Dream had entered his home with the fox, now almost completely fallen asleep in his arms. A warm strong scent filled his nose with an invisible trail leading him to the kitchen. He peeked in to see his dad running around, throwing herbs and grains into a cauldron and almost immediately stepped back and made his way to his room in hopes of not getting noticed.

Just as he made it out of eyesight, his foot hit a 'creak' in the floorboard. "Hey, kiddo!" Schlatt greeted, sticking his head out the doorway to face his son who had just barely entered his room and out of sight. "Back so soon?" he smacked his hands together and stared at him.

The blond hung his head low and slipped his bag down from his shoulder and into his one free hand as the other still held the animal. "Hey dad," Dream greeted, "do you know where Tubbo is?"

"He's probably out with that Timmy kid. God, I told him to stay far from that forest. " Schlatt stepped out with a hand on his hip and one hand gesturing for him to come forward. "What do ya got there?" he questioned.

Dream looked down at his arms and up innocently. "An injured fox," he mumbled, walking over so his dad could see it better.

"And you got it from the forest after I specifically asked you to stay away from there?"

He nodded.

Schlatt sighed, "bring it here." He brushed off all the contents on the table as Dream gently set down the animal, praying that it wouldn't squirm too much.

"Techno and I always meet on Sunday," Dream mentioned, as if it would change his dad's mind about his need to go to the forest. "We always meet there and we can't just not practice because of a witch sighting. We've had those for years."

In contrast to Pogtopia, Manburg was much more aware of the creatures that lurked in the forest. A sighting of a witch was like another Tuesday to these folks. It didn't turn the whole village upside down into a raging mob with torches and pitchforks, no, they were cautious and made sure to have vulnerable minds stay clear of the forest until it is deemed safe.

Schlatt went back to his cauldron and stirred the concoction. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I thought you'd learn from what happened last time there was a witch sighting. Just because you're great at defending yourself with a sword, does not mean that you're great at defending yourself against a witch."

"Oh, come on don't be like that." Dream pouted at the offhand comment of his dad calling him vulnerable.

"Witches use unpredictable magic! What am I supposed to do as I watch you run into that forest headstrong and never see you come out? Again, we were lucky after last time."

The blonde looked down at his hands, hidden underneath his gloves were scars that brought nothing but painful memories to him. Reminders of his last encounter with a witch always left him a shell. He'd feel sick of any thought that crossed his mind and push away his family as they'd try to comfort him.

"Witches only target kids, dad," he said, still daring to defy his dad's wishes. "Both Technoblade and I are fine and way more than capable of taking care of ourselves."

"What about that guy who went missing huh? He wasn't a kid, he was the damn babysitter!" Schlatt turned and coughed into his arm, his son was unaware of how much he was testing his patience but still hesitated to continue seeing his dad's state.

He took a deep breath, letting his tone turn soft. "What happened to him was unfortunate. And I promise I'll be more careful, okay?"

Schlatt recovered from his coughing fit and sighed, peering over at the fox that laid almost asleep by Dreams arms. "What's wrong with it?"

Dream put his focus back on the animal, still wrapped up in his green cloak and now very much unconscious on his kitchen table. "I haven't checked too much of it but mostly a broken back leg..."

"Mostly?" He questioned. You dont think it's... y'know?"

"I mean, I kind of assumed."

Schlatt dropped his spoon back into the cauldron and turned to face his son. "Give me just a glimpse of your thought process here. I am begging you, what goes through your mind?" He laughed, but only so much laughter could hide the actual worry he held for his eldest son.

"He was close to where Technoblade stumbled across a broken splash potion bottle and a sword, there wasn't much other than a few drops of blood which would connect to his leg injury... Dad, please don't ground me. I know what you're about to say."

"I wasn't going to say anything," he denied, shaking his head.

"I know that look. That's the look saying that I'm not allowed to leave the house for a week."

"Y'know, I was actually thinking two weeks."

"What? I'm trying to be a good person here and help this fox!" And maybe helping another victim of a witch could assist him in getting over his trauma, but Dream could admit to that later.

"We'll discuss your grounding later. Now, I don't know where Tubs put his book of tricks so I'm just going with the stupid flowers."

"Don't use too much," Dream commented, "he's still just a little guy, no matter if he was someone before crossing paths with a witch." He rubbed the fox's back. "He's so calm, if he ends up being a regular fox, can we keep him?"

"Foxes are smart and may take you by surprise sometimes. Could just be waiting for you to fall asleep and go for your throat." He dug around the cupboard. "Ah, here," he handed his son the small dish of mashed poppy stems, the white latex gathered into a small pool. "That should hold him until Tubbo comes home. Best we can do now is clean and splint it.

"Sounds good," Dream said. "I'm going to go check the traps out back for anything. Maybe we can get some food for him before we tend to his leg."

Schlatt watched as Dream left the kitchen and put his focus back on the fox that laid still on his table. "Alright, listen here you little rat. If you're from that no good for nothing family and hurt my boys, I will personally take the pleasure of cooking you in that big ass cauldron–"

"Uh, dad, foxes are in the canidae family and resemble wolves rather than rats..." a voice spoke out.

Schlatt jumped, staring wide-eyed at his youngest son standing beside the door frame. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to see you threatening a fox? Am I allowed to ask why there's a fox in our kitchen? Follow up question, why are you threatening it?"

"Dream," Schlatt replied, as if there was no other explanation needed. And there wasn't.

In Fundy's slightly delirious state, he sat and observed the Schlatt Family's dynamics. The contrast of this family of three compared to his family of five was huge. He doubts Wilbur would have ever noticed if Fundy came home with a wild animal in his arms– Extra points if he'd even notice him walking in at all.

And the way Schlatt seemed to baby his two sons as if they weren't already the smartest ones in the village, maybe even the region, being a well known family and all. Phil seemed to have a looser leash, aware that the majority of his kids were adults and trying to keep them from trouble was just inevitable at this point.

Tubbo walked over and pulled his book out his bag before dropping it on the floor. "Why is it so calm?" he asked, "I thought it was instinct for them to run away." He inspected it further and found what would explain the lack of running. "Oh, it's the leg." Schlatt walked over beside Tubbo, ruffling his hair as he skimmed through the pages.

"Before you brew up a simple health potion," Schlatt said, raising Tubbos chin with his forefinger, making it so he was looking up at him. "Dream thinks it's a bit more than a leg injury."

Dream had walked back in, now noticing his brother's presence. "What do you mean?" Tubbo asked, confused.

"Cursed," Dream answered.

Tubbo looked over at Dream who shared a knowing look. "Cursed? Like..." Tubbo trailed off as Schlatt nodded. "I don't know if we have the ingredients for that," he said, looking at Dream who frowned. "It took months to gather ingredients, let alone weeks for me to brew that potion. I hope this guy doesn't have any prior engagements. Who even is he?"

Schlatt looked at Dream, their brains making the same conclusions and connecting the same dots, Dream looked right back, holding his arms up in defense. "Stop looking at me like that!"

"You know who it is! And you know I won't like it!"

The brothers looked at one another, nodding. Schlatt wasn't one to hold off on expressing his likes and dislikes. His dislikes, however, seemed to consist of a certain former president of some country that the boys were too bored to care about and, of course, the Soot family.

"Oh," Tubbo said, finally realizing, "is it a Soot?" he asked.

"Oh, it most definitely is–"

"Well, we don't know that for sure..." Dream cut in, maybe trying to spare the fox's life for a couple more hours.

"Listen kids, I've got morals, and yes I may have a strong raging dislike for the Soot bloodline, but that doesn't mean I'd carelessly throw one out as they are stuck in the form of a fox. My patience will only run for a month. And I am being generous here." He pointed at the both of them. "Fix him or we're dropping him off back in Pogtopia."

"Dad, that's impossible. Tubbo doesn't have the materials to turn him back in time," he tried to reason but when it came to the Soots, it was hard to change his mind about anything.

"Well, then I guess you start working on getting them," Schlatt said. He turned back to the cauldron that had been momentarily abandoned and blew on the ladle. "You boys got me distracted and now dinner's cold," he huffed, "forget it, I'm taking a nap."

When he left the room, Dream turned back to his brother. "What are you missing? What do you need for the potion?"

"Okay, one, I think we should probably focus on repairing his leg first before I make a list," Tubbo pointed. As much as he loves potion making, the disfigured limb was starting to make his gut shift.

"You, talk. I'll clean." Dream grabbed a cloth and dipped it in water, starting to carefully clean the wound.

Tubbo turned to a page with a slight fold on the top corner. It was one of those pages he was hoping to not have to see again but here he was, reading off the list of ingredients. "Well first it requires an awkward potion and I'm already low on nether wart for that."

Dream groaned, not liking the traveling demands already. "Didn't you just get your inventory refilled? You should be missing like two things at most."

"Hey, it's your friend who keeps asking me for fire resistance and other potions to sell. Stuff runs out fast."

"Just keep going. I'm trying to plan the destinations for the quickest trip."

"Okay, next ingredient. A few ghast tears—"

"How many of these ingredients are in the nether?"

"All except one," the teen said, "phantom membrane..."

He could just imagine his brother's grimace hidden under his mask. "And you haven't found anyone that can trade that?" Tubbo shook his head. "Okay, one of us needs to stay up and lure a phantom while the other kills it."

And so they continued to make plans as they also tended to the fox. Fundy's leg now wrapped with a splint, rendering him almost completely unable to run on his own.