Archive of Our Own

It was dead silent outside by the time Sam made it out.

The TNT had stopped blowing up a couple minutes ago, but he knew the culprit had to be still around somewhere. It had taken him longer than he wanted to to make it out -- as soon as the explosions started going off, a concerning amount of redstone functions in the prison just...stopped working. He had spun around to open the door when he heard the TNT, but nothing was doing what it was designed to do. He had a brief moment of panic where he thought he was locked in his own prison before he remembered that he still had an old tunnel that he used back before he had finished all the redstone. Another moment of panic was dedicated to realizing the malfunctions could lead to Dream getting out, but the lava surrounding the cell thankfully didn’t move.

The most important thing was making sure Dream stayed put. Then he could focus on why the stupid doors weren’t working and why there were still explosions ringing out overhead.

But if there was a way to safely get Tommy out -- no, no there wasn’t, he would just have to hang in there until Sam figured out what the hell was going on.

Regret rolling in his gut, he blinked to adjust to the midday light. A quick glance around revealed nothing out of the ordinary on the outside of the prison; even though the explosions sounded like they were coming from above, he couldn’t see any damage on the roof of the prison. His stomach sank. So the problem was from the inside? Another look, this time moving to the entrance of the prison, showed his worst nightmare -- the nether portal was shattered. So this was an attack on the prison -- he was still hoping that the TNT was just nearby, and the broken redstone was a coincidence.

Sam let out a shaky sigh, running his hands through his hair. This was too much. He needed someone to talk to, to work out all the questions floating in his head -- who would want Dream out? How did they get in the prison? What all was broken? He desperately wished to talk to Tommy -- the kid didn’t know the first thing about engineering, but he would be able to make Sam laugh. That, and he was deceptively smart, especially about people. He might have an idea about who was behind this, but Sam realized with a pang that it was quite literally impossible to talk to him at the moment.

The sound of footsteps startled him out of his thoughts. Sam spun around, hand on the hilt of the sword, only to come face-to-face with a familiar blonde teenager -- just not the one he wanted to see.

“Purpled? What the hell are you doing here?” he asked with a frown.

Purpled glanced down at his sword and then back up at him, confusion flickering across his features. “Hey Sam!” he said, a tad too brightly. “I was just coming to look for you! Listen, man, I need your help for--”

“How long have you been here?” Sam interrupted sharply, eyeing him. No way he just showed up out of nowhere, coincidentally at the moment the explosions went off, with nobody else around to set them off. But why would he come back?

“I just got here? I came from my base straight to here. What’s up with you today?”

Sam studied him for a moment, and the teenager shrunk a little under his gaze. He seemed genuinely confused -- a little nervous, but probably just from the sudden interrogation. Several things still didn’t add up though. It was a weird coincidence, for one, and for two, why wasn’t there anyone else in the area? Someone had to set off the TNT. “Sorry, I’m a little too busy right now to help with anything,” he said finally.

“Hey, that’s okay, I can help you! A favor for a favor? I just need to know--”

“It’s classified information, actually,” Sam snapped, turning away before he could feel bad for interrupting again, but he really only had the capacity to help one teenager right now, and he’d rather focus on the one who’s actually stuck in the prison with the psychopath.

Something dark shuttered across Purpled’s face, and before Sam could start to walk away, a hand grabbed his arm, just tight enough to be uncomfortable. “I just need to know where Captain Puffy is. You’re friends with her, right? Where’s she at these days?”

Sam stilled. “...why?”

“It’s classified information, actually,” he mimicked, but when Sam turned back to look at him, his eyes were surprisingly sincere. “Look, dude, I have no idea where this Puffy girl even is, and it looks like you need help too. It’s something with the prison, right? I heard explosions earlier.”

He sighed, looking up at the sky. This was too much to deal with. “You don’t happen to know anything about redstone engineering, do you?”

The teenager brightened. “Actually, there was this one time, where I made this awesome fall trap, like, all by myself, outside the socializing club, and--”

This is useless , Sam thought as the kid rambled on. I need someone else.

“So, yeah, I guess you can say I know something about it,” Purpled was finishing with a nonchalant shrug. “I’m no expert. Why do you ask?”

“Tubbo!” Sam realized aloud. “I need Tubbo.” The kid was a genius, and they had worked together on redstone projects in the past. Plus, if there was anyone here that Sam trusted with the prison, it would be Tubbo.

“Does Tubbo happen to be in a sort-of similar location as Puffy?”

“Yes, actually,” Sam admitted.

And then Purpled was just looking at him, expectantly, with wide hopeful eyes, and Sam couldn’t help but remember back to Tommy every time he would ask him for things. It was impossible to say no to, honestly.

He sighed. “Happen to have any winter gear? You’ll need it where we’re going.”

Purpled turned out to be a pretty talkative traveling partner, which was fine, really; Sam was used to loud company, and the nonsensical chatter distracted him.

They were traveling through the nether to get to Snowchester; he had messaged Tubbo to make sure they were there, and they were expecting them by the end of the day. 

“Hey, what do you think about that new egg thing?” Purpled asked suddenly, his tone a startling departure from what it had been so far.

“I can’t really say I’m a fan of it…” Sam replied, choosing his words carefully. These days, it was hard to tell who was on whose side, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the teenager was on the egg’s -- he seemed close with several members of the new “Eggpire.” He was just grateful he didn’t seem completely possessed or trying to convert him, like Bad or Antfrost often did now. “It seems to change people, and not in a good way,” he continued. “And I’m pretty sure it has bad intentions for the SMP as a whole.”

Purpled simply nodded, seemingly lost in thought, and they lapsed into silence for a bit. The journey across the nether was long, hot, and exhausting, and Sam found himself missing the friendly small talk, so he decided to try and start the conversation, for once. “What have you been up to, lately?”

The kid brightened, which was the entire point of the question, really. “Oh my God, Sam, I never told you! So you know how, like, Punz is filthy rich or whatever, and it’s because people pay him to fight in wars or whatever they want him to do?”

“And by ‘people,’ you mean our resident psychopath, Dream,” Sam interrupted dryly.

“Okay, forget about the fact that Dream was, like, his main funder. Anyway , Punz has been busy with the egg, I guess, so he hasn’t been doing anything lately. So I decided to take his job! I’m, like, a hitman now. Or a mercenary. Whatever.”

“You realize you’d have to actually kill people to be a ‘hitman,’” Sam pointed out, biting back an amused smile. “No offense, but you aren’t actually that intimidating.”

Purpled bristled. “Okay, Sam , first of all, have you heard literally any of the stories I’ve told so far where I’m actually a god at bedwars, which involves killing so many people. Second of all, you better start counting your days, buddy, because if there is ever a hit on you I will not hesitate.”

“Aww, but Purpled, we’ve had so much fun traveling through a hellish dimension together.”

“I would literally end all of your lives for, like, a single diamond.”

Sam laughed. “You wound me. So have you actually gotten anyone to hire you yet? Something tells me you didn’t grind for that new netherite sword yourself, especially since you never actually spend any time around here.”

He looked down at the blade, expression suddenly guarded, like he had forgotten it was there. “What are you talking about? I’ve always had this. Besides, I just started this thing, so it’s not like I’ve actually done anything for anyone yet.”

Sam looked at him for a moment as the joking mood suddenly dissipated. He was a terrible liar (to his credit, not as bad as Tommy, not that that was saying much). He had that uneasy feeling in his gut, like he did whenever Purpled showed up out of nowhere right after the explosions went off. The feeling of too many things adding up, an answer that seemed too easy, but he still didn’t want it to be true--

“Remind me again of what you were doing next to the prison?” he asked, forcing lightness into his voice.

“I told you I was already looking for you,” he said shortly. “When did this turn into an interrogation?”

“Look, don’t get defensive, okay? I’m not mad. But you were wondering if something was wrong with the prison? Well, there is. It’s why I’m going to get Tubbo; I need his help. But I need yours, too. You mentioned hearing the explosions, right?” he tried, deciding to give him some information to maybe coax some out of him in turn. It wasn’t his first time dealing with secretive, easily spooked teenagers.

Purpled seem to relax slightly. “Yeah, I heard it on my way. Stuff blows up here all the time, though, so I didn’t think much of it.”

“Did you see anything on your way?” Sam asked.

Purpled shook his head. “Look, Sam, I know I probably seem super suspicious or whatever, but I can promise you, I had nothing to do with whatever you’re dealing with with the prison right now,” he said, giving him an earnest look.

Sam wanted to believe him, he really did. He opened his mouth to respond, but the words died in his throat as the landscape before them suddenly halted. They were standing on a cliff overlooking a lava lake, which he specifically did not remember the last time he went to Snowchester. “Fuck me,” he groaned. “Did I take a wrong turn? I don’t remember this being the way.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Purpled replied, pointing across the lake. “I see a portal over there! A bridge must’ve gotten destroyed, or there’s a way around that you don’t remember, or something like that.”

“Oh, I guess that is the portal! We’ll just--”

“Do you trust me?” he interrupted suddenly, and when Sam turned to look at him, he had an excited glint in his eyes.

No, Sam thought. Actually, I’m starting to suspect you might be involved in a plot to break Dream out of prison .

But before he could open his mouth to respond, the teenager grabbed him and quite literally yanked both of them off the side of the cliff.

This is it, he thought, squeezing his eyes shut as a very undignified, strangled sound escaped him. The end. Maybe I did actually have a hit on me. A one-diamond bounty.

Instead of meeting a fiery doom, he felt a lurch and suddenly his feet were on solid ground again. He stumbled, and firm hands grabbed him to steady him. He looked up to see Purpled bending over, giggling.

“Did you -- did you just enderpearl us over the entire fucking lava lake? After shoving me off for no reason ?” Sam managed to get out, feeling slightly dizzy from the adrenaline rush of thinking he was about to get murdered.

Purpled managed to compose himself enough to answer. “Did I mention I play bedwars a lot?”

“Oh, never,” Sam responded sarcastically. “It’s only your whole personality.”

“Sorry, old man, I didn’t mean to give you a heart attack,” he teased, but there was an undercurrent of concern in his tone. “You aren’t going to faint, are you?”

“I think you should be worried about yourself, kid, once I get my revenge,” he shot back, and Purpled’s grip loosened on him before he dissolved back into a fit of laughter.

The blonde was looking at him, all impish grins and inflated ego, and for a moment, Sam could only see Tommy.

They were welcomed into Snowchester with warm smiles and warmer blankets, and Sam relaxed immediately. They were in Puffy’s house, and she said that Tubbo was on his way, which was a relief. He was anxious to start talking with him about what was wrong with the prison, though he’d probably have to bring him to see it in person. He was thinking about it on the way a bit, and his current theory was that the explosions happened on the inside, somehow, damaging the inner workings of the prison, but luckily not touching the main cell. The only issue with that was that there was no way for someone to get inside without his knowledge. Also, if it was correct, it didn’t bode well for Tommy getting out soon, since the redstone was required for exiting the main cell.

(Legally, he had to get him out within a week. Personally, he planned on making it much sooner than that).

Purpled seemed more anxious than he was, which was a startling difference from when they were traveling together. Something changed in him when they got to Puffy’s house, and he was pacing around. While Sam had changed to warm winter clothes, curling up next to the fire and sharpening his sword contentedly, the kid was still in his armor, hands fiddling next to the hilt of his sword.

“Hey,” Sam ventured. “Isn’t the whole reason you’re here to talk to Puffy about something? You haven’t even looked at her since we got here.”

“I’m working on it,” he snapped.

“Okay,” Sam said, gentler, but he felt uneasy. Something was wrong. “Well, I can ask for you, if you’d like. Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. She’s the sweetest person I know.”

Purpled looked pained. “Of course she is. Of course she’s nice,” he muttered. “That’s great. Is it hot in here to you? I think I’m going to open a window.”

“It’s literally snowing, but okay?” He hugged the blanket tighter to him as cold air blew through the window. Whatever helps him, I guess. Tommy was never a fan of enclosed spaces, either. As far as he knew, the kid didn’t have a personal Dream traumatizing him, but you never knew. It could actually be hot in the room, but he’d never been a fan of the cold at all, and the climate in Snowchester set a deep chill inside of him.

“I heard my name?” Captain Puffy walked in, holding a platter of hot tea and snacks, like the wonderful person she was. But when he looked over at Purpled, he saw that he had completely tensed, stilling near the window. The uneasy feeling in his stomach grew, and he put aside his sword that he was sharpening, standing up.

“Hey, Puffy, so, um, I need your help for something, but, like, I can’t ‘really talk about it here,” Purpled said, stumbling over his words for a bit.

Can’t talk about it with me here?

“I mean, we can go somewhere else in the house if you’d like,” Puffy offered kindly. “I’d be glad to help with whatever.”

“No, see, it’s like, in a specific location,” he said, voice a little strained. Sam remembered thinking that he was a terrible liar. “If you’d maybe come with me? Once Sam and Tubbo leave to do their thing?”

Alarm bells were ringing in Sam’s head, and a quick glance at Puffy revealed she was equally suspicious. He felt a little better knowing they were on the same page.

“Where do you want me to go? Is it near where Sam and Tubbo were traveling? We could go with them,” she suggested.

“No, it’s not near the prison -- well, it is kind of near, but, like -- fuck, this isn’t coming out right.”

Sam dropped the blanket in favor of going closer to Purpled. “It’s okay, I’m sure Puffy can help you out,” he said with a small smile. He wasn’t sure what the problem was, but it was clearly upsetting.

“Did the eggpire send you?” Puffy asked suddenly, her voice going hard. Sam turned to see her with a dagger , suddenly. Okay, they were definitely not on the same page at all, actually.

“Why would the eggpire have anything to do with him?” Sam asked with a frown.

Just then, with the usual truly impeccable timing he always has, Tubbo walked in. He stiffened as he took in the scene -- Puffy next to a tray of tea and freshly baked cookies, holding a dagger, Purpled next to an open window with full armor on and a hand on his netherite sword, and Sam in front of him, looking and feeling utterly lost.

“Did the eggpire send you?” Puffy repeated, her voice hard.

Tubbo looked startled. “The eggpire’s here?” He stepped forward, and it was his turn now to grab his weapon. “Sam, stay back. I heard they sent someone to kill Puffy.”

“Nobody’s killing anyone!” Purpled insisted. Sam felt everything starting to spiral out of control.

Tubbo drew his sword, the noise sending chills up Sam’s back. “Step away from Sam.”

“Hold on, now, I’m sure--” Sam froze as he felt the cold brush of a blade against his throat.

“Take another step, and I will slit his throat,” he heard Purpled say from right behind him, his voice almost unrecognizable.

“You’re making a mistake,” Puffy said. “Drop the sword. I have very good aim, and you will be dead before you can even think about killing him.”

Sam felt the kid tense against him. This couldn’t be happening. Surely this was some sort of elaborate joke.

There was a lurch in his stomach, and suddenly they were outside, the cold wind stinging against his face. Another lurch, and he was in a forest. He felt armor digging into his back, and he realized Purpled was teleporting both of them with ender pearls. A third, and this time he was falling, hitting the snowy ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of his lungs.

“Fuck,” he heard a groan from next to him. “Fuck, I misaimed, fuck me .”

His mind caught up to him. Purpled threatening him, teleporting them out, apparently throwing a pearl through a window? They were in a thick forest, snow covering everywhere he could see. He turned his head to see Purpled struggling to sit up a few feet away, a hand clutching his ribs. His netherite sword was on the ground between them.

Sam leapt for it, remembering his own sword was still on Puffy’s couch. He stood up with it, pointing the blade at Purpled, who had managed to sit up. “What the hell was that?”

“Please don’t kill me, Sam,” he said, voice small.

“You were about to kill me!”

“I can explain!”

“Then explain,” he said sharply. “And if you even start to reach for another pearl, you’ll lose a hand, I swear to God, and you’ll be lucky if that’s all I do.” His mind was racing. I defended him, I thought he was like Tommy, I thought -- 

“I’m not going to do anything, I swear,” Purpled said, a slight tremor in his voice. Sam’s first instinct was to back off, but this must’ve been his play, getting sympathy from others only to quite literally stab them in the back. “I made a mistake. Puffy was right; the eggpire sent me. Or, at least, I assume it was the eggpire. It was Bad, Ant, and Ponk, specifically.”

“You work for them?” Sam asked, feeling a rush of anger.

“I thought it would be okay! I trust Ponk, but he’s...different, somehow. I don’t know. They gave me netherite and were going to give me more after I led Puffy to specific coordinates. It seemed to be near the prison? I don’t know.”

“The egg,” Sam realized aloud. “They want to corrupt her.”

“I didn’t know she would be so...kind, I don’t know. I assumed she would be some bad guy because Ponk was the one who told me I should take the job! He’s my friend .”

“It doesn’t matter what you thought! You were going to go through with it! And what would’ve happened if she didn’t want to go?”

“Fuck, I don’t know! Well, I do know, they told me to kill her. But I was only okay with it when I thought she was a bad guy! And then she went and welcomed us into her house! And, Sam, they told me later they might send me to kill you , too, but you’ve been nothing but nice to me, and I regret everything, Sam, I really do, please don’t kill me.”

Sam sagged a little, lowering the sword, some of the anger dissipating slightly and being replaced with exhaustion. “You really shouldn’t have taken that job, kid.”

“I know,” he whispered. “I trusted Ponk.”

Sam felt a stab of sympathy, despite everything. “The egg does weird shit to people. I doubt he would have recommended the job to you if he wasn’t under its influence.”

Purpled just nodded, looking at the ground.

Sam sighed and knelt down. “Look, kid, I forgive you for threatening to kill me. I know you must’ve felt threatened and cornered at the moment. I think our first priority will be finding our way out of this forest, and then we can figure everything else out, okay? But you’ve lost your sword privileges for now,” he added, injecting some levity into his tone. “I’d like to sleep through the night without finding my throat slit.”

The teenager let out a wet-sounding laugh. “Come on, man, not the sword. Of all the things to ground me from?”

“I’m sorry that I don’t want to get, like, fucking backstabbed right now,” Sam joked, but it kind of fell flat, probably because Purpled had literally almost killed him less than five minutes ago.

“Too soon, dude, too soon,” Purpled said. “But, seriously, I don’t know what that was. I never wanted to hurt you. And I didn’t really want to hurt Puffy, either, but I guess I got so conflicted and ended up reverting back to trying to finish the job. I had dug myself into a hole, anyway, with telling you that I needed her for something.”

Sam sat down next to him. “Yeah, well, you’re a terrible liar, by the way. You gotta get better at that if you want to start murdering for a living. That story was total bullshit from the beginning, but I was way too distracted with the whole prison and Tommy thing to push you on it.”

“Wait, what Tommy thing?” Purpled asked, wincing a little as he shifted to face him. Sam made a mental note to make sure he wasn’t too injured in the fall in a bit.

Sam hesitated. “Tomm is...well, it’s a bit of an issue. Basically he was in the prison with Dream when the explosions went off, and now he’s trapped there because several functions of the prison randomly stopped working.”

“Well, that wasn’t me, I swear,” he said with a frown. “Maybe I can help!”

Sam fixed him with a look. “I think you’re ignoring the fact that you’re still technically hired by the eggpire, so first of all, why would I trust you with top-secret prison matters, and second of all, won’t they be wondering why you never ended up finishing the job?”

Purpled considered it. “Okay, well, I can tell them that I was hired by someone who’s paying me way more. Which you are, because totally not murdering me for what I did is more than enough payment. I owe you big-time. Besides, isn’t that what Punz did? He was like ‘Oh, sorry, Dream, you should’ve paid me more,’ which is a line I totally want to use, by the way. Do you think they would notice that I was copying if I said that?”

“Focus,” Sam prompted.

“Oh, right, and the trust thing -- first of all, I would never want to break Dream out, that’s stupid . I’m, like, the only non-traumatized kid here, and I would like it to stay that way. But also...maybe you could keep my sword? As collateral? I really like it, and I would never betray someone who had it hostage. Not that I would betray you anyway,” he rushed to say.

“Okay, maybe,” Sam conceded. “ Maybe . But first we need to try to get out of here.” It was still snowing, which was worrying, and the forest was quickly darkening as the sun started to set behind the trees. He knew they were in for a long, cold night fighting mobs. “I don’t suppose you know where you got us to?”

The kid shook his head, and Sam’s heart sank a little even though he had expected the answer, the reality of what was going on really sinking in. The only winter gear they had were the clothes Sam was wearing, since Purpled had kept his armor on in Puffy’s house and was nervously sweating the whole time, and they only had the one sword between them.

“Okay,” he said slowly, mind racing to come up with a solution. “So, I’m going to send a message to Puffy and Tubbo. Maybe they’ll have an idea, if we find a landmark. If all else fails, we can craft a boat and just row back to the mainland, since Snowchester’s an island. I do have a compass, so we can’t get dangerously lost out there.”

Purpled had paled while he was talking. “No, Puffy can’t find us,” he protested. “Sam, she’s terrifying, and she will literally kill me on sight.”

“Puffy is only scary when she’s protecting people she cares about, and she wouldn’t actually hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it,” he countered. “Which, okay, granted, you did threaten my life in front of her, so she might have a different idea of you than I do right now. But I’ll just explain everything! It’ll be alright.”

“Okay,” Purpled said after a moment. He seemed hesitant, but he trusted him, which Sam counted as a win.

It’s his fault you’re here , a small, traitorous voice whispered in the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside. It wasn’t the time to start. He took out his communicator and sent a message to Puffy, deciding to keep it brief and explain in person. I’m okay. Was just a misunderstanding, will explain more in person. Me and Purp are out in the middle of nowhere. Where should we try and meet you?

He got a response almost immediately. If you’re in the forest, your best bet will be trying to stay warm through the night and making a boat/going to the mainland in the morning. Do you have a compass?

Yes, I’ll be able to meet you at the prison if you want. I need you and Tubbo’s help with it asap.

Are you sure everything’s good? Not a hostage situation going on right now?

I promise I’m okay. Will keep you updated and see you soon, Sam responded before putting it back in his pocket. “Okay, so Puffy recommended we find a place to hunker down tonight and then make our way off the island in the morning. So maybe we can find the coast and start a fire?”

Purpled nodded, looking distracted as he looked down at his own communicator. “Puffy just texted me: ‘Sam better be alright or I will hunt you down and murder you slowly and painfully.’ Is she always like this?”

Sam chuckled. “She’ll warm up to you once you two actually meet and, you know, nobody’s trying to kill each other. You can respond if you want.”

He sighed, putting it away. “I think I’m good. So fire time? I’m freezing .”

Sam felt a pang of sympathy. “Kid, you should’ve put more clothes on. Here, take this.” He shrugged off one of his layers and handed him the fur coat.

“I know, I know, thanks,” he muttered.

Sam felt another wave of frustration at how unprepared they were. It was technically nobody’s fault completely, but he would already be working on the prison if Purpled had never come to find him. He reached out a hand to help him help, and together they set off.

“Tommy? Tommy, I’m here. Tommy, can you hear me?”

Dream was standing over a mangled, beaten corpse. With a sickening lurch, Sam recognized the red and white shirt and the blonde hair.

“He’s dead, Warden.” the Prisoner said with a laugh. “You weren’t quick enough.”

Sam woke up with a start, breathing hard. It took a moment to realize where he was -- in a shallow cave he had found near the coast. The dying embers of the fire barely illuminated the area, and he could hear waves crashing in the distance. He started to sit up when something shifted against him.

“Sam?” Purpled whispered. “What are you doing up?” Somehow the kid had made his way nearly on top of Sam during the night. He looked impossibly tiny curled up against him in the oversized coat, and images from his dream came back to him.

They’re both alive , he reminded himself, even though there was technically no way of knowing if Tommy was alright. We’re all okay. “Just woke up. How long have you been awake?”

“I can’t go to sleep. It’s so cold .”

“I know, kid,” he replied with a groan, settling back down as his stiff muscles protested sleeping on the ground all night in the cold. “I know.”

“You snore.”

“ Do not .”

“You do! I’m sorry nobody’s told you before. It’s also why I couldn’t sleep.”

Sam didn’t answer, too exhausted to come up with some retort. Every time he closed his eyes, though, he saw the broken corpse, so he elected to just stare at the dancing shadows on the ceiling.

“Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry. I feel like I should tell you that, like, when my life isn’t being threatened. I shouldn’t have lied to you or tricked you to lead you to Puffy, especially when there’s stuff with Dream going on. And I really regret threatening you. That was all kinds of wrong.”

“I forgive you,” Sam replied with a sigh.

“That’s all?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” A pause. “I really appreciate you, Sam.”

His traitorous mind flashed back to Tommy opening up to him while they went through security check on the way to visit Dream. He had ignored him, too focused on making sure everything went right and being the warden to care. Thinking back, it was an impressive feat for the kid to get that out after being betrayed by so many other adults. He should’ve made sure he knew that he cared about him, too. He didn’t want to make that mistake again. But when he opened his mouth, the words got stuck in his throat. “...You don’t really know me,” he finally managed.

He felt shifting beside him, presumably Purpled shrugging. “Whatever. You’re nice to me,” he said simply.

Sam tried to think of more words to say, to tell him that he appreciated it, he really did, but he came up blank.

“What are you thinking about?” Purpled asked after a moment of silence.

“You’re not going to let me go back to sleep, are you?”

“I’ll shut up if you want me to.”

“No.”

“Okay. What are you thinking about?”

Sam sighed, trying to think of how to answer. “I’m worried about Tommy. He’s stuck with the man who practically tortured him? Do you know what happened with them?”

“No.”

“Well, it was bad,” he said, which was a major understatement, but it wasn’t really his story to tell.

“Why’d he go and visit Dream then? If they have such a bad history?”

“Tommy said he wanted closure,” he replied, heart clenching at the memory. “Dream ruined his life, and he wanted to move on. So it was supposed to be therapeutic, I guess.”

“It’s going to be okay, though, because we’re getting him out, right?”

“Of course. As soon as we get back, we’re fixing everything.”

The next few days went like this:

Sam had finally convinced Purpled to let him get up, leaving him grieving the lack of body heat next to him. He gathered their stuff and made a raft while the sun was rising, and eventually Purpled got up and helped him. They started rowing out as soon as it was bright enough to see where they were going, and they started following the compass home.

Purpled managed to kill a Drowned (and almost drowns himself in the process), almost giving Sam a heart attack. He even got a trident from it, and Sam almost tells him to throw it overboard because it stank and was covered in moss and looked about two hits away from shattering, but the kid looked so proud of it and gave him that hopeful look that Sam didn’t know how to say no to. Purpled quickly dubbed it “Blued” (“get it Sam? Because of my name?”) and Sam promised to help mend it and power it up once they got back. Then Purpled tackled him in a hug, almost knocking them overboard, and Sam stiffened and awkwardly pat him on the back, and they never talked about that again.

It was a long, exhausting day of rowing, but they got back to the mainland before the sun set and thankfully didn’t run into any trouble as they trekked back to Sam’s base. It was an unspoken agreement that that was where Purpled was staying for a bit (it was more convenient that way, obviously, since they were working on the prison together).

Sam dreamed about Tommy dying again. This time he was begging Sam to let him out before, but he couldn’t, because it was his job to keep people in the prison, and he couldn’t risk Dream getting out. And then there was his mangled corpse, again, and Dream was laughing.

Sam went to the kitchen to find Purpled already there, because the kid was nocturnal, apparently. He made them hot chocolate, and they didn’t talk about it.

The first day of working on the prison was spent trying to find where the explosions were. The perplexing part was that they were on the inside, where nobody should’ve been able to get into. Purpled joked about it being an “inside job,” but Sam shuddered at the thought of possibly orchestrating it and forgetting, or getting possessed, or something, because it seemed like anything was possible these days. A serious theory that Purpled suggested was it being the work of the Eggpire, but they couldn’t figure out why they would want Dream out.

Puffy texted them that something “went wrong” at Snowchester, and that she and Tubbo would be delayed in getting over to the prison. It was concerning, but they didn’t have time to worry about what was going on over there. Every time Sam closed his eyes, he saw Tommy dead. Besides, by now he was confident he could figure it out without Tubbo, now that he had someone else he trusted to bounce ideas off of.

On the second day of working, he noticed Bad watching them from a little ways away. The bloodvines surrounded him like a crimson throne. It was unsettling, especially since he was on the break-in suspect list, but Sam’s main focus was on fixing the prison. They had finally gotten one of the doors to work, which was a promising victory. The problem was that there were so many small, time-consuming problems within the system, rather than one big fix like Sam had expected. If he didn’t know any better, he would guess that the TNT was set off to waste his time, not break in and help Dream escape.

During the night, when Sam was awoken by nightmares, he and Purpled would work on his trident (Sam refused to call it Blued. It was just too stupid). They tracked down books to enchant it with and worked on mending it all through the night, just working in silence together. “Wouldn’t you rather sleep for once?” he had asked, to which the kid replied, “My sleep schedule was fucked up long before this, dude.” They continued working, Sam’s conscience at keeping him up half the night slightly eased.

It was their third day working on the prison, and the fifth day since Tommy was trapped. They were actually making promising progress, and Sam was confident in getting Tommy back in the next 24 hours. Of course, that was when everything had to go to shit.

He had sent Purpled back to his base to get a few more supplies that they had forgotten to grab that morning about thirty minutes before when he got a message from Bad of all people, with nothing but coordinates that looked vaguely familiar.

Unease rose inside him. He wished Purpled was back. He simply texted back: why?

BadBoyHalo: Purpled said “tell them to make it stop. It hurts.” You better come quickly, Sam.

His stomach dropped. They were hurting him. For what? The egg? He had to assume that’s where the coordinates were. Why? Why now ?

He shot back a reply: I’m on my way, you don’t need to do anything else , on the off-chance they’d listen and leave him alone. Because Sam was what they wanted, right? It’s why they kept trying to trick him to visit the egg, so he could join their little cult.

He sent a message to Puffy, too. SOS. The egg . Just in case she wasn’t in imminent danger herself, at Snowchester.

The coordinates were above the egg, like he suspected. He stepped in their little egg-base, aware of the crimson vines trying to tangle around his feet. There was red everywhere, from the vines creeping up along the walls, to the blood splatters on the ground.

“Welcome, Sam,” a cold voice said. “Sorry if we interrupted something. You looked hard at work, but we figured you might find this a little more important.

Bad, Antfrost, and Punz were standing in a loose triangle on the other side of the room, and at their feet was Purpled, with a knife buried in his stomach and blood pooling on the floor around him. Sam’s heart stopped as they met eyes.

“Okay,” Sam said slowly. “I’m here, and I’m listening. What do you want from me?”

“I just want you to give us a chance, Sam!” Bad said with a bright smile. Sam felt sick. “I’m sorry it had to come to this. You just weren’t listening! I’m glad you’re willing to hear us out now.”

“Yes, yes,” Sam said quickly. He was well aware that he was running out of time. Every second was one that Purpled was losing blood, that Tommy was trapped in the prison. “I want to hear about the egg. Can I help my friend first?”

“Excellent! He can join us, too!” Bad clapped his hands excitedly. “Okay, I need you to leave all your weapons and armor here, please. For this to work, you need to see the egg. You and it can bond! It’s quite nice.”

“I don’t...is there a way to join? Without speaking to the egg?” Sam asked, teeth gritted. The last thing he needed right now was to be brainwashed.

Bad frowned. “You don’t want to see the egg? That’s too bad.” He crouched down next to Purpled. “Well, you want to see it, at least, right?” Before Sam could process it, he grabbed the hilt of the knife and twisted, eliciting a strangled sound from the kid. “And you want Sam to too, right?”

“Yes,” he choked out. “Sam, please .”

“Okay, okay! I want to see the egg, Bad, okay? Look,” he dropped his sword, and it clattered against the ground. “We’re all good, okay? There’s no need to hurt anyone.” He started taking off his armor, trying to brainstorm some way, any way, to get out of this, but there was nothing that didn’t involve putting Purpled in more danger.

“You both want to meet the egg? Wonderful!” Bad exclaimed, seemingly not caring about the fact that he was just torturing a teenager to make this happen. “I think you’re already acquainted with it, aren’t you, Sam? But Captain Puffy interrupted before you could become friends. It’s a shame, really, that you didn’t kill her, Purpled. You’d be one of us already!”

Sam tried to force a smile, but it turned more into a grimace. “Yeah, we’ve met.”

“Perfect! Come on, then,” Bad said, waving him over. Punz and Ant, who were apparently only there for intimidation purposes because they didn’t say a word the whole time, moved out of the way as Sam went to crouch down next to Purpled.

“Alright, kid,” he said gently. “Can you walk? We need to go to the egg.”

“It hurts, Sam,” he said in response. His voice sounded so small .

“I know, I know, it’ll be okay. We just need to talk to the egg, and then everything will be okay, I promise. Come on,” he grabbed his arm and wrapped it around his shoulder so he could lean on him as they walked. Purpled whimpered slightly as Sam hoisted him up, and then sagged against him as they limped towards Bad.

It was a long, torturous walk to the egg, Sam struggling to avoid jostling the wound as he supported most of Purpled’s weight. The kid stayed conscious, which was good, and the wound seemed to be bleeding pretty slowly as far as stab wounds went, with the knife stopping a lot of blood.

“You got this, kid,” Sam muttered as he heard another pained groan beside him. They were descending dark stairs at this point, and the vines became more and more frequent, covering every square inch of the walls.

“ Sam ,” Purpled said intensely, sounding more lucid than he had been so far. “You can take out the knife and kill me, Sam, and then I’ll come save you! Please , Sam, it hurts .”

“Secrets, secrets, are no fun!” Bad called over his shoulder from a little ways ahead.

“You’re not losing a life on my watch,” Sam hissed. “We’ll make it out of here, I swear.” How, he didn’t know. The current plan was to sit through whatever the egg had to say, because apparently eggs speak now, and eventually it had to let them go, right? And then he could finish the prison, save Tommy, and everything would be okay.

After an agonizingly long time, Bad stopped at the edge of a hole surrounded by obsidian. They eventually caught up, standing next to him. Vines wrapped around Sam’s feet, seeming to invite him to join them in the hole.

“Here you go,” Bad said, handing Sam a thick wad of bandages. “So your friend doesn’t die during the conversation. Do you need anything else?”

“I think we’re good,” Sam said, grabbing the bandages. As good as we’re going to be .

“Great! In you go!”

And then they were falling into the darkness.

Sam.

Sam.

Sam. Are you ready to listen?

“I’m not listening to a fucking egg,” Sam muttered, wondering if he was finally going crazy and hearing things.

The child is listening. Don’t you want to join him ?

“Purpled?”

“Mm?”

“Is the egg...talking to you?” Sam asked, feeling like an idiot.

“Mm,” he hummed noncommittally.

“Hey, stay with me, kid,” he said, nudging his head a little with his leg. They were positioned on the ground near the egg, which was impossible to see clearly in the dark, but it was large and imposing in his periphery. He could feel it more than see it, hearing whispers emanating off of it, but it hadn’t spoken actual words until now. He had used his limited first aid skills to pull the knife out of Purpled, which was a painful process he never wanted to repeat, and now the teenager seemed to be stable -- no blood was seeping through the bandages, which was a good sign. He was still in clear pain though, shifting and groaning and not having the energy to do much else, so Sam would rather keep him awake and lucid to make sure he was still there. Sam had the kid’s head positioned in his lap and was stroking his hair every once in a while, not sure how else to comfort him. Tommy wasn’t much of a touchy-feely person, and he didn’t exactly have many other experiences with people their age.

“Yeah, it’s fucking talking to me,” Purpled muttered. “Talking about joining its empire or some shit.”

“Well, don’t listen to it.”

“I’m not! Obviously.”

“Good.”

“How much longer are we going to be done here?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“...I’m sorry.”

Sam sighed. “No, don’t apologize. You’re only here because I’ve been against this whole egg business the whole time.” The voices seemed to hiss in response to that, and he winced.

The child is weak. He would make good food. We are hungry, Sam heard whispered in his ear, clear as day.

“They eat fucking people?” Purpled yelped, stiffening under him.

“You heard that too?”

“Yes! They want to eat me! ”

“I have a knife,” Sam threatened, waving the bloody dagger. “I will not hesitate.”

“Why does everyone like this thing so much? It’s fucking creepy and it eats people.”

“Maybe it’s like sheer exposure,” Sam suggested. “We might like it better after a few hours of hanging out.”

You will. Join us, Sam. Join us.

“Sam?” a familiar voice suddenly called from above. Sam’s heart soared.

“Puffy! Thank God!”

He felt Purpled stiffen. “Oh my God, you better not let her kill me like she said she was going to.”

Sam laughed. “This is the best thing that could happen to us! You’ve almost bled out today, and you’re worried about my best friend?”

“She’s scary!”

“I’m throwing down some ender pearls, okay? You can throw them up here,” Puffy called down.

“Sounds good! Where’s the egg cult?”

“Indisposed at the moment. I got the jump on them, but I’d still rather hurry just in case,” she replied as she threw down a few of the green orbs.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I loved you?” Sam called up. Then, to Purpled, he said “Can you get up? I can throw the pearl and hold onto you.”

“They don’t want me to leave,” he said, almost sounding timid. “The voices.”

“Well...you’re not listening to them, remember?”

“Right. Obviously,” Purpled said quickly, sitting up. “I wasn’t going to.Um...ready when you are, chief.”

Sam frowned, but sadly possibly being brainwashed was a little far down on his list of priorities at the moment. He grabbed onto him and threw the pearl, and suddenly they were out of the hole, next to Puffy. A weight on his chest lifted as the voices in the back of his head quited.

“Here, I got you, duckling,” Puffy said gently as she transferred Purpled’s weight from Sam to her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Purpled just let out a hum, still looking dazed from the teleportation. Sam let out a relieved smile. They were going to be okay.

Two days later, Sam was leading Tommy out of the prison. It was a very different Tommy than the one who went in, but Sam was hopeful. He had helped heal the boy once, and he could do it again.

Later that day, Purpled was dozing on Sam’s couch, waiting for him to come back so they could commence the routine of changing his bandages and trying to convince Sam to let him out of bedrest for just a little bit to finish working on his trident together. His communicator buzzed next to him, rousing him.

TommyInnit: I have an offer for you.