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𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 : 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫

The splashing sound of rain drops hitting a body of water rung through Eris' ears, making her eyes open in confusion. She found herself laying on the forest floor, clothes already drenched due to the rain, clinging to her body.

A shiver took over her body before she sat up, taking in her surroundings. A dark lake was placed in front of her, surrounded by a sea of trees. The dark greens and blues looked quite depressing, making for a sober atmosphere.

Anxiety and fear settled in her stomach as she looked at the water in front of her. But it seemed to be a bit off, like it wasn't entirely her own.

Looking around, she found a figure placed in the sand not too far from her. She definitely hadn't noticed the young girl earlier when she looked around only seconds prior.

Deciding to investigate, she made her way over to her, the sound of quiet sobs growing clearer as she came closer. The sound tugged at Eris' heart a little and she wanted to speak up, but for some reason she couldn't seem to.

So instead she stopped in her tracks, eyeing the crying child in front of her. Wavy, mousy brown hair cascaded down the girl's shoulders, drenched by the rain. The young child had her legs pulled up to her chest, chubby arms wrapped around her pale legs. Small shivers shook up and down the brunette's body and Eris then realised that she couldn't have been much older than 5.

She took a step closer, wanting to reach out to the young child, but again wasn't able to. She stood still, taking another look at the girl, noticing a dark object the girl had clutched in her hands. A faded blue cap was placed tightly in her hands and the realisation hit her like an oncoming truck.

The young child was Eris herself.

The anxiety she had felt earlier grew tenfold as she put the dots together, and it seemed like she was starting to share her emotions with her younger self, a storm of fear and panic rushing through her head.

Before she could truly start to spiral, a voice shouted out from the distance, making both Eris and her younger self whip their heads around.

"Melody!"

The name sent a shiver down Eris' body, the air escaping her lungs. She hadn't heard the name in years, and hadn't seen the person who said the name in months.

A small lump started to form in the brunette's throat as she watched the scene in front of her. Out of the forest that surrounded the lake, a hooded figure appeared, silver sword placed in his hands.

Once he got sight of the young girl, he threw his hood back, revealing long, pink-ish hair, "I thought I lost you!"

The young brunette stood up from her spot before running over to the tall man, who kneeled down so she could wrap her arms around his waist.

He in return wrapped a protective arm around her as well, simultaneously shielding her from the rain with the cloak that hung from his shoulders, "You shouldn't wander off like that, Melody. I thought something happened to you."

The child didn't respond for a moment, sobs escaping her mouth as she cried against his shirt, leaving teary stains, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, don't worry." The man responded reassuringly, "Just don't do it again okay? What happened anyway?"

The young girl leaned back slightly, sniffling, "I lost my hat!"

Eris watched the scene in front of her from a few metres away, too wrapped up in nostalgia, loss and other emotions to notice the tear that fell down her cheek.

The voices tuned out for a moment as Eris closed her eyes and a sigh escaped her lips. When she opened them again, the scene had changed. They were now in a small house, wooden furniture scattered around the place, making for a cosy space. The young brunette had the blue cap placed firmly on the top of her head again, looking a little ridiculous as it was too big on her. While the man stood in front of a working bench that was placed a metre or so away.

"Here, take this." He said, picking up an object from the bench, "Do you know what this is?"

The girl shook her head.

"It's a compass." The man explained in a monotone voice, handing the girl the silver object, before taking a second compass from the wooden working bench, "It's very special alright? I made it so that it always points to this other compass. This one will be yours. I will keep the other one. So whenever you get lost, you just look at that and you'll know where I am, okay?"

The girl nodded gingerly observing the object, before shooting the pink-haired man a toothy grin, "Thank you, Techno."

Techno. The name shot through Eris' body and the feeling of loss overwhelmed her. She hadn't seen him in months, she wasn't even sure if he was alive. He was the best thing to a father figure to her, but also a brother-figure and she missed him dearly. He taught her everything she knew and had practically raised her.

A lump started to settle in her throat and she finally found the voice to speak up, "Techno?"

As she spoke the words, the scene around her changed again slightly. The young girl vanished as the pink-haired man looked up, eyes widening slightly.

"Melody?" He asked lowly, even a bit cautiously.

The brunette nodded, tears streaming down her face. She hesitated a moment before she made her way over to the one person she truly trusted, wanting nothing more than to collapse into a protective hug she so desperately needed, even when she wouldn't ever admit to it.

But before she ever could, a silver object swung through her vision, ending with a nasty sound. As she looked in front of her, a dagger was placed between Technoblade's ribs and a distressed gasp escaped his lips.

Eris' eyes widened as she reached over to him, trying to support him as he fell to the ground. It was no use however and the two of them collapsed on the floor.

In a panic, Eris placed her hands around the wood, desperately repeating the word 'no' as she watched the white shirt turn red with crimson blood.

She then lifted her head, trying to find the attacker, only to come face to face with two black dots.

"No!"

Eris opened her eyes and sat up, taking in her surroundings while uneven, panicked breaths left her body.

She was in a small bedroom. Eret's bedroom to be exact. It only consisted of two beds and a dresser. Eris used to have her own room, but couldn't seem to be able to fall asleep alone and so slept on the floor in her friend's room for weeks, before moving her own bed over.

Eret himself was nowhere to be seen, his bed being made neatly on the other side of the small space.

The brunette let herself lower in her bed again as she memorised the nightmare she just had. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting a heavy sigh flow through her body, before opening them again and sitting upright, deciding she didn't want to deal with it at that moment.

She stood up from her bed, before making her way over to the dresser, pulling out a set of fresh clothing.

After she quickly changed and combed through her messy hair, she made her way outside, not nearly mentally ready to start her day.

As it turned out, if Wilbur had bet the money, he would have won, seeing as the first thing Eris was greeted with once she stepped outside was the leader of L'Manberg yelling at her.

"Well I told you so, have I not?" Wilbur exclaimed curtly, arms crossed around his chest before gesturing to the signs that were placed in front of the gates of L'Manberg.

Eris didn't reply, instead she walked over coming close enough to read the signs:

If you do not surrender in three days at dawn, we will attack. Put up your white flags to signify surrender. – Dream

The name sent a small shiver down Eris' spine, a flash of her nightmare shooting through her mind, before looking up at Wilbur, who stood next to her, "There's no way we will surrender, right?"

Wilbur sighed, not replying for a moment, before responding, "Even though I'm not happy with the way this went; no, we will not surrender. We have worked too hard and lost too many things to just give up now."

A small smile tugged upon the brunette's lips at her leader's words. Fighting Dream and his followers was something she wouldn't particularly mind, not in the slightest.

A bit too in thought, Eris hadn't realised that Fundy was now standing in front of the gates too, talking to Wilbur.

"Fundy, I want you to gather everyone, I have a few things to say." Wilbur instructed, eyeing the signs in front of him.

"Are you sure? Almost everybody is still asleep.." Fundy muttered quietly, still looking very tired as well.

"Yes. It's important."

"Alright." Fundy sighed, making his way over to the small building Eris just had come from.

It was quiet for a moment as both Eris and Wilbur looked at the wooden signs that were placed in front of them, the white paint used to write the threat still not yet fully dried.

"You alright?" Wilbur suddenly asked, "You look stressed out."

Eris looked the tall brunet in the eye, a misplaced feeling of anger taking over her emotions, "I don't want to talk about."

Wilbur lowly put up his hands in fake surrender, shocked slightly by the bitter tone of the words and sudden change of attitude, "I was just asking."

The comfortable silence that flew between the two previously, was now uncomfortably suffocating. But luckily enough, the silence was broken by the sound of chatter.

"What the fuck, Wilbur?" Tommy exclaimed as he made his way over, his blond hair a mess, with Tubbo following behind him shortly, "Do you know what time it is?"

"I'm well aware, Tommy. Now would you just be quiet and look at these signs." Wilbur simply replied, gesturing to the signs once again. The way he spoke made it clear that he wasn't in the mood to deal with Tommy's antics.

"I will kill that green bitch. And all of his bastard friends too." Tommy stated after he read the threat in white paint, arms cockily placed over his chest.

Wilbur put his hands against his face before massaging his temples, "Tommy, I like the sentiment. But now is not the time. Just shut your mouth for one minute please."

The blond boy wanted to say something again, but was cut off by a glare of warning from Wilbur, and so he promptly shut his mouth again.

Eret and Fundy had now joined the group of four also, Eret shooting Eris a small smile as a way to say good morning before joining her at her side, while Fundy stood next to Tubbo.

A short silence fell over the group that mostly consisted of half-asleep teens, before Wilbur cleared his throat, earning their attention respectively.

"Everyone, I want you to look at these signs, and the words they carry." Wilbur started, an authoritative tone laced through his voice, "Dream, the man that keeps us from our independence has declared war on us and demands us to surrender. We, however, will not bow to a tyrant such as himself."

Wilbur fell quiet for a small moment, eyeing the people around him, before continuing, "For us, it's independence or death. Surrender was, and never will be an option to us."

A few scattered nods were seen as the small group of revolutionaries looked up at their leader, both literally and figuratively.

"Now, as you can see, we only have three days to prepare for their attack. And we will need to use it wisely. Right now Dream and his followers both out-power and out-gear us, so we will need to work long hours in the upcoming days to even be close to ready to fight them. For this to work I will need all of you to work to your fullest potential and be on your best behaviour."

As he said those last words, he made sure to look both Tommy and Eris in the eye, a great warning for the both of them. Even when she didn't mean to, Eris had a hard time fighting against the urge to let out a chuckle. But she managed, and nodded instead.

"One last thing," Wilbur spoke again, "I want nobody to be outside of the walls after sunset. It's dangerous out there and I don't want you to encounter Dream or any of his friends. I think that's about it. Fundy and I will make some plans on how to maximise our limited time, but for now, get your gear ready and just be prepared to work."

With those words, Wilbur gestured to Fundy to follow him to a nearby building that was dubbed the 'Camarvan' and they disappeared inside, leaving the rest of them to themselves.

Everybody quickly dispersed and went to do their own thing, getting some food and getting their materials ready to prepare for a war.

And true to their words, they worked the whole day. Gathering materials, brewing potions and putting up defence. Hoping it would be just close enough to be able to face the infamous 'Dream-team'.

____
A/N:

yoooo it's our favourite anarchist pig ladies and gents- one of you guessed correctly as of reading this, so pog you :]
also tysm for the 100 reads, it doesn't seem like a lot, but it makes me really happy. i hope you guys liked this chapter, i had some trouble with writing it- idk why. 
quick heads up: i'm in the middle of my exam week, so i can't really stick to my plan to update every other day, so for now i will just update whenever i can! 
give a vote and comment if you liked it - ly guys

- blue