Come And Get Me

Chapter Fifteen

"Hey, Vil? You in here?" 

Vil looked up from the fuse he was toying with as he heard his friend's voice echo from down the ravine and signed to Michael to stay put. 

"Oh hey Dream. Where else would I be?" Vil joked back as he came back down the steps. "Ghostbur did mention someone else would be stopping by, what's up?" 

"Oh, did he? Nothing much, I just wanted to come back and talk to you about what happened earlier today."

"In Snowchester? What about it big man?" 

As Vil reached the bottom of the steps where Dream stood, Dream took an almost commanding step towards him. 

"Well, it's just- I've been thinking, Vil, about some of the things we talked about while you were in exile. I spent a lot of time trying to help you out there, teach you about TNT and all that, keep you from getting hurt doing things like this, y'know?" 

"Yeah, and I'm really happy you did Dream, it meant a lot to me, I really appreciate it-"

"Well I should hope so, I was the only one there for you out there Vil. But the problem is, you haven't even needed anything I taught you, have you?" 

"Well, I did for Snowchester when I-" 

"When you what? Nothing got set off there, just like nothing got set off back in L'Manburg. You haven't done anything, Vil, it's all just empty threats. You keep backing down, kid. Maybe it was too high an expectation to ever think you could follow in your brother's footsteps and really get your message across. Maybe Wilbur is just too high a bar to live up to." 

Vil looked at Dream, trying to hide that his comments stung, but Dream knew. Vil shook his head and looked down at the stone floor, his voice slightly shaky. He fidgeted with the edges of his coat, one of his boots scuffing back and forth against the rough ground. 

"No, no I can do this I just- he threatened me, Dream, he had nukes, I didn't-" 

"Wilbur never would have backed down in the face of a threat like that, he would have looked him in his face and pressed that button. Like I said, maybe I just expected too much from you, it's alright."

Dream put a hand on Vil's shoulder, and it felt almost condescending rather than comforting or reassuring. 

"No." Vil had more power, more intent in his voice this time. "I can do this. You'll see, Dream, I can. I promised Wilbur I was going to finish what he started, and I will." 

Vil paused for a moment, looking up from the floor into the distance of the ravine. There, he saw his brother looking down at him. Tears met the corners of his eyes, and he blinked a few times to keep them back. When he looked again, Wilbur was gone. He looked up at the spot where he had seen him and promised again quietly. 

"I'll finish what you started."