The Withering-Dreamnotfound {Sequel Out Now!}

Throwaway Joke

          Dream tried to gasp for air, but instead swallows water as he's dragged down to the bottom of the lake. The hand around his ankle was gripping him tightly and, despite kicking the shit out of whatever was holding him, would not let go. In the darkness of the water, Dream is able to make out a crowd of glowing blue eyes growing closer. He starts to feel his lungs burn as he looses what little breath he has left.

          "It's a man! WITH A TRIDENT!" George yells, running back to the water with Dream's sword in his hand.
          Sapnap screams as he feels something grab him. "ITS A GURGLER!" He manages to yell before being dragged under the water.
          Bad swims to Sapnap and dives under the water to help free him from the Drowned holding onto him. The Drowned was pulling Sapnap towards the area that Dream was in. Bad pries the Drowned's fingers off of Sapnap's legs as Sapnap desperately swims upwards. Just before he lost his breath, Bad was able to get Sapnap free. They both surfaced just as George dove into the deep end of the lake.
          George swam down, trying his best not to cut himself on the iron sword in his left hand. Below him, he could see Dream wrestling to get his ankle free. Blood drifted up in the water as the Drowned's nails ripped into Dream's skin. George swings the sword down at the Drowned, but the water significantly slows the blade down, doing little damage to the monster. Realizing that the sword won't help much, he lets go of it and lets it float to the surface and tries to pull Dream free instead.
          The more George pulled, the more the Drowned would rip into Dream's flesh. The Drowned with the trident tried to take George, but he was able to kick the thing away from him. The Drowned threw his trident at George and just barely missed his chest. The trident grazed over George's right arm, leaving three bloody streaks where the trident passed. Below him, George could see that Dream wasn't struggling anymore.
          George swam to the surface and gasped for air. "MY BOW!" he yelled to Bad and Sapnap, who had just reached reached the shore. Sapnap picks up the bow and a few arrows and throws it. George manages to catch it just as he's pulled back under the water. He loads an arrow into his bow and fires at the Drowned pulling him down. It pierces the monster's head and sends it floating down to the bottom of the lake. George got excited when he realized he found a way to fight back. He looks back to Dream, who was being taken to some sort of small underwater temple. He fires an arrow at the Drowned holding him and it lands in the monster's arm, making it let go of Dream. George swims over to Dream and pulls him to the surface as a hoard of the monster's follow them.
George surfaces and takes in a deep breath. He holds Dream in his left arm as he paddles with his right. His arm was burning from the trident hit, but he was only focused on getting to shore. Sapnap jumped into the water and helped bring Dream to the sand. The two drag him out of the water just in time to escape the Drowned that were right behind them.
As much as George wanted to take a breather, he couldn't. Dream was unconscious and his face was a very light shade of blue.
"He's not breathing!" Sapnap yells.
George crouches onto the ground. "Sapnap, does he have a pulse?" he asks as he turns Dream's head to the side, allowing a little bit of water to drain from his nose.
Sapnap shakes his head. "Either I cant find it, or he doesn't."
George moves Sapnap's fingers to a spot in Dream's wrist. "Keep your fingers there and tell me when you feel a pulse. Just stay calm." George looks down at Dream's shredded ankle and says, "Bad? Start wrapping his ankle. We don't want him loosing anymore blood." Bad starts digging through his bag and pulls out a bundle of wool and a small first aid kit. George turns Dream's head back to the center and begins pressing firmly onto his chest three times. After a few beats, he does it again. He then pinches Dream's nose and opens his mouth, breathing into him a few times. He then returns to pressing against his chest. The pain is George's arm would've been unbearable had it not been for Dream. In that moment, he didn't care about anything except reviving his friend.
Just as he went to breathe into him again, Sapnap shouts, "IVE GOT A PULSE!" His tell was followed by Dream coughing up water. George turns his face to the side to keep him from choking. He takes a few deep breaths before turn his head and opening his eyes. Dream studies George's worried look as he towers over him. George was pale and his deep brown eyes were red. But his worried expression becomes one of relief as he pulls Dream up and into a hug.
Dream tried to hug him back, but he brushed against George's hurt arm, making him recoil in pain. "You're arm," Dream says softly. His voice was rough, almost sounding like Dream was struggling to speak.
"I'm fine," George says, gripping his arm. "I'm so thankful you're ok."
Sapnap punches Dream. "Don't you EVER do stupid stuff like that ever again!" Sapnap has definitely been crying. His face was all puffy. "You scared the shit out of all of us!"
"Sapnap, calm down," Bad says. "George literally brought him back to life. Give him a little before you yell at him."
Dream looks at George. "You brought me back?"
George avoids eye contact. "Someone had to do CPR and no one else was jumping in. I did what I had to do."
Dream pulls him into a hug, avoiding the gashes on his arm this time. "Thank you," he whispers. George doesn't respond, but Dream could feel him smile against his shoulder.
"Let's set up camp here tonight," Bad decides. "We need to make sure Dream recovers ok before we continue." Bad gets up and heads for a cluster of trees to get wood.
Dream starts to get up. "Bad, I'm fine!" But as soon as he puts weight on his right ankle, he falls back down. That's when he notices his ankle is wrapped up in wool.
          "That Drowned fucked your ankle up," Sapnap explains. "Bad cleaned and wrapped it while George kissed you to life."
          George laughs, turning away from them to hide his red face. "When you say it like that, it sounds really inappropriate."
          Sapnap helps Dream up and wraps his arm around his shoulder to help support him as they walk to Bad. George looked back to the water and noticed his bow and Dream's sword were still in the water. They thankfully drifted back to shore. He picked them up and followed Sapnap and Dream away from the dangerous lake.