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The wind gently rustled the leaves of a lone tree. It swayed in the breeze and stood in the middle of fields, like the queen of her own land.
Sitting propped against her trunk was a tiny being, its form resembling a young skeleton monster, although it couldn't even be counted as something mortal. His head was adorned by a golden crown, a moon symbol shining in the front. His robes were simple, his cape for once having been discarded, placed aside on this warm day.
He scanned over the words, written on the pages of a thrilling book. It was some sort of children's fantasy novel. He could get lost in stories so easily!
Maybe that is why he failed to notice someone sneaking right behind him. A pair of arms reached toward him.
"AGh! Wha-" he squawked when they grabbed him by his sides...
...and it was followed by swatting the other in the face and uncontrollable laughter slipping out of his mouth.
"Dre-eam, sto-stop, please, AaAH! DREAM!" he was struggling to take a breath as he continued to try and push his brother away, who mercilessly tickled him with a giant grin on his face.
He finally managed to get his leg between them and quickly kicked him away. With the smile still bright on his skull, he looked at his twin.
Dream was the same as usual: golden cape tied around his neck, crown neatly set on his head, although right now it was tilted to the side from their fight, and happiness radiating off of him in waves. It was only 1% uncomfortable for Nightmare, other than that, he couldn't help but beam himself.
The positive guardian spoke up, very cheerful: "Yes! Today, it's 1:0 for me! I won!"
A mischievous smirk spread across the other child's face: "Not so fast, brother!" Dream barely had the time to react before a body slammed into him and wrestled to push his back to the ground. He struggled and got his shoulder into his opponent's armpit. Oh, it was on!
Their battle was legendary, but a tragedy struck, as neither of them noticed the approaching hillside. Soon, two tiny forms were rolling downhill with a screech of surprise.
There was a loud 'thud' and an 'oof' sounded as the guardians fell onto their backs next to each other. The negative one jumped up almost instantly and pressed his lighter counterpart onto the ground with one of his knees.
"Ha ha! 1:1, Dreamy!" he roared playfully, maybe also slightly smug at being able to even their score.
His brother pouted from under him: "Hmph, not fair!"
"What?" Nightmare glanced at him incredulously, "No, it is fair!"
"No!" the loser crossed his arms over his chest, "You obviously cheated! You surprised me! That's not fair!"
He gasped, very offended: "Liar! You did the same thing! So we both cheated!"
He then stepped off, offering the defeated figure a hand. The pout melted off of Dream's face, turning back into that bright smile that always lightened everyone's mood. He took his twin's hand and they both stood up.
Night loved these fun moments. While they sadly didn't happen as much anymore, he wasn't mad. Dream had a lot of work in the village, and while it stung to be rejected by the villagers, he wasn't about to dictate where his brother could and couldn't go (even if the pain they brought him made the kid very tempted to just chew him out for even wanting to be around them).
Still, he always enjoyed playing together.
Dream's expression gained a slightly remorseful tone: "Well, I have to go now, the villagers need my help! They said today would be busy!"
The negative guardian couldn't help the negative frown he now wore: "Oh...okay. Be safe, Dream!" He did his best to smile at the last sentence.
His brother waved at him energetically, already turning to run through the fields: "Bye Nighty! See you later tonight!"
And as Nightamare watched his brother disappear, he could no longer ignore the way his gut twisted in his non-existent stomach.
Something was going to go horribly wrong today.