Sometimes, Glitches Are Good

Freaked Out

He rolls over, coughing up water, and flops back down, groaning. He was... Alive? The sound of a rocket firing sends him scrambling to his feet, sand flying as he doubles over in pain, agony ripping through his side. He falls backwards, landing with a soft hiss. The sound of rockets grow nearer and he clutches onto his wound with one hand, other searching blindly through the sand for a weapon as someone lands infront of him. Lands? They were in the air?
"Are you alright-" his hand wraps around the handle of his trident and he whips it around, holding it defensively, the simple movement sending more pain through the gash in his side. He forces himself to scoot back a little, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The man, who wore a simple blue shirt and thick, black framed glasses holds up his hands infront of him, like he was calming down a wild animal. Maybe he was one, he certainly felt like it...
"Woah, Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Where the hell am I?" He demands, glaring fiercely.
"You're in Hermitcraft, it's safe here. Please just, put the trident down, you're hurt, let me help you."
"Stay the hell away from me!" He growls, wincing slightly. The man pulls out an odd box, quickly typing something in. He scoots away more, accidentally pressing harder on his wound, causing him to hiss again, this time slightly louder. He desperately surveys his situation. There, a couple inches from him, sat the bucket, fish still swimming around cheerfully inside. He dares to lower his weapon for just a moment so he could snatch it, holding it to his chest protectively. Still attached to the string wrapped around his neck was the compass, the one that lead him to Tubbo. His Tubbo. His best friend. Oh, how he longed to be by his side again. He'd protect him, he'd hug him gently and tell him that everything would be okay. Tears spring to his eyes and he frantically blinks them away, breathing becoming more and more painful every second.
More rockets reach his ears and he shifts the trident in his hand to be an even better defence, protecting his injured side more.
A man in a yellow suit lands, holding out his arms like the one in the blue had. Brown stripes were on the suit as well, and antenna...
He was a bee. More tears spring to his eyes and he can't stop them, trident slipping from his hand as he clutches his compass, starting to sob.
"I-I'm sorry- I'm sorry- I didn't-I didn't mean it- I-I was just- I was just-" he stutters, gasping softly as a spike of pain hits him, curling up further around his wound and fish.
"Oh, dear, uh, it's okay, we'll get you fixed up. Joe get Stress over here, ASAP! And Uh... and uh..."
"Try to calm him down, but don't touch him, it might hurt him more." The man in blue instructs, the one in yellow nodding.
"Hey, uh, kid, can you focus on my, er, voice, please? I'm going to, uh, need you to, uh, breath with me, alright? In and out, real-real steady. You're gonna be okay. Just breath in and out."
He slowly gains control of his breathing, two more people landing. A girl, who reminded him of Niki despite looking nothing like her, crouches next to him, helping him drink a health potion.
The other person who landed, a tall man who looked to be part human, part creeper, and part robotic, crouches infront of him, the bee man backing off.
"We're here to help, alright? We're going to have to pick you up to bring you back to the mainland, where we can patch you up better, is that okay?" His voice was calm and smooth, soothing his panic a bit, and despite being heavy with a german accent, it reminded him of Techno's voice. He nods slightly, but clutches onto his fish extra tight. The man picks him up gently. The healing potion was numbing his injury for the most part, and he could tell it was mending, enough that he wasn't going to bleed out. He feels bad for immediately pointing a weapon at the guy in blue, he hopes he didn't scare him to bad. He sniffles slightly, curling closer to the man with the deep voice as he carried him through the air; he was probably just really out of it from blood loss and stress, but he could almost pretend he was a little kid again, being carried home by Techno after he fell and scraped his knee at the park.
They land gently, and he faintly registers being carried into a building and set down on a bed. Someone wraps up his side in bandages, giving him a bottle of water, and he drowsily blinks at it before drinking a little. He forces himself to focus, closing his eyes and pushing away the fuzziness.
"He knew how to hold that trident, he looked prepared to kill with it. No kid his age should ever need to know how to do that. What do you think happened in his old world?" He focuses in on that conversation, looking for information. Techno always told him to look for more information when he was lost. Knowledge was power, and it was invaluable in these sorts of situations. He can practically hear Techno praising him on his good work, his high test scores and when he finally hit a bullseye. He realises he got distracted and quickly focuses again.
"Well, no, but I'm assuming about 17, he can't possibly be older than 19."
"I don't know... Uh, any word on Grian?"
He listens for a bit longer as they talk about this bread guy but determines the info useless and switches his focus to the girl who gave him the potion and the guy who carried him.
"Will he be okay?"
"Yes, the wound was pretty deep but he managed to not loose too much blood. He should be fine in a few days."
"Any ideas as to what happened to him?"
"My best guess is an axe. Unless he was battling vindicators with only a loyalty impaling trident and a bucket with a fish in it..."
"You think he was attacked by a person."
"It would explain why he was so freaked out."
"I'm going to talk to him..."
He opens his eyes, starting to fiddle with his compass, acting like he wasn't paying attention. The needle spins around and around slowly, as if looking for something but not finding it. Not finding Tubbo.
"Hey, Kid. I'm Doc, what's your name?" The guy crouches infront of him and he stares at him cautiously, still not entirely trusting him.
"Tommy, Tommy Innit."
"How are you feeling?"
"Lost. Very confused. I'm-I'm sorry for attacking your friend."
"It's okay, you were scared, it happens to all of us. I'm afraid of cats; Scar showed up at Area 77 with Jellie and I screamed like a girl." He giggles softly, trying to imagine it.
"That must've been quite the sight."
"Scar wouldn't let me hear the end of it for weeks. Tommy, can I ask you a question?"
"You want to know what happened."
"Mhm... How'd you know?"
"I listened in on your conversation," he admits sheepishly, "Techno always told me to gather information when I was lost. Dream, uh, he's... He was a friend of mine. He got really mad at me and attacked me, so I ran and fell into a snow pit, into some really cold water. I passed out and woke up here." He's fully dried off, but the memory of the icey water biting into his skin makes him shiver, pulling Techno's cloak tighter around him. Techno's cloak... It was big on him, but it was comforting. Like Techno was still there with him, guiding him. He watches the compass needle spin.
"I'm very sorry that happened to you. You're safe here, now. What is the compass for?"
Doc sits next to him, and he tilts it slightly so he can see the photo on the inside. It was of Tubbo. Ghostbur had caught him by surprise when he took the photo, so he had only barely turned around, smiling slightly in confusion, the photo ever so slightly blurred. Across the glass, silver letters spelled 'Your Tubbo'
"Ghostbur made me this to cheer me up a few weeks ago. I don't know how he did it, but no matter where I go, it points to Tubbo, my best friend, even in the nether. At least, until now..."
"I'm sure you'll find him soon."
"I don't think he'll want to see me."
"Why not?"
"I...I burned down George's house. I don't know why, I guess I... I wanted him to pay attention to me for a bit, because he'd been so busy being president. But Dream made him exile me, or else he'd build giant obsidian walls around L'Manberg and kill anyone who tried to leave. He... He never visited me..."
Doc wraps an arm around his shoulder gently, hugging him softly, and he relaxes against him. He was really nice... Suddenly it all spills out of him, everything that had been plaguing his mind for the past weeks.
"Techno was right. Governments ruin everything. I should've never agreed to Wilbur's election plan, everything's been so horrible ever since. If I had just sat back, and relaxed, and enjoyed our freedom none of this would have happened. Wilbur would still be alive, and Tubbo and I would still be friends, and Techno would... Would still be farming potatoes, all alone on his skyblock island, and Phil would still be running the antarctic empire with no one to talk to... and I would have never met Ranboo..." He realises that with all of the bad that happened, good had happened right alongside it.
"You've been through a lot Tommy, more than anyone your age should have to. You deserve a break, where you can hang out, have fun, relax, be a kid."
He nods slowly. Relax. He could do that.
"Can I make an odd request?"