1) Where are y'all coming from, I'm scared

2) Yay, more skin describing bc I'm too lazy to look up if they've actually shown their face or not, plus it's just easier to describe their skin than their face

~~~~~

The journey took a while, to say the least. Heeding Finns advice, Clay started his trip to the marsh at the crack of dawn, being able to cover more ground before night fell.

Trekking through the forest was one thing. It was difficult to navigate in the dark, yes, but the forest was familiar, and Clay knew there was nothing hiding in the shadows.

The journey to the marsh was different. For him, it was uncharted territory, so the more ground he can cover, the better.

Clay sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Summer was both a curse and a blessing. A blessing because it granted him another hour or so of daylight, but a curse because of the ungodly heat he had to endure.

Thankfully he was far away from the kingdom to take his mask off. His hood was also off, currently draped over his left arm, his forearm boiling from the mixture of sweat and heat.

It wasn't fun.

By the time Clay found a lake to drink from and rest, it was already sundown. He checked his map in the last little bit of sunlight, noting that, if he left by dawn again, this five day journey could be cut down to, at most, three.

He sighed, stripping himself of his dirty gear and swam in the cool water. He desperately needed a bath, and even better, a drink.

He already had more than enough food to last him during the two-week journey, but water tends to go fast on exceptionally hot days, so he made sure to fill up two Water-skins instead of one.

He was exhausted, to say the least. So, after putting his clothes back on, eating, and getting a drink from the lake, he laid down, and slept.

Day two was basically a repeat of day one.

Except this time, he had company.

He woke up and immediately noticed a roaring fire that wasn't there the night before.

Beside the fire was a teenager. If Clay didn't know any better, he would've said that the teen was Tommy's brother. They shared the same blonde hair, though this teens was a lighter blonde, and blue eyes. They even looked the same age, though this teen had a more shy look to him.

He wore a dirty forest green tunic and dirty navy blue leggings. His boots resembled Clays, but in a much worse condition. Clay noticed that the teen had a bow strapped to his back, a few arrows in the quiver.

"Um...hello...?"

Clays greeting, well, more like question, startled the teen out of whatever daydream he was in.

"O-oh, y-you're awake!" He exclaimed, sounding almost shocked that the man awoke. "S-sorry, I-I found this lake a-and you were there a-and I was nervous to stay b-because I didn't know if you were good or not and I-I didn't want to take any chances, b-but I saw that you had food, and I just couldn't help myself. I-I haven't eaten anything in.....th-ree days? I-I'm sorry, I know that I shouldn't have, and you can kill me if you want, but-"

"-hey, hey!" Clay interrupted the teens nervous ramblings. "I'm not gonna hurt you, calm down."

The teen looked at the green-eyed male and promptly broke down and cried. Clay decided that it was relief, and smiled gently at the teen, remembering that his mask was several feet away from him. He hated the fact that this stranger could see his face, but he decided that it was probably for the better, considering how scared he looks.

"What's your name?" Clay asked gently when the teen started breathing mostly normally again. "M-my names Clay."

"T-Toby." The teen stuttered. "B-but my friends call me T-Tubbo, f-for some reason."

"Well, which one would you rather me call you?" He asked gently, almost as if he spoke a little too harshly, it would break the teenager. "I'd personally prefer it if you Called me Dream, but it's up to you."

"I.....C-can you call me Tubbo, then?" The teenager asked.

Clay smiled softly, nodding. "Alright, Tubbo, What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"I was with my class and we were learning how to hunt, and I ended up getting separated from them, and now I'm kind of lost?" The teen said.

That would explain the bow.

"Well, if you want, you can join me. I'm heading to the 'Lands of Buried Beasts' to find someone. It's still a few days walk from here, but itd be less lonely with you here." He said. "That is, if you want, of course."

"Please?" The teen pleaded. "I-I don't know where I am, so it'd be nice to venture with someone who clearly knows what they're doing."

Clay smiled, grabbing his mask and packing his gear. "Well, lets go then."

So here the two were, sitting by the fire, in the mouth of a cave, sheltering from a storm outside.

It was the evening of day three of their journey, and during the day, Clay had taught the teen how to properly wield a bow and hunt for food.

In turn, Tubbo had taught the older male how to start a proper fire without a flint and steel.

"You hardly told me anything about yourself." Clay mentioned the next morning, as the two trekked through the marsh. "Why is that?"

"I could ask you the same thing." The younger male replied. "I don't know anything about you."

Clay chuckled. "Alright then, how about we play a game? We take turns telling the other about ourselves."

"Okay, you go first."

"Okay, um..." Clay pondered for a moment before snapping his fingers. "My mother is the royal seamstress for the kingdom of Dorilaf."

"Oh, that's far from here." The teen commented. "Um.....my childhood friend is the captain of the royal guard for the kingdom of Tapoto."

"Huh, I just came from there...wait, does your friend go by the name 'Tommy'?" The teen nodded, making Clay sigh. "Ugh, I know him. Funny, he never mentioned you."

"Well, nobles aren't supposed to speak of or to regular citizens or peasants." The teen said. "So are you part of the royal guard then?"

Clay nodded. "Kinda. I'm part of the guard, but I haven't been in the kingdom long enough to do anything."

Tubbo nodded. "You know, the only noble rule thing is new. It was only established when Tommy became captain."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I heard that the previous captain wasn't even noble. He was the son of a farmer, if I remember correctly."

Clay hummed, going silent. Too many things were running through his brain.

"Heh, p-part of me thinks that they made that rule, simply because they didn't want me to be in the guard." The teen rambled. "I'd follow Tommy to the ends of the earth, you know? So when he became the captain, I was ecstatic. I was already in the guard, and since we were so close, I naturally thought that I'd be his right-hand. I mean, I didn't care about the rank, but that's just what I immediately thought, you know?"

He sighed.

"B-but then, they kicked me and several others out of the guard. Something about a new 'nobles only' rule. You know, the guard rules are established by both the king and the captain, and both have to agree in order for the rule to be passed. I don't know if Tommy just...hates me or if he cares about me too much to not want me in the guard, not getting hurt..."

Clay noticed the teens eyes glistening in the morning light, making his heart ache.

"We don't even talk anymore. He's like a stranger now. How can someone you grew up with just abandon you just like that? I thought I was his best friend, but I didn't see remorse or anything in his eyes when they escorted me out."

"Heh, it seems everywhere I look, theres at least one person heartbroken by a friend." Clay finally said, breaking the small moment of silence softly. "Megas hurting because of Jacob, I'm hurting because of Dave, you're hurting because of Tommy. There's just...so much heartbreak in this kingdom that it physically hurts."

The two were silent for a moment before Tubbo gasped. "I-Is that....a house?"

Clay looked forward and noticed that, yes, there was indeed a house in the distance. The two whooped for joy as they ran through the mud to the growing house in the distance.

~<•>~

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine."

The slightly older teen sang softly as he braided flower stems together to form a flower crown.

"You make me happy when skies are grey."

His best friend laid on the grass beside him, playing with a dandelion that was nearby, trying, and failing, to not fall asleep.

"Youll never know dear, how much I love you."

The slightly older teen smiled softly as he heard the soft snores coming from his best friend. He gently placed the flower crown on his head, careful as to not wake him.

"Please don't take my sunshine away."

~~~~~

Not counting the A/N at the top, 1549 words

A little lengthier than usual, but whatever.

So uh, guess who decided to binge watch Technoblade all day instead of doing her schoolwork.

Honestly, Dave doesn't deserve to be as relatable as he is, holy shit. Like, him being a (mostly) antisocial English major spoke to me in 50 different languages I don't speak, it's not even funny.

I figured I might as well watch them since I'm writing a book with them in it, and honestly, I have no opinion on Tubbo or Tommy, which is weird bc it seems like I have a clear distaste for Tommy in this book (same with Techno).

But I don't. I mean, before I started writing this, I hardly ever watched Techno and friends, so I literally had no opinion on him other than the fact that I thought that him and Dream are perfect rivals, and they are.

Just be aware that this is a fanfic. I am completely aware that they are friends irl, so don't bash me. This is just for fun, as you can imagine.

Also I am soft for Clay and Tubbos interaction in this, it's so wholesome. I think I wrote Tubbo in this (bc he originally wasn't) bc I remembered a clip of him and Tommy (actually mostly Tommy) making a deal with a barely even awake Dream, and i guess i just loved the way Dream interacted with Tubbo vs Tommy or something, idk.

Fun fact: I've hardly ever seen any videos with Tubbo, and only wrote him in here after I watched a video of Fundy and Tubbo clips, and I'm so happy that I did.

Also yes, I did google a ton of shit about Tubbo. In fact, I did for most, if not all, of Techno and friends (idk exactly what they're called, I've been hearing like 5 different names).

Also also, I'm wondering how long it'll take people to figure out exactly what the kingdom names are. I'll give you a hint; they are real words with the letters shuffled around.