Fate On Wheels 2 ~ Skephalo/Dream6d AU

Chapter 23 ~ A Familiar Setting

A few months later, the snow had begun to be less and less common. So, to save money, they began to camp in the forests halfway between their destinations. In the present time, they were doing just that.

The group were seen sitting around a campfire that has been lit by Bad with the fire magic they learned before. They were warming up before they realized that they needed more wood to keep the fire going all night. 

"I'll go and collect some more wood, yell to me if anything happens!" Bad sad happily, waving as he walked out into the forest.

"You too! Be safe!" Dream yelled back.

"I will!" was heard from Bad as the distance between them increased. He headed off to find wood, searching diligently through the forest.

Around an hour later, Bad hadn't returned. This made the team scared, so they decided to split up and look for him. A6d would stay back in case he returned, and Dream and Skeppy would go out to look for him (mostly because Skeppy refused to stay put). 

So, the two headed off into different directions to search for their missing friend.

"Bad?! Baaaad!" Skeppy called, trying to find his friend or get his attention.

"Skeppy?" A familiar voice spoke after a few tries.

"Bad!" Skeppy said with a gasp, running off to the direction of his friend's voice. When he broke through the forest, he was met with why it was taking Bad to long to get back.

A Turquoise lake, almost glowing from the light of the full moon above, stood before them. Large mountains showed in the background, reflecting off the lake.

"Woah.." Skeppy said, staring in amazement at the view as glowing particles floated above the lake. 

"Its beautiful, isn't it?" Bad said, smiling as she sat at the edge, staring across the lake.

"Yeah.." Skeppy said, gasping then shaking his head as he ran over to bad, falling to the ground and tackling him in a hug. 

"S-Skeppy? What's this about?" Bad asked with confusion.

"You scared me! Don't just leave and no come back again! I thought you weren't gonna come back, i thought you got hurt or died I thought-" Skeppy ranted, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. 

Bad frowned and sat the two up, hugging the other tightly. "Shh... Shh. It's okay. Please, I'm fine I promise. I won't do it again." 

Skeppy sniffled and shoved his head into the other's chest, tightening his grip on the other as he sobbed.

Bad tightened his grip on the other as well. "How much did you sleep last night?" 

"N-not much..." Skeppy spoke through the sobs, "W-why?"

"You're probably tired, aren't you..? It's getting pretty late." Bad said with a frown. "How long have you been looking for me?"

"Around an hour.," Skeppy said. his sobs starting to stop as he sat back out of the hug and wiped his face. 

Bad looked at the other and frowned more, he has bags under his eyes along with the stains of the tears. He really did worry him, didn't he?

"How about we sit here for a bit so you can get a break, then head back?" Bad asked.

"Sure," Skeppy said, rubbing his eyes as he resisted the need to yawn.

Bad turned towards the lake, then looked up at the sky to see how many stars were in the sky, accompanying the large moon. This area was extremely beautiful. Bad laid back to stare at the sky more, smiling as he looked at it. 

Skeppy followed his gaze and did the same thing. lying back and watching. It wasn't long before the smaller one had drifted off to sleep, small snores coming from his mouth as he turned in his sleep.

Bad looked at the other with a smile, sitting up and mumbling. "its time to go.." 

Bad picked up the other boy gently, carrying him back to camp. When he made it there, A6d and Dream instantly stood to start interrogating him before they saw Bad glare. The look made them realize the sleeping Skeppy and they stayed silent.

Bad set his friend in his tent, then walked out and zipped it up. He walked over to the campfire where the rest of the team began to talk.

"So. Where were you?" Dream asked in a serious manner.

 "I found a lake and got distracted, sorry," Bad said with a bit of guilt, looking down at the fire below.

"Okay.. did you even get any wood?" A6d asked.

The realization practically smacked him in his face at the words. Since he had to carry Skeppy back, he forgot the wood at the lake... "U-um.." was all he could manage to get out.

A6d sighed, Dream speaking. "Well, I hope you're glad to know that I got some when I went searching for you."

Bad sighed a bit in relief, "i-i'm sorry again... "

"It's fine, Bad. Just... please don't do it again. You worried all of us, y'know?" Dream said with a weak smile.

"I-i'm sor-" Bad started getting interrupted by A6d

"Oh, stop saying sorry! It's fine, Bad." He said with a smile. "Now, how did that happen?" A6d asked with a bit of a smirk, gesturing to Skeppy's tent.

A bit of red tinged Bad's cheeks, "He was clearly tired, so I tricked him into falling asleep." He said, looking away.

"Uh-huh... You sure you didn't want to carry him?" A6d said, putting his head on his hand in a teasing manner.

Bad's face turned even more red at the thought. "Okay, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight Muffins!" Bad said quickly, running off into his tent.

A6d and Dream laughed with each other as they watched their friend run off. 

"You know.." Dream started mumbling a bit. 

"Yeah?" A6d asked, trying to get him to continue.

"Uh- nothing... Anyways. We should sleep too." Dream said, laughing awkwardly. 

Dream got up, going to his tent and waving to the other before saying a quick "goodnight" and going in. A6d glared at him with suspicion but passed it off as them all being tired. He sighed and went off to sleep as well.

Today was much more eventful than any of them thought it would be, but something made them think that something similar to this had happened before. But... what?

[1016 Words]