A Matter of Time || Dreamnotfound

8

Dream's mind was muddled as he slowly woke up. His eyelids were heavy, seeing two blurry figures standing above him. Voices echoed in his ears, but he couldn't make them out over the ringing in his ears.

"Dream?" a muffled voice asked, "Dream, can you hear me?"

Dream could barely muster the strength to nod, but he did and two loud sighs of relief were easily heard. His blinking was slow, almost as if he was drugged. He could hardly move his limbs, but he could feel them throbbing in pain.

"Hey," a voice― George― said, "is it okay if I take your mask off? I need to see if you have any head trauma."

"I― it's okay," Dream rasped.

He could see George's face clearly as his mask was lifted off, cool air greeting his face. His mind fogged up again, threatening to take him back to the unconscious. Before he passed out again, he muttered, "Do what you have to."

~

"This is really bad, George."

"I know."

"How the hell did you do that?"

"I..." George's voice trailed off when he heard Dream groan.

Dream coughed hoarsely, his chest aching as he breathed. He clenched his teeth together and his eyes focused on the two mortals across from him. George rushed forward, kneeling at Dream's side while Sapnap paused a few feet away.

"Where..." Dream coughed, not able to finish his sentence.

"A cave," George answered immediately, handing him some water, "Sap and I found it on the side of the mountain."

Dream drank the water, his shoulders relaxing as the warm water eased his scratchy throat. He watched George warily, still hurt from what George had said... how long ago?

"How long have I..." Dream started, trailing off.

"Less than a day," Sapnap said from behind George, "we didn't want to carry you far and risk hurting you, so we stayed in this cave."

Dream nodded and tried to sit up. George's eyes widened and he lifted his hands in a gesture to stop Dream. He hissed as pain coursed through his torso, causing his head to feel faint.

"It'll be easier if you don't move," George said, "you'll heal faster."

Sapnap brought the pack and set it under Dream's head, sitting on the other side of Dream, across from George. Dream frowned at the pack's near emptiness, they would need to find food soon. He would need food soon as well; Dream couldn't remember the last time he ate and it would certainly help his recovery.

Dream looked down at himself, wincing at his torso. Cloth bandages were wrapped around his bare stomach tightly, splotches of red under them. Where there weren't bandages, there was skin so purple it was almost black. Dream lifted a shaky hand to run it through his hair, realizing he didn't have his mask on.

His eyes widened and George said quickly, "You said it was okay for me to take it off. I needed to see if you had any head trauma... if you did, it's gone now."

Sapnap nodded. "You're lucky that you're Fae, that first blow to your head would've killed me and George."

Dream avoided George's eyes and leaned his head back, staring at the cave ceiling. He swallowed and muttered, "How... how am I alive? Where did that boulder come from?"

Sapnap looked to George, who seemed to shrink into himself. Sapnap said, "That's a question for George... I see you on the ground, getting up and leaning over to catch your breath. Next thing I know, the ampi― the whatever thing was coming towards you. George shouts something and his hands are in front of him. Seconds later, a boulder hits the damn beast in the side and it spins. Its tail swings out and slams you into the mountain side... I scared the dragon thing away with my fire."