Chapter Text
The first memory Sapnap had was of magic. Technically, it was also a memory of his mother, but the golden threads leaving his fingers as she healed his scraped knee had always been the most captivating part of it in his young mind. He didn’t know how old he was in the memory, a little less than three probably.
Sapnap remembers the warmth of healing magic as his mom carefully tied the broken skin together. And he remembers how she kissed that same knee after in order to “seal it in”. He knows as an adult that the last step was necessary. As a child, however, the soft lips against his small injury had been as healing as the magic itself.
His childhood had been covered in magic. “This is our gift to this world,” His father had explained to him once as he taught a young 8 year old sapnap how to use it to navigate the Nether. “Our kind existed once to protect this world, and everyone living in it.” Sapnap looked at his father confused, he knew that there was a reason they only stayed in the nether, hidden from view. He was very polite though and loved hearing his father tell him stories so he did not interrupt. “Our magic can never cause harm.”
“Isn’t our magic the reason we have to hide?” he asked once it was clear that his dad had finished speaking, “Or why there are not any others like us?”
His dad kneeled down in front of him, so that he could look straight into his eyes. Sapnap noticed how the onyx of his father’s eyes was clouded with unshed tears. There was a deep sadness in his parents, he saw it sometimes in his mother too. Sapnap understood then, maybe for the first time, that his parents remembered a time before. Back when they didn’t have to hide, and they weren’t the only ones left.
“It is true that those who hunt us do it for our magic,” his dad answered heavily. “Human greed is a very strange thing,” he continued, trying to find how to explain things to his very small son. Sapnap couldn’t wait until he was big and taller than his dad finally. “They allowed themselves to forget that once they loved us, so that they would be allowed to take our power with violence.”
“To a lot of them, we are dangerous creatures.” That didn’t make sense, but sapnap listened. “We remember the time before because we are old creatures,” at which his dad finally chuckled and Sapnap smiled. “It is strange to explain it to you cause you’re still only a kid and you hadn’t been born then. But once humans loved us as much as we love them.”
“We still love humans?” He asked, and the onyx in his father’s eyes shone like a thousand stars with his small sad smile.
“We do,” His father answered, “Our love for this world can’t be fickle. I hope you will understand that one day but our magic is protection, our greatest power is the love we have for this world's creatures, both here and in the overworld.”
“Our magic is love,” Sapnap repeated, tasting the words and the nice feeling they gave him. He was too young to understand love entirely back then, but he loved his mum and dad. He loved the nether creatures he played with.
“Yes it is,” his father ruffled his hair before continuing on their trail, and sapnap followed after him with a wide grin.
Sapnap sends a message to Bad as soon as the kid is tucked safely in his arms. Just from carrying Tommy he can feel how thin he is. The loud kid had always been lanky, grown tall too quickly for his body to catch up like many other teens did. Tommy now cradled in his arms feels like one squeeze would be enough to snap him entirely like a twig.
Tommy doesn’t respond, never wakes, but with every step sapnap takes the unconscious shivering kid whimpers softly. Sapnap all but runs back to his house in Kinoko, careful to jostle him as little as he can.
Now that Tommy is in his arms, Sapnap can see from upclose how much deeper the damage runs than he initially thought. The angry purple bruising in his neck now looks clearly like hand prints. It stands out starkly against the muteness of his usually golden fur. Sapnap feels the coarse hair in his hands, and sees the many places where it's missing. Replaced either by raised scars made with something sharm, or in places with unhealed burns surrounded by charred matted fur.
Karl is not sitting at the kitchen table, but Sapnap can see the light filtering from under their bedroom door so he knows that his fiance will be joining him any second now, lured by the sound of his entrance. Karl doesn’t disappoint him, appearing in the entryway with a confused expression that quickly turns into horror as soon as he sees what Sapnap has in his arms.
“Is that Tommy?!” he asks concern furrowing at his eyebrows. He wasn’t ever close with the kid that Sapnap knew, but he also imagined that the picture of Tommy as battered as he was would be concerning for anyone. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said honestly, “I was doing rounds and he was suddenly there.” In the back of his eyes he can still see Tommy collapsing and how his first instinct had been to beg for forgiveness. “He just fell to his knees and started apologizing and sobbing and then he collapsed.”
Karl looks at him with a knowing look and Sapnap knows that he’s cradling Tommy very protectively. He wishes he could save this child from all of the hurt he was feeling with only this embrace.
“He looks awful, Karl and he’s in pain.” He can feel tears welling up in his eyes but he will not let them fall. “He was so tired that he just collapsed right there. I already called Bad to come check on him.”
He continues walking until he reaches the guest bedroom they have. The bed is simply made and he can hear Sapnap enter their own room to get pillows. Sapnap lays tommy on the bed gingerly. At first he is careful so that his tail will not be squished, but bile threatens to rise up his throat the moment he notices that only a short stump is there where Tommy’s tail used to be.
Tommy looks almost peaceful as he lays in the small bed, even with his face furrowed into a pained expression. He’s murmuring and when Sapnap gets close enough to hear he realizes that what others would consider only pained grunts, are actually the boy muttering in Piglin.
“Please no,” he begs softly. “Please Dream, don't.” Those words are enough to send his world crashing down around them even though Karl can clearly not understand them. Tommy had said dream’s name before in the clearing as well, and cold dread settles over his shoulder as Sapnap realizes that truly no one other than his friend could have done this.
He’s glad for the small trash can as he heaves his breakfast into it at the realization.
Because Tommy is not just hurt. The damage to his body is not that of a mob fight or a stupid teenage shenanigans. Tommy is battered, bruised and injured. He is too thin, his fur lacks any of the shine it usually has. Tommy’s eyes had been sunken and hollow. Tommy’s tail is not where it should be, and now that Sapnap can look more closely, one of his ears is missing a piece, like it had been torn open.
Until Bad arrives, Sapnap stays on the floor, sitting against the wall and looking at Tommy with horror in his eyes.
In reality Sapnap should also be able to use his magic to help Tommy before bad arrives, but it’s been too long since he’s been able to use any of his powers without his hands shaking and grief overtaking his chest.
Not since he made the golden chain that took his brother away forever. years later Sapnap has accepted that his brother is dead, and that it was his fault.
It’s okay either way. Bad will be able to help tommy. Just like he helped him.
Three days pass before Tommy wakes up. Sapnap is sure the image of the kid laying in the bed will haunt him forever. He still spent the large part of that time sitting by the wall facing the bed, vigilant of when the kid would wake up.
Bad had been helpful, he assessed all of the damage quickly and healed what he could then. The open cuts where now jagged scars littered across skin, the burns covered with new pink skin as well. Tommy’s tail was still gone but now at least the stump was healed over instead of open and raw.
For the deeper internal damage like the broken ribs and the leg which Bad had had to re-break in order to let it heal properly, Bad had left him with an array of harming potions to give Tommy every few hours. To humans that would kill them, but Tommy’s piglin blood made it so that harming potions healed him and healing potions harmed him.
Tommy is covered by blankets and bedsheets, shivering constantly. Throughout the days that he sleeps, he rarely stops whimpering and crying, both in fear and in pain. Sapnap many times thinks that it means that he’s awake, but every time he checks the kid’s eyes are closed and his words remain incoherent. A part of him still wants to reject that Dream could be the cause for Tommy’s suffering, but as he sees the kid’s broken form tremble even in sleep he promises to himself that no harm will reach him again. Even if he has to kill his best friend to ensure it.
Karl and Punz enter the room regularly throughout the days, bringing him food and water. At night, Karl coaxes him into joining him in their bed, he only manages it by pointing out to him that Tommy will need him to be awake and alert once he finally wakes up.
On the fourth day of Tommy’s stay in Kinoko, he wakes up.
It is a violent scene and Sapnap is quick to run to his side. The kid thrashing against the covers distressed by the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. He bolts up and tries to leave the bed only to fall on his face. He would have at least but Sapnap catches him quickly.
Tommy recoils and flinches at the contact, fur standing on edge in a display of fear.
“Tommy it’s okay,” Sapnap speaks to him in piglin and the old language feels heavy in his tongue. Unused since the days when he spoke it with his brother. “Tommy you’re safe I promise.”
“Sapnap?” He asks, still dazed, his blue eyes wide open. “What am I doing here? Where am I?”
Tommy’s voice still sounds hoarse, at least now it's from disuse and not from the damage in his throat. The piglin coming out low and shaky.
“You collapsed in the clearing,” Sapnap explains, “I brought you here so that we could heal you.” Tommy’s eyes widen in terror and something inside Sapnaps chest contorts.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” The switch back to the language of the overworld almost takes sapnap aback, and he can tell that Tommy is uncomfortable by it too. The teen says the words almost as if just using the language hurt. “No sapnap you should just left me there he will be so angry.”
“No one will hurt you here. ” Sapnap says looking deeply into blue eyes. The next words burn bitterly in his throat as he says them. “ Tommy, I swear that Dream will never be able to hurt you here.”
The shock doesn’t leave the kid's face but his shoulders relax slightly and sapnap mirrors it. “The bathroom is ready if you want to take a bath,” He says to the kid then. “We have spare clothes you can wear after as well, and your leg is mostly healed but there’s a chair in the shower as well so you don’t put too much weight on it.
Tommy looks at him confused but something close to understanding glints in his eyes as he enters the bathroom where sapnap pointed. “Thank you,” he says softly before shutting the door.
Sapnap exhales and his whole body shudders with it. He thinks it is probably the first proper breath he’s taken since finding Tommy.
He places the first clothes in the bathroom so that Tommy will be able to change into them once he’s finished. And half collapses onto a kitchen chair. Tommy is awake. He is shaken but he will be okay.
Sapnap makes a promise to himself that he will protect this kid. He ignores the sharp twist in his chest telling him that it’s the least he can do for him. He believed Dream to be good after all so this is his fault as well.
His mind tries to take him to the empty space in his bed. To a magic woven golden chain. To a broken kid who he remembers as loud and boisterous. He puts them together in their respective boxes at the back of his mind. Guilt is threatening at clawing his chest from the inside out until all that’s left of him are bloody shreds. He can’t allow it to. Not if he want to be able to help Tommy.
That is all that matters right now.