Hinterlands

Prologue

A day didn't go by where Dream wasn't riding horseback through the woods, bow in hand. The comforting sound of an arrow hitting a target strapped to a tree was enough to fill his entire day. Today was an occasional day though, where him and his best friend, Techno, would ride along together.

Trampling along the already dead grass, from the many times the trail had been traveled, the two laughed along, hitting as many targets as possible, and even trying to keep score.

"Third target down..." Techno shouted, as the sound of an arrow hit a nearby tree. Another sound rose, of yet another arrow hitting the same tree, "that makes two of us" Dream immediately replied. The two continued going deeper into the woods, off the trail Dream had created during his many practices, and into the depths of the unexplored.

As the two began to slow the pace of their horses, Dream hopped off of his own, directing it by its halter, as Techno did the same. The soft sound of moss and twigs beneath their feet echoed through the woods.

"You should join me on my practices more often, you could use it" Dream broke the silence. Techno let out a scoff, pulling an apple from his satchel, and feeding it to his horse. "You know what would happen if they found out I was with someone of opposing sides Dream, they would have my head" Techno explained very blatantly. Dream tilted his head down, being reminded of the one great thing dividing the two.

The two began to come up onto a tiny pond, encased in dead leaves and grass, complimenting its green-like color. Dream knelt on a nearby rock, and began to fidget with a stick in his hands, while still being sure his steed was near. Techno directed his horse by Dream's, before laying in the ground beside him, staring at the fiddling stick in Dream's hand.

Techno could sense Dream's frustration, and tried to ease the situation, "Ya know, once this is all over, we could do things like this every day..." Dream was more tense with the stick, near to snapping it in half. "But the thing is, it isn't" Dream muttered in retaliation. It was hard to disagree with Dream's statement, because after all, it was true.

The sky quickly began to turn a flaming orange, reminding the two of their awaiting duties. Slowly but surely, the two rode back to their meeting spot, by a giant boulder, very overgrown, strangled in vines and moss.

Once the two were in the proximity of their usual meeting area, they began to stall the goodbye, asking for moments to adjust their saddle, or check if they had any arrows left. But they were going to have to part eventually, and in this case, very soon.

The sun was starting to touch the surface of the earth, and as it did, the two threw their cloaks over their heads, hiding their features, and rode off in opposing directions, not looking back.

These meetings were everything to Dream, and represented the perseverance of friendship, even through treacherous things such as war. But Dream was going to bring an end to this war, an end to his hopes of seeing his friend, and a start of constantly seeing Techno, and the unity of the territories as a whole...

If it was the last thing he would do.