Champion ~ Book 1

Chapter 14

The moment Dream opened his door his head was flooded by cries of surprise and relief. He was startled for a moment, as he'd just woken up, but then he smiled as he saw his friend's faces. 

"Dream!" Sapnap cried. "You're alive!" Dream chuckled slightly, amused by his friend's enthusiasm. 

"Yeah, hi," Dream said with a smile. 

"Is George with you?" Skeppy said. "Or did he just go off on his own?" Dream said nothing for a moment. He was glad he'd gotten a new mask, he didn't know what he'd do if his friends could see his face right now. 

"He got in a fight..." Dream muttered. "And lost..." Silence followed Dream's words and he shifted uncomfortably. 

"Who killed him," Sapnap growled after a moment. "I'm gonna- I'm gonna find the guy who killed him and make him pay," He snarled.

"No," Dream said sadly. "It's not worth it,"

"What happened to you?" Antfrost breathed, staring at him with round blue eyes. Dream shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it," Dream muttered. "Um- I got some new friends though," He added, breaking the silence. He turned and spotted Karl staring at him from inside the house, looking a bit nervous, and nodded to him. "This is Karl," Dream said. 

"Hi," Karl said hesitantly. 

"Hello," Skeppy said. The others murmured their greetings and then Chris and Chandler came out of the house behind them. 

"And Chris and Chandler," Dream added. Bad squeezed past them and smiled. 

"Good morning," He said. 

"So..." Sapnap started. "Should we have a funeral?" Dream didn't really know what to say. 

"I think that would be nice," Bad said after a moment. Antfrost and Skeppy nodded. 

"I'm gonna go on a walk," Dream said quickly. He didn't want to talk about George and Technoblade right now, their losses were still too fresh. He walked away before anyone could protest and vanished into the trees. Dream walked a little ways away and then stopped beside an oak tree and slumped down. Why did they have to die? Dream thought, staring down at the ground. 

"Dream, we found you," Dream looked up quickly to see four men in leather armor that he didn't recognize. They all had iron swords and Dream stiffened, realizing these guys were from the Beast Arena. He stood up quickly and turned to run but a fifth man that was standing behind him slammed into him and forced him to stop.

"Leave me alone!" Dream snarled, glaring at the guys that had now surrounded him. "You said the last to get captured gets to be free," He growled. "I didn't get captured."

"Well, we need you to come back with us," Dream knew they weren't asking, he was going whether he wanted to or not. My friends will think I've run away. Dream thought. Never mind, there's nothing I can do... He sighed and reluctantly followed the guards as they headed through the woods. Soon he was standing in front of the walls that shielded the arena from the outside world, and even sooner he was inside. One guard pushed him down a hall and then the rest all walked away. "Do what you want for now," Dream was slightly confused but he didn't protest and decided to walk around.

He sighed as he realized his feet were taking him to the training room and stopped just outside of it. Part of him secretly hoped Technoblade would be in there but he knew his hopes would be broken if he opened the door. They probably locked Techno up the moment he was dragged into the arena. Maybe I can get a wooden ax and try to get out of here. Dream thought, tentatively opening the door. He realized the room was basically empty except for one man with a long red cape and crown. Is that Techno? Dream thought. He silently walked in, eyeing the man as he stabbed a dummy with a wooden sword and grabbed an ax from the shelf.

He narrowed his eyes and gripped the ax, wondering if this really was Technoblade. Before Dream could get close, the red-cloaked man whipped around and slammed Dream against a wall, holding his wooden sword to Dream's throat. Dream gasped, not just because the wind had been knocked out of him, but because of the two soulfire colored eyes that stared back at him from behind the pink pig mask. 

He still had freedom... why?