The Lives We Save

Reunited

Ranboo was woken by a knock on his door. He sat up slowly as the door opened. The boy felt a shock of fear, not recognize where he was.

"We found your friends." Dream spoke, drawing Ranboo's attention.

"Really!?" Ranboo stood, taking a cautious step forward, "where-where are they?"

"They're coming at the end of the day." Dream told him, "they were in the Arctic Empire."

Ranboo tilted his head slightly, "The... Arctic Empire?"

Dream nodded, "the kingdom that borders our own, ruled by King Philza and his wife Kristen."

Ranboo's eyes went wide. Philza. That's right. The memories came back. It wasn't just a dream.

"Phil had told us that he had adopted you and your friends." Dream started, "if that's true, why were you in our kingdom in an abandoned house?"

Ranboo sat down in the bed, "I forgot... I-I thought it was a dream..."

There was a bear of silence, "what do you mean?"

The boy didn't respond. His eyes seemed unfocused and his posture frozen. Dream wondered for a moment of he was disassociating.

"Ranboo?" Dream called out, taking a cautious step forward.

Boo blinked frantically, snapping his head up at the masked man. He frowned. Who was this man? And where were they?

"Uh..." Dream hesitated.

The boys whole posture had changed. He seemed more confident. Less like before, when he stumbled over his words and hunched in on himself.

"Sorry, I zoned out." Boo told him, standing up and looking around, "what were you saying?"

"I was saying that your family is coming to take you back to the Arctic Empire." Dream said slowly, "then you said you didn't remember that King Philza adopted you and your friends."

Boo smirked, barely able to hide it. A king? Not too bad. They could finally stop living in that horrible farmhouse.

"Oh, yeah I have horrible memory." Boo spoke up after a moment, taking note of what the masked man said, "what was your name by the way?"

"Dream." The man gave a small bow, making boo smirk a little more, "Sworn companion of King George from Kinoko Kingdom."

Boo nodded, turning away, "alright. Call for me when they get here."

Dream hummed lightly, but nodded and closed the door. The boy was acting strange. After he disassociated, it was like he was a different person.

The masked man shrugged it off. The kingdom had more issues than a random boy. Karl was still missing. A dangerous situation as it, but made worse with Karl's memory issues.

Karl had Huntington's disease, a disorder that causes the breakdown of brain cells, and subsequently the loss of memory. It was a genetic disorder, typically seen in those older than thirty, but some cases, like Karl, it can happen as young as twenty. And sometimes it can happen as a child, but that was called Juvenile Huntington's Disease.

Dream frowned. Karl's memory loss had been progressing a lot before he was kidnapped. It was terrifying, for both them and Karl.

"Dream?" George walked out of his room.

Dream jumped slightly. He didn't know how he got there. His feet seemed to have carried him here while he was deep in thought.

"Hey, what's wrong?" George asked, taking a step closer.

Dream sighed, his shoulders falling, "I'm worried about Karl, and Philza's kid we found... And you..."

George cupped Dream's cheek underneath his mask, "you don't have to worry about me."

"You've been having attacks more often George." Dream whispered.

"It's just stress, I'm okay." George told him.

"And what if you're by yourself, and fall asleep, and get hurt!?" Dream grabbed George's hand, "I can't be with you all the time."

"You don't have to." George said, "I'm not going to break because of a small fall."

Dreams grip tightened on George's hand, "you could be kidnapped like Karl."

George went silent. Dream was right. The people who kidnapped Yogurt and Karl were still out there. If George's narcolepsy acted up, it would be easy to snatch him from the palace.

As if on cue, George felt the pull of drowsiness pull him down. He grabbed dreams shoulder to steady himself.

"Dream-" George managed before he collapsed.

Dream caught him, lifting him bridal-style. George fought to stay awake a little longer as dream carried him to bed.

"It's okay, I got you." Dream whispered as he layed George down, "just sleep. Big Q and I can can take care of things until you wake up."

George gave a small hum of acknowledgment before falling into a deep sleep. Dream sighed softly. Hopefully they'd catch the kidnappers soon.