You may want to skip this story if you're claustrophobic or don't like the topic of death. I love you <3 :3

Wilbur dragged his feet as he walked through the ravine, listening to Tommy's rabble, and his headache grew worse. Tommy had been irritating all day, and Wilbur had developed a headache because of him. Wilbur knew the boy had only been venting his frustration onto him because of their banishment, but Wil wanted to just slap him and tell him to get over it, no matter how cruel it might've seemed. Tommy came closer, and Wilbur sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and looking up to the walls. He frowned on seeing the glint of a shiny diamond block and started to make his way up to it.

"Tommy, what the frick is this?"

"I'm decorating, birch!" (Birch because Wilbur is tall, like a birch tree, and also because of that one naughty word. I'm so smart, aren't I ;-;) Tommy yelled, throwing diamond blocks in random spots and completely ignoring Wibur's question. A call from the communicators interrupted their argument. Tommy immediately answered, not bothering to look at the ID, "Hello?"

"Heyyyy," Jschlatt greeted roguishly. Wilbur murmured something insulting, crossing his arms, but didn't say anything to his face.

"Hey, J Money," Tommy began, grinning down at the communicator in his hand, making Wilbur roll his eyes. Had Tommy already forgotten what Schlatt had done to them both? Tommy complained to Schlatt about his situation, "Wilbur won't let me decorate the ravine how I want it-"

"That's because it looks awful, Tommy! Gah, your such a child!" Wilbur lashed out. "He wanted to decorate with redstone, diamond blocks- from my diamonds- and observers! What the heck is that palette?" Wilbur shouted, taking his anger out on Jschlatt as he tried to prove his point to someone who didn't even care. Wilbur and Tommy heard Jschlatt chuckle.

"Well, you could always decorate Manberg with diamond blocks, Tommy," Schlatt offered slyly.

Wilbur waited for Tommy's exclamation, telling Schlatt that it was L'Manberg, not Manberg, but it never came, replaced by Tommy's unbelieving and curious voice, "Really?"

Wil fumed, "No! Just go away already, Schlatt!" He grabbed Tommy's wrist tightly, frightening the young blonde half to death, and hung up. Wilbur glared at the communicator after the call had ended, and Tommy squirmed in his grasp.

"Wilbur, you're hurting me..." Tommy whined, trying to pry Wil's hand off his wrist. Wilbur scoffed, throwing Tommy's arm to the side, nearly popping it off the socket. Tommy understood he was being irritating and immediately started to apologize.

Wilbur cut him off, thinking he was being sarcastic, "Oh, frick off, Tommy."

Tommy recoiled, backing away from Wilbur to give him space. He decided that if Wilbur didn't want him to mess with the whole ravine, he would just make his own room to decorate. He nodded to himself. Yeah, that won't make him mad. He gathered materials from a chest and welcomed Tubbo and Techno, who had just arrived. Tommy carved out a small hole in the wall and began decorating, placing a redstone block here and piston there. Suddenly, a piston pushed him against the wall, and he caught his breath. He didn't want to call out to Techno, he would just laugh, and Tubbo would, too. Tommy just hoped Wil wasn't still upset with him.

"Wilbur! Help!" Tommy yelled, clawing at the piston in front of him. His fingers bled as they scraped against the rough materials, and his fingernails bent back when they caught on the nails from the piston. Tommy heard the hurried footsteps and then the dreaded laughter of his brother. Straining his neck, he saw Techno and Tubbo's feet appear next to Wilbur's. He opened his mouth to say something, speaking through their giggling, "Please, help me. I'm genuinely claustrophobic." That only made the boys laugh harder, all but Techno.

Technoblade stood skeptically, wondering if Tommy was actually kidding or not. He heard a choked sob from Tommy, but he couldn't tell if he was faking it or not. Techno shuffled his feet away from them, afraid. He heard a weak giggle from Tommy as he tried to convince them to let him out, and that reassured Techno just enough that Tommy was fine. "Long live the king," Techno said, letting out a nervous chuckle. Wilbur giggled, moving past Techno to continue decorating the ravine.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Tubbo said excitedly, grabbing a bucket of water. "I have an idea!" He heaved the bucket of water into Tommy's face, the freezing water mixing with Tommy's tears. Techno heard the strangled gasps coming from Tommy, but he made no action to help him, instead backing up with the others, leaving Tommy in the hole as they made their way outside.

-

Crushed between the cobble and a piston, Tommy felt for his communicator, letting out short gasps of air as he panicked. His chest was tight, and his arm twisted in an unnatural way, hurting like heck. Dust from the stone above him coated his throat, and he coughed and shook violently, more tears bursting from his eyes. Tommy had been in the hole for at least an hour, and with every breath he took, it got harder to breathe. He fiddled with his fingers until he heard the cheery tune from the communicator ring, and he hoped that the person who picked up wouldn't immediately hang up. He had no idea who he had called, but he hoped for the best; he couldn't take it anymore. Was Wilbur really just going to leave him in there the whole time?

The ringing tone ended, and through the communicator, Wilbur's voice spoke, annoyed, "What do you want?"

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut, tears burning his face as he clenched his teeth. Wilbur wouldn't help him; he was the one who trapped him there. He shivered and cried silently, not wanting to show he wasn't as strong as he pretended to be (not that anyone believed him anyway).

"Tommy, what do you want?" Wilbur repeated, a hint of alarm coating his speech.

Tommy tried to speak, but he found he couldn't. He couldn't even breathe. The pressure from the pistons pushed him against the wall, and his arm was like a seatbelt when a car jerks to a stop, only it wasn't only for a moment; it had been like that ever since he first got stuck. Tommy panicked again, trying to move around, but he only made the pain worse as he wasted his breath.

"Tommy!" Wilbur shouted through the communicator, more irritated than before since he thought it was just a prank.

Tommy couldn't respond as he faded in and out of consciousness, the lack of oxygen making him tired and dizzy.

"Okay, Tommy. I've had enough. I'm not falling for your prank, child."

The blonde, barely being able to speak, wheezed, "Help-" The beep of Wilbur hanging up interrupted his plead and filled him with dread. No, no, no, no, no! Tommy thought, trying to scroll through more contacts on his communicator. He heard the dialing tone, and he tried to take a deep breath. A rock from above Tommy's head came down, and the boy wept. The tone stopped, and Tommy knew the person hadn't answered. A tear of hopelessness slid down his face as he pushed against the piston, punching it with a weak fist.

Tommy blubbered, letting out gasps of air. Tears streamed down his face as he finally freed himself from the piston. He could move now, but his arm was in intense pain, and there was still only a little bit of oxygen. He giggled from relief until it turned to trepidation. He'd still suffocate there, wouldn't he? His fingertips were still raw from digging at the piston, but he started at the cobblestone, sobbing hysterically while his head felt like it would explode.

~~~~~

Wilbur walked along the small river that ran by, his hands held loosely behind his back, and he thought of his contentment with Tommy being stuck. He suddenly frowned, feeling a bit uneasy. No. Tommy wasn't stuck. They had trapped him- imprisoned him- in the walls. Wilbur tried to ignore his thoughts, but he realized it was unavoidable. Thinking back to all the times Tommy had helped him out of difficult situations or comforted him when he needed comfort, he felt ashamed. Sure, Tommy could be annoying, but he was one of the few people Wilbur considered family. And what if Tommy really was claustrophobic? Or what if he really was hurt? He felt the weight of guilt slam down against him, but that was unimportant to the situation. He raced back to the hill that hid the entrance to the ravine, passing Techno along the way, and Techno stopped him.

"What's going on?" Techno's eyes glimmered with concern as he looked over Wilbur, not knowing the other's rush.

"What if Tommy really isn't okay?" Wil blurted, tears flooding his eyes.

"Oh, God," Techno whispered, the realization slapping him. The two rushed down the stairs of the ravine, racing over to where they had previously trapped Tommy. Techno grabbed a pickaxe and began breaking at the cobblestone. Besides the mining from the pickaxe, the pair heard nothing, and that worried them tremendously. "Got it!" Techno exclaimed, and Wilbur quickly made his way into the small room, seeing Tommy laying limply against the stone.

Wilbur couldn't say anything.

Had he really killed his own little brother?

The respawn process always took a while. Wilbur knew how Tommy tried to avoid dying, and he understood. The process of respawning was terrifying. One has to sit in an endless void of darkness until the body is re-made. Even before that, dying was always terrifying and painful to go through.

Wilbur examined the boy's filthy, bloody fingertips, and dust-caked face. His blonde hair was unkempt and dirty, and Wilbur stroked the boy's forehead, holding back tears. Techno stood, watching the scene, knowing exactly how Wilbur felt (If you've read Anchored, you'll understand this).

"It's not your fault, Wilbur-" Techno started.

"No, Techno. This time it actually is," Wil said, staring at a lifeless Tommy as he cradled the boy in his arms. The body disappeared, and Wilbur sobbed even harder, any hope that he hadn't actually killed his little brother being crushed.

"Wil..." Techno started. He realized nothing he said could fix Wilbur's distress, so he just put a hand on his brother's shoulder, watching him cry.

~~~~~

Tommy gasped awake in his bed, immediately crying. He had respawned again, and it was as terrifying as the last time. Tommy felt like the darkness had fully enveloped him, and he was afraid to open his eyes in-case it was still there. Through panicky breaths, he felt around to make sure he was out of the void, touching the soft fabric from his bed and the cool, smooth-stone walls that were next to him. He got the courage to open his eyes, only to be greeted with darkness. He cried out, snatching a pillow from behind him and covering his face as he backed up into the corner. He heard rushed footsteps followed by the smell of a torch burning, and Tommy dared to open his eyes, letting the pillow lower from his face.

Wilbur leaped forward, clutching Tommy into a hug as he apologized countless times, stroking Tommy's hair. Tommy was relieved to be out of the void and just as happy that Wilbur wasn't still irritated at him, and he thankfully hugged back. Techno couldn't say he wasn't envious. Tommy had been scared to death of Techno after his first death, but Techno was glad that Tommy was able to forgive Wil.

"I'm never going to hurt you again, Tommy. I'm so sorry," Wilbur promised.

Such a fraudulent assurance.