Dream:
Save yourself.
Horribly cryptic and unspecific message.
Dream blinked, the red words imprinted on the insides of his eyelids and tried to swing his legs into a kneeling position as Schlatt's face replaced the red lettering on the walls.
"Welcome to The Massacre." Schlatt glared down at him, a red tint from the fading letters casting his face into a dark shadow. "The only rule is to save yourself. Forget about your friends, you families, the people you loved because they don't matter anymore. You will most likely meet them in this arena, but do not hesitate to wipe them out, because the only life that matters is your own."
Dream bit his lip, thinking about what Schlatt had said. Other people that he knew were in the game, other people that he cared about, his friends. He was not going to kill them, he wasn't going to let anyone else kill them, and he didn't care if Schlatt killed him because of it. Sapnap could be in there, or Tubbo or Tommy. He felt sick. If Schlatt was forcing kids, teenagers to fight to the death in a sadistic arena, then he was going to straight up murder him.
George could be in the arena.
He could be sitting in a room exactly like this one, waiting for the moment that he would have to face death. George could die, and Dream wouldn't be there to stop it.
"The only things you'll need in this arena are your weapon or weapons of choice, and a wristcom that tracks the arena deaths, and the players still alive." As Schlatt spoke, the cuffs around Dream's wrists and ankles clicked off and a panel on the far wall opened. "Don't loose these items. They are your life and death."
Dream slowly limped over to the far wall, his body sending little jolts of pain every step as he reached the panel. Inside the box lay a sword made out of some dark alloy that seemed to be shimmering slightly, and a leather sheath next to it. On top of those items was a small silver wristwatch looking thing, and as soon as he picked it up, words and numbers started immediately flashing.
Day: 1
Life Count: 1,000
One thousand people were entering the arena today, but only one person was going to make it out alive. The odds were not in his favor this time.
"One more thing." Schlatt echoed, and Dream gave a start, not remembering that Schlatt was still in the room. "You will soon be transported to the arena. Remember the rules. Stay alive. Save yourself."
With that ominous note, Schlatt just left.
Dream frowned at the wall where Schlatt's face had just occupied, replaying everything the man had said over in his head. He was worried that Sapnap or George might be here already, thinking about the exact same thing. He strapped the leather sheathe, with the dark sword in it, to his belt and put the wristcom on his left hand. He stared at it for a second, watching the numbers on it, hopping his friends weren't part of those other thousand people.
Suddenly the room turned completely dark, like the lights had turned off, or he had just shut his eyes. He could feel the room spinning around him, or he was spinning and the room was staying still, either way, it was still making him nauseous. He tried to see what was going on around him, but all he could see was darkness, no light or color at all. Then, as suddenly as the darkness had come, it stopped, and Dream opened his eyes, instantly blinded by the light.
There were hundreds of people in front of him, each with a weapon in their hand and a wristcom on their arm. All of them were blinking in the calm sunlight, each of them taking time to rub at their eyes and look around dazedly.
"Now that you have all entered the arena." Schlatt's voice echoed around the meadow, and most competitors turned in circles to try and find him. "The game begins... NOW!"
Dream didn't wait to be attacked, didn't try to attack, and just started running out of the field as fast as he could. This was like manhunt, and all the things he'd learned from playing manhunt over the years was that it wasn't worth it to wait at the beginning and try and fight your way to the top. You had to run, evade your hunters, in this case one thousand people, and just survive the best you could.
He could hear a twang of a bow but didn't know it was aimed at him until an arrow caught him in the shoulder. He gave a small hiss of pain and tried to run faster as he heard the labored breathing of one of the other competitors right behind him. The pain in his abdomen, legs and shoulder was slowing him down a lot, so he turned and wildly swung his sword in an arc. He knew he had hit his hunter as the person behind him let out a small 'ow' of pain and stopped following him.
Dream ran as far as he could, the bright blue sky of day quickly fading into night, before he had to stop and find shelter. He saw a small opening in the treetops, the vines woven so tightly together that he could rest on the canopy above, still be able to see other people, and no one would see him. He quickly climbed a nearby tree, his green hoodie getting slightly ripped as stray branches tugged on it and pulled himself into the canopy. He could see the night sky from here, the small silver stars twinkling in the sky, almost laughing at him. They were so free up there in the vast expanse of space, and he was a prisoner, trapped in this sadistic game. He felt a little buzz on his wrist and instantly slapped it, thinking it was a bug, but his hand met cold metal instead, and he moved his wrist close to his face, trying to see the numbers and words on the screen.
Night: 1
Life Count: 913
Dead:
Dream flicked through the list of all the dead players, his whole body tense, waiting for there to be a name of someone he knew. He heaved a deep sigh of relief as he reached the bottom of the list, but then quickly paused as he heard voices from below him.
"Give up. He's probably not even here." A higher voice spoke, his British accent discernible from miles away. "How do we even know you saw him, Wilbur?"
TommyInnit.
"We don't need your negativity right now, Tommy." Dream could recognize Wilbur Soot's voice anywhere, especially after Dream had waged a war against him. "I know what I saw, and I know Fundy hit him with his crossbow just before Dream sliced him and got away. He's here. We'll find him, right Techno?"
Wilbur
Technoblade
This day was just getting better and better by the second.
"I'll find him." The monotone voice of Technoblade was low, barely reaching up to Dream.
"Then we can kill him." Wilbur finished, a dangerous edge to his voice. "Finally end Dream, forever."
Dream listened as three pairs of feet walked away, crunching on the leaves as they went and sending birds flying to the treetops. They obviously weren't trying to be careful, but then again, who would mess with Technoblade, the blood god, and Wilbur and Tommy, both very formidable fighters and tacticians.
He sighed and leaned back on the leaves, staring up at the sky and playing with the strings of his hoodie, watching as clouds passed over the moon, darkening the treetops for a split second. Dream brought out his sword, running a finger along the pristine edge, tilting it back and forth and watching the colors shimmer in the moonlight.
He was just laying down after trying to make a small blanket out of vines and leaves, when a small snap echoed from underneath him, like someone was climbing a tree next to him. He could hear multiple branches breaking, and multiple muffled voices whispering, like they were arguing about something, but Dream couldn't make out who. He readied his sword, gripping it tight in both hands, the vines and leaves swaying as the people broke through the canopy. Dream instantly swung his blade at the first person's head, and they brought their own sword up to block.
"Stop standing and help me!" the person attacking him yelled to the man behind him, in a voice so familiar that it almost made Dream scream and cry at the same time.
"Well I'm not the one who had us climb up a tree." The other man grumbled, and Dream's mouth just about dropped to the forest floor.
He knew who they were.
"Wait, stop!" he dropped his blade and flung his hands up into the air in surrender. "Stop fighting me! I'm not going to kill you!"
He backed up into a pool of moonlight so that both of his attackers could see his face, or his mask, and they instantly dropped their blades.
"Dream?" the first person almost whispered, moving closer so that his brown hair caught the light, his accent making Dream's heart leap and his hopes fall at the same time.
"George?"