Startled, I stand, lifting my sword on instinct. I mentally cursed myself for not hearing the person approach, leaving myself vulnerable.

"Woah, I didn't mean to scare you!"

It was the woman from the castle, her red coat swishing as she backed up slightly. Now that I was closer, I could see rainbow highlights on the tips of her white hair. There was also a golden ring in her dark eyes, surrounding her irises.

I had been expecting Dream to follow me, not her. I lowered my sword slightly, but I didn't relax my tense stance.

"Who are you?" I asked the stranger. She seemed slightly older than me, the way her eyes crinkled around the edges when she smiled.

She stuck out a gloved hand, like the ones Dream wore. "I'm Captain Puffy, but you can call me Puffy."

She seemed safe enough, so I stuck my sword back in its hilt and clasped her hand. We shook and I sat back down on the bench while she kneeled to let Ghost sniff her hand.

The wolf quickly warmed up to her, sniffing for a moment then shoving his head into her hand. Her laugh was warm, reminding me of the Goddess of Light, Neomi.

My magic stretched out, wrapping around her for a moment. When it returned, it gave me the sense that Puffy was safe.

"Did you just move here?" I asked her as she sat next to me on the bench. She had golden earrings pierced in her white lamb ears, little hoops and studs connected by a small chain.

"Yeah, I've been here for a few days. I arrived the day before Tommy's exile."

Oh, how had I not met her yet? I guess I had been pretty busy recently dealing with Dream and now the Butcher Army.

We were silent for a moment, both of us watching the horizon. The sun was making its way down, not quite sunset yet. The lack of music was slightly jarring, reminding me of the times when Tommy was here.

"So, you're y/n, right?" Puffy turned to me, her arm over the back of the bench.

I nodded, staying quiet. After losing a friend and the other ones changing, maybe a new friend wouldn't be so bad.

When I didn't say anything else, she asked another question. "Are you alright? You seem upset."

"I'm not sure, to be honest. What just happened in the castle didn't help." My sudden openness with her surprised me. The emotions of the day pushed the words out of my mouth before I could process what I was saying.

"You were close to Dream?'

I stared at the ground, green grass blowing softly in the balmy breeze. My heart ached with my answer, "Yeah, I was." I laughed sadly. "I used to be in love with him."

She nodded, understandingly. For never meeting me before, Puffy seemed to care about my heartbreak. But her presence and understanding comforted me.

After a beat of silence, she said, to my surprise, "Were you close with Tommy?"

It was an odd thing to ask since we were just talking about Dream. "Yeah, he's one of my best friends. I haven't been allowed to see him though, with his exile and all."

Her face brightened slightly with an idea. "I'm not promising we'll see him, but do you want to at least go with me to drop off a gift?"

Before she could even finish, I was standing, smiling. She laughed again, standing with me. "I'll take that as a yes."

-

Prior to when we went into the Nether portal, I sent Ghost towards where my three friends had previously walked off. He would be safer with them, considering we had to go into another dimension.

Through the Nether portal, Puffy led me on a new cobblestone path, jutting out from the base. Obsidian lined the sides of the narrow pathway.

I was practically bouncing with excitement at the thought of seeing Tommy. Puffy had to catch my arm once to keep me from falling off the path, grasping me tightly.

As we walked, I mapped out this path in my mind, to remember for future use. Now that I knew where Tommy was, I could visit him when I wished and even try to get him home. The path wasn't that long or intricate, but it was better to have a mental map.

At the same time, I kept my senses spread thin across the area surrounding us. Dream could still be somewhere close, and he definitely would not let me go near Tommy. My magic tingled at my fingertips.

My heart leaped at the sight of the Nether Portal that would lead us to my friend. Puffy went through first, letting me go through second. My sword hummed under my hand, ready to be drawn.

Taking a deep breath, I calmed my nerves and stepped through to the other side.

We were now in a plains biome, forests lining the sides of the lands. To our left, there were the beginnings of a small wooden structure, made of stripped logs. On our other side, upon a hill, a small white tent was set up.

Puffy stood, waiting for me, glancing around. "Hm, it looks like Tommy is mining at the moment."

I glanced around for my friend. "How do you know?"

She began walking up the hill, following a tilled path. I trailed after her, coming in front of the tent. Inside there was a chest and a red bed, a jukebox just outside of it.

Puffy pointed towards a mine, where a torch burned. "Last time I was here, those torches weren't there. Also, he's not around, so he must be underground."

My heart sunk slightly. I had known there was a chance I wouldn't see Tommy, but I had still gotten my hopes up.

I stepped towards the mine while Puffy walked over to a crafting bench, beginning to make something. The ocean behind us let off a soft breeze, the waves crashing against the shore, lazily.

The sea looked much different compared to the last time I had tried to venture into it. Before, the water had been choppy, trying to pull me beneath the depths. Now, it was calm, glinting in the sunlight.

Glancing around Tommy's new home, it was quite saddening. It seemed so lonely out here.

My eyes snagged on the ground, making me pause.

Deep scars, filled in holes, marked the green grass. Dirt was turned up, clay sprinkled into it. My eyes darted around, picking out the same marks all over. They didn't look natural.

I walked up to one, kneeling to look at it. Bits of broken what looked like a sword, as well as some armor, were buried in the dirt. Glancing around, all the holes contained shards of the same items.

"Uh, Puffy, do you know what those are?" I pointed to the filled-in pits.

She finished crafting, now placing down a chest beside the tent. When she looked where I was pointing, she cocked her head. "It kinda looks like TnT exploded and then it was filled in."

Dream and TnT were never a good combination. After all, he did feed the stacks of explosives to Wilbur for the destruction of L'manberg.

A chill snaked up my spine. Hopefully, Dream wasn't hurting the teen with explosives.

I turned my attention back to where Puffy was standing before the chest. I came over, peering inside. "What are you going to put in the chest?"

She smiled, putting a hand inside her long jacket. "I don't have much, but I have some stuff to help the kid out." Three diamonds appeared in her hand, being pulled from a pocket inside her coat.

Upon placing them in the chest, she turned back to me. "I have another gift for him, but I have to build it. Wanna help me?"

"Sure. What are you building?"

"A Christmas tree."

I smiled at the thought of a twinkling tree in the middle of summer. "Isn't Christmas a little far?"

She laughed, already turning back towards the chest. "Yeah, it is. I heard though, that Tommy really likes Christmas. I'm hoping to cheer him up."

My smile broadened. "That's sweet."

"The kid needs as much happiness as he can get."

After that, we began working, creating a manmade spruce tree and adding ornaments Puffy pulled out from her never-ending pockets. When we stepped back to view our work, the sun was sinking below the trees on our right.

The star atop the tree glowed in the lingering rays of light, adding a sparkling hint to the ornaments. Sure, it was summer, but the tree was beautiful.

"I hope Tommy likes it." Puffy said.

"He will." I faced the mines, where Tommy was still deep below. "I wish we could see him."

My friend placed a hand on my arm, slightly above where my bruises lay. They pulsed lightly from the closeness of her hand.

"Me too. You'll see him soon."

Suddenly, the quiet whooshing sound of the Nether Portal in the distance rose in volume. Both of our heads whipped towards it, my hand going back to my sword.

"Shit." I whispered, Puffy just looking at me curiously. I pulled her behind the tent, our heads peaking slightly around the corner.

Dream was stepping out of the portal, purple particles clinging to his sweatshirt. His mask was in place, a small crack at the bottom webbing out. He held his ax in one hand with ... TnT in the other.

He walked towards the forest, most likely looking for Tommy.

I turned to Puffy, keeping my voice low. "We need to get out of here, now."

"Is he a threat?"

A serious expression fell on my face. "Maybe not to you, but most definitely to me. I'll explain all of it to you later."

She nodded, glancing around the flap of the tent in the growing darkness. Torches on the ground glowed, illuminating the small area. The golden clasps on Puffy's coat glinted in the torchlight.

"When it's all clear, we can make a break for the Nether portal."

I gave one last look at the tree behind us, the multi-colored lights we wrapped around it beginning to shine.

In a quick movement, I darted towards the chest under the tree. Puffy had left a sign, telling Tommy who the tree was from. Seconds passed, and my name was now written below my friend's, to show the boy I had been here.

Puffy waved her hand forward, signaling. "Go go!"

We ran down the makeshift path, Puffy's steps being the only sound. I made an extra effort to silence my own footsteps. After all, who knows if Dream was just inside the forest line.

Purple shards reached out to us as the two of us squeezed into the frame, waiting to be swept into the other dimension. My magic was urging me to get away, now.

In the same second, we had stepped in, someone came breaking through the foliage along the trees. They were racing to reach us, before we disappeared, ax swinging wildly at their side.

I glared into Dream's smiley face mask as we teleported away.

-

After sprinting our way through the Nether, stumbling back into the overworld, Puffy brought me to where she planned to build her house. Thankfully, Dream didn't follow us.

Trees and long grass had been cleared, leaving an empty spot, big enough for a house. Over to the side, there were several chests, as well as an ender chest and a white bed.

A pure white horse was tethered to a fence, grazing lazily near the chests. Puffy went over to it, the horse neighing softly in response.

I followed, admiring the animal. I reached my hand out to let it sniff. "What's her name?"

"Cottonball." She turned to me as the horse pressed her head into my hand. "Hey, don't you have a horse as well?"

I nodded. "Yeah, her name's Ash. Karl had been taking care of her while I was gone, but I probably should go get her." I sighed, staring at the ground. "Then, I need to find somewhere to live."

"I thought you lived in that house near the old Court House?"

"I used to, with Dream, Sapnap, and George. Now though, it's too dangerous for me to go back. And George and Sapnap moved to Cedar Rapids."

She was silent for a moment, then her face brightened. "Why don't you live with me?"

I glanced behind us at the empty space where her house was going to be.

Laughing softly, she continued, "I mean, if you help me build my house, you can live with me until you figure out what you'll do."

"Really?"

"Yeah, as long as you don't mind living in a mushroom."

I didn't care what the house looked like, I was just happy to be somewhere safe. Away from Dream.

Puffy laughed as I pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you, Puffy."

"Of course."

~~~~~

puffy is so nice to us :)

sorry if the chapters are father apart for the next little bit, I've been pretty stressed with some school and sports stuff. but I will get chapters out when I can!

Ps I won't spoil anything from this, but Tommy's stream the other day, destroyed me

tysm for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter! stay hydrated