Chapter Text
Every breath hurt. His chest felt as though it was exploding. Tommy knew that it was from the broken ribs, it didn’t take an expert to figure that out. The cold air that he was breathing in could not be helping his current predicament. Tommy was lucky that he wasn’t looking for him. Tommy would be as good as dead if Dream had figured it out.
‘ – no. Dream wouldn’t hurt him. Dream just helped him…he was a friend.’
…but he had hurt Tommy. He could feel it in every step. After he found the chests and … the pictures, Dream just exploded. Literally.
Dream covered Logstedshire in TNT. Of course, only after beating Tommy to the brink of consciousness. Part of him wishes he had been unconscious for what happened next. He had been through wars…but the noise, the way the ground shook, the blinding heat — he shivered at the thought of it. Or, he was shivering from the cold.
‘Just a little more,’ he thought to himself.
In the distance, he could see smoke emerging from a small cottage. A small smile emerged across his face as he urged his legs to keep going.
He could hear the distant noise of a horse… Tommy remembered Techno talking about a Carl once – back in those days. Those cold, lonely days in Pogtopia. Atleast, Wilbur had been there – even if back then, Tommy wished he wasn’t there.
He finally approached the stables out front. Slowly, he moved his hand to touch the horse. Tommy had always been careful around animals. At times, they were the only ones to understand him. Tommy had witnessed quite a few animals being treated like they were too much and cast aside. It used to scare him. ‘If they could do that to them, how long until they did it to me?’ Unfortunately for Tommy, it did not take long for that question to be answered.
Tommy’s smile grew as Carl pushed his head into Tommy’s hand. It had been a long time since he had been able to pet an animal. Of course, Tommy didn’t really think it was his fault. No, that responsibility for that one had fallen on…Dream.
‘Shit!’ his mind filled with memories of his porcelain mask. ‘He is going to be so pissed once he realizes I left.’
Tommy could feel his hands begin to shake as he imagined what Dream would do to him. Part of him believed that he would make good on that promise to cut his legs off. ‘No,’ his mind grappled. ‘That was ridiculous, Dream was his friend.’ Dream was the only one to visit him. He came to his party. Dream tolerated him – at least, he did. But that was before. Before he had hidden chests and ran away.
Tommy could feel his legs crumple under him. ‘I am so stupid,’ he thought. His breathing quickened, and the pain in his chest grew tenfold. ‘Why couldn’t he be good?’ Tears leaked from his eyes from that final thought as the darkness consumed his vision.
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Techno was not in the mood. He had to use his FIRST EVER Totem of Undying. It was all because of his stupid brother’s old friends. At least, he assumed they were old friends. He hadn’t really been keeping up with Tommy's current relationships.
Fuck, he hadn’t been keeping up with Tommy at all. Why would he? Tommy and Wilbur had just been using him. Like everyone else on this server, he was just a weapon for them.
“YAY, WEAPON BLADE!” “ABOUT TIME HE REALIZES IT, NOW WE CAN DO SOMETHING FUN.” “NO MORE RETIREMENT!” The voices had been relentless since his near escape.
They demanded blood, and Techno was susceptible to peer pressure.
Techno’s legs were tired from the running, then jogging, then speed-walking. He would have taken a horse, but he had a feeling that something would happen. Thank goodness he was correct or else Carl could have gotten hurt. Well…maybe Techno should have been more hopeful for being incorrect.
Whatever, it didn’t matter. Techno was going to get revenge. As soon as he got home, he would embark on a lot of planning.
“BOO! PLANNING IS BOORING.” “BORINGBLADE!” “ANARCHY REQUIRES NO PLANS!” “JUST USE THE WITHERS!”
Techno winced at the loud emergence of voices. Of course he was going to use the withers, but he still needed planning.
Techno shook himself away from his thoughts and looked up at his home. His eyes continued to scan his house and he felt a growing feeling of ease. ‘Good,’ he thought. ‘Nothing has been touched.’ Right now, all he wanted to do was just go to sleep, but he needed to check on his horse.
He walked over towards the side of his house where the stables were. As he approached, he could hear Carl whining as though he was upset. ‘Fuck! What if they got him after all?’ He ran towards his horse and almost tripped on a small figure in front of Carl.
Techno bent down to look at the figure, and it immediately became obvious that it was a person – an extremely malnourished person. Techno’s eyes lingered on the blue and black bruises that covered the pale skin. Then he took notice of the hair on the person. It was dirty and matted. There was also a slight red-orange tint that reminded Techno of dried blood. Yet, underneath it all, he could identify a slight blondish lock.
He knew that hair was everywhere, this was his baby brother. Techno immediately turned over the body before him. There he was. Despite Tommy’s abnormally pale skin, there was a slight pink tint to his cheeks, possibly due to a fever. Techno could also identify the purple handprint on his brother’s neck, but he was so desperately trying to ignore it because he couldn’t afford to be angry right now.
Techno hesitantly placed his hand on his brother's chest and was relieved when he could feel the rough rhythm of his brother’s breath. ‘Great,’ he thought. ‘Now I have to choose between saving my brother or leaving him.’
“BROTHERBLADE!” “LEAVE HIM TO THE WOLVES!” “SET WITHERS ON DREAM!”
As usual, the voices provided no guidance. There were also quite a few voices that were calling for Dream’s blood. Techno tried to reason why, as Dream had been the one to help him. Hell, he owed Dream a favor. Yet, Techno remembered hearing about Dream being responsible for monitoring Tommy. ‘Had he done this?’
Techno moved to get a closer look at his brother. Tommy seemed to realize he was being watched and a small whimper escaped his lips. The noise reminded Techno of Tommy’s cries from when he was a baby. He was quite an annoying baby, yet Techno would have done anything for him. He would have done anything for both of them.
Techno let out a slight sigh before moving to cradle Tommy in his arms. He would take care of him, for now. His plans for sleep would have to wait. Techno looked down at the small figure and his arms. He tried to ignore the slight similarities between the face before him and the one he would see in the mirror each morning.
“You better not get too comfortable,” he grumbled. “I am only letting you stay because your my brother, but after you heal…”