PHOENIX

Chapter Three: Confrontations

"Found you"

I opened my eyes to find that oh so familiar white mask peeking through the crack I used to get into my hiding spot.

Holy shit why is he so scary

"What are you doing back there?" Dream asked, tilting his head to the side, almost as if he was studying me. My brain stopped processing at this point, so I said the first thing that came to mind.
"Drugs" My mouth said so confidently, I almost believed that was what I was really here for.

I braced myself for the feeling of an axe going through my chest, but was instead greeted with a giggle slowly developing into a full blown wheeze. Confused, I sat up a little straighter, looking over the chest to see Dream deflating on the floor. Ummm........WTF?

"D-Drugs?" Dream wheezed out, barely holding it together. I probably would've laughed with him at the absurdity of what I said, but I was still this close to a full blown heart attack.

"Dream? Are you ok over there?" Punz asked, now coming fully into my view. I had never seen Punz before, only heard little things here and there about him. Punz was known to be a close ally of the dream team, but always seemed to stick to himself.

"I'm fine" coughed out Dream.

Punz finally seemed to notice me peeking my head above the chests, and a scowl came to his face.

"Why is there a L'manbergian here?" Punz questioned with obvious disdain.

"Drugs apparently" Muttered Dream, offering me his hand. I stared at it, bewildered as to why Dream was holding out his hand to me and not sweeping my head off my shoulders with his axe.

"I think I made it clear yesterday, but L'manbergians aren't openly invited to be hanging out in SMP territory" Dream declared, his hand still outstretched to me.

I gingerly placed my hand in his, hesitant to the touch. This was a trap, right? It had to be.
He yanked me up, bringing me to my feet.
"I wasn't really doing drugs,,,,,,although I could really use some right now" I threw out, only murmuring the last bit to myself.

"I figured that part out myself" Dream stated, now holding onto my arm. He led me towards the exit Fundy and I were originally trying to leave through, and I quickly glanced to the upstairs where Fundy was hidden. I saw his face only for a quick second, and he nodded in my direction before I was led away. Thankfully Dream hadn't seen my bag, which I had left behind the chest, and most of the salmon we had placed were in chests so I guess he and Punz didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"So what were you really doing in the community house at four in the morning?" Dream asked, his strong grip never leaving my arm as he led me back onto the wooden path.

"I....Well you see, it's actually a really funny story. My friend and I were playing hide and seek, but I guess I took a wrong turn somewhere...." I said, stumbling over my words trying to come up with some sort of lie.

"How old are you again?" Dream questioned, obviously making fun of me.

"I'm nineteen, but what does that have to do with anything? You're being extremely ageist right now"

"Oh no, I'm not judging, I find myself hiding from my friends pretty often too" Dream answering mysteriously.

"Ok.......?" I responded, unsure of what to say to that.

"What's your name? I don't think we've met before"

"I'm Nix, I've lived in L'manberg my whole life, so that probably explains why you haven't seen me"
"Do you have family that lives in L'manberg?"