As promised, here is the Mega chapter as a celebration for 300 Followers! Thank you guys so much! I love all of you ♡

Total word count: 5767

Didn't quite make it to the promised 7k, but I did try my best! I just ran out of ideas at some point :/

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Breakfast was spent in silence as they shared bread and some berries, too tired and sore to even try and make something a bit more fancy. Brian gladly took the berry that Phil offered to him, cooing softly at the blonde before eating it. The other just smiled and watched the bird for a while, nibbling at his bread every now and again. It was honestly one of the most adorable owner-pet relationships the brunette has ever seen. Even though it almost felt like an insult to call Brian a pet with how intelligent the bird is.

George was the one who broke the silence. "So... what do we do today?" "Sleep..." He laughed at the way Dream was half laying on top of the table and had one arm support his head in an desperate attempt to not fall asleep. "That's my response. Don't steal my brand." The masked man just hummed, pushed his mask up a little and shoved a handful of berries into his mouth. It's not like anyone forced him to stay up. He could have just gone back to bed.

"I still need to check the farm..." Phil didn't look too happy about getting up or doing anything close to working, but he didn't have much of a choice. His farm as to support three people plus two animals now, so he won't be able to delay harvest for a day or two anymore. Not if he wants to keep producing enough food. He could always extend his farm a little, but then he would produce too much food to fully consume everything before it goes bad. That would just be a waste.

"Are you sure? With how sore you are?" "It's not like I haven't been sore before. I've mined out that whole tunnel system myself. Just have to bite my tongue and keep going." Dream hummed and lifted his head. "The doesn't seem very healthy in the long run..." "It keeps us alive, doesn't it?" "I mean... yeah... but-" "So let's just stop talking about it. Besides, I don't want the crops to go bad."

Phil pushed himself up and away from the table, allowing Brian to eat the rest of the berries, which the bird gladly accepted. "I'll be outside if you need something. Don't burn the house down." Before they could answer, he had grabbed his striped hat, placed it on his head and left the house. The other two remained at the table while Brian picked up the last berry and flew after his owner to give him some company during his work.

"Is it just me or was that... weird?" George looked out the window to see Phil standing by the farm, pulling out potatoes and wheat from the farmland. Even from this far away he could see the pained expression on his face or the way his body tensed up whenever it started to hurt again. "Yeah... but I think I know why he's like that." Dream may be tired and was only half paying attention to the conversation, but he still noticed how sad the blonde had looked and how he had been playing with the glittering ring on his finger.

"He's homesick... misses his wife. We had a talk in the mine yesterday and... he's been here longer than we have. He's probably trying to distract himself the best he can so he won't have to think about it." "Wait hold on. What do you mean he's been here longer?" Dream sighed and leaned back on the bench. "He's been here for two weeks minimum. Or at least that's what he said. That's why he has so much stuff already." George stared at his friend for a few moments, not sure what to say about that. Dream doesn't know if he's taking it better or worse than he did.

"So... we all have been here for different amounts of time?" "Yes." "Oh..." More silence. It's as if you're holding an awkward conversation with your parents.

"We should go out and help him... this doesn't seem fair." "Yeah, you're right." Both got up from the table and walked outside, Blade happily following his owner before running ahead to join Brian again. Phil was mostly done with the farm at this point, considering it's not very big or difficult to deal with.

"Can we help with something?" The blonde looked up at them, his hat almost hiding his eyes from view. He looked tired... more than before. "Carry this back into the house please... George can wash the potatoes, shouldn't affect his shoulder that much." Even his voice was small and tired... nothing like the way he had spoken yesterday after breakfast.

Dream grabbed the basket and carried it back to the house, George trailing close behind him. "He doesn't look well..." "Imagine being separated from your significant other for two weeks without a warning or a way back to them. And the two of us aren't exactly really close friends with him either... being with us isn't the same as being with someone he talks to everyday, like Wilbur or Tommy maybe. He's probably feeling lonely." The brunette hummed and grabbed a bucket of water for the cauldron. "There has to be something we can do. I feel bad..."

He glanced back out the window to see the blonde chatting with his beloved crow. "I'll try and distract him a bit. That's the best we can do right now." George nodded and began to wash off the potatoes. "I'll come join you guys when I'm done." The other hummed and then left to join the lonely man outside. "We have to get wood too. Feel up to it?" "I'll try my best." Phil nodded and went to grab two axes from his storage. Again, the tools were made out of shining iron and felt unnecessarily heavy.

It felt weird to leave the safety of their little fortress base. Dream kept on glancing around him while he followed Philza to the nearby forest. His mind decided to play tricks on him and make him hear zombie groans and skeleton rattles, even though there clearly wasn't anything around when the sun is so high up in the sky.

Phil didn't seem to be as tense as the younger man, humming some quiet tune again to try and distract himself from his depressing thoughts about home. Brian on his shoulder tried to "sing" along to the tune the best he could, successfully bringing a small smile to the man's face. At least someone can actually make him happy for a little bit.

"We don't have to get a lot, but we need enough to make some more tools and lots of torches for the mine. Like three or four trees each should be enough I think." "Sounds good. You're the expert on survival, I'll just follow your lead." Phil laughed and walked over to a relatively small tree. "Survival in a game is something different than survival in real life." "I mean... it's the same game." "Still don't think it counts."

The blonde raised the axe and brings it down on the poor oak tree with more force than the other thought was possible for someone so tired and hurting. Dream followed suit and cut down a tree himself, wincing when his aching muscles protested against every movement. But he didn't give up and forced himself to keep going, seeing as Phil wasn't stopping either. There wasn't any conversation, just the sound of axe hitting wood and trees falling.

"This should be enough." Phil picked up the last floating logs and looked over at Dream, who was leaning against a tree, panting heavily. "You alright mate?" "No... how are you not tired?" "I am... but I don't really let it affect me. I'm tired a lot anyways. And I guess I'm used to it by now after two weeks of doing this shit."

"Phil. You can't do this to yourself. This is unhealthy and you know it. There are other ways to distract yourself than working until you collapse." Phil didn't look at him and just played with a stray stick. "It's helping to keep us alive." "That doesn't matter when you die from exhaustion or... I don't know!" Again, the blonde kept his head turned away. Dream sighed and leaned back against his tree.

"Look... I know I'm probably not the person you would want to have this talk with. We barely interacted with each other outside of SMP stuff. But I want to help you. Both of us do. We hate seeing you like this." "I just... I want to go home... I miss Kristin, I miss my friends and my family... and now... there's the possibility that we never get home." He was shaking again. Brian cooed and nuzzled his head against Phil's cheek, trying his best to cheer him up.

Dream felt helpless for once. Comforting someone was always a little difficult for him. So he did the only thing he could think off and hugged the older man. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that subject up back in the mine." "It's fine... you got a point..." "We will find a way home. I promise. For all of us." Phil leaned into the hug and tried to calm down his breathing. "Sorry..." "It's fine. Everyone has these times sometimes." They stayed silent for a while before the blonde eventually pulled away. "Let's go back. No need to worry George again."

Dream just hummed and pushed himself off the tree. He followed the other back to base, where George was chilling in the grass with Blade again. Brian immediately joined his pig friend and started chatting with him. "Again? You sure like sitting there." "You two wouldn't have let me help anyways." "I mean... true..." The brunette laughed and helped the two store the wood in one of the chests and sort the newly harvested food into the respective barrels.

And after that, they went back to chill in their beds and just have half hearted conversations. There wasn't anything else to do and after Phil had mentioned how he's always tired and especially after that talk in the forest, the other two insisted on him taking a break and have a lazy day today. They tried their best to keep him occupied and distracted so he wouldn't go back to thinking about home, but it was hard when he was barely talking during these conversations.

So the day went by like that. Lazy conversation and half asleep in their beds, baked potatoes for dinner and then it was lights out.

What a weird day...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This time, it was Dream who woke up. It was still completely dark outside when he opened his eyes and the others were sound asleep in their own beds. A small groan left his lips as he curled up and pulled the blanket more around himself, trying to force his body to go back to sleep. He still felt tired, so it shouldn't have been a problem. And it did work at first, his mind slowly drifting off into the lands of dreams, until he heard something.

Or more like someone.

There were clear sounds of footsteps outside and it made his blood freeze. In an instance, he was up and out of bed. He peaked out the window and catched a glimpse of a shadow disappearing into the storage. There's no way that that's a mob... it's moving too fast for that. And it wasn't making any of the usual sounds a mob makes too.

With shaking hands, he grabbed his iron sword and silently creeped out the house. He considered waking up the other two, but he was worried that they would make too much noise and chase whoever this is away with it. Or they would take too much time and their target would have already made a run for it.

When he reached the storage, he could hear someone move around inside opening chests and rummaging through them. A large figure was visible through the slightly open doors. Dream tried to steady his shaking hands as best as he could before pushing open the door and pointing the sharp blade at the intruder. "Step away from the chests and raise your hands!"

He was met with wide red eyes and pink hair.

Almost instantly, he lowered his weapon and stared at the newcomer, who now had his hands lifted in the air. If the hair and eyes didn't give it away, then the cape and golden crown definitely did. "Wait... Technoblade?" "Uhhh... hello?" Dream put his sword away fully and just... stared. "Um... yeah... this is kinda awkward..." "Awkward? You tried to steal from us! How did you even get in here? Fuck is this really you?" "I'm pretty sure I'm real... and I climbed over. I swear I didn't know you live here." "Oh so you think this kind of building just spawns naturally?" "Hey man do you have any idea how long it has been since I played actual survival mode? I don't know what structures exist naturally."

Dream sighed and rubbed his temple. "Alright. Fine. Guess you could really just think this is a village building or something." Techno finally stood back up, now that he was sure that he won't be attacked and pulled his cape a little tighter around himself, as if it was a blanket. "Pink hair? Really?" "It's weird... guess this is because I'm technically a faceless streamer? Even though I have to admit... it doesn't look that bad. But I am jealous that you spawned in with a mask to cover your face, while I was forced to have my hair changed." "It's not like I chose how to look when spawning in... If that hair is really just because of your identity, then I guess it makes sense that you're still full human."

The pink haired man crossed his arms and huffed. "That almost sounded like an insult." Dream just laughed and shook his head. "It wasn't, I swear." "Good." Techno glanced out the door towards the house. "What... did you mean by 'us'? Is someone with you?" "Yeah. George and Phil. Their still asleep I think and-" "Phil?" He could see the hopeful glint in the red eyes of the other man when he said that name. Looks like someone felt a little lonely the last few days as well. "Yes. Phil. He's inside the house." "Did you guys spawn together?" "No. We found him after we traveled for a bit ourselves."

Techno nodded and looked back at the house. Dream could easily tell what he wanted to do. "Alright. Let's go. It's cold and I'm tired. I don't know if we have enough wool for another bed though." "I'll sleep on the floor if I have to." "Yeah that's not happening. Especially with Philza around." The pink haired man laughed. "Dadza mode?" "Yep..."

Dream grabbed his hand and pulled him along to the house. "He hasn't been feeling well... he's getting homesick, so don't be suprised if he acts a little weird." "Oh... guess that's normal. It is weird to be away from everyone..." "Oh yeah. That reminds me. How long have you been around? Because we have been here for different amounts of time." Techno frowned and hummed, counting the days in his head. "A week? Like six or seven days. I don't remember what number exactly."

Dream nodded and pushed the door to the house open. Brian looked up from his spot on Phil's pillow and as soon as he spotted Techno, he started shrieking and cawing. Looks like someone recognized him too. Phil groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. "Brian shut up..." The crow pulled at the blanket and cawed again. Instantly, Phil sat up and looked around. "Techno? Where?!" Techno laughed and waved awkwardly from his spot at the door.

"Hey Phil." The blonde climbed out of bed and hugged his friend tightly. The hug was quickly returned and Phil started to laugh. "Awww did you miss me old man?" "Shut up." He looked up at his friend and grinned. "Pink hair?" "Don't mention it... I'm trying to forget it's there." Phil laughed again, bright and happy for the first time since that talk in the mine.

"I was so worried that other people are out there... still in danger. Are you hurt?" "Nah... I'm fine. It wasn't that difficult. Just have to bury yourself somewhere for the night and that's about it." Phil nodded and let go of his friend. Blade now walked over and sat at Dream's feet, curiously glancing up at the stranger. Techno looked down at the small pig and smiled. "You guys got a pet pig?" "Yeah... he followed me around ever since I first spawned. His name is Blade."

"Blade? As in... Techno-Blade?" The masked man was more than glad that he can hide his red face beneath the simple white mask. Techno just laughed and knelt down to give the pig some pats. "That's adorable. Probably would have done the same if I'm honest." "Don't make a big deal out of this..."

"What's going on?" George finally lifted his head and looked at the group, obviously still half asleep. "Oh... hey Technoblade." "Hello George. Sleeping as always." "Mmm..." Aaaand his head fall back down as he went back to sleep. "He's usually not this extreme I promise." "It's fine. He's just sleeping, not taking drugs or something."

Phil looked around the room and sighed. "I'm starting to see a problem... we won't be able to fit another bed in here. It's already way too crowded." "I can sleep on the floor. Just need a pillow or something." "Absolutely not." "But you said it's too crowded for another bed." "We'll find a way to fit you in here." The younger just sighed and leaned against the wall. "And how will we do that?"

"We could just push all our beds together? Make a huge bed and squeeze in", Dream said, quite proud that he came up with a solution so fast. "Do we have enough room for that?" "If we move the table, then maybe." "Then let's do it!"

The three made quick work of disassembling the dinner table, which was just a construction out of fence posts and thin slabs, and stored it all in a chest. Dream's bed was quickly pushed against Phil's, already creating quite the big bed. Techno looked over to George, who was fast asleep.

"Do we just let him sleep or...?"

"I think we can move the bed if we all work together. He isn't that heavy."

"We're gonna break the old man's back if we do that!"

"I'm not old!"

"Calm down Grandpa. Your blood pressure."

"Mate, please..."

"I think we're breaking him."

"Yeah. Like his old bones."

"SHUT!"

Techno and Dream started laughing, while Phil pouts and contemplates his life choices. Why did he like these people again? "Come on. Let's just huddle together and let George sleep. Or is anyone uncomfortable with that?" "We're just sleeping next to each other. It's not a big deal." "Well then. I call left side."

Phil crawls back on top of the bed and presses himself against the wall. "Scared of falling off the bed?" "With you guys in it, definitely. You're actually gonna break my back." Techno laughed and climbed on the bed, using his cape as a blanket. Dream had the misfortune of choosing last and had to take the other end of the bed, where he could easily fall off from. "If you kick me off the bed I will break your crown." "I'd like to see you try." "Guys please..."

The two just laughed while Phil curled up beneath his blanket, Brian nestling himself next to him on the pillow. Blade also climbed on top of the bed and curled up at Dream's feet. The three humans had to squeeze together so everyone could fit, but at least they stayed warm and somehow even comfortable.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"We have to extend the base. There's no way we can all fit." Phil looked out the window and sighed, knowing just how much work that will take. They had moved the beds again after they woke up and reassembled the table so they could eat breakfast. Techno not so subtlety snuck quite a few bites under the table for Blade to eat.

"How will we even do that? You're surrounded by a lake!" "We can fill in a part of the lake with dirt. Just enough to build a second house. We could even build a third one in the other corner, since we have to move the whole wall. It's easier to defend a perfect rectangle than a building with dozens of little corners and extensions in different areas." Dream turned his head to stare at the blonde, who just tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"Okay mister 'I'm not an expert!'"

"Oh come on! It's just common sense!"

"For you maybe. I don't think about battle strategies in my free time."

"Defending strategies. Get it right if you want to complain."

"And now you're sassing me."

"I'm not!"

"Guys calm down. It's too early for this." George yawned and gave the last piece of his potato to Blade, while Techno was calmly watching the chaos unfold before him. "Let's just build whatever he said. No point in arguing." "Right... how about you show us what exactly you want to do?" 

The four ended their breakfast and got up, allowing the pets to eat whatever scraps they want. Phil leads them outside and points at the wall to their right, the one that one of the house walls was attached to. "We extend this side for like... I'd say 10 blocks. Maybe a bit more. Once the wall is secure, we tear down this old one. We should only do that if it's fully save. And once that's done we can start building the house, that is if we have time left to do that. Did everyone understand?"

Techno nodded immediately, looking the wall up and down for a moment. "Shouldn't be too hard. It's not that big." "I'm more worried about filling in the lake. That will take a lot of time... and we have to swim around in the water." Phil looked over at George, or more like at his shoulder. "You won't. Not with your shoulder. You keep watch from the top of the wall and warn is if any mobs come near us." "Sounds fair."

"So... what do we do first?" "The lake, obviously. We can't build the wall on nothing." "Of Minecraft physics work-" "I don't want to test that out." Dream sighed and followed after the other two, who grabbed themselves some dirt and stone from the storage.

Techno was right, it wasn't that difficult. The area near the base was pretty shallow, the deepest part only took three blocks to fill up. And since it was relatively warm, their soaked clothes didn't bother them much. They settled for a twelve block extension, just to be save.

As soon as the area was cleared out from the water, they began to construct the wall. Since Dream and Phil had went on their little mining adventure, they had more than enough cobblestone to fully build the for block tall wall all the way around.

The time was passed with conversations about every topic possible, though it became very obvious that Techno and Phil had a much easier time to find a topic they are both interested to talk about. That's fine by Dream, who was more focused on listening to their conversation while building. Tales of their time on SMP earth and the antarctic empire, which apparently reminded them a lot about their situation now. Or just discussions about video games or planned lore for their characters.

"You know... I'm kinda sad I didn't spawn in with my wings. That would have been so cool to experience." "Didn't you say you wouldn't choose flying as your superpower? 'Cause of stuff getting into your eyes and all that?" "I mean... yeah... but if I would actually get the chance to have real wings, I would try them out." Techno hummed and placed another few blocks of cobble. "I'm glad I didn't spawn in as a pig person... or even a hybrid version. That would have looked terrifying to other people. As cool as the fanart is, I personally wouldn't want to actually look like that."

Phil laughed and nodded from his spot on top of the wall, where he was adding the fourth layer of blocks. "Yeah... that would have been so weird. Cartoon or even slightly realistic looks cool on paper, but the real life thing? Terrifying." "Imagine what Dream would have looked like." The masked man laughed and placed a lantern on the wall. "A big blob walking around." "Oh no I'm talking full thing. Real life telletubby." Now he was wheezing, because the mental picture of himself was too good to be true. Just a big green monster waddling around on too small legs.

"You find it funny. We would have screamed our heads of at the sight." "Yeah. Eyes for nipples. Terrifying." At this point Dream was on the floor, trying to catch his breath through the laughter. "Stop.... please..." "Are you okay mate? Need some water?" The masked man leaned back against the wall and lifted his mask just enough so he could fan his face without anyone seeing. "I'm fine..."

Phil knelt down on top of the wall and held a glass bottle with water down. "Here. Drink something. The part of your face I can see is way too red." Dream gladly took the water and drank some gulps. "Dadza." "Shut up."

Techno went back to building the last part of the wall. The sun was already pretty high in the sky and was burning down on them, making the whole work a lot more uncomfortable than before. Better finish this and then take a break and drink something.

"Alright. Break time. We can tear down the old wall later." They made a hole into the old wall, just big enough for them to walk through. George was kind enough to prepare cold water bottles for everyone and make a free spot in the house where they can just sit down and relax.

"Is it a good idea to change out of the hoodie?" "If you want to get sunburned..." "But it's so warm..." "We just have to tear down the wall. That's it. Building the house isn't as stressful, I promise." Dream sighed and took another big swig of water. "Alright... but let's at least sit for a bit longer..." "Sure. There are a lot of things to talk about. Like... what have you been up to the week you were by yourself Techno?"

The pink haired man leaned back and sipped at his bottle. "Well... when I spawned in, I was in the middle of a forest. Of course I was confused as hell... but when a Creeper almost blew me up I was pretty aware of what's going on. So I really only traveled and got materials on the way, like apples from trees or sweetberries. I just wanted to find a save place to stay at and didn't trust myself to actually build something. When I saw your base in the distance, I didn't exactly know what it was... or that it was built by players. So I snuck in and tried to steal some stuff, but Dream caught me."

"That's it?" "Yup." "I mean... you and George traveled almost the entire time too, right? What's the difference?" "He had an entire week." "Sure did. Walked quite a bit. Getting me back in shape." The group just started laughing, emptying their water bottles before deciding that it was time to get back to work.

"Imagine how fit we will be if this is how we spend every day." "We will have the bod of gods!" "Is that all you two think about? How fit you will get?" "Don't judge us." Techno rolled his eyes and accepted the iron pickaxe handed to him. His cape had been left behind in the house, leaving him in the white shirt and black pants. It's actually a quite comfortable outfit to work in. "Let's just get this over with."

The wall fell in a matter of minutes with three people mining it. It was difficult to reach the forth block sometimes, but they managed. Now that the space was cleared out and lit up, they were able to work with it. Since the nearby forest was purely oak, they had no other choice but to use that to build. "Alright. We can split up into two groups with these houses. Someone can stay in my house with me and the other two stay in this one." "I want to stay with you."

Dream grinned beneath his mask at the way Techno had answered that immediately, but he was happy he did. The pink haired man had an easy time distracting Phil from retreating back into his thoughts and he was glad that he does. Seeing Phil like he did in the forest almost broke his heart. Of course he understands what it feels like to miss someone close to you and it's a feeling he wouldn't wish on anyone.

"Is that okay with you two?" "Sure. I don't mind sharing with George. As long as he doesn't start to snore really loudly." "I don't snore." "You do. But it's pretty quiet."

"Alright, before this escalates again. Since you two will live in it, any specific wishes on how it should look? You can mark out the corners too so we see how big you want it." George looked at the free space and then back at Phil's house. "I'd say we can do the same size. It should work for two people." "Yep. But I want the door at the side... that way we can fully use the big wall." "Why?" "I don't know. I just want to."

Phil chuckles and put logs down to mark the corners of the house, matching it to his own home. "So door over there?" "Yes!" "Fine..." Dream grinned and started to build a wall with oak planks. It will be a simple house, but the only thing that mattered was that it will provide them shelter and keep them warm. While they were busy doing the walls to their liking, Techno replaced the dirt floor with planks and Phil went to grab glass and an actual door.

They spent the time laughing and joking around, even with the sun beating down on their backs. With four people working on the main part of the house, it was fully finished within an hour. All four stood in front of the small home, grinning with pride at what they just build. Sure, if this was build in game, it would be nothing. Every noob can build a place like this. But since they had to actually physically build it, it meant a lot more to them.

"Alright. How about you two get to decorate the inside while Techno and I prepare some food? It is your house after all." "Sounds good to me." "Great. You can use whatever you can find in the storage. Everything I don't want you to take is in my house, so don't worry about it. You can also grab your two beds from my house, I'll just make a new one for Techno." They nodded and quickly got to work.

First thing they did was grab the two beds from the other house. They put them in opposite corners and placed a chest in between them. One wall was lined with furnaces, a cauldron and a crafting table. The larger corner next to the door held a table and right next to the door was a tower of barrels for extra storage. The windows were decorated with flower pots as well, with George choosing from the limited varieties of flowers they had.

It looked just as cozy as the other house.

"I like this... small, but comfy." Dream nodded in agreement and looked around their new home. Of course it's nothing against his actual home, but for the time he has to stay here, this is more than acceptable. "So... do you think we start to make separate dinners or do we still eat together?" "Nahhh I think we still eat as a group unless someone is too tired for it."

George smiled and as if on queue, Brian came flying in to drag them over to the other house. They laughed and followed the bird, already smelling a delicious dinner waiting for them. Phil looked up from his spot at the furnace and grinned. Techno was putting bowls on the table to use as plates. "And? Happy with your home?" "Very. It's so cozy!" He smiled and motioned for them to sit down.

"I... I mean we... tried to make something a little special. Mess around and see what we can do with the ingredients we have. See it as a welcome dinner for Techno?" He turned and placed a large copper bowl on the table, which he had never seen before and has no idea how he even made it in the first place. In the bowl were, of course, baked potatoes, but they were covered in a sauce that seemed to be made out of sweetberries maybe? There were also cut carrots in it and something else Dream didn't recognize.

"Don't worry. We both tested it. It tastes delicious." "It definitely looks good." George was the first to grab himself a piece and bite into it. "It's... new... but definitely not bad." He smiles and takes another bite, which the other three took as a signal to start eating as well.

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and jokes and a desert made from sweetberries and sugar.

They could get used to this... if it weren't for people back at home that they so dearly missed.