Chapter Text
Tommy stared into the eyes of his best friend, eyes he no longer recognized, and felt something inside him break. Again. He was being betrayed, being exiled again. He’d been betrayed so many times at this point, he’d lost count. But he thought he’d at least still have Tubbo by his side. After all, they were best friends! Everybody knew they were inseparable, it was the two of them against the world.
Inseparable a cruel part of his mind whispered. How ironic. There’s a very apparent separation between you now. The wall stood between the two, only a small gap that was barely big enough to walk through allowing him to glimpse L’Manberg.
He stood tall, stance proud, refusing to let his hands shake, refusing to let the tears fall that threatened his eyelids. He would not show weakness. Especially when he was weak. He had to be strong, he had to be.
Behind Tubbo stood Quackity and Fundy, both looks of sorrow and regret on their faces. And by Tommy’s side was Dream, one hand gripping his shoulder, mask ever unwavering.
“Tommy, you are hereby exiled from the country of L’Manberg.” Tubbo’s voice was strong, but Tommy could also see the way his hands were making fists with the fabric of his suit, a habit he did when he was nervous or anxious. The hand on his shoulder tightened, and Dream spoke for the first time in a while, sounding amused.
“Come on, Tommy.” He only nodded, turning to follow Dream stiffly, still in his grasp. But before he was out of earshot, Tommy heard one last thing Tubbo said to him.
“I’m sorry, Tommy.” He didn’t acknowledge the words at all, continuing down the path, away from his home. They reached the shore a few minutes later, Dream gesturing for Tommy to follow him to a small boat tied at the docks. Once they sat down, Dream began rowing, and Tommy sat with his knees up to his chest, clutching his small bag.
“So where do you want to go, Tommy? I know a nice field a few thousand blocks away, as well as a snowy biome. But that’s where Technoblade lives, so I doubt you want to go there. Over in the east, there’s a village somewhere inland, I think, although I’ve never been there myself. I can drop you off at the shore there.” Tommy only nodded, mind racing.
Where do I want to go? Home. Back to my country.
They sailed in silence for a few hours after that, deep blue ocean surrounding them on all sides, the only thing measuring time being the sun above him. Eventually, he saw the edge of land on the horizon, growing larger with every second that passed. They reached the shore at last, and Dream stopped rowing, turning to face Tommy.
“Get out. You’ll want to get going, the sun will be setting soon.” Tommy’s eyes widened, knowing the warning wasn’t out of kindness, but cruelty. He swung his legs over the edge of the boat, feet and ankles getting wet in the shallow water. He trudged up to dry land, turning to see Dream was already sailing away. Well, this was it. He’s really alone. He’d better find that village.
He made his way through the forest on land for a few hours afterwards, night falling sooner than he’d anticipated. He’d made a makeshift sword, fighting off the few zombies and skeletons he’d come across. He’d only gotten a few scratches, but he was definitely getting tired, and the village was nowhere in sight. His limbs were weary, and he was so worn out emotionally and physically that he thought he was going to collapse. But he kept stumbling forwards, knowing if he collapsed out here in the middle of nowhere the mobs would get to him.
He stumbled onwards, over the crest of a hill, and that’s when he saw the lights. They were faint, in the distance, but with the darkness of the night engulfing everything else around him, they seemed as bright as the sun. His pace picked up, and he was jogging, then running, and then full out sprinting. He had to reach the light. Light meant an establishment of some sort, and that meant other life, which meant safety and shelter. The village.
Eventually he reached the edge of the village, the one Dream had told him would be there, and he smiled. It was small, but not tiny, with about 10 or 15 houses and other various buildings scattered around. There was no sign of life, probably inside and sleeping, but he quickly stumbled towards the nearest house, once again near collapsing now that safety was so close. He tiredly knocked on the door, hoping somebody would answer.
And luckily for him, after only a moment, the door swung open, revealing a young woman who couldn’t have been more than a handful of years older than he was, groggy and confused. But upon seeing Tommy’s exhausted state, she quickly became more alert.
“Oh my goodness, are you okay?” He ignored her question, determined to speak, even if his speech was a little slurred.
“Do you have any extra space where I can stay?” The woman moved aside, quickly ushering him in.
“Of course! I can’t leave you out in the middle of the night like this! Are you hurt?” Tommy shook his head, knowing the various small scratches he’d gathered were of no worry. “Do you need water?” He shook his head again. “Food?” Again, a no. The woman pursed her lips, but turned to pull a blanket out of a closet, gesturing to the old couch in the room. “Well then. For tonight you can sleep here. Tomorrow we’ll have to sort something out for you.”
Tommy tried to thank her, but the woman had already left the room. He turned to the couch, practically collapsing on it, letting his exhaustion take over, falling asleep quickly.
***
Tommy slept dreamlessly, something he hadn’t experienced in years. Growing up he’d always had dreams, whether they be good or bad. He woke up to the sound of soft voices, muffled through the walls, but still understandable. It sounded like a conversation between two people, one male and one female. He recognized the female one as the woman who had let him in the previous night, but he didn’t know the male voice.
“What do you mean you let a stranger in? We can’t trust him!”
“He’s just a child! I couldn’t leave him out there, you should have seen him! All roughed up, near collapsing! The mobs would have gotten him for sure!” Ah. They were talking about him.
“Fine. We’ll talk to the council today, see if there’s anywhere for him to go. But he can’t stay here again, okay?”
Tommy sat up, hoping to get up and get out without bothering anybody. But as he did, his bag slid off of his lap and crashed to the ground loudly, making him wince. The man and the woman entered the room, the woman smiling and coming over. She sat next to him on the couch, reaching down and handing him his bag. She nodded to the man, who smiled at her and walked out of the room again.
“So, kid, I want to help you, but first I need to know more about… you. Why you’re here, who you are. Is that okay?” Tommy nodded. “Okay, first, can you tell me your name?”
“Tommy. I’m Tommy.” He muttered it under his breath, fidgeting with the strap of his bag.
“Well hi, Tommy. I’m Rosemary, or just Rose. How old are you?”
“I’m 16. But I’m not a kid.” Rose’s face hardened for a moment, and Tommy felt himself shrink away.
“That’s still too young to be out by yourself like that. Can you tell me why you were out there? Or where you came from?” Tommy rubbed the back of his neck nervously at that. He could still hear Tubbo’s voice ringing angrily in his ears, feel his piercing gaze burning his skin.
“I- uh, I was exiled from my country, over to the west. We were recovering from a war, and they thought I was a liability, so I was brought to the shore near here, and I walked until I found this village.”
“You were what? What kind of people banish a kid to the middle of nowhere? What kind of people send a kid into war like that?” Rose’s voice was rising with anger, but Tommy had realized it wasn’t directed at him.
“Our people, I guess. My best friend and I- we wanted to run away from it all, months ago. But we missed our chance, and now- well now he hates me. He’s the one that made the decision to exile me after all.” By the end, Tommy was looking down at the floor, determined to stop the tremors in his shoulders. He would not show weakness. He would not. Tubbo had given him up, betrayed him, he would not let his ex-best friend have this control over him. He refused. Rose seemed to catch on, and she stood up, offering him a hand. He took it grudgingly, and Rose smiled at him warmly.
“Come on, I think Charlie is making breakfast in the other room. Afterwards we’ll bring you to the town leaders and see if there’s anything we can do for you here. I’m sure the rest of the village will be happy to have you here.”
***
As it turned out, “breakfast” meant a full meal with scrambled eggs, a slice of bread, and fresh strawberries. He’d stared at all the food in shock, thinking back to how in L’Manberg there had never really been an organized breakfast for anybody, people would sort of just grab a bit of food if they got hungry. This was foreign to him.
But Rose sat down happily next to Charlie, and the two waved him over to join them. He felt bad for crashing in on them like this, so he only grabbed a small bit of egg, and a couple strawberries. He sat quietly, still on edge around these people, feeling off kilter in the foreign situation.
After they’d all finished, Rose stood up, walking to the front door of the house. She turned around, gesturing for him to follow her. He walked quickly to catch up to her, walking by her side.
He felt small, walking with his head down, gripping his bag. He hadn’t felt this way, so out of place, in years. Back in L’Manberg, and before then in the SMP, and before then growing up at his family’s small home, he’d always walked with a certain level of confidence. He was a big man, and he always held his head up high. But as Rose and he walked through the narrow village streets, he shrunk away under the watchful gazes of the village people.
Everybody must have been just waking up, because there was a sort of bustle and noise as people went outside, heading off to do their jobs, or going to talk to their neighbors. It was a small village, and everybody seemed to know everybody else. That only made the stares and whispers more obvious as he passed. He was new. They were watching.
Eventually, they came across a relatively small building that, from what Tommy could tell, was at the heart of the little village. Two streets all intersected in a cross shape, and right in the center was the building. All around them was bustling and noise, all radiating happiness and peace, a very different atmosphere than L’Manberg had ever been.
The building looked far older than the rest Tommy had seen so far, made of plain oak walls and a simple cobblestone roof. Rose led him over to one side of the building with a pair of doors on it, knocking softly before entering, ushering in Tommy behind her. The inside was rather plain, furnished only by a table surrounded by a ring of mismatched chairs of varying sizes and materials. Half the chairs were occupied by 5 people, engaged in a quiet conversation. They all wore smiles, body language seeming calm and relaxed.
But Tommy was on edge. These guys were the town leaders, the council, and they had all say in what would happen to him. He was reminded bitterly of Wilbur’s harsh tone when he’d turned away Quackity in the early days of L’Manberg, how he’d laughed as Quackity’s eyes had widened in fear, before he’d scrambled away to fend for himself again. He was also reminded of Schlatt, how Schlatt had exiled him and Wilbur, how he’d been laughing as well, how he and Wilbur had been off on their own in the woods for so long. And Tubbo—
Rose interrupted his thoughts by clearing her throat and addressing the people at the table, seemingly no tension in her shoulders like what Tommy could feel in his.
“Hello, everybody! I have a topic I would like to ask you about today.” The conversation between the 5 people ended with that, all of them turning their attention to Rose, kind smiles on their faces. They didn’t seem to notice Tommy yet, but Rose gestured to him, motioning for him to move forwards. He stepped forwards awkwardly, staring down at the table, before quickly trying to stand up straighter and not slouch, but still avoiding the gazes of any of the people at the table.
Rose smiled at him, continuing. “This is Tommy. He ended up here last night, and I let him stay the night in my house. But he needs somewhere to stay more permanently, and so I thought I should ask if there was anywhere for him to stay.” Tommy tapped his foot against the floor, hating how the attention was swiftly all directed at him. He never used to feel like that, he used to love being loud, having people watch him, but this was different. These people could send him back out into the woods, alone again.
One of the people at the table, a woman who looked to be in her thirties, spoke first.
“Well Tommy, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself, and your situation. I’m sure we’d all be happy to help.” He pulled at a loose string on his sleeve, gathering his thoughts together. It was fine. He could tell these people what had happened to him. They wanted to help.
“Well I guess I should start from the beginning. Over to the east, across the ocean and then a bit further, is a country called Dream SMP. My brother and I left our childhood home to join it, wanting to make a life for ourselves. And once we got there, we settled down. But we ended up wanting to leave, to make a country of our own nearby. L’Manberg. We had a few other people on our side as well. Dream, the leader of the Dream SMP, wasn’t happy. We ended up going to war with the SMP for independence, and we won.” He heard gasps at that, but Tommy only smiled, remembered the cheering, and the pride he’d felt at being able to do something to help his family. “We began an era of peace, and Wilbur, he’s my brother, and I, decided to hold an election for President and Vice President. We lost. This guy, Schlatt, won. He exiled me and Wilbur, and we built a temporary home in the woods. Schlatt was a tyrannical dictator, and we ended up going to war with him and Dream again to win L’Manberg back.” His smile grew. “We won that too. But Wilbur died. Tubbo, my best friend, became the president in the new era. Dream wasn’t happy. He threatened Tubbo with another war because of me, and so Tubbo decided to exile me again. And now… now I’m here.” His voice broke at the end, arms shaking as he thought about it all.
But another council member, this one a young man, spoke, voice warm and kind. “Thank you for telling us, Tommy. There’s a vacant house next to the school, you can stay there for as long as you’d like. And, if you decide to stay, you’ll have at least a month to settle down, and then I’m sure we can find you a job in the community. We’re happy to have you here.”
Tommy felt tears building up, but he shoved them away. He would not cry. But he nodded at the council, muttering his thanks, before Rose headed back to the door, gesturing for him to follow. He followed her down the street, until eventually they stopped at a house that looked exactly like all the others. But Rose only pushed the door open, walking in. Tommy followed her in, taking in the interior of the house. It was rather small, only a kitchen, bathroom, small living room, and a bedroom. There were a few pieces of furniture around the house, but it didn’t feel alive. And he had no way to change that. The only items he had of his own were the few random items he had in his bag. But he was grateful for it nonetheless. Rose left soon after, leaving him to settle down.
Tommy headed to the bedroom, lying down on the sinking mattress. He opened his bag, rummaging through until he grasped a handful of pictures, pulling them out and staring at them.
The first one was from years and years ago, when he was little, and Wil and Techno couldn’t have been older than 10. Phil had taken the picture, wanting to get a picture of the three of them in the garden. But then Wilbur had poked him, and he’d screeched at him, causing Wil to laugh at him, and then Techno had been holding a stick, and had used it to hit Wil over the head, making the eldest of the twins laugh as Wil shouted indignantly. The picture was blurry with motion, but it had perfectly captured their family dynamic. He missed his brothers. He missed his dad.
He moved to look at the second picture. It was one Wilbur had taken, one morning while nobody was paying attention. The picture showed Techno eating breakfast, while Tommy pointed a fork at him, forgetting his own food. To the side was Phil, who was laughing at the exchange instead of trying to break it up like he would have done in the past. This picture was more recent than the first one, all of them in the photo looking older.
He looked at the third picture, smiling softly. It was one of the first days in Dream SMP, a picture he’d gotten Wilbur to take of him and Tubbo. The two had become friends when they had been little, but it had been their first reunion in nearly a decade. They clicked again instantly, slipping into an easy friendship that made it seem like they’d been friends for years. In the picture, the two stood shoulder to shoulder, with Tommy resting his arm on top of Tubbo’s head, exaggerating their height difference. Tubbo was laughing, trying to shove Tommy’s arm off. They both looked like different people, eyes alight with that childish life they’d lost after everything the two had been through. In the picture, Tommy held himself casually, instead of the way he was now, always on edge, always ready to fight like Techno had taught him. And Tubbo’s face and arms didn’t carry any of the scars and burns he’d earned from being shot with fireworks close range, no marks of the things he’d suffered.
He missed the time when they were those kids, and that was all they were. No wars, no countries on their shoulders, no loss and betrayal and the deep, dark evil they’d come to expect from people. But they couldn’t be those kids anymore. Those kids were gone, lost and sacrificed in war and suffering. And for what? Where had it all gotten them? Hating each other, leading a country, all alone, lost. So lost.
Tommy sat up, clutching the pictures tightly in his hand. He grabbed a couple nails off a shelf in the room, trying his best to awkwardly stick them through the pictures, pinning them to the wall above his bed. He stood back, surveying the room. It was still quite sparse, but it didn’t feel quite so empty. It certainly wasn’t much, but it was a start.