Chapter Text
Dream was running as fast as his injured legs could carry him, panting deeply behind his damaged mask.
The blaring of the prison alarms had faded into a distant buzz of noise and he could no longer hear the stomping of feet coming after him from behind, so he must have finally lost the hunters on his tail.
As he entered the snowy tundra towards a not-so-secret anti-government organizations base, he let the cold numb his wounds and let the adrenaline of escape shove his exhausted body forward.
Dream couldn't remember the last time he was this tired, perhaps during the war with L'manburg?
He wasn't sure… Dream had been so tired and hurt for so long now, he just wanted it all to end.
He made his way to the secret entrance to the base and paused, opening a bag he had been keeping hidden inside an ender chest for such an occasion.
Inside were several soft purple fruits and, even more precious, several eyes of ender.
The bag had been a departing gift from his home realm. A way to return should he ever choose to.
Today was first time he had even considered it.
Dream lifted one of the fruits, a Chorus fruit, to his lips, biting into it with fanged teeth.
At once he felt the teleporting properties of the strange fruit course through him and with a soft 'vroop'
He was passed the door and inside the base.
He made his way deeper inside, ignoring the blood dripping from his back that had partially frozen in the icy night air.
Dream huffed in annoyance when he saw the "table" that had been created using the portal frame to his home dimension.
It took him several minutes to shove the top off of the frame, wincing deeply at the loud bang it created.
Fearing that someone had just heard the ruckus he made, Dream quickly scooped out the eye's of ender, taking only a moment to marvel at the beautiful green color, he had always been told his eyes looked very similar to these orbs, he couldn't see the resemblance…
He shook his head and began shoving the eyes into the portal frame, hearing a faint 'click' as they locked into place and began to glow.
When Dream clicked the final eye into place he felt the whirl of power as the frame first began to glow before releasing a loud 'BOOM' and suddenly the endless swirl of the void was staring back at him from his perch.
He went to step forward, but hesitated…
Dream glanced back towards the exit, suddenly unsure of himself, did he really want to leave?...
He loved the overworld.. With it's bright colors, happy animals, bubbly players, and it's warm sun…
Did he really want to give that up?
A sudden sharp pain in his back had him hissing and bending forward, clutching his sides, and he suddenly remembered WHY he was in this position…
The pain… the torture… the hatred of everyone around him, even his supposed friends… it all led to here.
Suddenly Dream was reminded that no. He didn't want to leave, he had to leave.
If he stayed he would be hunted down and dragged back to the prison, his prison.
He would be tortured and starved endlessly until the day he died, and he… he couldn't stand it.
Not anymore.
He had to leave, to escape to the one realm where he knew he would be safe.
With one last deep breath, Dream leaned forward and let the cold embrace of the void take him home.
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Dream woke up with a gasp.
The first thing he saw was obsidian underneath him which immediately sent him into a panic.
His first thought was that he must be back in the prison, must have been caught before he could go through the portal some how! He was going to be tortured again, going to be beaten bloody and left to starve as punishment whilst quackity and the warden laughed at his misery.
But as soon as he looked around his body sagged with relief seeing, not hot, burning, lava, but the endless cold void of the End dimension.
After a few calming breaths Dream sat up carefully to not aggravate his wounds. His first attempt at standing was thwarted when a heavy weight on his back unbalanced him and he was sent backwards on his ass.
With a groan of pain he turned his head to see just what had unbalanced him. His eyes widened in realization when he saw a mass of glowy white scaled wings and tail attached to him.
He hadn't seen his own wings in so long…
Unlike the rest of him, his wings and tail were unharmed, healthy, if not skinny from his lack of nutrition.
Dream reached forward and ran a gentle hand over his wings, smiling gently for the first time in months.
He had missed his wings and other hybrid traits.
Now that he was home he was reminded that while in the end he couldn't hide his hybrid status.
He took a few more minutes to simply marvel at his transformation before he carefully tried standing again, this time with success, before he sighed heavily and looked towards the end island.
It was time to face his mistakes…
He took the obsidian path that led to the main island, not even attempting to fly in his current condition.
He was greeted with the surprised faces of endermen, elytrians, and hybrids alike who all parted for him respectfully and allowed him to pass the large obsidian pillars towards the center of the island.
Dream didn't dare look at their faces, too ashamed of himself to greet them properly.
As soon as he entered the circular pillars Dream felt the familiar healing powers of the end crystals wash over him and he sighed softly in relief as they numbed his pain and stopped the bleeding of his worst injuries.
He made his way to the center of the island, ignoring the soft glow of the portal that could take him back to the over world, back to his nightmare…
He kept his head low as he heard the familiar 'wooshing' of powerful wings circling above him as the citizens of the end gathered near the edge of the pillars, forbade from stepping any closer and using its healing properties.
He felt the powerful leader of the end land in front of him, the ground shaking with her weight.
Feeling all eyes on him and knowing that the creature was waiting for him to speak.
He sighed deeply and lifted his hands, shakily sliding off his damaged white mask.
All was silent for a few moments, and then…
"…you were right…"
Dream felt tears well up in his eyes as his throat threatened to close up with emotion.
"you were right. Ok?... I should have never left, I see that now…" he felt his wings and shoulders slump with the admission.
"I never belonged in the over world, everything I touched or tried to do ended up horribly wrong and twisted, I could never do anything right… I tried to protect the ones I loved and they ended up hating me and taking everyone else's side."
He felt anger bubble in him for a moment before he took a breath and let it dissipate.
"I tried to be a good leader, but I went too far…"
Dream shut his eyes tight as he remembered Tommy, looking up at him with fear, and he shuttered, ashamed of himself, of the monster he really was…
"they were right to do what they did to me, but…"
The creature in front of him tilted her head in curiosity at that but said nothing as Dream continued.
"I couldn't take it anymore…"
Dream finally looked up, facing the glowing purple eyes of the ender dragon. The Queen of the end, his-
"I won't try to leave again, I swear, I just want to come home, please…"
His voice turned begging as he starred into beautiful amethyst eyes
"Please mom…"
There were a few moments of silence before the dragon in front of him began to shrink in size, causing Dream to sigh in relief.
The figure of a tall woman took the place of the dragon, smaller, but no less powerful.
She had short black hair, glowing purple eyes, shiny gray horns similar to dreams, giant black and purple wings stood elegantly against her back causing her pale freckled skin to glow softly and she was wearing a long black dress with sleeves that suited her fit form.
She smiled softly as she walked up to Dream, no malice or ill intention in her movements as she wrapped the younger dragon in a warm embrace.
"welcome home son…"
The citizens of the end cheered happily, so excited to welcome home their lost prince.
Dream smiled softly at their enthusiasm and hugged his mother back tightly, feeling safe for the first time in over a year.
Discreetly he tossed the remains of his mask into the portal, sending it back to the over world.
He wouldn't be needing it here.