Chapter Text
A year and a few months before…
“Get back here!” A voice shouted behind him. The wind whipped in his face as his ran as fast as he could, way faster than his pursuer.
Tommy made a quick duck to an alleyway at his right, jumping over a wooden box that granted him access to a roof, hidden from view.
He didn’t bother to wait to see if he was being followed or not, humans were fairly slow. Not that he wasn’t as well, but only in his human form.
Jumping from roof to roof, he was quite thankful that houses in this poor neighborhood were fairly close to each other, making this task laughably easy even for someone as weak as him.
After he was sure he was distant, and there was no commotion nearby, other than normal people talking and going about their day, Tommy dropped down to another alley. Verifying there was no one, he shifted back to fully human.
His tail withdrew, and he turned from a small four pawed feline into a tall, blond, normal human. The shift didn’t hurt, but it was always strange.
As if he was weaker, or less awake. At least he was thankful that his senses were dulled so the awful stench of piss and trash that reeked from the place was lessened.
He rested against a wall and calmed himself. Even if he was basically always successful, there were still things that could go wrong. These thefts still made his heart beat loudly in his ears.
Right after he took in his hands the bread he had been holding in his mouth and started eating. It wasn’t as warm or as fresh as what the baker sold in the morning, but at least this way he made sure that there were fewer risks at being caught.
Because if he was caught, then the only way to escape would be by turning into a cat, which would mean goodbye to that city and any other village close to him in a good kilometers radius.
Tommy finished his daily meal, which thankfully wasn’t stale bread this time, but just cold hardened bread, and took his bearings. He was way closer to the center of this city. The alley he was in was much cleaner, and the houses were a bit taller and sturdier.
To find clean water he could just go back to the forest and find that haunted lake. Not that it really was haunted. Apparently some lady died there and now everyone is too much of a pussy to go near there, which meant it was pretty peaceful and away from prying eyes.
Aka, his temporary humble abode. Only because he was sure one day he would run out of luck and he would need to change towns again. And even if he wasn’t caught, it was never good to stay in one place for far too long.
He took a step towards his destination when a voice rang out, “Excuse me, uh, sir?” He turned around and was met with a child.
The kid looked innocent, his bangs way too long, covering partially his eyes. He looked around nervously and whispered “Are you perhaps, ayouknowwhat”.
What?
“A what now?” The kid looked annoyed by his questioning, “A thing, a monster”, by now Tommy was “face to face” with the brown haired child. Would be face to face, because he was at least a head smaller than him.
Tommy took a cautious step back, “I don’t know what you’re talking about kid, you’ve got the wrong-“
Whatever he would say next died in his throat, when the kit pushed his bangs above his eyes.
To untrained eyes, his pupils were a tad sharper, more oval than perfect circles, and his eyes had this shine to them, which could be blamed on the sun, if they weren’t hidden by the roofs above them.
To hunters, or in Tommy’s case — a fellow lionheart — that child was a purebred lionheart. Like him. Another survivor. A victim. The rest of this almost extinct species.
Tommy’s silence couldn’t have lasted more than three seconds. But for both of them it felt like hours. Tommy’s breath hitched, feeling overwhelmed. He wouldn’t be alone anymore. While the other tensed, assessing the blonde’s reaction.
“Shh, not here!” Tommy put his hair back into place, where it covered his companion’s eyes. “Follow me, I know a safe place”, he said while grabbing his arm and walking back.
The kid forcefully pulled his hand back out of his hold. Looking warily at him. Tommy looked at him confused before realizing he never confirmed if he was a lionheart or not as well.
He sighed and let his nails turn into claws, a subtle transformation. He arched his eyebrow, and at the relieved look on the other’s face, he returned to normal and resumed walking to the forest.
Both of them walked silently for a bit, and as the houses started to thin themselves and they reached the outskirts of town, the brown haired kid spoke first.
“What’s your name? I’m Tubbo!” The kid Tubbo asked smiling, drawing a smirk over the blonde’s face as well, “I’m Tommy. How old are you, kid?”
Said person looked at him confusedly, “How old even are you, dude. Pretty sure you’re not much older than fourteen and yet you’re calling me a kid”
Tommy squawked indignantly, “I’m fifteen, okay! And you’re like what, twelve?”
Tubbo sputtered, “Dude I’m fourteen! I’m not much younger than you are!”, and had to stop because Tommy just abruptly halted.
…
“Look, don’t even mention my height, okay? I do not control genetics”, Tubbo said while rubbing his eyes, seemingly having heard this a lot before.
Tommy tried —and failed if the deadpan stare he received was any indicator— to stifle his laugh, lest he angered his new friend. (New friend! He isn’t alone, and it is someone just like him!)
After that, they continued walking side by side towards the lake that Tommy had claimed as his home. Which would probably become Tubbo’s home as well.
Tommy’s “house” was an abandoned raccoon burrow under a tree. It was large enough to fit Tommy and extra space. Now he only hoped it could fit both cats comfortably.
On the earlier days, Tommy used to sleep on tree branches as a cat, but after a particularly nasty fall, he decided there could be better ways to take shelter away from view.
The rest of his home was nature itself. And the lake. There’s nothing remarkable about anything there. There’s no flowers, the musky scent from the sludge and humidity from the place stood out strongly, which after a while it went from cool cottage core™ to PLEASE LET ME SMELL ANYTHING ELSE.
A few birds and small rodents were common, as the fish in the way too murky water. Sometimes a bigger animal passed by, usually a snake, or a few deers.
Tommy sat down, making himself comfortable. Meanwhile Tubbo finished exploring the scenery. “So Tommy, you living here by yourself?”
The older boy glanced over at his direction, before shrugging, “For a month or so I guess, it’s a pretty big city after all. How about you? Had anywhere to stay or someone to go back to?” He asked.
Tubbo merely snorted, “Nope bossman”, and neither were surprised at that. Just being together for more than a year would be a miracle. Somehow they were always discovered eventually, and walking in big groups attracted more attention. Not that there were enough of them to make these groups anymore.
“So”, Tommy drawled, “I’m guessing you approached me for a reason”. Tubbo actually appeared in his line of sight for this, “Well, you know… I have no one, you have no one.” Tubbo walked to his front “Mayyybe we could team up? Be our own wonder duo?”, he put his hand forwards.
Tommy looked at Tubbo, weighing the pros and cons, “Sure, why not bossman” Tommy smiled and clasped his hand on the other’s, “It’s a deal!” Tubbo squealed excitedly
…
“So uh, wha’ do we do now?” Tommy asked, to which Tubbo snorted and retracted back his hand, “Well, if there’s nothing to do, we could just— I dunno, talk?”
“Yeah, sure”, the blond beckoned the other to sit, “Do you prefer some lighter stuff to get to know each other, or would you rather some villain origin shit?”
Tubbo snorted and laid down on the grass, “I mean, I was actually kinda wondering if you actually knew why we are being chased”, to Tommy’s incredulous stare, “Like, yeah, sure, we’re monsters. But honestly witches haven’t been killed in decades, and just because we can turn into cats, that doesn’t really seem like reason enough to hunt us”
Tubbo chuckled darkly, “And also, they have gone so far as to kill normal cats, just to be sure they weren’t secretly one of us”. Tommy looked pensively at the lake.
“I mean, supposedly long ago we were super dangerous. I think that by now most of them only live by fear from their ancestors” he looked back at Tubbo, who was staring at the tree tops.
Tubbo continued, “I just think this can’t be all. Like, dude I’m a lionheart but if I saw a witch or some other kind of hybrid I would RUN”, he clenched his fists, “There has gotta be some story that we haven’t heard of. Or some really powerful person that made everyone generalize us”.
He looked over at Tommy, “Do you think one day we will be as strong as people see us?” Which made Tommy’s breath hitch, the blonde averted his gaze and sighed, “I am not sure, Tubbo”.
Because both of them knew the actual question, do you think we will live long enough to be strong?