbled back over to his bed, "you'll probably be gone most of the day, I'll send Aimsey after you if anything happens here."

"Alright." Tommy nodded, "I'll get these back to Techno and see if he's awake yet."

"He's probably not." Ranboo laughed lightly.

Tommy stifled his laughter as he walked out. Phil cawed at him, ruffling his wings. Tommy smiled at the bird.

"Is Techno up yet?" Tommy asked.

Phil cawed again, flying up to Techno's room. The crow started tapping on the window. Moments later the window was thrown open, and Phil thrown into the air.

"What do you want old man!?" Techno huffed.

Phil cawed, pecking Techno's hand before settling on his shoulder. Techno grumbled something Tommy couldn't quiet hear. The blood witch disappeared from the window.

Tommy smiled to himself, walking into the cabin. Wilbur jumped up and rested his front paws on Tommy's head. Tommy bit into one of the apples. It was sweet, and slightly tangy. Wilbur leaned down and sniffed the apple, meowing softly.

"Want some Wil?" Tommy held the apple up higher.

Wilbur bapped Tommy's head, shaking his head with a small snort.

"Hey!" Tommy pushed Wilbur's paw away, "stop that!"

Techno walked into the room, yawning. Wilbur meowed, hopping down from Tommy's shoulder. The cat rubbed against Techno's let, purring contently.

Tommy gasped, "you traitor!"

Phil flew over to Tommy a shoulder, nudging the boys cheek.

"Thanks Phil, at least someone is nice to me." Tommy huffed, scratching the birds head.

"Your familiar won't abandon you." Techno said, picking up Wilbur, "they'll be by your side until the end."

"That's grim..." Tommy mumbled, "anyway, here's your apples."

"Thanks." Techno grabbed the apple.

Wilbur's hopped from Techno's arm to Tommy's shoulder, swatting away the crow. Phil cawed, flapping into the air.

"Alright Tommy," Techno started, shrugging on a coat of thick furs, "ready to check the border?"

"Yes!" Tommy nodded.

Techno smiled softly, "follow me."

Tommy jogged alongside of Techno as they trudged through the snow. There was a large expanse of land that the border protected. Forests of spruce and mountains of ice. Small pools of frozen water that Tommy spun on and Wilbur hissed at.

Soon enough, the two came to a wall of pulsing red magic. It stretched up to the sky and disappeared overhead.

"Woah..." Tommy gasped softly.

"Welcome to the border." Techno said, "you would have seen it coming in but uh... I had to get you out quick and teleportation was fast, and... Yeah..."

"Yeah, no, I understand." Tommy nodded quickly, "how-how does this border magic work?"

"Well, when anyone gets near it, it stays glowing." Techno raised his hand and the border started glowing brighter, "it stretches all the way around our land. When someone who's not welcome tries to enter, they uh, well they start suffocating and get teleported miles away."

"Oh..." Tommy said.

"Yeah, it's uh, it's protection magic." Techno shrugged, "anyway, the border seems just as strong as yesterday. The mercenaries didn't damage it."

"That's good right?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah." Techno nodded, starting to walk along the border, "if this border goes down, then Ranboo's corrupted magic will go wild, and people will be able to attack freely. It would be the end for us."

Wilbur's ears went back as he shrunk against Tommy's shoulder. He let out a small mrrp, swishing his tail.

"It's okay Will, that won't happen." Tommy told the cat, "right?"

"Yeah." Techno told him, "they'd need to know the full spell to take it down. And no one knows it except for me."

Wilbur hissed, digging his claws into Tommy's shoulder. Phil cawed loudly, flying into the air.

"Ow! Wil!" Tommy yelped, taking the cat off his shoulder.

Techno frowned, "Tommy, follow Phil back to the cabin."

"What? Why?" Tommy asked, trying to keep the cat in his arms.

"Witch hunters." Techno said.