Chapter Text
It was bright.
…
What is bright…?
…
Different. Different from before.
So “not-bright” is something else? When did it become different? He didn't know.
…
He? What is he?
No… who. Who is he?
…
He is… something.
What is something? Something….
…
A voice full of authority answered confidently in his mind:
[Nightmare.]
Oh!
That is he. He is Nightmare. Nightmare is his… name? What is a name?
[You shall be called Nightmare.]
…
Yes. His name is Nightmare; that is who he is.
…
Why is Nightmare here? He's here to do something…
…
The voice answered again:
[Protect. Save. Awaken.]
Oh, that's right.
…
But what are those things? What is protect? What is save? What is awaken?
[Protect mother. Save Dream. Awaken.]
…Mother? Dream? What is that? He thinks he likes that.
No… them? Them. He likes them. He likes mother. He likes Dream.
…
Mother… protect? Yes, protect. Stay close. Watch over. Protect.
…
Dream… Save Dream. Stay close. Watch over. Care for.
…
It is bright.
…
How does he see the bright? How does he protect, save, awaken? It was hard to think when there is something poking him…
Huh?
Poking him? He has… a body? A body is… him? He can… feel things?
…
[Awaken, Nightmare.]
Oh. He understands now. He can see the bright. He can awaken.
He opened his eyes. He closed them. He slowly opened them again. He can see something up high. Something small and bright. There's another one, small and not-bright. He felt a connection to them for some reason.
[Protect.]
Protect them... protect mother. But where is Dream? He blinked. He just knows. Dream is… close?
…
He turned his head and saw… another being. Dream?
[Save.]
Ah. Yes. Yes, this is Dream. Dream is this person. Dream will help him protect. Dream was poking him with his hand in his sleep.
Nightmare looked down. Dream's hand is on his hand. He wants to hold it. He blinked when his fingers curled around the other's hand.
Oh.
He can do that. He can… move? Move his hand. His hand has an arm? Arms. He has two arms.
He looked the other way and saw it. He lifted it up. His arm… part of his body. He watched as he wiggled his fingers, then closed them in a fist.
What else did he have?
He wiggled his toes. He has toes! And feet. Legs too? He has a body. How much can he move his body? If he wants to go somewhere, how does he do that?
Hmm… he thought about how his hand was curled around Dream's. Did he just… need to think it? And his body would do it? Maybe it was like that.
He wanted to see the bright and the non-bright small things. His arm reached out from where he lay in the grass. Oh. Maybe he couldn't touch them then. But they were so pretty! How did he get closer?
He found himself letting go of Dream’s hand and pushing himself up to sit. Or trying to at least. He wobbled around for a moment before he fell back down. It was rather jarring to suddenly be laying down again.
After a few more attempts, he managed to sit up with his arm supporting him. Oh! He can see over the tall grass now. There's a lot of it around….
He looked up. Can he reach them now? He tried again.
Nope. Still too far. What now?
He blinked and looked past the branches to the sky.
…
It is bright.
It is… warm? Why is the bright warm? Past the leaves above him, he can see a big bright thing way up high, higher than anything else.
It hurt his eyes. He closed them.
He can hear things. A soft whoosh that feels cold. A rustle that is comforting. A sigh that is…
He opened his eyes to look at Dream. Sigh? Dream is… awake? Dream is looking at him. His eyes are bright, like the bright thing way up high. But it doesn't hurt his eyes to look at. It made him feel warm inside. Like he wanted to smile. So he did.
Nightmare smiled at Dream. Dream blinked. And then he smiled back.
Nightmare liked that smile. It made the warm feeling become a bubbly feeling in his chest. The bubbles shook him and came out of his mouth.
“Hehe! Hehehe!”
He gasped and Dream's mouth was an O-shape. What was that? It didn't hurt or anything, but it was… weird. Kind of fun, too. How did he do it again?
Nightmare smiled at Dream. The other looked at him with wide, owlish eyes. Dream was the one who made the bubbly sound now.
“Hehe!”
He looked surprised at the sound he'd made, looking down at his ribs. Nightmare's face scrunched up as he laughed at Dream. This was fun! He liked the bubble noise. Especially when he got to hear it from Dream.
The sound of rustling leaves near them drew Nightmare's attention. Where was it coming from? It didn't sound like the cold whooshing up above.
A small white and brown thing hopped out of the bushes near the edges of the field. It hopped closer to them, until they could make out the shape of it. It stood on its hind legs to stare at them with wide, black eyes. Its long fluffy ears were perked up to catch any little sound around it. Its nose twitched and it jumped towards them to nibble on the grass.
The darker twin watched with wide eyes, entranced. What is that? It was moving, just like them. He looked at Dream and gently tugged on his arm. Dream should look at the new thing too!
Dream blinked at him. Nightmare wanted something? He struggled to sit up as well, crushing down the tall grass around him.
The creature froze at the small noise and movement. Its ears perked up just a bit as it listened.
The twins watched with bated breath. What was the new thing going to do? They felt like they should be quiet and still for some reason.
Dream shifted just a bit so he could see better. While it didn't make much noise, it was enough. The creature bounced away, quickly disappearing into the forest beyond.
The twins let out the breath they were holding. Aw. The new creature was gone. Maybe it would come back at some point? They didn't know. But one thing was certain: there was so much to learn about the world around them.