Chapter Text
Dream heard the person before he felt them, though it didn't matter much. His head was halfway turned when he felt something relatively his size slam into him at such a speed they both hit the ground 3 feet ahead. Dream rolled twice from the impact, suppressing a whine of pain when his shoulder slammed into a rock.
After catching his breath, he looked up, expecting to see some bloodthirsty Nether mob, but instead saw... a small boy. Clearly Netherborne, if the small pointed horns and demonesque tail were anything to go by. As if reading his mind, said boy then turned around and looked at him with pure confusion.
"Who- who are you?" The boy was clearly younger than him. The height, face, and voice screamed it. He must've been 3. He was also looking at Dream's mini antlers and fluffy tail with curiosity. Dream felt a spike of fear at that, but pushed it down because no, this kid obviously could not be a hunter of any kind, he was hopefully maybe probably definitely just curious; after all he was a a Nether hybrid, he'd probably never seen a deer hybrid.
Dream opened his mouth to answer the question, but a squelch cut him off, and both Dream and Sapnap looked up to see the magma cube still in pursuit.
Dream's instincts told him to run run run, run away quickly and leave the random kid behind, but for a moment, he wasn't looking at a random boy. He was looking at a little girl, less than half his age, who looked exactly like him but as a girl. Drista.
That moment was all his mind needed to make a decision it seemed, because without another thought he grabbed the young boy's arm, a little tighter than what he intended, and darted left.
He ran quickly, barely paying any mind to how the younger boy was struggling to keep up with his pace as the adrenaline raced through his body. His mind was blank, thinking nothing other than get away as he ran. Eventually he began to tire out from running so quickly, forcing him to stop. He scanned the area quickly, eyes landing on a small hole within a mound of netherrack tucked behind vines and crimson roots. He rushed over to the small cramped space, moving the vines out of the way and shoving the boy into the crevice before entering it himself, pulling the vines back in place to hide them better.
They stayed there for a few minutes, until they heard the squelching get louder before quieter- it must've thought they had kept going. Even after the sounds went silent, they still stayed put, curled up together, just in case. Better safe than sorry.
After a few moments the boy curled up in Dream's arms started to tremble, and Dream realized he was crying.
"Um.. could I ask you what's wrong?" Dream asked carefully, quietly, as to not spook him.
"I-I'm s-scared... 'nd I mi-miss my dads... I-I sh-sh-shouldn't have r-ran aw-ay..." The little boy managed between sobs, wiping his eyes to no avail as his tears kept coming.
"Oh. Well... we-we'll find them. We just have to look for them, they can't be too far, right?" Dream said soothingly, trying to calm him down. In all honesty he didn't know what he was doing, what he was promising. He didn't have time for this, he had to get out of the Nether and judging on the kid's appearance he might live here, and helping him could cause him to go further into the Nether, less likely to find his way back to the portal he (stupidly) came into. But he couldn't just leave him here, right? Scared, hurt, and alone. It wouldn't be right, but Dream didn't even know who he was looking for. At least one of them must've been a blaze hybrid, right? The kid was a blaze hybrid. But there were tons of blaze hybrids in the Nether, they could look like anything and be anywhere.
"T-thank you.." The blaze mumbled. "What-" he sniffed, "What's your name?"
Dream opened his mouth to speak, but again was interrupted, this time by shouting.
"Sapnap!? Sapnap can you hear me??" The voice yelled.
Dream shrunk at the sound of a stranger yelling, but the little boy's head shot up, turning towards the voice. He stopped crying, a smile forming on his face.
"That's my dad!" The boy said excitedly, grabbing Dream's hand and- with much difficulty- crawled out of the wedge, pulling Dream out with him.
"H-hey wait, I can't-" D ream started, he really didn't want to get close to an adult he didn't know, even if this kid clearly trusted him, but it was no use. The smaller boy dragged him along, running to the sound of the voice.
"Bad! BAADDDD I'm over here!" The boy shouted excitedly, which confused Dream a little- did the boy mean "dad?" What was bad? But he had said dad just fine earlier? Perhaps it could've been the man's nickname or even name, but if "Bad" was this kid's dad, wouldn't he have called him "dad", not his name? Whatever, it wasn't his business. He wasn't getting out of this, the boy was too excited to slow down or let his grip weaken. He would just say hi, say he's gotta go back to his- his parents (he DID want to go back to his parents, to get a tight hug from his mom, but he couldn't, no matter how hard he wished it could never happen again) and then run off.
"Sapnap! Is that you? Where are you??" He heard the adult yell again.
After a couple of seconds, a man came into view, and honestly? He was terrifying. He had skin and hair a shade of black darker than night itself, black clothes with red accents and a sword sheathed on his waist, tall, sharp horns that curved back just slightly, and plain white eyes so bright they emitted a soft glow. He assumed the man had a tail- most nether demons did- but he couldn't see it, probably covered up by clothing or simply angled weird to where it was hard to see.
The blaze hybrid giggled happily, finally letting go of Dream's arm and running to the demon, jumping into his arms. The demon Bad(?) quickly checked him over, immediately fussing over his scrapes and asking if he was okay, where he got the scrapes, where he went, if anything hurt.
"Sapnap! Where have you been? You had me and Skeppy so worried! And you have scratches all over you, what happened??"
Dream just kind of stood there awkwardly. He wanted to leave, and he should be able to. The boy- Sapnap- was safe and happy with his dad(?), he had no reason to stay. But he was just kind of frozen in there- from what, he didn't know. He was just uncomfortable.
The demon started talking to someone on his communicator, probably the guy he named earlier, when he looked up and noticed Dream.
"-yes Skeppy, and- oh! Hello, little one. What's your name?" He looked around. "Are your parents nearby?" He asked, gentle concern in his voice.
"Um, I don't really-" he started, but Sapnap cut him off, running to him and hugging his arm.
"This is my new friend! He helped save me from a magma cube when it was chasing me!" Sapnap said, a wide grin on his face.
Friend. Dream thought about it. They weren't friends, they'd known each other for 20 minutes at most, but the boy was so happy he didn't want to correct him. He'd slink off soon enough, and he'd never have to worry or think about these people again.
Bad's gaze softened. "Oh, well thank you for helping Sapnap, he gets into trouble quite a lot," Bad said, a light laugh at the end.
Sapnap scowled. "Do not! I am a very capable big kid!" Sapnap said with a huff, turning away from Bad, arms crossed.
Bad sighed with a smile. "Whatever you say, Sappy. But, back to my question," he turned his focus back to Dream, "Do you have a parent or guardian nearby? Is anyone looking for you?" Bad asked carefully, his voice soft.
Dream hesitated. "Um.. I-I.. I don't- I don't have-" He couldn't finish his sentence. He didn't know what to say. So he did the most logical thing to do- try to run away. It didn't go very well, the demon quickly reacted and grabbed his arm firmly but gently.
"Hey now! You can't run off alone out here, okay? It's dangerous. I won't hurt you, I promise. Please just tell me a person or place... if- if you have one... you can go to so I can help you get there, okay?"
Dream started to hyperventilate. He didn't- he didn't have anywhere to go, anyone to watch him, how was he supposed to answer?? Bad said he wouldn't let him be alone in the Nether without an adult, so what did that mean for him? He didn't have an adult to come get him, so what would happen? Would he kidnap him??? He fought Bad's grip, trying to escape as tears started to form in his eyes. He was scared, he just wanted to be alone- he could handle himself.
Bad acted quickly, rubbing his back and assuring him that everything would be okay, but Dream wasn't listening, his mind was in fight or flight mode and he was opting for flight.
After another few minutes of struggling, Dream gave up, realizing his attempts were in vain.
"There we go," Bad said soothingly, petting Dream's hair softly. "It's gonna be okay bud."
Dream didn't believe him, didn't trust him. Trusting people was dangerous. It's why he didn't know how to answer Bad's question in the first place.
"Hey bud, do you think you could tell me your name? Just for easier communication, okay? You don't have to if you don't want to." Bad said softly.
Dream thought over it carefully for nearly a full minute, before eventually deciding that a name couldn't do much harm.
"Um- Dream. My- my name is Dream." He said simply, voice slightly shaky.
Just then, he heard someone approaching them from behind. His head snapped up, but neither Bad or Sapnap's composure changed.
"Hi Skeppy..." Bad said tiredly, knowing the questions that were about to arise.
"Hey Bad, I came as fast as I could once I got your message and- uhh, so who's this?" Skeppy said, noticing the unfamiliar child immediately.
"Well I- He says his name is Dream, and Sapnap said that he helped him get away from a magma cube earlier. I- I-" He looked at Dream, wondering what thoughts were buzzing around his head. "Dream." He said calmly as said boy's head instantly turned to him. "Could... could I trust you to not run away if I were to talk to my friend for a minute? Please? I don't want you to run off and get hurt, it's really dangerous here in the Nether and I don't want you to run away and be alone, okay? I just want to help you."
Dream was quiet for a long while, his mind buzzing. This was his chance! He could lie and get away! But.. if he did run away, where would he go? He had no one to look for, nowhere to run for. And so with a heavy heart, he decided that he would in fact, not run, and he nodded his head.
Bad gave him a smile before walking over to Skeppy, quietly discussing something with him.
Dream could've listened, he was close enough and they were loud enough, but he didn't. He sat down on the netherrack cross-legged, zoning out almost immediately, any intelligible word coming from Bad or Skeppy morphing into incoherent mumbles.
He didn't know how long he was like that, zoned out with a blank mind. But he snapped out of it when he felt someone lightly nudging his shoulder, flinching way too hard for the light amount of pressure.
Bad gave a small look of worry, but it was quickly replaced with a gentle smile. Dream gave him a skeptical look, however, because he could tell there was a nervousness behind the smile. Dream was about to ask, when Bad spoke up.
"Okay, Dream... I'm going to say something, and you won't like it, but I promise everything will be okay." Dream shifted, getting in a position that would be easier to start running in. Bad took a deep breath, "I've decided to take you home with me, at least for a bit until we find a safe place for you to go."
Dream ran. Or at least, tried to. Bad grabbed him almost immediately, careful not to hurt him. Tears started to well up in his eyes, he didn't want to be forced with someone he didn't know. He would be just fine on his own! He couldn't stay in the same place for too long, what if the hunters found him while he was staying at Bad's? His sobs were more defeated and scared than sad or angry. He felt a hand on his back, sliding up and down. It should've been comforting, it almost was, but he was too scared. His mind told him that the hands would turn painful, would grab him roughly and take him away and throw him in a cell until he died. His breathing picked up, but the hands were quick to react. They picked him up and ran through his hair, careful to avoid tugging on any of the many tangles laced throughout. It didn't really calm him down very much, tears still streaming down his cheeks but he stopped fighting against it and went limp relaxed against the arms.
With a slightly more relaxed mind now, his brain started to register the soft, gentle shushes against his ears. He felt a bottle being pushed against his lips, and it tasted bitter but had a weirdly sweet aftertaste. Shortly after taking a sip, he started to feel very tired, his limbs feeling heavy and keeping his eyes open became a struggle. His instinct told him to fight the sleep tugging on him, but he was so tired, mentally, physically, and emotionally, and sleep sounded so nice and peaceful, even with the very likely chance of a very, very, bad awakening. Soft words of reassurance barely registered in his brain, and he couldn't even understand them, so after only a few seconds of fighting it, he gave up, and let the darkness in the edges of his vision take him, vaguely realizing the person- Who was the person again?- holding him had started to move, before his consciousness drifted away.