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It was pretty routine for Tubbo to get nightmares. I mean who didn’t on this prime forsaken server? It was common to see dark circles under someone's eyes or to hear someone wake up panicking. There was no exception with Tubbo as he jumped awake from yet another retelling of Manberg, the execution, Pogtopia, the 16th, doomsday, Tommy’s death. When he woke up, he was in a cold sweat, breathing hard, with his scars feeling like they were burning once again.
He composed himself and looked around the room. The nightlight was on, making the roof look like the night sky, and giving the room a purple tint. The room itself was decently sized but cozy at the same time, toys all over the floor and drawings hanging from the walls. A small white duck plushie was nestled in the arms of Michael, Tubbo and Ranboo’s adopted piglin son. Ranboo said he was busy and was away for a few days, probably helping around Techno’s house, otherwise he’d typically be there to distract or help calm him down. A sigh filled the air as Tubbo managed to relax. In through the nose, hold, then out through the mouth.
I should get some food or something, I’m a little hungry, he thought, feeling restless.
The floor creaked as he got up, careful to not disturb the sleeping pigman on the other side of the room. He climbed down the ladder and rummaged through the cabinets. Getting himself a cookie that was left over from some baking he and Micheal had done last night, he leaned against the counter, then pulled out his communicator and joined the chat.
Tubbo_: Anyone up?
Ponk: No
Ranboo: hello!
Tubbo saw that Ranboo was online and instantly went to message him privately.
Tubbo_: hey boss man do you know when your coming home?
Ranboo: probably sometime today, phil and techno needed help cleaning up and making space for wilbur to surprise him since hes off doing whatever he does. His room was a huge mess
Tubbo_: lets do something today, lets take tommy and micheal and go hiking or explore places no ones been before
Ranboo: did you have a nightmare again?
Tubbo_: uhhhh
Tubbo_: maybe
Ranboo: im on my way, we can leave almost immediately if you want. We can get tommy on the way but hes not gonna be happy about getting up so early to go trudging on some adventure
Tubbo_: he will if it’s me, ty boo, see you soon
Ranboo: o/
Tubbo packed some supplies for hiking and a picnic. He wanted to go hiking out in the spruce woods near Pogtopia. It’s easy to get to but at the same time in the wilderness, where he could relax with his family without worrying. The floor creaked as he went back up to Michael’s room and slowly shook him awake.
“Hey little dude.” Tubbo whispered gently. Micheal perked up his ears sleepily and yawned.
Most of the time, Michael decided not to talk. He could understand Tubbo and Ranboo just fine, or as best as a 4 year old can. The way he usually communicated what he wanted was through gestures or even little bits of sign language, which Tubbo and Ranboo had started to get books about for him.
Ranboo was there in about 15 minutes, which probably set some kind of record considering the walk from his place, through the nether, and to Snowchester usually took about an hour.
“Hey bossman!” Tubbo said. Holding his hand was Micheal, energized and ready to go run around the SMP like it would be a light jog. Micheal was layered with 2 pairs of everything like it was the north pole, piglins are more sensitive to the cold since they’re from the nether. Tubbo was part ram, so the cold was more or less bearable, but he wore a brown jacket anyway.
“Hello!” Ranboo replied, “You guys ready to go?”
Micheal nodded excitedly and started to walk to the Snowchester Tunnel.
“Yep! Let’s get the heck outta here.” Tubbo answered. He handed Ranboo his jacket and a picnic basket to carry, then they set off after the little piglin. The stars were still out and constellations ruled the sky as they trudged through the early november snowfall. The prison seemed quiet and ominous in the distance, but Tubbo wasn’t worried nearly as much as he would’ve been, it had been months since much had happened. So he wasn’t worried as they walked on top of the Snowchester tunnel to get to the main part of the SMP, hopped down, then walked to Tommy’s house and knock on his door. After a few moments there was some rustling on the other side and some complaining groans.
“Ello??” Tommy shouted through the door “Who’s there?”
“Just us, big man!” Tubbo called through the door. The door cracked, and then opened all the way. There stood Tommy, who was wearing his red and white shirt, looking like he just woke up.
“Bloody hell, do you know what fuckin time it is??” Tommy complained “It’s fucking cold as hell out here, there’s fucking snow on the ground”
Ranboo covered Micheals ears, who stood there obliviously with a grin on his face.
“We thought you’d like to come on a hike with us, we were kind of hoping to just get out of the SMP for a bit” Tubbo said. “There’s a really good spot past Pogtopia that Ranboo found the other day with Techno.”
“It’s bloody 5am innit??”
“And??”
Tommy let out a sigh of resignation. “Fine, I couldn’t sleep much anyway either.” he turned around and went inside for a moment, then came back outside sporting a blue jacket and his green bandana. A bag was tucked under his arm and he patted it. “Cookies from Puffy.”
“Oh great! You might want to keep them out of arm's reach of Micheal though.” Ranboo said.
“Why’s that?” Tommy inquired, then he looked at the little piglin. Micheal was staring at the cookies and his mouth was watering, his one eye wide with greed. “Nevermind.”
“We made some for the first time last night, and he’s completely obsessed.” Tubbo explained
They set off past Eret’s museum, making sure to make a wide arc around the crater that had been L’manburg, eventually passing Karl’s Halloween Mansion. The sky was turning lighter as the sun began to rise, and the air was thick with the smell of spruce. Tubbo was in his element as he took a deep breath in, he wanted to run into the brush and not stop for anything. They were past Pogtopia at this point, his past was behind him.
“Go ahead.” Ranboo said, picking up Micheal, who had been “sneakily” eating sweet berries, who’s bushes dotted the forest. “I can tell you and Tommy are itching to run ahead. I’ve got Micheal and the food. Go.”
Tubbo hesitated and shot Tommy a look of inquiry, who smiled mischievously and tapped Tubbo on the shoulder quickly.
“Tag!” Tommy yelled, shooting off into the spruce forest.
“Oi! Get back here you prick!” Tubbo took off after him. They chased each other, the snow crunching beneath their feet. Cold pine air nipped at Tubbos nose and burned his lungs, his hooves drummed along the forest floor.
He was free.
Tubbo ran out from behind some shrubbery and was faced with a small cliff, it was about 20 feet tall, and Tommy was attempting to climb the rocky outcrop, already about 10 feet up. But Tubbo was twice as fast when it came to cliffs. He put his hoof on a part of the rock that was sticking out, climbed a few feet, then leaped after Tommy, managing to tap his foot. The ground was soft with moss as he fell and rolled to catch his fall.
“Tag!” Tubbo cried.
“Not fair! You’re a whole ass fuckin goat.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m more graceful.” Tubbo responded teasingly, out of breath. Tiny pebbles fell as Tommy picked his way down the small cliff, not clumsily, but not as graceful as Tubbo either. After a few moments, the tall lanky figure of Ranboo appeared from behind the trees, carrying Micheal, who had gotten his hooves on a cookie. The sky was lightening more and more, you could barely see the stars.
“It’s this way. Just a mile or so” Ranboo told them, pointing in the direction they had been going. He put Micheal down, who immediately ran to Tubbo and hugged his legs.
“Lead the way then, bossman” Tommy said. They walked in a straight line for another 15 minutes, Tubbo holding Micheals hooved hand to his own, talking with Tommy and Ranboo until they reached a field overlooking a gorgeous valley, The sky was gold from the sun like it had been touched by King Midas himself, clouds with silver linings marked the sky. Snow was occasionally dotting the scenery in white, whilst a crystal clear river ran through the middle.
“The hill starts to go down but it’s not steep at all and it actually leads to the river, so it would be hard for Micheal to get hurt.” Ranboo told them. Then he turned to Tommy. “Can you play with Micheal while we set up camp?”
“Sure!” Tommy said, “Hop on!” he told Micheal. The piglin leaps on his back, and then Tommy starts to spin around and take huge steps, both of them start shrieking in delight. Ranboo and Tubbo put down a large blanket, then started setting up the food. Grilled cheese, PBandJ, hot chocolate and tea in a thermice, chips, and more. It was a freezing cold morning, but they all had gloves, jackets, and Ranboo had even borrowed some blankets from Techno’s. The sun had risen now and the sky was a brilliant gold, and the sun’s rays also helped keep them warm. Tubbo bathed in it’s golden light.
They had brought a drawing pad for Micheal whilst they talked. When they got bored of talking and Micheal got bored of drawing, they played tag, then hide and seek, then red light green light, to which Micheal won almost all of them. When they were tired, they lounged by their picnic blanket with lunch, Tommy took a nap, whilst Ranboo and Tubbo read to Micheal, who was trying to sign back words to them such as “Dog” or “Pencil”. It was slightly confusing, but he was learning more and more every day. Maybe I could talk to Techno and ask him to teach Micheal some native piglin tongue. Tubbo thought. The thought of being around Techno made him anxious, but he’d cross that bridge when they got to it.
The sun climbed in the sky as the day went on, and the telltale sign for them to go home was when Micheal started yawning. Ranboo held him while Tubbo and Tommy packed up, and then they made the trek home.
After they reached a familiar river, Tubbo stopped.
“You coming boss man?” Tommy asked.
“I’ll be along in a bit, I need to do something first.” Tubbo responded, lost in thought and memory.
“Okay Tubbo, let us know if you need anything” Ranboo said. It was rare that the trio actually said each other's names. It was always “big man” or “boss man” or “bitch boy.” (Tommy came up with that one).
Ranboo bumped his head against Tubbo’s gently, and then Tommy did the same. Ever since they found out it's how Tubbo showed affection, they had begun to copy him. Tubbo felt a little bump on his leg and look to see Micheal bumping his leg, so he kneeled down and gently bumped Micheals head to his own.
The two boys and the child disappeared into the undergrowth, and Tubbo began to pick his way up the river, bushes and water plants slowing his progress. Eventually he hit a familiar embankment and then he found it, the hole that went into Pogtopia. It smelled musty, and the air was caked with dust as Tubbo made his way down. The lanterns had long since burned out, and the potatoes had rotted, but otherwise not much had changed. He put his hand on the cool ravine wall.
Tubbo’s heart ached for simpler times, when he could sneak down here as a spy for Pogtopia and mess around with Tommy. Or even further back, L’manburg. There was a safety in the numbers that L’manburg offered, they didn’t have to worry about Dream or anything else. The safety of his friends, Niki, Jack, Fundy, Wilbur. Even Eret, who he caught a few times sneaking into L’manburg to hang out with Niki or Jack, or even Fundy. Mostly everyone had forgiven Eret at that point except for Wilbur and Tommy.
The air filled with a sigh as Tubbo reminisced. Such bittersweet memories. So much pain and trauma. So much time he spent avoiding talking about it and holding it in. Sleepless nights and panic attacks. A sword. A flash. A boom.
Tubbo left Pogtopia and sealed it behind him. Leaving the memories locked behind rock and dust. He looked at it one more time, then turned his back and began to walk home.
Epilouge
It had been two weeks since their trip to the valley. Tubbo was finishing cleaning up Micheals room, preparing for his safe return by Eret, the duck plushie was by his pillow on the bed.
Now, where is Ranboo?? Tubbo thought as he finished up. It had been over a day, and he promised to help with Micheals room. The communicator rang as he called the enderman hybrid. No response.
Odd
He walked outside, his hooves crunching in the snow. Christmas decorations in boxes on the front porch.
Then he saw him.
Techno.
Blood on his cloak, breathing heavily, white mist from his mouth like a dragon breathing fire.
Carrying a picture in his arms.
Tubbo put his hand on the handle of his sword, prepared to have to defend himself.
Techno got closer and closer to Tubbo, a distraught look on his face with tear marks. The piglin usually tried to remain stoic, but he made no attempt to hide his emotion.
He was standing right in front of him when the piglin finally stopped. Then dropped to his knees.
“I’m sorry Tubbo. I’m so sorry” he said, his voice heavy.
And then he knew.