TW: SWEARING, YELLING, FIRE, BLOOD, VIOLENCE, ALCOHOL, DRUGS
Currently shitting myself because I just realised I'm going to cap this at part 60...
What the actual fu-
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Laughter and the faint smell of beer mixed with smoke and the glow of fire were no further than fifty metres in front of us. I pull my mask up higher on my face and adjust my grip on my bow feeling its weight and the weight of my quiver on my shoulder.
Tonight was the night.
Purpled and Punz are commanding our troops in the east and west keeping Schlatt's forces busy. We were yet to receive word of their knowledge of Schlatt's whereabouts. For now, we assume they're in the dark about it all.
Karl, Quackity, Fundy, Skeppy, Ponk, Sapnap and George are covering our southern ambush with some of Tai Shu's best fighters. My team and I covered the north.
The wind blows into my face exactly how I want it to. I couldn't let them get any sense that we are nearby. I wasn't risking even the slightest error. Drista is silent at my side. I had purposefully paired the two of us together to take on the biggest camp.
Our entire plan hinges on stealth and timing. Our goal was to make it look like there were more of us than there actually were. On scouting missions, the crows had discovered multiple camps awaiting orders in the north and south just as I had hoped. I had split everybody into pairs for the mission. Techno and Dream were the only two of us who had entire camps to themselves. Phil and Tommy were paired on a medium-sized camp, Ranboo and Tubbo have a slightly larger camp.
It didn't take much to convince Drista to join our cause. She was more than happy to move into the castle again and help Eret manage things.
"As long as I get to go on field trips with you guys," she had smirked.
Tonight would be her first "field trip" and I had a feeling it would go brilliantly. Drista shifts slightly, adjusting her grip on her crossbow.
We would be using long-range weapons first tonight. We were saving close-range weapons for later. We could handle this mob with no problems, as long as we kept our distance. At least I knew I didn't need to babysit Drista as I often babysat some of the less experienced teams when I went out to fight.
I can't help but glimpse up at the stars as we wait cloaked by the thick shrubs.
Only the night sky would be witness to our battle tonight. Drista nudges me impatiently and I turn back to the camp feeling my cramped joints at every movement. The signal was taking longer than we had anticipated and we were rearing to fight.
I watch as the soldiers pass around a flask of some sort of alcohol. One of them has a cigarette. In that instant, I felt like the world's deadliest hunter, a lion stalking its prey. These idiots had no clue we were here, they had not the slightest inkling that there might be an attack.
Schlatt had gotten cocky. His successes on the front lines had rendered him more arrogant than when I had left him. In a random burst of thought, I wonder how much he will stink of alcohol tomorrow at the interrogation. He'll probably smell less like alcohol than usual. I wasn't sure if that thought was more unnerving than it is when he's drunk off his face. I shake refusing to think about being in the same room as him again.
A boisterous laugh from the soldiers makes me flinch a little.
Get your shit together Y/N.
Drista and I tense as we hear it. The signal. We look up and see the smattering of leaves and feathers and wings as Phil's crows take to the sky. They caw louder than I'd ever heard them. The soldiers swear and jump out of the seats alarmed and so unbelievably drunk. I almost scoff as I notice two of them fall on each other.
I look to Drista, her sharp green eyes locking we mine. We nod once.
We throw the illusionary harming potions onto the field. They splash everywhere and immediately start foaming as they come in contact with the soldier's skin. They weren't real harming potions. I had designed them so they would feel scorching hot and foam on contact with sweat but they'll do no real harm.
The camp turns into a cacophony of screaming as Drista and I sprint around the outskirts. We run between trees to where we'd stashed bags of the potions throwing them into tents and food barrels. I notice Drista throw one right into the centre of a fire and it explodes. I raise an eyebrow in surprise, I didn't test that. I throw one into another fire sending soldiers reeling with another small explosion.
I hold back my chuckles knowing that this would only make the battle more entertaining. Soldiers shout at one another scrambling for weapons, shouting "AMBUSH!"
Drista and I move from potions to arrows. I whip them from my quiver to my bow as fast as I can knowing I have to look like there's more than just one of me. I didn't need to worry so much though, the soldiers were far too drunk to grasp any of what was happening.
In the distance, I spot just above the trees a burst of light and hear the boom that follows soon after. Tubbo and Ranboo. The others have started attacking as well. In the south I hope they are doing the same.
I skid to the floor as arrows start whizzing through the treeline. The soldiers are trying to fight back but they won't do any damage to our small force. I dig around the trees feeling my head pounding from the adrenaline. Eventually, I find the vial of whiskey. I dip the last few of my arrows in the liquid and light them with my flint and steel. I shoot, hitting tents and setting them ablaze as Drista continues to hammer potions at the campfires and soldiers.
Once I'm out of arrows I whistle as loudly as I can hoping Drista hears my signal for the next phase of our plan. I turn to my belt and unhook potions of strength, speed and regeneration. The second I finish downing each one I feel their effects coursing through my body.
I look up in time to see Drista start to light the torches we had littered through the trees. A trick we hoped would enforce the idea that there were more of us than there are. I unlatch my axe from where it had waited patiently on my back and take a deep breath.
Showtime baby.
I reveal myself from where I was hiding and launch into the attacks. Soldiers are slow to spot me and too drunk to do anything. As I push them aside I realise that not one of them was sober.
Gods, these guys are completely untrained in the field.
I grunt in agreement with the voices as I block somebody's sword. I spin around and swing the back of my axe hitting his leg with a satisfying crunch. He wails in pain and crumples to the ground.
I'm granted a spare moment of time to open the bag on my hip full of fire charges. Yelling draws my attention away and I quickly battle with a guy who seemed less drunk than the others. His attacks were fast but his reaction was not. I gain the upper hand quickly and bat his sword from his clenched fists with my axe, keeping the momentum I kick him in the face.
The firecharges feel hot and agitated in my hands as I throw them onto the last of the tents and barrels of supplies and weapons. I block another sword and swiftly battle the soldier with my axe.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Drista who had finished lighting torches and was now fighting three guys at once. Despite her small stature, she had them under her thumb as she beat them to a pulp.
"HEY Y/N?!" she shouts at me. I quickly throw the guy I was fighting to the ground and keep him under my boot as I shout back to her.
"YEAH?"
"WAS THAT MEANT TO HAPPEN?"
"WHA- oh"
I stop short as I look to see where she's pointing. One of the tents had set a dead tree on fire and it was spreading quickly. Heavy footsteps behind me draw my attention away and I'm fighting another guy.
The clang of metal on metal continues as four other guys appear out of nowhere. I cuss mentally as I'm forced to deal with all of them. I land heavy hits keeping them occupied until I can finish each one of them off.
"Y/N INCOMING!" I hear Drista yell. My eyes widen as I spot the firecharge soaring through the air. I duck for cover as it lands where I was standing and blows the guys I was fighting into the next town. I groan as I push myself up feeling the ache from the blow in my back.
"Come on, get up," Drista yanks me up by my arm. I take the moment to watch the chaos we had created.
Soldiers rush back and forth looking for weapons we had already blown up. Others shout at each other looking for water to put out the fires. Smoke was heavy and suffocating in the air and I was glad for the mask I was wearing. A soldier runs at Drista from behind, but a quick punch to his jaw shuts him up.
"How are you with improvising?" I ask noticing the extreme amount of soldiers we still had to subdue. I mentally take note of the potions I had left and the time I had to use them. I look back at Drista and her eyes smirk at me over the top of her mask.
Yelling draws our attention to the battlefield and we spot two guys running toward us. Our first targets. We strap away our weapons and start running.
We had trained together out the back of the house. Actually, Drista just fought everybody for the fun of it. She destroyed Dream which we all found incredibly funny. Technoblade, Tubbo, Tommy, Ranboo and I couldn't stop laughing. She lost to Techno, Tubbo and I but totally destroyed Tommy and Ranboo. Tommy's reaction was the funniest. He refused to stop cursing all afternoon. Afterwards, Drista and I came up with a few techniques we thought would be good in a fight. Now was a good time as any to test it.
I push myself to run faster and then drop down allowing Drista to use my back as a stepping stool. She latches her legs around the first guy's neck and slams her elbow into the back of his head until he falls over backwards. I meet the second guy with fast and to hand combat, deflecting all his blows until I can land one of my own on his ribs, breaking them instantly.
Drista gets up and we lock wrists. I hold her up whilst she uses me as leverage to swing her legs around immediately knocking out the next three guys who had run in to attack us.
I set her down and notice that the fire had spread all around the camp. Soldiers keel over unable to breathe in the smoke as we could with masks and regeneration potions. It was times like these I was thankful for my resistance to fire. It was impossible for me to be burnt and, unlike the others, breathing in smoke was no problem just as long as I didn't take in an excessive amount.
We clean up the soldiers pretty quickly, the haze of thick smoke hiding us until the last minute when we would attack. Drista and I heave the unconscious bodies into the area we had originally been spying on and start tying them up.
I stretch my back as I stand up again and catch sight of the sky. The smoke went at least a hundred metres into the sky and the others would definitely be able to see it from their camps. The blazing fire meant we wouldn't be able to get out. We'd be stuck here for a while.
"Well, this isn't what we intended," Drista sighs, her voice muffled through her mask as she walks over to me looking visibly fatigued. It had been a long night and I'm sure it would be nearing the early morning hours soon.
"Yeah, I'm going to cut down some of the trees so that they don't fall on us," I say moving from where I was crouched over a soldier. They would all be out for a while if they didn't suffocate from the smoke.
"I'll pick up whatever I can find," Drista says and we split into our different tasks.
The crisped trees fall to the smouldering forest floor as I cut them down. Some of them were still on fire at the top but it was of no worry to me, once they fell the small flames would die. As I chop I keep my ears open for any piercing caws amongst the crackle of flames. If the crows weren't flying near us then it meant the fire would be at least double the size of the camp. I look to the smokey sky and sigh knowing there would be no rain to help us tonight.
****
Drista and I sit in the middle of the unconscious mess cleaning our weapons and sorting out what arrows were still useable. We had taken off our masks now that the fire had moved on and the air was clearer. We had taken off our hoods too to try and dry up the sweat that had stuck our hair to our heads.
The two of us were covered in filth and soot from the fires and smoke. Our clothes would be properly stained and our armour has chinks in places where we had been hit. We laugh as Drista drags her finger on her chest plate and pulls it away revealing her fingertip, black as coal. I toss the scrap of fabric I had been using to clean my axe over my shoulder and rest my weapon in the grass.
"So... you and Dream huh?" Drista says idly as she sets the useful arrows into her quiver. I chuckle at her sudden question.
"What specifically?" I ask and frown as Drista grows more solemn.
"My vision showed him spiralling out of control, and obviously he's different now. But did he go crazy?"
I sigh weighing the question in my mind. I wasn't here when it happened but I didn't need to be. Just seeing what he did to Tommy was enough to show how much he had changed once I left. How he manipulated Tubbo and was ready to fight Technoblade, the blood god who would destroy him in a fight, to find me. How he could barely hold himself together anymore, how he hated leaving me alone. It was all enough.
"He did, and it was worse than you probably imagine," I say pensively.
"How did it happen?" I take a deep breath and do my best to keep the emotions I had attached to my memories away from my mind.
"I was kidnapped by Schlatt after the last war in L'Manburg."
"Oh shit," Drista says looking like a stunned mullet. I knew it wasn't the answer she was expecting. It was something not a lot of people knew about. They knew I was missing but Tubbo had done well to keep the true reason far from the public eye.
"Yeah," I nod and start taking potions off my belt to count them, not that there were many left.
"That sucks, I'm sorry," I smirk suddenly reminded of Drista's young age.
"It's ok now, I'm home and we're helping each other," I say honestly.
I catch a glimpse of the stars again and wish that the air wasn't so still. The sky was littered full of them, the moon only a tiny sliver and not bright enough to cover them all with light. I imagine a soft breeze and the quiet meadow, a cup of cocoa and Dream's arm slung over my shoulder. Chatter from inside the house as people discuss their days in the living room. If Wilbur was here, a gentle melody from a guitar would waft through the cracks in the walls too.
I can't wait to go home.
"My disappearance sent everybody into a frenzy," I continue knowing Drista deserved a better explanation than what Dream would give her. He was getting better, but he was always going to be ashamed.
"I don't really understand why they were willing to do what they did for me, but I couldn't be more grateful for their loyalty," I find myself smiling.
"How does the search matter?" Drista asks confused.
"Because Dream took on the most. He lost his mind running on empty clues and dead ends as he tried to get information about my kidnappers. They didn't even know the army existed or that Schlatt was running the damn thing until they had to start looking there, and even then they were in the dark. Dream was manipulated by the Dark Army and it just got worse," I explain. Drista sits quietly taking it all in, I couldn't tell how she felt about it. Maybe she didn't know herself.
"He was driven to monstrosities, to put it simply. When I got back it was obvious to see how little he cared for himself. It was a combination of everything that drove him mad."
"Oh my gods, what kind of drugs did you have him hooked on?" Drista jokes trying to crush the suffocating tension. I can't help but laugh.
"I may have been a part of L'Manburg but the drugs were more of Wilbur's speciality," I jab back and she laughs too.
It wasn't just my disappearance that made him mad. I remember what he was like when we met. All he did was hide and push people away unless they were George or Sapnap. Everybody was at arm's length, on the outside of the mask.
"He was already pretty fucked up when we first met, but leaving him did something to him that I'll never understand," I shake my head trying not to think about how he would have been when I was away. Drista's dirty face grows regretful.
"It was my fault for leaving," she says suddenly. I look at her feeling surprised by the bleak thought. It wasn't that simple, surely she knows that.
"It's my fault for making his abandonment shit worse," she laments. I couldn't argue against it, so I just agree with her.
"I guessed it had something to do with his past. But Drista, you have to know the blame isn't all on you," she nods but doesn't really take in my words. I feel my heart sink knowing there wasn't anything I could do to change her mind.
"So, when do you think the others are going to find us?" she flips the conversation. I shrug contemplating the idea in my mind.
"Well, first they have to notice the fire," I say.
"Surely they've noticed by now," Drista says looking up at the sky full of black smoke. I hum semi-agreeing with her.
"But they also have to finish their missions and handle the soldiers," I add. Drista fiddles with the hem of her sleeve in thought and peels off her gloves to stretch her hands. She pulls a face as the wraps around her hands stop her from stretching them out.
"I bet that when they get here they'll shit their pants," Drista blurts out matter-of-factly.
"Ok, once they notice the fire, I bet they'll be an hour max," I say.
"Wow, you have too much faith in them," Drista states with a cheeky grin. I laugh again and she joins in.
We keep chatting until we notice soldiers waking up. We grab the Weakness potions I had brought along and douse the lot of them in the stuff. We also go through checking the pulses of soldiers who were still unconscious. The air turns sombre as we untie the ones who had died from the smoke or burns from the flames. We cover their faces with bits of clothing from their uniforms and drag them away from the group. We'll deal with them later.
One thing I refuse to do is leave the dead to rot wherever they have been killed. I'm not above killing, but I won't disrespect the people who are lost in the fighting. We had recruited morticians in the SMP to collect the bodies and bury them in proper graves. Each of them gets a basic wooden coffin from whatever wood we can spare and their own grave. Sometimes we don't have wood to spare, but we will always have a gravestone for them.
We picked a field for them all. Our soldiers and Dark Army soldiers all go there. There have been protests from the public but mine and Dream's decision stays resolute. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what side of the war anybody is on. We're all just people who have lived lives. When we strip away the uniforms, we all look the same. That's why we're buried together, because there are no real differences between us.
"We should probably get going," Drista states as the soldiers restlessly watch us and each other. I had a feeling they would be trying to break out of their bonds soon enough.
"Yeah," I say tiredly and we start pushing soldiers to their feet and tying the individual bonds together to make a chain.
The sound of crashing through the forest stops us. We look at each other with a grin as we recognise the pattern of the footsteps. Techno and Dream break through the treeline looking distraught. Dream runs to his sister and Techno runs straight to me.
"Y/N, Y/N are you alright? Are you hurt? We saw the fire and the explosions," Techno's words mashed together like soup. I look over at Drista who was looking equally overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of worry. The boys go silent noticing how we were looking at one another.
Uncontrollable laughter bubbles in my chest escaping through my lips in snickers. Drista starts cracking too as the memory of her prediction of the boys' reaction floods our brains. She knew this would happen, and I don't know how that was funny, but my sides were starting to hurt from laughing so hard.
"W-what's wrong?" Techno stutters looking at me more concerned than before as I lean heavily on his arm.
"D-Drista you w-were so right!" I manage to gasp out but fall apart again when Drista falls on Dream unable to stand. He catches her as she quakes with giggles.
"Oh my gods!" she says making me howl louder as I gasp for air.
It takes some time but eventually Drista and I calm down feeling delirious at the late early hour of the morning. I'm still giggling as Techno pulls me upright and starts trying to smudge off the soot I had on my face. I gently push his hand aside and hug the giant pig hybrid.
"I'm fine Techno I promise," I sigh out the last of my laughter. I have to hold back a relapse as Dream pulls up his mask to reveal his baffled and incredibly concerned expression. Drista steps back as I kiss Dream on his freckled cheek.
"I'm fine," I say to Dream.
"Come on, let's get these dummies out of here," Drista says picking up the rope that the prisoners were tied to. I get in position and drag people to their feet and push them to start walking the long journey back to the SMP.
"What just happened?" I hear Dream mutter behind me.
I can't help but let out one last chuckle.
****
Dream, Techno, Drista and I are the last to get to the house. The others were sleeping over with us too since Michael and Shroud were being babysat here by Niki. We peel off our armour as quietly as we can and the others head straight for the dining room where we had left out food and healing potions in advance of the mission.
Dream gently helps me unravel the wraps around my hands to reveal my bruised knuckles from the fighting. Wraps didn't stop injuries completely, but without them fighting would be way more painful. In the kitchen, I hear the familiar clink of the kettle on the stove and know that Drista had started making cocoa. I had mentioned to her earlier that I was craving the sweet drink.
Once my hands are free I gently wiggle my fingers and wince as I feel the fresh bruises.
"Don't do that," Dream mutters crossly, too exhausted to properly stop me. I chuckle quietly and take a healing potion from the table and down it in a few gulps. Slowly I watch the redness in my knuckles fade along with the stiff pain.
I hold out my hands for Dream and start unwrapping his wraps too. I frown as Dream winces as I get through the top layers.
"How many guys did you punch?" I joke lightly making him chuckle.
"Enough," he shrugs.
As I run my hands over him I feel the familiar tingle of electricity. I don't think I'll ever get used to it, or understand it. Dream just had a way of making my brain go crazy and making my heart pool into a puddle of mush. I run my fingertips over his palm, something I often do when either one of us is anxious.
"Are you alright?" he asks, I nod and he lets the issue go.
Tomorrow we would be questioning Schlatt and I definitely was not ready to be in close quarters with him again. For now, I refuse to think about it, I need to relax. I slide a healing potion to Dream and feel myself fretting as he struggles to close his hand around the bottle. The potion works quickly, healing his knuckles as it had for mine.
"Miss goddess," Drista says cheekily and slides a mug of cocoa to me across the table. I thank her and take a sip of the steaming liquid. Another pro of being fireproof, I don't have to wait for my drinks to cool down.
"I think I'll sit outside for a minute," I yawn as I remember the image in my mind I had earlier tonight. I look down at Dream who's cleaning up the empty bottles, wraps and combat knives we had left on the table.
"I'll be right there," he says smiling, knowing exactly what I was about to ask. I run a hand lazily through his hair making him smirk and then head to the back door. I spot something in the living room that makes me stop.
Ranboo, Tubbo and Michael all lay sleeping on the couch. The back cushions had been discarded and left on the floor to make more room for the three of them. Michael was between them snoring peacefully and Ranboo had the three of them in his long arms. I resist the urge to mutter "awe" as my heart warms for them. Tubbo and Ranboo must have been exhausted after the fighting and then delivering prisoners to Sam.
I force myself away from them and slip out the back door, quiet as a mouse. I heave in a deep breath of the smokeless air from the sweet meadow. In the distance, I see the faint glow of fireflies and hear the whistle of the wind in the trees.
As I sit down on the steps I hear the door open and shut again as Dream joins me outside. He sits at my side, one hand around his mug, the other arm around my shoulders. I lean into his chest happily and feel the steam from my mug waft under my face bringing a chocolatey smell to my nose.
Better than I imagined.
~~~~
HELOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Sorry, this was so short after a long wait y'all. BUT OH MY GOD I have got so much planned for all of you over the next three chapters.
Surely you all must have known that as soon as I brought Schlatt back shit was going to go down ;)
GOT NOTHING ELSE TO SAY EXCEPT POGGERS
I HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC MORNING/DAY/EVENING/NIGHT <3 <3 <3 <3
Here's your reminder to stay hydrated ;)