Chapter Text
Tommy was a very responsible adult figure in his friends' kids lives. At least he thought so.
After the kids layed low for a bit, they were back to coming to his house almost everyday, and Tommy was getting a bit antsy himself from seeing the 13 year old shits lying around all day on his couch.
“I’ve decided, we’re goin' sailin', Tommy announces one morning, the kids all turning to look at him incredulously in a collective noise of protest. “I’ve already 'otten perrmission from yer parents and packed everythin' we’ll be needin'. It’ll be fun. I promise.” Tommy grins pointedly at them as the kids’ groan loader this time. It was true, and Tommy was determined to make this trip a fun one. Besides, he missed his old sea life and was excited to share it with these youngins. He got permission from all the parents to take them, except Jiji’s sister, out for a week. The nine year old that would be able to go when she was older.
While the kids explored the boat before they set sail, Tommy took a moment to chat with the worry-warts of parents, Tubbo and Ranboo, who stood side by side anxiously at the dock.
“We’re 'oin out for 'bout two weeks, there is no possible reason why Michael would need that many packed lunches,” Tommy said, amused.
“It’ll be gone before you know it, he’s a growing piglin.."You're not going to sink the ship, right? That would not be very *pogchamp* of you," Ranboo says, teasing lightly through his worry.
Tommy gives a nod and raises an eyebrow, "Not if Foolish has anythin' to say 'bout it" "And come on now, this ship will be a family an heirloom someday, y’know.”
Tommy and the parents turned to look at the god in question, who was leaning into the window of the ship, studying the map that outlined their journey to guarantee smooth sailing. Tommy could only walk over and startled the shark-totem with a bonk on his nose.
And with a pat on the shoulders to the bee duo, Tommy got to business climbing onto his ship and helping the kids up. Once the kids were on the ship, he sent Clemintine to untie the rope with a wave of his hand, while he worked on navigating through the icy shores of Snowchester.
Michael and Jiji were excitedly looking out into the ocean while Michelle and Sun bear were waving goodbye to their parents. He quickly got them on course to Business Bay before tying down the sail and letting the wind carry them.
Tommy made his way onto the deck, taking a moment to watch the kids explore the deck and went to adjust a few barrels before sitting down and continuing his project. He hummed a tune while sewing a secondary pair of sleeves to the winter coat he had started.
Michael came up to sit in front of him, "So, what now?", he asked.
Tommy smiled mysteriously and continued what he was doing, but Michael persisted, keeping his eyes locked on Tommy’s avoidant gaze. Tommy held his resolve long enough for him to finish attaching the sleeve.
"What", Tommy looked up to say, keeping a blank look on his face.
Michael huffed, “You’re hiding something, old man"
"First off" Tommy scoffed, folding his project "I ain't old"
"And second" he continued, using the tides to be completely sure he was on the right path "I ain't hidin' diddly squat"
Tommy turned to the kids, a lazy smirk on his face, "You lot are just uneducated."
Tommy stood and walked to the bowsprit, staring out into the sea. He placed his hands on the railings, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the wind on his face.
Tommy walked forward, in front of the kids. He gestured to the sea around them. He turned to look at the kids, grabbing and snapping his jaw, aligning it again to temporarily speak normally.
"You don't know of the old gods, or how the world was created, you aren't even aware of your own friends' godly origins. Sit around, Uncle Tommy’s got a story to tell you all."
Tommy gestured to the nearby space in front of him on the dock. The kids quieted and all sat down. The sun had started to set. Tommy lit a lamp then brought it over in the center of where the kids sat, the dancing flame glowing like a makeshift campfire.
Tommy stared into the flame, lost in memory. "When the universe was created, it was like a big explosion, and from it came the first gods. Prime, the god of the universe itself. DreamXD, the realm and reality god. And Clara, The goddess of the night sky and stars" Tommy told them nodding at their expressions "From there came the other gods, such as the Tide lord and the Ender king, gods of big domains often with children, minor gods to help them rule properly, just like Foolish, the god of storms and revival, or Callahan, the god of secrets and silence."
"Callahan? The quiet deer guy?" Michelle asked incredulously.
Tommy smirked slightly, "he's a reindeer, last I checked."
"There's also gods like Kristen who don't rely on children to help them, most of the time." Tommy added that part under his breath "Lady death offers the positions of reapers to those who have given up in their first lives, those who take it are then trained by her to carry out duties concerning the natural order of life and death"
Tommy stood up and theatrically removed his coat, sprouting wings for them all to see, black and massive, speckled with the occasional fire red feather. The children gasped in astonishment.
“Some people have found the gods and gained favors from them, by either giving them company or doing a favor for them, it's also common for these people to gain blessings from these gods as you can see”
Michael spoke up. "You said Jiji's dad is one of these gods, does that mean Jiji is like, a demigod or something?"
"That's exactly what she is," Tommy nodded, walking over to help the teen to her feet. "I don't know what her domain is, I don't think even Foolish knows, but it would be cool to find out."
Tommy winked, knowing he lit a fire of determination in the girl, going to further explain what she could possibly be.
"Either she could domain revival, or she could domain the storms, and by extension the tides themselves, growing into your god hood is a pretty wild thing, it won't be easy."
Jiji looked down at her hands, open palms up as her eyes reflected the red fire as she imagined what she was capable of, determined to learn to be a god just like her dad.
“Teach me?” Jiji asked Tommy.
Tommy looked at Jiji and rubbed his hands together excitedly with a smile, “it would be an honor, though a talk for another day.”
His hands grew still to rest under his chin and Tommy again gazed into the flame, lost in thought for what the kids felt like ages. Noticing them getting fidgety, Tommy then told the kids to scram. They complied, mostly because they had seen an angry Tommy, and it was not a pretty sight.
---
They kept a routine for a few days, The kids taking up chores around the ship, and whispering to each other about seeing Tommy staring out to sea, and the clothing he was working on, Sunbear even going to admit that he found a box full of specially tailor clothing, all which looked more suitable for Snowchester, and not the sunny desert city of Business Bay, the kids making theories as to why Tommy had what he had.
Another thing they found odd, Tommy hummed tunes to himself while manning their ship, catchy tunes that he seemed to know by heart and would dance to them when he thought no one was looking, Jiji only vaguely recognized them, but she didn’t know from where, they got their answer on the night of day three.
“Hey, you shites, gater ‘round, i wanna teach ya’ll som’in” Tommy called to the kids as they had their dinner, the kids complying, as sitting around Tommy, the adult nodding “We are learnin’ Shanties, its cus’omary”
The kids all glanced at each other, looking confused as Tommy began to drum a beat on the deck, getting into the beat of the song, bobbing his head as he relaxed.
“Okay, ‘is firs’ par’ go” Tommy cleared his throat, beginning to sing “What do we do with a drunken sailor, what do we do with a drunken sailor, what do we do with a drunken sailor, ear’ly in the mornin’. Repeat”
The kids nervously began to sing along, and tommy clutched at his heart dramatically.
“Wi’h more vi’or, ‘is ain’ a mournin’ song, again!”
The kids got louder, Jiji taking the lead and singing with more vigor then her friends
“‘Ere we go, ‘ood job! Now this next part is what we repeat to the song.” Tommy began to sing again, and all the kids could admit that they were impressed.
“Way hay and up she rises, Way hay and up she rises, Way hay and up she rises, Ear’ly in the mornin’. From the top”
The kids giggled as they began to sing with Tommy, learning the shanty, though with a few stumbles, and Tommy looked happy, but as he clapped his hands and leaned his head back for a laugh he couldn’t shake the twinge of sadness. The kids wouldn't see it, though. Perched on his shoulder, Clementine was the only one that would notice his look, one of an underlying hint of sadness in his gaze. Tommy would miss this, but he didn't dwell on his thoughts, he would enjoy the moments like this while he still could. It was midnight before he sent them to bed, telling them they would need the rest.
---
“LAND HO” Tommy called, waking the kids as they made their way to the deck. The capital city of Business Bay was quickly approaching. Tommy instructed them on docking the ship as he whistled to Clementine, telling her to go alert the bay that he was there while he docked their boat.
It was a bit of a struggle before they managed to get their boat in place, Tommy kicking off their plank so that they could get down, each kid stepping down and staying together so they wouldn’t get lost, because quote, ‘Your paren’s would skin me alive if i los’ ye’. Tommy led the pack, nodding to the people he knew, waving to the ones he didn’t.
In the still morning air something was off. Tommys ear twitched, and in a flash he whirled around, chakrams in hand, in time to block an attack from a black furred creature. His attacker was fast, about as tall as Jiji, and clearly a spider hybrid.
“Get down, now!” Tommy shouted, gestured behind him, unable to look back in the face of the immediate threat. He readied his stance and was relieved as he heard the kids scrambling under the deck to safety.
Tommy and the attacker clashed weapons before Tommy shapeshifted, a glow coming from the back of his neck. Suddenly Tommy’s raccoon tail was no more, replaced with that of a white and sharp feather-ed peacock, which he instantly began to use in combat, his opponent jumping and dodging the pointed feathers, startled by the bright red eyes of the feathered fan. Those few seconds were all Tommy needed: in a second there was a blade a few inches away from his neck, the spider sputtering, before collapsing dramatically, out of breath and defeated.
To the kids’ surprise, Tommy smiled, holding his hand out to help the spider up and opened his arms. The spider took the helping hand and happily returned Tommy’s crushing hug. Mid-hug Tommy shifted back into his usual raccoon form. The spider opened his eyes to watch in appreciation. Tommy rubbed his jaw and winced, letting go of the hug to inspect the spider.
“Not bad, Deo been training you?” Tommy asked the spider, impressed.
“Uncle Deo always has the coolest tricks,” the spider confirmed with a nod.
Michelle peeks out from below deck to look at the two, “Hang on, I'm lost. Who are you? And why did you attack Uncle Tommy”
“Call me Shroud. Just makin’ sure ‘ol dad here isn’t rusty, we can’t be havin’ that.”
With a smile, Tommy turned to introduce Shroud to the other kids, putting a hand on Shroud’s shoulder.
“This is Shroud, my son. He’s about you kids’ lot 14. He's in charge while I deal with some things, bye!” Tommy waved vaguely before turning into the city, the teens quickly losing him as he easily blended through the bustling crowd. Shroud stood with them, dumbfounded as he found his confusion reflected back with the others. The kids stared back, uncertain about what to do next. Shroud was sure his dad had forgotten to introduce him to the rest of the kids. Typical.
“Oh fuck,” Shroud said, putting a spider leg to scratch his head with embarrassment and turned to the other teens, looking very lost. The bravado and adrenaline from the playful spar was fading fast in the wake of taking charge of the wide eyed strangers. Shroud turned back again but his dad had disappeared from view...it was clear his dad would not be back for a while. It was a bit strange, though the old man probably had his reasons. Perhaps, a part of him thought suddenly, this could be the start of a new adventure.
Turning back, Shroud says a bit mischievously, “Um, well, you heard him, damn him and his weird teaching methods. Do you wanna come to the watchtower with me? He stops and starts, sheepishly realizing, “-wait fuck you guys can’t climb like us.”
He hums and puts a hand to his face, muttering, ”...we’ll figure out something.”
The others relaxed. He was like them, in more ways than one, seeing as the other teen was wearing light clothing with armor plates strapped to key areas of his body, all in black, and there was light red eyeshadow dusted onto the corners of his eyes. Jiji and Michelle were quick to notice with giggles Michael seemingly mesmerized by the spider in front of him. It took Michelle nudging him to snap the other out of trance. “You're staring,” she said, and Michael sputtered, looking away.
Shroud talked about Business Bay as he led the others into the city, muttering something about how it was way easier to navigate from the roofs. He walked slowly as the kids’ wobbly sea legs grew accustomed to land. Shroud pointed at and described various shops and locations, often looking back to make sure no one was left behind.
Michael looked invested in what the spider was saying, his friends giggling to each other and quietly saying “Michael simp arc”. Michael, ears slightly red, turned to glare at the smaller people, threat evident on his face. Shroud appeared to not have noticed. They eventually made it to a park, Shroud smiling as he jogged to a tree with a treehouse built into it, gesturing to the others to come closer.
“Climbing’s in my DNA, so like, I just grew accustomed to climbing and navigating on roofs rather than streets.”
The group approached a small forest, all vibrant and full of leaves. The grass was worn around one particular tree, though it looked just like all the rest.
Shroud whispered, “My tree house is up there. Not many people realize there's a way to get up here. I'll show you how.”
There were small foot holes for them to climb their way up, Shroud guiding each step up of the other teens, before climbing up himself. Michael went last, which caused chuckles from his friends, Jiji mouthing 'simp' at him. From below the tree house Michael could hear noises of excitement as he climbed his way up, stopping to peek through the trapdoor to see for himself.
The tree house was sturdy with plenty of space for all of them, with a pile of bean bags in one corner, a snack stash in another, with some video game consoles that he had and even a small TV. Michael made a beeline for the bean bags and made himself comfortable. Shroud closed the trapdoor to the room and climbed into a hammock he had hung up, getting situated and turning one of the consoles on, inviting the rest to play, which they did. The rustling curtains hid the passing of time as they competed against each other.
The teens jumped when they heard a knock, Tommy showing up with a smile, as he waved to the teens. He lifted a curtain and out a window, showing that the moon was starting to come up over the sea, Shroud smiled sheepishly.
“Hey kids, sorry I was gone for longer than I expected. Man’s got distracted. Let’s go, I’ll show you all where we’ll be staying the night.”
After having climbed carefully down the tree, they all walked to where they would be staying. Shroud went slightly ahead with Tommy, talking to his dad in a language that the other teens didn't understand. In the darkness no one but Tommy noticed the heat of a blush on Shroud’s face, or the way he was fiddling with his hands as he glanced at Michael. Tommy elbowed his son with a teasing smile.
~~
“You're sure you wanna do this man?”
“Positive, it's the only way to keep them from being hurt, now it's all in his name in the documents, right?”
“Yeah, when it happens all will be [ERROR], you don’t have to worry”
“Good, thanks”