Monophobia

꧁Chapter 7꧂

Dream slowly pulled away from Jschlatt, sniffling a bit as he rubbed his eyes. His cheeks were burning and his eyes hurt. His head was pounding and his lungs felt like they were stabbed multiple times. But he felt completely numb, staring at the ground as his body jerked. Crying had always taken multiple hits on his health even if he was a ghost... His face was redder, especially his nose and cheeks. It was like he was barely holding himself together as he hugged himself again tightly, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his hoodie sleeves. Jschlatt just kept his hand resting on the boy's back, trying to make sure the boy had something to ground himself with. He sighed and had a small frown on his face as he tried to look anywhere but the small blonde by his side... But he couldn't help but glance at Dream almost every five seconds to make sure nothing had changed. The only thing that he noticed was Dream's eyes and their change in color. They were barely green, on the edge of turning completely black.

"Are you ok kid?" Jschlatt asked slowly, even though he knew that he probably wasn't. It took the blonde a few seconds to process the words coming out of the older man's mouth. Dream sniffled as his breath stuttered a bit, making the boy flinch in pain and gip his sides. Jschlatt was quick to reach over to help but Dream shook his head, taking in a painful long breath as he shifted into a position to sit easier. Jschlatt wanted to help but he obeyed the younger's wishes and just watched as he adjusted to sitting by himself. "You sure you don't need help there...? That cry took a lot out of you."

"I-I'll be fine... Hold on- Just give me a minute- I probably need to get back to Tommy and Wilbur as fast as possible- They're probably worried sick about me, especially Wilbur. I ran off out of nowhere and I don't think they know where I went," Dream drabbled off as he looked at the floor, his eyes focusing and refocusing. The blurriness was messing with him, Dream almost seeing double. The blonde shook his head to try and get his head back on track, struggling to focus his line of vision and keep his eyes from closing. But shaking his head made his headache worse and he flinched in pain from the sharp pounding in his head. He couldn't even get up from where he sat on the branch, his hands gripping onto the wood just so he could steady himself. His legs were aching and his arms hurt and all of his limbs were burning. After a while Dream gave up and just let himself slouch forwards... He didn't even know the way back to L'manburg from where they were.

"I wish I could believe you kid- I really want to believe that you'll be able to make it back home. But just take a second and look at yourself Dream... You're in no shape to stand" Jschlatt said with a small sigh as he watched the weak boy almost fall over again from exhaustion. "Why don't you stay with me for a little bit longer and wait out this burn out of yours... Then I can help you get back to L'manburg and help you find your friends. Either that or I'll get someone to take you back to L'manburg... I have my ways- And maybe someone I know can lead you back home," Jschlatt said and Dream just nodded, leaning most of his weight back onto the ram hybrid's shoulder. The man sighed, putting an arm around Dream's back and reaching over Dream with the other. He picked up the boy koala style, Dream barely gripping onto Jschlatt as the ghost floated down from the tree branch and down to the forest floor.

"I can bring you to my cabin and you can rest there... There might be someone there who might be able to help you get home so when you wake up you can immediately go. You might even know them... They're not too fond of me but we get along sometimes so they should be open to helping you. If they could help me then they should be able to help you." Jschlatt said as he held Dream tighter in his arms, the blonde going limp. He was worried for a few seconds when he didn't feel the blonde in his arms respond in any way. But then he felt the slow rise and fall of the boy's chest. He sighed and just let his eyes scan the area, trying to figure out where his home was and which direction they needed to go. Living in the forest wasn't the easiest thing but Jschlatt was able to get around all the issues and live a pretty stable life.