Misfortune

Chapter 1: Old Enemy, But Not Yet New Friend

It's been a month since Dream died is his brother's arms.

For the whole month Nightmare isolated himself, he stopped eating, speaking, he stopped doing anything really.

{Dis is now a flashback, italics are flashbacks}

"Dream? Where are you?"

It was Ink's voice.

"Dream?"

It was getting closer, which meant Ink was too.

Nightmare didn't care enough to notice, he did just lose his only family.

"Drea-"

Ink cut himself off when he saw Nightmare, he didn't recognise him, no one would.

"Who are you!?" Ink asked the smaller, in a somewhat angry and threatening tone.

Nightmare ignored him, he just wanted Dream back, he hugged his things tighter, the wind was slowly blowing his dust away.

"Are you ok?" He asked when he saw that Nightmare was crying.

Nightmare shook his head weakly. No, of course he wasn't, his brother just died.

Ink approached him, Nightmare was whispering to himself.

The realisation hit Ink like a train, Dream was gone...

"Is Dream... dead...?" Ink asked, he just wanted to be sure.

Nightmare stopped responding after those three words... He also stopped muttering to himself. The last word he said was his brother's name.

A knock on the door woke Nightmare from a nightmare of last month's events.

"Hey, it's me again, do you think you'll come out today? It's been a while since... that happened now..." Ink said, he's been trying to get Nightmare to get out of his room every day.

Nightmare didn't leave his room, he just cried, wrapping Dream's cape around him and lying on the bed.

"Please...?"

No reply, Nightmare didn't move.

"Ok, I'll be back tomorrow then..." Ink said, then Nightmare heard fading footsteps.

Ink left.

He could go back to sleep, hopefully without nightmares about the day a month ago...

But things don't always turn out how we want them...

"I... I see... he's gone," Ink muttered.

A few stray tears left Ink's eyesockets, just like Nightmare just lost his brother, Ink lost his best friend.

"Could I have those?" Ink asked, pointing at the items Nightmare was holding tight in his grip.

Nightmare's grip tightened even more at the question. No, he can't have Dream's things, Dream gave them to him.

"Dream was... my best friend, please?"

Nightmare considered what he could do.

In the end, Nightmare gave Ink Dream's circlet, not directly though, Ink still thanked him. He still had Dream's cape though, he wouldn't let anyone have it.

Not now, not ever.

Nightmare woke up from his nightmare, this time by himself, no knock on the door this time.

Why couldn't he just forget!?

It didn't help that he has nightmares about it whenever he sleeps, should he just stop sleeping too? He already doesn't eat after all.

Yeah, he doesn't need sleep, all he gets are nightmares of... what he did to Dream...

But it was an accident, he didn't mean to.

And yet, he still feels unmeasurable guilt.

He got off the bed and walked to the window, he folded up the blinds. He looked outside, it was the night-time already?

Did he sleep the whole day? But now, at least, he has time to think.

He couldn't stay in his room for the rest of his life. Right?

After some thinking, he decided to leave his room the next morning.