𝑺𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒅
Warning/s: (???)
Taglist: @da3dm, @gt-mcyt, @coolest-moon.
Chapters: Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
Breathe in...
Breathe out...
Breathe in...
Breathe out...
His body twitched as he laid there, emotionless on the ground, his eyes cloudy; mouth dry. Each and only thoughts on his mind was to remind himself to breathe, at the moment no other soul was around, only the bloody carcasses of animals; a gruesome sight, where he would once emit care, laid a shell of a man; no ounce of the person he once was.
Time was irrelevant to him, no longer could he tell when a day has gone by, everything blurring together, he swears he feels dead, the way his body is cold and his breaths could be barely felt by he himself.
His eye's drooped closed, what little energy he had grasped on was whisked away, each shallow and sharp breath he took; pained his chest, he took one last weak glance at the trees he caught sight of, and drifted off.
<><>○<><>
A man—giant— walked across the lands, not a single thought in mind, he was just a wandering traveler after all, heading into the unexpected. No end in mind, a weird sense of dread, crawled up his skin; the cold air nipping at his skin as it neared the winter season, flocks of birds migrating infront of him, as they ran from the freezing temperatures.
He sighs, and closes his eyes, his strides continuing, this time his other senses took over as he guided his body through the trees. The ground dipped and his eye's zapped opened and stared at the ground.
A clear line was drawn on the ground; clearly made by a giant, it was the line they created just to say, "there's still humans here, be careful when crossed, blah blah." The giant sighed, it seems there is an end to his journey(for this direction atleast)
He coughed and let out a sigh, he turned around and started heading back, the man was only a few minutes into his journey back until he heard a deep groan of pain; he blinked for a few moments, strands of brown hair falling on his face as he made sure he wasn't hearing things. A few moments pass and he heard another groan, he turned around to look for the source and peeking behind the trees he could see a weird lump; moving? Breathing.
The man gasped and quickly went over and the sight made his stomach drop, he was a bit of a softie, okay! The bloody carcasses of animals accompanied with the stench of rot and death was sickening and the man laying in the midst of it all did not help ease him, he would've thought the man was dead if it was not for his chest that weakly rose and fell.
He took a step forward, holding in his breath, the man infront of him looked disheveled and sickening, his stomach dropped as he saw the man twitch; he was considering on turning around, forgetting this entire ordeal, but the man in front of him made him think. His cheeks were faintly sunken in, the dark bags under his eyes were a pain to see, the matted and bloodied hair making him feel a weird disgusted feeling. He felt- sympathy and remorse, for the man infront of him.
He grimaced as he pushed away the rotting animal corpses, giving him enough space to kneel; his cottage wasn't to far anyways—he had on a satchel that touched the ground as he kneeled. His hand twitched as he slowly inched to touch the man, unruly rough skin met soft delicate ones. The off-putting feeling made him wince, and the contact of the two made Dream flinch.
Yet the man smiled, a soft, caring look on his face, even with the blond man's clearly starved state, he was a struggle to move. He hoisted him up his shoulder, the passed out giant clearly taller than him.
<><>○<><>
Heat...Warmth...Crackling-
Fire?
Dreams eyes blinked open, the first thing that filled his vision was the color orange, he instantly sat up, confused with his surroundings, he could tell he was on some sort of makeshift couch, his eyes darted left and right, the unfamiliar surrounding; slowly unblurring.
"Oh! You're awake!"
A voice, chipper and bubbly, came up from behind him, as his eyes zapped to look at the giant behind him, the mans brown locks falling infront of his face, the blond was confused and slowly adjusted his body to turn to him; sure, maybe he should have tried running away after waking up in a strange place, and being greeted by a fellow giant who he had no recall of knowing, however, his body ached and the somewhat plush couch he was on helped eased the tension in his body.
"How're you feeling?" The brunette said, slowly inching closer placing a bowl filled with something he couldn't comprehend at the moment on the table infront of him. The other giant sat beside him on the couch, slowly as to not startle the blond, "How're you feeling?" He smiled, repeating his question after a few minutes of deafening silence.
"Can—Can I feel your head?" The brunette asked with softness in his tone, Dream blinked, unsure with what to do, he craned his neck and nodded, Bad was pleased with the answer and reached out one hand to feel his temperature, surprisingly the man seemed to be okay, besides the obvious scars on his body.
"I made pottage stew- here you can have it." He says, picking up the bowl and handing it over to him, it took Dream a few moments to register what he was doing and brought his shaky hands to clutch the bowl. "I'm Bad." The brunette said, his lips parting and shaping into a very toothy smile.
The blond felt ashamed and confused, this random stranger was here- helping him? "Bad?" He breathed out, the brunette giggled, "Yeah- it's an unusual name, what's yours?" He looked down, muttering, "...Dream." Bad hummed in reply, and gestured to the soup. "I'll leave you to eat, we took a two day travel here and you were passed out the whole way..." After a giggle in which Dream responded with an awkward chuckle, the brunette turned the corner; leaving Dream, befuddled, and utterly alone with his thoughts.
He stared at the bowl in his hands; in which they shook lightly, almost threatening to drop it. He sighed, his shoulders slumping and his fingers found a way to the spoon, he scooped up some soup and gently brought it up to his chapped lips. As the soup landed on his tongue, he raised his eyebrows, it was...okay?
Don't get him wrong, he's extremely thankful, he's actually been given somewhat of a meal after months of bearing with whatever he could scrounge up. But- the soup tasted bland, or maybe it just wasn't his taste. Yeah, that was probably it.
He still of course gulped it all down, it was still quite filling and it satisfied him just enough. The blond placed the empty bowl down and took another look in the room he was in; the cottage was quaint, it didn't have much; which was expected, not many giants had the resources to make a somewhat lavish home.
He let out a deep sigh, he shifted in his seat; both his body and the chair, groaning, he spotted a clump of thin fabric, assumed to be a blanket. He lifted up the item, draping it around his body. Then he thought.
Bad seemed nice enough.
He helped him after all.
Speaking of, the man entered back into the room, a gentle smile on his face. In his hands, held a fresh pair of clothes, neatly folded in his arms, "I got you a decent set of clothes." He beamed, seeming just a tad bit cheerier than before, he heard a soft thud and he realized that Bad was holding a cup of water, and had just placed it down, how did he not see that?
He rasped out a thank you, hoarse and rough words leaving his lips, Bad giggled and gestured to the water; "Yeah, you definitely need a drink, your throat is bone dry." Dream lifted the cup to his opened mouth, chugging it down; he realized how thirsty he was, the cup was placed down on the table and Bad finally handed him the clothes.
"You can change right here, if you need anything I'll be in the other room!" He waves a hand and quickly disappeared behind the walls again.
Okay, he could deal with this, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
He swears, he's dying.
Okay, maybe he was exaggerating, just a teensy-tiny bit; here's the thing, even with Bad helping him out, and him doing his best to help in any way he can; and Bad was a delight, his health wasn't doing well, his immune system had apparently weakened after he lived in unhealthy conditions, he would constantly get fevers; yet, Bad was there and took the time to care for him.
Even after everything that Bad was doing for him, he was constantly unsatisfied and uncomfortable. Not because of the other of course- well, maybe? Dream was not one to judge, but, the food Bad had been serving him has been rather...bland. It was hard to describe, Dream knew it was good, since another traveler came by and asked if they could get a meal and they raved about the simple dish that the other had made until they left to continue their travel.
So Dream thought maybe the dishes just weren't to his taste, until, Bad handed him a simple loaf of bread; it couldn't be anymore simpler(well sorta). In short: he knew that Bad's cooking wasn't the problem.
So what was it?
He never really felt hungry, per se, he just felt unsatisfied, sometimes he'd turn a bit agitated, he wasn't proud of it; but he couldn't just tell that to Bad! He had already done so much for him, yet, he couldn't take it, he was weak ever since he was ever captured.
That night he tossed and turned on the couch, which was still generously provided by the brunette as a place to rest on. The fire place wasn't lit with a warm blaze, the only source of light being the rays of moonlight gleaming through the windows. The couch creaked as his weight left and he stood by the window staring above. The full moon an ethereal mirror reflecting the whispers of the cosmos, capturing the secrets of the universe in its luminous embrace. Dancing across his features, illuminating his beauty too anyone that may have seen him.
His stomach grumbled and flashes of memories resurfaced to the front of his mind, he felt a familiar taste lingering on his tongue, the taste of raw alive meat heavy on his tastebuds, animal or human? He couldn't tell. His stomach continued to groan, clearly the meal from earlier didn't satiate his hunger. He turned around, his feet carrying him towards the hallway.
The cottage was quiet, eerily so, he crept through the short hall, he spotted Bad's room, his door was completely shut which eased him ever so slightly. Bad was a heavy sleeper, that he learned. His feet led him towards the kitchen, his hands reaching on the counter top where a bowl of walnuts sat. The blonds fingertips were about to grab them, yet, he sagged and dropped his arms. His body was practically begging for food, yet the kitchen had nothing to offer him that appealed to him.
His eyes landed on the door.
He could go hunt.
Bad wouldn't mind.
His tastebuds moaned as the first taste of meat fell on his tongue, he had wandered off into the night searching for a midnight snack; which led to the poor demise of a sleeping deer. Of course, that would only be the first, but the buck itself filled him with a sense of calm, flooding his tastebuds with a flavor that felt...right.
Throughout the night he could only find small critters, which were quite hard to grab; they all scurried off in a frenzy the second they sensed him, he sighed deeply, he wasn't even frustrated. The serenity of the moonlit night was different, this was the first time he actually gotten to rest and appreciate the night in a long, long while. Not even the crickets chirped, only the softest, of the gentle breezes accompanied him and his thoughts.
He was still hungry, that was obvious but, for now, he could wait..
He didn't know how long he stayed there, leaning against a huge tree; eyes shut, and breaths steady. He just knew, when he heard a faint, yet, deep rumble. His eyes blinked opened and he turned his head to look behind the trees, he spotted a cave, like an empty black void, he couldn't see what was making that sound; he could only hear.
Dream sat patiently, as he awaited for whatever thing or creature emerged from the depths of darkness, his entire body perked uo as he watched a huge brown paw peek out and he had to physically seize his body to stop him from immediately pouncing. He sat still in his place, his hands wrapping around and clenching the grass below him.
A mad grin found it's way to his face as the bear fully emerged out of it's cave, the bear was clearly groggy, stumbling over its own footing; whom clearly had just woken up from its slumber, the bear sniffed the air; still unaware of his presence. The creature had it's back face to him and in queue his attention went to his growling stomach and growing hunger.
As the bear was distracted he let go and immediately lunged at the bear, with limited reaction time in a few desperate moments of struggle, Dream prevailed and the bear would soon end up in his stomach. It was a gnarly sight to see, it wasn't exactly messy, just- disturbing. If a giant passed by then they'd shrug, likely not even looking his way. But if a human saw him, then that's different.
Seeing a giant bulky bear being chewed to the bone by a giant wouldn't be something a sane human would want to see, and on top of that, Dream was there, sitting in an awkward position; savoring the creature, with small bites. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten like this, with such wild and unrestrained abandon.. it was like he had transformed into a wild animal, a creature driven by instinct and desire...and it felt so damn good...he knew that he must have looked ridiculous and uncouth, but he didn't care...all that mattered was the taste and texture of the meat, the feeling of it sliding down his throat and filling his belly...he was in heaven, pure and absolute heaven...
His world stopped as he heard a voice.
"...Dream?"
With a gulp, he slowly turned his head to the side, seeing two dark figures; ever so slowly inching closer to him. His heart raced as the moonlight shone upon the figures faces. Their small human bodies tense, and so was he. The blonds eyes widened as he took a good long look at them, and they all sat in an uncomfortable silence.
"Y-You guys...Sap...nap? And Gogy?"
"Hey- wait! It's George!"
Holy shit.
