Out At Sea

2

"Sorry, as in, the treasure map?"

Sapnap sheepishly nods.

"The map leading to the treasure of the Macadaina's."

"The map leading to the treasure of the Macadaina's?"

"The map leading to the treasure of the Macadaina's," Sapnap confirms. I look up at Dream and see his face go pale and I see Sapnap wince. "Listen dude I'm so-"

"Don't dude me right now Sapnap."

"Okay, sor-"

"It's alright. I'll figure something out." Suddenly the whole mood of the ship drops because obviously it's not alright and I can start to see the stress, slight anger and sadness start to settle on Dream's face. I stand up to try and comfort him but I underestimated how much energy the barrier was taking out of me and I stumble. Dream, on instinct, goes to catch me which means he lets go of the wheel and the sea isn't calm enough yet to be able to let go of the steering wheel and not have consequences, so I grab onto the wheel to stabilize it as well as myself. Realizing what he had done, he grabs back onto the wheel.

"Can't have us all dying because of me now can we? I am going down to my quarters, maybe take a nap and figure out a way to still get to the treasure." I straighten myself up, but I put most of my weight on my staff. "Can I take down the barrier now captain?" I ask wearily, tired from the storm, my magic and the chaos, anger and stress that is slowly going to unravel over the next day or so. Dream slowly nods, looking worried for the most part now. That man must be experiencing so many emotions at once that I feel bad leaving him with Sapnap who doesn't excel in the comforting friends aspect. I don't even bother saying bye before walking down the stairs to the deck, shouldering my way through the group of people sitting at the bottom trying to overhear the conversation above.

Then I walk down another set of stairs that leads to a hallway and that splits off into everyone's quarters. If you walk down the hallway to the very end that is the captain's quarters. Basically where Dream sleeps and a room right next to it where he has a desk to plan and do work. The room has a couple scrolls and books as well as a bunch of other extra trinkets that Dream likes to collect. I am about to walk into my quarters that I don't have to share because 1. I don't want to, so I kindly asked Dream if I could get a room for myself. 2. I'm Dream's best friend and his 'right-hand man' as he likes to call it. 3. Dream is a simp.

Particularly for me, and everyone knows it.

Do I plan to, for the rest of my life, take advantage of that?

Yes.

Absolutely.

But something stops me from walking into my room as I hear a crash come from the end of the hall. Despite not having enough energy to even walk, I go and check out what caused the noise. As I make my way further down the hall I hear a small clang come from Dream's room. Even more curious now, I get a small rush of adrenaline and I grip my staff. I make it to his door, suck a deep breath in and then slowly open the door. Multiple scrolls, books and other little things are strewn across the room from the storm. But sitting in the corner is what catches my eye and causes me to gasp.

Patches.

Dream's cat that everyone had totally forgotten about was sitting in the corner shaking in fear. Obviously shaken up from the storm and being by herself. Once she recognizes who is standing at the door, she rushes over and jumps into my arms.

"I am so, so sorry Patches. You're alright now," I coo to her as I set my staff against the wall and I hold her close to my chest. A feeling of guilt takes over me as I can feel her whole body shaking against mine. I shut the door, grab my staff and I walk to my room where I lay down ready to fall asleep. I hold Patches against me as she starts to calm down and I fall into a much needed sleep.

~~

I slowly wake up and hear a soft purring right beside my ear. I softly smile completely content with life right now.

"Aweee, look guys, Georgie Worgie and Patches are cuddling!" I roll my eyes. Of course Sapnap had to ruin the moment. "I think she likes me more though. I just understand her better."

"Sapnap she's a cat," I say and I roll over to face Sapnap who's standing in the doorway with Dream, Bad and Skeppy. Skeppy and Bad are really close and he's known for his love of diamonds. Still holding Patches I glare at Sapnap, mad at him for disturbing my calm moment.

"Yeah so?"

"You can't understand a cat when you're a human. Also, by the way she's looking at you right now wouldn't imply that she enjoys your presence." Everyone looks at Patches face who, if she could, is glaring at Sapnap. I can also feel her trying to move closer to me.

"Sure George, it might seem like she doesn't like me but I understand her so trust me, she's quite happy right now." I snort and Sapnap leaves with a confidence that he shouldn't have right now. I look at Skeppy who whispers something to Bad before they also disappear.

This leaves me, Dream and Patches.

I look at Dream who is looking and me and Patches cuddled up in awe. Though once he realizes he's staring he snaps out of his trance.

"Sorry, I'll leave you alone to rest a little more. Also, sorry about Sapnap," he says almost as if it's his fault Sapnap can be annoying.

"No it's fine," I say as I slowly sit up, pulling Patches onto my lap. Dream stays standing in the doorway but then I give him a look that tells him to come and sit. So he walks over and sits at the end of the bed criss-cross. He opens up his arms inviting Patches to come and sit on his lap, so I let go of her. But she stays put. I chuckle and look up at Dream who has a look of sadness but also fondness. "I guess she just likes me more than you." In saying this, I am a bit proud that she likes me more than her actual owner but that also makes me feel a bit bad.

"Eh, I don't really blame her. If I were in her position I wouldn't want to move either." I awkwardly chuckle, deciding to not think about the comment too much. "Come' ere Patches," Dream tries again. She hesitates before slowly walking along the sheets and snuggles into his arms. He looks down at her as she slowly falls back to sleep.

"So. have you figured anything out yet?" Dream looks back up at me.

"Hm?"

"The map idiot. Have you found another way to get to the treasure?"

"Oh right. No. I haven't. However, I spent about 5 minutes trying before Sapnap barged in and started bugging me because he was bored."

"Okay, well I'll have to do some research but I think I know something. But can I ask, how'd you get the map?"

"Same as any other adventure, I ask Phil."

"And did Phil say where he got it from?"

"Nope. I begged him for weeks to give me another adventure and one day he came up to me and said, 'please don't make me regret giving you this'" Dream lowers his voice a bit trying to do his best Phil impression, "and then he walked away."

"Well that's helpful."

"Sorry," Dream grimances.

"It's alright, I'll figure something out. Though you'd think, looking at the map all day you'd have it engraved into your brain," I say staring at Dream.

"It's not my fault I can't memorize what the map looked like!"

"Okay well, it's your adventure, maybe take a bit more responsibility next time," I tell him in a joking manner.

"So captain George, since you seem to be the most knowledgeable on how to find the treasure, what's our next steps?"

"I don't deserve the title of captain, captain," I say as I swing my legs over the side of the bed. "But the plan is simple, look to see if there's anything in the many books you have on treasures and we will go from there." At this, Dream groans.

"I don't wanna read."

"Well you can either, keep moping about it, blame Sapnap and go shove him overboard, not help me, or suck it up and help me." Dream mumbles something under his breath before standing up, still holding Patches.

"Fine, I'll help."