Book 2: The First Fallen Human

Dead Silence

Dream was completely still. He was in one of the rooms of his castle in Dreamtale. It was such a big castle, he should've been close to impossible to find. He was on the deepest floor. But... he could hear it. He kept himself under one of the tables in the room, watching the door.

On the other side of the door, something was moving. He could hear clicking. Furious clicking and heavy footsteps. He flinched as he heard something scraping against the walls of the hallway. It was a horrible noise. Even worse was the low growl that accompanied it.

Dream stared at the door. He did not like to FIGHT. But he would do it if he had too. He couldn't rely on others to save him all the time. He kept himself crouched under the table. The noises were growing closer. They stopped near the door and Dream held his breath.

He could hear something breathing loudly. Then, he jumped as the wooden door suddenly began to burn, a vivid orange light silhouetting it. Dream couldn't believe it. How could anything have found him?! He backed up, out from under the table. He stood behind it, facing the door. He summoned his bow and a sheath of arrows appeared on his back. He slide one out.

Slowly, Dream drew the arrow back, focusing on the door. His body was shaky, but his hands were completely steady. Breathe. He took a deep breath and remained focused. Slowly, light began to consume the arrow until it was an arrow-shaped sunbeam. Steady. Breathe. Dream waited. The door was charred now. He startled a bit as the door crunched inwards and a gaster blaster made entirely out of glowing, red bullets opened its jaws.

Dream released the arrow and the flash of light made the creature jerk back, slamming into the wall as he heard it scream in fury. He quickly loaded another arrow. Breathe.The creature's face came into view again and he narrowed his eyes, shooting. This one struck the creature in the eyesocket and he heard it screech. The sound shook the castle and all the way down to Dream's bones.

His hands were shaking now. He drew another arrow. He jumped as something suddenly grabbed the creature from behind. He watched in shock as it scrabbled furiously, being dragged back the way it had come. Dream was startled and confused. What was happening to it??

He jumped as it turned back to him and fire appeared in its mouth as it opened its jaws. He shrieked and shot another arrow. This one struck the fire and the entire creature became consumed in a white-hot flash of light. Dream flinched away.

After a few moments, he lifted his head. The creature was gone, though the claw marks in the floor and the charred door still remained. Dream was panting. He pulled another arrow and nocked it, still wary. He approached the door slowly.

A figure suddenly came flying around the corner and Dream inhaled sharply, yanking the bow up, but something made him hesitate and he focused on the figure. He slowly lowered his bow. The figure slid back a purple hood with skeleton hands. Dream's eyes widened and he dropped the bow.

Night stared at the other. He was just as shaken as Dream. Of course, the three hadn't stayed bunkered down. They weren't that responsible. But he had been admittedly shocked when they'd arrived in Dreamtale. Even more so to see a giant lizard made of glowing bullets in the hallways of the castle.

Dream blinked. He shook his head and gave a painful smile, his eyes watering. "You... I... You're not MY Nightmare, are you?" He sounded broken. Not disappointed, but absolutely heartbroken. Night blinked. His own eyes were watering as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry..." He said quietly. Dream's tears ran down his cheeks. He gave a forced laugh before covering his face. He was shaking. Night was quiet, even wishing he had been this Dream's Nightmare. Dream hiccuped and looked up at him.

"C-Can I...?" He trailed off, but Night knew exactly what he wanted. Night nodded quickly and opened his arms. Immediately, Dream tackled him in a tight hug, crying against him. "I miss you so much... even if you're not my Nightmare... I just..." He breathed in shakily. Night immediately began to rub Dream's back, remembering that that would help the other when he was upset.

Dream seemed comforted. "I miss you too." Night said quietly, his voice straining a bit. This was affecting him too. A lot. But there was no way he was going to let Dream see him get emotional too. They stood for a long time like that, and oddly enough, Night was completely fine with it. He'd missed his own brother too much to reject Dream.

Night blinked as X appeared in the door. X stopped and stared at them, his eyes softening as he saw Dream. He gestured silently, asking if Night needed more time. Night glanced down at Dream before sighing and nodding. X gave him a thumbs-up and disappeared back into the hallway. Night was relieved that he and X knew each other well enough to pick up on silent cues.

After another minute, Dream pulled back, shivering. Night stared at him in dismay. Dream closed his eyes, holding his chest. He seemed in pain before opening his eyes and giving a weak smile. "Thanks... for dealing with that... I didn't mean to..."

Night gave a smile back. "No, don't worry about it. It helped me too... Cuz I'm DreamSwap so I haven't seen my brother in a passive form for a while either..." He gave a weak laugh. "I'm glad we could help each other just by existing like we do!" At that, Dream blinked before giving a soft giggle.

Night watched him warmly. He blinked and turned to the door. "Cross! It's okay now!" Dream jumped in confusion before remembering it was DreamSwap. His Cross still couldn't leave X-Tale. He watched as Night's friends came into the room.

He yelped as X scooped him up, hugging him tightly. "Oh!! Hello!!" He squeaked out, blushing madly as X set him down with a huge grin. X coughed.

"Sorry, sorry. I find you absolutely adorable." X grinned as Dream blushed and stuttered, thanking him quietly. Dream turned to look at Glitch. Glitch was studying the frayed strings at the ends of his fingers.

"Oh! Do you need help with that??" He asked, his eyes wide. Glitch started to shake his head before flinching as one of the frayed wires sparked. Dream took his hands and closed his eyes, a light engulfing Glitch's hands and repairing the damage. Glitch held them up as Dream pulled back.

"Th-Th-Thanks... Damn thing al-al-almost tore my strings... it w-wa-was a bitch to try t-t-t-to pull back..." Glitch mumbled. Dream blinked and gave a grin, staring around at the three.

"Well, firstly, thank you! And secondly, would any of you like something to eat or drink??"