Chapter Text
After falling for what felt like hours, days? Or maybe just a few minutes, time hardly felt real anymore, the pounding behind Dream’s eyes began to subside and he began to make out his surroundings. Could he call it that? What was previously suffocating nothingness, that he could only compare to the likes of a blindness potion, was beginning to reveal a blurry night sky, like holes had been poked in the void around him and stars had descended from the heavens to grant him some relief. His free fall didn’t last long. Needles scraped his back and tugged at every loose curl and article of clothing as branches welcomed him to the material world with open arms. He tightened his grasp on the dragon egg, nearly forgetting it was there as he braced for impact. He hit the ground hard and flat on his back, the blow making his head spin and every bone in his body ache. He could see stars, and not just those peeking behind the branches that had just saved his life. After a long long time of processing his surroundings and what had just happened motionlessly, he loosened his grip on the poor dragon egg, bracing himself with an elbow as he attempted to raise himself to a sit- Nope.
He unceremoniously fell flat on his back once more, the aching in his whole body screaming louder in protest. It was a quiet night, a warm night, it wouldn’t hurt to rest just a little bit longer. He rested his eyes, calming his breathing that he hadn’t yet realized was labored and straining against whatever damage he had taken. It was nice, all he could hear was the far off chirping of some kind of bird and some cicadas. Silly bird, what could it be doing up at this hour? It would surely get eaten making all that fuss. Not that he had room to speak, surely everything in a kilometer of him heard his crash. That didn’t matter now. The sounds of the forest were almost reassuring, it had been a long time since he got to just rest like this. He loved his friends but they could be loud, and were night owls too. He managed to ignore the aching in his bones long enough to drift asleep, or maybe he was still dizzy from the fall, hadn’t he heard something about not falling asleep after a concussion? The thought passed through his sleepy mind but he did nothing to fight the rest he so desperately needed.
“Hey.” Five more minutes, please.
“Hey kid.” My head hurts like a motherfucker just five more- The disembodied voice began rattling him by the shoulder, not too roughly, it was actually quite gentle, but the pain from his fall was still ever present and startled him awake. “Are you okay? Who are you?” He opened his eyes, blinking away the sleepy haze that clouded his vision and trying to focus on the shape forming above him. It was crouched down beside him, a kind and worried expression across its face, it had blonde messy hair and a white hoodie, and its face… He knew that face. Did he know that face? He could’ve sworn it was a close friend of his but it was wrong. Where his friend had blue eyes and a short beard, this man had uncannily red eyes and scars painted across his face and arms.
“Luke…?” Dream rasped out, he internally cringed at his own voice, attempting to clear his throat only to fall into a coughing fit.
“Don’t hurt yourself kid. My name is Punz.” Luke handed him a potion bottle, urging him to sip it. He eyed it cautiously for only a moment before drinking. Just water. He drank down the rest of it rather quickly, propping himself on his elbow at a half-sit after returning the bottle. His other hand still firmly held the dragon egg, it was almost comforting, like a hard pillow of sorts, or a pet. “Sorry, that’s all I’ve got on me.”
“Dream” He responded much clearer this time, watching Luke’s face turn to that of bewilderment.
“Did you hit your head kid? Come on, what’s your real name?” Luke seemed almost disappointed in him.
“I told you man it’s Dream, that’s what my friends call me anyway. My name’s Clay but literally nobody calls me that.” He responded, becoming much more certain of himself and regaining his usual confidence, aside from a nervous laugh he let slip at the end. The man eyed him thoughtfully, standing up and offering a hand down to him.
“Right, where’d you find that thing anyway ‘Dream'?” Luke sneered, the mocking jab at the end was more belittling than probably intended, but it still didn’t sit right with him.
“This?” Dream looked down at the egg in his arms, gripping it tighter as he accepted Luke’s hand. “The End? Where else would I have got it?” He steadied himself, at least he was able to stand now, hopefully that meant nothing was broken.
“No, the mask that isn’t- Wait what? God kid you’re making no sense. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” Luke’s tone shifted from frustrated to concerned by the end of that, leaving a hand on Dream’s shoulder. Nothing made sense right now, maybe he was really concussed. Luke knew him, Luke knew his mask, Luke knew the End.
“I don’t know.” He did have a killer headache, he needed a health potion or something, standing up had made him dizzy again.
“Come on kid, let me take you to a doctor.” Luke began walking off into the woods and Dream followed. He seemed pretty lucky, he had fallen in a muddy clearing as opposed to the tall reeds and overgrown plants in these woods, he even bumped into a thorn or two while trying to follow the bright hoodie ahead of him.The two emerged from the heavy brush, standing on a path only a meter or so wide. Luke paused for a moment, looking at his surroundings before turning right and walking up the path. Dream hugged his egg a little tighter, unsure of his surroundings.These trees were clearly oak and birch but they didn’t look like any trees he knew, maybe he traveled too far last game? But then how did Luke find him? Was this even Luke? Now that his head was slightly clearer he was asking himself questions that he just felt stupid for not asking sooner.
It felt like they were walking for only twenty minutes or so when he heard the shouts of what sounded like other players ahead. He couldn’t quite tell if it was trouble or just some people having fun but he’d be lying to say he wasn’t curious. Luke sped up to a jog, emerging from the woods and topping a hill. He could see two familiar faces, Bad was fighting off a small zombie horde and Ant was placing torches around the area. The large open area seemed to be a plain or some cleared woods, but not so far away he could see large red vines emerging from the ground and spreading like some kind of gigantic gourd, they seemed to be all over the place actually. The area opened up to hills covered in houses and buildings large and small, this seemed like some kind of largely populated area, that was a relief, he hadn’t seen players aside from his friends in a long time. Bad finished off the zombies and jogged over.
“Hello Punz! How was the patrol?” Bad leaned down to talk to the human in a way that almost seemed thoughtless, like he didn’t see Luke- or ‘Punz’ as his equal, and it wasn’t just a height thing.
“Nothing too unusual, other than this guy.” Punz scruffed Dream’s hair like a child, which he definitely did not appreciate. “Some blood vines were removed just past the woods but I’ve replaced them. I didn’t get over past the Badlands' territory before I found this guy, I thought I’d take him to Ponk to get patched up before I continue my patrol.”
“I see, I can take him back, thank you.” Punz jogged off the way they came and Bad leaned down even further to talk to Dream, putting his hands on his knees like he was talking to a child. “What’s your name?”
“Dream.” He was getting a bit ticked off now. Why were people treating him like this? Why didn’t Bad know who he was? Now that he thought about it, Bad also seemed to have a few extra scars, and his cloak’s signature red trip was now an eerie gray. He tucked the egg he was still hugging away in his inventory.
“I think you must be confused-” Bad started, but Dream wasn’t having it.
“No I’m not. I’m Dream. What’s with you today? What’s with both of you today?” He snapped, to which Bad stood up to his full height, clearly surprised by his outburst. Bad seemed to think for a moment, narrowing his eyes at Dream.
“Dream’s a human, and you’re tiny.” Bad seemed to glare daggers into him, seeming to drop his nice persona now that Dream has challenged him.
“He looks pretty banged up, he’s probably delusional.” Antfrost hissed while walking up beside Bad. No, that wasn’t Ant. Whoever the siamese cat resembling his friend was, he wasn’t Ant. Ant didn’t have those piercing red eyes. His comment wasn’t all too inaccurate, now that he noticed it his hands and leg fleece were stained pink with blood. Was that his blood??? He forgot to respond, and the two continued talking without him.
“I told Punz I’d take him to Ponk to get patched up.” Bad gestured for Dream to follow and began walking towards a distant cobblestone path. Ant looked at him for a few moments before following behind him. The two were clad in full enchanted netherite armor and he only had iron, and his leggings had broken on his fall. Ant followed closely behind him with an ax out, and they walked in single file, it felt more like he was a prisoner being escorted than a stranger being taken to get medical care. Bad and the cat kept talking, but instead of the friendly banter of his pals, it sounded more like commanders discussing war in vague terms around an enemy. They traveled along the cobblestone path.
Dream was starting to lag behind, letting Antfrost pass him a bit. His fatigue was really catching up to him. He spaced out, observing the horizon blankly. Before he knew it he felt the ground below him change from smooth weathered cobblestones to old wooden planks, the ground below him was sun-bleached and uneven, small plants and red vines poked out from under the oak. He came to a sudden stop, bumping into Bad as he turned off the path. They continued across the grass and around a hill, stopping in front of a deep hole in the ground.
“After you.” Bad smiled at him, motioning to the hole and backing up. Dream peered down the hole cautiously, he could hear the hissing of many spiders below, but all he could see was a shallow pool to catch his fall. He stared down, every muscle in his body ached at the thought of jumping, of falling again, but he could feel the expectant stare of his demon friend drilling into the back of his head.
“Ugh.” Ant sighed, annoyance lacing his tone, although he couldn’t tell if it was directed at him or Bad. “Here, you’re in no condition to be jumping.” Ant handed him an ender pearl.
“Oh uh- thanks.” Dream gave Ant a slight smile back, peering down the hole. He hesitated for another long moment, dropping the pearl and bracing for whatever lies below.
He landed in the water below, tensing up before noticing the spiders locked behind various slabs to one side of the room. The room was almost cozy, made mostly of wood and well lit. To his left was a small indent to the wall, filled with hundreds of books with an enchantment table presented in the center. To his left he saw the aforementioned spiders, locked away in some kind of farm. He backed out of the water, now soaked to the bone and stumbled to his feet. The two accompanying him each jumped down the hole and landed much more gracefully than he did. Bad hadn’t even stopped to look at him before continuing down a small human-sized tunnel in the wall. He seemed to crouch to nearly half his height to fit. Ant looked back and waved for Dream to follow before continuing down the tunnel as well. Dream jogged for a moment to catch up, following down the claustrophobic stone hall until they reached the top of a staircase. The stone around it was infested with red vines big and small, and peering down the stairs it seems the stone was entirely overtaken by the growth. He followed them down, careful as to not trip on any stray roots, especially since some of the smaller ones seemed to have disproportionately large thorns. The staircase seemed to be much taller than the tunnel they had just left, his demonic friend was walking much more comfortably ahead of him despite being over twice his size.
“What is this place?” Dream asked, absently placing a hand on the wall beside him to descend more steadily, only to retract it once small thorns threatened the palm of his hand.
“It’s our base of operations.” Ant glanced back towards him, walking down the steep infested staircase with ease, as he had done so hundreds of times.
“Oh.” Any other response Dream had was snuffed out as they emerged into a massive underground room, he wasn’t quite sure what the walls were made of, as every surface in the room was coated in the same infestation he had seen on the way here. Various red tendrils hung from the ceiling, partially obscuring the source of it all, a large and proud red egg. It looked to be at least five times his height, sitting on a nest of massive red leaves that every vine in sight seemed to emerge from. The room smelled of sulfur and smoke. The only relief from the suffocating red of the room was various small pools of magma dotted around the room. Two figures stood not too far from the bottom of the stairs, on a path made of some kind of red wood. Crimson? Maybe, but none of the other flora here seems like anything I’ve seen before. They approached the two, who only just seemed to notice him.
“Punz found this guy in the woods, he looks pretty beat up, can you see what you can do?” The shorter one, wearing a balaclava and black hoodie walked over to him, hardly acknowledging him as a person with any sort of greeting before crouching and observing the wounds on his legs. Everyone here had the same eerie, almost glowing eyes. What is going on… The man crouched beside him stood up, pausing and staring at him thoughtfully before turning away, towards a door on the opposite side of the stairs as the large room they stood in.
“Follow me.” He said coldly, opening the door for Dream and staring expectantly. I’ve listened to everything else these people have told me to do, no point in stopping here. He walked into the room, looking back on the strange infested people resembling his friends as the man closed the door. The man waved towards a table, and he sat on the edge of it.
“Can you take your shirt off?” The man asked, he listened without a complaint. The man walked around the table, running some kind of wet cloth on the scrapes covering his back. It stung. It stung bad. He dipped the cloth in a basin filled with what he could assume was water, and watched as blood bloomed off the cloth and turned the water red. He pulled the cloth out again and began washing his legs.
“Aren’t you going to ask me anything?” Dream watched the doctor work, cleaning his wounds and doing his best to scrub blood out of white fleece. The man looked up at him for a moment, only pausing for a second before continuing to scrub the scrapes on his legs.
“What exactly happened here?” The man stood up once again to clean his cloth, and Dream could see that one of his hands seemed to be made of the same red infestation.
“I uh...” Dream hadn’t thought that far, there’s no way anyone would believe that he fell out of the sky. “I fell out of a tree.” The doctor made some noise of acknowledgement.
“Any other pain?”
“Yeah, my head is killing me and my ribs hurt.” He watched the doctor set down a cloth, feeling Dream’s ribs. He inhaled sharply as the doctor touched one of his lower ribs. The doctor sighed, grabbing a small light and shining it in his eyes.
“How long ago was this?” The doctor finally stopped working, stepping back and handing Dream his shirt. He slipped his shirt back on.
“Last night… I think.” He hopped off the table.
“Your ribs are probably bruised, keep your wounds clean and come see me if it gets infected. You’re not concussed or anything.” Huh, that was underwhelming. The doctor opened the door, staring at him as if expecting him to leave.
“Okay… Thank you.” Dream smiled, leaving and hearing the door slam behind him. Bad turned his head when the door slammed, breaking away from his conversation with the girl and Antfrost.
“How did it go?” Bad smiled at him, in an almost familiar way.
“Uh, fine I think.” Dream adjusted his shirt nervously, the creepiness of it all was starting to make him very uncomfortable.
“Would you like to spend the night here? It’ll be getting dark soon.” That didn’t make sense to Dream, he just woke up a few hours ago. Whatever, he was exhausted anyway.
“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” Dream smiled, letting Bad lead him to some bunks in the back of the large room.
“If you need anything just find me.” Bad waved and walked back to the two he was socializing with before. Dream laid down on one of the lower bunks, closing his eyes and letting sleep consume him.