#sototallytoby

Group photo!

I rewatched A Christmas ADVENTure 4 this year and had to draw something based on it. Still missing this series.

Alternate caption:

Silly whiteboard doodles I made on the yogs whiteboard!!

Like I don't even know if that initial thing is true I just like thinking about this anyway

The blizzard is getting worse.

Ren holds onto Martyn's hand like a lifeline as they trek through the layered snow, darkening sky and sheets of snow falling making it harder and harder to see in front of him.

Just a little further to the station, Martyn kept saying. Each time with baited breath, quieter, and quieter. Just a little bit further.

And then Martyn stops. Ren feels it as he tries to step forward, but his companion lingers behind. He turns, surprise in his features as Martyn gives him a sheepish look.

"I- I really should've...explained this beforehand." He starts, voice weak. Ren lurches forward to hold onto him.

"What's wrong? Stay with me-"

"I didn't think it'd happen this quickly, I'm sorry."

And Ren's getting scared because Martyn's talking like he's dying or something and Ren is not having that on the way to a holiday vacation. Martyn manages a shaky smile.

"Toby will explain-"

"Dude, what are you talking about?"

Martyn's hand slips from his grasp.

He reaches, but in the split second of disconnect, a wave of snow sweeps between the space, and Martyn's gone. No crunch of boots on snow as he steps away, no fading of his form behind the sheet of falling flakes...simply nothing.

And Ren is alone.

The howling of winter wind fills his ear, heart beating in his chest as he squints through the storm, for something, anything, any sign of life.

And there is nothing,

Until there isn't.

"Hello, Rendog."

The voice comes loud and clear through the blizzard, a gap in the whistling wind. It's hollow and familiar all the same.

"...Martyn?"

"Not quite."

Turning in circles, he searches for the source of the voice, looking for anything to indicate something was really there.

"We haven't met properly, you and I. I suppose this is our reintroduction, after you've only felt my presence before."

"I don't know what you're talking about, or what you did with Martyn, but-"

The voice cuts him off.

"You didn't think Red Winter was his- my first experience with what the cold can do, did you?"

And finally, right before his eyes, with a gust of wind, a figure appears a few feet in front of him.

Cold, silver skin, frost tinted hair, warm winter clothes.

But Martyn all the same. It's strikingly familiar to how his Hand looked on his last life, but instead of the harsh blood-red of Dogwarts, he’s turned to brittle blue snow at dawn.

They stare at each other in silence. The ice-cold copy of his partner does not break his gaze. There is a mischievous glint in his eyes, childlike, as his lips turn up into a half-smile. He feels like he’s being mocked.

There’s a sound in his head, not unlike a beating heart. It gets louder and louder, closer and closer, as he and the frozen figure who has replaced Martyn stare each other down. Suddenly the sound is overwhelmingly loud, a tingling feeling in his chest as vibrations shake the ground. There’s a light through the storm, a high pitched screech, and oh, that sound isn’t in his head. It’s a train.

Through the fog, the locomotive reveals itself, track and platform to board completely covered by the snow, as it chugs to a stop just behind where Martyn’s doppelganger stood.

"That's our ride. Surely I- my warmer self, explained this part?"

He had. That's what Martyn said, before this lookalike replaced him. The station isn't far.

Ren does not give the imposter the satisfaction of an answer. His eyes flick to the train, a massive old fashioned steam engine who’s whistle blares over their confrontation. He holds his ground. Waiting for answers. Waiting for whatever weird reality he’d ended up in was over.

"HEY! Are you two getting on or what? You know Sandy will chew our head off if we're late!"

They both jump, as a head pokes out one of the train windows from the cart ahead of their platform, leaning halfway outside. Peering through the storm, the figure is a baby-faced looking brunette human, wearing a warm scarf not unlike the one lookalike Martyn wore. He waves enthusiastically for a moment, until realization dawns on his face, and his hand drops.

"Oh, did Martyn already transform?"

Ren finds his voice, and calls out in confusion. "...Transform?"

"Oh-" The stranger smacks his head with the palm of his head. "Did Martyn not tell you?" The man throws an accusatory glare at the lookalike, to which not-Martyn shrugs with a smug expression.

"Don't give me that look, I don't control what flowers-and-sunshine me does. Usually."

"Can one of you dudes PLEASE tell me what the heck is going on?"

Not-Martyn and the nameless train passenger share a look, one he couldn't help but recognize as one he'd shared with Doc, or Iskall, or False. One of silent friendship communication.

And then both of them burst out laughing. Not-Martyn sounds so much like the real Martyn does, and he feels fuzzy headed.

Ren is really beginning to think he's missing out on a joke.

"Okay, okay, we will, but we can't be holding up an entire train like this." The brunette explains through stifled laughter. "Come aboard first... Ren, right?" At his blink of recognition, he grins. "Take that Martyn, my memory is good! Anyways, I'm Toby." He gestured to the open train cabin doorway behind from where he leaned out the window.

Ren follows his hand to where not-Martyn is halfway through the door, leaning halfway on it and holding his arm out as if to let Ren go on first.

He'd been through a lot of weird stuff over five and a half seasons of Hermitcraft and lived, but weird supernatural experiences outside of it were a bit out of the norm. He's ready to believe he's passed out from bad frostbite and this is just a wacky dream.

"Hot chocolate's getting cold, guys!" Another new voice echoes from inside the train, and Toby pops his head back into the carriage.

"Last call, Ren." Not-Martyn says.

The tips of his ears are starting to freeze, and he actually is going to get frostbite if this is real.

And hot chocolate sounded really good right now.