the wall that divides us | DNF au

two

dream

"Okay, but no, I mean it this time, honestly," the same words escaped Dream's best friend's mouth today like they did any other day. Installing false hope into his mind that today, like every other repetitive day, would be different. Something exciting was on the horizon. 

"I'm not trying to burst your bubble of pure fucking optimism here, Sapnap, but you've said that every day for the past decade," Dream said as he peered over his shoulder, smirking at the figure behind him on the broken-down bridge that once hovered over a body of water which now clung on for dear life above an empty abyss of waste.

"You know, Dream, you always seem to brighten just about every day I spend with you." The bandana-wearing brunette said with slumped shoulders. Then, with a scoff, the blonde turned, swinging his legs around the metallic bar he was previously perched on, a pair of large leather boots now making contact with the eroded concrete. 

"Don't shoot the messenger, buddy; the universe simply has it out for you and your obnoxious belief that 'greatness will come our way.'" Dream retaliated as he kicked a bit of rubble around. 

"Right, well, without this 'obnoxious' optimism, both you and I would be throwing ourselves lame-ass pity parties every fucking day," the light brunette said with a sigh, leaning against a rusted vehicle that once belonged to those that came before us. At the same time, he fiddled with one of the arrows he made himself. "Why are we out here anyway? I'm missing important training right now," he continued as he aligned the arrow with his bow, aiming for something behind the taller man. 

Sapnap and Dream have dedicated soldiers-in-training for the regime their people established only a few years after Dream was born. What the boys had been trained to fight against, Dream had always been unaware of. Most first-year trainees had just learned once they faced the phenomena head-on without warning. 

"We're here," Dream started, pulling his bag from his back before placing it on the hood of the vehicle Sapnap was leaning on moments prior with a thud. "To celebrate," he added while swiftly pulling out two bottles of beer. A whistle of air passed right by the blonde's ear as Sapnap fired his arrow off at something in the distance. He smirked and dropped his bow to his side, making his way over to the bottles. 

"And I'm assuming we're celebrating something important?" he asked when his arrow was fired back towards him, hitting the rusted vehicle and shattering the only window left intact.

"Pretty sure that 'important something' is blondie's birthday," a voice said from behind Dream, which instinctively caused him to turn his head to look over his shoulder with a lopsided grin. 

"Nice aim, Quackity," the tall blonde observed while Sapnap struggled to find his arrow inside the structure. Three figures walked towards the duo, giving Dream a pat on the back while placing their drinks down. 

"So tell me why the most eligible bachelor has decided to ditch any woman willing to give you a good birthday gift for four rookie trainees playing hooky." One of the brown heads of hair spoke. 

"Karl, it just so happens those rookies playing hooky are the closest friends I've got, and that alone- albeit close second beats any night with a woman around here," Dream retorted with confidence as he opened his bottle with his teeth. 

"Well then, it's only fair these four rookies make a toast to the birthday boy," the other tall, shaggy-haired boy exclaimed before he discarded his black and white mask that covered his entire face,  throwing it to the side. "To the guy that reminds us daily that we live in a messed up wasteland and all the good days are far behind us. May he learn within the few years he's left that it's okay to smile and not hide behind a mask with a smile painted on it," this earned a laugh from the group. "Bit too artificial if you ask me," he looked over at the birthday boy with a playful wink as Dream scoffed at the comment while he fiddled absent-mindedly with his mask in his free hand. "To Dream," the unmasked boy finished his speech with his bottle raised in the air. 

"To Dream," the rest cheered in unison. 

"Thanks, Ranboo." Dream nodded curtly towards the taller one of the misfits. 

Hours dragged by, and the sun had gone down. Drunkenly, Quackity got up and giggled before speaking, "Okay, okay, hear me out," he started. "I know we've all wanted to investigate around the wall, right?" he asked, tossing his empty bottle to the side as it made a loud shattering sound in the distance. Silence fell among the group before Dream lifted his head and ushered for the shortest to continue. "Who's stopping us from checking it out? There hasn't necessarily been any rule saying we can't check it out," he gurgled, "only that no one's allowed to try and pass through it." 

Quackity made a good point, but there'd be no way to prove their innocence if they were to get caught. They had always been told that those built the wall before us for safety purposes, but as Dream turned his head to glance at it in the distance, curiosity started to build. "Fuck it, I say we go," the blonde stated as he pushed himself up from the vehicle before his bottle smashed at his feet. 

"Fucking- watch it, man, some of us would like to keep our eyes intact here," the shorter bandana-wearing man whined. Dream huffed and gathered his things before he placed his mask on his lightly freckled face. 

"Come on, I say by the time we get there and come back, the sun will have just about risen," he predicted, helping his friends up from the ground. 

Who knew why they had never scavenged around the wall before? It had always been there. Was it the ominous aura it gave off? Was it the vast amount of unexplored, empty land between their city and the structure that seemed too much of an effort to travel through? Regardless of all the excuses, the boys had refused to go near it all these years. Finally, it ended today, on the night of Dream's birthday, and they were about to try something new. And in doing so, everything would be different from here on out. 

--- 

Author's notes:
Hello again, AHH. I'm super excited. I just posted a TikTok regarding the aesthetic I wish to portray throughout this, and I'm hoping it progresses into becoming that. I hope you're all enjoying it so far; if it's from that very TikTok I made that's brought you here, I hope it will live up to your expectations, truly.

Have a lovely day <3

Edited 2/28/2022