I wake to the smell of wet dog and hot stew. An unusual, yet not entirely unwelcome smell. It reminds me of when I was a child and would sneak out to sleep in the llama pen, squashed snuggly between their fuzzy bodies. They were friendly llama's, used to pull the caravans that our travelling community owned. My dads always scolded me for it, stating it was unhygienic. And it was. But I always felt sorry for the creatures, sat outside under flimsy canopy's.

I turn and bury my face into the fluffy pillow at my side. It's warm, and when I reach up to run a hand through the fabric it...breathes?

I blink open my eyes.

A dog with shaggy brown fur is lead beside me, and when I catch its eye it wags its tail and gives me an affectionate lick across the nose.

"Thanks..." I croak out, utterly bewildered. The dog perks up and gives me more kisses and I have to shove a hand over its snout to make it stop.

"Making friends?" A voice asks.

My shoulders stiffen.

"Techno?"

"Yup."

I sit up in what I now realise is a bed, laden with thick furs and blankets and too many pillows. Techno is crouched a few feet away, throwing a fresh log into the small cabin's fireplace. A pot of stew bubbles over the flames, and is the source of that delicious smell. A single window sits above a table and chair, showing a snowy landscape beyond.

I take in the room in a single sweep of my eyes before settling my attention back onto Techno.

"Where am I?"

"My house."

"Oh..."

Did he carry me here? Must have. How long have I been out? My brain feels foggy, like someone's stuffed it with cotton wool.

I look down at my hands, flexing my aching fingers. I feel like I should be doing something, but I don't know what it is. What am I supposed to do in this scenario? I have no responsibilities anymore. Nowhere I need to run to. No one to check on. I'm completely, officially alone.

Slowly, I lay back down and pull the covers over my head, snuggling back into the large dog.

"I think I'm going to stay here for a bit."

"Be my guest."

I think I fall asleep again, because when I next peel back the covers the room's single lantern has burnt almost to the wick, and the dog that had been sleeping beside me has vanished, along with its owner.

I stay lead down for a while, simply enjoying the quietness of the cabin. It feels like the war didn't even happen.

I grow bored surprisingly quickly, tucked away in the corner of the cabin with nothing to do. So I slip out from the bed's heavy covers and make it halfway across the room before remembering that I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be in pain. Except I feel totally fine. Better than fine, even. I feel like I could challenge Techno to another wrestling match-possibly even win it. I'm still in the same clothes as I had been the night I passed out, except in all the places where I should have had swellings, scrapes and bloody bruises, perfect skin shines through the gaps of my ripped outfit. Even the crossbow bolt in my thigh is gone, with only a bump left as indication that I'd been shot.

Did Techno lather me in health potions while I was asleep? Or maybe...

I eye the stew pot, still hung above the fire. I had been about to help myself to a bowl, but suddenly I'm not so sure.

A bark from outside has me jump, remembering where I am. I head for the door, grabbing my boots that had been drying by the fireplace and tugging them on. There are no coats that I can find, so instead I return to the bed and grab a fur pelt to throw around my shoulders.

I'm glad I did, because it's freezing outside, a chill creeping into my feet the moment I step out. A set of stone steps lead down from the cabin, and I take them carefully, not wanting to slip.

I don't know where Techno has brought me exactly, but it looks worlds apart from L'Manburg. Snowy fields roll far into the distance, with clusters of dark pines breaking up the white. Techno is in one of those fields, trudging slowly back to the cabin with a bundle of wood over his large shoulder. At his heels a dozen or so dogs trot obediently with him, each one a varying shade of brown or white, the tallest standing almost to his hip. I suddenly begin to doubt that they're really just dogs.

I wait at the bottom step until he's made it all the way back, and deposits his haul of firewood safely into storage.

"Hey," he nods in greeting, like this is something we normally do, "how do you feel?"

"Confused."

He smirks, "yeah. Fair enough." He whistles sharply and the dogs, who had all been staring at me with bright eyes, peel away and disappear off somewhere behind the cabin. All except for one, who follows us back inside and settles in front of the fire.

"I like your dogs," I comment, dropping myself back into the pile of blankets and pillows.

"Thanks. You hungry?"

I nod, eyeing the stew. When was the last time I ate real food? "Yes, please."

We sit in comfortable silence as Techno retrieves two wooden bowls from a cabinet and fills them both with the meaty broth. I accept mine eagerly, enjoying how the bowl warms my cold fingers.

"So, do you want to talk about it?"

I glance up. The pig man is sat at the table, his cheek in a hand as he stares straight at me. He makes no move to start his stew.

I lower my spoon back into the bowl. "Do you think it would help?" I question quietly. "Talking?"

He shrugs, "depends on the person."

"I think... that if I talk about it, it will feel too real. And I might break." I admit. "Right now I'm just..."

"Existing?"

"Yeah. Existing. Acting on my basic functions. Not really thinking. But thinking just enough to get by."

"You're doing better than most."

I give a dry smile, "yeah?"

"Yeah."

He seems to have nothing more to say, so he picks up his spoon and begins to eat. I pick at my stew before taking another mouthful and asking, "did you put a health potion in this?"

"Yep."

"And my injuries?"

"Soaked a rag in the stuff and patted you down."

"In the stew or the health potion?"

He doesn't respond and I snort.

This is...kind of nice. Like having a sibling. I never had a sibling-at least, none that I knew of, being an adopted child. There were other kids my age in the caravan, scattered between the small families we travelled with, but none of them ever felt close enough to be considered a brother or sister. I preferred my solitude as a child.

A problem occurs to me. One that I'd been blissfully ignoring.

"Hey, if Dream comes by..."

"I never saw you."

Of course Techno's response has me smile. It makes me wonder, if we had never been on opposite sides of the war, could we have developed a friendship earlier on? I would have liked to have him as my friend. Maybe we still could be. I think his mellow attitude and easygoing nature could be good for me.

"You aren't going to ask why?"

"Don't really care, honestly."

"I like you, Techno."

"Hah. I am pretty cool, aren't I?"

I snort, almost inhaling my food down the wrong pipe.

My time with Techno is pleasant. Every morning I wake to a dog at my side, and piles of fur beneath my fingers. We eat stew and bake our own bread, and on clear days I join him to gather wood. It's like time has stood still, and I'm replaying the same day on loop, with varying outcomes. I stop counting after three days with him. Realising that there's no reason to keep track of time. Not here. Not anymore. I have no responsibilities to anyone besides myself.

For the first time in years, I actually feel like I'm living for myself.

And then the peace is shattered.

Techno sees him first, trotting over on a horse, green jacket zipped up to his throat and hood pulled tight around his mask.

We're about a half mile from the house, trudging through a snow field, backs laden with the day's log collection. He couldn't have caught us at a worse time. Me at a worse time. Weighed down and with nowhere to hide.

Techno is quick. He's in front of me before I can blink, shielding my view with the wide stretch of his back and shoulders. But it's too late. Dream has seen me. I can hear and feel the thumping of his horse's hooves as it gallops across the field.

I start to take deep breaths, preparing myself for a confrontation. I knew I would see him again at some point, I just hadn't expected it to catch me so off guard. I'd been having such a good day, too.

Some of the dogs that Techno regularly keeps at his side press in around me, ears flat and fur bristling as they sense the change in mood.

The hooves stop, and so does my heart. The logs on my back thunk into the ground as my fingers find the fabric of Techno's cloak, gripping it tightly.

I can smell the smoke again. See the blood-stained grass. The pain in my thigh. The blank stare of his eyes as all life faded away.

I close my eyes, breath quickening despite efforts to calm myself. I don't want to revisit it. I don't want to feel it again. I haven't even seen Dream's face and I'm already dreading it.

"You lost, bud?" Techno asks, voice as nonchalant as ever, the tensing of his shoulders speaking otherwise. "I think you took a wrong turn at that tree over there."

There's a jingle of equipment, and a crunch of two feet landing in the snow.

"Let me past, Techno."

My eyes shoot open in shock. Dream's voice...it's hoarse and crackly. He doesn't sound well.

All anxiety within me begins to seep away as curiosity settles in.

"Can't do that. She doesn't want to talk to you."

"Well I need to talk to her. Ares, will you please tell your guard dogs to stand down?"

My fingers smooth out the wrinkles they've made on Techno's cloak.

He really sounds desperate.

Hesitantly, I pat Techno on the arm. The pink-haired male glances back before sighing and stepping a fraction to the side. He's still blocking half my body from view, but now I can see Dream. And he can see me.

"Why are you here-"

"-I thought you were dead."

My eyes widen.

"Why did you think that?"

"Why wouldn't I? You disappeared in the middle of the night, Ares. All I found of you was blood and armour. Of course I thought you were dead!"

Guilt begins to creep through me, "it wasn't my intention to make you think that. I just- I wasn't thinking straight at the time. All I wanted to do was get away from everything and everyone. I'm sorry I put you through that."

"Clearly not everyone," he jabs a thumb at Techno.

"Techno has been helping me adjust. It's been... good for me."

"So what? You've been out here for the last two weeks just skipping through snow fields together? Do you even know what's been happening back in the SMP? To me?"

He's beginning to get on my nerves.

Was he always this much of an ass?

"I'm not involved with that-or you-anymore, Dream. It's your SMP, not mine. My interest in it died with-" a lump in my throat stops me from speaking his name, but the message is understood.

"I told you things were over, remember?" I say, mustering up some strength. I don't want to look weak to him. Not again. I want him to see that I'm doing just fine. "So please say what you came here to say and then leave."

"Wilbur and Tommy are re-instating a government to L'Manburg."

Bile rises up my throat.

What?

After all the trouble it caused the first time around, they're still going ahead with a presidency?!

I peek up at Techno. To my horror his expression has turned rigid. There's something wild in his dark eyes. He grinds his teeth, tusks pressing against his lips.

"Wilbur promised me he wasn't going to do that," he says, voice eerily grating. It's almost a growl.

"Well..." I clear my throat, trying to find my voice again, "well I still don't see how that has anything to do with us. We aren't even citizens of the SMP."

"No, this can't be ignored."

I stare up at Techno, "what? Yes it can."

"No. It can't."

"What did he promise you, Techno?" Dream asks, folding his arms. "Wilbur offered you something for your help. I know he did."

Techno's hands curl into fists, "he promised to abolish the government. It was meant to die alongside Schlatt."

"And the lies keep on growing," Dream shakes his head. "My fight isn't over, Techno. Is yours?"

"No." He growls. "It isn't."

"W-wait. Techno," I grab the pig man's arm, "you don't have to fight anymore. I'm sorry that Wilbur lied. But you won't gain anything from going back there."

He turns, expression softening, "it's been nice having you around, Ares." He ruffles my hair, "but this is what I live for. Anarchy."

"Ares?" Dream holds out his hand to me. An invitation. Back into the fray. Back into his life.

I hesitate, looking between them. Just as I was getting comfortable, why does nothing ever go smoothly.

I don't want to be left alone again.

"You don't have to involve her. She's fought enough." Techno comes to my defence, scowling at Dream. "She's lost enough. Let her grieve."

"I wasn't asking you, bacon man."

"Ares, you can stay here as long as you want. I won't be gone long," Techno ignores Dream.

"Do you... promise?"

He smiles, "yeah. Unlike a certain teletubby, I keep my promises."

"Then I'll wait for you here," I say quietly, glancing at Dream and his offering hand, then turning, picking up my log pack, and walking back to the cabin. The dogs follow close behind.

It feels strange to turn my back on him. It feels good.