A Simple Game

DSMP!Dream

The constant rush of lava filled Dream's ears.

Whenever he opened his eyes, he was met with heat boring into his skull.

He looked at the mask on the floor. His mask did nothing to shield him from all the heat and misery when he put it on. Besides, it was broken. 

He stared some more. Nothing else to do. With a sigh, Dream adverted his eyes from the mask. Just to see a certain god staring creepily at him. 

"Are you here to watch me suffer in silence?" he snarked at the god.

"Are you not happy for my company?" the god replied. Just as Dream was about to respond, DreamXD held up one of his hands. "Insults and jokes aside, I have a proposition for you."

Dream's eyes narrowed. Why the hell should he listen to this god? Take a deep breath, he told himself. Pissing off the god right now might not be the best idea. He looked at the god's face.

Everybody who went against Dream mainly insulted his mask because they could not see his expression behind it. He would had never allowed for anyone to detect the slightest trace of weakness on him. But even then, he never really knew how unsettling it could be not knowing what he was thinking or planning by looking at his expression.

DreamXD was the perfect example of this. Dream could not see what the god was thinking by simply looking at his facial expression to tell what he was thinking. He probably didn't even have a proper face or thoughts. It was downright frustrating. Dream had always relied on his ability to read people like a book, and facial expression was one of the key factors to finding weaknesses. 

"What is it." He kept his tone flat and deprived of emotion.

The god laughed, which made him want to rip his ears off. "No need to get hostile, mortal." XD gestured around at the obsidian walls. "Aren't you tired of being trapped here? Don't you want to break out?"

Dream glared suspiciously at the god. "What are you going to do about it? Going to get me out? Giving me false hope? I'm not falling for your tricks XD. Even if you do get me out, there's always going to some sort of payment that I can't give."

"This is not a trick mortal. I can get you out, but there will be no payment required. All you have to do is meet a few people. The choice is yours."

Meeting a few people in exchange for freedom... that sounded to easy to be true. If the god was telling the truth, then these people would probably try to kill him as soon as they saw him. That was his DreamXD's form of entertainment. Watching Dream suffer. 

But on the other hand... Freedom. After such a long time in prison, Dream yearned for freedom. He would go to any lengths to experience fresh air and see the blue sky again. Meeting a few people, even if they were murderous, wasn't the worst thing he could think of in exchange for his freedom.

He put on his mask and looked at the god again. 

"Deal."

Next thing he knew, he was lying under an apple tree.

Apples. Dream thought as he picked one up in slight denial. Not potatoes.

He lifted up his mask and took a shaky bite out of the apple. It was a bit sour, but Dream didn't care. He was so hungry. After devouring it in a few bites, he promptly ate another one. Savoring the taste, he sat there for a bit.

He was feeling nauseous from eating so quickly, but he had to get supplies. His sense on time had been fucked up by his time in prison, yet judging from the sun in the sky, he was pretty sure that night was coming soon. Wherever XD teleported him to, Dream was sure that mobs would be lurking around.

Flinching at the pain from his wounds, he went to find a river. His throat was basically screaming for fresh water. Besides, he could clean out his wounds while he was at it.

Apparently finding one wasn't very hard. After a few minutes of staggering along the way, he heard the rush of water. Finally some luck.

He cupped his hands and brought water to his mouth after removing the mask. It was refreshing. Quackity had been in charge of bringing Dream water, and of course, it was always filled with mud and other chemicals.

Dream sat there for a bit, washing out the dried blood. What was he going to do next? His old survival knowledge flashed through his head. Wood, that was mandatory. Stone next after he got a good solid pickaxe. Make a fire. Build some shelter and a bed. Craft an axe or a sword. Hunt down some animals for food.

He put his mask on and stood up. Better get started as soon as possible.

The forest loomed before him as he approached. He leaned down and picked up some stray branches to craft an axe. Then, he got to work on the nearest oak tree. Then more trees. And more trees. Dream didn't really mind. He had grinded for netherite before, and it was way worse than getting wood.

Now to build a shelter. Before prison, he would just sleep outside, no big deal. But that was when he had full netherite. 

Dream chose a clearing surrounded by trees on three of its sides. This was in case of an emergency where he needed to escape. Either run straight to the clearing, or into the trees. He fashioned the wood to make crude oak planks and started on the foundation. Nothing too fancy, just a little shack to store items in and sleep. No windows necessary. Maybe a few torches.

It took about an hour to finally fixate his house. By the time Dream was done, his stomach growled. Yes. Right. Next on the agenda was to hunt down some animals. Preferably sheep. He could use that wool to make a temporary mattress. 

Grabbing his axe, he headed to the river. Some sheep had been grazing there an hour before. Maybe they would still be there.

Bingo. There they were, a small flock of sheep were eating. Dream crouched down in the tall grass and inched closer. 

Just a little closer...

He lunged onto one of the unsuspecting sheep and sliced its neck cleanly. The rest bleated and ran away in terror, but Dream didn't care. One sheep was enough. 

Blood stained his hands. He hadn't had blood on his hands for a long time unless you included his own. He wasn't quite as murderous while in prison. Well, there was Tommy. But that was warranted. The kid was basically begging for death to come claim him. Plus, he killed the cat. 

Kids. SO annoying.

The masked man dragged the carcass back to his shack. He cleared up a patch of grass and put stones around it, making sure there was nothing flammable in reach. Then he got a few branches and carefully started a fire. After skinning/shearing the sheep of its wool, he propped a branch up and hung the meat to cook over the fire. He brought the wool inside and spread it on the floor.

Night was falling. The flames crackled merrily as Dream waited for the meat to be fully cooked. Finally, its done, he thought. He brought the sheep off of the stick and with a sharp stone, severed a leg off. It was delicious. But he couldn't afford to eat too much. He needed to save the rest. So, he hung the rest of the meat in a high branch in a tree. 

Grabbing a small branch, he stuck it in the fire so the tip got burned. A makeshift torch. He put out the campfire and went inside. The bottom of his shack had no floor. Just grass which was perfect. Dream stuck the torch into a nook in the dirt and jammed the door shut.

He lay in silence on the wool mattress to think about what he was going to do tomorrow. Get a pickaxe. Mine stone. Make a furnace. Craft a chest. And most importantly, get iron.

Dream closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. His last thought was, how long will this peace and quiet last for?