Sapnap's POV:

Sapnap awoke slowly, to dead silence. He rocketed upright looking frantically about for the Dreamon he'd fallen asleep next to. But the bed was empty and so was the rest of the room, the door was left open a crack and the hall beyond pitch black. Sapnap heated himself up enough that he was able to float above the floor, his form made of warm yellow and red flames. Then he slid out through the crack in the door.

His bright light lit up the dark hallway with an eerie flickering red, and Sapnap didn't like how jumpy it made him. Still the silence persisted as if the Dreamon from the day before had vanished without a trace. Sapnap made his way slowly to the cockpit looking about nervously with every flicker of shadow unable to find the light knob that would light up the hallways. He finally made it to the cockpit only to find it just as eerily empty as the rest of the ship, the only light the flickering of the dashboard. Where the heck was Dream! Sapnap had passed over from nervous to outright paranoid about two hallways ago, and he just wanted to find his Dreamon buddy cause the silence was totally going to kill him.

Sapnap cleared his throat nervously, before deciding 'screw it' and began shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Oi!!!! Dream, skinny white twig!!!! Where are you!?!?!"

His voice echoed in the hollow expanse of the empty ship bouncing creepily off the walls, floors, and ceilings as it traveled farther into the depths of the craft. There was a long painful moment of dead silence then-

"Umm-I'm in the kitchen, Mr. Archea....Sir?"

The voice was much more timid and quiet than his own yell, but in the silence of the ship it was still deafeningly loud. But Sapnap couldn't care less he was more focused on the last part of Dream's sentence....Mr. Archea??? Sir??? What??? Blasting off at full speed toward the sound of the young Dreamon's voice he shouted back,

"Who are you calling Sir, stick boy?!?!"

There was another long pause then,

"Stick boy???"

Sapnap chuckled the voice was much closer now, and Sapnap intended to capitalize on the poor Dreamon's lack of knowledge on insults and nicknames,

"Yea stick boy, cause you're so thin. Twig, skeleton, stick, wire boy, pipe child, toothpick, etc. You're so skinny I can see your ribs so it's only fitting that your nickname matches that. Oh and the names Sapnap kid, not Sir."

There was an indignant spluttering sound, and Sapnap finally walked into the kitchen to find Dream facing the door, an indignant and highly confused look on his face.

"I'm a Dreamon?? You're supposed to see my rib cage, it's part of our biology! Also who are you calling a kid! I'm totally older than you!"

Sapnap snorted

"Sure you are, once we figure out how old you are in Archea rotations we'll talk."

Dream looked thoughtful for a moment then he asked,

"How many rotations old are you?"

Sapnap crossed his arms smugly,

"Three Lava Rotations, and one cycle."

The Dreamon's face morphed into a smug smirk his eyes glittering in the dim lights of the kitchen,

"I'm Three Rotations and three cycles therefore I'm older so HAH!!! Take that flame brain!"

Sapnap growled grumply, glowering at the Dreamon,

"So that just means you're about the same age as me, sides how many Rotations do you guys live for anyway? I bet you're still just a baby by Dreamon standards!"

Sapnap wasn't sure what he'd said exactly but suddenly the air in the kitchen seemed to go frigid and Dream tensed up his face going blank. He abruptly turned back to the counter,

"Uh , I made some breakfast if you want some. I'm just going to- uh i'm just going to check on the autopilot."

Then before Sapnap could change the subject or ask what he'd said wrong, the Dreamon had darted right past him and out into the darkened hallways vanishing from sight so quickly it was as if he'd never been there in the first place. Sapnap glanced to the counter where two plates were left abandoned, one was clearly for him, stacked high with heated stones of various sizes and quality, while the other was filled with what looked like raw meat, probably Dream's then if he had to guess. Sighing and feeling just the tiniest bit lonely and abandoned, Sapnap sat and dug into his plate. Hopefully by the time he was done, Dream would have calmed down enough that he'd be willing to hang out with Sapnap. Or at least stay in the same room as him.

Not to say he was dropping the subject entirely, maybe he could find a holopad on this ship somewhere and do some research? It was just odd, why would that particular question set off the Dreamon? Mentally shaking his mane, Sapnap went back to his rocks.

*****************

Dream's POV:

...."So that just means you're about the same age as me, sides how many Rotations do you guys live for anyway? I bet you're still just a baby by Dreamon standards!"....

Dream felt just the tiniest bit like a coward, honestly it wasn't that weird for Sapnap to call him a Dreamon, but still it had shocked him. The concept of being a-a-a BABY of all things!!! He was a perfectly mature fully fledged adult, otherwise...otherwise....otherwise that was just another thing Dreamon's failed to do right.

Logically Dream knew Sapnap had a point, most species took care of their young instead of forcing them to work from the moment they hatched. Logically he knew that most teenage young weren't expected to either survive brutal testing or be fed to the babies. Logically he knew it wasn't normal to constantly be afraid of a challenge in his life every moment of every day. Logically he knew that combat to the death in order to get better nutrients by eating each other wasn't normal for most species. Logically he knew that most cultures didn't send most of their teenagers off as scouts, expecting them to either die or succeed but, well, he'd always just avoided thinking about it.

Dream buried his face in his claws, Sapnap was probably startled and off put by his sudden departure, but well...h- he needed a moment. A moment to just sort of break down and thank the stars that he had escaped. Thank the universe that he'd never have to go back, and maybe just a moment-to-to cry. Ok he admitted it he was sobbing his eyes out, thinking of his twin who'd been butchered and fed to the hatchlings at the young age of 18 moon cycles for failing a test. Thinking of the countless podlings that hadn't even made it to hatching because of the strict policies Dreamon had for healthy young.

Dream cried for the countless lives lost on his accursed planet in the name of science, and perfection, for the thousands, maybe millions of species that had met a fate worse then date when they were captured by his people. And then with quiet, choked of sounds he cried for the child he'd been, the teenager he was, the one that could never live as someone his age deserved. He'd seen too much, done too much, hurt too many, to ever truly regain what he'd lost and that hurt more than he cared to admit. After who knows how long, Dream's tears were interrupted by a sudden beep from the consul. Dream looked up, and after a brief moment of incomprehension, he cursed. Well that wasn't ideal....

*******************************

Sapnap POV:

Sapnap had been debating on whether or not he should go after Dream when the Dreamon himself burst into the kitchen sliding around the kitchen's entrance with the nasty sound of skidding claws against metal. He was panting clearly having run the whole length of the ship to get back to this room.

"This ship had less fuel than it said in the logs, which means we are having to make an abrupt and unplanned stop at the nearest planet in less than a tic! Hurry, we gotta get belted in before we leave jump space!"

Sapnap didn't even get the chance to respond as the Dreamon curled his clawed hand around Sapnaps mostly solid wrist and dashed down the hall dragging the Archea along behind him. Half a tic later Sapnap started rushing ahead as well as he registered what Dream had said. They arrived mere parel's before they left jump space, and Sapnap threw himself at the nearest chair, because Stars he was not getting thrown into a wall again!

The Dreamon clacked away at the control board, while strapping himself into the pilot's seat checking to make sure our exit wasn't going to slam us into solid rock. Then he sat back one clawed hand on the steering panel, the smooth glass glowing a bright purple beneath his claws. With a brief and sharp jolt we exited the swirling darkness of jump space and arrived above a swirling gold and green planet. Che're'x, a small mining planet just on the edge of the outer rim of the Lelth system. The planet's main inhabitants were miners from across the nearest four systems who refined the golden liquid of the planet's oceans, separating it into drinkable water, and X'eth, a powerful substance used as both fuel, alcohol, and a base for several more ....volatile compounds.

While it wasn't a particularly large trading hub it was large enough to have a power station for Enderian crystals like the ones that power most jump space ships, including the one he and Dream were currently inside. Sapnap just hoped that for once his luck would allow them to get on and off the planet without a hitch. But he really should have known that his luck would never be so generous.....

**************************************************

When they landed at the charging station, the dock worker there informed them that due to recent regulations put in place by the Enderians the station was not at full power and therefore their ship would need at least half a day to power up. Sapnap was less than enthused by this and Dream didn't seem particularly pleased either. Still they needed power if they were going to stay in jump space long enough to evade whatever Dreamon scouts were sent after them. So Dream and Sapnap reluctantly decided to head to the market place to pick up some supplies. Before that though Sapnap made sure to snag a cloak for Dream from the ship. The dock worker hadn't seen Dream and therefore hadn't been able to alert any authorities, but both Sapnap and Dream were well aware that Dreamon's had a nasty reputation so they decided to try and keep Dream's identity on the down low.

The cloak was buttoned across the front and Dream had also grabbed a tunic and long pants to hide his bone white ribs and calves, and the cloak shadowed his clawed feet at least somewhat. Pulling his blank mask from the lab where they'd met, back over his face, Dream looked very sketchy, but not particularly like a Dreamon so Sapnap was going to call it a win. They entered the marketplace and after a quick deliberation and check on their communicators to make sure the messages were working, they split up to gather supplies.

Now at first everything seemed to be going well, Sapnap managed to get a fair amount of food and water and Dream had messaged that he'd got some blankets and energy cells for the rooms, and both of them had started looking for emergency medical supplies, that's when it all went wrong.

Sapnap was turned away from the left side of the market when there was a sudden scream from that direction, whirling around Sapnap spotted Dream almost instantly, a short orange Clorkian woman was standing shocked on Dream's cloak revealing his pale milky white arms and long claws. Her accidental trip on his robe appeared to have also knocked him into a small stall filled with fruit, and the impact had knocked Dream's mask from his face, the sharp features, glowing green eyes, and wicked curved horns paired with Dream's slumped and curled posture gave the young Dreamon a monstrous look. He looked ready to pounce eyes that had been shaded from the sunlight by the cloak, now squinted in what looked like a threat display. There was a brief moment of shocked silence as the whole market turned to stare, and then the whole area erupted into pandemonium.

Aliens of all shapes, colors, and sizes began to scramble screeching, screaming, and crying as they panicked and tried to escape the young Dreamon's sight. Sapnap swung in between two stalls to avoid getting trampled and within just a couple of tic's the whole market place was silent and empty.

Empty except for a small Dur'lee girl who stood in the middle of trampled goods and churned dirt crying, three of her six hands rubbing frantically at her face while the other three curled around her in a sort of forced hug. She wailed, a low keening note, a fledgling call, and waited for a response. None came. She wailed again, louder this time, and the sound made Dream twitch from his hunched position across the square. Sapnap felt something in him tighten as the Dreamon moved, panicking as he watched Dream approach the small girl.

Unconsciously he found his hand straying to his belt where he kept the Fra'zer he'd snagged from the ship. One of the few weapons he knew could cut straight through a Dreamon's armor like skin. Dream approached the little girl slowly staying low to the ground, eyes glowing dimly in the bright sunlight. A few of the remaining shop keeps, watched in awed horror as Dream approached the girl.

To Sapnap's surprise when Dream was still an arms length from the girl he knelt scrunching his long torso low as he reached out a gentle hand and wrapped his claws gently around her upper shoulder. He had scrunched so low that he was now shorter than the girl who stood sobbing in the center of the square. He spoke, his voice so soft that Sapnap had to morph his ears to hear better.

"Hello little one, would you like me to help you find your parents?"

Sapnap loosened his grasp on the Fra'zer in shock, Dream wasn't trying to grab the girl he was trying to help her? He supposed it made sense the Dreamon had been nothing but kind and helpful to him so far, but still there was something almost...wrong with how kind this Dreamon was. It was just so unnatural. But the little girl didn't seem to notice or care how odd this moment was. Instead she looked up at Dream, her pupiless golden eyes staring at him round and wide with hope.

"Yes please, mister."

Tears glistened blue and cold on her cheeks and Dream wiped a gentle claw across them, a gentle smile in his eyes. He stood, hunched over as he held out a clawed hand to her.

"Come along then, let's get you home."

Just as Sapnap began to move towards them, a blast rang out flashing just past Dream's shoulder in a blur of white light. Dream lurched back grabbing the little girl and tucking her close to his chest he threw the cloak around them facing his back towards the direction of the blast as he shielded the little girl. Six of the shopkeepers, no doubt believing they were rescuing the little girl charged at Dream several different kinds of blades and weapons in their hands, three had Fra'zer's of some kind and were firing off shots at Dream, in their panic clearly forgetting that aiming shots at the perceived threat would endanger the child as well.

Sapnap charged at them morphing his form into a solid bipedal one as he went swinging a suddenly blade shaped arm of white hot stone at the other men and forcing them to split their focus between him and Dream. Dream used the moment to crouch low and jump away carrying him and the little girl well beyond the square in a single enormous leap.

As Sapnap clashed blades with two of the shop keeps, Dream leapt again disappearing from view, and Sapnap used the opportunity to fade to flame and then leap into the sky flashing after Dream in a blaze of light. He caught up to them in seconds and floated along beside them as Dream gently asked the little girl in his arms where she lived. After some vague instructions, Sapnap and Dream found themselves jumping and flying over several tirons of land before they arrived in a small neighborhood at the edge of a golden sea. Following the little girls' many pointing fingers, they arrived before a small cottage that floated gently on the waves near the beach. Lowering her to the ground Dream gently knocked on the door, moments later a frantic looking woman answered only to stop in shock when she came face to face with Dream's glowing eyes, behind her a man stood his mouth open wide with shock as they glanced between their child and the strange Dreamon with her, the little girl dashed forward and hugged her mothers legs, as the parents continued to watch Dream warily, watching for any sign of hostility.

The little girl was babbling excitedly away in her mother tongue, no doubt telling her parents what had happened and then she turned back to Dream mouth spread in a wide smile her teeth retracted.

"Thank you for bringing me home mister green!"

Dream crouched a small close mouthed smile of his own playing at the corners of his face. Then his eyes grew serious and he held out his clawed hands to the little girl. Two of her hands grasped his and she stared back into his eyes, her own little face growing serious as well. Dream spoke his voice carrying easily in the sudden quiet.

"Little one, do you know what I am?"

The little Dur'lee, seemed to think for a moment her brow scrunching in confusion, before she gently swayed her shoulders to say that no, she didn't know.

"I'm a Dreamon little one, do you know what Dreamon is?"

The little girl looked confused and slightly scared her eyes widening and rolling for a moment as she thought over his answer.

"B-but that doesn't make sense. Mo'rth (mother) says that Dreamons are cruel evil monsters! And you couldn't be a monster, you helped me!"

The girl's mother and father tensed at her words no doubt worried about how Dream would react and Sapnap found himself tensing as well as he waited for Dream's answer. Dream only smiled back at the girl, something in his eyes sad.

"That's right little one, I helped you, but your mother is also right Dreamon's are monsters. We cut, we hurt, we burn, we bruise, and we make others bleed."

Leaning close, he gently tapped his head to the little girls, their foreheads meeting right between his horns and her tangled mess of hair. Then backing away he met her eyes barely a fer (inch) from her face.

"Little one, if you ever see someone like me again, run. Run as fast as you can, and never look back. You won't be so fortunate the second time.

Then in one swift movement he rose, nodded to her parents and swept away from the house and back in the direction of the sky port. Sapnap watched the cloak swish behind him as he glided away across the sand, and then began to follow, glancing back on last time as he did so. The little girl and her family stood in the doorway watching as they left their eyes on the Dreamon and their hands on their daughters shoulders. Something lost in their eyes. Sapnap felt the same way, Dream had said we, and Dream had called that we Monster. But Sapnap at least saw no monster here. At least not in the Dreamon he was following, and it set something uneasy roiling away in his two stomachs, something he might, if it were any other circumstance, call concern.....

*********************************

They'd only made it half way back to the sky port when a strange De'lis approached them, dressed in dark clothes and wearing a gas mask. The short, fat, gray man sent something nasty shivering down Sapnap's spine as he planted himself in front of them. Dream came to a sudden halt, his tail lashing behind him in irritation once before settling as if Dream was consciously suppressing the urge to smack this annoyance to the nearest star. The man smiled an oily smile baring his teeth ever so slightly in a mild threat display.

"It's been a while since one of your kind has graced our humble planet with your presence, much less one of your standing,"

With those words the man sent a meaningful look at Dream's horns and arm markings. Sapnap found himself not for the first time wondering exactly what they meant, but had no time to dwell on it as the man continued.

"But I happened to have something I thought might interest you and figured I might as well approach you about this particular specimen before you left the planet."

Sapnap felt his gut sink, at the words, specimen could only mean one thing and it meant no good for them. Dream was silent for a moment staring at the man, his expression eerily blank for the first time since Sapnap had met him, and it sent a shiver to his core.

"Show me, tonight when the second sun sets, by the sky port bring it....alive"

Sapnap wanted to protest, horrified at what Dream was suggesting but his eyes were caught by Dream's hand behind his back motioning in a series of gestures known only by the Archea people, used to communicate across the lava streams when the roar grew too loud.

"Wait. Patient. Trust."

Simple, disjointed and perhaps not the most accurate signing Sapnap had seen, but enough to give him pause. Dream had a plan, Sapnap just hoped it wasn't one he would regret helping with.

*********************************

Sapnap found himself at the edge of the skyport fidgeting behind Dream later that evening, as the Dreamon stood cloaked and masked waiting for the seller. He'd explained to Sapnap that if someone was selling someone on a planet this remote, that their condition couldn't be good, and that as much as he hated it, waiting for the proper authorities would take far too long. Whatever poor soul this man had managed to capture needed saving now, and if Dream had to pretend to be a buyer to save them, so be it.

Sapnap was conflicted on one hand; he really did wanna save whatever abused person this monster was selling, on the other hand however, years of teaching, knowledge, and personal experience told him that trusting a Dreamon, much less one who bought PEOPLE, was a terrible idea. Still here he was hiding in the shadow of their ship as Dream stood still and silent just ahead of him. Sapnap's time for worrying ended when a figure appeared from the end of the skyport next to the town. Behind him were two others carrying a rectangular shaped something covered in cloth.

They walked up to Dream until they were only a few feet away, then they set down the crate and the man who had talked to them earlier stepped forward pulling off the cloth as he did so.

"It is worn out from consistent harvesting, but there is certainly enough left for you to gain a fair bit of information from it, I caught i-"

Sapnap tuned whatever else the man was saying out as he stared horrified at what-no WHO was in the crate. It was a young Comat Copri, around his and Dream's age, probably male based on its coloring, and with weeping wounds all across his spine, head, and ears where the fungi that generally grew on Comat's had been ripped free. The Comat's bluish green blood dripped ominously with every moment that passed, and its eyes were closed, its chest rattling with every slow inhale. Sapnaps thoughts and the man's rant were interrupted by Dream's ice cold voice.

"The damage is extensive even for my purposes, do you intend to sell me potions as well? If so, get it over with. I have things to do, and you are wasting my time."

Dream sounded so different from what Sapnap had become accustomed to and it sent shivers down his spine. He sounded like a real Dreamon, cold indifference and cruel thoughts. It made something dark settle inside Sapnap as he tensed ever so slightly leaning forward, and had Dream said potions?

The high level chemicals were highly volatile and dangerous, but terrifyingly effective. They had...side effects though, most were extremely addictive, and others gave you consequences barely worth the benefits. If Dream was asking for potions despite the amount of medical supplies he and Sapnap had gathered it was likely the Comat was worse then he had initially thought. That or Dream intended to make it worse.

Sapnap could admit that he was acting perhaps a tad paranoid, but honestly he doubted most people would be as accepting of Dream as he had been so far, so he felt a healthy dose of Paranoia was deserved. Still paranoia now, intimidation now. The man had been attempting to haggle with an increasingly irritated Dream about the price of the potions and the Comat, when Sapnap stepped forward, his flaming form towering over the traffickers, and the low glow of his body lighting up the inside of his cloak and their immediate surroundings ominously.

The man and his lackeys jumped when Sapnap moved clearly, having missed his presence in the shadows behind the Dreamon, just as he and Dream had intended. Sapnap stood straight, his face impassive as he stared down at the monsters before him. For a long moment no one spoke or moved and the eerie flickering of his fire was the only sign that any of them still breathed. Then before one of them could recover from their shock, Sapnap spoke, his voice low and grumbling like boulders.

"What is taking you so long sir?"

Dream tilted his head in Sapnaps direction when the Archea spoke, but kept his cold glittering green eyes focused on the man in front of them,

"Nothing much, just a slight misunderstanding, this man is under the impression that I am stupid and I'm finding it difficult to contain my urge to pry open his skull to see if perhaps it is a chemical problem."

The man took a step back, his gills flapping nervously and his eyes flickering purple and orange in fear. The other two men also shifted uncomfortably, clearly unhappy with this turn of events. Perhaps it was the cool casualness with which Dream spoke, or the intimidating appearance of Sapnap at his back, but clearly they had realized that Dream and his crew were not to be trifled with.

The man breathed nervously, then tentatively spoke a nervous smile on his gills and his teeth carefully hidden behind his lips to try and appear non-threatening.

"N-no need for that, you said six hundred and four Primes for the Comat and the potions right, how about we settle at six hundred ten and call it good?"

There was a long silent moment as the three men stared nervously at Dream and Sapnap, as the Dreamon stared coldly back. Finally Dream spoke his tone ice cold.

"Six hundred Prime Units, no more no less. The Comat, the potions, and a promise to stay silent about this deal. In exchange not only will you be paid, but I won't take your lives with me either."

The three traffickers all shrugged rapidly in agreement. Frantically agreeing with an affirmative to try and get those toxic green eyes to look away from them. After a moment Dream obliged, tossing his communicator carelessly to Sapnap who caught it effortlessly with one clawed hand, he swept towards the cage one hand held out as he gazed at the Comat.

"Hand over the potions, and Archea pay them."

The leader scrambled with the bag at his side, as Sapnap casually transferred the credits with another of the traffickers. Once the bag's handle had been dropped into his hand, Dream curled his claws around it and secured it at his belt as he stared at the Comat, his eyes unblinking. There was another long tense moment of silence as the traffickers all shifted nervously before Dream sent a glare toward the leader,

"My patience is thinning, unlock it you utter moron."

The leader scrambled to obey his gills, gasping as he fought the urge to run from the bone white man before him. Within moments the cage's walls clattered to the ground and the Comat was fully exposed to the elements. Dream crouched beside the Comat and reached out a claw to tap it on the Comat's torso checking for something. Nodding to himself he turned and swept back to the ship calling over his shoulder as he did so.

"Bring it inside Archea, and put it where we discussed, then come to the flight deck we will be taking off in ten tics."

Sapnap bent and turned his two lower arms and torso to cooled magma stone, he genty picked up the Comat before turning and following Dream up the ramp. As soon as the door closed behind him, he dashed to the med bay which was full of blankets and a stasis tube. They had agreed that if Dream said fifteen ticks that they would put the captive in the bed, but if he said ten tic's to put whoever it was directly into the stasis tube until Dream could come help whoever it was.

Basically it meant this Comat was in really bad shape, and oh boy did that fill Sapnap with anxiety. He carefully laid the Comat into the stasis tube and after powering it on, he dashed to the front of the ship to strap in with two tic's to spare. Dream nodded to him, his mask gone and his eyebrows furrowed with concern as he carefully maneuvered them into launch position, for a brief moment they hovered above the golden planet, and then with a rising hum they launched into the inbetween, jump space.

Dream set their trajectory and turned on autopilot, double checked everything and then evened out their speed enough for the g-forces to equalize inside the ship, while still keeping them at as close to top speed as possible. Then he unstrapped himself from the pilot ship and dashed for the medbay, Sapnap not far behind him. They arrived and Dream immediately pulled the bag of potions over to his workstation talking as he did so his voice steady, but thinly veiled worry in his tone.

"I have about thirty tic's before he is to far in stasis for me to inject anything into the pod, but I want to modify these as much as I can before then, I won't be able to totally mitigate the side effects like I usually would be able to, but I should at least be able to reduce them. While I'm doing that, do you think you can prep the intake tubing for me to infuse six substances into the pod?"

Sapnap gaped at the Dream, overwhelmed by the implications of what Dream had just said, modified potions? Ones that had reduced side effects but still had the benefits? It was unheard of, unnatural, completely.... New.... But was it? Everyone knew that Dreamon medicine was far more advanced than any other known species and some people had even traded for some of the ill gotten knowledge over the years in order to improve medical practices across the known universe. Some of the more closely guarded Dreamon secrets though included the remarkable regeneration, and accelerated rate of healing apparent in all their lab subjects. After all, Dreamon used things until there was nothing left for them to learn and it wouldn't make sense to kill them immediately, or even cause immediate permanent damage.

Sapnap had a feeling that all of that was somehow based on Dream's apparent knowledge of modifying potions, heck he wouldn't be surprised if Dream could brew potions just as well as the best black market dealers, that is if his theory was correct for now though....

"Sure, I can do that."

The moment of stunned silence had stretched long enough that Dream had paused mid motion to stare nervously at Sapnap. But his quiet agreement made the Dreamon relax and he turned back to his various beakers, heating elements, refiners, bottles, and vials. Sapnap spent the next thirty tic's carefully and painstakingly making sure that the six tubes he was setting up would infuse into the stasis tube, and the Comat as efficiently as possible.

Exactly thirty tic's later, Dream stood, six glowing vials held carefully in between his claws. He pressed each into a different port and then checked each one one more time before pressing the button to begin the infusion. The glowing green, purple, pink, gold, blue, and red potions hissed and bubbled as the tubs were slowly emptied into the clear solution that the Comat hung suspended in, the liquid began to bubble and change color, before long it was a deep glowing amber that moved slower then before almost like a plasma rather than liquid.

Sapnap watched in morbid fascination as the Comat's pale blue skin slowly darkened to a healthier hue, the wounds sealed over, and bright red and white fungi began to sprout and unfurl from his spine, around his ears, and a large one began to grow atop his head covering the oozing blue skin. Healthy brown fur began to grow beneath the red cap atop his head, and in soft tufts between the red fungi along his spine. Dream kept circling the tube during the whole process and Sapnap followed him splitting his attention between the miraculously healing Comat, and the clearly anxiety filled Dreamon.

Dream kept chewing on the tip of his second claw as he watched the man in the pod heal, the Comat was almost entirely healed when Dream abruptly turned and headed for the door. The suddenness of it caught Sapnap by surprise and he paused by the pod, trying to figure out what Dream was up to. Dream called over his shoulder as he disappeared through the doorway, his voice slightly strained.

"I'm going to go get him some new pants and underclothes that aren't torn to shreds, i'll be back in just a tic. Feel free to let him out and help him shower and dry off when the pod finishes."

Then he was gone, vanishing into the darkened hallways much like he had earlier that day, and leaving Sapnap with the unknown in their ship, and a healthy amount of concerned bafflement.

Shrugging it off he turned when the pod beeped and he pressed the button to begin to drain it. As the pod slowly drained, the Comat began to stir, and not long after Sapnap had opened the top, he opened up pure empty hollow sockets. Sapnap resisted the urge to flinch as he stared into those empty pools of white and spoke his voice soft, and hopefully reassuring.

"Hello, my name is Sapnap. Me and my friend rescued you from the traffickers earlier and my friend did his best to heal you. He is grabbing you some new clothes right now, but while we wait if you want there is a shower cube over there with some fresh towels."

Sapnap gestured awkwardly over to the rinsing station with its thin walls and a soft gray towel hanging on a hook beside it. The Comat blinked at him in surprise before slowly reaching up a hand to touch his head and the soft fur and fungi that were there. Those huge empty white pools widened in shock, but then he just sort of nodded awkwardly and made his way over to the shower. About five minutes into his shower, Dream returned. He set the clothes and a strange brush-like tool on the ledge next to the shower before he spoke his voice soft and nervous.

"I- I'm just going to leave these for you out here, feel free to bring the towel in with you and change inside the stall....I'm- I'mma just go and- uhh- check on something."

Then Dream darted for the hall, surprised, Sapnap quickly followed and caught the Dreamon by the arm, careful to keep his hand cooled rock so as to not accidentally burn the guy.

"Dude what's wrong?"

Dream looked away, his breathing uneven, but after a shaky breath he spoke.

"I-...I can't be in the open. If he sees me he's going to think we just saved him so I could experiment on him... an- and well, the pod, a...and the room, just all of that reminded me of- of THERE, and I just- what if I hurt him? What if I can't help myself and he gets hurt? Just cause I can feel empathy and other emotions doesn't mean I'm not curious just like the rest of THEM, what- what if I can't stop and I do something I'll regret to my core?"

The Dreamon stared up at Sapnap his green eyes wide with panic and his voice edged with hysteria. Sapnap released his hold on Dream and took a step back in surprise, a mistake on his part. Dream seemed to take the action the wrong way since he sadly nodded and dashed away down the hall, something green and wet dripping from his face as he went that Sapnap could swear were tears.

He...He hadn't thought about it, not really, but Dream had been raised on that planet alone in his ability to feel. But clearly whatever the people who raised Dream did, whatever Dream did before he'd saved Dream, it haunted him, and the curiosity comment. He'd known that Dreamon's were driven by it, but he couldn't imagine the strain it would cause to fight one of his own base instincts with his own moral compass. Was that what Dream was doing? Was that curiosity more than just something that Dreamon's sought, or was it more than that? Was it something they literally couldn't help? All of that aside, what was he supposed to do now that Dream had disappeared?! In the time that he'd been standing here the shower had turned off, and now the Comat was standing nervously in the doorway behind him dressed in the new pants and a hand rubbing at one of his shoulders as he fidgeted. Did Dream seriously expect him to do this by himself? Sighing internally Sapnap turned to the Comat and smiled gently,

"Hey, would you like some food, mister... um.."

He trailed off and the Comat's nose scrunched slightly at the honorific.

"My names George, and seriously don't call me mister that was just so weird, and um-"

He fidgeted again his temporary courage leaving him after he'd told Sapnap off,

"I definitely, ummm- I mean- uh yea food would be good."

Sapnap smiled at the Com- no George and gestured for him to follow. He'll figure out the Dream situation later, for now he had someone who needed his help, and being raised by the ridiculous softy that was his dad, he found himself unable to ignore this poor kid.

"Then come on, let's get you something to eat."

As Sapnap led George to the kitchen, unbeknownst to him, Dream had circled behind them and returned to the medbay and grabbed a few things before returning to the room he and Sapnap had shared for the last two days.

And as Sapnap slowly began to get to know George as he cooked dinner, he was totally unaware of a certain Dreamon, slowly removing a cloak and tunic stained with black blood. As he and George laughed at a joke, the Dreamon slowly tried to clean out a gaping wound from a Faz'er in his side. As George slowly settled into comfortable banter with the Archea, the Dreamon found a poisonous shard stuck in the wound, the kind that only specialty Faz'ers like in the marketplace earlier, could fire. As George slowly began to eat the food Sapnap had made, Sapnap was left blissfully unaware of what was happening in the room only a few doors down from the kitchen.

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Dream's POV:

Dream took a deep breath as he stared at the hook shaped shard in his side, it glowed a sickening ominous red from beneath the shine of his pitch black blood. He took a shuddering breath and then biting into one of his spare shirts to try and prevent himself from bleeding out, he took one more steadying breath and with careful precision wrapped the thin ends of two of his claws around the shard and pulled. It hurt oh stars it hurt but it was moving slowly inching from the wound in his side bit by agonizing bit, and then it caught.

Dream should have known that the shard had barbs after all he'd seen those Fa'zer's in action before he shouldn't be surprised, but the sheer pain of it catching on the irritated soft flesh around his stomach made him release a small mewl of pain that he immediately tried to choke back.

Unbeknownst to him, in the kitchen down the hall Sapnap's ear twitched at the sound, some instinct in him telling him something was wrong. But when Dream made no more sounds the Archea went back to his conversation with the Comat ignoring the sound Dream had made.

Dream was on his knees now, gasping from the sheer unimaginable pulsing pain in his side, in that moment he wished just briefly that he was like other Dreamon's and couldn't feel, cause oh how much feeling HURT right now. Dream shook his head. That was a terrible thought, and one he didn't really believe, he had to get this shard out, he had to!

Gritting his teeth, he reached for it again, breathing deep he watched a few dark splotches of blood splatter on the ground. Then abruptly he yanked again at the foreign object in his side with a soundless cry of pure agony.

This time he pulled it halfway out of his side, though his vision was now blurry at the edges from the pain. He snarled wordlessly and silently at the wall in concentration and yanked one more time, freeing the shard from his flesh.

He collapsed from the pain, his hand wrapped tightly around the shard in his hand as he held his other hand to the wound in his side trying to slow the gushing stream of blood that followed the removal of the shard. Taking heaving, shuddering breaths he dragged himself to the bandages he'd placed on the bed and began to shakily wrap the wound in his side. He knew he should flush it out, and push the poison out of his system, but he was just so tired, and it just hurt so bad, it couldn't hurt too much to leave it for later right? Besides, he had to clean up before Sapnap got back. Yeah it would be fine for now.

Dimly a voice in the back of his head screamed that no, it very much COULD hurt if he left it be, but Dream ignored it, and merely tied off the bandages around his waist before staggering to his feet. Stumbling clumsily about, he picked up the clothes and such he had laid out to catch the blood and threw them in the laundry chute in the wall. After putting the bandages away and washing his hands he stared blearily at a few black stains that had seeped into the metal around his bed. Wondering what to do about them. He knew for a fact that Dreamon blood was downright impossible to clean out of metal, but how could he hide it from Sapnap?

Something in the back of his mind asked why he was even hiding it from the kind Archea, but another voice screamed that they didn't know for sure if the Archea was different from the Dreamons. That they didn't KNOW if the Archea would help or just make it worse. Dream didn't want to regenerate, it brought back bad memories and he hated being forced inside his core, it made him feel small, vulnerable. So he'd chosen to instead bandage his wounds instead of just exploding his current physical form and regenerating it.

Deep inside of him Dream knew he was being stupid but couldn't find it in himself to care, and so he focused for a moment more on the blood staining the ground around his bed and then shoved a blanket there, making it look as if it had fallen off his bed. Then gingerly he curled up atop the bed, his vision still blurry and black at the edges as he wrapped himself in another blanket and curled tight into himself. As he dozed off he registered faintly that a burning had started in the wound as if it was heating up, but Dream was far too tired to care. It would be ok, curling even tighter tears in his eyes. Dream squeezed his eyes tighter shut. It would be ok.....

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CYBER: I am not totally happy with this chapter, but hey it was necessary for plot, so I do sincerely hope you enjoy! Tell me your favorite part in the comments below.