#I’m so glad this chapter is out!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cyncerity · 1 year

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i have no self control so i finished it today

here’s chapter 1 out of idfk! I vehemently refuse to plan things in advance beyond just various scenes I want to happen :D

I’m actually super excited for this one and really proud of it so I hope y’all like it as much as I do!

tw: parental neglect ig this is different from what I normally write

“Honestly, Wilbur, house arrest?!” His mother scolded him. Wilbur sighed and dropped his bags at the door, pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes, pointedly looking away from his mom. “I don’t hear from you in years and I suddenly get a random call that says you’re getting dumped at my house because you’ve been put under house arrest??” “I know, I’m sorry mum-“ “Were you just planning to drop off the face of the earth? Would you have just never come back here if you weren’t arrested? What were you arrested for? Why wouldn’t they just drop you off at your house? You’re an adult-“ “That’s pretty simple, I don’t have one.” “Wilbur!!”

Wilbur walked over to the couch and dropped himself on it, head in his hands. He could feel his mother’s eyes on him, staring and trying to take in how much he’d changed. He couldn’t blame her. He’d left when he was 18 to pursue music, and look at where that got him. Homeless, lonely, and arrested, the court ordered anklet digging uncomfortably into his skin at a measly 21 years old. He was a mess. An exhausted, hopeless mess.

He heard quiet footsteps as his mother came to sit next to him, and a warm arm laid over his shoulder. “You know I love you. I don’t care that you were arrested, or why you were, I really don’t. But…why didn’t you come home? I’ll always be here to help you, you know that, right? Did I…did I do something wrong?” “No!” Wilbur quickly said, head still in his hands. “No, you’re a wonderful mother, i’m just a terrible son. I..I don’t know why I didn’t come home, I’m sorry, but it’s not your fault.” His mother sighed and pulled him closer, and he relished in the comfortable silence. It had been so long since he had felt like anyone around him actually cared, and yet his mothers patience and love for him was seemingly endless, even now, even for a horrible fuck up son like him. He didn’t deserve her. If he was being honest with himself, that’s why he didn’t come back home to her when times got tough for him. Why should she have to deal with him? It wasn’t her fault that he turned out a wreck, she did the best she could as a single mother, even putting aside her passions while she put her whole focus into him.

Speaking of that, since he left, she certainly seemed to pick her interests back up, if the messy house was any indication. Or maybe messy wasn’t the right word, maybe so trashed and horder-like that it was hard to believe anyone actually lived here. Wilbur looked up from his hands to fully take in the mess that completely covered the main floor of the house. Walls were covered in taped up drawings of creatures of all kind, floors covered in similar scribbles and notes. There were some cabinets with small observation cases full of taxidermic bugs and what looked to be small…weapons? Saddles?

Well, her collection had definitely grown in the past few years.

“I see your hobby has been going well.” Wilbur said, trying to deflect the situation. Luckily for him, he knew his mother. And if there was anything that could distract her, it was asking her about her odd fascination with all things tiny. “Oh! Yeah, I forgot it’s been a while since you’ve been here. My collection had grown…a fair bit. I haven’t touched your room, though! It’s the same as it’s been, things have just been…messier.” She said, getting up to show him around. He chuckled softly as he watched her make her way around the room, carefully avoiding the piles and piles of documents scattered around the floor. She stopped at a wall of computers, pointing up at them. “I’m close, though. I have cameras set up all over the forest, and I don’t think they’ve noticed them…yet. They’re fast, but I think I have some arguable proof.”

His mother leaned over the keyboard, frantically searching for whatever new clip she had. Wilbur smiled. He couldn’t say he actually believed in any of it, despite what she had taught him growing up. Of course the idea was fun, but the older he got, the harder it was to suspend his disbelief that there may be tiny people living in the forest. How his mom kept that childlike faith in her beliefs despite the lack of proof for years and years he couldn’t know, but he was happy for her. She had something to put her heart into and believe in, and Wilbur had forgotten what that was like after music had proven to be a bust.

He snapped back to the screen as his mom made an excited noise and leaned back to point at the screen. “See! There!” Wilbur looked for a moment before taking a few very careful steps around her findings and towards the screen. It was a blurry freeze frame; one smaller brown and reddish bird, one small brown-ish spec, and a much larger black blur that seemed almost iridescent. A couple of birds and a bug, probably, the finch looking one in the lead and the large black bird and bug close behind. “Mom I’m sorry, but…what evidence am I supposed to be seeing in a bird chase?” “That’s a raven,” she pointed to the black bird, “that bird is most likely a common redpoll, and judging from the wing color and shape that’s probably a bee. But here’s the thing!” She swung back to Wilbur, an excited, manic look in her eye. And people wondered where he got his crazy from. Certainly wasn’t his father, he never knew the bastard. “The bee is out of the Ravens sight, so it isn’t chasing a food source.” She continued. “Ravens don’t go after other bird species, either, and there’s no reason a bee would chase a potential predator. But look here,” she pointed back to the screen and Wilbur leaned closer, the fuzz of the old tv brushing against his face. “you see it?”

Looking where she was pointing, there were a few thin brown straps on the bird, and a small blurry green and slightly yellow blob on its back. The raven had a spot on it where the black wasn’t as iridescent, where it looked like something was wrapped around it. It also had something on it’s back; a greyish blob with more hints of brown and black and also white, weirdly enough. And looking at the bee, it also looked like it was missing a few legs, and was built strangely, along with having something green on it. He looked back to his mom, who looked more proud of herself than he’d seen her be in years. He was sure everything on screen had a logical explanation, but who was he to break his poor mother’s heart?

“That’s great! That’s really, really amazing mom.” He said as she squealed and hugged him. “I knew you would think so!” she leaned back, hands still on his arms as she made eye contact with him and sighed. “Fuck, here I am rambling when you’ve still got settling in to do. Let’s get your bags and head upstairs, yeah? Your old room is waiting for you, and who knows how long it’s been since you slept in a bed, you impossible child.” She said, letting go and grabbing his two measly bags and guitar case. Wilbur rolled his eyes and took his guitar case from her, given that it was the heaviest. “Hey, I’m not impossible, I’m stubborn, and I get that from you, y’know.” He heard his mom mockingly repeat him and scoff from the top of the steps, and he laughed. God, he’d missed her.

~~~

“I swear to fucking god!” Phil yelled, storming his way through his castle, Techno walking quickly behind, struggling to keep pace. “I need him for one thing and he just fucking disappears! It’s a miracle I haven’t strangled that child with my bare hands.” He stopped momentarily to command more guards to triple check Tommy’s room, and Techno finally managed to catch up, panting slightly. “You know this isn’t unlike him, Phil. He likes to do his own thing, wonder where he gets that from.” “I get that he’s too much like me for his own good, but at least I was always able to take account of myself and get my shit done.” Phil responded with venom in his tone. “He’s irresponsible, he’s brash, he’s rude, I don’t know how he ended up like this or what I could have done better for him.” “I’d respond but I’m assuming that was rhetorical…” he muttered under his breath. “What was that, Techno?” “Nothing, your majesty.”

Phil continued his walk and ended up out of the palace, the sky above them turning a dark grey and a low rumble of thunder cracking through the silence. Phil, however, seemed undeterred, ending up by his stable, his trusty crow waiting for him. He pet the bird’s beak gestured to a few more guards. “Get Brian saddled, I’m heading out for a bit.” “Do you really think this is necessary?” “You forget, Techno, Tommy thinks he’s so smart, but I’m his father. He’s the teenager and I’m the adult; I’m always a step ahead.” He said, holding up his necklace. A chunky green emerald swung from a thin leather rope, identical to one that Tommy wore every day. “I thought that was to help Tommy with his magic?” “It is…mostly,” Phil said, dropping the necklace back down to his chest. “It has a lot of magic stored in it, Tommy’s does, too. His is a chip off from mine, after all. In a pinch, though, it can be used to track. As long as Tommy is wearing his, I can get him to me. If I was truly in a desperate situation, I could call Tommy to me right now. But as it stands, that takes far too much of the necklace’s power, and he just needs to learn a lesson about refusing his duties and disobeying his father.” “It’s a magic session, Phil, he practices all the time, it can’t be that much of a deal. Besides, there’s a storm coming, this isn’t a good idea.” “He’s been blowing them off for 2 months,” Phil said, straddling his bird, Brian cooing softly. “And he knows that I’m rarely ever free for them, he needs to take this more seriously if he’s going to lead. Besides, if he’s still not home before the storm starts, that’s all the more reason to find him before he lets himself get hurt.”

“Phil-“ “I’ll be ok, I promise, mate.” Phil said, eyes softening as he leaned down to his right hand man. “I’ve never lied to you before have I?” “…no, sir.” Techno said, defeated. “Have a safe flight, I’ll see you home soon. If you don’t come back with Tommy by nightfall I’m coming to find you myself.” “Relax, I‘ll be fine. I run this goddamn forest, remember?” And with that, Phil was off, Brian taking off like a shot off the stable’s branch.

Techno couldn’t help the sinking feeling in his gut as he watched Phil shrink into the distance.

~~~

Wilbur was settling in as well as he thought he would be. One thing he’d grown to hate in his short amount of time at his old house was his court ordered punishment. Other than the ankle monitor, he had to do “community service.” Of course, the court hadn’t known at the time that there was literally no community to service for miles and miles at his house, and he didn’t have a license anymore (you do donuts on a private frozen lake one time) (ok maybe 6 but that guy was an asshole). So his “community service” consisted of cleaning up the forest; turns out that the one and only road near the forest was a pretty popular spot for passerby’s to toss trash. Most of his afternoons were spent along the side of a mostly undisturbed road that had way more trash that it logically should for how new the road seemed; he doubted anyone other than the jail car he’d been driven down in had been on the road for months.

Still, he donned the eye-sore yellow “hey! i’ve been to jail and i’m serving my sentence to community!” vest and grabbed a beanie and fingerless gloves. It was spring, but under all the overhang of the trees he knew it’d feel cooler than it was, which he accounted for when he put on a yellow flannel sweater and thick slightly dirty and ripped jeans, ones he wouldn’t mind getting dirty since he was going to be kneeling on the dirt. One step onto his porch told him it was also definitely gonna storm, the sky growing dark and that spring-time smell of rain filling his senses. He decided to lace up heavy steel toed and already worn and muddied work boots and threw a thick grey hooded t-shirt on for good measure under the vest in case it (or more like when it) rained. He wished he had better than a simple hood, but he didn’t know where the umbrellas were. He’d love to ask his mother, but she had already head out that morning to double check that her cameras wouldn’t be damaged by the rain.

He hoped she just got out before the storm.

~~~

Phil flew faster as the wind started to pick up and the thunder grew louder. Brian was sturdy, and above all else fast, but Phil knew his bird’s limits. He was getting tired, and Phil wasn’t any closer to Tommy somehow. He wished his stupid crystal could work better, but it was really a game of hot or cold until he got close enough to Tommy that the shard gave him some magic feeling that his son was close by and could lead him from there. It was stupid and time consuming, but he couldn’t risk just calling Tommy to him. Turns out he probably should have listened to Techno; this storm was shaping up to be a big one, and he knew he’d need the extra magic his necklace provided in order to repair whatever damage the rain caused to his forest.

He ended up near the tar strip through the middle of his forest (the damn humans put it there years ago, and though their cursed machines came through the forest sometimes, those instances were few and far between, thankfully)(still, fuck those humans). He may hate it, but it ran through the forest somewhat evenly, so he’d be able to hopefully sense at least what side of it Tommy was on if he just went down the middle.

The storm was getting heavier, but he couldn’t give up now. There was no sign of Tommy. Phil realized at some point that his concern had shifted from “i have to teach him a lesson about wasting my time” to “oh god where is my son is he ok.” He wasn’t surprised though, really. He did truly, really care about his son, even if Tommy didn’t think so. If he had all the time in the world, he’d spend it with him, he would. But he can’t. He’d wanted to be the one to teach Tom to read, to watch his first steps, to see him grow into the young man he was now. But he hadn’t. Tommy had been raised by royal staff who’s names Phil had never cared to know. He’d been there to hear Tommy’s first word, though, but he wished it would have been under better circumstances.

It had been “Tech,” and he’d said it while witnessing one of the most brutal and gut-wrenching arguments he’d ever had with Technoblade, out of the few they’ve fought. He’d learned that Techno was skipping his guard duties in secret to spend time with Tommy. And he’d been outraged, for some reason. He’d burst into a room where Techno was telling a harmless tale to a baby Tommy and screamed at him for neglecting his duty and fooling off instead. Tommy had people to be there for him, and Phil had never cleared Techno to be one of them. Techno argued that Tommy needed someone who cared about him, not just people who were rewarded for giving him food and attention. He needed people who wanted him, and Phil clearly didn’t. It’d stung like a knife to the chest at the time, but he knew where Techno was coming from now.

The fight grew worse and worse for minutes before he’d heard the desperation in Tommy’s infant babble. They were silenced as tears rolled down his chubby infant cheeks when he realized someone who he cared about was so upset, calling out to the only person who’d ever shown him voluntary affection. And it hadn’t been Phil. It wasn’t his father, it was his father’s guard and friend. Even now, though Tommy didn’t associate with Techno as much anymore since he was always with Phil, Tommy loved Techno more than Phil. And Phil would never resent Techno for that. He trusted Techno with his life, and if Tommy had to look up to someone other than Phil, he was glad it was his most trusted confidant, but he couldn’t stop it from hurting.

His kingdom thrived, his people were happy, and his son hated him. It was just a fact of his life, at this point. Even when Phil did his best to reconnect with Tommy when he was younger, when he was finally becoming his own person, it all went downhill. They’d been the closest they’d ever been for those few years, but it all plummeted in one conversation, and Tommy never saw him the same again after that.

All he could hope is that someday, when Tommy is king, he’ll see how hard it is, and know that his dad did his best to keep him safe and happy.

~~~

Wilbur sighed as he pulled his hood farther over his head to keep his glasses from getting wet as rain started down. Yup, he’d been right. Definitely rain. Should’ve worn contacts. Damn, and he’d just started down the road, it’d be hours till he was done for the day. Still, he sighed and picked up packets of chips and broken beer bottles with his cold slippery metal trash-grabber-thing and shoved them into a garbage bag.

Unfortunately, things only got worse the longer he was out there. He’d made it fairly deep into the woods at that point, but the rain pounded onto him like hail and thunder roared around him. He just honest to god wanted to go home and sit with a cup of tea and listen to his mom ramble about whatever new thing she’d seen in woods. But lucky him, his ankle shackle tracked his movements. He was only allowed to be in the house and a little ways into the front or backyard during the day. During his torture hours (that’s what he liked to call his court ordered punishments), he was not allowed to be in the house. Instead, he had to remain on the road and somewhat into the woods for his designated amount of hours or else he’d get a couple of very stern police officers at the front door telling his mother that he was on thin ice and to do what he was ordered to unless he wanted jail time. He did not, thank you very much.

He flinched as lightning struck a tree a ways behind him. Holy shit, this was actually getting pretty bad. Was his mom still out here? Had she gone home when the rain started? God, he hoped so. But all he could do for now was pick shit up and wait it out.

It wouldn’t be that long till he got home.

~~~

Phil panted, barely able to breathe through his panic as he pushed Brian to go faster. Rain started to pound on him, but he didn’t care. He was becoming frenzied. Oh god, where was Tommy? Was he hurt? Was he back at the castle, having heard the thunder and realizing that it was stupid to be out on his own? Brian softly chittered beneath him, but he could barely process it. Phil had to find Tommy. He just had to. He couldn’t leave his little boy out here alone, cold, scared…

Phil yelped as Brian swerved out of his control, landing on a nearby tree branch that only somewhat shielded them from the storm. “Brian, wh-“ He heard a soft coo and only then felt minute quivering beneath him. He reached out a hand and felt his wings, which were shaking badly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, buddy, you’re probably pretty tired, huh…” He said, getting off the crow and petting his head. Brian pressed his head lightly into Phil’s hand as a response, and Phil reached over to his saddle and pulled out some berries and a water pouch, holding them out in front of Brian. He immediately perked up and opened his beak a little bit, enough for Phil to drop the food and pour water in. Brian cooed and nestled down onto the branch a bit more. Phil sighed and sat down next to him; seemed like they wouldn’t be moving for a little while.

They sat in silence for a while, Phil listening to the raid patter violently on the leaves above him while some stray droplets broke through and struck where he sat. He tried to even his breathing and think with a level head, but to no avail. He tapped his foot anxiously with no other way to get his nervous energy out, pulling at some of the leaves on his wrists. If Techno were here, he’d tell him to stop, but as it was, Phil was left to sit with his own thoughts as the storm raged around him.

Until the worst happened.

He wasn’t sure why his mind hadn’t registered the thunder around him. Maybe he’d gotten so used to hearing it in the past few hours, maybe he just didn’t think enough of it to even process it. All he knew after the fact was that it had been so loud it made the forest around him shake and caused a violent thud in his chest, but he hadn’t heard the warning until it was too late.

The clap of lightning around him was deafening, and snapped him out of whatever anxious spell he was in. Brian practically screamed as the trunk and the branch they were sitting broke with a ear crunching snap and heat engulfed him for a moment. He felt petals burn as pain bloomed in him and felt the gust of wind as Brian lifted in the air to avoid being hit or burned, lurching his wings downwards to try and grab Phil. And as much as Phil loved Brian, he was fast, not agile.

No amount of speed could help Phil as Brian’s beak barely missed one of his remaining petals and Phil felt himself free fall towards his forest floor. Those seconds felt like a lifetime, some parts of him knowing that he could save himself if he called onto his magic, some parts reminiscing on would happen to his kingdom, his best friend, his son…

would Tommy miss him?

He closed his eyes as the muddied grass grew closer and closer. He wasn’t sure what he wanted his last thought to be, he wasn’t sure why he was worried about it, all he could do was accept his death, knowing that once he hit the cold ground the earth would reclaim him and he’d become part of the forest he’d worked so hard to lead.

Phil landed hard, but…it didn’t feel like the cold ground he was expecting. It was damp, sure, but…warm. He heard Brian screech, but shockingly heard a different noise in response. He heard a gasp from a voice he’d never heard. It was a woman, he thought, but he couldn’t focus in on anything she said after or what was going on. He was fading out quickly, but he was alive, for now at least. The ground below him moved, the warmth starting to surround him, and the rain stopped hitting him. He should have been more concerned about what was going on, but he couldn’t find it in himself to stay awake anymore.

As he faded out of consciousness, he didn’t notice the lack of the weight that normally hung from his neck.

~~~

Logically, Kristin knew she should have gotten out of the storm before it got this bad. But she’d never really been on logic’s side, why start now?

She had started to run home when the thunder got worse, though.

Her rain boots pounded heavily on the road as she sprinted back to her house. Jeez, she hoped Wilbur’s officers could cut him a break with this one. She’d lived in this forest for over a decade and this was the worst storm she’d seen in a long, long while. Wilbur was never usually one to take instructions too seriously, so she hoped he’d just given up on the minimum hours and fucked off to go home. But she knew he also didn’t want to be in jail in case the officers were as heartless as she was lead to believe, so she couldn’t really be sure.

She practically jumped out of her skin as lightning hit a tree beside her, the leaves immediately starting to burn as bits of the top broke away and fell to the forest floor. It was getting dangerous out here, she needed to go-

And she would have if a bird hadn’t screamed.

God damn her good hearted nature, it was going to get her killed one of these days.

She ran over to the tree in time to see the bird lunging down towards a broken branch, trying to reach out to somethi-

Holy fuck.

Kristin’s eyes widened as she saw something- no, someone- falling, and falling fast. Someone green, though accented with yellow and a couple white petals, though most of what she could assume were longer ones had now been burnt back.

Holy shit, it was one of them.

Kristin ran faster and practically threw herself to the ground to catch them, the little person falling into her hands just in time. Holy shit, it was a little person. Here, in her hands, was a little man. She could barely breathe as she held him closer, taking in every detail she could. They seemed to be around her age, and they looked like a guy, but who knows how their gender roles worked in their role. God, who knew how anything worked! She had so much to ask! She could barely believe it, she’d finally done it! She got one!

She was snapped out of her thoughts as the bird screamed again, frantically flapping its wings and hopping towards her. She at first assumed it had just been hunting the little guy in her hands as a food source, but she then took notice of the green leaf-made saddle on its back. Ah, so the bird belonged to the green guy, it seemed like she’d been right in her hypothesis that the tiny people rode them to get around. It hobbled closer, and her thoughts were cut off as she gasped.

She hadn’t fully realized the damage to the bird; a few of the feathers were damaged on one side, especially on it’s wing, and it’s feet were swollen, probably from the heat. Along with that, it was shaking violently and trying valiantly to get back to its rider.

She cooed as she gently picked it up with one hand, the other still holding the small guy. It tried to fight, but in its exhaustion she guessed that it couldn’t do much. “It’s ok, little birdy, I won’t hurt you,” she cooed, closing her hand around the tiny and holding him against her chest under her coat to keep him dry. He hadn’t made a move, so she could only assume he’d fainted on impact, if he even could faint. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure if he was alive, but the fact that the crow was trying to hard to get back to him gave her hope. “We’re gonna go back to my house and fix you both up.” She slowly stood, and cringed when she realized her entire front was absolutely caked in mud, but she shrugged it off.

After all, an extra load of laundry and a shower were little to pay to see her life’s dedication paid off.

She couldn’t wait to show Wilbur.

~~~

“Phil? I’m home!” Tommy yelled. Walking into the entryway of the palace he lived in, completely drenched. He hadn’t meant to be out this long, he’s just gotten so caught up with his friends that he hasn’t realized time had passed. It was hard to tell when night fell when the entire sky was dark with a storm.

He’d only gone out to help Tubbo deliver some honey, but he and Ranboo had started talking and Tubbo had more deliveries to make so Tommy and Ranboo went to the tree base and invited Tubbo to join them when he was done. Tommy would have loved to stay at Dream’s place, but in case his dad ever found out where he’d been wandering off to he wanted the Bog king to have plausible deniability. He had started showing Ranboo all the stuff Tubbo had given him after trading with boggins, and it had turned into a fun game of “I’ll give a completely batshit description for this and then you’ll tell me what it’s actually for.” One thing looked like a torture device but was used for cutting rougher letter, and another was just a hairbrush, which Ranboo was surprised Tommy had never heard of since bugfolk used them, but hey, Tommy didn’t get out much.

Tubbo came over for a minute but left when the sky grew darker, since he couldn’t fly in the rain and had to get home before the storm. Tommy only went home once the lightning started, and Henry starting chirping, and Tommy could weirdly tell how concerned she was. Him and Ranboo also agreed that the top of a really high tree was not where they wanted to be in a potential lightning storm, so they’d parted ways for the day.

But Tommy hadn’t expected the palace to be empty, practically. Man, was the storm bad enough that the staff had gone home? He wandered his halls for a bit before he heard a voice behind him. “Tommy?” He spun frantically, only to sigh when he saw Technoblade. He dramatically caught his breath and walked over to him. “Whew, you scared the shit outta me, Blade, where’s dadza?” “He’s not with you…?” That made Tommy pause. “Nooo…should he be?” Tommy asked apprehensively, but Techno looked absolutely panicked. “He…he went out looking for you earlier. Like, this morning. You didn’t show up for your lesson with him and he said something about wasting his time and flew off with Brian. They haven’t been back.”

“…what?” His dad had gone out…looking for him? Wasn’t he more concerned about the storm? The forest? Why was Tommy the concern there? His dad rarely gave a flying fuck when he missed their lessons, why did he have to pick today of all days to throw a hissy fit and run after him? “Oh god, ok…how..how do we find him?” “I have no idea.” Techno answered, as blatantly honest as usual, but the stoic look having been replaced with fear. They both stood in silence for a moment before Techno put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Ok, I’m going to go looking for him. You’re gonna stay here and see if you can bring him back.” What? “But how am I-“

Techno reached to the emerald around Tommy’s neck, held by a thin leather strap, the same as his father’s. Pretty much the only tying them to each anymore. “Phil explained earlier that your crystals are connected. He went out looking for you knowing that the necklace would signal him when you were close by. He also said that if need be, there’s some magic property that can call one crystal to the other, since they’re just pieces of each other. He didn’t earlier since it would have taken too much power and he didn’t know how bad the storm would get, but I think we’re to that point. I don’t know shit about magic, but according to him, you should be able to use the crystal to summon him here.”

Tommy stared wide eyes at him for a moment. “I- i don’t know how to do that…I can’t-” “It’s alright, you can do it, I know you can. If if you can’t, I’ll keep looking until I find him. It’ll all be ok.” Techno said, leaning Tommy into a hug. God, this must be serious, Techno was never this emotional. “O-ok, I’ll do my best.” Techno leaned back, smiling at Tommy before clapping him on the shoulders. “You’re a good kid, Tommy. I’ll be back.” He said, walking off. He hoped Techno would be ok. The storm had been getting progressively better little by little, but it was still pretty harsh.

Tommy went up to his room and sat on the floor. Ok, so he was basically trying to learn teleportation, no biggie, just…teleport someone. Yeah, he could do that. He bring Phil back and he’d yell at Tommy for missing another lesson and he’d yell back that it was how he felt when his dad missed his entire childhood and inevitably someone would bring up mom, god forbid, and it’d end with two slammed doors like it had at least three other times that week. Great, he was so looking forward to that.

…why was he doing this again?

Tommy groaned and hit the heel of his hand against his head. His dad may be a bigoted asshole to his two best friends and a shitty father on the best of days, but he didn’t deserve to die in a lightning storm. His heart clenched at the idea that he may be too late, that he’d never see his father again and it would have been his fault since he didn’t go to that stupid magic lecture earlier.

He tried to convince himself that it was only because he didn’t want the weight of his father’s death on his shoulders. That the sore feeling in his chest was annoyance and minor guilt. He didn’t miss his dad, he didn’t care about him at all anymore.

He didn’t.

Tommy breathed in and out deeply, closing his eyes and taking the emerald off his neck, clutching it tightly in his hands. He could feel the magic practically emanating from it, and did his best to find a similar power. His dad said when he needed to do more intense magic, he used the stone to feel out the life force in the forest that needed help. He’d taken Tommy to a cracked tree once and it had taken a while, but he’d managed to ground himself enough that he felt with the tree, and used his and the stones magic to redirect energy into it and heal it. He imagined the sensation would be something like that. If he could feel specific individual forces of nature, he could feel out a magic gemstone. He could do it.

As he started to concentrate more, and as he felt his own forces spread from himself to the walls of his room and his home and the whole forest around him, the stone started to glow.

~~~

Fucking. Finally.

The storm had…somewhat slowed down. Enough that Wilbur wasn’t getting even more soaked on his way home. Though, to be fair, he felt like he would never be dry again, he was soaked to the bone.

He walked down one side of the street under the branches. Since the storm had let up, the sun had come back with a vengeance and he was wearing very thick and warm clothes. He was already drenched, he didn’t want to add sweat to that.

To give himself credit where it was due, though, walking back, the road looked a whole lot cleaner than it had previously. It may not have justified hauling his giant-ass heavy trash bag all the way back to his house, but at least he was doing something.

After what felt like hours of walking back down the road he’d come up from (he knew it was only a few minutes but he’d been picking up trash in a thunderstorm all fucking day he was exhausted) he came upon the tree from earlier that had been struck by lightning. And shit did it look bad. He couldn’t help his curiosity as he stepped closer, observing the damage up close. The top looked like it had been on fire, all burnt and blackened, but even more confusing was the large section of land right in front of where he was standing where the grass had been shoved forward and it was nothing but a slick patch of mud. It looked like the dirt on a baseball field when a catches had to slide across the ground to get the ball.

As his attention was on the ground, though, something flashed in the dim light that shone through the trees. What in the world was that?

Maybe he’d missed a piece of trash, who knows how far into the woods people can chunk things from their car. He leaned down to get a better look at it, and saw that it was shiny and a dark, deep green. Ugh, another piece of a goddamn beer bottle that someone shattered against something. Though, this one didn’t look like the large smooth but sharp edged pieces he’d picked up like a hundred of. Something was odd, so he dropped his grabber and bag to examine it more closely.

None of it was smooth; it looked somehow natural. It was think and rough, but not sharp, not polished and thin and clear like he’d seen. Maybe it could be a rock? It also had a weird brown strap attached to it, each side of the rope having scorch marks on the end. Wilbur guessed that the fire had split the strap holding the stone on. Maybe it had been…a ring? Who uses a thin flimsy leather band as a ring? He also didn’t know who would have been in the forest to lose a ring, other than his mother. Maybe he should bring this home and ask her, and if it’s not hers, can’t hurt to see what the stone is and how much it could be worth. A little extra money never hurt.

As he looked at it more closely, he realized it was greener than he originally thought. It was brighter, almost. Had the sun started hitting it differently? He held it up to a patch of sunlight, and watched in awe as it looked like it almost started to glow. Woah, maybe he could get some serious cash for this thing after all. But as he brought it back down from the light…it was still glowing. Like, actually glowing. And it was getting brighter and brighter.

He confusedly wrapped his hands around it, peeking in to see if it was still somehow just a trick of the light or if it was glowing. He saw a trickle of green light breaking through the cracks in his intertwined fingers, but when he went to peer in closer, something happened. His hand jerked in the exact wrong direction, smacking him clean in the face and right against the left side of his glasses, shoving them hard enough that he heard a crack. Before he could be too confused about that, though, his hands were suddenly yanked forward, enough to trio him off his feet, but…

He was still upright. There wasn’t any weight on his legs, but he was upright. He looked back up to his hands and saw the glow getting brighter and brighter still, to the point it was almost shining through his hands.

His blood turned cold and pure fear flooded his body as he felt himself get lifter up higher. He frantically tried to let go of the stone, putting all his effort into ripping his hands away, but nothing. He felt tears drip down his face, he wasn’t sure when he started crying, but he paid it no mind. It swung him around again, almost slamming him into a tree. He tried to push away but he was like a ragdoll to this thing. It felt like he was in the tornado scene of the Wizard of Oz.

“Help!” He screamed, his muscles starting to get sore from the useless strain of trying to free himself. “Fuck, Help me!” Nothing moved. His hands stayed firmly stuck around the crystal. “Someone!” He started to feel nauseous, and he felt himself shaking from the fear. “Anyone?!” The world around him started to morph as the edges of his visions turned green. “Mom!!” And suddenly he was gone.

~~~

A green flash filled Tommy’s room as he shot up from where he’d been sitting. Holy fuck, he did it. He did it, he actually managed to do it!! He ran to the figure as the magic began to clear only to stop dead in his tracks, his face falling.

Something stood in front of him. Not his father, not even a leafman, but something.

He wore clothes that were somewhat reminiscent of Ranboo’s, but they were more…patterned. It was weird material, and it’s not like Tommy knew many people who actually wore clothes, but he’d never seen anything like it. The man was also a weird color, not green like him or any shade of grey like a boggin. He was tall, taller than Tommy, but still dwarfed under most boggins. Maybe he was a bugfolk? But he looked too squishy. He didn’t have the hard chitin that Tubbo had, his skin looked like it felt more Like Ranboo’s but without the spikes.

His thoughts halted as he noticed that the man hadn’t even seen him yet. He’d taken a second to look around, but he was just staring at the emerald in his hands-

The emerald.

That was his dad’s emerald.

Tommy went to take a step closer, the dead silence in the room broken for just a second by his footstep. The man’s head snapped up and he just as quickly fell over, mouth agape and breathing heavily. It was only then that Tommy realized he was also shaking like a leaf.

They both just stared at each other for a minute, neither making a move. Tommy’s confusion slowly warping to anger and the other creature’s morphing into fear and apprehension.

“Why the fuck do you have that?!”

“What the fuck are you?!”

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