Broken Together (MCYT au)

Chapter 3: Wandering

"George!"

"Heh... my bad."

They continued to ride in the rain as the monsters continued to get closer, the nervousness in each person rising. That wooden arrow dream saw the Skeleton fire was on point, lodging the weapon into Roberto's leg. Whinnying in pain knocking Badboyhalo and Sapnap off said horse and keeping his now injured leg out of use.

Bad tried to calm his now injured horse down, stroking down his neck and whispering words of kindness while his friends had to assess the situation. "It's okay, Roberto. It'll be fine, good horse," he mumbled before Dream tossed a few bandages to wrap around his injured leg. 'Knew those would come in handy.'

Looking around at their surroundings, there weren't many options to go for. A horse was injured so they couldn't ride far, and it was much too valuable (physically and emotionally) to leave to die. Then again, this was Dream we are talking about. Making the most questionable and jaw dropping moves when all hope seems lost.

He couldn't help but see the silhouette of a young man, bright white eyes glowing. Ghostly and haunting, only appearing for a split second, then disappearing. Yet only visible to himself, the feeling of insanity going through his mind. Appearing near a cave that provided a glow of safety... wait... a cave! They could use that for shelter until the rain stopped and the mobs died down a bit!

"Over there," Dream pointed to the cave opening nearby, less than a mile (about 1.6 km) away. Directing the horses to make their way towards the opening, he took out his crossbow and started aiming at the skeletons who fired back, each monster collapsing into a pile of bones. The sky grew darker as lighting started to strike the trees, setting them aflame.

With each mob that had fallen, more continued to appear as they neared the cave entrance, picking up the speed was necessary yet impossible for their already injured horse and limited food supply. "Bad, George. You two lead horses in, me and Dream will fend off the close ones," he spoke as the other two nodded, quickly gathering them inside. The last few creepers came closer and far too many to fight, even if they had full diamond gear (which was very much too expensive) so there was no choice but to run. Run as fast as you can even though they could feel the energy starting to drain away.

When things couldn't get worse... they did. Lightning hit one of those monsters dangerously close to Sapnap and Dream, creating that one in a million charged creeper. Most people have never seen one before, especially not chasing after them. Oh right, that thing is dangerous.

The creeper had a blue aura surrounding itself, before making that silent hiss every adventurer has learned to dread. Out of instinct, you couldn't explain what went through his mind, but something happened. The arrow wasn't enough to kill it but enough to push the creeper back to avoid terrible damage.

A loud bang filled the air, that one large explosion causing a chain reaction, another explosion following each creeper exploding another. At the final explosion, the deep crater exposed layers of dirt and stone and other types of minerals otherwise buried in the ground. "That was too close," Dream sighed before looking at the damage of his play. They could've just killed the creepers but that would've been too risky and lethal to even try. "You okay Sap?"

Sapnap nodded slightly, standing on one leg awkwardly. "Yeah perfectly-" He spoke before losing his balance and standing on two feet, hissing in pain. Something small but it couldn't be used. The damage could've been much worse, but he couldn't walk until they fixed that. "Fine. I'm fine, Dream."

Dream sighed and decided not to torture his friend, carrying him quite easily. Sapnap was the youngest, not the shortest but close enough. "Didn't I tell you to move out of the way?" He scolded whilst Sapnap rolled his eyes.

"No. You were too busy being the hero-"

"Do you want me to drop you?"

"...No."

Dream laughed a bit before they both made their way to the cave, quickly setting his partner down before the three of them took out spare blocks, blocking off the entrance. Finally, able to exhale a sigh of relief, the four looked around their surroundings. It wasn't like other caves, vines draped from the ceiling as leaves and moss grew below their feet. Well-lit considering, they haven't placed any torches.

George's eyes lit up as his hands brushed over the yellow bulbs attached to the vines. "Must be a lush cave," He pointed out. "Quite epic, maybe we could find something here!"

Bad sat by Sapnap, wrapping the spare bandages around his leg. "Must've fell on it weird-" Sap mentioned before wincing a bit as the bandage was tightened. A small smile grew on his facial features as he looked around, Bad finally finished with first aid. "Thanks," he mumbled before eating some of his rations.

Dream walked around, delving deeper into the cave. A glow of solid white caught his eye as he looked for the source. There, a small pendant sat on a rock. Forged with stone and gems that had a bright pink tint, an ominous glow from the center. Gave the same hypnotizing sensation the map gave.

He looked at it before hastily picking it up and slipping it around his neck. It looked cool, wear this if he ever has the need to intimidate Techno in another battle. The second the string was laced around his neck, Dream could feel a small headache starting to form as his eyes looked cloudy, glowing white ever so slightly. Not noticeable but hardly present. He pushed it aside and although nobody could see, a shadow followed him until the light overpowered the dark.

He returned to the group, slipping the pendant under his hoodie so it couldn't be seen. There was no need to hide it but something... someone told him to. He waved before sitting on the ground, slipping in a few bites of bread.

The four sat on the ground as the two horses rested on the cave ground. "Do we continue or go back?" Badboyhalo mentioned, glancing at Roberto. "Roberto can't hold us, and we can't all be on one horse the whole way. I think we have enough where we can head back, possibly buy a wagon for the mob drops we got."

There was no arguing that going back seemed like the better option. A part of Dream wanted to continue but that would put them all in danger, especially considering the circumstances their team was in. The rain outside seemed to stop as George and Badboyhalo broke the barrier they made.

The three helped Sapnap onto their one good horse (for none of them are heartless) and they started to walk back, the sun set along the horizon as the light blue sky turned dark. The stars seemed small as they could see the lanterns of their city. Arriving near the village and taking the horses back to their respective places to rest. "Well, that didn't work too well-" Badboyhalo sighed as the four sat in their rooms.

"On the bright side, we know exactly what to do?" Dream smiled as Sapnap nodded. "And a wagon would be nice considering we hardly made it halfway-"

Here they came up with any ideas to make the journey as easy and worth it as possible. Quickly go through the forest, don't stop for a rest there. Go through the sunflower field and then the oak forest. A little bit more and then the caves are there, about a day's journey.

However, one of the four felt more fatigued than usual. Slipping off his mask and quickly falling asleep, getting a few looks from his roommates. Sure, it was late but that seemed odd. A plan set in stone as the moon reached its peak in the night sky.

It would take a week, Dream and George would go to the market and trade the drops for a wagon and other things the next day. Earn whatever they could, Sapnap and Roberto should be fine by then.

Each of the slipped under the covers but Badboyhalo could feel something in the shadows, as if they were being watched. Holding his blanket with a little duck on it, he quickly stared out the window only to find nothing.

"That was close..."