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“Ten paces fire!”
Wilbur’s voice rang in both Tommy and Dream’s ears as the two both shot their arrows. The first round both missed, only adding onto the suspense until Dream fired his second arrow, catching his opponent in his chest and causing him to topple into the water below.
There were shouts from L’Manberg’s side and cheers from Dream’s side. Dream was careful, he knew that although the arrow would hit, it wouldn’t hit any organs and the boy would live without much to show for it except maybe a scar.
“I expect a disc when Tommy recovers enough to access his Ender Chest,” Dream said, before turning away as the poison’s effects slowly began to drain away.
---
It’s been three weeks into Autumn, and two weeks after the duel for L’Manberg’s independence. Tommy still hadn’t woken up, and Tubbo was getting increasingly worried. The arrow wound had long since healed, and the poison most definitely wore out.
And yet, the teen was still unconscious on the white bed placed in the emergency infirmary they had set up. They even had the time to fancy the place up and instead of a tent, they actually had a building and it wasn’t so emergency-like anymore. It didn’t change the situation. Tommy was still unconscious on a white bed, unresponsive to everything they tried.
His skin was cold, far too cold to be healthy. He was pale and his breath occasionally trembled. He was far too still. Tubbo half expected Tommy to jump up at time, laugh at Tubbo’s inevitably shocked and surprised face, and tease him for thinking he’d didn’t make it out alive and ask about the duel. It hadn’t happened yet, but Tubbo was hoping.
“Tubbo,” A voice drifted from behind the brown-haired boy, “You’ve been here for around twelve hours straight now.”
“I know,” Tubbo turned, “But I can’t- What if he wakes up and nobody’s there for him? And like what if something happens and nobody’s here……?”
“I’m pretty sure Wilbur will take over the other twelve hours of the day,” Fundy reassured the teen. Tubbo slowly registered the fatigue once Fundy had pointed out the time he had spent in here, and reluctantly left, after some more coaxing. As Fundy predicted, Wilbur had taken over guarding the boy’s self.
Nobody could figure out what was wrong. And everyone in L’Manberg was scared.
---
“Is Tommy……?” Dream trailed off the moment he saw the look Wilbur shot at him. It’s been four weeks. So Tommy still hadn’t woken up.
“Wilbur, at this point something is definitely up if he hasn’t woken up yet,” Dream said, tone gentle as not to set off the President, “You do realize I never aim to kill? The TNT we set up was nowhere near the pool? I never wanted to kill any of you, and I’m fairly certain L’Manberg shared the same views on killing in that war.”
“Nothing we tried worked. Potions could only do so much. We even farmed for an enchanted gapple. Nothing works,” Wilbur’s voice was hoarse, “The arrow wound had healed. The poison wore off. Nobody could figure out what was wrong.”
Dream was silent. Nothing worked. The arrow wound healed. The poison had worn off. Nothing else should be keeping the boy down, so what is at work? Some old injury from a long time ago flaring up? Wilbur or Tubbo would’ve known it if that’s the case.
“Uh…… Actually, I’ll stay behind,” Tommy laughed nervously, stepping away from the aura of the newly built Nether Portal. This was long before the war, long before any of this. Back when the SMP was just a cluster of badly built houses and they were all in iron armor.
“Seriously?” Dream raised an eyebrow, not that anyone could see behind his mask, “Sapnap’s gotten himself in some stupid injury. George is busy with something. I literally have nobody else to go with, and you’re chickening out on me now?”
Tommy looked conflicted, before grumbling and getting in the portal, vanishing within its swirling purple depths. Dream quickly followed, but when he was through, Tommy was nowhere to be found. A sudden panic gripped inside him, how did he disappear so fast?!
A sudden bubble of laughter came from his right. Dream turned towards the sound and found Tommy sitting by lava, looking genuinely relieved and happy. His blue eyes were tinted with a slight orange glow, although he was by lava so Dream ruled the glow with anything out of the ordinary. There were splashes of lava by the boy, although he looked fine physically.
“Tommy!” Dream called out. Tommy visibly flinched, all the joy and relief he previously possessed gone, replaced by fear and vigilance. He snapped towards Dream, the origin of the voice, and relaxed once he realized who it was. Dream thought that was weird, but the rest of the Nether trip brushed that away from his mind.
The memory Dream shared with Tommy floated to the surface of his mind and set it off into a spiral of questions. Why was Tommy so reluctant to enter the Nether in the beginning, but once inside, enjoyed himself immensely? And the way he flinched and his mood flipping completely the moment Dream raised his voice and called for him was a little strange. His mind was reeling.
Tommy obviously enjoyed being in the Nether, unlike other sane human beings. But he was reluctant to enter. Was something stopping him? Was he running from someone? The way he was so startled by a sudden voice seemed to suggest the second option. If so, who?
Dream hadn’t even considered the little lava splashes and the faint orange glow. Dream could’ve sworn the orange glow came from Tommy’s eyes, but it could’ve been his eyes blurring the light from the lava. Now he questioned that conclusion. And what in Minecraftia was Tommy doing by lava? The splashes made it seem like…… He was playing with it. Tommy would do a lot of things, but Dream didn’t think he would waste a fire resistance potion on something so trivial.
The answer hit Dream several moments after his last analysis. It was so obvious, he was surprised he hadn’t seen it earlier. Tommy has to be a Hybrid, a Nether Hybrid, to be exact. It would explain the glow, him playing with lava and natural glee to be in that dimension. It was his home, his genes were wired to feel at ease in such an environment. What Hybrid was he though?
Wither? It can’t be, Dream would know if Tommy was a Wither Hybrid. Piglin? Piglin Hybrids don’t exist, unless your parents were glitched, but their features would be hard to hide, as Techno had proved. Magma Cube? It would make sense, but they generally have dark hair and were short of stature. Tommy was tall and blonde. Ghast? They would have red eyes and white hair. Strider Hybrids were unheard of. That left a Blaze.
It matched. Blazes sport a golden color theme for their natural features. It would explain why the glow was orange, and not any other color. The blonde hair matched. Tommy had always been slightly pyromaniac-like. It could be his Blaze tendencies slipping in. Not only that, Blazes were not exactly under rule of a benevolent King. And they keep a close eye on their Hybrids.
It would make sense why Tommy was so reluctant to enter the Nether at first, but found himself enjoying it. That would also explain away why his entire demeanor changed at the sound of a human voice. He was quite possibly hiding from the Blaze King. It would also explain why Tommy refused to go near a Nether Fortress, no amount of coaxing would let him near. He was afraid of getting recognized by his fellow blazes.
That meant…… The only thing keeping him from recovering was the fact he fell into water, and the weather was rapidly going cold. Nether Mobs require heat to recover. Nobody in L’Manberg probably knew of Tommy’s Hybrid blood, and Tommy would probably like to keep it that way. But if nobody there knew, there was no chance he’d wake up before Summer arrived, or they had lit a bonfire inside their infirmary, which Dream highly doubted they’d try.
However, arson sounded pretty fun right about now in the dry season, doesn’t it?
---
Tommy felt his senses return along with warmth and heat. For a moment, he thought he was lying on netherrack with a pool of lava right beside him, and glowstone hanging above. Striders were probably swimming in that very same pool, enjoying themselves in their innocence.
Then he realized he was lying on something far too soft to be netherrack. It felt too cool to be lava. He couldn’t hear the quiet swishes and splashes from the Striders and the shivering from the baby Striders who didn’t know better and left the lava. It was too bright to merely be glowstone hanging from the Nether roof, speaking of which, the ceiling was far too low to be one.
He pried one of his eyes open and was faced with a white ceiling. He groaned as he climbed out of what he now recognized was a bed. His limbs felt stiff from being dormant for too long. Confused and disoriented, he slips into his Blaze form briefly, with bright orange eyes emitting light and blaze rods hovering just above the ground, shielded by the flames. Tommy shivered, it was chilly. He reached closer to the flames, the heat rejuvenating his drained energy and health.
Tommy realized where he was the moment he heard panicked shouts from beyond the flames, and threw his Blaze features back within himself, reverting to his human form. His heart was racing, but he still crept closer to the fire. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he could see a flash of green.
“-ommy! Tommy!” He thought he could hear someone shout for him. He waved through the flames, feeling better by the minute. Someone poured water on the flames, extinguishing them, and grabbed him. He thought he could see a beanie and brown hair before he was crushed in a hug.
“Mmphf!” Tommy managed to get out in his surprise, “Yeah… Missed you too, Wil.” Wilbur finally released the boy who had just woken up from a coma, grinning ear to ear.
“Who just committed arson?” Tommy decided to loosen up the tension.
“Yeah…… We thought we saw someone wearing green, which could really only be Dream, but we’re in a ceasefire and he’d have no benefit from harming you further,” Wilbur explained. A sudden gust of wind blew into the two, and Tommy shivered. A thought ran across his head. Was it Winter? Or at the very least late Autumn? It was cold.
He probably wouldn’t have woken up because of the cold weather. He probably would’ve stayed unconscious until Spring, or worst case scenario, Summer. The building he was staying in burning up quite possibly saved him a lot of trouble, with the heat it provided. It sounded like Dream burned down that building. But they’re in a ceasefire? And Dream would have no benefit of him staying comatose.
But how did Dream know what he needed……?
He needed to talk to the green man.
---
“Dream, you burned down the infirmary, didn’t you?” Tommy turned to face the masked man, his discs resting in his Ender Chest. He really didn’t want to hand them over, but he needed to give Dream a reason to talk in private.
“I wasn’t being very subtle,” Dream admitted, “Anything about it?”
“Why?” Tommy asked, and after a moment of silence at which Tommy assumed Dream attempted to shoot him a look only to realize he was masked, “You knew that I was a Nether Hybrid, at least. How?”
“Takes one to know one,” Dream shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips, “I’m fairly certain we’re not the same type though. You’re a Blaze, right?”
“What are you then?” Tommy asked. Dream slowly took off his mask with the smile still on his face, revealing two claw-like marks reaching up his face on each side. His eyes were dark grey, with swirling depths. His aura no longer seemed to be contained, and brushed against Tommy’s sense. Tommy could sense that Dream has a large Magical Potential, definitely an amount exclusive to Hybrids. Not just any Hybrids, though, boss Hybrids.
“You’re a Wither?” Tommy asked, a little in awe. Dream grinned as he nodded, putting the mask back on and suppressing his aura again. Tommy huffed, refusing to back down. He went into his Blaze form, his aura extending to Dream’s, who stiffened at the sudden presence of a powerful Hybrid. The smile melted off his face in realization.
“Holy Nether- You’re not just some random Blaze Hybrid, aren’t you?” Realization hit Dream like a truck, “No wonder you tried to get out of every Nether trip, and somehow found yourself enjoying it anyway. No wonder you were so on edge. You’re the Blaze King’s son, he’s out for you. No wonder you’re hiding with humans! It makes so much sense.”
“Yell louder, I don’t think they heard you over in Hypixel,” Tommy replied dryly, but was grinning. He enjoyed being out in his Hybrid form and getting to shock Dream for once, instead of having Dream surprise him with his high IQ moves.
“Well,” Dream laughed, “One Nether Royal to another, let’s not kill each other if we start any wars on this SMP and I’ll stop forcing you on trips to the Nether. Agreed?”
“Does that mean I can keep my discs,” Tommy risked. Dream laughed. It was a genuine laugh.
“No,” He laughed, “But you can try to scam or fight me, resort to tricks, to get them back. I like a challenge sometimes. Try not to wage another war, though. You have your independence.”
“You’re a dick,” Tommy grumbled as he begrudgingly handed Dream the two discs, who swiftly put it in his own Ender Chest.
Dream and Tommy both left the meeting with better moods than they started with, as Netherkins will after discovering their own kin.