Dream panicked when he woke up. Sapnap, Skeppy, and Bad were all gone. Dream asked around the area to see if anyone had seen them, but had no luck. The only reason why he was able to figure out where they went was that Bad's horse and Sapnap's donkey were both missing, as well as a stack of leads from the stables. In the horses' place, he had instead found Patches and Cat curled up together. Dream felt guilty for forgetting them the night before, but he was very thankful that they made it out alive. He scooped them up and brought them back to Bad and Skeppy's home. Their dogs took a minute to warm up to the cats, but they all eventually got along just as well as their owners did.
After some going back and forth on what he should do, Dream decided he'd go after his three friends and give them a good punch when he caught up to them. He wanted to be mad. He wanted to punch something and yell. But he knew that getting upset wouldn't do any good in this situation. He had to keep his cool long enough to find them. Dream grabbed one of Bad's extra backpacks and begins shoving supplies into it. It was only then that he realized his sword wasn't recovered from the fire. He forced himself to get up and walk towards the burnt down remains of the home, hoping that he'd be able to find it.
Dream was surprised when he found Lily there, firing George's bow at a small target she hung on a tree. Right be her feet was Dream's mask, now more broken than it ever was. It'd only cover the left half of his face and his forehead if he were to wear it. "Hey, Lily," Dream says gently.
"I already looked around. The mask was the only thing left from the fire." She fires another arrow and gets a perfect bullseye.
Dream picks up his mask and holds it in his hands, saddened that he lost his sword. "Thank you for pulling his out, but it won't offer enough protection anymore. I can use this." He lets it fall out of his hands, but Lily catches it before it hits the ground.
"You're just going to throw it away?" She asks.
Dream shrugs. "Well, yeah. It's not worth keeping."
"Maybe not to you, but it is to me." Lily carefully sets it down, then fires another arrow into the target. Another bullseye. "So, you're leaving?"
"What?" Dream asks.
Lily motions to his backpack. "You're packed up and ready to go somewhere. I figured you'd go after George." She fires one final arrow, which of course was another bullseye, then lowers the bow to her side. "So who am I staying with?"
"I'm going to see if the neighbor can watch you as well as the cats and dogs."
"Can I please come with you?" She asks. "I'll be good! I promise! I'll help you and I will be good."
Dream pulls her into a side hug. "It's too dangerous for you to go with me." He then grabs the bow from her side, wincing as he holds it in his hand, and puts it into his backpack. Once he found George, he'd be able to return his weapon to him. She sadly nods, picks the mask from the ground, and begins walking back towards the village. Dream spends a few minutes explaining to Bad's neighbor his situation and she agreed to take care of the pets and Lily. Once that was squared away, he bought an iron sword from one of the swordsmiths. It wasn't enchanted, but it'd do. With a final goodbye, Dream began walking in the direction of the blue ash. Unfortunately for him, he'd be making the trip on-foot because he had yet to tame his own horse.
As he went, he started getting flashbacks of the first time he ever left the village. He passed by the ravine which still had a staircase carved into the side of it. He smiled for a second, remembering that day, but his expression turned sour. Now, Dream was the one having to follow his friends. He hated being on this side of it, especially since they were probably quite a bit ahead of him. Dream also quickly found that the walk was not nearly as fun without someone to talk to. He'd take any sort of companion right now. A dog, a cat, a pig, anything. But this time, he was completely alone with no one to watch his back.
His walk was pretty uneventful, being that it was daytime and no monsters were out. To keep himself entertained, he began plotting how he'd kill those bumbling idiots that left him. Not only did it help pass the time, but it also helped him calm down a little. He was still pissed that they left him, but part of him understood why they felt like they had too. Dream wasn't exactly feeling stable at the moment. Right now, he was still numb, his mind in denial of everything. But the more he thought about it, the more heartbroken he felt. George was out there, somewhere, possibly hurt or beaten. Dream didn't even want to consider that he could possibly be dead. He felt himself feeling overwhelmingly emotional when he came across the first wooden shack that they had made during their first adventure. The inside was just like he remembered it, small and cozy. Besides some cobwebs in the corner, it was just how they had left it. Part of Dream wished that they left the bed here, but seeing that he still had some sunlight left, it was nothing a quick hunting trip couldn't fix. By the time he was finished, he had 6 wool and 9 mutton. Not having to share tonight means that Dream was going to eat like a king.
But little did he know that a knock on the door would change everything about his mission. He opens the door and looks down in shock. "Lily?"
The little girl stood in the doorway with a blue hoodie on and had Dream's mask resting on her forehead. Her blonde, curly hair was wild and I brushed and the torchlight made her deep blue eyes glow. She had a small backpack on. "I wanted to help."
"Lily, you're literally seven years old. I don't want you to get hurt."
Lily pushes past him and tosses her backpack onto the ground. "I'm not leaving. We can either be a team or I'll follow you wherever you go."
Dream picks her bag off of the ground and shoves it into her hands. "No, you're going back home!"
Lily drops the bag. "No! I want to help George and you don't have enough time to take me back to the village."
Dream hates that she was right. It'd set him back two days if he took her back and with the possibility of George being in critical condition, he didn't have time to waste. "You're stubborn. Did you know that?"
Lily smirks. "What can I say? I learned it from you!"
"I am not stubborn!" Dream defends.
Lily giggles. "Sure. Ok. I believe you."
"Stop talking like that," Dream laughs.
"Like what?"
"Like Sapnap!"
Lily shrugs. "You're the one that let me spend time with him." She grabs Dream's bag from beside the wall and pulls out George's bow. "I'm so glad you brought this thing!"
"I can't believe you can hold it without it hurting," Dream says as he begins to set up two beds.
"George would set up a target for me every day and he'd teach me how to shoot with this bow. I guess I got used to the enchantments." She runs her thumb across the handle as she looks at small engravings made around it. "Oh hey, I never noticed this before." Dream walks over to her and looks at the engravings. There was a smiley face, a pair of devil horns, a panda, and a diamond all carved into the wood. The purple enchanted glow outlined each of the symbols. Dream smiled warmly, knowing that each symbol represented his friends. But below them was one last symbol. It was a lily-pad.
"Hey, kiddo. Let's eat a quick dinner and get to bed, alright? We need to get moving as early as possible if we want a shot at catching up with everyone else." Dream shoves some mutton into the old furnace.
Lily pulls a saddle out of her bag. "I was already a step ahead of you." As much as he didn't want to admit it, Dream was happy she was with him. She gave him a way to forget about all of the bad going on, even if just for a moment.
Sapnap was exhausted from staying up for nearly 18 hours. He envied Bad who was able to sleep while Skeppy had his arms around him, holding the reins in Bad's lap. Sapnap couldn't understand how Skeppy had so much energy still. It was like he didn't need sleep to function properly. As the sun started to set, they could see their first destination in the distance. The desert village. Sapnap quickly spotted Mega, who was sitting in the watchtower. When he saw them pulling up on their steeds, he quickly rushed down, probably to grab the other friends they had made. Despite the dire situation, his heart still fluttered when he thought about Rose. When they reached the outskirts of the village, Mega and Rose were standing together, looking quite excited.
Sapnap jumped off his donkey and pulled Rose into a loose side hug while Skeppy woke Bad up to help him down. "What are you guys doing here?!" Rose asks excitedly. Her eyes trail down to Sapnap's arm all wrapped up. "What happened?"
Sapnap closes his eyes tightly. "Rose, George was kidnapped and the house I told you that he was building was burnt to the ground."
Rose steps back and covers her mouth. "Oh my god."
"We are on our way to find him, but we need to crash here for the night, if you don't mind," Sapnap says.
Rose nods. "Of course you can stay the night." She looks over Sapnap's shoulder. "Where's Dream?"
Sapnap chuckles. "Yeah, about that. We kind of left him."
"You know he's going to catch up and kill you eventually, right?" Rose sighs. "It'd be a shame if I lost you."
Sapnap rolls his eyes. "He won't kill me. I'm his favorite human." He pulls his donkey behind him as he and Rose walk towards the large warrior home.
Bad yawns and follows them. "I need to get some sleep. I haven't stayed up this long in a while."
"Sleep well!" Skeppy calls out to him. Mega turns to walk back towards the watchtower, but Skeppy stops him. "Hey, is it cool if I talk to you about something?" Mega signs something in sign language then walks off towards the watchtower. Skeppy runs up behind him. "Thank you so much, Mega. You have no idea how much I need this." Mega rolls his eyes, wishing Skeppy could understand that he just signed, "Fuck off." The two climb to the top of the tower. Mega sits in his chair and readies an arrow in his bow while Skeppy sits on the ground.
"Ok, so, I don't quite know how to put this into words," Skeppy says to Mega. "Well, you know Bad, right? I've got, like, feelings for him or something. And it's weird because I've liked him for a while but I don't know if he likes me back or if he's just a really nice person who gives compliments. It's so confusing and I hate it." He pulls his legs up to his chest and buries his head into his knees. "I wish it was as easy as Dream and George make them look." Skeppy looks up at Mega, who isn't paying any attention to him at all. "Ok, you could at least pretend to be listening. We've visited the village a lot these last few years. I thought we were friends!"
Mega looks Skeppy dead in the eyes and states, "I literally despise you."
Skeppy stands up. "OH MY GOD! YOU TALKED!" Mega leans back in his chair and pulls his shirt up to cover his mouth, visibly annoyed by Skeppy. Skeppy laughs. "If you can talk, you can give me advice!"
"I'm not giving you anything," Mega responds.
"Well, fine. I'll go talk to someone else," Skeppy says, standing up.
"You have no other options here," Mega says, turning his attention back to the village.
Skeppy scoffs. "That's not true! I have many options! MANY!"
Mega smirks. "But yet you came to be because I'm the best."
"No, I came to you because you were the only one awake besides Rose." Skeppy means against the wall of the tower. "Look, I don't know what to do. I'd really appreciate it if you could help me."
Mega groans and puts the bow down. "You like Bad, yeah? Just tell him. You have nothing to lose here. If Bad likes you, he'll accept you."
"But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"
Mega shakes his head. "He does, you're just blind. Now quit pining and tell him how you feel. And if you ever tell anyone I spoke to you, you will die in your sleep."
"Thank you, Mega," Skeppy says, deciding to turn in for the night. He was going to tell Bad, he just had to figure out the perfect time.
———
Word Count: 2285
Sorry that this chapter is shorter than usual! I promise the next one will be longer. And trust me, you don't want to miss it! 😉
Published: July 22nd
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The Burning ~ Dreamnotfound + Skephalo
FanfictionNEW COVER MADE BY~ @lazycat881 TYSM I love youuuu! A new challenger approaches just as Dream and George settle into marriage life together. New friendships are made while old ones are challenged. The heroes must return to the Nether to.....wait a mi...
