A Matter of Time || Dreamnotfound

16

The house was empty when Dream decided to wake the mortals.

He gently woke them and they left Puffy's house shortly before sunset. Their walking was quiet, the only sound being the chilly breeze ruffling through the tree leaves.

The crickets had stopped recently, disappearing as the weather grew colder. Dream could tell that they would need warmer clothes soon. So, before they left the area completely, they went back into the town.

Dream bought three cloaks and heavier layers, trading out their boots for thicker ones. With the leaves beginning to fall, the winter chill was obviously on the way and the three mortals took the warmer clothes with gratitude.

Then they were back on the road, heading northwest― to Technoblade.

Out of the blue, George asked, "Dream, how do we know the dagger will work? What if we have the wrong one?"

Dream cast a glance to his left, studying George. He replied, "I don't know for sure, but we're on our way to see someone." Dream pulled out the paper that Puffy had given him and handed it to George. "The place we're going... it has many scholars that hopefully will be able to translate the writing."

George's eyes skimmed the paper before he handed it back to Dream. He asked, "Where are we going?"

"To Kinoko Kingdom― home of the largest library in the world."

~

The group travelled through the night, well rested after staying at Puffy's. There wasn't much conversation. Dream mulled over the numerus scenarios that could go wrong in Kinoko Kingdom. The kingdom was terrifyingly large with a large population and an skilled army of mercenaries that were trained to kill from a young age.

The land there was beautiful, filled with exquisite architecture and decorated with mushrooms. It was a peaceful kingdom, one that avoided war, but if needed, would go to war for an ally. The cities in it's lands were also peaceful, but Dream didn't know how the people would react to him, specifically, being there.

Dream wasn't well liked there.

It would make sense, because he had killed one of the kings many decades ago. An order that Techno had given him and a mission that Dream completed after weeks of studying guard patrols from sitting up on rooftops and mapping out the territory.

He didn't think anyone would recognize him, most of the people who might were either really old or dead. Dream hoped they still didn't have a bounty on his head, but he had to be prepared for the worst.

The large castle of Kinoko Kingdom loomed in the distance, taking Dream's breath away. The sight was spectacular, it had changed greatly since Dream had been there last. He wondered how much their security has changed since he assassinated a former king.

As they neared the gates, Dream pulled his hood up. He scanned the path ahead of them warily, spotting several guards posted. There was a line of foreigners waiting to get into the kingdom and the guards were searching bags and pulling back hoods, asking for names and places of origin.

Dream swore and stopped, pulling the mortals out of the line. They gave him confused looks, but Dream just pulled them far away from the gates and the people.

"Dream?" Sapnap asked, confused, "What's going on?"

Dream paced back and forth, muttering, "We need a new plan. A way for me to sneak through. I can't show my face here."

"What do you mean?"

Dream continued to mutter to himself, "Well, technically they haven't seen my face, just my mask, so that's a plus, but... with my ears― they'll get suspicious. Fae aren't common, so they'll do a background check on me." Dream pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, fuck."