Chapter Text
Light filtered through the clearing, and as the leaves of the trees shifted in the breeze, a sunbeam blinds the young blond laying on the forest floor.
"Shit" Tommy lifts his hand in an attempt to shield his eyes against the offending sunbeam. As the light shifts with the wind, he lets his arm fall back to the ground. The ground beneath him feels soft with moss and the air is crisp and fresh, not dank and still as Pogtopia always felt. The wind gently flitting through the leaves is a constant reminder that he is not in that crevasse, but in the open, and free. The sun soaks into him as if it was always a part of him, just finally coming back home. It is more than enough to forgive the root beneath his shoulder. The world feels warm and right for the first time since …
He and Wilbur had been exiled.
Sitting up fast enough that his head spins, his heart immediately threatens to escape his chest. He needs to move. He and Wilbur had been exiled, and every member of Manberg was hunting for them. He needs to stay on the move to stay safe. He needs to stay out of sight until he can get back to Pogtopia. He needs to get back and convince Wilbur that L'manberg was still worth saving.
Springing to his feet, he starts picking his way through the forest trying to find his way back. As he focuses on finding an easy way through the thicket, his mind races trying to remember exactly how he got to that clearing. He didn't remember walking there, or falling asleep. But it didn't matter. He needed to get back to Wilbur.
That thought spurred his speed, and he pushed through the undergrowth. He had to get back. Wilbur needed him, needed someone to bring him back to reality. To ground him. To remind him that they weren’t alone, they could rely on their friends. That they could still save their nation. He just needed to convince Wilbur of that. His feet started to hurt as he pushed himself faster and faster through the forest, until he was running as fast as his feet could take him, panic rising in his throat. And it grew as he pushed on, not finding anything that he recognized, no buildings, no paths, not even trails, nothing he recognized. There had to be something, how could he have gotten this lost. What if he was actually lost. What if he never got back. Phantom explosions rang in his ears, as thoughts of L’manberg once again shattering with the force of TNT, flooded his mind. However, this time rather than Dream and his lackeys laughing and celebrating, it was Wilbur cackling with insanity.
Tommy fell.
One moment there was ground beneath his feet, the next there wasn't. His hands reached behind him on sheer instinct, grabbing for anything that could slow his descent. Leaves slipped through his hands, but there were more solid branches beneath, the thorns digging into his palms. The pain made him wince, but the branches held. Better the thorns than falling to his death off the cliff he found himself dangling over. His feet scrambled for purchase as the branches bent under his weight. An eternity later, or maybe only a few moments, he was able to get enough of a grip on the sheer rock face to pull himself back to safety.
“Damn, that was a close one.” He breathed out, nervously chuckling, and trying to calm his racing heart. The adrenaline coursing through his veins was enough to keep him grounded, and give him a chance to take his first good look around. Below him was a river fork flowing along a cut in the landscape, separating the forest he was currently in from plains on the next hill over. Just off to the left, sitting on the crest of the riverbank on the opposite side, was a ruined nether portal, with its chest and gold still intact. And just beyond that, cutting a perfectly straight line across the plain, was a translucent blue barrier.
"Is … is that a world barrier? But how? Dream may be a prick, but he isn't that fucked. Right? But then…"
This isn’t the SMP.
The realization hit Tommy like a brick, pushing the wind out of his lungs in a shaky exhale. The calm, peaceful atmosphere, the unrecognizable landscape, the untouched portal. This was not the DreamSMP.
He quickly opened his inventory to grab his shield and a weapon, but found his inventory empty. He froze, mind a mass of fried neurons trying to grapple with the entirety of the situation. How? How could this happen? Where was he? Was Tubbo alright? Question after question racing through his mind as he started to hyperventilate. What would happen to his world without him? Could he even get back? Would anyone even miss him?
Ping. His communicator beeped. With shaking hands he ripped his communicator out of his pocket. Was it Tubbo? Was it Wilbur? Or was it someone else on this server who found themselves just as stranded as he did? He opened the screen, expecting anything at this point.
Welcome to Last Life SMP
This is a hardcore server in which every person is randomly assigned between 2 and 6 lives. Those with 4 or more lives will have their name displayed in dark green. Those who have three will have a light green name. Those with two have a yellow name, and those with one life remaining will have a red name. Once a person has only one life remaining, they will become hostile. Once you lose your last life, you are dead.
Tommy was not expecting that. The message was not addressed as if it were sent by anyone. Could this be a prank? How could a message be sent from no one? His communicator beeps again as a second message is sent, however Tommy barely even notices as he checks the list of active members on the server, and is surprised at the sheer number of names. And he recognizes every one of them. Everyone is here. A third message pings as his eyes jump to a familiar place in the list, and immediately loses some tension when he sees Tubbo’s name.
You whisper to Tubbo_: Where are you?
He hesitated for a moment. That was clingy.
You whisper to Tubbo_: Not like I am concerned or anything.
Somehow that was worse. But if he knew that Tubbo was ok, that would be enough for the moment.
Tubbo_ whispered to you: I'm not exactly sure, big man. Somewhere on a mountain.
Tommy looked around. He couldn't see any mountains from where he was, but judging by the time, the sun, and the border in front of him, he was about as far east as you could go.
You whisper to Tubbo_: Start heading east. We’ll meet up.
Tubbo_ whispered to you: On my way.
Tommy backed out of their conversation, and started to message Wilbur, when something rustled in the trees to his left. Tommy stashed the communicator, and reached for a weapon that wasn’t there. Realizing this, he turned himself toward the sound and backed himself to the cliff’s edge so that he could jump into the river below, if he needed to escape.
“Tommy?”
He would recognize Techno’s voice anywhere. “Techno!” He called back, as the familiar pink pig strode out of the bushes as if they weren't even there. Finally, a familiar face. The rest of the server couldn't touch him now. Not when The Blade was here.
“... You look like you fought a forest and lost.” Techno deadpanned.
Tommy laughed a stressed laugh, that only a man who had recently been on the verge of a panic attack could. “Yeah, it fought, but I won, bitch.” He yelled that last bit back at the trail of broken bushes and branches he left in his wake.
“Uh huh.” Techno still looked skeptical.
“I did!”
“Sure you did.” Techno continued on even as Tommy shouted his assurances that he did in fact win against the forest. “In any case, now’s not the time to be debating who won what. We need to gather resources, and fast.” That makes Tommy pause.
He shakes his head slightly, then more vigorously “No. No, no, no, we should go meet up with the rest of Pogtopia first. We need to plan our next moves. We'll be stronger together - ”
“Tommy.” Techno interrupted, “We need supplies first. Do you see the barrier there?” Techno gestured to the unnatural blue wall just beyond the river fork. “That means that there are a limited amount of resources available. That means that everyone is forced into a limited area together. We need to get as much as we can and get ourselves set up." With that he turns to start breaking the tree behind him. Over his shoulder he finishes, "We can find everyone else tomorrow after we have supplies and a place to sleep the night.”
Tommy scoffs, "I know what a world barrier is Technoblade, and I know what it means. But resources can wait. We need to find everyone else," with this he starts to pull his communicator out, with the intent of messaging Wilbur, "then we can all work together to get more resources."
Techno pauses just long enough to give Tommy an incredulous look, then moves onto the next tree with his new wooden axe. "You wanna just walk in among everyone without any gear or food. And if both of us have our memories, that means everyone else does too. You want to meet up unarmed and unguarded with people who probably still consider us enemies? No. We stay here we grind and get gear, then find everyone else." At this point, Techno has moved to mining a part of the cliff for stone, and Tommy has to move out of his way to make sure he doesn't fall off.
"Techno, come on, no one else is gonna have any stuff!” Tommy gestures with his communicator in hand for emphasis. “Plus everyone's got at least two lives. No one's gonna start shit."
"The others aren't the only threat out there." Techno cuts him off. Then with a sigh he pauses in his grind to look Tommy dead in the eyes. "Tommy, if we don't get somewhere to hunker down by nightfall, the mobs could easily kill us, not to mention dying of starvation before we find anyone else." Techno pauses before his demeanor darkens, "Two lives can quickly become one."
Tommy blinks for a moment, staring at Techno before his mind realizes Techno has a yellow name.
Techno has a yellow name.
Tommy almost drops the communicator as he opens it to check the list of names, his eyes once again darting to where Tubbo's is listed.
It’s dark green.
Tommy almost slumps with relief at the realization, Tubbo would be fine. He faintly registers that he has a light green name. His skin prickles as a slight wave of annoyance passes over him. Tubbo got more lives than he did. That’s not fair. Though it was quickly tempered by the sheer amount of relief flooding over him.
"Well, you gonna help? There's only so much sunlight." Techno calls.
"Yeah, yeah, one moment. Just tellin Tubbo and Will where we are.” He then flips over to Wilbur and messages him their approximate location.
Techno grunts, as he starts clearing an area in the forest for a small shack. “Yeah, they should be trustworthy enough.”
“Wh - of course they are.” Tommy sputters as he puts away the communicator. “It's Wilbur and Tubbo.” He puts emphasis on each name as if their names were explanation enough. Then, heaving a sigh he walks over to Techno. “We can get set up here, but we are finding the others as soon as we have enough gear to keep us alive. Deal?”
Techno rolls his eyes and hands him a stack of planks, “Only if you start buildin.”
Tommy’s eyes sparkle as he takes the planks. “Nothing too chaotic, Tommy. We need to actually live in this thing.” Tommy wilts a little at this, but he determinedly starts to set out the outline of their soon to be shack, as techno set out with his pick for the ruined portal. Soon they would have safety, then they could find the others.