Sudden Owl-ification
Summary: After Doomsday was finished, Dream suddenly transforms into an owl. A situation he slowly learns to tolerate. (4,8 k words)
Very much a crack treated seriously kinda fic.
It's been done. Finally the country that has plagued his server for so long is gone to bedrock. Now no one should try to rebuilt what was never meant to be. His inventory was empty of all TNT. It all went into the machines that made it rain down. The only bits left are spread throughout his bases and some in his ender chest.
The plan went well. Next step would be the confrontation and his imprisonment. And then- argh.
He stumbled on the snow as pain went through his skull. His hand reached upwards to feel around. Nothing externally. No attack. Just a sudden decision by his brain to fumble.
"Dream? You good?", Techno asked, eyebrows knitted slightly. He stayed still where he was with Philza having stopped just a bit beside him.
"Yes. Just- it's nothing." Dream continued walking. His two allies waited a bit before going too.
Dream managed to get a few more steps in before another shrieking pain landed him on the ground. He could just hear Techno start to speak again before every sound got overshadowed by a screech, his eyes forced shut in an attempt to make it more bearable as pain spread over his body.
He could barely make sense of what was happening. His body didn't let him focus on anything except the pain. Pain like his body was contorting.
He tried to stay awake. Tried to stay aware, but in the end the pain got too much as everything felt like it grew into him.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
When Dream opened his eyes next, a dull pain was still there. There but bearable. He looked around, moving his head to see his surroundings better.
Familiar was one of the first thoughts that came to mind. Dream thought he saw this place before. A ceiling made of spruce wood, an emerald block with a bell hanging from it and a grindstone. It was Techno's cabin. Based on the softness beneath him, he was most likely laying on his bed. Why he was laying there was the next question on his mind. Why everything seemed so much bigger than before was the next.
When attempting to stand up, he quickly realised what was wrong.
This wasn't his body.
This was not his body.
He was smaller, way less than half of his previous body height. Talons gripped into the sheets as he stood up. He spread what he thought were his arms as he tried to keep his balance while taking a look at himself.
Feathered snow white chest. Wings covered in similar white colours on the front and more brown, grey and golden feathers on the back. Sticky legs leading to four sharp talons each.
He didn't recognise what he was. A bird, yes. That much was obvious by the feathers and wings and talons. But it didn't look like any chicken he ever saw. Nor any parrot or crow. Now he knows there are more birds than that. He knows his server doesn't have the most diverse wildlife. It's not a big one, and the diversity in nature reflects that. So this must be some kind of bird that exists on other servers which just confuses him even more.
How did this even happen? Did he accidentally drink some form-changing potion? Did someone get something on him during doomsday? Did-
Noise from below caught his attention. He could hear two voices. Talking.
"You sure he's up yet?" Phil.
"Can't hurt to check. Better to be there when he does considering his new look." Techno.
"Yeah probably. Guy's gonna be freaked." Phil conceded.
He heard something grab onto a wooden object. "Still got no clue what the cause could be?"
"None, mate. There were no potion particles or other traces. No one was near. He's not a shapeshifter as far as we know and I don't think even then that shifting would have caused enough pain or energy usage to pass out like that. The only thing left i could think of is an upset or playful god but no gods are this active in mortal's lives. Especially on this server. It's too cut off."
Good to know he wasn't the only clueless one on how this issue happened. Though that doesn't help with his next task. Turning back to his normal self. There's already some solutions forming in his head. Potions, revival, other rituals. Though revival has shown to only really restore the part that led to the death. But it could be worth a try. Though that means getting to Punz. Which means getting out and past Techno.
Dream flapped his wings a bit only to make no progress with flying. That would make things harder. Could he make it to Punz with this small of a body without flying?
He'd have to try if he truly couldn't figure it out. Heck maybe Punz could teach him flying till they figured out a way to turn him back. Sure, they have bee wings that don't function quite like feathered ones but they might still have some good advice for him.
He waddled to the edge of the bed where he hopped down onto the floor and towards the ladder.
Just as he wanted to peak down a familiar face peered up from below. He stared into the blue eyes of his rival.
"Hallo. Good to see you up. Was getting concerned for a bit there." Dream tried to speak though all that left his mouth was a screech. "Yeaaaah. Not the best condition to wake up in. But i have to say, it's an improvement from your previous wardrobe. No demonic looking armour or blinding green hoodies but instead a nice beige colour with forest green eyes. Which actually. I don't think those are normal for the kind of owl you are. Or maybe they are. Dunno much about owls to be frank."
An owl? So that's what this form was. Curious.
Dream tried again to talk only for another screech to exit.
"Come on, let's get down." Techno reached out with one of his upper hooves. Dream debated following as he looked at the hoof, then at Techno's face again and once more down, his face constantly moving as his eyes refused any rotation.
Techno- He should be safe. The guy has so many animals around his place and heck, just a few hours ago they destroyed a country together.
His decision made, he carefully stepped onto the outstretched fingers. "Just gonna put you onto my shoulder. Easier to move." Once held close enough, Dream stepped over onto what he just now noticed was a pad on his shoulder. Dream gripped a bit tighter onto it and noticed no sign of pain from Techno. Probably a leftover item from when Phil could still fly. It wasn't too strange to imagine the old elytrian landing on Techno's shoulder. (Faintly, he wondered if his wings would be returned to their old glory once the plan was complete.)
Techno's stepped down the ladder with owl on his shoulder. Philza was standing at the bottom, looking up at them and nodding when he saw Dream. "Morning, mate. How are you?"
Dream screeched again with Techno only faltering for a second before continuing down until both his hooves hit the ground.
"Yeah, figured out as much. Owls don't typically have the same vocal cords and inner workings to be able to produce craftian words."
Dream stayed silent. It's no use if they can't understand him after all. He just needs to get to Punz, get them to kill him, (convince them it is him), and then get revived. Easy.
He jumped onto the ground, spreading his wings to soften the landing, and continued hoping further along to the door at which he realised his next issue. He couldn't open it.
"I don't think it's the safest for you out there," commented Philza.
"Yeah. Not that anyone will realise who you are but I don't know how friendly most of them will react to an unfamiliar animal that's not native to this server. Might even think you're some kind of new monster mob." Dream was not persuaded to stay and looked around for another exit. The door was clearly no option. The windows neither. Someone would have to open them for him.
…Maybe he could trick Steve into it. Or one of the foxes he could hear downstairs.
"Dream. Come on, man. We can figure out together how to turn you back. Philza's lived for so long surely he has some kind of clue to get us started. And three pair of hooves slash hands slash talons are better than one."
Unfortunately, Techno did have a point. It would be no use if he died before ever reaching Punz. He can try later, once he got more used to this body and how to handle it. Till then he had to hope either of the two here could get them on the right track already.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
The progress they had made was little. It's been two weeks and barely anything. He was still stuck as an owl. Though he had to admit, it had a few benefits. For one, with some help from Philza, he did learn how to fly. It's not that smooth yet and definitely needs improvement but it is some progress. He understands why Philza misses flying.
It feels…wonderful. He flapped his wings and rose above the woods. Wind both breathed against his face and held him up with how it flowed beneath and above his feathered body. It's fascinating to not be stuck on the ground. Similar to whenever he'd jump from branch to branch except even more free.
In the distance, he spotted something scittering across the floor. An animal. He flies lower and near silent in the direction of the moving prey. Lower and lower. His talons spread out, aiming for the potential catch until they grasped the animal firmly. He killed it and moved to hold it in his beak before flying on and keeping an eye out for any pink or red he could spot.
It took a bit but eventually he found Techno and by extension Philza. They were chatting with four of Techno's wolves walking beside them.
He changed his course a bit, flying in an arch around them till he was behind them. Silent as ever, he approached the smaller of the two and grabbed the hat which he then dropped on the head of one of the wolves. The surprised yelp Philza let out was worth it. Even more so with Techno's laugh.
"Goddamn mate. You really like sneaking up on others," Philza chastised with a smile on his face.
"Yeah, come on. You can't scare an old man like that. Who knows how much his heart can even take." Techno joked.
"Ey! I'm not that old."
"Sure. Sure. Whatever helps calm your mind. By the way, nice catch, Dream. You're getting better." Techno was pretty sure Dream was smiling.
He was. They had started with unmoving prey. Some dead baby chickens Techno had prepared till Dream could hunt himself. It had been used to test his grip and aim ability. Philza had held the food up for Dream to snatch. It helped greatly with improving his movement.
This one wasn't the first real living catch he got. There have been mice he heard beneath the snow carpet in their clearing. Though the existence of mice on this server was still rather strange to him. The smaller birds that had started appearing too. So far it's a good change but till he knows what caused it, he will likely still be put off to some degree. (He wonders if Punz noticed.)
He turned his face up as he started to swallow his prey whole. That too was something he had to get used to. How owls eat their prey usually as a whole and throw the inedible bits up later on in pellets.
On the way back to the clearing he switched back to sitting on Techno's shoulder. With the padding, he was less worried about accidently hurting him, compared to the bare fur on the wolf.
The chatting of the two friends he tuned out as he focuses more on their surroundings. The rustling of leaves. The distant hops of a bunny. The yips of many different wolves as they got closer to the cabins. His hearing was better like this. He could pinpoint the location better. An amazing help for hunting and for hearing nervous teenagers.
Ranboo was trying to be silent and he was doing decent at it. Neither Techno nor Philza seemed to have noticed them so far. Dream turned to them briefly, catching their gaze before both of them averted their eyes.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
The cold was biting at their skin despite the many layers of clothing that should be keeping them warm. Admittably, they have been standing outside for a good few minutes right now. Their left hand was rising to knock before sinking again for the seventh time as they debate bothering Techno over what is pretty much a non-issue, just a curiousity… A curiousity that has caused some delays in sleeping after looking out of the house and spotting two green owlish eyes staring at his house as well as other nearby locations.
He raised his hand again to knock and before he can even think to do anything, the door opened and his semi-official mentor stood before him with the strange owl on his shoulder. "Ranboo. Hello. How's my favourite main character doing?"
"Hi, Techno. Uhm. I'm fine."
"Good good. Anything you came over for?"
"Yeah. Uhm. Just a question. That you obviously don't have to answer if you don't want to but uhm. I just- Since when do you have an owl?" Ranboo stuttered out, aware that the owl wasn't looking at them. Despite being the one currently making noises, the owl seemed in check the source of the sound.
"Since I decided owls are actually very cool creatures. Did you know they can turn their heads nearly 270°?"
"No?" Ranboo tilted their heads, watching as the owl seemingly did just that. It looked…creepy. It was already disturbing enough to see it turn its head to look directly behind it. That its range is even further than that was not exactly comforting.
"Yeah, it's really cool. Good for keeping a watch for threats especially at night. Ain't ya." Techno lifted his shoulder with the owl slightly up. The owl stared at him for a bit before avertings its gaze again.
"Aren't owls wild?"
"Yeah. This one's as wild as Steve. And probably nearly as dangerous for strangers." That was… not really comforting to hear. Ranboo looked at the talons and could already imagine how much it would hurt to have them truly dig into your skin.
"Ah. Good. Good." They found themselves saying before some excuse tumbled out of their mouth and they stumbled back to their house.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
Punz was worried for lack of a better term. It's been over three weeks. End of January was here and still no further word from Dream. The display room was finished and done for the confrontation they had planned. The prison was finished and ready for Dream so where was the guy?
They could understand if he had changed his mind. If instead of imprisoning himself for a bit, he wanted to take another direction. (Punz hoped so. Sure, he trusted Dream and his plans but something didn't fully sit right with him. But now he wonders if it had to do with Dream's sudden silence instead of something else.)
Their fingers drummed on the table as their mind continued wandering. Ideas of where he might be. Punz last saw him during Doomsday, where he stood above the doomed nation, walking on blackish purple stone while TNT was raining down. Dream had looked gorgeous, mesmerising.
Restless, they stood up. Punz might not know where their friend went after that day in early January, but they had a few places they could check out. Just in case.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
"Phiiiil! Have you seen mister screech-a-lot?"
"One of my crows says they saw him fly into the hound's lil house early today. Apparently with some dead animal between his claws."
Wouldn't be surprising. Dream had taken to going on solo hunts. A lot of their hunting trips involved Dream flying rather far from them to make more use of his near silent flight, so it makes sense he'd go out alone at some point.
The cold hit him right in the face as he stepped outside his cabin and made the way to the little house he had built for his dogs. It was good at giving them some protecting from the elements. Even if a good chunk of them loved running around in the snow.
Speaking of, a couple of them were playing around outside. Chasing and tackling each other with no real harm being done. It was noticeable though that not all of them were out and about. A quarter of them were lazying about inside the hut.
They'd huddled into groups, some piles composing of five or more laying on top of one another. One such pile included an owl with a bloodied beak on one of the canine's backs. Like Phil had said, a bloody bunnyleg was laying nearby. The rest was presumably already consumed. The size did surprise Techno. Bigger than Dream's usual catches. He was improving well.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
A knock on his door made Techno groan. He could already see Dream on his shoulder ready to screech in an attempt to scare off the visitors but Techno quickly sent him a glare and his beak silently closed.
As annoying as visitors are, he can't just scare them all off. He tried.
He moved Dream to his pocket to prevent any attempts at scaring. Upon opening the door, he reconsidered his choice though.
"Techno, you wrongun. Did you see your dear and beloved friend Dream anywhere?" Tommy asked, right out of the gate. "I swear to prime if you are hiding him, I will-"
"Good morning, Techno. Lovely weather we have, Techno. How are you, Techno? You know, I'm starting to think good manners are lacking in so many here." Techno pointedly still held dream's beak shut and tried his best to keep him from moving.
"Stop trying to stall. Where is he?"
"No clue, Tommy." Techno sneaked a treat into his pocket in hopes to bribe Dream into staying quiet. "Maybe go to one of his non-existant houses? Or maybe to Sapnap or George?"
"Don't you dare-" Techno closed the door before Tommy could get in another word. He let Dream out of his pocket, who immediately flew onto his little tree in the corner and glared at Techno. "And this is how you deal with them in the best way. Answer as honestly as you can and then block any further attempts."
Dream didn't look impressed in the slightest.
"Oh come on. I'm gonna make some tea and get you some water. Maybe that will calm you. Do you even make sure to hydrate normally? Or is it like sleep, in that you don't need to sleep?"
A screech came from behind him and he chuckled.
Water flowed seamlessly into the pot that he then heated up until it was cooking.
When he returned, he saw a scary lack of teletubby-turned-owl. "...fuuuuudge."
"AAAAAAAAH!" In a rush Techno opened the door again to find both Tommy and Tubbo near Ranboo's house. Blood was dripping down on them and- oh blood god thats a dead rodent. It didn't take him long to figure out what was the cause when he heard a screech from above.
Thankfully, it did cause the two visitors to run away. Frankly with an owl diving down onto them and pulling at their hairs but he will take it. Even if he will have to speak with Dream on less traumatising ways to send people away.
And traumatising Ranboos...again.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
It had to be him. It had to be as crazy as it sounded. But crazy was right up Dream's ally, Punz thought.
No one has seen or heard from Dream at all ever since Doomsday over a month ago.
Not Sam, who stared at the finished prison built with his payment received before Dream seemed to have gone missing.
Not Sapnap, who acted uncaring and angry but Punz could see the worry in his face when Punz brought up the guy's apparent disappearance.
Not George, who awoke shortly from his nap before falling right back asleep.
Not Bad or Ponk who switched the topic to the egg and its interest in Punz.
Not Purpled who has been keeping an eye out after Punz asked him to.
Not Tommy nor Tubbo who seemed uneasy about the silence. Accusing an owl in the arctic of being sent by Dream probably.
Not Techno or Philza who were last seen with Dream. But- it sounded more and more crazy the more Punz thought it over in their head.
They've never heard of anything like a transformtation potion or spell. There was nothing in the book Dream shared with them that offered a ritual like that. None of their research so far showed any way someone could transform another person into an animal. But that owl had to be Dream.
It seemed to have appeared some time after Dream disappeared. It had green eyes and Punz poured over so many books involving owls. None of them had green eyes. Black, brown, orange and yellow eyes, yes. But not green.
Dream trusted Technoblade. Punz was aware of that. And Techno was a very animal-loving person based on how many pets he had and how well cared for those were. So it makes sense that Dream would stick around him. Which also means it couldn't have been Techno who turned him or Philza by extension. Or if they did, then by accident. But Dream shouldn't- wouldn't stick around them if they were the ones to intentionally turn him. Surely he would-
Punz shook their head. It had to be Dream. It just had to. Which created a whole new can of worms. How to turn him back to his usual human self. They had a few ideas. But they first had to talk them over with Dream.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
"Techno, tell your owl to stop scaring my crows."
"You say that as if i have any control over what said owl does."
"More than me for sure, mate."
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
Ranboo was... anxious to say the least about the owl. It didn't seem to harm any of them but that didn't make its near nightly stare at him through the window less creepy. He did appreciate that it never seemed to look directly into his eyes. But it was still staring at them. At night.
They wondered if it did that the whole night. Considering how they saw it on Techno a few times and more times on one of the wolves or on Steve, they'd guess not. But they also aren't sure.
But they have an idea on how to maybe get it to stop being so creepy.
Treats! Every animal likes treats. Or at least all the ones hanging around the arctic do. Minus the owl maybe but they're about to find out. They cut bits off from one of their raw chicken meat and are approaching the fence where the owl is sitting carefully. The squishiness of the meat didn't help with their nervousness. Still they kept walking forward stiffly, arm outstretched with the meat in hand.
The owl stared down at him, at the meat in his hand.
Yeah, okay they couldn't do this. They swiftly turned around back to their house. Steps still as stiff as before they proceeded to the door only to freeze when the meat was suddenly torn out of their hand by a ghostly shape. Seconds later, a weight settled on their left shoulder. Sharp needles dug slightly into it. Not enough to properly hurt but enough to feel it.
Their neck turned robotically towards it and came face to face with two dark green eyes looking at their nose (as small as it was compared to humans or the beak of the owl). "Good- good owly?"
They continued staring at each other. Slowly the owl turned its face towards the small bag attached to their side. The one where they had more pieces of meat for the owl. It was likely the smell, Ranboo reasoned. That's why it knew of it. With that explanation they grabbed another piece and held it in front of the owl. It grabbed the bit with its beak and swallowed it quickly.
The owl almost looked to be smiling at them. Ranboo remembered Techno scratching the owl a bit on its head. Slowly so that the owl could fly away if discomforted by it, they reached their hand out towards it. It made no move besides watching the hand.
Soft. So incredibly soft. These feathers are wonderful. No surprise Techno liked petting it as much as he did. This felt amazing. And the owl let him. It was weird. Weird in a good way.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
Getting blood out of clothing sucked quite frankly. Philza knew this for eons.
Getting blood out of bedsheets sucked just as much.
"What happened?" Niki asked with a worried look on her face as she continued petting the perpetrator on the head. Dream looked content with himself. Out of all the trickeries Dream did as an owl, this one had to be Philza's least favourite. The short jumpscare of something passing him by silently and quickly was not as tedious as getting blood out of anything.
All these years and yet no one has made some kind of potion that removes blood stains instantly.
"A rodent incident," Philza answered after a few more seconds of staring at the pinkish stain on the sheets that were trying outside.
"Oh no."
Dream lifted his head, leaning more into the touches Niki provided.
If Philza hadn't seen the transformation with his own two eyes, he thinks sometimes he wouldn't believe that owl to be Dream right now. The image of this affectionate and cuddly owl didn't fit with the powerhouse and menace he knew Dream to be.
It's strange. It's not- It just didn't fit.
The bed-sheet-ruining and scaring-away-uninvited-guests owl was more fitting.
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
Punz stalked silently through the snowy forest near the Anarchist's homes. They had a solid list of ideas on how to potentially turn Dream back. Depending on what worked, they could even figure out how to turn others into animals or themselves again. It would allow them to hide in plain sight as long as no one caught on.
But first they had to get their boss back.
Ideally, they wouldnt have to talk to either of the anarchists here. But even if they did, the public fallout that Dream and Punz had planned didn't happen yet. So they should be able to trust him with a smaller version of Dream.
A gust of wind closely behind them stopped them in their tracks.
It could just be nothing but they turned to the left and-
On a branch sat a feathered body with green eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. Glow in a beautiful acidic hue Punz could only compare to the life orbs mobs and players drop upon death. Beautiful like the strings that brought Punz back from the dead on multiple occasions. Warpping around their soul softer than expected and pulling them into their body.
"Hey Dream. Been wondering where you've been." The corner of their mouth raised in amusement as the owl- as Dream screeched in response. They held an arm out in front of them. Dream stared at it before spreading his wings and flying down onto it. Once there, Punz scratched the top of Dream's head, careful to avoid the area on his back to avoid any … misunderstandings.
"I've got some ideas on how to help turn you back maybe if you're up for some tests." Dream nodded, an action that looked rather weird with the body that acted it out. "Good. Then let's head back. I've been translating some more of the pages from that book we found and I found some potions recipes that seem promising. And also-"
✦-----✦ (o v o) ✦-----✦
Chirping echoed through the cloudy space as one of the more ghostly blobs watched the human-turned-owl converse with one of XD's favourite humans. It had certainly been entertaining to watch how the dreamer reacted and adpated to the owl form. Especially the way he handled perceived invaders to the arctic region.
But the main plot had to continue. XD would just need to decide what manages to turn Dream back.
The ghostly blob excitedly chirped more while zooming around a blob with a squirrel tail in a speed that made it nearly look like a blur. Hm. Maybe they should let the little creatures inspire more incidents.