It Lives in the East and Dies in the West

Prologue 1

A young boy, barely pubescent, rushes through the stone halls of his home, smooth leather shoes thwaping softly against thin woollen carpet as he beelines to his room, shoving himself through the door with the enthusiasm of a child whose lessons finished early. (They hadn't, but he liked to pretend.) Lucky for him, though, he had plenty of time until the next ones. While most would appreciate the break for what it is, his boon was something of a simpler nature- the ability to leave this spacious home and venture into the woods surrounding without some old hag nagging him at all hours of the day. He shed his little crown, tossing it carelessly onto his 4 poster bed which sat centred in his room and shucking his fine overgarments from his person. He threw them all over the place, uncaring as he proceeded to dig through his own previously-organised wardrobe, pulling out the drabbest rags he could possibly find. He tore it from the back of his closet, lifting the simple shirt up to the light behind him.

He frowned in distaste- they looked nothing like the children from outside the castle wore, but the dark, desaturated colours would have to do. He quickly threw them on, not even bothering to do it up properly before he threw a bag on his back and he ruffled his own spikey blond hair. Not that that would make him any less recognisable, but the effort was there. He grabbed his cloak, tearing it away from its resting hook and over his small shoulder in one swoop. He fastened the clasp around his neck with clumsy fingers, turning slowly with small steps to once more face the door. He huffed, biting his tongue as he struggled to get it to close before finally hearing the satisfactory snap of it catching. He gave a small cheer of accomplishment before finally noticing the current state of his previously spotless room. The boy cringed slightly, almost pitying the chambermaids that will have to clean his mess once more, before toeing on the most worn pair of boots he owned and darting out the bedroom door once more.
He whisks himself through the halls, doing his best to imitate that of a spectre and remain out of sight (just in case someone wanted to tell his parents), gliding around as quietly as possible- but ultimately failing, as he's slightly more tangible than your average ghost.

"Prince Dream!" He winced, before remembering himself and schooling his face into that of feigned innocence as he turned to meet the owner of said voice. There stood his tutor (damn his luck), Sir Halo, staring quizzically down at his young pupil from around the corner of a hallway said boy had just rushed past. "Where are you going, His Royal Highness?"

Sir Halo meant well, surely, but the young prince still felt uneasy under his blank-eyed stare. Nothing against his teacher, obviously. Dream respected the man a great deal, and looked up to him because the man truly seemed to know everything- but in the year or so he's trained under him, looking the man in the eyes has never been easy. Strange appearances of all kinds, Dream can deal with. It'd be bad for the Crown Prince to scream in the face of an esteemed guest, after all, but one thing he's never been able to train out of himself was his unease for people with no pupils. Nothing against them, obviously, but yeeesh.

"I was just going out, Sir." Despite his discomfort, Dream maintained eye contact. He technically hadn't done anything wrong (yet)- there was no reason to cow out now. Not that Sir Halo would rat him out- but disappointing him would suck almost as much as being locked in his bedchambers the rest of the day.

"Were you? Oh, what a coincidence! I could accompany you, if you'd like, I've needed to head into the far gardens myself, you see, and I really don't think your parents would appreciate--"

"No! Nope," Dream quickly backtracked, flickering his gaze to the side momentarily before looking back up and Sir Halo's strange visage, friendly as it may be. "No, I'm not headed in that direction. I was just going to wander the grounds a bit, and I'd hate for you to go out of your way just to babysit me."