Friend in the Shadows (Discontinued)

-Chapter 1-

Night sat down in a forest clearing far off from the village. He treated his wounds from a recent assault, dapping the smaller injuries while rubbing the larger ones more deeply. The sun set over the trees, setting a shadow upon the forest. The animals that were around scurried back to their homes, making the entire area quiet except for his own breath and the distant sound of the wind behind him.

Night sighed, holding up his blood-soaked hand after trying to fight back against the bullies from the assault earlier. He got some good punches, but he was outnumbered, forcing him to retreat to the forest he's in now. He HATED retreating, because it made him seem weak and helpless, running away like a coward. He growled to himself, almost punching the ground, but restraining.

Night's negativity had been growing stronger the past few days, more than usual. It felt like a strong presence was growing in his mind, wanting to be set free and take over... he didn't know why he thought so or felt that way, but he knew his negativity had been growing anyway.

Night's eyes grew tired as the grass below him slowly stopped waving, almost like it was ready to sleep too. He groaned, taking out a small blanket though it was big enough to cover him. He threw it over him, making sure it covered enough so he didn't get too cold. The wind felt more down that night, so he didn't worry too much about it.

Before Night could really relax, he heard calls for his name out in the woods. It must be Dream looking for him, since why would anyone else actually care? He got up, still holding the blanket just in case, and heading out to see who it was. The rough sounds of the leaves crunching under his feet made it hard to focus on Dream's faint voice, but he went further anyways.

Night could tell something was off. He went in every direction he saw, every corner, all the places you could think of, but Dream's voice didn't get any louder. It was still faint in the distance, and sometimes even seemingly felt like it became fainter when he was moving closer, apparently.

Suddenly a loud sound of screaming and blood splat came from the forest clearing. The scream wasn't normal though, usually screams fade out after they stop. This one completely cut off after the blood splat. It felt unnatural, almost fake. Night went over to the sound, but tried to stay out of sight to avoid being killed as well.

Night looked past a tree to the lingering body as the killer stood above it, completely still. It looked pitch black, but had some teal highlights that were only seemingly noticeable. They had long tentacles, four of them, that were up and covered in the victims blood. They slowly tilted their head at me as I ducked behind the tree, before looking back and seeing that they were gone. The body just sat on the cold grassy floor, spilling their blood. Night couldn't do anything more, or the village would think he did it himself if he brought it back.

Night walked away, still pretty traumatized, and noticing Dreams voice had stopped calling. Either he gave up, which was unlikely, or he was just imagining it in the first place. It was probably the second one, knowing himself.

For what it seemed like forever, Night tried to find his way back to the village. It was getting dark, which made it harder to see where he was going. The opening of the forest looked near, so Night dealt with it.

"Brother! Brother, are you there?" Night heard Dreams voice, and hopefully it was real this time. He followed the direction, leading him to the forest opening with Dream standing near it. He smiled and called out for Dream, picking up his pace a bit.

"Dream!" Night called back, smearing his face of small snow that built up because of the cold. Dream turned toward his brother, and gasped. "Night! There you are!"

"I was so worried! What happened?" Dream asked, hugging his brother lovingly and suddenly crying. Night whipped his brothers tears and smiled, seeming genuine, but it was truly a fake smile, that gladly Dream didn't notice. "Don't cry, Dream. Everything is fine. Let's go back, okay?" Dream nodded and took his brothers hand, walking toward the small village.

Night sighed to himself, quiet enough so Dream couldn't hear. Sorry, Dream, but this won't last long. I will leave this miserable life, no matter what I have to go through to get there. Even if it means killing you. That is just the way of life and sacrifice. You should learn that not everything is perfect and joyful, and that some people just aren't good. Don't try to stop me, it won't end well. I am truly sorry, and I love you.

But this will all end very soon.

~838 words~

You pretty much get the way this story goes. And yeah, I remade this into MareNight instead of Dreammare, also completely changing the storyline and how it pans out (aka the plot). See you in the next chapter and have a good day/night, y'all.