Work Text:
Dream stared at his bloodied hand. He had just brutally beaten Tommy to death. For killing Hope. An innocent cat. A cat that did nothing wrong. Except for one sin. One sin that nothing could ever be enough to absolve. The sin of being loved by Dream. There was only one punishment fitting for this crime. Hope had to pay the price.
A sigh escaped Dream's lungs. Everything that Dream ever loved was bound to be hurt. Everything he loved was merely leverage to use against him.
Wouldn't it be easier if he had never loved? If he had never let anyone, anything close to his heart? If his heart was covered by a thick layer of ice not even the lava below could melt? Maybe then his heart would have never had to shatter when those he loved were gone. After all, there was no mercy for the monster, and monsters could never love.
Ah, how heartless could fate be?
Thus he stared at the empty space where a cat used to be sitting, without a care in the world. A cat taken from this world far too soon.
"I'm so sorry", he whispered to the emptiness, not a soul around to hear. "You were hurt because of me. If I hadn't loved you, you would have lived another day. If you weren't here, you could have been free. If only you never got here. If only I never loved you. Then, you would have been alive."
But it was no use. Hope was dead. Reviving her would just lead to her dying again. It was better to let her be in a peaceful death than let her suffer again. All because of him.
"Hope, I swear it on your death." he said, softly yet firmly, "One day, I won't have to be afraid of losing anything else like I lost you here. One day, I won't have to be afraid of dying, or watching anyone else die. Nothing, no one, will end up like you again. Cross my heart."
This was an oath. An oath to make it so that Dream would break away from fate's cruel grasp. Ensure that there would be no more Hopes.
"And you, Tommy." he then said, his voice taking a colder edge, "You're always the annoying thorn on my side. When you came to visit me, I let you in without complaint. I even gave you my potatoes. And that's how you repay me?"
He sighed, once again. As if by exhaling he could let go of the anger. But he knew better. He knew there was no way to let go of this rage. The rage of being the one always wronged. Still, better take a moment to compose himself. Although there was no one around to witness. Those moments were a secret hidden between these obsidian walls. And the walls never tell.
"But I swear it on my ability to revive you." he continued, "I'll find a way to stop you from interfering, for good. Someday."
Dream was forced awake by an aggressive symphony of endlessly falling rain, the powerful rolls of thunder and the wind howling like a restless wolf. In the midst of this symphony, there was meowing. Loud, persistent meowing. Clearly coming from a lonely, helpless, desperate cat left out to face nature's vicious temper. The meows got louder as the storm did, as if in synchrony.
Dream's heart was breaking at the sounds. He strongly sympathised with such hopeless creatures. He empathised with them. Those abandoned, begging for help that would never come. He felt as if he had known such pain. As if he had lived it. It was strange as to why he felt that, but Dream always just chalked it up to being a compassionate person.
So, he couldn't simply leave it there. He had to do something. Bring it inside, to his warm house, protect it from the wind's icy hands and the relentlessly falling raindrops. Thus he eagerly grabbed the handle and opened the door.
He cautiously took one step outside. All the color of the otherwise crystal blue sky was drained, turned into a void, emotionless grey, covered by a layer of clouds. Strikes of lightning provided the only light in the otherwise dull atmosphere. The wind was lashing at his skin like an icy whip, as the rain was dripping down on his body, sending shivers down his spine.
But it didn't matter. None of it mattered. He had to help the poor creature. So he kept walking, until he got to the source of the meowing. Only when they got loud enough for him to know he was standing right in front of it did he stop walking, as he locked sights on a tree. The tree was in ill condition, signs of decay were already marking its bark, and all signs of life on its leaves were gone, a mere shadow of what it once was. But underneath the shade of this slowly dying tree laid the source of the sounds from before. A lonely cat had found shelter below it, trembling like the leaves above.
The cat's fur was the color of the coal he put in the furnace earlier, to cook the raw steaks he got from the pigs he slaughtered the day before. Its eyes were the color of amber, but instead of the vibrant shade they should have been, they looked dull, like the atmosphere surrounding them. Huh, storms sure knew how to drain life from everything they touched.
He leaned closer, ensuring the poor animal that he meant no harm. But eyes did not leave the cat. He always did love cats, but there was something special about this one. He couldn't put his finger on why, but for some odd reason it piqued his interest. He didn't just want to help it, he wanted to hold it close. He wanted to take it into his home.
Despite its ebony colored fur that was said to bring misfortune. Or maybe, because of it? Somehow, Dream resonated with these wildly demonized animals. He felt a strange sense of kinship, an understanding. About how it was to be the one they feared. Branded as an enemy. As something evil, dangerous. But why? Why did he feel this connection? That was a mystery he had yet to uncover.
Dream opened up his inventory, took a look inside, making sure he still had some cod left from the day before. Good thing he had gone fishing then. He had been looking to catch some food, but little had he known who it was actually meant for.
So he took out some cod, still raw, to give to this cat. It was said that holding fish around would get a stray cat's attention, and if it liked the fish, it'd stay.
He held it in his hand, patiently waiting.
The cat cautiously took a step closer. The smell of fish lingered in the air lured it closer. Its eyes were focused, inspecting the cod in Dream's hand. Tempting, wasn't it? A single piece of cod, with silent promises of more. Of warmth, tucked safely, away from nature's violent temperament. And it could have this all, if it just came closer.
And so it took one more step towards Dream. Close enough for him to bend over and hand the cod into its mouth.
Dream then took off his cape, and wrapped it around the cat, shielding it from nature's wrath. As he took these vicious hits instead. Better him than an innocent creature that did no wrong.
Then, he started running. Running as fast as he could, in order to get to the warmth of his house. It was best that he didn't spend any more time out in the storm than necessary. Not just for his sake, but also the cat's.
As he was running, a loud bang echoed, not too far behind Dream. Mere seconds later, another bang echoed, but this one was different. This one sounded like something big and heavy was falling apart, and then hit the ground, as it naturally would. Did lightning hit the ill tree? Dream turned his head just once, out of both fear and a morbid curiosity. One huge branch was down on the ground, as the tree it originated from was struggling to keep itself standing. And as fate would have it, it was the tree under which the cat had found temporary reprieve from nature's vicious wrath.
A sigh of relief escaped Dream's lungs. That was a close call. If he had spent even one more minute below it, he'd be laying on the ground right next to the fallen branch. But there was no use contemplating what could have been. All that mattered was that he evaded danger's clutches just in time.
Soon enough, he was standing right outside the door. Good. He could bring the cat inside and help it at last. Thus he stepped in.
He was soaking wet, drenched down to the bone. He couldn't tell how much of it was from the rain and how much from sweat. And he was cold. Freezing cold. Now that the adrenaline rush was fading, so did his energy.
Meanwhile Tommy had just woken up, and gone to the kitchen for a nice breakfast. But as he was making his way there, he saw Dream, water dripping down from him and heavily breathing, while clutching something in his hands. This raised so many questions. Why had Dream gone out in the storm? What was he holding? Why did he look tired?
"Dream?" he asked, concerned, "Where did you go in this fucking rain? And what is this in your hands?" pointing to the black thing in Dream's hands, which unknown to him, was a cat.
"Tommy", then Dream replied, between gasps as he was trying to catch his breath, "I found this cat under a tree. Poor thing was cold and wet. I couldn't just leave her there, you know?"
"Now, can you get me a towel for her? She's soaked and trembling from the cold. I'll be near the fireplace, okay?" he asked, after taking one deep breath.
"Okay" Tommy simply answered. Dream was always friendly to animals, and he loved cats, but Tommy never expected him to go as far as saving one and taking it in. Should this really be that much of a surprise though? Dream was one hell of a selfless bastard, he'd bring any helpless creature he found inside. Not that Tommy was complaining about it.
He always preferred seeing Dream like this. Compassionate, gentle, kind. This way, Tommy felt safe, comfortable. He didn't know why he felt that way, and why the mere idea of seeing Dream get angry, at least seriously angry, made him shudder. But who was he to question it? Maybe he just liked seeing people be nice. Most people preferred seeing others be nice. It wasn't anything weird.
So Dream sat down by the fireplace, gazing at the brightly colored flames wildly dancing around, as if they were trying to escape their containment and consume the whole house in their path. In their presence he was trying to keep the cat warm, and maybe himself as well. Although the cat was a priority, he was freezing too.
"Here", Tommy said, throwing a towel at Dream.
"Thanks, Tommy", Dream just responded, noticing that Tommy had two towels. "Wait, this one's for me?", he asked, caught by surprise. He hadn't considered taking one for himself, expecting to just dry by the heat of the fireplace. And Tommy handed him one now, when he wasn't planning to.
"Yeah, you self sacrificing bitch, it's for you.", Tommy said, concerned lacing his tone, "You're fucking soaked, and cold. I saw you shivering when you came in. Did you think I was gonna leave you like that? You're always trying to do everything in this house. You'll get sick if you keep doing this shit, Dream."
Tommy wasn't wrong. Dream often tried to do everything by himself, never allowing himself a single moment of rest. He never felt like he wanted to rest. He never even thought about it. His needs were an afterthought, let alone his wants. There was so much to do every day. He had to make sure they always had food and other necessities. That no mobs were around to attack them, no creepers to damage their house. And it was better if Dream himself was to do the work for all this. He did it so that Tommy wouldn't have to.
But maybe Tommy's concerns weren't baseless after all. What if trying to take care of every single issue was taking its toll on Dream? There were days he could barely stand up or leave the bed, his body growing heavy with exhaustion. Days he almost forgot to eat, ignoring the pain and the noise of his stomach begging, demanding for food, until Tommy reminded him to. But he still forced himself to get through it, since he had to. He couldn't afford to waste time like that.
While Dream was lost in his thoughts, Tommy brought in a small bowl of water and a piece of salmon, in order to feed the cat. Poor thing was probably starving and dehydrated, after so much time of barely eating anything and the only water she could have found to drink was from random ponds. Then he sat down to hold her and dry her. He really took a liking to this cat Dream brought in. He thought it'd feel like a chore, something he would have to convince himself to do, but taking care of it wasn't so bad after all. So, he kept doing it, so deeply focused he didn't even notice Dream staring at him, watching him like him caring for an animal like that was a foreign concept.
Seeing Tommy taking care of her so gently sent Dream even further into his thoughts. Why was Tommy doing this now? Naturally, it should have been Dream's responsibility, since he was the one to bring her in. Dream was by all means grateful, it was just, he couldn't understand why he didn't have to do it all by himself this time.
And another thing: seeing Tommy like this awakened a peculiar, unexplainable feeling in Dream. He couldn't even find the correct word for it. Was it sadness? Was it happiness? Something in between? Dream didn't know. All he knew was that he felt as if he finally found something special, something that was taken from him far too soon, and he had spent an eternity longing to find it again, yet knowing that it was in vain. And as if that special, precious thing was in his reach at last.
The cat released a loud meow. Unlike the ones from before though, this wasn't a desperate cry for help. This one was a happy sound, a sound of knowing that she was safe at last. Her furn no longer looked like a soaked rug, now it looked like it normally should. And her eyes were a more vibrant shade, looking like amber stones laid down to bask in the sunlight.
That was good. Seeing her be happy again gave Dream this strong sense of relief. This was how it should be. Such an innocent creature deserved to feel safe, to be cared for this way.
"What are you gonna name her?" Tommy's voice was enough to jolt Dream awake from his thoughts.
With everything that happened, Dream forgot to think of a name. But that was fine, he could think of one now. And so he tried. He tried taking inspiration from the cat itself, like her ebony colored fur, but none of those names felt it belonged. And so he kept contemplating, thinking of the cat that was first at the mercy of nature and then of Dream and Tommy.
Wait. Mercy. That was it. That was the proper name.
Once again, Dream couldn't understand why, but this name somehow felt right. It gave him the same strange sense of familiarity, similar to the one he felt about the cat when he saw her dark coat. The one he felt when he saw her lost and alone, with no hope in sight.
Huh, his life was filled with unexplained mysteries.
But if he was honest, he wouldn't want it any other way. These mysteries were what kept life interesting. Without such things, everything would be dull, boring.
And one day he wanted to discover the answers to them all. The source of all his strange feelings. The way his heart broke on the sight of Mercy being helpless. The kinship he felt because of how black cats were typically seen. The sense of longing when he took her home.
But everything would come at the right time.
"Mercy", he simply said, "That's her name"