"Wilby!" Tommy shrieked, chasing after his big brother. "Wil, come back!"

"I'm not falling for that again!" Wilbur shouted, casting a glance behind him as he sprinted through the field behind their house.

Tommy hid a giggle and picked up his speed. "I'm not gonna get you dirty, don't worry!" He shouted back. He was totally gonna throw mud at Wil again- there was no question about it.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!" His brother looked back again, this time with a grin on his face. "I'm too smart for you!" Wilbur suddenly stopped and spun around, grinning.

Seeing his golden opportunity, Tommy lunged, the mud ready in his hand. He reared up his arm to throw and-

He was suddenly not on the ground.

As Wilbur started cackling, Tommy glared up at his dad, who had hooked his arms under Tommy's armpits and was lifting him in the air, looking smug.

Well, he wouldn't be smug anymore, Tommy decided, and took the mud and flung it right into Philza's face.

Phil sputtered, unable to wipe the mud out of his eyes due to the load he was carrying. "Tommy, you gremlin!" he shouted, starting to soar lower. "I can't see!"

~

The mud incident hadn't been the best idea, if Tommy was being honest. Grass wasn't nearly as soft when you crashed-landed in it at 60 mph. But Tommy knew how his dad had felt now, not being able to see when he was flying. It wasn't easy.

At least it wasn't mud in his face, Tommy thought. Just tears, although tears were a bit less cool than mud. There was also the fact that the tears came from killing the only person who'd been genuinely kind to him in years. That was also a downside.

But that didn't change the fact that Tommy had flown into about three trees in the last 30 minutes, and it was starting to hurt.

He wasn't sure how far he should go- or how far he'd gone. Time was a blur, along with everything else. He had no food, no water, no bed- which meant he couldn't die or he would end up back in his bed at home, and that would be catastrophic.

What would they do if they found him? Kill him? Torture him? Lock him in a cell until he rots away? Or, even worse, call Dream to take him back? He couldn't go back to Dream. And now that he, for some reason, couldn't die - Tommy didn't want to think about what the masked man would do to him.

Tommy wiped his eyes, trying to slow his quickening breathing. Now was not the time to have a panic attack. The night was falling; he needed a place to sleep or eat or something because if he was left to his thoughts for one more fucking minute, he was going to explode.

It was what felt like another hour before a mountain appeared in the distance, making Tommy's eyes widen. He'd never really seen mountains before, at least not this large. He'd grown up in the middle of a relatively flat forest, and L'Manburg and the Greater SMP had hills, but nothing this big. Tommy wasn't sure he'd known that something this big even existed .

Maybe the mountain would have caves? Caves were safe. Warm, dry. Maybe there was food somewhere. Food would be nice. So would water.

When he flew closer, he discovered that, yes, the mountain had caves. But as he neared one of the larger openings, exhaustion hit him like a brick. When was the last time he'd slept? Eaten? It felt like days. Had it been days? It had probably been days.

Tommy landed with a thud on the thin ledge outside the cave's mouth and stumbled inside, slumping down on the stone floor. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness, forcing himself to keep them open and make sure it was safe.

As he sat in the somewhat stifling silence, he heard a rustle coming from deeper in the cave. He shot to his feet, adrenaline chasing away his fatigue.

"Who's there?" Tommy called, hoping his voice was steady. There was no response. It was probably just an animal, like a bat or something.

It was nothing to be worried about.

Probably.

But what if it was a person? What if Xisuma had followed him?

No. Tommy would have seen him.

But what if he hadn't?

Or what if it was Mumbo? Would that be worse than the admin?

The admin- what if it was Dream?

What if Dream found a way to follow him, to take him back?

To lock him in Pandora's Vault?

Tommy could feel his face whitening.

He couldn't go to the prison. He- he couldn't.

But wouldn't it be justified? He killed somebody-

He'd never actually killed someone before. Before Mumbo. No, Jack. He'd killed Jack. He'd pushed him off the bridge.

But Jack had respawned.

But Mumbo had respawned.

But had Mumbo respawned?

Had Xisuma lied?

And Jack had been an accident.

But Mumbo hadn't.

Tommy had killed two people. One of them was his friend. One used to be his friend.

People.

Wouldn't it be right for Tommy to go to jail? To the prison? To suffer for the rest of his life?

He'd killed somebody.

He'd killed somebody.

He'd killed-

~

Mumbo nearly crashed into Xisuma when he landed. Several hermits who had already arrived at the town hall turned to look at him, worry in their gazes.

"Mumbo, are you alright?" Xisuma asked as he helped him up.

"Do you mean this? Or the whole, uh, Tommy thing."

Just then, Etho ran out of the crowd, wrapping him in a hug. "Mumbo, I was so worried-" the full-grown man mumbled into Mumbo's suit. "Tommy flew off, and I- my elytra broke, and I couldn't- I called Xisuma, but he was too late- I'm sorry."

"Etho," Mumbo gently pulled away, placing his hand on the man's shoulder. "Etho, I'm fine. Dying hurts, yes, but I'm fine."

Etho gave a half-smile. "I'm glad you're alright."

A thud came from behind them, and Mumbo spun around to see Grian climbing to his feet and wildly looking around.

"Where is he? Where is Tommy? He can't be- oh hi, Mumbo- he can't be gone. We have to find him. We-"

"Grian!" Xisuma shouted from behind him, and Mumbo spun around again. He was starting to get dizzy.

Grian paused and stared at the admin, then quietly went to find a seat.

"Okay," Xisuma started, going to stand at the podium. "I'm sure most of you have either met Tommy or heard about him." Several people nodded. "For those of you who have been living under a rock, and I don't mean literally," he glanced at Zedaph, "Tommy is a 16-year-old boy who, for a lack of better words, fell out of the sky with a significant injury to the chest. He's recovered now, but earlier today, he," Xisuma grimaced, "he killed Mumbo and, uh, tried to kill himself. He respawned, of course, but now he's run away."

Mumbo looked down as everyone turned their wide eyes to him.

"So, we're sending out search parties to find him," Xisuma continued. "He really is a good kid, despite what I just told you, so please help us. We need to find him before... before he hurts himself any further."

~

"Dream, I- you don't need to-"

"Tubbo, shut up."

"But I-"

Dream spun towards the boy, narrowing his eyes. "You know what to do. Don't mess it up."

Tubbo exhaled, staring down into the crater. He clenched his shaking hands into fists. "...Okay."