Chapter Text
Tommy gritted his teeth and sidestepped another zombie that lunged at him then buried his sword in it's back. It let out a pained groan before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He took a second to catch his breath and glanced at his snowy surroundings.
He was on his third day of travel. The first day had been the easiest, he had been on his boat the entire day so he didn't get attacked by anything. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to find a river or anything that he could continue traveling on so he had been forced out of his boat and onto land for the rest of the journey.
That was where things had gotten much more difficult. He had to treck up or around mountains, had to navigate forests, and had to deal with mobs, who had gotten some damage in. The injury's hadn't been to bad, but it was a stark reminder of just how vulnerable he was without his armor that even a simple zombie was a threat.
He walked out from the pine forest and immediately pulled his jacket a bit tighter around him as the wind picked up, blowing a cross the frozen tundra. He had just woken up and started moving again about an hour ago, and he was already losing feeling in his fingers.
After blowing into his hands to try and warm them up he pulled up his map, checking his location again, and felt a flicker of relief when he realized how close he was to the coordinates. He should reach it within a few hours. Stashing the map back into his bag he wrapped his arms around his middle and pushed onwards.
The snow crunched under his boots and he looked around the snow filled environment thinking that if it was under different circumstances he might of found it rather beautiful. Unfortunately, said frozen wasteland was currently attempting to kill him, so he couldn't really be all that impressed.
He only made it a few more steps before he broke through the top layer of snow and his right leg sunk beneath it up to his knee. He let out a string of curses and slowly wiggled his way out, glaring at the offending white stuff. He was gonna have to have a serious talk with Phil about where he should be placing safe houses.
Why couldn't he have built it in a plains biome? Or a birch forest?
He supposed that, technical, a snow biome was the best place to build since no one would be stupid enough to wander around here unless they knew what they where looking for and where exactly to find it, but still. Didn't mean he had to be happy about it.
Tommy grumbled to himself under his breath as he finally got free and brushed off his pants. He continued much more carefully, keeping a close eye on his footing. He was grateful that there weren't any trees for mobs to hide under at least.
He lost track of time as walked, keeping his eyes on the ground to look for any more deep patches, but eventually he hit a hill and climbed up. He was out breath by the time he reached the top and doubled over, resting his hands on his knees, focusing on getting it back.
He slowly pushed himself back up into a standing position, feeling incredibly sore, but any discomfort was quickly forgotten at the site that greeted him. Another pine forest stretched out as far as the eye could see and there, sitting next to a pond, nestled among the trees, was a house.
Tommy sagged in relief and let a wide smile sweep across his face. He had been running low on supplies, and he was pretty sure he had lost all feeling in his face. He carefully made his way down, digging his heels in as best he could, but as soon as he got the bottom he started springing to it.
He couldn't wait to sleep in a real bed again, and have a proper, warm meal. As he approach the cozy looking cabin he felt his relief slowly fizzled out, turning to apprehension. He slowed down until he was fully stopped, dread flooding through him as he stared at the smoking chimney.
He warily eyed the window, but didn't see anyone moving around. Unsure of who was inside, he cautiously stepped closer then decided to circle around the back. He kept a close eye on the building as he moved as quietly as he could over the snow. He didn't see any indication that whoever was inside noticed he was here.
He briefly entertained the idea that maybe Phil had somehow gotten ahead of him and was waiting inside, but he couldn't think of a single way the man would have gotten here before him.
Slowly making his way around the corner, the first thing Tommy noticed was a backdoor. However, his attention quickly shifted to a small, two stall stable. His eyes flickered between the two as he curiously approached the stall nearest to the door, and nearly jumped out of his skin as a horse poked it's head out to stare at him.
Tommy clutched his chest and tried to get his breathing back under control. That hadn't scared him. It hadn't. He just... hadn't been expecting a horse was all. Said horse continued to stare at him before whinnying.
Tommy's pulse finally slowed back to normal, before skyrocketing once again at the sound of the doorknob turning and the door swinging open.
Tommy felt like he was watching it open in slow motion, a million possibilities running through his mind in the few seconds it took for the door to be completely opened. For all those possibilities, for every person who could have been on the other side of that door, he was not prepared for it to be Techno.
Wide blue eyes met a very familiar pair of grey eyes, and both parties froze.
Tommy stared at the man in shock, and Techno stared right back, looking just as surprised to see Tommy as he was to see him. Tommy shivered as the wind picked up again, rustling the pine trees behind him, and that seemed to snap Techno out of it. He looked Tommy up and down before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the door frame.
"Well hey there, Theseus."
He gritted his teeth feeling his temper flare up. Of course the first thing out of his mouth was an insult.
"How do you even know about that?" Tommy snapped. He lifted one of his shoulders in a lazy half-shrug. "Why else would you be here?"
Tommy pressed his lips into a thin line with annoyance. He had him there. Techno must have taken his silence for confirmation because he heaved out a sigh. "What do you want, Tommy?"
"Well I don't want anything from you."
"Then why are you here."
Tommy dropped his eyes down, suddenly finding the bottom corner of the stairs very interesting. "I thought this was one of Philza's safe houses. He gave me the coordinates." He dug into his back pocket and pulled out the piece of paper. "I didn't know this was your place."
Techno's eyes flickered between paper and his face. He must have seen the sincerity there because he uncossed his arms, something -Tommy had noticed- he only did when he was feeling defensive, and his shoulders dropped a little.
"Well, you're here now. So what were you hoping to find at the safe house?"
Tommy took a half a step back. "Oh I'm not taking anything from you. I don't want anything to do with you!" Techno just rolled his eyes. "Tommy, stop being stubborn."
Tommy sputtered with indignance. "I'm not being stubborn. I'm just making sure I don't get betrayed again!" Techno narrowed his eyes at that, his voice raising. "You betrayed me first!"
"I trusted you!" Tommy yelled, the sound echoing through the empty woods. Silence fell yet again as the two glared at each other. This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to see Techno, he knew it would just turn into a screaming match.
He and Techno were practically polar opposite, except for one thing. They both were incredibly stubborn. Normal Wilbur was the medium between the two, smoothing down ruffled feathers and being the voice of reason in heated arguments, but well....
Tommy scrubbed his hand down his face suddenly feeling tired for a different reason. He glanced at the forest behind him then back at Techno. "Fuck this." He muttered as turned to head off into the woods.
Phil would probably come by to check up on him, and when he did Tommy could get him to take him to a real safe house. He just had to stick it out until he did, and there was no way he was staying in a house with Techno for however long that was going to be.
"You're going to freeze to death." Techno called after him in his usual monotone voice. Tommy just flipped him the bird and kept walking.
Branches snapped under his boots as he pushed deeper into the woods. He just needed to find a cave so he would be sheltered from the elements and wait for Phil to show up. He just needed to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Tommy pushed on, telling himself that the stinging in his eyes and the tightness of his throat was from the cold.