The family continued their stroll around the ship, enjoying every minute of it. It was crazy how they had been accepted onto the ship, and they were very grateful. Techno's friend/enemy, Dream, had requested them to his private island. He was regularly inviting more people to it. Dream's best friends George and Sapnap had built many things on it in the short time that Dream had owned it. There were other people on the island as well that Dream had invited, but Phil, Techno, Wilbur, and Tommy hadn't met them yet. Tommy was a little bitter that Dream wouldn't let one of his friends- Jschlatt- come to the island, but he was grateful that he was invited. His friend Tubbo would be coming later on, but that wasn't too exciting; they got to see each other all the time. Thinking about their circumstances made Tommy's stomach churn. Philza and Techno had other work to be done, and they couldn't join Tommy and Wil just then. Even though Tommy was parting from Philza and Techno, he sought to draw closer to Wilbur. His reasoning was that he would be spending most of his time with Wil on the island, and he wanted to be as friendly as possible; he didn't need another war. Tommy shivered at the thought of war. Though the previous one was with Techno and brought good things (the family's coming together), it also caused a lot of pain, especially to Tommy. He still had scars from the war...

~

The following is a flashback. It includes Tommy getting impaled, blood, and death by a sword, so if you aren't comfortable reading this type of thing, you can skip the italicized bit :)))

The cool wind rushed past Tommy's face along with thousands of snowflakes that stuck to his face, eventually melting. The experience was exhilarating, but also terrifying. Of course, he had confidence he could defeat "The Blade" as he called Technoblade, the one he was at war against. He was going to duel him to win back something that was stolen from Business Bay. Tommy hoped to be punctual, but he was already late; flying through a blizzard in a dinky plane wasn't easy to do. When he finally saw a glimpse of the prismarine roof, he began to lower the plane, landing it clumsily. Tommy leaped over the door of the plane, immediately slipping on the frozen ground that lay below the snow. He face-planted in the snow, not noticing that Techno was hovering above him.

"You're late," Techno's deep voice said smugly. Tommy suddenly felt nervous. He wiped the snow from his face as he got to his feet, staring defiantly into Techno's eyes. Techno certainly was something. A golden crown with different jewels was perched upon his pig-pink hair, and a red, velvety cape blew in the breeze with the snow. Besides the cape and crown, he just wore a white shirt and dark grey pants, nothing out of the ordinary. Techno's aura was complicated; it seemed dark but also placid and warm. Techno glared delightedly down at the boy, succeeding in his goal to intimidate him. Tommy gulped as Techno whipped around, taking a few small steps away. Tommy tried to relax, but before he could even take another breath, Techno spun around, pointing a sword right at Tommy's face, "Are you ready, nerd?"

Tommy was in no way ready, "Yeah! I'm ready to destroy you in this duel," the young blonde tried to sound confident, but his voice wavered. He was afraid of respawning since he had never had to before. He had been in many near-death situations, but he never died. Techno lowered his sword and took ten paces back. Tommy inhaled the snow, choking. His eyes teared up as he tried to look to see where Techno was through the snow. He caught a glimpse of his red cape and ran forward, holding his sword at his side.

Techno had his sword at his side, the sharp point aimed at his child opponent, believing that the kid would come to a stop before he hit it. He was planning on just bargaining with Tommy; he didn't actually want to harm him. He was so confident that Tommy would stop that he even took a step forward, thrusting the sword towards the boy.

But he was mistaken.

Tommy's limited vision made him see the blade less than a second after it had sunk into his side. That less than a second of seeing the sword caused him to panic, making him slide on the ice and right into the blade. Tommy could taste the blood in his mouth as tears started to stream down his face. He opened his mouth, blood trickling down his lips. His hiccuping, choking sobs only made the agony worse. Techno looked into the boy's eyes timorously, "No...nonononononon !" Tommy had barely heard the despondent shouts from Techno when he called Philza over for the healing potions or anything that would help. The anxious chatter slowly faded as the sword was painfully pulled out of his side. Tommy couldn't react; he was too weak. Techno had wrapped him in his cape, picking him up and running to the base.

Tommy's first death happened in Techno's arms, moments before Phil had come back with the healing potions.

-

Tommy had woken up in his own bed back at Business Bay, gasping for breath. As he quickly sat up, Tommy winced at the pain in his side, and he knew there was a scar. But from what? For a moment, he had forgotten why he was there, but then the memory came back, and with it came the pain. He keeled over, falling off the side of the bed.

No sooner had he respawned that the sounds of planes echoed through the air. Tommy was sure they were coming to spawn-kill him over and over and over until they were tired of it. Tommy scrambled to get to a hiding spot, gnashing his teeth as the pain seared throughout his body. The door flung open, revealing Techno with a bloodstained cape, Philza holding an armful of potions, and Wilbur staring wide-eyed at the boy. Pete was there too, but he was outside, making sure no one stole the planes. Tommy yelped from surprise and pain from the vibration of the door slamming against the wall.

Techno was breathing heavily, terrified that he had injured the boy permanently. Guilt flooded through him again as he watched the boy's terrified eyes stare at each one of them. Tommy backed up into a corner, scared to death of what they would do to him. Techno took a step closer, reaching his hand out, and Tommy flinched, shielding his face.

Techno looked back at Wilbur, who looked like he was about to cry. Phil's eyes were sad and regretful, but he didn't have the unpropitious title of a murderer pinned on his head; he was completely innocent. Techno faltered for a minute until gently redirecting his attention back to Tommy, kneeling down in front of him.

A soft choke from Tommy nearly broke Techno's heart: "I'm sorry." Tommy seemed to shrink further into the corner he was backed into. Techno felt an overwhelming weakness that drew its power from guilt, but it caused him to pull Tommy into a tight hug as tears slipped down his face.

Tommy, startled, felt strangely calm and safe in Techno's arms. He sunk into it deeper, collecting the brotherly warmth from the other, finding forgiveness amidst the pain.

(I swear that if you think of this non-platonic, I will find where you live and actually murder you.)

~~~~~

"What are you thinking about?" Techno asked Tommy, pulling him out of his thoughts. The pink-haired man was met with a flicker of terror in Tommy's eyes. Techno hated that; he hated that Tommy was afraid of him, but he knew he probably deserved that. After a short moment, the boy's eyes fell back to their usual brightness, and he responded happily, nearly strangling Techno's heart, "Nothing; I'm fine!"