Dream returned to the camp an hour later, after he took his time hunting.

Sapnap and Callahan were awake and George was poking at the fire with a stick. He stood up when Dream approached, opening his mouth to speak, but when Dream sat down away from him, George closed his mouth.

Dream skinned the four rabbits he caught, avoiding all of their gazes. He cooked it and soon there was no reason to talk because their mouths were all filled with food.

Dream looked up at the clear sky, not a cloud in sight. He noted the trees around them, losing more and more leaves. The thought of winter made Dream pull his cloak tighter around him.

They'd reach Technoblade in just over a month.

~one week later~

That week had passed in mostly silence. George didn't bring up the topic of their future again and Dream didn't bother bringing it up either.

Sapnap spent most of his time talking to Callahan, who listened with interest to Sapnap's stories about his past life, his pyrokinesis, and Karl.

He was talking about the upcoming winter when George stood up and walked into the bare woods. He turned his head back at Dream and jerked his chin. Dream looked back at Sapnap, who nodded, and got up, following George.

When they reached a large enough distance from the others, George turned around. His eyes studied Dream's for a long moment. Dream said nothing, observing George's cheeks, flushed from the cold, and his eyes, intelligent and thoughtful.

George said nothing when a leaf floated down in front of Dream. Dream dismissed it as natural, but when the orange leaf froze in the air, he gave a curious glance at George. George's lips tugged in a smile.

George said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but as we've been walking, I practiced with little objects around us."

Dream grabbed the leaf by it's stem and twirled it between his fingers. His lips twitched upwards when George murmured with excitement, "Watch this."

Dream's eyes widened as a leaf floated from the ground, followed by another, and another. Leaves floated around them, too many to count.

Dream looked back at George and whispered in awe, "This is incredible. George, it's a huge step from where you last were."

George nodded. "I've noticed that with my ability I can sense the positions of objects around me. I can feel them like they're an extension of me. It really helps me focus."

"Do you know how much power this gives you?" Dream asked with a quirked eyebrow. When George shook his head, Dream said, "You could control a person's movements. You could stop their heart or crush their bones." Dream paused, watching George's eyes light up with interest. "Don't do anything on me. I don't want you to try and lift me and accidently squeeze my brains out."

George's eyes widened a fraction before he laughed, a sound that Dream hadn't heard in a while. George asked, "Do you think I'd really be able to do that?"

Dream shrugged. "Eventually, yeah."

"That's so cool," George whispered as he released his hold on the leaves and they fell to the forest floor.

"Yeah―" Dream cut off, grunting as an arrow tore through his shoulder. He stumbled forward, eyes wide, into George.

"Oh my god," George muttered, his voice frantic. His eyes scanned the area around them. His wide eyes snapped back to Dream and pulled his arm over his shoulders.

Dream swore, taking his arm off George; he could support himself just fine. The archer only hit his shoulder, had it hit his torso, they would be in big trouble. He grabbed George's arm and tugged him back to their campsite.

Arrows whizzed past them, burrowing in the trees by their heads and in the ground by their feet. Dream's shoulder screamed in pain from all of his movement, but he gritted his teeth and kept running towards camp.

They stumbled into the campsite and Sapnap stood up immediately, his eyes going straight to Dream's shoulder. "Holy shit, Dream."

"We have to go," Dream said gruffly, stomping out the small fire and tossing the pack to Callahan, who swung it over his shoulders with ease.

The group ran for a solid fifteen minutes, until they could no longer hear the shouts of the archers. Dream's breathing was irregular and strained, his body expelling all his energy to heal the wound on his shoulder.

He snapped to them, "Snap the arrow and pull it out, before my skin starts healing around it."

Sapnap nodded and snapped the arrowhead off, pulling the fletching and shaft out. Dream hissed and Sapnap asked, "Who are those guys?"

Dream held his hand out and Sapnap placed the arrowhead in his hand. He leaned against a tree and studied the arrowhead, muttering, "Kinoko Kingdom archers. They caught up to us. Fuck." Dream closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He pushed himself off the tree and said, "We need to keep going."

"Dream, you're bleeding," George said softly. He opened the pack on Callahan's back and pulled out bandages that they had bought a while back. "Let me bandage you before we continue."

Dream nodded and took off his layers of shirts, careful to use his injured shoulder as little as possible. The cold air bit his wound, causing Dream to bite his lip. George wrapped his shoulder as fast as he could and soon Dream was pulling his shirts back on. He didn't care if they were bloodied, he needed them for warmth. And it's not like red stained black too terribly.

The group continued on, Dream walking last to make sure they left as little of a trail as possible. They walked nonstop the entire day and by nightfall, Dream's feet were dragging.

His eyelids were impossibly heavy and his shoulder sent pangs of pain every time he moved his arm. Dream didn't complain, he kept pushing himself, but he was grateful when George said they should stop for the night.

After camp was set up, Sapnap brought back some apples to eat, not having been able to find any meat. They ate some of their dried meat in their pack. It was all done by heart, a daily routine that they were tired of. Dream wanted a day to rest, a day where he didn't need to worry about Technoblade or his mission.

Sapnap promised to keep watch that night. Callahan fell asleep easily, the poor faun tired from all the running. George curled up against Dream's side, the side without his wound. They were quiet and Dream rested his chin atop George's head.

"You're still holding onto my heart, right?" George joked halfheartedly, a desperate question asking if they were okay.

"Of course," Dream murmured, tipping his head down to press a kiss into George's hair, "I did promise after all."

George laughed weakly. "So, we're... good?"

"Yeah."

George sighed, relaxing immediately. A quiet wind blew into the camp, causing both of them to shiver. George asked, his voice tinted with curiosity and gentleness, "Do you like winter?"

"Yes and no," Dream replied. "Winter is no friend to travelers. I'm hoping it won't get too cold before we can find villages to stay at. Sleeping outside in the snow is not a good idea." Dream paused, a smile tugging on the edge of his mouth. "However, I love the way everything looks so pure, undisturbed. The way the tree branches are weighed down with heavy snow. The white is like hope, honest and open. I've never really had the chance to truly enjoy it..."

"You will soon," George mumbled, slowly falling asleep to the steady timbre of Dream's voice.

Dream fell asleep with him, his cheek resting in George's hair

~

"Come with me, kid."

Clay looked up, eyes wide and full of fear, at the stranger. The pink haired man held his hand out to Clay, waiting for the teenager to take it.

Clay sniffed, wiping a soot covered hand over the top of his cheeks, trying to dry his tears. The putrid smell of smoke and ash stung his nose as he breathed. His chest rose and fell in fear, anger, and sorrow.

His family was gone.

From his father to his mother― even his sister. All gone.

His village had been raided and burnt to the ground leaving no one alive, except for Clay, who was hiding behind hay bales in the smoke clouded hayloft. But he had been discovered.

"Take it," the stranger encouraged and Clay grabbed his hand.

Clay yanked his hand away as he stood up and glared fiercely at the man. "Are you the cause of this― this destruction?"

The man― clearly not human based on his pointed ears, but he was something more than Fae― tilted his head, a grin edging across his face. "No, I'm saving you from those raiders... say, how about I take you in, yeah? Teach you how to defend yourself."

Clay hesitated and peered over the pink haired man's shoulder, only seeing smoke and fire. "You saved me?"

The stranger's grin grew. "Damn right I did. Now, kid, I'll teach you a thing or two about fighting."

~

"Chin up, Clay," Technoblade scowled.

Clay pushed himself off the ground, the back of his dirty hand coming up to wipe his bloody nose. He lifted his chin up and focused, his hand steadying as he held his sword.

Techno studied his stance, making comments. In the five years since Techno had saved him, Clay had learned anything and everything there was to know about fighting. From swords to bows, daggers to ropes, horseback riding to climbing trees, and so much more.

He had put on muscle from hours spent training and new callouses had spread across his hands. Fighting was different from farming, but Clay loved it. Sure, Technoblade was a pain and a grumpy teacher, but the pink haired god had become fond of Clay. A father-son relationship almost... almost.

He was nothing like Clay's father.

Where Clay's father had been kind and forgiving, Techno was cold and harsh. Where his father provided hugs of comfort and bandages for his wounds, Techno provided bitter comments on how to be better and stop him from getting hurt in the first place.

Clay's drive was to find out who killed his family. He just hoped no one killed those raiders before he got the chance.

~

"We need a name for you."

Clay looked up from his book, furrowing his eyebrows. "A name? My name is Clay."

Techno nodded in acknowledgement. "Something different, something that people will learn to fear."

"Why would they fear me?"

Techno strode up to Clay, lifting his chin and looking between Clay's green eyes. There was a gleam of pride and intelligence in the god's eyes. He said, "Clay, for twenty years now, I have trained you, made you in my image. Don't you think I have a reason?"

When Clay had no answer, Technoblade continued, "You are my student, my protégé. I have big plans for you."

"Oh, okay," Clay said hesitantly, "what sort of plans?"

Techno grinned, fierce and wicked. His grin faded and his eyes softened, looking at Clay with a strange fondness that Clay could only describe as fatherly. He said, "The sort of plans that will inspire fear in everyone who hears your name."

~

"You should've known better than to fall in love with a mortal."

Clay screamed, a guttural sound that destroyed his throat. He slumped against the men holding him, blood dripping down his face and onto the polished, white tile of the main room in Technoblade's base.

There Fundy lay, fallen on the ground, a clean slice through his slender throat, blood pooling around him.

Clay's eyes burned and his chest ached, a pain so great that he wanted to die.

The men holding him released him at the wave of Techno's hand and Clay scrambled forward. He fell on his knees before Fundy, blood staining his pants. Clay wept, clutching Fundy's cheeks with bloodied hands. His fingers left red smears over Fundy's tear stained cheeks as he frantically begged Fundy to be alive.

His throat was raw and broken from screaming and crying. His head fell forward onto his lover's chest, pleading for him to be dreaming— hoping desperately that for once he having a nightmare... hoping that this wasn't real.

But this nightmare was very real.

Clay gripped Fundy's shirt, sobbing as the one thing he loved more than anything, left the world, never going to come back. Sobs wracked his chest and his heart felt like nothing he'd ever felt before. So much pain and anguish that he couldn't bear it.

His sobs turned to heaving breaths, rage building up in his chest. Clay stumbled onto his feet, unsheathing his sword and running at Technoblade.

He didn't care that he couldn't see out of one eye, or that the other was filled with tears. He didn't care that he tripped over his feet, the blood making the polished floor slippery. He didn't care that Technoblade had been like a father to him for so long.

All Clay cared about was Fundy, but he was dead... all because of the god in front of him.

Techno warned, "Dream, you aren't yourself right now."

Clay didn't care. He gritted his teeth and used whatever was left of his voice to shout. Techno's cold eyes softened just slightly, but not long enough for Clay to recognize it. With a swipe of Techno's hand, he knocked Clay's sword out of his hands.

Clay continued forward, ramming into Technoblade. Techno embraced him as Clay gave up, crying into Techno's arms. "Clay," Techno said with a long sigh. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

Clay's sobs eventually quieted. He knew that Techno was right; it was his fault, not Techno's.

He should've known better than to fall in love with a mortal.

~

"Shh," a gentle voice soothed, hands rubbing over Dream's back.

Dream's breathing stuttered as he woke up, hiccups in his chest. He buried his head in George's chest and sighed, a long and sad exhale of breath that left his heart aching.

Cold air greeted his conscious self and woke him quickly. Dream's breathing slowed as did his tears. George murmured, "Hey, Dream, you're okay. I got you, you're okay."

Dream looked up, his face crumpling in relief as George smiled softly at him. He reached for George's hand and it was there, interlacing their fingers with no hesitation.

"You wanna talk about it?" George whispered.

"Yeah, actually, that would be nice."

So Dream told him the story of how he was raised, the story of him.