Work Text:
“Punz, give it back!”
“Boys.”
“It’s my turn with the sword, Dream.”
“But that’s not fair! I just got it!”
“Boys.”
Neither of them listened. Dream and Punz both just kept at each other's throats. Arguing about who got to hold the wooden sword they used to train with. Sam had been trying to break them up for the last five minutes. Being the oldest brother made things difficult sometimes. Punz and Dream were both far too hyper for him to handle. But both of them tried and Sam didn’t feel right robbing them of any of the joy that they found in their half life on the run.
None of them were truly related. But they were brothers. Hell or high water they were together and they would fight for one another. Dream was the youngest of the bunch. The young Admin crashed into them in the woods when he was being chased by poachers and hunters. Sam had already taken in one kid brother; he certainly hadn’t minded another one. Punz had been thrilled to not be the youngest anymore. The three of them went everywhere together. They’d fought off the hunters and helped Dream heal from the injuries he had. From there they were on the run. Moving from place to place to keep safe.
Now that Dream was big enough to hold the swords properly Sam had said he was allowed to train with Punz. It just so happened that they weren’t sharing. They also weren’t listening to Sam. And he was by far on his last drop of patience for the day.
“Boys!”
Both of them stopped. Freezing with their hands on the sword and staring at him. Punz with a glare still on his face and Dream with a drop of fear hiding behind green eyes. Sam softened himself immediately. Dream was jumpy. He had been from the start but he was beginning to get comfortable with them. He’d started to rely on them more as the days went. It was good. And Sam felt guilty for scaring him. But he still needed a break. He was exhausted from working to get them supplies and trading deals in the village nearby. He wanted to eat dinner with his brothers and go to sleep.
“Stop fighting. Please. Punz, he just got the sword. You have to let him try.”
“But he missed the swing!”
“He’s learning. Let him do it. You weren’t good with sword work right off the bat either.”
Punz’s face darkened like a storm raging over the horizon.
“I told you that in private.”
Dream was watching the two of them. Little hands slipping away from the sword when he saw Punz’s expression. Sam glared right back at his younger brother. He didn’t want to deal with this.
“We are in private. It’s just us.”
Punz had this idea that he had to be cool and stoic for Dream. Dream loved it, true, but Sam knew how expressionate Punz was and he hated when he acted like he wasn’t. He hated when Punz tried to pretend he was some cold man the world couldn’t touch when they were around their baby brother. He wasn’t even a man yet. None of them were really. They were kids. All of them. Sam was the oldest and he was barely 17.
Sam had only a second of warning before Punz was clutching the sword tighter and stomping towards Sam pressing a finger against his chest. Neither of them heard the scared little squeak that came from Dream beside them.
“Private means me and you. Sam. Little blabbermouth is going to tell the whole world now!”
Dream gave a small gasp from where he was standing. Taking a half step back away from his brothers while Sam’s eyes darkened with a storm of fury overtaking his face. Dream had barely spoken when they found him. Terrified and only saying broken words or phrases after they would tell him over and over that it was alright to. He’d gotten more comfortable with them and as such he’d talked more. Sam had held his baby brother after he woke up choking on screams and sobs from nightmares. It was how he found out that Dream was told over and over that his words were poison. That people would hear him and they would follow because they didn’t have a choice. He’d been scared to speak to them because he was trying to protect them.
His relationship with speaking was a weird one. He loved to do it. When he got excited he would go on and on and he would be loud and cheerful. But then if someone commented about any of it he would stop and it would take an hour to a days to get him to speak again. Even when he did it would be too soft and too hesitant for them to be comfortable with.
And now Punz, the brother Dream spent most of his time with, had called him a blabbermouth and scolded about it. Sam was beyond angry.
“Don’t you dare-”
“Tell the truth? I thought that’s what you preached.”
“Stop trying to be cool for three seconds and remember that we’re brothers-”
“Stop talking to me like you own me! You’re not the one stuck with a kid who can’t even hold a sword-”
“He’s our brother Punz what the hell are you-”
“He’s not my brother!”
Everything stopped the second the words were out of his mouth. Sam felt his heart clench and he could see Punz’s stomach drop from the way his eyes went wide in shock from what he’d just said. They ripped their eyes away the second they heard a shuffle next to them. Turned towards where Dream was standing to see their baby brother shaking all over staring at them. Fat tears rolling down his cheeks silently and the color gone from his face. He didn’t look away from Punz for a minute. Tearing his eyes away to look at Sam and continue to back away from them. His breaths were coming in shaky trembles and if Sam didn’t know it would scare Dream he would murder Punz right then and there.
“Dream..”
Punz spoke softly. Like he was talking to a scared animal rather than his baby brother who hung the world on him. He just didn’t get the chance to say anything more. Dream didn’t give the chance. He took another breath and Sam saw the tense in his body before Dream was spinning on his heels and taking off into the woods. Fists clenched tight as he ran.
It was the same way he ran when chased by hunters.
And now he was running from the people he called brothers.
“Sam-”
“We’ll talk later. We need to go.”
Punz was starting to shake beside him and Sam wanted to yell at his brother and figure out what was going on in his idiotic brain that made him act like this but Dream needed them right now. He couldn’t hold a sword and he didn’t have one on him anyway. He was barely seven. And while, yes, he’d survived before they found him; that was not the life he deserved. Dream had been injured and covered in marks when they found him. They were both fairly certain the only reason he was surviving was because of his abilities. But he was upset. Both of them knew what could happen if you weren’t focused on survival.
There was a reason both of them were on their own before they found each other. Punz doing mercenary work from the age of ten. Sam doing redstone and builds in the village since he was 13. Until a white hoodie stained with mud and blood had crashed through the doors of his little workshop demanding equipment to track.
They raced through the woods trying to follow Dream’s path but they couldn’t find it. Reckless wreckage through the underbrush until it just stopped out of nowhere. A teleport. Something only Admin’s and enderhybrids could do. Dream had learned the skill young to get away from hunters. And now they’d lost him because they’d scared him and said he wasn’t part of them.
Frustration and fear clawed at every part of Sam’s heart. He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to Dream. He tried to look for any sign of his lime green shirt but he couldn’t find it. Fear swirled into anger and he turned back to Punz.
“What were you thinking.”
It was a demand. No room for Punz to say no or not answer the question. This was too far. And both of them knew it.
“I wasn’t.” The words sounded hollow coming out of him like this. Broken and scared and so regretful Sam knew it was truth. It didn’t make him feel any better. “I-..Sam. You’re my brother. You both are I just- I wasn’t thinking I- I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
“But you did. You did, and now he’s run away thinking you hate him.”
He could see the tears welling in Punz’s eyes and the way his mouth opened like he was about to respond but a short yelp and the sounds of crashing broke it off. They knew what Dream’s screams sounded like. They’d woken up to his nightmares enough that they had to.
Neither of them spoke as they ran in the direction of it. They came to the top of a small hill. The dirt still settling and rocks still falling. The ground had given out. That much was clear to see. What made their hearts stop was the still body laying at the bottom wearing a bright green top. No motion. No sound. Nothing.
Sam had never felt more fear in his life than when he was sliding himself down the hill with barely a second of thought. Punz right on his heels as they tried to get to their youngest brother. Punz was panicking. Words rambled and terrified but Sam didn’t have the time to check on him or calm him down. He ran his hands lightly over Dream’s body checking for broken bones or fractures.
“The rock. Sam. The rock.”
He glanced away from Dream to look at the rock next to his head. One side of it completely coated in dark sticky blood. He rolled Dream over so he was no longer face down. Careful of his spine and neck just in case. His face was covered in blood and dirt. His eyes closed and his expression completely blank. There was nothing there. As fast as he could he checked for a pulse and nearly sobbed when he found one. Dreams breaths were shaky but they were still there. He couldn’t find anything but the headwound but that meant nothing with the risk of internal injuries.
Punz’s voice shook him out of looking over their brother.
“Sam? Is he? Did I kill him? Sammy, please talk to me. Is he okay?”
There was an edge of hysteria in his words that made Sam finally look up at him. Punz’s face was blotching red and he looked torn between being sick or fainting. He reached a hand out and grabbed Punz’s in his own. Guided his hand down to feel Dream’s heart beating and his breathing on his chest.
“He’s alive. Punz, breathe. I need you right now okay? Breathe. In and out. He’s alive. You didn’t kill him. Stay with me.”
Punz nodded shakily to him. Tears raced down his face as he tried to get himself under control. Sam had never been more happy for his trip to the village earlier. He’d managed to get them a healing potion. Pouring some onto a cloth and dabbing it to Dream’s head they only had to wait a few seconds as the magic kicked in for Dream to start coming back to them.
They’d be okay. Not now. But soon.
He promised.