Chapter Text
Punz sprinted after Dream, focused on the man.
Panting, he kept moving. Under him, his boots crunched over twigs and leaves. There wasn’t any point in trying to be stealthy. After all, Dream was just right ahead of him. If he ran faster, he could grab him. He could win this.
Above their heads, Phil shot ahead with a flap of his wings. There was a flash of auburn fur from Fundy as he charged forwards, tail flicking. He was trying to cut Dream off, too, with Eret attempting to catch up on the other side. Punz was driving Dream, the others were flanking. It was their plan.
Dream dropped down and slid beneath a fallen log. Throwing himself over it, Punz kicked off the wood. Then, he tackled Dream. Threw his arms around the man and grabbed for his knife. Before they even hit the floor, Dream had twisted and thrown him. A hand locked around his wrist. The world spun. Then, dirt slammed into his shoulder. Punz kicked at Dream’s shin, felt his heel collide with iron. Pain rattled up his joint. Then, Dream punched him in the face. Punz braced a foot on Dream’s sternum, and then threw him back.
Dream rolled and then got up. Pushing himself up, Punz stared at him and sucked in a breath. He staggered to his feet. Dropping back into a defensive position, Dream looked at him. One of his fists looked odd, fingers wrapped around something. There was a flash of teal blue.
And Dream pearled.
Punz didn’t even have the chance to realize much more than that before Dream was gone. A foot slammed into his back and he was thrown forwards. “Phil, Fundy, Eret, he turned back around!” Punz yelled over his shoulder. Then, he whipped his sword out just in time.
Dream slammed his blade into Punz’s. Staggering back, Punz ducked. Parried, blocked, aimed a sharp thrust right at Dream’s ribs. Instead, he felt Dream’s blade cut through his shirt. Shit. Rolling back, he blocked again and then threw an arm up to block Dream’s next strike with his bracer. It glanced off, and Punz ducked under to slam a punch into Dream’s jaw.
Dream stumbled back again. Then, he dodged forwards. Snagged Punz’s hoodie and then threw him to the side. He flailed and screamed, felt the ground drop out from beneath him. Screaming, he stared up as Philza lunged for him, wings unfolding completely. Phil reached down for him.
Locking fingers with Phil, Punz felt a jerk in his shoulder and Phil slammed his wings back down.
Pulling back up, teeth gritted, Phil let out a heavy breath as he dragged Punz back over the ground. Then, gently, he dropped Punz there. Fell back down and grabbed onto one of his wings. Collapsing to the grass, Punz winced and grabbed at his arm. Pain radiated from his shoulder and there were several sets of footsteps.
“Hey, you alright?” Dream asked, leaning over him. Reaching out, he offered a hand with an easy smile. Swallowing, Punz just laughed and smiled at him.
“I think my shoulder got dislocated.” He forced out. Meanwhile, Phil was on the ground. Already, he was trying to push himself back up.
“Nope, Phil, you stay down right now.” Eret ordered, striding over. Already, she was kneeling down and starting to massage Phil’s wing and shoulder to find the damaged part. Meanwhile, Fundy was attacking the upset in Phil’s feathers, preening them out with gentle hands. “Yeah, I think we should call this off.”
“I’m fine.” Phil said, trying to wave him off. Grabbing his hand, Eret just pinned his arm to the ground with his knee and then kept touching along his wing.
“Dude, you have strained your wing if you’re lucky and I do not want Kristin murdering me when we get back. She only agreed to let you do this because she knew you were going to have your wings and you could get away from any trouble. I’m not getting Mumza’d because you’re a dumbass.”
“Be nice.” Fundy scolded. Carefully, Dream lifted Punz up. There was a flash of dark fur in the shadows of the trees. Looking up, Punz frowned and squinted at it.
The beast lunged.
+++
“Dream, move!”
The first thing Dream felt was Punz shoving him to the side. Then, there was a rush of wind. Something knocked Dream to the side. He barely managed to catch himself. Glancing back, he stared in horror as something slammed into Punz.
The mod hadn’t been something in particular. No, it was mostly to allow Fundy, Eret, and Philza their extra abilities. But this hadn’t been something that they added. This had to have been a glitch. Snarling, it lashed its tail.
And its teeth were locked into Punz’s throat.
Working its jaw, the beast—a massive dark green wolf, with bright orange eyes—drove its teeth deeper into Punz’s neck. Mouth falling open, he sucked in a ragged gasp. “Punz!” Fundy yelled. Eret shoved Phil behind him, watched the beast for a moment. Swallowing, Dream tried to move closer to the thing.
Orange eyes flashed to him. Lips peeling back from red stained teeth, the beast jerked back. Punz made a wet, choked noise, reached up and grabbed at his throat with his good arms. Blood ran over his fingers. Sucking in a breath that Dream could hear from feet away, Punz took a step back. His foot slipped over the edge of the cliff. But that wasn’t the worst thing.
The worst thing was probably the fact that his eyes shut and he went limp as he fell.
“Punz!” Lunging forwards, Dream grabbed his pickaxe, tied a lead around it, and leapt off the edge. Turning, he threw the pickaxe back, wrapped the lead around his wrist, and then reached down to grab Punz. The ravine was a deep one. None of them had realized it, at least at first. But as Dream and Punz fell for several seconds, he realized just how deep it needed to be.
Reaching forwards, he grabbed onto Punz’s wrist. Slammed on the brakes. The wall rushed up in the corner of his vision. Gasping, he hauled Punz closer and turned so it was his back slamming into the wall and not Punz. A huff escaped him as the air was knocked from his chest.
Jerking to a stop, Dream looked up. There was a rush of dark fur beside him, and he glanced down to see the monster tumbling past him. At least they got rid of it, he mused as it disappeared into the void of the ravine. Then, he was slowly being lifted. Shifting, he wrapped his free arm around Punz’s middle, looked down.
Blood ran over his skin from Punz’s neck, coming with every fresh heartbeat. “Come on, Punz. Hold on. Just hold on for a second. Okay? We’ll fix this,” he promised, glancing back up at Fundy and Eret and Phil as the three hauled them both higher and higher.
When they finally got to the top of the ravine, Punz was barely moving. There was still a pulse, but not much more of one. So Dream laid Punz out on the ground. “We’re going to have to meet him back at spawn.” Phil said, and Dream glanced over at him. Hunched over, Dream clutched Punz’s hand, sat beside him.
“Hey, Punz. I don’t know if you can hear me still. But you’re going to be fine, alright? Everything’s going to be just fine.” He swore. “We’ll meet you at spawn, okay?”
Punz was slain by [Unknown]
+++
Punz stirred not too long after respawn, thankfully.
Groaning, he opened his eyes. Tipped his head to the side and rasped in a breath. His breathing sounded odd. Reaching over, Eret touched his shoulder and smiled down at him. He returned it, then closed his eyes.
With that, he dropped back into unconsciousness.