Chapter Text
Dust filled the atmosphere; red blood tainted the ground as its canvas. Bodies lay helplessly on the ground, with those who survived in terrible shape. It would be a miracle if they even lived. All you could hear were screams, pleads, and yells, praying to survive. All those cries were deemed to be pathetic, according to Nightmare; not even a chance to care about the civilians he killed. The only person he thought about during this madness was his target. Dream. Dream, on the other hand, tried to defend those people he called innocent, running around, aiding those while fighting. He was like a mosquito to Nightmare, always a bother until you kill it.
It was another battle, after battle, never-ending. It’s always been that way for nearly 500 years, without a chance to communicate. Dream was battered with scars, mostly on his ribs, while Nightmare stood with little to no wounds; barely a scratch was seen. His appendages swirled around the positive guardian, taunting him with a grin stretched across his face. Dream shot his arrow, grazing those appendages with a scratch.
“Already hurt? I was expecting you to last longer? I guess you aren’t as strong as people make you out to be.” Nightmare teased.
Compared to Dream, Nightmare looked menacing with his teal slit eye glowing through the dim atmosphere, ready to attack. The battle continued, with one crying out and the other roaring back.
“It’s hilarious how you’re trying to give a hand to those dying, yet this AU is already dead. Face it, you’ve lost, brother.”
It wasn’t often when Nightmare referred to Dream as “brother”, which always left an awful sting. Hearing the word brother out of Nightmare’s mouth felt like a stab in the soul; it reminded Dream of everything he had done wrong. Sure, he was trying to get peace between them, but he could see the act Nightmare was trying to pull. It was a taunt, to see if he would react and he did. He flinched back, readying to shoot another arrow.
“You’re always helping others, but when were you there to help me?”
Dream froze in the act, attempting to say something back, yet nothing came out. It was like a chain was surrounding his neck. Nightmare used this to his advantage to taunt, gaining more negativity from the yellow guardian. Guilt, sadness. Such lovely emotions.
The slimy skeleton thrust his appendages, piercing a hole through Dream’s arm. A scream rang through the damaged place, leaving nobody but Nightmare to hear his wails. Those who managed to live probably ran for safety. He then threw the positive-powered arrow across the field, landing on a tree.
“Nightmare, please! We can talk about this, how much longer can this fight even last?” Dream begged.
Out of all honesty, this pissed Nightmare off. Always yapping about “saving him” or that “he’s not a bad guy.” This isn’t some fairytale where the good prevails and the bad fails, yet Dream couldn’t get that through his thick skull. His slimy appendages started twitching as he continued to listen to Dream trail on about saving him or that this AU had dealt with enough. Now wasn’t the time to attack; he ought to plan something. A plan to lead him victorious.
He swung his tentacles again with no intention of playing Mr. Nice Guy. This was his last straw. He went for Dream’s sternum, but that bastard ducked and made a run for it towards the tree, but Nightmare was many steps ahead of him.
He smashed his slimy appendages, slamming his other half against the bloodied ground. It was wonderful to see his so-called “brother” on the ground, with barely enough strength to fight back. Dream's eyes became foggy; he probably lost contact with reality for a few seconds, then started coughing.
Nightmare was beyond ecstatic seeing Dream weak.
—---------------------------------
Dream was exhausted. His body felt like he was inflamed by gasoline, he needed to flee. He couldn’t keep on fighting without inflicting major damage on his brother. He just wanted to rest and talk for once, he had to calm Nightmare down to protect himself and this AU. Sure, it’s a perilous thought, but he still wanted to give it a shot, to finally save something. He couldn’t afford to lose this time.
Tentacles continued to shoot, forcing him to dance through them. His breath staggered, burning through his throat, and his dodge skills were weakening the longer the battle went on. He didn’t care much about those, though. His eyes were on the arrow attached to the tree. This was his only shot.
He made a run for it, despite his injuries towards the tree, and grabbed it, but it vanished.
“I guess the poor guardian doesn’t have much strength to even summon his weapons. You should really focus on your injuries more often.” His other half grinned.
Another appendage attacked from behind the skull, pushing him towards the dirt. The negativity continued to overwhelm him, preventing him from fighting back.
Just as Dream was about to stand, a burning pain formed from his ankles, so he turned his head and stared in shock. He stared with pinprick eyes at his ankle, bleeding at an alarmingly rapid pace. He couldn’t run or escape; he was at Nightmare’s mercy. He looked back and saw his brother's glare, seeming satisfied with what he’d done. Compared to Nightmare, he was like a fish to a cat.
There was no way he could keep conscious in this condition.
The last thing he heard were footsteps approaching before he passed out.