Dreamcatcher Imagines

𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗴 | fool me once | 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥

Reader Is: Neutral Age (Fantasy AU)
Categories: Angst, Fantasy, Romance
Summary: Handong and the reader attempt to restore the Tree of Language by finding the Amulet of Good Speech hidden within.

♡

Han Dong sat on the edge of the bridge, her feet just barely skimming the water underneath it, but her mind clearly floating far away from her.

"Dongdong?"

Handong smiled slightly as her consciousness drifted back to her before she glanced over her shoulder at you.

"I'm ready."

When you first met Handong, you were simply enchanted by her beauty and sweet charm. You'd had no idea that she was a Dreamcatcher.

You had only heard their legend before, never encountered one. You believed that the supernatural demon huntresses existed, but since they fought battles typically invisible to mortals like you, their presence wasn't obvious to you.

But when Handong tearfully confessed it to you when a fight had left her with too many injuries to hide, you knew that you would do anything you could to help. You were ready to risk your life for her.

"Hurry along, then." She sprung to her feet and headed down a nearby path, running so lightly you'd think that she was floating – and then, in an instant, she was.

Her hand outstretched, the tree at the base of the path began to shake and part its base for violet light to beam through. Its aura created a smoky haze over the oaken stairs, but you leapt up them with ease, for you had long ago memorized how they felt underneath your feet.

With a quick look back, Handong grabbed your hand with her free one. Electricity surged through you at once, and you reached out in front of you to join her in surrounding yourselves with golden beams of light.

Almost immediately, the smoke found you.

"Shit! Go that way," Handong yelled. She pushed you away from her and towards the right, where a white hallway was waiting for you to lose yourself in its maze. It was always ironic to you, the bright nature of the lair underneath the Tree of Language.

When it had been invaded and the Amulet of Good Speech stolen, why hadn't the demons covered the walls with their purple smoke?

At least it made them easier to see. They flew like bullets towards you, choking you with their smog trails if they didn't hit you. They hurt, yes, but that wasn't the true danger.

If they could get past your barrier of light, they could kill you.

And your light wasn't yours to begin with.

It was Handong's.

Everything was hers, from the responsibility to restore the Tree of Language to the protection that she could allow you. Her six teammates were tied up in the middle of the lair. You had never even gotten to meet them before you fell in love with Handong. She was the only one left.

Lifeless beings, those women were; shells of humans that varied in height and size but were beautiful just the same. They stared ahead blankly as though dead, but they were simply comatose.

Once the Amulet of Good Speech had been recovered, they could be as well. The natural light inside them was enough to keep them alive. They couldn't be killed by the demons as you might be.

But the task was in finding the Amulet. The Tree of Language was a maze, naturally, as it formed in roots with twists and turns. You could only spend a few minutes alone without Handong rushing back to restore your light. Luckily, she always seemed to have a knack for finding you.

You batted at the pesky demon over your shoulder with a beam from your hand, using the other ray of light you had to navigate the way ahead. Your pace had accelerated to a run. There was no hiding, only battling.

You had thought long and hard about how to approach finding the Amulet over time. You and Handong always pored over maze research together, trying to use it to your advantage, and you thought that you might have finally pinpointed a viable technique.

It would be your first time in the Dreamworld armed with your newfound knowledge.

Since the demons couldn't really touch the Amulet, only guard it, you presumed that it would likely be where it always had been. If your research proved correct, you could find the Amulet with a simple trick.

You repeated it in your head over and over as you dodged and ducked your way down three more hallways, keeping an eye on the plum cloud that seemed to follow you incessantly. There was always one.

But for as dangerous and scary as they were, their presence was almost helpful. As you headed down the route that you had mapped out in your head, they seemed to get more plentiful, surrounding you and trying to push you back. That hinted to you that you might be getting closer.

Your light was getting a little dimmer, but it was enough to keep the demons at bay. In no time at all, you were sure, Handong would return to your side.

At least, you hoped that wholeheartedly, because when she got there, you'd need her help for sure to run out with that dancing, glimmering orb just appearing in your field of vision. The Amulet.

But for the moment, you were alone. The demons around you had multiplied until they nearly formed a tornado around you. With every ounce of electric strength left in your body, you wielded them all away with one swipe of your hand. The other reached out and snatched the Amulet in record time.

Or, at least, you attempted to. But the moment that it hit your skin, the orb shattered into a million pieces.

You might have wondered what the hell you had just done if you hadn't been knocked flat onto your back. Suddenly, all the demons that had surrounded you were hovering to one side. When you looked back over, there was a different figure standing over you.

Fuck, what was that? Your best guess was that it was a demon that had taken on a shape similar to that of a human – perhaps a ruler of some sort – rather than one that took on the simpler smokey form that you were used to. You didn't know that they could shape-shift, but there was lots of information Handong hadn't yet relayed to you.

As the lavender haze around you began to fade a bit, you noted the being's black mask and suit. It was the same as that of the Dreamcatchers, yet no light emanated from the demon's skin. An amethyst aura surrounded it instead.

When slender fingers reached up to pull away the mask, a terrifyingly familiar laugh sent a shiver down your spine.

"Any last words? You have...oh, about fifteen seconds."

"H-Handong...!"

"That's right, I'm not a Dreamcatcher, yada yada. All those other bitches I tied up in here said the same thing," Handong replied boredly. Her voice was chilling, completely unlike anything you had ever heard – nothing like the Handong that you knew, or rather, thought you knew.

"Since your tainted little mortal self with your history of bad language took care of the Amulet for me, we'll never have to worry about the Dreamcatchers again, now, will we?" she chuckled. "But it's too bad that you have to die, too. I think I will miss playing with your little heart."

The last thing you saw were her lips on yours, taking away your final breath.

Greedy until the end.