Although he was worried what Quackity would do to him, Dream still couldn't stop the yawn that escaped his mouth. In the dim lighting of a couple of torches, he saw that Purpled was as stiff and pale as a statue, while Puffy paced around, her mind buzzing with things to think about. And he himself was bored.

The cool stone walls surrounded them like a cage, and Dream felt himself itching all over to get out of the hole and scramble to the top, where Quackity would be stealing his win. His way out of the game. Although he didn't want Purpled, Punz, Puffy, or Niachu to still be stuck in the game, he knew that it was important for him to get out of the game first because he was a chick.

He was used to running, not sitting. When the hunters came after him, his response was to flee and get as far away from them as he could, not hide and hope they pass over.

But then again, it wasn't like he could just sit and wait for them to walk away. They somehow always knew where he was, always knew what direction he had been running in, and where to find him. So, really, his only choice had been to run.

Dream wasn't quite sure what Puffy would do, but he felt reassured that she would protect him at the worst and stand by his side.

Purpled was definitely a fighter. Dream had literally just witnessed him laugh at the dragon when she tried to kill him. There was no doubt about it that, when a challenge came up, he would stand his ground and fight back. Plus, with his enchanted sword and an obvious lack of fear, he had a pretty good chance of winning.

So why—He grit his teeth and ground his right leg into the floor. He wanted to ask so badly. It was on the tip of his tongue, just waiting to explode out. It must have been something in his past, Dream decided. Like trauma, or a bad memory. Maybe Purpled might be over exaggerating about how evil Quackity is, or maybe Quackity was a literal monster? Whatever had happened between them, he wanted to know, and not knowing the answer only made him more determined to figure it out.

Dream sighed, making both of the people stuck in the square room with him look up. "Are you okay?" Puffy whispered, glancing around like she expected somebody to leap out and attack them.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He paused. "Just . . . for how long will we be sitting here? We won't know when they get rid of all the end crystals, and they'll for sure know that we're hiding from them after getting rid of three.

"I just want you guys to be safe!" Puffy said, taking a hold of his shoulder. "I messaged both of your guides, and they're trying to get into the End as fast as possible."

"Don't they have enough resources?" Purpled asked, fixing his gold hair. "Or what's keeping them?"

She inhaled. "Other teams. They keep having to fight for their numbers. Other people are done with the Nether too and they are also trying to get into the End, complicating their entry. But I know both of them. They're fighters and they're good at their job. They'll be here soon."

"Niki knows we're here?" Dream asked, shifting. Puffy nodded.

"Of course. She's just not out of the maze yet. We did good, climbing straight up."

Purpled crossed his arms and stared at the ground. "Honestly," he started, the flames from the candle flickering shadows on his face, "I don't feel safe just sitting here. Quackity will find us eventually. He knows that we're hiding, and he also knows that we won't allow him to just win when we're already here."

"Well, what else can we do?" Puffy stressed. "We're in the End, trying to kill the dragon and win the game but now we can't because somebody stronger than us is also here, trying to do the same goal."

He stood up, his face pulled into a slight frown. "We can fight from the shadows. We have beds, we can let them see us and then we can blow them up when they get close enough. Get them out of here. We'll just have to be quick about it."

"No, that will explode us too," she said, shaking her head. "People are smarter than dragons, and we get injured enough trying to kill it."

"Well I can't just sit here!" he persisted.

"And why not?"

Dream whirled around, and in a fluid motion snapped his sword out. But Purpled was quicker. All Dream saw was a flash of purple and the sharp clang of swords echoing off the stone.

His green eyes widened slightly and he took a few steps back. Quackity's brown eyes flashed to him, and he gave a wide smile. While his face looked relaxed, his body strained to push his sword to the ground while Purpled tried to lift it away. Each were shaking with the effort; they were evenly matched, and both refused to give up.

Something gold moved behind Quackity and an idea popped into Dream's head. Fixing the handle on his sword, he lunged forward, but another clang filled the room, and his arm shook from the vibration of two swords colliding.

"I'm here too," Awesamdude said, his face grim.

Dream narrowed his eyes and jumped away, before deflecting his next jab. He saw Purpled try to slide under the swords and kick at the peragen falcons leg, but Quackity pushed harder and the kid fell onto his back. He only gave a slight wince in return, and kicked his leg up, into the men's stomach. Awesamdude took a step forward and Dream ducked his swing.

"Oww, you little prick!"

Purpled slid away and off the floor, flapping his wings and Awesamdude stumbled from the dust that rose up, giving Dream the perfect opportunity to strike him.

"Kids!" Puffy called from above, blocking out the strangled hiss of pain. "Up here!"

Leaving the injured Turacoverdin bird with his friend, Dream felt arms wrap around him and a force of air that lifted his feet up. His green wings were pressed to Purpled's chest and he winced at their burn, but he grit his teeth together.

"I'm sorry," Purpled said, holding him tighter. His voice bounced off the tunnel walls, and a slightly lighter sky beckoned them upwards. "But I think you'd rather live, right? Just try to relax, it will be over soon."

Dream scoffed. "Try to relax? My wings are on fire." Even though Purpled shot up the tunnel with ease, he still winced at every flap.

"Well, I'm sorry. But it will be over soon."

At least that he could agree with.

Purpled finally burst out of the tunnel Puffy had hacked out and shoved Dream away from himself. With a chirp of alarm, Dream landed on the stone floor, scraping his knees and hands. "What are you doing!?"

An enraged scream and the ding of metal answered his question. He leapt up, his own sword out and flashing in the dim lighting of the void. Quackity was on the ground, his golden wings fanned out in front of him like a protection shield. Awesamdude popped out a second later, ramming into the violet kid.

"Purpled!" he shouted, grabbing a knife from his front pockets and throwing it at the green-haired avian who stepped out of its line of fire. A flash of red and white, and Puffy was battling Quackity.

"Stay out of this, Dream! You're a chick and you're hurt!" Purpled rightened himself mid-air and raised his sword to defect a swinging sword.

"Well you don't need to shout that!" he grumbled, watching helplessly between the two parties fighting.

"You're wearing a cast," he pointed out, grunting at the force of Awesamdude's swing. His wings flapped harder to keep him upright.

A female scream ripped the air and Dream whirled and gasped.

"Drop your weapons and stop fighting!" Quackity snarled, gripping his sword tighter. In one hand, he held Puffy's shoulder, and his other arm was used to hold up the sword to her throat. Her blue eyes were wide, but when she locked eye contact with Dream, she attempted a smile. He started. The smile felt so similar. Like he had seen it from somewhere.

"Purpled." The boy stiffened at the name. "Drop it. I mean it. The dragon will come back to this island sooner than later, you know that, right?" Right, the dragon wasn't here. She must have flown off when she thought her healing island was safe.

Awesamdude flapped away and landed on the ground, crossing his arms and waited. Dream realized that his heartbeat matched Purpled's wing beats. Thump. Thump. Thump. The boy's purple eyes hardened as they gazed at the man flaunting his golden wings, his deep blue bandana tilted at an angle where his black hair got in front of his eyes. But Quackity didn't seem to realize that.

"You know what happens—"

"Then let go of her after."

Quackity nodded. "I can do that." Purpled's body tightened, but he dropped the sword. The paragon falcon's black eyes immediately switched to Dream, and a slow, sickly smile crept up his face. "On second thought . . . I can't because this chick over here still hasn't dropped his weapon."

Dream flinched and let go of his weapon like it suddenly turned into fire while Purpled screamed a frustrated "WHAT!?"

"Quackity, I'm sorry, please—" Dream started, but he was cut off.

"Na, na, I can't. It's too late already." Quackity allowed a wide smile to round his sharp features. "You didn't listen to my first command, and so I therefore can't listen to my second promise. But anyway. Where is Punz, Purpled?"

The kid glowered and crossed his arms, still flapping his large wings. "I'm not telling."

The gold paragon falcon chuckled and shook his head. "Whatever. I already know." Leaning in, his brown eyes grew wide. "He's not here! So that means you are all alone!"

"I am not!"

"Hey Dream." Dream glanced at him, watching how the man turned. "Do you know what Purpled's done to me? Did he ever mention something like that to you?"

Dream's brows pulled together. "No?"

"He betrayed me."

The words cut into the air, and Dream glanced at the violet kid who was shooting thunder out of his glare, his fists clenched together his knuckles were white. "That," Purpled started in a shaky but low voice, "was after you blew up my home and everything in it. Just because it looked nice, and you couldn't have that."

"You weren't even living in it! And it's a UFO, technically not even a home. What you did was kill Slimecicle, and then betray me! That is worse than anything I ever did to you—"

"Then I don't think you are remembering everything properly!" Purpled snapped. Quackity tightened his grip on the sword, and Puffy gasped.

"Let GO of her!" White and black wings fanned out before something collided into Quackity's head, driving him away from Puffy. His sword clattered to the ground, and Niachu held her backpack in front of her, her face grim. "If you even think about touching her again, I will hit you again!"

The man looked up and sputtered, holding the side of his head. "Wh-what did you put in there? Iron?"

Her green eyes narrowed, and she fixed her white and black hair. "Yep."

"Dream, watch out!"

He blinked and heard a sharp crack split the night. He gasped at the pain, and his face burned like it was on fire. Hands gripped his shoulders and pushed him away, forcing him to land on the cold stone floor. Dream clutched his face and groaned, feeling the cut on it sting as his hands applied pressure to it.

He wasn't used to this pain so near to himself. It was too close to his personnel comfort. Too close to the vulnerable him. Dream, still holding his face, looked up, and received a few gasps in return.

His green eyes ran over the frozen party, everybody staring at him with wide but eager eyes. Awesamdude's face pulled into a smile and he straightened. "So," he started, shifting his weight. "That's what you look like."

"What—" He glanced down and felt his blood run cold. He half stood up and half crawled forward, reaching out and grasping the cracked white bowl on the ground. They were still linked together because of the leather straps and the metal clasp. A side of the half looked up at him with a black smile cut off, only one eye left to see and study the world. "Y-you broke it," he sputtered, staring down at his mask.

Awesamdude shrugged. "Wasn't too hard. I'm surprised that nobody's done it before." He lowered his ax at Dream and turned his head to everybody else. "So Puffy escaped. Big deal. We now have Dream."

He vaguely remembers Purpled asking what the man wanted. But blood was rushing through his ears, and he felt the adrenaline course through his body too much to hear the answer. Awesamdude hadn't said they now have Clay. He didn't say that he had a kid, or a chick under his thumb. He said that he had Dream. And Dream was strong for Clay.

Looking up, he saw the ax glint and he knew what he had to do. His wings might hurt. His injuries might sting and protest. But for now, he knew what to do. In the same moment that he dropped the mask, he lunged forward and yanked the ax out of Awesamdude's grip.

The Turacoverdin bird screeched in surprise and lost his balance to the sudden force.

"NO!" Quackity thundered, and Dream watched as he grabbed his sword and ran towards him. Dream swung the ax down at Awesamdude, giving the man another cut delt by him, before running off.

A hand lashed out and gripped his ankles, and he personally met the floor. Pushing himself off, he looked back and kicked out with his free leg at the gold winged avian.

"Buzz off!" Dream hissed, scrambling away from the man.

"I'm not a bee so I can't," he replied with a smirk. "I'm only a bird." His arm stretched out again, grabbing at the air from where Dream's foot had been.

"Any askers?" he hissed, grinning at the slipping smile from Quackity. He jumped off from the sandy colored stone floor and rushed forward, picking up his forgotten sword.

"Do you know how annoying you are, Purpled?" Quackity screeched. "Always running away just when I finally have you!" An arm placed itself on Dream's shoulder and he flinched, swinging around with the stolen ax.

"It's just me!" Puffy said, stepping away from the ax. "Come on, let's get out of here."

He shrugged her hand off his shoulders and shot her half a glare. "I'm not running," he retorted, whirling when a loud clash erupted from behind him. A cloud of gray-ish smoke rose up into the air, startling some of the endermen nearby. They screamed at the smoke, making the dragon roar with her power, and the ground shook underneath them.

The dragon was coming back.

"Quackity and Awesomedude," a loud voice boomed from smoke, making Dream freeze. He swallowed and shifted, feeling the patter of his heartbeat throughout his body. It suddenly got too hard to breathe, but he waited, watching for the figures to emerge from the smoke.

A red cape flashed, and a golden crown winked in the dim lighting as somebody walked out, and that was enough for Dream.

Before he knew what he was doing, his feet were hitting against the stone floor, rushing towards the incoming people. A trident flashed near him, shooting past his face, but he didn't care. A delighted scream erupted out of his throat. "TECHNO!"

The man waited no time in opening up his arms and Dream crashed into him, rubbing his face into his fuzzy cape and feeling Techno's hands on his back, hugging him right back. Without his mask, he could finally feel how soft Techno's cape was. "Hey, Dream. Are you all right?"

Technos' voice was gentle and calm, like a fall evening. But in the background it simmered with a freezing wind, ready to destroy the careful brew of heat and cold.

He hesitated, feeling the weight of the cast on his left wing, and the wraps all around his body. "I've been better," he mumbled into the cape, listening to the loud curses and clashes of blades against weapons.

"Yeah, no kidding. I'll kill that quack guy." Technoblade tightened his grip on Dream, and he couldn't help but feel like he was the prey stuck in a predator's trap. He quickly nodded and let go, forcing the man to do the same. "Also, I've heard that you adopted a new mom?"

Dream blushed, but it was wiped off at the scream that pierced the night.