Fifty shades of flames
_____________________
In which nature becomes
too hot to handle
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

If a month ago, someone had warned you about running for your life in the near future, you would have taken your time to get in better shape. But unfortunately, you weren't so lucky to get such warning, so everything you did while running at full speed away from Dream, was regretting that you hadn't spent any time, in the last many years of running some more. And because of this, it was only natural that you were currently completely out of breath.

You and Tommy didn't stop before you were safely within the walls of L'manburg. It was still night, but it was as if all of your senses automatically sharpened whenever you got scared, so you were able to see the angry Wilbur, standing cross-armed in front of you, very clearly.

The first thing you did, when finally standing still, was gasping for air. Regretting all of your life decisions, and drowning in shame to Wilbur's stare came a close second.

He was standing tall in the darkness, his eyes shining with anger. He had his arms crossed, and brows furrowed aggressively together. You could hear Tommy mumbling curse-words under his breath, at the sight.

"Just where have you two been?" His deep voice seethed with anger. His eyes were mainly focused on Tommy, but his gaze shifted to you every once in a while.

There was no point in lying. Dream had seen you, and it was only a matter of time before he found out you've stolen from him. Tommy seemed to know this as well.

"We uh, we snuck into Dream territory," Tommy said slowly, not daring to look Wilbur in the eyes.

"That much I figured out." Wilbur fumed. "What were you doing there?"

"Uh, we- you see, uh." Tommy wasn't sure of what to say and how to say it, so you decided to step in.

"We stole the potions back." You spoke. The nature around you was completely silent - like it was holding its breath along with you. Practically the only thing you could hear was your own heavy breathing. "We even got some diamonds and netherite as well. But uh... On our way back, we ran right into Dream and his friends."

Tommy suddenly burst out with laughter. "Nina the Nether lady-" then Wilbur sent him a furious look, and he shut his mouth, mumbling a 'sorry'.

"You did what!?" Wilbur almost shouted. He began checking you for any kinds of wounds.

"They only saw me." You assured him. "Well, at first. I tried convincing them that I was a stranger, but Dream knew I was lying. That's when Tommy threw a potion at them, and we ran away."

Wilbur made some very wild hand-movements. In the dark, it almost looked like he was dancing. "You threw a potion at the enemy!? You realize what you've done!? You've made the whole situation worse!"

"Yeah, but we got lots of good stuff, and (Y/n) got a better idea of who we're up against-" Tommy tried, but Wilbur cut him off.

"Keep your mouth shut, Tommy! I'm very disappointed in you. I thought you knew better."

The confident look in Tommy's eyes completely disappeared, changing into an ashamed one. His nose slowly started running, and he sniffed uncontrollably. He was still standing tall, tho.

"It was my idea too." You defended, but Wilbur ignored you.

"Now all hope for a peaceful outcome is lost..." Wilbur said sighing. He rubbed his eyes.

"T-To be fair, Wilbur." Tommy said slowly. "They already were. The only thing (Y/n) and I did was speed up the process"

You agreed. "At least we got some good stuff this way. Now you don't have to go mining. We can all protect L'manburg together if Dream decides to move the attack to tomorrow."

Wilbur sighed, nodding tiredly. "Yeah." He pointed a finger at the two of you. "But never do it again,"

Tommy and you nodded in unison.

"Now go to bed."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Even though your circadian rhythm was turned completely upside down, you still managed to get at least five hours of sleep, before a happy Tubbo woke you up. "Wake up, (Y/n)! Fundy made pancakes!"

You practically swung the sheets across the room, jumping up from your bed in one movement, upon hearing the words pancakes. You and Tubbo made your way down to the others, around the campfire.

The morning air was cool and fresh, and it fully woke you up. The dew made the grass and leaves shine in the morning sun, and the water was clear blue. It was a beautiful day to prepare for a war.

"I heard you and Tommy snuck out last night," Tubbo said, as he sat down. "I can't believe you didn't ask me to come with you."

Wilbur cleared his throat, and Tubbo looked like he choked on his pancake. "Uh, because if so, I would definitely have stopped you. Yeah. That I would have done."

You laughed, looking at Tommy. He smiled as well.

"It was very risky." Fundy remarked. "But it's always a good thing you managed to get Tubbo's potions back. And now we have enough diamonds to get full diamond-gear and netherite-weapons."

You were glad he was able to see the positive side of this. To be fair, you actually felt really bad about sneaking out, ignoring Wilbur's orders. He might have lost some trust in you.

"So what are we going to do today?" Eret asked Wilbur.

Wilbur nodded. "I've thought about it. And I don't think Dream is going to attack sooner, just as a punishment. I think that if he has had the materials to start a war, he would've already done so. That means we have six days now, to prepare ourselves. But I might be wrong, and therefore we shouldn't leave L'manburg defenseless. Therefore, the next seven days, there will always be at least two men within the walls, while the other ones don't go too far away. You can only walk around in a 2-mile radius of L'manburg at all times. Just to be on the safe side."

Everyone nodded, you being slightly impressed. You could say many things about Wilbur, but he was very thoughtful and tactically smart.

"So today," Wilbur continued. " Fundy and I will stay behind, making armor for everyone. Tubbo and Tommy will go out, getting food - and Eret and (Y/n) will gather wood. We'll work in pairs, and never leave each other's side."

"Wood?" You scratched the back of your head. "What do we need wood for?"

"You and Eret are going to build a ladder." Wilbur explained.

Eret seemed to understand why, but you were left as confused as ever. "A ladder? Oh come on Wilbur, Tubbo is not that short."

"Hey!"

Wilbur couldn't help but laugh. "No, no. It's for the walls. They would work perfectly as watchtowers, but we would need a way to come up there."

"Oh." You said, nodding. They seriously built those big-ass walls, without building a staircase? Smh.

-

And so the days went by. You and Eret would either be working on the ladder, out mining coal for fuel to all the uncooked steak Tommy and Tubbo were collecting, or just sitting around in L'manberg, keeping watch.

You also got to know Eret a lot better, while doing so. He was the guy you had spoken the least with, but now that you were constantly together, you had become pretty good friends.

He was a very calm and collected person, who you enjoyed being around. In general, you became happier and happier for deciding to stay in L'manburg and help them out.

You were currently taking a break from cutting down trees, and you were currently leaning against one, while Eret was sitting in the tall grass. The two of you were tired, and were just relaxing in comfortable silence. At one point though, Eret suddenly decided to break it; "Hey (Y/n)?" he asked quietly. You looked down at him, humming in response.

"Uh, I've wondered for a while... Who is the person you're looking for?"

You bit your lower lip. Sure you were caught off guard, but it had honestly surprised you that he, or anyone else for that matter, hadn't asked you sooner. You silently debated with yourself how much to tell him.

It wasn't due to lack of trust - you trusted Eret. You just simply didn't like to talk about it. It made you feel vulnerable. And you hated feeling vulnerable, as you felt it made you less of a bad bitch.

"It was a childhood friend of mine." You answered. Maybe it would be nice, opening up to someone. It was worth a try. "I met him right after my parents died. I was nine years old, I believe. We lived together for many years."

Eret looked up, his brown eyes filled with curiosity. "Oh. What happened?"

"He, uh... He started changing. And at some point, he became someone I didn't recognize. And he left me." You stared up at the sun, your eyes getting watery. It wasn't because of the strong light, but you wanted Eret to think so.

"Oh, I'm..." His deep voice sounded. "I'm sorry."

You just nodded. A silence fell upon you two again, until Eret for the second time decided to break it. "I had a friend like that too. Someone I began not to recognize." His voice was almost a whisper as if he was afraid someone else was listening. Even so, your eyes winded and looked at him.

"Did you... Did you part ways too?"

He laughed a dry laugh. "I guess you could say that. Since the one, I'm talking about is Dream."

Your gasped. "You were friends with Dream?!"

He nodded - now it was his turn to look at the sky. "I was friends with all of them. Dream, George, Sapnap. Everyone. It was when Wilbur first started L'manburg, that he began to change too. I didn't agree with the methods he began using, to make Wilbur drop the project. And so I left and became a part of L'manburg."

You didn't even know what to say. You sat down next to Eret, arms wrapped around your knees. You didn't know what you had expected him to say, but it surely wasn't that.

"I'm sorry, Eret. It must be hard fighting against your old friends."

He turned his head, smiling sadly at you. "It is. I'm sorry too."

And suddenly, it was like the bond between Eret and you had gotten 10 times stronger. You shared the pain of losing a friend.

You stood up, offering him a hand. He gladly took it, standing up. You smiled at each other.

Little did you know, that it in fact was the same friend you both had lost.

And little did you know that Eret was lying.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The days following, ran pretty smoothly. You continued spending a whole lot of time with Eret, as well as getting some quality-time with Fundy while the two of you would make dinner.

Everyone was working their butts out of their pants, preparing for the up-coming war - you only had much little spare time, and you would use that on continuing teaching Tommy and Tubbo survival skills.

That also meant, being constantly around someone, that you were growing closer with practically everyone in L'manburg. And you were very happy with that - even though doom'sday was coming closer and coser for every minute.

It was on the fifth day everything went wrong. You and Eret had been occupied finishing the last details on the ladder, when your senses had started picking up the smell of smoke, and the sound of dancing flames just outside the walls.

Eret had noticed it as well, and without saying anything, you both ran down to Wilbur and Fundy who stood at the van. You looked outside the gate to see the sight of a giant blanket of smoke, rising into the air. The whole forest was on fire, raging out of control, subjecting the landscape to an extreme carbon-makeover.

"What the fuck!?" You yelled, panicking. "What's happening!?"

"Dream!" Wilbur cursed under his breath. "This is his work! Damn him!"

Fundy opened the door to the van, gesturing for everyone to come inside. "Get in here! Put on your armor!"

Eret immediately ran inside, but you stood your ground. You looked wildly at Wilbur, getting a tight grip on your bow, knuckles turning white. "What about Tommy and Tubbo!? They're still in the forest, hunting for animals!"

Your heart began beating rapidly in concern for the two boys, you've already grown to care a whole lot for.

For a moment Wilbur's eyes winded as well, before his brows furrowed together. "They can take care of themselves. They aren't alone , (Y/n), they have each other. We can't leave L'manburg defenseless, that's what Dream wants."

"Then you three can stay here!" You insisted. "I'm going to look for them."

"(Y/n)-"

"I'm going to look!" You got surprised at how convincing you sounded. All kind of images of Tommy and Tubbo in danger flashed before your eyes. They could be stuck somewhere. You were going to help them, if they needed it.

You and Wilbur had a little staring-contest, before Wilbur realized you weren't going to budge. He sighed. "Very well. And I hate to say it, but put on some armor first."

You nodded, quickly running into the van, only to come out with full diamond armor - a set Fundy had just crafted.

You nodded at Wilbur, before running out of the gates, straight into the fire.