The world was oddly quiet today. There was no word from L'manburg, no cries of war.

Taking my chance, I slipped away from camp, leaving the team sleeping. Eret had joined them, setting up a tent of his own.

It was a little past dawn, the colors of the sky melting together. A chill was in the air as the snowflakes stopped falling. I walked along the oak path, remembering all the memories from here.

From before the war.

I turned my thoughts away from the war. I needed a break. War had filled my mind for so long, blocking the happier thoughts.

I let out a sigh, letting the thoughts go. Cold air filled my lungs, reminding me of the world around me. Winter was coming to an end, spring making its way. Although the snow has not stopped, temperatures have started to go up.

As if the seasons sensed my thoughts, a bee floated on the path in front of me. It's fuzzy little body buzzed around as if it was confused.

I walked up to it, holding out my hand, offering a resting spot. It landed on me, wings slowing as it landed.

"Are you one of Tubbo's bees?" I asked him, looking into his small eyes. It buzzed back in return, it's wings began to flap again. It flew off towards the walls of L'manburg, possibly returning to its home. I smiled, happy that spring was on its way.

Continuing down the path I let my thoughts wander, and wander they did. I ended up thinking of the moment of darkness from the house. The memory was wrapped in a web of darkness in my mind. It stung to think about. Why had the darkness returned?

Before the darkness could take hold again, I turned to lighter thoughts. I thought of Dream. He had been acting strange since our interaction in the field yesterday. I often caught him looking at me from across the fire, or before we went to our own tents.

When I looked at him questioningly, he looked away, pink on his cheeks. After that, he had put his mask on the rest of the night, as if he wanted to hide from me. As if he was hiding something.

I felt a strange feeling thinking of him. I thought of the moment in the field yesterday, my cheeks warming in return. Where did these feelings come from?

I turned away from the path, wandering into the woods. It was the same woods that connected to camp, the set of tents on the other side. I arrived at my tent, gathering some food for breakfast. I walked back into the woods, munching on some bread.

I ignored the feelings, focusing on the feelings of the world around me. I could feel the trees and plants breathing, slowly blooming. Spring was the best season because I could feel all the flowers blooming, plants singing with happiness.

In response to reaching out towards the plants with my powers, the magic rushed upwards in me. My heart swelled at the feeling.

I snapped back to reality when I heard someone behind me. There was no loud sound that announced their position but I could sense them there. Watching.

-

I continued on through the forest, letting the person trail me.

I reached a village, the sun starting to peak up. To my surprise, there was a tower. I climbed up the tower, dangling my feet over the side.

Just then, Dream's masked face popped up from the ladder, "Dang it, I thought I could scare you."

"Nice try, the copper ring was a nice touch to try and block my senses." I laughed as he sat next to me, reluctantly. "Dream, I know you're scared of heights, but try and relax."

He laughed, taking the copper ring off. "So it wasn't enough copper I presume?" I nodded my head in response, watching him throw it off the tower.

"Wilbur asked for a meeting with me."

My head snapped to him in surprise, the mood slightly changing. I frowned, trying to keep the thoughts of war at bay.

"When?"

"Later today. That is when the plan will be set into motion." He said, staring out at the colors now filling the sky.

He had pulled his mask slightly to the side, puffs of dirty blonde hair poking out from his green hood. Neither of us was wearing out glittering netherite armor, revealing his green hoodie and my navy hoodie.

We sat in silence, watching the sun slowly rise. The feelings poked at me again due to the closeness of him. But I didn't want to focus on that, not during the war. So for now, I did what both of us could handle.

I reached out and lightly grabbed his hand, intertwining our fingers.

He didn't turn from the sunrise but squeezed my hand in response.

Maybe after the war, it could be something else. For now, we would take care of each other.

-

We stood back in front of the L'manburg walls, waiting. A few hours had passed since the moment, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

We didn't tell the rest of the team, leaving it as a secret. We didn't hide it from each other anymore though.

"Where are they?" Sapnap paced anxiously. I put a hand on his arm, pulling him to sit with us.

"They'll come," I reassured him, giving him a small smile. He smiled in return.

Dream had given the L'manburgians an ultimatum, telling them that they needed to choose. We watched as Dream walked towards their entrance alongside Wilbur. Wilbur seemed calm, any sign of madness gone.

Dream looked up at our hiding spot, signaling for us to come down. We followed the path down out of our tree, walking towards the entrance. Dream was already talking to Wilbur and his group when we reached him.

Dream tilted his head to the side, his mask shining in the light, "To take back my land, I say you can give up peacefully and no one gets hurt," He said sweetly, "Or you decide to fight and fall to us."

Wilbur looked to Tommy, Tommy gave him a nod.

"Independence or death. If we get no revolution, we want nothing. We would rather die than give in and to you and join your SMP." Wilbur's voice called out patriotically. Dream tipped his head into a sick grin.

In a flash, George threw a single piece of TnT into the walls. Calmly Wilbur backed up his team, "Don't let this hurt you."

Oh but indeed it did. They were flown off their feet and into the lake next to their caravan. The once stable ground of the nation was taking huge hits from the already implanted explosives. We stood watching as if they were fireworks.

And then we ran. As fast as we could towards the only safety we had. Adrenaline pumped our legs as we ran towards our camp. The meeting building in camp loomed in the distance.

We all tried to squeeze through the door at the same time, landing on top of each other laughing.

"We did it!" Cheered George as he got to his feet. He looked around through his goggles, we were home. And we just gained the upper hand.

Excitement filled all of our hearts, but mine dropped as I felt something. A strange pain slammed through my leg.

I fell through the door, clutching the leg that had a sharp arrow protruding from it. We had let them disperse and Tommy had fired an arrow through our open door. With a gust of wind, I slammed the door a little too hard, on Tommy's horrified face.

As if he shot the wrong person.

George gasped and reached for me but Dream stepped in front of him.

"We have to take the arrow out now. We can't let it get infected." He turned to the now serious Sapnap and George. "Guard the building, we will be quick but we do not need another attack."

Dream lifted me up, carefully avoiding the arrow, and carried me to a cot in the corner. He placed me gingerly on the bed, on my stomach. My breathing was becoming uneven, the world was slowly getting dark. I was losing a lot of blood.

Dream was becoming frantic, I placed a hand on his arm, "I'm not gonna die Dream. Relax."

He stilled and breathed, saying nothing. In one quick motion, before I was ready, pulled the arrow out. I screamed out, grabbing Dream's lime green hoodie. He quickly began bandaging it to contain the blood.

"Of course Tommy retaliated. He always had the quickest temper. I imagine that wasn't on Wilbur's orders. This seems like their final stand." Dream tried to comfort me but I could see the concern in his eyes.

"Dream, relax." I smiled sleepily at him. I needed a nap. Dream's mouth moved but I didn't hear any words coming out. His face was serious, all rough lines.

I'll just take a small nap, I sighed, closing my eyes.