Enjoy the chapter, Ch 9 was a little short since it was mainly the filler left after Ch 8, but this one is longer. <3

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Rose Tea

Chapter Ten [Wilbur]

"Wilbur?" Wilbur shifted from his floating position by the window, where he stared and watched the slowly rising town at the base of the hill. It was morning now. He looked over to see Tubbo rising from the lounge chair rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He yawned and slowly clambered over Tommy who was half hanging off the lounge chair now. Wilbur hadn't noticed that Tommy had shifted so drastically from his position on the chair; he must have been staring outside for a very long time without realizing it. There isn't much he could do as a newly awakened ghost incapable of sleeping so he spent his first real night just watching the night pass by.

"Oh good morning Tubbo!" he smiled at the child.

"You're awake so early?" Tubbo mumbled back at him.

"Mmh hmm, can't sleep actually, what about you, I don't think anyone else is up yet."

Tubbo stretched out his body and lazily scratched his stomach, "I normally wake up this early. I'm in charge of breakfast, Tommy is in charge of dinner."

"Oh, I see." He quietly watched Tubbo walk over to Techno's sack that lay on the floor. Wilbur tried not to laugh as the boy knelt down and rummaged through the bag before pulling out a pouch. The boy opened it and peered inside before closing it up and throwing it onto Tommy who was startled and slipped off of the lounge chair in shock.

"What–oh what's this?" Tommy grabbed the bag off his stomach.

"Breakfast," Tubbo yawned again. Wilbur found it incredibly hilarious how quickly the boy rummaged through Techno's stuff like it was also his to lay claim to. Though he doubted Techno would do anything if he found out, just this once Wilbur decided he would stay quiet. Though he did not condone stealing in the slightest. It was just funny.

Tommy quietly munched on what looked like jerky of some kind while sitting on the floor, not bothering to wipe the crumbs that fell to his shirt. Tubbo on the other hand walked over to Wilbur and looked outside. Wilbur turned back to the view as Tommy quietly ate behind them.

"So what's it like? Not sleeping or eating and being dead and all?" Wilbur wasn't expecting a question like that. The day before the child was energetic and chipper, but it seemed he was not an energetic one in the mornings. He seemed slow and sluggish, or perhaps yesterday's events had tired him even into today.

"Well, honestly," Wilbur glanced down at his hands. He held them to the rising sunlight and winced as he saw the rays through his intangible flesh, "I can't remember what living felt like. But I would like to. As for death...," he wasn't sure if this was what death felt like. He didn't even remember how he died.

"Rise and Shine–Oh, you're already up," Phil walked into the room looking cleaner than ever. Beard trimmed to a nice stubble, hair clipped to medium length, and clothes clean and firmly pressed. He was looking like a new man.

"Whoaa! Are you even the same guy?" Tubbo exclaimed.

"Mmph?" Tommy looked up from a mouth full of jerky with curiosity.

"Very funny, it's your turn now." Phil walked in and lifted a confused Tommy from the ground, who in turn dropped his pouch of jerky on the floor, "I'll be taking Tommy with me, Tubbo you're next. Techno said he'll be ready in an hour."

"My jerky!" Tommy whined.

"Ok!" Wilbur waved.

Tommy took a whiff of Phil and wrinkled his nose, "Wait, I don't wanna smell like flowers!" But resistance was futile as Phil dragged the boy away. Tubbo snickered.

Wilbur looked back out the window, the sun was slowly rising. He felt a longing to feel the warmth. What did warmth feel like, he couldn't remember? Just another thing added to the list of things he couldn't remember and longed for.

Wilbur sighed.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much, I'm actually really excited. We actually made a lot of progress last night while the two of you slept and I feel closer to whatever purpose I've been awakened for...but," Wilbur stopped. Down at the town below he saw the morning risers beginning their day. Carriages being drawn, baskets being carried, the slow rising smoke from the buildings below.

"But I'm still missing something important," he turned to Tubbo, "You guys were asleep, but I found out I knew 3 heroes of legend from 300 years ago. Your era refers to them as the Dream Team, but there was no mention of me in that history. So I still have no clue who I am or what I did before or where I belong."

"Well I think that's ok," Tubbo smiled, "Me and Tommy are orphans. We've been together for as long as I can remember, but I don't have any memories of a family, not like Tommy. He's the only one who has some memory of where he came from. But, even still, we have each other. Isn't that like how you and Techno have each other?"

Tubbo pointed down at the town and Wilbur turned to look. He didn't seem to be pointing at anything in particular, "To be honest, I really hate this town and I hated this mansion that always sat quietly on this hill casting shadows in the early evening over the town even more. Before, there has never been a place where I felt I belonged until I think about 2 years ago."

Wilbur quietly listened to Tubbo. Wilbur, who had only seen since yesterday a carefree boy, was now a calm young man with a steady smile and sad eyes. He could only imagine what kind of life a boy would have to lead to be so mature.

"It was one of the harshest of winters I can remember; there wasn't any food we could scrounge up or any place to take shelter. Tommy got really sick, he's always acting like the older one of us. Always trying to be the tough guy, to carry the burdens and I always let him. I always rode life by his side aimlessly, wondering when I'd die, never really trying. That's how it is when you're a gutter rat. But on that night, that cold, dark, and moonless night when Tommy wouldn't wake up and had coughing fits every minute...I ran away.

"I remember stumbling in the snow, shivering down to the core of my bones, trying to think of a way to get a meal, trying to forget about Tommy." Tubbo gripped the stone railings of the terrace. His brows furrowed with discomfort. Wilbur almost wondered if he should stop the boy from recounting anything that pained him, but Tubbo let out a sigh before relaxing his shoulders and continuing.

"This is a world where people die all the time, you're not supposed to get attached when you barely have the means to survive yourself. At least that was what I've always thought. I thought it'd be no different with Tommy, I thought I could run off and forget him and have one less worry. I just stuck with him because that's all I knew. but it's not like I needed to. That's what I told myself at least.

"I recall, at some point after leaving Tommy, laying in the snow beneath a lit shop window, a blanket had been tossed over me and two small loaves of frozen bread by my face. I don't know how I ended up there or when I had arrived, but as I greedily tried to gnaw on the hardened bread...I remembered Tommy. Alone, cold, sick, and hungry."

Tubbo looked at his calloused and scarred hands, "There had never been a place I belonged to until I realized that place had always been beside Tommy. Without him, there was no home, no warmth, no life. Running back in the cold, covering Tommy with that paper-thin blanket, holding his hand tight. I prayed to Eon, I hoped I could make up for my stupid greed. I hoped I wasn't too late." Tubbo rubbed his palms together, his hands were almost clasped like a habitual prayer form.

"And?" Wilbur quietly said.

Tubbo grinned, "The next morning I was woken by Tommy shouting into my ears about how he had the best night's rest ever. He was right as rain and only a minor sniffle in his nose. A damn miracle honestly, and there I was the complete opposite, but I couldn't help but laugh right there with him. I was just glad my prayers had been heard."

Wilbur looked down at his hands, he clutched them tight into fists. To hear the plights of such a young boy, he understood why he woke so early. Perhaps he wanted to ease the burden of the friend that had cared for him, or perhaps it was the guilt and fear of wanting to make things right. Wilbur closed his eyes. He heard a fearful cry.

"Please, Eon, by your grace, spare this child. He is not at fault, let him live and take me instead."

"Wilbur, stop, you need to get some rest," a hand touched his shoulder. The sudden touch made him flinch. Hands grabbed onto his arms and tried to lift him from his kneeling position by a large and lofty bed.

"No! Unhand me! I have to be here! This is my fault! My foolishness has caused this!" Wilbur wrenched his body away from their grasps. He fell forward onto the bed. His body burned with unbelievable pain with each movement and tears brimmed in his eyes. He coughed. Heavy and heaving coughs, but still, he did not leave. When the fit subsided, he slowly craned his head to look at the pale and sweating form of a young, blonde boy. Swaddled in blankets with a wet towel laid over his forehead. The boy breather low and raspy, clinging onto dear life.

Wilbur's eyes were threatened by tears, his fists were clenched so tight and his teeth chewed heartlessly into the flesh of his cheek.

How could he have been such a fool? So relaxed that he had let something like this occur.

Wilbur heaved and coughed, black blood splattered the white sheets.

"Wilbur! You're getting worse, please you have to take care of–"

"Silence!" He screamed and struggled to push himself off the bed into a staggering standing position where his hands weighed heavy on the blanket and supported his full body weight. More coughs wracked his body as tears were falling from his eyes and staining his cheeks. Each droplet plopped heavily on the blankets. He could die for all he cared, but he would never forgive himself if his dearest brother died. Because of him he...

Wilbur gasped, his senses were flooded with a whirlwind of smells, sounds, and feelings before fading as quickly as they had come. He was back in the mansion, alone on the terrace. Wilbur quivered, his hands wrapped tightly around his arms, tears pricked at his eyes.

"T-Tubbo?" Wilbur looked around in a panic. His eyes settled on a pink, hairy figure laying on the lounge chair. The figure looked over to Wilbur.

"Welcome back," Techno said.

"I-I, um...what happened to Tubbo?"

Techno slowly sat up, "He's taking a bath. As for what happened, I walked into seeing Tubbo panicking as you wouldn't move or respond. I told him you were fine and that's when Phil walked in to take Tubbo."

"Oh..."

"So, did you remember anything?"

Wilbur looked up, "How did you...?" He was still hugging himself tightly. He let go. He tried to calm his racing nerves, but he still felt the lingering sensation of thick wads of blood coating his lungs.

"You had the same look in the cave when we were trying to escape. Though this one was more intense, it must have been a big one. Anything about what you have to fight?"

Wilbur shook his head, "I...I had a brother...and I think I was really sick." Wilbur reached for his own throat. He still remembered, even though it was just a memory, the feeling of the intense burning throughout his body. To think the him in that time could ignore that kind of pain and think only, instead, of the boy who lay unconscious. Now, he could only tremble at the thought of that kind of pain that he only barely glimpsed in fractions.

The door burst open and in walked Tommy, Tubbo, and Phil.

"Look who just walked in, boys! The newest lady-killer on the block!" Tommy shouted as he strutted in wearing a somewhat loose-fitted but clean and casual outerwear. It was a two piece, a thin outer jacket with a clean, white undershirt buttoned just below his collar. Definitely an upgrade from the rags before.

"I'm surprised my old clothes fit that well," Phil chuckled. Tubbo trailed behind quietly laughing at Tommy's strut. The two were nearly matching, with Tubbo's outfit a darker green and Tommy's a duller red.

"Please tell me you're giving Tommy another bath," Techno covered his nose.

"What? You jealous of my cologne! Phil says it's what all men wear to impress the ladies." The boy grinned and puffed out his chest with a sense of pride. Phil casually looked away as Wilbur saw Techno shoot him a glare.

"He poured it on himself, it was too late," Tubbo shook his head. He clasped his hands together in an almost silent and solemn prayer.

Techno let out a pained sigh, "I think that's our cue to leave and get outside where the air is fresher!" Techno pushed off the couch slowly and grabbed his discarded sack from the ground. Given his injuries, Wilbur was surprised he could move so well, was it the perks of not being human? Just remembering the pain he had felt, he couldn't imagine the kind of pain Techno must feel with every step.

"Just let me grab my things!" Tommy ran into the room. Techno did what he could to steer clear of the boy with his snout upturned in a different direction.

"What do you mean Tommy? We don't have anything," Tubbo said

"Shh Tubbo. It's a saying, it's for the ambiance of the trip."

"And what makes you think you're going with us? It's bad enough I have a nagging ghost but if I have to travel with two bumbling orphans I might die," Techno said.

"Hey!" Wilbur frowned.

Tommy turned to Techno, "Well of course we're coming, you need us!"

"I really don't think I do. Last I checked neither of you has money or anything to offer."

Tommy pondered for a moment, "The ladies."

"You're single, Tommy," Tubbo said.

"I meant the ladies we'll meet along the way!" he glared at Tubbo.

"Rejected," Techno turned and left.

"Oh come on," Tommy ran after him and disappeared into the hall. All they heard next was Tommy shouting, "Philllll!" And Phil heaved a sigh before he ran off to chase them.

Tubbo and Wilbur snickered. Wilbur could feel the growing pull as Techno traveled farther away, but he stayed a little longer.

"Are you feeling better, Will?" Tubbo asked.

"Thank you, and yes, I am. What you said earlier...really helped me sort out a few things."

"No problem, man," Tubbo smiled warmly at him. Wilbur couldn't resist the growing pull on his body and the two quietly left the room, with Tubbo closing the door behind them. Outside he saw Phil trying to separate the agitated pig from the unruly teen. Tubbo quietly laughed and Wilbur felt a growing smile on his face. The place he belonged to now was beside the people he met; he was satisfied with that for now. But he wouldn't give up on learning more about his past. Wilbur floated over to the others and Techno and Tommy stopped arguing for a moment.

Wilbur saw in Tommy a familiar figure, though they were different the resemblance was warming to him. From his memories, a quiet and unconscious child but here in front of him was a rambunctious teen. Their only similarity was their golden locks, with Tommy's a brighter sheen than the boy from his past. He wondered if in time he would remember that boy's name, the brother of his from the past. Wilbur reached out to the boy who flinched for a moment in surprise. He paused, before reaching out and feeling soft and freshly washed, fluffy golden hair between his ghostly fingertips. He was only surprised for a moment before he gave the boy a pat on the head and then turned to Techno.

"It wouldn't hurt to bring them along."

Techno groaned and rubbed his face with bandaged hands, "Whatever, let's just go rent that carriage or whatever Phil. The kids can ghostsit or something, I guess they can be useful for something," he rummaged into his bag and tossed out Wilbur's journal, to which Tubbo hurriedly caught it. Wilbur's frown was only slight, but he outwardly laughed at Techno's grievances.

The five of them descended down the hillside to the bustling town below.

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Word Count: 2868

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