#Keys To The Carava

[lisaofcypher]

My Home (A Dream SMP fan novel)

Once there were two orphan boys, with no where to call home but each other, until one summer trip to a weird town in Oregon, US. From strange disk journals, mystery authors, time traverlers, zombies, amnesiac half endermen half ghast people, hybrids, and teenage angst, with demons thrown in as well, looks like this summer will have more in store then they thought.

(Summary is poor, but try the first chapter, it explains the plot better. Loosely inspired by Gravity Falls)

Episode One- A Mystery in Vinyls

Episode One- Having Disk sounds great

Tommy’s leg bounces up and down, hitting the metal floor of the bus. 

“Are you nervous, Tubs?” Tommy asks, looking out the window as they pass a bunch of pine trees.

Tubbo sighed, “A bit, yeah.”He paused for a moment. “You?”

Tommy smiles. “Of course not? I have two brothers and a dad! That’s awesome!”

Tubbo only smiled, a hint of sadness in the air. It was common knowledge between the two that for whatever reason, Tubbos parents had left him on the side of the road, and if it wasn’t for a random couple driving by and noticing him, he’d be dead by now.

Just the thought made Tommy shudder.

“I hope he has great music taste!” Tommy.riM. “Maybe he knows some hot girls.” He winks.

Tubbo sighs, “Are girls all you think about?”

“I also think about drugs!”

“You disappoint me.”

“I know!”

“Next stop, L’Manburg!” The bus driver yelled, breaking up the conversation.

“That’s our stop,” Tommy exclaims, getting his bags.

Tubbo inhales quickly, grabbing his own small backpack. It was full of clothes and a bunch of pollen and nectar for his weird obsession with bees. There were over 500 different species of bees living in Oregon.

Tommy was never gonna hear the end of it.

As they walked off the bus, thanking the bus driver politely, they were greeted by a guy with a beanie and a JD style trench coat. He was leaning against a pole, looking like a classic stoner.

“Hey,” he says, shrugging, clearly not too bothered by actual emotions. 

Tommy was shocked, no gasps, no hugging and crying about how their baby brother came home. 

Instead he got, “You look scrawnier than I expected.”

Wow.

That’s nice.

“Who are you?!” Tommy snaps, accusingly. How did he know this was his older brother anyway? He could be some weird stranger.

“Wilbur Soot, your older brother.” He replies, casually.

“Huh, my last name is Soot…” Tommy mumbles to himself.

“No shit, we’re family,” Wilbur sighs, as if Tommy had made the worst joke in existence, as he begins leading the boys , quietly through a trail in the forest.

“Who’s this, your boyfriend?” Wilbur asks, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Tubbo quickly shakes his head.

“Is he mute?” Wilbur asks.

“‘No, he’s not mute, and he’s my best friend, my brother even,” Tommy defensively spats.

“Then why isn’t he talking?”

“He doesn’t like talking in front of strangers.”

“Uh huh,” Wilbur rolls his eyes. He continues to walk down until they get to a small clearing, to a shack with the name “Mystery Carava.”

Next to it there was a road, with cars leaving and driving in.

“We could have walked down the road instead of hiking!?” Tommy asks, panting. He was this close to smacking Wilbur.

Wilbur smirks. “I prefer the scenery trail.”

“This is it? Why is it called the Mystery Carava?” Tommy asks, looking up at the weird van looking shack.

“The N fell off,” Wilbur shrugs, walking inside and gesturing for the boys to come in.

Inside there was a guy fixing up a bear statue. He saw the boys and ran over.

“You’re here!” He exclaimed. “I’m Philza Soot, but you can call me Phil.” He smiles. He has blonde hair like Tommy’s but longer, and  wears a green cloak. Is it a family trait to have a fashion sense?

“Well I’m Tommy! And this is my best bud Tubbo!” Tommy grins, pulling an arm around his best friend, who smiles sheepishly.

“Oh well, I see you’ve met my son, Wilbur, hope he wasn’t too rude,” Phil laughs awkwardly. “His twin, Techno, is out getting some meat for dinner.”

Both boys look at each other. “Ready to see your room?” Phil winks.

The room is small, with a window in the middle and two beds against the two walls. It was in the attic. 

Tommy takes the red bed instantly, jumping on it and laying out all his stuff. Tubbo takes the tree covered bed, leaving his suitcase by the bed, not bothering to unpack it right now.

“Wanna go explore the forest?” Tommy asks, looking out of the window at the forest looming around the shack.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean- it seems kind of dangerous-“ Tubbo mumbles, not wanting to get himself in danger on the first day.

“Exactly! What if it has like a 

 that we can 

” With that, Tommy grabs Tubbos arm and drags him out of the room and down the stairs.

The forest is beautiful, especially with the nice tint of the sunset. 

“Tommy, it’s getting late, can we please go home?” Tubbo mumbles.

“Do you want to be a pussy?!” Tommy glares.

Tubbo shrinks. “No, sorry.”

Tommy keeps running  until he tripped over a branch and hit his shoulder on a tree.

“Are you okay, Toms?!” Tubbo cries, running over.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He brushes himself off, grabbing his shoulders. “That was really hard for a tree…”

“Well maybe cause you ran into it!?” Tubbo exclaims.

“Or maybe…” Tommy looks at the tree, feeling it. “It feels like metal.” He turns to Tubbo, who walks over, playing with the sleeve of his green sweater.

“Hm,” Tommy looks all around the tree, before finding a button, pressing it excitedly.

The metal part opens, lifting, showing...

“Disks?” Tommy asks, grabbing them immediately.

“What are you doing? What if it’s booby trapped?” Tubbo snaps.

“Or it’s just disks. What are they?” He brushes his fingers along the black circle. There were two disks in here.

“Maybe we should go home, see if Phil has any way to play them?” Tubbo suggests.

Tommy sighs, looking up at his best friend, then at the darkening sun, “Yeah, you’re right,” he says as he begins walking. Then he realizes something and stops “Hey, Tubs?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember the way back?”

After what feels like a lifetime of walking, they reach the caravan.

“I don’t get why it’s called a caravan, it’s not even a van!” Tommy complains as he walks in.

There was Phil, frowning, with Wilbur sitting by the cashier desk, his legs resting casually on it.

“Where were you?” Phil asks accusingly, having clearly already the role of 

“Out in the forest?” Tommy exclaims, shrugging.

“Do you know how late it is? Couldn’t you have sent me a text or something?!” Phil asks.

“We don’t have phones.”

“Told me where you were going?”

“We didn’t think we needed to.”

Phil sighs, walking closer to the boys, “I know you two grew up without a father… but I’m here now. You- you need to tell me where you are. I don’t know if you can take care of yourself, like Techno. Please, boys, work with me, and I’ll work with you. I know the system isn’t kind, and you’re not used to having anyone but each other, but I swear to you, I’m not leaving you, just please stay safe and work with me here.” He rests his hands on both of the boys’ shoulders.

Tommy looks down at his feet. “Fine, but we both know this arrangement is temporary,” Tommy says before walking upstairs.

“Tommy-“ Phil tries, but Tommy is already gone.

Tubbo begins following, but Phil grabs his shoulder, pulling him back.

“Hey, Tubbo, I- I know you’re not related to Tommy or me, but you’re just as much my son now, as he is. You’re a Soot. I promise.” Phil smiles.

Tubbo blinks. “Thank you, Phil,” he says, then walks up.

It was the first time Tubbo had talked to them.

——— ———

“So, I found a disk player in the storage room, I hope Phil won’t mind us stealing this,” Tommy says, bringing in an old disk player and dropping it on his bed.

Tubbo looks up at him. “What if the disks are haunted and we summon an evil demon?”

“If that happens, that’d be like, really fucking awesome, ya know?”

He hooks up the disk player and puts in the disk, connecting it to a speaker.

“Audio log one, side A. It’s been a year since I moved to L’Manburg,” the voice on the speaker says. It sounds familiar, but Tommy can’t put his finger on it.

“And in all my time researching the strange fantastical elements of the town, I never could have expected this. The town has strange mystical elements, ones I can describe but not exactly explain. Just yesterday I saw a giant bee that was purple! That’s not how bees work! Trust me, I know a lot about them. Kind of an obsession of mine. My brother keeps telling me to relax, stop looking into these things. But I won’t. I will get to the bottom of this. This town could be the key to figuring out why I have these horns.” As he says that, Tubbo jolts up, touching his own horns. “He’s like me?”

“My goal for this week is to see if I can help my friend and restore his memory. Perhaps his half enderman nature could have something to do with it.”

“Half endermen? But those don’t even exist!” Tommy yells.

“I hope my brother understands…. He’s always been a loud guy, and I love him, but... at least my new friend is kinder to me. Alas, I must get going, before P gets annoyed and sends T after me. Until next time, my precious disks.”

And that’s when Tommy stops it.

“Oh my god….” Tubbo mumbles, stunned.

“This guy is a total nutcase!” Tommy snaps.

“How are you so sure?” Tubbo asks.

“Look at the guy, he’s talking about endermen and purple bees! That’s not even possible!”

“Maybe not…” Tubbo sighs, he can't help but relate to this mysterious man, with his horns and love of bees.

“What are you guys doing with my disk player?” A voice asks, and they look up and gasp.

It’s a young man with a pink braid who is wearing a white tunic with a red jacket, and has red eyes….

It must be Techno.

“Uh…. hi! I’m Tommy!” Tommy shoots up.

“Yeah I got that part.”

“We just wanted to play some disks we found in the forest!” Once again, Tubbo facepalms at his brother’s lack of a filter.

“You found disks in the forest?” 

“Yeah! In some weird tree compartment!”

“That’s interesting, look, next time ask me, or I’ll make sure you won’t even be able to grab it.”

Oh great, this guy is threatening violence.

“Why are your eyes red?” Tommy asks.

“Uh, contacts,” Techno quickly responds.

Those eyes look far too real for contacts, but Tommy drops it, not wanting to anger the man any further.

“Anyway, welcome. Try not to die.” And then he leaves, closing the door behind him.

“Try not to die!?” Tubbo gulps.

“Well… that was something.”

“Guess we have a mystery on our hands!”

“Mystery….?” Tubbo asks cautiously.

“Well yeah? We have to figure out who the man recording the disks is, and if these enderman creatures are real!”

Tubbo smiles, trying to hide his apprehension at the idea of looking for danger.

“So far, this place feels more like home than Manchester ever did.”

“I mean, we’re in a foreign country, but yeah,” Tubbo shrugs.

“That guy on the disk has the same bee obsession that you do!” Tommy points out.

“Yeah, I guess he does.”

“Are you assuming one's gender, Tobias?” Tommy teases.

“Don’t call me that!” Tubbo smacks his brother over the head.

“Oh what are you gonna do? Tackle me with your short legs? I could take you easy!”

“When was the last time you worked out, Tommy?” Tubbo snaps back with a grin.

“When was the last time you did?” Tommy pushes Tubbo.

“Asshole!” Tubbo pouts.

Tommy laughed, taking off his shirt for bed.

“Sleep well Tubs,” Tommy whispers, turning off the light.

“You too, Toms.” 

Who knows what this town has in store for them. They’re together, and that’s what matters.

——— ———

“Is it almost ready, Sam?” A man asks, as Sam works on the portal.

“It should be, Mr. President, just give me a moment.”

“We need to hurry up before the goons find us.” The man gulps.

“I know, I know. Dream and his forces will never track us down here.”

“You consulted Karl right?”

“Of course not. Karl can suck my dick, this is for the sake of humanity.”

“I hope this works… for my sake and Earths.”

“Mine too,” Sam frowns.

“Because if it doesn’t I know what will happen.”

[courtjester-07]

They say clan children are born of steel and blood, the red of endless nights of battles long fought and long gone. Shadows of lives lost and lives to never be born. Children born to wield weapons and use their bodies as those weapons. Extensions of their arms and power within legs. Blood on ancestors carrying curses and blessings. Stories passed through blood and family, down from one father to the next. Little facts and ways of moving that cost lives but can buy years. They trade in steel and seeds and carry family names as a shield with a target on the center. The Uchihas are the red of the moon, crimson blood on steel, and ashes as dark as night flaking skin fair as snow. They are memories forgotten and eternal glances, eyes that see straight through the mind and soul. Carriers of a burden long forgotten by those who fight alongside and against them. Hearts that can hold the ocean but bleed as a dam broken by the flood. They love stronger than any and deeper than the void of space. But they are born of blood and steel like all clan children, raised with blades in hands and eyes watching their backs. With cold bodies in their arms and warm bodies at their backs. With wire around their necks and flames on their tongues. They breathe embers as often as they breathe love. For Uchihas love as strongly as a flame, eternally burning until the ash takes over and they fade to the wind.

They say merchants deal in silver and lies, little whispers of sweet nothings wrapped in wool and silk and cast in jewels. They trade in stories and promises and broken vows as often as they trade in coin and favors. They carry stories forgotten by time, and contracts long wrot in chambers of kings and vials slipped into the hands of mistresses. They carry keys to locks not seen and to chains wrought in iron and played with steel. They wander roads covered in shadows with torches and little needles full of sweet smelling liquids that cast an endless sleep. Merchant clans live inside of webs, lines connecting them to others covered in sticky lies. A true spider of the night. The Haruno clan lies in the center of these webs, a black widow lying in wait. Mothers pass needles down to daughters who learn to pearce cloth as often as they learn to pierce veins. Little girls who run alongside caravas and sleep in silks, with needles in their hair and vials in their bosoms. They are taught the silver tongue and how to lie in wait, vipers and spiders and rats who run amok within walls and traps. Twins of mind with two sides, one who runs and one who hides. Weavers of lies and silks and traders of coin and stories often are as true as they are false. Black widows who have no need for men and feel no love, born to scorn the world and to whisper sweet nothings into ears of enemies. For Harunos feels as cold as night with eyes of weeping streams and molten gold, who spill lies more than truth and bleed venom.

Pirates steel and take and sail on windows of freedom with blood of life coursing through veins and swords. Clans of the sea and the wind who band together as wanderers. Who hold each other tighter and whisper the blood of the coven and the water of the womb. Histories to never be known told in tails of salt and crimson and seeds given between sails and flags. Clans who band together to sail and who tame no one but give themselves to the wind and tides. The people of Uzushiogakure sail in clans and families who love their flags and boats as much as their children. Who jump over railing and swim to each other, who have sand in their hair and salt in their lungs. Uzumakis are freedom fighters and sailors, wanders of time with chains at the bottom of the oceans. Who bleed salt water and cry pearls. They are as fleeting as the wind with the sea in their veins and will in their bones. Those who wield their chains as weapons and who fight to the last blood for their covens. They are wind and storms and lightning across arms and thunder on legs, wind in their lungs and power of sails in their bones. They carry ink in their nails and live for eternity with blood to heal. For Uzumakis are the sunrise on the sea and freedom in lungs and wind in sails, wanderers and pirates and covens who name children as the sea's blood.

Wolves run in packs and lead others where humans falter and where blood is stronger than the earth below paws. The lone wolf may survive but the pack will concur and the trees will howl with them as the dash through life and shadows. Instincts that call to each other and pups who love their siblings and their aunts and their alphas as much as they love their mothers. Where blood is strong but teeth flash bright and growl power the night, where the pack survives long winters and short summers. Where the land is barren and the game is fleeting but their paws are strong and their bones powerful and their blood wild with life. Hatakes run with wolves and straddle backs of fur and cords of muscle. Carry steel on their backs and blood in claws and teeth full of spite and love qualy. Who call for pack and howl at the moon on feet and hands instead of paws. Who love fur and snarls and call pups their siblings, who feel free when running with their pack. They snarl ice and dig crystals and race the wind with lightning at their paws. They carry loyalty in their bones and love in their teeth, they protect with claws and blades qualy and howl with instincts of beasts. For Hatakes are wild and savage and protective of their packs, beasts beneath the moon and family within dens of fur.