Tommy awoke to the sound of twigs snapping and leaves rustling. He quickly scrambled to hide behind the broad treetrunk he had slept against right as a formal figure in a suit appeared. The figure stood up straight, turning out to be quite tall. They brushed leaves and dirt off their elegant suit and huffed. Tommy squinted his eyes from behind the tree, and to his surprise, found his role model, Mr.Schlatt, standing and observing the area.

Schlatt adjusted his tie and made an observation of the area. He suddenly looked over at the tree Tommy was hiding at, catching a glimpse of red (from Tommy's shirt sleeve) coming from behind the tree, and he wrinkled his brow. Taking a step closer to the tree, he grew more and more uneasy, not knowing what would be hiding behind it.

Tommy heard the quiet footsteps draw closer but didn't know what to do.

He closed his eyes tightly and waited. The man's presence was so close now. There was a sharp inhale from the man, and then the boy felt a heavy tap on the shoulder. Tommy turned around to face the man.

Schlatt looked exactly the same as he did in the poster that was still grasped in the boy's hand, although a look of confusion was exchanged for the confidence. Tommy forced his obviously scared eyes to make eye contact with the businessman and threw on a sideways smile. He shoved the poster in his pocket.

"H-hello, Mr.Schlatt," Tommy's voice was dry and raspy as he awkwardly thrust his hand toward the man, looking up into the businessman's baffled eyes.

For a moment, Schlatt was taken aback. How did he know his name? It took a second for him to realize that he was a well-known businessperson (whether it was on a motivational, promotional, or wanted poster, he gained much publicity). He took pride in that and then came back to the moment he was in now.

Where had this boy come from? It looked like he had been out here for a while; his eyes were tired, sad, and scared. He couldn't be more than 15 years old. The older man slowly reached out and shook the boy's callused right hand. The other arm, Schlatt noticed, was in a sling-like... thing, swollen. He relaxed at how weak the other's grip was, but he still felt unsettled.

Schlatt decided to try to lighten the mood, casually asking, "You come here often, kid?"

Tommy, astounded at the man's informality, swallowed and responded, "No, n-not really."

A cricket chirped once.

Well, that worked out just great, thought Schlatt.

They both studied each other for a moment until Tommy spoke again, "I'm sorry, but can I ask why you're out here?"

Schlatt looked at the boy and raised his eyebrows, "Only if you can tell me why you're out here first."

Tommy's eyes widened, and he looked away.

"That's what I thought," Schlatt said smugly.

"Anyways, you got any food around here? I'm starved." He didn't wait for an answer and instead just wandered over to the mossy bed by the stream and plopped down. He set a briefcase down that Tommy hadn't seen previously and stared at him admiringly and perplexed. Schlatt turned around to look at the kid. Seeing that he hadn't moved, he glared, reminding Tommy to get food.

Tommy widened his eyes, turned on his heel, and rushed to go get food. Meanwhile, Schlatt stretched his legs on the ground and rested his head on his briefcase. He sighed, "Free child labor at last." With that, he drifted off to sleep.

-

It took a while for Tommy to get anything. He could easily find the berry bushes, but harvesting the berries was another story. Tommy had already gotten the ones that were easiest to reach the days before. His mouth watered as he remembered the sweet and sour taste of the berries in his mouth.

He was also motivated by Schlatt, who was still waiting by the stream. If he wanted to impress Schlatt and earn his trust, he had to work for it.

He took a step into the bushes, carefully holding back the grabbing arms of the bushes as he picked the berries. Tommy ignored the pricking of the thorns as he grabbed as many berries as he could, placing them in the crook of his broken arm and some in the sling, eating some as he went. He kept getting stuck in the brambles, wanting to yell in pain every time the thorns dug into his skin on his hands and poked through the thin fabric of his shirt and pants, but he resisted giving up. One branch from the bushes even smacked him in the face, narrowly missing his eyes.

When he had finally freed himself from the bushes, even more carefully than before, he went to the stream where Schlatt was sitting and began to wash the berries off. The older noticed that the boy had scratches on his hands and face that he didn't have before. He refused to let himself feel guilty as he saw the boy struggle to wash the berries with his one hand. He looked away and asked coolly, "What took ya so long?"

Tommy scoffed and handed Schlatt the washed berries. He waited until Schlatt had picked up a berry and put it in his mouth and then jokingly warned, "Careful, they might be poisonous." He wiped his scratched, wet hand on his pants and stepped away. Schlatt, who had just swallowed a berry, looked nervously at the berries left in his hand.

Tommy laughed, looking back at him, "It's a joke, obviously." Schlatt squinted his eyes at him and smirked, popping another berry into his mouth. It was tough not to laugh along with the boy; his joy was as contagious as his laugh.

~~~~~

"Alright, you guys," Wilbur announced, speaking to Deo, Bitzel, and Tubbo, "We're going to be exploring this area today." He pointed to a blank spot on the map, "We'll be measuring out the area and mapping it out. Tommy might be waiting for us there, so let's get going." Deo and Bitzel exchanged worried looks but said nothing.

The boys walked through the endless amount of trees and meadows and streams, searching, measuring, and mapping the area. After many hours of this and finding nothing, the sun was setting.

Wilbur looked out into the trees, listening to the sounds of leaves rustling. His face was solemn, so the boys let him be. He closed his eyes and searched for a sound other than that of wind and leaves. The very faint sound of laughter teased his ears, and his eyes shot open.

"Did you hear that?" He said while quickly walking over to the three boys and nearly tripping over a root. They all looked at each other and shook their heads. "It sounded like Tommy. He might be just up the stream; we could go check-" he stopped talking when he saw the concerned expressions on their faces.

Tubbo spoke up, "It's getting dark, so maybe we could come back tomorrow and check it out." The others agreed as Wilbur stood with his arms hanging loosely to his sides. The boys all looked at Wilbur, who sadly nodded his head in defeat.

They quietly followed him as he led them back home through the forest.

~~~~~

After talking with the younger boy for a while, the sun started to leave, slowly turning the sky black in disappointment. Crickets traded places with the birds and conducted their own chirping melody. The stream seemed to grow quieter as silence overcame the area.

The boy's name was Tommy (Schlatt had learned that from their conversation. He had also learned Tommy was 15 years old), and he now leaned back on the soft moss, watching as stars started to fill the sky. He still hadn't told Schlatt why he was out here, so following the boy's example, he put his hands behind his head and lay down on the moss.

"Why are you out here, kid?" He waited a while in the silence until he turned his head to see a tear slide down Tommy's face. Schlatt suddenly felt guilty, "Actually, you know what? Nevermind. It's not that important." He turned his tense face back to the stars.

"I just..." the kid's voice was unusually soft as he spoke. "I was accused of something I didn't do, and Wi-" he sat up before he stopped himself from mentioning the names of his former family.

"People I trusted and who I thought trusted me didn't-" his voice broke, "they just don't care." He buried his face in his hand to hide from the other man.

Schlatt glanced at the boy and sat up. His anger grew for the boy's past family, and he reached his arm out, patting Tommy's back. He sat there with him for a while, just letting the younger cry silently.

-

Tommy had drifted off to sleep, and Schlatt was glad. He told himself it was because he got to really relax now, but in reality, he just wanted Tommy to be able to be at peace.

Tommy snored softly with his face still in his hand as his head leaned against his knees. With the younger asleep, the businessman quietly grabbed his briefcase. He opened it, revealing a small blanket, a couple small paper bags of smoked salmon, and a pen. He ate a couple of pieces of the salmon and then grabbed the blanket. He closed the briefcase and slid it under his head as he lay down. He caught sight of Tommy, who was still in his awkward sleeping position.

You shouldn't care, you dum dum, he thought to himself (way to go me, keeping it PG). Seeing Tommy shiver convinced Schlatt to ignore his thoughts.

Picking up his briefcase, he walked over to a nearby tree- the same one where he had first seen Tommy- and set it down. He then went to Tommy and gently wrapped the blanket around the boy, picking him up and carrying him to the tree. Schlatt was stunned for a moment at how light Tommy was, but he ignored that worry. Schlatt set the boy down by the tree and sat down next to him. He studied the boy for a while, thinking about what they had both been through. Closing his eyes, he slipped off into sleep.