Lets Take It From The Top

Sometimes Misunderstandings are the Best

I do not know where this came from, I just started writing and then I had this.

Summary: Dream has been doing this song and dance for a long time. This is a first, though, and not one he's going to complain about. He never gets this much fun, afterall.

-~4k words

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"You have entered here with ill intent, impure thought and action driving your course," Dream recites, sword singing in his ears as he draws it. "You have ignored the chances to correct your course. Ignored the warnings to turn back. Ignored all the signs for you to become more than you are now. Consider this your last chance and the final one where you will face the culmination of all your choices that lead you here. The things and people that told you to come. Turn. Leave. Or you will have to battle me to gain the hand of the princess you seek."

The last words make him want to throw up, but they are needed. Have been since that first person refused to take 'there's not a fucking princess here' as an answer from Sapnap and leading to a couple missing fingers. All of those who have found their way here since have been after the cursed and trapped 'princess' and all of them are tired. Even though it feels like it drags Dream down more to have a new script he has to remember on top of the old one.

The armored knight shifts and Dream continues with the script before it can get any kind of word in. They're all the same. At least he hasn't had to watch the full effects in the same length of time.

"You have made your choice by staying here. A foolish one you will not see the other side of," he intones, wondering if he really should have just let George to take care of this. "You may have a blade, however can you use it? Will you be able to stand against another with that simple metal? Or will it break when you need it most? This will test that question, but I already know the answer. There is not a single time that one has managed to get past me and you will not be the first."

"Uh, I-"

Dream's eyes drift to the seam between the wall and ceiling. There's a crack up there one of them is going to have to take care of, but he's not sure they have the supplies on hand. Or if the building will let them mess with it. "If you still refuse to accept the fact that you are not worthy of continuing forward, draw your blade. You will have to face me in battle to continue forward and I warn you now: I am simply the first. The ones after me are stronger, smarter, better. They will know what you are capable of and you will not be able to beat them. I doubt that will be a problem as not once has blood been spilled beyond this room."

You know, he thinks they might have some leftover bricks from that fireplace repair. Maybe those could work? And they weren't rejected so hopefully...

Oh, wait, he should probably turn back to the knight in front of him. He's getting to the part where it attacks finally, Dream maybe decides to dodge it for a couple minutes, lops off its head, goes back upstairs and annoys someone into checking if they actually have bricks and fixing the crack while ignoring the body that turned to dust in front of him.

"Well? You are seeking for your true love," he says, feeling the mockery in his own words curling around his toes. "Fight for it or give up. There is no other choice for you to make at this point. Make it."

A shift and he grips his sword for an attack-

The helmet isn't looking at him. It's angled down as gloved hands dig into a belt pouch and aren't even holding a weapon anymore and this doesn't happen. Why isn't it attacking?

"I think I might be in the wrong place?" it says, staying in clear sight as it pulls out a parchment and still not looking up at him.

Oh.

Dream blinks under his own helmet. This... really hasn't ever happened before. Even before the whole 'princess' thing took off no one really got here accidentally. All of them wanted to kill Dream, after all, and he killed them in turn to avoid watching the worse option.

"I was lookin' for my" something Dream doesn't recognize but sounds kind of similar to Sapnap's first language "and I was told to come here. Or at least somewhere that has a lot of the same features? I'm not really familiar with this place."

Well, Dream is kind of feeling awkward now. A large part of him wants to offer to point them in the right direction, but he literally just made a huge, rambling speech about how he's going to kill them and they're a trespasser and clearly corrupt in one way or another. That isn't how you're supposed to start a friendly interaction with someone. At least according to Bad. Hm. Maybe he can try apologizing? Bad says that's something humans do when they mess up so it should be correct in this situation, right? Dream made a mistake in thinking they were here for the non-existent princess and he can make it up by offering help in finding the correct place.

"Let me see."

The helmet finally looks up again and oh no. Is that overstepping in a different way? The others don't always like when someone tries to help and even Dream gets annoyed when one of them tries to push help when he doesn't want it. He should just clarify that he's-

"Here," the knight says, holding the parchment out. "My friend - I think that's the word - wrote it out for me."

Dream nods slightly, carefully taking the page and trying to not think about how far they must have traveled to get here if they aren't sure about the language. The writing is, weird. Parts really small while others are huge in comparison and somehow spiky and curvy at the same time. He can still read it, but the handwriting is strange enough Dream is seriously wondering if he can maybe ask to keep this for Bad to have.

Though....

"I think this is the right place," he says, trying to pull up the faint memory of arriving in this damned place and the outside world. Why did he offer to point them the right way? He hasn't been outside since he was a child.

"Really? Cause I want to find" that same word from earlier "before" a different one "gets" and they seem to just be slipping into their native tongue now. At least he can tell their voice sounds almost excited and Dream really wants to know what the fuck they're talking about if they aren't here for the 'Princess' or would be able to translate into trade. Actually, Sapnap's here right now so he should be able to ask for his help with this, right?

"I said 'I think'. It's been awhile since I've seen the outside, but I think I know someone who might speak the same language you're using," he offers. "Would that work to double check with him?"

The knight nods, "Yeah. I can stay here if you don't want anyone following you around?"

Dream stares. All of this has been weird since the script got tossed out earlier, yet the offer to just, stay in the entry hall to not overstep the tenuous 'welcome' is just as off putting as the knight not attacking. It's actually enough he pauses to think about if he's actually alright with a stranger entering the rest of the building.

"Are you okay just standing here?" he finally settles on. "It can't be that interesting, but..."

How can he nicely put 'The rest of this building is the safe place for all of us and none of us like the idea of outsiders being let in past the entry hall' without sounding like a bigger ass then he has been?

"As long as you don't mind me poking around here," the knight states, attention already off of Dream and staring at the murals along the walls.

He glances over, but they aren't that interesting and he doesn't get why the knight is apparently intrigued, but it means he can track down Sapnap in the time it takes them to get bored of the boring things.

"Okay, I'll be" wow, they don't wait even a second before jogging to the nearest one "right back."

Dream stares at them for a second before slowly backing up to the concealed pathway deeper into the building. They don't even react as the redstone activates to let him through or as it closes.

"What the fuck," he whispers, staring at the dark stone and wondering if he's actually gone insane for a moment.

He shakes it off, bolting as fast as possible into the maze of the building and yelling at the top of his lungs for Sapnap. There's an explosion from somewhere followed by a 'You muffin!' almost drowning out a thump from a room he passes. (George's bedroom, so not where Sapnap would be. And it's his own fault for sleeping while the rest of them are awake.) Luckily, it doesn't take long to come across Sapnap poking his head out of a doorway spilling heat haze into the hallway and Dream skids to a stop to avoid sudden onset heatstroke.

"Why are yelling?" Sapnap asks over the clanging of his rods.

Dream takes a breath, "I need your help with something in the entry."

Sapnap's face scrunches up, "Didn't you say that you wanted to deal with the next ones that showed up? Get some kind of fun out of beating up people who deserve it? Or" he gets a shit-eating grin "is it someone from your home?"

"None of that," he sighs, rolling his eyes under the helmet and kind of wishes he could take it off to deal with this. "I need you to translate."

That has Sapnap pausing, silent except for the rhythmic clanking of his rods. "Yeah, okay. Sounds interesting."

"Great. C'mon. I left them alone and they said it was okay, but that room is soooo boring to be stuck in and I don't want them to wait forever," he says, grabbing hold of Sapnap's wrist and tugging him out of the room.

There's a yelp and a faint struggle as Sapnap barely manages to kick the door shut, "Dream! Are you trying to burn the place down? You know that won't work!"

Dream ignores the complaining as he keeps dragging the other back through the halls. He has no idea how long the knight has been left there with how this place is structured and he really doesn't want to leave them for long enough to get bored or, you know, die, so he keeps pressing against the button to open the door even though it doesn't make it open any faster. Sapnap tugs his hand away from the button after the 20th press and he just starts tapping his foot against the carpeted floor.

"Dude. You can calm down," Sapnap sighs, throwing arms over Dream's armored shoulders and letting his full weight press down. "It hasn't been that long. There's no way Slowness has even had the chance to activate."

He shoves an elbow into Sapnap's ribs because technically yes, but in reality no. It's maybe something he should talk to them about, but he really, really does not want to talk about Before and they know that but this is really something they should-

The door clanks open enough to get through and he dashes through, lungs burning as his eyes snap around for the knight-

Who is still at the first mural, staring up at it and where they really that interested in the fucking murals depicting Dream's imprisonment? Really?

The knight's head turns to look over, straightening at seeing them standing on the dais and - oddly - Dream doesn't feel the weight of their focus on himself even though they're looking at them both so who could they-

Blaze rods clanking in a harsh smack reminds him that Sapnap's here too and he watches as the other drifts barely above the ground as he goes down the stairs calling what he knows is a greeting. With that, a whole conversation starts up in the rumbling, burning language Dream's never been able to get a hang of no matter how hard he's tried. It kind of sucks not knowing what either of them are saying, but he trusts Sapnap will give him answers and as long as he's in the room, none of the effects should have the chance to start up.

His eyes flick up to the mural the knight was so intent on, but he really can't see any reason for someone to be interested in it. It's nothing but the remainder of people who were terrified about nothing and decided the best way to deal with that was to toss him away without a second glance. It's pure luck that none of the others have decided to ask about them.

Sapnap bursts into laughter, dragging his attention back. The blaze hybrid has his feet fully on the ground, bent over to brace against his knees as he laughs and laughs and laughs. The knight looks up at him, head tilted and Dream can feel the bone deep confusion that rings in his own body. At least it seems to be a misunderstanding? Maybe? At least something Sapnap finds absolutely hilarious.

"Oh sweet Nether," Sapnap finally gasps out. "This is great."

"Wonderful," Dream says, crossing his arms. "Are you willing to share, now?"

Sapnap gasps in air, the rods and his skin flaring in brightness with each breathe, "I'll tell you, just gimme a moment."

He rolls his eyes, hearing Bad's near silent footfalls as he steps through the door, "Fine."

"What's going on?" Bad mutters, bent over to speak right next to Dream's ear. "Are they going to join us?"

"I don't think so," Dream whispers back, watching as Sapnap's coloration slowly steadies. "I just needed Sapnap's help figuring out what exactly they're here for and then he fell over laughing."

"Huh."

"Okay, okay, okay!" Sapnap is still laughing as he comes over. "So, they're here to fight you."

Dream blinks, "They said they weren't here for a princess? Was that just a miscommunication?"

"No. It's more like an arena match," Sapnap explains. "Or sparring with us. They aren't here for a princess or to kill an evil beast or any of the other things people have sought this place out for, they are literally just looking for a decent spar for a best of five. And they were sent here with a vague as shit description."

He looks over at the (maybe not a) knight who's head has turned back to the murals. The armor has the appearance of something that's actually used and the sword he can tell even from this distance has been cared for and, well, he has been calling them a 'knight' from the very first glance.

"I'll fight them," he says, stepping around Sapnap to go down the three steps.

Sapnap calls something out to the visitor who obviously perks up, moving to the spot they'd first stopped in when Dream had started talking. Dream stops a length away from them. Not close enough for either to actually hit with their blades and he actually feels excited to be facing a battle. It might not be much - even the others have to go three to one for him to really start having to think in a spar - but this is different and he can't wait to experience it.

"Don't hold back," the visitor says, sword dangling from their hand as Sapnap gives a count down.

"We'll see," he replies, wondering how much he might be able to draw out the coming battles. Sapnap said best of five, after all.

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Every single inch of him aches and Dream can't help the stupid grin he knows is splitting his face even if it would reduce the strain in his muscles even slightly.

"Can you stop with the ridiculous smile," George pleads, dropping a warm towel over his head. "It's getting disturbing."

"Let him have it," Bad chuckles. "It's not like there's a whole lot that gets him this happy, anyway."

Dream hums in agreement, wincing faintly at the strain it puts across his chest and limbs. He can't move and Bad had to help get the armor off, move him into the back of the building, and get him onto one of the couches to rest his muscles from the strain Dream'd put them under. Not a situation he likes, but he can't bring himself to care right now.

"So I should have actually left my room to figure out what was going on," George sighs. "What happened?"

"Hilarity!" Sapnap crows, the door slamming into the wall as he rushes in. "I really, really need to tell you guys just how hilarious this is. It's great!"

The towel over his face is pulled away and Dream can actually see the other three now. George lounging in one of the chairs, Sapnap floating in excitement by the door as his rods rotate faster than normal, and Bad sitting next to him folding the towel into a rectangle he places over Dream's forehead.

"It was someone just looking for a spar," Bad offers. "Odd and certainly different from the usual, but I'm not sure why Sapnap's finding it so funny."

Sapnap gasps in mock offense, grasping at his chest, "How could you! It is absolutely hilarious and watching Dream get his ass handed to him was even more so."

Dream snorts, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Sapnap chirps. "But seriously, it is way funnier and I should probably explain why."

"You should," George says. "Though imagining Dream loosing in a spar is funny enough."

The rods clack as he continues, "So, I mentioned that they were looking for a best of five spar thing which isn't the best explanation but it's the one I could use. Basically, a lot of the races in the Nether have this coming of age task where they prove they're strong enough to be considered an adult. Most of the time, it things like go kill a ghast or help take out a threat to the clan, but sometimes, they'll be sent out to find specific fights for various reasons."

Dream carefully turns his head to the side, eyeing Sapnap as he grabs hold of his rods to keep them from running into the couch as he sits and continues, "Rarely, something happens and they have to use something to actually find the task. I don't know all of the details cause each of them is different, but they implied that their's was a vision of some sort. Meaning, they were literally sent here by divine intervention to fight Dream. Purely to prove they're skilled enough to be an adult."

He crosses his eyes, staring at the wall, "I guess it is kind of funny, but I think you still have a lot more cultural input that makes it more so."

"Probably," he sighs. "But thinking of a god just looking at all the possibilities for them to fight and choosing to send them to Dream is-" he waves a hand around in the air, trailing off with a large grin.

"Knowing how much of a pain it is to get here, that is kind of amusing," Bad adds. "Were they another blaze? I didn't see any rods, but they could have been holding them inside the armor?"

Sapnap shakes his head, "Nah, something else which is why they had the armor. Blazes don't really do that proving thing. Mom had a handful come to challenge her while I was growing up, though."

Dream closes his eyes as they start going into questions about what the differences between the various Nether races is when it comes to coming of age. Given most of them are just 'No clue, but this is what I remember/saw', he doesn't feel bad about tuning the conversation out. It doesn't really matter to him why the visitor decided to make the trek to the building. Not when he's still turning the fights over in his head, debating what he could have done differently, what it would be like to have a rematch, how to maybe convince one of them to track down the visitor and give an offer of a place to stay in exchange for another fight.

It's been forever since he had a fight that pushed him like that.

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The helmet clangs against the stone as it drops from Techno's fingers, quickly followed by the gauntlets and vambraces. The enchantment on the rest of the set stings against his skin. Pulses in waves of tingling pain that doesn't actually hurt him, but is uncomfortable enough he wants the thing off.

"Oh my god, could you not wait like another ten feet to start taking off the armor?" Skeppy complains. "You almost hit me."

"Sounds like a you problem," he grunts back, twisting around to reach the buckles on the pauldrons and breastplate.

"Just because I'm shorter than you-"

Techno's ear pricks up, turning to the flowing magma river in time to see crackling skin breaching the surface and soul fire eyes stare at him.

Skeppy bumps into one of his greaves, "Why are you- Oh, hi Tommy."

Tommy tilts his head, claws digging into the netherrack as he shoves out of the magma. Globs of the molten rock drip down his skin as he settles on the shore and reaches out to Techno. Techno steps closer, collapsing to the ground and purring as those same claws curve under the armor to pick out the buckles.

"SaaaAAffffe?" Tommy's voice rumbles out.

"Yeah," he replies, eyes drifting closed as the armor comes off piece by piece and taking the tingling of the enchantment with it. "We're both safe."

A crooning rumble vibrates through the air around them with the last of the buckles around his torso coming undone and Tommy switching focus to Techno's hair. The scratches across his scalp increase the volume of his purring as he leans back into the warm scales and skin.

"This is sickeningly sweet," Skeppy says, leaning against Techno's thigh. "Why do you have to put me through this."

Tommy hisses, but doesn't pull away from petting Techno's hair. If anything, he just pulls his trailing tail further out of the magma to curl more around the two of them.

"Succeed?" he croons.

Techno gives a positive hum as Skeppy says, "Yep! Techno really proved himself in battle and I'd say is totally an adult even if he already is and I don't really get why he had to do this in the first place, but that doesn't change that he won. It was a real pain to get there, though. Couldn't you have offered somewhere easier to get to? Most of the travel was just finding the thing and we got there and then the first thing we come across was talking about a mate or something? It was weird and made me think I got the wrong details before it got a blaze to confirm we were in the right place."

He huffs as Tommy sprawls across his back, pressing down on him and stopping with the hair petting. Something that is absolutely criminal and he grumbles and shifts to make that clear. It only gets a grumbling chuff and Tommy pressing further down on him and fine. Techno will take the physical contact for now, he guesses. He has missed being with his full sounder.

Tommy doesn't bother with more words, curling over Techno fully. He's finally comfortably warm after being cold and having to wear that armor set didn't help either even if he knows it was designed to keep him safe. Skeppy is pressed into his side humming faintly under Tommy's rumbling and his own purring. There will be time later to talk about his proving, but for now, Techno lets sleep claim him.

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Details I was thinking about while writing:

Dream is imprisoned in a sort of castle-thing and has been since he was like five in order to prevent some kind of bad thing from happening. Bad, Sapnap, and George live with him, but aren't under the same imprisonment deal so they leave occasionally.

When Dream was alone, he figured out there was a sort of curse on the place as well and anyone who enters the entry hall has the chance of getting some sort of affliction put on them. And time acts weird in the Hall sometimes going faster, sometimes going slower.

Sapnap is a blaze hybrid, Bad is a demon, George is human, Dream is unknown but looks humanoid

This is Techno's first time being in the overworld and he hates it. Mainly because of the armor he had to wear and how cold it was compared to the Nether. He knows that it was the only logical option for his proving trial, though, so he puts up with it.

Tommy is a magma/lava mer and they can speak, they just tend to use calls more than words, but he puts in the effort to make sure Techno has all the resources to grow up properly. Yes, Tommy is older here. He's also a god, but ignore that. He just wants to make sure his little brother knows he's loved.

Skeppy is just like, a 6-9 inch tall golem so he was there for the battle with Dream, it's just none of them besides Techno noticed him. He's also part of the sounder and helped a lot with tracking down the castle-thing due to actually being created on the overworld.

If there's any other tags I should add, let me know!

he's a killer just for fun, fun, fun, fun...

I’m a big fan of big/tall cTechno and cPhil coming off as bigger than he is bc of the huge wings on his back - so cDream who is above average for humans constantly feels at least a little dwarfed by them

BRO YEAAAAAA the other day i was reflecting on the love he has for techno/phil, who are both bigger than him (or feel bigger because of their surface area, like phil) and sam, who is also bigger than him (in my mind anyway) VS the love he feels for cgeorge (tinyboy). i'm a dirty multishipper but i think a lot about how different loves feel unique. how he'd feel in their arms.

Fenris

Offering help in a dark place

TW: blood, prison, torture, broken bones, generally injuries, amputation (of hybrid traits), maiming,

I didn't prove read this, so I'm sorry if you find mistakes, it was just too long ;n;

Techno decided that he had waited long enough and it was time to break his rival out of prison. He discovered not only what had been going on in the prison but also some secrets of Dream himself.

The weight was heavy on Techno’s back. There was no strength left in Dream who was now resting on his back. It’s not like he was heavy. He would have probably been a little bit heavy a few months ago when he still had muscles and fat on his body, but now he looked like a skeleton covered in bruises, cuts, and wrongly healed broken bones. The cloak which was wrapped around his shoulders was the only thing which kept him warm.

So, Techno fought his way through the snow, waiting for the familiar sight of his home to appear on the horizon.

------

When Techno broke into the prison through the roof and landed quietly in a pool of blood, he didn’t recognize Dream at first. He even thought the cell was empty at first glance. Well, empty apart from the blood on the floor and walls, chains and half eaten, raw potatoes laying around. Did he miscalculate and enter a different cell? Techno quickly threw away that thought when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

He quickly pulled out his sword, slowly creepy closer to the mystery which was hidden behind a simple chest.

What he saw, almost made him drop his sword in shock. There he was, the person he had been looking for.

He looked horrendous.

There was Dream, curled up in a corner, hands gripping the chest tightly, blood covering nearly every single spot on his mangled body.

Techno had seen the half eaten potatoes, did that mean he only got raw potatoes to eat? Techno himself was a potato lover, everybody knew that but raw potatoes, not only were they bad for your health, toxic even, but they also didn’t have enough nutrients for a grown man.

The next thing Techno noticed was Dream’s hair. It was longer than he had ever seen before. It was extremely dirty and he could easily see the knots and clumps in the hair, so unkempt. It was almost the same length as his own, but it seemed lighter than before, almost white. Maybe it was the reflection of the lava in the grease of the hair or it had actually turned white. Or both. There were still a few flecks of dirt and blood in the hair, which tainted its whiteness.

Looking at Dream’s visible body, which wasn’t covered by the orange dark brown fabric of the prison uniform, Techno had to swallow harshly. He saw various cuts and bruises and both of Dream’s legs seemed broken, sticking out in weird angles, even though he had pulled them closely towards his chest. Techno knew a lot about injuries, both receiving them and giving them to others. He knew how injuries looked on a person who just had a friendly fight with someone, he knew how injuries looked on a person who had a life and death fight and barely got away with their life, and he knew how injuries looked on a person who had been in a fight in which they couldn’t defend themselves, had no chance of winning, and were basically just a punching bag.

And he knew what tortured looked like.

Techno didn’t know how to approach the trembling mess which was his rivals. Still was his rival. The first thing he did was putting his netherite sword back, because through the curtain of hair, he could see one of Dream’s green eyes, ripped open in plain and simple terror, staring at it.

“Dream?” He simply asked, trying to get the apparently unmasked man’s attention on him. What he didn’t expect was Dream flinching back violently at the sound of his own name and hiding his face in the crook of his elbow, pressing himself even more into the corner of the cell.

Techno himself flinched back seeing the reaction of his former ally. It was so very unlike Dream. He usually stood tall and strong, rather choosing fight than flight but also knowing when he couldn’t win.

Dream, the master of parkour, winding himself around obstacles no one else could, climbing the highest trees, and pulling the most unusual tricks out of his sleeves, was cowering in fear of Technoblade in the corner of a hot, humid, and extremely disgustingly smelling cell, which walls were covered in blood.

Techno had noticed the bandages which had been clumsily and badly wrapped around the skinny extremities, probably by Dream himself. That told Technoblade a lot, because that meant that no one bothered to look after Dream’s health, not even taking care of life threatening injuries. The molding potatoes in the corner weren’t any better.

Glancing slightly to his left, Techno noticed a cauldron with water in it. It was murky, slightly tainted in a pinkish tone. There was a slight movement on Techno’s right side, which told him that Dream had moved. He glanced over to the prisoner, who froze mid movement, eyes staring at him.

Both men stood still.

But Dream quickly pressed himself into his corner, face hidden in his arms again.

Techno sighed, and decided to sit down. He knew that his pants and cloak would probably get extremely dirty, covered in grime and blood from this. Still, his plan was to make himself seem approachable and not like this terrifying monster, Dream was probably seeing at that moment.

“Dream, it’s me. Techno.” He said once again, voice barely above a whisper. When Dream didn’t move, he continued. “I’m here to get you out. To break you out of prison.” A small smile spread on Techno’s face when he saw one of Dream’s eyes again, peeking through his hair, head slightly raised.

“Yeah, I’ll get you out of here, don’t worry.” He chuckled and reached out with his hand. Big mistake on his part. Dream immediately flinched back, staring at the hand now. Techno slowly pulled his hand back, slightly raising them in apology.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. Can you give me your hand? I just wanna see if you are fine.” Techno asked, slowly holding his hand out again. He could see Dream’s eyes switch from his hand to his eyes nervously. “I just want to help, I promise.”

Slowly, a trembling hand, which had been wrapped in bandages but still had blood seeping through, extended. When it rested in Techno’s hand, he rubbed over the back of the hand, trying to show peacefulness and comfort.

Techno noted that the first thing he will have to do, once both of them are safe in his house, was washing all the dirt and blood off Dream, cutting his hair, because a lot of it he won’t be able to save, cleaning his wounds and rewrapping them.

Techno was shocked by various things when looking at Dream’s hand. He could see that 4 out of 5 fingers were missing fingernails. On his palm between the bandages which were easily moved to the side, was a smiley cut in. At first he thought it had been Dream’s signature smiley, but it was different. The smile seemed more rectangular, which reminded him of a certain duck hybrid on the server. Trying to tune out the voices and not let rage take over by the implications of that, Techno turned the hand around again. gently covering it with his second hand, holding it gently.

“See, I’m not going to hurt you.” Techno quickly replaced the bandages and kept rubbing his thumb over the dry hand. Dream didn’t answer, he just kept staring at Techno.

“I’m going to remove my cloak now and give it to you, ok. It’s raining outside and where we are going will be extremely cold.”

A long time he got no answer from Dream, until he felt the boney hand gently press his own. He barely felt it but it was there nonetheless.

“I’m going to let go of your hand now, ok?” Techno asked and got another squeeze from the still shaking hand.

Gently he retracted his hand, and so did Dream. He unclasped the golden buttons of which kept the cloak around his shoulders and barely stopped it from falling into a puddle of blood.

“I need you to lean forward, so I can wrap it around you.” Techno advised but Dream kept still. He let a few seconds pass but nothing happened, so he slowly raised his hands with the cloak in them. He edged closer on his knees, trying not to scare Dream. Once he was in front of the man, he held his hands over the cowering man. He could see Dream hiding his face in his arms again, apparently expecting to be hurt even more. Techno quickly twisted and flicked his own arms, the cloak fluttered down behind Dream’s back. Leaning back a little bit he connected the golden string with the buttons again, so it won’t fall off Dream's narrow shoulders.

Satisfied, Technoblade leaned back and looked at his rival drowning in his royal cloak. He was rather closer to Dream’s head right now and the man in question peek through his hair up at him. Suddenly he noticed something sticking out of Dream’s head. At first he thought it was just a clump of blood, but upon further inspection he saw that it was solid.

Scared that it was something which was hurting Dream he gently touched it, only for Dream to flinch back and cover his head with his arms, head tucked between his legs. Being a hybrid himself, Techno didn’t need a long time to identify what he was touching, if only it was just for a second.

Those were horns from a hybrid.

“You are a hybrid, Dream?” He asked stepping back again, eyes still focussed on the horn sticking out of the apparent hybrid’s head. Techno raised an eyebrow in thought because he couldn’t think of an hybrid who only had one horn, which wasn’t even centered, unless it had been…

Oh.

It was very dark in the cell, except for the glowing lava and the mushroom light glooming in the corner but Techno’s piglin side had very good sight, so he could easily see the jacked ends of a clearly cut off, or rather cracked or ripped off horn. Closing his eyes, he could think about what happened to Dream’s other horn.

“okay…” Techno put his hands on his legs. “we have to go now, it’s time.” He gently put his hand on Dream’s shoulder, surprised when there was no flinch. He could still see the watchful eyes of the apparent hybrid on him.

“I’ll have to carry you. It doesn’t seem like you can walk on your own.” He slowly moved around, so his back was facing Dream’s chest. “I’ll give you a piggyback ride. I have to use my tools to get us out of here okay?” There was no sound coming from Dream and Techno slowly wondered if his rival could even speak anymore or if it was just the terror and panic Dream was probably feeling right now.

“I need you to move your arms over my shoulders, so I can pick you up. Can you do that?” Surprisingly his sensitive ears could hear shuffling behind him and suddenly he felt a weight flop against his back and two thin arms appear on each side of his head. Dream had just thrown himself against his back, too weak to even hold himself upright.

“Alright. I’ll just move my hands under your thighs and we’ll be off.” Techno didn’t expect an answer but he could hear a tired and quiet hum close to his ear, where Dream’s head was resting against his shoulder.

The piglin hybrid got hold of Dream’s thighs which were as thin as the rest of his body. Dream had always had lots of leg muscles coming from the manhunts, the running he did and the parkourin, but all these muscles seemed to be gone now.

Techno leaned forwards a little bit, so Dream didn’t have to hold on too tight while he got his trident out of inventory. Both men now stood under a hole in the prison roof, where Techno had mined into before with the help of Philza and lots and lots of buckets of milk.

“You hanging in there, buddy?” Techno asked while they stood in the rain for a second. “I need you to hold onto my neck tightly for like three seconds, so I can trident us out of here.” Techno could feel the arms around his neck slightly tightening. It wasn’t a lot but it was enough that Dream wouldn’t fall off mid flight.

Not waiting any longer, Techno threw one last look at the dirty and blood covered cell, closing his eyes for a second to feel the cold raindrops on his face. It was quite the change from the temperature of the cell, he couldn’t imagine how Dream was feeling.

The flight up to the roof was done in 2 seconds and Techno squatted down on the roof while landing, trying to make the impact as soft as possible for Dream.

He heard steps beside him and saw the familiar face of Phil staring down at him.

“Oh my god.” He just said, upon seeing the condition of the former ruler of the smp.

“I know, I know, let’s talk about this at home, okay?” Techno cut off Phil, before the older man could say anything else. What surprised the piglin hybrid was the arm on the left side of his head which suddenly started to move. It extended, palm up, and trembling fingers were hit with cold water droplets.

“Haven’t seen or felt rain in a while now, huh?” Techno grinned while he stood up, watching Dream’s hand getting wet. He heard a quiet hum next to his ears.

Techno could also see a small smile appear on Phil, who still had worry written on his forehead.

“We need to go now, you’ll get sick if you stay too long in the rain with these clothes.” Phil mentioned and they walked to the edge of the prison, ready to jump down. Before they did so, Phil opened the screen of his inventory and pulled out an invisibility potion.

“I’ll splash the two of you with invisibility, so you can walk through the mainland without anyone seeing you.” Phil explained and threw the bottle on the ground and Techno with Dream on his back disappeared.

“Be safe.” Phil said, before he spread his wings, ready to fly off. “Both of you.”

With those words, Phil was gone, only a small dot on the horizon, disappearing quickly.

“Ok, nerd. You have to hang on tight onto me one last time, while we jump off. I’ll also hold onto you, so don’t worry. I’ll trident us to the land, so we won’t hit the water.” He muttered softly and he could feel a nod on his shoulders.

While they were falling freely for a few seconds, the arms around his neck tightened again and Dream pressed his body tightly against his back. Techno made sure he landed as softly as he could with a trident in one hand and a prisoner on his back.

“You good?” He asked once he stood steadily on the ground. Another hum reached his ears in affirmation. “Alright then, let’s go.”

------

Techno gasped when he finally saw his house behind the mountain. The travelling through the nether had been bothersome for Dream due to the drastic temperature change and the apparent fear or nervousness around lava.

Both of them had been travelling for a few hours now, the invisibility potion long ran off.

“We are nearly there, Dream. Only a few more minutes.” The man on his back was shivering with his entire body and his fingers and toes had turned from red into a slightly blue hue. “Just a little longer.”

There was no response from Dream and Techno worried if he fell unconscious, if he was just sleeping, or he just couldn’t answer because of the cold and exhaustion. The familiar feeling of worry, which he normally only felt for Phil, was seeping through his body, forcing his legs to hurry up even more.

The closer he got, the clearer could he see the silhouette of Phil waiting for them on the wooden connection between their houses. When they were close enough, Phil quickly disappeared into his house, only to reappear after seconds, running towards them with something in his arms.

Philza greeted him with a nod and Techno could finally see what Phil had been carrying. A few blankets were resting in his hands which he all threw around the two of them, so Dream was encased in blankets on his back and his front was protected from the cold by the body heat of Techno.

“Get him into the house quickly. We’ll warm him up inside.” Phil grabbed Techno’s arm and dragged him towards the two houses. He quickly ran up the stairs, shooing away curious dogs and sleeping polar bears. Phil held the door open for them to pass through.

“Lay him on there.” He pointed on a bed which had been sat next to the wooden box, which had been Tommy’s hiding place a few months prior, and a few chests. There was a bowl of hot water, a few bandages and various colored cloths on the chests, waiting to be used.

Techno sat down on the bed, gently coaxing the freezing arms from around his neck, only to turn around and gently let Dream’s body fall onto the soft mattress. Looking at Dream in normal daylight made everything worse.

The hair was splayed around his head, clotted together in blood and in grease. Dream’s face was covered in fresh wounds, some with reopened crusts. Blood was everywhere. There were bruises in the forms of hands around his neck, fresh and old, clearly from being choked. Cuts and bruises littered the entire body in front of him and blood was everywhere. It was mostly dried old blood, but some wounds have reopened and were now leaking blood, already soaking up the mattress below.

The legs were the worst of all the injuries. Dream’s feet looked unregular, like they had been broken multiple times, which was probably the case. Dream’s right shin looked like it had suddenly sprouted a joint, bending in another way midway through. Clearly broken. Dream’s left leg didn’t look any better with bruises of what seemed to be a hammer head spread all over.

“I don’t even know where to start.” Phil ruffled his own hair in uncertainty and desperation. “There is so much.”

“You start with the legs, I start at the head?” Techno suggested and Phil nodded quickly. Both took a cloth in their hands and dipped it in the hot water. Techno scooted up, so he could sit next to Dream’s head. At first he removed the bandages which were still loosely hanging off his face. Some of them he had to pry off because they were stuck to Dream’s head, glued to the face with dried blood.

“Did you know Dream was a hybrid?” Techno asked while starting to clean the cuts on his rival's face. While Techno kept working, Phil stopped.

“A hybrid? What kind of?” He mused, while going back to work. “Normally hybrids have some visual traits which indicate they are one. I mean not every hybrid has them but I’d say 90% do.”

“He has horns.” Techno answered. “Well, had. Kind of.” He carefully parted the long, now clearly white hair, to inspect the horns closer. Now he could see that the second horn, which he didn’t see in the darkness of the prison had been cut off completely at its root. It was a clean cut, probably done with a sword or a saw. The edges were still a little rough, so probably a saw. Only a cut off stump remained. The other horn was still there, though not completely. Like he had thought before it had been ripped off, or cracked like a glowstick. The edges were sharp and unregular, probably ripped off with brute force. “Come see.” He nudged his head, waiting for his old friend to come closer.

He could see Phil glancing over his shoulder and his breath stopped when seeing the maimed horns. “Fuck.” He said and sighed deeply. “What kind of hybrid do you think he is?” Phil asked while going back to try and relocate the bones without causing too much stir up or pain.

“Knowing Captain Puffy is… was his mother, probably something like sheep or goat.” Techno pointed at the limp but still fluffy tail which peaked out of Dream’s prison pants.

Phil chuckled.

“Never thought big bad Dream would be a sheep hybrid.”

Techno only hummed in response, turning his attention back on the man on the bed.

Both men worked in silence for a few minutes until Techno spoke up again.

“I think we should cut his hair while he is asleep.” Phil grabbed a few of the bandages. After he had relocated and taken care of the broken bones, he wanted to wrap them up again with fresh and new bandages.

“Don’t you think we should wake until he is up. Getting his opinion on it?” Phil suggested.

“Normally I’d agree. But I doubt Dream would trust up with scissors or shears near his body. You didn’t see what the inside of the cell looked like.” Techno sighed. “There was blood everywhere. Look at my pants! They are drenched in blood and I just sat there for a few minutes. I honestly don’t know what happened in there. My best guess is torture.”

Phil tied off a knot on a bandage of Dream’s left leg. The bandage started the knee and went down to his ankles. “Torture, are you sure?” He asked and grabbed another roll. He dipped the cloth back into the water, which slowly changed colors into pink.

“Check out his hand.” Techno took the now cleaned hand into his own, and turned it around, so his palm was visible. Phil scooted closer and gasped when he saw the lines resembling a smiley cut into the soft flesh.

“That’s… that’s Quackity, right?” Phil asked and Techno only nodded. “I don’t know what he wanted from Dream but this is definitely his work. He was never a fan of Dream.” Techno slowly started wrapping the hand back up.

“The question is was Sam in on this?” Phil asked, now finishing off Dream’s left leg, moving to his right.

“He must have, from what people have told me, you can only go into the prison with Sam’s permission. He has keycards which are needed to open doors.” Techno finished with the hands and now moved to cut open Dream’s torn prison uniform. He gasped when he saw how starved his rival looked, with every broken rib visible. “Niki even told me that you have to leave all your items in a locker, and you are being killed two times. So Sam makes sure that you can’t smuggle anything in. Sam must have been in on it, Quackity wouldn’t be able to bring all those weapons into the cell without him.”

Techno finished wrapping the torso, while Phil was nearly finished off with Dream’s legs. The entire time Dream had been quiet, the only sounds were an occasional whimper or a groan.

“Do you think you can do anything for his horns?” Techno asked while he stood up and stretched his body. He was exhausted from the long travel and the breakout.

“Let me see. But if they are already cut off, I can’t do much.” Phil squatted down at the head of Dream and gently parted the long hair. Phil hummed and Techno already knew the answer from looking at Phil’s face. Eyebrows scrunched up and lips pressed into a thin line. “No, sorry. The best thing we can do is clean them up and let the wounds heal.”

Technoblade didn’t know what he expected but he was disappointed nonetheless. Traits like horns were important for hybrids, they were a sign of their identity. Them being cut off or maimed like Dream’s were, wasn’t only extremely painful but also bad for the moral and psyche of the hybrid.

“Let’s clean them up and rest for the night.” Phil suggested after he stood up. Both men nodded and went to work.

------

Phil and Techno had decided that one of them should stay with Dream for the night. Techno had volunteered, after all, his face was familiar and safe to Dream, after he broke him out of prison.

His head was leaning against the armchair he was resting on, eyes closed. Suddenly he heard rustling and he immediately opened his eyes. He turned to look at Dream, who was staring straight at him. Technoblade didn’t want to admit it but he flinched a little bit, surprised by the nearly glowing green eyes staring at him in the darkness.

“I see you are awake, nerd.” Techno sat himself up straight, Dream’s eyes following his every move. “You remember what happened?”

Dream gave him a nod and blinked a few times.

“Good, good. Phil and I cleaned you up and rewrapped your wounds. We also cut your hair, it was getting in the way while we healed you up.” Technically that was a lie but they didn’t want to deal with a terrified awake Dream while they were handling sharp scissors. The hair was too clumped up, unsaveable, so they just cut it off.

Dream nodded again and kept staring at Techno, who fiddled awkwardly with his fingers.

Suddenly Dream let his arm fall out from under the covers and motioned for Techno to come closer to him. Techno obeyed and sat next to Dream’s head, waiting for what the other hybrid wanted. Dream fumbled to grab Techno’s hand. He had pity on Dream and gently placed his hand on the other’s. Dream patted rhythmically on the back of Techno’s hand.

Morse code.

- .... .- -. -.- / -.-- --- ..-

Techno’s moae code knowledge was rusty but he still understood what his rival meant.

“You are welcome, nerd.” He said and for the first time in months, Dream smiled.

C!dream did nothing wrong he's just a silly guy who cares if he killed a stupid child deserved

Yeah

Jailbreak

Mini comic I did to this

https://www.tumblr.com/dulcamaraze/783944197232345088/someone-clap-i-drew-cdream-but-not-pre-prison-or

i think shipping c!doomsday trio romantically is probably the funniest thing you can do, tbh.

it would suck for everyone else on the server, of course, because just imagine being c!tommy and not only did the two guys you look up to break the dude that made you want to die out of prison but they're now having a threesome about it. i'd probably build another tower.