Loyal Servant (Crossmare) (Rewrite)

Between-Arc Oneshot: The Royal Dinner

A/N
Hey, look, listen. I know this is nearly 6000 words long and an absolute mess.
But this oneshot is my absolute mess and I love it dearly. Can't wait to see these comments.
Now get ready for the perspective to jump everywhere and for there to be typos because editing this much is hard.

"Duck, duck, duck!" Ink chanted as he and Dream pressed their spines against a large boulder which shielded them from the incoming blast of molten hot lava. The substance half melted their rock, scorching their bones a little bit as well. Dream winced at the burning sensation along her arm. Ouch.

The creature they currently fought was some rogue anti-void entity which now tried to make a meal out of a poor AU. Thankfully, it hadn't reached any towns yet.

"Why must the anti-void spawn in these things?!" Ink growled, flicking a hot piece of rock off his shoulder.

"I'm starting to think it does so knowingly. Do you think it has consciousness enough to form a sense of humor?" She suggested, bolting away from their shelter in order to shoot an arrow or two at the giant lizard's maw. It ducked its head, her arrows lodging into the meaty muscles along its arched back.

"If so, someone needs to give it a rundown on what is and isn't funny," Ink replied, flinging a couple strokes of paint out from his brush. It lathered the lizard's arm. Apparently its scales were rather resistant to liquids, for the paint failed to stick and just came rolling right off. "Awe, really?! Dreeeam, it's disabling my main weapon!" He complained, pointing his brush at the beast.

"Well-" She ducked when the lizard used its tail to swing a rock towards her skull. It narrowly missed. "-You're the god of creativity! I know you'll think of something!" She insisted with a smile. He looked far less enthusiastic.

"Oh, I have thought of something!" Ink told her as they met up behind yet another tall spire of rock. They pressed close as more lava spewed around the edges of the rock. Ink gestured off to the side, where a certain someone was watching from the safety of the mountain's cliffside. "But unfortunately Paperjam would rather write than help!" He shouted louder to be sure they heard his comment.

Paperjam only scribbled their notes faster. "I haven't seen this entity before! I'm documenting it!" They shouted back. Ink gave them a displeased stare. Without looking up, Paperjam waved an arm. "I mean- Yay, you guys got this! Go team!"

Dream narrowed her eyes, looking at Ink. He threw his arms up in defeat. "Teenage gods, Dream! What am I supposed to do?" He questioned. She gave a small shake of her head. We'll talk about it later. As soon as the thought passed, the rock behind them completely smashed apart. Luckily their first instinct was to teleport a safe distance away, meaning no flinging shards struck them. It seemed the lizard had rammed itself face first into the boulder, though it wasn't phased in the slightest. It only opened its jaws and hissed.

When the lizard darted forward, they each ran in a separate direction. The lizard chose to follow Ink, its beady black eyes seeming to be locked onto his long swishing scarf. She would have turned around to help strike it from behind, but something else caught her eye. A small pool of black had spontaneously appeared in front of her path. She skidded to a stop, nearly toppling into the bubbling goo. She easily recognized the substance. Nightmare's coating?! It almost looked like discarded residue, though it appeared to squirm as if alive. Oh, gross!

"Dream!" Ink yelped her name as the lizard managed to chomp down on his scarf. It yanked him back.

"One moment!" She called over her shoulder, watching as something started to emerge from within the puddle of black. She blinked at the sight of a single white letter coming to float upon the surface. She recognized the royal seal immediately and gently plucked the envelope from the pool. When she did so, the black goo seeped into the earth and vanished. She carefully opened up the letter, faintly aware of the sound of Ink insulting the lizard between wacks of his brush against its muzzle. She started to read the letter and gasped. "Oh my goodness! Is it that time of the century?!" She questioned aloud.