{Page 23}

Chapter 22
Wreckage

"You're doing a great job Tommy..!"
Tommy hid his smile by facing away.

"..and well...you're doing great in..everything you do..?"

"Thank you!"
Tommy turned to Tubbo who was doing that classical bright smile he always does 24/7.

"...uh.."
tommy ran out of words, his whole thought process just before this had just, vanished.

"..let's go now, even the fireflies are gone."
Tubbo smiled again, standing up carefully, grabbing the branch above them for support.
He offered one hand to help up Tommy.

Tommy stared at Tubbo.

"I swear..."
He took the hand gratefully, recklessly standing up, nearly falling off the branch whilst doing so.

"Ack!"
Tubbo guided Tommy to hold the exact branch Tubbo was holding onto. As soon as he did, he let go.

"Wait."

"Hm..?"

"Can I say one more thing..?"

"Of course, though we should be quick..."
Tommy nodded vigorously, he formed the correct words and rethought what he will say.
That's if Tubbo is willing to go with the scenario Tommy had thought countless times already in his head.

"Tubbo..I question myself why I'm your friend, why you're my friend...but.."

"Our friendship, is meant to be."

"...Thank you Tommy..Thank you.."

The two carefully made their way back, taking their time however to ask and just ignore everything that is going on in the world at the moment.

Like usual friends, of course you would look back at your memories.
Tommy mentioned many times how stupid and how much he grew.

Tubbo however reminded Tommy how dumb he was to steal a royal horse from Skyecrest and proceeded to just jump off the floating palace.
Tommy giggled at the memory.
"Mind you I felt so bad*** at that moment Tubbo!"

The two kept walking until Tommy felt...off.

The smell in the area had a scent of something, or maybe someone burning.
Tommy saw the small ashes that gradually built up, to the campsite.

It was as if the scene before them was frozen in time.
The tents had peculiar claw marks, huge ones, that scaled across each of the tents.

The campfire looked like it was crushed, as evidence, the rocks that once held the campfire together were now scattered across the ground.

Tommy saw that the tree was on fire because some of the branches were missing or had fallen off. He noticed the small flames that lingered across the site as well.

Meanwhile, Tubbo was calling out his friends names;

"Wilbur?!!"

"Eret?!!"

"Philza!!?"

"..TECHNO?!!"

"Tubbo will you shut up I'm trying to think,"

"Oh I'm sorry that I'm actually concerned on where our friends went!"
Tommy saw that the tears that Tubbo was trying to fight back.

Not wanting to make his friend feel more upset, Tommy decided to focus on the bigger picture.

He remembered that he had seen everyone together, precisely before dinner. Then after that, Tubbo had invited him to go see fireflies. And it was night as well.

Put that all together and that adds up to roughly an hour and a half ago.

He thought of all the possibilities that maybe could've happened;

Wolves? How do wolves set a tree on fire?
Animals are out of the question then.

Guards? They do use fire when they need to, but that sounds way too extreme just to hunt down a group of people.
And the claw marks on the tent ? This makes no sense!

Then it hit him, The Ender Dragon.

Who else would spit out fire and cause huge marks on the Tent?
Tommy didn't want to believe it, but it's the most logical and probable answer.

"Tommy are you alright?!"

"...dragon..the ender dragon.."

"..Tommy what are you..."
Tubbo cut off and realised what he meant.

"..Tommy you're kidding..right.."

"Tubbo give me a more reasonable answer then."

Tubbo went silent for a second, even Tony didn't want to believe this. But another thought was coming into mind,

How did the Ender Dragon know they were here?

A sudden wave of panic came over him as he realised that the only way that the Ender Dragon could've known they were here was if they had been following Tommy and his friends.

Could the Ender Dragon still be here now?

Is it still here?!

Suddenly, he heard the ruffling of a nearby bush. A low grumble was also heard.

He grabbed Tubbo by the shoulder and slowly guided him to a nearby, broken tent.
He doesn't want to lose anymore people, heck, are the people that he knew still alive anymore?!

He and Tubbo watched the bushes closely from inside the tent.
Tommy scrambled around the area, trying to find any sort of thing to try defend themselves.

It was too late when he heard Tubbo gasp as a foot appeared from the bush.
Tommy's fear immediately melted however as the face was not who he expected.

"Technoblade!"

He saw the man turn to their direction and immediately seemed relieved to see them. However this changed when he saw the wreckage of the campsite.

"What happened? And why's there a fire?! Did you two do this?!"

"We didn't start the fire!" Tubbo protested, climbing out the tent.

"It was always burning..since we got here." Tommy also stepped out of the tent, walking towards Techno.

"Then...where are the others..?"
Technos face showed concern and confusion.

"I honestly..don't know.."
Tommy, Tubbo and Techno stared at the wreckage of the campsite.
The main points that happened at the campsite was an attack.

There was a burnt out fire,
Burnt trees,
Scattered litter and thorn tents,
And finally huge claw marks.

However, there was no sign of any struggle from our friends, so whatever it was must've attacked quickly, the Ender Dragon.

"We know it's not the guards...I mean they can't make this big of claw marks!" Tubbo briefly explained.

"And we don't know it's animals because who here could breathe out fire in this area of the forest?" Tommy pointed at the now dispersed fire, whilst Tubbo eyed at the claw marks on the tent.

Not wanting to keep the 'not knowing what the heck happened here' act anymore, Tommy spoke up.

"..this is the Ender Dragons doing.."
Technos face contorted into a mix of anger and rage.

He clenched his fist in anger, Tubbo gave a guilty sigh and nodded in agreement to Tommy.

"But it's ok Techno! We're all here and we will try find them!"

It was utter silence. Techno unclenches his fist.
"You're right."
Tommy and Tubbo shared a surprised look, Techno agreeing with them?!

"We will get them back."
A look of determination was painted on his face. However, his pride fell as soon as Tommy bursted out laughing.

"Techno! I would've never imagine you say some bull**** like that!" Tubbo also started to snicker, though covering his smile with his hand.

"So you don't think we'll get them back?" His tone of voice was serious and dead. The cheery mood was dropped into a sense of suspension.

"We will get them back, I know we will. It sounds cringy, but I have faith in us."
Tubbo and Tommy shared one last glance at each other, they all shared something in common, to get their friends back.

Tubbo faked a sob. "T..techno..that was so..so emotional and...and insp-....inspirational.."

"Oh shut up you morons, this is one of the reasons why I don't open up to yous." Techno huffed looking away.

"..wait Techno why are you the only one here if everyone else is gone..?" Tubbo inquired, Tommy also gave a curious glance to Techno.

Was Techno with girls?

"Ah, right apologies for not saying earlier. I went out hunting for food down at the nearby river, and I got...nothing.." Techno scratched his head in embarrassment.

Tubbo chuckled and gave an understanding nod.

"..ooooh look at me I'm the famous Technoblade and I'm the greatest fighter of all of Syldavia!"
Tommy mimicked as Techno, trying to get a deep enough voice to annoy him. Which he successfully did.

"Shut. Up. Tommy."

"Ooooh I'm Techno! The almighty fighter who can't get a fish! Ooooh I'm so scary I have all the power.. ooooh I have special wither powers-"

Tommy immediately stopped and turned bright red. Tubbo gave a confused look.
"..what..? Wither powers..?"

Techno gave Tommy a death stare.

"Techno he's a close friend of mine! And plus, we are telling the others the truth so..."
Techno rolled his eyes and sighed. He gave a reluctant nod to say that Tommy is allowed to speak out his secret.

Tommy then proceeded to tell the tale of Techno being the Wither...

~~~

"My brain hurts.."

"..yeah it's a lot to take in."

"Techno, thank you for trusting me on this." Tubbo smiled at Techno.

"No problem bud, I was about to eventually.."

"What Techno means by eventually is never."
Tommy snickered, admiring his 'older brothers' annoyed face.

"...so what now?" Tubbo is right, what happens now?

They have no lead on their friends disappearance.
Don't know where the heck the dragon is.
And they don't even have a campsite to stay in because the one they're at is obviously destroyed.

And they're all exhausted. Staying up the whole night is very exhausting.

"..I noticed a smoke nearby, there's probably another camper here, or better, the village Philza was talking about, perhaps we should try and see?" Techno suggested which they all nodded in agreement.

The three tried to look around the campsite for any useful materials.

In the end, they found;

3 Sleeping bags and
An undamaged backpack.

Tubbo also fortunately found two water bottles that were halfway filled.

Satisfied on what they found, Techno lead the way to where he last saw the smoke.

~~~

Techno, Tubbo and Tommy walked through the forest.

"You guys ok over there?" Techno called out which in return got a few 'yes's.

A howl was then heard which scared the fuck out of Tubbo.
Tommy and Techno stopped in their trail as soon as a few eyes popped out of the dark.

A few other howls were then heard, and soon they were not exactly surrounded, but closed off to where they were supposed to be heading.

"Techno I think it's your time to do your transformation!" Tommy called for him, looking back to see if Tubbos alright.

"Tommy you know the rules! I can't unless I'm seriously injured-"
After those words, Techno felt a sharp pain on his stomach. Tommy had elbowed the pig mutant!

"You seriously injured yet?!" Tommy shouted at him, the wolves growling as they got closer.

"Tommy what the hell-?!"

"If you aren't then I'll stab you ok, get ready!"
Tommy pulled out a sharp dagger from his pocket, Techno took the dagger however and slashed it across one of the nearby wolves.

"Run!" Not wanting to waste any time, they ran and followed Technos path.

They were running in zigzags to try trick the wolves and to get away.

Luckily, they got bored since they kept jumping and parkour-ing all over the place.
Tommy watched as the wolves went away, howling and sniffing out their next target.

"Oh thank goodness." Tubbo sighed out as a huge wooden sign was seen.

"Tommy did you seriously thought to stab me?!" Techno was furious but contained his anger.

"But I want to see you in your Wither form!"

"Tommy. If I turn into the Wither, I lose myself, I lose control. I nearly killed you back then! So what if I did transform in the forest? What would you think could've happened?!"

Tommy went silent, Techno is right.

"..look I don't want to hurt you anymore nor ever again, same with Tubbo.."

It was silence, even Tubbo was shocked to see Techo this caring.

Techno wobbled in the spot. He looked down and saw Tommy giving him a hug!

Techno was processing the fact that somebody was actually hugging him.
He wasn't hugged since he was a child, so this was an..odd experience.

Nearly forgetting how to hug, he clenched his fists and just let Tommy hug him.
Techno awkwardly patted him on the back, still not knowing what to do.
But Techno felt..warm. A bubbly sensation that he cannot describe. Tommy also felt the same way.

Tommy let go, punching his fist in the air.

Tubbo clapped, either he was being sarcastic or genuine about the situation.

Techno stood still. Still processing what he had just felt.

"Alright! Enough of all the brotherly love, look where we are!" Tubbo pointed at the huge wooden, nearly overgrown sign.

"Welcome to Haleah"

(Pronounced as Ha-leee-ah)

Tubbo struggled to read the sign yet somehow managed to successfully say it. As a reward, Tommy offered him a high five which he rarely does.

Tommy and Tubbo did their high five and ran down the overgrown path, Techno following from behind.

The path lead to a building which was also overgrown but in an aesthetic way. Flowers were filled and trees were covering up this building.

They saw a staircase that lead up to a door, wanting to find shelter since it's still quite dark, they walked up the staircase and opened the door.

Inside, there were two people to be seen. One with fairly ginger hair and the other with a loose, black ponytail.

However in the corner of Tommy's eye, a hooded figure with some sort of rainbow hair was seen sitting in the corner. Analysing the outfit, they had an odd red and white clothing like a pirate.

"Hey shawties!" A girl with a brown ponytail came their way. "Mind to take a seat?"

Techno having social anxiety gave a quick nod and scurried over to the farthest table that had a window so he could look out.

Tubbo quickly thanked the girl and made his way over with Tommy.

The brown haired girl still followed though.

"Names Kermit! What would you like to order here in our fine cuisine?"

Tommy shared a look with Techno, Techno really didn't want to talk so he pointed at what he wanted to eat.
Tommy nudges Tubbos shoulder.

"Yeah! I would like a...some Buttermilk waffles please!"

"The pig mutant here would just like some water and I would want some grilled cheese sandwiches."

"Any drinks though?"

"A vanilla milkshake then."

Kermit wrote it all down and tapped happily on the small note she had.
"Thank you! Your food shall arrive soon." She made her way to the bartender and chef.

Her uniform matched the aesthetic of the area, the main colours of green, brown and a hint of pink.
The apron being green, the majority of it being white and some pink. However clothes doesn't matter at this case, they should be discussing about how to find their friends.

"Mac! Trinity! Ali! This is the order they all want." Tommy heard in as Kermit explained their order.

"Now, then. Back to the Ender Dragon. Precisely we should try find a way to track it down." Techno spoke up, relieved that the majority of the workers had gone to do their own thing.

"How would we track the Ender Dragon? Maybe we should try head back to a nearby town and ask questions?"
Tubbo turned to Tommy to see if he would give his opinion as well.

"Actually, I could help with tracking." The figure they once saw was now standing right in front of them.

"...may I..sit down..?" She asked a little awkward. Tommy and Tubbo were very unsure about what they should do.

"To maybe convince ye to trust me, I know a bit of information about the Ender Dragon." Their eyes shot up in surprise, even Techno was an eyebrow.

Techno shuffled awkwardly to make room for Puffy to sit down beside him.

She sat down in happily manner and smiled at the them.
"To introduce myself, the names Captain Puffy." She tipped the hat on her head to show that she is a captain. But to Tommy, she's just showing off her hat.

"Names Tubbo!"

"Tommy is my name."

"...Techno."

Puffy nodded at the three and excitingly did a small dance at the spot.

"This is my first ever time I have ever heard people talking about the Ender Dragon! Usually when I talk to people, they say it's a monster but there's really more to it!" The food arrived in time which they all took.

Puffy patiently waited for anybody to say their opinion on the Ender Dragon.
"Well they aren't wrong on saying it is a monster, I could see their point." Tubbo spoke up, taking another bite of his waffles.

"True, true. But no body really can speak that unless they were up close to it. If you witnessed the with your own eyes, they ill believe any opinion ye say about it!" Puffy retorted.

Tommy coughed awkwardly to try switch the subject.
"You said you knew information about the Ender Dragon. So tell us then."

"Oooh straight to the point I see? Fair enough, don't really want to waste ye time then."
Techno eyed Puffy suspiciously, Tommy understands him though.
How can you trust a woman at first sight?

"Well for starters. It's a dragon! However, unlike the usual, it's much more bigger in size and spits out particles that gives you continuous damage. The colour is usually purple."
She smirked after her small explanation, expecting to have a shocked audience. Instead, it was only Tubbo who seem surprised.

"We know that part, but do you know anything..else..?"

"And what do you mean exactly?"

"...well does it have a weakness? And if it does where?"
Techno spoke this time. Puffy pondered for a moment.

"...near its neck or above probably."

"Probably?!"

"Look, I don't personally want to fight the Ender Dragon up close, so the most logical guess is the head or neck. Reason being most dragons defend their upper bodies the most. And since the Emder Dragon, is a dragon..."

Techno stood up from his chair, a determined look on him, very similar to the one he had back at the campsite.

He earned a couple of odd glances from the workers, including Puffy and Tubbo but Tommy can read his mind perfectly.

"Time to go find that motherf***er."