The Withering-Dreamnotfound {Sequel Out Now!}

Lion Hunter

A/N- Just hit 100 reads like WHAT??!? I started writing this story for myself and I didn't think anyone would read it, so having 100 reads is soooo crazy to me! I'm so glad that other people are enjoying my story. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. I love you guys! 💕 Ok, back to the story!

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Three days went by with still no sign of the Wither. The boys followed the flowers, but the trail appeared to be endless. Dream's ankle had been healing just fine and he was able to run on it pretty well. George's arm wasn't doing amazing, but it was better. Sapnap wasn't lying when he said that he'd have three badass scars. Dream found himself staring at the scars every once and a while, hoping that wasn't his third strike with George. After dealing with the Drowned, the group was much more careful about picking places to clean themselves and would just wash off and leave without playing games.
The air around them began to warm significantly as they found themselves at the start of a massive desert. Despite there not being any grass, there were still wither roses sticking out of the sand. "Do we have enough food and water for a few days?" Sapnap asks the group.
"We should be good to go," Dream responds.
"Good. There's no telling how long this desert will last for." Sapnap is the first to step into the warm sand, his feet digging into the ground whenever he tried to step.
          "Are you going to be ok?" George asks Dream, motioning to his ankle.
          "I'm sure I'll be fine," Dream responds with a reassuring smile.
          "Ok," George says, "but let me know if you need help. You can lean on me."
          Dream ruffles George's hair as he teases him. "Ok, shorty. Let's hope I don't crush you."
          "I'm average height!" George yells. They both laugh as they step into the desert.
          Almost immediately, George sweats through his shirt. Disgusted with himself, he peels it off and shoves it into his bag, leaving him in a tank top that hugged his torso perfectly. Dream hadn't really noticed how toned George's arms were when they went swimming. He wasn't super buff, but he wasn't boney either. Dream decides to take his hoodie off because he was getting hot, but he couldn't tell if it was George or the desert making his temperature rise.
          "Guys! Look!" Sapnap points in front of them. Not too far ahead was a pyramid. "I think that's one of those desert temples. I've never seen one in person before."
          Dream takes off running towards the temple, yelling behind him, "LAST ONE THERE IS A ROTTEN EGG!" He starts laughing as he sprints all the way to the temple. Once he reaches it, he looks back to see that his three friends were still walking. George was laughing, shaking his head at Dream. Dream could practically hear George calling him an idiot. He decides to duck into the temple to look around before his friends got there.
          The inside was dark and much cooler than outside. The only light coming into the open room was the entrance and a small opening at the top of the temple. On the ground, there was a weird pattern made out of colored terra-cotta and sandstone. Dream had remembered hearing about these places having treasure, but he didn't see any chests anywhere. He had thoroughly searched every corner of the place by the time his friends made it.
          "Dude, why'd you run ahead?" Sapnap asks Dream. "What if there was something dangerous in here?"
          "You guys were supposed to run with me!" Dream says.
"You're not acting like someone who just hurt their ankle," Bad points out. "Take it easy, ok?"
"Whatever. Now help me find the treasure!" Dream says, continuing his search.
While he looks around, George puts a furnace down. "I'm getting hungry and the Sun is draining all my energy. Anyone else hungry?"
Before anyone can answer, they hear someone outside yell, "SHIT!" followed by a large explosion that blasted a hole in the side of the temple. A girl with red hair flies through the opening and lands inches away from George, her sword skidding along the floor. She grunts, picks up her sword, and runs back out the way she came in.
The boys all stare blankly at the hole in the wall, the dust still settling from the explosion. Sapnap is the first one to speak up. "Yes George, I'll take something to eat," he says awkwardly, attempting to ignore what just happened.
The girl grunts again as a hissing sound starts. The dust finally settles, revealing her fighting a creeper and a couple of grey-ish zombies wearing yellow clothing. She backs up into the temple, hitting the creeper as it draws closer to her. She strikes it down with a final blow, killing it. She drops her sword and takes the bow off of her back, finishing off the weird looking zombies with ease. She drops the bow as she takes a minute to catch her breath.
She then notices the guys in the temple. "Wow, you guys were no help." Though her tone was tough and cold, her Australian accent made her sound cute. She attaches her bow to its holder on her back.
"You looked like you had it under control," Sapnap says, staring at her in awe.
The girl rolls her eyes. "Whatever. If I were you, I'd start heading to the village. It's quite the walk from here and you don't want to get stuck in a husk horde."
Dream looks down at the weird zombies, figuring those were the husks she was referring to. "What are they?"
The girl lets out a light laugh. "You guys must not be from around here. They're zombies that make you hungry when they touch you." She clutches her stomach. "Speaking of which, you guys don't happen to have any food to spare, do you? One of those things touched me and I'm starving."
George smiles as some cod finishes cooking in the furnace. "We've got some leftovers that you're welcome to have." He passes her a piece of fish on a napkin.
She smiles as she takes it. "You're a life saver!" George cooks two more pieces of fish for him and Sapnap as Bad gets to know the girl. After some time of talking to her, he learns that her name is Rose and that she's a warrior in their village. Instead of iron golems, her village decided to save their iron and hire special people to protect their village. Her village was also quite big, being twice the size of Dream's and George's villages combined. As she talked, Dream continued to search for the treasure.
"What's he doing?" Rose asks, pointing at Dream.
"He's looking for the nonexistent treasure in here," Sapnap says.
"Hey, dude!" Rose calls out to Dream. "This place was looted a very long time ago. Like, before any of us were even born. If you broke the terra-cotta, you would only find four empty chests. Don't waste your time."
Dream pouts and sits down next to George, disappointed that he wouldn't find anything of interest. George pats him on the back and says, "It's ok, you tried!" His hand lingers on Dream's back for a few moments, then drops when Rose starts talking to him.
"So, George, what brings you all out to the desert?" She asks.
George gets flustered for a moment. She was just asking him and not the group. "Well, uh, we're hunting a monster called the Wither. Have you seen anything come by with three heads, no arms, and can fly?"
Rose shakes her head 'no'. "Sorry. I can't help you there." Her eyes widen as she thinks. "But I know someone who can! One of the other warriors told me about a hallucination he had and it sounds almost exactly the same as what you described! Pack up! We're heading to my place." The group quickly packs up and Rose leads the way to her village.