SharkyStarzz

Sunny never had a reason to distrust Wilbur. From the very beginning, if he said jump, she said "How high?" But when the duo found a new home in foreign land, it sparked a vision in Wilbur's mind that would turn the very nature of Dream SMP on its head. Things go from 0 to 100 all too fast, and before she knows it, Sunny isn't sure this is the future she was so excited for… Soon, "How high?" becomes "How come?" and her once unwavering trust in Wilbur wanes with every day that passes. Between a fading songwriter, an arsonist, a very confusing relationship with a fox, and a tyrannical ruler hellbent on her capture, Sunny has to summon every bit of her willpower to not follow her beloved friend into the ashen ground…

Masterpost

Act 1

Episode 1: Pilot Episode 2: It's a WOMAN?! Episode 3: Te-Ahm-work Episode 4: Newsflash, Green Boy! Episode 5: The American Arsonist Episode 6: Maturity and Glass Bottles Episode 7: Writ in Iron Pen Episode 8: Ignorance Episode 9: Origins of a Foxmoi Episode 10: Coming Soon...

Art!

Fundy was minding his own business, that cloudless sunny day. He was carrying a crate of redstone supplies to Tubbo's house, intending to gift him with a doorbell. A simple thanks for sharing his base, Fundy thought.

How could he have known that things would change that day?

"Hello!"

His ear twitched and he turned. Coming toward him down Prime Path, a man with a crimson beanie and a sandstone sweater smiled brightly. At first glance, something about the man seemed familiar to Fundy...though, he couldn't quite place the feeling, and soon dismissed it.

"Hello-?" His tail twitched as he glanced around. Why was this strange man with wild brownish red hair approaching him?

"Your name is Fundy, yes?" He tilted his head.

"I am..."

The man hummed. "Well, as I hear it, you have quite a few grievances with Dream SMP. I may have a way to change that. My name is Wilbur Soot." He held out his hand.

As Wilbur proposed the idea of revolution to Fundy, there was...something in his expression that Fundy couldn't quite identify. Something about the way he looked at him, a mixture of fondness, nostalgia, grief...

Apology?

The intrigue of Wilbur's proposal was enough to deter Fundy from asking questions though. Before he knew it, he was meeting up with Tommy and Tubbo, discovering a particular disliking towards the new girl, Sunny, and helping Eret build great stone walls, lined with black and gold.

The mistake he'd made, Fundy was now realizing in hindsight, was not questioning Wilbur more. If only he'd spoken his thoughts, and addressed why Wilbur seemed familiar.

"Now I know what the stupid look was for..." Fundy snarled to himself as he sat on the cliffside. The ocean breeze tugged at his whiskers and had thrown his hat across the grass.

Was that the only reason Wilbur wanted him here? Because he wanted some kind of reconciliation with his son?

His son...

Fundy growled to himself as his thoughts spiraled. Did he think it'd be that easy?! He just comes back after all this time and he thinks everything will be fine?!

He remembered his mom talking all the time about how extraordinary and inspirational and brave his dad was... But she never mentioned him by name. Fundy had never seen him, which he'd found odd as a youngin'. Supposedly, he'd left soon after Fundy was born. Was he really so incredible if Mom was left to take care of their son alone?

The day Fundy stopped caring about the idea of having a dad, was the day his mother passed away. He was barely ten, but he remembered the day vividly; when his little paws padded across the floor, bringing fresh eggs and sugar for his bedridden mother. He'd spent the whole morning getting all the eggs he could, only to find his mom unresponsive to his excited, bright-eyed gesture.

The chill of her pale hands against Fundy's warm pawpads always made his stomach churn to think of.

Fundy had to take care of himself from then on. He became nomadic for a period, only after being forced to leave his mother's home when the place began to stink of rot and decay so much that it choked him.

Periodically, when thinking about his mom, Fundy's mind would go to how she spoke on her deathbed. How she spoke as if her husband, his dad, was coming back. Saying he'd come back for them before she died. Either to save her or to take care of Fundy; what she believed seemed to change depending on the day.

His paws tightened into fists, clenching his jaw. But Wil never came, did he? He didn't come back to save her,or to take care of his son. Disappears for years, and then shows up here, like it's an average tuesday.

An irate snarl rumbled in Fundy's throat. "Did- did he even- YIPE!" He jumped as a pair of fangs nipped his ear.

He jerked away, growling as Sunny stepped back. "What the hell is wrong with you!!"

"You ran off. The Dream guys could kill you out here," Sunny looked around, almost boredly.

"Do I look like I give a shit right now?!" Fundy picked up his hat and put it on, adjusting it aggressively. "I'm kinda dealing with something!"

Sunny crossed her arms. "Why'd you run away?"

The fox's eyes narrowed. "What do you care?"

"Answer my question first." Sunny glanced behind him. "...And get away from the edge please."

Fundy growled under his breath, but side stepped away from the edge of the cliff anyway. "Wilbur said I'm...his son. Apparently."

Sunny blinked and snorted in disbelief. "Wh- No, you're not. You're a fox, I-I mean, how would-"

An angered laugh clawed through Fundy's throat as he threw his head back. "Yeah- You think I didn't already think of that?! My dad left when I was just barely learnin' to walk, it's not like I remember his face super well! And-and I mean, you look at Wilbur, it's hard to believe he'd abandon his own wife and son, yet here we are! Dunduhdaaa!"

A defensive bark lingered on Sunny's tongue, "Hey, you don't have to get snippy! You probably misunderstood him or some-"

"He said," Fundy interrupted angrily, glaring at the ground, "she had wild red curls that made forest fires jealous. My mom. That her eyes reminded him of waves shimmering across the ocean floor-" He looked at Sunny, "HE SAID, she always wore a red clamshell necklace with a champagne pearl inside, because when I was born, they thought my fur was the color of champagne! Tell me, Sunny, how DAMN SPECIFIC do you want me to be?! He described my mother in such minute detail, that it's kind of impossible for me to just shrug it off!!"

A growl rose in Sunny's throat, her snout wrinkling slightly. She stared at him for a moment. "He... Wilbur really said that..?"

"Yes!" Fundy shook his head and looked at the sky with a frustrated laugh. "I- I can't believe I actually thought Wilbur was, was this inspiration, this incredible leader- When in reality! What, he's just some shitty excuse for- for a dad?!"

Sunny's ears drooped. "C'mon...I'm sure he didn't-"

"Oh, cut the bullshit," Fundy snarled, "of course you're taking HIS side! He abdandoned a child but HEY, it's fine, Wilbur is perfect no matter what, right?" He growled through his teeth.

Sunny's eyes widened. "No- now hold on-"

"I dunno why I'd think otherwise; everyone would take Wilbur's side. He's Wilbur effing Soot." With a defeated scoff, Fundy sat on the cliffside, his legs dangling.

Sunny watched him with a frown. It was ridiculous, right? Wilbur wasn't like that; he wouldn't just leave someone all alone, much less his own family.

Truthfully, she'd never thought about Wilbur's life before she came along; he certainly didn't seem like the family type though. Always nomadic and detached, imagining Wilbur in some teeny woodland cottage with a wife and kids was foreign and, admittedly, somewhat laughable.

"Okay..." She tilted her head and sat down next to him. "So...you're Wilbur's son. Sure." Her skeptical tone earned a glare from the fox, (which she elected to ignore). "Why does that make you so upset? I mean, I would think- I think I'd be pretty excited if I was Wilbur Soot's daughter."

"You are his daughter, what do you mean," Fundy looked at her with irritation. "You're literally his golden child!"

Sunny met his eyes with subtle hostility. "No, I'm not. Wil- I'm not his daughter or his 'golden child'." There was a warning in her tone that told him not to push the subject.

Fundy frowned a little and looked down with a bitter, fox-like sound. "Things were, really hard for me and Mom." he muttered. "I can't help but feel like, if Wilbur had just been there...it wouldn't have been so hard. She wouldn't have had to take care of me, all by herself. If he'd just stayed, she wouldn't have been so painfully...lonely."

Sunny felt a pang of sympathy in her mind, though tried to ignore it as she rested her elbows on her knees. "....Wilbur is usually pretty isolated.. Your mom probably-"

"Oh ho, there- see, there you go again! Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Fundy shook his head with a chuckle and stood up. "You just can't stop defending him, can you! You probably barely know him, seeing as you're 'not his daughter'." He mocked her as he made quotation motions with his paws.

"Well, I know he wouldn't abandon his own family out of the blue!" Sunny followed suit, her fists clenched.

"Except he DID, Sunny! Wh- How do you not get it?!" Fundy shouted. "He stayed long enough for me to get born so I could take care of Mom, and then he disappeared; we thought he was dead!"

Sunny's muzzle wrinkled again as she glared at him. A part of her felt for him, deep in her bones. But the stronger part just wanted to be right. To win the argument.

"He probably had a reason for-"

"LIKE WHAT?! Huh?!" Fundy's eyes gleamed and he looked away, clenching his jaw as he fought tears. His voice went a notable pitch lower. "Wh- what kind of reason could a man have to do that, Sunny? Tell me. Because I can't think of one!"

Her features softened slightly as Fundy's fight faded. There had to be a misunderstanding somewhere here, right? Wilbur would never, she repeated to herself.

"I just...don't get it," Fundy huffed, slumping down on the cliffside again. There was a long uncomfortable pause between the two. His paws fidgeted with each other, his thumb pressing roughly into his palmpad.

Sunny noted the faint marks on his palm, likely from his claws digging in. Did he always fidget like that? she thought. His paws were shaking.

With a sigh, the golden canine sat down again. "Well. If Wilbur's serious, there has to be a reason."

An annoyed fox-chitter slipped past Fundy's throat. "I thought we just established-"

"I didn't say it was a good reason," she half-heartedly snapped. She gave him a harsh look and turned her attention to the horizon. "But, good reason or not, you should probably just talk things out with Wilbur."

"Why would I do that?" Fundy wouldn't look at her. He just stared down at the ocean, digging his thumb into his palm.

"....Because communication is key?"

"You never communicate."

Sunny snorted, grinning a little. "Yes I do. I communicate my grievances with your face to you. All the time, actually."

Fundy raised a brow, glancing at her. "If that's your definition of 'communication is key', I'm never communicating with anyone ever again."

"Aww," Sunny pouted, "Bummer."

Fundy huffed. "I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or-" He did a double take. "Hey- Give me my hat!"

Sunny squeaked and laughed as she leaned out of Fundy's reach. "Where- When did you even get that!"

She shrugged and adjusted the hat on her head. "You were busy thinkin' and looking depressed, so I thought I'd...y'know," a lighthearted shrug. She looked at him with an amused smirk. "Why weren't you wearing one of the hats Eyeris made us?"

"I ate it," Fundy deadpanned, trying (but clearly not actually trying) to snatch his hat back.

Sunny snickered, "Really?? Didn't know you were into eating hats."

"Only when blonde dogs stress me out."

That pulled a real laugh from Sunny.

Fundy's ears twitched at the sound, lifting just slightly. Maybe he was imagining things... Was her laugh different? Did he make her laugh in a good way?

"Well. Where's your hat?" Fundy crossed his arms with a huff. He decided not to think about it. Or say anything. No need to risk her deciding to bully him just for overthinking laughter.

Sunny scoffed, laughter lingering on her tongue, "It flew off when I was flippin' running after you!" She leaned back on her arms, relaxing once Fundy had given up on getting his hat back.

Fundy looked at her, unamused. However, his eyes caught it again. The scar. He wasn't imagining it...

His eyes narrowed a little in focus. Why did it look so severe? And deep? That...couldn't be survivable....

Sunny frowned and kicked Fundy's side, "What're you staring at?"

"Ah-" he yipped and shoved her leg, his cheeks warming. "Nothing! Nothing, I swear!"

"Heyy, Sunny, Fundy?" A voice called out, searching. "Where are you guys- WAH!! WHAT THE- NO- What are you DOING??" Tommy screeched.

"Will you stop screaming!" Fundy shouted over him.

"NO, I WILL NOT!" Tommy replied, at the same volume. All he saw was Sunny offering her foot to a flustered Fundy! How was he supposed to know they weren't being freaky?!

"We weren't being 'freaky', you idiot!" Sunny barked, standing up.

Tommy paused, in the middle of hyperventilating. "Did I say that out loud-?"

"Yes!" The pair answered at once.

"Shit." Tommy coughed and cleared his throat. "Uh- Eret took Wil to the, the uh, socializin' club! Sent me to come get you for some reason. He wouldn't tell me why. Pointed his knife at me and shit to get goin'..."

Fundy hesitated and shared a look with Sunny. She sighed and placed the hat on his head, "C'mon, foxmoi."

Tommy looked between them and groaned. "Nooo, I'm already third wheeling with Wilbur and Niki; don't make me third wheel with you two!"

"You're not third wheeling with anyone, Tommy!" Sunny shouted as she pulled Fundy along.

"Kinda feels like it-"

"Tommy, shuttup!!" The pair shouted at once, earning a grumble from the blond.

As the three walked, Sunny and Fundy's minds both wandered to their conversation.

To Sunny's role in Wilbur's life, to the truth about Wilbur's past, to Fundy's childhood and what happened to his mom...

Then, their minds wandered to each other and the way the other acted. Fundy's fidgeting, Sunny's blunt yet seemingly somewhat caring words. Her genuine laugh when it lacked malice, his bark that never really came to the surface...except for when he and Sunny got into their spats.

Though an uncomfortable, awkward, upset interaction, Sunny and Fundy found an intrigue in each other's behaviors that didn't come from their normal fights.

—

As the three approached the socializing club, ironically built by Fundy for this exact purpose, the fox's ears lowered and he adjusted his collar.

"....Fundy."

He looked at Sunny, whose features were...so much softer than usual. "You have to talk to your dad." There was a weight in her tone that Fundy couldn't quite identify the meaning of, but he decided to trust her regardless.

Eret opened the door and crossed his arms as he stepped out. "He's waiting inside." Features set in a strict, stern tone, he stepped to the side expectantly. Waiting.

Fundy licked his lip and frowned as he stepped into the room. On the other side of the table, in the corner, there he was. Wilbur.

"Fundy, please," Wilbur started to say, stepping toward him.

"Stop." Fundy held up a paw, a growl climbing up his throat. "...We thought you were dead."

Wilbur hesitated, "I-I know, but-"

"No!" Fundy barked, "Shuttup! I'm talking!"

Outside the socializing club, Sunny stood with her back to the door, Eret and Tommy standing shoulder to shoulder on the prime path.

"....Sooo," Tommy started awkwardly, "either of you gonna explain to me what's going on here?"

Sunny licked one of her fangs. "So...essentially, Fundy is Wilbur's son and now they've got shit to sort out."

Tommy blinked. Wow. Blunt. "But...Fundy's a- and Wil's-" He squinted, as if trying to do the math.

"We know." Eret snorted with faint amusement, if only at Tommy's confusion.

"We've elected not to question it," Sunny explained. "Their business is their business."

Tommy raised a brow and nodded, crossing his arms, "Alright, alright..."

As the father and son talked, and silence fell once again between the three outside, Sunny's mind wandered. Why was she here? Why did she feel the need to mediate? And fix things between the two. It wasn't for Fundy, right? He was his own person, she didn't have any business worrying about his relationship with Wilbur. Was it for her?

She scoffed under her breath. That's ridiculous.

"I know I can never take it back! I made a mistake, I know that. But I'm never leaving you again, Fundy, I promise you," Wilbur's pleading tone brought Sunny out of her thoughts.

"How can I know that, Wil?? You can't just...drop that you're my dad and expect everything to be all hunky dory! You abandoned us, and then Mom died and I was all alone! How am I supposed to trust you?"

Wilbur was silent for a moment. "I...y-you can't.. I can't expect or ask that of you." The room got scarily quiet. "But, let me to show you? That you can trust me? With actions."

"How," Fundy asked with skepticism.

"This...revolution," Wilbur hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "What we've been doing these past couple of weeks? It's for you, Fundy; I want to give you the world, starting with L'manburg, as-as a down payment."

Fundy's eyes widened a little. "...what?"

"L'manburg is my promise to you, Fundy; I want you to have it someday. I want to build a world for you that's better than this one, through L'manburg. I-I hoped that, it could be a second chance, of sorts. That we could start over, with the promise of a brighter beginning than...than what I left you with."

As Wilbur spoke, Sunny's expression fell. L'manburg is my promise to you, Fundy.

Wasn't it for her?

But Wilbur never said that, did he? Sunny assumed that L'manburg was the great promised future he was making for her. If it wasn't L'manburg, what was it?

"I'll...give you a chance. A chance," Fundy said after a moment. He was quiet. "But if anything happens, or-or you waste that chance-!"

Wilbur exhaled softly, tension leaving his shoulders, replaced with relief. "I won't... I promise you I won't, Fundy.."

The fox took a deep, weary breath and nodded. "Okay."

Something like fresh air filled the socializing club as the father and son looked at each other, uncertain but willing. New soil being tilled.

—

It's only gonna get worse from here!

"Sunny, are you listening?"

You really think we're just gonna LET you have it?!

"Sunny."

Look at you! You're  helpless !!

"Sunny!"

The canine jumped in her seat. "Huh? What-"

"Are you paying attention?" Wilbur leaned over her shoulder with a stern expression.

Sunny hesitated and looked at the papers in front of her. Oh. Right. Wilbur made it a point to take her aside from the others after L'manburg's declaration, sitting her down in the camarvan, now turned htodog van, and showing her what kind of documents would need to be written once they'd gained freedom officially.

When she'd asked why, Wilbur's response was along the lines of "I'm not going to live forever, Sunshine, I need someone to know how to run this country when I've gone!"

Boring as it seemed (on numerous occasions), he kept her reeled in with the reminder of his promise. L'manburg was his promise, a special place he was building just for them. The least she could do was help write a few papers, right? Nothing she hadn't done before; growing up in Wilbur's footsteps, she'd been exposed to a number of extensive books and texts that were far beyond her years. She had an idea of what to write, she simply needed Wilbur's guidance on how to write it.

"So...I suppose I can't just write 'Dream is a dipshit and he's not welcome here'?" Sunny glanced at her friend, adjusting her bandana.

Wilbur snorted and chuckled. "No- I-I mean, we can, sunshine, we just...need to make it more formal, understand?"

Sunny looked at the scraps of scribbles across the table; some belonging to Wilbur, some to her. "Mm..." She reached over and picked up an older draft of the declaration. "...'For such purposes that this great nation was built, the attackers and tyrannical men are not permitted to step within our lands.'" She looked at Wilbur hopefully.

He blinked and hissed a bit through his teeth, smiling a little. "Well...it's a start."

Sunny frowned and looked down with a huff. Wilbur chuckled and ruffled her fur. "You're still learning, sunshine, don't worry. Your craft will come with time!"

"Mmmmrehm," she grumbled and licked her lip slightly, "I guess."

There was a short pause between the two before the younger spoke. "Wil...you really think we'll have L'manburg?" Sunny glanced at Wilbur unsurely. "Like...it'll really be ours. Our home."

Wilbur met her eyes, and for a split second, it must've been a trick of the light, doubt flickered across his features before he gave a warm smile. "Well, of course! I mean, I've already written and read aloud our declaration of independence. Dream will give us our nation."

He spoke with a certain tone of ignorance that made Sunny on the edge of uneasy. Did he truly think Dream was just gonna give up and pack his bags? Because Wilbur 'told him what's what'? "If you're sure-"

SLAM!

Sunny jumped in her seat with a yip.

"Wilbur!" Tubbo shouted with a grin. "I need to steal Sunny from you- Sunny, do you wanna see the new farms I'm making for L'manburg??"

She raised a brow, "Farms-?"

Tubbo nodded, ecstatic. "Auto-farms! I finally got the redstone to work!"

Sunny gasped and nearly tumbled out of her seat. "Auto-farms?? Uhm, yes!?"

Wilbur stammered, following after the pair as they bolted out of the van "Wh- But Sunny we-!"

"I'll be back, we can work on it later, Wilbur, don't worry!!" Sunny ran backwards as she shouted. She tripped over her feet and yelped as she stumbled behind Tubbo.

Tubbo and Sunny could always bond over learning things. Over the past few weeks, the pair spent plenty of time together, learning about each other's interests with enthusiasm.

Sunny liked listening to Tubbo explain all the ins and outs of his contraptions. She'd be more than happy to sit for hours and listen to him explain the science behind Nether Portal transportation and the technology behind automated farms.

Be it some form of learning or simply sitting together beneath a tree and talking about their days, they were a cozy pair that enjoyed each others company between the chaos of...well, Tommy.

As the two ran off, Wilbur raised a brow and shook his head with a chuckle, placing his hands on his hips. He looked around and brightened as he saw Fundy treading along, looking through his satchel. The young fox was so carefree sometimes, it seemed. He was content. Like he was so positively comfortable in his own world, with his own goals and missions. Independant. Like Wilbur was.

"Fundy," Wilbur shouted, walking over with a smile.

His ears perked up. "Huh? Oh- hey, Wil." He seemed unsure. Skittish as his tail twitched back and forth.

Wilbur slung his arm around the younger's shoulders. "Sunny is off with Tubbo, I reckon our lessons in the van are done for today," he explained.

Fundy hesitated, not quite keeping pace with Wilbur's words. "She- Lessons-?"

"Why don't we go get started on some of the houses we spoke of? You gathered all the materials, yes?"

"Uhh, well- It's- Yeah, I got everything. I'm ready to, uhm- we can go do...that," he stammered, slightly overwhelmed by Wilbur's speed of speech. Not to mention...y'know, it was Wilbur Soot.

He patted Fundy's shoulder, leading him toward the build site. "Splendid!"

Fundy glanced at Sunny and Tubbo a little ways off, shoving each other playfully and laughing. A certain melancholy twisted itself in his stomach, causing an ache he wanted so terribly to ignore. They got to goof off. He had to do grunt work. And never the twain shall cross.

"Buck up, Fundy! I'll let you furnish some of them if you like," Wilbur cut in with a warm expression, hugging Fundy's shoulders.

The fox blinked and nodded, a small smile forming on his snout. "Ah...right. Heh.."

At least Wilbur was doing grunt work with him.

—

"ARGH!" CRASH!

George ducked and stamped his foot in frustration. "Dream, throwing things and babyraging is not going to fix anything!"

"I'm not babyraging!!" Dream snapped, throwing his mask at the ground in anger. "You- heh, you, you saw the same thing I did!! That MUTT challenged me! They raised a flag in rebellion! She and-and Wilbur-"

"It's just a chunk of land, Dream," George's shoulders raised in defense.

"It's not the LAND!" He ran a hand through his hair with a quiet wheeze. "Don't- don't you see it, George?! It's the disc war all over again!"

George rolled his eyes. "It's not-"

"No, but it is! The disc war was just the START! Those stupid children were losing, they were LOSING, but then the big bad guard dog steps in, and now they're tough shit!" Dream shook his head, an angry, deranged smile on his face. "And-and now what's happening?? They're claiming this whole chunk of land- Land that WE pioneered, that WE found! And, and they think they can just TAKE it?!"

George shook his head, "It's not like they can do anything with that chunk. It's not that big..."

Dream grabbed George's shoulders, "Yesyes- but, but see that's the thing, George. That's the thing! 'Cause we let them get this one little chunk- just this one little chunk, and li'l ol Tommy-midget gets some bigger britches! Then it won't stop with their one stupid little L'manchunk! They'll take more and more, and it just won't ever end!!"

Dream shoved George back as he punched a wall. "It'll never end, George!"

He watched his friend with worry as he paced back and forth like a caged animal. For all intents and purposes, George found it incredibly fitting at this point to compare Dream to a caged animal. Angry outbursts and mumbling, accompanied by constant pacing of his home as if unable to leave it.

It pained George, to see him in such a state. Sapnap didn't seem to show any real worry, but George was troubled to his bones.

He sighed. "Dream..." He frowned when he didn't stop pacing. "Dream." He grabbed his shoulders, earning a startled, wide-eyed expression.

George's features softened and he exhaled quietly. "We'll...get our land back, okay? It was ours first, we'll get it back."

Dream sighed through his nose, his anger fading with George's reassurance. "Right." He looked down, his brows furrowed as he picked up his mask. "And the second we win, I'm gonna grab the stupid dog that caused all this by the scruff of the neck and..." He trailed off as his eyes narrowed darkly and he adjusted his mask.

George's eyes widened. "A-and...?"

The mask had returned, in every way that meant for Dream. That blank grin stared at George darkly. "I'm making sure she can't come back."

One down, two to go. Right?

—

"I'm gonna go find Tommy and Jack, I'm sure they're causing all sorts of trouble," Tubbo said.

Sunny laughed, waving as she walked towards the hto dog van. "Alright, see ya, Tubbo!"

"Later, Sunny!"

The girl hummed thoughtfully, holding her journal between her jaws as she climbed onto the roof of the van.

"–okay, but I can't put it there, the windows won't reach, Wil!"

"Just make more windows then, Fundy, it'll be fine!"

Sunny glanced over as she saw the pair arguing and she rolled her eyes. "Boys.." she mumbled with mild amusement.

She and Fundy hadn't spoken since the day before, when they'd fought while getting building supplies. Not properly. They spoke just enough to get by, but one could hardly call it conversation.

A tint of awkward tension filled the air when the two of them were around each other. (Tommy had loudly protested and demanded Fundy go elsewhere, being a Sunny advocate at heart.)

Sunny tilted her head, tongue sticking out slightly as she focused on writing.

'Some people arrived quiet  and subtle , like dust settling on a bookshelf. And some people made their arrival monumentous and memorable.

The pair of nomads who arrived at the end of summer were part of the latter; with fiery hearts of rebellion and challenge, and a feverish spite that recoiled and spat at the men who demanded normality.'

"Sunny, what're you doing up there?"

She jumped a little and looked down, a smile blooming on her features. "Eret! Hi! I'm just writin'. Come up with me?" She patted the spot beside her.

The man smiled and climbed up, settling next to the young canine. "What are you writing?" He tilted his head at her journal.

Sunny shrugged shyly. "Ehh...I, uh- well, this whole thing we're doing, it seems really important so I wanted to start recording our history, while it's still fresh, y'know? For the future generations of L'manburg; Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it, Eret." She smiled briefly, only slightly awkward.

Eret's expression fell a little and he leaned back on his arms, looking off. "Yeah... Hm. Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. That's very wise for your age, Sunny."

She rubbed her neck and gave a shy shrug. "Living with Wilbur for so long, you pick up some extra braincells. He's so smart, you can barely be around him without getting some of his smart." Her tail wagged fondly and she narrowed her eyes at her journal, erasing and rewriting a few lines.

Eret tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly. The way she spoke of Wilbur made him near uneasy. She was so ambitious for...danger. "Sunny...you know, us doing all this could be starting a war, yes?"

Sunny hesitated. "Yeah. I brought it up to Wilbur this morning, sort've, and he doesn't seem too concerned; said since we wrote our declaration, we're just gonna have L'manburg. He sort've implied we wouldn't need to fight?" She glanced at Eret and looked back down at her journal. "But I think he's more hopeful than certain."

"And you're not at all worried?"

"Not really," Sunny tilted her head. "I'm sure we'll have to fight. Dream is pigheaded enough to force our hand."

"You really think you're gonna win this?!"

Her grip tightened on her pencil. It didn't matter what Wilbur said. Sunny knew Dream wouldn't just let this go...

Eret carefully took the pencil from her, noticing the rigidness of her posture. "You're still a child, Sunny."

She frowned and licked her lip. "I'm not a child-"

"Yes, you are," Eret insisted, tilting his head to meet her eyes. "You're too young to be in a war; you, Tommy, Tubbo, and Fundy... All of you. Don't think you have to do this just because-"

Sunny took the pencil back, "We kinda don't have a choice, Eret. L'manburg's independence is important, we all have to make sacrifices for it."

He raised a brow, "Child soldiers are the kind of sacrifice we have to make for L'manburg?"

There was a long pause. Sunny couldn't really argue with Eret. Because truthfully, there was an aching pit of worry growing in her gut that had to do with impending war, but not for the reasons Eret thought...

She adjusted her bandana. Her throat hurt. "Wilbur promised this place for us, Eret. Me, Tommy, Tubbo; we want to fight for it." Her tone held an irritated edge, wanting to be done with the conversation. It was all she could offer in response, the inner demons running rampant across her mind.

Eret frowned in worry and opened his mouth-

"NO! Get away from me!!" Sunny and Eret looked up in surprise.

"Fundy, just- just wait, hold on-!"

The fox snarled as he stomped past, jerking his arm away. "Don't!! I said get away from me; leave me alone!"

"Fundy! Let me explain!" Wilbur stopped beside the van and sighed, burying his face in his hand. "Damn it..."

"What happened?" Eret looked at Wilbur with an expression mixed with sternness and concern.

Wilbur hesitated, exasperated. "I just- It's... uhm..."

Sunny watched as Fundy ran out of L'manburg walls. "Shit- I'll go get him." She stood up and chucked an enderpearl, tumbling into the grass with a quiet 'ow'.

As the young canine sprinted away, Eret frowned at Wilbur, waiting for an explanation. "Well?"

—

The pair had been mining in silence for awhile now, and Fundy's discomfort had returned full swing. Sunny hadn't even tried jabbing at him, physically or verbally.

She was still wearing his hat, which hid most of her expression. What he could see, she looked like a pouty child.

"You doin' okay over here?" he tried carefully, looking over her shoulder.

"Yup." She huffed flatly, then swung the pickaxe sharply, causing Fundy to step back.

Oh yeah she's totally fine... He cleared his throat. "Okay well... just, lemme know if-"

"Y'know," she interrupted, irritation dripping off her tongue. "Why the hell are you so...you?" She looked at him with an irate expression.

Fundy blinked. "Uh...wh- what do you mean?"

"I mean, why're you you." she snapped, pickaxe propped on her shoulder. "You're so effing annoying- I mean, you question everything! You don't believe in happiness. You're always kissing Wilbur's ass but when he's not around, you're like this wimpy little twerp who doesn't know what the hell kinda charity case he joined."

Fundy hesitated, his ears in constant movement as his expression shifted. "I'm not either of those! I'm- Like you said yesterday, Dream's a bully. I don't like bullies-"

"Yeah, and yet!" Sunny shrugged, dropping the pickaxe and stepping toward him. "You're talking about excluding Tommy, and inviting Americans to L'manburg, and- THE Same people we're tryna escape by the way!!"

"I'm just- This whole thing is kind of a big deal, Sunny," Fundy responded, his voice raising, "If we screw it up, then.."

"The only one who can screw it up is you, Fundy!!" Sunny growled, prodding Fundy's chest as he stepped back. Her throat burned with sharp pain as she raised her voice, but she didn't care. "I don't see Tubbo questioning Wilbur or Eret wantin' to kick any of us out, or Tommy trying to invite OPPRESSORS into our nation; do you?? I-I mean I just don't GET how you can stand to the side, and try to sit on the fence! Take an effing stance! You're so wishy-washy, you're better off just leaving L'manburg!"

"Well, pardon me if I'm a little freaked out, Sunny!" Fundy barked, a snarl lacing his voice. Sunny leaned back as he got in her face. "Yeah, L'manburg is great and all, Wilbur's an inspiration; That doesn't mean I'm not still a little freaked out by everything!!"

Sunny scoffed incredulously, "What is there to be freaked out about?! You either wanna fight for this nation or you don't! You can't just hide out in the dark until you think it's safe; it's not gonna be safe until we win!"

"Because before you and Wilbur came along, Dream and his stupid friends were kind of a nuisance, but they were a big, undefeated nuisance that we just had to live with!! And- and now we're gonna fight them??!" Fundy exhaled shakily with an angered laugh. "Yeah, that makes me a little nervous! The only reason I'm fricking HERE is because Wilbur wanted me here! I don't exactly want to fight in a war, but you all want me to, so I am!"

There was a long pause in the cave, accompanied only by the sounds of leaves rustling outside. The furries just sort've glared at each other for a while and stood in silence, Fundy's glare a little more emotional than Sunny's.

The atmosphere shifted as they went back to mining; between anger, apologetic and awkward.

Neither wanted to speak; Sunny refused to apologize, Fundy didn't seem willing to say anything substantial until she apologized.

—

The awkward, upset tension followed them back to L'manburg once they'd finished getting materials for houses.

"....All I'm saying is, this place doesn't look like it's gonna go anywhere. You probably shouldn't waste our resources," a voice came into hearing distance.

"Yeah, y'know, I bet that's what your mother said when you were born, Dream," Tommy retorted.

Sunny clenched her jaw as her eyes landed on Dream, back once again to talk shit about the new home they were building.

"Sunny, Fundy, you're back!" Tubbo said, his smile falling a little as he noticed their expressions.

Fundy glanced at Sunny, who refused to meet his eyes. "Yeahh, we're back, Tubbo." He offered a light smile that didn't last.

Sunny looked at Dream, glaring at him as she walked past. A silent, death look passed between the two as they looked at each other.

"Ugh, thank Notch you're back," Tommy said as he wrapped an arm around SUnny. "Dream came back, in dickhead mode. He won't leave." He glared at Dream.

The man tilted his head and held up his hands. "Nono, don't worry, I'm going, heh." His mask turned slightly more towards Sunny. He'd shown up, and she'd seen him. That's all he wanted. A cute little reminder.

She could practically feel the metal slitting her throat, his dark voice in her ear. She clenched her fists, silently praying for an anvil to fall out of the sky and bash his head in.

There was a long, slightly awkward, pause across the grounds, (and unfortunately no anvils), until Dream was gone from view.

"Oh, good you're back," Niki said with a smile as she and Eyeris emerged from their tent, both carrying bundles of fabric. They immediately caught everyone's attention as Niki was already clad in her L'manburg uniform, a gentler shade of blue than the boys.

The pair walked over to a table outside the camarvan. "Eyeris and I finally finished everyone's uniforms! Eh- Fundy, could you get Wilbur, please? Tell him I have his uniform."

Fundy nodded, brightening with excitement as he skedaddled into the camarvan.

"YOO," Tommy shouted as he held his uniform up. "These look SICK, what the hell-"

"Don't just stand there staring at it, y'dummy," Sunny laugh, shoving him. "Put it on!"

While the boys just changed there in the open outside (typical), Sunny slipped away to her tent, uniform tucked in her arm.

"Eyeris also went the extra mile to make us hats," Niki said as she passed out the headwear.

"Ohh, sweet," Eret said. "Thank you, Eyeris, this is wonderful." The enderman beamed at the praise, smiling with closed eyes.

"TUBBO, You're a man now!!" Tommy screeched as he and Tubbo freaked out over their new uniforms. "LOOKATCHU!"

"I was told you've finished them, Niki!" Wilbur emerged from the camarvan with a pleasant grin. "Thank you, Fundy," he muttered as he ruffled the fox's head.

Niki nodded, "Yes! With, Eyeris' help, of course," she gestured to the enderman, who hissed and chittered proudly as she teleported her uniform onto herself in a cluster of purple pixels.

Wilbur chuckled and clasped his hands together. "Well, you both look stunning," he looked at Niki pointedly, "truly."

She smiled bashfully and looked away. "Well, I-"

"OHH For the love of- stop flerting!!" Tommy barked. "Just stop, Wilbur! This is painful!"

"Tommy, y'know what," Wilbur started before a gasp from Niki cut him off.

"Oh my goodness, Fundy!!" She hid an overjoyed giggle.

Wilbur followed her gaze and covered his mouth with his fist, muttering an "Awww."

Fundy froze as everyone looked at him. "Huh?"

Tommy snorted and absolutely bursted with laughter, clutching his stomach as he wheezed. "It's FRIGGIN PASTEL!! WHAT-"

The fox hesitated and looked at himself—sure enough, his uniform was a much lighter hue in comparison to the rest of the boys. "Wh- Niki, what the hell!!" he whined.

"I didn't-"

Tubbo tilted his head, prodding Fundy's shoulder, "I dunno, I think it's kinda adorable."

"NO, it's not adorable!" Fundy yipped, his ears flat against his head as he attempted to defend his masculinity.

Jack Manifold snorted under his breath and rubbed his neck. "Yeahhh, yeh, sure it isn't..."

"It's not!!"

Wilbur smiled with amusement, and maybe a little bit of pride, at Fundy's uniform. He chuckled lightly, "You look like a little champion, Fundy! Just precious..."

His cheeks warmed as he shook himself off and stamped his foot in defiance. "No, I don't, Wil- I-I'm menacing and frightening like the rest of you!"

Niki giggled quietly, hiding her face behind Wilbur's arm for a moment. "Of course you are, Fundy," she beamed.

As the embarrassed fox attempted to defend himself, Sunny was away in her tent with a proud grin. Her ears twitched as she listened to the chaotic overlap of voices outside. Karma's a bitch, ain't it, Fundy, she thought to herself. That'll show him to break her stuff. (As if she hadn't planted the prank before they even left for the mine.)

She fixed her bandana around her neck and smoothed out her uniform, looking herself over. Brief shock flashed across her features that fell into an ambitious smile. This is it. This is finally happening...

Little by little, the future Wilbur always promised was coming to fruition.

She ran a paw through her bangs and took a deep breath as she stepped outside.

"I'm not shy!!" Fundy barked, shoving Tommy away as he tried to noogie him. "I-I'm just- I-"

"OHH my Notch-" Sunny squeaked a laugh, her tail wagging. "Lookit youuu! Just a li'l guy, hehehe!"

Fundy's cheeks burned, his voice caught in his throat. At this point his fur was more red than orange. "Shuttup! You did this, didn't you!"

Sunny could hardly catch her breath respond, downright tickled with her prank. "I've no idea what you're talking about," she giggled.

"Oh, you look marvelous, Sunshine," Wilbur said, beaming with pride. Now changed into his own uniform, he adjusted his hat on his head.

"You clean up GOOD, Sunny!" Tommy clapped his hands, walking over to her as her laughter died down.

She grinned as he patted her shoulders. "Awe, thanks!" Her eyes met Wilbur's, and she felt so much warmth bloom in her chest. She was making him proud, a little action at a time. Just like she promised.

Wilbur smiled contently as the others enjoyed their uniforms. "You did wonderful, Niki. A very good job, look at how happy everyone is!"

Niki met Wilbur's eyes bashfully and shrugged. "It was nothing really.."

"It's...it's something," Wilbur said with a laugh, patting her shoulder before placing his fingers between his teeth and whistling sharply.

"Sunny, Tommy, Tubbo, and Eret!" He shouted. "Come to the camarvan!"

Sunny smiled with all her fangs, placing Fundy's hat back on his head with a snicker and grabbing one of Eyeris' hats before going.

The four chosen followed Wilbur into the Camarvan, allowing Fundy a moment to breathe without Tommy's teasing.

—

"Is that what I think it is," Tommy said as Wilbur laid a longer, worn paper on the table. The camarvan was a mess, cluttered with ripped and crumbled papers; several drafts of what he was showing them as the final product.

"Yes it is," Wilbur said with a sparkle in his eye. "This is our declaration of independence, boys. And Sunny."

She exhaled quietly, brushing her paw across the paper. "It's- It's actually here."

Wilbur hummed quietly and took out several iron pens. "Us five are the Founding Fathers of L'manburg," he explained. "I think it fitting that we are the ones to sign and finalize our nation's Declaration of Independence."

"Ohh, we get to have our names on legal shit," Tommy grinned, his arm lounged across Sunny's shoulders.

Wilbur chuckled. "That's- sure, yeah. You get to have that." He cleared his throat. "I'd like each of you to sign it."

One by one, the four stepped up to the table and signed their names. Sunny, the last to sign her name, hesitated. "This is our Declaration of Independence."

"We're actually doing it!" Tubbo laughed as Tommy hugged him.

"I almost put Alpha Male next to my name," the blonde muttered to his friend, "but I didn't. That, is a sign of growth."

Tubbo snickered. "I reckon it is."

Once everyone had signed, Wilbur picked up the paper and cleared his throat, "Forever, the nation of Dream SMP has cast great sins upon-"

"Wil- Wilbur wait, wait," Tommy interrupted.

"We should read it on top of the camarvan," Sunny added, "So everyone can hear us."

Wilbur hummed and nodded. "Right."

The teenagers grinned excitedly at each other as they bound out of the camarvan.

"Niki," Tommy shouted, "Have we finished the flag?"

"Wilbur's gonna read the Declaration of Independence!" Tubbo added, clapping his hands excitedly.

Niki gasped. "Really? Yes, yeah- Yeah, we finished it earlier!"

"What," Fundy looked over, his ears pricking forward. "It's done? We're- It's happening??"

"You bet your sweet ass it's happening!" Sunny laughed, grabbing Fundy's arms and spinning. "Go, go!! Help get the flag up in the air!"

"Oh- o-okay! Okay!" While the fox ran off to his friends' aid, Sunny, Tommy, Tubbo and Eret climbed atop the camarvan as Wilbur began to read;

"Forever, the nation of the DreamSMP has cast great sins upon our great land of the hto dog van."

The flag wasn't magnificent by any means. Roughly the size of a bath towel, if you wanted to be generous. But it was enough.

"They have robbed us. Imprisoned us. Threatened us. Killed many of our men."

Fundy, Jack, Niki and Eyeris heaved their banner into the air, a breeze carrying it as a sturdy wooden pole was planted into the ground.

"This time of tyranny ends with us."

As Wilbur read their new Declaration, his voice carried for everyone to hear. The founding four behind him, the four loyalists below, any and all who looked upon L'manburg with curious, fresh, hopeful eyes; The Declaration of Independance would be heard.

"This book declares that the nation which shall be henceforth known as L'Manburg is separate, emancipated, and independent from the nation of DreamSMP."

From the ground in front of the camarvan, Fundy looked at Wilbur with an excited sparkle in his eyes. His attention then drifted to Sunny, and his excitement faded slightly. It wasn't obvious. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks. With the addition of her new uniform, Sunny had turned her bandana backwards, revealing her neck more than before. Fundy could see what looked like intense scarring...

"The union of the masters of men. Together we are one. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one to dissolve the bonds which bind us. Disregarding of this truth is nothing short of tyranny."

"Dream," George said from a hill outside L'manburg's walls. "You might wanna see this..."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal."

Dream turned his head sharply. "What?" He walked over to stand beside George. Behind the mask, his eyes widened. He could hear Wilbur's voice as clear as if he was right in front of him. Behind Wilbur, he noticed, stood four people. Tommy, Tubbo, Eret... And Sunny.

"From the hto dog van we shall prevail."

He stepped forward, looking directly at Sunny. His fists clenched and he felt himself chuckle quietly. She chose to rebel. Good.

Sunny looked to the hills, meeting Dream's dark stare. As Wilbur spoke, there was a silent exchange between the two. Sunny was choosing where she stood.

Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of victory.

A stance which Dream couldn't be happier about.

—

You really think you're gonna win this?!—I'm not an idiot!—I promise you're going to regret it if you don't stop him.—He has no idea what he's doing!!!

The sharp pain of cold metal lingered in Sunny's throat as she looked at the ground. Her claws dug into the cloth of her bedding. Near two days later and she no longer had to bite down the pain it caused to speak, though it certainly hadn't vanished.

One down. Two to go.

The sadistic smile in his voice made Sunny shudder and she clenched her jaw. He wanted her dead dead... Kind of childish, in her opinion. All the fuss over getting beat by some teenagers.

In the quiet of the morning, she'd allowed herself some time to think over the events of the last 48 hours. Her paw lifted to the scar on her throat, bandana cast aside to the floor somewhere. The thought occurred to her, Would Wilbur be mad if he found out?

Her ears drooped, thinking back to the conversation following the fire.

"Sunny...did you completely miss my instruction to not bother with the fire?" Wilbur closed the door to his room as Sunny sat on his bed. She wore an annoyed pout, knowing full well she was in for a lecture. Or a scolding. It was always a toss-up on which she'd receive, depending on Wilbur's mood.

"I didn't, I just-"

"Oh, so then you just did it anyway," he snapped.

Sunny licked her nose, not wanting to look at him. Even swallowing hurt... She really couldn't argue with him here, physically. "Well, we can't just let Dream and-"

"Sunny, Dream and his people can do whatever the hell they want. Outside these four walls is their land; I don't give a shit if they're careless and destroy half their resources in some petty attempt to screw with us," Wilbur scolded. His tone was the one that always irked Sunny; while never quite raising his voice, there was an edge that made her want to be anywhere but in the same room with him. "I am the leader, do you understand? I need you to listen to me, or all of this is gonna be for nothing."

Guilt started to constrict around her chest like thorned vines. It hurt. "Yeah...I got it, Wilbur," Sunny muttered dismissively.

"I don't think you do!" he ran a hand through his hair and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall across from her. He shook his head, frustration in his demeanor. "I mean, do- do you just not care? Do- would you rather just go live in Dream SMP with Tommy and Tubbo-"

"What? No, I care! Of course I care!" Sunny stood up, desperation lacing her tone. "Why do you think I just gave that entire speech? To convince everyone that L'manburg matters!"

"Then you need to straighten up, Sunny," Wilbur said sternly, "Get your act together; When I say 'Jump', you say 'How high'. Not 'no, I'll go do this other thing'."

As he spoke, his tone shifted in a way that Sunny hated; frustration fading to disappointment. She always hated that.

There was a long pause as they both seemed to calm down.

"I've taught you better, Sunshine..." Wilbur said. "It's time to be serious; this isn't a time for goofing off."

She was quiet for a long moment before nodding. "Yes sir..."

"I'll do better, Wilbur," Sunny muttered to herself, in the darkness of her tent.

After that talk, she'd elected to keep what happened in the fire to herself. As rebellious as she was, truly disappointing Wilbur was something she didn't do often, for good reason.

Wilbur was a man of rebellion, he often responded with a small sense of pride to Sunny's boldness. But the rare times she took it too far, there was no pride from Wilbur. It was a feeling Sunny despised to her bones.

If he knew what happened, she was sure that disappointment would be back. That was the last thing she wanted.

I really suggest you get Wilbur to call this whole thing off.

Sunny ran a paw through her fur, messy bangs falling over her eyes. She'd made the decision, after everything was said and done, to reconvince everyone. The decision to spit on Dream's words as if they held not an ounce of weight on her chest. A decision made on impulse, pain and anger...

She grunted as she stood up, rolling her sore shoulder. She was lucky her hoe hadn't gone too deep into her shoulder.

Did you think that golden butter on a stick would do anything against netherite?? Hahaha!

No, she wouldn't let herself think for a second defying Dream was a bad idea. Wilbur needed her to make L'manburg real; as if she'd throw it all away because the green manchild was throwing a fit.

"He's just pissy 'cause a girl got the best of him in a fight..." she muttered as she fixed her bandana around her neck, cleverly hiding the scar. With a deep breath, she shook her head a bit and smiled gently, not a trace of pain or confliction on her features.

—

The sun greeted Sunny's face with warm kisses as she stepped outside, taking a deep, slow breath.

After the fire, the existing members of L'manburg set back to work completing the walls, drafting up designs for houses, sewing the uniforms and stitching together the flag, etc. Wilbur didn't waste much time before locking himself up in the camarvan, a process Sunny quickly recognized as his way of blocking out distractions to focus on something important.

The young canine first noticed Eret, who had a particularly perturbed air about him as he continued his work on the walls alone. He'd asked Fundy, and any others wanting to help, to let him do it himself, reassuring them he was fine building on his own.

"Ah, Sunny, you're awake!" Niki exclaimed, waving her over to the work bench where she stood with the enderman Sunny had greeted days ago. "Eyeris and I are just about done with the uniforms, what do you think so far?"

Sunny paused, "Oh- uh...the- they look great so far, Niki!" She smiled shyly. The motherly baker was growing on her.

The enderman nodded happily with a beaming expression, spewing some kind of soft, choppy language neither the girls understood. L'manburg had gained a few new members as well, over the past few days; including an enderman named Eyeris and a friend of Tubbo's who went by Jack Manifold. Jack was a nice inbetween for the two present age groups, being the oldest among the teenagers.

Eyeris, while none of them could really understand her, appeared rather sweet. They hadn't figured out her age yet, but from what they could gather, she was an adult, which immediately removed her from Tommy and his group. She stuck close to Niki (matching energies pleasantly), and was eager to help wherever needed, (the most part, helping Niki with projects).

She was taller than most endermen, often leaning down for the others whenever they spoke. (Her extraordinary hearing allowed her to hear everyone just fine, but she seemed to think it helped them feel heard if she was closer to their voices.)

Sunny tilted her head at one of the outfits. "Is this one Fundy's?"

"Hm? Oh, yes," Niki nodded.

Sunny clicked her tongue with a grin. "Nice. I'm just gonna..." She dug in her pockets for something. "Make a small adjustment, hold on.."

Niki and Eyeris shared a look, but left Sunny to her shenanigans nonetheless. When she'd finished and returned the outfit, she walked over to the boys, who surrounded some kinda contraption.

"Hey Sunny!!" Tubbo shouted from atop a tree, waving happily. "We're building a sheep catapult-"

"A sheepapult!" Tommy shouted, tossing a sheep to Jack Manifold, who turned to toss the sheep into a large wooden bowl.

"Wanna help out?" Jack grinned.

"Oh my- a sheepapult?!" Sunny yipped happily. She was ready to say yes.

Then she hesitated. What would Wilbur think? Messing around with the boys instead of helping consolidate L'manburg as a nation.

"Uhh," she said, trying to think of an excuse.

"I'm gonna go get us more materials for houses," Fundy announced as he grabbed a pickaxe. "Wilbur mentioned wanting me to work on that, I think."

Thank Notch, Sunny thought before zipping over to the fox. "Sorry guys, I'm gonna go get shit with Fundip!!"

"What??" Fundy and Tommy exclaimed.

"Why?" Tommy snorted with a pout.

"Yeah..." Fundy pouted. "Stay home and build a- a uh...sheepapult."

Sunny rolled her eyes, "Heeeyyyy Fundy?!" She grinned with all her fangs, leaning her elbow on his shoulder. "Wanna shuttUP- Dream SMP isn't too fond of us righ'now, I gotta make sure you don't piss em off or somethin'; c'mon!" She chirped lightly, dragging Fundy along by the arm.

Tubbo, Tommy and Jack shared a look before shrugging and continuing their work on the sheepapult.

—

Fundy was exceedingly uncomfortable. More than his usual uncomfortable.

He and Sunny had been walking for nearly 30 minutes...

in total,

utter,

silence.

To say it was unnerving would be an understatement. Fundy's ears leaned back as he frowned to himself, observing Sunny. Why was she even here? Building a catapult with stupid Tommy and the other two sounded right up her alley. So...?

She was so eerily quiet, with a calm, unbothered smile on her face as her arms swung back and forth idly.

Fundy licked his nose and let out a quiet huff. Maybe he could try initiating small talk, (although that was somehow more daunting than the silence). "Uhm-"

"Fundy, what's your deal?" Sunny turned around, walking backwards with her arms folded behind her.

He hesitated, frowning a little. "Wh-what does- what do you mean 'my deal'?"

Sunny shrugged, a shit-eating grin on her face as she tilted her head. "I dunno. What's wrong with you? You're so..." she gestured to his person. "Orange. And furry." Her tone was so unserious and accusatory.

"Wh- you're furry too, what do you mean!"

Sunny smiled, amused by his confusion. "Yeah, but I'm like... a different kind. A better furry." She spun a bit as she walked around him observationally. "Why're you so weird? You got all these weird colors on your jacket and these weird shapes on your hat- NOT TO MENTION that smell you always got on ya."

"WEIRD SMELL?? It's coconut!" Fundy leaned away from her as she sniffed him, her tongue stuck out just slightly in concentration, eyes narrowed.

"Mmmm, weirdo," she grinned, tapping his nose and stepping back as he swatted her away. It tickled her seeing him freak out in confusion.

Fundy growled a little. "Well, why're YOU so-"

"Yoink!"

"HEY!" He yipped as Sunny took his hat, placing it on her head like it belonged to her.

"Thaaank YOU!" She hummed with a proud smirk. "Anyway, you were saying, furface?"

Fundy's ears drooped with a huff. "Sunny, can't you just take a break for once from being a dipshit all the time..."

"Mmmm." She hummed, "Nawr, I only take Tuesdays off."

"It IS Tuesday!"

"No, I meant Wednesdays."

Fundy growled in frustration, giving up on the argument as the canine walked with an extra pep in her step. Bickering filled the silence in a way that strangely both irritated Fundy, and put him at ease. He didn't like silence. At least he could understand Sunny when they were fighting.

Sunny hummed lightly, her arms folded behind her head as her tail swayed. Adjusting his- her hat, she glanced at Fundy, noting his quiet, cumbersome expression. As much as she disliked him, they were doing something productive for L'manburg. Just what Sunny needed. And Fundy's views of her were similar to her's of him; he didn't talk unless he felt a need to, he didn't pry with dozens of questions.

Her anxiety was a little more eased with Fundy. Like she didn't have to have excuses prepared for everything. She could make a mean joke and that would be enough.

Unlike with Tubbo and Tommy, where she'd want to be honest...if only her pride allowed it. She didn't want the others to question her mood, (she couldn't let everyone think she was this super serious fuddy-duddy), but she couldn't be careless and irresponsible like hanging out with Tommy would normally be.

Fundy, at the moment, was a perfect excuse for her to still be herself without sacrificing Wilbur's expectations.

Sunny's introspective thoughts were interrupted by a shiny glint in her eye. She blinked a few times and looked down, spotting a brown glass bottle half buried in the dirt. "Holy frick!" she gasped, jogging over.

She held the bottle in the sunlight and her tail wagged. "AHH, Fundy, Lookit this thinggg!" Her voice squeaked, causing the fox's ears to twitch and lean back as he frowned a little. Why was her voice so high-pitched?

"....it's a bottle," he deadpanned.

She hesitated. "Well, yeah but look, it's like- It looks like frozen caramel! It's pretty!"

Fundy raised a brow, looking between her and the bottle. "It's a glass bottle, Sunny. There's not even anything in it! It's garbage."

Sunny frowned with a huff. "Yeah, well, it could be treasure." She tucked the bottle in her belt. "I think it's buried treasure."

"It wasn't even actually buried, dummy!" he retorted with a faint snarl. "It's garbage." He crossed his arms, hitting the bottle out of Sunny's paws.

"Hey!" she snapped a little, fumbling the bottle. She flinched as it broke on the ground.

Fundy's expression fell a little, his eyes widening. His ears leaned back as he looked at Sunny, expecting her to lose her shit. A low growl lingered in the back of her throat, and she clenched her fists.

Fundy hesitated, his features softening apologetically. He hadn't meant to break the dumb thing. "Listen- Sunny-"

The canine walked past him, shoving him with her shoulder, "This is why no one likes you." She rolled her eyes and glared at the ground, not waiting for Fundy to follow her. She was done faking a smile. Her throat hurt.

Who gives a shit what Fundy thinks anyway.

—

"Gogogo- Watch your footing, Tubbo, stay low to the ground! Dream liked to use his height like it was an advantage, heh." Tubbo ducked as Sunny swung her hoe at his neck. "Good! Then when I turned this way..."

"Tch," Sapnap shook his head, sitting next to George. "Lookit those losers." The men watched as Sunny and Tubbo sparred.

After Tommy and Wilbur left, doing whatever Tommy and Wilbur do, things loosened up a bit between the others. George and Sapnap, without much else to do, busied themselves with watching the quirky little group.

"Do they seriously think they're just gonna take land and go 'hey this is ours now'," Sapnap laughed, leaning on his friend.

George shook his head. "Yeah...doesn't seem super likely anything's gonna come of this. Prob'ly just a phase or something."

"I want it to burn."

The pair jumped as Dream appeared behind them.

"JEEZ! A little warning next time??" George whined, running a hand through his hair.

"You said burn?" Sapnap grinned, quickly recovering.

Ignoring both of them, Dream stared at the black stone walls with disdain. Who the hell...did they think they were? To think they could just take some of his land and make it theirs.

It pissed him off.

His more recent realization, concerning a certain yellow dog, only made it worse.

"Dream," George said slowly, shoving Sapnap with an eye roll. "Maybe you should take a few breaths...go on a walk maybe..?"

Dream looked at him, the eerie silence that followed made George's skeleton wanna run for the hills.

"Sapnap," he said without looking away. "I want you to take the tree line on the east side. Make it nothing but ash. George, come with me."

Sapnap brightened instantly and laughed. "HeheehHE Yes sirrr!" He hopped up, all too much spring in his step as he ran off.

George's shoulders raised. "Shittt-"

"George." Dream huffed with irritation, pulling up George by the arm. "C'mon."

He yelped and stumbled against Dream. "Where- where are we going?"

"We're gonna make sure Sapnap keeps the fire contained where I told him to put it." The smiling mask looked at George. "Then we're going to help."

—

Sunny's ear twitched at a distant rumble.

"You guys hear that?"

BOOM!!

An orange glow was seen on the other side of the walls; structures still short enough to allow perfect view of the forest fire spreading.

"Fire!!" Tubbo shouted as Wilbur emerged from the camarvan.

"What's happening?"

"They started a fire outside the walls, Wil," Niki said as she handed Tubbo and Sunny a few buckets.

"Fundy, c'mon," Eret started to say, "We'll try to keep it from-"

"Don't." Wilbur spoke sternly. "The fire's outside of L'manburg borders, it's not our concern."

Fundy hesitated. "Wh- But, Wil-"

"Fundy," Wilbur said sternly, looking at him for a moment. "I said leave it. All of you. The problem will take care of itself."

And with that, he left them and went back inside the camarvan.

Sunny felt her temper begin to boil as she stamped her foot. What the hell... He was just gonna let their forests burn? Really? What was he even doing in there that was so important...

She gave a rebellious huff. "No. Guys, c'mon! It's not even that big of a fire, we can put it out before it gets too crazy!"

Fundy shook his head, "But Wilbur said-"

Eret nodded. "Right. Niki, Fundy, you two go on the left side, Tubbo, Sunny and I will go for the right. We'll get through the fire and meet in the middle, got it?"

Niki nodded and pulled Fundy along.

As Sunny and Tubbo ran off to their side of the fire, Eret hesitated, glancing back at the camarvan. Wilbur surely wasn't serious...was he? He shook his head. It doesn't matter. Sunny and Tubbo needed his help.

—

....'Not even that big of a fire', quickly felt like an understatement. An optical illusion.

Sunny didn't know where Tubbo and Eret were. One second, they were all together, the next they weren't.

"Eret!" She called out as she splashed her water bucket on a tree, only for the fire to get worse. She yelped and stumbled back as the flames jumped at her. "Shit- Eret-!" her voice cut out, a violent cough rattling her bones. Where did he go?? Everyone was right behind her—

Her feet tripped over each other as giant red jaws snapped at her. How did the flames get everywhere?! Where- How did this happen?! She wanted to bark at the flames, to snarl and spit like her instincts told her; she wanted to rear back from the heat that bit at her ankles, but the smoke didn't let her think straight, it was trying to choke her. Muddle her brain.

Run!—The roof is coming down! Sunny inhaled sharply at the voices that seemed to flicker with the flames. Get her out, I'll be right behind you!—It's too hot!—Stay here, I'll be right back.

Sunny gave a helpless bark at the voices—make them go away!!—triggering an onslaught of violent hacking. Her body racked with heavy coughs and she used her bandana to cover her mouth. A silent whine escaped as she looked around in panic. The inability to get a full breath in didn't help. The red jaws were everywhere, she couldn't escape them—she was surrounded.

"Well, lookit that..."

Sunny almost didn't realize the new voice was real, attempting to give another silent, desperate bark. The flames bit at her from every corner and her chest heaved bruisingly as she looked around. Her eyes locked onto the familiar smiling mask. How she wanted to break that mask over her knee-

The roof is collapsing!—I have to go help—Stay here, I'll be rightback!

She yelped, jerking to the side as the angry red fangs bit at her clothes. Leave me alone!! "You!" She snarled through her bandana at Dream. "You're causing this, aren't you??"

The man only snorted at her dismay and threw his head back in a cackle. Dream found all too much pleasure in Sunny's frantic movements. "You got a problem with fire," he wheezed, "Ohhh and you don't have any ender pearls! This is hilarious..."

Sunny growled, pulling out her golden hoe. Her eyes continued to dart left and right at the fire, but her resolve to kill the bastard was unwavering. Sunny!

I said leave me alone! she thought, fighting the urge to turn tail. Her vision blurred but she was convinced it was an effect of smoke.

Dream tilted his head. His enchanted netherite armor glimmered as he wielded his sword, standing across the grass from Sunny menacingly. She made his blood boil. Her weakness to the flames around them brought a real, true, positively tickled expression to his face that he was sure even she could see.

"Help!!" A distant voice shouted.

Sunny gasped, (which only triggered a coughing fit). "Tubbo!—cough—Hold on!!"

She got up to run, forgetting about Dream—who moved with frightening speed and swung his leg, kicking her in the throat and forcing her to the ground. "Nope!"

Sunny yelped and coughed violently. She barely got her bearings before Dream's sword came down on her—and stopped just inches away from her face as the blade hit the handle of her golden hoe. Her arms burned as he put all his weight on the blade, slowly pushing the hoe's point into her shoulder.

"Agh!!" Sunny cried out. Her eyes burned and her chest heaved as Dream leaned close to her face with a menacing tone,

"You're not getting away this time..."

—

"Wilbur!!" Eret burst into the camrvan. "We need help out here!"

Wilbur looked up as Eret immediately started digging through chests. "What? What's going on?"

"Dream's goons got Tubbo surrounded, and the fire's too big for the others; I don't even know where they are!" Eret spewed, jumping on the balls of his feet. He refused to stop moving, refusing the pain from burns and bruises to catch up with him once the adrenaline wore off.

Wilbur's eyes widened and he seemed caught within himself. "What?? Damnit.. n-nono, I told," he growled with frustration, "I told you all to leave it alone.."

Eret huffed with a frown, "Okay well, it's kinda late for that. Now get some supplies from the chest and come help me!"

More hesitation... Eret had to double take as Wilbur looked like a deer in headlgihts. "Wil." Eret raised his voice, "Wilbur!"

He flinched. "Eret- No, I- they can handle themselves; we have to hold our ground here-"

"Cut the bullshit, Wilbur, they need our help!"

"No!" Wilbur shouted, fidgeting between his feet distressfully and running a hand through his hair. "No, if we all leave to go put out this stupid fire, we could lose our stance here, in L'manburg."

Eret frowned, his nose wrinkling. Bullshit. "Are you effing serious??"

The storyteller hesitated again. His inability to make decisions was pissing Eret off. "Look, we- I-I told you all to leave it, why didn't you listen??"

"I don't have time for this," Eret waved dismissed him with a growl. "I'm not gonna sit here while the others are in danger!" He grabbed his sword and slammed the door so hard the windows cracked.

Wilbur flinched and let out a quick, stressed breath as he sat down at his desk, head in his hand.

Meanwhile, Eret broke into a full sprint, going to Tubbo's aide, (who was surrounded by Dream's goons; Sapnap, George and Punz).

"Hey!!" he barked as he swung his sword at Punz, blades clashing.

"Eret!" Tubbo cried with relief, barely holding off Sapnap and George. "Thank Notch you came!"

Eret grunted as he and Punz dueled. "Where're the others?"

"I've no idea- AH!" Tubbo shrieked as Sapnap threw a torch at his feet, causing him to trip backwards. "Eret! Help!" George smacked the pickaxe out his hand, holding his netherite sword threateningly.

"Kinda busy," Eret grunted as he elbowed Punz in the stomach, breaking out of a headlock.

Tubbo yelped as George pointed his sword at his neck.

"HEREEEESSS TOMMY!"

The blonde appeared, flying over Eret and swinging his foot into Punz' face, sending him across the grass.

"Tommy!!" Tubbo shouted before sweeping his leg and tripping George. "You came back!"

"Yeahhhhh, well, thoughtchu mighta needed my help! Might prove to Wilbur how serious I am, yeah?" Tommy stretched his arms behind his head with a grin. He reeled around to clash swords with Sapnap and kicked him back harshly. "You good, Eret? Yeh, of course you are- AH!" He jumped into Tubbo's arms as a flaming tree branch fell in front of him.

Eret shook his head, "C'mon-"

Fssshhhhh

The fighting stopped as they all looked up; water drizzled around them, sprinkling away the fire.

Sapnap frowned with a whine. "Aww, what the hell!"

"Where-" Tubbo looked around to see Fundy and Niki leaning on a large water dispenser with smirks on their faces. Tubbo grinned and laughed. "YEAHHH! Let's go, Fundy! You fricking GENIUSES!"

George grunted as he sat up and looked around as the fire slowly diminished. He slowly stood and looked at the three L'manburgians. "C'mon, Sapnap.." He carefully pulled his friend by the arm. "We did what he told us," he said quietly.

Sapnap groaned out a string of complaints. "It wasn't even that big of a stupid fire! Didn't even get to do anything."

Eret, Tommy and Tubbo looked at each other and let out heavy breaths and laughs of relief, walking over to Fundy and Niki. Tommy and Tubbo danced and spun as if it was raining.

"That was good thinking," Eret shouted with a grin.

"Yes, GREAT thinking!!" Tubbo exclaimed, immediately taking interest in the contraption.

Niki smiled and gave Eret a lowfive. "It was Fundy's idea, really," she said breathlessly as the aforementioned fox proudly showed Tubbo the ins and outs.

"Good work, Fundy!"

Everyone looked with mixed expressions as Wilbur walked over. He smiled calmly, ignoring Eret's irate expression.

"Wait really, Wil?" Fundy grinned, his tail flicking.

Wilbur nodded, "Of course! Look at how intuitive this is, making a water dispenser from scratch. Like a giant sprinkler! And so quickly built! Good job," he praised as he ruffled his hat. His thoughtful eyes remained on Fundy for a moment before he took a breath. "Now, Sunny-"

"Hey! Hey, Wilbur, did," Tommy interjected, leaning on Wilbur's shoulder, "did you see me? How I swooped in to help Eret and Tubbo? Poor fellas were surrounded until I came in!"

Wilbur raised a brow and shrugged him off, "Yes- Good job, Tommy, disobeying direct orders. Good on ya."

Tommy blinked, "Wh- I mean, maybe but Wil-"

"Where's Sunny?" Wilbur interrupted, a mix of frustration and concern coloring his expression.

Everyone looked around, only then realizing the rambunctious canine hadn't been with them.

"I- she'd been right with me," Tubbo said before cupping his hands around his mouth, "Sunny? Sunny!!"

Eret and Wilbur glanced at each other, sharing a look (a very hostile one from Eret).

"Sunny!" Fundy and Niki shouted, joined by Eret and Tommy as they all spread out.

Wilbur felt his breath quicken and his fists clenched. He raised his voice, hands cupped around his mouth, "Sunny, where are you!"

—

Drip, drip, drip...

Sunny gasped and coughed harshly, her throat throbbing with pain. She whimpered as she slowly sat up. It felt like she'd just swallowed razor blades... A burning, metallic taste stained her tongue that made her nauseous.

Her fur was faintly smeared with red; whose blood it was, she wasn't sure. It could've been both them. Her fur was damp and covered in mud, however, mostly hiding the blood. She looked around blearily, vision foggy as she trembled. The fire... it's gone...

Water drizzled off the trees as the fire was slowly put out by Fundy and Niki's sprinkler, a misty smoke filling the air. The angry red jaws weren't snarling at her, she couldn't feel the heated sharpness of glowing orange fangs trying to take her limbs.

She swallowed again, purely trying to calm herself down, only to jerk back at the pain that followed. What the eff- Slowly, she lifted her paw to her throat. Her eyes widened as she realized what happened.

A deep, thick scar stretched from one side of her throat to the other. It felt fresh, like any sudden movement would rip the scar open. A wheezy whimper left her as a shudder went through her bones. "Okay," she managed softly as she carefully stood. Deep breaths...

Quiet whines slipped through Sunny as she put everything together. Dream's voice echoed in her head, coming back to her. Her golden hoe broken, poofed to nothing. The puncture in her shoulder was deeper than she preferred, leaving a bruising ache. The fear that paralyzed her being replaced by relief...only for an eerie lingering fear to return as she remembered.

"Sunnyyy!"

Her ear twitched and she looked towards L'manburg. That sounds like...

"Sunny, where are you!"

Her eyes widened and she walked (slowly, unbalanced), to the tree line. She saw everyone below relatively close together, yet spreading out as they looked for her. Her paw traced the scar across her throat and she adjusted her bandana to hide it. If any of them saw the severity of the scar...

She had to be okay. Sunny had to be better. Bigger. She had to be loud and proud and relieved.

Cold netherite slicing through her skin.

Sunny blinked and shook her head. No... not loud and proud. She just, had to be alive. With a smile. That would be good enough.

Carefully stepping down the hill, she gave a few gentle barks, ignoring the stabbing pain that shot through her body. "Guys! I'm- Over-over here! I'm right here," she said, getting their attention.

"Sunny!!" Tommy shouted with a victorious grin as he picked her up in a tight hug. "What the hell happened to you?! Where'd you go-"

Sunny laughed. Ignore the pain. "Me? where did you come from?? I thought you got sent you home!"

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I came back!"

"Guys, we found Sunny," Tubbo shouted to the grownups.

Eret jogged over, "Oh, thank Notch!"

As everyone sort've fussed and celebrated Sunny's wellbeing, Fundy stood a little away from the group, paws stuffed in his jacket pockets as he watched.

He glanced at Wilbur, whose expression was unreadable... He didn't look pleased like he had of Fundy's sprinkler idea.

Fundy licked his nose. He was doing things right, then. Better than Sunny was.

Wilbur walked up to her, tilting his head. "You're alright?" He placed a hand on her cheek.

Sunny stepped back a little, shrugging his hand away. "Yeah! Ye-yeah I'm fine, Wil." Truthfully, she'd been in better shape... Every word was like swallowing a knife. But Wilbur didn't need to know that. She was still standing and breathing and (mostly) talking.

He stared at her for a moment, deciding if he believed her, before nodding. "Good... Let's return to the safety of our land, yes?" He looked around at everyone before leading the way back.

L'manburg's walls truly weren't far. It wasn't a scenic, nor tiring walk. But however short it was, it gave everyone time to think. Time to think about this revolution and exactly what they were about to fight...

In Sunny's eyes, if it weren't for Fundy and Niki, she probably wouldn't have survived the puny forest fire they all just fought. Were they really equipped to fight against Dream? Over some hunk of land?

She glanced around subtly, noting everyone's expressions. Her eyes met Fundy's, already on her, and they both looked down.

Sunny shook her head a little. Everyone looked tired, and troubled.

"Hey, uh...Wilbur," Tubbo said once they'd all made it back to the camarvan. "I'm...starting to think this isn't such a great idea... the-the whole, uhm.. revolution. And everything..."

There was a long pause among the group, a silent agreement with Tubbo that none of them wanted to say out loud. Wilbur wasn't among this agreement but his silence was processing Tubbo's thoughts and likely analyizing the situation.

...maybe a small part of him did agree with Tubbo...

"Things weren't...so bad with Dream.. Maybe a little stricter but, I mean.." Tubbo's voice died down.

Sunny hugged her sides and looked down. Did she agree with Tubbo? Was the revolution over before it'd even begun?

"You and your nothing gang of weirdos won't make it... I promise you won't..."

Sunny's jaw clenched as his voice came back to mind. No...no, they'd make it.

"No," she started to say. She looked at everyone, meeting their eyes. "This, this soil we're standing on? This is going to be our home. We are all standing here because we've seen and lived the life Dream and his land has to offer." She licked her nose and growled under her breath. Ignore the pain.

"I've seen how you're all treated here; Dream is a tyrant, and a bully! We all know it! We- Fighting for this land is gonna be hard, and...and it's gonna suck!" She paused, clutching her bandana with a paw. "But it's our land! We can't let Dream bully us away from it because he's made the mistake of thinking we're not strong enough. We can't let him keep thinking that we'll never stand up to him! This soil," she looked looked down, "this is L'manburg soil."

As she spoke, everyone's faces visibly brightened. "Wilbur," she looked at him, "we must be free."

There was a short pause among the group before Tommy jumped next to Sunny, wrapping an arm around her. "YEAHH! I'm with 'er, who else!!"

"Yeah!!" Tubbo shouted, looping his arm in Fundy's as he stumbled against him. "Let's do this! Right, Fundy?"

He hesitated and his ears leaned back, "Uh- w-well I guess- I guess if we're all in.." He smiled nervously.

"DOWN WITH THE GREEN BASTARD!" Tommy shouted next to Sunny's ear, making her flinch with a laugh.

As everyone joined in, inspired by Sunny's speech, a smile grew on Wilbur's expression. He chuckled and clicked his tongue. "Well then...let's start making it happen."

—

"Ah, these look beautiful, Niki, perfect," Wilbur smiled warmly at her as she showed him the drafts for the uniforms. He looked towards the entrance. "Dream! You've finally stopped by to see our new nation." Wilbur didn't sound particularly excited about his arrival. He gave Niki a reassuring pat on the shoulder, sending her back to her work bench (surrounded by scraps of fabric).

"New nation, huh?" Everyone's work came to a pause as Dream stepped inside the walls. He looked around, the inability to see his expression leaving everyone uneasy. The mask was so ironically void of emotion despite having a smile. "Looks kinda...small," he snorted with amusement.

"YEAH- y'know what else is small, Dream??" Tommy appeared on top of the camarvan. "YOUR D-"

"Tommy, what're you doing up there!" Wilbur frowned. "Get down. Weren't you working on the Embassy?"

"Yea yeah no but I finished, Wilbur," Tommy replied. "I came back, didn't y'see-"

"Dream, is there anything we can help you with?" Wilbur cut him off, crossing his arms.

Dream seemed to scan the area as he spoke, mentally noting who all was there. "No... Just, wanted to see what was happening over here. Lotsa ruckus coming from this side of Dream SMP." He had a particular smirk in his tone that pissed Tommy off.

Wilbur hummed. "Well, it just so happens-"

"This ain't Dream SMP anymore GREEN BOY!" Tommy shouted, jumping down from the camarvan. "This is OUR lands!"

"Yeah, this OUR lands!!" Tubbo and Sunny joined in.

Wilbur frowned. "Tommy-"

"Viva La Revolution!!" Sunny shouted, holding her fist in the air.

"YEAHH!" Tommy jumped by her side.

He stepped up to Dream boldly. "We're having a revolution, you green bastard!! NO LONGER will we gRovel- AH!" As Tommy got in his face, Dream smacked him upside the forehead, (not unlike a perturbed cat), causing the boy to screech and flail. "WILBUR, HE JUST HIT ME!"

Everyone got to their feet, Tommy's dramatization of the situation not helping things.

"EY EY!" Sunny barked, running in front of Tommy, "Back off, buster!" She growled at Dream, pointing her golden hoe at his neck. The green man seemed all too unbothered. "Try an' hit him again, I DARE you!"

"Sunny!" Wilbur barked sternly, making her flinch. She glanced at Wilbur and stepped back, keeping Tommy at her side with a low growl.

There was a long silence. You could've heard a fly land on a blade of grass. Everyone seemed to wait for Wilbur to speak. He took a moment to compose himself and sighed. "Look, Dream, just- please ignore these, children.. The only thing they're correct about is, yes, we are having a revolution. Inside these walls, we will have our own nation."

The tyrant was silent for a few moments, his mask seeming to scan the area. The gears and cogs turned and whirred in his head. Behind the mask, his cunning green eyes flickered to Sunny, landing on her golden hoe for a moment.

"...And, uh," he started before the silence could become awkward, "what's this 'nation' of yours called?"

"It's called L'manburg, bitch!" Tommy shouted, only to yelp as Sunny smacked him upside the head.

"Shut up!" she hissed under her breath.

Fundy crossed his arms and shook his head with a quiet tsk. "Children, am I right, Wil?" He looked at Wilbur.

He ignored the fox and cleared his throat. "It's called L'manburg, Dream."

"Manburg...?" Dream snorted and fell into a fell laugh, agitating everyone there. "What the f- who did you let pick the name??"

"Luh-manburg," Sunny corrected calmly with a glare. "And it was a group decision."

"Uh, I helped a li'l bit more," Tommy mumbled.

Dream snorted. "Well, it shows," he wheezed, "'cause that's probably the worst name I've ever head in my life. Manburg..."

"Luh-manburg!" The teenagers corrected him harshly.

"Right, yeah- Luh-manburg, my bad, heh..." he laughed, finally catching his breath. Silently, behind his mask, a death glare rested on Sunny. Something about her made every fiber of his being violent. He wanted to skewer her like chicken and feed her to his wolves. He briefly wondered if that would be cannibalism.

...Maybe he was spending too much time with Sapnap.

"Dream, is there anything else you needed?" Wilbur spoke up. He could feel the tension thickening by the minute. Truthfully, he hadn't been able to get a word in between Dream's arrogance and the pair of reckless teenagers screeching in retaliation.

"Huh? Oh. Uhhh," he replied as he took a long look around and clicked his tongue. "Nnnno, not really. Good--snrk--good luck with all this, heh.." he laughed a little. His tone was calm, flat. Bored. Without a trained ear, you wouldn't notice the outrage hidden behind his voice.

Wilbur's eyes narrowed, not responding as Dream turned on his heel to leave. "...Thank you, Dream," he said quietly, with a measure of annoyance in his voice.

The second Dream disappeared from view, Wilbur's attention snapped to the golden canine next to Tommy. "Sunny. Come here."

Tommy and Tubbo looked at Wilbur very much like siblings worried about getting in trouble with mom. Sunny's floppy ear twitched and she hesitated, muttering a "shit" under her breath as she followed him into the camarvan.

Once the two were inside, there was a long awkward silence between everyone else.

"I...suppose, we should get back to work?" Niki suggested, glancing at Eret, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, uh- Fundy, why don't you come help me for a bit," he said, adjusting his sunglasses.

Fundy's ear twitched. "Oh- o-ok. What about Tommy and Tubbo?"

Eret paused, "Uhh...Let's just- don't worry about them. C'mon, you can toss me up materials for the wall. My pockets aren't big enough to carry everything."

"Ha HAA loser! Stuck with Eret work," Tommy snorted, earning a growl from Fundy.

The fox looked between the two bitterly before following Eret.

Now it was just Tommy and Tubbo. And another long pause.

Tubbo looked at the camarvan, seeing vaguely images of Wilbur and Sunny. "What'd you reckon they're talkin' about?"

Tommy followed his gaze and shrugged. "Beats me... Probably something awesome."

—

"He hit Tommy, Wil!! I wasn't just gonna stand there-"

"Sunny, you pointed a weapon at the very tyrant we AREN'T trying to piss off!" Wilbur pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering under his breath about the arrogance of teenagers.

Sunny growled quietly and looked away briefly. "Why should we give a single eff if that green bastard gets pissed off? He's pissed US off, that's why we're building all this, isn't it??"

Wilbur hesitated, looking at Sunny. He noted her tense expression, emotions high-strung, fists clenched... He licked his lip and looked down, gathering his thoughts before he spoke.

"...You're right. He's pissed us off." A short pause. His voice was calm and level. The agitation and anger was gone. "But Sunny, at this moment, our least concern is Dream and his feelings. Our biggest priority right now is building our nation, regardless of Dream's stance on it, so that we may be free."

Sunny's brow furrowed. "So- you'd just let him talk shit about our home?"

Wilbur gave a short shrug. "Right now, I think it would do us good to simply ignore Dream. Focus on L'manburg's construction."

The teenager gave a moody sigh as she crossed her arms. "Okay..." Her eyes narrowed. "What about Tommy? He was just as loud as me. Why didn't you bring him in here to talk too?"

"Tommy is just- He's a child, Sunshine." Wilbur replied dismissively.

"I'm a child," Sunny retorted, earning a lighthearted laugh from Wilbur.

He nodded, "Perhaps, but you're not Tommy."

There was a long silence in the camarvan. Wilbur tilted Sunny's head up, petting her cheek. "Listen to me, I need you to give 110%, understand? This is unlike anything I've ever done and honestly...it's likely the most important thing I've ever done. I have a wonderful future planned for us, Sunny, but I need your help to make it happen."

Sunny looked at him with wide eyes, silent.

"I need you, Sunny. Can I count on you to be there, not...galivanting off with Tommy and shouting slurs at Dream?" Wilbur tilted his head with a smile.

She couldn't help a quiet snort of laughter. She smiled and nodded. "You can count on me, Wil. I promise."

"Mm, good." He nodded and ruffled her fur. "Now," he continued, walking towards the door to the camarvan, "why don't you and Tubbo help Niki with uniforms, yes? I'm going to have a little talk with Tommy while he shows me the progress of his embassy that he's so proud of."

Sunny smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah! Sounds good." She followed after him with a pep in her step.

For as long as she could remember, Sunny had wanted to be just like Wilbur. She wanted to be important to him, important like him. To have a mission from him and be relied on. But during all their travels, Wilbur had never quite had a passion or dream or real need to rely on anyone other than himself. He was always good at, yet secretive, about taking care of himself and Sunny, without help.

But now? With the birth of his L'manburg? Wilbur wanted Sunny's help. He had a mission for her. She could finally show him everything she was capable of.

Sunny could finally show Wilbur that he could rely on her and that gave her all the confidence she needed to take a real stand in this revolution.

—

"Wait, waitwait, so you really are the guy–well, girl, in this case–who helped us in the disc war?" Tubbo tilted his head with a tone of disbelief.

Sunny snickered. "Is it really that hard to believe?" There was a unanimous nod from the small group that made Sunny scoff in amused offense.

With Wilbur and Tommy gone, there was finally peace and quiet within L'manburg walls, causing everyone to gather together for a small recess of sorts. Eret and Fundy took a break from building to come sit with Niki, Tubbo and Sunny while they continued sewing and cutting up fabrics for the uniforms.

It felt like a break from real work as everyone chatted casually--at the moment, about Sunny's history in particular.

She nodded. "Yeah, so- I mean you guys were getting your butts handed to you. And Wilbur has been SO boring lately, good Notch. I needed something to do, and making you guys win seemed like a good waste of time."

Tubbo stifled a laugh. "Okay but like...you don't seem to realize that you literally went up against Dream! And you didn't die??"

Fundy shook his head, "Yeah, that's bullshit."

"Wha- YO! It's not that unbelievable, whisker face, I only had to take him for like a couple of seconds!" Sunny huffed in retaliation.

The pair glared at each other.

"Oh, oh," Tubbo spoke up, having been in his own thoughts. "And how'd you know Tommy? He got like, really excited when he realized who you were."

Sunny winced as she pricked her pawpad with a needle. "Hm? Ohh yeah!!"

The young girl went on to explain her history with Tommy, albeit a short history; how she and Wilbur had met him in a village years ago. How Wilbur took an immediate liking to the young lad and how, while Wilbur was busy with other adult matters in the village, Tommy and Sunny were left to their own devices. Aforementioned 'devices' being a lemonade stand they set up together. Their first business.

Tubbo laughed, leaning back a bit. "Oh my gosh- Y'know what, I bet that explains what got him into becoming the world's best businessman. It all started with a lemonade stand."

Sunny giggled. "It all started with a lemonade standdd!" She hummed in thought as she studied the measurements on one of Niki's sketches. "But uh... after that village, I don't think I really saw him again until we came to Dream SMP.. I vaguely remember Wilbur mentioning visiting him during some of his trips."

"Oh, I remember that." Eret chipped in. "Every couple months or so, I remember Wilbur coming into town. Tommy always freaked the hell out and things would be noisy as frick until Wilbur would leave." He snorted a quiet laugh.

A strange air of nostalgia lingered as the friends talked, telling stories about Wilbur, or Tommy's absolutely chaotic personality.

—

"Good, Tubbo! Now, watch your footing- AND PEARL!" Sunny shouted as she and Tubbo sparred, replicating the fight between her and Dream.

Tubbo chucked the enderpearl without paying attention and body slammed Fundy. "AH- What the helllll," the fox whined, earning a laugh from his canine nemesis.

Sunny's ear twitched and she looked towards the gates. "Wilbur!" Like a faithful puppy–no pun intended–she jumped up from her spot and ran to him. Her brow furrowed at his expression. "Wil? You good? Where's Tommy?" She looked around.

Wilbur wore a disappointed frown and his fists were clenched in his pockets. "Tommy's been dismissed until further notice."

Everyone looked up at that. "What??" the teenagers said in unison.

"What do you mean dismissed," Tubbo asked as he stood up, accidentally pushing Fundy over.

"I mean Tommy isn't taking this revolution seriously, and he has been sent home until that changes," Wilbur said, his voice raising just a little, laced with irritation. "He's not coming back until he gets it through his skull that this is a movement. We can't afford to piss about."

Sunny looked at Tubbo, then at Wilbur as he walked towards the camarvan. "Wh- But- Wil, are you sure-"

Slam!

Sunny flinched as he slammed the door and looked at Tubbo. "...Do- should we do something-?"

Tubbo rubbed his arm. "I-I don't know! Something must've happened over at the embassy.. Maybe we should go talk to Tommy?"

"Yeahhh, I don't reckon that's a good idea," Fundy spoke up as he adjusted his hat.

Sunny frowned and crossed her arms. "And why not?"

Fundy hesitated, gathering his thoughts. "...Wilbur- Wilbur's right, Sunny. This revolution's important. You saw how Tommy was with Dream! He could've gotten us all killed in the span of the three minutes he was speaking to him! He's reckless."

"I'm reckless," Sunny retorted.

"You're a different reckless," Fundy rolled his eyes, not looking at her. "The kind that won't get us killed."

There was a stretch of silence between the two as Sunny narrowed her eyes and licked her nose.

Tubbo cleaned his tongue and coughed loudly, "Flerting- ANYWAYS!"

"WHOA, hey!!"

"Hold on-"

Sunny and Fundy stiffened, only for Tubbo to talk over them, "that being said, we should probably, at least try to talk to Tommy."

Fundy huffed and crossed his arms. "I still think it's a bad idea... Wilbur kicked him out for a reason-"

"He wasn't kicked out, Fundy," Sunny snapped with a growl.

rumble...

Sunny's ear twitched and she froze, her expression paling. She looked around with the alarm and awareness of a startled deer. "Did you guys hear that?"

Eret and Niki stopped and looked at Sunny. There was a short silence. "Hear what," Tubbo frowned a little, tilting his head.

Then, just beyond the walls, a warm glow arose from the trees.

BOOM!!!

—

"Heads up, Tommy!!" Sunny flung a black hat across the grass.

"Oh, oh ohhHHH," the boy stuck his tongue out and jumped up to catch it, "I got it!!"

Fundy growled, stuck between the two, "Knock it off! Give it back!!" The poor fox tried to take his hat from Tommy, only for it to be thrown to Sunny with a harsh laugh.

He snarled at her, "Give it!!" The canine shrieked and bolted as he chased her.

Tommy and Sunny had been relentlessly bullying the fox all morning, completely disregarding any semblance of peace everyone else might've wanted.

Within the week and a half following his presence, Wilbur made considerable progress for his cause. Borders established, walls beginning construction, and a climbing number of weirdos surrounding his camarvan. He'd managed to convince three more people to join the revolution for his nation, aptly named L'manburg (with Tommy's charming input, of course). With extra available hands on deck, he set to delegating jobs for everyone.

Eret was the first to join. He took to Wilbur's ideas like a fish to water, becoming a healthy addition to the group (who happened to be an adult, to Wilbur's relief). He was friendly toward everyone, no one minded him. He was a fella, a guy. Plain and simple. With a reputable talent for building, Wilbur gave him the hearty task of constructing the walls for L'manburg.

Niki, who was actually just about Wilbur's age, was rather sweet. Almost motherly in a sense. The boys didn't mind her. Sunny was...indecisive. She'd seen Niki around when they were 'spying' on Dream SMP, but she never paid her much mind. Too adult maybe? The golden pup was always focused on the younger, sillier members. Niki seemed nice enough though. Wilbur had tasked her with sewing together L'manburgian uniforms. He'd been ready with the design sketches for her, leaving her to the rest of the process.

And then there was Fundy...

An orange rat, Sunny believed. An orange rat with a fluffy tail disguise to blend in with the real foxes. Suffice to say, Fundy and Sunny had a less than friendly view of each other. Ever since Fundy was brought into the group, name calling, wrestling and petty bullying between the two often escelated to measures that required one of the adults stepping in.

Tubbo, in classic Tubbo fashion, was quite fond of Fundy. Apparently, they did a lot of things together, like science projects and sleepovers. Tommy, though, was the complete opposite, avoiding Fundy as much as possible if he didn't have nefarious intentions. He shared Sunny's disdain towards the fox.

"Ey ey ey! Ease off!" Fundy yelped as Sunny tackled him. He'd gotten his hat back for about five seconds before the canine caught up to him.

Sunny growled, pinning him to the ground and biting his arm. "Gife it vack!"

"It's MY hat!"

"I don'care!"

A harsh whistle through the air got their attention. Wilbur stood outside the camarvan with a megaphone, "Tommy, Tubbo, Sunny and Fundy!"

The furries glared at each other, pushing and shoving as they ran over to Wilbur, followed by Tommy and Tubbo.

"Alright, listen up," he clapped his hands together. "You've all had enough time messing around, the work is starting. Tommy, Tubbo, I want you two to help Eret get building materials for the walls."

"What??" Tommy whined, "But whyy! Partner me up with Sunny-"

"I'm not asking, Tommy," Wilbur crossed his arms. "You're being paired with Tubbo; It's a team building exercise."

"But I don't want to build my team with Tubbo!"

The brunette spoke up quietly, "I mean I don't mind doing my own-"

"It wasn't a suggestion, the both of you," Wilbur snapped sternly. "I'm gonna hear enough arguing from the next two. Get going."

Tommy's eyes narrowed and he huffed stubbornly. "Fineeeee! C'mon Tubbo." He grabbed the brunette by the collar and dragged him off.

Then there were the furries. And Wilbur didn't even get a word out-

"C'mon Will you can't SERIOUSLY team me up with him!" "Literally the worst team you could possibly build, just let me take Tubbo! We work together fine!" "Yeah, See?? And I'll take Tommy!"

Wilbur watched them talk over each other for a moment before interrupting, "See, you're already getting along! You're working together. End of story." He clapped his hands with an air of annoyance.

"WILBURRR, I'm going to work on my Embassy, Tubbo's got this, okay BYEE!" Tommy shouted as he barreled past before Wilbur could respond.

He frowned and rolled his eyes, giving his attention back to the furries. Sunny and Fundy looked equally annoyed, and defeated, as he gave them a stack of papers and a mission.

—

"Rat nose."

"Slobber mouth."

"Chicken chaser!"

Fundy yipped and growled as Sunny shoved past him, walking faster down Prime Path. "What was that for??"

"Uhhh, my own satisfaction," Sunny looked at him and snorted. "Hurry up, fox face, Wilbur's counting on us."

Fundy frowned as Sunny ran up to an enderman in oddly fancy attire. "Yeahhhh..." Truthfully, he didn't see any need to be here. Sunny and Tommy were loud enough together, they could get plenty of support on their own. The fox scoffed. Hell, Wilbur could get twice what those two could. Why was he stuck with her?

"Here you are, miss!" Sunny smiled, standing on her toes to hand the tall creature a flier. "Join L'manburg! Free yourself from the cruelty of the Dream SMP!"

Fundy scratched his head and adjusted his hat as he handed out fliers. "We're uh..started a new nation called L'manburg, you should join us! If- you want."

"You're so wimpy about it," Sunny sneered over his shoulder with her arms crossed.

"Oh my- Well sorry if I don't wanna be in everyone's faces."

"You should be! This is OUR independent nation we're talking about, Fundy! Act like you even give a shit, jeez," she rolled her eyes.

The fox growled and stomped away. "FINE!" He found a random person and walked up to them. "HI! You should join-"

"NOT THEM, you idiot!" Sunny jumped in front of him with a shove. "Wilbur said no fat americans." She glared at the stranger like they stole her lunch money.

"Wh- you just said!!"

"I didn't say get lame people into our nation!" Sunny groaned and facepalmed before looking around. "Just- there, there, try that thing." She turned Fundy around to look at a weird blue fishcat(??) leaning on the edge of the pond.

"That's a fish, Sunny!" Fundy huffed incredulously.

She placed her paws on her hips. "Oh, what, fish can't be European now?"

"No, it's just-"

"Go!" she snapped, shoving him forward.

Sunny's eyes narrowed as she watched Fundy go over and awkwardly try to be forward while handing the creature the flier. He's so stupid. She wondered if he even cared about the revolution.

He came over, sulking. "There, see? I did it. The water cat is part of L'manburg now."

She glared at him for a moment. "...You're an idiot." Then she turned on her heel and continued walking.

"What- What did I do?! What the hell!" He ran after her. "I literally did what you said!"

As the pair handed out fliers advertising their new nation (arguing the entire way), the noise caught the attention of two particular men lounging on a ledge nearby.

George cleaned his sunglasses and squinted through them before he looked down at the furries, who paid him no mind.

"I'm BEING logical, what do you mean??" the fox barked. "We can just invite any jolly joe with an accent!"

"I mean your logic is about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike! Who says we can't?!"

"Yeah well-!"

George raised a brow and nudged his friend. "Sapnap, wake up. Look."

Sapnap snorted and looked around blearily. "Huh? Whatsit?" He rubbed his nose and followed George's gaze. "Ohh hoho, those dorks." He grinned and sat up, squinting as his eyes tried to focus. A few bleary blinks and anyone could tell the guy was stoned out of his mind, as usual.

George rolled his eyes at Sapnap and ignored him, watching the pair argue. At one point, Fundy shoved Sunny forward and she tripped. "WAH-" Half a dozen enderpearls fell off her person, bouncing across the wood path and sending her every which way.

A downside of using ender pearls was something Sunny always forgot about until she actually used them. Every time she pearled somewhere, it felt like her bones would crack as her body smacked against the surface she teleported to. Wilbur claimed it was simply because she was clumsy and didn't know how to land properly.

She hissed a wince as she slumped against a tree. "Ow..."

Fundy ran up to her, looking concerned for a moment. "You good?"

She grunted. "Not re-"

"Ohh, just kidding, I don't care," Fundy cut her off, walking down the path.

Sunny blinked and felt herself laugh at his blatantly deadpan tone. With a huff, she righted herself and went after him.

Meanwhile, George stared after the two, slack jawed. The ender pearls... it tripped a wire in his memory. Maybe it was a coincidence. He wanted to dismiss the idea that Sunny, of all people,was connected to Dream's little investigation. But then again...

His brow furrowed as he looked down. He didn't know Sunny very well. He'd only seen her a few times over the years, when Wilbur had visited Dream SMP. And back then, she was truly just a child.

Taking Dream's nature into account, George couldn't help but be concerned. How would he react? Would he really be so angry at the girl he once offered a friendly smile to? If he really did get angry, how far would he let it go?

"We should shoot 'em." Sapnap mumbled boredly, fidgeting dumbly with his crossbow. His gruff, sleep-laden voice cut through George's thoughts. "I could pin the girly to a tree, just like- pin her to a tree with fire. A fire arrow." He let out a loopy laugh, all too noodle-limbed with the crossbow.

"Sap, what are you on about??" George's nose scrunched up.

Sapnap groaned, "I dunnoooo I'm bored! I wanna frickin....set something on fire. Like Wilbur's stupid new friends. I wannaaa friggin...set his dog's tail on fire, watch her run around, heh."

With an annoyed huff, George closed his eyes for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh. "C'mon, Sapnap." He stood up.

The man blinked and looked up at his friend. "Huh? Where goin'?" He wasn't all there yet, slurring his sentences with sleepiness.

George didn't reply as he walked off.

—

Wilbur wasn't a man to waste time; of this much, Dream was certain. When Punz had first warned him about Wilbur and his crew of children, he didn't pay it much mind. At the time, nothing had changed except for Wilbur and his....daughter(?) moving into DreamSMP with their camarvan.

Now, about two weeks later, Dream was perched on a hill beneath a tree, watching the growing group with suspicious eyes as black stone walls rose from the ground.

"Wilbur!!" Sunny called with a grin as she and Fundy returned through the gates. "We're backk!"

Fundy only gave a quiet annoyed huff, feeling vulnerable without his hat (which Sunny had gladly stolen the second she could).

"Ooh," Tubbo exclaimed with a smile, "Did anyone else want to join?"

"Oh ho yeah," Sunny replied smugly, adjusting the hat on her head. "We had to turn down a few people, no thanks to Fundy...."She glared at him, then smiled. "But all else wise we got plenty o'folks!"

From behind his mask, Dream rolled his eyes. Great. More freaks surrounding Wilbur. He wondered how much Wilbur could thrive being in the middle of so many chaotic people. Children.

"There you are," a voice said.

Dream paused and looked over. "Oh. Hey, George."

George tilted his head for a moment. Maybe he couldn't read Dream's expression, but most times, his body language said everything he wanted to know. Tense muscles, rigid posture, his thumb fidgeting with the sharp side of a rock to the point he drew blood...

"What's up?" Dream looked at his friend, a smiling mask staring at him. "You good?"

George blinked. He was caught in his thoughts again. Sometimes, George got so in his head, he forgot time was still passing for everyone else. "Y-yeah, yeah I'm fine! I just..." he hesitated, "thought you might wanna know..."

He sat down next to Dream, "Wilbur's friend, the- Sunny? I think she might be...uh, she might, have something to do with what happened during the disc war?"

Dream's tone changed. He raised a brow. "What makes you say that?"

"Sapnap and I saw her and Fundy in Dream SMP, trying to get people on their side." He noticed Dream's fist clench subtly. "They were fighting about something...then she tripped, and a bunch of ender pearls went all over the place."

George glanced at his friend, who was quiet for a long moment. "So the kid dropped a few enderpearls, George... Doesn't really mean anything."

He looked down, rubbing his neck. "I know, I- just kinda thought you'd wanna know.."

Just more silence. George wasn't always a worrier, truly. But over time, something changed in Dream that made him worry. Dream wasn't as predictable and rational as George remembered; it often made him uneasy. Long prolonged silences and pauses meant the gears were turning behind that stupid smiling mask. And George couldn't tell anymore what was happening in that brilliant mind.

Abruptly, he stood up and walked toward the black stone walls without explanation.

"Wh- Dream? Where're you going?" George went to follow him.

It scared him sometimes, if George was honest. 

Being unable to see behind the mask...

—

It was a blissfully cloudless day as Wilbur and Sunny sat outside their camarvan. The young girl was lounging across her friend's legs as he sang his songs and strummed his guitar. It had been fairly quiet for the two, allowing them some relaxation in the sun.

...Until it wasn't.

Wilbur strummed his guitar softly, "...a song that will linger, forever in our ears-"

"Dream, what are you doing?!" a distant, panicked voice interrupted.

The pair froze, sharing a look before getting off the grass to run towards the shouting. Sunny caught the noise first, sprinting to the tree line. She knew that voice anywhere. She heard him from a mile away- Tubbo.

"Sun- Sunny, wait, wait!" Wilbur frantically grabbed her by the waist before she could be seen. "Stop-"

"Will! Let me go," she growled, struggling against him.

He frowned and clamped her maw shut. "Be quiet," he snapped, nodding ahead of them, "Look."

Below, Dream could be seen putting his sword away, surrounded by the bloodied bodies of villagers as they poofed away one by one. Tubbo was held back by Sapnap while George simply stood to the side, his expression as indiscernible as Dream's... Although, Dream's actions said enough for him.

"Why would you do that?! I spent weeks looking for those villagers!" Tubbo shouted as he shoved Sapnap off him.

Dream was walking away, ignoring him. "Sapnap, George; let's go."

Tubbo simply stood there as the Dream Team left, leaving him with the remains of his villager farm.

From the hilltop, Sunny panted, a faint growl in her throat as her anger boiled. She glared at Dream, wanting to rip off his armor and tear out his throat.

"Sunny." She looked at Wilbur. He could probably feel how angry she was; her temper didn't shy from flaring up when it came to Dream. But Wilbur wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the defeated Tubbo below. The familiar sparkle of potential and anticipation danced in his eyes. He gave a small smirk. "It's time."

"Tubbo!" Tommy shouted down at the bottom of the hill, running up to his friend. "Are you okay? What happ- The villagers! What the hell??" He threw his arms in front of him and ran a hand through his hair. "What happened??"

Tubbo shook his head with a scoff. "Dream and his goons stopped by..." He rubbed his nose with a hand and a quiet sniff, expression seemingly caught between anger and defeat.

Tommy looked at his friend sadly and kicked a patch of grass with a growl. "This is so stupid!"

"Hello Tommy, Tubbo," Wilbur smiled as he walked over, before tilting his head. "Goodness, what happened here?"

"Wilbur!!" Tommy brightened instantly.

Tubbo smiled a little and waved before frowning at his destroyed farm. "The Dream Team..."

The blonde shook his head with a snort, crossing his arms. "We beat him fair and square and he still finds a way to make us miserable. You should've seen it, Wilbur- Tubbo had this super cool farm of villagers we were gonna use to get enchantments from!" He clicked his tongue. "Aaaand yet... Dream the dictator struck again."

"Mm..." Wilbur nodded with a brief pause. "Would you like to change that, boys?" His voice was calm, quiet and calculated.

Tubbo and Tommy looked at each other, then at Wilbur. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we change it. The way things are." Wilbur stepped toward them. "I'm talking about a revolution, Tommy."

"A revolution?" Tubbo stood up, dusting off his knees. His brow furrowed.

Wilbur nodded, "I have a plan."

Before either of the boys had a chance to respond, an ender pearl bounced off Tommy's chest and a heavy weight pushed him to the ground. "Ello Tommy!!"

He screeched as he hit the grass, Sunny looking down at him with a toothy grin. "AH, ANOTHER ONE?! HELP, HELP I'M BEING ATTACKED BY A FURRY!! GET IT OFF ME!!"

"Tommy, Tommy, calm!!" Wilbur laughed as he pulled the golden retriever off him. "It's just Sunny. She's going to help us."

The blonde stuck his tongue out as he sat up and dusted himself off. "Blegh, oh my- wait, she- SHE?? Wilbur-" he leaned back on his hands in shock, "SHE?! ITS A WOMAN?! She's a- Wilbur you brought a WOMAN FURRY! What the hell?!"

"He effin' did, y'twat!!" Sunny barked back, though her grin never vanished. "What're you gonna do about it??"

Tommy blinked and frowned as Tubbo snickered behind his hand, amused. "She's funny," the brunette added quietly.

Sunny and Tommy stared at each other for a moment, the air shifting between hostile and confused. "Wh- do- Wilbur, have you- Do we know each other? She looks kinda fami-"

"Because we do!!" Sunny interjected, jumping toward Tommy. "Do you remember at all?"

"I think I would remember meeting a furry that was also a woman." His eyes squinted skeptically.

Sunny rolled her eyes, "Okay, I'll give you a hint. Lemonade."

The boy stared for a moment, drawing a blank. And then it clicked. "WHAT," he gasped. "That was you??!"

"That was me!!" She jumped again, clapping her paws together.

"NO WAY!!" Tommy ran a hand through his hair, a smile growing on his face.

Tubbo blinked in confused. "What, what is it?? Who is she?"

Tommy leaned towards him, wrapping an arm around him, "Looklooklook- This, THIS is an acceptable woman. She's like- hardly even a woman, yknow? Sunny is like, the epic...almost-a-man." He grinned stupidly.

There was a long drawn out silence.

"....what does that even mean," Tubbo raised a brow in confusion, making Sunny laugh with his deadpan tone.

Tommy paused. "I- don't know. But she's cool!!"

Sunny squinted at him before snorting and crossing her arms. "I'm Sunny... It's really nice to meet you, Tubbo!!" Her tail wagged as she smiled.

Wilbur watched as the three youngsters got along, a small smile on his face. He chuckled quietly. "Alright you three, settle down. We have business to attend to." He clapped a few times, getting their attention.

"Oh!! Right!" Sunny smiled, grabbing Tubbo's arm. "Wilbur has a plan to help you all."

"A revolution!!" Tommy shouted, raising his fist.

Wilbur nodded, walking over to a crafting table and laying out a set of plans.

Blueprints.

"First things first," Wilbur said as the three gathered around him, "we need to build a wall."

The excitement and ambition between Tubbo, Sunny and Tommy was contagious. As Wilbur delegated and explained the first steps to revolution, his eager trio of followers got to work.

Meanwhile, just down Prime Path- "AGH!!"

George ducked as the barrel flew over his head, smashing into splinters against the wall.

"Yo- Dream, chill," Sapnap narrowed his eyes. "You're gonna decapitate Georgey."

He frowned behind his white sunglasses, "Don't call me that."

"Do I look," Dream snapped, "like I give a shit who gets decapitated right now?!" His mask was pushed to the side, his green eyes almost glowing with anger. "It's been weeks!! How the hell have we not found this guy?!"

He walked over to the living room wall that was covers in photos, logs and red yarn. "We started the manhunts! We're the experts at this kind of thing; THIS shouldn't be a PROBLEM!"

Sapnap and George shared a look as Dream grumbled obsessively. Truthfully, both of them shared equal doubts about some ender pearl-throwing stranger interfering in the disc war... But they also both equally knew how idiotic it would've been to even suggest Dream lost the battle on his own.

"Look, Dream," Sapnap started hesitantly.

George continued, "the SMP is growing every day... and all you have on this guy is a golden hoe and ender pearls. At this rate it could take ages for you to actually track down whoever it was. Maybe it's a good idea to just let this go-"

"No," he snapped harshly, looking at George with a glare, "No, I'm not stopping until I find the bastard that made me lose to a child. I should have those discs right now! Instead, Tommy has 'em, and he and Tubbo and all their little friends are running around like they're tough shit."

"That why you had us help you obliterate Tubbo's farm?" Sapnap raised a brow from his seat.

Dream tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at him. "...Yes and no. I didn't want them having another thing to celebrate." He paused. "And I was feeling extra pissy today. Needed something to take it out on."

Sapnap, while remaining generally uninterested, snorted with a small smirk. "Nice."

George, however, rubbed his arm and his brow furrowed as he looked at the floor for a moment.

Suddenly, Punz leaned into the room. "Heyy, uh. You guys might wanna come take a look at this."

Dream put his mask back on. "What is it?"

Punz hesitated. Truthfully, he wasn't quite sure what is was yet. "It's Wilbur. He's back." Dream's eyes widened slightly. "He and the kids are up to something."

—