Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy could see trees and raindrops behind the window of the train, even if everything was going so fast.

He can’t wait to go home and see his brother, Dream, it was a really long time since he had seen him and he was so happy after hearing he could come back he couldn’t wait any longer to even say his goodbyes to Mr. NotFound.

The blond boy watches what is in the train and sees two other teenagers, a girl that has moth looking eyes and a boy with bright red and white hair, both with the same uniform as him.

Tommy can hear a little bit of their conversation, apparently the girl hates everything minus bikes and the boy wants the strawberry cake of his older brother.

Nothing really interesting if he was being honest, but still, more funny than just sitting there and waiting to finally go home.

He sees more of the train, seeing almost broken posters of movies and drawings of hearts of names in the seats of the train.

Soon, his eyelids start to feel heavy, and his exhausted mind tells him to sleep and wait for the arrival, and he listens to it, because he doesn't know anything better than that at the moment.

He falls asleep. Without hearing the sounds of crows.

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Tommy's eyes start opening slowly, he tries to focus them and when they focus, he notices he is staring at a gray ceiling, for a moment the blond teenager is confused, until he remembers that he is on a train.

He curses at himself, then, he notices that the train isn't moving anymore, and he thinks that maybe he arrived at his station.

He stands up from where he was sitting and goes to the doors, opening them, but when he sees through them, he sees the sign of the station, it does not say “L’Manberg”, no, in its place it says “SBI”.

What the fuck?.

He curses at himself, of course falling asleep will make he misses his station, how stupid can he be?.

“I will ask the driver if he knows any taxi station or some shit like that.” He thought, walking to where the driver was, maybe the train just stopped minutes ago, and he knew a driver would never leave a passenger in the train.

But, when he gets to where the driver is supposed to be, there is no one, maybe the driver will leave the passenger in the train.

“Fuck.” 

He should only leave and go find a taxi station, he is lucky he has some money with him.

He starts making his way to the doors again, and he is honest when he is saying that he is surprised that the doors opened with ease, an ease that is very much suspicious to be true, but right now he is not in the place to question that, he only needs to go home and see his brother.

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He walks out of the train, the first thing he sees is the sign of the station, and now that he sees it again, what type of name is SBI? What does that even mean?.

And the second thing he saw was that the sky was starting to become orange.

Oh fuck, what if Dream is already in the house? He surely is worried sick about him, questioning himself of where he is.

“I really need to leave right now.” He whispers, putting his hand in the pockets of his jacket.

Tommy walks, watching everything he can. He notices that on the floor are feathers, so many feathers to be normal, was this a place controlled by birds or something? That would be a little bit dumb but there is always a chance for everything, or that was what his brother said.

While the blond boy is walking, he notices a paper left on the floor. He, out of curiosity, takes it and begins to read.

‘Young boy must join the pack!.’

“What the hell? Please tell me there ain't some sick fuckers kidnapping teenagers.” Tommy says in a low voice, trying to hide the fear growing on his stomach.

He is a Big Man! He knows how to fight people, and he definitely knows how to fight someone if they are trying to kidnap him.

The blond teenager continues walking.

Tommy fails to notice the red eyes watching him from behind the trees.

Chapter Text

Tommy continues to walk through the station, watching everything he can. He sees tall as heck trees behind a metal fence and posters in said fence.

Everything looked scary, dead and alive at the same time, it was strange.

He walked to one of the posters in the fence, seeing the face of a teenager with orange hair and fake fox ears on his head, his eyes were a bright gold color and had a big hat that was falling from his head.

He couldn’t see the name of the person, because it was ripped away, but for some reason the person was familiar, maybe he had seen them in the school or the streets.

He decides to ignore the bad feelings about this place, he really needs to find a taxi station.

The teenager continues walking, now seeing the end of the fence, but still, no taxi station.

“Please, tell me I don't have to go to the forest.” Tommy says to himself, putting his hands on his waist, he tries to stay calm, but he has to admit the dark sky of the night and the dark forest scares him a little bit, not much! He is a Big Man! Simply forests don’t scare Big Mans!.

He sees at his surroundings, seeing nothing more than trees and the end of the metal fence.

“Well, maybe I can find a weird old person who doesn't like people, living in the forest.” The blond boy thought, walking forward into the forest.

He doesn’t notice the man with wings behind the trees, too deep thinking about going home to see his brother.

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“Brother! Wait!.” A Young blond yells, running to another blond.

“Hello Tommy.” An older boy says, stopping his walk for his little brother to be on his side.

The two stare at each other.

The young blond gave his brother a cheerful smile, seeing an amazing brother who is so good to him.

The older blond gave his baby brother a soft smile, seeing a naive child who could do everything for him.

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Tommy finds comfort in remembering his older brother, always saying they will be together forever, that he will be the best person he could ever meet.

He believes every word that comes out of Dream’s mouth, because it has to be true, Dream always says the truth.

……..

Suddenly, a tree branch breaks behind him.

“Uh?!.” Tommy looks behind him, seeing no one except a crow.

Well, seeing a crow in a forest is not weird.

“Hey little friend, do you happen to know where a taxi station is?.” He know he looks like an idiot by asking a fucking crow where something is, but lets be honest, his brother surely would have done the same at his age.

The crow does not say anything, the obvious thing that was going to happen, and he lets out a sigh, going to continue walking when out of sudden more crows come out.

Being honest, that scared him a little bit.

‘Baby kit!’

The crows yell, some of them flying around and above him.

“They talked?!” He thought surprised, starting to walk backwards slowly.

The crows apparently didn’t like that, because they became crazy, moving their wings frantically.

They started flying at him, and what he did? Run!.

The blond teenager started running straight into the forest, now being followed by the birds, and he can tell they don’t look or sound happy, just screaming ‘Come back baby kit’ or some shit.

Tommy doesn’t know what to do other than run, and that he does, run as fast as he can, hitting any crow that flies near him.

His mind is going ten per hour, not thinking about anything more than running away from the black birds.

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An exhausted sigh came out of his mouth, stopping to take a breath and watching behind himself to see if the crows were still following him, and it seemed they had lost interest in him.

“I really need to leave this place, if the birds are that agressive i don’t wanna see other animals.” He whispered slowly, anger clear in his voice.

He began walking again, now more wary about his surroundings.

While he walks, he sees blood everywhere, on the floor, in the trees, and hell! Even in the fucking water!.

And that when he sees it.

A fucking massive castle that in the top had a big crow's head, walls that were an old gray color, with a white and green flag with a heart in it.

What the fuck? . That is the only thing that crosses the blond boy's head.

Chapter Text

Tommy's eyes widened at the structure that was in front of him. Just his luck, just his fucking luck. Minutes ago he was being chased by crows, and now he was in front of a gigantic building that at the top had a crow's head, that was even bigger, if that was possible.

How low his luck can be?.

The blond boy wanted so badly to turn around and go back to the train station, but no one was there, and maybe, just maybe, in this place someone could help him and tell him where the nearest taxi station was.

"Think well Tom, this is an important thing," He thought to himself, trying to reassure himself, trying to keep his calm and relaxed state of mind and not erupt into a panic.

The blue eyed teen swallowed slightly, and began to take careful steps towards the castle made of cobblestone.

At least the person that lives, or lived, in there has good material block choices. 

A voice in his head was yelling at him to stop and sprint away, to not look back and try to find the taxi station himself. 

He ignored it, in favor of his pride and determination.

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The more he walked, the more he was regretting his life choices. 

On the way to the door, which was stupidly long, there were statues of crows, all of them with warnings written on them, all of them saying to back off while you had time.

It was beginning to make him feel something new, something he had only felt once.

Screams fall from his mouth, screaming a name with such desperation that you couldn't believe it.

There were also crows sitting near the two lakes of water around the castle. Luckily no one of them went after him.

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Here he is, face to face with the wood door of this intimidating place. He can feel his thin body shake, either from fear or from anticipation, well either one, he doesn't care, he just wants this to be over.

Brother will be so furious if he doesn't show up anytime soon.

Tommy lets out a sigh, letting his body relax. And then, he knocks at the wooden door. 

Each second that passes makes his body become more and more tense, while something inside his head tells him to run, to not look back, but, the temptation, the desperation, it's getting on him. Controlling him.

----

"Where do you think you're going?." A calm voice says behind him, along with a strong and hard grip at his shoulder.

Everything's so blurry. Nothing makes sense to him.

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Another sigh makes its way out of his lips. He really needs to stop thinking about the bad times and interactions with his brother, he was and is a good brother! It's just that his brain likes to make things up, and yes, maybe Dream could sometimes be a little too much, with his hard grips and harsh words, but that was something normal.

While Tommy is deep in his thoughts, the door opens slowly, making an awful cracking noise.

Tommy glances up, staring right into a really pretty main room, with a soft looking carpet and wooden stairs at the centre of the wall in front of the door, he could see from his place another two doors at the sides of the stairs.

Everything looked so normal and yet so fancy at the same time, that it was awfully domestic and welcoming, something only his brother could make him feel.

Something only his brother can make him feel. 

The blond teen swallows, taking one step forward, then another, and another, and another.

Then, sooner than later, he is inside of the castle, slightly away from the door. He is about to yell, to try to get the attention from whoever lives here.

But he is interrupted when the lights go off, making everything go into darkness.

Tommy let out a low whimper at that, it was a known fact between him and his brother that he hated the dark, always feeling small and scared when there wasn't any light near him. 

Fastly, the lights came again, and this time he wasn't alone.

Crows were everywhere, watching him with their little white eyes. 

Why the fucking hell there were so many crows?!. 

This has to be a fucking cult or some shit like that, there is no way so many crows could be in a fucking castle of all places. 

Wait.

It is possible to make a cow cult?.

No! This is not the moment to think about that! Not when he was surrounded by crows.

Tommy looked at the door, only to see it was closed, when did it close? And how not didn't even make a noise? Some magic trick?.

'Baby bird!'

'Chick! Chick!'

'Protect baby bird! Protect the chick!'

The black birds screamed, making him shrink into himself. How could they be this loud? No, more important, how they could even talk?.

One crow tries to make its way towards him, to end getting smacked in its head by another crow. 

Now all the crows were fighting against each other, screaming the same every time, 'protect chick' or some weird thing like that at, whatever that even meant, he wasn't interested, not when his main objective was to find someone.

Tommy huffed, moving his hands to his waist and walked away, in the most silent way possible, just to make sure no crow could hear him, but he was sure that with all their caw like yell, but still, everything can happen.

And today was the day of weird things apparently.

No crow saw him walk away, lucky for him, bad for them.

The teen explored the room with his baby blue eyes, until his eyes landed on a door at the side of the stairs, the same he saw from outside the door, and with careful steps he walked to it, trying to not make any noises, which was surprisingly successful.

The door was made of wood too, with a little paper sign that said ' Wise Room ', there were also various draws of hands, four pairs looking like they were from humans and one pair looking like they were from an animal, maybe a pig.

Tommy didn't know what to do, until now, all he had done ended in the wrong way, sleeping in the train, going inside the forest and now coming inside the crow castle, what promised this couldn't gone wrong too?.

Well, it never hurt to try, right?.

Chapter Text

At the moment he opens the door, he can see various bookshelves, all of them filled with books. The next thing he sees is a man, with raven hair and a large white shirt, along with a panda pin in his hair.

Now that he sees more, everything seems to have panda decorations, there is even a panda picture hanging on a wall.

Tommy takes a step forward and closes the door, looking at the man, he can tell he's strong, if his muscles are something to go by.

"Hello?." The blue eyed teen says, voice unsure and a little nervous.

The head of the stranger snaps up and black eyes stare back at him, eyes that have a weird sparkle in them, as if they were on fire or some shit.

"Oh! Hello! I didn't hear you enter, sorry about that." He said in a voice full of energy and gestured to him to walk closer.

Tommy walks more closer, now standing at the side of a little couch. 

"So, what brought you here?." The black haired man asks, looking at the blond with genuine curiosity.

"I wanted to ask where was a taxi station, but those crows don't let me fucking go." The younger answers, irritation clear in his voice. "And now that stupid door is locked." He added, not looking at the black eyes of the other.

"Oh, I see." The black eyed man said, with his hands together and under his chin. "I think I may know a way for you to get out, Blondie." He mentioned, voice relaxed and at the same time filled with joy. "There are seven floors, and you have to pass all of them, if you do it then you're done and you will be out of here, but be wary, there are some dangerous rooms." He said, the joy from before was gone, now replaced with a serious tone.

"O-oh, okay then." Tommy was nervous, even if he would never admit it, he was scared.

"And before I forget, my name's Sapnap, Blondie, and take this, to keep yourself safe from this hell of a place." 

Tommy was confused for a second, until a sword was dropped in his way, falling in his arms. It was heavy but easy to carry, two complete opposite things. The sword was made of iron, with the words "Sappy Nappy" written on it. Curious choice of words, but who is Tommy to judge? He literally named Linda a shovel and married her for fun.

Where was she? He doesn't know, he hadn't seen her since his brother wanted her help with something. Never saw her again, but Dream said she needed to be repaired so no problems.

"With this you can keep yourself safe, it would kill the crows for a period of time, not completely, but it will give you enough time to escape from them." Sapnap said, his eyes closed and a grin on his lips. "But be careful, those stupid birds are a pain in the ass, and really persistent." He added, frustration beginning to show in his voice.

The blond nodded, eyeing the weapon in his hands.

"Thanks man! Wow! This is fucking awesome!." The younger said excited, a big smile painted on his face, a smile that goes cheek to cheek.

Tommy may not see it because he was entranced by the sword, but the man's expression softened at his words, all that Sapnap could think was that this kid didn't end up trapped here, that he could go back to his home, to his family.

"Now kid, shoo, I need to feed my pandas." 

Tommy didn't question the black haired man, he himself has given food to the spiders in his house, feeding pandas shouldn't be too weird.

He walked out of the room, moving his eyes everywhere, landing lastly at the start of the stairs, where four crows, that were rather big to be natural, were standing, watching the front door with sharp glares, something he never thought he would see in a bird.

On the other side of the stairs is a door, he can't see it very well, but he's sure it's plain and made of dark oak.

He walked in front of the crows in the stairs, and before they could even say anything, he slaughtered them, letting his anger control him. Seeing dust where one the birds were. It was oddly satisfying, after being chased by them and trapped in this weird place, killing them was something that made his entire body shake with happiness.

Even if he hated hurting any animal, this made him happy, in a way only his brother did.

The blond let out a shaky sigh, his eyes locked on the ground, only watching the dull gray dust dirty it, some even in his uniform.

"This feeling…." He couldn't believe it, something other than his brother made him happy, something that he promised would never happen, but here he is, letting his emotional side take the better of him. "This is so wrong, but so right at the same time." He whispered, moving his free hand to his chest, right where his heart is, it was beating fastly.

Tommy let out another sigh, walking to the door.

He never noticed the bright yellow eyes watching him from the paintings that were on the wall, never noticed how those eyes followed his every move.

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His bright yellow eyes watched with amusement and fondness how the little blond boy killed the crows. Letting out quiet praises at him, muttering how he shouldn't have to defend himself soon, that he'd have people to do it for him.

The young boy, his soon to be personal sunshine, was so perfect, with his soft golden blond hair, that surely could make his brother lost to his instincts, his bright baby blue eyes that surely could control anyone who looked at them, and his youthful face, making him look like a runt, younger than he should be.

The boy could be so small compared to them. So small and frail compared to his or his family forms. He could be so easy to keep in place, so easy to follow and trap him if he tried to escape.

His sunshine was perfect. Even with his angry face — that looked more like a pout —, he promised they could make him smile all day and night.