Run Boy Run (can find it on ao3 in the first few chapters for free)

Chapter 5

Dream... he didn't know what to say to that. "Why didn't you go back with the other Enderborns to the end?" He asked, before getting a terrible thought. "It wasn't to protect the Enderborns who stayed, right?"

She didn't answer for a moment, and something ugly curled up in his stomach before she finally spoke. "We are wanderers, us Enders. We always have been. The end is vast, but not limitless. We live long lives, we wander for most of them. We did not stay for you, but as long as you and the Halfborn stay in this world, we will always try and protect you."

Protect him.

Blood and gore all over him, dripping down his body as terrified eyes looked at him like he was the one who killed them-

He shivered, leaning into the elder. She was cold, colder than him, but the feeling of connection between his kind and hers made it ignorable. He just needed something to lean on.

The Endermen completely destroy the hunters. Would they do the same to Sapnap and George? They'd be dead and off his trail. It'd be a painful death, too. Did he want that?

No, he didn't.

"I can protect myself." Dream murmured, and the elder laughed, the soft humming whisper of her voice distorting slightly. "I did for a long time."

"Sometimes, to protect something, you have to let it grow on its own."

They asked him, as they packed up and started teleporting away, if he wanted to come with them.

He declined.

And as the last one, the female elder, teleported away, a single drop of water hits his nose.

He doesn't remember when he took his mask off.

He walks through the woods to hide from the rain, mask back on as well as his sweater, hoodie, and gloves. While he had slept in the Endermen village, he was still severely tired, almost to the point of being cranky.

There's a single dark oak tree in the middle of the oak forest, and after making sure it wasn't an Ent he climbs up the branches, settling on a high but thick one branch and leaning against the trunk of the tree. His legs dangled in the air below him.

When he looked down, the gaping jaws of Endermen look up at him. He shivered, glaring at nothing and looking away. Reaching into his bag, he pulls out the thickest blanket he has, wrapping it around himself to hopefully protect him from the rain. Settling back against the tree, he closed his eyes, hoping for at least a few hours of sleep.

The hunters are after him again. They unintentionally gave him a day of rest before they caught on to his trail and snuck up under the tree he was sleeping on.

A hand grabbed his foot and yanked.

As he fell, the pearl inside him grew cold, and he teleported away.

He landed a few feet away, shuddering at the icy tendrils stretching out from his heart. He scrambled up but there's a sword pressed to his neck faster then he can move out of the way. He freezes, knowing this was coming. "Hi guys."

George's face was one stoic in anger. "You kill them." He whispered. "You slaughtered them."

He already knew who he was talking about. He had a feeling that was why it took them so long to find him- they were burying the bodies. Sapnap stood behind him, face set in cracked stone, and Dream could see how he actually felt through his eyes. "I didn't."

George laughed, something harsh and bitter. "I've seen what your kind can do, Dream! That's a textbook Enderborn slaughter back there!"

"Who else would've done it, anyway?" Sapnap stepped in, angry but curious, and Dream pounced on that. He couldn't make George believe him, but if he got Sapnap on his side...