Dreaming of Demons (Dream x oc)

[34] Home Sweet Home

Dream, Wilbur, and I came back to the fortress the next day, but it wasn't like I wanted to tag along. I only did so to avoid a worse injury than the one my bandaged, left hand could already attest to. The black color in my veins had faded a bit, though I couldn't use my hand to even lift the sword. It still felt numb too, a constant tingling sensation sparking through my palm. It was all just a lovely playback of what happened when the thorns from the Egg had rendered my arm useless.

I avoided Dream's gaze for most of the day, instead turning my frustration and desperation into every swing at the Wither skeletons. I only killed the ones that charged towards me since I didn't have the energy to kill every one in sight. Not like I would have wanted to anyway. I was still doing the least amount of work possible, and my injured hand helped to create that illusion.

I wanted to run, to escape. Dream wasn't watching me, and it had already been a couple hours since we arrived in the Nether for the day. Every time I crossed the bridge to drop my haul of skulls, I felt the urge to run back to the portal and then keep running until I came upon the SMP. I knew where the portal was located. I made sure to memorize our path through the Nether this time. So...I could do it.

And every time I came back to the pile, my longing increased. I stopped near the skulls, turning on my feet to scan the area, to really scan it because last time I failed to be thorough.

I waited for a moment, holding my breath and straining to hear any unnatural sounds in the Nether. Anything like the tapping of shoes on the nether brick, or the shrill sound of a sword slicing through a clicking skeleton. There was none.

So without a further thought that could convince me otherwise, I ran.

My shoes hit hard on the rocky netherrack, small pebbles and crimson dirt chasing after me as I descended the hill that led up to the bridge, trying to keep myself from going too fast so I didn't fall right into the lava. As soon as I hit level ground, A new burst of energy fueled my sprint.

But then I realized I needed to save my breath. I was gonna be on the run for a while, and the last time I stopped to catch my breath, Dream caught up to me.

I didn't dare look back, not even as a Ghast's cry sounded somewhere behind me. The hot air quickly seared my lungs, and my breaths started to stagger. I slowed to a light jog, and my heart jumped around in my chest, like a bird flapping against it's cage. But I needed to keep it slow. Slow and steady. Because slow and steady wins the race, right?

A smile broke my lips as the portal appeared in front of me. With a boosted spring in my step, I leapt through the shimmering purple, making sure the blade of my sword didn't hit against the obsidian frame. I didn't want anything slowing me down now that I had such a good start.

The fresh, cool air was a welcome breath on the other side. The good thing about this portal location was that it was situated in the general direction I needed to go, so I was technically starting off farther than last time. I glanced up at the position of the sun just to double check my position, and then I continued on.

I switched from jogging to fast walking. But I only tripped up more when I tried to walk quickly. I snuck a peek over my shoulder for the first time and was pleased to see the forest was empty behind me. Even the birds still carried their tune. No sign of danger so far.

I tested the strength of my left hand, opening and closing my fist. It was still weak, but if the need arose, I could try to use it to fight with my sword.

Something snapped behind me and I spun around, scouring the forest with a darting gaze. I took a few steps back. No one was here, not even an animal darting among the scattered bushes.