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Snow crunches under Sapnap’s feet as trudges over a snow-covered hill, Dream and George on his opposite sides.
“Sapnap was literally about to be on his death bed last week and you weren’t crying.”
George squints his eyes at Dream’s claim. “I wasn’t crying because there were more important things to do. We had to get out of that bastion or we would’ve all been dead!”
Dream adjusts the pack on his back. “But I was still crying!”
George rolls his eyes. “Maybe you’re just a baby! Not everyone experiences emotions the same.”
Dream grumbles something under his breath before speaking up. “Whatever, let’s just keep moving.”
George laughs but agrees nonetheless.
Tundra biomes we're never Sapnap’s favorite to travel through. He found the cold and the ice obnoxious and unneeded but 800 blocks back, at a village, a woman had informed Dream about a supposedly lavish desert temple that was just across the tundra. Dream’s drive for adventure would not be stopped by a little cold.
So, Sapanp suffered through the cold for his beloved.
The youngest glanced up towards George, who pulled his thick jacket tighter around himself, and looked around slightly nervously. They had already seen a few strays that the trio had spotted, they were easy enough to avoid but having a run in with a group of them was definitely something Sapnap wanted to avoid.
“I think I see a village coming up!” George’s exclamation broke the trio out of their silence, all too cold to have any sort of coherent constant conversation.
“It must be abandoned, no one lives in tundras anymore, we should probably avoid it.” Dream speaks loudly to be heard over the wind.
George speaks loudly back. “Why would we avoid it? Even if it is abandoned, there’s no sense in continuing on, we should just hide out there for the night!”
A sudden on-slought of air is pushed their way, blowing the top layer of snow into already freezing faces.
Dream recovers, pulling the hood of his cloak over his head. “We can’t stop now! We’re close! We can’t have too much longer to walk!”
Just then, an arrow whizzes past the three, burying itself in the snow.
The trio looks up to see a group of six strays trudging toward them.
“Oh, shit.” Sapnap hears Dream's voice even through the wind.
The blond immediately springs into action, pulling up his shield. “We can run through them! They’re slow! We just have to get past them!”
Sapnap reluctantly gets ready to run, the cold already making it harder to breathe.
George speaks up before he can even start moving his legs.
“You can’t honestly think that’s a good idea!? The village is right there! We can just-!” George is interrupted by violently pulling Sapnap forward, narrowly forcing him to avoid the arrow coming for him. “We can just stay there for the night! The strays won’t bother us!
Dream adjusts his axe in his grip. “There’s a chance that loot won’t be there after tonight! We have to get it now!”
Dream then takes off running, straight toward the strays, shield guarded.
Sapnap and George share a matching cry of “Dream!” Before immediately following after him.
The brunette pulls Sapnap closer to explain his quickly crafted plan. “You grab Dream and I’m going to get us into that village.”
Sapnap makes quick eye contact with George before nodding and running off toward the blond who had just impaled a stray.
The younger makes quick work of dragging Dream away from the fight, eliciting to ignore his protests and thrashes.
Sapnap is silently impressed at how fast George was able to get the door of the first house open and the trio inside.
Sapnap's arms are then shoved off Dream.
“The strays are slow! We could have gone past them fine!”
George covers his face with his hands. “The strays are slow because they don’t need to be fast to kill you!” He looks up at Dream, anger painted on his face. “You’re hit with a slowness arrow and you’re dead! Sapnap nearly did!”
“Are you fucking kidding? We would-!”
Sapnap throws his pack to the ground “Will you guys quit arguing?! We’re in here now, it doesn’t matter!”
“But it does matter! Even if Sapnap-“
George groans, more frustrated than Sapnap had ever seen. “Just get out then! Go get it if you need the loot so badly!”
Dream opens his mouth to say something but instead opens the door of their small structure and slams it shut behind him.
George throws his pack to the ground in anger and begins mending his sword that had broken earlier. Sapnap says nothing and tends to the space under the chimney for a fire.
Fifteen minutes later, Sapnap’s panic begins to set in. Had they really just let Dream go out on his own in a tundra biome, surrounded but strays?
Thirty minutes later, Sapnap tries to reassure himself. Dream would be fine! He is an excellent fighter, what was Sapnap thinking? There was no way Dream would be gone longer than an hour.
Three hours later, Sapnap feels like crying.
George stands up from the bed the two were sitting on and speaks for the first time since Dream left, he sounds nervous. “Why isn’t he back yet?”
“Should we go find him?”
“No!” George pauses. “I don’t know.” He stands up to look out the small window, pulling the blanket from his pack, tightly around himself, the closer he gets. He sighs with a decision.
“No. Dream is fine to do this on his own, he’s done harder.” Sapnap stands and joins him at the window, he looks up.
The sky is dark and unforgiving, clouds swirling above into something terrifying. He glances at George.
“There’s a storm coming.”
The older shakes his head. “Dream will be back by then.” George pulls them back to the bed, allowing Sapnap to curl against his side. The younger tries not to imagine images of Dream stuck out in the cold, fighting mobs that could win easily.
Sapnap is woken by George, shifting off the bed and gently but quickly laying his head on a pillow.
“I have to go find him. The storm is starting.” He pulls on his boots that have barely dried since the last time he wore them.
“I’m coming with you.” Sapnap pushes himself off the bed.
George suddenly drops his boot to the ground and sighs wetly, his hands coming to his face. “What if he’s hurt.”
Sapnap shakes his head quickly in reassurance. “He’ll be fine! I’m sure he just… found something…” Sapnap cringes at his embarrassing attempt at comfort.
George scrubs a hand over his eye. “Why did I tell him to go?! There were so many strays! We should have-!”
Sapnap places both of his hands on the eldest shoulders. “George I promise we’re gonna walk out that door and find Dream just-“
Sapnap is cut off by Dream, quite literally, crashing through the door.
“-Fine.”
Dream raises his head to speak. “Strays. Shut the door.” Sapnap moves to do exactly that, feeling accomplished when he hears the smash of shattering bones against the slamming door.
“Dream!” Sapnap hears George shout, dropping next to the freezing blond.
Only then is the youngest finally able to observe Dream’s state.
His cloak and items are soaked to the bone with snow and frost, somehow so much worse than what he had left with. The next thing Sapnap notices are three arrows, poisoned with slowness, sticking out from Dream's back. (Sapnap thanked the Gods for the fact that strays are terribly weak and can barely even get their arrow past the first few layers of human skin.) But, the thing that broke Sapnap’s heart the most was the utter blueness of Dream’s fingers and lips. The boy looked as though he had never felt heat in his life.
“Fuck.” Sapnap kneels next to the blond's trembling form.
George sits Dream into an up-right position, and begins removing the soaked clothing. The youngers throat hics. “M’sorry.” His words are slur from his state. “Shoulda listened t’you, George.”
Sapnap runs a hand over Dream’s back, avoiding arrows. “Dream, I have to pull these out.” Dream makes a noise that sounds very close to crying but doesn’t protest further.
Sapnap tries to block-out the sounds Dream makes as the arrows are removed, unable to handle the thought of causing his beloved that pain, even if it was for the best.
Dream was properly crying once his cloak, shirt and arrows were removed, Sapnap wrapped his arms around Dream’s chest, not caring about the blood that definitely began to stain his sweater. He channeled every ounce of heat power he had into warming Dream.
Once he removes his pants and boots, George gestures for the two to move to the bed. Not speaking a word.
The bed wasn’t much but it could fit all three of them if they got close enough. Understanding this, even his state, Dream bends his trembling legs, making room for George.
For a moment everything was quiet.
The cracklings of the fire under the chimney and small clicking from the bones of the strays that still lingered outside, were the only noises present.
Movement in front of him brings Sapnap out of his head. George reaches with shaky fingers for Dream’s hand. Watching as they slowly regain their natural colour.
An ugly sob comes for George’s chest.
He drops his head to the hand in his grasp and cries.
“I should,” a shaky breath. “I should’ve never let you do that Dream.” George doesn’t raise his head as speaks.
Dream reaches a still slightly-slower than usual hand to George's hair and makes a sound that could almost be a laugh. “George…” Sapnap looks down to see that a smile has formed on Dream’s mouth. “I got you to cry.”
George’s head shoots up to make eye contact with the boy laying Sapnap’s lap. He groans, wiping under his eyes. “Why are you still talking about that!?” He lets go of Dream’s hand.
Dream curls up closer to Sapnap but laughs at the reaction.
“Always gotta be on your game, Gogy.” Sapnap presses a kiss to Dream’s slowly warming cheek.
George puts his head in his hands but smiles nonetheless. “I hate both of you. But, I am sorry.”
Dream looks to be mulling it as if there’s a chance he doesn’t forgive George.
“I’ll forgive you but… only if you help me get into new clothes. Sap is warming me but, I would still like some pants.”
Dream’s hip is lightly slapped as a response as George gets up for his clothes, rolling his eyes.
Sapnap kisses Dream again this time on his mouth for a long moment. “Glad to have you back, Dream.”
George sits back on the bed and tucks his legs underneath himself to observe closer.
“You’ll definitely be stuck with some sort of cold but other than that you’ll be fine.”
Sapnap yawns. “I think we’re all going to have a cold.” The demon hybrid pulls Dream up to cuddle against his chest.
“I think,” George stretches out to Dream's other side. “You would be right.”
They would be fine.