Where are you? (DreamSMP short)

part two

After the nauseous feeling of passing through to a different dimension, hot air blasted on his skin.  Tubbo shielded his eyes from the lava below, stepping onto the blackstone platform extending in all directions.  He breathed in the charred air, coughing slightly.  Instinctively, he made his inhales shorter and shallower, at least until he become accustomed with the hellish realm.

Fundy was pacing back from the extended bridge, hands full with blaze rods.  "Hey, Tubbo!"  He greeted, tail swishing happily.

"Hello," Tubbo smiled.  "Need to make some potions, huh?"

"You know it."

"Can't you just get the materials from Ghostbur's place?  He makes potions all the time-" Tubbo fell off.  His friends happy grin had stiffened.  Not fallen quite yet, but Tubbo knew that he had just struck a very sensitive nerve.  He saw the same stiffness all over Fundy's body; how his tail grew still, how he held the blaze rods closer to his chest.  Tubbo immediately  regretted not thinking about his words.  "I- I'm really sorry-"

"Don't be," Fundy replied, voice still impressively steady, his tail already falling back into it's familiar swinging motion.  "I just don't want to be around him at the moment."

"And for understandable reasons."  Tubbo's mind wandered to the compass in his hand, the needle spinning in all directions because of the Nether's interference.  He knew what it was like, not wanting to be around anyone.  A certain someone.  "Hey Fundy, I'll be gone for a while today, just make sure Big Q doesn't start blowing stuff up-"  Damn it.  He had hit another nerve within Fundy.  His already reluctant tail and grew still again.  "I'm... I'm just gonna go now."  Tubbo edged around Fundy and started walking at a brisk pace to the Nether Portal that would take him to Tommy.  As he began the long walk, his eyes were drawn to the lava.

From up here, it looked bright and comforting, and the only reminder that it was deadly was the scorching heat, rising up in waves.  Tubbo wiped a brow of sweat from his brow, praying that he had the self control not to turn around and walk right back through the portal to the Dream SMP.  He spent the rest of the walk staring at the spinning needle.

And much sooner than expected, Tubbo was faced with the portal that would take him to Tommy's exile location.

Now or never.

Tubbo didn't give himself a second to think before stepping through.

---

Tubbo felt the familiar sickness from traveling between dimensions.  He got over it quickly and stepped free of the purple particles.  The surrounding forest loomed to his left, a clearing to his right, with the large, blue ocean behind him.  The first think he noticed was that the whole place was dark.  The torches littering the ground weren't lit; the only light source came from the moon.

Strange... Tommy never leaves them without being lit.  

He stared down at the needle, pointing him slightly to the left of Tommy's tent.

Tubbo was getting second thoughts right about now.  But he had gone to far to turn back now... He inhaled a shakey breath, smelling the saltwater and rain on the wind.  He peeked around, but to his surprise he saw nobody there.

What?

He glanced back down at the needle, which was now pointing directly to the left.  Tubbo turned, but saw no one.  He stared down at the compass.  

Is it broken?

Come on Tommy, where are you...

Tubbo stood there for a good two minutes, just examining the compass.  How the needle danced.  Every time Tubbo looked up at where Tommy was supposed to be, there was nothing.  Something did draw his eye, though.  Staring back at the compass, the needle was moving in a clear, fast circle.  Not stopping.  Not hesitating.  Just spinning.  A little red blur.  Tubbo felt as if there was ice on his back.  A weight on both of his shoulders, pressing down with their cold bite.

What the hell?

If it's going in a circle, then does that mean-

"What the fuck are you doing?"