Two knights and a fox walked through a forest; you'd think there'd be a punchline to this. Their trek that twisted in and out of the trees was quick and navigated. They walked for what felt like hours. And Fundy finally understood why Dream claimed that he and his friends would be back after a couple days when he first left for this Nether voyage. With the inconvenience of travel with this journey, no wonder he had some doubts about the reality of this place.

"The further we walk, the more I believe this is a planned assassination attempt," Technoblade said. Though his words were laced with what Dream could assume was humour, he didn't fail to notice the hand that hovered by the hilt of his axe.

He gulped, continuing further along the unidentified path. With his experience of running to this same portal multiple times, it was easy to remember the way. "We'll get there," he said. He looked up at the sun seeing as it was still high in the sky with no sign of it falling down anytime soon. "I say we'll arrive at the portal just before sundown. That way we can rest and not risk monsters being drawn towards us."

"Of course, there's a portal as well," Techno exclaimed as he tossed his hands in the air. "Now, Dream, you know that I love to travel. Sure exploring new kingdoms and exploiting their unjust governments is just a hobby— a pastime really, but when I go on these long voyages..." he gave him a stern stare, "I expect to have a basic understanding of where I'm going."

"Why would you agree to go with me if you aren't sure of what you're walking into?" Dream asked, confused.

Technoblade tilted his head, silence quickly consuming the air around them. The warrior idly looked down at his nails and picked at the dirt that resided deep within them, glancing over at Dream. A dark stare threatening him, the other turned away and stared back ahead.

The brown haired warrior let his thoughts roam for a moment. It wasn't often that he saw the other with his hood down. His dirty blond hair was usually covered by the dark green. But today, that hood served a different purpose. He watched the fox that laid curled up in the deep pocket of that article of clothing.

Absolutely pathetic was what Dream was. For taking in some random animal and just somehow knowing that it was his Techno's missing nephew. A mystery this man was indeed. And everytime Technoblade thought he had this guy figured out, there was always something else. Something that couldn't be learned from great observation skills and a good reading of context clues. Just something else.

And all things considered, Dream had Fundy. From what he could tell his nephew seemed to have been well taken care of. As that is the most he could assume as he didn't see the... fox trying to make an escape. Fundy just laid cuddled up in Dreams hood.

"There's no thrill in going into something you're sure about," he said. Dream nodded and they continued on their journey without another word.

***
"We're here," Dream said, Techno's gaze lifting to see a small cabin ahead of them. In no way did it look like a portal but he wouldn't be surprised if it was. Dream lifted Fundy out of his hood and let him roam for the time being, walking over to the door and opening it easily. Technoblade and the fox followed in suit.

"Don't get too comfortable," he said, " we'll be heading into the Nether early in the morning."

"What is this place?" Technoblade asked, wiping a finger along the dust of a table.

"It's like a rest stop for those who plan on venturing into the Nether. No one besides my friends and I use it because all of those who used to collect resources from there have died."

"Does the king know about this?"

"I'm not sure, it's not like there's a groundskeeper for this place. Kind of just free rein."

"Are you bringing Fundy?"

Dream looked over at Fundy who sat beside them. He tilted his head and looked down at Dream's feet, tapping his boot softly. Dream chuckled before looking back up at Techno, "I guess he's coming with us."

"Huh,"

***

The night was plagued with a cold feeling. Something about laying still in this odd place put no reassurance to Techno's mind. He got up and kicked the old sheets off to the side, looked over at Dream who laid still with his back facing him, unawake next to Fundy who was snuggled up against the curve of his body. Those two were odd but this place was a different kind of odd.

He twisted the door handle of the bathroom and stumbled in, gripping the counter in a death grip, fearing he might fall. Just a trip, he's only a little sore from the long walk, he usually had his horse with him to make long trips easier.

He didn't know what was happening. The lingering feeling that this place pushed on him made his compass go haywire. Maybe it was just a cold, it was getting that time of the year again, the seasonal sickness that would put him in bed rest for a little less than a week. Nothing that could completely immobilize him.

The knight grabbed a bottle that laid tipped over on one of the shelves, unscrewing and sniffing it to make sure that it wasn't a potion that could possibly kill him. Acknowledging that it was just water, he splashed it on his face, he scrubbed hard to wake himself up of whatever haze this building had cast upon him.

A hard knock against the door made him jump, and the following voice of Dream alerted him. "Morning! I'm cooking up some breakfast right now so we can get a head start on the day. Any preference on how you like your eggs?" he asked.

"What?" Techno's voice involuntarily croaked. Was he being too loud and accidentally woke up Dream? Or had he simply just lost track of the time?

"Eggs? Preference?" Dream's voice repeated.

"Oh uhm, I'm fine with any," Technoblade answered.

When had it turned to morning? Had he spent the last of the night going mad in the mirror? He looked up, not seeing the red and tired eyes of his constant irritated state of the past few hours. His face was pale and not in a haunting way but it was almost fair, as if nothing had touched or even harmed it before, no scars or old marks from battle were present and it scared him. His hair wasn't entirely brown as it was slowly sinking into a pink-ish red color.

This wasn't him, he was going mad. All the concussions from fighting have finally caught up to him and he finally completely lost it. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to face this false reality that was set into him–

"Techno, can you hurry up? I really need to pee." Dream knocked once again.

He opened his eyes and was met by his usual tan and scar littered face. No pale skin or pink hair, just his average appearance. He opened the door, fearing that if he spent a moment longer in there he'd have to cut his own head off. Dream scrambled in, thanking him quickly. He nodded and left the house all together to breathe in air that wasn't coated in dust and faint magic.

It felt like he was resurfacing from underwater when he opened the door. The sun appeared to just be rising, which somehow still boggled his mind. He's not going crazy, he told himself but who else would truly know but him?

Breakfast went by quickly, later moving on to organize their supplies and ready to head into the Nether. Dream walked down a pair of stairs that seemed to emit a strong unsettling feeling, perhaps that's all that Technoblade really felt while they were there.

They stood before a structure that appeared to be a border of obsidian that encased a dark purple window. Hell, was this even safe?

"It can be a little disorienting the first time you walk in, you don't need to be scared or anything cause I'll be here," Dream said, though maybe those words eased Techno a bit, he had a feeling they were more meant for Fundy.

Dream looked away from the fox that seemed to constantly be in his arms, and to Techno who starred hypnotized by the fading purple. "You ready?" He asked, to which Technoblade could only nod in response, his axe in a grip tight, waiting for this to all be a ruse. "On three, okay?"

"One..." No way was the Nether actually a real place, Techno thought.

"Two..." Maybe Dream is the one going mad, with his mage brother and all, who knew how screwed on the Schlatts were.

"Three." Dream pushed Technoblade forward, leading to one of the very few moments that Techno had believed he was going to die.

Technoblade felt a wave of power surge past him, stumbling in surprise, he fell over. Dream's hand was still on his shoulder but now he felt something other than the cold stone he was previously on. He opened eyes and was met with a dark scarlet. For one so familiar with this color decorating his enemies, he felt off put.

"Welcome to the Nether, Techno," Dream said, already digging through his bag. Pulling out his shield and axe, he stepped forward, looking around.

Technoblade stood up, staring at the red stone looking material that stretched on till the horizons faded to black. Lava spewed from overhanging ledges and fell into an even greater lake of fire. It was dark, it was fiery, it was the closest you could ever be to describing hell. It was beautiful?

He heard a snort from behind him and he raised his axe in defense, but the mob did nothing but stare at him. Assuming this pig-like, zombified creature was there to fight since it held their sword high, it merely just stared at him, taunting him...

"Okay, so don't provoke the pigmen, Techno." Dream stepped in front of him. "If you even so much as touch one, you'll have a swarm on your tail in seconds."

"What are they?" he asked, remaining eye contact with the one who so much as dared to keep their sword up.

"Pigmen, they roam the Nether and stuff, I don't know how to explain it, but you can't fight a whole lot of them at once."

"Is that a challenge?" Techno asked, eyeing the cluster of pigmen that stood off near the edge of a lava lake.

Dream casted a confused glance. "No, absolutely not, that's a warning." He rolled his eyes and pushed Technoblade farther along.

"Okay, so– hey over here!" Dream waved over, Techno only getting distracted from everything around him. "You see that large white creature that's floating over there?" He asked, Technoblade nodded. "We're going to have to lure it over here and kill it."

"Can't you use a crossbow?"

"Well, yeah, but then I'd also have to jump into the lava to retrieve it's tears, and I only have a limited supply of fire resistance potions," Dream explained.

"Understandable," he replied, but not really understanding. "So what do we do?"

"For now..." Dream thought for a moment, "okay you two." He handed Fundy over to Techno who looked like he wanted to protest. "Stay hidden behind the netherrack, I'm going to bring the ghast closer. If there's anything that comes to attack me, Techno, I'm going to need you to step in to either defend me or take over."

"To be clear I'm still a bit confused," Techno said as he raised his hand, the other was holding Fundy but it was clear that it was uncomfortable for the both.

"You'll be fine," Dream reassured, "and if anything goes wrong, just make sure Fundy gets back to the portal, alright?"

Techno eyes him suspiciously before nodding, "alright."

The fox and the knight watched as Dream redirected balls of fire with his sword. Techno had a creeping thought that maybe he himself was a tad intoxicated but, nonetheless, it was cool to see. "Techno," he called out. The brown haired man put his arm in front of Fundy in instinct, but waited for Dream to tell him what to do. "The moment it's over solid land, can you shoot it?" He asked, pulling his shield up, ready to reach for tears. Technoblade nodded, pulling out his crossbow and aiming, readying the shot to take down the large ghastly monster.

***

Many tears and collections from other mobs found their way into Technoblade's possession. After retrieving the required amount of ghast tears Dream needed for the potion, he was led to a fortress of some kind. It's dark bricks whispered to one another in discrete tongues, hissing as they walked through their halls.

"This is the... fortress?" Techno questioned, though it seemed pretty small, he was sure that the light played a trick of his perspective.

"Yep," Dream nodded, picking Fundy up carefully and holding him close to his chest. "It's easy to get lost and one hell of a pain to get out."

"Is that a challenge—"

"Why is everything a challenge with you?" Dream chuckled. "Just... I can tell you want to run off and explore your own thing so I'll give you like half and hour or so to get back before we get ready to leave. Sounds good?"

Techno nodded, already turning away, the thought of the question of what he will actually do? Just stay to the left of a maze to never get lost, a rul of thumb that always came handy, despite him being well confident in his navigation skills. Though he'd seen enough monsters outside, he wondered what actually was in the inside that felt so dangerous?

He looked around, confused. Had that not been at that entrance he came through? The hallways began to blur together as he took each turn. Some kind of human compass he is. At some point he had felt like he was only walking back and forth. Until a flash of light caught his eye.

There, at the end of the hall, in a gold glint that was almost as bright as the sun from the regular world, sat a crown. Just a simple crown. It's red jewels reflected the carnage around it almost poetically. But what was a crown without the leader to pose in it? Who in this cursed biome could even have the will to rule a land of nothing? The pigmen? The magma cubes? An absent ruler? Out of all the kingdoms he's conquered for their unjust governments, this was the most pathetic one by far. There was almost a part of him that screamed not to go grab it. But since when did he let self control decide for him?

"Techno?" He heard Dream call out to him, but that simple head accessory was much louder.

Glancing over his shoulder, surveying for any prying eyes. Dream was far enough judging from the volume of his last shout. Technoblade could walk on over and snatch that crown from the pedestal. It'd be so easy, so simple! It really would be.

And it was.

"Oh, thank god, you're alive," Dream sighed in relief when Technoblade came back into view. "I thought you got lost or got caught up with a wither skeleton."

Techno smirked, "I've told you before," he said, "Technoblade never gets lost."

The way back to the portal wasn't as exciting as when leaving it. Dream had let Fundy walk part of the way but still felt wary that the fox would somehow tumble into fire. Even when they passed another lava fall, Technoblade made eye contact with the past pig-men that greeted him from before. Though, something was off in the way they looked at him, he had an idea of why.

"Are you ready to head back?"

He tore his stare away from the creatures and faced Dream, who stood there with his beads of sweat dripping down into his mask, having shed his cloak a long while ago. The warrior had what he came here for and had no reason to stay in this heated wasteland. Technoblade nodded, but as he went through that dark portal once again, he knew that that would not be the last time he entered that land.

***
It's always the travel back to where you started that feels shorter than the voyage to. Though it still took about a half a day, trees and landmarks became more and more familiar.

Finally, when the areas around them felt almost as if home, Dream began to slow his pace. His boots skidded across the dry dirt, lazily. Techno glanced at him questioningly, to which he stopped.

"Do you mind if we take a small detour?" Dream asked.

"Depends how small."

The green ck added warrior pointed to some far off direction as if Techno could know what he was talking about. "There's this biome that I'm dying to show Fundy, and it's not too far from here."

"You want to prolong this trip even longer, just because you want to take Fundy sight-seeing?" Dream nodded. Techno sighed, waving his hand, "go on, it's not like I had any other plans, anyways."

It barely took any time to get there as Dream almost sprinted there, only if Techno wasn't taking his time in walking. When they finally did arrive, they were staring at deep canyons that cratered the ground with surrounding colors of oranges, reds, and browns. A Mesa biome.

Techno watched as Dream ran towards the edge of one of the great cliffs, a skip in each step like a little kid running off to scare a flock of birds. He barely listened as he started going on about random facts about the biome. How it appeared the way it did after build up of sediment... blah blah blah, boring stuff that Technoblade could care less about. But he watched them, nonetheless.

Observing from a distance as Dream talked ecstatically to Fundy, who sat next to him, looking up with his tail wagging. Odd sight, but not the weirdest.

He then slid his overweighted bag off his shoulder and sat down on the red dirt, a distance between him and the two.