[Grian and Tommy settle in a Jungle, meanwhile Dream doesn't find a little gremlin that should be at exile. I jump around perspectives a lot here- I'll try to limit that in the future! <3]
Stepping through the Nether portal to exile was the highlight of Dream's day. Waking up was a hike, making himself not look like a piece of crap wasn't fun, and the long trek through the burning hell of the nether was definitely... well, hell.
Getting back at that annoying child was the only pleasant part of his day.
He walked out into the cool air, shivering a tiny bit under his lined hoodie. Winter would be coming soon. Dream would have to give Tommy a better jacket to keep him alive in the freezing months. Maybe something thin but with itchy cow fur, so he would be warm, yet still miserable. Dream smirked. He'd ask Tommy's opinion on it.
Except, there was no Tommy running out to greet him.
Dream stalked over to 'Tnret' and yanked the tent flap aside- empty except for that stupid picture of Queen Elizabeth. He checked the remains of Logstedshire, his vision starting to go red around the edges in fury- also no Tommy.
"Good morning Dream!" An echoey voice spoke up from behind him cheerfully.
"Hello Ghostbur." The man responded, shoving down his anger, "happen to see Tommy today?"
"Nope!" The ghost responded cheerfully. Ghostbur's hand twitched slightly as he played with his fingers, something Alivebur did when he was lying.
I guess the fidgeting continues on into death, Dream thought bitterly, Stupid ghost, thinking he can tell me a lie and get away with it.
"Where is he?" His head tilted a little to the side. That always freaked people out, with the smiling mask and all.
"Not sure," Ghostbur admitted, not bringing up the strange person from earlier. This wasn't a lie- he hadn't followed them out. Dream took note that his fingers stopped twitching, "he's not anywhere around here actually, just kinda started to pack up what he had and went farther from-" The Ghost cut himself off, looking like he was scolding himself mentally.
Dream hummed as he took in the information, "Which way?"
Ghostbur pointed in the wrong direction. He pointed East from where they were, even though the duo sailed South. They would be safe- hopefully- for now. He had done a pretty good job!
"Thank you Ghostbur. If you see him tell me, I want him to be back here- where it's safe." He put on a sickly sweet tone. The masked man caught the ghosts frown, Wil- Ghostbur didn't know what he was actually doing right?
Dream sighed and gathered some remaining blocks from Logstedshire. Might as well make it impossible for anyone else to find the kid. He shot a message to Tubbo: Come to exile quickly.
Dream casually built a tall tower and blew up the tent. Ghostbur watched with a horrified expression from the beach. Dream turned to glare at him.
"You tell Tubbo, and I kill Friend." He warned Ghostbur. The ghost's eyes widened, and he nodded sadly.
He awaited Tubbo and tapped his foot by the portal. There was a whoosh of someone coming through, and he heard a horrified shriek as the President of L'manburg stood out in the open- staring at the remains of exile with tears slowly starting to cascade down his face.
Dream pulled his mask down farther to hide his ever growing wicked smile. Good. Now that Mr. President was taken care of, he had a kid to find.
/////
Grian slowed the boat as they went down the Jungle river, twitters from parrots and hisses from ocelots surrounding them in the trees. He was looking for a hill to design another Hobbit hole- easy to hide and cozy. It would be partially temporary as they may have to move into a bigger house to store things. Although he could just expand the hole- whatever it took to keep Tommy safe.
Tommy had fallen asleep sometime between leaving the island and arriving here. He was curled up in the back, his spine pressed against the stern of the boat. His mop of blonde hair covered his eyes.
Grian finally spotted a worthy hill hidden behind two thick jungle trees. Quickly rowing to shore, he stepped out of the boat. Grian picked the boy up and placed him down on the grassy beach with a decent amount of effort. After Tommy was safe and the boat had been removed from the water, Grian started his work.
The beginning was easy- mining away the rock and adding a wood outline was completed within hours. Two bedrooms, a storage room, and a creating room. By that time, Tommy had woken up and gathered some other materials: Wool for beds, a few iron and gold ingots, a lot of coal, and some wood. The kid was a good helper.
The next thing was adding glass, which he had made in the furnace not too long ago with sand Tommy had dug from the beach on the opposite side of the river. He hadn't minded getting wet.
Grian brought the boy inside and crafted up two nice beds, some doors, and carpet to decorate. Tommy had the red bed, placed in the first bedroom.
Grian's bed was white, as he had decided not to dye it- that was in the second bedroom.
The carpet was placed along with lanterns and torches, this would hopefully make Tommy comfortable enough to sleep.
After eating some dinner, Tommy was given new clothes- that Grian had made an effort to look somewhat like his old tee-shirt and pants- and went to bed when he'd finished washing his hair and had rubbed off some of the dirt in the river.
Grian watched the last bits of sun fade through a window. They were safe here. Far from people who wanted to kill Tommy- well, he guessed they wanted to do that, seeing how Tommy was being treated in his exile.
Nobody could find him. Not a single soul. Grian took off his chestplate, letting his wings extend. He would protect him.
/////
MumboJumbo heard his communicator ding twice.
Grian left the game
And soon after:
Grian was slain by .̵̺̩̼̊͛́̅̒̓̒.̶̹̺̲̜̝͚͛͂̄̇́̋̕͜.̴̧̩̗̜̳͈͉͐̊.̴̙͍̮̮̈̑̐̄͒͊̃͝.̴̡̺̮̠̤̌̄̈̎̄̈.̸̧͍̹̳͇̈
The hell? Who the heck was... whatever that was? The name was glitching and lagging on the comm.
He watched as Scar sent him a message.
<GoodTimesWithScar> What was that?
<MumboJumbo> Not sure
<iskall85> Wasn't he trying out his giant nether portal today?
<MumboJumbo> How big?
<iskall85> It's about 50 or so blocks tall- maybe higher
<MumboJumbo> Isn't that over the portal height?
<GoodTimesWithScar> Uh- there's a limit?
<MumboJumbo> Meet up there- but do not enter the portal if it's lit
<iskall85> Alright
<GoodTimesWithScar> Sure
MumboJumbo closed his communicator and raced outside his hobbit hole. He opened his inventory, taking out his elytra and putting it on. He took off, flying over as fast as he could. A feeling of dread starting to settle in his bones. What had his friend done?
/////
A few hours ago...
Tubbo was messing with his communicator in the Whitehouse out of boredom when it made a dinging noise. Most people kept it on silent due to how many death messages are received, but not Tubbo. If one of his people died, he wanted to know.
Grian joined the game
Who was Grian? What an odd name.
His cabinet looked up at him from their desks, all with the same confused looks. They kept their comms silent. Tubbo quickly closed his communicator- he'll figure out who the guy is later. He needed to focus on the problem at hand.
"So... Mr. President, why did you call us here?" Fundy asked, his right ear flicking in confusion.
"I wanted to bring up exile," Tubbo stated, squaring his shoulders.
There were a few unspoken words flying around, quick glances and worried looks. Both of Fundy's ears went down, Quackity's wings flared a bit, and Ranboo's tail tucked itself between his legs.
"Tommy has spent enough time to have learned by now. I do not trust him with Dream anymore," said Tubbo with a firm tone. He had practiced it this morning, and it came out perfectly.
"Are you sure?" Quackity spoke up, his wings flaring even more as his voice rose a bit, "you did exile him for a reason."
"Dream didn't want to exile Tommy for George- he wanted him out of L'manburg. I didn't realize what he wanted to do to Tommy in exile until now. To say the least, Dream will need to be hunted down for what he's done to our friend. And while we're at it, let's look for Technoblade and Philza as well," The President said, raising his chin. He did his best to control his growing stress as the cabinet continued casting worried glances at each other.
Fundy eyed the goat hybrid with doubtful eyes, "You're just realizing this now?"
Tubbo winced. "Yes and no, I guess I was too scared to admit it to myself, just pushing it aside. I didn't want to believe... you know... I had messed up. I was turning into... them," The President looked over his cabinet, "is this settled?"
His three cabinet members- no, his three friends nodded. Tubbo let his shoulder's relax. They were with him.
Tubbo had no clue what was coming his way. The message from Dream had sent him practically running for the exit of the room (He- of course- grabbed Fundy and Quackity to go with him, each fully decked out in netherite).
Ranboo watched the three go with a concerned face as he sat and doodled. He hoped Tommy was okay.
/////
Far out in the arctic, two close friends- an angel of death and a god of blood- were planning to go through a temple to look for riches and totems. Two things they were going to need.
Both had high hopes on trying to revive the angel's son. All they needed was a few totems if something went wrong, and the scrolls the angel had been studying.
The two had packed for the next few days of traveling- extra armor if they ran into trouble, spare food if they ran out, some potions, and, of course, good spirits and high hopes.
And so the duo set off.
For adventure awaits no man.
/////
Heyyy, editor is back! This started as a 447 word chapter, and when Basil... let me work my magic... well, let's just say I go overboard with literally everything.
The cabinet and the hermits are in for a treat.
Drink water, eat food if you haven't today, and have a good night!
Myes- and I thank my dear editor, I'll see you in the next chapter.
:)