Ayo ayo, my children!

Thanks so much for all the reads! We jumped from 13k to 22k in about a week, which is totally INSANE! Thank you <3

There was silence in Pogtopia.

"One," Wilbur counted slowly. "Two." He added two more bolts into his crossbow, which was equipped with Multishot capabilities, his finger tightening around the trigger. "Thr-"

"NO, WAIT!" Tubbo lunged out of the darkness, tumbling to the ground in front of Wilbur, who stepped back in surprise.

Tommy knelt before his friend and helped him up. "Tubbo? What are you doing here? We weren't expecting you tonight."

"Yeah, I know, I just wanted to be away from Schl... att..." Tubbo trailed off slowly as he noticed you standing, surprised, over by Techno. "Y/N? What are you doing here?" you threw up your hands.

"IS EVERYONE CALLING ME THAT NOW? GODDAMNIT. Also, I was about to ask you that question, Tubbo. You are officially part of Schlatt's cabinet. I am not. I am a citizen, apparently, because he twisted the rules on me so now I'm still stuck there, and that's the only reason I'm spying on him for these idiots," you said, waving your hand at Tommy and Wilbur. "Why are you doing it, my friend?"

Tubbo tugged nervously on his tie. "They're my friends, Y/N." He stole a nervous look at Tommy, who was holding his dog and watching the exchange, albeit distractedly. "You of all people should understand loyalty."

You bristled at the comment, but Tubbo hadn't meant it as an insult. Just... an observation, or at least that was what you told yourself. Just because you valued friendships though... that didn't mean you were incapable of betrayal, just as Tubbo was capable of backstabbing someone if he truly wanted to. It was just a mind over matter thing. If you don't mind stabbing your friend, they don't matter. Simple.

Shrugging, you stood, rolling your tight shoulders a few times and trying not to accidentally pull a muscle. "Fine. I suppose I have to stay the night now?" you asked, turning to Wilbur. "Are you going to give me some bullshit on the forest being too dangerous at night?"

Wilbur shrugged. "It's not bullshit. Just don't blame me when the skeletons find you."

You scowled at him but, secretly, you were relieved to have an excuse to stay in Pogtopia. A late return would mean having to wake up Schlatt to report, and then he'd be in a bitchy mood, and then you wouldn't be able to fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning, and then you'd have to spend an entire DAY around Schlatt and Dream and all the other annoying gnats in life.

But the cave felt wrong.

It felt wrong to have cold, lifeless stone above your head instead of swaying trees and ropes of stars. It felt wrong to lie on a cot and not have smooth wooden beams above your head, falling asleep to the sounds of laughter and talking outside your window. There was no life in these walls, no breath of creativity or spark of home. No vanilla smell from dripping candles by a window or the fragrant scent of flowers in full bloom drifted past. Just gunpowder and dust.

The cot was annoyingly hard, no matter how you twisted or lay, and that said a lot, considering you were used to sleeping on a hard, board-like bed in the middle of an uneven forest. Every time you looked up, the lantern, swinging gently, seemed to stab you straight in the eyes with too-bright light. Grabbing a rock, you threw it at the lantern, knocking it to the ground with a smash of glass and iron. The light flickered, then died, leaving you in semi-darkness.

->->->->->O<-<-<-<-<-

Morning light glanced off of rocks and arrowed through the tall trees, illuminating the ravine below. Clouds were drifting in from the east, promising rain in the usual dark, foreboding way.

Wilbur staggered out of one of the caves, looking confused as he noticed you sitting on a rock, sipping coffee out of a mug you'd stolen from one of the chests.

"You're still here? I figured you'd be gone the moment you woke up."

"I... didn't sleep." Truthfully, you had, but for about five seconds and the dreams were... less than excellent. "Anyways, I figured I might as well wait for someone to wake up before I head off." Will shrugged, grabbing another mug of coffee.

"I have a list of supplies I want, if you care to continue helping us." He stirred his coffee absent-mindedly to cool it, thinking.

You tilted your head. "And... why would I not continue assisting?"

"Well, you made it clear last night that you're doing to get revenge on Schlatt and that it wasn't loyalty-connected at all, which makes me doubt your dedication to the cause."

"My dedication is exactly where it should be," you said, sipping your own drink. "Like Tubbo said... I understand loyalty. I've given quite a bit to this... resistance, I might as well give more while I still can."

Wilbur scoffed under his breath, nodding a little. "You make it sound like you're dying."

"We all are. But no, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon." You leaned a little closer, smirking slightly. "I'm talking about escape."

"Alright then," he decided, "if you help us take back Manburg, then you can have your precious freedom." This sounded familiar, an echo of a previous conversation between you, Schlatt, and Dream weeks before. Something in Wilbur's eye told you that taking back his country wasn't what he had in mind, however.

A list was thrust into your hands and you looked up to see that Will had silently walked over, staring down at you. As you went to grab the list, he held on stubbornly for a second. "If it wasn't taking back the nation," he spoke quietly, urgently, now, "if it was destroying it... would you still be down for it?" You pulled the paper out of his hands.

"I'm an anarchist. Blowing up countries is right up my alley."

->->->->->O<-<-<-<-<-

Wind whipped angrily at your face as you rode back to Manburg. Like the idiot you were, you'd left your jacket somewhere in Pogtopia, leaving the chilly air to cut right through your remaining layer and into your skin. You mulled over what Wilbur had said to you minutes before as you followed the trail out of the forest and back into that grassy landscape. The list was in your bag now, rustling insistently with every bump in the ride.

Traitor.

Betrayer.

Backstabber.

You mentally tried to quiet that annoying, repetitive tug in the back of your brain, but to no avail.

It's not betrayal. It's... fulfilling a promise. I promised information, I'll give information. It's the way of the world, you insisted, but the voice wasn't fazed.

Is that how Techno would see it? Is that how Niki would see it? Is that how anyone would see it?

Yes, now shut up. Miraculously, it worked. The voice grew quieter, albeit only a little, but it would do for now.

The sky remained dark now that those clouds had moved in. Despite it being almost noon, the light was gray and sparse. As you rode into the city, few people were gathered on the streets, and those that were out were spread out thinly. HBomb met your eye at one point, then went back to conversing with Sapnap. Niki gave you a terse, strained smile as you rode past. Dark circles like bruises were under your eyes as she stretched bread dough and you couldn't help but wonder when the last time she'd slept was.

Riding H/N into the makeshift stable, you hopped off and made it under the porch roof of the house just as the first drops started to fall. Those who were out quickly ducked under shelter as the rain and wind picked up, sending droplets of water flying everywhere.

You swung open the dark oak door, pulling your mask down and breathing the warm air deeply. Schlatt wasn't at the kitchen table like normal, but you could faintly hear him upstairs, shuffling papers. Swinging by the pantry for an apple, you headed upstairs, knocking twice on the closed office door. After a moment, Schlatt sighed something like 'come in' and you opened the door.

"Oh, hey, Y/N. Back so soon?" JSchlatt was sitting at his wooden desk feet propped up on its surface as he lazily leafed through a folder.

"Yeah." You let the door swing shut quietly behind you.

"Have any information?"

You chuckled.

"Oh, Schlatt, I have something I learned about Tubbo I think you'll find very interesting..."

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1474 words

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So sorry about the delay in FB chapters, I'm in a bit of a rut with writing that one, but it shouldn't be too much longer :)

Remember to all drink and get some sleep, moi dzieci <3

Ta te, children!