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Tommy wakes slowly. His thoughts are fuzzy, incomplete. He whimpers as the world begins to filter in around him. Dream must have drugged him again. That- that’s probably not great. But it’s hard to worry, hard to think as his body tries to process whatever he’s been given.
Something is… off. Tommy’s ears twitch as he feels that pull inside him try to stir. He’s… moving? Or rocking, at least.
It’s so hard to think.
He should go back to sleep, wait for the drugs to wear off.
Something cold blows over his skin, and Tommy shivers as it passes over him. He tucks his legs tighter into himself to preserve what little warmth he has.
It’s strange. He’s used to the air being cold (it’s always cold, even when Dream gives him blankets and furs for a nest), but it’s never moved before.
He sniffs the air, and his nose wrinkles when it’s not met with the damp, deadened, rotten and piss-sweet smell he’s used to. Instead the air is crisp, fresh, with too many scents overlapping and weaving around each other so much he can barely distinguish one smell from the next.
He’s not in his nest. That, he’s certain. Nor is he in the castle. Instead, Tommy realizes that he’s bunched in a cage, not even big enough to fully extend his legs. He tries to shift upwards, and his head brushes the top bars.
One eye peeks out of the small gaps in the walls, squinting out into the world. It’s so bright, nothing like what a nest should be, and there are beasts outside. Great hulking things that are easily thrice his size. One snorts, shaking its head and the line of neatly groomed hair, and he gapes when he realizes that there is a person on top of one, and they’re holding ropes that connect down to the beast's mouth.
Beyond them is a sight of an unending, open field of green. He looks up and between the bars is blueblueblue. He recoils as his instincts slam into him.
Nononono. Tommy isn’t supposed to be outside, he’s never supposed to go outside. Outside is dangerous, he’s exposed, anything can get him. He curls further into himself, desperate to escape, but there’s no dark corner to hide in, just a row of bars on all sides, just wide enough for him to curl his fingers into. They hold no protection.
He keens, a loud trilling note of helphelpdangerscared. He needs his family, needs his progenitor, but he hasn’t had them since Dream found him. Ears pin to his head as a panic begins to take hold, and Tommy scrabbles at the metal bars holding him captive. He knows he’s being bad, but he can’t help it. He needs out!
He lurches to the side, and his cage swings with his weight. Someone curses, something snorts in agitation but Tommy doesn’t stop. He needs to go.
A whistle pierces the air, and Tommy’s breath dies in his throat. An entirely different fear comes over him because that means Dream’s here. He doesn’t want Dream to be here. The group slows to a stop, and Tommy whimpers.
Everything is bad, and he knows that whatever Dream is planning is going to hurt, maybe even more because he’s outside, which is horrible. Maybe Dream will really kill him this time.
The cage is settled to the ground, and Tommy brings his arms back to his chest. He can hear Dream’s footsteps, and oh god, he is coming over. Tommy wants to bear his fangs and hiss, to warn Dream off and screech until his family finds him, but that only makes Dream more angry, and he’s already mad.
Black boots, polished and gleaming enter Tommy’s vision. He holds his breath as Dream kneels down, deep green cloak billowing around him as he catches Tommy’s gaze. Oh no, he looks really, really angry.
Dream’s lips are pulled back in a grimace, and he’s saying something, but Tommy doesn’t understand. Tommy doesn’t speak Dream’s language, he tried once but his throat is made for throaty chirps and clicks and warbles, and he doesn’t know the magic to allow communication. He doesn’t know magic at all.
Dream’s hands whip out and shake the metal cage. Tommy is pressed as far back as he can go, which is nothing because he’s still exposed and Dream is still right there. He cries out, calling, desperate for help, and Dream just huffs, annoyed.
Then his hands shift. And the top of the cage opens. Tommy is reminded that he’s still outside, and his limbs lock up at the thought. Don’tmovestaylowwaitwaitwait, something in him pleads. He’s helpless against it, and it leaves him still and pliant as Dream plucks him out of the small box.
His eyes squeeze shut as he’s lifted out of the only cover he had, even if it wasn’t nearly sufficient. He was so scared, but maybe if he doesn’t move, it’ll be okay. He just has to be good, and he can go back. Maybe not back home, but back to the den under Dream’s castle. Anywhere is better than here.
Dream only holds onto him for a few moments before dropping him to the ground. Tommy falls with an oomph, his limbs still completely unresponsive. He lays there for a second, his chest heaving, overwhelmed by everything that’s happening and just wishing he was back home.
Tommy’s ears twitch at the sound of metal being unsheathed. His eyes crack open, and Dream is looming right over him, something curved and sharp in gripped tight. Tommy recognizes how the metal gleams, glows almost purple with energy.
He remembers Dream testing that out on others, remembers their screams before they fall silent. He can feel the ax's power from here, how it saps at his own dwindled energy, hungry to consume him.
Dream is going to kill him.
Tommy is helpless as Dream raises the ax above his head. He growls at Dream, a last ditch attempt at scaring the predator away. Dream takes a deep breath, and the ax comes down and--
CRACK
Tommy screams as noise explodes from above his head. He ducks under his arms, and the ground is shaking. He whimpers at the feeling of someone above him, because he doesn’t even have to look at them to know they are powerful, old, and furious.
“That was a mistake,” a voice says from above him. It’s feminine, soft despite the ripples of anger pouring out from where it’s coming from. Something caws to his right, followed by another, and another, and another.
The beasts from before whinny, their feet pounding the ground. He can hear the murmurs of Dream’s companions, and a gurgling noise sounding above him. It sounds like someone is choking, unable to breath, and he can hear a set of boots scraping the ground and each other as they kick and writhe.
He doesn’t want to know what’s going on- he doesn’t want to catch the ire of whatever is his temporary savior. Maybe if he stays quiet, stays still, she won’t notice him.
He hears a sudden snap, and Tommy hears the sound of more swords being drawn, of crossbow bolts releasing and screaming fills the air. All he can do is clamp his hands over his ears, claws digging into the greasy and matts as he tries to block out the sound of carnage.
It’s over in seconds. He knows because silence descends upon him, and the fury has dissipated.
Is he safe? Is the being gone?
His fangs sink into his lip in an attempt to hold back a whimper, but when he breathes in he can smell the blood, thick in the air, and he can’t help but cry out.
A coo sounds from above him, soft and gentle and coaxing. Protectorfamilyleader floods through his system at the sound, and he can’t help but cry again, eyes still painfully squozen shut.
“Shh, shh, it’s alright. I’m here, I’ve got you now,” The voice whispers above him. Large, gentle hands lift him up and bring him to a chest. He inhales, and he recognizes that smell. He knows it, like he knows the claws that adorn his fingers.
He can’t bring himself to believe it, not after everything. Still, he whimpers out a scaredscaredfamilyprotector?
Safesafehererelax hums out of the beings chest.
“Let’s get you back home,” Protector whispers in his ear. He keens, desperate and content and exhausted. Family is here, family came for him, heard him found him. He’s being brought home, he’s going to be safe, finally.
The air around him shifts, tightens for a moment, but Tommy isn’t afraid. His protector has him, she won’t let anything happen to him. The air turns cool, and still, but not like his nest under Dream’s castle. No, it’s a pleasant feeling, soothing to his senses that have been chafed raw from the outside.
His protector hums under her breath, rocking him back and forth as she glides forward. It’s comforting, and a part of Tommy longs to sleep, but another part is still pulling at him, urging him forward.
He blinks his eyes open, and finds that the area they are in is pleasantly dim. His protector kisses his forehead as she walks down a hallway with him, and he presses into the affection, desperate for more.
He goes to whine, to complain because something is still off, and he wants his protector to fix it, but Dream’s wrath is still fresh in his mind.
She must still sense it, though, because she softly shushes him, cradling him close like he’s the most precious thing in the world.
The hallway opens up, and Tommy’s eyes widen at the sight in front of him. A pile of glittering gold and gems adorns one side of the room, some delicately placed one stands and others strewn about haphazardly. On the other side is a small stream of trickling water, burbling just quiet enough to be the perfect white noise, and in the middle lies the best nest Tommy has ever seen.
Blankets piled as high as he is, with pillows and soft furs that he knows are perfect to snuggle in. He lets go of his protector’s robes and reaches out towards the promise of comfort. She laughs, and it’s soft like everything else about her, and he whines at her.
“Not yet, starshine,” she hums him even as she refuses to set him into the nest. “We have to wait for everyone else to arrive. Any moment now.”
The air pressure drops the moment she finishes saying this, and Tommy tenses for a moment as he feels three other presences enter the room. He presses deeper into his protector's robes, seeking comfort, and almost screams as hands grab around him and yank.
But- but he knows these hands. He knows the voice they belong to, even as it sobs above him, wracking Tommy’s smaller frame. “My baby, oh my baby you’re home. We’ve been looking everywhere for you sunshine.”
The longing eases, and Tommy curls into the embrace. How could he ever be afraid, his progenitor has him. He can feel his progenitor move them to the nest, and a rusty purr erupts from his throat.
“Wilbur-”
“Yes, I know, I know,” his progenitor’s voice snaps at one of the protectors.
Soft hands cradle his face, guiding him away from the other’s chest. He trills, confused but the other (Wilbur?) leans forward and presses a kiss against Tommy’s brow, and Tommy gasps as a broken bond is reforged.
Lovelovebabylovelovelove pours into him from four different points, until Tommy is brimming with it. He does his best to send it back, pulsing out waves of love and relief.
Exhaustion pulls at his eyes, calling him to rest. And, with nothing but contentment and love in his veins, surrounded by family--
Tommy sleeps.