Fate On Wheels 2 ~ Skephalo/Dream6d AU

Chapter 24 ~ Calm Before The Storm

{Start of the 'Sleep' Arc}

As the sun outside the tents rose, so did Skeppy. He pushed himself up and looked around with confusion. He remembered falling asleep by the lake, not here. He realized that Bad probably carried him back, that making him smile a bit.

Skeppy got up and stepped out of his tent to find the very person he was thinking about sitting by the campfire.

"Mornin' Bad," Skeppy spoke with a bit of a yawn.

"Goodmorning, muffin" Bad said with a smile, continuing to write in his journal.

"Whatcha writing?" Skeppy asked, peeking over the taller boy's shoulder.

Bad closed the journal quickly, turning to the other "Just a bucket list of sorts, anways- did you have a good sleep?" Bad asked.

Skeppy glared suspiciously at Bad, eventually sighing and shrugging, "Yeah, I guess. It's not great sleeping on the ground though. I can't wait till we get to the next town." he responded.

"Yeah, I agree. It's starting to hurt my back" Bad said with an awkward laugh as he put his journal and pencil away in his bag.

"Same," Skeppy said, being left in silence with no ideas of how to continue the conversation.

They stayed there for a few moments, just enjoying each other's presence. The slowly thawing air and soft breeze surrounding them. The sound of slightly rustling leaves and birds as they began to fly back from the winter. it was very calming. 

That is, until Skeppy decided to interrupt this silence with an idea.

"Hey, I heard that there's some good herbs in this forest. Want to go look for some so you can continue your practice?"

"Ooo! Sure! I'm sure the other's won't be awake for a while anyway." Bad said with an excited smile, standing and turning to his friend.

"Ok then, lead the way," Skeppy said, Bad nodding and walking off as the smaller boy followed him.

The two walked out into the forest, talking happily as Bad nerded-out about all the different types of herbs. It was happy and calm, all until... something happened.

Bad touched a plant, picking it up and showing Skeppy excitedly. "I've never seen one like this before!" he said excitedly. This tone quickly changed as he began to blink alot, stumbling a bit and trying to keep a steady stance. 

He dropped the plants, holding his head and groaning. "What the..."

"Bad? Are you okay??" Skeppy asked, reaching out his arms to help his friend.

"N-No- I'm.. I'm tired... and dizzy..." Bad said, almost falling forward, Skeppy catching him as well as he could.

"Let's go back to camp..." Skeppy said with a frown, adjusting Bad to be easier to walk.

Bad nodded and they walked back to camp slowly. When they got there, Skeppy set Bad in his tent and Skeppy waited by the campfire, a frown on his face as he waited for his other friends to awaken.

'What if there's something wrong with him? What if he's sick? What if he dies? What if...?' Were just some of the thoughts racing through Skeppy's head as he waited in the silence for his friends. After a few moments, this was stopped though. 

Dream pushed himself out of his tent to see a clearly panicked Skeppy, walking over to the other. "Hey, hey, what's wrong??" 

Skeppy gasped and turned to him, shaking a bit "Dream! It's Bad, something happened and I don't know what to do!" 

"What? Why didn't you wake me up?! Where is he?!" Dream asked, shouting a bit.

"I'm sorry! It's just-" Skeppy shakes his head "He's in his tent! He just suddenly started getting tired and I didn't know what to do but bring him back here!" 

Dream sighed and went over to Bad's tent, Skeppy following with a concerned frown.

Dream crouched next to the taller boy who was now fast asleep and turned to Skeppy. "Do you know how to do a medical analysis spell?" he asked.

"Oh, yes! I do! Why didn't I think of that- ugh, stupi-" Skeppy said, starting to rant before Dream interrupted him. 

"Not that time to insult yourself, just do the spell and tell me what you find." Dream said, a serious tone of voice coming from his mouth.

Skeppy nodded, placing his hands just above Bad's head, a soft blue glow radiating from his palms as he began to repeat a set of words quietly over and over again. The words were not able to be heard.

After a few moments, Skeppy opened his eyes, turning to Dream. "Can you get me some paper and something to write with?" He asked.

Dream nodded, quickly getting up and out of the tent, coming back within a few moments with a notepad and a pencil. He handed it to Skeppy who began to write down multiple things in what seemed to be gibberish. 

After Skeppy seemed to finish writing it all down, he translated it into English. His eyes glowed as he did so, most likely using another spell to do it quickly. Skeppy would probably regret this later, but now all that mattered was getting his friend in good condition.

Skeppy handed the notepad to Dream who read it over quickly. "So, he touched a poisonous herb, leaving him to be sent into a deep sleep until we find an antidote?" Dream asked.

Skeppy nodded. "That's what the spell told me, at least," Skeppy said, frowning more than before, a hint of guilt in his eyes.

"Okay then, We're going to change our plans. The village we were going to before is the closest one so we'll still go there. But, instead of beginning our quest, we're going to cancel our reservation and seek help from the local healer. Okay?" Dream explained, a serious and determined look in his eyes. Even if he didn't originally come here with Bad, he was his friend now. And he WILL save him.

Skeppy nodded, the frown still covering his face.

"Now, go wake up A6d. We're leaving now." Dream finished.

Skeppy nodded again, getting up and running out of the tent to wake their friend.

Dream sighed, looking down at his friend. 

"We'll help you. I promise."

[1038 Words]