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"i swear i'll protect you."
"What do you mean, Sage?" Tubbo asked.
"I... I didn't try to kill Tommy. I may have blown up L'Manberg but I'm not that malicious. In fact I haven't seen Tommy all day."
Tubbo nodded.
"Then why did Dream say that?" He asked.
"Because no one can know his weakness." I said with a smirk.
"Anddd what would that be?" He asked. I chuckled.
"Me."
"And why are you so happy about that?" Tubbo asked, confused.
"You see Tubbo, he put me in jail because I was a liability to him. To his mission. Dream is planning something worse then any of us could ever imagine. The reason he sent me to jail is because I figured him out. He couldn't keep up the act for long in front of the person who knows him best. He knows that I can ruin everything. And he knows that I can talk him out of it just like that."
Tubbo looked like a lightbulb went off in his head. "You are smart, Sage. Smarter then me. Now how do we stop him?" He asked.
"Well, that's the hard part. We wait. We don't know exactly what he's up to yet, so there's really nothing to talk him out of. I just need to stay hidden as well as finding as much as I can about what he's doing. A bit underwhelming, I know, but the day will come."
"Of course. Should we tell the others?" He asked.
"Not the details. Just tell them to not trust anything he says. He's probably lying. And stay safe."
Tubbo nodded. "Should we go back up?" He suggested, motioning to the houses above us.
"Yeah."
We walked back into Ranboos house and they all looked at us a bit quizzically before returning to their conversation. I knew what I had to do.
"Um, Eret?" I said. He looked at me, his face expressionless. No flicker of hope, or sadness, or happiness. Just empty. "Can we.. Talk? In private?"
Eret sighed and nodded and we headed outside.
"So uh, how have you been?" I asked awkwardly.
"I've been just fine. Everything has been perfectly peaceful since the war." He said, hinting that it had been peaceful since I left.
"Listen I'm just going to cut to the chase. I'm sorry. And I really don't care if you accept my apology I'm just hoping that you can tolerate me because I want my brother back." I rambled. "And I you have the right to hate me after what I did, I still hate myself for it but you have to realize it's what I had to-"
I was cut off by Eret hugging me. Taken aback, I stood there for a second before wrapping my arms around him. I hadn't hugged my brother in the longest time. I felt whole again.
"I-I'm sorry I ignored you.. I was just scared and angry and I didn't really know what to do with myself." He said, wiping the stray tear that fell from his eye. "I really missed you, Sage. I really, really did."
I smiled at him, feeling a flicker of hope for the first time in a long time.
"I missed you, too."
[•••]
I sighed as I waited for my food to cook in the furnace. It had been about a week since I escaped the prison, and I hadn't been so much as spotted by any of Dreams gang. I've spotted them, of course, I would have to thank my talent for potions for that.
I climbed the ladder and scrunched up my eyes as the sunlight flooded onto my face. Living in a cave reminded me of the Pogtopia days, although it was not ideal.
I had started being more observant of everyone on the server, trying to figure out who was good and who was not. It was hard to trust anyone with Dreams manipulative ways. I remembered something he said to me one time when we were walking in the field.
"Sage, if anything else happens. Like... a war, I swear I'll protect you."
So much for that. Now he would kill me on sight. He called throwing me in a jail protection?
I whipped around as I heard a rustle in the leaves. I immediately drew my bow, trying to see through the thick bushes what it was.
"Bow down, Sage. It's just me." Tubbo said, emerging from the bushes. I lowered my bow and sighed with relief.
"Goodness, Tubbo you scared me to death!" I said. "You got anything?"
"I talked to Dream this morning." He said. "He was acting really weird."
"Well that wouldn't be new for him, he's always acting weird. What did he say?"
"Well, we were just talking about normal stuff while building. It was a normal conversation he just seemed... distracted. And he kept holding this compass, it was like the one me and Tommy have but gold."
"That explains it." I sighed. "He was looking for me. That compass does the same thing that yours does, only it tracks me. Here's mine." I said, pulling the compass out of my pocket. Tubbo looked at it before panic spread across his face.
"But then... why hasn't he found you yet? He could track you any second! He could be on his way here right now!" He said, pacing around in the grass.
"Calm down, Tubbo. I'm sure we're safe, but your right. I need to get the compass. And Dream must have a reason for not taking me back."
dreams pov
I looked down at the compass once again which was pointing into the woods.
"Dream, why do you keep looking at that compass?" George asked. I glanced into the woods one more time before putting it away.
"It's nothing." I said, going back to building.
"Any sign of Sage?" Sapnap asked.
"No." I lied. Truth is I could find her easily but something was holding me back. I had hated seeing her the way she was when we took her to the prison. I hated seeing her in pain. But right now she wouldn't dare show her face, so she isn't a problem anymore. If she decides to show up I'll have no choice but to take her to the prison again as much as I don't want to. I loved her. I didn't want her to get caught in the cross fire of what was to come. As long as she stayed out of it she would be safe. I promised that I would protect her and I hold to that.
"Earth to Dream?" George snapped his fingers in my face. I snapped out of my thoughts.
"Yeah, sorry." I mumbled.
"What's been up with you lately? You've been so distracted." George said.
"I said I'm fine." I said before dropping my pickaxe and walking away, leaving Sapnap and George in utter confusion.
a/n- thank you all for 100 reads !! the next few chapter will just be fillers bc now i'm kinda waiting to see what happens with the smp irl, so the next few chapters will elaborate on dream and sages friendship/feelings and such :)
