Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dream smiled to himself as he finally finished up his Nether portal- the first one he had ever successfully made. All the rest had ended up being too small somehow- Dream really had no idea how he messed it up so many times-, but hey, he finally got it, and now he could finally see the Nether.

He had read about it in books, he had been told about it thousands of times, but he had never actually gone. But he was going to change that today.

He stared into the swirling purple of the portal, his heart picking up speed- whether it was out of excitement or anxiety, Dream wasn’t sure. He adjusted the mask on his face, taking in a deep breath before stepping inside.

His vision swam with the purple swirls as he went through to the other side, almost falling flat on his face- and he would have if he didn’t catch himself. He felt completely sick, and the heat that surrounded him immediately after going through didn’t help him feel any better.

Dream sat there for a few moments with his eyes closed, taking in breaths of the humid air as he tried not to throw up.

“Uh, hello?” Dream reached for his shining blue axe and stood, whipping around to face whoever just spoke to him, ready to attack if he needed to. But once he made eye contact with the person behind him, he froze up.

He hadn’t expected to see what looked like a blaze- a fire creature that Dream had heard and read about-, just… human. A Blazeborn, he remembered his mother telling him about them when he was a child.

Well, he still sort of was a child, but now he was seventeen. He had to be about ten when his mother told him about all the different hybrids out there.

The Blazeborn was shorter than him by quite a few inches, even with the bright golden yellow horns that stuck out the top of their head. Rods of a similar color to the horns slowly spun around them, and Dream had no doubt that they would probably burn him if he touched it. Maybe even the horns would burn him.

Their hands looked charred, completely black, other than glowing red and orange veins that ran along their hands, going up the arms and disappearing behind their clothing, which had burns and holes littered around- especially on the sleeves of their hoodie that they wore under their shirt.

Dream found himself wondering how the hell this Blazeborn could handle wearing a hoodie in this heat.

Other than that, and their red faded to yellow eyes, they looked completely human- even seeming to be around his age.

“You came from that portal, yeah?” The Blazeborn asked, stepping closer to him and his portal. “And you’re a Shulk… aren’t Shulks supposed to be purple?” Dream blinked a few times before narrowing his eyes on the Blazeborn, holding his axe up again.

It was true that most Shulks- what Dream was- were purple. Dream, however, was a bright, lime green instead. His mother told him it was probably because he hadn’t actually been born in the End, where most Shulks were, where it was all mostly purple- he had been born in the Overworld. His mother said he was probably green to match the environment a bit better.

The Blazeborn had lifted their hands in a defensive position when Dream lifted his axe, a ball of flame appearing in each of their hands.

“Yes, but I was born in the Overworld. For some reason, I’m green instead.” Dream wasn’t sure if the Blazeborn was going to attack him or anything, but it was better to stay defensive and ready. “You’re a Blazeborn?”

“Yup, just a normal Blazeborn,” They shrugged, the flames dying out as they put their hands to their side. “I’m not gonna kill you. I doubt I’d even be able to if I wanted to, you’re a Shulk .” Dream scoffed quietly, dropping his defensive stance.

“What are you doing out here? Don’t Blazeborns live in… fortresses?” They nodded.

“Yeah, but I left to try and find a way to the Overworld. I’ve never been there, and I’ve been looking for years,” They explained, a smile on their face. “You came from the overworld through that portal, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Dream glanced back at the portal for a moment before looking at the Blazeborn again. “Do you want to go back through with me?” The Blazeborns eyes lit up at that, the rods spinning around them spinning just a bit faster.

“Wait, are you serious?”

“Yeah, duh,” Dream scoffed, holding his hand out to the Blazeborn. He mostly had human skin, but his knuckles and parts of his fingers were covered in the protective shell that all Shulks had, just his were bright green. “I’m Dream.” The Blazeborn hesitated for a moment before taking his hand- and Dream understood exactly why he had hesitated.

His hands were fucking burning hot.

Dream yelped, ripping his hand away from the snickering Blazeborn, who clearly knew- or, at least, had a strong feeling- that was going to happen.

“Nick, but call me Sapnap.” Dream glared at the Blazeborn- at Sapnap- as he shook his hand in the air in an attempt to cool the burning sensation, but figured that he honestly probably should just hurry up and go back to the Overworld.

It was way too hot anyway.

“Come on, let’s go.” Dream debated warning Sapnap about the sickness he would probably feel when he went through the portal, but to get back at him, he decided not to. Instead, he motioned for Sapnap to go first, and he did, hesitantly stepping through the portal before disappearing to the Overworld.

Dream followed soon after him, feeling a little less sick compared to last time. He still felt like throwing up, but he hadn’t almost collapsed this time- Sapnap did, though, and he burst out laughing at the sight of the Blazeborn groaning on the floor, holding his stomach. The grass that he laid on had burned on contact with him, but luckily, the fire didn’t spread or anything.

“Welcome to the Overworld, Sapnap.” Sapnap shot him a glare before he sat up to glance around, and when he did, Dream watched his eyes widen at the sight of everything in front of him.

Sapnap had said that he had never been to the Overworld before, so that meant he probably had next to no idea on how anything was supposed to look or feel. He probably assumed a lot of it was like the Nether- Dream had seen a few, weird looking red trees when he had gone through the portal, where there was red ‘grass’ that crumbled under any touch.

Dream smiled at the look of pure amazement in his eyes, looking away to walk over to the nearest water source. He heard Sapnap walking behind him slowly, probably taking in the sights. The Shulk sat on his heels and dipped his hand into the freezing water, sighing softly at the feeling. He could already feel the burning pain disappear into an aching numb.

“Ow, shit!” Dream burst out laughing again as Sapnap yelped, pulling his hand back from the water. He had barely even touched the tip of his finger into the water. Dream noticed that the glowing red veins had faded where he touched the water, almost disappearing before it returned just as bright, just a few seconds later. “How the hell are you touching that?”

“You’re a Blazeborn, water hurts you,” Dream pulled his hand out of the water, shaking away the water- though he was mindful of where Sapnap stood, trying not to splash him at all. “I’m fine with water. Well, I don’t have a great time swimming… it’s hard to keep myself floating.”

“So that’s what water looks like?” Sapnap glanced down at his reflection in the water for a moment. “Huh. A bit different than I expected. It’s also… really cold here.”

“I mean, yeah, the Nether is really hot,” Dream chuckled, starting to make his way through the plains. The sun was just as high in the sky as it was when Dream left for the Nether, which was great- that meant no mobs would be out soon. Sapnap walked beside him, looking around at the birds and other animals that ran beside them. “Like the Overworld?”

“Yeah, actually,” Dream reached into his hood as Sapnap spoke- his whole hoodie was actually his Shulk shell, which he had formed into the hoodie shape. His pockets and the hood were his easy access storage- while they couldn’t hold much, especially the hood, it was easier to get to than the backpack he had. He stored a lot of his most important things in his pocket, while all his food stayed in his hood.

Originally, he had his food in his pocket for easy access, because he got so hungry so quickly, but he found that he would eat the food really fast. So, to make it more annoying to get to, he put the food in his hood- and it worked. It kept him from having to get more food all the time, and it kept him from just… eating too much in one sitting, too.

A frown came to Dream’s face when he realized he was actually out of food.

“I actually think if it was hotter here, I’d maybe stay here. It’s so pretty… just way too cold for me.”

“You could always come and go, live next to a portal in both the Nether and here.” Dream decided he’d worry about his food later.

“True,” Sapnap sighed. “I just know almost nothing about this place.”

“I can help you learn.” Dream shrugged, looking over at the Blazeborn, who quickly whipped around to look at him, eyes wide.

“Wait, really? Would you?” The rods spinning around Sapnap were spinning a bit faster again. “I- you really don’t have to! You don’t even know me!”

“Well, I mean… if you can teach me about the Nether and stuff too, I’d be more than happy to.”

“Hell yeah, dude!” Dream laughed a bit, a little surprised with himself at how much he enjoyed the company of this Blazeborn. Maybe it was because he had been travelling alone everywhere for so many years now, and having someone with so much energy, and knowing so much about the place he had been trying to get to for the past year…

Maybe he just missed having someone to talk to.

Chapter Text

“Why are we even walking around tonight?” Sapnap groaned loudly. Dream rolled his eyes at his best friend of nearly four years now, a smile coming to his face. The Blazeborn was dramatically dragging himself alongside him. They were currently exploring a new area, one where it seemed like other people had messed with some of the wildlife- mainly the trees and plants. There weren’t many animals around, either.

“I want to see if we can find anyone, someone, or a group of people- clearly people have gone through here!” They had been wandering around all day before this, taking breaks when either of them needed it. A lot of the time had been spent chasing down animals for food- even though Dream had plenty of food, enough to last him a few days without any worry, it didn’t hurt to have extra food.

“Okay, but can’t we, like- I don’t know, not spend the whole night searching for other people again?” Sapnap huffed, crossing his arms across his chest as they walked. “We did that not even a week ago. And it’s freezing tonight, I swear I’m going to die.”

“You aren’t going to die , Sap,” Dream wheezed. “If you really think you’re so freezing cold that you’re going to die, we can take a break and you can go to the Nether for a while. I didn’t forget to collect more obsidian this time.”

“About time you remembered me,” Dream rolled his eyes again, glancing up at the bright stars above. The moon was full and brighter than ever, making the Shulk smile a little to himself. He liked these calm nights, wandering with Sapnap. They wandered a lot- they wandered nearly every day, not staying in one place for basically the whole time they’ve known each other. The longest they’ve ever stayed in one place was when Sapnap had fallen into a lake and nearly died because of it. Dream ended up building them a small house, and they stayed there for maybe a week. But no matter how much they explored, it never got boring.

And when it started to, they’d go to the Nether to explore for as long as Dream could handle without completely burning up from the heat.

“I’m fine for now, though.” Dream hummed, looking back in front of them, a large plains stretching out as far as he could see. It was probably one of the biggest plains he had ever been in, and it made Dream question if maybe it hadn’t been this big before, and maybe the trees had been knocked down and cleared out. “Why do you want to find other people so bad, Dream?”

“I don’t, really,” He answered. “I just think it’d be cool to run into some other people, see if we can find anyone else like us.”

“It’s not like we’re that rare, Dream,” Sapnap laughed. “All of us are actually pretty common.”

“Yeah, but you don’t see many of us in the Overworld. I want to see just how many people are here, see how many I can meet.” Out of the corner of his eye, Dream could see that Sapnap had a playful smirk on his face.

“Not gonna try and replace me now, are you?” Dream scoffed.

“You know I won’t,” The shulk smiled at his best friend for a moment before looking back in front of them. He was surprised by how little mobs were out- but he didn’t mind it. Meant he didn’t have to put his deep purple axe to use. “Maybe we’ll find someone to travel with!”

“Yeah, right,” Now it was Sapnap’s turn to roll his eyes, apparently. “I don’t think many other people have the ability to travel quite as much as we do, Dream.”

“You never know!” Sapnap shook his head and mumbled something under his breath, but Dream didn’t question him. Instead, he let them fall into silence, other than his occasional hum of a random melody he came up with.

It was so weirdly peaceful that it should have put Dream on edge, but it didn’t. Honestly, he was only feeling a little on edge, but that was because he felt like someone was staring at him. But no one was, not even Sapnap, who kept making little fireballs in his hand before making them disappear.

“Dude, stop touching my backpack, what are you doing?” Sapnap suddenly spoke up, giving Dream a half hearted glare. Dream blinked at him a few times, confused.

“I’m not touching your backpack?”

“Bullshi-” Out of the corner of Dream’s eye, he caught a glimpse of Sapnap’s backpack moving a little, opening itself up. Sapnap now seemed to realize that it wasn’t Dream and ripped away from whatever was touching his backpack, holding it to his chest.

But before he got to rip his backpack away, a piece of food- a single apple- seemed to float out of the backpack, hovering just a little ways away.

“What the fuck?!” Sapnap set his backpack down and quickly threw one of his fireballs in the direction of the floating apple. The apple dropped to the floor as something- or, well, some one - yelped in surprise, a somewhat see through body appearing in front of them both, flying up to avoid the fireball.

Dream knew immediately that what was in front of them was a Phantom- not a normal phantom that appeared when you didn’t sleep for long periods of time, but a human version of a Phantom.

They had just large enough wings to fly, their wings a nice, somewhat deep shade of blue- just like a normal phantom, though it looked like there were little stars twinkling in them. They looked pretty much identical to a bat's wing, just seeming like they were withering away at the ends of them, bones showing through.

A boney, arrow tipped tail was pointed towards the ground, but other than that, and them being see-through, they looked like a person. Short- Dream could tell, even though they were floating above the ground by quite a bit-, a brunette. He couldn’t see their eyes, they were covered by a pair of white clout glasses. They were extremely pale- but that made perfect sense. Phantoms couldn’t go in the sun, otherwise they would literally start to burn.

Dream knew quite a bit about Phantoms in general, despite never knowing one. They were pretty rare to see, since often they were out at night only, but they were also often in their ghostly form, phasing through walls and impossible to see.

Dream’s mother had told him years ago that Phantoms were, apparently, pretty mischievous. They tended to mess around with people and steal their things, but mostly food- like this Phantom had been doing. But stealing food was mostly because they got hungry so quickly, and since most animals were hidden during the night, when they could be out, they couldn’t get anything... Unless they decided to farm.

This Phantom had just tried to steal some of their food- maybe they needed some? It didn’t look like they had bad intentions.

When Sapnap was about to throw more fireballs at the Phantom, Dream threw his arm out in front of him. Sapnap seemed to understand that he was telling him to stop, and the fireballs in his hands disappeared.

The Phantom was hovering much closer to the ground now, their feet only a couple inches off the ground. Without a word, Dream grabbed out at least half of the food in his hood, slowly making his way over to the Phantom with it all in his arms.

“Dream, what the hell are you doing?” Dream didn’t respond to Sapnap, smiling down at the Phantom, who just seemed to stare at him for a while. “Dream, you get so hungry so fast, why are you-”

“Here, take it,” Dream placed all the food he grabbed out into the Phantom’s arms, who pretty much held it to his chest. They still looked confused, which made Dream chuckle. “It’s for you. You’re hungry, right?”

“...Yeah.” Well, Dream certainly wasn’t expecting a British accent from the Phantom, who smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

“Of course!” Dream smiled back before turning to Sapnap, who stared at him like he was crazy. “Come on, Sap, let’s go.” He was so incredibly tempted to continue talking to the Phantom, but he remembered his mother telling him that, for the most part, Phantoms don’t like other people, and don’t like talking to others. So, he decided to leave the Phantom alone, no matter how much he wanted to talk to them.

And once they were a bit further away, Dream turned back for a moment, smiling to himself when his eyes fell on the Phantom, who was nibbling on some of the food he gave them, a soft smile on their face.

“Why did you do that?” Sapnap whispered, and Dream looked over at him. “They literally tried to steal our food, and you just gave some to them? You gave them so much! You’re going to-”

“They’re a Phantom, they get really hungry pretty quickly when they’re invisible like they were for long periods of time. Thought I should share.” He shrugged. “Besides, they seemed nice enough. Just hungry.”

“...I don’t think I’ll ever understand you, dude.”

Chapter Text

A few days later, and Dream was wandering around the little base he made with Sapnap. All that was inside the base, really, was a portal to the Nether for Sapnap- which was where the Blazeborn was right now-, and a few chests from Dream’s previous nights of mining. He was going to do the same again that night, but he decided against it.

It seemed like it would be a calm night, and he hadn’t fished in a long time- so, there he sat, on the sand, holding his fishing pole in hand as he waited for a fish to bite after wandering the area for about an hour. He had already caught quite a few fish, which he was happy about.

He had his axe at his side, just in arms reach for if something decided to come up behind him. It shined in the moonlight, brighter than it usually did since Dream had decided to clean it up the day before.

It was a bit colder than usual, but Dream didn’t mind all that much. The protective shell that encased some of his skin felt much colder than the rest of his body, but it made sense- they were basically like scales.

Dream sighed softly, physically adjusting the mask that settled over his face. The mask was also part of his protective shell, the one he could actually manipulate and move without even touching it- just like his hoodie. The mask wasn’t green though- he had decided that, as soon as he tried hovering it above his face for the first time, maybe white would look better. It meant that he kept having to dye it every now and again as the dye wore off, but it looked better than the bright lime green.

He took out an apple from his hood, taking a bite out of it as he watched the tiny waves. It was so quiet that, when he wasn’t chewing, he could just barely hear his own heart beating calmly in his chest.

It was getting pretty late, and he knew he should go to bed, but he couldn’t bring himself to move from his spot. It was so calm, and so peaceful- relaxing. Even though he was alone, Sapnap doing who knows what in the Nether, he felt so happy.

Before Sapnap joined him on his adventures, he was lonely- he just never noticed it before. The only people he had seen and talked to, he didn’t grow close to, or stay around them for long. His mother had left a while ago, on a trip that Dream wasn’t sure she was going to come back from, considering he waited for half a year. Her trips never took that long, and Dream couldn’t handle taking care of his baby sister without almost constant help.

He had decided to leave at the age of twelve, knowing very well that his little sister was going to be in good hands- with the people of the village he lived in. While everyone there was just human, pretty much all of them knew how to take care of a child Shulk, because Dream’s mother had taught so many people, so she didn’t have to worry on her trips.

It had ripped his heart into shreds saying goodbye to his baby sister, who had no idea why he was so upset while saying goodbye to her. He hoped he would see her again someday, he hoped that she wouldn’t hate him for leaving, but he couldn’t stay.

He wanted to find more people like him, and be like his mother- travel the world. But he chose land over sea when he could, unlike his mother. As much as he did love the sea, all it did was remind him of her, and the home he left, and all it did was make him add more salt to the sea with his tears.

Dream had gotten better about it over the years, before he even met Sapnap. He thought he was okay with being alone for just about five years, but as soon as he started travelling with Sapnap, he realized just how much he missed being close to someone.

And Sapnap knew where he was coming from.

When Dream revealed to him, about two years into their exploring, why he had left- telling him the whole story, not just the ‘I wanted to travel the world!’ bit-, Sapnap shared his own story.

Like Sapnap had said before, when they first met, he had wanted to go to the Overworld. He left the fortress he had been born in after a conversation with his parents, who were sad to let him leave, but let him go. He hadn’t looked for a way out of the Nether for nearly as long as Dream had spent exploring, but it was a good few years of aimless wandering. Apparently Sapnap had thought about going back home the day they met, and not even an hour later, he turned a corner just as his portal appeared.

Dream was so glad he had met Sapnap those years ago- he wasn’t quite sure where he’d be if he hadn’t ran into him that day. Would he still be exploring the world, or would he have gone back to home, or would he have settled down, alone?

He sighed to himself, reeling in his fishing rod before casting it out again, just to give him something to do with his hands. A small smile had settled on his face, watching the little bobber float along the water.

Dream dropped the fishing rod on the ground as something tapped on his shoulder. He grabbed his axe and stood up, whipping around to face whatever had snuck up behind him, ready to swing when he froze up.

For just a second, he saw a somewhat see-through body of someone that looked familiar. He stood there for a few seconds, staring at the air in front of him, searching through his brain for… whoever it could be.

And then it hit him.

“Oh! Hi, sorry- I didn’t mean to scare you,” It had been the Phantom he had given food to a few nights ago. And as soon as Dream let his weapon hang by his side, the Phantom revealed themself again, biting their lip nervously as they hovered just a couple inches off the ground. “It’s nice seeing you again.”

“Yeah, it is… uh...” The British Phantom cleared their throat, turning their head to the side. Dream tilted his head a bit before realizing why the Phantom had come back to him again.

“Are you out of food?” The Phantom nodded after a second of hesitation.

“I- I found you while I was just looking around, and I thought maybe I could ask you for some more?” They muttered. “Of course, you don’t have to give me any more food- it was really nice of you to do that at all, and I don’t expect you to do it again, especially since you’re a Shulk and I know you get hungry pretty quickly too, I just thought I’d ask, because no one has done that before, and-” While the Phantom ranted on and on, Dream reached into his hood and grabbed out about half of his food again, placing it in their arms- which quickly shut them up.

“Of course you can have more,” Dream chuckled. “I’m more than willing to help you out. I’m sure it’s really hard getting food as a Phantom, huh?”

“Yeah, it sucks,” The Phantom laughed, looking down at the food in their arms. “..Thank you, so much. It really means a lot.”

“Anytime.” Dream smiled. “What’s your name?”

“George.”

“I’m Dream, nice to meet you, George.” He would have held his hand out to shake with George, but since the Phantom’s arms were full, and he’d end up dropping all the food if he tried, he decided against it. “...It’s a bit to ask of you, but would you mind staying here a while? You don’t have to, of course. Just thought I’d ask.”

“...I’d actually really like that.” George grinned. “Where’s your friend, by the way? The Blazeborn?”

“Oh, Sapnap? He went to the Nether to warm up and rest for a while,” Dream sat back down on the sand, picking his rod back up- he was surprised it was even still there. He rested his axe at his side once more, George sitting on the other side of him, food in his lap. “Been collecting supplies and food while he’s been there, and even when he comes through to check on me.”

“Do you two explore a lot?” Dream nodded at the question.

“We’ve been exploring the world together for… I don’t know, four years now? I’ve been exploring for nine years total now.”

“Holy shit, really?” Dream couldn’t help but chuckle at George’s response to that, seeing the Phantom looking at him out of the corner of his eye. “How old are you?”

“Turned twenty one not too long ago,” He answered. “Been wandering the world since I was twelve. What, do I look like I’m in my thirties or something?”

“No! I just- wow ,” He felt the eyes of George move off of him, even without seeing his eyes he knew he looked away. The Phantom looked up into the sky, the reflection of the stars in his glasses. “That’s a long time. I thought Shulks were super into, like... staying in the same place, with their families.”

“We are, but I guess I am my mothers son,” Dream chuckled. “My mother loved exploring, and I decided to do the same. I probably would have stayed home if my mom was there more often. I know she wanted to, but with her job and her love of exploring… she couldn’t.”

“Man, I would’ve liked something like that,” Dream looked over at George, who was still staring up into the stars.

“What do you mean?”

“Phantoms aren’t like pretty much everyone else,” He explained softly. “Phantom parents don’t stay with their kids for long. If you get lucky, they stay long enough to make sure their children won’t die. Most parents though leave as soon as their children have their first meal, and they’re left to fend for themselves. Why do you think you don't see many of us?”

“That’s… sad , oh my god.” George had a sad smile on his face at that.

“Yeah, a little bit, but at least we mentally mature pretty quickly- probably because of it, so maybe some of us can actually make it. But it’s the way Phantoms are, for some reason. We just aren’t a social group, even with family.”

“You seem pretty social.”

“Just... want to be around some people for once, really. Not many people to talk to, outside of getting yelled at when you steal their food. But that’s easier than finding food or trying to farm.” Man, Dream really didn’t expect for his heart to break tonight at the things a pretty much stranger was saying.

“If you’d like some friends, you can stick with me and Sapnap,” Dream offered, which got the Phantom to look at him. “I doubt Sapnap will mind.”

“No, it’s okay,” George smiled, standing up. He brushed off some of the sand off his pants. “...Can’t promise I won’t look for you for more food, though.” He muttered, and Dream couldn’t help but smile at that.

“I see, I’m just your food dispenser,” Dream teased.

“No! I-”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Come and find me anytime you need food, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you, again. You really didn’t need to give me any.” Dream waved his hand dismissively.

“I’ll just get more in the morning.”

“Shit! It’s getting close to that time, isn’t it?” Suddenly, George disappeared completely. “I need to go before the sun comes up. Thank you, Dream.”

Dream smiled to himself, reeling in his fishing rod. He picked up his axe and got to his feet, heading back to the small house he had made to sleep in. It was getting pretty late, and he knew that he and Sapnap were going to go back to exploring in the morning- and that meant he needed to get some sleep.