Little Shadows

Behind the Mask

Horror seemed to notice his emotions, and he pulled away, and I swore I saw sadness flicker in his eye. Like he knew. That he couldn't love me.

Murderous teddy bear, I thought. A scary, not so scary teddy bear loves me. EW. Ugh. No. Please, no more skeletons having crushes on me. He's like a brother--

"Where isss ssssheeeee?" said a deep, trembling voice that sounded as a long hiss.

I peeked around the corner, noticing a little shadow sniffing about. It looked like some sort of weasel creature, but it was very slender and black, with glowing white eyes. It made strange scuffling-growl sounds.

“I know you’re somewhere,” it snarled, lifting its head to sniff the air. “So close by…”

I rolled back around the corner, where Horror grabbed my wrist. “We need to leave,” he whispered, gesturing down the dark hall.

“But what if it’s not dangerous?”

“(Y/n),” Horror hissed softly. “That thing is being followed by Dust.”
I shrugged. “Dust is chill.”

Horror sighed. “No, mouse, you don’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand?”

“When you and boss left…Dust went mad, because he thought you were turning boss soft, and he threatened that when he gets back, he’s going to…”

“Kill me?”

“...Yes. We got into an argument, and I chased him out of the castle, but apparently he got dragged into this dream. Now he’s looking for you…”

I stared at him in disbelief. Dust wouldn’t hurt me, would he? I remembered the first time I met him, and I got mad at him because he wouldn’t help Error, who had been glitching out. I realized he probably would, if he had the chance…

“Okay,” I whispered very softly. “Let’s—”

“I FOUND HER!”

I jumped back, almost stumbling into the floor. The weasel thing saw me and growled at me, and behind it was a pair of glowing blue-red eyes.

“Human,” said Dust. Apparently, he didn’t notice Horror, because he let the weasel corner me at the end of the hall, and he summoned a bone to point it at me.
“You wretched human.”

I summoned my flames, brightening up the entire hallway. Dust’s eye sockets widened somehow, and he jumped back a little. He noticed Horror standing grimly in the middle of the hall, giving him a horrifying glare. He clutched his axe, which glinted eerily in the dim light of the castle.

Remind me never to mess with Horror, I thought to Batfang and Chara.

“Horror, wait—” said Dust.

Horror didn’t say anything. He stepped closer to us. If Dust was afraid, he wasn’t showing it. He held a sharp bone in one of his hands, pointing it at Horror.

“Get out of here,” Dust hissed.
 
Horror shook his head. “If you hurt (Y/n), Boss is going to kill you,” he said softly.

Dust snorted. “And? He’s not going to do crap. He’s gone soft. Because of her.”

The sharp floating bone jabbed itself into my skull. Biting back a yelp, I threw a fireball at Dust, who screeched and jumped back like a scared kitten.

“You— you— ow!” sputtered Dust, rubbing his arm, where his sleeve had a very noticeable singed hole. 

“Don’t mess with me!” I yelled. “I have the power of God and fire on my side!”