Chapter Text
Despite your best efforts to keep yourself energized and ready to train, you notice that your body feels increasingly sluggish and tired with each passing day. You don't know for sure what could have caused it, but you do have a sneaking suspicion, and it's that sneaking suspicion that makes you hesitant to talk to any of your teammates. Because if that suspicion is right, you've screwed yourself over, big time.
The Stars don't seem to notice your flagging vitality, but you do your best to hide it, you are determined to be useful when the time comes. It's easy enough to keep them from noticing at least, as the closer your group gets to intercepting Nightmare's path, the more focused they become on covering ground quickly.
Your archery training with Dream soon becomes mostly solo sessions as more of Dream's time is spent planning and map charting while you practice hitting the target. You have at least noticed a marked improvement with the bow in such a short time, thanks in part to your persistence in keeping up training at all costs.
Blue paused his self-defense lessons in favor of you spending as much time as possible learning the bow, and between the brisk, long days of travel and busy evenings of practice, you've not gotten to spend much more time with Ink, which might be for the best because if any of them where to figure out the plan you've come up with to keep up with them it might end up being him.
Monster food seems to help a little you've noticed, but not nearly as much as you would like, so instead you hope your magic holds out and you promise yourself you'll rest when you get a chance. That chance doesn't arrive before Nightmare does, however.
Your band is approaching a small village that Dream had planned for your party to spend some time in, to both replenish supplies and take a short rest - a rest you dare not admit you desperately need. But as you draw nearer, the smell of smoke grows more and more pronounced. A meaningful glance between the skeleton tells you they’ve noticed it too.
The smell of smoke sparks a fear in you, one that you hadn't prepared yourself for. This is it. The moment you've been training for, and yet you didn't expect it to come so soon. Of course, there's no way to tell for sure whether the smell of smoke has anything to do with Nightmare until you get to the town, but even as you doubt it, you know it in the very depths of your soul. This will be where you meet Nightmare and, by extension, Cross. For some reason, you thought you would have had more time and now you feel, even with all your training, so woefully under-prepared.
The closer you get to the town, the stronger the smell of smoke becomes, until your eyes light upon the charred remains of the buildings closest to the outskirts. Still-smoking timbers poke up in formation on either side of the main road through - maybe a house, or a business. It's impossible to say now.
"Do you think...?" Your question trails off as you swallow around the lump in your throat. You're not even sure if any of the guys hear you over the sound of your pounding heart.
Your three companions have grown quiet, expressions grim, and Blue drops back to walk beside you, his bright eyelights sharp and watchful of your surroundings. No one answers your aborted question, but their demeanor is answer enough.
"That building ahead is still on fire!" Blue notes.
Sure enough, as your group presses closer to the village proper you notice more charred structures, some of them still crackling with flame. It's the sound of a scream in the distance that makes all four of you stop dead in your tracks.
In a blink Dream's bow is in his hands, and Blue has materialized an enormous warhammer that you've never seen before. Dream turns to you, his expression stoic. "Nightmare and his men are very likely still nearby, so we may meet them in battle today. Are you prepared?"
Of course you're not prepared! You were hoping to have a chance to rest! As selfish as it sounds, this came at the worst time for you. There is little to be done about that now, however. The question now is whether to admit to your companions that you're not as fighting fit as you would like to be. On one hand, you had done your best to keep up with them. On the other hand, it had backfired mightily, and now you felt almost as feeble as when you'd wound up in the infirmary. You had some level of mastery over the bow, at least, but it's hard to say whether your efforts were worthwhile.
"I..." You start and stop, embarrassed. The whole reason Dream and his men had allowed you to come with was the promise that you could heal and take care of yourself. And now you were too exhausted to do very well at either of those things. "I don't think I am ready, actually. I think I might have made a huge mistake." You can't quite keep eye contact.
The readiness of the three skeletons for a fight seems to grind to a halt as all eyelights turn to you. Dream looks surprised, Blue concerned, and Ink curious.
"A mistake?" Dream asks, "How so?"
The pressure's on now, and there's no backing down; you have to confess.
"I..." You start and stop, looking for the right way to word this. "I didn't think I would be able to keep up with training, especially with such a short time frame. So I started...healing myself. I thought it would keep me going for longer but now I'm more tired somehow." You're unable to make eye contact, so you assume the disappointment you would find there. "I'm so sorry, I didn't want to be a burden."
You hear Blue's hammer thump on the ground as he sets it down with an uncharacteristically quiet "oh, no..."
Dream's voice is indeed disappointed, but the subject of his disappointment appears to be himself as he responds "This is all my fault," he takes you by the shoulders to look you over as if he might be able to see and fix the problem better this way. "You were improving so quickly, how could I have not realized that wasn't normal?"
"Yeah, kind of obvious now, huh?" Ink adds unhelpfully.
"I can see how it would have seemed like a good idea at the time," Blue interrupts as Dream shoots Ink a glare. "But using your magic to heal physical weariness depletes your magical energy, and you often won't realize the effects until it's too late."
He rustles around in a pocket and hands you something wrapped in a cloth. "Monster food helps to replenish it, but this may be too little, too late."
If it's even possible, you feel somehow worse now. You had expected disappointment, or perhaps for one of them to say he knew this was a bad idea to begin with, but the reaction you are actually met with is quite different - care. On top of that, Dream went so far as to blame himself! How was he to know when you went to such lengths to keep it a secret?
"Thank you," you murmur, both your hands and voice shaky as you take the monster food from Blue, still not quite able to meet anyone's gaze. You feel sick with apprehension and anxiety but, at Blue's gentle insistence, you force yourself to eat as much of the monster food as you can. And it helps; you feel a gentle warmth begin to spread through your body.
"Okay," You say after a deep breath. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
"I dunno," Ink muses despite your insistence on carrying on. "Considering how long you must have been spending your magic stores to keep yourself going at our pace, just like Blue said, the monster food is probably just going to be a drop in the bucket."
After a short pause, Dream sighs, "He's right of course. I don't think it would at all be a good idea to bring you anywhere near Nightmare. I'm sorry, it's just that you are still an inexperienced mage. This shows there is much that you have yet to learn."
"For the record, this is what I said to begin with," Ink quips. "No offense," he quickly adds to you.
They're right and you know it, but that's precisely why it stings so much more.
"Are you going to send me back to the Rabbit's Foot?" You ask, daring to make eye contact with Dream. You've come all this way, and you don't want it to be for nothing. At the same time, you don't want to weigh the Stars down, either.
"No, you are still a valuable member of the team," Dream responds quickly, and firmly. "But magical exhaustion can have just as much of an effect as physical exhaustion for humans, so if you were to be targeted by Nightmare's men, even as skilled as you've become, you are in no position to defend yourself. It might be best if you stay hidden while we face them."
A valuable member of the team. You damn near tear up. Even after all this, for the limited amount of time you've been travelling together, you are a valuable member of their team.
You nod, willing yourself not to cry. Now really isn't the best time for that.
"Thank you," You say instead, hoping those two words convey even an ounce of the gratitude you feel.
"I may have been against you joining at first because of your inexperience- and was right of course," Ink proclaims in the most chipper 'I-told-you-so' tone you've ever heard, "but I agree that you are one of us now."
"We should probably find somewhere safe for you to stay for right now," Blue says, looking around the ruined surroundings. "Nightmare and his men are likely close by if not still in the village. They probably won't come back to an area they have already razed though."
"Especially since my coward of a brother will turn tail and run as soon as he realizes I've tracked him down again," Dream adds.
You nod, trying not to be too hurt by Ink's bluntness; he was right after all. With little else to say, you quietly head over to one of the ruined buildings nearby, and carefully hide yourself within, trying your best not to look very much at the rest of the interior. You really don't want to know too much about the lives - or deaths - of the previous owners.
As the Stars move on in pursuit of Nightmare, wherever he may be, your surroundings grow quiet. Most of the small hut you've hidden in is charred - half the roof caved in, allowing sunbeams to shine in and casting the shadows of the structure into a deeper darkness. You hear only the sound of distant crackling from the other buildings on fire, and a drip from inside the building you are hiding, likely where an attempt was made to put out the fire. Some parts of the hut are damp still from the water, and you can see where the fire was halted by these efforts.
You pick your way through the small ruin trying to find somewhere at all comfortable to hunker down in while you wait when you hear the quiet crunch of rubble from somewhere deeper inside.
Your first thought is to hope that sound was made by an animal, but you don't feel good about those odds. The settlement is still burning, after all; any animal with a shred of self preservation is going to be far away from here. Unless, of course, they're looking for trouble.
With shaky hands, you nock an arrow and draw back your bowstring.
"Is someone there?" You ask quietly, not sure which outcome you hope for more.
At first, no answer comes. You wait in tense silence only broken by the rhythmic drip, drip, drip of the water. But then you hear another crack from right outside the building. Could it be timbers breaking from the fire consuming the other structures? It sounded too close to be so.
You train your weapon in that direction anyway, only to hear a gravelly voice whisper into the back of your neck, "Nope, no one here~"
When you whirl on the voice though, there is indeed no one there.
Your pulse rings loudly in your ears and you struggle to keep your breathing even as your eyes dart around the interior of the hut that you have previously tried so hard not to notice. You didn't recognize that voice, and you seriously doubt any of Dream's crew would have the time or the desire to mess with you in such a way. Which means...you might well be in deadly peril.
You open your mouth to call for help, but are quickly silenced by a firm hand in rough leather gloves.
An iron grip clamps around your middle and pins you against a hard body at your back. Your unseen attacker is very strong.
"So the runt's got a new recruit I see," the gruff voice says at the side of your face. "Though I dunno why Dream needs a human, except maybe to stand around and look cute..."
Try as you might to struggle, you may as well be beating a stone wall. If anything, he seems to find your efforts amusing, if the huff of a chuckled breath on your cheek is any indication.
To your increased frustration he manages to relieve you of your bow while you attempt to free yourself from his grip. You try to remember some of the moves that Blue taught you during the few self-defense training sessions you had with him, but none of those moves were utilized against an enemy at your back.
Finally, after letting you work yourself against him futilely for a few minutes, you sag in his grip, and he snickers in triumph. Feeling his victory assured he spins you in his hold, both of your wrists in one of his hands, his other gripping you on the jaw to force you to look into a pair of mismatched blue and red eyes.
"So, why did Dream bring you along little mouse?"
You resist the urge to talk back - it never did you any good with the other servants, after all - and settle for glowering off to the side. It's likely he won't treat you nicely no matter what you do, especially if he's one of Nightmare's men. So then, your response doesn't really matter, does it?
He doesn't seem to be too put out by your silence, likely he expected it. He tilts your face in his grip, though, to force you to look at him and growls gleefully "If you don't answer me the boss will just get the information from you instead, so why not make this easy on yourself, human?"
This could be your chance, but it's a risk. If your captor brings you to Nightmare, there's a possibility that Cross might be there. But...would he save you? Or has he given up on you entirely?
Either way, the only way you're determined to open your mouth for this thug is to bite him.
"Still don't have anything to say, human, or do you lack the ability to speak?" he asks with a cruel smile. "Maybe I just need to loosen your tongue by removing it?"
He squeezes your cheeks hard enough to bruise, forcing your teeth to part just wide enough that he can slide two gloved fingers into your mouth. The bitter taste of the leather mixed with acrid smoke and gritty dust immediately coats your mouth, and his intense, unhinged eyes shine brightly at your discomfort.
However, Your hands have been freed as the fingers that once gripped them are now invading your mouth...
With barely another thought, you bite down on his stupid, leather-clad fingers as hard as you can and push him away from you with every ounce of strength that you can muster. With a shout, the offending hand is pulled away and your shove connects hard with the chest of the monster. He's a lot lighter than you expected and the force of it knocks him back hard enough that you manage to slip out of his grip entirely.
The next step of your plan is, of course, to make a mad dash for the exit. Not entirely because you know this will have pissed off your captor, who wasn't terribly friendly to begin with, but also so you can try and call for help. You were supposed to be able to take care of yourself, yet here you are, getting yourself caught by the most unhinged monster you've ever met.
It surprises you, how easy it was to knock your captor back, but there's no time to dwell on it now. You force your feet to carry you over the smouldering debris of the hut's interior to the door through which you entered. With your heart pitter-pattering and your breaths coming in short, panicked gasps, you feel a little like a rabbit fleeing from a wolf.
The thought makes you shudder as you make it onto the main street and pick a direction to run in. The sounds of battle can be heard to your right, so naturally, you head that way. There's safety in numbers, after all. If only you could muster the spare breath to be heard over the fighting.
A loud, hot, hum is the only warning you get when a huge blast of lavender magic interspersed with streams and crackles of red and blue crashes into the ground mere feet in front of you. When you look back he's standing there smiling manically at you with a large, disembodied animal skull floating above his head.
You recognize it as a gaster blaster because it's a magic attack that Cross uses sometimes, though the shape of Cross's blaster is different, and his purple-colored magic is a slightly darker shade.
"Run all you want little mouse, but not in that direction," he taunts.
"You were going to take me to Nightmare, weren't you?" You spit, wishing he hadn't taken your bow. "Won't he be where the fighting is?" You hope your captor-turned-hunter feels the venom in your words.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll get to meet Nightmare," he jeers conjuring a jagged, red-veined bone in one hand, "but only after I catch you and drag you to him. You're the one who wanted to run, human. Go on, give me something fun to chase."
He throws the bone, spearing the ground at your feet with a hollow THUNK, your cue to run.
This backfired in a way you hadn't expected, but that's barely a passing thought in your mind as instinct takes over and you run. You run as fast as your feet can carry you but judging by the sounds of dark laughter, he's only ever a few feet behind you.
It doesn't take long to tell he's guiding you. Jagged bones and blaster shots block alternate paths and tell you which directions are acceptable choices. If you were feeling any less like a mouse, you might be inclined to test how willing he is to actually hurt you and how much of this is a bluff, but your survival instincts won't let you.
You didn't scope out this town ahead of time; he has the lay of the land. As far as you know, he knows exactly where he's leading you. Of course, he could just be toying with you like a cat with its dinner. That thought sends a shudder so strong through you that you trip and land hard on the heels of your hands.
Shock waves shoot up your arms and for a moment too long, you are immobilized, stunned, and prone on the ground as you hear slow footsteps behind you.
"Aw, don't tell me the game is over already?" he says as the crunch of his boots in the cinders comes to a halt.
You feel the toe of one of those boots nudge into your side, hooking under you and flipping you over onto your back in one swift motion. You flinch automatically, but a blow doesn't follow. Instead, the skeleton drops to his knees over you, straddling your hips and pinning you to the ground by one shoulder. He presses the tip of a sharpened bone into one of your cheeks.
"So, gonna talk to me now, little mouse, or is it time for you to meet the boss?"
He hasn't hurt you yet, but that doesn't mean that he won't make good on that threat to remove your tongue. And, for all you know, Nightmare might just be able to read your mind; there might be no need for you to have a tongue at all.
You force false steadiness into your voice as you glare hard into those mismatched eyelights.
"I'm here for Cross."
You get rewarded with a brief look of genuine surprise. It passes quickly though as he snorts derisively and says "The toy soldier? What do you want with Nightmare's new pet turncoat?"
You are unable to keep the heat from rising to your face at the mocking words. You may be upset with Cross, but the blatant disrespect is unnecessary.
"That's personal." You say shortly, breaking eye contact to glare at something behind your hunter.
His smile turns wolfish and he leans down over you closer. "Aw, did Cross leave a broken heart behind when he joined us?" he teases.
He keeps the uncomfortable proximity for a moment longer, eyelights combing over you as if searching for something before he finally sighs and nods, sitting back up. "Yeah, you're right Paps," he mutters cryptically, then louder, "Sorry, human, but we don't have time for humoring jilted lovers."
He sits back up and the sharpened bone at your cheek slides down to rest over your heart.
"Wait!" The word claws its way out of your throat, leaving it rough with panic. "Don't kill me! I'm a healer!"
You recognize that this tidbit of information could just kill you faster, but there is a chance that it will make you interesting enough to keep alive, and it's that chance that you cling to. Your body is tense and your eyes screw shut as you wait for the bone to drop.
It takes a moment but finally, the light pressure of the bone at your chest disappears. You slowly open your eyes again to see him appraising you again, this time with a sharper gaze.
"Heh. So that's why the Stars bothered to let you tag along," he says. "And here I thought that the royal guard managed to kill off all the human mages..."
"Is that what you wanted to hear?" You ask weakly, not daring to breathe too deeply in case he changes his mind.
"Not what I was expecting to hear," he admits, "but lucky for you, if it's true, it might make you a fun new toy for the boss." He stands up and holds his hand down for you to take so he can help you up. "Guess you get to meet Nightmare after all."
You take the hand offered to you, keenly aware that you have already bitten it. Despite being made of nothing more substantial than bones, he's surprisingly strong; you must have really caught him off guard before.
There doesn't seem to be much point in making small talk, so you try to map out the area as your captor leads you back toward where the sounds of battle can be heard. You can't help but notice he's taking a direct route, not the twisting and winding maze of terror he led you through previously. If you could call him a jerk and get away with it, you just might.
He keeps a bruising grip on your wrist as he all but drags you behind him. The devastation to the village is noticeably fresher as you are brought further in, and in the distance, over the boom and rattle of fighting you can even hear the occasional scream. You know you are close when your captor crosses paths with a fleeing bird monster. To your utter horror, he makes short work of her.
You have barely time to react before he's dragging you through her dust and even less time to absorb the terrible murder you just witnessed when the straw-roofed hut you are passing by suddenly explodes in a beam of red magic.
"Dust! Get your coccyx in gear, Dream is here and with the new recruit we might actually have a chance- who is that?"
The monster responsible for the powerful blast of magic that just turned the hut into a crater is another skeleton, the eyes of his magical blaster dripping black tears to match his own.
You're well aware that Dust - for you can assume that to be your captor's name - is a deranged murderer, but the appearance of yet another powerful thug makes you want to hide behind him. Somehow you hadn't factored meeting any of Nightmare's other men into your plan. Foolishly, you assumed you would be able to get to Cross and give him his just desserts with no interference.
You avert your eyes, trying not to stare even though this new henchman has some noteworthy features. Some glowing bit of magic floating in front of him bathes both him and objects near at hand in a ghostly red glow. Despite the fact that he's smiling, you feel a chill run down your spine. It's hard to place, but something isn't right with this thug.
Dust - and what a fitting name it is - doesn't answer for you, his grip tightening around your wrist as he yanks you back out from behind him.
"I'm a mage," You say, not quite able to make eye contact with this new skeleton.
"Spied the Stars trying to hide them," Dust adds.
The new skeleton's interest is immediately perked, and he slides closer to you to look you over, expression sharp and not at all nice. You are trapped between wanting to back up into Dust to put distance between you again or standing your ground.
"No way, a mage? Now that's interesting," he reaches out to grab your face and turn your head from side to side as if appraising you. "A cute one too. What kind of magic do you do, kitten?"
You flinch in his grasp as he turns your head, showing no regard for your dignity. Humans are below monsters so obviously this is not a social faux pas. It is annoying though - never minding the fact that he called you ‘kitten’. As if he has any right to give you a cutesy pet name!
"Healing," you mutter begrudgingly.
He doesn't have much of a chance to say anything in response to that before you see black chains wrap around his body and your newest acquaintance abruptly vanishes from your sight. Barely a second passes before you hear what sounds like bones crashing full speed into one of the dilapidated huts nearby, followed by a hard-done-by groan from the rubble.
"That was easier than I thought it-" Ink's voice is cheerful until his eyelights land on you. "Oh fuck." Without another word he charges toward you and Dust, waving his paintbrush to produce more chains.
Dust’s laugh is sudden and wild, and you're not quite sure if it's at the expense of his friend or Ink as he literally scoops you off the ground and tosses you over one shoulder to turn and make his escape. From your new vantage point, you can see Ink attempt to snag either you or Dust with his chains, but a wall of bones erupts through the earth between you, not only blocking the chains but slowing Ink down.
Dust's advantage doesn't last long though, a burst of viscous black magic blasts through the barrier, and Ink is back on Dust's tail, riding on a black gaster blaster of his own in pursuit.
It doesn't take him long to catch up on the magical construct either. However, just as you are reaching out to take his offered hand another red blast blinds you, knocking Ink off his blaster. The black-socketed skeleton has regained his feet quickly.
"Wow, look at that, Killer can be useful for once in his miserable life," Dust crows.
You can still feel the heat of blasterfire at your fingertips long after jerking your hand away, and you realize just how underprepared you really were. How could you have thought you'd make serious headway among bandits and murderers?!
At this point you're all but resigned to let Dust take you where he will. Kicking and squirming certainly isn't a good idea while he's running the way he is. All you can do now is hope you haven't made a terrible mistake.
Ink is once more locked into battle with the other skeleton, Killer, and all you can do is watch as your captor carries you further away. All hope for a rescue is not lost though when a familiar flash of color catches your eye; from the roof of a nearby market stall, Blue rockets through the air in a streak, slamming down into the ground. He lands with his enormous hammer not far behind the fleeing Dust, sending a shockwave through the earth that trips the villain and sends him sprawling face first to the ground.
You find yourself in a tangle on top of Dust, who is cursing profusely under you. Your name shouted gets your attention as you try to wiggle free, and you look up to see Blue marching towards you and the enemy, fiery, righteous fury in his eyes and hammer cocked over one shoulder.
"Get out of here, I'll take care of Dust," he commands.
The last thing you want right now is to disobey Blue, partly because you don't want that fury aimed at you. You make quick work of disentangling yourself from Dust and put what you feel to be a safe distance between you and your would-be captor.
With your back to another crumbling building, you don't know where else to turn. If you hunker down inside another of these huts, surely someone will be in there waiting for you again? You only wish once more that Dust hadn't taken your bow.
Blue wastes no time charging Dust who rises up quickly to meet the swing of his hammer with a barrage of bones. You don't get to enjoy the show of their skirmish though. No sooner do the two become embattled than you feel a sharp drop in the air temperature around you.
Your breaths come out in frosty puffs, and the light of midday dims as if night is suddenly falling. You hear a deep voice from behind you hum in curiosity, and when you turn to look at what you thought was a solid wall at your back you see a portal of congealed shadows. From within the unnatural portal comes a thick black tentacle. It wraps around your waist to hold you in place before you can run.
"And who is this that my brother's lackeys are fighting so hard over?" the deep, cold voice asks.
You try not to focus on the texture of the tentacle wrapped around your middle - it doesn't feel like it should be high on your priorities list - but you can't help it. Strangely, it...doesn't feel like anything. You had expected to feel some moisture through your clothes, but you don't. Happy, perhaps, but also very unsettling.
"No one," You reply instinctively, but if this is who you think it is - and really, who else could it be? - there is little chance he'll buy it.
You are turned to face him as he steps fully through the portal and you have to crane your neck up to meet his single eyelight. Nightmare is even more intimidating in person than you could have imagined.
He is every inch the bandit lord, clad in rich studded leather that even your untrained eye can tell was very well made. A deep purple cloak - the only part of his garb not dyed black by his seeping corruption - is cinched around his shoulders with a silver moon medallion. Fine chain armor can be seen under the leather tunic, covering his thick arms and tucked under the large steel-cuffed leather gauntlets that reach out and lift your face for his examination.
"Lies do not work on me little one, now tell me your name."
It doesn't occur to you to try and lie a second time. You sputter your name, trying not to stare but, like a candle burning in the dark, Nightmare's single eyelight draws your gaze again and again.
Was this not what you wanted? You have met Nightmare, now what was it you had told Dust you wanted with the bandit lord? You can't remember, or even if you had given a reason. Or if you even had a reason. Your mind feels strangely empty somehow, even as the anxiety that had caused your hands to shake abates, leaving an unsettling emptiness in its wake.
"Good human," he purrs as more tentacles wrap around you and he steps closer. Their grip is tight, and you are unable to step away as he invades your personal space. "Whatever value you may hold with my enemies, it makes you useful to me."
Another crash joins the already raucous sounds of fighting behind you, and you are just able to crane your neck around to see more fighters have joined the battle. Dream facing off against two opponents at once - an enormous, axe-wielding skeleton, and Cross!
At first, Cross doesn't see you, and for a few seconds you hope he remains oblivious. You should know better, by now, than to wish for those kinds of things where Cross is concerned because no sooner has the thought occurred to you than his gaze wanders over. You watch the moment of recognition, followed by confusion and then concern.
You're snugly in the bandit lord's grasp, so perhaps it was foolish to hope Cross would be ignorant of your presence. He was bound to notice you eventually, certainly if you're going to be a prisoner.
Time on the battlefield seems to slow down as Cross's eyelights land on you. With one of his opponents distracted Dream takes the opportunity to focus on the larger skeleton. Before the charging behemoth can reach him Dream releases a volley of arrows, knocking the other monster down. As Dream switches his focus to Cross though he finally decides to take notice of what Cross is staring at, and his golden gaze widens when he sees you.
"Nightmare, let them go!" he commands, all of his focus narrowing in on you and the darkness that binds you.
Other peripheral sounds on the battlefield begin to fade as the combatants realize that the brothers are facing off. The stars watch Nightmare and his prisoner with expressions of hardened worry. Nightmare's men watch for directions from their boss, and Cross's regard is only for you - his face a nearly unreadable mask. Likely you are the only one here to recognize the worry saturating the edges of his expression.
It's strange; you have to remind yourself that you're angry with Cross, but that emotion and the reasons for it are so distant at this moment. As you look at the battlefield around you, everyone ready for the order to attack, whatever you feel towards Cross is by far your primary concern. And yet, you can't tear your eyes away from him, immobilized by your presence in the midst of battle. He looks different from when you last saw him, if only in that he seems dingier, dirt and grime clinging to what had once been a pristine set of armour.
Despite the apparent lack of any sort of frustration at Cross's behaviour, you force yourself to break eye contact with him and glare into the middle distance. How silly though; didn't you come here to bring him home?
"I assume they belong to you, brother?" Nightmare crows, placing a hand on your shoulder and tightening his hold on you with his tendrils. "So if you wish for them to remain in one piece you and your men will stand down."
Dream does not respond to his brother, but after a tense moment, he lowers his bow, glancing at Ink and Blue to follow suit.
"Very good, they must be important after all."
He signals to his men and they join him at his portal, slipping through one at a time. Cross manages to catch your eye again as he approaches, his eyelights sliding between you and Nightmare. He looks, for a moment, like he might say something, but seems to change his mind, pointedly looking away from you as he passes.
His men safely evacuated, Nightmare addresses his brother once more. "I admit curiosity as to what makes a mere human worth watching us escape you once again. Perhaps I'll find out, but don't fret, I'll make sure to take good care of your human, Dream."
You begin to feel light-headed, the task of keeping your chin up and eyes open suddenly too much to handle. A shock of panic at the realization that you are about to pass out sets your heart racing, but it's quickly followed by the novel sensation of that alarm draining away as soon as you register it. The last thing you see is Dream shouting and drawing his bow again as Nightmare steps back into his portal. The blackness that overtakes you next is both within and around you as you drift away and are pulled through the void.