Dreaming of Demons (Dream x oc)

[6] Candidate

I held a cup of water out and Sam accepted it, voicing his thanks. Karl had let Sam stay in his home for the night because his own home required travelling through the Nether to get to. Sam protested against the idea at first, but he could barely walk around without getting a bad headache so it didn't take long for him to back down. Luckily today, he looked a bit better.

Sapnap had also come over again, and he was currently enjoying a bowl of oatmeal as Karl ate some toast beside him.

"How are you feeling, Sam?" I asked after handing the water to him.

He stared at the water in the cup, thinking. "Better than yesterday, I guess."

"How did you manage to get trapped like that?" Sapnap spoke before I could say anything else.

Sam's gaze moved past me, staring out the window as his brow pulled tight. "I was—well...we had a meeting, and I was trying to reason with them...But it wasn't even a meeting at all. It was an entire trap." He sighed. "I just wish they would understand that what they're doing is wrong."

I shook my head as I mulled over his words. "Why an egg, though? What does that have to do with anything?"

"The Egg possesses them. It's practically a living thing—a thing that only causes problems." He winced, putting a hand to his forehead. "It needs to be removed, and I should have done it a long time ago."

I hummed disapprovingly. "I don't really think you should be out and about right now. Those Eggpire people could be looking for you and, if I'm being honest, you don't look like you could fight them off right now."

"Yeah, it's too dangerous." Karl added. "You're welcome to stay here until you're all good, though."

Sam shook his head and stood up from the table. "No, no. I—I have things to do, responsibilities to take care of."

"Sam—" I started.

"I need to check on the prison. I need to make sure nothing happened when I was gone."

"Okay, okay. Hang on. You've only been gone a day. I'm sure it's fine."

"No that's the thing! Anything could have happened while I was gone. I need to check." His determined expression melted briefly into one of pain before he moved to the door.

"Dude, don't you have other people working at the prison?" Sapnap waved his spoon.

"No, I don't..." Sam trailed off, shaking his head lightly.

"Okay, how about this," I interjected. "Since I know we're not going to convince you to stay, how about someone goes with you? Just in case the Eggpire appears. You'll have more numbers with you in case they try something." I looked between the three boys as I spoke.

Karl and Sapnap looked away, knowing the question I was asking.

"Um, I have plans—for today," Sapnap said quickly.

I raised an eyebrow. No one offered any words after him and I sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll go with you Sam."

Sam watched as I walked up to the door, grabbing my sword from where it was propped up on the wall. "I hope you know the trap was a one time thing." He said. "I could handle them if they showed up."

"Well, I'm not willing to take any chances." I muttered, pulling open the door.

We had a silent walk on the way to the prison. Sam was looking quite determined to get there so all I could do was try to keep pace with him. My gaze swept over each building we passed. My senses seemed to be on high alert. I didn't realize just how many bloodvines covered the SMP. They were everywhere, and I was sure that they were growing, creeping along, slowly but surely taking over.