To Think, We Had Humanity

by FaboKraken

Summary:

Through an odd incident, Dream finds himself on the Origins SMP. A new world, new possibilities.

Chapter 1: Paranoid Forecomings

Summary:

Dream escapes the prison.

Notes:

As always with these stories, this is only in regards to the characters the content creators play and not the content creators themselves.
There will be no sexual relationships written and I have no planned romantic relationships I will be writing in this so all relationships are to be taken as platonic or familial unless otherwise stated.

Warnings for a lot of referencing and description of torture and abuse, as well as Dream being a manipulative asshole for a while.

Tags will be added as chapters are added.

To think all it took was a little ‘playing nice’ to convince the Warden to let him go to the courtyard.

A foolish decision really, but a greatly welcomed one. Because while initially he only wished to get out that damned cell in order to make an escape (Techno was out, sure, but he hadn’t returned yet. Dream didn’t have it in him to wait any longer), it was truly a breath of fresh air. 

Maybe he really was desperate for something other than that bloodied cell. Enough so that not even a mask could hide how pathetically desperate he’d gotten. Hell, the Warden had probably looked at the despair curling across his features one too many times, just enough to yield to the admin’s pleas out of sheer pity.

He couldn’t argue that it was unwarranted though.

Dream traced a blade of grass and almost broke down for crying out loud! It was such an odd thing, how this one little thing had been enough to make him feel so painfully human.

That simple wonder of feeling a delicate plant between scarred hands.

How odd indeed. He thought he’d given up such pathetic humanity, ascended fully to his deserved godhood. Yet… as his trembling fingers traced one thin leaf, he felt like nothing more than the pathetic shell of a broken man.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, crouched there fighting back the burning behind his eyes, but eventually time was up. Dream heard the Warden hiss for him to come along and as he forced himself to his feet, he could feel a new fire beginning to burn within himself.

Without the constant babble of lava, without the constant click and groan of redstone mechanics, without the bloodied reminders painted across the walls and floors of that damned tomb… he felt just a bit more alive. Just enough to build up his courage.

The Warden seemed to believe him too weak to try and fight back. But he was still able to run, wasn’t he?

Good ole Sam didn’t even have a chance to yell at him before he was off.

Dream laughed in shaky breaths as he bolted through obsidian halls, ignoring the harsh floors that cut at delicate feet, the Warden fast approaching from behind.

He couldn’t go back now, he wasn’t fucking go back! Dream managed to slip around one corner, just enough to get out of sight, and he pressed himself tightly against the wall.

The thundering of footsteps, then the Warden was past him before even realizing his mistake. It was just what he needed. The admin having enough adrenaline going through him and enough of a head start to make it to his secret room.

A small space with a simple portal hidden in the shadowed crack along enclosed walls. He gasped as he stumbled in, clasping hands to his mouth as he heard running coming closer and closer. He practically slammed his eyes shut as the Warden darted past, practically on the verge of collapse.

He waited. A minute. Two. The sirens hadn’t started wailing. The Warden didn’t magically reappear and kill him where he stood. A hysterical smile broke across his face. 

Who knew this paranoid spur of the moment build would save him. Dream wheezed, pulling away twitching fingers from his mouth to trail along the desperately dug out room. He remembered building this place, having woken from a feverish sleep to the panicked thought that he’d need an out if this place ever became his prison longer than he’d planned.

(He couldn’t let his plans unravel too much, now could he?)

He glanced up and let a smile relax back onto his face, rubbing a hand along his exposed brow and ignoring the blood that stained them (he kept forgetting how messed up his hands were from carving into obsidian, even all this time later, the wounds were so easy to reopen).

He took a stumbling step, turning around. Another step, eyes gazing past the swirling vortex as he tried to remember where this portal would lead him. His hand moved to rest against the cool structure, mind too jumbled to even realize something was wrong.

The odd color of the portal’s magic. The way the structure seemed slightly off kilter. The hint of static in the air, charged and strange.

Dream only realized as he fell out on the other side that something wasn’t quite right. His chest was heaving as he stared up at a world that wasn’t his. The admin didn’t get a moment to process it though, his body couldn’t take it anymore.

The man collapsed. His eyes rolling into the back of his head, falling into the lush field of grass and flowers before him.

Notes:

*Work has been slightly edited by an added sentence and a few more words since Dream’s plan of being thrown in jail was in fact canon

Chapter 2: Familiar Unease

Summary:

Dream isn’t in Kansas anymore.

Tommy’s brow furrowed as he looked at the message that had come across the comms.

[d̵̢̛̛͈̻͋̔̈́̈́̐̊̎̐̾̈̋̓̋̓͒̄̔̐̃̈̑̍͂̆̅̊̅̿̿̚̚͠͝Ȓ̸̡̧̨̲̻͚̱̲̠̿͋͗̇̂3̵̢̡̛̛͍̹͔̳̼̲̝̟̯̺̘̬̻͖͙̥̳̲̦͓̺̓͛̽͐̏̔͑̈́͋̄̈́̿̒̔͛̒̑̋̆͐͂͜͜ͅAm̸̢̧͇̼̳̟̹̻̥̞̻͙̫͓͓̫̒̓͛̊ joined the game]

He cocked his head to the side with a low hum, what the hell was that? His feathers spiked as the server’s magic rippled with the newcomer’s arrival. Almost immediately he was getting a bad feeling.

Something was wrong.

The avian looked to see his messages blow up. Almost everyone was either trying to ask this new person how the fuck they got there, in their server, or ask him who the hell the person was.

And like fucking hell he knew! All he knew was that there was something up with this.

He stalked along quickly on taloned feet, feathered tail swaying behind him as he ran along, squawking loudly when he saw Philza soar above him. “HEY! I WANT TO SEE WHO IT IS FIRST YOU WINGED BASTARD!”  

The avian could hear Philza cackle above, fucking twat. With a powerful stroke of those massive wings, which was too showy not to be purposeful, the asshole closed the distance between himself and the server spawnpoint.

Tommy managed to arrive a minute later, scowling at Philza before freezing in place, feathers spiking at the sight of the elytrain crouched beside a unconscious guy on the ground. It looked like the winged man had been utterly stunned before Tommy’s arrival caused him to stir into action.

Tommy couldn’t help but stare. This unwelcomed guest was curled up on their side, wearing a bloodied white tee and what looked almost like a prison jumpsuit, the top half having been undone so it could be tied around their waist.

He stepped forward slowly, watching as Philza managed to pick up the limp figure despite the clear height difference. The person’s head lolled to the side, their absolute mess of twisted, dirty blond hair falling infront of their face at the motion.

The thing that really unnerved Tommy though was the blood.

Honestly, he swore that the longer he stared, the more blood on the person he saw. Bloody stains along his hands and feet, cuts and scrapes on exposed skin, patches of skin marred with old bruises… the avian took a slight step back.  

His noise wrinkled at the smell of blood mingled with the sweet scent of rot.

“What… what the fuck?” Tommy finally found his voice again, hurrying to Philza’s side as they began moving in the direction on the Pube. “Uhhh… is that a body, a fucking dead body?”

Philza shook his head softly, striding along quickly. The older’s shock had apparently worn off. “No, but holy shit…”

“I’ll say,” Tommy scoffed. He looked up at the sound of a soft vwooop! and met gazes briefly with Ranboo.

The enderian opened his mouth to ask something but they just hurried along, the ender looking pissed for a moment before noting the unconscious figure in Philza’s arms.

Ranboo teleported to Tommy’s side and the avian looked over, just for Ranboo to whisper sharply, “Did Phil kill that new guy?”

Tommy shrugged and just followed Phil’s lead, pausing when the man suddenly took off with one powerful wing stroke. “Spawned like that.”

“Weird.”

Tommy nodded in agreement before groaning, “We should probably—“ He looked over as purple particles consumed Ranboo’s form.

A vwoooop! and that bastard was already half way up the ladder, Tommy flicking them off before scrambling up after.

~

Dream grimaced as he slowly came to, voices surrounding him as his head pounded with an awful pressure.

The voices rose and fell around him and he finally managed to crack open an eye, wheezing out a cough as he curled slightly onto his side.

Fuck, everything hurt.

His coughing grew more ragged and he felt his body begin to tremble harshly as the coughs finally receded, gasping in air as his lungs struggled to comply with the need to get oxygen back into them.

A voice spoke up and he flinched away at the unexpected sound, tongue feeling like lead as he managed to gasp, “Wh—what?”

The voice repeated itself and he forced his eyes open to look for its source, shuddering as his eyes noted the blurry image of a face. He squinted at them and the words this person was speaking finally filtered into his mind.

“Hey? Can you hear me?”

He gave a shallow nod, eyelids fluttering once more before he forced himself to sit up, seemingly startling the other people in the room due to the curses and yelps that followed the motion.

Dream didn’t care, merely gasping in breaths as he forced himself to try and look around. He could see more blurred figures around himself, eyes not focusing on anything but the array of colors and movement of figures, the man’s shoulders hunching as he curled into himself.

His heart began to beat quicker, breathing growing panicked.

Some motion at his side made him flinch his gaze over, shielding away with an arm raised to cover his face. His breathing grew more labored and when he looked up, an oddly familiar face met him there but he couldn’t figure out who he was looking at.

A ringing in his ear made him grimace, the man beginning to shiver.

Dream felt himself sway, arm shaking for a moment before he fell back wheezing out a hiss of pain as his eyelids fluttered.

He must have lost consciousness again, or at least he assumed so, waking up once more some time later to quiet.

This time he merely laid there, letting the fog fade from his mind as he merely focused on steadying his breathing and heart rate as he shuddered.

Well, that was until the sound of a voice close by asked, “You awake, man?”

Dream jerked up, eyes shooting wide open, and he could hear the voice speak again. “Hey! You’re alright, everything’s a-okay! No need to get worked up.”

His eyes darted around (he was in a room, an admittedly small room with a window, the prison had no windows, the walls and floor were wood) when he caught something in the corner of his eye, head snapping around to see what looked like a tiny man with short little wings and a swaying tail settled behind him, sat on a near crafting table.

They hopped up onto the bed’s head frame (why was he in a bed?), wings fluttering for a moment as they stabilized.

“You good?” The small person had a surprisingly deep voice for his size and Dream could just dumbly nod. His brow furrowed, the man weakly gesturing towards the other, trying to find his words as his baffled mind tried to catch up with this new situation.

The person laughed, “What? Never seen an inchling before? The name’s Sneeg.” The tiny man shot him finger guns and he tried not to flinch.

Dream slowly mouthed out the name before he gave a curious hum, “Inchling?”

Now that he had discovered the source of the voice, and it seemed no one else was present at the moment (not like this room really had that much space for that, but seriously, where the fuck was he?) Dream was kind of finding this moment hilarious.

He was talking to a small little man with moth-like wings, a lizard-like tail, wearing some blue cloak. How odd. Sneeg seemed just as amused by his curiosity, the man crossing his arms before fluttering his wings with seeming purpose as Dream leaned closer, “I’m guessing you’re not from around here then?”

Dream was about to answer when he moved a hand to scratch at his face, realizing with a start that his hands and arms had apparently been bandaged… why… why were his arms bandaged? What the hell?

“What the actual fuck?” He looked over the bandages and had to admit it was a well done job, the man moving to pick at them as his anxiety spiked (how long had he been out of it?)

“Hey, don’t do that.”

He turned back to this ‘Sneeg’ character and snapped, “Why not? And why the hell am I fucking covered in bandages?” He had looked down to his feet and saw that from the flat of his foot, hurriedly tugging up his jumpsuit pant leg, to about his knees, he was covered in more bandaging.

Sneeg just frowned, “Well, first off, Phil would be pissed if I let you undo all his work.” Dream froze up at the name, brows furrowing slightly. “Also, you had some pretty bad cuts on your feet and hands, and like, lowkey fresh burns?”

Dream just hummed easily at that, trying to slowly put together the pieces of information he had at the moment, “Who’s Phil?” He chose to ignore the unspoken question about his injuries.

Sneeg jumped up to land on his shoulder briefly before plopping down to sit next to him on the side of the bed. Dream had to actively fight the urge to push him off as Sneeg spoke, “Philza, he’s the elytrain that brought you back, remember a dude with big feathered wings at all?”

Dream couldn’t remember anything really save for finding himself here, passing out, waking up in an odd room with blurry people, before passing out again. He said as much in response to the other’s question.

Sneeg frowned, “So… do you remember how you got here?”

Dream saw no harm in answering with the truth, “Portal.” If they hadn’t found a linking portal back to the SMP (he was now certain this was not his server), then that would explain how his appearance here would be a mystery.

“What, really?” 

Dream hissed out a curt ‘Yes’ as he pushed himself back so his back was to the wall, pulling his knees to his chest.

Sneeg nodded easily, undeterred by his harshness, “‘K. I’ll be back, going to grab Phil now that you’re awake.”

The man just nodded, seeing no point in arguing with that. They hadn’t killed him yet, so either they wanted answers from him, were waiting for something, or were stupidly trusting.

Or they pitied him.

Dream leaned his head back as Sneeg jumped to the ground before dashing off with admittedly fascinating speed. How strange of a place, he could have sworn he’d never heard of a race known as Inchlings before.

He wondered what other oddities this server would reveal. Dream shuddered, curling in on himself further with a growing frown.

Hopefully this situation could be put into his favor easily. He’d need to figure out who this server’s admin was soon though, that’s for sure.

~

Philza came back to the Pub after Sneeg had messaged him to find the injured stranger pacing outside the room they’d set him in, eyes darting around in a seeming panic.

He tried to ease his landing so he wouldn’t startle the other, but as soon as his talons slammed into the wood, the other’s head had shot up to stare at him.

“Uhhhh, heya, mate.” He offered an awkward wave, not quite sure what to say.

Silence, the man having gone rigid as his breathing hitched, bandaged hands clasping into fists before shakily relaxing.

He folded his wings slowly, “I’m Philza, and you’re?” He offered an easy smile.

The man’s eyes narrowed in obvious suspicion, but he was admittedly surprised when the man replied with a voice that sounded too collected for the way he was looking, “Dream.”

Phil walked over before stopping seeing the way the man curled on himself as though waiting for an attack, “Well, Dream, what are you doing up, mate? Not gonna lie, but you aren’t in the best of shape at the moment.”

It was an open statement, but he couldn’t help but wish Dream would give him answers. People don’t just show up looking like they’d been through hell and back everyday, afterall.

Dream glared at him. And it seemed the man was standing there now out of spite, despite the way his legs were starting to quiver.

“That, that wasn’t a challenge.” He laughed awkwardly, rubbing a hand down his neck, “I— mind if I come closer?”

The man leaned against one wall of the hallway, slowly sitting down, seeming a moment from collapsing, “Fine.”

Philza let out a sigh of relief, “Alright, mate.” He walked over carefully before crouching besides Dream, “Can I check over your bandages?”

Dream grimaced, still practically glaring daggers at him, but slowly extended an arm. Philza sighed at the way the bandages had been picked at, the man seemingly having tried to tear them off if he was thinking right.

Philza released his hold and stood with a heavy sigh, “Well, I’m going to have to get some fresh wraps seeing as you’ve almost undone the ones I already did. Alright, mate?”

Dream didn’t offer a word, fiddling with his dirty, twisted hair instead.

The elytrain just forced a smile, “Okay. I’ll be right back, and with some new clothes as well, if you don’t mind.”

That got the other’s attention, Dream looking at him with such a surprised look that Philza felt himself grow worried.

Well, this was certainly proving to be interesting. That was for sure. “I swear, I’ll be right back.”

Dream eyed him and Philza just kept a smile up as he turned away to glide down to the main Pub area.

~

The moment ‘Philza’ turned away, Dream’s eyes were darting along his wings.

And he realized that this wasn’t his world. Because he knew for a fact, Philza’s wings had been damaged beyond healing. Burn scars going along delicate limbs and resulting in quite a bit of exposed scarred tissue and skin.

This Phil had fully functional wings. As well as a feathered tail and taloned feet? 

But the man was so undoubtedly Philza that he couldn’t say it was mere coincidence. So. This wasn’t just not his server.

This wasn’t his world.

Which meant… until Sam found his portal, he was free.

Dream let his head loll forward as his chest heaved, all this excitement and stress getting the better of him. 

These… these people didn’t know who he was. And the SMP wouldn’t be finding him for some time.

His lips curled into a twitchy grin. Oh.

Oh this could work, yes. He could definitely make this work.

Notes:

Avian Tommy reference https://thechillsquid.tumblr.com/post/668128316889432064/origins-tommy-but-based-on-archaeopteryx-and
Elytrain Philza reference
https://thechillsquid.tumblr.com/post/668127794970132480/crowfather

Chapter 3: Trailing Glares

Summary:

Figuring shit out can be so troublesome

Philza was admittedly surprised to find that Dream was where he’d left him, the man leaned against the wall still with his head tilted back, breathing ragged and shaky, shivering slightly.

He cleared his throat and one dull green eye opened to give him a silent stare. He offered a smile, “Heya, mate. I’ll get your bandages fixed up after we get you into some more comfortable clothing. Hope these fit.”

Phil walked over carefully, that one eye watching his ever move until Dream shakily stood up, gaze now darting towards his face and then the clothes (some of Wil’s old things).
He held them out with an encouraging nod, having figured that wherever Dream had come from, he’d developed such seeming paranoia and hostility for a reason.

Dream twitched away and he cautiously reached out before snatching his hand back, voice cracking, “I- can I…?”

Philza merely set the clothes in the others arms, “Here ya go, you can go ahead and change, I’ll wait here.”

The other cautiously walked back to the room he’d awoken in and Philza waited.

Hopefully Dream would settle with some more time.

~

Dream… did not know how to feel at the moment. He was even horrified at the way his eyes watered as he stared down at the bloody outfit he’d been forced to wear for so long.

His fingers brushed along the soft yellow sweater and he didn’t care if this was a trick or test, Dream was fucking tired of wearing his own blood-soaked prison garb.

He practically tossed the old outfit to the other side of the room, slipping on the navy blue shirt and jeans before just burying his face into the yellow sweater and taking a deep breath in.

It didn’t smell of ash or iron.

Dream let his eyes close for a moment, exhaling heavily in relief as one hand tapped the old jeans he now wore. He didn’t care though, giving a wavering smile. 

He was officially out of that fucking prison.

Dream threw his head back and laughed, vision blurring as uncaring tears fell down sunken cheeks. 

~

He had to regain his composure before he exited the room again (as well as grabbing a few supplies from the chest sitting in the corner). Giving a nervous swallow as he briefly met gazes with Philza.

Waiting for this to be torn away. Waiting for the punishment. Waiting to be proven right.

Dream didn’t speak a word, merely clutching the yellow sweater to his chest as he waited for Phil to speak instead.

The elytrain merely gave him a gentle smile, “Here, mind sitting down so I can change your bandages, mate?”

He glanced down wordlessly to his arms, remembering that, oh yeah, for some reason they’d bandaged his arms and legs. Dream had practically tried to tear apart the ones on his arms though after— it didn’t matter.

He dismissed the weakness he felt and merely sat down where he stood, criss cross, and stared back to Philza. 

Phil got to work, moving over easily on taloned feet so he could unwrap the old wraps (Dream looked away, he didn’t need to be reminded of the scars and wounds there) before gently (he was unused to such gentleness) rewrapping the one arm and then the other so he could contuine to clutch the sweater.

Dream didn’t dare speak, absently chewing on his lip as he observed silently, making note of the way Philza worked for reference when he’d need this knowledge in the future.

He figured he wouldn’t have to stay around much longer, or well, rather it would be smarter to leave first chance he got after he’d regained some of his strength.

Dream was getting all too curious about this world and its inhabitants the longer he stuck around.

~

Tommy was absently arguing with Jack about something neither of them could actually remember when he heard Philza climb down. Or at least he assumed it was Philza, not many people had talons around here and Beau usually liked to make her entrance known.

The avian turned and grinned when it was in fact the elytrain, “Phil!” He grinned sharply, tail waving behind him.

The man hoped down, wings ruffled out before he folded the large feathered limbs neatly behind him, “Heya, mate.”

The blond briefly flicked Jack off and the blazeborn easily returned the gesture with a snort of laughter before Tommy turned to instead drag Phil into a prodding array of questions about the stranger.

So caught up in his questions, he didn’t even notice said stranger had climbed down a bit after Phil and was standing silently behind the elytrain.

It was only when the avian noticed people looking at something behind Philza, that he leaned to the side to see what everyone else was staring at.

Eyes dark and piercing met his, glaring silently, Tommy yelping as he scrambled back, Wilbur bursting out with laughter from where he sat sprawled on one of the Pube’s couches. 

The strange man, now not quite looking so much like death anymore, flinched at the sudden sound and movements, lip twitching into an annoyed scowl. But the effect of such was slightly diminished by the sweater the man was cradling against his chest like some kinda comfort item.

“Fuck, man,” Tommy cocked his head to the side with a raised brow, trying to ignore the way his feathers were still ruffled out with his surprise. “At least you don’t look like complete shit anymore.”

The stranger’s scowl turned into a snarl, nose wrinkling in pure disdain. Philza spoke the words that seemed to be on the man’s mind, “Tommy! That’s uncalled for, mate.”

Tommy just shrugged, grinning. “It’s the truth. Jeez,” the avian walked forward to look over the stranger, “You look like you could use a bath tho.”

The stranger’s eyes narrowed further and in a sudden movement, which honestly no one seemed to have expected, the man lunged, and an iron sword materialized into his bandaged hands (the brilliantly yellow sweater left to fall to the floor, forgotten for the moment).

The avian shrieked, barely jumping out of the way of a downward swing, the man’s face turning into a sneer as the stranger crowed in a raspy voice, “WHAT!? NOTHING TO SAY NOW!” 

The teen just focused on dodging the next swing, yelping as the blade grazed by his feathered tail, Philza finally snapping to action to try and drag the stranger away.

Surprisingly though, the stranger managed to duck away from Phil with an odd ease, some new flame appearing in the stranger’s dull green eyes as that sneer turned into a hungry grin.

Tommy flinched as the next swing of the blade looked like it was going to get him along his face.

Ranboo, however, suddenly teleported over just in time, shoving the man in the side. The stranger stumbled, sword carving into the floor instead.

And then the enderain was yelping away when the man merely swung around to try and get him with the blade, teleporting away with a surprised warble.

But the distraction gave Tommy enough time to run out the Pube entirely and jump down, spreading his wings as he started to glide towards the ground, middle fingers flicked up on his way down.

~

Dream swerved around to look for Tommy just to see the teen jump, flicking him off as he seemed to glide away. The man snarled, taking a step to pursue when he was suddenly met by another blade.

He caught it on pure instinct, flinching as he turned to glare at the new opponent, hissing out an annoyed breath before freezing in place.

Because, it was Wilbur? Wilbur in a black cloak with vibrant green eyes. Wait— what was Wilbur— wait.

He blinked, stumbling back as the oddly transparently-skinned figure used his brief moment of weakness to push him back, Dream grimacing as he stabilized himself.

He readjusted his grasp on the blade when things slowly clicked back into place. This wasn't his server. This wasn’t his world.

Dream’s eyes flew open and he dropped the sword in a panic, heart skipping a beat. Oh. Well, shit.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry—“ He took another step back, eyes darting around to faces that were familiar but not his.

His back hit a wooden wall and he crumbled, clutching at his head. Fuck.

~

It took a moment for Dream to realize no one had made a move againist him, having recovered some to realize how exposed he’d just made himself. Sharply, the man glanced up, just to see the pommel of a sword being held out to him patiently.

He glanced up and met eyes with this odd Wilbur, the man holding out the sword in black claws, “You can go ahead and have this back as long as you don’t try to kill Tommy again.”

Dream shakily nodded, grabbing ahold of the sword as Wilbur released it, staring at him with a narrowed stare, eyes a vibrant green that reminded him of a phantom’s haunting stare.The man allowed the iron weapon to go back into his inventory, moving his arms to hug himself silent.

He’d fucked up.

He looked away, and Wilbur chuckled, “I know people can find Tommy annoying at first,” the way he said it made Dream think it was some kind of joke he wasn’t aware of, “but I didn’t think he was kill on first met kind of annoying.”

Dream winced, mouth gaping slightly as he tried to come up with something, but the other beat him to it. “You’re lucky this server doesn’t have to deal with death like that. I’d probably be more pissed.”

What?

His mouth twitched into a confused frown, “What?”

Wilbur raised a brow before shrugging easily, one dark purple, pointed ear twitching, “Hm? Oh- yeah. Power’s spread across quite a few of us so we got a pretty stable life system going on. Can respawn as many times as your lifespan allows, you just caught us off guard.”

He smiled, baring surprisingly sharp fangs, “I’m guessing that didn’t even cross your mind though.”

Dream snapped, “Why would it?”

Wilbur chuckled, the amused grin not quite reaching his eyes as his pupils narrowed into slits, a short tail whipping behind the still crouched figure. “Just know, you’re not going to catch us off guard again.”

“So how about you save that sword for the mobs, capisce?” That smile was more like that of a dog’s bared teeth before it lunged, and they both came to an understanding.

Dream knew there was a lot more held in the man’s words, frowning but nodding all the same. “I understand.”

Wilbur’s smile brightened, the tension Dream hadn’t realized the man had been holding relaxing as he clapped his hands cheerfully, “Cool. Now, catch.”

The man pulled something from his inventory and tossed it, Dream catching the familiar yellow sweater purely on reflex. He blinked down at it, rubbing a thumb along the soft fabric.

“You’ve been shivering this whole time, how about you put that on so you don’t freeze to death?”

Dream just tugged it over his head, picking at his hair as he looked down at the floor, not wanting to look back at those surprisingly piercing eyes.

“…Thanks,” he muttered sourly.

Wilbur laughed, “You’re welcome. Cya around.”

Dream scowled, not looking up until he heard the other man stand up. Only then did he shoot a glare at this Wilbur’s back.

But at the very least, he wasn’t shivering anymore. 

Notes:

I haven’t made a reference for Phantom Wilbur yet, but I’ve been heavily inspired by (on YouTube) Lucler_Lucifer ‘s osmp Wilbur design

Chapter 4: Beep Beep Motherfucker

Summary:

Dream’s up to his old tricks

Notes:

Before anyone asks, yes. That is infact the name of this chapter, it was too funny of a placeholder to delete and rename.

Dream waited until Wilbur had exited the room before he dared move from where he was still sat, back against the wall. Though, now that he was also more calm then he’d been, he took time to admire the main area of this ‘Pub.’
It had a nice quality to it, admittedly, spacious and finely decorated.

Fine vines and what looked like glow berries hung along the walls, twisting up and dangling down the pillars and roofing, the area having a littering of seats and couches and even what looked like a bar. Though… well, this was a pub, so that made sense.

It was a place no doubtedly for the server members to come together and hang out, to have fun, or whatever else these people did.

It was like his community house.

Though, technically speaking, not many people were still in there… for obvious reasons, well except for Philza and a man he assumed was this world’s Jack Manifold (who also reminded him greatly of a blaze with the way flaming rods hovered along the man’s sides, how his skin seemed to boil with an inner flame, and that odd hissing hum he made as he moved, softer and more subtle then the ashy snarls and groans of true nether blazes.)

The elytrain was now typing away on a comm he held and Dream was mildly glad he was still around. Because while Phil seemed to not care about his presence at the moment, the other man was staring.
Sure, those eyes were hidden behind familiar blue and red glasses but he could still feel Jack staring. Made his skin crawl in a way he was admittedly all too familiar with now.

Just like Quackity. That gaze trying to figure out what his next move would be, searching, wary. His lip twitched into a scowl.

He turned to lock eyes and the blazeborn or whatever Jack was, turned away, merely pulling out a cloth to dry a few odd mugs without a word.

Dream admittedly found some faint amusement at the thought that these people were now wary of him, but he then reflected how he’d also completely and utterly given up any element of surprise he could have had.

Which placed him at an even greater disadvantage then he’d been at.

Dream was in a new world, on a presumably infinite life server, where people could take care of themselves just fine. And they had no trust in him, they held no ties to him, and now they knew he could be a threat.

—He had no power he had no power he had no power he had nothing he had no leverage he had nO POWER OVER ANY OF THEM—

The man stumbled to his feet with a scoff, Dream walking over to Philza but refusing to directly look at the winged man. He cleared his throat, trying not to wince at how the rough sound scratched out.

He heard a questioning hum, and cleared his throat again out of habit, wincing as he stumbled for words, “I-I… do, where’s a ba…bathroom?”

Dream felt himself grow self-conscious, but he merely stood waiting. He could, however, feel the heat rise to his face, no doubt coloring his exposed cheeks, desperately making him wish he had his mask to hide behind again.

“A— oh, I— to uhm… take a shower?”

He jerked his head up with a snapping comment, “Just, fucking where can I get cleaned up.” That annoyance certainly helped tear him from his awkwardness.

Philza looked at him and Dream narrowedly met that gaze. “I uh, well, if you want to get clean quickly, you can either jump down the waterfall I guess—“ He raised a brow at that statement. “—or you can go back upstairs, there’s a shower up there.”

He gave a soft sigh of relief, nodding as he moved along to do so before pausing, looking at his arms. “I— it won’t… w-will it be an issue w-with these uh, bandages?”

Philza shook his head, looking back down to his comm, “Shouldn’t be a problem, I had already cleaned up your wounds. I had applied some potions to your wounds earlier as well, so I’d say it would be alright for you to remove them for the time being. Though I’ll, uh, I’ll still be down here so when you’re done washing up I’ll re-wrap them? Alright, mate?”

Dream nodded half-heartedly before turning to climb up the ladder. 

~

Dream honestly couldn’t remember the last time he felt peaceful. The water raining down on him in a cheap mimicry of a summer rainfall, but hell! After having only a fucking dirty water basin to clean himself in (well, before he gave up on that) this felt like a blessing.

He sighed, feeling the filth wash away, the dried blood, the grime. His hair stuck to his face and he mildly thought how he’d need to cut it. But that could wait, one thing at a time.

Dream leaned his head back and closed his eyes, listening to the soft pattering of the water onto the bottom of the shower, so much different than the heavy droplets of crying obsidian.

Hmm… maybe he could waste a few more minutes. A faint smile fluttered onto his face.

~

A little while after Dream had washed up, staring at himself in the mirror for some time as he dried off, he turned to his makeshift ‘to-do’ list.

Because, whether it was his world or not, he had things to do. And he might as well see what he could do, and right now? That meant he figured he might as well challenge the server’s magic in order to test its security.

As an admin of a server, a person gains capabilities beyond the norm. Varying from place to place, person to person, etc., it also allowed for more unpredictability in strength and skill when committing to magic.

Dream’s own magic was more finely attuned to burying its way into coding of a world, manipulating and utilizing it to his will. And well, while it was a rule of courtesy for admins to respect one another’s servers, following such cheap words was so dull.

Dream took a deep, calming breath before violently plunging his hand into the server’s very essence, grasping at the coding there with an uncaring aggression. 

Tommy stumbled where he stood perched along the stone wall he’d been at work on building, gasping as a vibrant pain suddenly arched through his chest and head. It made him nearly fall off, wings and tail flared out for desperate balance as black spots danced before his eyes.

The server lashed back almost immediately. Dream having to fight back a scream as the magic consumed his arm, burning fire and hatred and defiance. Dream bared his teeth and let his own magic strike back.

It hurt it hurt it hurt! Tommy clenched his teeth, ignoring Jack and Beau as they tried to talk to him, ask him what had happened. He merely closed his eyes and let his senses spread out, realizing that for some reason the server’s magic was acting up. As though it had been attacked or sensed an oddity, causing some harsh backlash against him.

He focused on looking for the foreign energy as Philza had told him to do, seeing as he was the original admin Tommy had the best connection afterall.

Dream relaxed as the pain along his arm began to numb, pausing as he felt his magic being tugged at? He went still, the server’s magic still lashing out but easing at the other presence. 
The man frowned, so despite the control of the server being spread across multiple people, the original admin was still very intertwined with the server.

That could be either a really good thing for him (figure out how to kill the original admin, easier to take control) or a really bad thing (he hadn’t expected to be noticed so quickly and he didn’t know who this other admin was or what they were capable of).

Dream smiled lightly, his unease soon developing into amusement. While he’d been discovered, the second presence didn’t actually seem to know what to do about the foreign magic. Might as well test this other person’s defenses.

Tommy screamed, eyes shooting open as what he thought might have just been some odd bug or virus suddenly choked around his own magic. It felt like he was being strangled as it attacked quick and sudden, and he fell as it felt like it was tearing off a part of his very soul.

The man threw his arm back, quickly pulling away as he drew back his prize. Gasping as he felt moisture spread along his arm, the previously scabbed over wounds and burns on his arm reopening. He grasped a newly summoned netherite sword in his shaking, numbed hand, however.

He now had a more powerful weapon and this provided him with valuable information as he stumbled into a sitting position. 

Dream gave a shuddering breath as he curled a near towel around his bleeding arm, gritting his teeth as he fiddled through his pocket. The moment his fingers touched a smooth orb, he pulled it out and threw it out the near window.

The man curled his arm againist his chest and grinned as the teleportation magic took him away, time for this new game to begin.

Chapter 5: A World Apart

Summary:

Back on the Dream SMP, things happen

Techno scratched lightly at his chin with a thoughtful hum, saying aloud as he shifted through his chests upstairs, “Hey, Phil?”

Philza made a sound to show he was listening, the piglin brute glancing down the ladder, seeing the winged man waving off a few crows, reorganizing his inventory briefly.

“Since Dream already escaped… you think that counts as my favor settled?” 

He glanced at the channel member bell, muttering to chat, before climbing down said ladder, hooves thumping onto the wooden floor.

Nearby Niki was glancing out the windows, adjusting her armor. He glanced down at his own armor, Techno briefly shifting it to be a bit more comfortable where it laid over his chest and shoulders.

Philza gave a flat chuckle, drawing Techno’s attention as he answered the piglin’s question, “Nah, mate. I’d just say it means you should be watchful for what he contacts you for next.”

Techno gave a grunt but nodded, moving to clamp Niki on the back with a grin, the woman giving a light jump before blinking up at him attentively. “Welp. Should we go break Ranboo out of prison now?”

Philza smiled as Niki glanced at the two of them, a wither skull materializing into her hand. She shrugged, smiling gently with a mischievous glint in her eye, “Ready to break into prison?”

Techno laughed, “Yooooo, prison break!”

Philza barked out a laugh and they headed outside to saddle and ready the horses, adjusting their armor and making sure they had everything ready to go, today was going to be an interesting day afterall.

~

Sam knew the instant the alarms in his prison went off, but what did he fucking care?

He stumbled, blinking as he emerged in fresh armor. All around he heard that piercing call as the overhead sirens screamed for his attention.

His priority, however, was already out, and whether he liked it or not, if anyone was getting into his prison, it might as well be Techno.

The brute was practically tearing into his prison at that very fucking moment. And- and it didn’t even fucking matter! None of it mattered!

The Warden clenched his fists as the wailing of sirens filled his ears, chest heavy and his armor feeling even heavier. His footsteps echoed the empty halls, face turned into a bitter grimace.

Because his guards were questioning him, Quackity was pissed, the server didn’t trust him, and Dream was out there.

Sam lost Dream. How could the man just slip away!? He turned a corner and paused as Techno stared back, Bad merely standing a ways back, observing. He shouted, the words lost to even himself.

Dream was gone, and he didn’t know how, how could this happen? It didn’t make sense and he refused to say it was his fault, because he made this place inescapable, so someone else had to have helped him.

But- but how?

Techno struck fast and brutal before he could do as much as raise his shield, Ranboo hovering back, standing defensively. Why wasn’t Bad fighting!? He yelled, when a rumble shuddered through his bones and he fell back.

It had been a few days now, and nothing. No one had heard a thing from Dream, nothing. And it was strange, and nerve wracking, and ominous.

He heard withers in the distance, could feel the chill down his spine, but he didn’t care. He felt a blade pierce through his armor, and then he was forced into a respawn.

The Warden gave a hiss, stumbling to his feet, blinking back a headache as he clutched tightly to his sword.

He needed to leave, he decided. He had bigger things to deal with and he had already lost so much.

~

Punz watched as Techno escaped with Ranboo and Connor in tow. He didn’t make a move against them as others tried to fight the brute (it seemed that people were as confused as he was, the fighting seeming half-hearted, no one quite sure what to do).

Because why should he? The mercenary had had a plan, they had followed what they’d been told to do, and now Punz was quite frankly lost on what was expected of him.

Because Dream hadn’t showed up, and the whole server knew he’d escaped, but there was nothing.

Like the man had fallen off the face of the earth, like he wasn’t even on the server anymore.

It didn’t make sense, and as the chaos trailed after the withers and escapees, the mercenary merely turned his attention to the prison instead. 

What had changed?

~

Tommy knew fear.

He knew doubting yourself, doubting your mind. He knew what it was like to die, to hurt, to feel the cold abyss swallow all you were and are. To see death eye to eye, head slammed back into cold, uncaring obsidian.

And right now? He surely didn’t fucking know what to do.

Because Techno was breaking into the prison, Dream was out on the lose, and he didn’t know how he fit into it all.

He didn’t know what to do.

Tommy clung to his armor, sat behind his walls, clutching at his head. There was too much, and yet, at the same time, there was too little.

What was Dream planning?

~

Punz slipped into the prison easily, the sirens having finally been turned off, giving it such an odd feel now. From the excitement and panic to a cold, defeated silence. 

But he merely kept on, sticking to the shadows, eyes looking along torn apart walls, splatterings of what looked like fresh blood or maybe splash potions (those two things were always so close in appearance sometimes, espically in the dark) covering the space around him.

They tsked softly, oh how control had spiraled. Punz observed the walls, traced the darkness, thinking of some of his last talks with Dream before the ‘betrayal.’

That’s when he remembered something curious the man had mentioned offhandedly once. Something about an ‘emergency escape.’

His brow furrowed, “But where?” 

Punz began their search. It seemed Pandora’s box had a few more secrets he’d need to pry loose.

Chapter 6: Tense Uncertainties

Summary:

Dream is officially loose on the Origins SMP

Tommy woke up with an absolutely killer headache, prying his eyes open with a grimace as he found himself sprawled out on his side on some bed.

“Wh-what… the fuck?” The avian grumbled as he moved to push himself into a sitting postion, one hand moving to clutch at his face.

A moment later he forced himself to look around, raising a brow at where he was. Cause it sure as fuck wasn’t the pub, and it sure as fuck wasn’t his place.

Like… what was up with all the lava? Tommy shook his head, brushing the oddity off. It didn’t matter, what mattered was figuring out what he was even doing here.

The avian took in a shuddering breath, placing his taloned feet firmly on the floor before standing. His tail waved behind him awkwardly, wings flared out to help keep the unsteady teen from falling.

He grumbled lowly to himself, “Fucking hell.” The avian stretched out one taloned foot before shaking himself, okay. One step at a time.

Tommy stepped along lightly, still a bit wobbly, but hell! He was walking, so that was something, right? What caught his intrigue, however, were the voices he could hear in the hallway.

He stepped closer, glancing out curiously, cocking his head as he saw Philza, Ranboo, and Tubbo deep in conversation, well, actually it looked more like an argument?

“What do you mean that guy’s just gone?” Ranboo scoffed, one of his ears twitching sharply, causing some of his dangling earrings to make a soft chiming noise. “You just let him walk off alone after what he tried?”

Philza rubbed at his face, wings flared up, the man seeming quite stressed, “I don’t— mate, look, I wasn’t going to stand fucking guard by the- I didn’t think… fucking hell. Okay, I don’t know— it just… I don’t know. He might have gotten an ender pearl or something from a chest.”

“Are we sure, what was his name again—?”

“Dream.” Ranboo stood very stiffly at the moment, arms crossed, Tommy could practically hear one of his feet tapping the floor sharply.

Tubbo’s wings buzzed sharply and he gave a nod, hovering in place, “Dream- thanks— okay, so do we think he for sure tried to hack the server?”

Tommy’s eyes widened, feathers bristling. What.

Philza caught his attention again, the man sighing as he rubbed at the back of his neck, “I wouldn’t exactly say ‘tried.’ Because I was looking and it seemed he succeeded in summoning himself some kind of tool— most likely a weapon.”

The teen couldn’t hold himself back, cutting off their conversation as he stepped out the room, squawking loudly, “HE FUCKING DID WHAT!?”

They turned to look at him, Philza and Tubbo blinking in surprise while Ranboo hurriedly walked over, asking if he was okay.

Tommy waved off the worried enderain, “Ranboob— I’m fine! Just, what the fuck are you guys talking about!”

Philza sighed, “C’mon, let’s— let’s go sit down.”

The avian frowned, Tubbo coming to stand on his other side as Ranboo clutched to his arm with a deepening frown. Tommy just followed after the elytrain as Philza turned away.
The teen felt pissed and confused, and most importantly, he felt a deep set anxiety begin to settle.

This was his server, his home. A safe place and a place to just exist, and now? His server had been practically attacked, and he hadn’t been able to do a damn thing.

~

Dream stared at the unusually large, pink-furred, bipedal rabbit that stood before him. Who was dressed in all too familiar royal garb, who regarded him with a lazy, casual gaze that at the same time held such a curious intensity. Who he recognized after a mere moment of thought.

So… Technoblade was a rabbit in this world. Well that was- well, frankly, that wasn’t what he had expected.

Dream broke the silent staring match they were having, slowly turning to stare fully at the other, “Hi.” He waved off the axe he’d been using to collect some wood, uncertain.

Techno’s nose twitched, one brow quirking slightly.

Dream’s netherite sword was sat casually on his side in its hilt, a stolen cloak settled around his shoulders. The man scratched lightly at his face as the other finally gave him a short greeting in return.

“Hullllo.”

The man nodded, glancing off to the side, clearing his throat, “Uh… I’ll just be on my—“

“You got carrots.”

It wasn’t a question and Dream gazed over with a furrowed brow, “What?”

Technoblade stared him dead in the eye, those surprisingly dark eyes narrowing dangerously, “You got carrots.”

“Uhhh… yeah?” Dream shrugged, awkwardly, scuffing an iron boot against the ground, “You… you want them?”

The rabbit perked up, “Yoooooooooooo, carrots.” It was such a deadpan cheer and a smile twitched onto Dream’s face.

“Sure, here.” He pulled the carrots from his inventory and tossed them to the other, who instantly chucked a diamond chestplate back at him.

Dream yelped, jumping back before glancing over, Techno regarding him casually as he gnawed on one carrot, “I don’t have enough inventory space, so you can have that I guess.”

The man stared down at the chest plate and then back at Techno before nodding easily, “Thanks.”

Techno just waved him off and when the rabbit turned away, ears twitching at some unknown sound, he pulled out an enderpearl. The chestplate sat snug on his chest.

He tossed the pearl and was gone.

~

Punz was surprised that he hadn’t run into a guard or Sam yet, the eerie quietness admittedly unnerving the mercenary somewhat.

They sighed, tapping a hand againist the broad side of their sword. It made a satisfying little clack sound and he nodded faintly to himself.

Sure, things had gotten side tracked, but the moment he found Dream everything would be all too easy to slide back into place.

Or at least he hoped, Punz pausing as their hand seemingly passed through a part of the near obsidian wall.

He smiled, “Bingo.”

~

Tommy paced sharply in place, they’d move from Ranboo’s place (because that’s apparently where he’d been, Tommy had to admit, it wasn’t too shabby) to the pub.

Almost everyone had gathered up save for a few people like Technoblade, Beau, and Wilbur. The absent members were either off server at the moment, too far away to get there right then, or were out doing something else.

And, really, it was just a cascade of people talking. Offering ideas, bringing up questions, and it was getting on his fucking nerves.

He spoke up sharply, “Can’t we just fucking ban him? I’m pretty sure we all know no one else would do something like this!”

That got their attention, but it didn’t last as Philza sighed, “Mate— he wasn’t even whitelisted in the first place.”

Niki tapped the glass of her tank, “And aren’t, aren’t we pretty sure he’s an admin now? And if, well if Dream attacked the server, what else can he do?”

Tommy scowled, running a hand sharply through his hair. “What the fuck do we do then,” he snapped.

People started talking again and the avian sat down heavily, face in his hands. Of course, of course this would happen.

What the fuck.

~

Dream hummed the soft melody of Mellohi as he worked, having figures, for the meantime, to lay low.

He hadn’t gone too far from where he’d initially spawned, the admin worried that his odd entry into this world would have future consequences, such as restricted access to this server’s lands.

But so far, so good. They couldn’t ban him (Dream had actually burst out laughing when they tried that, flicking the magic away with ease), couldn’t kill him (can’t kill what you can’t catch), and none of them would be able to find him unless he wanted to be found.

He stretched, ignoring the pain in his arms and legs, before heading into the small base he’d constructed, the building hidden away in thick foliage and tree cover.

Dream settled on the mattress of sheep’s wool he’d constructed, soon enough falling asleep easily. 

Chapter 7: It’s Too Late

Summary:

Dream’s a bitch, the smp makes a decision, and Punz steps through the portal

Dream was so incredibly amused as he tossed the newest trinket he’d found, some kind of eye glass or something, the man putting it to his eye and snickering to himself as he looked off into the distance.

Holy shit he was having fun. He’d been free to do whatever he wanted, and while initially he’d been gathering intel and resources, at the moment?

He was honest to god just dicking around, because while it had been part of the plan, Dream had no idea prison would have been so… well, fucked up.

And while his wounds had effectively scarred over (with the help of a few more stolen health and regen potions of course), he found himself still waking up with nightmares, flinching at sudden or abrupt noises, and overall the paranoia in itself was a lot sometimes.

But he had a plan, so it didn’t matter. Put your focus into your work and it is all fine.

Dream turned his eye to the pub, stretched out on a tree limb as he observed this SMP’s members gathering up once again.

They'd been trying to get rid of him for some time now, but of course, nothing had worked, or at most, he easily figured how to manipulate the situation into his favor instead.

As well, it was delightfully amusing how easily he scared these people. Show up here, casually call out a greeting and barely miss shooting out someone’s eye with an arrow, carving messages into signs along people’s homes, etc.

Delightful~

And so, so easy. Dream liked this place, grinning as he took a bite out of a golden apple, relishing in the taste and the strength that soon flowed through his veins.

No wonder Tommy liked these things so much.

~

Tommy had had enough, the teen dabbing gently at the bloodied nick in Ranboo’s ear from where one of Dream’s ‘greetings’ had gone piercing through. The Enderian whined, wincing and Tommy just hushed him through gritted teeth.

Because okay, fine, they knew they couldn’t just get rid of Dream now, and the avian had admittedly grown used to being afraid that around any turn he could lose an eye or wing (Dream had found the loophole in their infinite life system, cause yeah, they could still get hurt and having a limb or eye or something cut off or stabbed certainly would stay even after a respawn), he was tired of his friends dealing with this.

“This is bullshit,” Tommy growled under his breath, feathers spiking up as he settled a band-aid over Ranboo’s ear. “There has to be fucking something we can do, right?”

The Enderian just gazed back with a pained smile, “I… I don’t know, you’ve tried everything short of a server reset.”

Tommy sighed, “I know, I know, but there— wait.” The avian’s face lit up, “Holy shit, you gave me a fucking awesome idea.”

Ranboo tilted his head to the side, “What?”

The avian just shook his head, hurriedly pulling out his comm, texting into it quickly. After he sent his server wide message (that was one of the few good things afterall, Dream didn't, at least to their knowledge, have a comm that worked on the server), he turned to Ranboo with a toothy grin, “Lets go to the Pube, boob-boy.”

The avian felt ever-so-hopeful, “Lets get rid of this green bitch.”

~

Punz hadn’t gone through the portal just yet, but as he threw open the chests there and dug at the floor for something, anything to indicate a message from Dream, he finally turned towards it.

He’d been there for ages now, pacing around it, looking for any indications that this was what Dream used (it had to be, where else could Dream have fucking gone?).

They ran a hand through their hair, frustrated, so if Dream had gotten out using a nether portal, why the fuck hadn’t he gone to their meeting place?

And why hadn’t he taken anything from the chests? They seemed fully stocked of weapons and armor and everything else he knew Dream wouldn’t have just left under normal circumstances.

He gritted his teeth and after filling his inventory, they decided to see where the portal would lead.

Punz took in a calming breath, hand tracing the obsidian, frowning lightly at the odd color of the portal itself, before stepping in as they exhaled heavily.

”Alright, where’d you go, Dream?”

~

Tommy gazed steadily at the others, “So what do you guys think?”

He’d spent some time explaining the restart, how he’d have to have Philza and Wilbur relinquish their admin statuses, how this could be just what they needed to get rid of Dream.

Now it was up to the rest of the server to see if they’d follow him. Tommy swallowed nervously, sitting down heavily, ignoring the tremble in his limbs.

He didn’t want to be hunted on his server anymore. He didn’t want to see his friends hurting. He wanted to fucking have his life back.

No one spook for a moment, and then the room exploded into conversation. Quite a few didn't want to leave their homes, some thought they could figure something else out, and others just watched the chaos unfold.

Wilbur shouted over them, “Alright! Shut up.” The phantom ignored the annoyed stares, the raised brows, merely crossing his arms with a sharp grin, “I say we fucking do it.”

“I finally got a blue axolotl.” Sneeg frowned, perched on Ranboo’s shoulder, wings twitching in his annoyance.

“Well we have a fucking manic loose on our server,” Wilbur smiled coldly back, eyes narrowing, the phantom gesturing sharply to the bandaging around his own arm. “And I’d rather not deal with that, anyways!”

He threw a hand up, ears flattening, “I told you all we should have waited to restart the server the first time! Until we had a more stable idea of a land to settle, what do we got here? Some stupid fucking hills?”

Wilbur shrugged, sitting back down with a lazy roll of his eyes, “Aaaand, not to mention, have any of your ideas worked so far?”

Philza huffed, “It would have to be a clean start, well beside the Pub I guess. Since that has been the main focal point in all this.”

Someone spoke up, “Wait, we wouldn’t keep our inventories?”

“Nope,” Wilbur said carelessly.

Ranboo twitched at this, looking horrified. “All my riches,” he whispered to himself, Tubbo glancing at him with little sympathy.

“Ranboo, you literally mine for hours on auto-pilot talking to yourself. You got shot by an arrow a little bit ago!”

The Enderain stomped a foot down, “My diamonds!”

Tommy snorted, glancing back to the others.

Fundy glanced around before nodding, raising his paws to get everyone’s attention, “Might as well!”

Scott sighed but slowly agreed, others soon following. Because what else could they do, honestly speaking?

Philza took charge of the gathered group once more, nodding towards Tommy, “Well, that settles it. Let’s restart the server.”

~

Punz knew something had gone wrong. The mercenary hadn’t been spat out yet, the magic becoming almost suffocating suddenly.

But it wasn’t like when a portal broke, not the sudden queasy whiplash as you’re sudden snapped back to where you were, no, it wasn’t as simple.

This wasn’t like anything they’d experienced.

This was pain. All consuming, burning through his body like melted gold had just been poured into his eyes, sinking fast and quick into his head, through his blood, into his veins, tearing at their very soul and being.

Punz couldn’t do anything but scream. 

~

Tommy restarted the server.

Notes:

YOOOOOOOOO I ALMOST FUCKING SCRAPPED THEM RESTARTING THE SERVER, I WAS GONNA GO DOWN THE ALTERNATIVE STORY LINE I MADE BUT THEN THE CCS SAID THEY WERE RESTARTING THE SERVER AND NOW I GOING TO WRITE THIS ONE AND OMG I AM SO EXCITED YALL

LIKE HELL I GET THAT PEEPS BUMMED ABOUT THE RESTART BUT YALL THIS GIVES ME SO MUCH CONTENT TO HELP FLESH OUT MY IDEAS LIKE YALL GOT NO IDEA LIKE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I GET TO WRITE THIS IDEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Chapter 8: Oh. How the tables turn.

Summary:

The server restarts. The story changes.

Notes:

Also. If you’re not much of a fan of intense description of blood, when ya see a paragraph starting with *** skip ahead till ya get to the next ***

(Someone bleeds from all the holes in their face fyi)

The first thing Dream registered was a faint static at the base of his skull. He blinked, pausing in what he’d been doing.

That faint static was all the warning he got before in a suddenly hit, the strength seemed to drain from his limbs.

He gave an unconscious yelp, it felt almost like something had aggressively shoved him, uncaring and violent.

The man stumbled, gasping, another wave crashing against him, it felt like he should have been thrown back, but then something curved in his chest like he’d just been impaled.

Fixing him in place yet carving deeper and deeper dangerously, not so much a salvation as it was bloodied condemnation.

Another wave of this force hit and he flinched, eyes growing wide as he couldn’t move, the pain in his chest growing as it carved in deeper.

The admin tried to move, escape this, anything— but. He couldn’t.

His body simply wouldn’t respond, like he’d been separated from his own body, yet imprisoned in it. The admin felt another wave hit, eyes widening once more as it seemed to tear into him, startled tears blurring his vision.

This force, this energy, it burned into him. Buried itself into his scars, twisted into his being.

Dove into his eyes, piercing into his brain.

Lashed out and struck at his magic, intertwining itself with his soul.

Then it tugged. And then it tore.

Tearing, tearing, tearing.

Trying to destroy him.

Trying to kill him.

He couldn’t run.

~

Tommy took in a deep breath as the force of his magic pushed against everything and everyone, pushing them out of the doomed server.

There was barely any resistance.

The avian buried his talons into the ground, burying his magic into the world, and quietly, softly, he said, “Let’s try again.”

He restarted the server, eyes fluttering open as he let his magic tear apart the world around him.

Tommy watched in quiet fascination.

You see, the collapse of a server is much like the collapse of a star. First, there are shockwaves, something in the air tenses, the space seems off.

Then the shockwaves force their way across the land, pushing againist those living inside, forcing them from the server itself and into the wider world beyond. 

After, the dimensional space that allows a server to go on infinitely begins to crumble in on itself, slowly at first but growing in speed by the second, the admin acting as nothing more but a conductor for this process.

The magic curls closer and closer and closer, trees decay, biomes become dust to the void, everything stops, withers, and dies, until all that is there is the admin and the point they stand upon.

It is then, that they themselves are forced from the dead server, letting the void consume it once more into itself. The admin spawns then into the world, and the server is nothing more but a memory.

Tommy stumbled as he stood in a grassy field suddenly, blinking slowly before gazing around.

Everything they’d built was gone. Everything they’d known was gone.

And now it was time to start again.

~

The ground under his feet was the first thing he felt as the code weaved around him, the magic drawing out as the world grew around him.

Tommy opened his eyes, stumbling slightly as he took in a breath. He couldn’t quite focus on the world around him just yet, merely taking in this new server.

And letting the new server load in, feeling as it spread further and further until it reached beyond his mind. The avian relaxed, slowly turning to observe things when he felt his blood go cold.

The minutes of quiet and ease were forgotten.

There was a ripple, a harsh sparking chill driving down his spine. His feathers spiked out at his sudden discomfort.

Because someone else had just spawned.

His brow furrowed, the teen swallowing sharply, he hadn’t even whitelisted anyone yet!

So who— he turned and met gazes with harsh, dull green, the man’s features twisted into those of pure hatred.

Dream’s chest heaved with breath, his hair was now twisted into some messy ponytail since last Tommy had actually seen the man, and the avian stumbled a step back, completely and utterly confused and horrified and—

—the man drew a sword and Tommy’s mind froze. Because he shouldn’t still have his inventory, Dream shouldn’t have even been capable of showing up here! 

Tommy gaped, “Wh—what, how—“ Eyes darting around desperately, taking in the scar and freckle stained face, the sword hilt on his hip, the tremble of unbridled anger directed at him.

“You tried to fucking kill me.”

Dream’s hands shook, fingers clenching tightly around the blade in his hand as he spat, teeth bared, “You. Tried. To. KILL ME.”

“What a-are— how are you, how did—“

That glinting netherite blade shimmered beautiful in the sun as it struck out at him, Tommy sputtering at the sudden burning along his cheek. 

Dream struck again and Tommy was quickly moving back, crying out when that blade slashed past his shirt, cold metal biting briefly into his skin before tearing away. He could feel moisture traveling down his face, the burning spreading along his chest.

The man before him, still dressed in a ridiculously bright yellow sweater, struck out again and again. Tommy danced back, wings flaring as he leapt back, heart racing before he tripped over his own talons.

The breath escaped him as he landed awkwardly, one wing twisting weirdly under his weight. He just turned to look horrified at Dream.

The man’s face twisted further before his eyes seemed to give some flutter, the teen scrambling back, confused as he saw Dream begin to cough harshly.

He winced, freezing as blood splattered from the other’s lips, the sword dropped as the man collapsed to his knees.

The avian just watched, eyes widening further as the coughing grew worst.

Then Dream shakily looked up, breathing ragged, and all Tommy saw was blood.

***

The man gasped, chest heaving as blood bubbled from his lips in a fine froth, Dream tilting to the side as though he might fall before he caught himself with a shaking hand, cough up more blood and spitting it onto the ground.

The avian scrambled back further as the other began to seemingly gag on the warm liquid now staining his teeth and chin, bloody tears slipping from Dream’s growingly panicked eyes. Tommy could only stare in his own growing horror.

It began to trickle from the man’s nose, each rattling, agonized gasp drawing more from his mouth, the liquid even seeming to start to drip down from his ears.

Dream covered his mouth with his hands as the coughing grew worst, the other admin’s forehead touching the ground as his form shook horribly. Pained spasms shaking through him as he gagged and hacked helplessly.

Tommy couldn’t help but just stare. Staring as Dream finally looked back up, staring at the bloodied tears flowing freely, staring at the way Dream’s face had paled, staring at the hands that shakily tried to wipe away the blood dripping down his nose.

It didn’t do much, merely smearing that face with red, like some childish finger painting.

Tommy’s breathing hitched, just staring as Dream’s eyes seemed to finally fall shut.

***

Dream fell to the ground, seemingly loosing consciousness, the man slowly going still on the ground, merely laying there covered in his own blood. Tommy got to his feet, stepping closer despite everything that told him to run.

Had— had he somehow done this?

He carefully moved the older man on his side, Tommy admittedly not wanting to just leave the guy to drown on his own fucking blood. He grimaced at the sight and smell, nose wrinkled in disgust.

As the man now laid still on his side, avian hurriedly moved his one hand to grab his comm, trembling fingers sending out the invites.

He stumbled from the limp body, trying to ignore the blood that contuined dropping down his own face, eyes darting to his comm instead.

He didn’t know what else to do.

~

Punz felt adrift, like he was nothing but light, nothing but a faint breeze, nothing at all.

And it felt horrible in all the ways it felt beautiful and gentle. Like the world was cradling him, while it smothered them.

That was, until they swore they felt something. Like a door had opened, they shakily reached out, and grabbed ahold of something.

His eyes rolled back but his hand folded tightly into a fist as he was dragged away from the void.

Notes:

Next update won’t be until some time either next week or the week after that, so just heads up for that, but either way, hope y’all enjoy your holidays and all that.

Take care, my lil krakens <3

Chapter 9: Yikes, just… yikes

Summary:

:) A new server, new troubles

Notes:

Apologies for making y’all wait a tad longer than initially planned, but I hope y’all enjoy either way

I’d expect next chapter to come along in about two weeks time, but not exactly certain about that so keep that in mind.

Also Dream certainly gets some karma this chapter (and on that note warnings for panic attacks, reflection on the whole y’know bleeding out every hole in your face dealo, and the such)

Philza blinked a few times as he respawned into the new server, wings flaring up briefly as he took in the moment, breathing in the settling magic of a young sever.

He could practically feel the others joining as well, though it was nothing like how it would have been previously, when he had had a deeper connection with the server then this bare, surface level invitation.

Then someone called his name, and he turned to see Tommy. He smiled, opening his mouth to say something when the words all but died on his tongue, face morphing to one of shock and concern.

Tommy looked worst for wear. 

The avian, oddly, had a slice along his right cheek, blood staining the area from where it has dripped down his cheek, as well as from where it seemed Tommy might have unconsciously wiped at it at some point. As well, there was a notable slash across the front of his shirt, the usually bright red cloth now stained something darker around the area with nodoubtedly more blood.

His mouth gaped open, wings and feathers spiking up as a protective tension rose in him, but Tommy spoke before his confused mind could even formulate a single word.

“Drea-Dream wasn’t k-kicked out the serv-the server.” The avian was practically trembling in place, eyes wide with shock and fear and an array of other emotions he couldn’t quite decipher at the moment.

Philza could see more blood splattered and staining along the teen’s hands, knees, and shirt. “What happened,” he finally managed to speak, desperately trying to keep the anger from his voice as Wilbur hurried over as well.

It wouldn’t do for the avian to think he messed up or that this was his fault.

“Just- just, f-follow me.” Tommy hugged himself, short wings curling against his back as he turned to move quickly along. The others followed after.

To say the least, the bloodied mess of an unconscious, yet all too terribly familiar, man was certain an unwelcome sight to them all.

~

Dream woke up to an oddly similar situation, becoming aware of himself in an oddly similar room, blinking slowly as he shifted in place on an all too fucking similar bed.

He felt like complete, and utter, shit.

His nose wrinkled and faintly he tasted iron in his mouth, cautiously rubbing a hand over his lips before looking to his knuckles and fingers, raising a brow at the blood smeared on the skin.

What the fuck happened… wait.

His brow knitted together as he closed his eyes, trying to remember and hold on to the faint memories drifting through his head. Dream couldn’t help but feel some odd sickness tug at his chest as he suddenly sat up, feeling sick for a completely different reason now.

Wait. Wait. Wait—

He spun the sword elegantly through the air as the boy before him stumbled, the bafflement and confusion in Tommy’s eyes distracting him from the blade that bit into his skin.

Fuck.

He watched as blood began to drip down a shocked face, hearing the tear of fabric as his sword hit its mark once more, grinning sharply and with a manic intensity.

FUCK.

He crumbled as the coughs began to shake his body, barely able to catch his breath as a warmth spilled from his sputtering lips, trickling thickly from his nose, staining the sides of his head, and even moving down as tears sprung to his eyes. He moved shaky hands from his mouth and nose and all he saw was blood.

FUCK.

Oh he had to get out of here immediately, the admin hurriedly putting his feet over the side of the bed as a cough forced its way from his throat.

God, he could practically still feel the blood pooling in his lungs, pushing up his throat, past his lips, down from his nose, slipping out his ears.

Dream shudders, breath hitching at just the memories alone. FUCK.

And he thought Quackity was horrible, but that? Whatever that had been? He could go a lifetime without ever experiencing that again.

He shakily stumbled to his feet, hands moving to clasp at a doorknob or handle, just to find to his shock and horror that the door had been replaced with an iron one.

Dream snatched his hands back as though burned, hissing sharply as he spun to look at the window, just to realize with a sinking feeling that there were bars now settled over the glass.

FUCK FUCK FUCK—

He turned to the chest in the room, throwing it open to rummage through it, JUST TO FIND NOTHING.

Shit.

He went to his inventory just to tense even further, how had they cleared his fucking inventory!?

The admin shouldn’t feel like his chest was tightening so much right then, his heart racing as he began to pace rapidly.

The room was too small. The room was too small, he couldn’t breath, the room was too small and he couldn’t get out and the rooM WAS TOO SMALL AND HE COULDN’T ESCAPE HE HAD NOTHING THE ROOM W—

Dream threw himself against the iron door, screaming, “LET ME OUT LET ME OUT I’LL KILL YOU ALL LET ME OUT I WILL MAKE YOUR LIVES A LIVING HELL—“

~

Tommy flinched as they all heard the screams begin. Words muffled through the ceiling but clawing at them all with the pure hatred that screeched from that voice.

Philza frowned, “Well… it seems he’s awake then. Wilbur wi—“

The phantom had already stood, teeth bared slightly at the noise, ears flat along his head, “Yup, I got it.”

Wilbur walked along and swiftly made his way up the ladder, leaving everyone else to try and ignore the screams coming from above.

“So… what about the other one?” Fundy spoke up from where he was perched on the back of one of the Pub’s couches, him and Sneeg peering down at the unconscious form of their second unwelcome guest.

They had appeared sometime during everyone’s respawn, passed out and terribly pale. This figure, wearing a white hoodie, a simple golden chain, and some simple black cargo pants hadn’t even stirred yet.

Their chest still rose and fell, blond hair messed about on their face as their eyes remained stubbornly closed, but they had not shown any other sign of life yet.

The admins of the server (after Tommy had reinstalled Philza and Wilbur’s admin status) wiped both their unwelcomed guest’s inventories (espically since Dream couldn’t use his own abilities to stop such an attempt), and now, they merely waited for the other to wake up before figuring what exactly to do with the two.

Because they hadn’t been able to ban Dream, /kills hadn’t worked, they didn’t know how lives worked for the troublesome admin, even a server wipe hadn’t done the trick, and admittedly? Dream was an incredibly unpredictable force, manic and off in all the worst ways.

This new person merely added to the mystery. Philza sat down heavily as he rubbed at his forehead, Prime he was getting such a headache from all this.

“I— I don’t fucking know, mate.” His words were softly spoken but that is all the room needed to go silent.

This really was a complete and utter shitshow, wasn’t it?

Notes:

Reference for my OSMP Ranboo design :3 https://thechillsquid.tumblr.com/post/671951222588276736/osmp-ranboo-the-spoiled-enderain-prince-doodle

Also. I am laughing so hard at some of y’all’s bookmarks, take care you lovely lot

Chapter 10: Got ‘em

Summary:

Dream is a bitch but he’s too sad and pathetic to kill.

Notes:

Slight warning for panic attacks, flashbacks, referenced trauma, mentions of choking on blood, and similar themes.

Btw. Because I wanna, Dream and Punz are queerplatonic partners in this au :3

 
If you don’t know what a queer platonic relationship is, it’s a relationship similar to that of a platonic relationship with a deeper emotion connection/intimacy between the people involved in the relationship, and while their relationship may possibly share similarities to romantic or sexual relationships, it does not cross over into being able to be described as such. It is often a relationship formed with people along the asexual or/and Aromantic spectrum but people of any sexuality or orientation may be a part of a queerplatonic relationship

So yeah! :3

Wilbur waited patiently by the door, arms crossed and ears laid back as he waited for Dream to stop screaming for one goddamn second, pinching his brow at the contuined threats being throw out and the repeated banging on the door.

The Phantom took a deep breath in, muttering softly to himself, “This guy certainly has a working pair of lungs.” 

He tapped a clawed hand againist his elbow, one ear twitching up as the shouts suddenly cut off into the most ugly ass sobbing imaginable, like straight up sounded like the dude was having a panic attack or something. 

Wil raised a brow and casually knocked againist the door, hearing a startled yelp cut off the sputtering crying, then almost immediately there was the sound of something either being knocked over or someone falling back hard on their ass.

He opened his mouth to speak when there was frantic pounding on the door, as though Dream was just bashing his fists againist the door in a renewed frenzy just from hearing another voice speak.

Then a quivering, shrill voice practically shrieked before Wil could make even a single sound, “LET M-M-ME OUT— PLEASE J-JUST—let me out let me out let me out please sir let me out let me out please—“

The voice became a panicked whisper, the pounding slowing and one more harsh thud sounding before the sobbing started again.

The Phantom winced, okay, that just sounded— jeez was this dude alright?

Wilbur snorted, quickly shaking his head, of course this guy wasn’t alright, the dude was a fucking nut job, but Prime, Dream sounded so pathetic right now.

He was already regretting his next decision as he gritted out, voice slightly muffled with the hand he was dragging down his face, “Alright— alright, fuck— I’ll let you out but I swear you try to do anything and I’m just going to kill you. You hear me?”

A quivering voice spoke promises he didn’t care to acknowledge, because sure, killing Dream probably wouldn’t do much, but dying still sucked and people avoided the painful process as much as possible. The Phantom sighed as he placed a lever next to the door and flicked it up.

Barely a second later Dream came scrambling out, not even giving Wilbur a second glance as the man practically slammed into the opposite wall, crumbling in place before Wilbur could even open his mouth.

Huh. What the actual fuck?

He curiously walked over, crouching infront Dream’s shaking form as the man seemed to just grasp at his own hair, breath ragged as the admin seemed to hyperventilate.

“Oh, what the fuck?” Wilbur cocked his head to the side, curiously waving a hand infront of the blond’s face, but oddly enough, there was barely any reaction from the other.

Welp.

“Hellllooooo?” He waved his hand again, snapping his claws together, and this time those dull eyes seemed to note the motion. “Huh. Okay, I guess. Stay there.”

He stood up, tail lashing slightly behind him. Dream didn’t say a word, but those eyes blinked at him so that was good enough. “Just take slow breaths in and out,” he added simply as he headed to get Philza.

~

“Phiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllll,” a ghostly head peered through the floor and several gazes snapped up towards the Phantom visible through the ceiling, “I need you for a moment!”

The Elytrain rolled his eyes but got up from where he’d been sat beside Tommy, Tubbo taking his place to comfort the still frazzled avian. Phil climbed the ladder upstairs to find Wilbur casually stood beside a hyperventilating Dream.

“I think he’s having a panic attack,” the Phantom said casually, though the Elytrain could see the way his ears were laid back. 

Phil went to speak when a hiss of a voice spat, “I-I-I d-don’t, don’t ha-have, have f—panic a-attacks.”

Both of them turned to see Dream glaring at them from where he was curled up against the wall, teeth bared in some kind of a shaky snarl.

It wasn’t as intimidating as the man probably thought it was, still dressed in that yellow sweater and having his hair up in a messy pony tail. He just looked kinda sad and pathetic, tears still running down his flushed face, eyes puffy and holding a slight nervousness alongside the anger.

“Mate, you clearly are.” Philza just pinched his brow, looking towards Wilbur for explanation as Dream choked back another sob.

Wilbur blinked over, “Hm?” 

The Elytrain waved to the sniffling man and the other nodded, “Ohhhh, that.” A shrug. “No idea, he was just crying and I felt bad.”

Dream made a little frustrated noise and Philza gazed over, “Well. Okay then, hey mate. I guess welcome back. I don’t know how you managed to do that, but Welp.”

His wings flared out with an awkward little shrug, the Elytrain moving to crouch before the man. Dream just glared back stubbornly, “F-fuck you.”

Phil snorted, “Looks like you fucked yourself, mate. Because I heard it wasn’t the most pleasant spawn.”

Wilbur scoffed from where he was still stood, arms crossed, “Looked like a murder scene.”

Dream’s breathing hitched and Philza straightened, “Oh, wait. Uh—“ He reached out a hand, not exactly wanting to see the guy spiral into an even worst panic, because sure, he could care less, but he still felt bad.

But the other snarled, flinching back with a clear look of fear, “D-don’t touch me.”

Phil retracted his hand with a grimace, “Look—“

Dream curled closer to the wall, cutting him off, “I-I-I’ll tear y-your throat out.”

Phil rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to dispute that claim when Dream made some kind of odd growl in the back of his throat, teeth (still bloodstained) baring once more in a threat.

It didn’t sound like something a human (most everyone had now agreed that Dream was probably not a hybrid or any species they could think of beside human) should make.

“Okay, fine. I won’t touch you, alright?”

He held his hands up in an appeasing manner, watching the other closely. Dream sniffled but stopped making the sound, just ducking his head into his shoulder as he coughed harshly.

“So… what happened?” Phil covered a yawn, admittedly somewhat tired of this craziness, “You’ve been in that room before.”

Dream glanced at the room in question and he was surprised when he received an actual answer, wavering and quiet, “Too small.”

Phil nodded like he understood, standing up as he absently dusted off his outfit, wings shaking out for a moment before folding up once more. “Here, let’s head downstairs and we’ll contuine this conversation.”

Wilbur grinned, perking up, “Race ya.” He sunk into the floor and vanished, Dream watching that happen with wide eyes.

“I forgot h-he does that,” Dream muttered softly, though he didn’t make a move to stand up.

Philza cleared his throat, impatient, “That wasn’t a request, mate. Come on.” One hand tapped gently at the sword on his side. It wasn’t all that notable until attention was drawn to it and Dream’s eyes locked onto the blade.

That was all the convincing he seemed to need, and even though Dream was much taller than him as he stood, Phil wasn’t worried. It seemed as long as Dream didn’t have a weapon or advantage, he didn’t try a damn thing.

“Go on.” The man wordlessly climbed down the ladder before Philza followed.

~

Dream felt all eyes turn to him the moment his feet stood on the ground, a chill going up his spine as he looked to the floor instead.

“Why… is he out the room?”

Dream glanced up briefly to see Ranboo glaring at him. The admin admittedly found this Ranboo to be more amusing than his was, at least less twitchy and weak. His eyes trailed to the enderian’s ear and a smirk twitched onto his face at the bandage covering the arrow wound Dream had given to the brat the other day.

Hmm… he frowned, how long had it been actually? There was conversation happening around him but he didn’t care all that much to listen because they still hadn’t killed him for some reason.

He knew that at least Wilbur and Philza had tried to /kill him on the other server, but he was quite literally passed for who knows how long and they hadn’t tried a thing beside wiping his inventory.

He had literally passed out gagging on his own blood, a shudder ran through him at the memory alone.

Prime, these people were straight up morons. Dream looked around to eye the different members, having calmed some from his previous experience.

But then he noticed something of peculiar note. There was a very familiar figure seemingly laid out on one of the Pub’s couches.

He crept closer letting the noise tune out, not caring when Fundy and Sneeg backed off the couch as they watched him closely, Dream only had eyes for the person laid there.

He reached out a hand gently and cupped that pale face, moving down beside the other.

Dream whispered out fascinated, “Punz?”

Notes:

Alrighty y’all! We’re gonna get back to posting more consistent next week! Would y’all prefer for chapters to be posted on the week days or weekends? I’ll hopefully get a chapter up every other week :D

Hope y’all enjoy and are as excited as I am!

 
Also! Here’s a reference for Phantombur! https://thechillsquid.tumblr.com/post/674576599186866176/phantombur-design-for-my-fic-to-think-we-had

Chapter 11: Connected

Summary:

Punz and Dream cuddle while the OSMP members try to adjust to the fact that they now have two lunatics on their server.

Punz woke up to a voice in his ear,  gently teasing out their name of all things.

”Puuuuuunz~”

He grumbled under his breath, the voice snickering softly as a hand played with his hair, “Punzooooo~“

They wanted to curl away back to sleep but there was something so familiar. He grunted, feeling like he was rising out of the darkest depths, mind fogged and unsteady, “Wha?”

They felt so, so tired, and so, so heavy, but then there was that voice excitedly talking to him, “So you’re just being stubborn then, huh?”

He managed to finally peel open an eyelid with a confused groan, just to be met by a blurry face that they swore they recognized. 

“Punz!” The figure cheered, and like that, something clicked into place regarding who it was, jolting up with a sputter as he hurriedly blinked his vision clear.

Dream smiled happily at him, and Punz scrambled to wrap the man in a hug, “D-Dream!?”

The admin readily hugged him back tightly. He heard a hushed whisper in his ear, “How are you?” It was a fragile little thing, a quiver notable in Dream’s words.

Punz pushed away, grabbing at Dream’s face with a startled scowl, “How am I??? How are you!?”

They scoffed when Dream blinked at them dumbly, “You moron! A whole year. I waited! You were in there—TWELEVE MONTHS in Pandora’s-fucking-box.”

The other went to say something, looking startled and Punz shut him up pulling him closer to press a kiss on his forehead, “You’re a complete and utter dumbass.”

Dream wheezed, wrapping him back in a hug, just burying his face along Punz’s shoulder. They huffed in annoyance, and their eyes began to look about the room he found himself in, just to tense when he realized it wasn’t just him and Dream present.

They blinked, the group of people staring at him blinked back. 

~

“What the fuck,” was the next thing Punz said, Dream clinging onto him lazily as the mercenary turned to look at the members of the Origins SMP one by one.

Everyone had heard Dream call this person ‘Punz’ before he went to wake them up, but beside that, everyone else looked pretty lost. Not like Dream could care, just content to get snuggles.

It had been too long since he’d seen the other afterall, and since he didn’t have to exactly worry about being on the run, he could get some cuddles in. Not like any of these idiotic softies were going to do anything about it, probably.

Dream leaned closer to Punz’s ear, the admin whispering under his breath, “It’s not our server and this isn’t our world. We’ll talk more later but these people aren’t exactly pleased with me at the moment either.”

The mercenary opened his mouth to say something when Tommy jumped up to his talons, squawking as his wings flared out and his feathers bristled, “Who the fuck are you!?”

Punz blinked before saying snidely, “Are you deaf? The name’s Punz.”

Dream laughed, sing-songing, “They’re my boyfriend~”

The mercenary turned to smack him upside the head and he just burst out laughing, wrapping his arms around Punz as he leaned back againist the couch, nuzzling his face againist the other’s hair because fuck it, he was touch-starved.

Someone else asked a question but the admin didn’t care, whining for Punz to snuggle him back until the other, rolling his eyes at the other’s dramatics, did so.

Dream was finding this all the more hilarious by the moment, biting back laughter at the absolute befuddlement seen across the room. Prime, he wished he had a camera or something.

~

Philza… had no fucking clue to what this situation had just become.

One moment Dream was acting like a beaten, feral dog or something, the next? Whatever this was, snuggled up and whining for attention from this ‘Punz’ character, but hey! At least it answered a few of the thousand-fucking-questions they had regarding this previously mysterious figure.

…If you couldn’t tell. That was sarcasm.

“Punz,” he started watching the two snuggle up comfortably on the couch, Dream looking like he was seconds away from bursting out into laughter for some reason as he nuzzled against the other, “How… how did you get here exactly?”

They looked to him, eyes narrowing slightly as they gave him such a curiously calculating look over, as though peeling apart his words layer by layer.

It reminded him of Dream’s own distrustful, sharp looks and he figured that’s why the madman seemed to like the other so much, simply put, Punz seemed to have a notable cleverness and alertness to him. 

Then those light blue eyes softened and the figure smirked, “I dunno.” It was clearly a lie but Punz just leaned back againist Dream to play with the taller’s ponytail. Phil could just barely hear Punz whisper to the other in a teasing, light tone, “You growing your hair out now?”

The Elytrain pinched his brow in growing frustration. First they had to deal with Dream, now this? Great… just great.

Now there were two of these people. And they still had no fucking clue where exactly they were coming from.

~

Sneeg peered back steadily from where Punz was facing him, “What?”

The other shrugged before stating bluntly, “What the hell are you?” 

After some rather uninformative answers given (Dream and Punz didn’t exactly give straight answers when it came to questions, either give a blunt, short truth or elusive statements just teasing short of actually being anything worthwhile) and a brief discussion, Dream and Punz had been allowed to just stay in the Pube with a few of the OSMP members watching over them and trying to get any more information they could from them.

So far, most interactions had been very similar to this one. Something caught Punz’s eye and they started asking questions while Dream either sprawled out along their lap (as he currently was doing, Punz’s hands working to do the other’s hair into little braids) or leaned against them.

The admin actually hadn’t done or said much else since he initially woke up Punz, seemingly content to just observe.

It made everyone a little on edge, but at least, for the moment, control was in the hands of the Origins members.

Punz reached up one hand to cautiously touch one of Sneeg’s wings and the Inchling watched, admittedly a bit pleased by the barely hidden fascination he was being observed with.

“I’m an inchling.” While most people were still rather cautious around these two still, seeing as things were under control, Sneeg and a couple others were more curious themselves rather than actually unnerved.

“Interesting, and can you fly with these?” Punz was surprisingly easy going, and because of this, he admittedly held a certain charm. “They don’t look like they can support you all that much, no offense.”

Sneeg flapped his wings a few times and both humans’ gazes snapped over to watch, Dream’s eyes seeming to take in everything they could while Punz just seemed utterly awed.

“I can glide with them, short bursts, and they can help me when climbing, but, yeah no. Can’t actually fly.” He folded them down and his tail gave a sharp twitch. “I’m guessing you’ve never met an Inchling either?”

Punz gave a simply shrug, humming as they settled back as though content. “This place certainly is something.”

Dream laughed and spoke for the first time in a while, “You can say that again.”

“So what’s your name, inchling?” Punz asked and Sneeg decided he didn’t mind holding onto this conversation for the moment.

It’s not like he had anything better to do.

Chapter 12: The Warden’s Will

Summary:

Tensions rise on the smp. Sam is the catalyst, whether he admits it or not.

Ranboo couldn’t help but pace, ears flattened painfully close against his head and clawed hands wringing tightly, his head pounding with some awful new headache, feeling almost like it was going to burst.

Breath-can’t breath, choked chokingbladeonhisthroat he was goingtodiediediediediedie—but he didn’t.

He… h-he didn’t die, when he really felt like he should have. It made his heart skip a beat, fists clenching and unclenching as he trembled horribly, barely able to stand still, he didn’t want to stand still—

Toostilltoostillsmallcellcouldonlypacepacepaceandwaitwaitwait—

Standing still felt wrong… but at the same time, it all felt wrong.

Like… like he didn’t belong. A chill went down his spine and Tubbo finally spoke up, “You sure that’s what he said?”

He bared his teeth and turned sharply, practically snarling, “Sam has Michael!” His voice trailed into a screech that shocked almost everyone in the room into silence, for while there had been several conversations going on, he couldn’t focus on anything but his panic and horror.

Something inside him tensed when the other flinched. Tubbo curled in on himself, gaze darting away as his own hands clenched and unclenched, then, in a trembling voice, Tubbo said simply, “Sorry.”

And Ranboo wanted to cry, a low hiss in his throat as he turned away to contuine his pacing, tail lashing swiftly before someone put a hand on his shoulder, a growl jumped from his mouth before he could stop it, but Techno didn’t flinch.

The brute just gazed at him almost lazily, if not for the slight tension in his mildly furrowed brow, “Ranboo, you gotta breath man.”

The endermen hybrid felt himself begin to tremble again, vision blurring before he was shook slightly by the shoulders, “Hey, just go outside with Niki, just take a moment. I’m gonna talk with Tubbo.”

Ranboo sniffled, looking away as Niki came by and took his hand, his fingers interlocking with her smaller ones.

He let himself be pulled outside, not daring to look at Tubbo. He didn’t know if he could deal with seeing his face at the moment.

Ranboo had put their son in danger.

He was tired… he felt numb.

They should have let him die.

~

Tubbo tried to seem calm, or at least as calm as he could be under the circumstances.

Dream had escaped. Sam had put Ranboo in the prison and almost fucking killed his platonic husband, and now? Now his son was missing, apparently Sam also being the one to kidnap the baby pigman, if Ranboo’s panicked state could be trusted.

But Tubbo did trust Ranboo… didn’t, didn’t he?

He swallowed back the bitterness that played along the back of his throat, prime… he felt like he was going to be sick.

First he’d lost Tommy to that prison, then his thoughts of safety, now not only had he almost lost his husband, but he had lost his son.

Of course Ranboo was lashing out and terrified, honestly… he had ever right to be while Tubbo just sat there.

It… it just didn’t feel real, and he felt peculiar. As though a switch had been flicked, cutting him off from his emotions and the thoughts that should be filling his mind at the moment.

But he just couldn’t focus, mind wandering dangerously, erratic and yet as drowsily as a steady river, hitting snags every once and awhile when his heart would start to pound just a little harder and his eyes began to water.

He didn’t cry though. He didn’t panic. He just stared quietly at Techno as the piglin brute’s mouth opened and what he was saying slowly filtered from his ears to his mind.

Oh… he had to get Michael back.

Yeah. He blinked, “I think I’m in a state of shock.”

Before Techno could reply to that, he stood up, blinking as he brought a sword out, “I want my child back.”

~

Sam glared at Quackity, frankly disgusted by the accusations that had just been tossed his way.

He let a bitter hiss enter his words, “What do you mean, this is ‘all my fault?’”

His voice was flat, cool, collected, well… save for that low, threat of a hiss. Quackity scoffed, turning away, it wasn’t as effective as a gesture when he looked so frazzled and disheveled.

Bags under his dull eyes, the wings settled along his back and his tail feathers a mess of unpreened and wildly positioned feathers. “You were the Warden, Sam.” That one dead eye stared as Quackity glanced over his shoulder for a brief moment.

The way Quackity spat out his name made it sound like a curse, the avian walking along as Foolish hurried in to speak with him, as though Sam wasn’t even fucking there.

He shouted finally, teeth bared. “I did my fucking best!” 

Even Foolish glanced at him with a slight disbelief as Quackity suddenly froze. His hands clenched before he spun on his heel, glaring back up at Sam.

“It wasn’t good enough,” it was a low, wounded voice that addressed him then. It was disappointed and disgusted. Quackity ran his hands through his hair and Sam figured that was one reason for his current appearance, “You were supposed to be the one we could trust to keep him in there!”

“You were the one that said you finally broke him!” Sam snarled, stepping closer,  arms wide, “My guards barely even noticed until I informed them of his escape! None of you were even any help in the searches!”

The avian just stared at him before scoffing, turning away with a dismissive shake of his head, “Just go home, Sam. I got my own things to deal with.”

He made to protest, the hissing growing louder in his silent plea to not be left alone with this, and then a hand rested on his shoulder.

It distracted him, he glanced over and it was Fundy looking at him silently as Foolish and Quackity left without another word to him. “Sam… just go home like Quackity said.”

The fox’s voice was soft, easy-going, and yet… there was something else. His eyes held a slight shadow to them, as though seeing something he could not, as though Fundy was somewhere else entirely.

He almost missed the way the other whispered under his breath, “It has to play out like this. This could be it.”

Sam’s short ears gave a light twitch, mouth opening to ask a question or say something else when Fundy smiled at him and repeated himself more firmly.

“Go home, Sam.”

The creeper scowled but finally, he did indeed turn away, because… fine. It would be the best course of action anyway… get some supplies and take a moment before going back to his duty.

He really had failed them all, hadn’t he?

~

Tommy dug his fingers and hands desperately into the dirt until his fingernails scraped againist wood, quickly giving a shuddering breath as he pried open the old chest laid there.

And… and… it was still there. His shaking, twitching hands grasping the Axe of Peace firmly as he moved to stand.

His head felt off and a bit fuzzy as he swung his gaze back to the portal… still there.

Okay, okay, okay… it was okay. He was okay, everything was— was, it was okay, right?

He swallowed, eyes darting about frantically, searching the shadows, searching the forest, even glancing briefly to an all too familiar sea.

The smell of salt water almost made him bolt, the grass tangling around his ankles as he scrambled from the hole he’d just dug, trying to ignore the truth of his surroundings.

It didn’t matter anymore, he— he was fine!

He stumbled along before flinching away from the portal, having almost bolted into it before going deathly still.

What if… what if he was waiting for him? In there? He stumbled back a step, the axe held shakily but readied.

He took another step back as that purple rippled, particles flickering off it and flitting to the ground like gentle snowflakes… wait.

Tommy blinked, snowflakes… snow… a cabin that was hidden away… a place, a place he could be safe!

His eyes widened, hopeful, and he bolted suddenly, like a pheasant that could no longer stand to try and stay hidden in the thick foliage it had been petrified in, taking flight for some desperate hope of making it to some remembered, far away safety.

Hoping that it could make it before the hunter grew wize to its attempt at escape and raised their shotgun, before pulling that condemning trigger.

Tommy ran for all that he was, and all he hoped to be. He ran from a threat that wasn’t there in body, but one that had dug its claws deep into the folds of his mind and which casted its shadow on every thought and every glance.

Tommy ran to the North, ran towards one of the few places he’d ever felt truly, and fully, safe.

That is… if Techno didn’t kill him The moment he got there.

Well… it was a risk he was more than willing to take. Anything to escape— him.

Chapter 13: What to do?

Summary:

Punz and Tommy have a little chitchat, Dream is all sorts of fucked up, and they play uno.

Notes:

Apologies for the bit of a wait lovelies, my head ain’t been in the best of places lately I’ll admit.

Also apologies for this being a bit of a weaker chapter than usual, but I have to get this one posted eventually to move along with plot. I may come back and edit this chapter to fit better, so if any parts in particular felt awkward or off, please let me know.

Punz glared absently at the ceiling, because fuck, he was practically overheating in this hoodie and from the fact that Dream was currently curled around him and essentially trapping him where he was on the floor (they’d moved to the floor at some point and he couldn’t remember why exactly).

He heard footsteps and looked up, Punz watching as this world’s odd version of Tommy strode over on lanky, taloned feet.

Dream had explained as much as he could to them while under surveillance, but generally, it hadn’t been hard to ask questions and get answers. Most of this server’s people still stayed back a bit from them, be from caution or uncertainty.

Only a few talked with them beside questioning such as Sneeg (they found the inchling to be fun to talk with, he was a very chill little dude), Scott (a starborn… or something like that? The guy glowed at night so that was something), Wilbur (it was strange to see the man alive, even if he wasn’t the one Punz had shot down all that time ago. Fuck they were proud of that clean shot tho), and Beau (apparently she was an avian like this world’s Tommy? She certainly had the interesting taloned feet, long swaying feathered tail, and short, clawed wings along her back.)

Which brought them back to the curiosity that was Tommy, who had stopped just a couple feet away from him.

Punz gave a lazy two-fingered salute, “Sup.” They tried to shift from Dream’s grasp but the man grumbled under his breath and hugged him closer, Punz’s face scrunching up in a mild scowl.

Tommy’s wings shuffled and they glanced over once more to see the teen’s eyes had narrowed and those odd wings twitched slightly before settling, “Is… is he asleep?”

He hummed, “Dream?”

The man was fucking dead weight and he said so when Tommy nodded.

The avian, or whatever he was, tilted his head to the side before cautiously sitting down nearby, which made Punz all-too-fascinated.

Wasn’t Tommy scared of Dream in this world as well? The man had certainly said something about trying to kill the avian a few different occasions and tormenting him.

Then Tommy spoke and they focused back over, “Why is he like that?”

“Like what?” He yawned, moving to sit up when the man stretched in his sleep, Dream muttering under his breath before just curling against him once more.

The mercenary rolled his eyes absently, fiddling with the other’s hair, pulling apart a few little braids and redoing them.

“…You're a lot calmer.”

Punz shrugged, “I’m more patient then this dumbass.” Tommy raised an eyebrow and they flashed a slow, sharp smile, “I know when to wait my turn for some fun.”

The avian shivered and Punz looked away to play with Dream’s hair once more, humming easily.

“That all you wanted, kid?” 

Tommy hadn’t left, but they didn’t care to look back up.

“I… had a few more questions,” he sounded all too hesitant. Punz didn’t mind, and even if they didn’t care to actually provide answers, they were all too curious for their own good, “Like what?”

He finally looked up as the avian answered softly, “What’s your server like?”

Punz’s eyes narrowed and he clicked his tongue, “What do you mean?”

Tommy looked away and he was so painfully familiar to their Tommy that Punz had to take a moment. “Dream showed up covered in blood. He’s tried to kill me multiple times, I think I keep reminding him of someone else? And he just… something’s fucking wrong with him.”

The avian gave a full body shiver, “What happened on your server?”

The mercenary’s brow furrowed and he looked sharply to Tommy, ignoring his question, “Covered in blood—what?”

That… Dream had said he’d come through the portal and just spawned here… he hadn’t mentioned anything about having been injured.

“Uh, y-yeah. He had all these burns and um, injuries and he looked, er, well he looked fucking dead when I first met him…?”

His brow furrowed, “That— what did you mean by something’s wrong with him?”

Punz had initially thought that had been just a frustrated statement as a result of how Dream had interacted with the server, but this new information made him curious.

What had his moron gotten into in that prison? They turned to give Tommy their attention, the avian swallowing nervously before saying what he would.

~

Dream grumbled lowly under his breath, pacing and pacing and pacing. The harsh obsidian cutting along the delicate undersides of his feet, it was a dull sting by now though. He was practically numb to it.

His heart rattled, his head pounded, and he waited and waited and fucking waited. Turn, walk, turn, walk, wall by wall, moving along, he couldn’t stop— can’t stop.

There was the low hiss of voices, a sputtering of words, and the lava hissed as he flinched. The warmth bit at his skin, made him heave for breath as he wiped at his brow, eyes watering and burning.

But he had to fucking wait and it would fucking be fine— the redstone clicked.

He froze, going utterly still. His vision grew hazy for a moment and he swallowed down bile as he nearly stumbled.

He was fine, he had to be fine, he shuddered.

Dream tensed in his sleep, chest hitching as his hands began to clench and unclench.

Of course, of course, the redstone clicked again, he should have fucking known. He swallowed, backing up further and further from that lava curtain, and then a voice called his name out so sickly sweet, “Dreaaaaaaaaam.”

”Dream?” A hand gently settled on his shoulder as his lip twitched with a shuttering breath.

He couldn’t help but tremble, he just wanted to go home… where was even home anymore? He began to whisper, he couldn’t even make out what he was even say in his growing panic, eyes locked as the curtain fell and the show began.

Quackity didn’t hold back. He never did. It came in flashes— shears, broken fingers, choking hand around his throat— and his breathing just grew more and more ragged, pain flared up and he couldn’t deal with— blades teasing open skin, blood painting his face and arms and legs, splattered across his cell as he tried to find some sanctuary, staining his clothes and soaking in chilling and horrible— it hurt it hurt it—

He tried to back away, to struggle away from the hold that tightened on his shoulder, flinching.

”Dream? Hey wake up—“

He wanted to get away, he had to get away— let go let go leT GO LET GO LET GO LET GO— Dream screamed.

~

Tommy froze on the spot when Dream suddenly jolted awake, the man tearing away from Punz’s grasp with a scream before scrambling back until his back hit the couch, the man crumbling in on himself with a shaky gasp, hurriedly clutching as his head.

“I’m not there I’m not there I’m not there I’m not ther—“

Punz spoke up and admittedly even Tommy flinched, “Dream?”

Dream just pressed his hands closer over his ears, eyes pressing further shut, “No no no no no I’m not there I’m not there.”

The mercenary stretched out a hand and Dream practically whimpered, chest heaving even quicker as he pressed back further. Punz flinched and swallowed, “Hey, hey, what—“

Dream just shook his head sharply, curling tighter in on himself, tucking his face into his knees.

Punz grimaced and Tommy admittedly felt bad for them even. He awkwardly shifted before standing, the other glancing up at him while Dream barely moved. Tommy just swallowed, “I-I’ll be back, I have an idea.”

He didn’t like Dream. He didn’t trust the guy, but this didn’t sit right with him.

~

Dream stared shakily at his hand, the one holding Punz’s, eyeing the criss-cross of faint scars along his knuckles as Punz’s thumb drifted gently along them.

A heavy weighted blanket sat along his shoulders, supposedly something Tommy had settled on him, which was admittedly curious.

But hell. It didn’t matter, it was fine, he was just fucking fine.

He ignored the look Punz kept sending in his direction, merely gazing over to watch as this world’s Jack shuffled the deck of cards, Scott sat casually next to the blazeborn.

And then curiously, Tommy was also settled nearby. Dream refused to look fully over at the avian, but he knew he was there.

It was laughable the current situation, as Jack began to pass out cards, Dream shakily picking up the small deck offered to him as he gave a slight sniffle.

He was fine. Everything was just fucking fine and apparently he was just going to play fucking uno now.

His fingers twitched just a bit tighter around Punz’s and he only relaxed ever so slightly when the mercenary returned the little gesture.

~

Philza entered the Pub to find a most curious sight, Tommy and Scott were in there, Jack making what looked to either be root beer floats or some other concation, but he was more curious about the avian and starborn playing cards with Punz and Dream.

He blinked, blinked again, then just contuined on with what he’d been doing. He’d ask about that later, as long as no one was being threatened, sure.

Why not. He did give Tommy a slight look but the avian waved him off so he just shook his head and headed off once more.

Things did get awfully messy, didn’t they?

Chapter 14: Sleep all Night

Summary:

Dream let’s his guard down, he gets asked a few choice questions, and he blurts out the answers like a fucking moron.

Notes:

Warnings for panic, trauma response, flashbacks, self harmful actions, and descriptions of torture/injury/death.

Dream couldn’t help but give a gleeful laugh as he slapped down a card, crowing out eagerly, “Uno!”

He couldn’t help himself, grinning sharply around at the gathered group, Tommy glaring at him, Scott rolling his eyes, and Jack running his hand down his face in blatant annoyance.

The blazeborn hissed, the low grumble of the Nether blaze echoing through his voice, “Fuck. I was so close this time!” He turned to Tommy and snapped, “It’s your fault he won! If you ‘adn’t given me a fucking plus 4!”

Scott covered his mouth with a barely held back laugh, moving to instead take a sip from his nearby mug of hot chocolate. Something Jack had made up for the gathered group.

The avian just wrinkled his nose in disdain, crossing his arms carelessly, “I think that might have been worst actually.”

Dream wheezed, falling back against Punz as he started to shake with laughter, and he didn’t exactly know why… but he couldn’t stop. What had been a few chuckles and wheezes grew into an almost painful fit.

He ignored the tears that pricked at his eyes, hurriedly trying to wipe at his face.

But this moment… this moment had been something freeing, he looked up and— he could almost feel the flower petals along the scarred palm of his hand, gentle and soft. There was something so alluring about the delicate nature of the small plant as it graced carefully against his skin. Standing in a dark courtyard, chest heaving, ears ringing, eyes burning, and the weight of the Warden’s gaze scorching into the back of his neck— he made eye contact with Tommy.

His eyes immediately darted away and back to the moment.

His laughter died off into a coughing fit and he grimaced leaning forward. Punz was there soon enough to gently rub at his back and he had to take a few steadying mouthfuls of air to regain his breath.

“Ay, you good, man?”

Jack was the one who spoke, and Dream waved him off, leaning his head againist his knees. “I’ll be fine in a moment, still have to deal with shortness of breath here and there.” He rubbed at his chest and added with a bitter laugh, “Side effect of being stuck in a cell for a year.”

He focused on his breathing, not quite realizing how quiet things had gotten before he looked up, just to see everyone staring at him. He licked absently at his dry lips before croaking out nervously, “What are you all staring at?”

“Did you just say… cell?” Scott asked with a raised brow.

He shrugged, “Well yeah—oh wait.”

He could practically hear Punz facepalm. He sat up straighter a mere second later in realization. He grimaced then groaned sharply.

Dream pressed his fingers together into a triangle like shape against his lips, then slowly he pointed outward to the Origins smp members. “I should not have said that!”

“So… you were in jail…” Tommy raised an eyebrow, shifting slightly where he sat. “How the fuck did you get so injured before coming here then? Was that… from escaping or uh something?”

The man grimaced, shrugging before blurting out, “Uhhhh… no… torture just does that to a guy?” He ducked his head when Punz spoke up sharply, “Did you just say you were getting fucking tortured?”

“I mean— I had it coming!” The admin laughed as he refused to meet his partner’s sharp eyed gaze, an arm unconsciously raised infront of his face, “Y-Y-You— You can, c-can barely even tell it happened, it’s fine, i-it’s all fine!”

“What the fuck?” Tommy had been the one to say that, the avian giving him an aghast look, “Why were you getting tortured!?”

Dream just gazed slowly to Punz, looking for a way out of this. The mercenary just gazed back at him, very much looking like they also wanted this answer. The admin gazed away, “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

He blinked slowly before shrugging casually, “For a book?”

Jack spoke up, rubbing at his temple, “A book?”

Dream just gave an awkward nod, glancing at the floor, scratching at his chin, “…And maybe because I killed a teen?”

His shoulders raised to his ears as almost everyone save for Punz started to ask about that in a chorus of startled shouts and alarmed voices.

He snapped back finally, eyes pressed sharply closed as his heart began to race, “I BROUGHT HIM BACK! WHAT DID YOU THINK THE BOOK DOES!?”

He grimaced as that seemed to cause more alarm, and his breathing picked up, “It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine—“

“Dream what the actual fuck!?”

“I— why did you—“

“-how can a book bring ba—“

“—what the fuck, what the fu—“

“—you have a fucking book that can bring back the dead!?”

“—c’mon give me the book—“

“—Dream? Hello? Dream?—“

“—why did you kill someone??—“

“—who was torturing you!?—“

“—ohhhhh Dreamie!—“

The voices began to blend together, he couldn’t quite breath anymore.

“—Dream?—“

He flinched, hands going over his ears, it was fine it was fine— he deserved it— he was a monster— there was a point— Tommy had called him a fucking liar— he was going to kill them all— it was fine it was fine it was fine— sir would kill him for telling— it was fine!

A hand landed on his shoulder and he jerked into motion, spinning around and snarling, “IT’S FUCKING FINE! I HAVE A PLAN! I KNEW THE RISKS OKAY?”

Philza stared back at him and he held up his hands, “You can barely tell he cut my fucking fingers off! It’s fine! There’s a point, there’s a fucking point!”

He was standing now, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Stop fucking looking at me like that! Stop fucking looking at me!”

He could see faces staring at him, and he wasn’t quite sure who was who, he stumbled back, hands buried into his hair, tears falling down his face and he didn’t know why.

“Stop staring— stop st-staring at-at me with— with those dead fucking eyes!”

Dream took a sharp step forward before falling back, eyes darting about wildly, had to get out had to get out had to get out had to GET OUT GET OUT GET—

Someone said his name and he flinched, hands raised protectively over his face— when did he get into a corner?— his breathing tight and wheezing as he choked on tears, hands curling into fists— “No-no-no—No—no, no no no—n-no—“

The voices twirled around him and he just began to scream over them, “—SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!”

His throat felt raw, his body was trembling something awful, and it was quiet now save for the low bubbling of lava. He buried his hands into his hair and broke down, everything boiling over.

He could feel drips of crying obsidian burn onto his skin, the bite of his own ragged nails as they scratched across his arms, the wavering heat choking his already gasping lungs, and the harsh bite of obsidian against his flesh.

He was never going to get out of this fucking cell, was he?

It was fine it was fine it was not fine—

~

Punz… Punz didn’t know what to do, as Dream’s eyes seemed to glaze over and the man seemed to forget everything around him save for his own panic and fear.

And— and it was horrific to watch. Dream was supposed to be brash, stubborn, a wheezing mess and a brutal fighter, not— not this.

The man had practically curled into one corner of the Pub, closest to the lava oddly enough, and merely sat there, eyes wide and unseeing as he mumbled frantically under his breath, fingers tearing wildly into his own arms.

And Punz wanted to do something, comfort him? Grab his hands and pull them away from harming himself? Wrap the other in a hug and tell him it was going to be alright?

Anything!

But Dream wouldn’t let anyone near him.

The first few attempts anyone could give to try and pull the admin from his own delusions had merely caused him to spiral further, he didn’t even recognize Punz at the moment.

He’d just start whispering for ‘sir’ to please don’t hurt him, or he’d wail for the Warden to help, or he’d even start to just scream.

And it was horrendous to listen to, most of the teens and younger members of the Origins SMP had been quickly ushered out the moment Dream had started to get erratic.

It was Punz, and the older members here now. Philza gazed to him and said simply, “We need answers.”

Punz closed their eyes with a gritted jaw, “I—“

The elytrian raised his voice slightly, and when the mercenary gazed up, he looked just as unnerved as Punz felt. “We need answers— this just, this can’t keep happening— I- what happened on your server?”

Dream was sobbing again and it made his heart drop to their stomach. 

He clenched his hands and sighed. Then with a grimace and narrowed gaze, they spoke.

“I… okay. Okay… our server… Dream’s server actually, well that’s where we’re from. And, heh, I guess I’ll start at the beginning then. You see—“

Chapter 15: Reality Spun

Summary:

Two servers. One in ruins, the other a fresh start. Both now connected and intertwined whether they like it or not.

There was a server that started from a simple trio. A group of adventurers who decided to stake a claim.

One took his position as the server’s admin, binding himself to the responsibilities and dignity of the land. The other two followed his lead, and they spent their days and nights, exploring, wandering, and eventually, building a place they called theirs, together.

It was all theirs. And it was home.

Then more people came. Either having some connection to those already there, or having traveled the world until they’d come across the new server. The admin allowed them entry, observed them, and contuined. And sure, it was okay for a time. Then there were more. And more.

And as these new people began to stake their claims, they made their marks, they made their choices.

The admin allowed it. Until they started to try to break the server into their own lands. Until they challenged the admin’s control of the server. Until the people’s opinions warped the admin into the vile image of a tyrant he not yet was.

And then there was a war. Words turned to venom. Actions turning to blood shed. Allies turning traitors.

And then there were deals. Disks. Desire. 

And most importantly? A realization of power. Of power over land. Of power over others. Of power over those that lacked it and desired it.

With power came a taste of mania. With mania came paranoia. With paranoia came a vicious need for more power, and oh, it became a ever tightening cycle.

But sometimes the thrills and riches are too much of a blinding thing.

Punz glanced down at their hands quietly, fiddling with their own gold chain, the jewelry glimmering wondrously.

With blinding sight and a need for power, a plan was developed. For control and glory and the realized dreams of ravaged minds.

Things were never pretty. Things were only necessary. Plans developed in complexity and morals grew looser and looser until the only strings tying a pair of people together was the knowledge that only the other would understand.

The glory grew dimmer.

The plans grew tenser.

And their minds grew paranoid.

The mercenary gave a weak chuckle, unable to bear looking at anyone anymore, their head tucked away againist their knees. He swallowed and through a dry mouth he contuined.

They built a prison. It was a part of the plan. Things were tightening and it was supposed to be simple, or as simple as they thought it could be.

It wasn’t simple though.

Things weren’t simple for them anymore. 

Punz cleared their throat and looked away to the floor now, “I don’t… I wasn’t aware for a period of time… let a demonic entity of sorts enter your mind because you’re weak does that, heh. But, yeah… I don’t, I don’t more than that. Dream managed to get out, I know that, but then there wasn’t any sign of him.”

He shifted to play with their hair, it was getting on the longer side they noted duly, “We had a room in that prison, a little room just in case for a quick escape, I don’t, I don’t know… I don’t know what happened, but well, went in, now we’re here apparently.”

Punz listened to the quiet that lingered as they finally stopped speaking, swallowing down a nervous laugh, couldn’t show weakness, couldn’t— oh what did it fucking matter anymore?

Dream was a fucking mess, Punz didn’t have anything on him to be of any use, and they were both in a completely new world filled with familiar faces that knew them only as dangerous strangers.

Not like their own friends saw them as anything different anymore. When was the last time he’d talked to Purpled? When was the last time they’d taken time to simply sit in their bee room? When was the last time he’d done anything without calculating the risks and benefits?

He sighed faintly and finally someone spoke up, their voice curiously strained as they simply said, “That’s just fucked up.”

Punz finally looked up to give Wilbur a broken grin, “Which part? That’s not even the kicker.”

They couldn’t care anymore, they were so fucking done and tired and this situation was a load of horse shit.

The phantom looked at them with a raised brow and Fundy asked sharply, “Whats the kicker?”

Punz lazily twisted a strand of their hair before smiling, “You all have less scars then back on our server.” His eyes trailed away from the fox back to Wilbur. “And it’s so surprising to see you alive.” He tilted his head and let the smile grow into some twisted amusement, what did it matter if they knew now, hm? 

A confused expression, Philza gazed sharply to him, “What is that supposed to mean?” The elytrain’s feathers were ruffled and his face was drawing into something tense.

The mercenary chuckled in response, laying his chin on his fist, “Same faces, different servers, and well, we aren’t exactly from the same world either.”

It went dead silent, then the questions and mutterings came back, some people’s brows furrowing as other members of the Origins SMP began to quickly catch on to what Punz was alluding to.

The mercenary didn’t care anymore, standing up on weak legs and bowing with a sharp, broken laugh, ignoring the buzz of voices over voices as he merely moved to crumble besides a quiet Dream.

Punz could feel the other’s eyes on him and they just wordlessly held out a hand.

Dream took it and the mercenary just turned to tuck away closer to his partner.

He was tired.

~

It seemed it was Dream’s turn to answer questions, well now that he could at least.

The admin was curled against Punz back on the couch now, Punz blankly staring at the ceiling as Dream fiddled with their hair, his eyes darting about as he waited.

Jack spoke up, Philza pacing sharply beside Niki’s tank as everyone else either mumbled amongst themselves or watched. “So… you two are from, not only a different server, but you’re telling me… a different world as well where there are counterparts of some of us?”

Dream nodded slowly, throat bone-dry, the man swallowing back an anxious laugh as Tommy spoke up, as almost the whole server had rejoined them now that Dream was no longer as erratic and seeing as this new information would affect all of them. “Is that why you keep trying to kill me, is, is this other Tommy or whatever, did, did—“

“I killed him.” Dream muttered, looking up to the avian with a slight tilt of the head, “He—you— however you want to spin it, was such a bother for my plans. I brought him back, sure, but well. Wasn’t a very good choice in the long run.”

The avian had slunked back slightly, giving him an uneasy and frankly disturbed look as the teen’s eyes turned to Wilbur, who was still a bit pale at learning that his own counterpart had died by his own request to Philza’s sword.

A voice spoke up and Dream gazed to Scott as the starborne ran a hand sharply through his odd purple hair, “How did you even manage this?”

The admin rolled his eyes, sneering, “Oh, yeah, I totally planned on coming here. You fucking tell me, Scott.” He couldn’t help himself, he nudged away from Punz, standing up as he raised his arms with a wide gesture, “Oh, wait! None of us know how the hell this happened! Now do we?”

Dream found a sick pleasure in the way some backed up as he began to walk around the room lazily, “Doesn’t surprise me though.” His fingers graced along one table with a few absent taps, the man gazing down with a chuckle. “Afterall, you are all just soft and weak, flinching away and wasteful.”

He rolled his eyes, “Too trusting and too oblivious.”

There was the angry hum of buzzing wings, a few faint growls, and voices he didn’t care to focus on trying to either argue with his words and claims or trying to get him to shut up.

He just snapped, looking at the mass of faces he couldn’t bare to stare at for too long, “Oh shut up, why don’t you all?” He was satisfied when quite a few did just that, his footsteps loud as he walked along to gaze a moment into the lava present in the Pub, “Now where was I? Ah, yes. You know how easy it was to get control here? To establish fear?”

He turned and brushed his fingers along the glowberries hanging down, “I could have done soooooo much worst, you all know that right? So much worst.”

The members were watching him closely, Dream even testing his luck as he passed Ranboo, tapping his own ear, the same one as the enderian’s own nicked ear, “Nicked ears are nothing to missing eyes afterall.”

Ranboo tensed a bit, Fundy’s ears flattening, even Beau tensing up.

“I don’t get why you haven’t just killed us honestly.” He stopped, then gave a sharp laugh. “Let me think.”

Someone tried to say something but he cut them off, “Oh wait! You couldn’t even do that right,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes.

“Commands didn’t work, now did they?” He looked to Philza with a smile, “I don’t understand why you never got Tommy to try it. Who knows, maybe that would have been an amusing failure as well!”

He shrugged, “Even when I could have choked on my own blood, still you couldn’t get rid of me.”

Dream knew he was just saying whatever at the moment, but he admittedly had his interest piqued when Tommy said sharply, “You didn’t die because I saved your life, you prick!”

He walked over and gazed steadily at the avian, eyes narrowing. “And what do you mean by that?”

Tommy’s wings flared out as his tail lashed. “I wasn’t just going to stand by and watch someone fucking die like that, I’m not a sadistic prick like you!” He spat.

“Would have saved you a lot of trouble, I only have one life left,” Dream hummed drily, “Would have saved everyone the trouble.” That last part he muttered under his breath bitterly before startling as Tommy suddenly grabbed his arm.

His body went still and his breathing hitched, “Let go of me right now.”

“No.” Tommy stood taller and for a moment he could see that axe being raised up. “You listen to me, you lunatic.”

Dream just stared at this version of Tommy that was both so like that stubborn brat and yet… different somehow. 

“I don’t care a-about what some other version of me did, I don’t care for your ramblings and bullshit, but I’m not going to just kill you.”

The avian frowned, “Even if I wanted to, our servers are connected somehow now, you managed to get here, Punz did, so who else might come through that portal?”

Dream’s eyes widened in realization, Tommy was right. This whole time he hadn’t given it any thought, but he realized with a cold shock that anyone could possibly find that portal.

Tommy let go finally and Dream clutched his arm to his chest, trying to keep his breathing under control, “Oh fuck, fuck fuck f— Punz.” He ignored everyone else, “Punz, I—“

His eyes widened further and he slowly backed up, a hand over his mouth. “I can’t go back to that— w-what if they come through and, a-and, and—“

“Dream.”

Tommy had his full attention in a moment, his eyes darting up, shoulders tense.

“How about we make a deal.”

Dream didn’t want to go back, he didn’t want to go back— he couldn’t go back.

“I’m listening,” his voice trembled.

Notes:

Updated reference for Avian!Tommy :DDDDD

https://thechillsquid.tumblr.com/post/680911271967735808/origins-ctommy-aka-my-take-on-the-avian-origin

Chapter 16: Devil Deals

Summary:

Dream and Tommy have a deal. Now they must figure out how to proceed from here on out

Notes:

Hello you lot! How you been my lil’ krakens? I hope you’ve been well, apologizes for the wait, but I hope you enjoy this chapter either way!

Take care and thank you for reading as always <3

Ignoring the looks and everyone’s attempts to talk to him, the avian stepped along shakily. Tommy barely even breathing a sigh of relief until he managed to get outside, only then did the avian collapse, stumbling as his back hit the nearby wall, eyes wide.

He felt incredibly unstable, slowly clenching and unclenching his hands with a trembling sigh, moving to smooth down his ruffled feathers, really just needing a moment of calming his own erratic emotions.

But shit— he really just made a deal with this fucking nut job, and well, well he was done.

Because, because— holy shit, it had actually worked. Dream had listened to him, had agreed to his demands, had actually— 

And yet— something bitter sat heavy in the back of his throat, Tommy had, had taken Dream’s own tool of fear and used it againist him. And it had worked so well for getting what he needed… what he wanted.

He clutched a hand to his mouth and gave a soft, pitched laugh, prime he was going to be fucking sick.

~

Dream laid quietly on a familiar bed, one arm rubbing anxiously at his shoulder, eyes wide and gazing upwards to the wooden ceiling it wasn’t crying obsidian it wasn’t crying obsidian it wasn’t crying—

He really had grown weak, hadn’t he? That kid had dangled an absent comment before him, had managed to hook him with a simple idea, and he had fucking caved.

And he had agreed to whatever the teen had presented him with next… but at least, at the very least, it would be beneficial for him in the short and long term.

’I’m listening,’ Dream could hear how his own voice fucking trembled, eyes locking onto those blue, blue eyes of Tommy’s.

The avian had leveled that stare right back at him, walking closer, ‘If we help keep a watch out for anyone else suddenly appearing, if we keep you from being taken back to whatever they did to you on your server, and if we work together to figure out why this happened in the first place, you’re going to have to agree to a few things first.’

His mouth was dry, his heart beating erratically in his chest, and he ignored everything and everyone else as he said barely above a whisper, ‘W-what do you want me, me to agree to.’

There was a moment of stunned quiet, and he could feel Punz moving towards him, but he didn’t give a damn. Neither of them had the power to do what Tommy was promising right now. A-and even if it was a lie? Even if it was a one sided deal? Dream had to take this chance.

—He couldn’t go back he couldn’t go back he fuCKING COULDN’T STAND THAT ANYMORE HE COULDN’T G—

‘First off, I want you stop fucking threatening us.’ Dream unconsciously stepped back as Tommy took one step closer.

‘Secondly, I want you to stop interfering with my goddamn server, I don’t care who the fuck you think you are, but this is a server for me and my friends! I don’t want to see you scaring them, o-or trying to hurt them, or any-any of that bloody damn bullshit!’

Dream had to physically bite his tongue as he backed up, feeling the words “yes, sir” sitting heavy in his throat. He instead gave a quick nod.

Tommy’s wings flared out as he glared daggers at him, Dream flinching as his back hit against a wall, ‘A-and… and thirdly?’

’T-thirdly, don’t fucking—‘ his voice lowered to a hiss with words only meant for the two of them, ‘—don’t you dare tell me about how you k—killed my counterpart or ho-how we— their counterparts got hurt to try and, and scare us. I don’t want to hear it, a-and unless they—‘ he pointed a finger harshly back towards the other Origins SMP members, ‘—want to hear it, keep your fucking lips sealed, got it?’

He licked at his dry lips, chest heaving for breath as his eyes darted everywhere but Tommy’s eyes, ‘F-fine.’

The avian took a shuddering step back, ‘So we, w-we have a deal?’

Dream gave a low snarl, though it sounded weak and defeated to even his own ears, ‘We have… we have a deal.

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, a hand moving to tug through his hair with a shaky laugh.

Then Dream simply moved to curled up onto his side, hugging himself tightly, burying his face against his arms.

He was going to be fucking sick. 

When did he become so fucking pathetic?

~

Dream woke up groggy and confused, eyes blurred with sleep as he blinked a few times, Punz curled up againist him in bed, Dream tucked under their chin despite being the taller of the duo. The admin shifted slowly away, making sure not to wake the other, pausing to gently ease a lose strand of hair behind one of Punz’s ears before moving to sit up.

He yawned widely and mumbled faintly as he rubbed at his jaw, looking around for what had woken him when he nearly had a heart attack at the sound of a familiarly deep voice, “Psssst, Dream.”

It was only through the spite of not wanting anyone to hear they startled him that he managed not to scream outright, head snapping over to see a small figure sitting idly on one of the chests in the room.

Little feet kick lazily, lizard-like tail swaying, wings settling after giving what he could have sworn was a teasing flutter, “Morning, sleeping beauty.”

Dream glared at Sneeg in turn, “What the fuck are you doing here,” he hissed.

The inchling propped his chin onto a small fist, teeth bared in a grin, “Upset I interrupted cuddle time with blondie over there?”

”Oh! Fu—“ Punz shifted and Dream quickly lowered his voice with a scowl, “—ck off you pest.”

Sneeg rolled his eyes, antenna easing back as he pressed a hand to his chest in mock hurt, “You wound me, Dweam.”

Dream gave him a flat look, a silent judging of ‘really? That the best you could come up with?’ before moving to stand up with an agitated huff, briefly covering a yawn with a hand.

“Whatcha want.”

Sneeg’s feet swayed absently a moment more before he shrugged with a smile, “Figured you would like to see the meteor shower going on.”

His eyes widened, heart skipping a beat, “There’s, there’s one happening right now?”

The inchling hummed with a short nod, standing up, briefly dusting himself off, before gliding down and out the slightly ajar door.
Dream stared, swallowed down his anxiety, and after one moment of hesitation, he was slipping out the room and looking about, spotting the blue cloak of the inchling not far off.

“Well? C’mon then,” Sneeg snorted, gesturing with an arm for Dream to follow before making his way towards one balcony. 

The man merely hugged himself and trailed after, anxious that this in itself was some sort of trick until he glanced to the sky, feet settled on the solid wood planks beneath him.

And… and it hadn’t been a lie. Dream’s eyes widened as his mouth opened with a stuttering inhale, gaze darting along as streaks of light darted across the late night (or maybe early morning?) sky. 

He could only give a broken laugh as he said, “Oh.”

Sneeg just snorted faintly in turn, sitting down on the edge as he kicked his feet lazily, Dream moving to follow suit after a minute or two of just standing there in awe. 

That gaze remained locked on that brilliant display and Dream slowly managed a smile.

~

”Are you certain this can be the only place he escaped from?” Critical eyes raked down the poorly constructed portal, the teen stepping around it with a sharp, sharp frown.

Sam crossed his arms with a scowl, “Of course I am. I wouldn’t have asked for your otherwise.

”Better not have,” Purpled mumbled under his breath, gaze shooting back towards the creeper before narrowing at Quackity, “Why not ask for Punz to investigate this?”

The creeper hissed and Quackity answered this time with a deepening scowl, “No one’s seen him for a week or so now.” The avian exchanged a glance with Sam before frowning back at Purpled, “So you’re the next best thing.”

”Wow,” he gave a sneer, “You sure know how to give a good sales pitch.” His face dropped into a cold neutrality, “So you want me to go after?”

Sam gave a curt nod, gesturing towards the portal.

”Fine. But if this ends up being a trap, and I die? I’m taking one of your lives in exchange, capeesh?”

The creeper glared at him before simply nodding, Quackity, charming as ever, stepping between the two with a confident smirk, “Purpled, reeeelax, simple in and out, right?”

The teen glared back at the one dark eye, then he forced a mimicking smirk onto his own face, “Fine.”  Then before another word could be spoken by that silver-tongued asshole, he turned, and walked right through that portal.

Notes:

Sneeg and Dream are the Bitch duo
(Thank Artic_Wulf for this wonderful idea)

Chapter 17: Settled Decisions

Summary:

Back on the Dream SMP, actions are taken, choices are made, and a god takes notice.

Tubbo watched that island burn.

Eyes staring at the dancing flames as they engulfed all in their path, one of the horses they’d let loose from its pen now absently standing along the shallows as it too watched.

And truth be told?

He felt alive.

His hands trembling in what he couldn’t figure out if it was adrenaline or the thrill of having done this. His heart pounding alongside the roaring blaze. His eyes bright and burning. He felt it bury itself deep in his very soul, that thrum of energy just beneath his fingertips, and it reminded him of whenever a test explosion proved his work was just as destructive and powerful as he desired.

And still… all this while. He didn’t feel disconnected from himself as he usually did in moments like this. He could still feel Michael’s form sat contently in his lap, the shift of the boat as Eret rowed, how the water made them sway in easy motions with every stroke, and the way Techno was squished in besides him as the piglin watched as well.

Tubbo was actually here. In the moment. Inhaling ash and exhaling the salty breeze. Teeth bared in a triumphant sneer.

And ohhhhh, truth be told, at first? There had been a disappointment to this journey, for when they arrived? Sam hadn’t even been there to stop them, and Tubbo had truthfully been pissed. That after all this time, all this effort, that Sam dared not even fucking show up when they came to confront him?

What a dick.

But no matter. For he knew that Sam would get his message in due time. When he came back here to rubble and ash, animals loose, home destroyed. How Tubbo, Tubbo, not Eret or Techno, had done this, how they had let him strike the match.

See how Sam fucking liked it. To have everything fall apart. To grieve the loss of what he had held close.

Then Techno slapped him on the back, and though he had to resist a flinch, Tubbo’s mind turned from his glory to hear what the other had to say.

Technoblade met his gaze with a idle twitch of the lips, smiling in that absent, deadpan manner of his, eyes gleaming with their amusement.

The brute, the absolute madman, then merely said, “Congrats. You are now an arsonist.”

Tubbo’s face blanked as he processed that statement, a snort escaping him a moment later as he simply burst out laughing. Shoving at Techno, he laughed, “What the fuck man!”

Michael blinked up sleepily as Tubbo turned and Techno practically cackled as he leaned away from the other’s attempts at hitting him, and… and things were back under his control right?

Eret looked over with an amused huff, continuing to row, and these two, who had hurt him worst then most others on this server, were his allies now.

(He wasn’t ready to call them friends yet. But it was a start. And sure, he didn’t trust them fully either, but what was that saying Dream would say idly back in that shaky alliance during Pogtopia? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.) 

Tubbo rolled his eyes at Techno as he eased back, moving to get comfortable as he rested his chin againist Michael’s head. An easy smile settled upon his face. The mission had been a success.

~

Tommy glared at Sam as the creeper just tiredly stared back. The blond had heard how Tubbo, Techno, and Eret managed to  travel to the creeper’s house in order to rescue Michael (the creeper curiously absent), and after a bit of looking around and talking to people, he’d found out where it was that the creeper had been.

Not surprisingly, the creeper had been pacing about the prison, as he had taken a habit of doing. But Tommy had no sympathy for the heavy bags under those dark eyes, no attention to give for the strained look, and no care for the hurt expression as the teen began to yell.

Wasn’t it funny how similar they looked at the moment? How the bags just got darker and deeper under his own eyes? How he looked like he hadn’t slept a wink either? Face haunted and strained. 

Tommy wasn’t even sure what he was yelling anymore, teeth bared as his voice pitched into something shriller and more panicked, vision blurring as he finally had to stop to take panting, gasping breathes.

And… and Sam just watched. The creeper had a faint grimace on his face, one pawed hand clutching tightly to the front of his chest plate, but otherwise? The motherfucker just fucking… watched.

“Why don’t you fucking say anything,” Tommy managed to hiss between gritted teeth, taking a few steps forward as he summoned the Axe of Peace.

Sam— no— The fucking Warden— didn’t respond, watching. Even as that axe teased up, Tommy seeing the Warden’s hand twitch towards his side where his sword always seemed to sit nowadays, not a word left his mouth.

Tommy screamed, a wordless sound of every ounce of pain and hurt and anger and agony, dropping the axe as he threw his fists against that stupid fucking chest plate.
He managed to make some semblance of words in his next screeching yell, “ANSWER ME!”

But… but The Warden didn’t speak. His head just tilted away, face hardening, and Tommy’s fists shook as they rested against that cold netherite.

The blond felt his blood boil, stumbling back as he furiously wiped as his face, spittle leaving his lips as he threw every curse at that bastard, stepping back as the sobs muffled and tore apart his angry words. He reached down to pick up the axe and clutched it tightly to himself, then he felt himself relax with a cold stillness.

“I thought you’d be different.” 

The Warden flinched. But Tommy didn’t care anymore. He had his chance to speak, to try and tell him every broken reason, to do anything, and yet. Yet he had just stood, a guard in a useless post, patrolling a cell with no one in it, protecting nothing but his own broken dignity.

Tommy thought he would be someone in his life that kept their word. He thought Sam might have been one of the few people he could turn to. But hadn’t he been blind? To still hold onto that small little dim hope? Which should have remained dead when he had died all that time ago. 

He frowned, letting the axe be dismissed to his inventory. Well then. Call him a fool, maybe Dream had been right about that one thing. He was too trusting and too naive.

The blond straightened, wiping at the tears that still fell down his cheeks, and he turned away.

The Warden wasn’t a concern of his anymore. He needed to find Tubbo—

A wisp of a ghostly yellow sweater caught his attention, and he turned. Ghostbur stared back and Tommy felt his resolve settle.

He wasn’t going to hide anymore. He went towards the spirit.

~

Another hot day, another day of convincing Quackity to take a break before he ran himself too ragged, and another day of absent work on this underground (and very sus) bunker.

Though, unlike most days, where he worked diligently with little care or concern, letting his mind wander as he talked to himself and the little dozers that followed him around, Foolish’s mind kept circling back to this whole Pandora fiasco.

Foolish didn’t really know what to think about this whole mess, the totem god working away as he let himself think aloud. 

Afterall… he didn’t have all the details yet.
He knew one side of things, he heard the rumors and whisperings, and despite what Puffy (whom still claimed him as her son despite the fact he was eons older) told him about plots and ploys that the admin had committed to harm and hurt, he still didn’t have the answers from the own guy’s mouth.

And as he told his chat, that meant there was more to the matter. He had hoped to speak with Dream in the prison eventually, but that was the issue with an immortal lifespan, wasn’t it? Time easily got lost.

He hummed, shark-like tail swaying as his webbed claws wiped at his brow. It seems he would just have to keep on—

Ohhhhhhhh Foolish~

The totem tensed at that familiar voice, turning just to be met with that damned mask and the glowing halos that encircled it.

Do you know where my little admin went?

Well. Shit… 

~

Purpled didn’t recognize this place, this server, but hell. Did it really matter whether he did or not?

He had to do a job, plain and simple.

The teen brought out his sword, pausing when he realized his human guise was not functioning at the moment, looking over his sharp claws with a low, calculating him.

He shook his head and contuined.

Things were already proving interesting.

Notes:

Ohohohoho~ What’s all this? I guess we’ll have to find out and see uwu <3

Chapter 18: I Promise Nothing; Part 1

Summary:

We got Dream plotting, we got servers melding, and ohohohoho! Purpled on the origins smp? Let’s see what happens!

Notes:

Hi y’all, terribly sorry for the wait, but hey! Not only is this chapter extra long! But I got art for y’all regarding Scott and Purpled’s designs in this au!

https://at.tumblr.com/thechillsquid/starborne-scott-and-alien-purpled-designs-for-my/x0e22cik4f0b

He didn’t know where the boldness arose from, but Dream figured, he’d needed to be prepared.

Trusting people was a fine line he’d snapped between his own burnt fingertips long ago. He was not about to let that ashen thread hold his fate together now.

Dream had been on this server for a few more days without incident. It had been… quiet in a sense. Too quiet. That low thrum of paranoia was itching its way back into his mind.

They thought him idle, controlled. But with a new vigor, he was ready to show he still had some of his old wit.

It was easy, curiously enough. Despite how they had treated him with caution and that fearful respect he admittedly craved, the moment he’d made that deal? It was as though he were nothing more than a scared dog ready to snap but wincing back from the slightest raised hand.

And perhaps, that held regrettable truth. He didn’t like it, the almost nonchalant interactions that occurred now… but it would serve its purpose.

He had a new plan. A plan that was for him alone. Punz couldn’t be dragged into this fresh mess, he couldn’t bare the pain of another friend gone afford to lose his only true ally. 

The plan went as follows:

Follow the three simple rules.

1. Don’t threaten the server members. Verbally or physically.

2. Don’t directly interfere with the server’s functions and affairs.

3. Don’t speak about what happened on his server unless asked.

Gain an illusion of trust and cowardice.

Do as asked, stop withholding the flinches and panic he had managed to hold some control of previously, keep his voice weak.

Gather and hide all the scraps and resources he could manage.

Take a stick here, slip an ingot there, wait until the dead of night to craft what he needed.

Make a habit of going out for walks. A routine.

Make himself ‘predictable.’ Gain alibis, test their watchfulness, understand the server’s layout.

So far. Everything was settling into place. If the deal wasn’t upheld by Tommy, at the very least he’d make sure he wouldn’t be caught off guard. Not again. He was the puppet-master, the tyrant holding the strings, and he’d make sure to play by his crowned titles.

Dream couldn’t afford to be helpless.

~

It was interesting to observe, the fallout of that fated deal.

Philza didn’t know what to make of this change. The way Tommy grew more tired, the way the avian was almost always watching his own back now, the way people grew tense and wary.

It was a haunted echo of activity, stumbling along like a newborn foal. Weary but bold in its awkwardness.

Then a few days passed, and an echo of what Dream had snarled that day worked its way back to him.

‘Too trusting and too oblivious.’

The way everyone settled into routine was almost too easy.

The elytrain saw it, frowned at it, leaned back to observe. People began to build again, mine their way into the server’s depths, explore even.

It was as though Dream and Punz were simply a pair of ghosts lingering at the corner of their vision.

Is this… how it had been for Dream’s own server? Is this how he had managed to damage it so deeply? Had people accepted victory so cheaply? Questioned so shallowly? Distracted so feverishly?

Punz had been trailing people, exploring, and even managed to convince Tubbo to construct a garden with him. As though the mercenary hadn’t held a bloodied, ruined path just as dark as Dream’s.

They slipped easily into place, with none of the harshness that clung to the memories of Dream’s residence. Philza seemed to be one of the few truly uneased by that.

Too trusting.

Dream on the other hand? He was… reserved. He went for walks, he helped with building, and the shell of bravo had shattered. As though he really was nothing more than a flickered candle, blown out the moment it seemed he’d flared to life.

Most people avoided the man at first, then he simply was the shadow in the corner, and now Dream was nothing more than a stray cat that had learned hissing and biting got it nowhere.

Too oblivious.

Philza didn’t buy it for a moment.

~

Tommy avoided thinking.

He went to work on rebuilding old works, mapping out new places, claiming his previous carelessness.

The server would be fine, everyone would be fine. Dream wasn’t going to be a problem anymore, Punz seemed content to deviate from making trouble, and no one new had shown up!

He fucked around with Wilbur; stupid adventures, stupid jokes, stupid games.

He caused chaos with Tubbo; dumb pranks, dumb quests, dumb builds.

He wandered about with Ranboo; silly arguments, silly goals, silly fights.

It was careless, it was foolish, it was familiar. Tommy wanted things back to how they were, he wanted to feel safe again.

He knew he was lying to himself.

~

Sunrise, sunset.

Dawn, dusk.

Time went on.

The consequences sat heavy. Everyone secretly waited for the axe to fall.

One early morning, it slipped.

~

 

!̴̢̨̖̻̬̟͉̪͔̼̙̖͔͈̿͊̀͠͝¡̷̳̺̟̯͈̺̫̝͙̬̞͐̋̂̚̚͝͝⚍̷̢̟̗̝̩͍̩̠̈́̉̈́̍́́͊̉̀͂͗̚̕ͅ∷̶̢̢̩̼̫̪͈͕̻̪̏̂́́̃̅̚͘͝!̵̛̛̤̤̙̙̠̤͖͎̫̪͙̀̓̽̔̋̿͂̒͜͠¡̵̨̙̯̝͍͚̩̟̫̙͑̕͝ꖎ̸̡̘̠̦̻͙̠̩̲̀̂͐͒̽̈́͑͋͋͊̈́̿ᒷ̸͖͈͎̥͑̂͊̿̑̍̆͘↸̴͈̓̈́ͅ j̴̨̨̛̛̰͖̳͉̭̬̣̲̞̩̜̱̰̓̎͒̅̌̋̃̽̂́͛̒́̽̐̈̉̂̂̊̌̃͋̕̕̚͜͜͠ŏ̸̢̡̞̝͍̼͒͌́̈́̑͐͋͋̉̔̀̅̀̌̅̈̒̎͘͝i̴̦͛̑͗́̀̏͌͗̓́̋͊͆͂͌͗̏͐͊͑͌̓͒̆͂͆̕̚͝n̷̡̡̡̧̛̛͕̣̥͉̼̣͙̬̰̗̰̞̰̯̻͒̈́̅̎̏̄̈́̅̈́̋̾̋̐̔͌͊̉̎̾͑̽͑̚͝͠ͅȩ̵̡̧̟͕̗̮͓̰̥̣̟̜͎̮̟͑̚ḓ̶̢̛̛̭̖̥͉̙̟̬̙͉͖̺̜̬͔̳̘͚͕̻̪̥̳̾̑̂͌̾̍̿̔̾̇͆͂̈́̓͒́͛̂̔́͘͘̕͜͝͝ͅͅ ̷̧̛̞̞̯́̀͋̔͒̿͐̈́̋͒̄̈́̚t̷̨̢̮̝͚̻̘̪̺̞̭͈̠̭̟͌h̸̪̜̟̰͇̯̥̲̝͐̽̄͛̈́͑͋͒̈́̍͂̋͆͂̆̾́́́̌́̈́͊͑̕̕͝e̶̜̘͙̿́̾͊̈́̇̍̈́͌̏̐͆̚͝ ̶̡̛̠̫̺̭̱͎͍͍̙͙̞̗̼̩̠̫̺͍̤͉̰̩͎̈́̈́̈́̓̈́͛͛̀͆̄̐͊͋͆̍̔̎͘͜ͅg̴̢̡̛̪͔̱͖̟̻͖͉͙̟̝̠̞̤͙̘̺̙͐̅̀̓͛̆͆͒́̃̉̿̈̏͆̓̈́̓͝͠͠à̸̛̬̗̩̤̜̠͈̀̄͗̀̑̓́͆̀͒̎̿̋͐̈̇̀͘͝m̸̧̛͕̰̥̭͈̼̘̮̜͖̗̝̮͚̼̟̱̒̈́̅̿̄̀̂̐͗̏͂̈́̏̑̀̈́͆̐̃̎̒̚̕̚͝ę̷̛̟͓̭͙͚̤̳͔̮̰̺̬̣̞̭̘̝̮̰͉̪̣̩̹̼͋̅͐̇̾́̓̍͘͘͝]

Here they go again.

Tommy woke as his connection to the server surged all around him, mind jolting to awareness as his eyes fluttered open.

Greaaaaaaat. Something else to deal with.

His comm, this time around, didn’t blow up with messages as it had when Dream had joined. Cause at the moment? It was fucking so early in the morning that he knew almost everyone else was passed the fuck out. 

Sitting up, he checked the server notification. He merely groaned louder at the garbled text that stared back at him.

So it hadn’t been someone re-entering the server or a bug. He tiredly moved to his contacts and clicked on Philza’s name.

The Elytrain, thankfully, didn’t take too long to pick up. Voice groggy, Philza grumbled, “Hiyaaa, mate… what’s—,” there was a yawn on the other end, “—the—“

Phil cut himself off and Tommy rubbed at his eyes. “Saw the… uh… message?”

“Shit,” was the eloquent answer.

The avian smiled drowsily as he got up to grab a weapon and shield, “Yuuuup… another one of those, um, pricks decided—yeah, decided to, uh, show up apparently.”

“I’ll… get Wilbur and some of the others.” Philza already sounded tired and they hadn’t even seen the person yet.

~

Purpled glanced behind himself with a raised brow, noting the lack of light, and saw to his confusion that while a portal frame stood there, it wasn’t lit.

Well, that was rather strange, wasn’t it? But sure, why not… he sighed and contuined on.

Step after step, listening to the faint sound of distant mobs, eyes darting along several visible buildings and illuminated pathways. Particularly, his eyes kept returning to the series of floating islands that sat adrift in the night sky before him.

They were quite unlike anything he’d seen back on the SMP. Like a beacon, alluring and bright. Wild growth vibrant and lively dangled and clung to the rock and earth, illuminated by a canopy of glowing vines and hanging lanterns. A building seemed to be perched up on top of the largest, central island, fine wood and cobble, structured elegantly and professionally. And wasn’t that a fine sign? 

He didn’t see any guard towers, no signs of redstone contraptions, and with all the light casted from it into the otherwise night consumed world, nighttime mobs wouldn’t be a major issue either.

And sure, Purpled doubted this was any of Dream’s doing, guy didn’t even have a house, but if there were people here? He doubted Dream would have gone through here unnoticed. 

“In and out,” he began to strap his armor on, readying his potions in his hotbar, “I do enjoy an easy score.”

~

They arrived tired and groggy. There was Tommy, Philza, Wilbur, Scott, and Sneeg.

Philza had his wings folded behind him, sword on his hip and his bow hung loosely over his shoulder. Sneeg rode along on the elytrain’s shoulder, abnormally silent.

Wilbur looked otherwise the same except for the way his ears were pricked and listening, eyes nearly black with how his pupils had dilated in the darkness.

Scott was settled in stride with Tommy, his form showered in that odd glow of his, eyes alight like twin stars. Tommy had his basic armor on, a series of potions at the ready, some gapples, and a diamond sword. 

Overall, they were ready for a fight against someone they’d might’ve recognized. They didn’t account for the unfamiliar stranger they found instead.

He was, at first glance, similar to a starborne. Or at least from what they could see of him under the armor, though it was noted soon enough that the glow they’d mistaken for a starborne’s aura was infact the mass of enchantments on this person’s netherite armor set.

This person was very different. They raised their head and begin to look over the gathered Origins members, dark eyes trailing from one to the next. 

The figure smiled, it made Tommy think oddly enough of a cat that had just cornered the mouse it had been tracking. Six frilly antenna flared out from underneath their shimmering helmet, pointed ears twitching towards them. Their face was scarred and it was no doubt they knew how to hold their own with the way they handled their blade so casually.

Tommy tensed, ready to defend himself and his friends. His tension was unneeded however.
The figure stared a moment more, flashed a curious grin, and waved away their blade. Then they took off their helmet, giving a lazy sort of wave as the armor vanished into their inventory as well.

Their voice was surprisingly young and crisp, “Hey.”

The avian glanced to his friends then looked back over. He relaxed his stance a touch, raising a brow. “Uh, hello.”

Huh. It seemed… maybe they weren’t going to fight afterall?

~

Purpled admittedly couldn’t help his fascination at the construction inside.

He honestly just kept looking up at the towering ceiling, eyes wandering the sturdy wood supports, the mixture of both overworld and nether materials.

The room expanded and divided up into a bar area, an area for people to sit around, a large water tank that he believed connected to the waterfall that flowed down from the bottom of the building, an entrance to a nether-themed room with lava and a portal, and several other little nooks and crannies.

Purpled just couldn’t help but roam, tracing his hands along lovingly crafted tables and counter tops, twirling glowing vines between his finger tips, and pausing to take in every new detail he could.

This place, in short, was kind of fucking cool. The build barely even seemed like it had been fucked with. Sure, there were the shows of usage here and there, but no real signs of malicious intent.

That must be nice. Maybe his ufo would have been untouched if it had been here instead.

And then there were the people.

Just as interesting, and at initial glance, just as untouched.

His eyes trailed back to his little welcoming party, plus the few newly gathered folk that had either woke up because of the commotion of a bunch of people walking around in armor chatting it up or those who had just happened to come across them.
It had been… something to see them all in some proper lighting without all the armor and weapons in the way.

He recognized several of them, afterall.

There was Tommy, Philza, Wilbur Soot, and Fundy. The other few people he didn’t quite know, but he also put it together pretty quickly that those he did recognize weren’t the people he actually knew either.

First off, Fundy was much shorter. Not a humaniod-sized fox, but a straight up bipedal fox. As though one he’d come across in the woods had decided to simply stand up and follow after.

Secondly, Philza had working wings again. He may not have witnessed the guy’s appearance during the whole explosion of L’Manberg and all that fun shit, but he had seen him around. That guy’s wings were fucking scorched to hell and back. They were never going to genuinely heal. 
Yet this Philza had some of the most beautiful, powerful wings he’d seen. When the guy had taken off from the ground earlier to get up here, the gust created by the downstroke had admittedly made Purpled stumble back a bit. It had been quite impressive.

Thirdly, Tommy also had wings. As well as taloned feet and a long, swaying tail. He distinctly remembered Tommy being less bird-like. The teen was also less scarred up, looking less like he was a few degrees from a mental breakdown and more like he was just exhausted.

Fourthly, oh yeah. Wilbur was alive. Breathing, talking, walking around. You know, the whole spell. Kinda contrasted against Purpled’s clear memories of that dude getting shot, stabbed, etc. Dude, last he’d checked, was fuckin dead as dead could get, had a whole ass ghost and everything. 
This Wilbur? Well, admittedly he looked kind of like a ghost. Translucent skin stretched over a lithe frame, darkly haunting eyes. However, unlike the remains of the Wilbur he’d seen back home, this guy was clearly not some air-headed relic of the past. 
This Wilbur was sharp, watchful, the long abnormal ears twitching attentively.

Overall, Purpled wasn’t an idiot. This was clearly setting off alarm bells of ‘Welp, this is happening I guess, welcome to an alternative reality of something.’

Which… to be honest? Considering the Dream Smp? Might as well have happened at some point.

“Er… Purpled?”

He blinked, looking over as he remembered, oh yeah! These people don’t really know him apparently, and while he had a vague understanding of their mannerisms, he was a complete stranger.

“Sorry, uh, it’s pretty distracting in here. Nice place.” Purpled shoved his hands into his pockets as he casually strolled back over. “I guess we get into the finer details of my visit now then.”

“If… you wouldn’t mind.” Philza leaned back, face pinched. 

The alien stretched, plopping down in one of the seats across from Tommy. “Long or short?”

The members of this smp exchanged glances. Tommy sighed and was the one to answer this time. “I already think we have an idea of the long answer, short.”

Purpled quirked a brow at that, then he relaxed his stance and leaned back. It’d all fall into place in due time. Couldn’t rush things, that’s how you get sloppy.

“Well, you see, there’s this guy, named—“

~

Dream… didn’t know whether to feel relieved or not.

On one hand, it made sense that it hadn’t been Quackity Sir or Sam. Why would they, of all people, come to track him down? Sam had a prison to run and Quackity, while a powerful presence in the prison, held little influence outside of that.
What with being blinded in one eye by a brillant swing of a pick axe from a very pissed off Techno, the fact he had to use clever words for most advantages, and the knowledge he wasn’t the best at fighting.

Sam, while he’d be more significant in a 1v1, was in short, addicted to the prison. Even before Dream had gotten himself thrown in there, he had noticed, half-hazardously and briefly, how much time the creeper put into the place. Not only the building and set-up of it, but the way he seemed to genuinely need to be near it the longer it got through construction.

He just… hadn’t accounted for Purpled. Logically, Dream should have known that would be the most likely option, but something pathetically hopeful foolish had gotten… other ideas into his scrambled head.

Stupid, stupid ideas.

He really did miss his friends… didn’t he? How long had it been now? Since he’d gone in? Since he’d escaped? Since he’d lost so much of himself? At least, whoever he had been? Was he even Dream anymore? Or just the pathetic shell?

Running a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh, Dream slumped forward away from the wall he’d been leaned against.
He could hear all the chatter and talk below from here, a small indention in the wall that when he sat just right, hid him beautifully from view. A small hole in the floor allowing sound to reach him better (which he suspected Sneeg of as the inchling seemed to have made tunnels and hole entrances everywhere).

He liked having knowledge of what was happening. Even if that knowledge didn’t exactly mean the best for him.

“…Dream is… an interesting guy. Shouldn’t be too hard to spot, he doesn’t exactly leave places untouched…”

The man drew out a blade and absently began to twirl the knife like he’d seen Punz or Bad do so many times before. 

“…he is dangerous. Has killed people, hurt them, I heard that he’s even gone as far as to try and make himself a god, if you can believe it.”

He narrowed his eyes as he listened to Purpled, mumbling under his breath, “It wasn’t an attempt. I can’t die, I can bring people back to life, I’d say I pretty much fucking succeeded.”

“So you see, there’s this… prison, right? Some real crafty redstone in that hell hole, place gives you the creeps just looking at it.”

He shivered. The knife slowed.

“…looms like a great big shadow, you can feel the charge in the air around it. It’s supposed to keep people in, has this real loud siren…”

He blinked as he heard that distant wailing, swallowing down the nausea sinking in.

“…lava…obsidian…no escape…the Warden…”

Was it getting harder to focus on the words? Dream gripped his hand tighter, feeling how he tensed.

“No one should be able to escape. But well, Dream managed to, somehow. I just have to find him and put him back in.”

Dream took in a sharp breath, logically, he knew this already. Logically, it made sense to send out a mercenary, pay someone else to do the dirty work. Of course people would want to know he was securely back in that cell. Logically, it shouldn’t be making him so anxious to hear this confirmed. Logically, it shouldn’t be getting so hard to breath.

“…he’s hurt quite a lot of people. Used people, tricked them. I’m just the one sent here to get the dirty work done with. So… have you seen him around?”

He felt a warmth slipping down his palm as he clenched his hand tighter, a loud ringing wail pounding in his ears. Dream shakily took in mouthfuls of air to calm his steadily quickening breathing. 

“He shouldn’t be hard to catch. Been stuck in that place for quite awhile, I’d think it’d be easy to grow slow and weak in there.”

His heart rattled in his chest, his lungs burned, vision growing blurred.

“So. Know where he is? I can make it worth your while.”

Dream trembled, unaware of the blood dripping onto the floor, the panicked tears slipping down his face. The desperate, desperate plea that drew itself onto his desert-dry lips.

“Uh,” whose voice was that? That wasn’t Purpled, fuck who was saying that? Why couldn’t he focus on that fucking voice!? “Can’t… say that we have.”

The man blinked, swallowing. Had… had he heard t-that correctly? 

There was a low, low creak. As though someone had just leaned forward, a tense silence following. Then, a low, sharp laugh. “That so?”

“Yes.”

Dream hadn’t even realized he was still holding that knife until it slipped from his slackening grasp.

Thud.

Dream’s eyes widened as everything went deathly quiet. He could feel the blood pounding through his head. His eyes slowly moved towards the blade on the ground.

”Then I guess you wouldn’t mind if I checked upstairs now, do you?”

Chapter 19: I Promise Nothing; Part 2

Summary:

Purpled finds someone upstairs and Dream finally realizes he really can’t get by on his own anymore

Notes:

Dream: Oh shit! Fuck— bitch, mother fucking asshole, son of a bitch! You absoute bastard—

Punz: The words of a genuis everybody

Dream: FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK FUCK—

“Then I guess you wouldn’t mind if I checked upstairs now, do you?”

Dream froze. A horrid chill went down his spine and his breath caught painfully in his throat, choking him. He struggled, a hand shooting to his mouth to cover the gasp wanting to tear itself from his trembling lips.

They were going to find him, Purpled was going to find him, and drag him back and there was nothing he’d be able to do—

What if Purpled had a working portal? What if Sam and Quackity worsened the torture and condition of that cell? Quackity had mused later on how it would be much easier to deal with him if he were just chained to the wall… what if— what if they did that to him? Leaving him even more defenseless than he already was?

Would the torture be every hour now? Would Quackity get even more creative? What if Purpled decided to join in? What if they brought in others to watch?

His thought spiraled into a whirlpool of havoc, lively nightmares he’d forgotten clawing their way back into his mind. But fuck, he’d be dragged back and placed upon the chopping block, wouldn’t he?

Mutilated, displayed.

What if even that wasn’t enough? What could Quackity do worse to him?

What new hell would he find waiting for him? What else could they take from him?

~

As the broken admin listening above sat curled in his panic, Tommy was facing his own problems. For as those same cold words curled through the tension between them, the avian could feel his heart skip a beat.

Purpled smiled coolly at the gathered group as he spoke, ears twitching back. No one answered his question, no one had the time to answer. The mercenary stood up, teeth bared in a silent challenge.

I know you’re hiding something from me. That smile said, those eyes burning a hole into Tommy as he met that gaze. That would be a grave mistake. There was a promise of reaction. A promise to show them who the mercenary really was. You don’t know what I’m capable of.

The avian, while he held little concern for whatever messed up sense of justice Dream’s server held to warrant Purpled’s appearance and intrusion, knew that trying to act against the other would be costly.

Dream was dangerous, but he was also predictable in the sense he was maniac and paranoid. He acted if he had a sense of control or an advantage.

Punz was just as dangerous, but they followed along Dream’s ploys and had a much more collected approach to things.

Purpled was new, but if Tommy had any understanding of how he’d be, the avian knew he was likely just as dangerous. But the thing was, Purpled didn’t have any known restrictions.

Him and Dream had a deal, a truce. Punz followed along because of Dream, but Purpled was here for only one reason. To track down, capture, and return Dream to that server’s prison.

Tommy didn’t know how Purpled fought, how he planned, not even how prepared he was, but he knew, in all certainty, that Purpled would do whatever he saw fit.

The avian had to play along, even if he knew that Purpled knew it was, in some sense, a ploy.

Glancing quickly at the others, Tommy hurriedly stood up as well. “Uh, here! Um—“ The mercenary casted him a glance with a raised brow as the blond stumbled through his words. “T-this way.”

Sheepish, the avian ducked his head to look at the floor, moving towards the ladder. He really tried to ignore the rushing panic setting in, it wasn’t really working though.

This situation was just— well— shit shit shit sHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT—

~

As Dream froze in his hiding space and Tommy mentally tried to figure what to do, Punz was just waking up.

Afterall, most of the server was still doing precisely that, sleeping. For while there had been plenty of excitement, it was early in the morning, the sky still as dark and consuming as it was when the moon was risen.

Truth be told, Punz wasn’t even sure why he woke up when he did, jolting suddenly as their eyes shot open. They could tell then that Dream was gone, now, he’d gotten used to the man’s vanishing acts, but it still made him uneasy.

Who knew what that idiot would get up to without him. Running a hand down their face, Punz dragged himself sluggishly out of bed.

He could hear footsteps climbing up, so the mercenary strode outside, he needed to go take a piss either way. Rubbing at his eyes, as they slid out the room and into the hallway, they came across a most curious sight.

Punz had admittedly been expecting Dream, but well, he was met with a shockingly different, yet never-the-less familiar, face.

“Purpled?”

His eyebrows rose sharply, the alien freezing in place as Tommy quietly peered around him. Punz could see the avian was frazzled and he couldn’t quite blame him.

“You know, I’d probably have more questions, but that’s a future me problem.” The mercenary covered another yawn, brain kicking into overdrive. “I’m assuming you got sent in by Quackity or something?”

Purpled opened his mouth, closed it briefly, frowned, then nodded faintly. “Yeah.”

“Great.” Punz rolled his eyes. “Welp, better make yourself comfortable then, cause we’re stuck here.” 

At least, if him and Dream had come to the correct conclusion, there were no currently known of ways to leave once they’d arrived on this server. They hadn’t a chance to do some proper experiments with all the eyes watching them, even with the fragile, ignorant calm and ease that had settled.

“I guess you’ve already figured out its a whole different world?” Punz scratched at his chin idly, he didn’t have his chain on to fiddle with at the moment. Ran a risk of choking himself by wearing that to sleep, and in their personal opinion, that’d be one of the most ridiculous ways to go out with all they’d survived through. 

Purpled tsked, nose wrinkled. “I mean, it was pretty obvious, so I’m guessing they all know if you’re just casually saying this aloud infront of this chicken.” 

Tommy gave an insulted snort but Punz couldn’t help an amused smile. Even just a touch of familiarity was enough to settle him, even if it did mean things had certainly shifted. “Mhm, we can talk more when it’s light, deal?”

The alien shrugged, eyes narrowing. Punz figured the younger was already going through the new information gained and how it’d influence the job he’d been undoubtedly sent here to do. Factoring in Punz’ questionable involvement and influence.

The mercenary was doing likewise. Going over what he knew, going over the building questions. Pondering how dedicated the other mercenary would be.

It certainly made things… a little more interesting.

So Dream was probably hiding, he hadn’t heard any commotion afterall. And if Purpled was here, then that means the portal and escape room had indeed been discovered. Which meant that it was likely others could become aware of it, if they hadn’t learned of it just yet.

Though when Purpled wouldn’t return, what would that mean? And well, who exactly knew? Just the prison people? Quackity? Those of Las Nevadas? The bigger SMP? The Badlands? Etc. Etc.

Furthermore, would they send others? Make new plans? And what about XD? It couldn’t leave the server exactly, but they knew for certain that XD had Foolish wrapped around its little finger. And it was highly unlikely that XD hadn’t noticed Dream’s disappearance by now.

They hummed lowly. There were a lot of new variables, that’s for sure. More unpredictable outcomes.

Fuck, he was already tired.

“Tommy,” the avian flinched, head quickly turning away from where he’d been staring off towards one wall, “Mind showing Purps a room? I think everyone could use some sleep.”

The blond shifted on his taloned feet, gaze darting between him and Purpled. The avian’s brow furrowing, “Uh, yeah… yeah. Okay! Uh, over here.” 

Purpled glanced back at Punz, working at his lower lip a moment before giving a slight nod towards the other. The mercenary returned the gesture, a silent promise of their conversation in the morning.

The kid clearly knew that things had changed, but Punz was not about to let on anything else if he could help it. 

Hopefully, Dream would stay out of trouble in the meanwhile.

~ 

Wilbur gave a long look over where Purpled and Tommy had went up, sighing as he looked over to Scott, who’d stuck around with a tension clear in his form.

The starborne seemed ready for something to go down, and truthfully, Wilbur himself was waiting for the ball to drop. He was espically curious about Tommy’s attempt at hiding Dream’s being here on the server, but then again, the teen kept to his word better than quite a few of them.

But to have what they’d been told confirmed by a source outside of either Dream or Punz was certainly something, a fresh source of information, a fresh metaphorical hat tossed into the ring.

He sighed, running a clawed hand through his hair, ears pricked and listening. 

One more guest to entertain.

~

To be honest, Tommy wasn’t listening at all to whatever the fuck Punz and Purpled were talking about.

He’d just been looking around and shifting on his feet when he’d seen fucking Dream’s creepy ass, hallowed face barely peering at him. It seemed the guy was tucked away into a little hiding spot otherwise hidden by the structure of the wall. Their eyes had met and he’d been fascinated to see the plea that was oh so clear in the other’s gaze.

If there was one thing he’d grown to know about the man, is he didn’t like to acknowledge when he’d have to accept help. But right now? That wavering gaze was practically begging.

‘Please, don’t say a word. Don’t tell them where I am.’

The avian frowned, thoughtful, but gave the slightest nod. The blond would keep to his word, it’d only make shit worst if he didn’t. Dream stared a moment longer before hurriedly ducking away when the attention was turned back to the teen.

He blinked, processing as he stared from one mercenary to the other in a quick flicker of his gaze.

Punz asked him to take Purpled to a guest room, okay then. He looked at the other teen, and Purpled stared right on back with that sharp gaze; if one thing was notable about the people from the other server, their eyes said a lot more than they’d ever say aloud.

But he’d do his part, then he could recollect himself and this absoute fucked situation.

~

Philza traced the portal with his eyes, sharp and piercing as he looked over every nick and cranny. After Tommy had told them everything was fine and that Purpled and Punz would come down for a talk when it got brighter, mostly everyone had either settled in the Pube to wait, or they’d headed off.

The elytrain didn’t blame them, it was early and dark, but he wasn’t too keen on just letting things go like that.

Sneeg seemed to readily agree, the inchling perched on his shoulder dutifully.

But well, one, the portal wasn’t even showing signs of lighting. Two, there was something just… wrong about it.

Though Phil couldn’t put a finger to it, he knew what the blocks should have looked like. He knew how it should have felt like. How it would have sat against itself and the world around it… but there was just…

Something off. Some piece of the puzzle that wasn’t quite clicking.

It was starting to bother him greatly, brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

He huffed, wings fluttering a bit with his growing bafflement, then Sneeg suddenly spoke up.

It was barely a whisper, but it was clear enough to make him freeze in realization.

“That’s not obsidian… Phil, that’s fucking bedrock.”

~

Dream was… unsure how long he’d been sat there, curled up as tightly as he could to stay away from sight.

His chest hurt, his face felt flushed, and for the life of him, he couldn’t focus on anything. He was still shivering, trembling more like it, but that was fine.

Everything was fine as long as he wasn’t caught. He’d be fine. No one could find him, no one knew where he was… wait someone knew, who knew again?

His breathing hitched sharply. Who knew he was here? Dream grabbed at his hair, running his fingers through it as he bit down into his lower lip. Had to keep quiet had to keep quiet had to keep quiet— a low whine clawed desperately up from his chest, snaking its way towards his throat.

The admin swallowed sharply, once, twice. He couldn’t make a sound… he couldn’t let them kno—

Something touched him and he froze as his gaze darted to find the source. Through the mess of tears and haze of panic, the man saw a figure crouched there awkwardly, hand retracting quickly as they noticed his startled stare.

~

The avian stayed still as he watched Dream, the blond looking absolutely spaced out his own head. 

He was seemingly panicking, eyes wide and wild, hair a mess, clothing ruffled and— shit. Was that blood? Why the fuck did Dream have blood on him now!? It was wiped across his face, dripped across the fucking floor, and soaked into his shirt.

He leaned in with a frown. “What the fuck did you do now, dumbass?”

Tommy wasn’t quite sure if the guy was even all that aware of what was happening, though he had reacted to Tommy poking him, so that was something…?

He tried to grab one of the other’s hands, seeing if maybe he’d gotten a cut or something when the other simply twitched away.

“Hey, can you jus—“

Before he had any time to say anything else or react really, Dream had struck out to grab him by the collar of his shirt. He was drawn close, the older’s breath sharp against his skin as a hiss curled cruelly into his ear.

“S-Shut up.”

Tommy tensed but nodded, curious when Dream released him slowly. Those dull green eyes were glazed over, watery and puffy, but there was something deeper in them that made the teen’s brow knit together thoughtfully.

The man didn’t seem to care for his observation though, looking away back down the hall finally. In barely a breath, he heard a shaky exhale.

“C—an’t go, g-go back, can’t do, d-do it any—anymore…”

The teen sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair as he simply moved to lean against the wall sat just shy of Dream’s little hide-away. 

Kinda looked like someone had maybe attended to make a small storage closet there, something that was out of sight but they just never got around to it. Not like Tommy blamed them, there were so many absent projects around that fell to the wayside.

“You need to take some deep breaths, man. You’re going to give yourself like a fucking heart attack.” Tommy fiddled with his tail feathers as he adjusted himself to be more comfortable. “Purpled’s sleeping y’know?”

No real response, just a low mumble.

Tommy rolled his eyes and decided he’d keep talking. “I get you’re fucked up about whatever happened with your server, but you seriously can’t keep doing this, like seriously, just.” He tapped his fingers against his leg now. “Just… I might not like you, but this, uh, this isn’t okay, you know?”

“Panic attacks suck and all, but you can’t keep denying them and hope they just magically go away. It won’t help with shit, and I’m not going to pretend to know what’s happening or what’s going to fucking happen, but we made a deal, right?”

He glanced towards the man, cautious. Dream had his legs pulled up to his chest now, face pressed against his knees. He was still sniffling and taking in ragged breaths, but maybe some of what he was saying was getting through to the guy?

Tommy sighed, “I don’t know what your Tommy’s all about, but I keep to my fucking word, got it prick? I’m not selling you out because like it or not, we got to fucking work together. So just… I don’t know. Ask for help?”

There was a low, bitter chuckle. His eyes darted over and through that tangled hair a tired gaze was just barely looking back. But hey! It was a response!

“Seriously. Torture isn’t cool, man.” A quirked brow and Tommy made an offended noise. “Don’t give me that look you absoute bastard, I’m sticking by that.”

Dream shook his head faintly, wiping at his face roughly. “I w-wouldn’t… wouldn’t say it was… unfair.”

“Doesn’t make it right either.”

A scoff, Dream looked away.

“Just… ugh, I don’t know!” Tommy ran his hands through his hair with a sharp inhale. He held his breath for a few seconds, closing his eyes, then he exhaled slowly. “Alright. Just… here.”

He slipped a hand into one pocket, digging about his inventory before pulling out an enderpearl. He stared at it, adjusted it within his grasp, then he turned towards Dream once more.

Tommy gestured it towards the man, “You take this. And… and just stay out of sight? And if you do, uh, do ever, I dunno, get caught, you just fucking get out? Yeah?”

This had certainly gotten the other’s attention, Dream’s eyes latched onto the pearl. He blinked, wiped at his eyes sharply, then looked at Tommy with a furrowed brow.

“I— w-what?”

The avian rolled his eyes, “Fucking take the pearl.”

When the other didn’t make a move to do so, Tommy simply tossed it at him. Dream managed to catch it, shoulders raising sharply as he sputtered.

“Just keep that in case you need it. Now, fucking, I’m going to get a health pot and a band-aid, you know you’re bleeding, right?”

Dream was simply staring at the enderpearl now, rotating it slowly from where it was held up by blood-stained fingers. Tommy could see the cut in his palm that was no doubtedly the source of said blood.

“I… okay. I’ll be right back.”

And as he stood up, shaking out one leg that had started getting pins and needles, he heard a low whisper. It was barely audible, and it was probably his imagination, but for one little moment it sounded as though Dream had said ’Thank you.’

Yet, as he shot a baffled glance to Dream, the man was already curled back in on himself, enderpearl held tightly in his fist. His breathing was still rasped, but not as erratic as it had been.

The avian shook his head faintly and went to grab the potion and bandages as he’d said he would.

He should probably go back to bed after this. He was starting to hear things now.

Chapter 20: Announcement

Howdy readers, so well seeing as this along with a few other of my incomplete dsmp works have been the most enjoyed, I figured I’d try to figure this shit out going forth.

This work has fallen into infrequent updates and uncertainty as new information and drama has come out about several content creators involved with the smp.

My works do not dabble in dealing with the content creators themselves, but they left their mark on these characters all the same. 

And as so, it leaves these unfinished works in a particular kind of limbo. Where I genuinely enjoyed writing these stories and playing around with these characters vs. the fact these characters share names with people that have hurt others so deeply.

I know some of yall that followed my works for my dsmp works have seen my shift from these to other fandoms and writings as times gone by, but these works still have meant so much to me. I’ve enjoyed creating them, I’ve enjoyed sharing them with yall, and I’ve just loved having that interaction.

And I mean, hell that was the point! To share my writings with you all so that you could enjoy something! And I don’t want to just abandon this work or delete it or something else like that, I want to hear what you think and what you want to see.

So lemme know what yall want to see, we willing to see this work and some of the others to the end? Or are you happy with what we have now?

Chapter 21: A Tense Path

Summary:

Actions are taken, words are exchanged, things shift into place

Notes:

The people have spoken, here we go buckaroos!

Tommy was being a nosey little bastard. He knew that, others knew that, and he wasn’t going to apologize for it.

It’s not like they’d just tell him what the fuck was happening, afterall they kept claiming it was for his own ‘protection’ and blah blah blah shut the fuck up you fucking pricks Jesus fucking Christ.

They hadn’t protected him when he was younger, they hadn’t protected him when he needed them to, they hadn’t protected him when he called for them… they… hadn’t protected him.

So they could bloody well shove that claim up their own arses. It was fine, everything was fine.

He was capable, he had survived through wars, he’d fought in them, and he was tired of people forgetting about that.

He couldn’t forget, why did they get to? Why did he have to suffer through the nightmares and paranoia? Why did they get to keep on living their fucking lives when his still felt cold and dead?

Tommy wasn’t a kid, he hadn’t gotten that chance. But if there was one thing he was going to fight for, it was this legacy of his.

Everything had to have happened for some reason… why else did they all have to suffer through life? He had made a legacy here… some kind of mark on the world. It… it hadn’t been for nothing… right?

He may have lost time and time again, he may have been betrayed and killed, he may have had his moments of weakness, he may have lost allies and friends, but fuck it all to hell and back.

He’d seen hell. He’d spoken with the dead and damned. And sometimes he swore flames still burned upon his cold, motionless heart.

He wasn’t giving up, not yet.The blond glanced to his side, at the spectator besides him. He inhaled slowly then gave a steady exhale, cracking a smile that never quite reached his eyes anymore, “Ready?”

Ghostbur smiled back, hollow gaze and hollowed face. 

~

It was technically still dark outside, the sun having not even crested over the horizon, but the two mercenaries seemed to be in agreement that enough time had been wasted on rest.

Tommy had simply been sitting in here preening his feathers when they walked in, the two having briefly paused to look at him before the two sat down at one table. He’d simply wandered over to see what was going on, though by the time he’d grabbed a chair and pulled it over (some twat had apparently hoarded all the chairs off to the side), the two had gone silent.

The avian watched Punz and Purpled, now sat across from one another, eyes drifting from one mercenary to the other.

They seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, having a… staring contest? Or at least… he didn’t think they could speak telepathically? Unless they could? 

Wouldn’t that be fucked, if these weirdos could talk using just their minds… unless—

He opened his mouth, admittedly about to ask about telepathy when Purpled spoke, “Alright. Back and forth, I guess?”

Tommy straightened as his mouth clamped shut. He noted that while Punz’ gaze contuined to pierce right through Purpled, the teen had looked away towards the side, frowning in thought.

“Sounds good to me,” Punz leaned back, those sharp eyes glancing briefly to Tommy with an easy casualness. A slight smile was sent his way, self-assured and confident, the avian felt just the bit relieved that they seemed to be on the same page. Punz looked back to Purpled, gaze relaxing. “I’ll let you ask first.”

“Cool,” the alien picked at one of his frilly-type antenna with a thoughtful frown, “So. What are you doing here?”

Punz opened their hands with the purposeful air of a card-player reveling in their deck, “Well you see, it started with the prison’s alarm going off—“

~

Ghostbur was, despite his habit of being an airhead, surprisingly good with sneaking about. Tommy supposed that when you spend your free time either trying to scare people just for the hell of it in order to ignore the way your past self’s memories slipped away from you constantly, well such a thing is bound to happen.

Still, it certainly made bringing the spook along worth it.

Because while he would have preferred no one being around, it seemed the guards were still lingering about (though he could have sworn they had been busy with the manhunts going on for Dream).

Bad and Antfrost stalked along the outer wall’s border, glistening armor and dangerous weapons held simply on their hips and person. Thankfully for Tommy, it seemed they were consumed in their own matters as they whispered in low tones to one another.

It would make sneaking past them even easier. 

Though… he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about whatever topic it was they were discussing. The tension that struck through the two was palpable.

Tommy could see how tightly Antfrost’s ears were pressed against his head, tail lashing and face drawn into a tight, pinched expression. Bad didn’t look like he was in much of a better mood, the púca wringing his clawed hands as he stalked along quickly on his hooves, tufted tail and ears twitching in paranoid flicks.

As he crept closer with Ghostbur’s hand held tightly in his own (cold and still fingers clutched in his shaky tremble), Tommy took one last moment to think about what he was doing.

Was breaking into the prison to start his own investigation the most surefire plan he had had to date? Not really. Did he particularly care? No.

Either he’d find Dream and make him pay, or he’d die trying. The back of his head throbbed. He just hoped Tubbo wouldn’t worry too badly.

~

To be honest, the more that Purpled and Punz got speaking into server politics and  shit like that, the less he found himself actually caring to listen.

Afterall, Tommy didn’t even know most of the names or places being thrown out, he could barely even keep track of the rapid back and forth involving the two’s theories and speculations. Their discussion jumped about so much and he just really wanted to take a moment to shut his eyes and fucking… fucking exist.

Tommy was… tired. Well, maybe that wasn’t quite the right word? It was more like he felt… drained. Yeah… yeah that was it, he was fucking drained. This whole scenario was a fucking train wreck! And sure, maybe Dream hadn’t tried to kill him for at least a week, and sure, Punz had almost been pleasant the last time he genuinely talked with them, and sure, Purpled seemed to be less suspicious about their server’s possible involvement with the escaped fugitive the alien was tracking… but still.

No one was any closer to figuring out this fucked up teleportation bullshit, no one knew if someone else would come out of thin air, no one knew what to expe—

The avian quietly stood up, pausing when the motion made both Purpled and Punz swing about to stare at him. Their gazes were untrusting (more so Purpled’s than Punz’) and intense, but thankfully with a ‘Chill out, I’m heading home!’, they turned back to their conversation. He relaxed, sighing, and heading up the nearby ladder.

Honestly, he just didn’t have the energy for this anymore, all the wonder having long since been bleed from him.

Tommy just… wanted to sit down away from it all, hell, maybe even watch the sunrise come up.

This… this would be fine. Everything… was going to be fine.

Yeah? He nodded to himself, trying to steady himself.

Prime… Tommy paused to check Dream’s previous little hidey-hole (he didn’t know if it was more or less comforting to see the dude not hunched in there like a rabid animal) and with a shake of the head, he moved along to go onto the outside balcony (or well, technically Phil’s landing pad, but it was also a cool place to chill).

The first thing he noticed was how oddly nippy the morning air was, feathers ruffling up to keep himself warm as he shivered.

The second thing he noticed was that the sun was infact starting to creep over the horizon. The avian wandered over, took a moment to breath, and with a faint little smile, sat down on the edge to observe.

He deserved this quiet moment.

~

You do not understand what is at risk here. 

His mind kept circling back to the supposed god’s hissed warning. Foolish hurrying along to find what XD had told him to look for. It had to be somewhere around here… had to be somewhere—

He stopped, eyes narrowing. A black, coiled vine lay strangled and decayed in the cracks of the prime path. It wasn’t notable, it wasn’t all that impressive, but it was different.

Like when you notice something just slightly off-kilter, an odd sort of charge lingering with just enough energy to make the hairs on the back of your neck raise.

Letting his pickaxe and shovel appear in his hotbar, the totem began to dig. If what XD had said was true… if he really did find… he swallowed anxiously.

They would be royally fucked.

~

Ranboo strode along regally after leaving Scott to his own dealings, having merely been drawn out by his own curiosity rather than any hinting of concern.

(Tommy would have told them if something were amiss, afterall, and as long as the avian seemed assured things were under control, well that worked well enough for the enderain as well.)

It was odd to think that another one of those strangers had found their way onto the server, annoying more so, but well, so be it. It’s not like Ranboo themself was a stranger to portals either, they had their place and use, even if terribly tricky to manage.

The issue now came to what he would do with himself until the server began to rouse, sure could he go bother someone else such as Tubbo or Tommy, very well he could’ve, but he figured to let them rest.

A very gracious thing for him to do, mind you, but it left them ever so bored.

It was for this reason that they had taken to a semi-aware sort of wandering, just kind of letting his feet take him wherever as their thoughts drifted from one absent thing to the next. It was pleasant enough business, particularly with how refreshing and crisp the early morning air was.

It kissed along his face with a caring grace, familiar in a way he swore he was fine with missing. The sky was clear and prideful, stars glinting where they still clung, the hints of the sun’s rising barely creeping over the horizon. The mobs, for the most part, absent all together.

Occasionally the rattle of a skeleton or the hiss of a spider would make him look over, but with a dismissive thought and simple teleport, well it was no matter to genuinely be concerned about.

The only real disturbance came when, as the minutes dragged on and the sky brightened, he figured to start heading back in the direction of the pub. He just, well, wasn’t expecting to nearly run into someone as he did so.

Perhaps Ranboo had been much too occupied with looking at the swathe of colors spreading their influence against the dawn’s touch, perhaps the other hadn’t been all that thoughtful to the fact others could very well be walking around like him, perhaps they both simply didn’t care enough to make way for another who they thought should yield to their path.

Whatever reason it was, it sure enough caused them to just nearly bump into each other, Ranboo flinching as the other— Dream, his mind quickly supplied— jerked back with a snarl on his lips and a glare in his eyes.

They stood like that for a moment, Ranboo sneering with a building irritation as dull green eyes narrowed against his own gaze, Dream in an odd half-recoiled, half-raised stance. As though deciding whether this was an opportunity more beneficial of a fight or flight.

Thankfully, as Ranboo really did not feel like dealing with either option, Dream slowly uncurled and simply stood with a passive frown. Freeze it was. “What… are you doing out here?”

As everything spoken by the man, his words were suspicious and demanding. Ranboo snorted, words just as acidic, “I could ask you the same.”

“Very well, then ask.” A light quirk of the lip, a slight amusement that made the enderain give brief pause.

Ranboo tsked, “I don’t care, just stay out of my way.”

Dream’s smile slimmed, eyes narrowing, “Oh, how about you watch where you’re going next time?” While the enderain felt the words already getting under his skin, there was something else in the other’s tone that made them stop.

It was… difficult to put his finger on exactly, but there had been… something off in the way the other had spoken. Some slight pitch at the end of his statement that didn’t sound quite right. 

“What… are you doing out here, actually?” One of Ranboo’s long ears twitched. Dream didn’t respond, tensing as though readying for something. Ranboo coaxed his voice into a more lazy tone, “It’s kind of cold, you know?”

And as he said that, the enderain couldn’t help but find curiosity taking the lead now. He leaned in to stare the man over, noticing with an idle flick of the tail how Dream shrank back.

“Cat got your tongue?” His tail swung back and forth a bit quicker. 

Dream cleared his throat, looking off to the side sharply, “How’s that any of your business?”

“I’d say your actions became my business when you fucking shot an arrow through my ear on the old server.” If the admin caught the way his teeth bared as his lips drew back, the bastard didn’t say a damn thing about it. “So what are you up to? Hm?”

The man stepped back, “J-just a walk.”

Ranboo’s tail flicked sharper, “Now that wasn’t too hard to say, was it?”

The blond glared at him, shoving past with such sudden aggression that the enderain admittedly stumbled. They blinked, ears flicking back with a deep growl.

“Hey!” He hurried to catch up, teleporting sharply, “Watch it!” 

“How about you stay out of my fucking way?” The other snapped in turn.

“Damn, okay!” Ranboo crossed his arms but didn’t leave, walking side-by-side with the asshole. He was not just going to leave after that! “Jerk.”

The man didn't respond, one scarred, pale hand simply moving to fidget with his mess of hair. Looked like the guy had been doing that for some time, seeing as his head looked like a fucking rat nest.

He reached out a hand, annoyed that someone would just go about looking like such utter shit. He didn’t get much opportunity to actually do anything as a hand snapped up like a vice, squeezing Ranboo’s thin wrist in warning.

“What. Are. You. Doing,” Dream hissed, eyes glaring up through the tangles of hair.

Ranboo squirmed a bit, baring his teeth, “Well sorrrrryyyyy for trying to help!” 

The hand was yanked down, dragging the startled prince down with it. He stared wide-eyed as the admin’s tone darkened. “Don’t. Touch. Me.”

Dream let go after a moment, exhaling harshly as he wiped his hand furiously against the plain gray shirt he was wearing. Hm. Ranboo couldn’t help but wonder who’d given the guy some new changes of clothes, rubbing his wrist sorely.

He scowled, tail lashing sharply as he looked down at his arm. As the admin began to walk off, Ranboo remembered something that he’d heard Tommy mention. That damn truce…

The enderain spoke up loudly, “You better hope my arm doesn’t bruise~! Or else you’re little deal with Tommy’s fuuuuuucked~”

The purr of his words seemed to hit just right, Dream turning slowly. “What?”

The enderain strode on over, watching a flicker of fear cross the man’s face. While it soothed some of his hurt pride, it didn’t sit quite right. He swallowed and pushed on, easing a finger to boop Dream on the nose. “I said, you better hope no one figures out you, tried to hurt, me~” He moved to look over the guy’s hair again, annoyance rising at the knots he spotted.

The man didn’t move, swallowing thickly. “I… I—“

“—but~!” The other’s attention was hooked ever-too-easily. “I may… consider being quiet about your little… attitude… ifffff~”

“If what?”

Ranboo grinned widely, “You let me do your hair.”

Dream blinked, blinked again, then looked up at Ranboo making a face. The prince stared back, dead serious.

“I’m sorry, what?”

The enderain moved to let his tail swat the other as he circled him. “You heard me~!”

“You… want to do… my hair…?”

“Correct.” He turned around again, rocking on his heels as he narrowed his gaze. “How about it?”

The man just stared at him as though he had grown a second head, clear confusion colored across his face with such clarity it almost made them laugh aloud. Ranboo managed to hold their tongue though, humming softly as the other seemed to realize he was being serious.

“Why…?”

“I’m bored.”

That was not the answer the man seemed to have expected, “You’re… bored.”

He smiled.

The admin frowned.

They stared at one another, Ranboo unblinking and unrelenting. Dream’s shoulders slumped as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “…sure.”

The enderain hummed approvingly before grabbing the other’s arm and teleporting them away. Ignoring the other’s startled yell, Ranboo couldn’t help but muse how funny this was going to be. Besides! Tommy could use the break!

Notes:

Yall get endersmile duo as a treat <3