Dreaming of Demons (Dream x oc)

[1] Firework Show

The dock creaked under my feet as I relished the feeling of finally getting to stretch my legs. "You know, I didn't really believe you when you said it was a long boat ride over, but I'm a full-hearted believer now."

Karl chuckled, finishing tying the boat to the dock we stood on. "I can't believe you're actually here, Taryn." He grinned as he stood up and unrolled his multicolored, hoodie sleeves.

I turned toward the land laying before us with my duffle bag in both hands. "I can't believe it either, but it's honestly nice to have a change of scenery." I smirked over my shoulder.

Even before Karl moved to this land—the Dream SMP he had mentioned it as—we were good friends. After I had finished high school, he moved to the SMP and it wasn't long before he started texting me all about what was happening at his new home. I honestly couldn't tell whether some of the things he had told me were actually real or if he was just exaggerating. If I remembered correctly, he had said something about a country getting blown up? His replies to my concerned texts then just confused me more, so I had settled on the idea that it had just been some crazy firework show.

Obviously, I had been skeptical about visiting, but he had assured me everything was fine now so here I was almost six months later.

The sea breeze blew stray hairs out of my ponytail as Karl and I stepped onto dry land. Seagulls cried out in the air and the large trees further inland swayed a bit, causing their shadows to shift and dance across the ground.

"Come on, I can give you the best tour by the best guide on the Dream SMP." Karl moved ahead and clambered up the small hill in front of us.

I swung my duffle bag to one arm, the strap pinching my skin, and tried to hurry after him. "Uh, I should probably drop my stuff off somewhere first."

He glanced back at me. "Oh, you're right. I know where we can go."

I followed after Karl as we travelled over the hill and moved around a wooden building.

As the new land stretched out before me, I came to a stop, my expression falling. Not too far ahead of us, the ground caved into a massive, jagged hole. Wood and stone were strewn everywhere and trees were knocked down into the dirt, their spindly roots clawing outwards. There were some bits of structures that still stood, though whatever they were a part of was completely gone or demolished to the point of being unrecognizable. Water flooded the area as well, some large puddles dark and stagnant, while others flowed into the crater in countless waterfalls.

When I raised my gaze, dark pathways of obsidian gridded the sky. Whatever platform it was cast a shadow on the destroyed ground below. The destruction was enough to make me suck in a tight breath.

Karl must have noticed I had stopped and he came back to my side, trailing my gaze out to the crater. "Oh yeah, that's L'Manburg. Or what's left of it anyways." 

I was surprised by his casual tone. It was not what I expected from someone who had supposedly survived such a thing. All the terrible things he had ever told me about this place trickled into my mind until it washed over in realization. If he was so nonchalant mentioning some kind of bombed town, who knew what other awful things were just a part of a 'typical day' in the Dream SMP?

My eyes continued to dart over the wreckage. "This is ridiculous," I muttered.

"Didn't you read my texts?" 

"Of course I did." I finally pulled my eyes off the sight. "I just didn't...I didn't think it would be like this." I waved my hand towards the giant hole in the ground.

Karl laughed and started down the wooden path again. "Well, at least we know it can't happen here again."

We strolled along the path, passing broken buildings and random materials laying about. We came to a set of tall stairs and just looking towards the top caused me to squint in the sunlight. There were a couple splintered holes in some areas of the stairway as well.

I watched Karl hop up the stairs. He seemed so lively despite the number of steps I couldn't even begin to count. 

"You use these stairs often?" I asked.

He turned to face me from a couple steps ahead. "Yeah, I mean, it's the Prime path. Everyone uses the Prime path. My house isn't far anyways."

I started up the stairs, stepping past him as I continued towards the top. "Good, cause my arm is killing me."

"Here let me help you." The weight on my arm was suddenly lifted and the strap slid out of my hold as he carried it the rest of the way up the stairs.

After passing under a tunnel, we came to a stop at a quaint, wooden house surrounded by bamboo. Karl glanced back at my curious gaze, smiling widely as he tried to make some grand gesture. "Welcome to my bamboo house!"

He led the way across a small bridge to the simple front door of his home. I stepped inside after him, surveying the space. His house wasn't super big, but that was to be expected since he lived alone. It was quite simple as well being just a rectangular shape of two floors. There were many chests and a couple furnaces lining the walls. A table with a wooden chair sat in one corner, cluttered with books and an assortment of random objects.

Karl quickly showed me an upstairs room which I assumed was his bedroom. There was a bed pushed up against the wall under a window and yet another chest. A cat was curled up on his bed and I gave it a small pat before following Karl to a room he said would be mine. Much like his own, it had a bed and an empty chest waiting to be filled.

I set my duffel bag on the bed and turned to Karl. "Alright, let's see what this place has got."

"Oh there's so much to show you. I don't know if we'll get through it all today."

"Really? Well, I'm just hoping the bedrock-deep-crater is not a trending design here."