Broken Together (MCYT au)

Chapter 62: One Step Forward

"Hold still, I need to fit these on you."

"I've been sitting like this for hours and I don't even get to fly today?"

Grian shook his head and continued to take measurements of the first product, slowly examining the broadness of Dream's shoulders compared to his own much smaller frame. "We might have to make another copy; I can't have you testing a pair of A-Elytra too small-" Grian sighed whilst Dream looked at the board of haphazardly written notes that he was told to examine.

Ultramodern technology, the A-Elytra was supposedly an artificial version of the infamous elytra which was found in a discovered End City by an older discovery group. Unfortunately for the group, the original pair of mechanical wings were damaged far beyond repair, and it was completely out of the question to think about putting them to use. With this, many groups, including the Hermitcraft guild, put in much of their efforts in discovering a substitution for the elytra, recent successes being the A-Elytra.

Techno stood on the side, watching as both Grian and Mumbo worked on the measurements. "How long would it take to make another one?" He asked, watching as the taller of the two sighed and glanced out the window. "Couldn't we just go to the end and find a real one?"

"There are no guarantees of finding another one- only one End City has ever been discovered and we don't have the luxury of time," Mumbo shook his head, Grian releasing his hands from the wings, the widest smile on his face.

"That should be good, a temporary solution so you can get a feel for them!" He grinned, stepping back to admire his work. "They are a little small but I loosened a few gears so they should work-"

Dream stood up and stretched a bit, Mumbo handing him a small metal piece with aquamarine highlights. "Using skulk connections, this should allow the wings to open and close the way that you want!" He chuckled a bit, Dream placing it behind his ear. "You got this!"

Dream chuckled a bit, stepping out onto the remains of the porch which belonged to the room that the hermits called their temporary workshop (left in the remains of the castle). "That's all? No other instructions?" He looked at the small group that had congregated to watch his first attempt. The hermits had stopped their tasks and stood, waiting for him to supposedly jump. Techno was there, watching their plans become reality while George was standing on the sides in silence.

"Well..." Dream looked down, hardly a fall at all if the wings decided to not work. If anything, he would be fine jumping down without any protection whatsoever. "Here goes nothing!"

~

"A few more tweaks and Grian says it'll be ready for perfect flight-" George finished wiping off the grass on Dream's cheek, already seeing a small bruise starting to form. "When they said jump, they did not intend for you to fall face down," George shook his head, making sure that Sapnap and Bad were not in the room. "We can't hide you being Zayne's puppet if you go and injure yourself under his control-"

"I needed some fresh air," Dream's distorted voice spoke, eyes glowing white. "I haven't been out in so long, I needed this!" Not Dream entirely, no matter how much George wanted it to be just the two of them. It was a ghost; a psychotic ghost was possessing his best friend and all George could do was watch. "The thrill of the fall was euphoric, even if only for a few seconds."

"This isn't about you, Zayne," George shook his head, reaching for the journal to document this. "This is about Dream and the people he's protecting." He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists as he turned away. "Dream knows more about you than I do, but I don't like you-" George made it quite clear of his dislike, only when Dream couldn't hear him.