The beginnings of the prison looked huge up close. The walls already rose several feet above the water. A small building, the entrance, was already done, across from the main structure.

Sam led the two of us inside of it to escape the rain, Dream thankfully not following us. He had stayed back on the stairs, watching us walk off.

I could feel his stare tracking me as I walked into the entrance, disappearing from his view.

The inside of the building was made of white quartz, the opposite of its black exterior of chiseled blackstone bricks and iron bars. A large nether portal was built into the back wall, making quiet whooshing noises.

My ripped hoodie weighed down with water from the rain, dripping onto the dark checkered floors. I crossed my arms, leaning my back against one of the walls. My head tipped up in frustration and confusion.

Sam, who had silently walked with me, stood next to me, leaning on the wall as well. His voice was gentle when he questioned, "What just happened back there?"

I closed my eyes, trying to figure that out as well. Something had changed between Dream and I in the last few minutes, while I was still trying to process the nightmare I had.

I brought a hand up to wipe my face of the lingering raindrops, making my sweatshirt get pulled off my wrist slightly. With my movement, I heard Sam shift so he was facing me.

"Y/n, what happened to your wrist?"

I quickly stood up straighter, lifting my wrist in front of my face. What I saw only added more to the confusion.

Hideous purple-black bruises wrapped around my wrist. I yanked back my other sleeve, seeing a twin to the first. I lightly placed my finger over one, hissing in pain from the tender skin.

They looked as if they had come from ... chains.

"Sam, has Dream helped you with anything for the prison yet?"

He seemed confused by my question but answered, "Yeah, he's helped me with some of the exteriors. He isn't allowed to help with the inside but he picked out the chains and benches for the non-main cells."

"What kind of chains are they?"

"They're mostly all steel. But he did get one pair of copper ones, for some odd reason."

My heart dropped and ice flooded my veins.

I was beginning to think that the nightmare I had was really just a glimpse at what my future could become.

This only pushed me further away from Dream.

"Sam, you need to get rid of the copper ones. Immediately. I'll get a steel pair to replace them."

"Why?"

As I told him about my too-realistic dream, and how the bruises and copper chains connected with it, Sam's lips pulled into a tight line of anger. I made an effort not to expose what Dream had exactly said, to keep his immortal life a secret.

After today though, I felt as if I didn't need to keep his secrets for him anymore.

A small part of me was scared he was just thinking I was talking nonsense.

But when I finished, I knew he believed me. He turned on his heel, marching back out into the rain, towards some chests.

I followed after him, glancing back towards the stairs where we had been.

Dream was gone.

Although, either from my magic or from my own instincts, I knew he hadn't gone far. He was most likely watching from a distance, hidden somewhere I couldn't see.

Sam opened one of the chests, rifling through it, making clunking noises. When he stood up again, he was holding a set of thick chains, and holding a lava bucket in the other.

The copper shackles were identical to the ones I had dreamed of, the feeling of cuffs around my wrists becoming noticeable. A phantom weight snapped closed over my bruises.

Without hesitance, my friend placed the lava in a hole and threw the chains into them. And I made no move to stop him.

We watched in silence as the copper melted into the bubbling magma, the only sound being the rain and snapping of embers. Within seconds, the manacles had turned from solid into a liquid, mixing with the hotter material.

I glanced up at Sam, "Thanks for believing me."

He stared out at where Dream had previously stood, "I have no reason not to believe you. He's been acting weird recently, and the copper chains make sense considering what the metal means to you."

I nodded, going quiet again. At least I had Sam on my side. Now I just had to get everyone else there.

And find Tommy.

-

It took a considerable amount of convincing to persuade Sam to let me walk off by myself. The man felt like I was unsafe after my run-in with Dream.

He crossed his arms, blocking my path. "Nope. Dream will be looking for you the moment you leave. He's smart enough to not come to get you while I'm here, but he isn't smart enough to know not to approach you alone. He doesn't seem to realize how powerful you are."

"But that just shows if he does approach me, I can take care of myself!"

"I know you can, y/n. You've proved that to me on multiple occasions. But have you ever actually fought Dream?"

I opened my mouth to answer but quickly snapped it shut in annoyance when Sam read my thoughts. "And I mean outside of training."

I huffed and crossed my own arms. "No."

"You haven't learned his style of fighting, yet."

My heart snagged on the last word, knowing that it was true. The days of peace and calm between Dream and I were gone.

I shoved my heartache away, squaring my shoulders. "I just have to go to L'manberg and then I'll go straight home. My wounds are already half healed anyway, so I'll be fine."

"Fine, but is it safe for you to go home?"

I paused, unsure. My other friends were at home and I knew they would stand up for me. Was Dream becoming that much of a threat?

"I think so. If not, I'll sleep in the castle."

After that, Sam let me by, watching as I walked up the steps. I kept my senses cautious and on high alert as I made my way to the nation. I didn't have my sword, but my magic rose up to be used in place of it.

I had made it all the way to L'manberg without running into Dream or even seeing him. I still had that strange sense of someone watching me from the treeline or behind buildings.

The walls still stood around the nation but were significantly smaller. That must've been where Dream was before he came into my room this morning, taking down some parts of the walls.

Quackity, Tubbo, Fundy, and Phil were all working outside, ignoring the downpour, constructing more houses. The platform was completely done, decorated with stands and chairs. Several houses were also done.

Today was the first day I had seen the winged man after the war. I made a mental note to talk to him in the next few days.

I waved a hand as a hello towards the group, continuing to one home that stood out from the others. The owner was not with the group, instead inside his home with a large 'R' on the roof.

I knocked once, continuing inside after hearing a soft 'come in.' By the time I stepped over the threshold, my clothes were dry from my magic.

The house was one room, several furnaces and chests lining the walls. The back section was fenced off for a nether wart farm, also acting as a pen for a skeleton horse. A ladder was directly next to the doors, leading to a loft holding some barrels.

Ranboo was sitting on his white bed in the small room, writing in the book I had given him. His long legs hung over the end, making him look cramped in the small space.

His face brightened at the sight of me, "Oh, hi, y/n!"

I smiled back at him, closing the door behind me. I glanced around, seeing several animals also filling the space. A wolf that was slightly smaller than Ghost and had a red collar, lounged on the ground, and a Siamese cat cuddled up against the window next to the bed.

I kneeled down, letting the wolf sniff my hand. "What's this one's name?" The dog sniffed for a moment before licking my outstretched hand, happily.

Ranboo sat up, swinging his legs to face me. "That's Dogboo," He gestured to the bone horse and then the cat, "He's Ranbone and this is Jeffery."

I chuckled at the names, "Very creative names."

He laughed along with me, his black and white pointed ears twitching. The boy had clearly warmed up to me in a short time. "It's all I could think of. Anyways, what are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing," That was a half lie, considering I was being tracked by a masked man. "I just haven't had the chance to see you recently with what's been happening and all."

He nodded, his smile slipping away slightly. I never asked how Ranboo felt after Tommy was exiled, considering the latter covered for the first. Ranboo had only been here for a few days before chaos ensued.

I leaned against the furnaces, careful to keep my sleeves over my wrists. Ranboo's eyes darted to the slice in my hoodie, standing.

"I can fix that for you."

I glanced down at my sweatshirt and then back up at him. "You can sew?"

He nodded, already moving towards some chests. He had to kneel down to the spruce floor to rifle through the trunks.

"When you can't go outside when it rains, you learn some skills to keep you entertained."

I looked out the blurry window at the rain, "You're allergic to water like endermen?"

"Unfortunately. Rainy days are the worst."

While I couldn't agree with him, I quickly grasped at my weather control. The rain disappeared, leaving a cloudy sky and wet grass.

Ranboo stood up, staring out the window in surprise. He now held a spool of navy thread and a small needle.

I gave him a sheepish smile, "Sorry, if I had known, I could've made the rain go away much sooner."

He just smiled back, kneeling down again for something. I pulled my sweatshirt off, aware of the bruises. I threw the hoodie on his bed, shoving my hands behind my back to hide the marks. The humid air immediately clung to my arms and black t-shirt.

The lines of stitching were barely visible when Ranboo finished, the hole no longer there. I beamed at it and then at him, happy to have my sweatshirt fixed. "Thanks, Ran."

"No problem. It's the least I could do after you just solved my problem with the rain."

I looked back out the window, seeing Phil missing from the small group. The three were gathered in a circle on the platform, Quackity talking with a serious expression.

Ranboo watched them with me as I asked, "Do you know what they're up to?"

"Uh, let me check."

He walked back to his bed, picking up the discarded leather book, flipping through the pages. The notebook served as a memory bank for him, a gift from me for his forgetfulness. It made me smile to see that it's been helping.

He settled on a page, looking back down towards me. "I'm not totally sure on this, considering I can't really remember," His black and white hair jostled when he pointed to his head, his crown sliding around. "But, I think they are planning to get revenge on someone."

I paused, dragging my eyes back towards the group. "Do you know who it is?"

My friend tilted his head slightly, "Someone named Technoblade."

-

After hearing what Ranboo said, I quickly said goodbye, promising to talk to him soon. My feet slid on the soaked spruce wood paths, racing towards the group.

They were beginning to walk towards me, their eyes past me. Quackity was in the front, Fundy and Tubbo behind him. Even from a distance, I could see how TUbbo's face was void of expression.

A small guilty feeling crept up inside of me when I saw the teen. I hadn't talked to him since before the exile and when I had talked to him on that dreadful morning, I had left him all alone.

I didn't have anything against him, he was still one of my best friends, I just have been busy. I would have to talk to him later after I dealt with this arising problem.

Quackity stopped in front of me, smiling. "Hey, y/n. If you're here to pick up Ghost, he's in my house sleeping." My friend gestured towards his now complete house up the stairs.

I did have to get Ghost but I responded with a question, "What are you guys doing?"

Quackity glanced around wearily, avoiding my stare. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, just hanging out."

"You're not plotting anything are you?"

He looked up at me in surprise, feigning innocence. I saw right through it, knowing the truth. "No, of course not! We just won the nation back, we don't need any more problems."

I crossed my arms, arching a brow. They knew how close I was with Techno, so it wasn't exactly a good thing for me to know about their plot against him.

Even if they were my friends, I wasn't going to let them try and kill Techno. That was something I wouldn't ever allow.

"So, wherever you guys are going has nothing to do with Technoblade?"

The mask of innocence disappeared, Quackity's face turning serious. He looked behind me, towards the end of the path and a waterfall beyond it. I turned to look with him, squinting to see a small hole behind the water.

I turned back to the group, planting my feet. "Show me what you're up to."

Quackity opened his mouth in protest but I talked over him, "Now."

He reluctantly pushed past me, Fundy right behind him. Tubbo, who had been watching me during the whole conversation, now stayed behind.

My stern expression melted into a solemn look, my gaze softening. Now that it was just the two of us, some emotion, sadness, began to show on Tubbo's face.

"Hey, Tubs. Wanna talk after I deal with this?" I waved my hand towards where Quackity and Fundy were stepping through the waterfall.

He gave me a sad smile, showing more emotion than I had seen recently. "Yeah," He paused, "By the way, I don't really know why Quackity is suddenly all in on this revenge thing."

I nodded, beginning to turn to the hole. Tubbo walked in step with me, the two of us stepping into the water.

Past the curtain of water, there was a small stone tunnel. For a moment, I got a flashback of the tunnel leading to the button room, moments before the world exploded.

I shook off the feeling, Tubbo right behind me as we made our way down the hall. The entry led into a room with a cobblestone table, a rusted lamp hanging above it. Not much effort was put into making the room, but what hung on the walls showed how devoted Quackity was.

Three of the four walls were posters stacked on top of each other, all saying and showing the same thing. Each had a WANTED and BOUNTY written across them with a picture of Techno's face printed in between.

On the fourth wall, at the head of the table, there was a large cork board, covered in red push pins, string, and circles from a marker. Underneath, was a map that stretched as far as the snow in the North and South into the Badlands.

Each of the circles were around a specific place, all connected by the string and pushpins. Most likely they were trying to find where Techno had hidden himself.

What they didn't know was that I held a compass that could lead directly to him. Although, the compass had yet to light up with the direction of his base.

Quackity stood in front of the map, facing the table and Fundy did the same to his left. I stood directly across from Quackity and Tubbo was to my left.

There was a sick grin on Quackity's face as he spread his arms, all of us looking around at the room. This was clearly the first time everyone else had seen the room.

"Look fellas, we're building an army."

I glanced wearily at Tubbo, his eyes already on me with the same expression. Our attention was brought back to Quackity when he began again.

"We're plotting revenge. As we all know, Tubbo was elected President the other day," He gestured towards the boy, "And I'm sick of what's happened to this beautiful country."

Before he could continue, Tubbo cut in, "Big Q, are you making propaganda?"

The other hesitated, his eyes glancing around at the posters. "Look, Tubbo, I understand your want for peace but if we were to need Technoblade propaganda, it's right here."

"Okay, but I doubt we will need it."

Quackity quickly exchanged a look with Fundy, going unnoticed by the president. When I saw, it made something like anger spark in me.

They weren't treating Tubbo like the president he was, not giving him respect and instead basically ignoring his wishes. The boy had given up his best friend for the nation, and they still went about their own wants.

Quackity continued, grinning once more. This time, he looked me dead in the eye, hoping I would work with them.

"I'm calling us, the Butcher Army."

~~~~

and dream's descent to madness begins

i hope you all have an amazing day! make sure to stay hydrated! :)