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Tommy had seen his fair share of the server’s main events first hand, despite not having been involved with them whatsoever before the creation of Las Atlantis. He had seen the rise and fall of both L’Manberg, and its founder. He had seen a Lord execute a man in front of a crowd. He had seen its final doom. He had seen people kicked out of said country, and what occurred because of that. He had seen the laughter, the smiles, the embraces, just as he had seen the screaming, the tears, the countless betrayals.
The never ending bloodshed.
And yet, when Dream asked to meet with him at the outskirts of a dense forest, not too outside the borders of Las Atlantis, he agreed without so much as a second thought.
//
Tommy, almost sprinting at this point, slowed his pace when he saw Dream leaning on his side against a tree, arms crossed. He hadn’t meant to be late, really! He had just lost track of the minutes, and when he discovered what time it was, it was already past the set time he had been told to be here. He skidded to a halt, bare heels digging into the ground below him. Sure, it hurt a bit, but he’d rather die and deal with snags in his feet than have to wear shoes. There was no point when he would immediately lose them so he could swim properly.
“Ayyyy, hello Big D!” He greeted him with a toothy grin, looking up at the smiling mask. He didn’t bother to apologize for being late.
“I’ve told you before, Tommy. Don’t call me that.” Dream practically snarled, pushing himself off of the tree. The shark hybrid shrugged, nudging the man who was clearly not having it.
“Yeah yeah yeah, whatever Small-D.” He said with a laugh. “Sooo… what’s up? Why’d you want to see me?”
With a flick of his ear in annoyance, Dream turned away from him, signaling for him to follow with a two fingered calling motion. If not for his curiosity, Tommy might have stayed put, demanding an answer before he went anywhere with the green hybrid. However, he followed after a moment’s pause, trailing behind him until he could speed up to walk beside the other. He would be worried about wandering into the forest by himself because of its leaves casting just enough shade in some places to save certain mobs from burning, but with the netherite axe strapped to his companion’s back, he felt reassured he wouldn’t have to worry about that. He didn’t know too much about the green hybrid, but he knew he was pretty strong! Not that he wasn’t strong himself, of course. He could kick Dream’s ass easily.
Probably.
…
Nah he definitely could.
After walking in silence for a few minutes, Tommy groaned, poking at Dream again. “Dreammmm, come onnnn. Tell me where we’re going already! You’re being all cryptic and shit, it’s fuckin weird.” He huffed as he crossed his arms, but didn’t stop following him. Still, Dream refused to say anything. At least, at first. After another minute, the ex President finally did speak up.
“It’s a surprise.”
Tommy, who had been getting tired of following with reason, definitely perked up at that. “A surprise?” He repeated, tilting his head. “What is it?”
Dream chuckled, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Or, well, that’s what the shark hybrid assumed he was doing. It was a bit difficult for him to tell with that stupid smiling mask he always wears. How does he even see out of that thing anyways? “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, Tommy. Besides, Wilbur helped me with this; It’ll be worth the wait.” He said, with something behind his voice that he.. couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. Amusement? Condensation? Anticipation?
He should have started running then, the red flags should have been obvious, but, of course, hindsight is twenty twenty.
“And anyways, we’re almost there.”
//
As it turns out, Dream is a fucking lying, bitch pussyhole, because they had not fucking almost been there. They had walked for what felt like ages before Dream had halted in the middle of a clearing.
Stopping a few feet away from Dream, Tommy dramatically groaned. If it had been anyone else he was closer to, he would have draped his arms around their shoulders and leaned on them. But, alas, he didn’t think the other would be too keen on such an action. Lame.
“Y’know, if you were going to drag me out into the middle of fucking nowhere, I wouldn’t have-“
“Run.”
Tommy froze at his words, turning his head to face him just in time to see Dream removing the glistening neitherite axe from the strap on his back. “Wh-What?” He hesitantly asked, a nervous smile spreading on his lips. Awkwardly, he chuckled, as if staying lighthearted would break down the steadily growing tension and seriousness. “Why are you-, What-, No, Dream-, Run? What are you-“
“I'm not going to tell you again, Tommy.” Dream interjected, voice low and threatening. The shark could feel a rock at the bottom of his stomach, and his tail itched to wrap itself around him. To shield him.
The green hybrid began to stalk towards him. Tommy felt rooted in place.
”Run.”
And when Dream raised his axe above his head, as if prepared to cut him down then and there, Tommy didn’t stick around to call his bluff.
//
Tommy didn’t know where he was going. He barely knew where he was stepping, but he knew his feet were bleeding and rubbed raw from trampling sharp twigs and stones littered on the forest floor. He was panting, and he would be lying if he said his eyes weren’t damp from fear. He was running faster than he ever had before, clutching a bleeding gash in his arm from when he had foolishly slowed in his exhaust.
No matter what he did, no matter how quickly he ran, no matter how he tried to weave and duck between branches, Dream seemed to always be just a few feet away, a never ending supply of enderpearls ensuring such a fact. It was horrifying. He felt like a rat in a glass labyrinth, forever trying to find the end and escape the maze before punishment occurred, but never able to find the exit.
Constantly watched, observed, in twisted delight.
“Get the hell away from me you dickhead!” Tommy cried out, choking back a sob as he heard Dream laughing at his words. At his terror, his desperation. ”Philllll! Wilbur! Techno! Goddamn fucking damn it, someone! He’s gonna fucking kill me! He-“
The shark hybrid gasped as he felt glass shatter on his back and sent him crashing down. With an “oof!” he slammed into the ground, barely thinking of the face full of dirt he had gotten before he attempted to push himself back up. And failed. His muscles grew weak, and he felt as if a boulder had been dropped onto him. What would once be quick actions now felt sloppy, and took so much more effort.
What had he splashed him with?
“Aww.. you gonna cry?” He heard Dream sneer as he fought to turn his back away from him and hold himself up with two hands. He stared up at him with bared teeth and widened eyes, feeling as if the words had been stolen out of his mouth.
“Come on minnow, surely you’ve felt a potion of weakness before, haven’t you? Wilbur can’t have sheltered you that much.” He mocked before lunging down at him. Unable to stop a yelp from being pulled out of his lips, the man grabbed his face with his free hand, mask uncomfortably close to his own face.
“Too bad Big Brother Wilbur isn't here to protect poor little Tommy now. Not that that good-for-nothing excuse for a bird could do much of anything.” Dream taunted, uncaring as the other put a hand on his arm as a futile attempt to get him to let go. He dug a hand into the grass below him. “Maybe once his little pet comes back with his tail between his legs, he’ll finally get it through that thick fucking skull of his that-“
Chomp.
Using all the strength he could muster, Tommy jerked his head just enough to be able to dig his pointed teeth into the other’s wrist. And he latched on, grimacing at the sour taste of his blood.
That is, he had been for a few seconds despite the scream and swears it had pulled from Dream, until a fist pounded into the side of his head.
Dropping from the hold, he was going to try and force himself onto his feet despite his spinning vision instead of relishing the way Dream was clutching the oozing bite wound. To run despite the weight crushing him, trying to lure him into simply staying still.
But he barely had time to even start pushing himself up before a foot stomped into his back and pinned him down, making Tommy cry out at the sudden pain.
“Oh, Toms, you’re gonna regret doing that.”
Before he could so much as think of what to say, Tommy gasped and cried out at the sharp, ripping sensation of being cut into graced his already bruising back.
One, two, three.
Four, five, six.
Tommy couldn’t tell how many lined his back, the fabric once covering it now in bloody shreds. He couldn’t help the tears that fell from pleading eyes, an arm extended out in front of him in a useless attempt to drag himself away from his attacker. He would never be able to get away with the potion and Dream’s own weight working to keep him in place.
What had he done to deserve this? He had barely ever even spoken to Dream before. He could count on one hand the number of times, but they had never been bad. So why was he the one suffering under his blade?
“Stop, please-!” Tommy begged in a gasp, voice rising at the end of his plea as the weapon struck down at him once more. He could feel them over lapping with already opened gashes. And though the punishment had eventually paused, it was at the cost of his head, because it wasn’t long before he felt the blunt end of the axe collide with his skull. He swore he could see stars. Ironically, the throb of pain is what kept him grounded and, unfortunately, in the moment.
“This is for your own good, Toms. You need to learn what happens in this world when people step out of line, and the consequences that follow.” Dream snarled in twisted delight. “Maybe, if Wilbur had learnt that lesson sooner, and didn’t disrespect those above him, you wouldn’t have to be what teaches him, but he always is one for dramatics, isn’t he?”
Tommy felt Dream remove his foot from his back, but he didn’t feel any lighter. He only had the strength to slowly shift himself to be able see what the other was doing, wincing and whining from the pain of simply moving yet desperately wanting to curl in on himself.
He thought he would have been thankful and relieved when he saw Dream reattach his axe to his back, but all he felt was dread when he unsheathed an iron dagger.
And use a hand to hold the end of his tail steady.
“No,” Tommy murmured, his heart pounding in his chest as fresh tears gathered and began to spill.
He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t go that far. “No, no no please Dream, please no no don’t please-“
The sawing began.
And all Tommy could do was sob.
Sob as the dagger slowly tore through the skin and tensions and muscles and bone that made up his caudal fin.
He wished he could have given into the pain. to have passed out and be spared from watching as the part of him he loved the most was quite literally ripped away from him. To not hear the ripping and squishing and dripping between his own desperate screams and cries.
But he couldn’t be that lucky.
After what felt like years, and only seconds, Dream was holding a bloodied knife, and his caudal fin.
His body laid there completely limp against the ground besides the hand gripping the grass near where his face now laid. It was too much. It was all too much. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t move.
He felt a hand ruffle his hair before cupping the side of his face, forcing his failing eyes to look up.
Dream.
“There, now was that so bad?” Dream cooed to him, rubbing a clawed finger across his cheek, brushing away the stray tears that fell from dulling eyes. “You’re always so dramatic, Tommy.”
With a thud, his head dropped back to the floor.
And maybe if the blood loss hadn’t started to catch up with him, Tommy would have heard the rest of Dream’s words. Heard more insults spit towards his family, particularly aimed at Wilbur. Heard how he had enjoyed this little game of theirs. Heard how his fin was going to be Dream’s newest trophy.
If he had the energy, the will, the strength, he would have fought back. He would have made Dream regret those words; regret this whole awful mess. He would have gotten his revenge, and made his family proud for how he defended them.
But he didn’t. The silence was too loud, and he couldn’t focus on anything but the burning pain that didn’t seem to fade the same way everything else was.
Bloodshot eyes still cracked open, three lives became two.
TommyInnit was slain by Dream