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Eye of a spider. Slimeball. Bat’s wing . The recipe is easy to remember, every addition bubbling the potion and melting the hue into shades of red. The soft simmering noise is soothing, easing attention in Shubble’s shoulders, accumulated throughout the day. On the table next to the cauldron, Tortoise croaks lazily, his bulging eyes observing Shubble as she works.
From the floor below a loud knocking comes—brushing her hands on her apron, Shubble calls out, “just a minute!” The flame is smothered with a flick of her wand—the cauldron pours its contents into a large glass bottle, which sets itself back down.
Then she pats Tortoise on his slimy head before hopping down the stairs, opening her front door.
“Oh, hi Gem!” Shubble greets, a little surprised by the visit, though she doesn’t show it. “Come on in!”
Gem acknowledges the invite with a nod, stepping into Shubble’s quaint home. “I love what you’ve done with the place,” she teases, elbowing her friend.
“Oh, thanks,” Shubble grins. She falls down onto one of the plush purple arm chairs surrounding her fireplace. “Well? What brings you around here so soon?”
Gem smiles, then rummages in her satchel, slung across her shoulder and embroidered with bundles of beautiful flowers. Then she brandishes a thin envelope. “Tommy couldn’t wait.”
“He is stubborn,” Shubble giggles, reaching for the note.
“Ah, ah, ah!” Gem tuts. She holds the envelope up. “I have been asked to deliver a verbal message as well.” When Shubble sighs dramatically and leans back in the chair, the elf continues. “He has an idea—he wrote about it, in the letter—but he wants you to know that it’s fine if you don’t like it.”
“Foreboding,” Shubble jokes. She finally gets the note, and quickly unfolds it.
To the one and only Shubster, it begins.
You are so lucky. I want to go to MCC so badly, but stupid Xisuma says I’m ‘too young’ and ‘too traumatized’. I would like to inform you that that is lies and slander, and Xisuma is a bitch. I am a big man! While you’re reading this, tell Gem I deserve to be in MCC because I am insanely talented and buff. Even though you’ve never met me, I promise I am so incredibly buff. Tubbo has nothing on me.
Speaking of which—well, no, not about Tubbo, the meeting you thing—I. Uh. Have been talking with Gem. You know how I made a fancy portal to my home world? (Yes, I am so powerful.) I kind of want to do it… to Empires too? If you don’t want that, that's totally chill. If so PLEASE let me put the portal in your base. PLEASE. Gem has told me horrific tales of your server, and I am afraid of everyone but you and Gem. Well. No, I’m a big man and am never afraid but it would be cool and based if the portal was near you.
Signed, the Biggest Man,
Tommy
Shubble snickers, then smiles widely and looks up at Gem. “Of course we can connect the worlds here!”
Gem visibly relaxes. “I was hoping you’d say that,” she whispers. Then her eyes widen. “Oh, no.”
“What?”
“Hermitcraft and Empires joining together?” Gem shakes her head fondly. “That’ll be a nightmare .”
“Tommy will love the chaos,” Shubble grins.
“And you’ll get to meet him!”
“Oh.” Shubble hides her face in her hands. “Oh gosh, how much taller than me is he?”
Gem cackles. “ So much taller!” When the witch groans dramatically, the elf pumps her fist in the air. “Finally, someone else who will know my pain!”
Shubble laughs, and despite her trepidation at meeting her penpal, she can’t wait to meet her best friend’s notorious little brother.
~~~~~
Look. Tommy is a big man. The biggest . Nothing scares him.
Except maybe Gem first thing in the morning.
But besides that, he is a brave strong buff man who is afraid of nothing.
But he is a little nervous.
He’s not worried about the portal–he’s done it before, after all, and these days his magic flows so freely in his veins that portals like that are child’s play.
No, he’s not worried about the portal. It’s what's on the other side that makes his stomach tighten anxiously.
It-it’s like meeting your friend’s family. Except Gem is his sister, and Shubble is only a small part of her huge other family in Empires–but the idea is the same. Tommy doesn’t want Shubble to not like him. ‘Cause, y’know, portals to another world are permanent. And Tommy is determined not to mess things up.
Besides, he also needs a bit of chaos in his life, since even after hours and hours of begging, Xisuma was unrelenting and refused to let Tommy sign up for MCC. Yeah, he’s a bit pissed, but he begrudgingly understands where the Admin is coming from.
He inhales slowly, hands unconsciously pressed to his chest, where, under his shirt, is the scar from Dream’s arrow. Some days it still aches with phantom pain–Doc says it hurts more when he’s anxious or stressed.
“You need to chill , Tommy,” Gem teases right on cue, poking her brother’s side. He wrinkles his nose back at her. The two are standing in front of the portal in one of Gem’s empty towers–the one adjacent to his own. Well, until now it was empty. Currently a large, glowing red portal is set into one of the walls, and already a bit of the other side is creeping into the room. A few mangrove roots are curling around the base of the obsidian, and Tommy swears he saw a frog flicker in the portal a moment earlier.
“I’m just…” Tommy trails off, eyeing the shimmering red barrier with apprehension. He’s… not ready to go in yet.
“Nervous,” Gem finishes, smiling in understanding.
Tommy exhales. “What if they don’t like me?”
Gem turns to fully look at him. “Tommy,” she scolds fondly. “You’re an awesome kid.”
“Not a kid,” Tommy grumbles half-heartedly.
“Mhm,” Gem agrees, albeit a little teasingly. Then she shrugs. “Plus, you’re my brother. If they don’t like you I’ll steal their pets.”
Tommy sputters. “ Gem! ”
Gem snickers. Then she steps a little closer to the portal, offering a hand. “Come on, kiddo.”
Tommy doesn’t protest at the nickname–he’ll never admit this, but he loves it. It makes him feel warm and safe and protected.
He ruffles his dark wings one more time before taking Gem’s hand, exhaling slowly, and stepping into the portal.
The sensation is like stepping into a sheet of warm water–Tommy’s mind ripples and his magic shudders before he’s spit out unceremoniously onto muddy ground.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” a voice says, higher pitched than Tommy expected. “I forgot about the mud–”
Tommy jumps to his feet. Standing a couple feet away is a witch Tommy immediately knows is Shubble.
She’s short– really short, like two heads shorter than him, with a pointed witch hat shoved on her dark, waist-length hair. Her dress is sage, the same color as the thick mangrove leaves of the swamp surrounding them. Tommy’s only frozen for a moment before he runs forward and throws his arms around the witch.
“Oh!” Shubble says, surprised, before hugging him back. “Hello, Tommy!”
“Shubster!” Tommy cheers, laughing and letting go of her. “You’re so tiny!”
Gem cackles, and Shubble blushes a furious shade of red. “I’m not that short,” she grumbles, though a smile dances on her lips.
“You are ,” Gem giggles. “Oh my god–you’re miniscule next to him!”
“Oh, shut it.” Shubble thwacks Gem with her broom, but it does nothing to stop Gem’s delighted laughs.
A guttural croak sounds from behind Tommy and he spins, crouching down to look at the fat frog sitting on the mud.
“You must be Tortoise,” he greets, petting the slimy amphibian’s head.
“As you can tell,” Shubble declares proudly, “he is a gentleman.”
“Of course,” Tommy laughs.
A second passes, then the witch gasps. “Holy mushroom, your wings are huge!”
“You just noticed?” Gem snickers.
“I was paying attention to his face, Gem, it’s what a polite person does,” Shubble scolds teasingly. Then she reaches a hand towards Tommy’s wing before retracting, a sheepish look on her face.
“You can touch ‘em, I don’t mind,” Tommy smiles, still holding Tortoise in his hands.
Shubble reaches out, brushing her hand across his primaries, and her eyes sparkle with wonder. “We don’t have any avians in Empires,” she explains excitedly.
“Well, I’m not a natural avian,” Tommy smiles.
The witch tilts her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Just then, Tommy feels a droplet of rain splat on his forehead. He looks up at the darkening sky just as it begins to rain.
“Let’s continue this conversation inside ,” Gem ushers, shuddering as rain hits her fragile butterfly wings. “I hate rain,” she adds in a mutter.
“Okay!” Shubble says cheerfully. “I have tea!”
Tommy gasps. “Shubble, you are my new favorite person.”
Shubble giggles, heading inside, and Gem pauses Tommy in the doorway, leaning down to whisper, “I told you she’d like you.”
Tommy huffs dramatically. He’ll admit Gem was right later–now, though, he has tea to try, people to meet, and a whole other world to explore.