Chapter notes:

Hello my lovely readers!

This story is a rewrite of my 'A Caged Dream, (my continuation)' story. I didn't like how the beginning chapters sounded, so I decided to revamp the entire thing.

I decided to post this chapter, but don't expect the next chapter any time soon. I plan to flesh out my plot line and have an actual idea for how the story will progress. Until that point, I don't plan to have any more chapters out too soon. Life's hectic, and I'm kinda busy. :)
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The sound of yelling woke up the twin guardians from their nap. There was a villager running up the hill, screaming for Dream to help them. Again. Dream groaned as he pushed himself up off his brother's lap.

"I already told you all, I'm not going to help the village anymore." He addressed the villager with a frown. Nightmare didn't quite remember this exact villager, but he vaguely remembered a few dog monster villagers attacking him one day.

"B-But Dream! There was an accident at the forge, and Tommy's hurt real bad! If you don't heal him, he might not make it!" Dream bit his lip, and Nightmare could see him fighting with himself.

Nightmare himself was okay with Tommy, the kid was a gentle soul, he had never hurt Nightmare, and sometimes even sneaked the two sweets from his mothers bakery. From what Dream had said before, and just from the contrast of the kid's temperament vs his job, Nightmare felt correct in his assumption that the kid was forced into such work by his awful tempered mother. Unlike the others, his happiness never seemed off to Dream each time he was herded to heal the poor kid. Tommy seemed to get ill often, and his 'healing sessions' were usually filled with pleasant conversation. Dream would tell Night about what Tommy had heard, what gossip was going around. And unlike what seemed to be pretty much everyone else in that damn village, he never once spoke ill of Nightmare.

"It's okay Dream, go help the kid."

Dream looked back between him and the villager, before giving a deep sigh. "Okay, I'll help Tommy, but on one condition." The villager nodded, "Nighty gets to come with me, so I know that this isn't another trick to separate us so someone will come hurt him again." Dream glared at the villager, and Nightmare felt touched, but also worried, something didn't feel right.

The villagers' smile grew tight. "That's fine." Dream gave him one last glare, before turning around and reaching for a branch, whispering to their Mother for a bit of help in doing so. Her leaves shook nervously, which wasn't helping Nightmare's unease. She did bend down a branch just enough for Dream to grab a single Golden Apple.

"Alright." He grabbed Nightmares hand with his spare hand not holding the Apple. "Let's go help Tommy."

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*

The uneasy feeling in Nightmare only grew the longer they walked through town. Almost every single villager had a smile. Some even came out of stores and homes to smile at them. Nightmare shuddered, he gripped Dream's hand tighter, walking a bit faster to be closer with him.

Thankfully, it wasn't much longer till they reached Tommy's house. Nightmare ignored the sweet smells coming from the bakery as they reached the door. He tuned out the conversation Dream was having with, likely, Tommy's mother. Instead, he focused on the crowd of villagers getting closer, and closer.

He scooted closer to Dream as the crowd grew in size. Each of them had a wide grin that made Nightmare's metaphoric skin crawl. "Dream...?" His brother immediately turned to him, ignoring the sudden anger from the villager he was talking with.

"Night?" Nightmare gripped his arm tight. The crowd was getting closer, and he swore he saw a bat in the legs of the crowd. It was bringing up unpleasant memories.

Dream took in the smiling crowd, and wished his magic was as developed as they all thought it was. They were smiling, yes, but it was a strained smile. He could feel Night's hand on his arm trembling, and he hugged him. Maybe he shouldn't have brought Night with him. He should have helped him climb into the Tree, so he would be safe from the villagers. Mother would protect him right?

While he was glaring at the crowd, Dream didn't notice the quiet wipers behind him and the careful footsteps of the bear monster behind him. The crowd closed in closer than before, and Dream did his best to tuck Nightmare under his chin and wrapped his arms around him, protecting him as best as he could.

He was about to open his mouth to tell the people off when there was a sudden pain at the back of his head.

*CRACK*

Nightmare was distracted by the approaching crowd by a loud cracking noise. He could immediately tell it was the crack of bone, from experience. The reality of it didn't hit him until Dream slumped over him, suddenly limp.

"Dream?! Dream!"

He ignored the crowd, shifting so he could hold up his brother. He could see his eye lights flickering, so he wasn't completely unconscious, just incredibly dazed. He hugged Dream close, he knew he was weak, but he had to help Dream somehow! His hand came back wet once he touched his brother's head. Lifting his hand, he saw yellow.

Blood. Dream was bleeding.

"Dream! Dream wake up- AH!"

The sudden yanking at the back of his collar surprised him, and made him lose his grip on Dream, who almost fell to the ground if it weren't for a villager harshly grabbing his arm and pulling him up.

The sudden shift in gravity must've shook Dream awake more, as Nightmare could see his eyelights become a bit more clear. Nightmare's eyes widened at a villager reaching for the Golden Apple in Dream's hand, but before he could say anything to warn his brother, he was pulled back harshly into the crowd, landing harshly on his back. He tried breaking his fall with an arm but all that did was create a loud snap sound, and heat immediately fared at his wrist.

He pulled his arm closer, but it didn't help much, as more heat blossomed at his side. He was soon swarmed, and all he could do was try and curl into a ball, to at least somewhat protect himself. Why did he ever think he could protect Dream? He couldn't even protect himself...

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The first thing Dream saw when his vision cleared was the Golden Apple in his hand. His head was pounding but when he saw a hand reaching for the Apple, he reacted on instinct, bringing it closer to him. In his dazed state, he didn't realize that the Apple disappeared, even as his vision cleared more.

He could hear talking around him, but he couldn't make out the words until the ringing in his skull got duller.

"Look what you did Jerry! His skull is cracked! We can't hurt the positivity guardian like that!"

"I didn't see any of you trying to separate them! Whatever," the bear scoffed, "are the carriages ready?"

"Not yet, there are a few more that need to be loaded up."

"Fine." Dream was hefted up by the arm around his middle, and he swallowed the building nausea at the sudden change of gravity.

"Ah, looks like someones up!" The bear chuckled, along with many other people in the crowd in front of him. Dream swallowed and struggled against the arm holding him, he needed to find Nightmare! The laughter got quieter, and a few had smirks on their faces as they moved out of the way of the Elder.

Elder Johnathan was a somewhat older man who had been recently appointed shortly before the villager set up town here. Dream wasn't sure of his exact age, but he already had his own wife, who was following behind him with a smug grin on her face. Even before learning of Nightmare's abuse from the villagers, Dream never liked her or her nasty attitude.

"Hello, my dear Guardian." The Elder's sickly sweet smile made Dream want to throw up in his face. He stopped pushing down the nausea and attempted just that. Unfortunately, the bastard sidestepped just enough that the yellow sticky magic landed on the ground. He looked down at the yellow puddle with a disgusted expression before turning to Dream, who glared at him.

Elder Johnathan just sighed, before slapping him, hard. Dream's head jerked to the side, which didn't help the pounding in his skull.

"Bad Guardian, trying to sully my garments. We'll have to fix that attitude of yours." he scowled at Dream, before turning to address the crowd. "Now everyone, the carriages are almost ready! Let's all finish up here." The crowd parted slightly, and Dream could see the grins worn by nearly each person in the crowd. But where was Nightmare?

The Elder grinned, making a motion to the crowd before turning back to Dream and harshly gripping his chin and raising his skull. "Now, let this be a reminder to you Guardian." Dream's vision cleared more, and he could see a spot of purple getting clearer.

"Don't disobey me." The more he stared, the more tears filled his sockets. "This wouldn't have happened if you had just continued to do your job like you were supposed to. I want you to remember this. Whenever you even think of disobeying me, remember the fate of this rat."

Dream couldn't tear his gaze away. He couldn't remember ever seeing Night in this bad of condition. Even when he came back home with bruises, small cuts, or even a cracked femur, they were always small, easily healable injuries despite how upset and in pain Nightmare was. Hell, even the moment Dream found out about the bullying and abuse, having caught some villagers in the act, the injuries were relatively minor in prospect.

But now...

His sweet brother was curled into a ball, and even with his wobbly eyelights, Dream could tell he was shaking and jerking in pain. Purple tears streamed from his eye sockets. He had one arm tucked into his stomach, cradled by his other arm. Night cried out as hands came to pull at his arms, heaving him up and off the ground. He screamed horsley as his bad arm was harshly gripped, and Dream could hear something snap.

A cat monster emerged from the crowd with a grin, tapping a bat in his hand, "Hold him still, who else wants to see this baby in action!" The laughs and jeers erupting from the crowd made Dream feel sick.

"No... No... No! Stop it! Leave him alone!" The villagers barely spared him a glance despite his pleading, any looks he did receive were that of rolled eyes or sadistic grins. The cat monster grinned, swinging the bat around in the air counting down as the crowd cheered.

"One~!"

"No!"

"Two~!"

"Stop it! Leave him alone!"

"Three!"

Everyone ignored his screams and cheered as the villager swung his bat at his brother's already cracked skull. He couldn't hear him over the cheering crowd, but he could see Night's mouth moving, likely also pleading helplessly with the villagers holding him. Dream screamed, struggling against the arm holding him, so much so that the bear monster wrapped another arm around him, pinning his arms.

"NO! STOP!"

*CRACK*

Dream watched in horror as his brother's skull caved in from the force of the blow, and his shaky purple eye lights went out. The ringing in his skull got louder, making him deaf to all the noise surrounding him. He could see and feel the joy in the people surrounding him. He could see their laughter, and cheers as a human came up and shoved his dirty boot into his brother's skull. He tried screaming, renewing his struggle as he could feel the bear monster start to laugh and soon start walking away. He protested as much as he could, yelling at everyone around him till the elder came up with an angry look.

"Looks like we'll have to start the training earlier than expected." The Elder slapped him once again, and his vision grew hazy around the edges.

"Please... let me see Nightmare, I'll come back to help the village! I'll be good, I won't complain, I can make everyone happy... Please, just let me save him!"

"No. You don't have that opportunity now. You disobeyed us, disobeyed me. Jerry, take him to my carriage and wait for me there."

Carriage? But that was only for traveling... no. No no no no...

"Of course, Elder Johnathan."

"No... no no no no please! I'll be good! I promise I will!" If he was put in a carriage then he would never be able to save Night! He would probably never see him again!

"Oh my dear Guardian." The Elder grabbed his face, and Dream hated how the touch was gentle.

"You will be, One way or another."

Chapter Endnotes:
So, in this version of Dreamtale, the twins can't sense exact emotions. BUT. They can usually tell the general vibe of the person. They don't have all their powers and full access to their empath abilities, they're still children.

For example, the villager was lying and trying to manipulate Dream into 'helping' little Tommy. These are negative emotions, so Night can tell something is off immediately. Dream does too, but that's not from him sensing the vibe/emotions of the villager, it's from the knowledge of what they have pulled in the past and how they lied to him and hid their horrible treatment of Nightmare. He doesn't trust them anymore.

So the twins can't sense exact emotions, but they are more in tune with the general emotional state of a person, especially with the emotions from their respective roles. If a person has good vibes, Dream can tell, Night can't. And vice versa.

Also, the way I see it, the twins age twice as fast as their bodies. While their bodies are that of a 6 year old child, their mental age is around 12 years old. This 'gap' will grow bigger the older they are. They are technically 'demi-gods', and immortal. Aging will be different for them compared to regular mortals.

To any readers coming from the original of this story I made, things will go a different direction here than that story. Apparently, it's going to be WORSE = D.
At least, my fiance thinks so lol.