𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲【𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬𝐦𝐩 𝐖𝐚𝐫】

♛71♛

tw/cw: burn descriptions, mentions of death, cursing

I'm very serious about this guys, if any of this, even a tiny bit, makes you feel the slightest bit weird, uncomfortable, anything. Stop reading. Don't read the chapters with these warnings. I do in fact give them for a reason, and I'd hate for any of you to experience anything negative because I didn't provide good enough warnings. ♛

This chapter is more bonding and past talk :)
Jokes on you, I did two chapters.

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Ranboo had his own hand in Cypress', her own comforting voice drowning out the voices from his panic room. Not many words were spoken aside from those, and he didn't mind. The woman was much kinder than people gave her credit for, she definitely had moments, but this was the kindest anyone had ever been to him.  She had asked him if he was okay, which was something no one had ever done.

Crying was antagonizing for him, it created bubbling burn marks on the darker half of his face. He hated the feeling, but he couldn't help but cry into the woman as she slowed led them away from his room into the fresh air.

"Ranboo?" She spoke gently, keeping her arms around him whilst they waddled towards a small stream.
"I know you can't touch it, I don't like it much either, but look with me okay?" Cypress' voice was still quiet, but he peeled his body from hers, staring down at the rushing water. He felt as if the topic of water was an unkind one, he hadn't been around long enough to know all the details.

"Why.. Do you hate water?" He spoke, regretting it almost instantly when a look of pain crossed her face.

"My best friends tried and killed me with it." She tone was still the same, but it was sad, he placed a gloved hand on her shoulder.

"Would... you be willing to tell me who?  Or.. Can you tell me what happened when you were a ghost?" Cypress couldn't blame him for the curiosity, no one had actually known all the details of her death and the aftermath, aside from that she drowned and appeared with Technoblade. The hyrbid felt her nod, and settle onto the ground, patting the grass beside her. Ranboo sat.

"My first experience started with Schlatt, the former President." She began, noting how he had tortured her, Ranboo could tell she was sparing a few details. He felt sick once she pulled down her shirt, allowing him to look at the name carved into her skin, as well as the smiley face burnt into her arm.

"Wilbur, you know him as Ghostbur, he was my best friend. Not many people knew about it actually, we'd place chess a lot. He'd play for me, it was all a very serene relationship." The woman paused, shifting her seating position, fiddling with a rock on the ground, possibly to curb her restlessness.

"He threw me off a cliff. Not thrown, but, called me an Icarus. I don't remember it too well. I tell everyone I can still remember things, it always makes people upset when I can't. So I find it better to lie. He let me fall off though." She paused, closing her eyes with a sigh.

"I drowned, then, woke up with Technoblade, a lot of the rest is blurry. I actually forgot who I was, for a period of time, I constantly went through journals, trying to figure out what had happened, who I was. How and why I died. Of course, previous alive me never thought to write it down, so I went through old letters." She breathed softly.

"I was with Tommy for a while, in exile. Another man, who I believed was my friend, someone who cared about me as I did them. As I think about it, our relationship was odd, not a traditional friendship. He tried to kill my ghost in a frozen pond."

"Who was it?"

"Dream." She answered simply, feeling a head hit her shoulder.
"He was a lot different when I first met him. Actually he threatened me when we first met, but he used to be kind, not as serious. He helped give me the axe, helped us blow up L'Manberg," Cypress mused, moving her left hand down to rub Ranboo's knuckles gently, he didn't seem to mind.

"Why did he change? Why is he in my head?"

"I'm.. not sure. Something seemed to flick a switch in his mind after L'Manberg was gone. He's now power crazed and obsessed. I fear the worst for his fate. As for your inner thoughts, I'm not sure, it may just be your mind believes him to be something to place your darker thoughts onto, or some other underlying being. I wouldn't know, and I'm sorry for that."

"Do you think things will be okay?" Ranboo asked, his eyes dropping at the ambience and the woman telling him her tales.

"I believe it will be okay at some point. Who knows? I want to believe it will; I long it to, but in the end how much belief comes from longing." She felt him tense up, and lightly laughed.
"I don't mean to frighten you, I'm only afraid I won't be alive to see the day where it is okay. Although I hope you are. You'll have to write stories for it, one day I'll read them and go on about how I knew you."

Ranboo couldn't hold back his own laugh, and scooted closer, pausing for a second before adjusting his head to lay on her lap. One of her arms came around him, carefully rubbing his shoulders.

"I have one more question, I think." He prompted, closing his eyes in peace.
"How are you?"

Cypress froze, looking down at him in concern, he seemed to notice her silence.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, scared he hit a nerve.

"Would you like the truth?"

"Nothing else, please."

"I have this strange feeling I am not longer myself ever since I made a contract with Dream. It's hard to put into words, but I guess it's like I fell asleep, and someone tried reassembling me; and hurriedly put me back together again. Everything I do is to protect the people I care about." She paused, reaching into her pocket, pressing the golden totem into his hands.
"This includes you, Ranboo. Everything I do is for you, for Tommy, Tubbo, Techno, Phil, Niki, my friends, those who they like."

Ranboo gripped onto the totem tightly, wincing once a shaky breath came from the woman.

"I'm afraid, Ranboo. I'm afraid it will all be for nothing. I don't want to die, but if my death protected the people I cared about, I would throw myself off that same cliff." She breathed in a deep breath, resting her head against the tree.

"I don't care if everyone else hates me, I'll do whatever I need to keep you safe."