Chapter Text
Ghostbur's house was gone, the tent was gone, everything was destroyed. Blown up by tnt that had ingrained itself into his head, holes littering the ground. The wooden paths he had made while barely existing were broken now, only remnants of what they used to be. A tower built of different materials stood high above the damaged landscape. Tommy stared at the ruins of what was his exile, Logstedshire, sitting at the top and letting the wind run through his hair. His face was bloodied, and bruised. His body covered in scars and burn marks, he seemed too pale, and way too skinny to be walking. Just meer seconds ago he was hanging out with Dream, what had gone wrong? Oh right.. Dream had found his hidden stash of items. His little underground semi base he had put valuables in so he could maybe revolt against his friend... Friend? No, thats not right. Is it? Dream wasn't his friend. Or was he? That doesn't matter. Not at the moment.
His mind was foggy, he wanted so much to end it right then and there. But something in him stopped him from jumping to his demise. He jumped to the ocean, instead of the sharp rocky shore. He got out of the water, the woods behind him. Tommy couldn't stay here any longer, he had to go.
He attached a compass to his pants, making sure it was secured. He looked at it, brushing his fingers over the ingraving on the lid, 'my tubbo'. He remembers when Ghostbur made it for him. He's not losing it now, even though it barely works, and no longer points to his best friend. He tied his green bandana around his neck, staring at the nether portal before running off into the woods.
He only had a week at best before Dream came back, hopefully he could get far enough away to keep from being tracked down and hunted like an animal. He had no where to go. He could've gone to the tundra, but he knew he wouldn't survive the cold in the clothes his wearing. So he went the opposite direction of everything. Away from Lmanburg, away from the Esempii, away from everyone who tried to hurt him, and who has hurt him.
So he ran. Ran through forests, villages, mountain scapes, deserts, oceans, rivers, and swamps. By the fourth day he got to a village where he got some new clothes, and some extra food rations. If he wanted to get as far away from the Esempii as possible, he had to make sure he made little to no stops until he got to a safe about distance.
Around the fourth week, he was able to finally take a break from running to rest up and sleep. He had been putting off sleep for foraging and trading at villages when he passed some. He was now wearing a dark brown t-shirt, black pants, and a brown fur coat. He still had on the same dirtied pair of converse he had when he first got exiled. They werent pretty, but they worked for what he needed them for. His compass was in a new rucksack he had bought at a small trading port he had passed a week or so before. It was filled to the brim with an extra pair of clothes, food, money, and a first aid kit.
He was now leaning against a tree, his breath ragadey, and hoarse. His back had started to hurt around the first week, but he though nothing of it. But now, his back was basically on fire. He tried to cool himself down by taking off his shirt, and drenching his face in the water of a nearby stream. That hadn't worked and now he was vomiting while trying not to collapse against the hard dirt. Soon the spines of pain got worse and he fell to the ground. He could barely breathe, craining his neck to see what had happened. His eyes widened at the amount of blood, and what seemed to be two gashes that appeared where his collarbones were. His eyes started to close as his head hit the dirt.
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"Are they alive?"
Tommy's head hurt like the nether. Was someone talking? Ender, he hated this feeling.
"Well their pulse is sorta weak, but the health potions should be helping some. They seemed to have bled out a lot, those wings really did a number on them."
Wait.. wings???? When did he have wings? He took in a sharp breath, alerting the people in the room that he was up.
"Hey, hey, hey. We need you to stay calm. Jaz, go get a warm washcloth. Hurry!!"
There was some shuffling of feet before a door shut quietly behind him. He slowly opened up his eyes, scanning his surroundings.
He was laying in a bed with grey sheets, he had bandages wrapped around most of his body. Pink stuff slightly leaked from one of the bandages on his left arm, presumably a health potion. Before he could continue to look around, a voice from his right spoke up, "Hi. My name is Levin."
The door opened roughly. A person, probably Jaz, rushed over with a washcloth and what looked to be another potion.
"Here you go Lev!"
"Thank you." Levin placed the washcloth on tommy's forehead, and helped him sit up somewhat, "take this, it'll help heal some of the internal damage." They put the lip of the bottle against his mouth, he slowly drank the potion, feeling the warm liquid glide down his throat.
He pushed the bottle away after he finished it, sitting up a bit more so he could get a good look at the villagers. "Thanks for that," he coughed into his bandana, looking around at the the two people who were now staring at him intently.
One of them was smiling softly, sitting on a chair that was a bit a ways away. The other one was dipping a washcloth in a bowl that probably held another health potion.
"I know we probably shouldn't use this much, but you were really badly injured. Each leg was burned, bruised and had multiple infected cuts. Your left arm was sprained and had the beginnings of frostbite. Your right arm was only a little bruised-" The one holding the washcloth got cut off abruptly by the other.
"We can tell them about their injuries later Lev. They probably want some time to rest, and eat. They barely had much food left in their sack." The other one smiled at Levin before helping them up and pushing them out of the room, "now go get some food for the kid. Thank you!"
"Alright Jax, I'll be right back." Levin closed the door, leaving Jax and Tommy alone.
Tommy stared at Jax, confused slightly, but appreciative. He sat up a bit more, removing the washcloth and placing it on the nightstand next to him. Jax moved their chair a bit further away to give him space.
"I'm Jax. Jaxyon. Would you be okay with telling me your name and why you were out in the forest by yourself?" They seemed rather concerned, which confused him. Why were they so worried?
"I'm.." what should he say? He didn't want to use 'tommy' since he wasn't even sure how far he was from Dream. At any point the green man could show up and demand he come back, he doesn't want these people to get hurt because they helped him.
"It's fine if you don't want to tell me, it's understandable. Well, since it's probably going to take Levin some time to cook the food, let me tell you about our village."
Turns out, he was far away from the Esempii, like miles and miles away. They were a small village in the middle of a valley surrounded by mountains and forest on all sides but one, that's where it opened up to the ocean. There were only about 100 or so people, most were sea traders, using their flourishing farms and wild life to keep their village strong enough to survive.
"Seems like you get along quite nicely out here. How hasn't the Esempii, or bigger kingdoms come and taken over yet?" Tommy picked at his bandages while Jax tapped their foot against the hardwood.
"We aren't very big, and our village used to be just nomads, so we haven't been noticed by any of them. Good thing too. So many people have been corrupted by the lands, good and bad. It's easier to stay under the radar." Jax shrugged, "Anyways, I'm going to go check on Levin, he should be done with the food by now." She stood up, walking out of the room.
Tommy watched them leave, slowly getting up as well. He couldn't walk very well, but he wanted to get a closer look at the wings on his back. They were a dark orangish red, they seemed to be mostly colored grey and white except when the light shined down on them, causing them to glow lightly. He took a breath in and slowly began flexing them to test the control he had. It took a bit but eventually he was able to fully flex them in and out, quite astonishing if he does say so himself. When he heard footsteps heading towards the door, he quickly pulled his wings close to his back before laying down on the bed.
The two of them walked into the room, Levin was carrying a tray of food, and Jax had a few books in her hands. Levin placed the tray of food on the bed in front of tommy, "Here, eat up. I have to go check on the trade ships, but I'll be back." He waved before heading out. Jax placed the books on the nightstand and smiled at him, they went over to a chest and pulled out Tommy's clock he had gotten.
"Here. Thought you might want this, don't know if you want to keep your wings hidden or not. You don't have to here, but if it's more comfortable for you that's okay as well." She smiled, waving a goodbye before leaving him alone in the room.
He held the cloak close, then wrapped it around his shoulders, smiling. He began to eat some of the food, finally realizing that he was actually pretty hungry. He might stay here, it seems safe enough. And maybe, just maybe he could finally be in a place he could call home.