Blue Moon

He saved him

The waterfall was deafening.

It roared like a world-ending storm, crashing down in ribbons of silver, moonlight glinting off every spray as if the stars themselves had fallen into it. A few stray birds screeched overhead, disturbed by the sound, but otherwise the world around it was dead quiet - save for the ragged, wet gasps of a soul who was giving up.

Blue stood at the edge of the cliff.

His soul was dim. Not cracked, not broken, just...tired. The joyful hue that once radiated from his chest like a beacon had dulled to a murky yellow, and his scarf - once bright and fluttering - hung limp around his shoulders, soaked by earlier rain and sagging like a noose. His hands trembled at his sides, fists clenched hard enough to tremble. The argument with Dream had gone too far this time. Ink hadn’t even bothered to intervene.

* Why do I even try anymore…

He whispered, voice barely audible over the water’s roar.

* Why am I always the one left behind?

His foot slipped forward. For a moment, he froze...then let go.

The drop was swift.

The wind howled past his skull, pressure pulling at his clothes and bones like claws of fate, then-

Crash.

The waterfall swallowed him whole.

...

Miles away, a jolt of bitter energy pricked Nightmare’s senses like a needle.

He staggered where he stood, black dripping from his tentacles as he turned toward the northeast. That surge of emotion - deep, hopeless despair, the kind that twisted like a knife in the gut - it wasn’t common. Not in the multiverse. Not this pure.

Nightmare’s mouth curled into a frown, more puzzled than anything.

* What the hell was that…?

Dust stopped sharpening his blade.

* You okay?

* Someone just gave up.
Nightmare murmured.

Killer, who was perched on a bookshelf upside-down, blinked.

* One of ours?

* No.
Nightmare said.

* One of them.

And yet…he moved. He teleported - without another word - to the location.

He appeared at the edge of the cliff, his boots splashing in the wet grass.

The waterfall’s basin was an angry swirl of white foam and churning dark water. He scanned the surface - and then he saw it.

A splash. Then a flicker of blue. Then stillness.

Nightmare’s pupils narrowed.

* …You idiot-
He growled, but his voice lacked its usual venom. Before he could stop himself, he’d already thrown off his slippers and dove in.

The water was freezing.

It slammed into him like a thousand knives, nearly driving his breath away. He kicked hard, eyes wide, tentacles trailing behind him like black ink bleeding through water. The deeper he went, the darker it became - until finally, finally, he saw a shape.

Blue.

The tiny skeleton warrior floated like a puppet with cut strings, limbs loose, his scarf floating above him like a dying flame. His eye lights were gone. His body was still.