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“I’ll be back, duckling. It will probably be a long time, but I will be back, okay?” The sheep woman’s wooly hair flowed in the wind behind her as she crouched next to the little boy with the soft blond hair. He sniffed loudly and nodded, rubbing at his eyes, “Come back soon, Mama.” He spoke. Puffy laid a kiss upon her son’s head and stood, “I promise. You be nice for Bad while I’m gone though, okay?” She answered with a fond smile, although her tone was strict.
Dream nodded his little head again, perking up a little at hearing Bad’s name. He loved being able to hang out with his friend Sapnap, and staying with Bad will give him more time to spend with him. Puffy roughed up the boy’s hair and turned away, towards her pirate crew patiently waiting for her at the dock. Puffy spared one last glance at her son before walking down the docks to her new ship. Her heart already ached for the childhood she would never get to watch her son experience, but she knew that it was safer for him to stay behind than follow her out into the open seas. This was something she had to do, and she hoped her duckling didn’t think ill of her if she was gone longer than she anticipated.
The sheep woman’s friend watched after her as she departed, putting a reassuring hand on Dream’s head, causing the boy’s big green eyes to tilt upwards toward the demon. Bad flashed him a gentle smile before crouching down next to him, “You’re going to love it at my place! Don’t tell him I said it, but Skeppy makes some awesome meals, and I think you’ll enjoy them!” The man spoke enthusiastically, his voice pitched up despite his dark appearance. Dream couldn’t help but giggle at the demon man’s words, flashing him a toothy grin.
Bad straightened again and offered his hand for Dream to take. The boy took it gratefully and the two started off in the opposite direction of his mother.
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Dream stared at the shore near the docks, his blond fringe floating over his vision. It had been a decade since his mother had disappeared over the horizon in her fancy ship. Every day he asked Bad or Skeppy if they had received anything from her on word of her return, and every day they said the same thing-not yet, but soon I’m sure. He wondered what was so important that she needed to leave him behind in favor of taking off with her pirate friends.
He had heard tales of her old pirating days from her when he was younger and found himself marvelled by some of the lands she spoke of, but now he felt the sour taste in his mouth as he thought of some of those aged stories of a woman he barely knew at this point. He still loved her-he would love her always-but he just wished he could see or hear something about her to reassure him she would come back to him. He loved Bad and Skeppy like his own parents, but he longed for his mother.
A warm hand clapped onto his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts suddenly. His head swung quickly to meet his brother’s warm brown eyes, “I knew I’d find you down here. Doesn’t it get boring looking at the same shore every day?” Sapnap’s higher pitched voice asked as he came to stand beside Dream. Dream could feel his negative emotions burning away at the suddenly warm presence beside him, lulled by the heat Sapnap naturally gave off. Sapnap watched the blond’s brows unfurrow slightly and his fists unclench, a sense of pride warming his heart imperceptibly.
“Do you think she’ll come back for me soon?” Dream asked finally in answer, his green eyes turning to focus on the distant sea once again, “Captain Puffy? Of course she will! She’s the best damn parent this land has seen and if she doesn’t come back once her important pirate mission is over, she’ll have thrown us all for a loop.” Sapnap assured his friend. He, too, had heard stories of Puffy’s legendary pirate crew and the wealth they brought to the SMP. He had told Dream just how jealous he was that he had such a badass parent. Dream had nudged him and reminded him that one of his fathers was literally a demon and the two had laughed.
Dream leaned against the brunette’s shoulder and hummed lightly to himself, “I do wonder what she’s off doing right now, and if she wishes I was there with her.” He thought aloud. Sapnap looked into the ocean, “I’m sure it’s something dangerous if she left you behind. Bad and Skeppy tell me how much she loves you, Dream. I can’t see her leaving you behind if she wasn’t sure you could be in danger.” He answered softly, watching the waves crash near their feet.
Dream laid his head briefly against Sapnap’s, “I guess you’re right. I just really miss her. I barely remember her at this point.” He murmured bitterly, although his tone was flat, “It’s okay to miss her, she’s your mom! I’m sure she misses you a lot as well.”
“I hope she misses me half as much as I miss her.”
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Puffy leaned against the rails of the ship out in the open air. Her hair had gotten quite long over the years being on the sea. She frowned at it as it whipped behind her and thumped against her back. She figured she would cut it when she got back, as it wouldn’t be much longer. Her thoughts strayed to her little duckling and she felt the familiar ache in her chest as she wondered how he had grown. It had been so long since she had seen him. Did he look like a mature adult, or did he still have the baby face she had left behind?
One of her crew stopped in front of her, “Captain, maam, we’ll be hitting shore here shortly. After we gather the items from this island, we’ll begin our journey back to the SMP.” They reported earnestly. Puffy nodded, “Very well. Let us get this over with, so I can return home to my duckling before he’s old.” The crewmate nodded and hurried off to help with the preparations.
Puffy looked out into the sea, her blue eyes shining, “I’ll be back soon, son. Be well for a little while longer.” She whispered under her breath before turning and hurrying off to help the rest of her crew.
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Dream sat against the trunk of a tree in the nearby woods, humming to himself as Sapnap lounged nearby. Sapnap had convinced the blond to come into the woods and hang out instead of staring at the same monotonous ocean day after day. At least if they went out to the forest, the landscape changed and he could do something to entertain himself. He knew it meant a lot to Dream that he always came to keep him company, despite the fact that he didn’t really care all that much.
Sapnap toyed with a piece of metal he had found on the ground on the way into the clearing, frowning as his natural body heat quickly heated the metal up until it was hot to the touch. He tossed it aside and the bushes crunched as branches were broken by the weight of the chunk.
“Hey! How would you like it if I broke your home with an unknown material?” An unfamiliar voice spoke from the bushes, his voice the same upper pitch of the boys sat nearby. Sapnap and Dream sat up immediately at the sound of the voice, Dream almost falling out of the tree before gaining his balance again. Dream jumped down next to his brother as he got to his feet, “Who’s there?” Sapnap called into the brush, stepping up to protect Dream unconsciously.
A boy walked out of the brush. His face was all about soft features and a sense of ethereal beauty. Both of the brothers were taken off guard at first by the boy’s appearance, “I should be asking you that question. This is my home.” The pretty brunette boy spoke, an accent becoming more noticeable as he spoke more. Dream brushed his blond hair out of his face, “My name is Dream, and this is my brother Sapnap. We live nearby in the Badlands.” He greeted, patting the familiar brunette’s shoulder both as a form of calming Sapnap down and as helping the other connect the names.
Dream noticed suddenly that the boy had two separate colored eyes. Sapnap seemed to notice at the same moment, “Whoa! You have two different colored eyes! What’s that called, Dream? Hetero-chromia?” Sapnap spoke up with a grin, looking back at Dream, drawing out the word as he thought of it. Dream nodded. The other boy seemed surprised by Sapnap’s reaction, “You’re not from around here, are you?” He asked.
Sapnap and Dream shook their heads, “So you live here in the forest? Do you have a house nearby or something?” Dream asked curiously, moving up next to Sapnap now that he was sure they were safe. The brunette with the multicolored eyes shrugged, running a hand over his pointed ear absently, but directing the boys towards his unnaturally different appearance, “Sapnap, his ears are kind of like yours.” Dream whispered to the boy next to him and Sapnap nodded, a hand going up to his own slightly pointed ear.
“I live here in the forest, yes. I guess I have a house around here.” The boy answered after a moment, “And my name is George, by the way.” He added. Dream smiled politely, “It’s nice to meet you, George. I hope we can get to know each other better.” George’s blue and brown eyes looked back at the two unfamiliar boys and he smiled slightly, “As long as you don’t go and throw more random pieces of metal on the ground, I think we’ll get along just fine.”
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Puffy sat at the bow of her ship, her eyes trained on the shore as they went along. The crew had gone through the island in a little over a month and found all that they needed to find, and now the last 5 years had been their journey back to the SMP. Puffy frowned as she thought of how long she had been gone-she had never anticipated to get as far away from the SMP as she had. She missed her duckling terribly, and she hoped he still remembered her fondly.
The spoils from the islands she had plundered were meant only as a way to further the SMP and its land, but she wondered briefly if they were even needed anymore now that it had been almost two full decades since she had set out for them. Her eyes traced the horizon once again, and she felt a spark of joy at seeing the familiar docks far off, but quickly approaching. She would be home soon, and she hoped her duckling was there waiting for her.
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The din of the ship drowned out the noise of the waves as Puffy dodged her crew to get to the edge of the ship. She scoured the docks as she looked for any boy that may have been her son. As the crew dropped the plank against the docks’ wooden base, her eyes landed on someone familiar, who stared at the ship from a distance. Puffy’s blue eyes bore into the soft brown ones of a young man, one that she could never forget.
Sapnap smiled sadly at the pirate woman as she turned and hurried down the plank off of the ship. His longish brown hair blew from the sea’s wind and he shoved it away from his face as Puffy barrelled towards him and tackled him in a tight hug, “Sapnap! Oh you’ve gotten so big!” Her voice had become slightly shrill in her excitement. Sapnap wrapped his arms around the familiar figure and held onto her tightly, “I’ve missed you so much, Captain…” He spoke softly, his sad voice almost drowned out by the business around them.
Puffy pulled away to look at him from an arm’s length, “How are you? How is Bad, and Skeppy?” She asked quickly, her eyes searching the man’s face in her rush, “I’m...good. We’re doing good.” Sapnap answered after a small hesitation, “And my duckling? How is Dream? Is he as handsome as you are?” She carried on after his answer. Sapnap’s face changed slightly at hearing her son’s name and he hesitated again. Puffy blinked at his hesitation and she slowly dropped her hands, trailing them down the man’s warm arms.
Mercifully, he was spared from answering right away as a voice drifted through the end, “Sapnap? There you are. I was wondering where you had disappeared to.” A masculine voice spoke as a young man with scraggly brown hair and pointed ears, came to stand behind the other man. Sapnap brightened up a little at seeing his friend join him, “Oh, George, hi. Captain, this is George, he’s a sprite that we met a long time ago. He’s one of our friends.” Sapnap greeted, turning back to the pirate captain after he had said his piece to George.
Puffy smiled sweetly at seeing the man with the unusual beauty, “It’s nice to meet you George. I’m Captain Puffy. I’m Dream’s mom and a pirate captain for the SMP.” She introduced herself, holding a hand out for George to shake. George slowly took the woman’s hand and shook it, “Dream’s mom, you say? He talked about you a lot when we first met.” He greeted in return. Sapnap clenched his fists lightly.
“Where is my duckling? I figured he would be here waiting for me.” Puffy asked as she looked between the two, “Well, you see Captain…He-” Sapnap started, but was cut off once again.
“Mama?” A shocked voice cut Sapnap off and Puffy turned towards it immediately. There stood a man with blond hair and green attire, a mask with a dopey smile clasped upon his face. Puffy’s eyes widened and she could feel small tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, “Duckling? Dream?” She breathed, in awe of just how big her son had gotten.
Dream seemed rooted to the spot, unsure if he should move to greet his mother or not. Puffy, on the other hand, wasted no time in hurrying over to the man she now recognized as her son and wrapping him in a hug unlike anything Dream had felt in a long time, “Oh Dream, I’ve missed you so much. You’ve grown so much.” She whispered to her son, her voice betraying how emotional she was. Dream slowly wrapped his arms around his mother, “I missed you too, Mama…” He murmured softly. Puffy breathed in the scent that was simultaneously her young duckling’s and that of the young man she hardly knew. The two hugged for quite a few moments before Dream pushed the sheep woman away and looked down at her, “I have to go.” He said in a rush before turning and walking away without a second glance.
Puffy stared at her son with a forlorn expression and Sapnap walked up to the shorter woman, “Was he not happy to see me?” She asked, her voice cracking at the end, “Captain, Dream’s...changed.” Sapnap started, “He’s not the same person I met out in my forest, that’s for sure.” George added as he came to stand beside Sapnap, lifting his goggles to turn his troubled heterochromatic eyes on Puffy.
Puffy turned her head to look at the two boys that knew her son the best, “How has he changed? Surely he’s still my boy.” She almost pleaded. Sapnap glanced at George and the two shared a pained look, “I don’t know if he is anymore, Puffy. He’s different. Violent. Apathetic.” He spoke at last, his brown eyes searching Puffy’s face. Her face crumbled at hearing his words, “Violent? How violent?” She could barely muster the strength to project her voice.
“He supplied the tnt that blew up a nation. And he did it with glee.” Sapnap answered. He wished more than anything that he didn’t need to tell his best friend’s-his brother’s-mother just how twisted he had become while she was away, but he couldn’t let her find out on her own. George’s hand bumped Sapnap’s comfortingly, “We’re here for you, though, Puffy. We know how hard it is.” George added lightly, trying his best to reassure the woman he barely knew.
Puffy looked at the two once again before collecting herself, “I have a crew to help. I’ll be down here unloading the loot. Let me know if you need anything.” She spoke dismissively, giving the two’s hands a tight squeeze before turning and walking off. Sapnap and George watched her walk a little bit before turning back towards them, “Tell Dream Mama loves him.” She spoke, turning around and continuing on down the dock without waiting for an answer. She felt her heart crack as Sapnap and George’s words echoed through her. What had happened to her duckling while she was away?