Ravens [Dreamnotfound/Gream]

6. A worthy sacrifice

Bad was sat behind the table in the same yellow 'meeting room', watching Sapnap give his tactics and advice on what to do when they strike next. He was resting his face in his hand, yawning softly as he tried his best to pay attention.

George, however, had his head on the table and showed absolutely zero interest in what Sapnap was talking about.

"Then we strike with more hounds, more armour," Sapnap spoke icily, picking up a roll of parchment and whacking it over George's head, "and more weapons."

George's head shot up, looking around in a confused sort of way. Bad laughed quietly, staring at Sapnap who frowned.

"As I was saying, he can't outsmart us this time. That dumb stunt worked out because of pure luck. I was most certain that he was lying," Sapnap went on, gritting his teeth as he took out one of the wanted posters and hung it up on the wall, "We'll catch him this time, dead or alive."

He walked a few feet away from the poster, picking up a dagger from his pocket and spinning around in a 360° and throwing the dagger mid spin. The knife landed on the poster, right through Clay's face. Sapnap smirked.

"There's no way he's getting away from us this time."

That statement wasn't necessarily false, that is, if George hadn't done anything about this. Fortunately for Clay, he was immediately approached by the brunette on the next day.

Clay already knew what he was going to say. He gave George's cheek one affectionate stroke, before his eyes widened. Clay saw the two other guards accompanied by more dogs and more dangerous weapons. He turned and ran, clutching his bow tightly as he tried to lose them.

George turned around to face the two guards, holding his arms out in attempt to stop them. Sapnap swore in frustration, shoving the smaller boy to the ground and pointing his sword at him. George whimpered.

"So.." Sapnap growled, his eyes narrowing with anger. His lip was trembling ever so slightly, as he flushed red with rage, "Helping out the enemy, are we?"

George closed his eyes tightly, his heart hammering in his chest. "You disgust me," the black haired boy spat, lowering the sword away from George's neck.

George opened one eye and to his relief, Bad was talking some sense into Sapnap, persuading him to cut out the lecture and try and catch Dream. Sapnap shot one last angry glare at George before taking one of the canines and walking into the direction Clay ran off to. Bad turned to George.

"Are you okay?" Bad asked gently, helping the brunette up. George nodded, touching his neck and sighing in relief when he didn't find any sort of mark.

"He's innocent," George blurted out quietly, feeling his vision go blurry. Bad listened empathetically, "He's innocent!"

George didn't realise he was crying. He wiped his face hastily, looking away from Bad. What was he going to say? Was he going to get in trouble for this? Luckily, he didn't need to wait to find out.

George felt Bad embrace him quietly, reassuring him that things were going to be alright.

"If he really is innocent, then he'll be alright in the end. Don't worry, God has a plan," said Bad softly, pushing George's hair out of his face and staring at him with a tiny smile. George smiled back, "the faster we catch Dream, the faster he can prove his innocence."

"I guess you're right," George said quietly, looking at one of the dogs which were sniffing the ground excitedly. George looked at Bad and nodded, the two of them running after the dog.

"Oh Dream! Not so cocky now!" George could hear Sapnap yell. He could see him standing out with his sword, dueling with Clay. George's heart dropped. Sapnap's grin faded when Clay drew a bow, hitting him in the arm with an arrow. Hissing in pain, Sapnap lowered the sword, giving Clay time to run, "For fu-"

"Muffin!" "-sake!" Sapnap groaned in pain, rolling his eyes at Bad's interjection. Like that, Dream was gone again.

"This is infuriating!" Sapnap exclaimed, holding his bleeding arm pathetically. Bad handed him his scarf that he wore most of the time (even in the summer, because Bad insisted it was 'stylish'). Sapnap nodded in gratitude, wrapping the scarf around the wound.

"We were so close! If only you two were here, we could have finished him off," he continued as he finished tying the scarf around his arm to prevent it from bleeding, "I reckon we could still get him today. He can't be far from here."

"Far from here he isn't," Bad mused apathetically, "He's on that hill. I can see him from here."

Bad was right. There in the distance stood a tiny Clay, watching the three hunters, clearly amused. George gave him an exasperated glance, making Clay grin even wider. Sapnap looked like he was about to cry from frustration.

Just then, Sapnap's eyes lit up. He turned to George, "You'll go and attack him first," said Sapnap, his tone laced with maliciousness. George stared at him, mortified, "It seems like Dream has a thing for cute british boys."

George's face was burning at this point, but he quickly turned and stared at the ground so no one would notice. Clay seemed to notice something was off. He quickly stood up and watched the trio from afar.

His eyes narrowed when he saw George disappear into the forest, headed to his direction, whilst the two other guards watched him intently. This must have been some sort of trick.

Clay walked back slowly, raising his bow and aiming it at the trees, waiting for the brunette to appear. When he did, Clay released his grip, the arrow landing right above George's hair. George stared at Clay, horrified of what just happened. The blonde realised his mistake and lowered the bow.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," said George in barely a whisper, pulling down the arrow from the tree behind him. Clay put down the bow completely and ran to go help him. "What was that for?"

"Thought you were one of the other guys," Clay lied, taking the arrow and glancing down at George, who's face was still mildly pink. He raised his eyebrows, resting his arm on George's head.

George huffed, leaning back on the tree. "They'll be here soon. You better run again, unless you want to fight us three versus one," said George, pulling down Clay's hand and squeezing it affectionately. A small smile formed on Clay's face.

"Yeah I'll go. Hopefully I didn't get you into too much trouble back there," said Clay, a tad bit embarrassed. "I got a glimpse of Sapnap and he looked furious."

George smiled weakly, shrugging at the statement. He nudged the blonde and waved goodbye as he watched him run past the trees and disappear from his view. Without thinking, George took his sword and jabbed it at his right hand, making it look like Clay attacked him.

Sapnap and Bad made their way up the hill, a disappointing glance lingering on their faces when they didn't see Clay around. However, Bad's face immediately fell when he saw George's bleeding hand.

"Come here, you muffin. We need to get you fixed up," said Bad softly, taking George's hand and examining it. George let out a quiet groan of pain, regretting the decision immensly.

"Yeah, let's go back. But we are still having a talk," Sapnap muttered dangerously, making George nervous. The three of them walked back down the castle, not talking much.

George didn't want to know what was going to happen next. He could only hope it wasn't going to be what he thought it would.