Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I GOT IT TUBBO GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” Tommy shrieked as he slipped on the shiny marble, cursing the pretentious fucks who needed every surface as slippery as the ice that surrounded them. Something wizzed past his head and he ducked… almost running into another wall. This time he ran up it, pushing off of it and flipping over the heads of some very surprised guards. Something gold started slipping from his pocket and he reached out for the gold ring, catching it before sticking the landing and taking off running again. “I kinda need an out Tubbo! Right now, preferably!” He whispered this time, panting as he skidded to a stop in a small closet and waited for the guards to run past his hiding place. 

He heard a sigh in his head, “Patience is a virtue Tommy, maybe you should learn it. Now give me a fucking second, you’ve made so much confusion it’s hard to make a good route.” 

Tommy crouched further into the shadows as another search party filtered past. “Aren’t there any vents or secret passages or anything?” He whispered insistently. He fidgeted nervously with the ring still clutched in his hand, “I heard that one of the emperors can smell gold! And I dont know if you noticed but a lot of what I stole is gold!” 

“I told you I’m looking!” Tubbo hissed in his mind. “Unless you want to use escape plan blazing exit!”

Tommy paled, “No. Ok. Take your time. You got this Tubs.” He said with false cheeriness. 

“Thats what I thought.” Tubbo muttered, “You should at least be able to go back into that hallway, they seem to believe you’re elsewhere in the castle right now.” He said cautiously. 

“Fucking finally.” Tommy muttered to himself, casually walking into the hallway. He didn’t make it far before he stopped in his tracks, gaping open mouthed at the giant piglin leaning against the wall very near his hiding place. The fucker was tall, and had bright pink hair of all things, and he looked far richer than any of the searchers he’d seen with the purple shining netherite armor, the dark red cape of a king, and the crown of one as well. Tommy briefly debated doing the same flipping technique to grab it, but he retained a few morsels of self preservation. And now he was just going to hope like hell he wasn’t recognized.

Tommy froze like a statue and the piglin raised an eyebrow, “Got somewhere to be?” The piglin asked nonchalantly, his voice very deep.

Tommy backpedaled quickly, tripping over his own feet before pushing himself back into standing, “Tubbo, I think the Blood God is home.” He whispered, except he didn’t think, he knew. The piglin smirked, its ears twitching like it had heard him, Tommy paled, fuck, he hadn’t thought he’d run into one of them. 

“He’s usually out fighting in some war, what makes you think that?” Tubbo asked.

“Oh, he’s just standing right in front of me.” Tommy whispered, his voice rising to a slightly higher pitch.

“Oh shit.” Tubbo cursed, “I didn’t feel him, get out of there Tommy! NOW!” The final word ringing through Tommy’s mind.

“Oh, did you say something? I didn’t hear you.” The Blood God said, pushing himself off the wall to start walking towards Tommy who just kept backpedaling.

“Uhhhhh. Nope, nothin. Don’t mind me, I’m gonna go this way!” He said cheerily, he tried to brush the hair in front of his face, but it did something much worse and the ring clattered onto the ground. They both stared at it in surprise, but Tommy quickly grabbed it and turned, running away as fast as his legs would carry him. “Gotta go… shine this ring, bye!”

“Guards I think I found your thief.” The blood god called, voice ringing through the hallways. 

“Fucking pussy ass bitch.” Tommy swore as guards came from every direction. He ducked down a smaller side hallway and leaped down steps, taking them five at a time at the least.

“Tubbo! Escape plan needs to be sped up now!” He said, breathing heavily and deciding to leap over a banister to the next level rather than take the creaky stair.

“Well, there’s always plan Blazing Exit. Besides that, you could try your luck at learning to fly considering you’re like fifty meters above the ground floor.” Tubbo informed him

“Exactly! It’s so high I don’t wanna…” He burst out the bottom and turned the next corner to find… guards. “Fuck.” He cursed, turning around and finding… even more guards, “FUCK!” He yelled. “I’m surrounded.” He muttered for Tubbo’s benefit. 

Tommy’s eyes met the Blood Gods in the back, who looked more amused than anything. “That took some balls to break into the palace of the Antarctic Empire, kid. Why’d you do it? Want to be the next big thief? You don’t even have an exit plan.” The blood god said with amusement. 

“Tommy. Tommy. Listen is there a window?” Tubbo demanded urgently. 

“Yes.” Tommy breathed, spotting a beautiful multicolored stained-glass window not too far from him, of he was going to be in trouble. “But do I haveeeee too?” He whined, stomping his foot on the floor.

The Blood God’s ears twitched again. “You talking to me?” He asked in that nonchalant tone, “because I very much think you have to be captured. Considering you stole from us.”

“Plan Blazing Exit.” Tubbo said insistently.

“No! Fuck you bitch!” Tommy yelled at both the blood god and Tubbo. Maybe it would be better if he just got captured by the blood god. He glanced out the window and just saw the sky. “Fuck.”

The blood god raised an eyebrow, “Oh, really, well maybe you should say your last words then.” He said dangerously, his already red eyes now glowing. Oh shit, well that was a bad sign.

“Tommy it’s your only choice right now. You’ve got Technoblade in front of you. Either do this or die.” Tubbo said seriously, “We’re ready to grab you when you do. Now go!” 

“This is a bad idea.” Tommy muttered. 

Technoblade gripped his axe, “Do tell.” He said, stepping closer. 

“I challenge you to a duel, Blood God!” Tommy yelled defiantly, swinging his arm to point at Technoblade like there could be any confusion on who he was talking about. 

“YOU FUCKING WHAT?!” Tubbo screamed in Tommy’s mind. “Welp, there we go, my best friend’s dead, he’s a stupid fucking idiot and I’m surprised he didn’t go sooner…”

Tommy ignored the voice ranting in his head and watched in glee as his tactic worked, the Blood God was staring at him in disbelief and the guards in awe of his amazing plan backed away like he had the plague. It was perfect. Perfect except for the sudden flash of recognition in the Blood God’s eyes…

Yeah, it was time to go, he put every ounce of energy into his legs and sprang to the window. He didn’t even let himself look outside before he hit it, “BYE FUCKERS!” He yelled as the glass burst around him in a sparkling rainbow and the room behind him burst into chaos of yelling, “Tubbo you better get your fucking pet to catch me!” He screeched as the wind rushed past him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the catch, either by the ground or by his friends, as his stomach roiled around and threatened to spill. Fuck he hated heights. He was gonna hate what came next more though.

He felt the ring previously gripped tight in his hands slip from his loosened fingers and he opened his eyes again to grab at the gold that was trying to escape.  

He looked up at the clouds far above him, dark and threatening the snow that fell on a daily basis in this empire when the clouds themselves broke open and a massive beast fell from the sky like a lightning bolt, spewing fire at the window that Tommy had just vacated, the only one who stayed to watch was the Blood God whose nether blood protected him from fire and his godlike nature protecting him from the dragon’s breath.

“Its fine Tubbo! Maybe one of these rings will teach me how to fly you don’t need Ra-” Tommy screamed as the massive black and white scaled dragon shot towards him and scooped him up like a sad sack of meat. Fuck he hated this plan.

“TOMMY YOU STUPID CUNT!” Tubbo yelled from his seat on the back of the dragon that now had Tommy in its claws.

The claws felt like burning irons on his body and he screamed, thrashing around trying to escape, “Ok never mind! Take me back to the Blade! I’d rather die!” He screamed in panic. Should he maybe not be scared of the secondary form of his other best friend? Maybe. But was he scared? No, definitely not, just ready to try every possibility except this one in almost every circumstance. And with the massive toothy beast above him and the miles of open air before the ground below him he did not want to be part of this plan anymore.

“Stopped being scared you wuss!” Tubbo yelled back, “We just saved your ass!” The dragon huffed smoke in agreement which did not reassure Tommy.

“I would like you to try to not be scared of a 15-ton scaled fire breather thank you very much!” Tommy shrieked back.

“I’m literally riding him you dick!” Tubbo yelled back.

“What if he eats me?” Tommy insisted.

“He’s your friend for fucks sake!”

Tubbo made sense, but some fears weren’t rational. Tommy closed his eyes and tried to pretend his skin wasn’t crawling from the heat and scales, just like when… nonono, we don’t think about that. He rubbed the ring in his hand and hoped he could stay calm for the ride home.

He must have fallen asleep because when he woke up, he was lying in his bed. He groaned and rolled over, hoping everything was a bad nightmare when he saw the slitted eyes and jagged teeth of the thing NEXT to his bed. He screamed like a real man and threw himself back… and off the bed, landing on the ground with a thump as everything told him to run away. “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU RANBOO!” he screeched, picking up a nearby piece of gold and throwing it as hard as he could at the dragon’s head. The gold did nothing, cause ya know, he’d thrown it at a fucking dragon, but it made him feel better.

The dragon changed, shifting into a tall young man, his skin patterned like his scales, and small horns poking out of his braided long hair, and only looked slightly older than Tommy, and he was laughing, “It gets you every time.” He said between wheezing laughs.

This time the gold chunk hurt more when it collided straight with the man’s unscaled forehead.

“Owwww.” Ranboo complained, rubbing his forehead, “Can you stop hitting me with our hoard?” He asked plaintively.

Tubbo then poked his head in, glancing between the two, “Can you two stop making a ruckus, I’m trying to listen to the shit going down in the Antarctic Empire. We might or might not have cause a city-wide panic of epic proportions.” Tubbo’s head disappeared, “Oh, and Tommy, The Blood God is looking for you.” Tubbo’s yell was slightly muffled but the color in Tommy’s face drained.

Tommy scrambled to his feet, “What the fuck do you mean he’s looking for me?” Tommy demanded, scrambling after Tubbo, “I just stole some shitty rings…” Yes, gold, that was totally the reason Techno was looking for him…

“Hey, I like them, they’re shiny.” Ranboo said pitifully from the back.

“…but nothing they would miss!” Tommy finished.

Tubbo spun around, raising an eyebrow, “You.” Tubbo said poking at Tommy’s chest, “Challenged him to a duel! Of course he wants to find you.” Tubbo said, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

Oh, that was a great explanation, “Why can’t he just think the dragon ate me!?” Tommy demanded, throwing his hands in the air, “The awful monster took me to his cave as a snack! Can’t have a duel if your duelist is sitting in a dragon’s stomach.”

“I wouldn’t eat you anyways, there not enough meat on you to even taste.” Ranboo muttered, walking past both of them to get to another room of the cave. “The scones are done by the way.”

Tommy glared after him, “And keep it that way!” he called back weakly. “… are they chocolate?

Tubbo sighed, rubbing his forehead, “It would be great, but we kinda did save you at very good timing, which led the blood god to think that this was an escape plan rather than a kidnapping, despite your screams.”

Tommy pouted, “They were cries of fear for being kidnapped by a dragon, totally unplanned, totally natural, no issues there uh huh.” He said, shaking his head vigorously.

Tubbo raised an eyebrow, his arms crossing in disbelief, “Uh huh, welllllll… You now have Technoblade looking to fight you to the death. Whatcha gonna do about it?” he demanded, then sighed as fear flashed in Tommy’s eyes, “Or more importantly are we gonna do about it, is, I guess, a better question.”

Tommy perked up, scratching his head, “Uhhh, move?” he suggested, “Far, far away…”

A pan crashed in the kitchen and they both jumped, “Darn it guys I just got comfortable here!” Ranboo said, emerging from the kitchen fully decked out in a pink frilly apron that declared “Let Him Cook” and carrying a plate of scones, “Tommy this was your stupid idea to steal from the Antarctic Empire…”

Tommy gasped, “And who was it that was drooling over their jewels whenever we went and watched them in public!” he demanded in indignation, quickly running over to snatch a scone.

“Who's the one who chose to take me seriously then hatch a plan that had more holes then swiss cheese!?” Ranboo shot back.

“Children! Stop fighting!” Tubbo reprimanded them, smacking Tommy on the back of the head.

“Hey! I-“ Tommy started, indignantly, crumbs spewing from his full mouth.

“Hello! Dragon Ranbus, I am Technoblade of the Antarctic Empire, and I request audience.” A loud, monotonous voice called, following the gong of a bell.

Tommy froze, “How the fuck did he find us?” Tommy demanded, his voice changing to a harsh whisper.

“Tubbo, you’re supposed to alert us!” Ranboo hissed, quickly wiping his hands on the apron.

Tubbo also looked frantic, throwing his hands in the air, “I can’t sense him Ranboo! I didn’t know he was here!” He hissed in panic.

“As a dragon residing in Antarctic Empire lands you are required by law to greet us and help with our investigation, or we shall loot your hoard and charge you for any cursed objects found there.” Technoblade called again.

“One second!” Ranboo called, his voice becoming deeper and more raspy. Ranboo glanced at Tommy, “Stay quiet, and stay here. I’ll go answer his questions.” He said, before quickly shifting into a dragon.

Tommy squeaked, shrinking back and Tubbo lunged forward to clamp a hand over Tommy’s mouth. “Shut up Tommy.” Tubbo hissed.

Ranboo dragged his body through the cave, scales scraping over the rock. “Hello there emperor, how can I humbly help you?” Ranboo rumbled.

“You were seen attacking the capital and flying off with a thief. We have very good relationship with the dragons in our country and me, and emperor Philza wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself and give up the thief if you are harboring him.”

Ranboo was silent for a moment, “Ah, yes, I remember now.” Ranboo finally said, “I apologize if I attacked anyone in the capital, I thought it was a massive bird if I’m going to be honest and my instincts kicked in. When it started screaming and I figured out it was a human I left it in a field outside of the city following the law of not eating humans unless I’m attacked first.” Ranboo lied through his teeth.

Tommy snuck forward to see better, Tubbo urgently tried to pull him back, but he ignored it and kept watching.

“Oh?” Technoblade looked just like he had before, still wearing the cape and crown and armor, he also had his hand deceptively casual on the hilt of his sword. “As our Emperor Philza is an avian and enjoys his flights, I will have to inform him that you might have instincts that affect birds, and you might want to stay away from the capital in the future.” Techno was smiling, “Do you remember anything else about the thief? Possibly a name? A direction he walked?”

Techno’s eyes flicked into the cave, like he was searching for something and Tommy huddled deeper into the darkness, praying that he wasn’t noticed. Ranboo didn’t seem to notice the inspection, “Uhhh no, I don’t know, maybe north? I wasn’t really paying attention after I apologized. The guy seemed pretty terrified.” Ranboo said, shifting a little at the scrutiny.

“Huh,” Techno sighed, “He mentioned a plan, something about it not being a good idea. Do you happen to know anything about that?”

“I mean, he jumped out a window, I feel like that wasn’t a good plan in itself, maybe he had an accomplice ready to catch him on the ground. Who knows.” Ranboo suggested.

“Ah yes, an accomplice on the ground.” Techno mused, “Are you sure Tommy didn’t know you’d catch him?”

Tommy went pale as a ghost and Tubbo’s hand gripped tighter. “Don’t fall for it Ranboo…” he whispered to himself.

“I mean how could he have known if it was my instincts…” Ranboo shut up quickly, staring at Techno in horror. “Um. I mean. What?”

Techno chuckled, “Oh so you do know who I’m talking about? Are you sure you’re not harboring a fugitive? Maybe I should come inside. You can’t refuse the emperor’s general, can you?” He said with authority.

Ranboo sputtered, “Its messy and I wasn’t expecting guests, if you could just give me a moment to clean up, I-” he said desperately, moving his tail to block the way of the emperor.

Techno growled at the blockage and drew his sword, “Do you want to move that, or should I do it for you?” He demanded, his eyes shifting red.

“Tubbo go tell him there isn’t a problem here,” Tommy hissed urgently at his almost hyperventilating friend.

Tubbo nodded frantically, “Problem. No problem. Yes!” Tubbo scrambled past Tommy and Tommy held his breath… “TECHnoBLade, problem no there is Not!” Tubbo proclaimed proudly. Tommy slapped his forehead in defeat.

Time to pull one final card. “TECHNOBLADE YOU DICK LEAVE HIM ALONE!” He yelled, stomping into the entrance with his arms crossed and glaring. “You lookin for me?”

Ranboo looked distraught and tried to throw his head between Tommy and Technoblade, “Tommy what are you doing?” Ranboo demanded, nervous smoke billowing from his nostrils.

Tommy sighed, punching Ranboo’s head, “Stop smoking up the place before I have a panic attack.” He said flippantly. “Let me talk to the emperor.”

Ranboo backed off slowly, shifting down to his human form reluctantly, “If you get yourself killed, I’m going to burn your corpse.” He muttered while Tommy walked past.

Tommy flipped the dragon off behind his back and approached Technoblade who looked on in amusement. Tommy crossed his arms, “What are you looking at pussy?” He demanded. Ranboo slapped his forehead in defeat.

“I’m sorry your majesty, he is not very well behaved…” Ranboo started.

Techno crooked an eyebrow, “You broke one of Phil’s favorite windows.” Techno said monotonously. “And you could have just asked.”

“I’m sorry what?” Ranboo demanded in disbelief.”

Tommy sighed, “Tell the old man that his general shouldn’t have backed me into a corner next to it. Else it would have been fine.” He said in exasperation. “It can’t be as bad as when you wanted to try learning a scythe cause dad made it look so easy, and you cause a crack big enough to stick a fist in in his perfect sparring floor. All cause you used the angel of death’s scythe.”

Techno frowned, “How was I supposed to know? Plus, he fixed it.”

Tommy snorted, “Not before sending you off to fight in a war and saying and I quote ‘if you touch my scythe again, I’m going to send you to Kristin.’”

Technoblade raised his eyebrow further, “Is this your idea of a duel? A duel of wits? I’m still gonna win. Technoblade never loses.”

“Did he just talk about himself in the third person?” Tubbo muttered incredulously.

Technoblade’s eyes swept over the small gang. “Who’s your partners in crime?” He asked casually.

Tommy scowled, “Wouldn’t you like to know pig boy. You’re not gonna hurt any of them. They haven’t done shit; it was my idea. If you or Phil have a problem its with me.” He said, meeting Technoblade’s reddened eyes with his own of icy blue.

Technoblade looked pleased, “Nah Tommy, no problems.” His face softened, “We’ed wondered if you were ok, the castle got so much quieter without you around.” He said, his voice calm.

Tommy scratched at the floor with his foot, “I- I couldn’t go home yet. It was to much when I lost…” Tommy swallowed, scrubbing his eyes. “And then it happened again. And I couldn’t.” He said softly.

Technoblade’s face fell, “I-I’m sorry Tommy. Don’t worry about coming home until you’re ready but maybe we can visit?”  He sounded hopeful.

Tommy shrugged, “If the others are okay with that. We all live here.” He glanced back at the other two whose jaws were on the ground.

“What the fuck is happening here?” Tubbo squeaked. “Tommy, you realize that’s the Blood God right!?”

Tommy sighed, “Yeah, he’s my big brother pretty much, but I can’t call him that to much or it goes to his head.”

Techno snorted.

Ranboo and Tubbo both looked at him like he was crazy.

Tommy scratched his head sheepishly, “Oh yeah, did I never tell you guys I was the prince of the Antarctic Empire?”

“No Tommy! You didn’t!” Ranboo yelped. Ranboo glanced at Technoblade, “Hello, he told us nothing, I just like shinys, I’m sorry. I’m Ranboo by the way. You can come over anytime, I just made scones if you want one?” He offered; he smoothed down his apron that had shifted back onto his human form and his tail swished nervously.

Tubbo glared at Tommy and Tommy knew there was going to be a BIG talk later, “I’m Tubbo,” Tubbo said reluctantly, “Tommy has never mentioned anything like this before. But yeah. Scones.”  Tubbo added halfheartedly. “Lets just have the Blood God in our home cause that’s normal. And he’s also my best friend’s brother.” Tubbo muttered under his breath.

Techno raised an eyebrow at the death glare Tubbo was throwing at Tommy, but Tommy just shrugged it off, “I’ll tell you guys later. Why don’t we go sit down.”

Chapter Text

A few hours later Tommy and Techno were standing in front of the entrance, “I missed you, you and dad, I missed you a lot. I just couldn’t be reminded of him and it all felt so suffocating.” Tommy said, staring out into the surrounding forest.

Techno sighed, “Phil was distraught, he thought he had lost two sons in a matter of months. But he listened to Kristin and let you live your life. She did say that you almost died but that you saved yourself, want to explain that one to me?” Techno asked straightforwardly.

Tommy closed his eyes briefly as fire filled his mind, “Something destroyed the village I was living in and the people there I cared about.” He said softly.

“Are you gonna do anything about that?” Techno asked.

Tommy’s fists clenched, “I want to. I want for it to burn like it burned them.” He hissed.

Techno nodded and handed Tommy his axe, “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.” Techno quoted.

Tommy reached out and grabbed the axe, the familiar handle fitting firmly. “Wow, the axe of peace. Could bring down some countries with this.” He said flippantly, though what he really meant was thank you.

Techno understood and nodded. “You should come home Tommy.” Techno said, “Just for a day.”

Tommy shook his head, “Maybe at some point. Not right now.” The axe felt heavy in his hand, “Maybe once I finish this.”

Techno shrugged, “We’ll visit.”

Tommy laughed, flipping the weapon to use it as a makeshift staff, “Don’t I know it. See you later Technoblade.” He said, strolling back into the cave.

“Oh, and Tommy!” Techno called, “Next time just knock and ask. Phil doesn’t want another broken window.”

Tommy chuckled and went to face the wrath of Tubbo_.

His friends were sitting on the couch waiting for him. “What the fuck Tommy!” Tubbo said first, “You’re the prince of the Antarctic Empire? The one whose been gone for like, three years?” He said in surprise.

“Tommy sighed, flopping on a chair, “Yeah, I left.” He muttered, “I couldn’t stay at home after…” he took a shaky breath, “After Wil died.”

They blinked at him in confusion, “Wil? Do you mean Wilbur? The crown prince?! He died?!!” Tubbo half screamed.

Tommy just looked more miserable, “Yeah, he. Well. Probably should start at the beginning to make it short and sweet. My family sends their children on journeys, they can go where they want, and it lets them learn about themselves without having to be labeled royalty. So, Wil left. Anddddd he started a revolution. And he died after his entire city he built from scratch imploded.”

“You mean like all the people just left him?” Ranboo tried hopefully.

Tommy opened one eye to stare at him, “No I mean it literally. All that was left was a smoking crater.”

That made them both shut up and Tommy laid with his head back, trying to breathe in breathe out through the tears that threatened to fall.

“Soooo.” Ranboo started again, “Why did you leave?”

Tommy opened his eyes, now staring at the rough surface of the ceiling, “I left home because I couldn’t be in the place that reminded me so much of him. So, I went on my travels a little early, not really with their permission. And I went as far away as I could.”

Tommy’s eyes glazed over a little. “I settled in this little seaside town named Logstedshire and set up a spot. I farmed. I mined. I did odd jobs. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to take my mind off everything and to live among people who cared for me. I made friends, I met people I considered family.” Tommy paused, tears now streaming down his cheeks. Tubbo and Ranboo held their breath in case any disturbance would stop him continuing. “Then the fire came. It rained from the sky and the dragon who breathed it came with it.” Ranboo gasped and Tubbo frantically hushed him. Tommy waited for silence and continued, “They all died, I watched them get burned alive as I tried to save them, tried to fight the dragon. Anything. Nothing helped. The dragon, this massive green thing that dripped with what looked like poison and was so massive it blotted out the stars, grabbed me and a few others, dragging us into the sky like cattle. But I escaped, waited for water, and stabbed it in the leg with my axe. It let go and I plummeted for what felt like hours but could have only been minutes. And that was that. I left once again. Going to find the next step in my journey. That’s when I met you guys.” Tommy’s hands were shaking as he looked at them, “I met you guys and everything became better again. We started collecting hoard for Ranboo and everything went so well.” Tommy chuckled. “I guess I got a little ambitious thinking I could easily break into my own home.” He scrubbed at his cheeks and glanced at them, “So that’s my story. Satisfied?”

Neither Tubbo nor Ranboo said anything then they both rushed at Tommy and jumped on him, wrapping their arms around him to hug as tightly as they could. “Ahhh!” Tommy screamed, his arms flailing to grab onto anything as the chair tipped backwards under their weight and they tumbled into a massive pile.

“No wonder you’re jump every time I’m a dragon!” Ranboo cried indignantly. “You could have told me!”

Tommy laughed, struggling to get out of the pile, “I didn’t wanna be a fuckin pussy, Ranboob.”

Tubbo hugged him tighter, “You could have told us sooner! We would have believed you and we could have helped! Or we could have maybe have figured out a better plan to steal from the castle easier…”

Ranboo smacked Tubbo, “I think we had enough trouble with that castle. Also, Tommy, do you know what happened to that dragon?” Ranboo asked, tone turning serious.

Tommy paled and shook his head, “No, I escaped, and it kept flying. Why?”

Ranboo sighed, sitting back on his heels and rubbing his head, “If a dragon is doing that much damage, we need to tell someone, this could be a major problem since if it causes enough damage especially with how powerful it sounds it could destroy a country.”

Tommy stared at his hands, scarred from fighting his brothers and living his peace. “What if we killed it?” He asked quietly.

They both stared at him, “How the hell are we supposed to do that?” Tubbo asked incredulously. “Even if we found it Ranboo’s the only one that could be strong enough, we don’t have any dragon killer weapons!”

“You don’t. I do.” Tommy stood up and pushed his friends away momentarily, summoning the axe of peace to his hands. “I think Techno understood that I was going to do this anyway.” He said quietly. “It wasn’t my original plan. But I don’t want to worry that it's going to come back one day.”

Ranboo and Tubbo glanced at each other, Tommy could tell they were talking, debating. His shoulders sagged, “Its ok if you don’t want to. I know this is a crazy plan. You guys can stay home, I just…” his hands tightened around the axe, “I wasn’t expecting this opportunity, but I think I’m going to jump on it.” He said, his voice was more steady then he felt on the inside, but he would still try.

Tuboo and Ranboo glanced at him, then back at themselves and nodded. “The fuck you mean you’re doing this by yourself?” Tubbo demanded angrily. The fuck you are. We’er not letting you do anything stupid without us there to catch you.”

“Let’s defeat a dragon!” Tommy cheered, thrusting the axe in the air.

“And it’s not me!” Ranboo cheered with them which cause Tubbo to push him back onto the floor.

They planned. Tommy trained. And they did the most important thing, they searched.

Ranboo and Tubbo would go out on flights, searching for information on recently burned villages and slowly but surely following this dragon that cities and villagers called The Nightmare. And a nightmare it was. It had burned five other villages and had attempted to burn a city but had been frightened off after causing mass damage and razing the fields that surrounded it.

Techno and eventually thee Philza Minecraft visited. They’d all talked around a cup of tea and cookies as lost time was made up for.

Then they found it. The cave where the dragon lived was high atop a snowy mountain at the furthest west point of the empire. It was finally time.

“We should wait til he’s returned from one of his raids.” Tubbo insisted, “That way we can see him and prepare the blast, and he’ll be gone we can set the trap.”

“Where will we be? We can’t exactly hide on top of that mountain, it’s to exposed.” Tommy demanded, stabbing at a crude sketch Tubbo had acquired of the lair.

“We’ll be on Ranboo of course.” Tubbo said, unfazed, “Hiding in the clouds.”

Tommy threw up his hands, “You’re acting like it won’t be flying either.” He pointed out with exasperation, “It will probably see us from kilometers away.”

Tubbo grimaced, “Uhhh.” He glanced at Ranboo, “Maybe you should hide on the ground, and we could make a safe space near the top. It would only take a little bit more positioning.” Tubbo suggested.

Ranboo frowned, “But what if something goes wrong and I’m not there?” He asked, brows furrowing, “You’ll just be up their with that dragon and we know he doesn’t balk at killing humans.”

“Then it's my time Ranboob,” Tommy said, patting the taller man on the back. “Me and the axe of peace are going to go right through this dragon’s teeth.”

Ranboo sighed, his tail flicking in agitation, “I don’t like it.” He muttered, “There’s to many what ifs.”

Tubbo shrugged, “Sounds fine to me. But how are we supposed to get this tnt…?”

Tommy’s grin was feral, “Leave that to me.”

…

“Tommy how did you get this tnt again?” Tubbo demanded as he shoved another bundle of red sticks into a hole and covered them with dirt though not before attaching the fuse to the growing line of hidden tnt.

Tommy was across from him doing the same, “Oh you know. A guy. He traded it to me for some gapples.” He said offhandedly.

Tubbo shook his head, “Are you sure this stuff isn’t going to blow up in our face?” He complained, “How do we know we can trust this random guy?”

Tommy sighed, sticking another tnt in with more force, “Yes, Tubbo, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I trust this guy with. Well. Not with much but it’ll be fine. He doesn’t want me dead as far as I know.”

“That isn’t reassuring.” Tubbo muttered.

Tommy ignored him and sat back with a sigh, “Lets link everything together and hide. I think there’s enough here to get rid of this mountain.” Tommy said, grinning.

Tubbo stood up with him, his face unconvinced, “You sure we won’t get brown to bits?”

Tommy patted him on the back, “Nah, I also got that obsidian from the same guy, it’ll work great.” He said cheerfully. “I’m gonna go double check everything, can’t let anything go wrong!” he said with a chuckle, walking off to check the trap they had just carefully made.

Tubbo watched him walk away, “This is still not reassuring.” He muttered but headed over to the safe spot to listen for the incoming Nightmare.

…

Tubbo meditated in the corner of their little shelter, Tommy was curled in the other staring at the sky like it was going to open up and swallow him whole.

Tubbo opened his eyes and sighed, “I think I heard the village… well, you know. So, it should be back soon. I told Ranboo too, he’s found a hiding spot and is waiting for my cue.” Tubbo reported. Tommy nodded, not taking his eyes off the sky, his finger lightly tracing the edge of the axe of peace, Tubbo also noticed that there was a thin line of blood dripping down that finger that Tommy hadn’t even noticed. Tubbo sighed and grabbed Tommy’s arm, pulling it away from the blade, “Damnit Tommy, don’t get hurt before we even start the battle.” Tubbo said in exasperation, pulling out a bandage to carefully wrap the wound.

Tommy watched the bandaging blankly. “I’m worried Tubbo, what if we can’t do this?” he asked quietly, “What if I freeze?”

Tubbo sighed, “That’s what you have us for. We won’t let you die, and we won’t let this fail. Now stop being sad and fucking get off your ass and get ready.”

Tommy sat straighter, “Ok big man, where is this motherfucker?” Tommy demanded, “He’s not allowed to be late for his own ass kicking.”

Tubbo paled a little, “He’s uh… I think he’s here.” Tubbo whispered, pointing over Tommy’s shoulder.

Tommy looked behind himself and went pale, his hands were shaking where they gripped the axe as he stared at the oncoming monster. And a monster of a dragon it was. It had black scales that dripped with green acid, scars that cut through its scales in multiple locations, and it had four massive horns that curled around its head and neck. Oh, and it was fucking massive. Bigger than even Tommy remembered.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” Tommy whispered under his breath, “I hope this works.”

Tubbo squeezed his shoulder, “So do I. The fuse is ready, I’ll set it off when he lads, preferably once he’s in the entrance to his cave so he can’t fly away.”

They watched as it came closer, eventually it touched down on the top of the mountain, its tail draping over the cliffs and its claws scaping deep gashes into the ground.

“Now Tubbo.” Tommy whispered. The dragon perked its head up, looking around the mountain top, its nostrils blowing puffs of smoke and sparks. Then it turned and looked towards them… “Now!” Tommy half yelled as the dragon took a single step towards them…

BOOM

The entire ground blew up in front of them and Tommy dived for cover in their shelter, dragging Tubbo with him. There were more and more explosions, the screaming of anger from the dragon, and something even worse, the ground started disappearing.

“Uhhh Tubbo! Where’s the ground?” He demanded frantically. He tried to see where the dragon was, but he only saw the tail quickly disappearing into the mountain itself.

“I don’t know! I’m not sure what’s happening!” Tubbo cried frantically, as they both tried to scramble away from the collapsing ground around them.  

There was another large explosion and the ground disappeared completely from under Tommy’s feet, “FUCK!” Tommy screamed, trying to grasp for anything and instead kept falling… and falling…

“Tommy, catch!” Tubbo screamed in his head, Tommy looked up and grabbed a potion from the air and quickly chugging it. He started falling slower and used those extra moments to look into the massive cavern that was exposed. It hollowed out the entire mountain that looked so normal on the outside. The floor was piled high with gold and bones and now it was covered in layers of dirt, grass, and snow. The dragon had fallen to its hoard, wounds opened by the tnt dripping with sizzling blood.

It met Tommy’s eyes and opened its maw, “Who dares trap my den?” it roared and blew a stream of fire directly at Tommy.

Tommy squeaked in an incredibly big man way and tried to dive to the side, half swimming through the air. Its fire stream barely missed him, but he still felt the heat of it.

“How dare you fucking destroy everything in your way!” Tommy yelled back and ducked as its tail swept through the place his head had been. Tommy used what little motion he had while falling to swing the axe at the tail. It cut through the scales like butter and the blood spurted from the wound. Tommy hissed as some drops hit his flesh and burned him.

The dragon laughed, “Oh are you some type of knight? You came here to kill me on some savior crusade? You will die just like every other person who came here because you are nothing but a filthy human.”

Tommy could finally reach the ground, and he dug his feet into the pile of gold he landed on for solid footing as he braced his axe. “I’m not a knight, but I’m going to fucking kill you.” he said, ignoring the deep pit where his stomach used to be.

The dragon moved, dragging its massive body over the floor as it circled him, “Oh, you’re some random villager. Did I kill your cousin? Did you bring your grandfathers axe to kill me? I will concede that you got a good hit in, very impressive to hit a scar. But it will not help you when break it in my teeth like sticks.” It hissed, an emotion that Tommy could call amusement filtering into its voice.

“Stall him, Tommy.” Tubbo whispered in his head.

“Yeah well at least I’m not a fucking pussy who flies away from every fight after I burn everything down!” Tommy yelled defiantly, he knew the best way to stall was to make whoever it was very, very angry.

The dragon stared at him, the smoke from its nose turning quickly into flames, “What did you say to me you nothing creature?” It hissed, “I am above all of those worthless nothings in every village, I deserve what I take, and they don’t deserve to have anything. Now DIE.” It blew a stream of fire directly at Tommy and he dove out of the way, rolling over the bones of other people who had tried to fight, or maybe were carried away as food. He wasn’t gonna become another set, he was gonna win.

And now to do the next stupid thing, he charged towards the dragon, his axe slicing through the air. “Fuck you bitch!” He yelled. The dragon reared back, hissing streams of fire, but Tommy didn’t pay any attention and just hopped to the side. He swung at the closest leg and cut deeply into the flesh, he screamed as he tried to cut through the bone but instead, he had to yank it back out, almost falling from the horrible footing. Damnit, even with his practice, he wasn’t as good as he used to be, too much sneaking around and too little fighting. Then one of the problems being that close to the dragon became apparent as one of its uninjured legs smashed down near him, throwing off his balance that was already shitty and he tumbled down the pile of treasure.

The dragon stepped menacingly towards him, “Dieeeeeeeee.” it hissed, sparks flying from its mouth.

Tommy raised hie axe, “Tubbo, maybe prepare quicker?” he muttered, hoping Tubbo was listening.

“Duck!” Tubbo yelled in his mind.

Tommy threw himself as far away from the massive dragon. He didn’t know what was gonna happen next, but he was not going to be in the way. He wasn’t quite fast enough though.

“Get back here you vermin!” the dragon roared, swiping at Tommy with its tail once again. “You will be destroyed until not even your bones remain!”

“Tubbbbbo, where are you?” Tommy demanded, yelping as the things under his feet were swept away by the dragon’s tail. He grasped for handholds, trying to keep the axe from slipping from his hands or from him falling on top of the sharp end as the dragon continued to try and crush him.

“Look up!” Tubbo told him gleefully and he complied. Tommy looked up and cheered as Ranboo in dragon form dropped through the massive hole in the mountain top and blasted into the Nightmare with full force. Tommy could see Tubbo clinging to Ranboo’s back, stabbing open wounds with a spear and yelling curses. The Nightmare roared, breathing a wave of fire that Ranboo took full force but didn’t seem to hurt so it didn’t stop Ranboo from grasping the bigger dragon and raking it with his claws. The Nightmare howled in anger and pain, but Ranboo didn’t budge as the dragon fought even harder.

The Nightmare might have had size, but Ranboo had quickness and made many wounds by quickly dashing in and biting bigger and bigger chunks from wherever he could reach, not even using his own fire since that would only cauterize the wounds. At some point Tubbo slid off and ran over to Tommy, breathing hard, “You ready, king?” Tubbo panted, “You got the dragon killer, and Ranboo’s gonna try to hold down its neck. Plus, this was your dragon to kill, you should deliver the final kill.”

Tommy nodded, “I’m ready, lets fucking kill this thing.” He said, his nerves humming in anticipation. He readied the axe and ran forward. Ranboo on the other hand changed his maneuvers, climbing up the Nightmare’s body til he was weighing down the dragon’s head and neck. Ranboo had gashes and cuts of his own, but had been too quick to receive many major wounds. The Nightmare tried to slice at Ranboo, but Ranboo had a better position, and it was too weighed down by its own weight and hurt from the fight. When destroying villages it had only ever come in, eaten its fill, and left, fighting against nothing that could hurt it, now it was fighting against something that could fight back, and it couldn’t keep up.

Tommy walked up, staring in its toxic green eye that stared at him with hatred. “Get fucking destroyed you monster.” He snarled, “This is for every person in every place you ever destroyed because you couldn’t fucking believe you weren’t the most important thing in this world.” He hefted the axe of peace over his head and brought it down on the dragon’s neck with a primal scream.

Blood spurted, covering and burning Tommy and Tubbo and everything else around them. Tommy hit the neck again as the Nightmare’s body convulsed and fought to escape its death. Ranboo stretched his neck to where Tommy had sliced it open and tore the rest out, a huge chunk breaking off, before Ranboo spat it away from both of them.

The body struggled for a while longer, but nothing could survive that. They continued to slice and tear bigger and bigger chunks until the head was no longer even attached to the body. The body itself still twitched and struggled but they ignored it now, nothing could live after something like that and Ranboo finished it off by burning the body. Hard to talk shit or regrow when all you were was ash and bones.

Tommy leaned on the axe, staring at the ashes that now floated around that hollow mountain, and he smiled. Maybe he couldn’t fix everything, but he’d gotten revenge for something. And now the thing that he had been terrified would take everything from him again was gone and dust. This nightmare could never threaten anyone ever again.

Ranboo curled next to him and Tubbo picked his way over the hoard to reach them, “You guys ready to go?” Tubbo asked, leaning against Ranboo’s side with a grin, “I think we got ‘im.”

Ranboo grinned back, showing his toothy smile that for once Tommy didn’t flinch away from. Tommy laughed, knocking into Tubbo’s shoulder, “Yeah, lets get the fuck outta here. I could do with some scones. And maybe a shower.”

…

A few weeks later, after things quieted down and Tommy had informed the two emperors that the creature that had been burning their villages had been dispatched, Tommy finally did something he hadn’t dared to do for three years.

He walked through the front door of the palace he grew up in. This wasn’t a back door break in with a hasty exit, this was him coming home for the first time in years. Ranboo and Tubbo came with him, his new family meeting the ones who had raised him.

Phil had been waiting for them, for him, at the front gate. He enveloped Tommy the moment he stepped through, tears streaming down both their faces. Tommy breathed deeply, the same smell of lily of the valley that he always smelled like and the warmth of the feeling of Phil’s wings wrapping around him like a blanket.

They eventually let go and Techno approached, patting him on the back, “Welcome home Theseus.” He rumbled.

Tommy smiled, he finally felt like it had been time to come home. And he was happy.