Reborn As A Dust Sans [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch15 - Surprise Sibling

Horror's POV

Horror had seen the photo Farm texted. The skeleton had seemingly not noticed they were being photographed, and the angle was a little strange, but it was clear they were having fun. They were covered in hay and feathers, several hens in their lap, one adorably poking her head out of their shirt.

He wasn’t sure why he was expecting it to be different, but they were pretty much the same in person. He observed for a few minutes from afar. They had a gentle but genuine smile, not minding how overly affectionate the feathery creatures were acting towards them, even letting out the occasional soft giggle. 

When Horror moved close enough though, they turned their attention to him, and Horror waited for their reaction. Those that recognised him as one of Nightmare’s usually either fled in terror or lashed out with violence. Somehow, Horror knew the other recognised him, and yet, they showed no fear.

The staring was a little annoying at first, but he understood when the smaller removed their hood. It wasn’t that Ashe was judging, but rather, that they recognised the two shared similar wounds. It was like the other, for the first time ever, was seeing somebody who was like them. And Horror could understand that perfectly.

As he interacted with the other, he could easily identify some clear differences between Ashe, and the Dust he had grown to care for as family. It wasn’t surprising that others might confuse the two, but Horror would probably never mistake either of them as the other.

The first thing he noticed was how tattered the scarf adorning their neck had been. It seemed far more disintegrated than Dust's ever was, but there were clear signs of mending, attempts to fix it where it had begun to fall apart. The color had also faded a little, making it seem much more used.

Ashe also had sharper teeth and the tips of their blackened phalanges were sharpened to a point. It reminded him of the changes he himself had endured when the core shut down in his old world, although the skeleton didn’t seem to have grown in size at all. In fact, they were probably even a tiny bit shorter than Dust.

He frowned. From what little he could see of Ashe’s bonds, they were clearly greyed from malnutrition. They looked fragile and thin, possibly the reason their skull had broken in the way it had. It hurt his soul to see them in such rough condition, so clearly starved and neglected. Worse, Farm and Crop probably didn’t even realise it.

Horror wasn’t the best with communication, but he hoped Ashe would recognise his concern when he lifted them into his arms. Stars, they were far too light for their size, this wasn’t right at all. They must have been starved for long enough their literal bone density had decreased.

He almost stopped walking when Ashe practically snuggled into his chest, seemingly enjoying his arms around them. He didn’t mind, of course. He was always the most physically affectionate out of the little family, preferring actions over anything else to express his care. He was just surprised.

After placing them onto the couch, he retrieved a large bowl of soup from the slow cooker. It didn’t matter if he burned his hands a little in his rush, the Dust look-alike was starving and needed food, and Horror would not let them go another minute hungry if he could help it.

He watched carefully as they ate. The food absorbed much faster than he had expected, signifying a higher amount if magic than usual. That was a good sign, at least.

Horror instantly froze up when he felt the bond snapping into place. A sibling bond, he realised, and a surprisingly strong one at that. It had taken so suddenly he hadn’t even had a chance to reject it, though he probably wouldn’t have done so anyway. 

“....You just... bonded with me!?” he let out in shock, not having expected such a thing to ever occur. All bonds required consent from both sides to form, even only at a subconscious level, but their shared reactions made it clear that neither had actively intended for this to happen.

It were as though Ashe had been desperately reaching out for connection, and the moment it found any amount of acceptance from Horror, it latched onto it. And when it snapped into place, he could tell that removing it would be dangerous to the other, that it might make them literally Fall Down.

Stars, he hoped Nightmare wouldn’t be upset at this. Horror had bonded with a complete stranger, one that he knew so little about! Then again, Nightmare did have a habit of adopting the ‘damaged’ or otherwise rejected skeletons into his home, so maybe Ashe would fit right in?

‘What is a bond?’ The smaller signed slowly. They... didn’t know? That should have been common knowledge for all monsters! It was one of the first things monster children learned from their parents, so did that mean Ashe never had any?

“Your magic... reached out to mine.... and formed... a sibling... bond,” he begun to explain. “It means that... your soul... considers me a... brother now... and mine has... accepted it.”

There was a long moment of silence. Horror could see the various emotions crossing Ashe’s face – confusion, uncertainty, hesitance, quickly building into acceptance, relief and excitement. ‘So you are our brother now?’

“Yes,” Horror confirmed. “...Our?”

‘My injury made my magic really unstable, so it connected to my brother to stabilise it,’ the smaller explained. ‘Ghost Papy says the bond applies to him as well, but that its kind of faint.’

Horror took a moment to feel his own magic, the various bonds that had tethered to his very being. Nightmares was the first he recognised, a parental bond, but there were also sibling bonds with Dust, Killer and Cross.

Surely enough, when he reached out to the newly formed bond with Ashe, he could feel a sort of subtle dual connection, as though the bond with Ashe was actually two bones with them.

Did that mean Ashe’s spirit sibling was real, and not a hallucination? Well. That was a surprise. Horror had gained two siblings, and one was a ghost. That would be... interesting to explain.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the smaller skeleton signed once again. It was something Nightmare had taught him a long time ago since Dust would go nonverbal at times, though Horror himself couldn’t sign with his clumsy hands. 

‘Ghost Papy likes you. He’s not upset at the bond. He keeps calling you Surprise Spikey Sibling.’

Horror chuckled at that, a deep laughter that reverberated through his chest. It was cute that Ashe seemed so keen to comfort him, as though they thought they were in trouble. He’d been zoning out, not angry. “I’m glad that... he doesn't... hate me. Dust’s phantom... hates everyone... but he's a... hallucination... not real.”