Through It All ~ Dream Team SMP ✅

->Three<-

It turned out Skeppy and The Blade were thieves. They'd also kept their promise. I'd been with them a week, and they'd kept me fed and looked after. In return, I helped them steal goods from little-known nobles around L'Manberg. I wasn't proud of what I did, but I had to do it. To survive.

I scanned the dingy room that served as our base of operations. Situated above a potions shop, all I could think about was the intoxicating smells of the illegal medicines downstairs. I coughed slightly, making my throat hurt. Despite now being nourished, the effects of my previous lifestyle remained. My voice was irrevocably scratchy and my lips remained resolutely chapped. All I could do was sit in silence and accept my pain. I couldn't show Skeppy or The Blade my weakness. They governed me with fear. I could have escaped them, I could have left so many times... But the terror kept me in my place. I didn't want to end up like I was a week ago. I paled as the thieving duo returned to our quote-unquote lair, looks of menace painting their faces.

"Tommy! Come here, boy!" The Blade demanded upon entry. I shook, standing up and making my way over, bowing my head. The blow hit my face and I stumbled back a few paces, expecting the punishment. "We were seen! We told you to take care of the guards! You didn't! You skulked back here, saving your own fucking skin! We gave you a home, we fed you. Without us, you'd be dead. We ask you to do one simple thing, and you can't even do that!" My head snapped up, and I stared into the pits that were the Boss's eyes.

"I couldn't kill them! They were innocent, I just saw their eyes, and I couldn't, okay?!" I tried to defend myself. Another blow. I reeled backward, clutching my swollen jaw.

"You are a stupid, insolent, disobedient child!" Every insult was punctuated with a hit until I was sprawled on the floor, whimpering as I clutched my face, furiously blinking the tears from our eyes.

"We rescued you from the brink of death out of the goodness of our hearts, and you repay us by letting your morals get in the way of our work!" Skeppy roared. I shrank back against the wall as the two approached.

"The goodness of your hearts?! You would have left me there if I wasn't slim enough to fit through small spaces! You use me as a tool, you don't care about me!" I was pushing it. I let out an involuntary scream, more tears slipping from my eyes as Skeppy's heel slammed into my chest. I bit my lip, trying not to make a noise as I endured hit after hit until my body lay a broken mess upon the floor. I raised a hand to my nose, wiping a smear of blood with my filthy shirt.

I felt my ribs beginning to bruise already. My breath felt thick in my throat, and my joints were on fire. I tried to stand, running my hand over the wall behind me, finding only empty space to pull myself up by. I tried to ignore my desire to burst out with insults, knowing it would only get worse. I tried to focus on something else, anything else.

My name is Tommy Innitson. I am sixteen years old. I am from the Outer.

I repeated the words in my head like a prayer, ignoring the throbbing pain from every inch of my body. I closed my eyes, sliding to the ground. I just wanted it to stop. To be over. Just make it stop. Just make it stop. Just make it stop-

"We saved you from poverty, we can put you back just as easily." The man with the pig face mask leered. My eyes widened.

"No, please- I'll do anything, just don't put me back there... Please, I'm begging you don't make me go-" I had become a blubbering mess, wailing and begging for mercy. I hated my weakness in this moment, but it was all I could do to appease them. I saved myself by admitting my pain and showing fear.

"Anything?"

"Please, just don't put me back there..." My body was wracked with sobs. I had this. I hated crying in front of them. But I couldn't go back to the streets. I simply couldn't.

"It's time, Skeppy."

"Boss?" The leaner man turned to face The Blade.

"Bring the blueprints." Blueprints? What blueprints?

It seemed I didn't have to wait long to find out. I took the liberty of cleaning the blood off my face as Skeppy bustled around the back of the badly lit room they were in. He slammed the scorched parchment onto the rickety oak table, motioning the others to gather around.

"Tommy, a little more light." The man with the pig mask instructed. I nodded, a stray tear falling from my cheek to the floor. I wiped it away hastily, fumbling with the matches. I got a gas lamp lit and placed it delicately on the table, gasping as I saw the sketches on the paper.

"But that's-"

"The Palace." Skeppy cut me off with a smirk. The Palace? They were going to rob the Palace? Were they insane?

"But there are so many guards, you must be crazy!" I exclaimed, forgetting my sore throat. I choked at the end of the sentence, gasping for air against the rawness of the inside of my neck grating together. I coughed a few times, spluttering loudly.

"That's where you come in, boy. You said you'd do anything. So this is it. You take care of the guards, we'll get the gold. Dream's vault is renowned for its riches." The Blade explained. My eyes flicked between the two criminals who'd inducted me into their scheme.

"But, I can't... I can't kill anyone... Besides, everything we know about Dream is a rumor. So what proof of his wealth do we have?" I pointed out, trying to find a way out of the plan. I yelped, unexpectedly, as the burly man grabbed my face in his grubby fist, bringing my blonde topped head level with his.

"You will do as we say, Tommy, or we'll keep our promise. We'll kill ya." The Blade hissed. I gulped. I didn't want to die, that was for certain. But they expected me to take the lives of others? My morality and survival instincts were clashing in my head.

"I-I..."

"You really don't want to make us mad, do you?" Skeppy sneered.

"I'll do it."