Wild

chapter 24

How is it that a house that looked so small on the outside could have so many damn hallways? Tommy groaned in frustration, coming around another corner that looked identical to the last hundred. Him and Tubbo had gotten back to the house a little over an hour ago, not a clue where Ranboo was. It was apparent when they got there that they had no clue what they were doing. Apparently living the life of a Nomad for so long would make you pretty clueless on how borrowers set up houses. And it's not like they even set up their own house when they lived with Wilbur, that shit was already there.

At least there was one bright side to this, the house already had a good amount of borrower passages set up. This was a somewhat common house on the Nomad route to borrow from, especially for Tommy and Tubbo, so it had a couple years of borrowers visiting. The evidence of their presence was pretty clear; nails stuck in the walls in a convenient staircase pattern, ropes tied securely to walls where there was a drop to a lower floor. It all made life a lot easier for them.

Of course the one thing it didn't have was a house, somewhere they could actually set up. So it was up to them to find a suitable place, clear it of any pests, and set up a home base. Tommy nodded to himself, going over the rough plan they had in mind. He and Tubbo had split up soon after getting in the house, realizing they would cover more ground separate then together.

They agreed that Tubbo would search the second floor while Tommy searched the first. Of course that decision was mostly his, the first floor had a much higher chance of encountering rats and there was no way he would let Tubbo do that on his own. Tubbo was more of a….lover then a fighter. Tommy grimaced, ‘that's to put it lightly’. He could hold his own of course, especially in quick thinking situations. But last time they ran into a rat, one hideous looking rodent, his brother had completely froze.

So yeah, Tommy was taking the first floor. It was better for both of them. The only odd thing to worry about, besides rats, was Ranboo. They couldn't hear even a peep from him when they got back into the house, even when they ventured out of the walls to hear better. It was strange, considering he was usually making some kind of noise.

They chalked it up to him leaving at some point, maybe for a run into town or something. Tommy shrugged their thoughts away, coming up on another staircase of nails in the wall that led up onto a higher platform. He carefully leaned over the edge of the wooden plank he was just walking on, staring down into the endless darkness below.

Tommy held his breath, feeling the cool breeze drift up from the darkness to ruffle his hair. He could hear them, the quiet scratching of wood and high pitched squeaks. This house definitely had rats below it, thankfully too low to reach up into the borrower's passages.

He grimaced at the sounds echoing up to him, trying not to imagine the ugly beasts scavenging for food below. He was safe here, up higher than the rodents could reach.

He took a careful step back from the ledge, casting his gaze to the precariously built staircase of nails leading to a higher platform. He never was a fan of these contraptions, the constant potential of slipping on the cold metal and falling to his death wasn't a fun thought. There was a railing of sorts, a thin red string following the path for nails to act as a safeguard.

Tommy walked slowly along the edge, coming up to the part that had the cold nail just a small step off from his platform. He took a deep breath, steeling himself against the fear he felt bubbling in his chest. He forced himself to keep his eyes open as he took the first step onto the nail, quickly leading into the second step to the next. The key with these stairs was to keep going, don't lose the momentum you have going up or you'll just throw off your balance.
Before he knew it, he was stepping off the last nail and onto the solid wooden platform. Tommy let out a sigh of relief, sending a glare back at the staircase. The borrower who came up with that idea deserved a run in with a cat. He felt a cool breeze drift up again, rustling his clothes as it brushed past him. He took a couple steps further from the edge cautiously, not liking the creepy feeling that came from below.
That was a well enough reason for him to keep going, leaving the foreboding place behind him. He walked back into the dim light of the passages, holding his torch out to illuminate his path. “Back to house hunting..” he muttered, keeping an eye out for any suitable places.
“Hmmm it could work, might be iffy in the winter. '' Tubbo muttered to himself thoughtfully, eyes scanning over the paper he held. After the first four confusion turns in the walls he had decided he was definitely not going to remember this. So he started drawing a map, drawing the old tunnels with black lines. He marked off any potential houses with an X on the map, figuring he would track back to them with Tommy.