The Tale | Dream SMP

I - Chapter Eight

Tommy left Fundy at the monument of Spirit --- which he was apparently entranced by --- and headed back to his dirt home. His fence had been destroyed by the boar, and he was offended. But the boar was already dead. He couldn't go and kill it again.

Unfortunately.

He sighed as he picked up a wood that had been splintered through the middle and frowned at it. It could still be used, as firewood or something, or maybe even as a weapon.

A wooden sword, he thought dejectedly. How low have I sunken? Wooden swords are for kids who can't handle having a real man's weapon.

But still... I need a weapon. I would've been pulverized by the boar if Dream hadn't saved us. Fundy would have died as well!

Actually, I'm not as bothered by that one.

Tommy nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand clenched on his shoulder. He turned around, fists raised, and punched blindly.

"Hey, Tommy!" Tubbo said cheerfully as he tilted his head to the side, letting Tommy's fist whiz past him. "Oh, uh... do you wanna do some fighting practice, then?"

"Er... no," Tommy scowled, retracting his hand and shoving both into his pockets. "I--- What are you doing here?"

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to check out my house," Tubbo said, biting his lip. "It's finished now, you know! Eret helped me plant a potato garden on the first floor, and it looks good!"

"'Eret?'"

Tubbo nodded and smiled. "Yeah! He's this new guy I met an---"

"I met a new guy as well," Tommy mused. "This Fundy guy."

"Oh, Eret mentioned something about Fundy," Tubbo said. "He's got these fox features, right? Magic?"

"Maybe he's a furry."

"Ooh... maybe....."

Tommy shrugged and tossed down his spear of wood. "Yeah, let's go check out your house. I'm sick of building fences."

***

He trudged after Tubbo through the grass, since the boy had insisted on taking a different route to "learn the area better."

"Wait!" Tubbo yelled, stopping suddenly and throwing his hands out to the side. Tommy, who had been paying next to no attention, clutched his head where he had been slapped.

"What?" he asked irritably, rubbing the sore bridge of his nose.

Tubbo pointed at his feet. "A chicken!"

Tommy looked around Tubbo's side to see the animal in question, roosting comfortably next to his feet, and immediately flinched away from it. "You've got to be kidding me."

"It's so adorable!" Tubbo said happily, crouching down and leaning forward so that he could be at eye-level with the chicken. Instinctively, Tommy pulled him back again so that the chicken didn't poke his eye out or something. "Fluffy feathers! Weird eyes!"

"It's just a chicken," Tommy scowled. "It's got guts inside of it."

His friend's gaze shifted upwards and he gasped again. "A cow!"

Tommy rolled his eyes and sighed, but followed the guy's gaze out into the field. A cow was grazing peacefully, its tail swishing like a normal cow would. "A cow. Amazing. Sarcasm intended."

"We can keep it for milk," Tubbo offered. "Free milk. Dude, milk is expensive."

"What about the chicken?" Tommy asked, wincing inwardly at the thought of its guts. People ate chicken guts. It just felt fundamentally wrong and gross.

"I'll keep it. It can live with my potatoes."

"I don't think your potatoes will appreciate that, Tubbo."

Tubbo scooped up the chicken, which let out an indignant squack, and rushed towards his house. Tommy followed, slightly annoyed by how much effort he actually had to put into keeping up.

They pushed through the doors of the building. Tommy bit the inside of his cheek as his foot sank into the ring of wet mud lining the place, hobbling after Tubbo as he ran to the other side, carefully setting down the chicken. "Here's your home, Freddie!"

"Is that really what you're naming the chicken?" Tommy asked skeptically.

"Sure!" Tubbo nodded. "What are you naming the cow?"

"The cow? It's not my cow."

He looked over at Tubbo's pleading eyes and sighed. "Fine... that cow's name is Henry now."

Tubbo gave the chicken a pat on its head and gently tugged at its beak, smiling. "Henry the cow. Freddie is better, though."

He let go of Freddie's beak. Freddie nipped at his fingers and trotted away, immediately disappearing beneath the soft muddy waters. Despite his dislike at chickens (specificially, their guts), Tommy winced as the very top of Freddie's head was covered by the mud. "Should we go after it?"

"'It?'" Tubbo frowned. "Freddie is a she, not an it."

"Uh... okay. Should we go save her?"

Tubbo smiled fondly at the bubbles rising up from the mud. "She'll be fine."

He tossed a rope at Tommy, who barely managed to catch it in time. "What's this for?" he asked.

"It's a lead," Tubbo said. "Henry, remember? You have to go get him before he wanders away."

I have to go fix my fence. I need to go to the loo. Henry has probably already transformed into a slab of beef in this time and so this is useless. A thousand excuses rushed through his head, but somehow none of them sounded good enough.

"Fine," he snapped. "I'll keep the stupid cow. If he destroys my grass then I'm blaming you."

"Take care of him!" Tubbo called as Tommy stomped out of the doorway.

Cows aren't even that helpful, Tommy thought angrily to himself as he headed towards the cow, who was still in the same place. How often am I gonna need milk? I have water. And besides, I like my grass the way it is. I don't need to walk around on dirt. I already live in a dirt... thing.

He slipped the lead over Henry's neck and started walking, only for the rope to reach its end as the cow refused to budge. A growl of irritation slipped out of Tommy. "Come on, you idiotic animal. I just wanna relocate you."

Henry mooed and continued to graze.

"I will take care of you."

Another moo.

"I will love you. I will give you much love."

"Moo."

Tommy hesitated, then sighed. "Fine. I have fresher grass?"

Henry perked up and trotted obediently over to him. Tommy gave the cow an incredulous look, then shook his head. "You know what? I'm not even surprised. You can have my grass. Just come with me."

He sighed again as he led the cow through the grass, sticking next to the wooden path, as he imaged how sad of a state his lawn would be in after Henry got through to it.