The boys sat through the day, desprate to get warm by the fire. It had grown to a nice height, warming all five of the boys.

Only Karl knew what had happened with Tommy. Tommy noticed a new sympathetic look in his eye when his gaze landed on him and Tommy hated it. He tried to get rid of it by being extra annoying but Karl must have thought that was his was of expressing his feelings because it only grew.

"Quit being a dick, Tommy," Wilbur muttered, batting his hand away from the fire where he was throwing random things in. "You're going to make it stop."

They were all sat on the ground, keeping up normal chatter. Karl talked some about his past and how he had always wanted to be a traveler; that was why he had left his family and was alone.

Tommy smiled and grabbed some cold dirt off the ground, tossing it into the flame with a crackle. It flickered when it hit, threatening to stop for a moment before continuing on.

Everyone except Karl hissed cuss words at him, even Tubbo, though his was more joking. Tubbo knew Tommy wouldn't actually make the fire stop.

"Chill, chill," Tommy said, leaning back on his knees. "I won't kill it, gosh. Hey Wilb, do you have any more of that dried meat?"

"Yeah, but not for you," his older brother replied quite harshly. "You've eaten the most out of all of us and I don't have much left."

Tommy shrugged. "A big guy like m-"

"I fucking swear, Tommy, if you mention something about your nonexistent muscles I'm going to boot kick you to Jupiter," Techno threatened, looking over at him with a hard but faintly amused expression. Actually, it was the most relaxed Techno had been the whole trip.

Tommy laughed lightly. "Okay man," he said, his voice light. "Rude. You're such a prick. Do you know that, Techno?"

"I know that if you don't shut up you're going six feet under," he volunteered.

"The death threats keep coming," Tommy removed his knees from under him, sitting down on his bottom. "I'm fourteen, man."

"I'm fourteen too," Tubbo said, "and I don't keep pissing them off."

"You're built different, Tubbo," Tommy replied.

"Do you guys hear that?" Karl asked.

The group fell quiet. All Tommy could hear was the gentle lick and often crack of the flame. "No?" He said, using the word like a question.

They were quiet a moment longer before Karl shrugged. "I thought I heard something," he said. The flame bounced across his features, lighting up the tips of his hair. "Must have been the wind or something."

The next moment happened like a fever dream.

Tommy was about to say something when he heard the sound of a bow being pulled back from somewhere behind him. Instinctively he yelled, "Duck!" To the group.

His brothers listened- after years of being Tommy's sibling, they didn't take his warnings lightly. When he told you to duck you did it. They all leaned down quickly, Tubbo looking like he just fell over.

The whizz of an arrow sailed over Techno- right where the back of his head had been. It didn't stop, instead passing through the flame and hitting something else.

It hit Karl right in the chest.

__________

"KARL!" Tubbo screamed, sounding like he just saw bloody murder because he had.

Karl wasn't moving. He had fallen over, his eyes closed and a trickle of blood beginning to stain through his hoodie. Tubbo raced over by his side, leaning down beside the older boy and shaking him lightly.

Tommy sat, stunned frozen. The only thing that got him in action was the sound of Wilbur saying, "Get up! Go!"

Tommy shoved himself to his feet, hearing the sound of someone talking behind him. His focus was on Karl, his dead body lying stiff and lifeless of the forest floor. His eyes were closed peacefully, unaware of the situation around him.

Tommy's eyes were wide and his heart was thumping through his body. He could feel someone- Wilbur- grab his hoodie and throw him forward, shouting at him to run.

Tommy stumbled before getting ahold of himself, running over to Tubbo and dragging the boy up.

"No!" Tubbo yelled desperately. "I won't! I won't leave him!"

Another arrow hit the tree directly above Tubbo, barely missing his head.

"If you stay you're going to die!" Tommy yelled at him, pulling him forward by his hand. "We can't take him! It's too late!"

He watched as Tubbo broke into sobs, tears beginning to decorate his cheeks like rain. Something got through to him and he began to run after Wilbur and Techno.

The boys ran like they never ran before. They could hear arrows being shot around them, somehow missing them each time. None of them were close to Tommy as he wasn't the target, but they were almost hitting his brothers.

Karl hung over his head but Tommy managed to shove him from his mind, telling himself to run. Just run. Run away from everything. The problems, the sadness, the death- just run.

The forest blurred around him as his feet drummed on the floor. He could feel himself jumping over roots, dodging around trees, stumbling before he kept running- he didn't know if he could actually feel it or not.

The image in Karl stuck in his mind- the moment the arrow had flown through the fire, the sound when it had punctured Karl's heart. The way he fell over than remained lifeless. The blood that spilled from his wound.

Tommy wanted to close his eyes to shut it out but he couldn't- he had to keep his eyes on the road. Keep running.

Just keep running.

He could hear Karl's giggle in his mind. His laughter. The way he had become caring for Tommy. Tommy's annoyance at him seemed stupid now. All Karl had done was care, and he died for it. He died because he wanted to help out the brothers.

The wind whistled in Tommy's ears, hitting his face coldly. He could feel himself getting cold and tired. His steps were becoming slowly less coordinated, but he kept going.

The arrows soon dissapeared, leaving the sound of feet hitting the forest floor and pants. After a while, when Wilbur must have thought they were far enough, the group stopped running to catch their breath.

__________

Silent grief washed over the group as they walked at a fair pace. No one was talking except the trees, their leaves gently brushing against each other above them.

Everyone ignored the fact it was freezing. The fire smoke was probably the thing that had let the soldiers to them. Tommy could feel the tips of his fingers get numb in his pockets and his face was red.

Tubbo was still silently crying. Tommy had cried when they first began walking but had made himself stop; clearly Tubbo was having a harder time.

It wasn't just Karl's death that got them in the dumps. If the soldiers had killed Karl that quickly, why would they have hesitated to kill Phil?

Guilt was one of the worst factors. Karl had died for them. He had thrown his life on the line, and even though it wasn't by choice, died. Was Tommy responsible? Should he have stayed behind? If he had let the soldiers get him then Karl would have died for nothing.

If only Karl had been sitting half a foot to the right. Then he wouldn't have gotten hit and they could have gotten away. Everything would be fine.

Suddenly Wilbur began to hum, the gentle and soft tune flowing through the air. The brothers eased into it, and Tommy saw Tubbo wipe his eyes with a sniff.

Tommy listened to the lyric-less song, taking in a shaky breath through his mouth. He didn't recognize the tune. Maybe it was a new song. Maybe a song for this moment.

Techno was stiff. He hadn't shown any emotion since Karl and that was a giveaway that he was suffering too.

Another wave of grief washed over Tommy, making him want to curl into a ball of his own pain. Dead. He would never see him again.

The brothers continued on, Wilbur's soft song soothing them as much as it could.

__________