Dreamtale Oneshots

I Will Keep You Safe

Thank you Undertale_Shipper2 for the amazing suggestion for this oneshot, I hope you like it :)

Nightmare can't remember the last time he had a decent sleep. Lately his mind has been plagued and tormented with a vicious onslaught of night terrors that seem to grow worse and worse by the day. He's taken all kinds of measures to try and prevent them from terrorising him: he's tried sleeping with a light on, sleeping with a teddy bear (though he won't admit it), - hell he even tried sleeping with their pet rock, Keith, as if hoping he'd be able to defend him. Everything he tried has failed; his mind will not let him rest. 

He was currently sat downstairs on the couch, holding a book out in front of him. He wasn't reading it though. He tried to, but he couldn't focus on the words before him. They seemed to dance and twirl about in his vision making him feel dizzy. He had dark patches beneath his eye-sockets and his eyes had a lost look about them. He didn't even notice Dream enter the room, let alone sit down besides him.

"Hello, Nightmare." Dream greeted cheerily, causing the other to jump in surprise, startled by the sudden voice. "Can we play outside? I'm bored."

Nightmare turned to look at Dream, his weary lilac eyes meeting hopeful golden-yellow ones. He couldn't say no. He wanted to. He wanted to tell Dream all about his nightmares and seek comfort. He wouldn't let himself do that though. He'd only be a bother and make Dream sad. At least, that's what he told himself.

"Sure, Dream." He mumbled, closing the book and letting it fall out of his grasp. Dream's smile wavered, a wave of concern for his brother washing over him. Was Nightmare okay? He was about to open his mouth and ask however was interrupted by Nightmare poking the space between his eye-sockets, saying something about being okay, as if he'd read his mind. Dream swatted his hand away, smiling again as he stood up, offering his hand out for him. Nightmare stared at the hand for a moment, lost in thought before snapping back into reality with the sound of Dream's voice. He didn't hear what he'd said. Sighing, Nightmare took his brother's hand and was pulled up off the couch.

"How about we play tag?" Dream suggested. Nightmare hummed, not entirely listening. He was watching the shadows prance around behind him. Surprisingly enough, they didn't scare him anymore- well, not as much as they used to. 

"Nightmare, are you okay? You keep spacing out." Dream waved his hand in front of his brother's face, trying to get him to pay attention. He was becoming increasingly worried. Did he always have those dark circles underneath his eye-sockets?

"Huh- yeah, I'm fine." Nightmare replied, blinking. 

"When was the last time you went to sleep?" Dream interrogated. "And I don't mean nap, actual sleep."

Nightmare frowned. He knew he hadn't slept for a while, even his naps had been short- maybe twenty or thirty minutes (forty if he was lucky) before he felt like he needed to wake up before the demons in his mind got a hold of him.

"I went to sleep yesterday." Nightmare lied, beginning to walk in the direction of the backdoor, passing Dream and gently tugging him along.

"Let's go play tag." 

Dream wasn't convinced however didn't want to agitate his brother so he simply nodded, trailing behind. The two exited their house and took a few steps forwards before Dream grinned mischievously and tagged Nightmare on the shoulder, yelling "Tag!" and running off, giggling to himself.

Despite how exhausted and out of it he felt, Nightmare couldn't help but crack a small smile, chuckling to himself before beginning to run after his brother.

The game of tag was going well; it had been around five, maybe six minutes and Nightmare felt fine- he was actually having fun. That is, until his body slowly became overcome with fatigue from the immense lack of sleep. He tried to ignore it, continuing to feebly chase after Dream however he could see the darkness creeping up in his vision. He felt himself slowing down, watching as the shadows around him seemed to grow and envelop him. He felt his legs give way, collapsing onto the grass pitifully. He could only let out a small whimper before the darkness consumed him. He'd passed out.