Of a Flock

Chapter Ten

Run, his mind was saying. Get as far away from him as you can.

Dream ground his teeth and planted his heels more firmly into the dark brick. He now had all the answers he could ever need. The fire burning inside of him helped him stand up and push Punz off, and he turned to face Techno.

"Hello," he greeted coldly, balling his fists up.

Techno stopped like the words hit him like a wall. "Dream, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing other than somebody who doesn't care an ounce about me!" Dream snarled, feeling his feathers stand up on edge. His glare flashed the storm that was rumbling inside of him. "Other than their own benefit."

"What do you even mean?" He narrowed his eyes at the team standing behind. "What did you tell him?"

"Please don't kill Punz or I!" Purpled blurted out, rustling his wings. "He's too cool and rich to die! And I'm too young!"

"Do you like to enchant things, right?" Dream asked, laser focused on the pink-winged avian. He watched as Techno paled, and it sparked more lightning inside of him. "How come you couldn't tell me about a certain tower, hmm? Tell me that! You and your entire family were weird around me from the beginning! And I can't believe that I trusted you guys enough not to ask what the heck you guys were talking about!"

"Dream, yes, that was the goal in the beginning—"

"So you admit it," he growled, feeling his body shake.

"But I'm not protecting you just because I want to enchant my Ace of Peace!" he continued in a louder voice, ignoring his slipping crown. "I'm protecting you because I feel the need to! It's the same thing my father has! When he sees a baby chick, he can't help but want to mother over them, and it's happening to me! I want to protect you Dream, not because I get something out of it, but because I would hate myself if I didn't!"

"Oh, how cute!" Dream spat. "How utterly adorable. I'm glad that's how you think. Maybe, if you really did care about me, you could have told me why you guys kidnapped me as soon as you saw me instead of pretending like that never happened. What more do you have to tell me!?"

"Nothing, Dream, I promise!"

"You know what? I'll believe you." Dream whirled around and brushed past Punz and Purpled who studied their weapons like they were searching for any imperfections. From a single glance, he saw that Punz was stiff, and staring, while Purpled practically reclined against the wall like he was at a party instead of in the middle of an argument.

"Dream, wait!"

"Wait for what?" he asked, listening to the stomp of his caretaker coming closer. "For another lie to pop up? For you to tell me how sorry you are, when I really don't care?"

"We're still a team," Techno said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Dream shrugged it off and glared.

"No. A team works together. That's exactly what we're not doing. Or, really, what you're not doing."

"To be fair, I've been the one who would comfort you down," he went on, following. "I tried to make sure you don't get hurt, but then you would run off. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the Magical Tower, but would you have even agreed to go once you knew?"

"I actually might have," he retorted.

The boots of Techno paused for a second before hurrying closer. "Dream, please, how can I make this up to you?"

"By leaving me alone."

"That's not—"

"We can help with that," Punz interrupted. Dream stopped and eyed him at the same time Purpled's enchanted sword clattered to the floor.