Dream a Little Dream of Me

by Finally_Free

Summary:

You were just trying your best to get through your day to day life. That was until you wake up one day, not as yourself, but as Dream. Yes, Dream from the Undertale Au, Dreamtale. Now, you have yourself a new brother on your hands, and if you don't help him, he will suffer the same fate as normal Corrupted Nightmare.

Yeah, no pressure at all. Oh well, at least Nightmare is a sweetheart.

Chapter 1: How Strange

As you rest on what was definitely not a bed, a few questions enter your mind. The main one being, where am I? You’re used to waking up in strange places, or at least what's strange to others. A tree, the grass, a pile of snow, surrounded by fire. Yeah, you have... interesting online friends. It started happening less and less when you had to settle down and work more and more. Such a shame, too. Waking up in a new location always meant you had done something very entertaining the night before. Remembering those adventures were always fun.

 

Though, this time you don’t actually remember going on any adventure. Yesterday was just a normal, boring day. You went to work, ignored the people who birthed you, and passed out after drawing Dream, the character from the Alternate Universe, Dreamtale. Did you get drunk?

 

Reluctantly, you sit up from the grass and stretch your arms out. You groan tired, not hearing the satisfying popping noise. “What hap-” you stop speaking when you hear your own voice. Your voice is a lot higher pitched than you remember, but then again, when have you ever remembered stuff correctly? “Weird…” You murmur, running your fingers through your hair.

 

Or you would have if you had hair. Instead, all you feel is your skull, not even skin. You furrow your brows and look down at your hand.

 

It’s... skeletal. In pure awe and curiosity, you wiggle your fingers and curl them to your palm. You look at your other hand and do the same thing. Then you realize it. Your hand is skeletal. You slap your hands to your face, feeling smooth bone, before squishing your... cheeks? Panicking, you lift your shirt, which you don’t even remember having such a shirt, and look to see ribs instead of the fleshy skin you normally have.

 

Let’s calm down. Yeah, you have woken up in a grass field all by yourself now as a skeleton, but at least you're not dead! Or, well, you’re conscious? Either way, you’re still breathing somehow. The best thing is probably to look around and figure out where you are. You examine the surrounding area until you see another skeleton.

 

Your nonexistent heart stopped. That outfit, how the skeleton looks, the purple eyelights. Oh, you know exactly who the hell that is. The prince of negativity himself, the smartass bookworm spirit, Passive Nightmare.

 

You immediately threw the worry and fear out the window as you run over to Nightmare. “Hello! You’re Nightmare, right?” Wait, he doesn’t know you. Will he be weirded out that you know his name? Despite your worries, Nightmare looks over to you and smiles.

 

“Yes, and you’re Dream. We were just created.” Your eye sockets widen as you process Nightmares words. You look at your outfit before staring at him in awe.

 

Hesitantly, you nod. “Yes, I guess I am.”

 

Nightmare pats the ground next to him, inviting you to sit. “I’m overwhelmed as well, but we have time to figure this out, right?” He asks.

 

You can’t help but smile as you plop yourself right next to Nightmare, looking past the field. We can see as far grass and trees as the eye can go. The sun rising on the horizon really set the scene. It looks like something you would draw on your computer. Nightmare and Dream, the two Empath brothers, sitting down while watching the sunrise.

 

You should try to get more information, be more scared, but that all sounds too exhausting for having just woken up. Unfortunately, you know that if you don’t start questioning things now, you’re just going to wing it for however long this lasts. This is all probably just a dream, (ha) but you are just going to cling onto the sliver of hope that it’s not.

 

First, this has to be Dreamtale, probably. Not DreamSwap or SwapDream. Meaning that after a few years, Nightmare will eat the negativity apples and turn into the goopy boi we all know and love. As much as you love Corrupted Nightmare, you have always imagined what would happen if Dream managed to help his brother and stopped the corruption. Was it ever possible? Well, seeing as you're in this position, you might as well try. No way are you going to let Nightmare be in pain on your watch!

 

Now the key issue is figuring out how to protect Nightmare. The villagers didn’t like nor trust Nightmare, so they beat and abused him. The easiest way to fix this is to make the villagers' trust him. Maybe if he took part more, and showed them how kind he really is, they’ll like him! It’s stupid to put the responsibility on Nightmare, but if it's the easiest way, you’re probably going to take it.

 

Then again, it might not even work. Another reason he ate the apples was that Dream wasn’t there enough for him. At least, that's what you’ve read in most fanfiction. Nightmare was bad at communicating with Dream, making him stay silent no matter how much pain he was in. The thought makes your... heart? Soul? Whatever's keeping you alive aches at the thought. Did Dream push for information but ultimately fail? If so, Dream will have to push even harder!

 

What else... Oh! How could you forget the easiest and best thing to do? Spend time with Nightmare! Don’t let the positive aura trick you into thinking all the villagers are friendly people. You doubt all of them are mean, but a good chunk of them hated Nightmare and manipulated Dream. And, at the end of it all, all of them went to attack Nightmare after that one mistake they caused.

 

If you had blood, it would boil by now, making your face flush in anger. Nightmare had done nothing ill-willed for the townsfolk, yet he was still villainized, anyway. What a great representation of the actual world.

 

A hand on your shoulder breaks you from your thoughts. You jump slightly before turning to Nightmare. “Are you alright?” He asks. You stare confused for a moment before it clicks in your mind. Nightmare is an Empath, he can feel negative emotions.

 

Now that you think about it, the strange warm feeling you had felt before is gone. Was that Nightmares positivity? “Sorry, I’m alright! Just, uh, trying to figure out what to do next.” Quickly making up an excuse, you rub your arm awkwardly. The smooth bone against your phalanges is odd, mainly because you shouldn’t be able to feel with just bone, and it shouldn’t even be smooth. You have felt real animal bones before, having a collection in your closet. They should be porous and suck out any oils and stuff from your hands-

 

“I understand. I’m confused as well.” Nightmare claims. You quickly realize you had zoned out thinking about unimportant things, like usual. “We’re supposed to protect the tree, but how? And from what?” He asks, probably to himself. Ourselves, that's the first thought that comes into your mind, and it's not wrong either. In all of Dreamtale, the primary threat of the tree was Dream or Nightmare.

 

You stare at Nightmare for a moment, trying to think of what Dream would do in this situation.

 

No, what would you do in this situation?

 

Nightmare does not understand how Dream should act. If you really are playing his role, then you can act like yourself without worry.

 

Now with a made-up mind, you grab Nightmares’ hand and give him a warm smile. “That's okay, we’ll figure it out together! We practically have all the time in the world to figure out what to do. So we just have to work together, right?”

 

After a second of shock, Nightmare- your new brother, smiles back. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

 

Something's telling you this isn’t a dream.

 

Something's making you not feel so upset this is reality.

Chapter 2: Magic

You take a second to allow yourself those few moments of calm to enjoy the sunrise before a thought enters your mind. The tree! How could you have forgotten about the tree of feelings? You and Nightmare are literally tree bros, you should not have forgotten. Unfortunately, it seems turning into the embodiment of a positivity deity inhabiting a skeletal form has not taken away any mental illness. Meaning, your anxious butt is sitting next to Nightmare while you egg yourself on to ask to look at the tree. It takes a moment, but finally, you nervously tug at the end of his sleeve.

 

Nightmare looks over to you with a questioning look. “I haven’t actually… looked at the tree we’re meant to protect yet?” That was definitely meant to be a statement, yet it sounded like a question.

 

Luckily, it seems your new brother understands what you were trying to say. He sighs and stands up. “Come on, bonehead.” His voice has a playful tone in it, making the warm feeling in your chest increase. The feeling differs slightly from the first one, making you feel a tad more energized.

 

You grab Nightmares offered hand and stand up. Your new brother smiles and apparently chooses to not let go of your hand. Oh well, you don’t mind that much, anyway. He leads you to the large tree, and what looks to be hundreds of apples. When you get close enough, you freeze, words caught in your nonexistent throat.

 

The golden apples glisten and glow with such a bright shine, it looks like they're made of pure gold. An overwhelming warm and positive feeling flows throughout your body, bordering on almost too much emotion. An intrusive thought enters your mind, making you want to touch Dreams- your apples.

 

And on the other side, the negativity apples. Lord, there beautiful. How the townsfolk don’t like his apples is a mystery to you. The dark blues and purples swirl together like paint on a colorful canvas. Glitter like sparkles on his apples make you immediately think of Outertale and the stars there. The urge to grab his apples is stronger than his own. Cold energy comes off of it, but it seems to cancel out the overwhelming emotion coming from your own.

 

After god knows how long, you finally turn back to Nightmare and see him with a warm smile on his face. “There… beautiful. So much more than I could ever imagine.” You murmur, turning back to the tree. Your smile widens as you move closer to the tree.

 

Nightmare laughs. “Yeah, they really are. It surprised me when I saw it too.” The two of you walk closer to the tree before you reach the base.

 

“I wanna touch them.” You say without thinking. Your face flushes (probably from magic) as Nightmare once again chuckles.

 

Nightmare goes up to the side of his apples before grabbing onto a low branch. “Go ahead, touch yours.” He suggests while climbing up the branches.

 

You smile and run up to your side of the tree, excitement flooding through you. As you reach for a sturdy branch, your mind wanders back to your old home. You had a large apple tree in your backyard you used to climb whenever possible. You remember your siblings climbing up the tree with you while they laugh or yell. You remember helping your little sister pick the best, most ripe apple. Before you know it, you’re at the top of the tree in front of a bright, glowing golden apple.

 

You reach out your hand. The moment your phalanges brush the skin of the apple, it feels as though everything around you disappears. Beautiful piano music blesses whatever you're using to hear, the laughter of small children, the warmth of the sun, you can feel it all. The longer you stay in this false world, the louder the feelings become.

 

Finally, you pull away, letting out a small breath. “I was not expecting that.”

 

You hear the rustling of leaves next to you and see Nightmare lifting himself onto a branch above you. “How was it?” He inquires.

 

“Amazing! I heard so much! Music, laughter, oh stars, it was amazing!” You gush, carefully going on your feet. You bet your eyelights are stars by the way Nightmare looks to be suppressing a laugh. “What about you, what was yours like?”

 

Nightmare hums for a moment before responding. “It was cold, but not uncomfortable. There was… water? Rain, I think. I heard it, but it wasn’t there. There was a weird feeling in my ribs, I think that was sadness?” For a second, you wonder why Nightmare doesn’t know what sadness feels like before you remember he was literally just born.

 

Man, tree mom really didn’t give us much to work with here. How are we supposed to protect the tree without a weapon, or literally anything else? Couldn’t she just heal herself? Questions enter your mind, but you quickly push them down. You’ll get your answers later.

 

You grab onto the same branch Nightmare is on and sit down next to him. “It’s interesting how different both of our apples are. They’re the exact opposite!” Nightmare nods in agreement. “I want more information about everything! The tree, the apples, the emotions, I want to know it all!” You exclaim. It’s not a lie either. Dreamtale always was an interesting universe. You always wanted to know the nitty-gritty details of everyone in these universes.

 

“Maybe we’ll figure it out one day.” Nightmare wonders aloud.

 

“I hope so. It would be nice to figure out more about our mother, or maybe the people here!” You exclaim, an enormous smile on your face. Nightmare smirks at your response and pokes your cheek. “Hey, what was that for?” You complain, letting your smile fall.

 

“Your face is yellow, it looks cute.” You puff out your cheeks, and in a moment of retaliation, you poke his forehead. “Don’t be upset cause I said the truth.” He teases, poking both of your puffed-out cheeks. How this works makes no sense in your mind, but you ignore it once again.

 

You push his hands away and shake your head. “Stop, you’re annoying! I am not blushing!”

 

Nightmare tsks and shakes his head. “How dare you hide from the truth?”

 

You glare at your new brother.

 

This is fun.

 

~~~

 

“So, how are we doing this?”

 

“I don’t know, lets just try!”

 

Nightmare sighs but looks down at his hands, his face intense. What are we trying to do? Summon magic! If you are going to be protecting the tree, you’re going to need to know how to protect said tree. The best way with no sort of physical object is magic.

 

So, following your new brothers' footsteps, you look down at your hands. You close your eyes and try to do what the people from those old movies do. Focus on the feeling, but no feeling comes. You glare at your hands in frustration before hearing a gasp next to you. You look at Nightmare to see purple magic weaving through his fingers. You stare in astonishment as the glowing purple magic surrounds his hands.

 

Nightmares eyelights have small stars in them as he looks at his magic in awe. “It’s warm… It’s beautiful.” He mutters to himself. You subconsciously reach forward and put your hands in the magic. Your phalanges tingle weirdly, but the feeling is magical.

 

“How did you do that?” You ask, more curious than jealous. The magic disappears from his hands as he turns to you.

 

“You remember how the apples felt? Focus on that and on the emotions you're feeling from others.” Nightmare explains.

 

Feeling skeptical, you once again close your eyes. You think about the music and laughter you had heard when touching the apple. You focus your attention on the warmth in your chest, increasing every minute, the happiness you had felt from others. The warm feeling spreads throughout your body as you feel Nightmare grab your shoulder.

 

“Dream, look.”

 

You open your eyes only to freeze in shock. A bright yellow light is glowing throughout your body. Your eyelights are surely stars by now judging by the way you're staring at the- your magic. “Holy heck…” Your bones tingle with the slight sting of magic coming from your soul.

 

“I’m pretty sure you were supposed to have the magic summon in your hand, not everywhere.” Nightmare sarcastically points out. You glare at him and stick your tongue out.

 

“Oh well, I still used magic. Magic, wow.” If this is a dream, you really don’t want to wake up. Deciding to test it out more, you stick your hand out and gather all the magic to that hand, which surprisingly works. Next, you try to make it form a physical object. A bone is the most realistic option to create, so that's what you try. You don’t exactly know what you're doing, but after a half-hour of both of you trying to concentrate your magic, an idea crosses your mind.

 

Yes, you know that fanfiction will not be correct in every fictional world you travel too, but it’s worth a shot. You close your eyes and imagine. You imagine the shape of the bone, what it would look like, and what it would feel like. You visualize yourself touching it, using it to protect the tree. When you open your eyes, a small yellow bone, probably a cracked femur, is floating right in front of you.

 

You turn to your new brother, who seems to not have noticed the bone in your hand yet. “Brother, look! I did it.” Nightmares eyelights look over at you before his eye sockets widen and he moves closer to you. “I made a bone. A small one, but I still did it!” You cheer. 

 

“Lucky. I still don’t know how to get mine to form.” Nightmare says, still flicking his magic around. “It doesn’t want to listen.” His frustration is obvious with how it narrows how his eye sockets. How odd. 

 

The bone disappears as you move closer to Nightmare. “I can teach you if you want. It’s simple once you get the hang of it.”

 

“You’ve only summoned it once.”

 

“Same difference!”

Chapter 3: Wind Blows, Flags Rise

You let out a sigh, hugging your new brother close. Your surprised you're not flying away from how hard the wind is. Nightmare pats your skull as he looks at stars-knows-what. Honestly, the worst part about not having a house is the fucking elements. Sure, you won’t die from hypothermia or heat stroke because immortal, but it sure as hell bothers you. You really need to process the fact you are immortal, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Besides your existential crisis, it’s increasingly frustrating to be forced into a windy day so quickly to your creations. It’s barely been twenty-four hours, come on, Dreamtale!

 

Nightmare sighs before another frozen gust of wind slaps you square across the face. You shiver from the chilly breeze, annoyed that you still even feel cold. Well, you're not actually a skeleton. You’ve turned into a tree spirit thing with a skeletal body you’ve borrowed from Underswap… okay, that’s very creepy, but at least you’re being honest to yourself.

 

“It’s barely been a d-day yet. The stars above hate me.” You stutter. Nightmare laughs and stretches, forcing you to move away from him.

 

“I don’t know, I like it.” He claims.

 

You roll your eyes. “Of course you do.”

 

It’s been a day and your already jealous of how cool your brother is. He’s not sensitive to the cold, and he has this demeanor that makes you want to get to know him. He already seems mysterious when he has nothing to hide, and that’s an aesthetic if you’ve ever seen one. Nightmare leans his head against your shoulder. You smile and wrap your arms around your new brother. He is your windshield.

 

You two stayed like this for a moment before a gold color shines in your eyesight. You jump to your feet, accidentally elbowing his chin in the process. Nightmare looks up at you, surprised, as you frantically look around for the fabric you saw. Once again, a yellow fabric comes into your sights. “Brother, get that flag thing!” You exclaim before immediately booking it.

 

You run across the grass in a not so graceful manner. Every so often you stumble on your feet and are forced to take a moment to steady yourself. It doesn’t help the fact that the wind is throwing you so far off your game here. You used to run all the time as a child; you are not losing your touch today! What is practically a yellow blur at this point floats down from the sky, almost in arm's reach.

 

Right as you stretch your hand and go on your tippy-toes to grab it, a powerful gust of wind makes you trip on your feet and fall onto the hard dirt. You look up to see the yellow cloth floating away. “Stars, Dream, are you alright?” Nightmare grabs your arm and helps lift you up. You stand up before patting Night’s shoulder. “Don’t-” Despite the sentence, you know Nightmare was going to say, you take off running once again.

 

You ignore Nightmares yelling and continue running, this time making sure you run correctly. The flag going closer to a forest, showing that you are running out of time and options. Taking a deep breath, you stop running and concentrate on the warm feeling in your chest. Feeling the warmth travel from your chest to your hand, you think about using your magic to bring the material over to you. You reach out your hand in the hopes it might somehow make this easier. You open your eyes only to see Nightmare right next to you, him also concentrating on his own magic. Finally, after a couple of seconds, the fabric glows a mix of gold and royal purple. It’s both your own and Nightmares magic.

 

The two of you carefully guide the fabric back over to you until you can finally grab hold of it. Just as both of you and your magic release its grasp, a gust of wind blew over the valley, making the flag dramatically dance in the wind. Luckily, you are still able to hold on to it. “We did it, brother! We got it!” You announce, jumping up and hugging Nightmare. He laughs and hugs you back.

 

“I don’t know why you wanted it so badly, but there you go.” You pull away and show off the flag's sun design.

 

You give him an enormous smile. “It’s a flag! We can keep it near the tree so if anyone passes, they know not to mess with us!”

 

Nightmare chuckles and examines the flag. “I agree, the sun is a very threatening thing.” You puff out your cheeks and hug the fabric close. Your new brother shakes his head and pats your shoulder. “Don’t give me that look, I’m joking. Now come on, we should stay close to the tree.”

 

With reluctance, you stuff the flag under your shoulder and nod. “Where do you think we should put the flag?” You ask, skipping away to the ‘home base,’. “Is it long enough to wrap around the tree? Or maybe we can find a flag pole somewhere.” You ponder.

 

Nightmare hums. “I don’t think it can fit around the tree, but maybe we can keep a branch up somehow.”

 

You nod, a few ideas popping into your head.

 

“We’ll figure it out!”

Notes:

I've heard somewhere that Dream and Nightmare created the flag/cape thing, but that doesn't make much sense in my mind, so I made them find it instead! This (obviously) is not the cannon story, so imma do what I want >:3

Chapter 4: Travelers

The hours flew by so much quicker than you ever expected. Hundreds of days passed as you and Nightmare talked, practicing magic as best you can, fending off squirrels from attacking the tree, and just playing around like a bunch of children. Because that's what you are now, a child. You can do whatever the hell you want.

 

You and Nightmare proudly tied the flag to a long wooden stick you had found in the woods. Nightmare never outright stated it, but you were pretty sure he was proud of your resourcefulness. Look at you, being helpful!

 

After that, most of the days went by in a strange but fun manner. You remember at one point; you fell into a pile of mud when jumping on rocks. Nightmare had to wrap his jacket around you while he tried to find a water source he wouldn’t contaminate to clean it. Oh, and the time Nightmare fell out of the tree and practically started sobbing with his first encounter with pain. If only you knew healing magic. You still don’t, but that was a very worrying situation.

 

You and Nightmare remember how many days it's been since your creation, and by the one year mark, the two of you celebrated by playing in the river about ten minutes away. The two of you don’t often stray away from the tree that much, so it was a delightful treat for the both of you. At two years, the two of you celebrated by sending up firework-like magic in the sky when it was dark. Of course, you didn’t want to bring any unnecessary attention to yourselves, so the magic was small, but it was bright enough for both of you to enjoy. Once you reached the third year, you had run out of celebration ideas. Instead of doing anything exciting or adventurous like you do every day, both you and Nightmare laid on the grass. You laid there, feeling like trash as you looked up to the star-filled sky.

 

You’re proud to say you and Nightmare celebrated three whole successful birthday celebrations in a row!

 

It’s been about five months since you’ve turned three. Things had been going by quickly but slowly at the same time. You wondered when the main Dreamtale plot would come in.

 

Well, you suppose the waiting has ended.

 

Now you’re filled with dread of what's to come.

 

Nightmare stands in front of you protectively as a group of men, some human, some monster, walk up to the two of you. They are dressed well, but definitely look more rugged compared to the two of you. You only now seem to realize how fancy your outfit is, even without the cape. Ignoring that, they all wore bags and seemed to be a part of some group.

 

One of the oldest men steps forward. “Could you two be the young guardians of emotions we have heard so much about from those above? The ones who protect and serve the people?” Um, what? You got everything until the part with the do. Nightmare glances over to you, not understanding the question either. Well, he asked if you were guardians, right?

 

You clear your throat and nod. “Er, yes, that's correct.”

 

Most of the younger ones look awkward while the one speaking continues. “What are your names, young ones?” Why is he speaking like an elder in a video game? One of the men sigh but doesn’t move to argue. The elder man, who seems to be some sort of leader, stretches his hand.

 

Nightmare shakes his hand first. “Nightmare, Guardian of Negativity.”

 

You then shake his hand. “My name is Dream, I am the guardian of positivity!” Stars, you haven’t been able to speak to anyone other than Nightmare, even if it is some old human man who speaks in poems.

 

The man nods. “We seek for unused land to settle and live in. You see, our poor little town has been overrun. We simply request a chance to stay here for, at the very least, the night.” You look over to Nightmare once again, trying to figure out what to say. If you deny them, would they stay away the whole time? Or would they come back with a vengeance? You shudder, remembering what they had done to your brother in another timeline. Maybe another multiverse? The question of what multiverse you are even in comes back into your mind, but you shove it away. You can’t afford to get distracted right now.

 

You turn back to them and nod your head. “I believe it’s fine for you to stay here. If you like, me and my brother could show you the fields surrounding the tree.” The group stares at you in shock before smiling, almost as if they didn’t believe you.

 

“Ah yes, the fated Tree of Feelings. It’s been searched for by many, yet none have come back in their searches. To be able to see it up close is a blessing in it of itself.” Probably because those who searched for it were trying to abuse its power and destroy the negativity apples. Tree Mom had to kill them.

 

Nightmare nods and turns towards the direction of the tree. “I believe we shall go then.” He says.

 

Man, you really hope they don’t expect you to speak like this all the time. It’s way too exhausting to put on a formal and elegant speaking facade. You haven’t seen your brother act like this since the first day you met. It’s just very odd. With a nervous feeling mixed in with the warmth in your chest, you and Nightmare lead the travelers to the tree.

 

~~~

 

You watch as more settlers come from whatever town they all originated from and walk towards the tents set up. They weren’t too close to the tree, in fact, they were a bit ways away, but he can still see them very well. Once they get comfortable, you doubt they won’t try to build closer to the tree. That's when you’re going to have to set up rules and boundaries.

 

It’s already so late, you’re already so tired. It’s been a while since you’ve heard the loudness of construction, so you're not too annoyed by everything. It reminds you of all those times you visited your online friends in the city. You sigh, memories coming back into your mind. You love it here and you love being with Nightmare, but sometimes, you miss it so much.

 

You look over to Nightmare, only to see a frustrated look on his face. You frown, seeing him glare down at the tents. No wonder he’s so annoyed, he’s never dealt with so much sound before. Nights were always peaceful, and now it's just chaotic.

 

You grab your brothers are and pull him towards you, making him lean against your shoulder. “Uh, hi?” Nightmare looks at you with a confused look. You wrap your arm around his shoulder and smile.

 

“You remember how to sleep?” You ask. Nightmare nods, still confused. “Why don’t you do that tonight. You look annoyed.”

 

Nightmare glances at the tree behind you. “But we have to stay awake with these people. Who knows what there trying to do.”

 

You smile, knowing exactly what to do. “If anything happens, I’ll wake you up! Besides, I don’t think they’ll do anything, they seem nice.” Still, Nightmare looks unsure. You frown and give Nightmare the puppy dog eyes. Yes, puppy dog eyes seem to be Nightmare’s weakness. He always gives in. “Nighty, please? I don’t want to see you stressed, and sleeping can help!”

 

Nightmare looks at him before sighing and relaxing his shoulders. “Fine… I can try.”

 

Perfect! Now to get Nightmare to actually fall asleep. You have a few ideas, but would he laugh at you? No, your brother would never laugh at you for trying to help. Nervously, you caress his skull and take a deep breath.

 

Hush-hush the storm has passed us by

Listen to the calm of the night

the crickets start a tune

and the wind sings for you

a song of nature's lullaby

 

Nightmare lets out a soft sigh as he snuggles into your shoulder, moving in a more comfortable position. You smile seeing his eyes closed, relaxed expression on his face.

 

shine oh shine this night

let the stars guide you home

 

Your face flushes as you realize you ran out of ideas for lyrics. Well, for a song you made up on the top of your head, you're slightly impressed. You look at Nightmare once more, expecting him to laugh at you or...something. Instead, he seems to be fast asleep despite the loud noises coming from the mock town. You smile and press a small kiss on his forehead, looking past the tents and to the stars. You are going to keep the peace as best as you can, no matter what.

 

“Nighty Night Nights.”

 

The nervousness you had been suppressing for hours is finally at the forefront of your mind. The town is being built, and from what you can tell, they're working fast. It won't be long until they start creating their biases if they don’t have them already. Nightmare won't exactly be safe soon enough.

 

...

 

Nightmare is strong, you are strong.

 

...You can do this.

 

You will protect your brother.

Notes:

-Stands up on stage- I just want to take a moment to thank Bean Mom for creating those few lyrics at the end of the fic. I couldn't have done it without ya ^^

We may get a few more chapters of fluff before we start getting into the angsty-ness. Let's see if RD can handle this and pray they don't crack from the stress!

Chapter 5: Who Let a Toddler Help Build a Village?

Who says just because your mentally fourteen and are actually three means that you can’t help with the building process? Before she had been an asshole, you had helped your mom build stuff all the time. It's muscle memory by now. Although you feel weirdly uncomfortable seeing them cutting down trees in the nearby forest, you help with shaving the bark off. You were going to cut the logs, but Nightmare insisted he would do it instead so you don’t get hurt. It’s sweet, but he’s the one who's hurt himself two times in half an hour.

 

After the first couple of times you and Nightmare offered to help, they came to ask you for help when taking a break. The first time Nightmare had said no before you could contemplate it for too long. Thank stars your brother knows when you need a break.

 

And now, here we are. A small town with actual buildings and people living in them. Well, it's definitely still a village, but still, it’s impressive and almost impossible how quickly they created the village. It’s only been a few months!

 

Still, there's much more work to be done. You run-up to the tree to see Nightmare leaning against it, a book in his hand. You smile, happy he already found the makeshift library they had. “Nighty! Nighty!” You call out. Nightmare looks up from his book and smiles.

 

“Aren’t you still helping the others?” He asks. Today, Nightmare had stayed by the tree while you helped build the town. You tried to push him to join, but he seems tired so you dropped it.

 

You plop yourself next to the tree and look at the book he’s chosen. “I finished. There's so much work to be done, and I don’t even know if I’m helping that much.” You murmur. The book is a short children’s book, but it makes sense. Nightmares never read before. “Nighty~ Play with me!”

 

Nightmare smirks but hides his face in his book. “I’m busy, Dream.” You puff out your cheeks and glared at him.

“Come on, I’m bored. I don’t want to help build stuff anymore.” You wine, shaking Nightmare’s shoulder. Stars, you’re bored, and your brother is right there! You want to play!

 

“Go play with the villagers.” You roll your eyes. An idea appears in your mind, making you smirk. You lay your head on his lap and grab his book away from him. “Who told you to do that?” He sarcastically asks.

 

You shrug. “You apparently, since you refuse to play with me. Instead, you just wanna read a dumb book!” Nightmare chuckles and pokes your cheeks, causing you to glare harder. “Stawwp...” You complain.

 

Nightmare smiles and pats your shoulder. “Fine, fine, you big baby. Get up and maybe I’ll consider playing with you.” You give him a big smile and sit up straight before hugging your brother.

 

“Can we play now?” You ask, giving him an innocent smile.

Nightmare sighs and stands up, smiling. “Yeah, sure, whatever. What do you want to do?” You hop on your feet and look around.

 

You open your mouth to speak, but a loud voice interrupts you. “Dream, the elder requests your help!” You turn around to see one of the original travelers near you, but luckily, staying away from the tree. Good, it seems like he learned his lesson from the last time he came a bit too close to the tree. Both you and Nightmare chewed him out and told the rest of the town the “Stay at least 10 feet away from the tree” rule.

 

“What for?” You ask.

 

“He needs to talk to you about town preparations and the future. Basically, what comes next I suppose.” He claims.

 

You furrow your bone brows but quickly relax your expression. No need to worry anyone just cause of their wording. “I guess me and Nighty could finish that first.” You say, trying not to sound too disappointed. The man nods and walks off.

 

Nightmare puts his hand on your shoulder, prompting you to look at him. “Hey, don’t worry. We can play later.”

 

You know it's childish but… “You promise?”

 

Your brother chuckles and nods. “I promise, Dreamy.”

 

For a moment, you stare at him in silence. He hadn’t ever used a nickname on you ever, stars, he only just started calling your brother. You smile, probably with stars in your eyes, and grab his hand, dragging him to where the elder was. “Alright, let’s go Nighty! Come on, the sooner we finish this, the sooner we can play!” Nightmare chuckles and allows you to drag away him away.

 

The building you had run to was one of the first ones built. The town hall. The Elder, the first person you had met, seemed to run this town for the time being. You enter the building and go along the halls. You and Nightmare had walked this same path at least five times this week, so the two of you knew exactly where you were going. You enter The Elder’s office and see him sitting at his desk.

 

“Ah, Guardians. Please, come in.” But you’re already in- whatever. The two of you sit down and wait for him to speak. “As you know, our old town had been destroyed, but we believe you two should know why.”

 

You try to continue looking at the Elder, but find looking him in the eyes difficult. You can feel happiness disappear from him, and your sure Nightmare could feel his negative energy. “Our town was ruled under by a corrupt kingdom, the ruler of which sent their troops to kill us and destroy our home. Not all of us made it out.” You feel Nightmare grab your hand, which you feel eternally grateful for. “We appreciate all the two of you have done for us. No longer being under the control of a kingdom allows us to do more than we ever thought. If either of you has the need for anything, do not hesitate to ask.”

 

You smile, but can’t help but feel uncomfortable. Almost as if Nightmare notices, he squeezes your hand and stands up. “Thank you. I believe we should take our leave now.” You stand up as well and awkwardly nod your head.

 

“Of course.”

 

The two of you rush out of the room and sit at the tree, not doing anything else.

 

That had nothing to do with the town's future or anything of the sort. Did The Elder lie, or did the other man who called you. Or did he just get something mixed up?

 

Now you’re confused.

Notes:

RD just wants to play with his bro, leave him alone >:(

Chapter 6: Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream

You take Nightmare’s hand and drag him into the town, ignoring his protests. It’s been forever since the two of you came into town together, and you are not wasting such an opportunity. When he vaguely mentioned wanting to go into town, you knew your role of being a pushy younger sibling would come in handy. Who can say no to you? Not Nightmare, that's who.

 

“Why are we even here?” Nightmare asks, finally matching your walking pace. He does always complain about how fast you walk. “Isn’t it better if one of us stays by the tree?”

 

You wave off his concerns. “It’s only for a few minutes, not an hour or something.” In all the stories you had read, not once did they ever mention the villagers harming the tree, so your pretty sure it will be fine. Besides, the original Dream and Nightmare strayed away from the tree all the time!

 

You let go of his hand and skip down the sidewalk, happily watching as a couple of horses pass you. “Besides, isn’t it nice to be out for once? It’s not that-” You are quickly interrupted when you run into someone and fall back to the hard ground.

 

“Dream, are you alright?” Nightmare asks, coming to your side. You nod and look over to what- or rather, who you ran into.

 

They seem to be human, but the small stalk with a leaf growing out of it on their head proves otherwise. The blond-haired humanoid is sitting up, rubbing the side of their head while holding a basket. Fruits and vegetables are now scattered around the sidewalk. “I’m sorry, are you okay?” You ask, quickly collecting the non-squashed vegetables.

 

They nervously laugh and also help pick up the items. “I’m alright! I just wasn’t paying attention, sorry.” They apologies in what sounds like a geordie accent. You’ve seen multiple villagers with different accents from each other, but you can’t help but find it strange. Did people all over the world come to live in this small town? The two of you stand up and place the remaining items in the basket, along with Nightmare, who seemed to pick up a few. “I’m Cherry, what are your names?” Oh Stars, someone isn’t automatically knowing what your name is, that's a first.

 

“My name is Dream.” You say, grabbing your brother's sleeves and pushing him forward. You are totally not trying to make him introduce himself, not at all.

 

Nightmare sighs and steps forward. “Nightmare.” You smile and turn to Cherry-

 

“_̷̛̮̆̊̅̎̾͌͒͊̊͗̅͌̈̄̆̌̒̈́̅̑̀̐̆̉̄̚̚͝͝͠_̷̧̛̺̼̝̯͙͖͓͚̮̹̩̞̤͈̙̝͋͋͐͑̆̊̈́͋̋͐́͗͌̕͝͝n̵̢̨̨̡̳͖̼̮̗̞̱̱̘̩̼̼̙̖̞̺̟̋͋͆͒̈́̔̃͐̔̒͋̂̔̍̏͆̉̈́͛̌͌̽̋̈́̚͜͝,̷̨̻̬͍̜̗̼̖̊ ̸̠̈͑̅̏̈́̓͒̄̃̋̑͊͆͒͒̃̏̿͋̎̂͛̈́̃͛́̊̍̌̕̚͘͝͠͝ͅy̵̢̟̰̰̜̪̌́̓̆͆͆͌̚͜_̵̧̙̯͇͚͙̤͖͂͑̈͑̎̾̍̔̑́͊̐͊̉̈͊̑̔̄̋̃͒̿̐̆̿̊̌̈́͒̂͘̕͝_̴̛̛̝͉̮͚̯̤̺̠̳̫̠̼̟̖͎̰̙̹̯͚͈̣̟̠̯̳̱̗̦̼̭̇́̈́͑́͑̎̉̂̿̆͒̓̌̌̏̈́̍̊̇̿͌͘̚͝͠ͅ ̵̙͔͕̿͊̋͋́͊̈́̀̀̉͂̍̎̉̊̄͌̒̌̑͒̊̈́͋͋͐̓̿͌͛̐̚͝͠_̸̡̢̢̖̺̩̹̩̝͔̲̤̲̝̪̙̘͙̣̞̆͜ą̴̢̢̛͍̞͔̠̝̭͔͈̦̹̯͈͍̖̦̖̲͍̼͔̹̼̱̹̜͓̜̣̘͉̔͆͗͗͆̔͐̀̿͑̈́̇̇̍͋̆̆̕͘̕̕_̶̡̭̯̟̫̺̩͉̖̙͉͕̱̟̿͌͊̏̒̊̈̊̿͐́̽͑͋̒̃̉͌̄̃̊̅̽̐͂̿̓̓̚̕̚̕̚͠_̴̢̩̮̰̲͍̥͇͈̻̪̝͇̣̤̱͍̀̑̎͑̌̀͊̾͝_̶̢̧̨̡̛̺͕̙̼̠̰͍̘̟̪̣͙̙̙͈̬̬̱͓̮̬̉̉́̍̈̆̈́̋̓͑͌̉͛͋͗̇̾̊̏̍̇̒͒̋̑̏̑̚͜͝͝͝͝ ̴̧̮̦͓͕̩̃̿̈́͒̔͐̿͘͜_̴̢̧̡͇͙͎̯̼̻̼̙̖̻̪̳̰̘̤͇͉͉͙͐̀͌̀̔̿̈́̊̊̚͜͜͝ͅo̵̧̧̡̧͍͚͈͙̪̻̼̩͚͇̼͍̦͇͈̬͙̬͈̪̞̖͉̣͙̼̗͋̾̈́̂̿̀͊͊̿̾̏̿̈́͒̑͒̈̇͌̂̈́̈͒̀̚͜͝ͅ ̴̡̖̘̦̯͇͈̩̹̝̃_̸̛̗̙̝̪̞̯̭̫͚͖̱̳̻̜͕͍̘͚͕̜͙͍̯̍̇̏͑̏́̇̍̆̾̀̕_̸̧̡̡̢̧̛͎̪̱̜̯̠͇̫͉̮̯̭͇̩̲̝͑̊̀̒̑̆͒̽̿͆͂̽̌̈́̎̄̇̌̀̂̄̉̅̑͗̃̈́͒̓̄̈́̀͌͛̔̎̚͜͝͝_̵̡̨̢͓̥͉̦̪̭͖̲͙̘͍͎̙͈͙̖̣͈̼̰͕̞̻̟̘̟̳͎͈͎̠͍̤̩̋̇͊̉͠͝_̴̨̧̨̢̛͍̗̳̪̱̞͎̫͉͓̺͔͕̉͂̏͌̓̂̏́͂̇͌͌͛̆̉̑͗̅͛͂͗͆̈́͊͗̌̅͑͊̈́́̇̕̕̕͜͠͝_̵͎̞͍̳̤͓̙̍͆̕͜ͅ”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“̴̧͙͎̪͔̮̼̤͍̮̫̦̮̳̣̭̳̥̪̜̟̦̮͉̞͉͎̮̂̂̈́̂͆̎̉̂̓͛͘͠͝͝͠_̴̡̨̢̧̧̨̧̠̞͙̰͙͇̻̖̩̻͖̟̞̺̪̜͎̠̭͉͚͚̥͇̜͍̗̳̞̬̭͕͊̏͑̊̋̋͜͜͝l̷̨̠͛̈́̉̍̈́̏̊̓͆͋̏̚͠͝͠ê̴̢̡̛̙̜̫̱͇̩͔̩̣̝̼̳̲̗̹̬̘̝̻̥͖̝̩̘͔̊̇͑̒͋̆̋̽̑͌̃̾͌̈́̎̋̈̈́͒͋̑̋̍̄̈̒̚̚͘͜͠͠_̴̨̛͖̗̬͓̘̹͔͕͇͍̱͚̺̜͉̺͙̩̭̝͖̻͓̟͍̗͖̐̅͊̊̌̔͌̇̓̿͒̈̇̋̾͐͒̾́̀̾̍̐̍̕̚͘͠_̵̡̛͙̹̰̭͔͇̟͓̣̝͈̬̳̳͈̥̈̆͐̌̏͊̂͑̇̑̍̐̓͋͜͜_̵̡̨̧̨̳̩̙̳̮̟͚̙̬͔̠̳̖̙͉̖̭̫͔͙̣͔̤͕̱͎̺͈̪̄͐͋̌͒͋͘͜͜ͅͅ ̸̡̢̨̡̛̛̯̟͔̗̼̜̞̝̪̝̞͚͉͇̬̝͍̳̭͈͍͍̲̭̥̐̉͋̽̅̈́͗̄̽̌͋̈́̈́͗̋̇̎̇͋͐͗̕̕͘͜͜_̴̨̛̭̼̥̘͈̼̪͉̹̱̞̻̞͔̲̠̼̟̰͎̈̒̌̔͌̏̋͒̆̈́́͊͂̐́̿̉͑̈́͗̇́̊̆̾̑͆̇̕͘͘̚͜͜͝͝ḛ̵̡̧̡̨̢̧̛͍͍̫̥̣̣̳͕͉̹̪͎̟͍͙̖̼͓̩̪̬̳̥͈̳͇̟̩̪̒͌͑̑̈́̄́̓́̀̄̆̒̓͘ͅͅ_̴̢̡̨̧̡̛̗͈̩͓͙͓͎̭̺̖͇̺̣͓̠͔̝̟̥͉̭͓̲̰͖͍̬̰͉͒̑̊̉̒͊̃͛̾̓̉̊̽̐̐͊͗̈́̏̍͑̏͌̓̉̒͊̋͘͘̕͘ͅ ̵͙̪̺̻̱͎̺̻̖̘̣̘̼͙͔̬̲̭̲̯͚̟̖͔̬̩̻͉̙͇̎̑̅̽͌́̿̐̔͗͗̾̕͝͝ͅͅͅ_̷̡̡̡̙̣̘̻̼͕̠̮͕̺̜̰̘̅̽̽̓̍͊͊͗̀̍̓̊̚̚͝_̵̢̛̝͉͚̬̜̝͙̭̯̻͉̭͚̖̗̹̺̹̠̙̙͈͓̰͇̝̤͇͇͉̬͇͚̮́̽̈́͐͐́̃̈́͋̿͌͋̇̽́̃̌̈́̍̐̑͗͒̓͐͋̌͂̐͘͜͠͝ ̷̢̧̧̜͈̱̖̦̻̦̜̳̫̱̩̯͙̰͖͉̠͔͇͙̩̈́̊̀̑͆̒͑̔̊͌̍́̽͆̌̏̐̉͑̂̀̉́͑̐̇̇̄̚̚̚͝͠͠g̶̡̢̨̛̛̦̳͓͈͉̥̦̩̩͉̭͈͈̳̘͔͎̯̤͙͇̦͉̓͂̇̎͒͐̎̑̈́̊̽̈́̓͑̈́̐̅͂̀͘͝ͅ_̸̨̧̛̘̰̺̤̩͉̤͈͙̱̗͚̟̳̣̰͓͍̬̭̳̹̠͑̀͊̔̌̈̄̓̃̉̽̄́͐͊̓͐̕̚͝ ̸͓̙͛̆̐̈̂̿̎̾̈́̅̈́͋̀͛̉̌̓̀̄̚̕_̶̛̛͍͍̰̬͈̰̻͚̺̜̹̬͓̙̦͕̟̽̈́̈́͒͛͋̀̆̈́̕͝ī̶̬̔̊͌̓̏̍͒̉̌̊̔̅̈́̓̍̑̏͌̋̈̃̍̿͒͆̈́̐̽͋̌̅̕t̸̡̡̙͙͔̝̭̥͔̤̭̳̖͚͇͓̒̂̏̈́̂̈̂̈́͛͂̏̌̌̏͒́͂̈́̍͌̀̓͊̊̿̌̃̉̈́̅̕̚̕͝͝ͅ_̷̢̡̧̢͇̱͖̼͓̙̲̺̦̙̹̘͍̹͉̠̮͍̰͖̦̻̠̟̯̱͕̱̰͋͋͒̿̏͂̓̆̒̿̊͛̾̅̾̀̍̒̈̿̚̕̕̕͝ ̶̧̧͚͓̗̣̻̦̟̲̜͍̗͈̺̳̣̜̞̲̳̝̝̥̲͇̹̬͔͉̺͖̼̦͇̫̦͂́̌ͅỵ̴̨̢̨̧̛̛͚̥̗̲͕̠͇̻̟̯̻͎̝̼̹͖̜̱̣͎͚̳̹͈̻͇̮͆̒͒̔͊̆̔̀̀̋̍̊̑͊̔̄͐̍̄̃̆̾̑͒̄͂̔̚͘̕̕̚͝ͅ_̴̧̯͓̝̣͆̐̋͊̔̋̎̅̓̅͛͋͂̿̆͌̑̈́̓̽͆͐̏̓̏͊̈́̐̃̇̕͠͠͝͠_̸̧̡̛̬͎͖̬͈͚̝͚̥̳͕͉̹̖̓̃̔̎̄̑͂̂̅̏̐͐̚͘̚̚͠”

“Dream? Dream!” You jump, suddenly hearing Nightmare yelling at you.

 

You turn around and look at him. “W-what? What’s wrong?”

 

“You were zoning out. Are you alright?” That must have been Cherry asking. You turn and face her again. Yup, she's staring at you, the positive emotion you had felt from her moments before gone. You try to think back, but you can’t make out any of the words you had heard moments before.

 

You shake your head and give both of them a large smile. “Yup, I’m alright! I’m sorry, I was just zoning out.” Nightmare gives you a weird look, but you quickly focus your attention on Cherry. “I’m so sorry for making you drop your stuff…” You sheepishly apologize, rubbing the side of your arm.

 

Cherry giggles and shakes her head, hoisting up the large basket. “It’s fine! We have a whole lot more back at the farm.” The farm?

 

“Wait, so you’re the farmer. You own Cherry-Nova.” Why does Nightmare know things you don’t? Is he getting all the latest gossip from tree mom or something?

 

“Yup! Well, Cherry-Nova was my dad's farm, but he passed away. My mum and I take care of it.” You feel a sense of what you now recognize as admiration coming off of Cherry. You smile, the pure positivity is making you want to run around the town again.

 

Suddenly feeling curious, you look into the basket and practically drool at the sight. Perfect apples, oranges, lemons, cucumbers, tomatoes, all of it is amazing. Seeing so much food after about three years of not eating anything besides the mud on your boots is such an amazing sight. It makes your nonexistent stomach rumble. Looking to your side, you see Nightmare is having a similar reaction.

 

“Uhm...are...you two okay?” Cherry asks, a concerned look on her face. You laugh as your brother's face flushes slightly, the entranced look on his face quickly disappearing. Stars, you're going to have to say something about that.

 

It takes a second to get your laughter under control, which seems to confuse Cherry more while Nightmare glares at you, getting more embarrassed by the second. When you finally manage to calm down, you give Cherry an awkward smile. “I-I’m sorry, me and my brother just haven’t tried food before.” You look over to Nightmare, who just nods, purple still flushing his cheeks.

 

Cherry stares at you wide-eyed. “You’re kidding me. You’ve never tried food!?” Well, you have, but Dream and Nightmare have not. “This is unacceptable. It’s been what, six months since the town has been here? Nightmare, Dream, come with me right this second.” Without waiting for a response, Cherry whips around and starts speed walking in the other direction. You spare a nervous glance at Nightmare before grabbing his hand and following Cherry.

 

The short hybrid leads everyone to the edge of town, close to where their tree is. You had seen the farm's creation since the beginning of the town, but it's the only time you’ve approached it. Cherry practically pushes the two inside of her house.

 

“Mother dearest isn’t home right now, so I’m allowed to raid the fridge and give you the best food ever !” She calls, dropping the basket on a table and rushing into another room. Nightmare gives you a skeptical look while you just shrug, more curious to see the food than anything else. The two of you stand by the front door waiting until the girl rushes back to you. “ICE CREAM!” She yells, pushing the carton into your faces.

 

Fucking. ICE CREAM. VANILLA FUCKING ICE CREAM- okay, you need to calm down. Taking a deep breath, you patiently wait like the good three-year-old you are as Cherry puts the ice cream into a cone. After a painfully long amount of waiting, she hands the two of you the ice cream. “Enjoy!”

 

You stare at the ice cream for a moment and wonder how the fuck you're going to do this. You never opened your mouth before, you never needed to, so now your kinda screwed. You glare at the ice cream as if it would magically go into your mouth. You look over to Nightmare to see… a purple tongue coming out of his mouth.

 

Well, fuck. You can do that now. After a bit of a struggle, you manage to create a tongue and lick the ice cream.

 

Stars, they have taken you to heaven. Holy hell, you really forgot how wonderful food is. Specifically, this food. “I don’t know why I haven’t heard of you before, but stars, food is amazing.” You claim happily eating the cone. It’s odd. You have gone through so many different events here that have taken place in other Dreamtale fanfictions or fan comics. Only a few boring things that aren’t normally mentioned, like just sitting staring at the clouds for months at a time or throwing acorns at animals that dare come close to the tree.

 

In all the time you’ve known about Dreamtale, you never heard of a farmer named Cherry before, let alone a town farm named “Cherry-Nova,” especially with how close it is to the tree. You would think it would at least be mentioned once, but you're finding out about here and the farm differently. Maybe it’s not as strange as you’re making it out to be, but it sure as hell seems weird. 

 

You and your brother spend a few more minutes- or maybe a half-hour, you're not saying anything- in they're trying fresh foods. The two of you stay there until you feel as though if you eat another delicious bite, you’ll puke. You had forgotten this feeling. The feeling of eating a bunch of food until you can’t eat any more on thanksgiving. Or maybe your aunt's potluck that left all the kids in bed rest until the school day started.

 

It’s nice to remember simpler times. Perhaps you took those days for granted. Maybe you should have appreciated the family you had, even if that family betrayed your trust. Perhaps you could have shown how much you cared about your friends, even if they are online and will probably never know what happened to you. You should be feeling anger towards being here.

 

But as you look over at Nightmare, laughing as he lies on his back, still full from all the sweets Cherry had given us, well…

 

It’s hard to hate when you have those purple eyelights staring at you with such adoration.

Notes:

Here is one of the important characters of DaLDoM, Cherry! I wonder if she'll be a friend or foe. What do you think of her so far? Will she be friends with both brothers, or is she going to betray them?

Chapter 7: All Hallows Eve

Notes:

Although this is a Halloween special, it also has to do with the plot! Besides, it's fluffy, so why not?

As you look over to the town, you can’t help but frown in confusion. The villagers have been decorating the town for about a week now, and you don’t understand what is going on. Yeah, you and sometimes Nightmare helped put up the decorations around town, and you helped Cherry decorate the inside of her house, but you have no clue what’s being celebrated. Fake bats and spiders were everywhere, and there is a bunch of orange, purple, and black covering on villager’s shops. It’s frustrating, and Nightmare seems to be just as confused as you.

 

“Any idea what's going on down there?” Nightmare asks, sitting above you on a branch. You shrug yourself, crossing your arms.

 

The two of you stay silent for a few minutes before you hear a familiar female voice yelling. “Hey, guys!” You look over to see Cherry running past her farm and over to the tree. Luckily, she stops at the edge of the fake border you had given the townsfolk. You give her a weird look, staring at her outfit. Instead of her normal cardigan and red t-shirt, she's wearing something familiar. Extremely familiar. What she’s wearing weirdly enough looks like the only outfit you have, the original Dream design. The only difference is she's not wearing a crown, a gold belt with ‘RD’ etched in, or a yellow cape. She does have a blue scarf that reminds you of Underswap Sans bandanna though. 

 

Nightmare hops down from his branch and walks next to you, also staring at Cherry’s cosplay with an odd look on his face. “Why are you impersonating my brother? Isn’t one Dream enough.”

 

“Yea- wait, what's that supposed to mean?!” You ask, glaring at him. Nightmare glares back, a playful glint in his eyelights. Cherry’s laughter breaks the staring contest you two were in.

 

She shakes her head. “Oh, come on, guys. It’s All Hallows Eve! Y’know, the last day of October? A better question is why you two aren’t dressed up and in town already.” Oh, that must be Halloween in this world. You’ve heard of that before.

 

You don’t actually know a lot about Halloween. When you were younger, you had heard from other kids about how fun it was to dress up and run around town. You knew it had something to do with candy, dressing up as scary things, and scaring others. You had envied the kids who were allowed to run around with their friends on those days, seeing as your family wouldn’t even let you play outside on Halloween. To them, it was the devil's holiday, and you were never allowed to take part in anything so sinful! How dare you try to have fun with dumb sweets? Shameful.

 

Of course, you’re a kid again, this time with no parents telling you what you can or cannot do in the eyes of the lord. “What’s it about?” You ask. If you’re going to participate this year, you need to be prepared.

 

Cherry gasps. “Oh my stars, you’ve never even celebrated Halloween? Never eaten, never celebrated famous holidays. What has Tree Mom even taught you guys?” You and your brother silently shrug. Tree Mom hasn’t even said anything to you yet, so who knows. Cherry sighs and puts a hand on her hip. “Alright, looks like I’m going to teach you two today. Come with me.”

 

Once again, Cherry is guiding you and Nightmare somewhere to teach you something new.

 

“Alrighty. First; everyone, and I mean everyone, dresses up as something and spends time with their friends. It’s a tradition that happens every year on this day.” As you look around, you find that Cherry isn’t even lying. Every person you pass; woman, man, child, human, monster, they’re all dressed up. It doesn’t seem to matter whether they're buying groceries or talking to others, they’re celebrating.

 

Cherry points to a small house. “At night, everyone in stripes will be going door-to-door to collect candy from the townsfolk! You two are in stripes, right?” Nightmare nods. “Then the three of us can go trick-or-treating together! That’s what it’s called when you get the candy. You knock on the door and yell ‘trick-or-treat’!” She exclaims, skipping along the sidewalk.

 

“Wait, you’re in stripes?” Nightmare asks. You hum in understanding. You had seen a couple of monsters and humans with stripes on, but you weren’t quite sure if that meant they were children or not. It kind of worries you about what kind of multiverse you’re in.

 

“Uh, yeah, I am. I know I’m not wearing stripes right now, but I’m shorter than you two.” Yeah, it is a bit hard to be shorter than the Dreamtale bro’s while being an adult.

 

“Monsters come in a bunch of sizes, though. You should wear stripes if you don’t want people to think you’re an adult.” Nightmare suggests.

 

Cherry rolls her eyes. “ You should wear stripes if you don’t want people to think you’re an adult.” She mocks.

 

The three of you stop walking and stare at each other. Well, it’s more Nightmare and Cherry staring at each other. Nightmare finally sighs. “Touche.”

 

You giggle. “How do you know what ‘touche’ even means?”

 

Cherry and Nightmare laugh as well. “Hey, I’ve been reading a lot. The library has some wonderful books that might be useful to you.” Your brother mentions sarcastically.

 

“Oooh, you gonna take that!?” Cherry asks, almost like a commentator.

 

You glare at Nightmare and stick your tongue out. “Shut up! At least I don’t waste my life reading dumb books all day.”

 

“Is that an insult?” You nod, making Nightmare laugh. “Aww, is my baby bro jealous I know big words?” He teases, poking your cheek. Your face flushes as you hear Cherry giggle.

 

“S-shut up! Cherry, what else do they do.” Change the subject! Of course, you know big words, it's just that you pretend that you don’t. Yup, focus on Cherry now.

 

Cherry slowly stops giggling and shrugs. “That’s it, I guess. Some people do different things depending on their family. Like, my uncle would sometimes come to the farm and pick a biiiiiig pumpkin. Then, we’d cut it open and carve a creepy face in it!”

 

“Woah, really!? That’s super cool!” You exclaim, stars in your eyes. “Can we do one?” You heard of that once or twice, but stars that sound amazing to actually do.

 

Nightmare smiles. “That sounds like fun.”

 

“Come on, then!” The three of you impatiently run towards her farm.

 

~~~

 

“Trick or treat!”

 

You smile as you watch a bunch of kids run away with the pieces of candy they had received with your brother being a part of this group. The kids don’t seem to mind walking around with Nightmare, and the adults aren’t staring at him. He’s taking part with the other kids, collecting candy, and running away from ‘scary’ monsters chasing them. Cherry hugs onto Nightmare, the two of them screaming as a wolf-humanoid monster chases them. You laugh watching them, the amount of positivity in the area exciting you.

 

It was fun for a while, but you needed a break. The warmth in your chest getting too overwhelming, making you need to sit down. Even now, it’s a bit too much, but you’re completely fine. Besides, you are gonna get the opportunity to tease your brother about fearing a furry! It’s the best weapon.

 

Nightmare shakily staggers towards the bench you're on before collapsing next to you. “I’m done.” You chuckle and pat his skull. “Brother? Can we go home? I want to sleep again.” He asks, tugging on your sleeve. You laugh again, unable to take your eyes away from his costume.

 

Suddenly a great idea pops into your mind. “Why? Do you need to take a catnap?” Nightmare glares at you, and you can practically see his fake cat ears go down. “Aw, don’t look at me like that! It was funny.” He rolls his eyes before fixating on the crown on your head.

 

Nightmare sits up and fixes the crown on your head. “Unlike you, my crown is actually on straight.” You giggle and tug at the purple sleeves.

 

“I know, I know. Your outfit is really warm though! I wish I had long sleeves.” You complain. “Anyway, you wanted to go to sleep, right?”

 

Nightmare rolls his eyes. “Not after that dumb joke.” Ignoring Nightmare, you pick him up bridal style and walk back to the tree. “Hey! Dream, let go of me. I can walk, y’know.”

 

“Of course I know, but it’s fun. You’re really light too!” You claim, continuing on your trail to the tree. “My baby brother is so tiny and light, its adorable!”

 

“I am not your baby brother, we’re the same age! Besides, I am way more mature than you. Like I said before, you’re my baby brother.”

 

“Nope, no way. Everyone knows the childish one is the oldest.”

 

“Thats not true at all!”

 

“It is in anime.”

 

Nightmare gives you a strange look. “Whats an anime?”

 

You shake your head and sigh. “One day, baby bro. One day.”

Notes:

Since I'm not good at subtly, basically, Nightmare is in a cat costume and RD is dressed as Nightmare.

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN, MY AMAZING READERS!

Chapter 8: First Snow Of The Year

You giggle and kick your feet happily, watching the snow slowly but surely start to pile up. Yeah, your freezing, and you really wish you had your brother to cuddle with, (or maybe a jacket) but SNOW! You can’t help it, you’ve always liked snow, and just anything cold in general. Now, your kind of regretting it, seeing as you're a lot more sensitive to lower temperatures. 

 

Now that you actually know how to use a tongue, as weird as that sentence is, you stick your tongue out in an attempt to grab some of the falling snow. You lean forward, trying to catch more snowflakes, before slipping on the branch and face planting onto the snow.

 

... you should have expected this. Instead of getting up, you keep yourself buried in the snow, feeling all of your pride disappear. This is your life now. You are forever to be laying on the ground, never to be seen again. Your embarrassment is immeasurable and your day is ruined. At least no one had seen you-

 

“Dream? What in the world was that?” Nevermind. Turns out, Nightmare saw. You don’t move and instead allow yourself to become one with the snow. At least until you feel yourself getting picked up by your brother. “I know your not a snowpuff, brother.” 

 

“Lemme go, I’m trying to accept my fate.” You complain, but choose not to fight back. In actuality, you rather not stay in the snow. It's cold.

 

Nightmare sets you down on the base of the tree and sits down with you. “You feeling alright?” He asks.

 

You look away from Nightmare and pout. “I would have been if you weren’t late.” You side-hug your brother in an attempt to hide away from the cold. It’s a bit difficult when you don’t have anywhere to hide from the temperature, but still. It’s better than nothing.

 

“Sorry, it uh, took a while to find the book I wanted.”  Nightmare explains, patting your skull. You huff but nod in understanding. “Do you want to do something? It might be better than just sitting around.” You shrug.

What you really wanna do is warm-up, but if that’s not happening, you suppose all you wanna do is play. You grab a whole lot of snow and drop it on top of Nightmares head. “Brother, do you want to play with me?” You say in the most innocent voice you can muster.

 

Nightmare gives you a deadpan look before he swiftly pushes you back down to the snow. “Not anymore.”

 

You sit up and puff your cheeks out at your brother. “Nighty! Stop being so mean and play with me…!” You complain. Nightmare flicks your forehead before shaking his own head, getting the snow off of it like a dog. First, he dressed up as a cat, now he’s acting like a dog. What is he, a furry? Okay, maybe he’s not acting like a dog, but you’re suspicious!

 

“Nope. You started it.” He looks away, avoiding your eyelights.

 

You frown before an idea pops into your head. You nervously tug on his sleeve. “Brother…” When he glances at you, you knew it was time. You give him the best puppy dog eyes you possibly can. “Please? Can we please play together? I promise I won't throw any more snow at you.”

 

He glares at you, trying to look away, but ends up sighing. “Fine. We can play.” You pump your fist into the air and cheer happily. Nightmare shakes his head but smiles. “Come on, don’t waste all your energy.”

 

“Right, right! Come on, let’s go!” You grab Nightmares and drags him into the town. The two of you run towards the town square where a bunch of other children are running around.

 

You smirk, a wonderful idea popping into your mind. You run to a large pile of snow and grab a bunch, packing it all together tightly. Nightmare looks at you weirdly, making your smile widen. You look around, trying to find the perfect person to be attacked. Finally, you aim at a human in a striped shirt and throw the snowball. The snow hits the back of the kid's head, making him jump and whip around.

 

The kid glares at the general area Dream is in. “Who hit me!?” They exclaim, annoyance in their town. You frown, suddenly worried this isn’t a good idea anymore. Maybe they don’t have snowball fights in Dreamtale. “Alright, now you’re going to get it now!” The kid packs snow into a snowball and throws it at another random kid.

 

In only a few quick moments, a full-fledged snowball fight breaks out in the town square. No one could walk through without getting slapped in the face with a snowball. You managed to drag Nightmare in the fight as well, the only problem being he constantly aimed at you. That traitor just ended up getting you colder! Most of you also got in big trouble with the creepy elders, you don't like it. Either way, you and Nightmare left a giggling mess.

 

All in all, you’re proud of yourself. Although it's cold, you find yourself happy as you snuggle up against your brother, trying to keep yourself warm. You quickly fall asleep.

 

...

...

...

 

Where are you? What is this place?

 

You look around, trying to find something, someone, yet you see nothing. It feels like you're floating, but at the same time are perfectly stable on the ground. A shiver runs down your spine as you look around the dark, seemingly endless void. Not a being in sight to help you.

 

You take a few steps forward, trying to situate yourself, before beginning a walking pace. There’s still nothing despite walking forever. 

 

Suddenly, you hear a voice, making you freeze. “Dream… Dream!” An unfamiliar, yet comforting voice calls out to you. You continue walking, this time in the voice's direction. “Stars no… Dream…” Someone is calling for you.

 

Tears sting your eyes as you speed up your walking. “Hello?” You call out.

 

“Let go of him! P-Please, let him go!” The frantic voice calls out. A warm sensation spreads throughout your soul, yet you find the tears don’t stop.

 

“Wait, I’m right here!”

 

They don’t hear you. “Give Dream back! Stop hurting him!” You’re not hurt, you’re okay. You need to tell them.

 

You continue to chase the voice, hoping to catch up to them. “I’m right here! I’m okay.” You wipe your tears and focus on calming your breathing. You hear muffled yelling and what sounds almost like a fight breaking out. Then it all goes silent. “No!” You break into a sprint, needing to get closer to the voice.

 

Finally, you hear it again. In a broken tone, you hear them murmur, “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry little light...”

 

You stretch out your hand, desperate for something to grab onto. You hear the voice start to sob, making your soul ache. “No! No, I’m here, /̸̛̯͐͌ ̵̫̌/̸̢̡̬̾̐ ̴̱̈́̎̂/̴̢͖͒ ̴̙͖͚̈́͒͝/̵̘̈̂ ̷̠̊̚̕/̴̳̟̪͘ ̸͓̋͊/̵̢̫̂͝ ̴̙̯̀/̴̧̡̑̆̕ ̴̺̦̘̐̓/̷̬̜͒͌, I’m here!”

 

...

...

...

 

Your eyes shoot open.

 

You look around, your breathing still heavy, and find yourself under the tree. Next to your bother, who is still sound asleep. Not in a dark void.

 

You bring your outstretched hand back to your chest and hug yourself close. You quietly sob into your knees, praying that your negativity doesn’t wake your brother up.

 

You’re not supposed to remember dreams so vividly, are you?

Notes:

wow okay so, it was taking a while to get this chapter going, but then BEAN MOM helped me, so that's amazing. We love Bean Mom.

Also, if you haven’t noticed already, my good friend Pappyisthebest, wrote Dream a Little Dream of Me, but in Cherrys POV. There will be chapters not included in this story, and a closer look at Cherry and her family! I recommend reading it and everything else she writes, it's all amazing.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Chapter 9: The Story of the Princes

Notes:

This chapter was not rushed, nope. Not created in under a day.

Concentrating on the positive emotions you feel from the town, you summon an enormous pile of bones before harshly stabbing them into the ground. Once again, they shatter into small magical dust particles before completely disappearing. “Dang it.” You cross your arms and lean against the tree, before looking up at the waving sun flag. You frown, feeling cramping in your… soul? “Did Dream have as much trouble as me holding magic? It seems to be getting worse every day.”

 

You look over to the farm to see Nightmare slowly walking back. Your sadness melts away, feeling the positive emotions coming from your brother. “I guess it doesn’t matter much, as long as he’s safe.” Being able to properly wield your magic is an afterthought. Yeah, it's cool as hell, but you need to pay attention to what's important. When he gets close enough, you wave at him.

“Brother, look at what Cherry gave me!” Nightmare runs over to you with a small basket full of an assortment of fruits. You feel the cramping worsen, but you shake it off and walk towards your brother. “Do you want some?”

 

“What are you willing to give?” You ask, turning to walk beside him back to the tree.

 

Nightmare shrugs. “Anything, really. As long as it’s not the blueberries. They’re my favorite.” Is that an implication of something?

 

You shrug. “Good enough for me!” You snatch a pear from the basket.

 

The two of you arrive back at the tree, and eat the fruit he had been given. Like he said, he did not let you take a single blueberry, which is actually the worst. How dare he.

 

When Nightmare grabs a book from his bag, you feel another spike of pain in your soul. “Oh, Cherry let me borrow one of her books! She said as long as I give it back It wouldn’t be a-” Nightmare stops. “Are you alright?”

 

“Huh?” For a second your confused, before remembering Nightmare can feel your negative emotions. “Yeah bro, I’m good. My chest just hurts a bit.”

 

“You’re getting soul cramping too?”

 

You tilt your head. “Soul cramping?”

 

He shrugs. “I dunno, thats just what it feels like. It hurts a bit where my soul is.” Nightmare rests his hand on the top of his ribcage. “It doesn’t feel like my body is in pain, but my soul.”

 

You let out a sigh of relief before laughing. “Oh good! I was worried there was something wrong, but if there is, at least we’ll suffer together!” You cheer.

 

Your brother rolls his eyes. “Right. While your busy doing that, I’ll be a responsible big brother and find you a doctor.” You gasp at your brothers betrayal.

 

“How could you! You wont die with me when our time comes? I thought you were my fam!” Thats odd, you seemed to have turned into fresh. If you’re going to use his lingo, you should at least also have the glasses. How unfair.

 

Nightmare was about to respond before you hiss in pain and move away from him. “Are you sure you’re alright? You’re in more pain than me.” You wave your hand.

 

“I-I’m fine, don’t worry!” You smile at him, trying your best to deal with the stabbing in your ribcage. “You don’t have to worry.”

 

After a second, Nightmare hesitantly nods and takes out the book he had mentioned before. Nightmare explains the book, slowly getting more comfortable with talking, and probably forgetting all about what happened to you.

 

You listen to Nightmare explain to you the plot of the book as you make sure to not show any sign of being in pain. He explains the plot of the story in great detail, that you end up entranced listening to him.

 

There were once two young brothers, both of which princes. The two loved each other and did everything together until the war occurred. The two were forced to separate and fight on opposite sides.

 

Years later, the brothers were finally, properly, reunited again. Both of which had made many friends in there separation.

 

One of the friends fell in love with the younger prince. After proving himself, he was allowed to date the younger prince. The two were practically inseparable. They loved each other more than either thought was possible, and everyone was happy.

 

Then, one of the youngest prince's friends asked him for help. He needed something important he didn’t have, something only the princes could provide. The younger prince was scared, something seemed wrong with his friend.

 

The younger prince informed his brother of what his friend had requested. The older one was furious and stood by his side.

 

Then, the younger princes ‘friend’ attacked them. He took what he wanted.

 

The older prince was injured, but alive. The younger, however, was not so lucky. The younger prince died there and then.

 

The younger prince's date-mate was furious. He swore to get his revenge.

 

“And that's how the second book ends!” Nightmare announces, slamming his notes on the books cover.

 

You look at Nightmare, bewildered. “Are you kidding? What even happened in book one!?”

 

“It goes deeper into the princes pasts.”

 

“And the third?”

 

“I assume it talks about the date-mates revenge on the youngers fake friend! I wouldn’t know, it hasn’t come out yet.” He shrugs, placing the book back in his inventory.

 

You can feel your soul shattering in your chest, and not just from the cramps. “I-its not out yet? But… but the princes! What happens to them?” You need to know, you are invested in this storyline!

 

Nightmare laughs at you. “You never even read it.”

 

You pout. “Well, I will! Cherry needs to loan me the book!” You are apart of this fandom whether they want you there or not!

 

“Why don’t you ask her then?”

 

You look up at the sky. A beautiful mix of pinks and orange are painted in the sky. You lay on the grass, resting your hands on your chest. “It’s late, I can ask tomorrow.” You hear your brother laugh.

 

“What a severe attitude change.”

 

Ignoring your dumb brother, you close your eyes and listen to nature.

 

It’s calming.

Notes:

Okay so, I may or may not post again this week. I don't know since the 21'st is my birthday and I'm pretty much just going to feed myself sushi to celebrate. ANYWAY, hope you all enjoyed this chapter that should have been posted way earlier.

Chapter 10: Excuse Me What The Hell Is This

Cherry claps her hands, standing over the spread of ingredients on the wooden table. “Now, are you boys gonna help me or what?” Both you and Nightmare look at each other, him more confused than anything. You’re more nervous.

 

“Help with what exactly?” Your brother glances back at the items.

 

Cherry shakes her head and grabs a wooden bowl. “We’re making desserts! I’m not allowed to cook by myself.”

 

You see, there is a problem here. You are horrible at baking. You tried to make fresh cookies, boxed cakes, literally anything, but they always turned out horrible. It’s as if no matter what you do it will turn into a mess. A gross, burnt, mess. You regret everything in your life leading up to this moment.

 

Cherry turns to face the two of you and pouts. “Come on, I want to eat cake! You guys can even have some too.” Cake sounds very tempting, but if you do anything you will ruin the cake.

 

“I can just give moral support?” Nightmare glares at you while Cherry frowns, making you look away from them both, not wanting to disappoint them.

 

“If I’m forced to do this so are you.”

 

You sigh and look away. You can’t even tell them your horrible at baking. “...when it burns or tastes horrible, don’t blame me.” You feel a wave of happiness come from Cherry, and immediately afterward get strong pain just like these past couple of days. You flinch, but Cherry doesn’t seem to notice. She’s too excited as she runs around the room, grabbing different ingredients and preparing a fire. How do you even bake a cake under fire like that?

 

You lean against the wall, feeling the pain stay as strong as before. Nightmare grabs your shoulder, calming the pain ever so slightly. “Are you sure your okay? You should go rest or something…”

 

You laugh off his worries. “I-I thought you said I had to help if you were helping.”

 

Nightmare glares at you again, making you flinch for a whole different reason. “Brother, seriously. Go back to the tree.”

 

“But… I shouldn’t leave you alone…” You’re taking too many risks leaving him alone with Cherry so often. You should be staying and making sure he’s okay! Cherry really doesn’t seem like a bad kid, but you can’t get the ‘what if’s? ’ out of your head.

 

Without much time to argue, Nightmare pushes you towards the front door. “I’m fine, you are not, now go back to the tree and wait for me.” You go to argue, but another wave of pain causes you to just nod your head silently. “I’ll explain to Cherry, alright?”

 

“Alright… please come back quickly.”

 

Nightmare rolls his eyes but has a fond smile on his face. “I’ll try, but you know how stubborn Cherry is.”

 

The pain gets slightly worse, but you giggle anyway. “Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

 

You trek up the small hill before collapsing on the ground next to the base of the tree. You squeeze your eyes shut as all you feel is an overwhelming amount of pain. You can still walk, you think, but that’s too much effort at this moment. You rather just become one with the dirt, so that’s exactly what you do. You stay still and calm your breathing.

 

It’s too early to be in so much pain. Hell, you don’t even know what this pain is, its horrible.

 

“Dream!” You hear Nightmares voice behind you before he picks you up and hugs you close. “Are you alright? Brother, tell me what’s wrong!” He’s crying. You’re crying.

 

You nervously laugh, despite this being the worst pain you have ever felt. “I-I’m alright!” Yes, because you definitely don’t feel like your dying.

 

“No, you’re not! Don’t lie!”

 

Frowning, you wrap your arms around your brother, embracing him. You need to calm him down.

 

“hush hush, the storm has passed us by

l-listen to the calm of the night

the crickets start a tune

and the wind sings for you

a song of natures lullaby”

 

“shine oh shine, shine upon this night

let the stars guild you home

no matter how far you roam 

I will wait here for you”

 

“the long grass will sway

hiding the fireflies as they play”

 

“hush hush, drift off to sleep

I will hold you safe with me”

 

It’s the first thing that came to your mind. What had always calmed him down, you singing. It was a bit of a struggle, seeing as how much pain you were in, but you did it. Nightmare is no longer crying and instead is just holding you close.

 

Nightmare takes a shaky deep breath before his purple magic starts to glow from his hands. The magic is cool, and surrounds you, allowing you to let out a sigh. It’s almost as if he’s trying to use healing magic, just… different. The pain in your soul quickly subsides.

 

Almost on instinct, you use your magic as well, the two of you now glowing a mix of purple and yellow. As the magic mixes together, it seems as though Nightmare’s magic was stronger. The two colors turn into a dark brown, but you can still see the purple, unlike your yellow magic. 

 

As fast as it accrued, the magic slowly disperses. Only the slight stinging of magic is left, though it’s not necessarily a bad feeling. You look at Nightmare, who looks just as confused as you.

 

“What was that..?” You ask. You put your hand to your chest, realizing you don’t feel any more pain.

 

Nightmare stares at you for a moment before shrugging. “I-I don’t know. I heard healing magic was a thing, so I tried to do that.” You shake your head.

 

“Healing magic is green, your magic stayed the same color. At least, it did?”

 

“Why did it turn brown?”

 

You think for a moment. “I used my magic as well, I think. I don’t know why though.” Just in case, you summon a small bone in your hand. It’s still the same shade of yellow. “It didn’t seem to do anything except stop the pain.”

 

“Your pain is gone too?”

 

“Yeah! It is!”

 

What the hell was that? You’ve never seen any head cannons, stories, or even anything from Joku’s blog about glowy mixing magic stuff. Why did it cause the pain to go away? Yeah, it’s magic, but magic always has some sort of explanation.

After a moment of thinking and looking around, you notice Cherry-Nova. An idea pops into your head. “Cherry’s mom seems to know a lot about magic, why don’t we ask her?” 

 

Nightmare frowns. “We’ve never met her mom before.”

 

You sigh, not exactly liking the idea either. You don’t want to have to rely on anyone. “But we don’t have much of a choice. We have to know what that was!”

 

But for now, you’re enjoying the calm, relaxed feeling. You want to stay like this a little longer.

 

You feel everything in your mind is balanced. 

Notes:

Fun :D

Chapter 11: Promise Me

“Do you think you can help us with babysitting? It will only be for a few hours.”

 

You frown at the couple standing in front of you, two adorable lizard children hiding behind their legs. They look similar to Alphys, but more scales, taller and thinner than the lizard you remember, and a more reddish color. “Are you sure there is no one else to take care of them? I’m supposed to be guarding the tree while Nighty is away.” To your shock, the warmth and happiness you felt from them quickly disappears the moment you mentioned Nightmare.

 

The taller adult shakes his head. “There is no need to worry, the tree is far from in danger. Why would anyone harm it?” That's not suspicious in the slightest. You keep up your good old friend, the customer service smile, and put your hands behind your back. “Besides, Nightmare can handle himself.”

 

Your smile falters slightly, but you keep up your act. “Yeah, but he’s a big baby sometimes, you know? He says I’m the childish one, but really, you need to see him!” You giggle and give them a big excited, totally real smile. “He’s so kind and thoughtful though! I don’t get why anyone wouldn’t want to be his friend.” Just a big FUCK YOU.

 

The villagers seem to be getting uncomfortable, which is a plus. Sure, no one has done anything to Nightmare yet, but you can tell they don’t have a positive opinion on him. “Er, yes, but don’t you think-”

 

Without letting them continue, you start talking, louder. “Oh! And, he likes to hug me while reading me fairy tales! At night, he’ll read me a fairy tale and I’ll fall right to sleep, and sometimes he sings, too! I get really happy when he does that!” You genuinely smile a bit, thinking about everything Nightmare has done. “He’s the best and deserves everything in the world! I hope I can help him just like he helps me one day.” That's not a lie. You will help Nightmare if it's the last thing you do. You will protect him.

 

The couple looks at each other for a moment before the taller one bends down to reach his height. “Your brother sounds… lovely, but are you sure he’s all you're making him out to be?” They have this sickly sweet voice in their tone that makes you clench your fists. You’re so glad you worked in customer service for over three years now. You being tortured seems to have paid off you suppose. “What if he’s lying to you, dear?”

 

“But he’s not.” There's no question in your tone. You’re direct, and to any normal monster, they would understand there's no swaying your mind. “My brother is a kind, caring monster. He would never lie to me.” 

 

“I understand, but last w-”

 

“Do you want me to babysit or not? I will as long as you end this line of conversation now.”

 

There's a heavy silence that follows, until finally the lizard monster sighs and backs away from you. You frown as the two give you the rundown of all the things you need to do to take care of two lizard kids. Basically the same as normal kids. No feeding after midnight, don’t let them get wet, the normal stuff.

 

...Yeah, you zoned out half of the time. You can’t help it, these people annoyed you a lot. But you pretty much know how to care for children. How hard could it possibly be?

 

~~~

 

So as it turns out, taking care of children is insanely difficult. At first, you were mainly watching the shy beans as they nervously ate their lunch and played with a few toys. Then, either your positive aura kicked in, or they suddenly became comfortable around you at the flip of a switch. They ran up, down, and just all around the house, tripping items as they moved along. Sometimes, they’d drop some paint or mushy foods around.

 

All in all, it was a mess, and they only settled down after you promised you would sing to them. They luckily fell asleep after that.

 

Now, you are halfway done cleaning up the mess the kids made, which still isn’t a lot. You let out an exasperated sigh as you mop up the mess. You never really worked with kids before, but it's still bothering you just how much work is put into taking care of them for one day.

 

“I am never having kids…” Whether it's possible, or you even get a partner. You refuse to ever take care of kids. Never again. Well, at least the parents aren’t coming home anytime soon.

 

As you attempt to take out the red paint from the floor, you hear the front door open.

 

…fuck.

 

You slowly turn around when you hear one of them gasp, a guilty look on your face. You had gotten angry at them over Nightmare, will they think you trashed the place on purpose? You really shouldn’t be feeling guilty, yet you are.

 

“Uhm… I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

 

The shorter lizard runs over to their kids, a pleased smile on their face. “Oh, you put them to sleep! What a dear you are!”

 

Wait what? The house is very visibly a mess, yet they are happy over the fact there kids are asleep? “I’m... sorry? I don’t understand.” You walk over to the short lizard with the tall lizard, who seems equally as happy.

 

“Oh, these sweethearts haven’t fallen asleep at this time in months! Oh, your power must be getting so strong.” The shorter one uses a childish tone, one you would speak to a baby with, and pinches your cheeks. Your back away from her slightly as you grab onto her hands and try to push them away. “I’m so proud of you, Dreamy!”

 

You finally manage to pry her grimy hands away from you. You rub where she touched you and turn to face her. “Please, don’t call me that.” You say as respectful as possible. You back away from the two before they could say more. “I apologize for the mess, but I really must get back to my brother now. He should be at the tree by now.”

 

“Wait, at least let us-”

 

You shake your head and head straight to the door. “There's no need. Thank you, and have a good day.” You nod your head slightly.

 

You trek past a bunch of other villagers as you make your way back to the tree. Every villager you pass seems to greet you with some varying forms of enthusiasm, each and every one of them smiling. It makes you sick. You’ve seen some of them already. The way they look at Nightmare. It's horrible.

 

As you pass the library, you look inside the windows, hoping to find your brother. You frown when you see he isn’t in there. If he was, you could have walked him home… oh well, he should be at the tree anyway.

 

Shivering from the cold air, you finally make it back to the tree, only to frown. Nightmare isn’t here, he’s late again.

 

This is the sixth time this month, and it's been three weeks since November started. Sure, that's not that bad, but it’s still worrying! You grab onto a branch and pull yourself up, looking at the town.

 

With a sigh, you look over to the flowing flag. What are you even supposed to do in this situation? What did Dream do? All of the anxiety is back again, and now stronger than ever.

 

It’s obvious your attempts at making the villagers like Nightmare haven’t worked. When you pass through the town, he still gets dirty glares, you still feel happiness disappear when they look at him. You still hold your brothers hand as tight as possible, which just gets them more annoyed.

 

You hear a couple of the leaves from the tree rustle, making you notice someone climbing the tree. Your breathing hitches before you look down, only to see the calming purple eyelights of your brother. You let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Nightmare, jeez you scared me!” You complain, glaring at him.

 

Your brother laughs and climbs up the same branch you're on. “Aw come on, your not that skittish, are you?”

 

“Skittish? What are you, a dictionary?”

He smirks. “What? Is skittish too big of a word for you, baby bro?”

 

“I’m not a baby! And for the record, skittish isn’t even a big word!”

 

Nightmare moves closer to you and pinches your already sore cheek. “You sure~?”

 

“Ow, Nighty! Stooop!” You giggle as Nightmare moves his hand away from you. “You are the worst.”

 

He rolls his eyelights. “Sure I am. You know you love me, Dream!”

 

You cover your mouth and giggle, looking away from him. “Do not!”

 

“Do too.”

 

“Nope!”

 

You yelp as he surprise hugs you. “How could you not love your amazing brother? You’re wounding me…” You lightly elbow him and wriggle away, jumping off of the branch.

 

“Stay away from me!”

 

You run away from him as you see your brother hop off of the tree branch. You run away, begging for mercy as he chases you with DETERMINATION in every step. You run around until you trip on a small rock. You yell as you trip and roll down the small hill before you finally manage to stop, face planted on the ground.

 

Once again, you have become one with the dirt. You can feel your roots take form as they sink you lower and lower into the ground. You are now one with the rocks, a stone someone will find in only 500 years.

 

That is, until your brother pokes your skull. You groan in annoyance, really just wanting to become one with the dirt. Or maybe just lie down and feel like trash. Come on! It’s a family tradition. “Are you going to get up, or do I have to drag you back to the tree?”

 

“...” You need to address the issue, but everything is fun now. You don't want to ruin it

 

Nightmare sighs and pokes you again. “Come on, baby bro. Let's get back so I can-”

 

“You’re late...” You murmur.

 

Your brother's silence makes you think he didn’t hear you for a moment, until he finally responds. “...Sorry. I just was looking for information on what had happened. Remember? The pain and magic and stuff?”

 

You get off of the ground and face Nightmare. He doesn’t look to be hurt, which isn’t what you normally had read in fanfiction and even in the lore if you're remembering correctly. You move to embrace your brother. “I’m just worried.”

 

Nightmare hugs you, slightly tighter than normal. “I know… Dream, it’s okay. I can defend myself, y’know.”

 

“...But you're still my brother. What if something happens to you? I don’t want you to be hurt.” Tears sting your eyes as you hug him. 

 

“Brother, I’m fine. What has you so worried?”

 

You don’t answer him. Instead, you pull away and wipe your tears before staring directly into his eyelights. “Promise me. Promise me that no matter what happens, you will tell me the truth. That we won't lie to each other.”

 

“What? Drea-”

 

“Please, brother.”

 

You're practically begging him at this point. He stares at you for a moment, completely silent, before he sighs. “I… promise.”

 

You hug him again. “...sorry this came out of nowhere. You were just really late, it had me worried.”

 

“You’re overthinking again, you big cry baby.”

 

You laugh. “I guess I am. Sorry Nighty.”

 

He shakes his head, a fond smile on his face. “Come on, you want to know about the pain and stuff, right?” You nod and reluctantly let go of him.

 

Nightmare stands up and offers you his hand, which you graciously accept. He leads you back to the base of the tree before pulling out a couple of books from his inventory. You look at them, each with interesting titles. Mysterious Magic, Sealed Away Spells, Dark Magic, Light Magic, Magical Elementals, and more.

 

...Yeah, he took out more than a couple of books.

 

“I looked through all of these over the course of these past few days. We have more, but these cover the basics. I ended up getting the most information out of these.” He points to Dark Magic, Light Magic, and Magical Elementals. He opens Magical Elementals.

 

“We are apparently similar to Elementals. We have a main kind of magic unique to our element, and who we are as a person. If we ourselves were to change in our very core, so would our magic.” Nightmare then opens both Light Magic and Dark Magic. “Though not the same, we are similar to Light and Dark Elementals. They are extremely rare, and it's important they stick together.”

 

You look at the first page of Light Elementals. “Why is it important?”

 

“Because of some sort of… balance I guess? It doesn’t have to be all the time, but they have to come together at times. At least once or twice a month. They have to share their magic and energy to keep each other happy, safe, and healthy.” You smile.

 

Balance. An extremely important thing in the multiverse.

 

“So, that's basically what we did?” You ask, turning towards Nightmare.

 

He nods and closes the books, stuffing them back in his inventory. “We’ll have to keep doing this for a while, especially since you're always around positivity.”

 

You shrug and lean back against the tree. “Well, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. It was easy last time.”

 

“Yeah, it’s not difficult. It comes naturally I guess.”

 

Nightmare moves closer to you and leans his head against your shoulder before closing his eyes. “Why don’t you sleep today? You look exhausted.”

 

“But the tree…”

 

“I can look after the tree. You sleep, now.”

 

He grumbles something about not being tired, but the way he doesn’t do anything more shows the exact opposite. You hum the tune to the lullaby while thinking about the information you just learned.

 

You are really going to need a notebook or just something to write all this down. Or else you really aren’t going to be able to remember everything.

Notes:

Happy early thanksgiving to all who celebrates it! And if you don't, well, have a happy week anyway :)

Chapter 12: Crying

Silence. The two of you are quiet.

 

Not for any particular reason, more so just it's not what either of you are used to anymore.

 

For three years everything is quiet, but not silent. You could still hear the tweeting of birds and the rushing water in the river down the small hill. Your voices were probably the loudest ones there.

 

Now with the villagers, things are louder. There's never a moment of quiet, nothing is ever quiet. They’re always building something, even at night. They are always talking with each other, it's always loud. It’s not as bad as what you dealt with in your old life, but it definitely isn’t normal for Nightmare.

 

So at times, you and your brother will just lay in the library, one of the only quiet places in the town. As Nightmare reads next to you, you find yourself laying your head in your arms.

 

Nightmare has a serious look on his face as he reads a story. He seems to be really entranced in the story, seeing as he hasn’t actually looked up from the book. It’s kind of funny how serious he takes his fictional stories.

 

…

 

Wait a second.

 

…

 

You should stop judging him. At least he didn’t become a fictional character.

 

Besides that, the library is a great place to hide, especially when the Elders seem very keen on trying to talk to you. Luckily, you are great at running away and avoiding conversations. 

 

Suddenly, you feel your brother poke your cheek. You swat his hand away and glare at him, but he just pokes you again with a poker face. His poker face just looks like his sleepy face though. “Dreaaamy.”

 

You blow a raspberry at him. “Nooooo.”

 

“They’re gonna know you're here sooner or later. You’re aura is really noticeable today.” He turns back to his book, flipping a page.

 

You sigh. “How bad is it?”

 

He flicks your skull, making you wince. “Did you mean, ‘how strong’ is it?” You roll your eyes. Nightmare seems to have taken it upon himself to make you speak more positively about yourself. It’s not like your being overly negative, you’re just… seeing things for what they are.

 

Like Dreams aura. The positivity field that makes people happy by just being around Dream. Dream, who is now you. Meaning you also have this aura.

 

Back when it was just you and your brother, neither of you noticed each other's auras. Maybe it was just because of how weak your magic was at the time, or maybe the lack of positivity and negativity? Either way, it took awhile for you two to notice it even existed, since you rarely separated in the first place. As it turns out, Nightmare has an aura too.

 

Unfortunately, this makes it just that much easier for the Elders to find you. It’s like a game of Hot and Cold, but if you get caught, you're forced to do manual labor.

 

“How strong is it, Nighty…?”

 

“Hmm… well, I can tell you they can definitely feel it from outside, that's for sure.” You freeze for a moment before you hear the library doors open with multiple people stepping inside.

 

Shit.

 

“Good luck, bro.” He whispers while patting your shoulder. You swat his hand away and quickly stand up from your chair and duck behind the closest bookshelf.

 

You look over and see the Elders walking over to Nightmare, closer to you. Most likely, they were going to question him. They're getting too close, so you start making your way to the other end , still hiding behind the bookshelves. When you get to the other end, you glance over to see them saying something to Nights. Their backs are turned to you. Now's your chance.

 

You take off running past them, not minding how loud your boots are as you make your way towards the door. You can’t hear anything as you push open the front door and jump down the steps, landing stylishly. You pump your fist up in victory before sprinting away again, giggling. 

 

Now, where should you hide this time. You already hid in the tree, Cherry-Nova farm, and even in plain sight in town hall. As you speed walk on the sidewalk, you half-consider asking one of the villagers to hide in their house, when you notice Cherry anxiously standing by a cart full of vegetables. You sprint over to her, concerned.

 

When Cherry notices you, she runs over. “Dream, can you come with me somewhere?”

 

You tilt your head in confusion. “Why, what's wrong?”

 

Cherry looks over past the house and makes ‘follow me’ motion with her hands. You nervously follow her as she leads until the two of you are outside the town, walking over towards the forest. You fiddle your hands together. 

 

You never liked this forest. Yeah, in your old life you dreamed of having a house in the woods with soft candle lights while reading your fantasy books in peace. The basic cottagecore dream. But not in such a thick, dense, overgrown forest. It makes you uncomfortable just looking at it.

 

“Cherry, why are we going here. Are you even allowed here?” You ask, keeping your voice soft.

 

“Uhm, not really, but it’s important. Stay quiet.” She whispers. You reluctantly nod.

 

The two of you enter the dark forest. Instead of walking through the grass and leaves, she's jumping on rocks and avoiding branches, making as little sound as possible. You do the same.

 

Then she stops. So do you. There's an eerie silence as the two of you stand in a dark forest, doing nothing other than just… standing here.

 

Finally, she sighs. “...nevermind.”

But…

 

What??

 

“Wait, you can’t just say nevermind!” You follow Cherry as she walks back, no longer hopping on rocks. “What were you looking for?”

 

Cherry frowns. “I heard someone here. They were crying. I thought they might still be here, but I guess not…” 

 

Crying? Why would someone be crying in a creepy forest? “That’s odd… did you see what they looked like?” 

 

She shakes her head. “No, I only saw there back.”

“Were they wearing anything you could make out..?”

 

Cherry hums. “Uh… I think they were wearing a jacket?”

 

That's very descriptive. You must have given Cherry a look, because she just shrugs before finally walking out of the forest with a somber expression.

Notes:

Man, cramping sucks. Also uh, yes I promise I am taking care of myself-

Chapter 13: Nightmare how dare-

You, Cherry, and Nightmare lay on the grass next to the tree, looking up at the clouds. Nightmare sighs. “So, you saw someone crying in the creepy old forest, and brought my brother there to try and find them again?”

 

“Yup.” Cherry responds.

 

“You brought my brother, Dream. You brought Dream to a creepy forest?”

 

You pout. “What’s with that tone?”

 

“What do you mean? What tone?” You can practically hear the smirk in his voice. You lightly bap his skull as best you can. He laughs and baps you back. “Hey, you're acting like I called you a scaredy cat, which is exactly what I didn’t do!”

 

Cherry hums. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t the best idea.”

 

You let out an offended gasp. “How dare you two! The betrayal is real.” Cherry giggles, making you smile. “But that is besides the point.”

 

They all stay staring up at the sky. “Your birthdays are soon, right?” Cherry asks.

 

You hum. “Yup. In maybe a week? I dunno, I forgot.” 

 

“How do you forget our birthday…?”

 

“Birthdays are too much effort to remember.”

 

The three of them lay in silence, just vibing with each other as they stare at the fluffy clouds above them. You wanna reach out your hand and touch them, but as Nightmare has proven, neither of us can fly. Unfortunately. 

 

“Young guardians?”

 

Oh great. The Elders found you. You force back a sigh and sit up before looking up at the Elders. Surprisingly enough, there behind the invisible line you made up. Nightmare schooches next to you while Cherry moves right behind you. You put on your best Customer Service Smile and wave at them. “Hello Elders! I haven’t seen you guys in a while.” You hope this annoys them.

 

The middle Elder, who’s surprisingly human, sighs and looks down at you. “Dream, we request your help.”

 

Your smile falters slightly. “What do you need?”

 

“We are sending a group of people to a neighboring town to try to become allies with this town. We are requesting that you come with us.” You’re like… three? Are you really the best person to do this? Also, no you don’t want to. Talking and negotiating is one of your least favorite things in probably the whole world.

 

Nightmare seems to agree since he moves closer to you. “Pardon me, but my brother and I are meant to watch over the tree.” You wonder how many times the two of you are going to have to say this until you can get it in these villagers' thick skulls.

 

Another one of the Elders nod. “We understand this, but we need your help, Dream. They know about you, and there is a chance that a positive relationship with these people could come respect.” You tilt your head, not understanding what that has to do with anything. They sigh once again. “They will know to stay away from the tree.”

 

Huh. Either that's true, or it’s complete bullshit. Either way, you kinda don’t care. It’s one thing for Nightmare to be at the library while you're at the tree or something, but to be in a whole other town stars knows where is too far. 

 

“This is a private matter regarding very few to know, meaning I would have to ask the human to leave.” Cherry frowns and looks over at you and Nightmare. 

 

“Cherry isn’t a human. She’s a plant monster and human hybrid.” You glare at the Elders as they give an over polite apology. You turn to Cherry. “You don’t mind leaving for a bit do you?” 

 

Cherry gives you a sad smile and shakes her head. “It’s alright! We’ll all talk later, right?” 

 

Nightmare nods. “Of course we will.”

 

After glancing back at the Elders, Cherry stands up and waves before running back down the small hill and over to Cherry-Nova. 

 

Then, you stand up and look at the villagers. “Listen, I understand what you’re saying, but I don't think-”

“Dream wait.” Nightmare interrupts you. You give him a strange look as he stands up as well. “Maybe you should go.” 

 

“What? Why? I can’t leave you alone to defend the tree for two whole weeks.” 

 

He puts a hand on your shoulder. “If others are after the tree, it will be easier to defend with allies. Besides, like you said it will be fine.” He then gives you an evil smirk which you know is bad news and pinches your cheek. “Besides, doesn’t my baby brother want to go on an adventure? Like in the fairytales I read you to help you sle-”

 

You blush and swat your brother's hand away. “I get it, I get it!” You huff. “Do I have to?”

 

“Yup! You have to. Unless of course you want to make me sad?”

 

You shouldn’t give in. You should persist and stay here with your brother, but you can’t. How can you say no to him? You turn back to the villagers who are looking at you expectedly. “Alright, I’ll go.”

 

The creepy Elders smile and thank you for agreeing or something. You don’t know, you stopped listening to them. You only started paying attention to the world around you when they walked away from the two of you. “Niiiiiighty.”

 

Nightmare smiles innocently. “Yeeeessss?”

 

“Brother…” You pout and poke his skull. “You’re the worst. I don’t want to be away from you for three weeks straight.”

 

Nightmare pokes you back. “You’ll be fine, Dream,” You’re not worried about yourself. “Besides, you’ll have something to tell me about when you come back. It’s not everyday we get to visit a neighboring town.”

 

“...I guess.” You’re stupid, why did you give in?

 

Nightmare then grabs your hand and starts dragging you away. “Now, lets go pack your stuff alright?” You give your brother a nervous smile and start walking with him to the town.

Notes:

It's insulting how long its taken me to get a chapter out. Well whatever, this fic isn't gonna stop updating until its finished >:D

Chapter 14: Horse Village

You have been on the ‘road’ for about two long days now, and the whole time you have been an anxious wreck. You really wanted to back out at the last moment, but the look Nightmare had given you… you wouldn’t have thought it to be possible to be swayed by just his expression, but apparently it was not hard to do. The look Nightmare gave you made him feel like you couldn’t go back on his word, not in front of him at least. So with a heavy heart, you had set out on your ‘adventure’.

 

Two Elders, one human, one monster, were leading this. Meanwhile there are about fifteen villagers going along as well. You’ve been boredly reading the story that Cherry had loaned to Nightmare, and in turn has now been loaned to you. The book was very interesting, and during the intense parts, you really wish your brother was here for you to screech at.

 

But he’s not, and you're stuck on a horse all alone, just waiting until you can finally get back home to your brother. You don’t have many regrets in this life and your past one, but you sure as hell regret thi-

 

Suddenly the carriage thing stops moving. You perk your head up, expecting to just see more grassy fields, only to see not far ahead of you a very large town! How did you not see that before? The carriage starts moving again, and you're now impatiently staring out the side, waiting to finally be able to explore the town. After the whole alliship or whatever.

 

You wait about ten more minutes for the carriage to stop again before one of the random villagers helps you off. You politely thank them before glancing around. There seems to be mainly humans in this village, though there are a few monsters here and there. Most of them are strangely enough looking at you. Do they know you're a guardian? You awkwardly look down to your feet, before you realize,

 

You’re a skeleton walking around in a town full of humans. You would be staring too if you lived here.

 

That makes you feel a little better.

 

You notice the Elder shaking hands with a human before gesturing for you to come over, so you reluctantly do. “This is Dream, the monster we had told you about.” You nervously wave at the person, feeling a bit weird. They talked about you? Great, so at the very least some of them know.

 

The human bends down and offers his hand. “It’s nice to meet you Dream, my name is Bryan. Might I ask how old you are?”

 

You shake his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well. Uhm, I’m turning four in a few weeks.” You think. 

 

Bryan stands up and gives the Elder a strange look. You hear him whisper, “The ‘deity’ of your town is a three year old?” Why is this random person the only one with common sense? Like yeah you wish they wouldn’t talk about you right in front of you but come on, your three!

 

You hear the elders start to defend themselves, and you just sigh.

 

~~~

 

For a couple hours, Bryan shows you and a bunch of other villagers from your town around this town. Some of your(?) villagers go around the town to do... Something? By the looks of it, most of them were trading with others.

 

You are unfortunately tasked with staying by the Elder and Bryan as you get a tour. Of course, the town isn’t horrible or anything. In fact, a few times when you had stopped, some of the townsfolk gave you and all the other kids fruits!

 

None of the people here seemed to treat you any different from all the other kids. It feels nice to not be treated like you're different from everyone else.

 

Finally, you’ve been given a break. You and the other kids are playing in the town square, which is also kind of a park. You’re not participating much, mainly because your feet hurt and you need to sit down, but from the looks of it, they seem to be having a lot of fun, and you're happy for them.

 

As you pick at the grass like a dirty crow searching for shinies, you hear a yell coming from somewhere. You perk up and look at the direction you heard the sound. At first, there was nothing.

 

Then quiet thumps. The thumps slowly got louder and louder until you recognized what they were. Horses' footsteps. But not just one, of course it isn’t that easy. You could tell just from the sound there were multiple, and when they appeared you found out you were right. The horses are practically running full speed, no one leading nor riding them.

 

Screams erupt from the townsfolk as the horses run wild, knocking into stands and kicking random objects.

 

You're completely frozen for a moment.

 

Before you as well take off running in the opposite direction. Sure you can’t outrun a horse but you aren’t just going to stand there! You have to get help!

 

You need to help them.

 

Notes:

So uh... Its been a while. If i’m being honest, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but i couldn’t write anymore than this for some reason. So hopefully i manage to write after posting this! Sorry for the long wait guys ;w;

Chapter 15: Long Way Home

Notes:

THIS IS VERY BAD AND VERY SHORT BUT I NEEDED TO GET THIS OUT HOLY CRAP IM ALIVE- IMPORTANT NOTES AT THE END

That was… a lot. 

 

It took a few hours, but thanks to your help, along with Bryan and others from the village, they managed to get the horses under control. What really seemed to help was your… lackluster magic. It didn’t do much to block the horses paths, but what it did do was calm them down. The positivity in your magic was strong enough to calm the horses.

 

You're glad you managed to calm them in time, especially after having to save a small child in the way of the horse's stampede. You shiver at the thought of what could have happened.

 

In the end, the most that happened was a few people getting injured and some fruit stands being destroyed. In all honesty… that could have gone much worse.

 

“Is everyone okay? Does anyone need immediate care?” Someone calls out. Thankfully, no one responds with needing help.

 

Bryan is by your side, talking with the Elders from your village about what could have caused the stampede. “We just got word from our farmers, turns out they were their horses. They’re normally quite docile…” Byran explains to both you and the Elders.

 

“Well.. what does that mean then?” One asks.

 

“It means it was purposeful. Someone set off the horses and caused them to get upset.”

 

There's silence for a moment. Then, one of the Elders looks at you. “Well, we’re lucky our Dream was able to calm them down.”

 

At Bryans confused expression, you sigh. One of the Elders goes to speak, but you raise your hand to silence them. Surprisingly it works. “When I was trying to stop the horses, I used my magic to summon bones. They uh.. Didn’t work so well. But what calmed them down was my magic. As the Guardian of Positivity, my magic is only able to work if people are- well- positive. Meaning that it leaves a.. Residue?? Of positivity around the area I use my magic.”

It’s complicated, but that's the best way you and Nightmare have found to explain it. When he uses his magic, it causes negativity to surround the area. When you use yours, it causes positivity. 

 

Bryans eyes widened in shock. “Well.. that is quite impressive, especially for a kid. Thank you for helping us, little one.” He smiles.

 

But, “See? We told you our Dream is special. He really is our guardian angel, protecting us from-” The Elder gets cut off of his rant by none other than Bryan.

 

“Slow down there. Like Dream said, they struggled to slow down the horses. Maybe give him some time to train before prompting him as your 'guardian angel.' He's three.” Bryan complains. You can’t help but stare at him in awe. Holy crap. The first reasonable human! Of course they have to live in a whole other village.

 

The Elders sputter to explain themselves, but before they could, Bryan grabs your arm and leads you towards the other kids. “Go have fun, kid. I’ll try to make sure you won’t be bothered with political stuff.”

 

You sigh in relief. “Thank you.” You whisper.

 

…

 

The week-long ride home was… awkward, to say the least. The two villages had agreed to trade with each other, but they still were annoyed. You're not sure what happened, but you could only imagine it had something to do with you. Why? 

 

It always has to do with you. You’re The Guardian of Positivity after all. You’re Dream.

 

Either way, you did your best to ignore them. Instead of paying any mind to the villagers and their emotions, you spent your days rereading the book Cherry had lent you. Hey, it’s a good book! Besides, what else are you gonna do? Stare at clouds all day? That’s only fun when you're with Cherry and Nightmare.

 

Finally, you arrived at your village. The first thing you did was run past the group of villagers surrounding you and book it to the tree, which was luckily safe and sound. At the base of the tree were three figures. Two of which being the ones you hold dear to your heart. Another…

 

Well, you don’t recognize them at all. 

 

“N…Nighty? Cherry? What’s uh- who’s-“ your tired from running, and all you wanna do is pass out on the ground. But before you get a chance to, you're tackled into a hug by the two of them.

 

“Dreamy!! Your home!” Cherry exclaims.

 

“You're not dead! Good job little bro!” 

 

You playfully roll your eyes, hugging the two of them tighter. “Oh shut up Nighty! You’re the little one here.” 

 

As the three of you let go of the warm embrace, your eyes are back on the unfamiliar person. You point at them awkwardly. “Uh.. why are they near our tree?” 

 

Nighty perks up, running over to the new person. Their short blond hair moves in the wind, as if the world was dramatically introducing them. 

 

“Dream, This is Amity!”

Notes:

Holy shit okay its been like a year and a half. I told myself one day I'd come back to this- and look it! I'm here, a year older and with much better writing. I can't say a lot has been happening, really it was just me procrastinating and then saying "eh, I don't have the energy to write this" so I stopped. But, your one and only Dream a Little Dream of Me is back! I hope you all have fun theorizing.

Wonder what's up with this Amity girl? Who is she? Friend? Or Foe?

Notes:

Follow me on tumblr for bad art and seeing me barely post: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/finally-free-fan-fics

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of A Little Light