#I LOVE C!ERET SO MUCH AAAAAAAA I WANNA WRITE MY C!ERET FIC

[areus-in-a-little-cave]

🥀 Eret

omg ded I'm sorry this took so long okay HMMMM c!eret my beloved

Fake fic premise is what if c!Eret betrayed L'Manberg but the SMP never followed through and Eret actually led them to safety.

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Eret had suggested lighting a fire, but it seemed that the bright glow of their burning city was enough to keep them all warm. Wilbur and Tommy had settled for setting up a few tents along the edge of the forest as Niki and Fundy set out in search of some food. Tubbo had taken to organzining what they'd made it out with, passing out rations of potions and medicine to injured soliders.

It's been bad, but they'd made it out. They still had their lives, which was more than they would've gotten away with if it weren't for the tunnel. A tunnel they should've never made it through.

Tommy had pressed the button, and nothing had happened. No walls had fallen, no soldiers burst out, and no traitors were exposed. Fearing the punishment of being caught trying to trap their allies, Eret had fumbled through an excuse about why the chests were empty, saying that they'd believed they had more time to collect resources and thus hadn't filled them yet. Only Tubbo and Niki had given it a second thought, if how they'd stared down Eret as they lead the army through the tunnel was any sign, but they hadn't said anything.

To think Eret had offered that information up, given the SMP such an advantage, and they hadn't taken it.

Why? What did it give them to skip this opportunity? L'Manberg was burned, still burning, and the tunnel was of no use to either party now. Why did they not take the chance?

Eret had unknowingly trapped themselves, it seemed. Dream could at any point expose Eret's attempt at treason and create instability within L'Manberg's troops. The greater SMP had managed well enough in this battle without using their traitor, perhaps they just wanted to wait for a better day to tear their enemies apart from the inside.

Eret was nothing more than a safety waiting to be clicked off, a bomb that could explode at any point. They were being forced into playing both sides.

"Drink?"

Eret glanced up from where they'd let their eyes wander, spotting Wilbur standing just next to the log they were sitting on. He was holding out a canteen, which Eret gratefully took.

Wilbur gave a thin lipped smile, a weary tiredness in his movements as he sat down.

"Are you alright?" He asked, leaning to rest his elbows on his legs.

"Fine. You?"

"Not sure," he chuckled airly, pressing his hands together and resting his chin on them. He sighed after a moment, running one hand through a soot-filled head of hair. "We've lost so much."

Eret sipped on the canteen, following Wilbur's eyeline to where Tommy was still pitching another tent.

"We could've lost more. We haven't lost ourselves."

Wilbur nodded remorsefully. "That's true, I suppose. We still have each other. And our dignity."

Eret sealed the lip of the canteen and passed it back to Wilbur, but he didn't notice. His gaze had shifted up to the burning city in the distance hidden behind dark walls.

"Hell is other people, right? Though that's a misinterpreted quote." Wilbur muttered.

After another moment, sitting in the dark of the night, Wilbur stood and brushed his uniform off. From his side, he unclipped his hat and placed it high on his head, a heavy but prepared calmness in his movements as he looked ahead.

"Thank you, Eret."

"For?"

"The tunnel; it was quick thinking and good planning."

It was. For the view of all but Eret and those waiting to expose them, it was good, clean work. The dirty lie and self-made trap were nothing but the fraying ends behind the tapestry, ready to fall apart and break the beauty at a single tug.

Eret stood as well, no taller than their president as the two stared across the hills.

"We're still among friends, and we're going to make the SMP pay for what they've done." Wilbur furrowed his brow, a familiar fire in his words and determination in his eyes.

Eret raised a hand, placing it on Wilbur's shoulder. The lie slipped out with ease as they raised up the canteen. "To allies."

Wilbur raised his hat with a more affectionate smile than before. "To trust."

And Eret was sure, somewhere by the burning homes, Dream was smiling as well.