Chapter 8
Tommy Innit and I stand in front of Dream, outside of L'Manburg.
"I'm here to negotiate surrender," I say, hiding my shaking hands to appear serious and calm. Tommy stands behind me, practically shaking with anger. "I think we fought well; wouldn't you say?"
Dream chuckles,
"Well, I wouldn't say well."
Tommy growls, it's not hard to anger the passionate but foolish boy.
"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU GREEN BASTARD! WE FOUGHT WELL, WE HAD SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN YOU EGOTISTICAL-"
"Anyway!" I interject, throwing a look at Tommy. Stay quiet, I say with my eyes, "I'm aware that we are at a disadvantage."
"I'd say it's worse that…"
The child pushes me out of the way and yelling aggressively,
"HEY DREAM, IF YOU THINK YOUR SO COOL THEN WHY DON'T WE FIGHT RIGHT NOW?" He yells, aggressively jabbing his finger at Dream, getting in his face. I try to stop him but he's too far in now. "COME ON DREAM, 1 VS 1! A BOW BATTLE YOU AND ME, DREAM, YOU AND ME!"
I shake my head; Dream's is at an advantage and he wouldn't throw it all away. This is a pointless challenge,
"What are the conditions of this fight?" Dream says, not budging under Tommy intense stare. I'm bewildered, why would Dream even consider this? Is he that hungry for victory?
"Bow battle, ten paces. If I win, I want L'Manburg's independence from this hell hole!" Tommy seethes. He hasn't broken his stare at Dream but behind his back he gives me a thumbs up. I mentally facepalm,
"And if I win, you don't get independence and I get Mellohi." Dream says, leaning in so that Tommy and his own face are mere inches from each other. Mellohi was one of the two remaining discs Tommy had left, his two last bargain chips other than his life. Which he well could lose in this battle as well.
Tommy stands there then steps back from Dream, his face ice cold.
"Fine."
"Tommy," I hiss, pulling him aside, "Mellohi is important to you! And this revolution is not worth your life!" The child, only 16 years old, looks up at me and smiles sadly, a fire still roaring in his eyes and soul,
"Independence or death, Will." And he marches off to his demise.
~~~~~
Dream and Tommy stand on the Prime Path, in the middle of the community house and Tommy's hill. They face each other, stripped down to their clothes, no armour. They both hold a bow, Tommy gripping his like it was his anchor and Dream loosely holding it, stretching his neck and arm muscles.
"You will both turn away from each other and I will count to ten. When I get to ten, I will say 'fire' and you will turn, draw your bows and fire. The first person to be hit loses." I boom, a sinking feeling in my heart. Everyone is gathered, far enough away that they aren't in danger but close enough to witness the duel. I turn and look at everyone, some are scared for Tommy, some are stone faced and some are just looking for a good fight.
Tommy and Dream meet in the middle, backs to each other. Tommy is a bit shorter, but to be fair he was tall for his age. Tommy runs his hand through his blonde hair, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, just like I told him to. Dream adjusts the hood of his olive-green jumper and for a second, behind his mask, I see a confident grin. He hasn't changed since I met him, all those years ago.
I begin to count down,
1. 2.
They both take a step forward; Tommy looks straight ahead. He's regained a part of his confidence, enough to possibly get him through this battle with a skilled fighter like Dream. Another step,
3.4.
I breathe, trying to stall for Tommy. But maybe I should be ripping it off like a Band-Aid.
5.6.
I notice George whisper something to Sapnap and Sapnap grinning at him, giggling to himself. Eret stands uncomfortably with the opposition, shuffling from foot to foot.
7.8.
Tubbo and Niki hug beside me. Tommy is about to face his doom or win a victory for the L'Manburgians.
9.10.
In synchrony Dream and Tommy draw their arrow against the string, ready to propel them to their opponents' doom.
"FIRE!" I bellow, wincing as Tommy's arrow flies towards Dream's heart. Dream dodges, surprisingly clumsily and let's go of his arrow. It shoots past Tommy and Tommy turns to follow its path. When he turns back Dream has collected Tommy's arrow that he had dodged and in one swift movement, loaded it and shot it. It burrowed itself in Tommy's left shoulder.
Then all at once Dream yells in victory, Tubbo cries out for Tommy, Tommy hits the floor and Punz roars with delight. Everyone else's physical reactions are slower, but I run to Tommy, we need to stop the bleeding.
Jack runs over with a bandage, passing it to me. I wrap Tommy's shoulder; he's moaning in pain. I never wanted this; this was supposed to be a nation of peace.
"Cough it up Tommy!" Dream yells, his competitive side coming out. "I'll be needing those discs! Your L'Manburg is NO MORE!"
I look down at Tommy, eyes glistening. I'm sorry Tommy, I think. I can only imagine the sorrow on my face. Dream stomps off with his group of thugs, to L'Manburg to completely destroy it, or what's left of it. Tommy sits up unstably, gripping my arm,
"BOTH DISCS!" Tommy cries out, his shoulder aggressively bleeding through the bandage. "I'll give you both the discs for our independence."
I swing my head to Tommy,
"Tommy you can't-" I begin, but his face is set, not even wincing from the pain. This boy had given up so much for this nation, everyone had.
Dream stops in his tracks, not looking our way. The he turns around, hands on his hips, and utters a single word,
"Deal." And he continues on his way, path skewed so he was no longer on his way to L'Manburg. Eret looks back at us before following Dream, towards his partially built castle.
I breathe out a laugh, surprise evident. We did it.
"WE DID IT!" Everyone throws up their hands, jumping and crying. I hug Tommy, squeezing him as tight as I dare. People celebrate around me, Niki hugging the back of me, crying into my back. I pull back from Tommy and hug her back. Over her shoulder I lock eyes with Tommy. He's smiling but the pain in his eyes shows how much he's lost. He's still clutching his shoulder, the arrow still lodged in it. And it will take a while to heal.
~~~~~
We sit in a crater in L'Manburg, all breathing easier than we were the last time we were here. I have a new book, a brother of the book of 'Independance' and the 'Declaration of War'.
'The Decree of Independence'. A decree of how we fought, we won and how it cost us. And now we can sit in our land and be free.
"And as the President of L'Manburg, I hereby state," I say as I write, "YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SUCK IT GREEN BOYYYYY."
Everyone bursts into laughed and it lasts for over a minute. As soon as we start to calm down someone would laugh again, and everyone would start up again. Fundy even snorted.
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of victory." I finish, fanning the book so the ink dries. I look around at my fellow L'Manburgians, tears in their eyes for more reasons than one, and grin.
"I want you all to sign it," I say passing it to my right first,
"Tommy, my right-hand man,"
"Tubbo, one of our three founders and supporter for life,"
"Niki, our only women and our best shot with a bow,"
"Jack, our medic,"
"And Fundy, my wonderful son!" I pinch his cheeks; he was the cutest red head around. His fox ears are swept back, and he swatted my hands away, embarrassed.
"I am happy to stand beside you all." Niki says and everyone nods in agreement. We stand up and after a beat of silence I chirp,
"Well then, let's get this place fixed up!" A mix of groaning and cheering fill the air, and everyone goes off, talking to each other casually. "Son," I catch Fundy's attention before he goes,
"You know I love you more than anything," I say as Fundy spins around. He nods and I continue,
"After I'm long gone and dead this nation will be yours to rule. And I trust that you will take good care of it, won't you?" He stands there, staring at the ground. Then he lifts his head, and our eyes meet.
"Sure, Dad." His says, before wandering off to help rebuild. He's only young but he needs to know what's ahead of him. I climb the wall of the crater and look around. At the grass clumps that were blown away from the explosion, at the houses, some of which had been partially or fully destroyed. And lastly at our walls, which still stand strong even if inside and out of them was broken. As I ponder over the wall, I catch a glimpse out of the walls entrance, at a tall man standing outside our land with a silver crown atop his head and his pink, blue and purple cape dancing in the wind.
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