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"Come here, Dream!"
Dream just continued running, not even sparing a glance to Sapnap. It was only the two of them now. All of Sapnap's allies were killed, forced to respawn by the man in front of him. It was all up to him, everything they'd fought for, leading up to this moment.
Sapnap pulled back his bow at the man he called friend-
Just for the ender dragon to explode. The light was beautiful, but annoying in these circumstances.
Of course he won at that moment.
Dream was celebrating, screaming his joy. "YES!" Somewhere between worlds, the admin was probably jumping for joy.
Sapnap was not mad, not like most would be, but he was annoyed. This manhunt was a really close one: Dream had been brought to low health. One well placed attack, and the hunters would've won! A win always felt so gratifying.
Oh, well. Sapnap would just have to train extra hard for next time. One of these days, the hunters would have a complete, dominating victory over Dream. And with Sapnap's burning passion? It was only a matter of time.
Until then, it would probably be best if they all rested. Manhunts were always tough on their bodies. So, with a final look at The End, Sapnap hopped inside the portal to join his friends.
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It was normal for some of them to hang out after Manhunt. Bad usually left to go back to Skeppy, both the demon and the diamond golem were notoriously clingy, and Ant always headed back to Velvet. Sam tended to stay with them, but he, too, left.
"Ponk needs help with his prosthetic." Sure. Sam was the one that built Ponk's prosthetic, and his inventions rarely acted up. Especially not something he put so much care into. Sapnap had no idea what they were actually doing, but there was no way Ponk's prosthetic was acting up.
That left Sapnap alone with his two best friends in the world: Dream and George. None of them had better places to be or people to go home to. They didn't have families. So, they just stuck together. It was easier than being alone.
"I thought for sure you were going to get me at the end there," Dream was talking while chewing, mask placed on the ground in front of him. He didn't usually like taking it off in front of people, so this was almost special. It moved with the soft, cool mountain wind. "I can't believe I was able to beat the dragon."
Sapnap sighed. "I need to work on my speed. If I was just faster I could've stopped you." It was something that had become increasingly obvious to the blaze hybrid: His speed was severely lacking compared to his strength. In most circumstances, that was fine, but this was Dream. Speed was the most important tool a hunter could have.
"I guess I could help with that," Dream gave his friend a lopsided grin. "Even if we are enemies." The campfire illuminated the man's face, revealing a playful grin.
A loud groan cut through their conversation. "What you need is to talk about something other than manhunt. Or sleep." George complained, though he cuddled into Dream's side as soon as he finished talking. The man loved his sleep, to a point where he'd missed many important events because of it.
Dream and Sapnap both laughed, used to this behavior. When George was tired, he was often demanding that they allow him to sleep. How he was tired so often even though he slept so much, Sapnap would never understand. It took only a few seconds for the two of them to get quiet. Truth be told, they were both very tired. Manhunt had taken a lot out of them.
After what had to have been only a few minutes, George filled their quiet with soft snores. Dream, too, slumped into Sapnap's side only a few minutes later. His face was slack in relaxation, something rare for him. Whenever the mask was off, Dream was so on edge. Like he was scared someone would see him. It worried Sapnap, but he didn't want to bring it up either. That would just cause problems for both of them.
Shut up, brain!
He was too tired to think about important stuff right now.
The sound of the crackling fire lulled him into a sleepy state. That warmth felt so much like the home he lived in as a child. The friends he called family slept on beside him, leading him to slow his own breathing.
This was nice. This was peaceful. This was safe.
He let himself fall into the bliss of sleep.