Almost But Not Quite Human

Behind The Mask (P1)

The cold weather finally found its footing in the SBI tree house, leaving a fine layer of frosted dew over the greenery each morning.

The Dream Team's plan was to wait until the winter thawed enough for them to continue their journey to Last Hope, which Technoblade was fine with but found ultimately useless.

What were they hoping to find there? If their village was infected, the people that were going to die would be dead already. But Techno was secretly kind-hearted underneath his monotone exterior, so he didn't tell them that. At least not yet.

As bad as Dream betrayed them, Techno enjoyed having him around - at least for a sparring partner. He was about to partake in one such spar now actually. Selecting a sword and crossbow as his wepons of choice, Techno practically slid down the ladder to meet Dream on the forest floor.

"Thought you weren't going to show up" the green-clad man teased.

Techno was quick to retort, "Hm, maybe I was just givin' you time to get ready, seein' as your definitely gonna need it."

Dream chuckled, and drew an axe from his belt. Unusually, he also had a fishing rod. Nodding to it Technoblade said, "You hoping to catch some fish after?"

"Nah, but I'm expecting to-" Techno smiled and swung with his sword: Dream barley managed to dodge the surprise attack, "tut tut Techno, fowl play."

Dream tried to cut Techno with the axe, but Techno was too fast for the axe's heavy blow, and countered by jumping back and loading the crossbow.

Techno fired off two arrows, one Dream jumped to the side of and the other he expertly cut down with the axe. Using his speed, Dream got behind Technoblade and tried the axe again to no avail.

The battle continued, but the fishing rod continued to nag at Techno; why had he brought it? Dream's fighting strategy had also changed since back when Techno trained him, yet Techno's hadn't. This gave Dream a bit of an advantage since he was familiar with the pig-man's fighting style. Yet round one ended with a sword at Dream's neck, and after a short rest the second round began.

Both fighters were warmed up now, and the fight was more fluid than even the most talented author could describe (wink). More comfortable with the fighting, this round also ended in many more bruises and cuts than the last one - but nothing a bit of rest couldn't heal. In the end, Dream was victorious by faking an uppercut but instead darting to the left to strike from the side. Techno's dodge threw himself off balance, and Dream was able to win.

This time Techno and Dream spent five minutes bandaging the nicks and cuts they received, and took a moment to ice the worst of their bruises.

Both thoroughly exhausted, but bursting with adrenaline and enthusiasm, the final round began.

After sustaining some heavy bruises on ons leg, Dream had mostly lost his speed advantage. Now he had to rely on his strength. Technoblade was aware of this after last round and hoped that one heavy hit would throw Dream off balance instead.
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The fight was still going, and at one point Technoblade almost amputated his opponents arm but luckily only cut it a little on the side. Dream hissed in pain, and Techno faltered. That wasn't good. Dream saw an opening for the offensive and took it gladly.

Trying to back off, Techno maneuvered to a sturdy looking tree, which he planned to use as a board to jump at Dream from. The surprise attack was partially successful, but only the jumping part. Dream seemed to have anticipated his moves and suspiciously drew the fishing-rod while Techno was mid-leap. In one deft movement of the wrist, Dream had snagged the hook onto Techno's top, and the rest of the line followed; tangling the mutated up.

Using his enhanced strength, Dream swung Technoblade around and into the trunk of a tree. That was gonna leave some sore bruises tomorrow, Techno might have even chipped one of his tusks. Falling to the floor, Techno faked a heavy injury to his side and saw Dream lower his guard slightly.

As Dream debated whether this was a trick or not, Techno sprung up from his kneeling position with the sword...Dream didn't dodge. Why didn't he move??

Two soft cruches were heard, as Dream's mask fell to the frosty floor in halves. Both fighters were frozen in shock, and a dribble of blood dripped down Dream's nose where Techno had just nicked him. Technoblade looked at the face of Dream, and didn't recognise it as the face of one of his oldest best friends. What had happened to the Dream he'd met so long ago? What had happened to change him so terribly?

It was still day, and the light was streaming through the trees. When the shock passed, Dream's senses caught up and his eyes were screaming in pain, the burning sensation spreading like tendrils over his face. He quickly stepped out of the light and under the shade of a tree but it was still pretty bright. Eyes watering terribly, he used some of the bandages to cover them yet still seemed to be able to see enough from the way he navigated toward his opponent.

Technoblade was still surprised, and didn't move when Dream walked past him. With a shakey voice, Dream said, "Tell no one." and he speed-walked back to the tree-house leaving  Technoblade alone.

He waited until Dream was out of sight, collecting himself. Then followed to the tree house. Wilbur met him at the top of the ladder.

"Hey Techno, how'd the fight go?"

Still distracted, Techno replied, "Uh yeah it was good."

Wilbur blinked and tilted his head to the side, "Is Dream not coming up yet?"

"He came up before me actually."

"I don't think so Techno, me and Tommy were hanging out here for ages... We didn't see him."  Wilbur's voice cracked slightly and he winced.

Techno was pretty sure he'd seen Dream come in this direction. "That's strange...I'm sure he'll join us soon anyway," Techno didn't see the point in worrying yet - Dream was able to take care of himself. "I wanted to talk to Tommy actually, where'd he go?"

"I was just about to follow him, come on we'll go together."

"Kay" Techno glanced back at the forest floor, before following his ghostly friend.
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Oh Dream, you can't just run away from your problems! It will not fix them!

What are your opinions on the story so far? What did you like, and what could be done better? I'd be happy to hear what you think!

Sincerely, a rusty tin opener