My Uncle, Grian.

The Sewer Cats

The sewers were dark and claustrophobic. The constant sound of drip... drip... drip... bounced off the walls between intervals, the droplets of viscous liquid gathering at the middle of the tunnel in a black, thin stream. Various creepy crawlies came and went, making Tommy's skin crawl with apparitions of six-legged insects walking up his shins and forearms. It made goosebumps raise on his skin as he continuously swiped at the ghostly feeling. Maybe it was a bad idea: following a cat into a sewer didn't sound as bright anymore.

Dream and Tubbo appeared determined to see this through, however, and Tommy wasn't about to quit because of a few bugs and enclosed spaces. He had never been a fun of cages and that storm drain was eerily close in comparison but Phil had raised no quiter! The goat brothers couldn't see well in the dark, which they figured out right after they'd stepped foot on the decrepit ledge of the drain canal; the cons of being half herbivore, he guessed. Tommy had always had good nightvision, the one thing that kept his father and his siblings hopeful that one day he, too, would have grown wings of his own. It's funny when he would think back on it: how hopeful everyone was for something that would never happen –weirdly reminiscent of their current situation, wasn't it? It's also funny how he ended up on TV even though he didn't have the complimentary pair of wings that should have gone with his eyesight.

He shook his head, ridding his mind of such depressing thoughts. Holding hands and walking in a neat line, he led them through the winding hallways, following a stray cat that could have been leading them to a sludge monster for all he knew but he disregarded the suspicion; there was no going back, they were in too deep. He didn't remember the way out to leave and that fact made him feel more trapped than the wet, low, dome ceiling did.

His legs shook and he pushed forth. Dream and Tubbo were more hurt than he was, stumbling and limping along with only Kubo to make sure that they weren't falling behind, grunting in discomfort and pain but never once protesting when they slipped or tripped on debris. They were relying on him to get them to their destination, wherever that was, and it was out of camaraderie, the planted seeds of friendship taking root and the instinct to stick together that he was helping them. Had they not been at the house, had Dream not sat at the window and watched the neighborhood like a hawk, perhaps Tommy wouldn't be there; perhaps a darker, scarier fate would have awaited him.

So, he pushed himself and put one leg in front of the other and he walked. The cat turned around at random to check that they were still following, that green, piercing gaze pinning Tommy in place for a second.

Mumbo wasn't with them and that was Tommy's first regret. Though, Mumbo wasn't human; he was safe. The only thing he'd have to deal with was a broken door and Grian's disappointment at best. They wouldn't pursue him, maybe, or they would because the three of them had been huddled inside his house. Hopefully, the man was smart enough to lie if it came down to it. Tommy ground his teeth as the thought begged to overtake his senses and the wave crashed over jagged rocks, roaring unhinged and wind howling in his ear–

His jaw relaxed, a sting in his cheek and a faint ache in the palm of his hand, stunned silence behind him. His blurry eyes focused on the grey and white form of the feline in front of him. Keep going. Keep going. He told himself to keep going, don't think, just do it. The faster they got help, the better for everyone. Mumbo needed help, Grian needed help, his whole ass family needed help but Tommy didn't know where any of them could be.

"Do you hear that?" Tubbo said all of a sudden, scaring both Dream and Tommy.

"Hear what?" Tommy questioned, not stopping in order to not lose the cat from his sight.

"The buzzing."

Silence followed. Silence and the weight of their steps as they traversed the stinky sewers. Then, something red glinted in the darkness. It blinked in and out of existence and if Tommy concentrated enough, he could make out some background noise that definitely could not have been produced by them.