Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was supposed to be an easy trip. 

There was a certain place they needed to get to for trade, a small town where Wilbur had a few friends that could help with their goal in searching for treasure (or trouble, really depends on how you look at it). They had a map and a rumor of something powerful, along with countless upon countless warnings of how people never came back, they always died, blah, blah.

Wilbur seemed to consider warnings with a grain of salt, and Tommy even more so, because sure they could be careful, they could turn back, make another route, but no one ever got anywhere like that. No one ever found glory and riches like that. 

Not that they were after riches. Glory, maybe, the perk of respect would be nice, but what they were really after was adventure. Pure adrenaline and danger, something that would make you fight for your life. Something that would be entirely worth it.

If you asked Tommy, he would say it’s for the fame, for the money. If you asked Wilbur, he would say curiosity, the need to know. For both of them, it’s the need for a good partner, and one hell of a story to tell. 

Tommy’s been with Wilbur long enough to know that he prefers to stay on land, for some weird reason. He works a boat just fine, and can lead people even better. Tommy’s watched in something like admiration in the way Wilbur can adapt to the harsh seas, and can direct whatever crew they’ve convinced to come along with them. He’s a natural at it, like he’s done it all his life, but he prefers to stay on land, to travel on foot. 

He supposes it makes sense, with the way that everytime they do go on water, Wilbur glances towards the ocean with a hesitant look, eyes the wind above with a pause whenever it gets too loud. 

Wilbur must’ve lost a whole crew once, to a storm, is what Tommy assumes. It would make sense as to why he gets jumpy when they’re out in the ocean, and the clouds grow too dim. Tommy’s only asked about it once, and Wilbur had given a vague answer, before moving on to checking with the crew. 

“The ocean holds a lot more than you know, Tommy.” He had said, and Tommy didn’t get to know what the fuck that meant, because Wilbur never went on to elaborate. He never elaborated, after that. He can answer all of Tommy’s questions to the best of his ability, but whenever Tommy starts to question the way he acts around the sea, he deflects it and somehow ends up getting Tommy to do chores. 

It’s annoying as hell, but Tommy has bigger things on his mind, like their destination now. 

A week trip on the ocean, if the conditions are favorable. A journey to meet up with some friends on Wilbur’s side, who might know a thing or two about the legend him and Tommy are poking at. 

Him and Wilbur aren’t even entirely sure as to what they’re trying to look for, only that it’s ‘powerful’ and ‘dangerous’ and a bunch of words that they’ve heard over and over, and it’s really just annoying at this point. 

Wilbur holds the map to where the apparent treasure is supposed to be, and it’s held tightly in his hand when they board the ship, a sturdy thing that Wilbur got from someone owing him a favor. Their crew is a bunch of people who needed to get to where they’re going anyway, and people who would just like to get back out onto sea. Wilbur offers nothing in cash, but he’s convincing enough that people will be fine with nothing. 

Tommy tugs at the jacket over his shoulders as the wind blows harsh, colder than usual, chilling through his bones. The jacket is a bit too big for him, hangs loose on his frame, but Wilbur had stolen it right off a jerk who insulted them to his face, so Tommy thinks it’s absolutely perfect. 

He looks off the edge of the railing, watching the docks get farther and farther away as people run around the ship to keep it sailing along. Glancing over to Wilbur, he finds him standing still by the railings as well, dead-still and staring at the water with a conflicted expression. He looks almost sad, like he’s missing something, but there’s also a hint of hesitation mixed into his eyes. 

His hand is holding at the chain around his neck, a small marble or something that’s always been with Wilbur, even since Tommy’s met him. Tommy’s asked about it before. He never gets an answer. 

The wind blows again, cold once more, and Wilbur looks up from the water, turning his head to Tommy, who stares back, unflinching, eyes raised in silent question. 

Wilbur just grins, then goes off to yell to the crew to keep an eye out for storms. 

Tommy huffs, then goes to follow Wilbur at his heels. 

---

Phil blinks his eyes open to the water turning boiling hot around him, and to Technoblade pacing around, staring off into the distance, seeming too worked up for such a calm evening. 

“Techno.” Phil says quietly, yawning in the water, feeling the sea only grow even hotter around him, to the point that Phil wonders if something will melt. “What’s wrong?”

He wants to sleep again, even if he doesn’t really need it. He can go decades without sleep, but the feeling of drifting off into dreams is something he’s fond of. Especially these days, with the slight ache in his heart.

Techno pauses in his pacing, going still, then he looks up and to the side, past the darkness of the sea to where the surface lays high above. 

“Don’t you hear it?” He asks, narrowing his eyes into the distance. His expression spells determination and hope.

Phil just pokes at the glowing plants around him, their only source of light so far down, humming in the dim water. They’re almost wilting, with the way the water boils around them.

“Hear what ? The only thing I’m waking up to is you pacing around like a madman.” He sits up, sighing, because he knows that rest isn’t going to be coming back anytime soon, with that look in Techno’s eyes. 

“Listen.” Techno holds up a finger, and Phil raises his head up, mildly curious, slightly concerned for anything living around them. “I think…”

A minute passes, Phil waiting, eyes flicking around, and nothing. Technoblade almost seems frustrated, dropping his head down with a small huff. 

“I don’t hear anything.” Phil says softly, almost feeling the disappointment rolling off from his friend. “What was it?”

“I thought…” Techno trails off, eyes searching again, but they find nothing. He looks down again, emotions simmering down, the water losing its heat. “I thought I heard Wilbur.”

Phil frowns, tilting his head to the side. The name gives a pang of something like grief in his chest, and he wishes to lay back down and sleep again.

 It’s been too long since they’ve heard of Will, since he disappeared off the shores and never came back. 

It’s been two years now, three months, seven days. Not that Phil is counting. 

It had been normal for Wilbur to be busy for a few weeks at a time, maybe a month, pushing it. But not this long . Phil worries that he might’ve gotten into trouble, might’ve even died, without them knowing it. The thought terrifies him, and Phil knows he should’ve expected it, with Wilbur being mortal. It was to be expected, Wilbur can’t stick around, he’s not as strong as they are. 

Which is why him and Techno had been trying to put together something , polishing out a plan where Wilbur’s mortality would stop being such a worry. Where finally, the three of them would be fine and Wilbur might even join them under the sea. 

But then he left, before they could bring it up. He left, and he never called them again, never showed up on their usual shores that they visited. 

Who knows where he is now, and if he’s alive. 

Sometimes, Phil travels across the oceans, hoping to find a ship that has Wilbur on it. He goes from island to island, checking on familiar shores, spotting certain ships. But each time, there’s nothing. 

He hopes it’s just his bad luck, the size of the sea working against him. He hopes that maybe, even as terrible as it sounds, Wilbur is just avoiding them. It would be better than Wilbur being gone. 

Phil tries listening again, a small twinge of hope in his chest as Techno sighs, long and tired, walking over and sitting down beside Phil. 

“I think I’m hearing things.” Technoblade mumbles, rubbing his hands against his face. “I just thought-” He cuts himself off. 

Phil ignores him, getting to his feet, and he pushes the light around them outwards, trying to see more, even if it won’t help. 

“Phil.” Technoblade says, raising his head to see Phil chasing after hope, after any sliver of chance that finally, finally they can hear Wilbur on nearby waters.  

“Sh.” Phil shushes him, and Techno just grimaces and leans back, kicking his legs up. He’s already brushed it off as false hope, he’s had too many false chances at this point to take them so seriously. Phil always thinks the next chance could be the one, though. 

The water is quiet around them, and Phil tries to see , tries to search along the waves high above, ignoring the way Techno’s mood has soured, no doubt affecting the weather above the surface. 

He reaches out, looks through the water of the waves far, far above his head, and he sees ships scattered around on their ocean, mortals traveling along, a few fighting in their petty arguments. The usual. 

He focuses on two certain ships, focusing on the one that’s under attack, where the people on it are panicking and dying, are yelling, and he hears-

“ Tommy, use it-! ” 

“Technoblade.” Phil gasps out, opening his eyes, feeling the currents run around him too quickly, and he turns to tell that they need to go, because Wilbur’s here, he’s alive , and he’s close, when something high pitched and familiar rings out, washing out the relief in his heart, replacing it with a sharp panic. Because Wilbur is alive, but he’s not safe, no, he’s on a ship that’s under attack, and-

And he’s calling for help. 

---

Their ship gets attacked. 

Tommy’s never really dealt with an attack before, has never seen pirates swing onboard, shooting and swinging, trying to kill and steal. Maybe once or twice, they’ve had the threat of it, but Wilbur’s always swayed them, always gotten away. He’s good at his words, and they’ve lost a fuckton of gold and valuables before, but it was better than this. 

This time, he didn’t even get a chance to talk it out. They just straight up shot a cannonball into their crew, like the rude motherfuckers they are. 

It’s terrifying as hell, but if there’s one thing that’s reassuring, it’s that Tommy is hard as hell to kill, and that he can and will make everyone’s life harder. 

He does just that, running down the stairs with a racing heart, a rock held tightly in his hand. He chucks it with as much strength as possible, watching it hit someone in the side of the head, stopping them from trying to climb onto their ship, and instead sending them to the waters below. He does not check to see if they know how to swim.

The wind has picked up even more, and there’s a light sprinkling rain that seems to get more and more worse by the minute, hitting the wood of the ship, covering everything in a light layer of rain. Tommy ignores the sound of startling thunder of his head, mixed with the sound of fighting and yelling around him.  

“Wilbur!” Tommy yells out, ducking as something gets fired at him, and he falls to the floor, watching the wood just in front of him turn into a crater, cracking and snapping into the lower part of the ship. There’s a high scream of one of their crew somewhere to the side, something like a battle cry. Tommy respects them, even if they’re most likely outnumbered. 

“WILBUR!” He yells again, pushing himself to his feet, running around the crater and the broken wood. He wipes rain off his face, feeling the water come down harder. 

There’s unfamiliar faces climbing over the railings, holding swords and firing guns, and Tommy chokes down the way he wants to cry and instead yells, picking a sword up off the ground and defending himself as best he can when someone bigger tries to swipe at him. 

He knows that the crew doesn’t stand a chance, just simple people Wilbur’s snatched up from town, not warriors who know how to fight and defend their ship. They don’t stand a chance, but Tommy fights like they might, and he stabs someone in the leg, before rolling across the floor underneath them, and going into a run again. He’s not trying to win a fight, he’s trying to find Wilbur . 

The forming puddles under his feet splash as he runs, and his hair sticks to his head from the rain, the wind being simply unforgiving now, biting at his skin, chilling him right through the jacket that hangs too loose on him. He hides behind a crate, breathing hard, looking around, and someone grabs him by the arm harshly. 

He screams, sending a punch out before thinking, and it lands solid, Wilbur falling back. Sitting back up, he quietly groans in pain before brushing it off, more preoccupied with seeing if Tommy’s alright. 

“Wilbur! Holy fuck, sorry, I thought-” Tommy stammers, relief flooding him, and his eyes stick to the way there’s a cut right across Wilbur’s cheek, bleeding red. He’s also half soaked from the rain falling from the sky, and his eyes are wide with adrenaline, fear, and also pure craziness, probably. He looks like he’s having fun, and Tommy would be slightly concerned, if it weren’t for the fact that he also thinks having pirates attack them is pretty cool too.  

“Nevermind that, good punch, are you okay?!” Wilbur says, raising his head and looking around, seeming more panicked than Tommy’s ever seen him. Which makes sense, they’re in the middle of a storm, while getting attacked, it’s not the best situation, but his eyes flick to the dim clouds over their heads, and he looks scared for a different reason. He turns back to Tommy. “Did anyone hurt you?!” He grabs onto Tommy by the shoulders. 

“I’m fine!” Tommy reassures, grabbing onto the front of Wilbur’s shirt, feeling the way the ship rocks precariously, the two of them keeping their balance just barely. “What the hell happened to you, where did you go?! I was looking around, but you went off and disappeared while we’re getting fucking attacked-”

“Tommy.” Wilbur looks up, looks to the left, off the side of the ship, where the waves crash. He holds onto Tommy’s shoulders tightly, eyes wide. “Look, there’s a lot I haven’t told you, I’ll be honest, but I need you to listen, even if it sounds crazy-” He pulls the necklace he owns over his head, making Tommy hold onto it, wrapping his hands over his, squeezing tightly enough that it translates that Tommy can’t lose this. 

He doesn’t get to go on as someone with a sword comes from around the crate, Wilbur getting to his feet and punching the absolute shit out of them before Tommy can even scream about someone attacking them. They fall backwards, and Wilbur yanks the sword out of their hands, going on to kick them in the side and let them roll away with how the ship tilts and how slippery the floors are from the rain.

Tommy leans against the crate, pushing his hair out of his face, holding on tightly to the necklace in his hand. It’s a small orb of some kind, bright blue, a gold line around the middle of it. Tommy can’t help but stare for a second, and he swears that it feels cold, in his palm. He closes his hand around it, seeing Wilbur turn to him again. 

“We’re going to use that, okay?” Wilbur says, pointing with the sword to what Tommy holds in his hand, and Tommy only makes a face at him like he’s crazy. 

“And what the fuck is this?” 

“It’s-” Wilbur stammers, waving his hands, taking a step towards Tommy. “I-I can’t really explain right now, you’ll think I’m crazy.” He grins, words mixed with a laugh. Tommy can’t tell if he’s chuckling out of panic or amusement. It’s probably both. 

“I already think you’re crazy.” Tommy deadpans, giving a matching grin.

Wilbur scoffs, waving him off, continuing. “It’ll call for help, just, just use it-”

“How am I supposed to-?” Tommy goes to ask what he means by using it, because it’s just a pretty necklace thing. He holds his fist to his chest, and he doesn’t get a chance to ask properly,  watching as Wilbur gets tackled from the side by someone new. “Wilbur!”

“Tommy, use it-!” Wilbur yells, slamming into the ground, barely keeping himself from getting decapitated as his back hits the floor, and he kicks his legs out, trying to get the other person to back off as Tommy can only watch, the rain pouring buckets now. Tommy could try helping, but he doesn’t have a sword, and the storm has turned unforgiving. 

“How do I-” Tommy looks down, holding the necklace tight, gasping in air as he watches Wilbur make his way farther and farther, trying to not get stabbed, trying to keep distance between him and his opponent. He has no idea what Wilbur is on about, has no clue on how they’re going to even live, but he makes a guess and holds onto the necklace tightly, internally calling for help, over and over. He feels crazy, but Wilbur did not specify on how to use it, so this is the next best thing, yelling for help in his head while holding a piece of jewelry. 

Wilbur yells in victory as he finally gets his sword through his opponent, finally winning, but it’s short-lived, because he’s not safe yet. 

Tommy watches with wide eyes at the thing in his hand glows, and he would be worried about it, but he’s more worried about Wilbur, who’s too far away for comfort. “Wilbur-”

“Stay there!” Wilbur yells, holding a hand out, the two of them trying to not fall over with how the waves push at them, how the rain and wind works against him. 

Tommy can barely hear him over all the commotion, and he realizes a second too late that the fighting has more or less stopped on this side of the ship, and that there are people leaning over the railings on the ship across.  

“I’ll go to you, just-” There’s the loud sound of gunfire, and Wilbur cries midway through his words, dropping to the floor, the sword clattering and falling out of his hand as he curls up on his side. 

“WILBUR!” Tommy screams, seeing him drop to the ground. He would go to run after, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s taking cover from the gunshots, and the fact that the thing in his hand is now glowing impossibly bright, almost humming. 

Tommy’s about to say fuck it all, and run across deck even with the possibility of getting shot, when the ship suddenly lurches to the left, and Tommy screams again, a high pitched humming seeming to be floating in the air.

The rain lessens, the sky going brighter, and the storm simmers down almost unnaturally. Tommy doesn’t even notice, instead going to run to Wilbur, falling to the ground beside him, his knees aching as he drops to the floor. He doesn’t notice the way the gunshots have paused, the canons no longer trying to sink them. 

“Wilbur! Wilbur, are you okay?!” Tommy shakes him, turning Wilbur over with a grunt, feeling his heart drop when he sees a deep red coming from Wilbur’s side. Wilbur blinks his eyes open, face scrunched up in pain, and he closes them again, the back of his head hitting the floor. “Fuck, fuck, okay, hold on.” 

Tugging off his jacket that’s soaked, he holds it to Wilbur’s wound, trying to think of how the hell you treat a gun wound. He’s never been taught that properly, he’s never dealt with it. He’s been shot before, in the arm, but that was a long, long time ago, and that wasn’t with Wilbur. 

Wilbur’s head turns to the side, eyes barely open as Tommy tries to lessen the bleeding, and Tommy doesn’t stop mumbling under his breath, ignoring the way blood is soaking through onto his hands. 

“You’re gonna be fine, we’re going to be fine, I swear to fucking god if you die, I’m going to kill you- Wilbur, just fucking-”

There’s footsteps coming up behind him, and Tommy abandons trying to press against Wilbur’s side, instead leaning forward and reaching out to the sword Wilbur’s dropped. Spinning around, he holds his arm over Wilbur and holds the sword out in front of him, teeth bared in a threat.

Phil stands in front of them, eyes wide, and for a second, Tommy’s thrown off by how perfectly clean and dry he looks, even though the rain had just been falling and there had been debris flying everywhere. He looks like he wasn’t even on the ship, rather plucked out of a calm town, some random fisherman, maybe.

“Wilbur?” He asks, quiet, and Tommy almost snarls, gritting his teeth, holding the sword out. 

“Stay away, get the fuck away!” He threatens, Phil turning his attention to Tommy, almost confused, but mostly concerned, narrowing his eyes like he’s trying to figure something out. “He’s already dying, you-”

“He’s hurt?” Phil asks, face unreadable, and there’s a loud thump with the wash of a wave behind Tommy. Footsteps sound out again, boots against wood, and he turns his head to see Techno walk over from the broken railing, eyes burning. 

That expression almost makes Tommy call for surrendering, but Wilbur’s bleeding out from under him, and he has no guarantee they’ll spare him, so he turns the sword onto Techno, getting to his feet. 

Techno doesn’t even falter in his steps, not even when Tommy points the sword at his face, and he just grabs the sword by the literal blade of it, and yanks it out of Tommy’s hands, throwing it to the side with a clatter. 

His hand stays uncut, and Tommy stares with wide eyes, Techno taking another step forward. 

Tommy falls to the floor before either of them can react, and he reaches into one of his pockets while leaning over Wilbur, draping himself over the other like a shield, sending the harshest glare he can at Technoblade. 

“Fuck off, get away.” He threatens, and keeps the small knife under him, hidden. He’ll shank them if they get too close, but right now he’s really just trying to make it obvious, don’t come near. 

“I know him.” Technoblade says, eyes looking at Phil for a second, and they’re probably sending messages through their expressions to each other, but Tommy barely sees it, more concerned with how the hell he’s going to pull Wilbur through this. 

“Know who ?” Tommy asks, making a face. Techno narrows his eyes in slight irritation, before it simmers down into something that could be fond, as he looks at Wilbur’s bloodied face. 

“Will.” He answers, and Tommy blinks, trying to wrack his brain for any mentions of friends nearby, ones that match to their description, but he thinks too slow, and Phil tugs him backwards as Techno kneels down to Wilbur. 

“Here, mate, come on-” Phil tries suggesting, Tommy spinning around and trying to hit him. 

“Don’t fucking-!” Phil smacks his hand before it lands, and his eyes look down to the knife in Tommy’s hand. He raises his eyebrows. 

“Don’t use that.” He says, grinning, like getting stabbed from Tommy is a funny thought. 

Tommy holds it up anyway, the necklace held tightly in his other hand. “I’ll stab you.”

“It won’t do shit, but be my guest.” 

Tommy tilts his head with the strange reply, confused, and his attention is caught from Technoblade speaking up again. 

“He’s alive.” Techno announces, Phil smiling, Tommy sighing quietly. He slips his arms under Wilbur’s legs and head and picks him up off the ground, leaving a bloodstain behind. “But he won’t be for long, we should go.”

“Oy, don’t fucking touch him, you bitch-!” Tommy swears, jumping off his feet to lunge at Techno, and Phil just barely grabs him in time, Tommy kicking his legs. “Hey! How do I know I can trust you with him!? I’ll fucking stab you if you do anything, I swear-”

“Okay, calm down-” Phil laughs lightly, Techno completely ignoring Tommy and walking over to the broken railing to the side. 

“Hey, give him the fuck back! Bitch-!” Tommy tries to turn the knife in his hand onto Phil, and Phil literally just spins him, taking a step back, towards where Techno’s walked off to, and as he holds Tommy by the wrist, his eyes finally fall onto the necklace he holds. 

His eyes widen the slightest bit, looking at Tommy again with a different light in his eyes. “How do you have this?”

Tommy yanks his hand back, Phil letting him, and Tommy brushes off the question, quickly going past Phil, to follow where Wilbur’s getting taken to, and he only gets so many steps before he’s standing behind Techno, his heart almost stopping. 

They’re both looking past the railing, Techno still holding Wilbur, looking out with a bored expression, something burning in his eyes that Tommy doesn’t see, and Tommy looks past Technoblade, eyes wide at the sight of the ship across from them in absolute chaos. 

The waves come up in a way Tommy has never seen before, pushing the ship higher and higher, making it tilt so precariously that the crew onboard are screaming and struggling to hold on. Water seems to rise up from the inside of the ship, swallowing it slowly, and Tommy can only watch in disbelief. The floor under him stays calm, their boat perfectly okay on the waters as an entire enemy ship not that far away gets tipped, sinking with a startling speed. 

Techno turns his head to him as the remains of the ship disappear into swirling water, and Tommy almost swears that his eyes glow. 

He really feels like he should stab him, grab Wilbur, and run right about now. 

Squeezing the knife in his hand, Tommy almost goes to try and stab Technoblade, before Phil steps up beside him, a hand onto his shoulder. 

“Mate, do you know Wilbur?” He asks, Tommy turning his attention to him as Techno turns back to the broken railing, looking down at the water below. “What’s your name?” Phil asks, seeming hardly concerned when Techno actually steps off the ship, falling into the ocean, with Wilbur still in his arms. 

“What the fuck-! Wilbur !” Tommy yells, running a few steps forward, stopping as he realizes he hears no splash. He carefully looks over the edge of the ship, seeing nothing. 

He turns to Phil. “What the hell is wrong with your friend, he just took Wilbur and jumped into the ocean, you fucking psychopath-!”

Phil smiles, Tommy raising the knife. He hardly seems worried, and he walks past Tommy, teetering on the edge of the broken railing. Tommy gasps, barely realizing a second before. “Come on.” Phil beckons, then he falls backwards, off the ship as well. 

Tommy stares with wide eyes, leaning over to see that Phil’s disappeared, and he notices the necklace in his hand glowing again, humming. 

Part of him tells him he’s got to be fucking dead already, having a weird dream while bleeding out on deck, while another part of him just screams to follow Wilbur, even if it’s off the edge of a ship into the waters with two people who must be out of their minds. 

Gritting his teeth, Tommy tucks the small knife away into his pocket, holds on tightly to the necklace, and looks down at the water, hesitant, his heart beating out of his chest. 

Saying fuck it, he takes a deep breath in, and jumps, his feet leaving the edge, the world tilting around him as he falls.

The water seems to come up to meet him, and when the waves catch him, it’s not cold.

Chapter Text

The second Tommy hits the water, he immensely regrets his life choices. 

Jumping off the edge of a ship into the open sea, where waves had been crashing harshly against their ship just a few minutes ago, is frankly, an absolutely idiotic way to go. The chances of him drowning isn’t low enough for comfort, considering the fact the ocean seemed capable enough to sink an entire ship just a few moments ago.

But Tommy will follow Wilbur anywhere, he’s sure of that fact, even if it’s to what is probably his certain death in the sea below. 

Tommy’s not the best at swimming, he knows enough to keep his head afloat, but he also knows it’ll mean nothing against raging waters coupled with a strong storm overhead.

Or, at least there... was a storm? Tommy could’ve sworn that it was starting to pour buckets from the clouds when the fighting was at its peak, but the rain seemed to have stopped entirely when Wilbur dropped to the ground.

Tommy doesn’t take too much energy to think about it, because he’s diving headfirst into the ocean and mourning the loss of being somewhat dry.

Holding his breath, he kicks his legs to steer himself upright in the water, and tries to wave his arms to let him turn and see where Wilbur’s sank down to. Wilbur can’t swim while being hurt, and Tommy’s not sure if he’ll be able to pull Wilbur above water, with himself being as exhausted as he is, but he needs to try.  

It’s been far too long since he’s actually gone swimming. The last time Tommy swam in a body of water was over an entire year ago. It was in the first few months of actually traveling with Wilbur, where Wilbur had wanted to see if his new travel partner could swim. 

He tested Tommy’s swimming ability, by pushing him into a lake.

He was pissed at the time, but something he’ll never admit is that it’s a fond memory, because even though the lake had been cold as fuck, it was a good moment when Wilbur jumped into the water right after him and proceeded to give tips on holding his breath and swimming properly. 

And Tommy did listen, except only after he attempted to drown Wilbur a total of three times. He was entirely justified in the attempted murder, being thrown into the water without a single warning was just rude.

They had spent that day swimming and sitting by the shore, their stuff staying dry, since Wilbur had told Tommy to put his bag down before he pushed the teen off the side of a small cliff. Tommy was bitter the whole day about being wet, but it was fun seeing if he could try to hold his breath for longer than Wilbur. He lost every time, and he swears Wilbur must be part fish, because each time, no matter how much he tried, Wilbur had always been able to stay under the surface just a minute longer than Tommy.

It was a good day, with lessons Tommy took to heart, and the growing respect of how much Wilbur knew, of water, of stupid swimming, of adventure and everything beyond. 

Sometimes, Wilbur makes stupid desicions, like getting kidnapped by crazy people and falling into the ocean, but Tommy will follow all the same. Because even with said stupid desicions, Wilbur is just so cool, and Tommy wants to be by his side for everything cool thing that he is bound to find. Although he’d rather drown in this ocean around him than ever say that outloud. 

Tommy tries to see through the murky water, waving his arms and swimming down, trying to find anything, a single glimpse of Wilbur’s floating body, bleeding out in open water. It’ll be a pain to drag them both to air, and then drag Wilbur to safety, but Tommy refuses for any other outcome where Wilbur doesn’t come out of this alive. He’s losing time, he knows it, because Wilbur hadn’t looked well on deck, and he doubts Wilbur is able to hold his breath now. 

But he’s seeing nothing, and he’s losing his own breath, a faint burn in his chest becoming more and more apparent as he searches through the water for his Wilbur. 

He ignores it, tells himself just a minute more, maybe two, and swims even deeper, searching almost frantically, spinning around in the open water, feeling the currents around him seem to rise in temperature, and he would have expected the water to be cold, but it’s more lukewarm if anything. 

The necklace from Wilbur is still held tightly in his hand, and in his haste to keep searching, his grip loosens, letting the piece of jewelry float in open water as it slips away from his hand. 

Tommy turns around, curling his hand into a fist as he realizes the feeling of the chain is gone, and sees it float down gently, out of his range. His lungs scream for air, but he dives deeper anyway to catch it, because it’s Wilbur’s, and when he gets Wilbur out of here, he’s got to give it back. Wilbur’s worn that for as long Tommy can remember, it must be important. 

Reaching a hand out, he fumbles at grabbing it before it goes any deeper, cupping his hands around the gem part of it and holding it to his chest. As he does, he realizes he needs air, and he looks up, realizing just how far the surface has gotten from him. He struggles to not choke on the water around him, starting to panic, and he watches with wide eyes as small bits of light escape through his fingers from the necklace held tightly in his palms. 

‘It’ll call for help’ that’s what Wilbur said on deck, right? Would this work underwater? Would it help them both? 

It glows a little brighter in Tommy’s hands as he kicks his legs to try and swim upwards, his chest burning with the urge to gasp for air, and for a moment he wonders if he’s not going to make it, if he’s too far. 

Arms slip around his torso and yank him upwards, faster than he could’ve done on his own, and he chokes on the water in surprise, half struggling to get them to let go, half trying to hold on so he can finally breathe . 

He’s pulled up to above water, sputtering and gasping for air, coughing out water from his mouth as he tries to calm himself down. There’s still arms keeping him afloat, and for a split second, he thinks it could be Wilbur. 

When he turns around, he finds Phil’s unfamiliar presence instead, and he yells, hitting his palm into the side of Phil’s face and trying to swim away. 

“You!” Tommy coughs, pointing a finger up while still trying to push Phil back, who keeps a somewhat firm grip on Tommy, if only to keep him from drowning once more. “You-” Tommy coughs again.

“Breathe, mate.” Phil grins, and he turns his head to the side to dodge Tommy’s waving hand. “What’s your name?” He asks, as if it’s perfectly normal to have a conversation in the middle of the sea. 

Tommy looks around for a moment, Phil keeping a light hold onto his arms as Tommy realizes the ship is gone, and they really are out in open water. Wasn’t the ship just here? Or did he really swim that far?

“ Fuck you-” Tommy supplies, and raises his legs up, pressing the bottom of his boots against Phil’s chest and pushing. Phil raises his hands up, letting Tommy launch off him and swim backwards, trying to put distance between them. 

Tommy narrows his eyes at Phil, swimming just a little more back, and then he dives back down again, taking a deep breath before he disappears from sight. 

“Nope-!” Phil follows right behind, and not even ten seconds later, Tommy’s pulled up above water again, trying to hit Phil in the face. 

“Get off, I’m trying to find Wilbur!” Tommy yells, growling in frustration when Phil keeps swimming after him, staying close. 

“You’re going to drown .” Phil insists, Tommy hitting his hands against the water and letting it splash right into the direction of Phil’s face. 

“I’m going to drown you if you don’t stop following me-” Tommy threatens, Phil only huffing and giving a smile. “I need to go search for Wilbur, stop pulling me up!”

“You’re not going to find him there!” Phil raises his hands up, almost exasperated from his tone of voice. “Technoblade is already pretty far ahead, I came back to grab you-”

“Who the fuck is Technoblade and why does he have Wilbur-” Tommy deadpans, observing Phil again and trying to think on if he can be trusted or not. 

He doesn’t look familiar in any way, from what Tommy can see. There’s a small braid hanging in his hair, reminding him of the one in Wilbur’s hair, almost matching, now that Tommy thinks about it. But that’s where the similarities stop, and Tommy feels like he would’ve remembered such blue eyes. They’re too bright, almost unnaturally so, and Tommy would be fascinated if he weren’t currently trying to get back with Wilbur. 

“I’ll tell you...” Phil raises a finger, poking into Tommy’s cheek. “If you tell me your name.”

“Why do you even want to know.” Tommy mutters, and he reaches into his pocket, fingers grabbing at the knife tucked away. He swaps it for the necklace in his hand, putting away the piece of jewelry as he lifts the knife above the water, flicking it open. “Where’s Wilbur?”

Phil sighs, barely acknowledging the blade being held towards the direction of his face. “I just want to know your name, mate!” Tommy just raises the knife closer, frowning intensely. “What am I supposed to call you?! Fucking child? Wilbur Jr?”

“Do not call me-” Tommy fumbles at both of the terrible nicknames, making a face. 

“Oh, shit, wait- don’t tell me you're his kid?” Phli asks, eyes wide in surprise. 

“No!” Tommy answers immediately, frustration creeping into his tone. “No, Wilbur’s not my fucking- what the hell, where’s Wilbur?!”

“Phew.” Phil only sighs, laughing a little. “For a second I actually thought Wilbur came back with a literal child .” 

“I’m not a child- Don’t call me a child-!” Tommy stammers, raising his knife closer to Phil’s face, although Phil seems to not be concerned. “I’m sixteen !”

Phil raises his eyebrows. “That’s still a bit young. Wilbur’s dragging you around that young?”

“He doesn't drag me around, I follow.” Tommy says quietly, scowling. He’s close enough now that the knife pokes into Phil’s cheek, and he tries to let his voice be threatening. “Tell me where Wilbur is right now, or else.”

The knife doesn’t even make a mark, even as Tommy pushes it into Phil’s face, and Phil honestly just looks exasperated, giving Tommy a roll of the eyes. 

Tommy pulls the knife away, looking at it with confusion, before just trying to stab Phil in the shoulder. 

“Oy- my shirt, mate!” 

It doesn’t even sink in, it just makes a slight tear against the fabric of Phil’s shirt, and Tommy blinks, his panic on pause for a moment as he wonders if his knife is broken. 

“Are you done?” Phil asks, adjusting his sleeve, and Tommy swims backwards, feeling a bit more wary. 

“Wha- where’s Wilbur?” Tommy asks, and Phil follows, never straying too far. 

“He’s alright, don’t worry.” Phil reassures, holding a hand up, and it does help, although there’s still panic crawling back up Tommy’s throat. “Technoblade is probably worrying and panicking right now, even with our abilities-”

“Abilities-” Tommy repeats, and he’s reminded again of Wilbur’s vague words, the way he acts around the ocean, the way that ship that attacked them had sunk earlier, swiftly pulled under even though there hadn’t been any holes in it. “No, wait, wait-”

“Ah-” Phil swims in place, letting Tommy back up and try to put distance between them. “Don’t scream.” 

“What the fuck, what the actual-” Tommy sputters, looking around for their ship, and it’s not anywhere to be found, there’s no land to be found, only ocean and sky for as long as he can see, and it doesn’t make any sense, not at all, but there’s plenty of things that don’t make sense in the world, Tommy at least knows that. 

He just never thought he would actually see it. Even with adventure, he thought-

Tommy tries to dive back underwater, holding his breath and wanting to search for Wilbur again, to demand an explanation of this, but it’s like the water won’t let him go down, currents pushing him up, making his efforts useless. 

He pulls his head out of the water, gasping and wiping the water off his face, and he turns to see Phil just still in the same spot, watching patiently, like he’s waiting for Tommy to say something. 

Tommy raises the knife, even though he’s sure it might not even do anything. “Where’s Wilbur?” He demands, and his hand shakes over the water. 

Phil looks moments away from sighing, his head falling forward as his shoulders slump. “Well, at least you’re not panicking-”

“I am very much panicking!” Tommy shrieks, his voice being far too high pitched in panic, but he does not care at this point. “Your friend just fucking, what, stole Wilbur and jumped off into the ocean like a crazy person, and our ship is just gone, even though I’m sure it was right here, and the water- Why can’t I swim down?!” 

“Okay, okay-” 

“Where’s Wilbur!?” Tommy asks again, but it sounds much more whiny and less threatening, and he couldn’t care less. 

“Breath, mate.” Phil reassures, and Tommy frowns, because Phil seems like a swell person, if Tommy had met him while he and Wilbur were on travel, Tommy would be friendly, polite, even. 

But no, they’re both in the middle of the ocean, with things not adding up, and Tommy’s head spinning as he thinks about several tales and stories that he thought were just stories. Mermaids, krakens, curses and magic, he’s always heard about them, how could he not, with the fuckton of stories Wilbur has in his head? But he thought they were just stories.

‘The stories have to come from somewhere, don’t they? ’ He can hear Wilbur’s voice in his head say, and he blinks down at the water, swallowing hard. 

“I’m Phil.” Phil says, Tommy looking up at him. “Technoblade has Wilbur. We should go catch up with him.”

“Well,” Tommy fumbles, closing the knife in his hand and tucking it away. He chooses to give Phil a sliver of trust, if only because he’s the only person in the ocean as far as he can see, and he seems to know Wilbur. “We don’t have a ship, last I checked.”

“We don’t really need one.” Phil shrugs, and he swims up to Tommy, raising a hand up to his own ear and pulling off one of his dangling earrings, something that looks like a small, bright red ruby. “Here-”

“What are you- ow!” Tommy jolts, splashing water into Phil's face as something clamps onto his ear, and he raises a hand up to his right ear, considering yanking it right off. “I don’t even have my ears pierced!”

“It’s just a clip-on, mate.” Phil nods, Tommy glaring up at him. “It won’t fall off, trust me. Now do you want to see something cool?” 

“Like what?” Tommy can’t help but ask, curiosity always present. 

“Give me your hands.” Phil asks, and holds out his palms, Tommy eyeing them warily, like there might be a weapon he’s holding. There’s nothing except a few rings on his fingers, and something looking like a scar on his left palm, and Tommy glances up at Phil’s face again. 

“Come on.” Phil insists, Tommy frowning. 

“Are we going to go to Wilbur?”

“Yes, yes.” Phil grins, almost laughing. “Are you two friends?”

“Yes.” Tommy nods, responding almost instantly. Phil smiles.

“I’m glad. You seem like a nice kid.” The response is genuine, and Tommy wonders why Wilbur’s never mentioned this guy before. “Give me your hands, come on.” 

Tommy hesitates, before listening to Phil and letting his hands rest onto Phil’s palms, Phil holding on tightly with a big grin, and before Tommy knows it, they’re both sinking underneath the water too quickly. 

He holds onto Phil’s hands for dear life, kicking his legs and trying to pull Phil and him back up to the surface, holding his breath, although it’s hard since he didn’t get a proper second to take a gasp of air. 

They sink down quick, like they’re too heavy for the water to let them float, and Tommy keeps his head tilted up, trying to pull Phil, trying to kick his legs-

“Mate, you can take a breath.” He hears, and he looks at Phil in surprise. His voice warbles a bit, with the water about them, but Tommy still hears him loud and clear, and he stares with wide eyes as Phil laughs. 

Underwater. 

“Go on, go on, you’re going to pass out if you keep holding your breath.” Phil insists, tugging at Tommy’s hands, and Tommy shakes his head, even though his lungs burn and demand for air. He feels like his chest is going to explode, but he can’t just breathe underwater, he’ll drown, he’ll breathe in water. 

But Phil is perfectly fine in front of him, seeming to be doing just that, breathing in the ocean water around him, and Tommy takes one more look to the surface above him, which seems so far now, and he lets out his breath, sucking in air. 

Phil laughs again, as Tommy makes the most incredulous face, laughing with Phil in shock. 

“Wha- what the fuck?” Tommy questions, and a smile breaks out on his face, even if he doesn’t mean it, because what the fuck? This- this shouldn’t even be possible! “How- what-”

“Ta-da!” Phil pulls Tommy’s hands up into the air, both their arms raised up as Tommy takes an experimental gasp, and he doesn’t choke on water, but rather breathes in just fine. 

Tommy laughs, kicking his legs again, but only to keep himself upright, and Phil smiles, looking around them. “Look.” Phil says gently, tilting his head. 

Following his gaze, Tommy’s attention is caught by a small fish, swimming along by Tommy’s left side.

A glowing fish?

A small goldfish is what it looks like, but it’s glowing a bright yellow-ish color, and Tommy follows it with his eyes, before seeing another fish cross it’s path. 

And another. And, another. 

Tommy turns his head left and right, watching with wide eyes as they seem to multiply, swimming around in a big circle around them, bright and glowing. 

There’s a dozen questions popping up in Tommy’s head, but he can’t find it in himself to actually ask them, instead just in awe, staring out into the water around him as he laughs a little, smiling. 

“It’s fish.” Tommy quietly says, looking to Phil, who lets go of one of Tommy’s hands to gently grab a goldfish out of the water, pulling it towards them.

“Yeah.” Phil responds, and he carefully pulls the fish to right in front of Tommy’s face, opening his head, Tommy getting a goldfish that swims and bumps right into his nose before quickly darting away. “Cool, huh?”

“It’s so cool.” Tommy agrees, laughing again. 

Phil hums, smiling wide, and he tugs at Tommy’s hands, waving the fish away, and Tommy watches as the crowd of fish slowly breaks apart, swimming off into the distance. He's slightly disappointed at watching them leave, but he's quickly distracted by the next words he hears.

“You want to go see Wilbur now?”

Chapter Text

Wilbur opens his eyes to a wooden ceiling, and the familiar creak of footsteps against a wooden floor. He feels fuzzy, blinking again and again to try and clear the drowsiness out of his eyes, and trying to piece together where he is. 

There’s a pillow under his head, he’s sure of that one, at least, and he’s on a bed. Not a comfortable one, but it’s better than anything else he’s slept on for the past month or so, so he won’t complain. 

Creaking footsteps come towards him, and Wilbur processes that there’s a dull ache in his side, sore. Something cold is placed on his forehead, slightly damp, and he closes his eyes, just for a moment, opening them again and willing for the fuzziness in his head to leave. 

“Wilbur.” He hears, and everything comes rushing in, all at once. He realizes he’s on a ship, he got shot, he had called for help, after so long, and hovering over him is a familiar face, red eyes-

“Fuck.” Wilbur chokes out, and he gets a snort in response. Standing over him is Technoblade, painfully familiar, even after so long. His face is the same like in Wilbur’s memories, with a jagged scar just underneath his left eye, reaching down to the bottom of his ear, where there’s an earring hanging. 

Damn it, how long has it been?

“Two years.” Techno says, and Wilbur feels like cursing again, because he realizes he’s mumbled that question out loud. “You’ve been gone for two years, and then some.” 

There’s an ache in Wilbur’s heart upon hearing that, a deep guilt, because he knows he’s the asshole here for leaving like that. Visiting at the coast line, visiting on ship, talking consistently, daily, and then one day-

Leaving. And then he had gotten too washed up in other things to even think about coming back to sea. 

“Good to-” Wilbur goes to say, then coughs, throat tight. “Good to see you.”

Technoblade doesn’t answer, just hums, stepping away with the same creaking footsteps, and Wilbur hears him leave, closing his eyes tightly. He’s not exactly scared, because he knows that Phil and Techno would never, never hurt him in any sort of way, but he knows they’re angry. 

He’s not looking forward to this part.

“You can sit up.” He hears, and he opens his eyes again, turning his head to see Techno moving bottles around, mixing something together into a small bowl. “Watch your bandages.” His voice is low and comforting, but there’s a strain to it that Wilbur knows he’s the cause of.

Wilbur carefully sits up on the bed, swinging his feet to rest on the floor, and he finds that there had been a rag on his forehead, cold and damp. He presses a hand to his side, and finds his middle wrapped in bandages, the place where he had been shot being sore. His shirt has been swapped out for a different one, cleaner.

He knows that if he peeled back the bandages and looked, the gun wound that was there before would be gone, mostly healed, save for a scab. Now, here’s one thing he missed. The usefulness of having his injuries hardly be a concern.

 “Here.” Techno speaks up again, holding out a bowl that looks like it might be soup, something dark green. Wilbur doesn’t question it at all, instead he just takes it from Techno’s hands, and drinks every last drop. 

When he lowers the bowl, he can’t help but stick his tongue out and make a face. It tastes like seaweed.

There’s a screech of a chair being pulled up, Techno sitting down in front of him, and Wilbur keeps his eyes on the bowl in his hands. 

“So.” Wilbur says softly, trying to work through his thoughts. 

“So.” Technoblade repeats. Wilbur can’t help but grimace. 

Wilbur tries to think of what he remembers, rather than face the tension that is sitting in the air. He remembers the ship being attacked, the onslaught of pirates, too many for Wilbur to fight off, and he remembers realizing he needed to make an action before he died there at sea. He remembers running across the deck, the storm raging, he remembers- 

Wilbur jolts up, sitting up straight. Tommy.

“Where’s Tommy?” He asks, finally raising his head, only to be met with glowing angry eyes. 

“Who?” 

“There was a boy who was traveling with me, blond hair, blue eyes, he’s sixteen-” Wilbur leans forward, moving to get up from the bed. “He was on the ship with me, did you- Was the ship-”

“Sit down.” Techno says, and even with the way his eyes burn, his voice is calm and quiet. Wilbur sits back down, gripping the wooden bowl tightly in his hands. “Phil went to go get him.” 

“Oh.” Wilbur breathes out, relief sinking into his bones. He doesn’t know what he would do if he left Tommy behind. He doesn’t know what he would do if he left Tommy to die. He feels like he would’ve dragged both Phil and Techno to save him if that had been the case, angry sea gods or not. “Well. I suppose, we can…wait then.”

Technoblade crosses his arms across his chest, leaning back in the chair. 

“I would ask who the kid is, but I’m more interested as to where you went.” Techno says, and Wilbur bites his tongue rather than respond. “Where did you go?” Techno asks, slowly, and there’s the feeling of guilt on his back. 

“I can explain.” Wilbur says quietly, but Techno isn’t finished. “I didn’t mean to be gone that long-”

“You didn’t mean to?” Techno repeats, and Wilbur huffs. “We waited, by the shore, for days. Me and Phil, we waited for you, and you didn’t show up. You weren’t there.” 

Wilbur can see that clearly, the two of them waiting in shallow waters, waiting and waiting, and concern rising up when Wilbur didn’t come. He can practically see it vividly, Phil standing at the shore where they were meeting at the time, calling out for Wilbur to return, only to get nothing. 

It’s absolutely fucking cruel, because Wilbur knows they must’ve wanted to go and search, but they weren’t able to. 

“Why weren’t you there?” Techno asks, and when Wilbur looks at his face again, the anger has simmered down into worry. “What happened?”

“I got into trouble on the mainland.” Wilbur answers, putting the bowl in his hands to the side. “I was on the run, or, I am on the run, and I stumbled upon something that nearly got me killed.”

“We can’t follow you to land, Will.” Techno reminds, and Wilbur knows that well. They’re bound to the sea, which is why it’s up to Wilbur to come to them. “You can’t just- throw yourself into danger and leave without a word-!”

“I knew what I was doing.” Wilbur responds smoothly. “Somewhat.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Techno deadpans, tilting his head to the side. “That must be why you had been on the run for two whole years, without calling us once.” 

“If I had called you, it would have made us all targets.” Wilbur says, Techno’s face shifting into something serious. 

“What?”

“I was getting chased, Technoblade, there were people after me, specifically me. They’re quite pissed off, for two reasons. One, I may have stole something from them, and two-” Wilbur pauses, faltering on his words. “-they, they know I’ve been meeting with you and Phil.”

Technoblade blinks, raising his eyebrows. “And?”

“And.” Wilbur stresses. “They’re trying to find a way to kill you.” 

Technoblade can’t help it, he laughs, slapping a hand over his mouth. Wilbur sighs, leaning back, but he still smiles anyway. 

“They’re trying to kill us.” Technoblade repeats, grinning. “Yeah, a lot of people have tried that before, Wilbur, plenty of times. We don’t die.” 

“I know that.” Wilbur huffs, kicking a leg forward and hitting Techno in the shin. “I’ve seen what you can do, I know that a gun isn’t going to do shit.”

Techno snorts again. 

“But they knew that too. So,” Wilbur shrugs, saying the next words carefully. “They went after me.”

Wilbur didn’t tell anyone about Phil and Techno. He didn’t tell a soul, most people think that old gods who live in the ocean are just a wild tale, something to sing about when you’re drunk. He was careful when meeting them at the shore, he was careful when catching a ship to meet them at sea. 

But someone still found out. Someone followed the stories, followed the rumors, and then found Will. 

Who was a one way ticket to getting to said gods. 

 Technoblade stills, looking at Wilbur for a moment. “Who?” He asks, and there’s the anger that Wilbur thought he would have getting thrown towards him. 

“There’s a man named Dream.” Wilbur tells. “He came up to me, and asked me about you. You and Phil.”

A strange smiling mask, and a polite offer to make the seas safer, in his words. 

Old gods are power left unchecked, and for the safety of everyone on sea, there needs to be a way to keep them at bay, he had said. He had offered Wilbur a place on his crew, had told him that he knew that Will was close with Phil and Techno. He knew. 

So, naturally, Wilbur punched him across the face and sprinted like a madman, which had gone well, in his opinion. That had set off a wild goose chase, with Wilbur being the target. 

“Did you tell anything?” Technoblade asks. 

“No, no.” Wilbur shakes his head. “I didn’t say anything, I swear.”

“It would’ve been fine if you did, Wilbur, if your safety was on the line. Eventually, we would have faded back into rumors, you know.” Techno leans forward in his chair. “Everything fades with time.”

“I don’t have that sort of time. And I wasn’t about to let him and his crew use me as bait.” Wilbur waves a finger, Technoblade smiling in the annoying way where he knows something that Wilbur doesn’t. “So, I, well, set their plans back a little.”

“What did you steal?” Techno sighs, hardly surprised, but intrigued.

Wilbur grins, digging into his pocket, and bringing out a damp, old map. “This.” He unfolds it in his hands, Technoblade scooting closer on his chair to see what’s written on the paper. “I’m not entirely sure what they needed it for, but, oh ho, they were pissed when they found out it was missing.”

The map is a dim gold, unknown writings scattered across with a few vague pictures. Wilbur’s spent countless nights trying to make sense of it, but he hasn’t got a clue as to what the map directs to. All he’s got is that it clearly leads to something important, and that whatever it is, Wilbur oughta get to it before Dream does. 

Techno holds a hand out, Wilbur giving the map over. “Wait.” He says, Wilbur raising his head, curious. “Wait, wait, oh this-” He snorts. “This is kinda funny.”

“What?” 

Techno just laughs. “Me and Phil were going to lead you to this anyway, and you go and steal a map-” He cuts himself off, still laughing, but raising his head as if someone’s knocked at the door. “Oh, good timing.”

Wilbur doesn’t hear anything, and he looks to the closed door trying to hear something, before faintly getting the familiar voice of-

“WILBUR!” Tommy screams, from somewhere on deck.

---

After Phil asks to lead Tommy to Wilbur, Tommy had expected at least a ship or something to get them there. The very least, a raft. 

Instead, Phil takes him by the hands and swims, the currents swirling around them in a way that makes Tommy wonder if they’ve been thrown into a whirlpool, forcing Tommy to have to hold on for dear life. 

He’s very nearly sick by the end of it, and when he’s pulled above the surface, he gasps for air, clinging onto Phil like a lifeline. When he looks up, he finds that they’ve traveled far.

Very far.

They’re in a cave, a giant, spacious cave, with a big old ship at the very center of it, standing still in shallow water. It’s mostly dim, small bits of light coming from holes at the roof made of stone. The ship is huge, probably would’ve sailed wonderfully, if it was out at sea, but it stays here instead, hidden away behind a wall of stone. 

“Here we are.” Phil grins, as Tommy groans and tries to flop back into the water. “Oh- sorry, sorry, mate, I forget how that affects you-” He tries helping Tommy swim through the waist-high water, over to a set of stairs that seem to lead up to the ship. 

“Just- Give me a sec.” Tommy mutters out, trying to take a deep breath in. “My head is all wonky.”

“Yeah, Wilbur felt like that the first time too.” Phil laughs, and Tommy’s reminded of what he’s here for. He stands up straight, wading through the water and making his way to the stairs, Phil following close behind. 

The wood creaks worryingly underneath his feet, but the supports stay standing, and Tommy practically runs up the steps, quickly arriving at the deck of the ship. 

He looks around, finding the ship to be empty of other life, seemingly abandoned, and there’s a small suspicion that Tommy’s just gotten himself kidnapped. 

He cups his hands around his mouth, yelling out. “WILBUR!” 

Phil steps onto the ship behind Tommy, tilting his head as if he’s listening to something. “He’s inside, mate.”

Tommy doesn’t need to be told twice, and he goes running down the ship, Phil walking behind. Tommy won’t lie, he’s exhausted, he’s more than a little confused, but he’s mostly just pissed. At Wilbur, for getting himself kidnapped by people who don’t quite seem all that human. 

He goes running to the cabin of the ship, and he stops in his tracks when the door swings open, Technoblade walking out. 

“Phil!” Techno calls, Tommy frozen in place as Techno barely even notices him. “Phil, you gotta come see this.” His tone is light, a better mood than the last few months, so Phil keeps a steady walking pace rather than run. 

Tommy stands like a startled cat, stuck between just running past Techno (even if the dude is slightly scary, Tommy’s pretty sure by now that he sunk that ship earlier) and running back to Phil. He still has that knife in his pocket. He’s considering using it right about now, even if it didn’t do anything to Phil before. 

“You.” Techno turns his attention to Tommy, who goes even more still at Techno’s eyes on him. He’s thrown off as Techno takes a step to the side, rather than attack him. “Wilbur’s inside.”

That’s all he needs, Tommy goes running the second Techno says the word ‘Wilbur’ and he nearly trips over his feet with the rush of it, Techno eyeing him with slight amusement. He can hear Techno walk off to Phil, talking behind his back. 

“Phil, hey, Wilbur healed fine, but listen to this-”

Wilbur’s inside, just like Techno said, and he sits on a bed, bloodstain gone, a new shirt, a bandaid over his cheek, and Tommy keeps running, throwing himself into Wilbur as Wilbur raises his arms up. 

“Holy shit, Wilbur-” Tommy breathes out, and he slams into him, Wilbur nearly falling backwards on the bed from the force of it. “Wilbur-”

Tommy is getting squeezed to death, he thinks, Wilbur grinning wide as Tommy scrambles to sit beside him, so he’s not leaning at an awkward angle. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay.” Wilbur says, and he sounds beyond relieved, laughing a little in his words. “Thank goodness-”

“You fucker-” Tommy gets out, trying to pull away from where he’s squished against Wilbur’s shirt. “You owe me so much money-”

“For what?!” Wilbur leans back, holding Tommy’s face in his hands. 

“What do you mean ‘for what’?! That shit you pulled back on the ship-”

“I owe you for getting shot?” Wilbur asks, squishing Tommy’s face in his palms.

“Yes.” Tommy grits out, slapping Wilbur’s hands away. “Oh, and I have your necklace.”

Wilbur hums, watching as Tommy digs through his pocket, and he blinks curiously at the new earring hanging from Tommy’s ear. “And what’s that?” He asks, poking at the earring in question. 

“It’s Phil’s.” Tommy answers, distracted, and he pulls out Wilbur’s necklace, untangling the chain, before placing it into Wilbur’s outstretched palm. “Here.”

Wilbur smiles, closing his hand around it. “Thank you.” 

Tommy grins, also holding the small pocket knife in his hand as well, and they both raise their head when Phil and Techno come back to the doorway. 

Chapter Text

Tommy frowns the moment the two of them come into the room, and he raises his knife out, flicking it open and pointing the blade directly towards Phil’s stupid face.

“You.” Tommy hisses with narrowed eyes, adjusting himself to lean just a bit in front of Wilbur. Phil just smiles at the sight, as if he isn’t currently getting threatened. Technoblade crosses his arm with an unimpressed look.

“Wha- Tommy.” Wilbur reaches around Tommy and grabs his hand, forcing him to lower the knife. “Be nice, they’re friends.”

“They’re not my friends.” Tommy insists stubbornly, giving a deep frown towards Technoblade, who blinks back wondering why Wilbur of all people decided keeping a random child around was a good idea. He’s never been good with people, especially young ones. 

Wilbur huffs a little, throwing an arm over Tommy’s shoulders, forcing the teen to lean against him, almost like a smothering hug. On most days, Tommy would’ve pushed him away with an exasperated groan. For just today, though, he huddles close, and keeps his eyes on the two strangers across the room, giving a burning glare. 

“Tommy, this is Phil, who’ve you met, and Technoblade, who I don’t think you’ve met.” He waves a gesturing hand towards the two of them, then towards Tommy. “Phil, Techno, this is Tommy.” He talks with pride, as if Tommy is so much more than just a fumbling pirate. Tommy sits up straight with a swell of confidence.

“Good afternoon.” Phil greets, satisfied to finally have a name to that face. He had just been mentally calling him ‘Wilbur’s kid’ for the entire time, with the teen being too stubborn to give his own name over. The name Tommy seems to suit him. 

“Is it afternoon?” Wilbur asks, tilting his head and trying to see past them for a glimpse of sunlight. 

“It’s close enough.” Techno shrugs, and he makes a face of thought, his gaze falling onto Tommy. He walks past Phil, getting up close to where they’re sitting. 

Wilbur watches Techno with a curious look, and Tommy lifts his chin high and tries to be tough-looking, a stony face and an intimidating aura that almost mirrors Techno’s. Techno doesn’t even need to try to look tough, though. His scars and his eyes do the job for him.

Wil doesn’t seem all that worried at Techno coming near, so Tommy chooses to mercifully not try and stab him. He flicks his knife closed in his palm, then falters when Techno kneels down in front of Tommy, rather than Wilbur.

Tommy sits up straight, trying to look serious, but he’s nowhere near copying that stoic expression on Technoblade’s face. He stares back into red eyes, and becomes fully committed to winning at whatever this is, even if the man is spooking him a little. 

“Techno-” Wilbur tries to say, seeming to catch onto something before Tommy does, and Techno waves him off with a pointed look. Wilbur sighs, nearly exasperated, and he leans back, taking his arm away from Tommy’s shoulders.

Tommy panics internally just the smallest bit, childishly wanting Wilbur to stay close. He holds back the knee-jerk urge to insult Techno in his face. Wilbur trusts these guys, clearly, so maybe Tommy’s fine, this is totally cool. 

But this one is staring at him all funny, and he’s really giving off danger vibes to Tommy, to be honest. Wilbur’s told him before that if he doesn’t feel safe in a situation, it’s perfectly fine to stab and run, but these are Wilbur’s friends, nearly family, so Tommy’s not entirely sure if that rule still applies. Maybe he’ll take his chances.

“So, Tommy.” Technoblade starts, and Tommy bites his tongue, eyes flicking up to look over Techno’s head. He can see Phil still lingering by the front of the doorway, but he’s not looking at Tommy, and he’s instead looking away with a hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking the tiniest bit. 

Is he laughing?

“I have a question.” Techno says, his tone giving away nothing. All it does is make Tommy a bit more nervous than he should be, honestly. 

Is this a test or some shit? Tommy doesn’t appreciate being made fun of, and he glances towards Wilbur for a split second, finding that Wilbur is holding a carefully blank face that he only ever uses when they’re stuck in a sticky situation. No emotions to be found, no tells to be given away.

That’s not reassuring at all. 

Tommy looks back at Technoblade, who is staring at him with the same carefully blank look.

“What sort of question?” Tommy asks, frowning a bit, furrowing his eyebrows as he tries to decipher what Techno even wants from him. 

“Just something I wanna know. There’s not really a wrong answer.” Techno shrugs, speaking casually, but Tommy’s heartbeat skyrockets. This is totally a test. Cool, cool, he’s got this. He can impress Wilbur’s friends, whatever.

Definitely not internally screaming right now.

“Shoot.” Tommy dares, narrowing his eyes. 

“Have you ever spilled blood?” Techno asks, and Tommy blinks. That’s an odd question. 

And well, he did stab someone on the ship not even a whole hour ago. He’s fairly sure he also stabbed someone last week. He pushed someone down a mountain a week before that, but he doesn’t know if that one counts. 

“...yes?” Tommy says slowly, Technoblade seeming to take that answer with a single blink before moving on. 

“Have you ever taken a life?” He asks, and this one has more weight behind it, like the words are pressing down into Tommy’s heart, making it a bit harder to sit up straight and breathe. 

Should he say yes? Would that make him look better in this guy’s eyes? Tommy doesn’t need to prove anything to him, but also he doesn’t want to seem like some inexperienced kid. 

To be honest, Tommy’s not actually sure if he could ever directly kill someone with intent, shoot them through the head or strike them in the heart. Wilbur’s told him before that he doesn’t ever need to put blood onto his own hands if he doesn’t wish to. And Tommy...doesn’t wish to. 

He’s hurt people, for sure, being a pirate. He’s stabbed more people than he can count, and even shot a few, too. But that was always in defense, and he’s never outright just put a bullet between someone’s eyes. It was always just to get away, to fight back, to keep himself from being killed, or to protect Wil. 

Would that count? Even if Tommy never aimed to kill? 

Techno answers his own question before Tommy can properly form a response out of his scattered thoughts. 

“You haven’t.” Techno says quietly, and he rises to his feet as Tommy blinks and feels the slight pressure lift from his chest. “Let’s keep it that way.” 

“Wha-” Tommy sputters, holding a hand against his chest, getting an amused look from Technoblade. “What?”

“You’re terrible.” Wilbur tells Techno, tugging Tommy towards him and resting his head onto Tommy’s. “Ignore him, he’s just messing with you.”

“Oh, fuck you.” Tommy huffs, Phil snorting from behind Techno. 

“Okay, okay-” Phil puts a hand onto Techno’s shoulder, holding up the map Wilbur had gotten. “Enough of intimidating the kid, come on. Doubt he’s a threat.” 

Tommy bristles a bit at being called a kid, but he keeps quiet and instead turns over the thought of all that being just a weird intimidation. He understands if they want to intimidate him. As far as they know, he could be a spy of some sort, someone with bad intent. It’s always better to keep on your toes out in the sea, and Tommy respects them for the bit of caution.

“He’s not a threat at all.” Wilbur scoffs, confidence in his words. “Look at this face, he wouldn’t hurt a fly.” 

“I will fucking shank you, Wil.” Tommy says. 

“Isn’t he just a charmer?” 

Tommy huffs, glancing up at Wilbur, heart feeling warm even with the teasing. Wilbur looks happier than he has been in months, a wide grin across his face as he looks up to Techno and Phil. The sight is comforting, and Tommy smiles, fiddling with the closed knife in his palms.

“I’m sure he is.” Phil snickers, shaking his head. He holds up the map that Wilbur had brought, Techno having passed it to Phil. “Where did you get this?” 

“Stole it.” Wilbur responds.

“And where’d you get him?” Techno asks, pointing a finger towards Tommy. Tommy gives an offended noise. 

“I didn’t steal him, if that’s what you were wondering.” 

“Well, I would be slightly concerned if you had kidnapped a child.” Phil says distractedly, opening up the map in his hands and turning his back as he paces through the room, reading over the paper once more. 

“Only slightly?” Techno asks, a bit sarcastic. 

“I wasn’t kidnapped.” Tommy speaks up, a bit offended. If he was kidnapped by Wilbur of all people, he would have gotten away a long time ago. He’s fairly sure he can beat Wilbur in a fight anyday. (He is wrong.) “I just decided to join Wilbur on his adventures, that’s all. A partnership, if you will.”

A very intense, brotherly partnership, for sure. 

“He kept stealing my shit and I decided to keep him around so he could steal other people’s shit for our own profit.” Wilbur translates, Tommy smacking him in the arm. Not a good first impression to Wilbur’s family. “Now I’m stuck with him.” 

“Yeah, that seems legit.” Techno nods at Tommy, seeming to be thinking in his head of a scenario of Tommy trying to rob Wilbur. 

“I can see that.” Phil agrees, Wilbur laughing at the way Tommy’s face goes a bit red, unamused with Wilbur’s words. He’s slandering his first impression, ruining it, even. Tommy wisely ignores the way he had pointed a sword at Techno back on the ship, and literally tried to stab Phil earlier as well. “What else have you been doing since you’ve been away, other than acquiring a partner and getting-” Phil makes a face at the map in his hands. “This?”

“Oh, we have jobs.” Wilbur says confidently, patting Tommy on the back. “Tommy, tell them about our job.” 

Tommy perks up. He knows this one.

“We work on taking shipments across the seas! We offer reliable services at a cheap price, and we are well-known in getting our packages to where they are needed, no matter what.” Tommy speaks with the most professional voice he can muster, slapping a polite smile onto his face. “It’s a good paying job, I’d say. We were just crossing the sea right now, in order to get some supplies to its awaiting customer.”

Phil blinks, Wilbur keeping a bright smile to match Tommy’s, and it’s a bit endearing, the way they both grin towards him, and also a bit eerie, because the smile is fake as hell. 

“Oh?” Phil says, and he looks as if he’s holding back a laugh.

“...so are you going to tell us what you actually do, or?” Techno asks, Wilbur dropping the smile with a sigh. Phil snorts into his hand.

“They know me too well to know that I wouldn’t work an actual job.” Wilbur murmurs to Tommy, who seems a bit put off by how their usual excuse didn’t work in the slightest. 

Most days, they’ve used the excuse of being traveling traders, passing through the town whenever they’re trying to stay low. Tommy has the entire shtick down, and they’ve gotten past suspicion with the cover story plenty of times. 

However, it unfortunately doesn’t always work, because sometimes their faces are on more than a few wanted posters. Then it’s just someone yelling ‘pirates!’ and then swords get drawn, and then they have to resort to their usual plan B, which is to just run really fast and occasionally cause a fire as a distraction. 

Wilbur always seems to find it fun when they get away. Tommy finds it less fun on the occasions where they end up in a dirty cell. Those are never fun.

“I suspect you’ve been trying to do something with this map?” Phil asks, holding the piece of worn paper up. It gleams a bit golden in Phil’s grasp, and Tommy eyes it with a curious and confused look. “How did you even get this?”

“Do you know what it says?” Wilbur asks, leaning forward with a gleam in his eyes, and Phil smiles a bit. “I’ve been trying to translate it and I don’t have a clue on what it means, but it is important, isn’t it-?”

“Tell me where you got it.” Phil insists, not answering Wilbur’s curiosity. 

“Stole it.” Tommy answers simply, Wilbur looking at him. “From a group of people who do not like us.”

“Dream?” Techno asks, and Tommy freezes up, looking at Wilbur with a quick glance, then turning towards Wilbur, a hand over his mouth as if that’ll help with hiding what he’s saying. 

“Did you just tell them everything?!” Tommy whispers, Wilbur leaning forward.  

“Family, Tommy.” Wilbur says gently, and Tommy seems to just grow unhappy at those words. “We can trust them, I know it.”

“You said to be careful.” 

“They’re fine.”

“You said to not say shit.”

“They can know, they would never turn us in, believe me.”

“But you said-” Tommy insists, trying to get this through Wilbur’s head. Even if these guys are Wilbur’s good friends, family, whatever, that doesn’t change the fact they haven’t talked in two years. People can change in that time, and the two of them have had their fair share of people saying that they can be trusted, only to backstab them the next morning. That’s why Wilbur’s told him to stay vigilant. Don’t say you’re being chased by Dream, don’t admit to being a pirate, don’t wander alone.

“Tommy, I swear on my life, you can trust them.” Wilbur promises. 

Tommy just gives a frown, and Wilbur smiles, lifting his head to look back at Phil. “I stole that map from Dream’s ship, about a month ago. At first, he was chasing me purely to just get me, but now he’s after us for that map and me.”

“Him and Wilbur have a grudge.” Tommy says, rolling his eyes. 

“Something like that.” Wilbur agrees, and Techno huffs. “Well, actually-”

“Do you know how he got this?” Phil cuts him off, holding the map up in his hands, raising it to just underneath his eyes. 

“No. Although, his entire crew was panicking when it went missing, and then Tommy nearly got shot-”

“I ducked-”

“We got away, but he’s been on our trail for a bit of a while. We were going to take that to a translator, and try to decode it.”

“No need for that.” Phil hums. “We can read it.” He holds it out towards Techno, who looks at it again, then looks to Wilbur, before looking back at the map. He seems amused once more. 

“You can read that?” Tommy asks, at the same time as Wilbur asks “What does it say?”

“It’s, ah.” Techno falters, eyes dragging across the words, trying to remember the exact place the map had been pointed to. “Something to gain immortality, as long as you do it right. You know, like, a fountain of youth? Something along those lines...” 

“A fountain of youth?” Tommy deadpans, glancing at Wilbur to see if he believes that, only to see Wilbur nod and completely not have an ounce of doubt. 

“So he’s after immortality?” Wil asks aloud. That’s a bit hypocritical, with how Dream’s current mission seems to be trying to kill Phil and Techno. He’s desperate to use Wilbur as bait so he can apparently ‘make the seas safer’ but he himself wants to be a god? Or something along those lines. That’s just stupid.

“And yet he’s trying to kill you two, why would-” Wilbur doesn’t finish the sentence, Phil cutting him off.

“This thing isn’t just for immortality.” Phil keeps his eyes on the map, holding up two fingers. “There’s two things it can do, that I know of. Immortality, being the main thing, and then reversing that immortality. It’s a whole long process though, I can’t see why he’d go through that much trouble.”

Technoblade hums, remembering being at that same fountain. That had been a long while ago, but if he thinks about it now, it feels like yesterday. He can still remember the way he had been stumbling through those tunnels, Phil’s worried voice calling out, his wounds bleeding for the last time.

Good times.

Tommy’s face has turned into something conflicted, and Wilbur takes in Phil’s words, turning it over in his head. “What do you mean reversing immortality?” He asks, face slightly apprehensive.

“If it’s used properly, it can effectively weaken a god.” Phil answers, and Wilbur’s eyes go wide. “Enough to have a chance at death. But like I said, that’s a whole process.”

“Oh.” Tommy says quietly, realization clicking in his mind. “Oh, what the fuck.”

Wilbur hits a hand to his own face. “Fuck, he’s trying to use that! He’s trying to use me as bait to lure you over, and then- Phil, we got to find this before Dream does.” 

“They’re gods.” Tommy mutters, Technoblade snorting at the baffled and slightly panicked look on his face. “Holyyy shit-”

“I won’t protest against visiting the place again.” Phil agrees, seeming unconcerned. “It’s really beautiful, if I’m remembering correctly.”

“Phil, there’s a man out there trying to kill you with literally the only thing that is effective, be more worried-”

“They’re gods.” Tommy breathes out, hands on his face. “What the fuck. What the actual fuck. Wha- WIL!”

“Save your freaking out for later, Tommy, we’re in a dilemma-” Wilbur holds up a hand, and Tommy slaps it out of the way, grabbing Wilbur by the shirt. 

“You could have told me!” Tommy yells. “Don’t you think they could have been useful if we were on the run from Dream, literal gods, holy shit-!”

Gods, actual sea gods. That explains the ship, the weird necklace, the entire thing with Tommy breathing underwater. The realization is quick, but then that brings the even more baffling realization that Wilbur has been mingling with gods before Tommy even met him. 

There’s a bit more respect added to the already big pile of respect for Wilbur. 

Wilbur shakes his head, holding onto Tommy by the wrists. “Tommy, Dream was trying to use me to kill them. He still is. Do you really think it has been smart for me to just- lead him right to them?”

Tommy pauses. “...no. “ From what he’s seen of Wilbur for the past months they’ve been together, Wilbur is nothing but at least a little protective. It really isn’t a surprise that he would go to this much of a drastic measure.  “But come on!”

“I would quite literally rather die than be captured and be used as bait, of all things. That’s so annoying. And how would you like it if someone used you as bait to get me to surrender?”

Tommy’s heart jumps a bit at knowing Tommy would be an effective bait for Wilbur to turn himself in. “I’d hate that so much.” The feeling of being used, just for someone he loves to be caught in a trap, that’s something he would despise with a burning passion. 

“And I’d hate it even more.”

“Glad we got that settled.” Technoblade speaks up, Wilbur and Tommy turning their heads to them. “Although, just for the record, Wilbur?”

“Hm?”

“If you ever leave us for that long without a warning again, I will drag you into the bottom of the sea.” 

Tommy stares with wide eyes at the threat, but Wilbur just huffs, seeming more annoyed rather than scared. 

“Okay, Techno.” Wilbur smiles, and Techno gives a small smile back. 

“That reminds me, Wilbur, I wanted to show you something.” Phil says suddenly, handing the map to Techno and waving a hand for Wilbur to follow him out the door. 

Techno follows, and Tommy hops off the bed, immediately turning around to help Wilbur up. 

“What’s he going to show you?” Tommy asks warily, and Wilbur shrugs. 

“Hell if I know.” He says, but it’s fond.

Wil’s sides ache a bit as he gets up, but he’s able to walk just fine, and he walks out the door with Tommy right at his heels, practically sticking to him like glue. Techno walks beside Wilbur, Wilbur giving him a grin. Technoblade gives one back, just glad to see that familiar face again.

Phil’s waiting out on deck, looking over the railing as if he’s searching for something, then nodding to himself, turning to Wilbur and Tommy as they come close. “Wil! Over here, mate.” 

Wilbur nudges Tommy to stay, sensing that Phil wants to tell him something important. Tommy steps to the side, crossing his arms and side-eying Technoblade.

Wilbur walks over, Phil holding an arm out, and Wilbur leans into it, standing close and looking over the railing. He searches the water, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. “What am I looking at?” He asks, and he has a feeling there isn’t anything to see. 

“Nothing much.” Phil admits, throwing an arm over Wilbur’s shoulders. He squeezes tight, like a hug, and Wilbur leans into it, smiling a bit. 

“Oh, I see. This is just an excuse for a hug.” Wilbur says smugly, and Phil snorts. 

“I missed you.” Phil tells him, and Wilbur smiles, his heart feeling warm. 

He’s glad neither Techno or Phil were too angry at him leaving for so long. He would’ve expected some sort of lecture, or yelling, an argument of some sort, but it seems they’re just more relieved if anything, and he’s glad for that. 

Although he knows for a fact that now that he’s here, they’re not going to let him go. That’s kinda on Wilbur, though. He should’ve honestly known better than to ghost powerful gods of the sea. 

He leans his head onto Phil’s, closing his eyes with a sigh, and enjoying the company he had missed. 

He opens his eyes just a second later when hearing Tommy shriek his name in alarm. 

Phil squeezes his arm around Wilbur’s shoulder one last time, then steps back, and before Wilbur can even turn towards him, he’s getting pushed right over the railing.

“WIL!” Tommy screams, practically slamming into the railings to watch him fall into the water, and Wil lands just fine, the water seeming to catch him as he splashes into it. Technoblade gives a smug, evil smile, and holds Tommy at the back of the shirt when the teen tries to climb over to follow right after Wilbur. 

Wil sputters as he sits up from the water, not hurt but soaking wet, and when he stumbles on his feet in the shallow water, he hears Phil laughing from above. He looks up at the three of them on the ship, Phil grinning wide. 

“That’s revenge, mate!” Phil yells as Tommy yells at Wilbur to see if he's okay.

“Now we’re even.” Techno says, a quiet spitefulness in his voice, but overall just fond. 

Wilbur sighs. “That’s fair.” He says, and goes to climb back onto the ship, Tommy running to meet him halfway.

Chapter Text

Wilbur yawns, tugging at the towel that’s sitting over his shoulders. Tommy is rambling non-stop behind him, hands digging into Wilbur’s hair and sorting them out in little braids. 

Usually, at this point, Wilbur would tell Tommy to pause and breathe a little, but the teen deserves to freak out just a bit, and also he kinda wants to see if Tommy would eventually tire himself out. 

So far, ten minutes in, he’s still going. 

“And of course you would always win during our underwater breathing contests, I bet you were cheating! Phil gave me the thing to breathe underwater- ohhh that necklace is like the same thing, huh? You were cheating the whole time! I knew it, I fucking knew it, we need to have a rematch now, you have to do it without your weird fucking magic necklace-”

Wilbur’s sitting by the railings of the ship, looking off into the giant cave that they’re currently hidden in. Tommy sits behind him, talking non-stop without an end in sight as he braids Wilbur’s hair.  Phil and Technoblade have gone to talk over the map they’ve been given, and they’ve agreed on tracking the so-called ‘fountain of youth’ down.

Except, there’s a few complications with that, since the map doesn’t exactly point to where the fountain is. 

Sure, it describes the island it’s on, and Phil has also been there twice before, in his lifetime. Which helps a bit. 

But apparently the island fucking moves.

It’s like a thing that doesn’t want to be found, and even if it is found, you have to survive to even get inside, because the island is also a death trap. 

“Not the most enjoyable experience.” Technoblade had said, recalling his time there, long ago. “I think crabs were literally chasing me. I dunno, I was kinda out of it.”

“You were bleeding out.” Phil deadpans.

“Maybe.” 

The two gods are looking through the ship right now, figuring out what supplies they have and what they’ll need, because they haven’t been at this base for a long while. Instead, they told Wil, they’ve been resting at the bottom of the sea. 

They gave up going above the surface when it was clear Wilbur wasn’t there. Wil doesn’t know how to feel about that fact, but he keeps it in mind. 

Tommy’s hands tug a bit at Wilbur’s hair, making little braids that stick out and look a bit silly. He doesn’t do this often, but it’s a thing for him and Tommy, doing each other’s hair. Tommy tends to fidget when he’s nervous, and Wilbur always needs reassurance when he’s worried. And with that, it's a habit to braid each other’s hair when the other gets hurt. 

Tommy is terrible at braiding, but Wilbur hopes that with practice, he’ll eventually improve. 

“-Wilbur, Wil.” Tommy says, bringing Wilbur out of his thoughts, shaking him back into the real world. “Wilbur.”

“Hm?” Wil turns his head back a bit, looking at Tommy. “What?”

“Do you think they like me?” Tommy asks, eyes wide and a small frown pulling at his lips, and Wilbur pauses. 

“Techno and Phil?” Wilbur asks, having not been paying attention to Tommy’s ramblings, but still able to pick out who exactly he’s talking about. 

“Yeah.” Tommy hesitates, then speaks again. “I mean, they’re your family, yeah? You really said that.” 

Wilbur thinks it over for a bit, thinks of growing up with Phil’s smile, thinks of Technoblade putting a sword in his hands and teaching him how to fight properly. “Yes.” He responds. “They’re family.”

“Do you think they like me, then?” Tommy asks. “I mean, I don’t know their standards, if they’re- well, gods, but I mean I don’t want them to throw me off the side of the fucking ship when we start sailing.”

Wilbur snorts. “They wouldn’t do that.” He considers it for a moment. “They would pick you up out of the sea if they did.”

Tommy huffs. 

There’s no more rambling added after that, and that’s a red flag right off the bat that Tommy is getting too wrapped up in his thoughts. Wilbur scoots around from where he’s sitting so he can face Tommy, and he smiles reassuringly.

 “I’m sure they like you, Tommy. You’ll warm up to them, believe me. I have a feeling you’re really going to be blown away by the shit they can pull.” He leans forward. “If you thought the things we got up to were crazy, you have not seen anything yet, compared to their fucking habits.” 

Wilbur thinks of the way Techno tends to shift the weather over their heads when he’s particularly ticked off, thinks of how Phil likes to make the waves dangerously high, just to have a bit of fun, in his words. The way Technoblade and Phil can never keep the same ship for long, the way Phil likes to mess with any wandering enemies, the way Technoblade sinks any ships he doesn’t like just a bit too quickly. 

Whenever Phil and Techno got on sea, rumors spread like wildfire, names got thrown around with their reputation. They died down when Wilbur stayed on land more often, and when he disappeared from Phil and Techno, but he has a feeling it’s all going to come rushing back once more with Phil and Technoblade planning on getting a ship. 

Things are going to get a lot more hectic than the slow traveling him and Tommy have been doing for the past few months. Sure, sometimes they got in trouble and had to run from authorities, but that is going to barely hold a candle to the trouble Phil and Techno tend to attract. 

Tommy blinks slowly at Wilbur, seeming to process his words. “They’ve got magic and shit, don’t they?”

“Oh, definitely.” 

“We’re fucked.”

Wilbur laughs.

---

They decide to leave the ship behind, considering the fact it’s meant to stay as a base and it’s no longer fit to sail. Phil and Techno don’t find anything of much use, most of the food is spoiled and they never really did carry gold around, that was more of Wilbur’s habit. 

Phil does find one thing, though. 

“Wil!” Phil calls, walking up to them on deck, something folded in his arms. Wilbur’s mostly dried off by now, the towel put to the side, and he and Tommy sit by the railing. Tommy is eating some soup that Techno’s made, but he does it with a picky face. “I found something of yours.”

He gives it over to Wilbur, who holds out his hands eagerly and finds that it’s a jacket. An old coat, one that’s a bit too small for him to fit in now. It’s worn and faded, the brown color turning into more of a dull grey, but the pockets still mostly work, and it’s still good. 

“Huh.” Wilbur tries to rub off a stain at the end of it, then realizes that’s dried blood and he gives up on that. “Tommy, here.”

“Hm?” Tommy puts his bowl down, Wilbur shoving the coat at his face. “Oy, Wil-!” He pauses in interest. “What’s this?”

“It’s an old coat of mine. Put it on.”

“It’s all gross and shit.” Tommy complains, but he goes to tug it on anyway, adjusting the collar with a curious face. He then immediately goes to check all the pockets. 

“Technoblade thinks we could pick up a ship just a bit farther from here, then we could make our way to Eret, and she could let us stock up on supplies there.”

“Who?” Tommy asks, raising his head with slight disappointment with not finding anything interesting in the coat pockets. 

“We can’t just immediately make our way to the island?” Wilbur asks, ignoring Tommy’s question.

“We need a few things first, mate. Maybe, oh, I don’t know, food? Water?” Phil raises an eyebrow. Technoblade and Phil hardly need anything to survive, but Wilbur can’t go for weeks without rest like they can. 

Wilbur rolls his eyes. “Yes, yes.” 

“Plus, we might find some better information there. The map is good and all, but it’s not entirely helpful in actually finding the island. Might be better to ask some locals.” 

“Who’s Eret?” Tommy asks again, a bit louder. Wilbur turns to him as Phil stands up straight and looks behind him to see Techno coming out of the ship. 

“Old friend.” Wilbur explains. “Can we leave now, or are you still going to poke around this old ship?” He asks to Technoblade, who crosses his arms when he stops in front of Wilbur.

“This old ship used to be home.” Technoblade says bluntly, and Wilbur scrunches his nose. 

“Home is wherever you are.” He responds without hesitation, and he gets to his feet, pulling Tommy up with him. “Let’s go, let’s go.”

“We’re not in any rush.” Phil grins, but he does go to walk towards the stairs leading down to the water below the ship. 

“We should be in a rush.” Wilbur mutters. “I feel like you both should be more worried about the idea of something specifically trying to kill you.”

“Eh.” Technoblade shrugs. “I’m more worried if this kid is going to try and stab me.” He points a finger towards Tommy, who loosely holds onto Wilbur’s arm, rolling up his sleeves while he walks. He makes an annoyed face at being called a kid. 

“I’m not a kid.” Tommy huffs, tugging Wilbur so they can go down the steps faster, away from Technoblade. Wilbur makes no move to go any faster. 

“You’re small, though.” Techno points out. Tommy disagrees. He’s not small, scrawny, maybe, but in no way is he small. 

“I am not.” Tommy hisses. 

“Technoblade.” Wilbur sighs, barely holding back a fond smile. 

“Wilbur, I’m still reeling at the fact you’re just dragging around a kid with you, don’t go telling me to be nice.”

“I’m not a KID!”

“You’re sixteen, mate.” Phil says as he steps into the shallow water, turning back to look up at the others. “Still a bit young.” 

“I did stupid shit when I was sixteen.” Wilbur grins. 

“And how I wish you didn’t.” Phil mutters, turning back around to go more into the water, but his tone is nothing but fond. 

“What did you do when you were sixteen?” Tommy asks towards Technoblade, making a face at the cold water he needs to step into, but following after Wilbur anyway as he wades in after Phil. 

Techno snorts. “I don’t know. I barely remember that.” 

“What are you, thirty?” Tommy drawls, and he then stops at where he’s walking, the water reaching up to his chest. Phil seems to stop for a moment too, looking down at the water, then reaching out a hand behind him. Wilbur grabs on.

“I’m over a hundred years old.” Technoblade deadpans. “I don’t exactly remember what I did when I was a kid.”

“You worked as a waiter.” Phil says gently. “The pay was terrible.” 

Technoblade’s face shifts into something thoughtful, and Tommy doesn’t get the chance to say anything else, because Phil and Wilbur have disappeared into the water, leaving them behind. 

“Hey!” Tommy yells, diving after them. “Wil!”

Technoblade sighs a bit, then goes into the water, wrapping an arm around Tommy’s torso and dragging him along, even with how Tommy kicks a bit with being pulled underneath the surface. 

He really doesn’t get why Wilbur got a kid.

---

Wilbur never can quite get used to the feeling of rushing water swirling around him, throwing him off and not letting him figure out which way is up. Phil is his only anchor out in the open sea, and Wilbur holds on tight as they go through the water too quickly for any normal human. 

After what feels like a few minutes, Wilbur’s pulled above the surface, the waves pushing both him and Phil up and up, until they both land onto a ship, feet first. 

Wilbur coughs, Phil patting him on the back with a smile. They both ignore the panicked yelling of people wondering who the hell just got on their ship, and how. 

“You know, I didn’t quite miss that.” Wilbur sniffs, pushing his wet hair back and huffing as Phil laughs. 

“You! How the hell did you-” Someone yells, running up to them both, and then the person is promptly yanked off over the railing by an unnaturally shaped wave of water. There’s more screaming, and Wilbur just walks past the deck, looking around. 

It’s a decent sized ship. Probably used for moving supplies, like how Wilbur and Tommy’s cover story says. There’s a small crew, which is currently being thrown out to sea at the moment, mostly by Techno, who’s still in the water, swimming around. 

As Wilbur makes his way along, every single person who even starts to go his way gets yanked off into the ocean, screaming the whole time. Phil follows behind Wilbur with a smile. 

Tommy gets thrown onto deck rather abruptly, rolling across the wood, soaking wet. He coughs while pushing himself up, looking around with a ticked off expression, which melts into relief, then annoyance at seeing Wilbur. 

“Wil!” Tommy yells, getting to his feet, running towards Wilbur. “What are they doing?!”

“We’re getting a ship?” Phil asks, Wilbur making a bit of a sympathetic face. “This one was the closest one.”

“You’re just stealing it?” Tommy asks, tugging at his sleeve to pull it past his elbow. “You’re just- the crew is just in the ocean.”

Phil shrugs. “That’s not my problem.”

“Tommy, come explore with me!” Wilbur calls, Tommy running after him. 

“Wilbur, Techno is just- throwing people into the ocean!” Tommy waves his arms, a bit worried for the crew, to be honest. Not that he’s against stealing a ship, if they need a ship, then by all means, they can take it, Tommy will do what he’s gotta do. But then again, these people are being thrown like nothing, and screaming bloody murder as they’re pulled into the sea. 

Tommy notes that waves randomly grabbing people and dragging them into the ocean is not at all normal, so their reactions are justified. 

“Oh, Phil and Technoblade do that a lot.” Wilbur waves a hand. “Techno rounds them up and pushes them towards the nearest piece of land, don’t worry.”  

Chapter Text

Wilbur practically slams open the doors to the captain’s quarters, walking in with something wild in the curve of his grin. He looks around with a curious eye, turning his head left and right to see what he’s gotten, what they could use. 

It’s been a long while since he’s acquired a ship like this. He had forgotten the fun of it, the joy of seeing what the vessel has to offer, the quiet, happy satisfaction of being given something to keep, for at least until it sinks into the sea. Wilbur loves the chaos of it, especially when Techno gets creative with throwing the crew overboard. 

Wil hopes to keep this ship from above the ocean for the time being. He knows his habits, as well as Phil’s and Techno’s, but maybe if they’re careful, they won’t burn through their boats as quickly as they used to. Wil likes to think he became more responsible when he was on the run. He can’t be sure of the other two, though. 

Tommy follows right at Wilbur’s heels as they walk in, and he stops with a face of disbelief and slight wonder, like a kid being given a gift during holiday. Wilbur knows the feeling. He had the same when Phil and Techno first pulled something like this. 

“Not bad.” Wilbur hums, walking over to a desk and scanning the papers thrown across. Nothing important, nothing of interest. He turns his attention to the small windows, observing the sea out past it. “We’ve been on smaller boats, haven’t we, Tommy? We can absolutely make this work.” 

The ship isn’t bad, although it’s surely not the best. It’s only the closest that was around, like Phil said. But it’ll sail, and since they hardly need a crew to get the ship going, it’ll work just fine. 

Wil wonders how long it’ll take for them to get to Eret. They can take their time, and that'll be for at least a week or two, or they can speed it up a bit, like how Phil prefers. Although Wilbur isn’t sure how that would go, especially since Tommy’s never been on a ship with Phil.

Hopefully, they’ll get a warning before he gets any ideas. 

Wilbur notes the lack of a response, and he turns his head to Tommy with a slight frown, Tommy standing still in the middle of the room. He seems too small in that old coat of Wilbur’s, and he holds his hands together awkwardly, staring around with a faraway look in his eyes. 

“Tommy.” Wilbur calls, and Tommy’s head snaps back to him. 

“Eh?” Tommy blinks, and suddenly it’s as if Wilbur’s jump started him, because the teen is moving again, and he immediately goes to search through the drawers of the desk, rummaging through papers and junk. 

Wilbur huffs fondly. He’s a pirate, that boy. Even if Wilbur’s a somewhat bad influence, Tommy’s just always held that sort of criminal attitude, even when Wil first met him. At first, it was annoying. Wil finds it so endearing now. 

“Are you alright?” Wilbur asks, walking up behind Tommy and placing a light hand on his shoulder. Tommy glances at him with a confused face. 

“Of course I am.” Tommy makes an annoyed sound at finding nothing good. He moves on to the other drawers. “What, am I acting off?”

“Not really.” Wilbur shrugs. “It’s just, this is all a lot. I worry.”

“Stop worrying, Wil, I’m a big man.” Tommy gives another disappointed noise as the drawer offers nothing. “And besides, this is all cool as shit . I’m just- I’m processing, I gotta process. Sea gods, fuckin’ hell-” Tommy trails off into muttered swears, and Wilbur smiles, walking around the desk.  

“I doubt you’re going to find anything in here. It’s not a particularly good ship.” Wilbur throws out, heading back towards the door to check on Phil and Techno. 

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Tommy grins, giving a victorious laugh. “I found the goods!”

Wil turns to see Tommy quickly joining him at his side, and in his hands, he holds a small pouch full of clinking coins. He holds them up to Wil with a toothy grin, and Wilbur thinks he’s never been happier than he is at this moment. 

“Better hold on tight to those.” Wilbur advises, and he walks out onto deck, Tommy making a questioning noise in the back of his throat. “Phil!”

“Up here!” Phil calls, and Wilbur looks around, spotting Techno by the wheel, but not Phil. “Up, mate.”

“The fuck?” Tommy swears as Wilbur tilts his head back towards the mast, and he finds Phil sitting up far too high to be safe. “How’d he get up there?”

“You know, I never really know.” Wilbur answers honestly, then cups his hands around his mouth, yelling up to Phil. “Hey! Hey, Phil! Come down here!”

“Give me a second!” Phil shifts from where he’s sitting up high, and then he jumps, Tommy giving a small shriek of surprise as Phil falls down a height that’s surely enough to break his legs. 

Instead of being hurt, though, Phil lands just fine with a loud bang on the wood as his boots slam into the floor. Tommy gives a wide, slightly concerned stare, but Wilbur just laughs, and Phil stands up straight with a satisfied sigh. 

“Weather looks nice.” Phil says, and Wilbur just scoffs. 

“Of course it does.” He gives a glance to Technoblade, who looks at all three of them with a quiet joy on his expression. “Any idea of how long it’ll be until we get to Eret’s?”

Phil shrugs, humming with a tilt of his head. “Well. If they’re still living where they are, then they should be at the swamp. And from where we are-” Phil mutters under his breath, staring off into the ocean waves. “-that would take us... a few weeks, with normal speed.”

“Eret lives in a swamp?” Tommy asks, making a face. Who would ever want to live in a humid swamp? Tommy’s only ever been in that type of environment once, and from what he remembers, there had been mud stuck in his clothes for weeks. 

That may or may not have been because he was rolling in the mud for fun, but either way. It took forever to wash out properly. 

“The swamp holds good company.” Phil says, raising his eyebrows at Tommy. “It’s a swell place to live. Plus, Eret’s made a nice little home there. Good place to hide out from enemies.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve given them a visit.” Wilbur sighs, tilting his head back. He remembers the last time he saw them, when he had still been regularly traveling with Techno and Phil. That was before Dream, before the threat and before Tommy. Eret had been glad to show off the flowers blooming around their quaint little house. Wilbur will admit, it was a sight. 

Although, even with the flowers, he couldn’t help but notice the movement in the water. 

“I really hope they haven’t just up and left to live somewhere else.” Wilbur mutters, Phil patting him on the shoulder.

“We’ll have to see, mate. Until then, it’s just sailing on.” Phil pauses. “Say, what if we speed the boat up a bit, though?”

Wilbur opens his mouth to protest, but Tommy’s already pushing past him with wonder in his eyes. “You can do that?!”

Phil looks back with a gleam in his eyes. “Yes. The seas are always in my favor. If I really wanted, we could be across the entire sea in a week.” 

Tommy makes a small gasp of awe, looking back at Wil with a wide grin.

Wilbur rests his hands onto Tommy’s shoulders from behind him. “I don’t know, Phil. He’s only ever sailed on normal ships. We’ve barely even been in strong storms.” Wilbur’s luck and caution kept them out of that. When you’re avoiding sea gods, it’s best to stay out of where the sea is the harshest.

Phil gives a disappointed noise. “Well, that’s just a boring way to sail.” Wilbur snorts. “You’re saying you haven’t been sailing into storms?”

“I have been trying to avoid you guys.” Wilbur deadpans, and Phil’s face shifts into something nearly hurt. “I mean-” 

“Oh, now I’m definitely speeding up the boat.” Phil says, and walks past them both, ignoring Wilbur’s attempts at making him turn back. “Techno!” Phil calls, heading up the steps towards where Techno’s standing by the wheel. 

“Did you make him mad?” Tommy asks hesitantly, and Wilbur lets out a loose laugh. 

“Believe me, you would know when he’s mad.” Wilbur says, watching Phil exchange a few words with Techno, before heading to the back of the ship, towards the railing. “Phil!” Wilbur calls. Phil looks at him, before giving a wave and turning his back, walking out of view. Wilbur huffs.

“What’d he mean by speeding up the boat? By how much? Does he- is it the wind?” Tommy asks, tugging at Wilbur’s sleeve. “Can they control the wind ?” Tommy eyes the masts, seeming excited.

Wilbur laughs. “A bit more than that, I’m afraid.” Wilbur had nearly forgotten the experience of being on the sea with them. It’s a lot more interesting than normal sailing, that’s for sure. Especially when Phil gets impatient. 

Technoblade walks down the steps towards the deck, Phil nowhere to be seen now. Wilbur feels a slight breeze pick up in the air, and there’s a slight anxious feeling settling in his chest. His first instincts with a storm have always been mixed. His mind tells him there’s danger to be found in the unforgiving waters, but his heart yells loud for the experience of a rough sea. 

At least Tommy is looking forward to it. Wilbur’s half worried they’re going to end up having to fish the teen out of the ocean, but at least it’ll be fun. A good learning moment, Wil thinks. Because if they’re going to be having Phil and Techno around now, Tommy will need to learn. 

The ocean is a much different place when you’re with the people it belongs to.  

“It’s our first time sailing with you onboard again.” Technoblade notes as he walks up to them, and something tugs in Wilbur’s chest at the soft tone in his voice. “Isn’t that nice?”

“This time around I’ve brought a new face.” Wilbur hums, looking at Tommy. Tommy looks back with a small smile, and then the ship lurches to the side, both Wilbur and Tommy stumbling. Techno just takes a step to keep his balance, and he tilts his head to look at the rising waves.

“You might want to hold onto something.” Techno warns, and Tommy immediately grabs onto Wil’s arm. Wilbur glances around a little nervously. 

“Do you think we could maybe just keep it calm for today?” Wilbur requests, laughing a little. “It’s my first day back! Why don’t-”

“Nah.” Technoblade cuts him off. 

“Technoblade-”

“Hm, no.”

“Techno-”

“Nahhh, I don’t think so, actually.” He gives a smug little smile. “It’ll be fun.”

“Our definitions of fun sometimes vary, I hope you know that.”

“Do they? Can’t remember. You’ve been gone for so long.” Technoblade shrugs, and the ship lurches again, Tommy nearly falling as Wilbur tugs him upright. The boat starts rocking dangerously on the water, and Technoblade seems to keep his balance easily through it, walking down the ship with a bright look in his eyes. 

Wilbur runs towards something sturdy to hold onto, and he pulls Tommy close, feeling the ship lean back, just the slightest bit. 

“Wil.” Tommy says slowly, eyes wide. “Is it just me, or is the ship going up?”

“It’s just you.” Wilbur lies, right to Tommy’s face, and even with the small fear huddled over his heart, he laughs as the ship tilts, and they’re given a view of the sea. 

Which is now in front of them. 

“Oh what THE FUCK-” Tommy shrieks, and they fall, the waves carrying them down in a near dive into the sea. Water crashes all around them, climbing onto the deck and absolutely soaking them both within seconds. 

Tommy holds on for dear life as the ship makes a sharp tilt back once more on a large wave, and he screams high as Wilbur cackles out into the air, the wind pushing his hair back with the sea water sticking a few strands to his face. 

Technoblade is up ahead on the ship, and while the whole thing is unsteady and nearly deadly, he leans in with each wave and stays on his feet. The water seems to unnaturally avoid him, warping around where he stands, and he steps around in something that almost looks like a dance, the waves being his roaring audience. 

“WILBUR!” Tommy screams, feeling the ship tilt dangerous to the side, Wilbur feeling his feet slide as gravity shifts. He holds onto the mast tightly and holds Tommy even tighter, and he doesn’t take his eyes off from Techno, who runs to the railings, and lets himself practically hang off them when the ship leans far enough. 

Wilbur’s dangling too, just for a moment, and Tommy screams as they land back on their feet, the ship being mostly upright for just a few seconds. 

“I take it back, it's not cool- we’re going to die-!” Tommy rambles out, and Wilbur laughs.

“Wil!” Technoblade calls, and the ship tilts back once more, Technoblade leaning back and staying steady as the ground underneath him shifts. He holds a hand out to Wilbur, and nearly instantly, Wilbur wants to go stand out there with him, trying to keep his balance in the chaos of what Phil likes to call “shortcuts.”

They both look at each other for a moment, past the mess of crashing waves hitting the boat, and Wil drops his gaze down at Tommy, who’s holding onto Wil with both his arms around his middle. Wilbur raises his eyebrows at Techno, nodding, and Technoblade seems a little upset at first, but then he grins, and nods back. 

With that, Wilbur practically kicks Tommy away from him, just as the ship goes into a fall. 

“Wil, you BITCH-!” Tommy screams, and with nothing to hold onto, he falls with the ship and slides across the desk, Technoblade keeping his hand outstretched and grabbing Tommy by his coat. He pulls Tommy to his feet, and Tommy clings onto his hands for dear life, shrieking when Technoblade pulls him forward to lean into the next wave. 

The very sea around them seems to roar as they land into the water once more, but all Wilbur can really hear is his own laughter from his chest, and the way Techno’s telling Tommy that he probably won’t die. Tommy responds with a scream that doesn’t sound all that reassured.

The boat begins to tilt sideways again, and Wilbur holds on, trying to keep his eyes focused on the duo in front of him. Technoblade runs for the railings just like he did before, and he seems to quickly instruct Tommy on doing just as he does. 

Tommy swears like a proper sailor when his feet dangle just over the ocean creeping onto the wooden deck, and then a laugh bubbles out of him, slight terror laced into it. He falls back into screaming once he’s on his feet once more, the water lashing out from the railings. 

Techno leads him back away from the edge of the ship, and Tommy tries to copy the way he steps and leans, as if he knows exactly what way the next wave is going to tilt them. Tommy’s nowhere near perfect at it, and Technoblade is practically holding him up, but it’s better than Wilbur’s first experience. 

Wil thinks it’s a sight he can get used to, and he sighs with relief when the waves eventually settle down into something that’s not a death sentence. 

Technoblade lets Tommy go, and watches with a curious face as Tommy immediately goes for the railing, as if he’s about to puke. He doesn’t actually do so, but it seems like a near thing. 

Tommy leans over the railing with a broken laugh, feeling both like he wants to hurl and also maybe cry a bit. He also has never felt more alive. This is great. It’s the worst experience ever. He can’t choose. How the fuck has Wilbur ever lived with this?

“I think that went well.” Technoblade says, and Tommy gives a suffering groan that also vaguely sounds like a sob. 

“I’m- I’m sitting here! I’m sitting here. Laying here.” Wilbur calls out, taking a spot on deck and laying splayed out on his back with a groan. “Dying here, maybe.” He huffs, and the floor has never felt so comfortable. Such luxury, such enjoyment, sitting on this wet floor. 

Wil sighs out with the noise of Tommy crying dramatically, and he opens his eyes when he hears footsteps get close. 

Phil leans over him with an amused expression, and Wilbur feels only a little bitter over how he looks as if he’s perfectly dry. “You’re out of practice.” Phil observes, and Wilbur gives a little frown. 

“I have gotten used to normal ocean waves, thank you very much.”

“Boring.” Technoblade calls out, and Wilbur flips him off without raising his head. Techno gives a snort in response. 

Wilbur closes his eyes again, taking a quick breath in, and sighing out with a slight ache in his side. The gunshot has since faded, thanks to Techno treating it, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be lingering pain. He had been shot earlier today. Even with godly intervention, Wilbur can’t just be perfectly healed that quick. 

“I need a drink.” Wilbur says truthfully, but it’s not as if he’ll actually get it. He hasn’t touched any sort of drink ever since bringing Tommy around. He doesn’t ever want to be vulnerable enough to not be able to keep him from harm. “My gunshot is fucking sore.”

“Oh shit, I forgot you got shot.” Phil murmurs, and Wilbur bursts out laughing. It turns into a slight wince, the ache in his side growing just a bit. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m tired.” Wil waves a hand, and he lays still with a hum. 

“Uh, guys?” Tommy calls, and Technoblade crouches down besides Wilbur, pulling at his arm to make him sit up. 

“No, don’t move me-” Wilbur says, nearly offended.

“You’re on the ground, Wilbur.” Techno deadpans. “Move somewhere less uncomfortable.” 

“Wil!” Tommy calls again, Phil looking towards him. 

“The ground is incredibly comfortable, what are you talking about, Technoblade-”

“Don’t you dare start this-” 

“OY!” Tommy yells, and Technoblade turns around, Wilbur raising his head with a squint. Tommy points off into the distance. “There’s a ship.” He says, and indeed there is, something small across the sea. 

Techno and Phil share a glance. “Good eye, mate.” Phil says, walking towards Tommy to get a closer look. 

“Alright, I changed my mind, you can stay on the floor.” Techno tells Wil, standing to his feet as Wilbur narrows his eyes up at him. 

“That’s suspicious.” He thinks for a moment. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on sinking that ship.”

“Of course not, Wil, I’m not a monster.” Technoblade rolls his eyes. “We’re just going to go rob it.” Wilbur gives a judgmental noise. 

“We’re going to fight it?” Tommy asks, eyes wide as Phil stands next to him, leaning forward on the railing. “Do we even have cannons?”

“You and Wil can stay here. We’ll go ahead.” Phil corrects, and Tommy tilts his head with a slight frown. Phil leans down close. “I’ll bring something cool for you.”

“Gold.” Tommy whispers back nearly instantly, eyes gleaming with want. “A knife. No, a gun. Gold.”

Phil seems satisfied with those responses, laughing softly. “I’ll see what I can get.” Their trip will still take some time, being on a ship rather than traveling straight through the water, so maybe they can grab a few things to pass the time. Phil knows for a fact that Technoblade would enjoy sparring with Wilbur once more. 

This whole trip would be so much quicker if they took just the sea currents as travel, but where’s the fun in that? 

Besides. Phil’s finally got Wilbur back. He’d like to enjoy some time just to be with him, rather than immediately get to business. 

Climbing onto the railing, Phil feels the wind blow gently against his face, and he stares at the ship far off, then drops forward into the water, disappearing underneath the waves. 

“Man overboard!” Tommy yells, and he tries to go for a joking tone, although it sounds more worried if anything. 

Technoblade goes to follow, jumping onto the railing as well, but he teeters for a moment, a thoughtful look crossing his expression. He looks at Wilbur, who’s sat up from the floor, and he raises his eyebrows at Techno in question. 

“Tommy.” Techno says, turning his attention towards the teen, who raises his head. “You’re in charge.”

Tommy’s face goes from something slightly nervous to smug in less than a second, and he smiles sharply, Techno ignoring Wilbur’s yells of protest. 

“Obviously, Wilbur cannot be trusted on his own, so you’re much more responsible.” 

“I am, I am! I’m actually the most responsible-”

“You are not, you fucking liar-”

“Keep an eye on Wil.” Techno points a finger towards Wilbur, who yells at him even as he falls backwards into the sea, slipping underneath the water quietly. 

Tommy spins to face Wilbur, a laugh on the edge of his voice as he speaks. “Ohoho, I’m in charge, Wilbur, the sea god told me I’m in charge-”

“Technoblade’s word doesn’t mean shit to me, especially when he’s joking-” Wilbur waves a hand, but Tommy’s already stomping over, the joy of authority on his shoulders. 

“I’m captain now! I declare it. You are my second in command.” Tommy nods, standing before Wilbur with his arms crossed over his chest. “You will refer to me as only ‘Captain Tommy’, or else you get thrown off the ship.”

“I’m not calling you that.” Wilbur says, and he laughs with Tommy, avoiding a light swing of a foot his way. 

“No back talk to the captain!” Tommy yells, barely holding back a laugh. “The disrespect, I can’t believe this, from my own crew-”

“I think it’s time for mutiny-” Wilbur stands up quickly, Tommy screaming as he reaches for him. “I’m going to throw you off the ship-”

“Get your traitorous hands away- No!” Tommy shrieking as Wilbur snags him by the back of the coat. “I’m the captain! I’ve been the captain for only a minute, come on-!” Tommy struggles and kicks as they both go crashing to the ground, bickering and fighting without any worry. 

They hardly notice the chaos of the ship being attacked in the distance, Phil and Technoblade putting the fear of god into more than a few sailors. 

---

Phil and Techno return with supplies, well enough to last them for the trip to Eret, and with them, they also bring loot. 

Phil gifts a hefty pile of gold to Tommy, heavy enough for the teen to struggle a little with carrying it, and Tommy pours it all out onto the wooden floor and counts it out with absolute childish joy. Wilbur watches him sort through it with a fond smile, wishing for this to become his new normal. 

The last few weeks have been nothing but staying on the run and staying out of sight. Action and conflict is interesting, fun, on good days, but tiring. The whole thing has been tiring. 

Wilbur’s won a stolen map that leads to something more, and he’s won precious company that he’d kill to keep. What he wishes for, if anything could grant it, is for him to win some sort of safety and comfort with the dangers of the sea. 

Wil never did mean to leave for so long. He hopes to never need to leave again. He wishes for luck to be on his side, and let him win this, let him snuff out the danger towards those he cares for so he can return to something calm. Calm, in his definition, at least. 

Tommy shows off the pile of coins to Wilbur with a wide smile, and Wilbur takes a single coin, just to annoy him. Tommy nearly tackles him for it. 

Technoblade had also brought specific gifts in mind, something that Wilbur isn’t all that surprised about. Swords.

Just simple ones, sturdy and well-made from the hands of the crew they pillaged, and Wilbur takes his with a careful grip, as if he holds it wrong, it might shatter in his hands. 

“I’m guessing you want to find out if I’ve gotten rusty?” Wilbur asks, the sun setting on the horizon, the rush of the day slowly simmering down. Tommy fiddles with his treasure, sorting it out in piles with Phil sitting beside him. Technoblade stays beside Wilbur, adjusting the sword in his hands so he holds it right.

“I might be a bit rusty too.” Techno shrugs, and Wilbur knows that has to be a lie. He’s far too quick with a sword to ever become rusty. It’s as if those skills are burnt into his skin. “It’s been a while.” Techno admits, and Wil’s heart tugs when he realizes the off chance of Technoblade not sparring at all, with Wil gone. 

Maybe he is rusty, just a bit.

“So what you’re saying is I’m better than you.” Wilbur hums, voice taunting as Techno levels him with an unimpressed look. 

“I am not saying that.” 

“What you’re saying is that I can absolutely beat you in a duel.” Wilbur nods, and there’s the fire in Techno’s eyes, something bright and competitive. He knows it well, and how he’s missed it. “Let’s go then, come on. Unless you’re too cowardly-”

Techno wacks him in the shin with his boot, and Wilbur swears, kicking back and then standing up onto his feet, grabbing the sword as he does. Techno follows right after him, and it’s one step back, then it’s both their swords slamming into each other, both of them going still. Tommy raises his head with surprise, and Phil looks at them both with something eager. 

Wilbur stares right into Techno’s eyes, and Techno stares back, as if they’re both trying to figure out what the other might be thinking. Wil wishes he knew what Techno was thinking, how he felt. It might be easier to give a proper apology then. The last one had been too rushed, too quick, too light, and Wilbur isn’t usually one to swallow his pride and admit he’s done something wrong, but Technoblade is an exception. 

He and Phil are the exceptions. 

“What do I get if I win?” Wilbur asks, quietly giddy at the idea of just having a proper sparring partner. Tommy’s alright, but there is something wild about fighting with Techno, mostly because Wil knows for a fact Techno could kill him easily if he really wanted to. Technoblade always holds back, and in return, Wilbur tries his best to play dirty, just for the chance of victory.

It’s hard to cheat against a god, but Wilbur has always managed. He’s also never won.

“What do you want?” Technoblade asks in return, and that’s how Wilbur knows he has no clue what to even offer. 

Wil hesitates, thinks for a moment. He pulls his sword back and swings, and Technoblade swings back, the two of them freezing once more. Techno seems so content with Wilbur just crossing swords with him, and now Wil knows that Technoblade hardly wants any specific prize to win either. 

Glancing at Tommy, Wilbur takes a slow step back, Technoblade stepping forward with him. “Alright. How about this? We fight for the name of captain.”

Technoblade makes an incredulous face at the request, and Tommy makes an expression that promises a protest in the very near future. 

“You want to be captain?” Technoblade asks dryly. 

“Nope. I want Tommy to be.” Wilbur drags his sword away, letting it scratch against the metal. “And if you win, then Phil will be.”

Tommy’s face drops into something thrown off, and he looks to Phil, who looks back at him with mild confusion as well. He shrugs lightly at Tommy, who just gives a mean glare. 

“Kick his ass!” Tommy then yells, lifting his arms up into the air. 

“Let’s go, Techno!” Phil cheers, and Wilbur feels fond. 

“Deal.” Technoblade says, and he jumps at Wilbur before the word is fully in the air, Wilbur laughing as he blocks off a wide swing, their swords clashing.

The thing is, Wilbur hadn’t been lying over being rusty. It’s hard to practice when you don’t get many chances to spar, or even just fight at all. Wil’s been spending most of his conflicts running away, because it’s the safer option when he’s only just one man with one teen who he’d rather not get hurt. 

Even with the lack of keeping his skills sharp though, Wilbur knows his basics well, and he remembers very well how Techno fights. It hasn’t changed one bit, and it’s so familiar that Wilbur feels relaxed, even with the way he’s moving around and dodging a sword coming for his head. 

Wilbur steps to one side, and Techno mirrors him, circling around until they go at it again, Wil backing up until he’s too close to the railing, his boots scuffing against the wood. He makes an impulsive decision, and he climbs up on top of it, balancing carefully with a wary hesitation on his chest. 

Techno climbs up with him with ease, and he walks the edge as if it’s second nature, letting Wilbur step forward as he walks back, just a single step away from a mistake that might land him in the water. 

Wilbur strikes his sword forward, Technoblade dodging out of the way, and they both pause, teetering dangerously with matching grins and outstretched arms. The ship leans, the waves pushing it one way, and they both go falling back onto deck, Wilbur rolling to his feet just as Techno does. 

He spares a glance towards Phil, who only smiles back with a certain anticipation, as if Wilbur might really win this one. Tommy cheers Wil’s name.

Technoblade swings again, and they continue to move, swords hitting against each other as they keep circling. Wilbur takes a turn for going unfair, and he begins adding in a few kicks against his shins, a light punch that lands right into Techno’s face. 

Technoblade pushes him back. As if a punch would really slow him down, all that did was hurt Wil’s knuckles. 

Wilbur stumbles and he blocks, holding Techno’s sword back as Techno leans in on him, putting his weight forward against Wil’s sword. Wilbur takes a quick step back, Technoblade following forward. He takes another. Technoblade keeps pushing, and Wilbur feels like he’s getting near that point where he’s just going to end up wiping the floor with Wilbur rather than let this go on. 

So Wil cheats. 

“I’ve missed this.” Wilbur chokes out, his smile strained but his word honest in every syllable. “I’ve missed you.” It’s true, it is. Wilbur’s only stating the truth.

Technoblade blinks, his face shifting into something touched, and Wilbur pushes, and then knees him in the gut. It doesn’t do a lot other than throw Techno off guard, but that’s absolutely enough, and Wilbur throws his sword away and tackles Techno to the ground, both of them hitting the floor with a yell. 

“Oh shit!” Tommy screams, laughing loud. “Get him! Go, go-!” 

“Mate!” Phil yells, and Technoblade gives a yell back, something a little panicked. Good reason, too, since Wilbur’s gone and put him into a chokehold. 

“That’s cheating!” Technoblade protests, trying to pry Wilbur’s arms off his neck. “You- That’s not fair!”

“You never said we were playing fair!” Wilbur laughs, and he holds tighter. If Techno was human, Wil would be cutting off his air. Instead Technoblade just flails around and kicks his legs, trying to grab at Wilbur from behind him. “This is a win! I call it a win!”

“It is not!”

“It is!” 

“Is he winning?” Tommy demands. He looks at Phil intensely. “That’s a win!”

“Well.” Phil seems to consider. 

“If you actually needed to breathe, I’d be winning right now!” Wilbur argues, and Technoblade reaches back to yank at Wilbur’s hair, Wil kneeing him in the spine. 

“Get off-!”

“No-!”

Eventually, Technoblade does manage to pull Wilbur off and kick him away, and Wilbur laughs with cheaply-won victory all the while. Tommy relishes in the title of being captain. He then immediately orders Techno to walk the plank.

Chapter Text

oohhhgg i am feeling so terribly sorry for having to make this chapter but uhhh I'm discontinuing this haha the story is amazing and the concept is great but my heart is just not. In it. and if i force myself to keep writing the story, i'll end up hating this fic and id rather just leave it unfinished instead of resenting it by the end of it 

but anyway. I do feel like I should at least give all the thoughts I had about the story before I leave it on the side of the road. Lets see. 

So the story from where I skimmed over it again and remembered the plot is about SBI going on the search for the fountain of youth pretty much so that they can get to it before Dream does, because Dream wants to kill Technoblade and Phil, who are sea gods. At where I left it off, they were heading towards Eret's swamp. 

Eret's swamp is a real mystic sort of place. At first glance its just the most muddy, moist, vine-filled swamp you've ever seen, something that you can't sail through, and something that isn't really worth wading through either. However, that's because it's just enchanted to look like a gross old swamp, and upon Techno and Phil's arrival, a single clear path opens up in the water, which lets sbi go further into the swamp on a rowboat. As they go into the depths of the trees, they come across a dock and a house, which is Eret's home. SBi meet Eret, who is a witch/master of magics pretty much. Fundy is also there, sorta as their familiar. He's a fox when they first see him, and he leads them into the house, then pretty much stays as a background character with Tommy being like "did that fox just become an entire Guy." Eret helps make a compass to lead to the island that they're looking for, and while the sea gods and the witch are mingling, Tommy ends up wandering out to the docks in curiosity. There, he gets pulled into the water by a mermaid, who is Tubbo, and who is VERY intrigued about Tommy having an earring from Phil, since that's a clear sign of him being a friend of a sea god. Ranboo is also there, as a mermaid as well, but he's a bit more wary and is trying to signal to Tubbo to put the human down you don't know where he's been, PUT HIM DOWN TUBBO-

Tommy is pretty much Baffled at the fact Tubbo is a mermaid, and meanwhile wilbur is going into a panic because his boy has just gotten yanked into the water and PHILLL COME FIX IT- Technoblade ends up going into the water to get Tommy back, but Tubbo is a bit stubborn about it and is like no this is my new friend. It's basically just like Techno: "give that back pls"  Tubbo: "No he's my best friend now you can't have him" Techno: "Give that back or im putting you in a whirlpool" Tubbo: "Try it, you fuck" Tommy: "Hey do I get a say in this" Ranboo is eventually the one who rescues Tommy from Tubbo's grasp here because he's like hey Tubbo how about we DONT piss off the sea god and Tubbo is like I fear no higher power the only god i know in this ocean is ME

Tommy gets returned, Wilbur is relieved, Eret then introduces Tubbo and Ranboo as the mermaids who kinda linger around his swamp sometimes. Eret just has a lot of mystical creatures as his friends tbh, he knows everyone being a helpful witch and all. But so they get the compass made, this takes a while though, like pretty much a whole day, so they stay the night at the swamp and during this, three things happen. One, Phil and Wilbur have a heart to heart talk about losing each other, and Phil implies that he was hoping to give immortality to Wilbur soon. Wilbur doesn't know how to feel about this ("A part of me wants to be surprised, but I'm not.") and more or less just dips, leaving Phil in the house to go stand outside. Two, Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo all become besties with Tubbo being ecstatic to annoy Techno through befriending the Sonboy. Ranboo is a bit of a jumpy mermaid but he warms up to Tommy and they all chill by the dock while enjoying the stars. Three, Techno is more or less watching over Tommy from a distance to make sure the mermaids don't go yoinking him again, and he notices when Wilbur comes outside. They talk lightheartedly, and then they talk about Tommy, and they talk about how much Tommy means to Wilbur. Technoblade then basically tells Wilbur "if you love him then we will love him just the same" and they lean against eachother and are family (cries hysterically)

So morning rolls around, they get the compass, they head off to sea again. They sail and do pirate stuff I guess, i dunno, I didn't plan the middle part of the fic, that's all build up. But eventually sbi does run into Dream again, but this time Dream has brought together a bit of an army? Like a few boats. They attack sbi at sea, and Phil and Techno are fully set on sinking Dream, but Wilbur tells them not to (because morals) (But also deeper reason is because he doesn't want his family to be monsters and as he's been considering becoming immortal like them, he's been thinking about what is means to be human, and he's settled on empathy being a part of that and he doesn't want them all to become so bloodthirsty that they kill their enemies without mercy. So basically he's like "Hey can we have morals") and they end up just sailing away after a bit of action. Their ship is like properly fucked up and they lost some supplies, so they go to a town to restock. 

Wilbur takes Tommy with him to the shops, and gets a whole Lecture before he steps off the ship because Techno and Phil can't follow and Wilbur I swear this better not take more than an hour, you're leaving our sight here we are going to be jumpy and Wilbur is like geez dads chill me and my bro will just go get the food and the water and we will be back no problemo.

So then they immediately get held hostage by some supporters of Dream because Dream has been spreading his god killin propaganda and made Wilbur out to be like this evil sea witch dude and they take Wilbur, but not Tommy because Tommy bites them and goes running back to the dads like "heyyyy so you know how you told us to be suuper careful-" "Where's Wilbur." Wilbur gets interrogated then about his sea god dads and he's like hmm yeah uhhuh you guys are definately saying words alright! and before he can get hurt the ocean starts to kinda. Disappear. Like the waves pull back, and the birds are all flying away, and there's this ominous rumbling kinda shaking through the town and everyone goes outside and is like. Oh no. And Wilbur sees the shaking and is like man I'm really getting a lecture after this one (But he's also kinda scared like oh god what did I just doom the people to)

So a tsunami then hits the town-

Well not really a tsunami it's more like a mass flood, it's not destruction just the ocean literally stepping over the land in order to get closer to Wilbur and Wilbur ends up getting swept up in it and gets taken back to the ship where Phil and Techno are like WHAT DID WE SAY. After this Tommy kinda rambles to Wilbur how he thinks Phil and Techno are so cool and Wilbur then asks him about how he feels about the whole sea god thing. Tommy is more or less just amazed by it, and Wilbur is like how far are you willing to follow me until it becomes too wild with the magic. Tommy is like I will follow you forever. And wilbur, in emotional tears is like cool cool alright for no reason at all how about you give me a hug right now. 

SBI now with more supplies go on smooth sailing to the island, but in the meanwhile Dream ends up finding the swamp and while Eret doesn't let him IN Dream is like I'm burning the trees until I get what I want. Eret in order to protect the creatures that live there and their home is like I'll give you directions but this will lead to your ruin (sounding like all knowing and shit) and Dream goes pshhh yeah right

The island is then found by sbi, and it's a whole week-long ordeal to get to the center of it because lemme tell you the fates of the universe did NOT make it easy to obtain immortality, but they get through it (Phil and Techno follow along in the rivers that run through the whole land) and eventually end up at the Cave that leads to the immortality place itself. Now I need to kinda explain how this whole thing works, basically, this whole island is a death trap. It's a death trap, everything is trying to kill you, but if you push through, you can get to this tunnel that leads to the center of the island. The thing is, the rivers that lead to the middle? They don't follow with the tunnel. The rivers go underground, then into the immortality cave place, and the land tunnel entrance itself is isolated. it's also a leap of faith sort of deal because the path inside leads you onto a steep ledge and then you have to jump. At the bottom of the jump there's apparent spikes of rock but it ends up turning out that the water on the bottom is so clear that it just looks like it's only spikes. 

Anyway now that thats placed out, SBI get to the tunnel. They say their goodbyes before splitting up, Phil and Techno going through the underground water tunnels and tommy and Wilbur going through the main entrance. They walk for a while and Tommy and Wilbur have a conversation about immortality and Wilbur again is like "Tommy will you follow me are you sure" and Tommy is like "To the ends of the earth" and now it's not spoken but it's agreed between them both that yeah they're gonna go become sea gods. 

However. In comes Dream. From behind them. "Where the fuck did he come from" you ask. Well he caught up and then fucking POWERED his way through the death island, not caring about how many people he lost along the way. Bro left so much of his crew for dead. His cause is kinda dead now because all his men are like god this guy really just will die for this stupid idea lets get off the death island ugh and Dream is just like IM GOING TO KILL THE SEA GODS bc yknow he's obssessed with the idea of killing a god. Anyway he catches up, is the point, right before Tommy and Wilbur are meant to do the leap of faith, and there's a scuffle, they fight it out, but Wilbur gets pushed off the ledge and Dream ends up dragging Tommy out of the tunnel. Tommy at this point doesn't know there's water at the bottom so he straight up thinks Dream murdered Wilbur and bites off a finger while Dream is dragging him but Dream wants out of the spooky cave so THEY ARE LEAVING STOP CRYING 

During that, Wilbur lands into the water very panicked, and Phil and Techno are waiting on the other end. They see him without Tommy and are like oh shit and Wilbur is like I'm done here I'm angry tell me how to be a sea god, I need to go kill a man and get my brother back. 

Cut back to Dream still dragging Tommy. They keep fighting and screaming at each other, with Dream trying to convince Tommy that Wilbur was actually a bad person and the sea gods are actually a bad thing and Tommy being like no they're wonderful the sea and everything in it is wonderful you just do not understand but I do and also you're a bitch and you're ugly. Tommy eventually manages to get away from Dream by jabbing him in the eyeball and he stumbles away into the death forest, coming across an unusually calm river. He tries to go into it, but Dream is like William Afton or something and always comes back and tries to pull him away, to which then summons Wilbur, who comes out from the river, and he then tells Tommy to run to him. Tommy runs towards Wilbur and jumps into his arms, and Wilbur then looks at Dream like :) you started this

Then a tsunami hits the island. It's a slow coming thing, like Dream turns and hears the crashing of the trees and the water approaching, and he looks back to the river and Wilbur and Tommy are gone and he's like oh fuck wait no but it's too late and the ocean is rising and he gets KOed from the fic yippee. Wilbur brings Tommy back over to the tunnel, because he can't take Tommy through the underwater tunnels, the water there gets way too hot and would literally kill him. So he's like Tommy, follow me, and Tommy is like GOT IT and proceeds to book it through the tunnel with the water from the tsunami rapidly approaching at his heels. He jumps off the ledge no hesitation and meets the others at the bottom and also becomes a sea god.  

That's more or less where it ends, there's of course epilogue, like sbi going down deeper into the sea and Tommy meeting up with Tubbo and Ranboo again and all of them just enjoying the life under the surface and allowing for the rumors of sea gods to die down again. They can wait. They have time. 

But yes, that's the whole story that was in my head!! I wrote none of that down on the original fic doc that was just kinda sitting dormant in my skull and while i am kinda bummed i won't be able to write it all out, I know that if I tried i would get tired of the story and end up leaving you guys waiting for so so long. So have it as you can have it, hope you don't mind. 

Also I was planning to make a prequel of a sorts, (won't make it now so i'm also putting that down here) i didn't have a whole fleshed out idea of it, just the concept, but it was meant to be Phil and Techno's story and how Techno become a god. This was the summary 

[“I can’t take you with me, you have to go through on your own.” Phil says quietly, the water swirling around him as Techno gets to his feet. “The water becomes too hot for a human down through here, so you can’t come with me. And I can’t go with you.” 

“So we meet up at the end?” Techno asks, kneeling down to Phil. His voice is light, but any sort of light feeling in his chest turns heavy at the look on Phil’s face. 

“Promise me I’ll see you on the other side.” Phil hisses out, holding onto Techno’s hands tightly. “Promise me you will be there.” 

“I swear it, Phil.” Techno promises, and Phil knows from the look in his eyes that he means it. 

Or

In which Techno wasn’t always a god underneath the seas. He was once human.]

The basic story line is that Phil met Techno as a child who wandered too far into the water and almost drowned, and Techno ends up continuing to visit all through his life at the shore where Phil sometimes lingers. Phil watches him grow up and choose to abandon life at his town for the chance of being a pirate because he got tired of the boredom of it all. Phil keeps watch over him as Techno goes doing pirate things and they become better friends as Phil begins saving his life over and over again. Eventually Techno starts to become less of a pirate and just more of Phil's friend, and starts sticking with him. Phil eventually asks for if Technoblade wants to be a seagod and Techno is like why did you not offer this earlier. He then goes to the death island and is like oh okay i get it now. He does the whole thing, the leap of faith and all that jazz and they become sea gods together. and then there's also a teaser of them meeting Wilbur too, and that's where it ends. 

well, good fun. Phew, what ideas. Sorry again for leaving the fic unfinished like this but also I'm not sorry at all because it's my fic and really i could've just orphaned it but instead I let you guys into the workings of my mind so honestly I'm doing great in terms of giving stories as a writer. Thank you for reading.