Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The New Beginning

It was cold. The very first thing Schlatt felt in his awakening was how cold he was in this place.

Schlatt knew he was dead, knew that for a long while. 

Unlike Wilbur, or Ghostbur as he now goes by, who forgo remember anything other than happy memories, he was different. Incredibly different.

He remembered everything.

From his banishment, all the way down to his untimely death.

While he remembers everything, there are some things that his mind has not cleared yet. Not that it bothers him nonetheless.

It became clear that sometime after his death, he was mindful of not being truly gone. Not fully. He recounts a substantial amount of pain before the slow feeling of comfort.

He refrains from knowing how everyone else felt after his death, not that it matters, for what they did in the aftermath. Yet, he failed to wonder what happened during his time gone.

The bright shine of the sun is what had him open his eyes. The world looked just the same. Nothing special. He found himself outside the border of L’Manberg in a small open clearing, floating above the ground by a couple of inches under his feet.

He started to have a good look at himself, noticing his slightly transparent body and clothing. Wearing a baby blue sweater with a red heart-shaped patch sewed on the left side, where the beating heart would be, a white button-down shirt underneath, and black, polished leather dress boots, Schlatt was dressed nicely for him being dead. His head full of hair was swept to the side the same way, except with the locks lightly moving along with the wind blowing past him instead of being covered with gel. Clean-shaven face, except the small facial hair on his chin and the growth of fur going down an inch past his fluffy ears, and downward horns were still there. With the truckload of memories.

As Schlatt descended to explore the clearing more, he recounted his actions done in the past. At that time, he believed he was finally doing something right for not just himself, but them. But that was not the case. Yet he was so blind to see it when it was right under his nose, beckoning him to follow. He resisted too. And now he realizes the big mistake taken by his hand.

He would take it all back if he could. To take it all back. It will, however, never happen.

Through his miniature journey of walking through the clearing and into the massive place, he found several tricks he could do as a newly made ghost.

Each type of ghost is different. Some can communicate, others can touch and move things, and a few can show themselves to the living. Schlatt found out that he was all of them.

He figured out how to make himself more transparent, to become invisible towards the looking eye. How to assemble his own to a solid body, as a living one would. In addition to moving objects with his body or force. While Schlatt figured he could do the first two tricks, the how part of the last one was an ongoing struggle. The first one required a small concentration. The second needed him to think of being "solid" or “alive” basically. Unlike the third one. Schlatt had no idea how he managed to accomplish this skill the first time around. And how he could not do it for a second time. It happened completely by accident. 

L’Manberg looked relatively the same, but his mind kept getting cloudier and cloudier by the minute, to which he gave up and kept walking.

The lack of voices was something he also picked up. He remembered the place is alive with movement or conversions among one another.

But it was quiet.

Too quiet.

Something was wrong. Well, the world is not all glitter and rainbows.

The small changes around the place were in good condition. Good changes? That what was the problem? Schlatt decided that some snooping around the area would do some virtue in this situation.

The more his clouded mind recognized L’Manberg, the more nauseous he became. It sickened him, oh so much. Some things in his memory were blurry. Unable to show themselves without tremendous pain that followed soon after. Something was, indeed, out-of-place. But what?

Over the next day of him spying around, he figured out several things: Tubbo had become the new President, right before Wilbur blew up Manberg. The small goat hybrid was bound to do great things. Phil and Techno were banished but visited from their cabin home in the tundra. Dream would check in with every signal individual once in a while, each for different reasons. Being mysterious with his actions wasn't picked up upon his peers, but Schlatt noticed. What was he doing? Nothing good.

Tension seemed to surround every person's aura. Even the new half Enderman fellow had some among around him. Why?

That is to be answered by his terrible discovery. One he wished he was preparing to see with his own eyes.

Leaving L’Manberg and passing the clearing, the nearby forest was calm. No noise. No strange tension. Just quiet.

He switched his body to his more solidified counterpart. To feel the ground beneath his shoes was a joy.

The sun radiated its soft colors across the secret and those who accompanied it. It was beautiful. Peaceful.

Until it wasn’t.

A large BANG erupted through the trees. The left ear twitched at the sound. Though it was not commonly unusual to hear an explosion go off in the woods, this blow was something he would never forget. The distinct noise of TNT going off in the distance.

Schlatt began to quickly walk toward where the reverberate came from, slightly sprinting towards the probable cause. He didn't know what to expect, but he craved to know ahead of time.

Sprinting past many trees and rock, Schlatt managed to locate its origin. Yet, he was not ready to feel his body began to feel cold from the scene before him.

There stood Dream, in his full-enchanted amour, facing towards someone. A large hole created by the TNT was by his feet. Schlatt circles around the tree he was hiding behind, to get a clear view. And that's when he recognized the young blonde boy. Who stared beyond at the hole in the ground beside the masked man.

The sixteen-year-old wild teenager that lifted everyone's spirit by just by having him around. The one Tubbo was so heavily attached. To the point where he allowed the two of them to see each other after he banished Tommy and Wilbur during his Presidency.

But now the kid the covered with grime and dirt on his T-shirt. His hair was matted, looking as it hasn't been washed thoroughly or cleanly for awhile. He was sickly pale and thin. He hadn't eaten in days. Dark bags under his pale eyes proved how bad whatever he's been through was terrible. A raggedy tent is in the distance, most likely where he sleeps.

What the fuck did they do?

As Schlatt peered his eyes over the child, he noticed that the boy flinched at something Dream said to him. The young adult stood a bit taller at the reaction he received, turning to leave by throwing a pearl in a far range and disappearing a second later.

That was why everyone was tense. It was because Tommy wasn't there anymore. What did he do to deserve this? The punishment was killing him and making him the victim. He wasn't a bad guy. What kind of people would do this to a kid? A poor child.

The ram watched as Tommy glanced at the hole one last time before walking over to the tent. He decided it would be best to keep himself unseeable to the miserable teen, so he could not add any more misfortunes to his life.

Peering inside, he noticed the tent had an opening on the two horizontal sides with a small makeshift bed on the left of the entrance. A single chest resided in the right corner. Oak was the floor base of the tent. The wool sheets, in a closer view, showed that it's been through tough times. Bits of it were torn and covered in light brown spots from dirt and water alike in most areas. Everything needed to be repaired, much to his displeasure.

Tommy laid on the improvised bed, casing himself in a thin sheet from inside the chest, using it as a blanket. The sun fell a short time ago, leaving the harsh winds to hit the child with the cold. The fluff of ears can hear soft sniffs and sobs coming from under the covering. It slowly drizzled out to soft breaths as he cried himself to sleep. As Schlatt watched on with sorrow in his amber eyes.

He doesn't know why Tommy was here, in pain and slowly starving. He doesn't know why Dream was here and inflicting Tommy to the point that those explosives had to make themselves known. Nor the reason Schlatt would do this, but it will happen. For the love of whatever's holy, helping out Tommy will be his first, and only number one priority as a dead man.

And fucking damn anyone who gets in his way.

Chapter Text

Starting Point

The wind grew stronger as the night got chilly. The waves of the near ocean lightly crashed into the shoreline. 

The teen started to shiver, appearing to be more apparent within seconds. Of course, he would be cold! He was using a thin cloth as a blanket, for god's sake.

Schlatt kneeled over to the chest, opening it to look inside. He needed to cover the kid up with something warmer to prevent sickness. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if Tommy ended up with hypothermia from the weather. No better place to look than the items nearest to him.

Two pieces of uncooked meat, chicken, a book with a quill, string, an iron knife, and six loaves of bread were inside, alongside portions of oak planks, sticks, and cobblestone. There wasn't even a single tool inside the chest, not even one made of wood. Tommy had it bad.

Whatever he did to wind up out here, it wasn't even enough to be worth living like this.

With nothing of use to help him, Schlatt began to weigh about his actions. He could search the area for other supplies, but that will leave Tommy more vulnerable to the harsh temperatures. But he couldn't stay here without something cozy to place on him.

During his internal, growing panic, he gripped at his sleeves.

Sleeves.

He was wearing a sweater above his dress shirt.

It wasn't much, but it's good enough for now.

Schlatt hastily pulled off the soft blue sweater, being mindful of his horns, and went over to the twitching cover.

He gently pulled off the small bit away from Tommy's face. The sight of him this close made a nauseous feeling drop down to his stomach. 

The bags under his eyes looked to be nearly black and reached almost to his thin cheeks. The bright blond hair was darker from all the grime he witnessed when he first saw him, and longer by two inches, he would say. His skin is frightening, sickly, whitening pale, and his body appeared to be just a bag of flesh and bones. Dirt streaks and thin, deep scratches littered his face and what he could see from his arms and hands. It made Schlatt throb with hurt all over his deceased body.

Not wanting to risk the child waking up, the ram quickly draped the sweater over the boy's frame, tucking the neckline gently around his neck. Then, he extended the length down to cover most of his waist, the hem barely reaching his hip. Stretching the chest area to cover the rest of Tommy's side, it was much bigger than the kid in width. He was not sure if that was good or bad from the current situation. 

Grabbing the sleeves, he patted each of them to tuck around the sleeping form, making sure that the garment was practically hugging him to give off warmth.

Laying the sheet back on, Schlatt set about making a plan. He needed materials to start, but he would have to get it himself. Schlatt was not complaining since it is for Tommy to survive. The teen needs help, and that's what the ghost was here to do now.

Going through the chest for the book, he flipped it open to reach the end pages. Cutting three pages off softly and smoothly, to not bring any impression of suspicion, the writing at the beginning of the book took on his curiosity.

Setting them aside, he opened the book from the beginning and glanced through each segment of the kid's chicken-scratch writing.

“I've just made this pog book, not sure what imma use it to do. Probably to write about what I do every day and what has happened. Not much has since I've been in exile. Just busy building Logstedshire and getting amour since D blew up my stuff when we arrived here.”

So, Dream left him here with nothing. Since Tommy has been here for a while, why and what was Dream going here just now with TNT?

He better not be doing what he thinks he is doing.

Skimming through a couple of pages, he found that most of them discussed the same pattern.

“Dream destroyed my iron amour and weapons again. Thankfully, I still have my sword and pickaxe, but I know they will not last much longer. I was able to convince him I didn't have any more tools. I had given him the better ones to finish. I hope they don't break until after dark. I don't want to run away from mobs again.”

Oh, that green son of a bitch.

It was understandable to obliterate his most needed possessions when someone is in exile to learn from their punishment, but this was just wrong.

He turned to the more recent logs, and the feeling of dread grew worse as he read the following lines.

“I'm tired, cold, and hungry almost all the time. I don't have anything to help myself. No one comes to see me or even pass by on accident. I had Ghostbur until he stopped showing up after a visit to Manberg.

I believed him when he said he would be back. He didn't.

I even thought of Dream as my friend. He said so himself. That he was my friend, my only friend in exile, and that no one cared about me while I've been gone. I still have hope they do, but I don't know anymore.

I'm spending all day in the Nether, by the lava pools or above them. Just staring at the bubbles and hearing the crinkles of fire.

I want it to end, the pain and my misery. But I also don't want to. I want to go home and see everyone, but they don't want me there. Angry at me for showing my face during my exile when I went to say hello. They kicked me out again for that, and now Dream stays with me every day and all day. To watch me, as he states. His words, not mine.

I am sorry. But at this point, I want it to stop.

Lava would give me the sympathy and relief I want, but I don't' want to.”

Oh no.

Oh fucking hell, no!

In this instance, his anger boiled over to a higher peak than before. Schlatt was  so  ready to hunt Dream down.  So  prepared to straight-up assassinate him on the stop where he now stands. As much as he would like to do that, he couldn't. He had someone to take care of now.

Folding the papers in half and using the knife to poke holes evenly along the left side, he cut three small pieces of the string to tie them together as a mini booklet. Placing the remaining strand back inside, he gets his hands on an oak plank to put the book on top, and the quill, to begin writing necessities needed to help Tommy so far.

• Wood — tools/hardware (Need to do stuff)

• Food — meat/coal/furnace (VERY MUCH NEEDED)

• Tent — fix-it/warmer (Remove or make it better - 2nd opinion good for now)

• Blanket — warmer (FIRST TO DO!)

A pleasant blanket for Tommy to sleep with during the night to keep warm. He could do it and finish it quickly, as long as he has the materials to make it. That means he needed to hurry to get them before the cold gets even worse, with a tent having trouble keeping it out was already a problem on his list.

Sending his items in his inventory by doing a backward movement with his arm, he went to double-check on Tommy to make sure he would be okay. Satisfied to see the teen snugging the sweater with a smile, he went off to explore more of the area more while collecting some wood.

In his scrutiny, he found multiple objects and buildings. There was a large Christmas tree with ornaments made up of different mediums he didn't see at first, upon his arrival. He was a bit busy at that moment in time.

Starting from the tent, a path of dirt led to a stripped birch and oak log structure with a sign that read 'Logestedshire.'

Now confirmed that this was the name of the region Tommy made up, as the journal prompted in his readings, Schlatt welcomed himself inside.

On the inside, the establishment looks nicely done.

Upon entering, a pile of wine barrels was on the left side of the entryway. A blue wool tent with spruce as its outline structure and a yellow dyed bed was on the right-hand side.

Signs used for a list was on that side of the wall, getting out the book and quill, he added more tasks to do.

• More coal

• Diamonds (We'll get there soon.)

An odd house constructed of mostly cobblestone, clay, stripped oak, birch, birch stairs, and a spruce door stood at the center of the place. With a mushroom cow tied to a post on the side with a note, stating it was a gift made it dawn to him that Tommy didn't have company. All he got was this cow.

The back corner of the house got him moderately confused, with the 'Prime Log' in the left corner with a bell attached to the side. An apple was in an item frame on top of the log. The nearby statement to 'prime when log.'

It didn't make sense to him. Most of what Tommy did made him question 'What's going on inside his head,' but this was  Tommy  he was thinking. The kid always did odd things, and it was just who he is. That was his nature. 

Only for it to be taken from him by this. 

Shame on everyone.

On the inside of the house, it had lanterns as use of a light fixture. A neatly framed photo of Manberg was in the sidewall, and a small kitchenette area was across from where he stands. A furnace on the right with a smoker on the left, and a sink system in the center. Small barrel cabinets were directly above the stove and counter area. A gold clock pinned against the wall in a frame, and black glass stained windows were on both looking sides of the house.

It was decent to be made by scratch without any help. Schlatt doubts that Tommy even made this. Someone else must-have. Or then, why would he be sleeping out in the open and not stay inside where it's safer. It probably wasn't his, meaning out of everything here, besides the cow, the tent was his own.

Boy, did it get even more depressing?

Walking off in the woods to search for cows, sheep, and spiders, he returned about two hours later with more than enough of the needed accessories, with some meat from both animals. The stars began to show themselves, and the moon was still in the early sky, so he had plenty of time. Grabbing a tiny twig from the ground, he jogged over to the tent where the boy slept.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor by Tommy's head, he gathered half of the leather in a pile. Reaching towards the chest for the iron knife, he carved out a medium-sized sewing needle. Poking a hole through the side near the top to insert the string and attached it with a double thread, he used the pile of multiple pieces to make one single large piece of leather. 

Positioning for the sizeable piece to be last upon the top layers of soft cotton from the wool, Schlatt went ahead on sewing.

Doing a blanket stitch close to the edges, he ensured that he'd place some of the long, gentle clumps of wool around them so the cover would have a nice texture along the sides. After finishing that first stitching, he did a straight line stitch to bind the cotton on all sides. 

While working, he would look up once in a while. Tommy was doing okay, the sweater was helping him, and that was what matters right now.

After finishing, he verified each stitch to be correct and acceptable to guarantee it won't tear in any mishap.

Well pleased with his work, Schlatt stood up over Tommy. He gently took off the sheet with the pullover sweater and replaced it with the new blanket. The brown leather on top would shield the cold out from reach his body, and the cotton underneath would keep him warm throughout the night, along with the side linings.

He observed as the teen's face changed to one of perplexity, his face scrunching to a squeak of surprise and a sigh of content as he clutched the softcover’s edge and slid deeper into the new warmth, encasing himself in a cocoon. Schlatt then had a tiny grin grow on his face while Tommy cuddled the blanket, this being the first time he'd seen him show any sign of happiness since he found him. The smile on the lad's face becomes shown evidence of that.

He noted how the sweater was heated up by the kid's body temperature when putting it back on. He wouldn't mention that he felt happier about that.

After that, Schlatt got the old cover and took it outside. 

He placed it tightly on top of the one that made up the tent, holding both down with the iron stakes. Doing all four ends, he made sure to tie the loose edges with string. Not the best way to help heat the tent, but how could you judge his handiwork.

Sitting in front of the tent next to Tommy's bed, Schlatt took his booklet out and wrote down some ideas and revised his list. The last few hours have been long, and there is a need for some preparations to be placed in motion.

The moon was still there but, it headed to fall, making a symbol of its end. It'll soon return as the sun in a few more hours, and a new day will begin.

He hoped things would get better, and he would make it better if it didn't.