𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 | 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣

[ s e q u e l - n i n e ]

I rummaged through my chest, looking for any last minute things I needed to bring. Today was the day. Of course, it was raining outside. Just perfect for traveling the long distance needed to get to the nearest (and only) stronghold that still had the portal intact. Dream had used his powers in the past to destroy the others since The End was banned.

I pulled my hood over my head a trudged across the grass to the North wall where we had planned to meet. There was one block the was purposely filled in with dirt instead of bedrock at level Y-17 where we could escape. It was the only way out.

Dream and Ranboo were already waiting at the wall, Ranboo standing uncomfortably in the rain.

"Morning, boys. You ready?" I asked as I approached them. Dream nodded looking just as uneasy as Ranboo and I. Ranboo didn't respond, staring down at the grass and wringing his hands together. Dream got out his shovel and started to dig down, before I followed I grabbed Ranboos hands.

"Hey, look at me." I said quietly. He finally met my eyes. "It's gonna be okay. I promise."

He nodded, still not looking too convinced as we started digging down. I found the opening and placed a trapdoor, allowing us to squeeze through.

"Almost forgot what the outside world looked like." Dream chuckled as we finally made it out.

The hardest part about this whole operation would be actually finding the stronghold. The other two had already been found, so we needed to get very far past those until we could throw the eyes or ender and find the one we needed. We predicted that the journey would take a few days.

"Alright, so where do we start?" Dream asked. I scanned our surroundings, everything was still pretty familiar since I had been outside the border a few times before this to refresh my memory.

"Okay, well one of the strongholds is that way." I pointed behind me. "And the other is that way." I pointed the way that led into the forest. "So just our luck, this means we go that way." I stared across the choppy ocean. Both boys groaned as we started making our way to the waters edge. We all took separate boats and got in, I pulled out my compass and off we went. I shielded myself as the rain pelted my skin like a thousand little needles.

"Let's stop here for the night, we'll keep going at first light." I yelled over the rain as we approached the small island. The boys nodded and we all docked our boats, settling under a small tree. The rain had slowed to a drizzle as the sky turned black. Ranboo had fallen asleep next to the little fire we had made, wrapping his sleeping bag tightly around him.

I leaned against the trunk of the tree, opening and closing my pocket knife.

"Planning on sleeping sometime tonight?" Dream asked. He had been laying in the grass, staring up at the sky for what seemed like forever.

"No." I said. There was another moment of silence before he spoke again.

"Must have been pretty sick last week." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Dream, I don't want to be on this mission with you either. But if we are going to do this, I'd rather not talk about this. Not now." I sighed.

"Talk about what?" He said, his voice smug.

"You know what."

Dream sighed loudly and sat up, seating himself next to me.

"We don't have to talk about it." He said. "But can we at least come out of this on good terms? Pinky promise?" He held out his pinky finger and stuck out his lower lip, pouting. I rolled my eyes and linked my pinky around his.

"I suppose we can."

I woke up still leaning against the rough bark of the tree, my neck aching. I had only slept about an hour. The fire had burned out, traces of smoke rising from the wood. The rain had finally stopped, thank god.

I stood up, squinting against the sunlight as I started untying the boats from the docks. Ranboo and Dream were still asleep.

One the boats were ready I woke them up, and we started rowing. Day 2.

"How much farther do you think we have to go?" Ranboo asked as we set up camp and another small island we had come across. It was late, and the sun had already dipped below the horizon.

"If we keep up the same pace,we should be able to start with the eyes tomorrow afternoon. When we find the stronghold, we'll camp there for the night, make sure we're well rested. And then we go." I said. Ranboo nodded, his face contorted with worry.

"I'll take guard tonight, you need to sleep." Dream said to me.

"Fine by me." I said. I didn't mind staying up, I never slept anyways, but I didn't feel like arguing. As expected, I stared up at the stars for hours before I finally felt myself drift off just as the horizon got a little lighter.

a/n - next chapter is gone be a big one stay tuned :))