Tommy woke up.
His vision was blurry but the most prominent thing he could see was a dark green silhouette. A hood was blocking out the light from his face making it near impossible to see whoever it was or whatever it was hovering over him. He just looked like a green blob.

So, of course, the only logical option was to sit up as fast as he could slamming straight into the stranger.
The stranger wobbled backward, catching himself before falling off the thick branch.

Tommy himself jumped off the tree in his frenzy.
His parachute opened up around him and he slowed in his descent before touch landing on the soft grass below him.

His toes sank into the mud and Tommy regretted not grabbing them before Phil rushed them away.
This was gonna suck.
Especially since his shorts and bits of his parachute were still wet.

Sh*t.

"Are you ok?!" The person asked poking out from the tree's branches.
"F*ck off!" Tommy yelled, ignoring the boy in favor of finding out just where he was.

There was shuffling and a slight shriek as the person stumbled down the tree.
Tommy could just let them but-

UGH!

Tommy spun around his parachute twisting with him.
He ran up a good amount of the tree and caught the boy before letting his parachute open once more and drift down back to the grass.
Tommy was quick to note the soft stormy blue eyes, the brown hair, and the green cloak with bits in the hood that if closed would fit perfectly together, kinda reminiscent of teeth.

This was the green Shulk he and Ranboo had met in town! But what was he doing out here?

"You."

"Me!"

Tommy placed the boy back on the grass, his cloak matching the color of it.

"I'm Tommy!"

"Tubbo!"

Tommy glanced up at the tree before asking, "what happened?"
Tubbo hummed before shrugging.
"Not sure, you just appearing in a light of purple. I had assumed it was that Enderian you were with but he was nowhere in sight, and it takes at least 10 seconds for them to be able to teleport again," Tubbo answered with a light shrug.

"He gave me some kind of fruit," Tommy hummed glaring up at the high branch.
Tubbo blinked before furrowing his brow.

"What did it look like?" Tubbo asked.
"Hmmm, well it was round and purple, and when he popped it open it was soft and had some kind of clear juice in the center?" Tommy offered.
"Did it taste sweet but almost metallic kinda like tasting blood? And it feels as if you're eating a pumpkin pie? Soft melted easily but not quite the flavor you initially expect?" Tubbo offered.
Tommy blinked.
"Yeah... That's exactly what it was like!" Tommy proclaimed.

Tubbo snapped and pulled out almost the same fruit from a bag at his hip.
"Chorus Fruit! A delicacy to the overworld but it can be found within every tree in the End, which has a lot of them. It's the only water Enderians can touch actually!" Tubbo explained holding the fruit up so Tommy could see before slipping it back into his pack.

"Walk and talk?" Tubbo asked.
"Sure thing Tubborooni!" Tommy clicked his tongue beginning to walk. Every 1 step he took Tubbo had to take 2. Imagine how many steps he'd have to take with a full-grown Ranboo!

"You can plant Chorus Trees but you need the right conditions," Tubbo explained happy to be taking up Tommy's attention, even if it was only half of it as Tommy looked around for his friends or his shoes.

"What conditions? You need to sign a waiver or some sh*t?" Tommy joked.
Tubbo laughed.
"Doubt it. No. But the End is naturally dark with only pale tan rocks and sand, as well as Purpur blocks only coming from End Cities. They need to be in a dark, wide-open, and in a fairly humid but not necessarily hot place. And it can only be planted within the ground of the End so if you took some of the rocks and dirt from the End then you could probably grow it but without it you're just left with the Chorus Flower, which grows the Chorus Tree, which grows the Chorus Fruit," Tubbo rambled.
"What's an End City?" Tommy asked.

"It's where the Enderians live. From what I remember they're tall, they're skinny at the base, and open up wide at the top, they usually have 2 or 3 bases with bridges that connect to each large building. They're noticeable against the black, dark purples, and tans with their bright purples and whites," Tubbo explained.

"Sounds complicated," Tommy hummed.
Tubbo nodded rushing to get in front of the younger.
"So you're-" he looked the boy up and down, "what exactly?"
"Avian."
"A what? I've never heard of it," Tubbo hummed.
"Neither did Phil," Tommy shrugged.

"Do you know anything about the Great Origins War? Or The Great Race War?" Tommy offered.
Tubbo paused before shaking his head.
"I try to stay in the present, why?" Tubbo replied with a soft hum.

"Want to sit and hear a story?" Tommy asked.
"Sure!" Tubbo hummed following Tommy to a stump.

Tommy jumped onto it, his sk- waist parachute opened to make his seating easier. Tubbo whistled in delight, opting to sit in the grass closer to the ground.
Tommy pulled the book from his bag and flipped it open.

"Origin's Adventures, The Great Origin War," Tubbo hummed, reading the title of the book, "by The Great One. If lost please return to.... Tommy Innit. Hmmm, kinda looks like there's another name there."
Tommy flipped the cover to see the cover.

He hadn't paid too much attention to the f*cker.
It seemed like the black vines that had previously been left only to the spine of the book were growing across the front cover. Whatever the f*ck that was supposed to mean.
Symbolic *ss mother f*cker.

Tommy snarled at the stupid "please return to Tommy Innit". Stupid book.
Tubbo was right though, to the left of Tommy's name was another name that was scratched and withered and covered with ink. All he could make out of it was "s K".
He opted to ignore his hate for the thing and opened it once more, settling into a criss-cross-applesauce position and balancing it on his knees.
"You ready?" Tommy asked.
"Bring it on!" Tubbo agreed with a wide grin.

Tommy cleared his throat before even attempting to read the book.
If his voice cracked while reading he swears to G*d he will jump off a- wait no... That makes no sense. He will eat another Chorus Fruit to ditch this dude. If he could get his hands on one.

"Once upon a time- Nah I'm just kidding that isn't how it starts.
Instead, it goes:

A long time ago there lived 10 races.

The Enderians-"
"Like that guy you were with!" Tubbo cut in.
"Yeah, like Ranboo. Anyways-
The Enderians; a race that could teleport anywhere they wanted without the use of Enderpearls.

The Merlings; a race that could breathe underwater like fish without the use of water-breathing potions or turtle helmets.

The Phantoms; a race that could faze through solid objects and turn invisible like ghosts without the use of Invisibility potions.

The Elytrians; a race that had large wings on their backs and could fly through the sky like birds.

The Blazeborns; a race that could walk straight through fire and lava completely unfazed without the use of Fire Resistance.

The Avians; a race that could fall from any height and land gracefully and completely unharmed without the use of Slow Falling.

The Arachnids; a race that could climb up any surface to any height and can spin webs out of seemingly nothing.

The Shulks; a race that can break hard rocks with their bare hands unfazed and can hold more items than anyone else without the use of a chest or bag.

The Felines; a race that can jump as high as they want without getting injured without slow fall or regeneration potions.

And finally, Humans.

These races lived in relative peace for centuries!"

"But plot twist they hated each other right?" Tubbo guessed.
"How else would it be a war?" Tommy replied both boys grinning.

Tommy continued reading. His fingers fidgeted with each page as he read before closing it.
"The rest is my documentation so far," Tommy clarified.
"So.. The rest of the book is blank or..?" Tubbo asked.
"For the most part? Yeah," Tommy replied with a soft hum.

Tubbo hummed his brows furrowed.
"Well.... Do you need a Shulk?!" Tubbo burst out, standing up far too quickly.
I mean... Good iron deficiency dude, Tommy could never.

Tommy blinked before a grin spread across his face.
"Yeah actually, we do!" Tommy nodded happily drifting off the giant *ss fallen down tree.

"Great! Then I can join?" Tubbo offered, clasping his hands behind his back and giving the younger puppy-dog-eyes.
"H*ll yeah!" Tommy agreed excitedly his excitement to having another member making him jump which made his parachute constantly open and close with him.

"Air boy, where are you?" Niki asked.
"You lost him?! HA!" Jack added.

"So who's on your team exactly, well besides me of course!" Tubbo chirped.
"Well.... There's Phil, he's an Elytrian, Ranboo, he's an Enderian, me, you, Niki, she's a Merling, and whatever Jack is!" Tommy listed off.
"Jack?" Tubbo asked.
"Yeah, he's a hard one to explain," Tommy responded with a shrug.

"Well.... Let's go find our party!" Tubbo chirped taking a hold of the younger's hand.

"I'm at a pond with the Enderian, it's kinda awkward, we don't know each other's names..." Niki proclaimed.
"Then do introductions!" Jack proclaimed.
"Ranboo the Enderian, Phil the Elytrian, Tommy the Avian, Tubbo the Shulk. Hey Jack, what are you?" Tommy hummed, trying to be as discrete as possible so Tubbo doesn't give him any weird looks.

"He rises from the ashes! Good to hear from you, Air Boy. I'm a BlazeBorn," Jack explained.
"I just woke up in a tree without shoes with a stranger, let me be confused and silent for a while, d*ck," Tommy huffed.

"Hmm?" Tubbo perked up.
"Oh uh, nothing! Just grumbling to myself," Tommy frantically excused himself.

"With a stranger?" Niki asked.
"Well, he isn't a stranger anymore but yeah," Tommy whispered.
"Sounds h*lla sus," Jack teased.
"F*ck you."
"Yeah well good luck with that, I'm kinda in a- OH HOLY SH*T! NOPE NOPE NOPE! I DON'T HAVE GOLD ON ME, SH*T SH*T SH*T!"

Tommy froze in place earning him a concerned look from Tubbo.
Tommy fake yawned and tried peering through the leaves of the tall trees to see the sky. He was relatively successful.

"I'm hungry," Tommy declared.
Tubbo dug into his bag and frowned.
"All my bread is back home, I'm sorry," Tubbo replied.
"That's sh*t. Let's find some sort of berry bush or fruit tree," Tommy huffed.

Back home the mountain was absolutely littered with fruit trees ranging from apples to cherries to bananas to peaches. They grew so many fruits it was almost unbelievable.

Tommy heavily missed being able to rush down a stone street, get hungry from the running and be able to climb up a tree and snatch any amount of fruit he wanted and then leave. Sure sometimes if it was someone's garden and he got in trouble but most of the time it was just wild trees that grew up there. Maybe they had been planted, maybe not.

G*d... was he homesick?
No, surely not.
The great Tommy Innit doesn't get homesick!

"Are you ok, Jack?"
"Nah, nah, all good! I managed to get my gold on and they left me alone. I do need to start trading for ob-sid-dee-on tho."

"Well..... I can go in search of some food you can eat and you can climb up one of these trees and get some much-needed rest! Chorus fruit might knock you out but it doesn't give you proper rest!" Tubbo chirped.

"Sure whatever," Tommy agreed.
He knew, he just had a feeling, this wasn't going to end well.
Still, he climbed one of the large trees and watched as Tubbo walked away in search of some kind of food.
There wasn't going to be anything.

Tommy instead found himself sitting at the edge of a branch holding his hands out and whistling. Every few seconds he'd get a response and the 2 would go back and forth until a colorful bird flew up and dropped a couple of nuts and berries into his hands.
(The Tanager cocked it's head at the boy. She could have sworn XB was calling for her. Odd)

He thanked it with a soft whistle and it flew off, content with its good deed for the day.
Tommy gladly took the gifts and returned to the trunk of the tree.

The nuts were chewy, a few were a little dirty but he was able to blow it off or rub it off just fine. His waist parachute tingled every time he rubbed the dirty stuff on it, once again reminding him it was not, in fact, an article of clothing.

Still, he bit back the shiver that ran down his spine, pulled himself up as far as he could go in the tree, and found himself sleeping just high enough to get fresh air as to not suffocate.

●●●●

When he woke up he was being circled by a familiar bird man and a few of the colorful birds perched atop his body, preserving his body warmth and taking advantage of the surprising amount of camouflage he brought to the red birds.

"Phil?" Tommy asked.
The man, whose features were mostly blocked by the rising sun, landed close by.
His wings tucked under his robe-like kimono and he smiled softly at the younger.
"There you are!" He greeted happily, glad to have his fledgling back.

"I've become a bird heater," Tommy informed.
"That you have!" Phil agreed with a soft chuckle.
Tommy smiled then let out a soft tuned whistle and the birds perked up at his call.

Phil's head cocked in wonder as if he too was pulled in by the call.
A few more whistles and the birds were off him and flying away. Phil too, had his wings open and was hovering off the branch he had previously occupied.

Tommy couldn't help but smirk at this. He climbed up and grumbled.
"Come on b*tch, I'm hungry!" Tommy declared.
Phil laughed.

Tubbo watched in pure resentment as the Elytrian landed with his Tommy.
How f*cking dare he!
Tommy looked so happy, his eyes shining, he seemed to look up to this Elytrian.

Why couldn't he do that with Tubbo?! He was trying to help! He truly was! And he did! He helped him and educated him and- and-

Tubbo hoped this Elytrian burned in the Nether.
Maybe then he'd have Tommy back!

For now tho, he watched as the adult Elytrian took the Avian away.

--------------
Notes:
Most Shulks have attachment issues and connect with certain souls so heavily they obsess over them and their well-being. Most try to hide their need for attention to avoid being seen as clingy.

Shulk's hoods have little teeth in them that when scared or embarrassed will close over their faces to help them hide. Much like Avians, they have little control over it.

Shulks will always have at least 3 packs/bags on them at any point in time.