the hunt (dreamnotfound)

Chapter 4

The following day Dream woke up to the sun streaming in his eyes. He groggily opened his eyes, feeling a heavy weight on his chest. He looked down, seeing George curled up on top of him, clutching his shirt tightly in his hand. Dream smiled down at him, stroking his hair gently before kissing the top of his head. George groaned in annoyance, snuggling deeper into Dream as Dream said, "good morning Gogy."

George mumbled back a small "Good morning" before yawning as he rubbed his eyes. He opened his eyes slowly, looking around the room before his eyes landed on Dream beneath him. Dream smiled at George as George said, "Wait, where are we?"

"Bad and Skeppy's house. Skeppy said we could spend the night after you and Bad passed out from Bad using too much of his magic."

George nodded sleepily, closing his eyes again, but they snapped open. He sat up in a panic, saying, "But wait, what about our meeting with the king?"

"calm down, Georgie. I sent the royal guard back to the castle to explain the situation."

George immediately calmed down, laying back down. Dream kissed the top of his head again, saying, "Georgie, we need to get up."

George groaned out, "nooo, want more sleep."

Dream chuckled at that, saying, "Geooorgeee,"

"Dreeeeaaamm,"

Dream rolled his eyes, saying, "Alright, just a few more minutes, but the minute Bad gets up, you have to get up, deal?"

George nodded, snuggling back down into Dream. He was soon fast asleep again.

A few minutes later, Skeppy came downstairs rubbing his eyes as he headed to the kitchen, starting up the coffee maker as he said, "Good morning, Dream."

"Morning, Skeppy," Dream said, sliding out from under George, who whined at the loss of warmth as he made his way over to Skeppy, saying, "Where's Bad?"

"Asleep still. He'll probably sleep all day if we let him."

Dream hummed in response before saying, "Unfortunately, we have to be up at the castle by noon."

Skeppy nodded as the coffee machine beeped, signaling that the coffee was ready, and he poured himself a glass, downing it quickly as he glanced at the clock, saying, "We better wake them up then it's eight now, and it takes a good 3 hours to get up there not including breaks."

Dream nodded as Skeppy headed back upstairs to get Bad up and ready to go. Dream moved over to George, gently kissing him, saying, "Georgie~" George groaned in annoyance as Dream said, "Come on, Georgie, you said you'd get up when Bad was up, and Skeppy just went up to get him."

"Alright, I'm up," George said, stretching before sitting up on the couch.

"How are you feeling today?" Dream asked, sitting next to him.

"Much better. Bad's a miracle worker, I swear. There's no pain in my ribs or anywhere, for that matter. I feel amazing, just exhausted." George said, leaning against Dream.

Dream chuckled, saying, "That happens every time we get help from Bad. I think it's a side effect of the spell he uses."

"mhmm," George said, starting to fall back asleep. Dream quickly caught on to his attempt, though, and stood from his spot on the couch, causing George to fall over onto the sofa startling him awake again as he whined, "Dreeeaaaamm. come back and let me sleep."

"No, George. We have to get moving, or we'll be late. King Schlatt is probably upset enough that we couldn't come in yesterday." Dream said seriously,

That got George's full attention as he remembered where they were going today. He sat up straight, saying, "Fine, I'm up now."

About 30 minutes later, they were all up and ready to go. Dream said, "Alright, everyone ready?" they all nodded as he opened the door leading the way down the street with George hurrying to catch up with him, immediately latching onto his arm and looking around nervously. Dream gently grabbed his hand, pulling it off his arm so they were holding hands, although George's grip remained tight as his eyes continuously scanned left to right. Skeppy and Bad hung back a little, whispering between themselves as they walked over to a pair of horses.

"There are only two horses, so we'll have to buddy up," Skeppy said as the group stepped into the barn, "I'd say we could just do couples, but Bad's horse Roberto can't handle the weight of armor for that long."

"I'm not leaving George alone." Dream said, his eyes narrowing.

"You think I want to leave Bad? I don't, but we don't have a choice. As I said before, Roberto can't handle the weight of armor. he's not strong enough."

"Why don't we just put all the armor in a saddlebag and have your horse carry it?" Dream said, trying to think of a way to make it so he and George could stay together.

Skeppy shook his head, saying, "What if we get attacked without our armor? It could lead to disaster; besides that, you'd have to remove your sword, which would leave you defenseless. No, it's better if Bad and George ride Roberto and you and I ride Spots."

Dream was about to reply, but George stopped him, saying, "it's ok Dream. I'll ride with Bad, and you ride with Skeppy." Dream opened his mouth to argue, but George cut him off with a kiss. They pressed their foreheads together when they separated as George said softly, "besides, I'm not alone. I'll have Bad with me; I'm not completely helpless, you know."

"I know," Dream sighed. "I just want you to be safe."

George placed his hand on Dream's cheek, pulling him down into another kiss before saying, "I know Dream, but I'll be with Bad, don't you trust him?"

"I do, but-"

"Then let him protect me for three hours, ok? Just till we get to the castle, then you can be my protector again, alright?"

Dream nodded, giving George a quick peck on the lips before turning to the other two saying, "fine, I'll ride Spots with you, Skeppy."

"Great, then let's get going," Skeppy said, quickly mounting Spots,

Dream moved to mount behind him, but before he could, Bad stopped him saying, "don't worry, Dream, I'll keep him safe, I promise." Dream nodded curtly at him before mounting Spots behind Skeppy as Bad helped George mount, quickly climbing in front of him soon after. Bad and Skeppy exchanged a glance before spurring the horses into a gallop.