#New Years Resolution is to get. the goddamn CKAU out.

[sunshine-in-a-bottle]

👀 for the end of year meme? also hi suds

Listen I could continue to talk about how I may be just utterly insane and need to give up trying to make the CKAU "written well" and just Write It but also there's another annoying thing I haven't gotten time to finish AND ITS. THE GODDAMN STRANGER'S VASSAL CHAPTER. I dont know how to do read more on desktop here have a snippet of the pre-Dreambur shenanigans.

-

With each step they took towards an unknown future, Dream debated the pros and cons of making a run for it.

The likelihood of getting away from Tommy was easy; the boy next to him clearly lacked major discipline needed for the kind of chase Dream would give him, and his stamina was likely lacking, if his complaints about being tired were anything to go by. Dream could run into the nearby trees and lose him in a few short bursts of speed.

Ahead of them all, Wilbur seemed slightly trickier. He was frail in some ways, long and spindly, but there was a sharpness to his gaze, and muscle in his arms that implied he was an archer. If he had a bow in his inventory, it wouldn't matter if Dream could outpace Tommy; a good enough aim would pierce his heart, if the odds weren't in his favor.

Of course, that only mattered if Wilbur really did have a bow.

That left Techno behind him, who would be impossible to outpace. The horse he was riding was one of the finest Dream had ever seen, sharp and defined, with a regal bearing that would put kings to shame. It would catch up to him with no trouble at all, and then Techno would cut him down. Kind of anticlimactic after all the effort it took to escape.

He sighed. Wilbur perked up.

"Something the matter, Dream?"

He tried to put on a smile, but it felt weak on his face. He really needed that mask. "Just… getting used to being free. It's kind of strange, you know?"

Wilbur's expression softened. "Of course, I understand completely. It must have been very hard for you to live under the thumb of such tyranny."

Dream's smile twisted into a grimace, and he turned away to avoid Wilbur's gaze and his sorry sympathies. The prince didn't know a thing about tyranny, didn't know a thing about Dream. And Dream wasn't going to tell him. He knew better.

XD's mark grinned wide on the back of his hand.

Any reasonable person would want him dead, rather than risk the end of the world. And he didn't blame them, even if he would really rather live long enough to see his twenty-second birthday.

He would just have to wait for a better opportunity. Weigh his options a little. Eventually they would slip up long enough for him to make his escape, and then he'd be gone. Finally, truly free.

-

"Have you ever fought a giant spider?"

"No."

"Have you ever fought a skeleton?"

"No."

"Have you ever fought a dragon?"

"No." Dream groaned, and turned to glare at Wilbur's youngest brother. "When would I have ever fought a dragon? You know they're extinct. Aren't princes supposed to get fancy lessons or something?"

"They can't all be right." Tommy grumbled. He kicked a pebble off the path, and Wilbur fought the urge to scold him over proper decorum; their guest needed to see them at their best. But even if Tommy couldn't maintain proper image, Wilbur could, so he would do his best to pick up the slack.

"Even if they were around," Techno said. His horse- Carl- trotted forward to walk beside Dream, and Techno peered down at him with amusement. "Its not likely he would have faced one and lived to talk about it. They're supposed to be pretty strong guys."

Dream scowled. "And you would do so much better?"

"Now I didn't say that."