ALTERED

Chapter 1

"Brother?" Nightmare asked, looking up at the other from his spot on the grass. The book he was reading now closed on top of his lap.

"Yeah?" Dream responded as he turned around to look at him, the large tree above the two providing shade from the sun.

"Can't you stay? Just for a bit longer." Nightmare said, watching the other's face. It contorted from happiness to sadness, then an apologetic look.

"Sorry Nighty, one of the villagers asked if I could attend a birthday party. Don't you think they're cool? We should have our own someday!" Dream quickly turned excited, a smile on his face as he took a step towards Nightmare and leaned down enough to hold both of Nightmare's hands, as if he was going to pull him up from his sitting position.

Nightmare looked off to the side, finding the clear sky rather interesting for a moment. He slipped his hands out of Dream's before mumbling "I don't know." He looked back to Dream, noticing the corners of his smile beginning to curve down. He panicked and quickly replied with something else in order to not upset the cheerful sun "We could try it out!"

"Great! Oh and I swear—pinky swear by the way—that I'll be back soon. Then we could hang out all day and tomorrow and maybe the day after that. My friends can survive without me for a few days. It'll be just you and me Nighty!" Dream quickly said before holding out a pinky.

Nightmare looked a bit reluctant (this felt too childish) but decided to go along with it and hooked his own pinky around Dream's.
"You better." Dream could only smile in reply.

The two let go before waving goodbye, Nightmare then opening his book back up while Dream began to run away.

_______________________

Dream laughed as he tagged one of his friends and quickly ran away, giggling and yelling about how there was no tag backs. He ran to the side of the house the party was hosted in. The sun was beginning to set, he noticed. It had been a few hours since he left Nightmare.. oh wait.

Dream panicked as he realized about the promise. He glanced to the side to see his friends still running around, not quite noticing how some of them were missing.
Seeing how his friends were fine, Dream decided that he should leave and go to Nightmare. He wasn't breaking his own promise!

Dream ran towards the hill where the Tree of Feelings, their mother, was. The sunset cast a pretty orange and pink across the sky, mixing in with the dark blues above. He didn't pay much attention to this, focused on making it to his brother.

He eventually made it, panting as he stopped not too far from the tree. He walked the rest of the way while he recovered. However he quickly stopped in his tracks once he heard some talking. Was his brother finally making friends?

He looked forward, seeing the backs of a couple of his friends. He thought they were hiding over at the party? Well as long as Nightmare had people to talk t—
Dream's eyes widened as he witnessed one of his taller friends grab Nightmare by the collar and lift him up in the air. He watched as Nightmare weakly grabbed at the hands lifting him up. He already had some bruises and was bleeding in some places.

His mind was blank; his hands were shaking. His brother. They were doing this to him? How long? Why hasn't he noticed? Why wasn't he told? Was it cause Nightmare's attackers are his friends? It doesn't matter if they're his friends..!

He briskly walked the rest of the distance to them.
"Hey! Just what are you doing to my brother?!" He angrily shouted, "Put him down! Now!"
He couldn't register the looks Nightmare gave him in his brain, nor the looks of his 'friends' now that he had found out. Everything was turning to mush around him, their voices quickly fading away.

Why would they do this? They were so nice to him. So why not to his brother? He's so kind and smart, even if he's a bit quiet. There's no reason to do this! Were they going to do this to him, too? Just trying to get his guard down... And that kid still hasn't put his brother down.

He clenched his shaking hands into fists, ignoring what that 'friend' was saying.
"Dream! We were just tr—!" The villager's breath was knocked out of them as they let go of Nightmare, dropping him on the ground. The villager stepped back, slightly hunched as they held their stomach. The others went beside the injured villager, now aware just how angry they made Dream. They all began to back away.

Dream let the anger subside for a moment in order to check on Nightmare. He rushed towards him, helping him sit up.
"Nighty I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be gone for that long. If I had been here earlier—" he could fear tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes "—then this wouldn't have happened! I'll heal you I'll heal you!" Dream could feel his soul settle into the pit of his stomach as Nightmare roughly coughed.

He moved Nightmare to lean against the trunk of the Tree of Feelings. He hovered his hands over Nightmare, trying to steady them as they were still shaky. Honestly he felt his whole body shaking. He wasn't sure what the feeling was but it made him want to act out more than he did than earlier. He usually would feel guilty for punching someone, but he kind of enjoyed it this time. They deserve it.

He began to heal Nightmare, a soft glowing light surrounding all of Nightmare's injuries. It hurt Dream to see the ones that were visible. He has a lot of questions to ask.

He knew that he was still being watched but a quick glare made them run off (was he that scary now..?)
Once he finished healing Nightmare the best he could, he noticed that he had already passed out. Dream leaned over to better look at Nightmare's face. He seemed peaceful.

He saw a drop of water hit Nightmare's cheek, causing Dream to turn and look at the sky beyond the leaves above. Was it raining?
..No, the sky was still clear. Although the pinks and oranges had disappeared into the night. So what was— His thoughts were interrupted by his own small hiccups. He reached up and wiped away a few tears that were about to fall from his face. Was he crying..? Now that he realizes it, he was tearing up earlier...

Everything came crashing down on him. He kept his mouth shut, biting back the ugly sobs that wanted to be let out. He wasn't waking up his brother because of this.

He decided to lean on the trunk beside Nightmare while he calmed down, resting his head on Nightmare's shoulder. He hasn't had anything like this happen to him before.

Usually when Dream cried, it was because he accidentally got hurt or a villager didn't exactly like him. Nightmare was always there for him. But now Nightmare had gotten hurt (because of his 'friends'!) and Dream wasn't there until the very end of it. The reasons he cried seemed so insignificant compared to now. Dream shouldn't even be crying, it should be Nightmare. Then he'll comfort and support his dear brother.

'I'll take care of you so much that you'll get sick of it..! I'll be such a good brother that it'll hurt...' Dream declared before closing his eyes...

It didn't take long before Dream opened them again, something new burning inside him. He hooked his pinky around Nightmare's before letting go and getting up, taking a few steps forward, turning around to look at Nightmare before taking in a breath.
———
Nightmare looked a bit reluctant (this felt too childish) but decided to go along with it and hooked his own pinky around Dream's.
"You better." Dream could only smile in reply.

The two let go before waving goodbye, Nightmare then opening his book back up while Dream began to run away.
———
This time, he walked.