"Phil. I think Tommy's ghost was here."
Tubbo's shaking breath was the only thing heard in the silent house.
"We need to find him...
We need to find Tommy.
Please."
Tubbo begged quietly.
"Please dad. Please we need to find him."
Phil looked down at his son, a wing still curled around him.
Tearful brown eyes looked up at him, begging.
"Let's split up. Techno you cover the bottom floor and look outside, see if you can find anything, any direction where someone could have walked off in.
Tubbo take the middle floors and search everywhere, every crevice, see if you can find anything that belongs to him.
I will take the top floor and fly up to scan the ground. If anyone had been here I should be able to find where they came from and where they went."
Techno nodded silently and went down to the bottom floor of his house.
Tubbo followed suit and started to look around in chests, behind chairs and tables.
Phil climbed the ladder to the top of the house and took off in the snow.
It was mid-day but the snow was coming down heavy. They would have to be quick if they wanted to find any trace of someone arriving or leaving. Phil scoured the floor below him but through the falling snow he couldn't see anything. He was heading back into the house to help Techno search from the ground when he heard Tubbo yell for the both of them.
They both stormed in mere seconds later.
"Tubbo?!"
Phil ran up to his son who was kneeling in the floor crying.
He held his sobbing son tightly.
There was something in his hands but Phil couldn't see what it was.
"It's Tommy."
"What?" Phil couldn't believe what he heard.
"What do you mean Tubbo?"
"Dad. Techno. This was Tommy's."
Tubbo held out a small green neck scarf. It was slightly bloodstained and there was mud caking the fine material, but even so they could still see the faint, crude, hand done embroidery along the side that scribbled 'Big T'.
"I gave this to him shortly before the election. It was meant to be a matching set but Schlatt took mine after he became president."
Tubbo held it close to his chest.
"Tommy was here.
That means he's a ghost.
Oh withers.
Dad, what if he's like Ghostbur?
What if he doesn't have any of his memories?
What if he melts in the snow!?
He's gonna be so scared dad.
We need to find him.
Please
Please
We need to find him."
Phil held his son tightly and wrapped his wings around the two of them.
Techno stood up from where he was and set off into the snow.
"Techno wait!"
"No!"
"You'll freeze!"
"I don't care!
Phil. That scarf means he's out there.
Right now.
He could be melting as we speak!
I don't care if he's a ghost, he's my BROTHER.
I'm NOT leaving him again.
I'm going out to find him."
"Techno please wait."
Phil attempted to grab onto Techno's sleeve but missed ever so slightly.
"Techno please.
I can't risk losing another son.
Just please.
Wait for the snow to clear up a little.
Then you can go.
I just- I can't risk anything bad happening to you."
Techno stopped at the door, tense and rigid. He didn't know what to do. He could go out and look for his brothers ghost that may not even be out there, or he could stay and comfort his family.
He decided and turned around wordlessly. He walked over to the two people hugging on the floor and moved Phil's wing off for a brief moment before getting under it and embracing his little brother and his dad.
"I'll wait."
No words were spoken after that. The three family members hugged on the floor, none of them moving.
Tubbo had his arms wrapped around Phil's ribs, his head on Phil's chest.
Techno hugged Tubbo from behind, his arms wrapped all the way round and his hands landed in the same place as Tubbo's. His head rested on the back of Tubbo's head.
Phil had one arm wrapped across Tubbo's back, the other was wrapped around Techno's shoulders. His head rested on top of Techno's and his wings came round all three of them.
He moved his wings to pull his boys closer to himself when a faint patter of steps could be heard over the crackling fire.
All three of them looked up but not getting off of each other.
The door jiggled slightly before opening.
"Tubbo? Techno? Phil? What wrong?"
.