there is only us | wilbur soot x reader

Chapter 32 - Change

(Y/n) POV

There were times, seconds, hours- I struggled to keep track- when I was sure we were lost. But the sun rose and set, the moon came and went, sure as can be. Every dawn, we would wake up and be on our way. Every dusk, we would find a place to rest and close our eyes, prayers etched into our eyelids.

Niki would assure me, time and time again, that we were on a path. She would identify certain bushes and sprouts that, to me, looked no different than the rest. She would point out a camouflaged pile of wood that had served as a shelter in the past. I had no choice but to follow her blindly, to let her cradle my trust in her deft hands and decide what to do with it. But Wilbur trusted her, and that was enough for me.

Still, when night came and the howls of distant creatures tainted the shadows, I felt doubt sinking into the back of my mind, uneasy unrest keeping me awake. I tossed and turned and woke Niki up, by accident. She sat up and studied my anxiety with half-lidded eyes, and asked: "So, what's the plan?"

"Plan?" I echoed, caught off-guard by the sudden question. "What plan?"

Niki snorted a soft, tired laugh. "For when you get back to the Dream SMP. What is the plan?"

"Oh," I hummed, sitting up straighter at the welcome distraction, launching into a vague, rambling description of my murder plot, working through details that I stumbled across as I spoke. I ended up going off on tangents, spiraling in random directions, and when I looked up, Niki's eyes were closed again. If I paused for a second, I could hear her gentle snores. I kept on talking. It drowned out the noise.

On the last night, we didn't stop to rest. We were too close; I could almost taste it. Instead, we talked about the plan, and Niki asked random questions to which I would brainstorm answers, or offer up new scenarios to which I would scheme. Finally, finally, finally, we broke through the trees and slipped past the gates into L'manberg, heading up the Niki's house. Eventually, she mused, "How exactly are you getting to the Dream SMP from L'manberg?"

I hadn't even thought about it, really. "Uh, walking?" I shrugged, seeing as that was how we had gotten here from Pogtopia, and how I usually got most places. Niki offered me a sympathetic glance.

"We just got finished with a non-stop six-day hike here. You deserve a break from the walking," Niki argued.

I laughed. "If you can find me some other kind of way, I'll take it. But right now, it's all I've got."

I didn't think she would rise to that challenge, but her eyebrows furrowed and she stared at the ground, thinking hard for a long moment before her eyes lit up. She snapped her head up to look at me, a bright grin stretching across her face. "I think I know just the person."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The door swung open to reveal a woman about five feet tall, with dark brown hair cut off at her shoulders. There were grass stains on her knees and dirt underneath her fingernails. The house behind her was eerily quiet. She offered us a shaky smile. "Niki!" she greeted in a high-strung voice. "What a surprise! I was worried about you, not showing up for months, gods above, where have you been?"

Niki cast me an apologetic grin. "This is my friend, Este," she clarified. "She's a traveling merchant."

"Yes, yes, we used to be so close in school! Thick as thieves, I'd say!"

I tried to summon the most genuine smile I could, but it felt more like a grimace. They carried on talking without me, without even once asking who I was. "Oh, Niki, dear, where did you go? I was worried sick! I started to get concerned, but when you didn't show up to our Tuesday dinners, well, I assumed the worst!"