Of a Flock

Chapter Five

"Can you remind me again why we split up, Techno?"

"Just trust me, Dream."

"Trust you?!" Dream asked in a low whisper, bringing his arm up to his mouth. Drips of constant water leaked nearby, and he wondered if it led to a lake. His wings felt heavy from the moisture around him, and he wanted to wash the jungle sweat off. Call it a birdbath. "You're literally trying to kill me right now!"

Dream could practically hear Techno roll his eyes when he sighed. "All right, just to make you quit complaining and to compensate for your early death, I'll make you a deal. You can have my crown for five minutes, no longer. You want the shiny thing, right?"

His fingers twitched when he thought about the gold flashy item. "U-hm." He swallowed and shook his head. "Th—at sounds good, but I can't. Especially not if I'm dead."

Dream brushed a leaf away, panting from the warm heat. His wings were folded up against his back, not trusting the grabby plants around him. "All right, chickee—"

"What had we talked about!?" he interrupted, running his eyes over the shifting shadows everywhere. "Don't call me that!"

Dream heard a smirk come out of the com. "Aww, what's wrong, chickee? Can't handle a nickname?"

"It's a stupid nickname!" He stepped over a log, blazing through a trail of his own only for it to disappear behind him.

"Heh. Anyway, how about you get the crown for five minutes and I preen your wings first when we settle down for the day? Considering you live, of course. You do need to learn, but we can hold that off for once."

His wings fluttered at that, and he bit his lip. Shiny thing and Techno has to preen my wings? Will I ever get another chance like this? "Fiiiiiine," he groaned, smiling. "I'll stop complaining and try to survive. Can't handle some words?"

"Ouch. Nice comeback," Blade laughed. "But please focus on your task. They have two of your numbers already, I don't know how they find any in this MAZE of a world, but I need to make sure that you are safe first. I know my limits, but I don't know yours."

Dream spun his knife, tempted to whistle with the birds around him. "Well, I am a badass villain on the run. What do you do for a living? Farm potatoes? I bet that can be fun too."

"You saw the potato field. I know you did. And potatoes are very healthy, actually."

He clamped a hand over his mouth to stop the burst of laughter from exploding out and ruining the mission. "I didn't. I just—"

Something in front of him moved and he dove under a large leaf. "I'll call you back." he said hastily before turning off the com. He took a breath of the warm sticky air and crawled closer to whoever had upset the scenery.

"Did you see something?" a hesitant voice asked.

Nobody answered at first, but a few jungle plants bowed to a hand that brushed through them. The second person sighed. "No. Thought I heard somebody over here, but this jungle keeps tripping me up. There's too much noise everywhere."

"We already have three numbers, Quackity. We better watch out. Others will be trying to get them."

"I know, I know Sam." Dream saw a glimpse of a man looking around before the plants moved again, hiding him.

His heartbeat fluttered up. Oh my gosh, so many things could be wrong. He swallowed and pulled the bow from behind his back, gripping one of the wooden arrows. The stone lodged on the end of the arrow pulled down, like a comfortable weight.