Champion ~ Book 1

Chapter 2

Dream couldn't stop thinking about that strange man he'd met in the hall. The champion. His mind was also whirling with the fact that he killed someone and he'd gotten cheers, not punishment. He heard a knock on the iron bars and looked up to see an unfamiliar face.

"You're a promising guy aren't you?" Dream hated this. For some reason, people treated him and the other 'contestants' like animals. Like some pack of untamed dogs that could be tamed. No. Dream wouldn't be 'tamed,' he wasn't some animal to be locked in a cage and forced to fight like some mindless monster. Dream didn't answer the newcomer, instead, he gave him a blank stare from under his smiley face mask, hoping the man would sense his hatred and leave him alone. "I'm the guy who brought you here, so the more you win the more money I win. It's a win-win." The man chuckled. 

"You forcing me to fight to the death is not a win-win," Dream spat. "I'm not an animal, I'm a human being."

"Well, your prize is staying alive," The man said with a shrug. He had fluffy light brown hair and blue eyes. "My name's Karl," He said. Dream scoffed and rolled his eyes. He didn't care what this guys' name was. 

"Leave me alone," Dream growled. 

"I've heard of you," Karl said. "I mean, before this whole thing. I used to hear stories and watch the news and I've counted every single dragon you killed. You're amazing and there's no doubt in my mind that if you killed hundred of dragons, you can kill a few people and then, someday, you'll kill Technoblade," Dream felt a wave of anger wash over him and he stood up, gripping the iron bars tightly and causing them to shiver slightly. 

"Killing dragons is different than killing people!" He snarled. "People have feelings and brains. Dragons are just mindless winged beasts that only know how to cause destruction," he hissed. Karl said nothing for a moment but he seemed unfazed by Dream's sudden outburst, which just aggravated Dream more. "I talked to Technoblade, he's not a terrible guy."

"And?" Karl snorted. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Even if I had him at my mercy, I'm not sure I could kill him," Dream said. He didn't know why he was confessing this to a stranger, no, the man that had taken away his freedom and forced him to kill someone, but he needed this guy to know he wasn't going to kill people for him. At least not for long. He let go of the bars and turned around to face the window. "So don't get your hopes up," He decided to watch the current fight no matter how awful it made him feel. There were currently two men fighting, one with purple pained leather armor and the other with bright orange. The purple one had a strange spiky crown-like helmet and spike studded his armor while the orange man just had yellow clothes under his orange armor.

"Well, it's kill or be killed out there, Dream," Dream hated that Karl said his name. He doesn't have that right. Dream thought, refusing to turn around. "If you don't kill Techno, he'll kill you," Dream said nothing. He knew it was true, he'd have to keep fighting and killing, and eventually if he made it to that final fight... there wasn't a doubt in his mind that only one of them would walk away. Maybe it's best to just die... Dream thought. Even if I beat Techno, as Karl calls him, I'll still have to keep killing more people until I do eventually die. Dream thought. There's no happy ending. I can't win. 

Dream heard footsteps growing quieter and soon he knew that Karl was gone. He watched as the purple spiky man raised his iron sword to deal a final blow to the orange man who was sprawled out on the ground and turned away, not wanting to watch. 

"Alright, Dream," Dream heard a voice and spotted two guards. "You've got another fight in ten minutes," one of the guards said. Dream said nothing as they opened the iron door and walked toward him. He clenched his fists and dodged as someone tried to grab him and made a break for the door. He made it down the hall and skidded a corner, ignoring the shouts that followed him. Some of the other prisoners spotted him and started either shouting for him to help them or chanting for him to run.

He felt a rush of adrenaline as he turned another corner, he wasn't really sure where he was going but he knew he needed to run as fast as possible. He dodged another few guards and grinned, thinking this was it, he was free, when something slammed into him and knocked him backward into a wall.

Dream gasped as he saw the familiar pig mask and two blue eyes peering at him from behind it. Technoblade. He thought, feeling his adrenaline replaced by fear. He was pinned to a wall by the other man and soon he heard footsteps, knowing the guards were just rounding the corner. The guards skidded to a halt and started muttering amongst themselves as they spotted Technoblade and no one intervened. 

"Hello Dream," Technoblade said, his voice low.

"H-hi," Dream muttered, half expecting the man to kill him. 

"You're pretty fast," The other man observed, still not letting go of Dream's arms. 

"Oh- yeah," Dream said worriedly. "I like- I like running," He stammered. 

"Cool," Technoblade let go of him but held his gaze for a moment longer. "I'd recommend not running," Techno said, turning away slowly. "You could slip," Dream watched him leave, as soon as he was gone two guards grabbed his arms and dragged him back down the halls while two others stood with iron blades pointed at him. 

He was forced into a room with the big iron door that Dream knew led to the arena. He gritted his teeth and kicked the ground angrily. So close. He thought, spotting his leather armor hanging on a wall beside a few other sets. It was marched with his name and he sighed, heading over to it. He couldn't escape this fight, so he might as well put some armor on.

"Apparently we've had an escape attempt from one of our contenders!" The announcer's voice boomed from somewhere above Dream and he gritted his teeth, knowing they were referring to him. "Luckily, our champion was there to stop him. As a punishment, the man guilty of the escape will use a stone sword while his opponent uses iron," Dream felt his blood run cold and his hands grow shaky. Oh no. No no no. He thought. "On our left, we have one of our newer contenders, Flare!" Cheers erupted from the crowd and Dream heard the door to the room open. A guard came in holding a stone sword and handed it to Dream before leaving. Dream took the sword and sighed, staring at it and trying not to imagine it coated in blood. 

"Gosh dang Technoblade," He muttered, eyeing the big iron door in front of him. It opened after a moment and he gripped his sword tighter. 

"And on our right, we have an even lesser experienced, yet surprisingly good fighter, Dream!" Dream walked forward hesitantly until he was only a few feet from his opponent. This time it was a woman, she was wearing red, yellow, and orange painted armor with black clothes and a simple white crown. These people like crowns. Dream observed, recalling Technoblade's golden jewel-studded crown and the purple man he had seen earlier that day. 

"Hello," Flare said simply, her amber eyes glowing in the sunlight. Dream said nothing and just nodded to her. 

"Let the fight begin!" Flare attacked first but Dream was too quick. He basically zoned out, unsure that if he didn't he'd be able to kill her, and landed a flurry of blows on her back. She yelped and stumbled just like the last man Dream had fought and Dream landed another deep blow on her arm, shoving her backward. 

The fight was over quick, Flare on the ground with her iron blade a few arm lengths away from her. This time Dream didn't offer to spare her life and just plunged his sword deep into her chest. Before anyone said anything he looked up, spotting a few people on a balcony overlooking the arena, and turned around. Goodbye, and good riddence. Dream thought, heading back to the iron door. The cheers of the crowd hurt his ears and he tried to ignore them. I guess this is my life now. 

This chapter is a bit longer than my usual chapters, they won't all be this long :)