Good Night

Chapter II

Kumo watched the sleeping Kyou squeeze his teddy bear closer. He laid snug beneath layers of wool blankets,  breathing steadily with a content expression.

"Suna," Kumo called while his golden eyes gazed at the boy, reminiscent of a freshly waxed moon.

"What is it?" Attached to his loose belt in a small glass jar, someone answered. "Not full yet?"

He shook his head and put his gloved hands on his hips, glaring at his somewhat full. "It isn't that. I'm just tired of eating the same thing. A lot of kids here are scared of this one. Don't you want to see something new?"

Suna chuckled in her light, bell-like voice. "We've only been here for a decade―it won't be long until we get reassigned."

"I guess you're right. Still..." he paused to look for an escape route in the room littered with Minecraft toys and Sonic posters. Something sticky―food, perhaps―landed on the bottom of his foot after they left Kyou's dream. He wasn't intent on remaining there long enough to identify what it was.

When he caught sight of a navy-blue curtained window, he snuck out in struggling silence. A harsh wind hit Kumo while he closed Kyou's window from the outside, making him wish he'd eaten Dark-dark sooner. Sliding down to the edge of the peeling roof, the dream-eater sighed at the twinkling stars above them. "I want to see more. Taste more," he finished in a hushed tone.

The bottle shook until the corkscrew blocking its opening popped off. Suna flew out, her white particles conflating into a cubicle form. "You know I can't have you bending the rules! The moon watches our every move."

"Yes, yes. So does Buddha, but no one's scared of his wrath."

Spikes formed along her sides. "Lady Tsuki isn't as lenient. Don't even think about disobeying her."

Kumo raised his hands in defense before hopping off the roof. He smiled when she rushed to catch him. After patting her, he leaned on his back as her sand swallowed up his feet. "Calm down, Suna! I won't do anything rash."

She lifted them to the sky and sighed. "That's what you said when you scared your last meal pretending to be a ghost."

It was Kumo's turn to laugh. He kicked his feet, giggling at the memory. "That girl deserved it. She was rude to a tapir."

"A 'baku' will always be a 'baku', it seems."

"That's right. Now then, it's still dark; how about another nightmare?" Kumo crossed his legs, tilting himself into sitting position. The city resembled the night as thousands of artificial lights twinkling under them.

Before Suna could respond, something slammed into them. Her cloud fell apart, and Kumo stumbled off.

"Kumo!" Suna yelled, not bothering to identify what they crashed into. She flew to his falling body, but something else beat her to him. It was a pale boy, floating upside-down by his sandman.

The boy smirked as they fell. "Hey, runt. I've come to get my gift."

Kumo wasn't amused. He grabbed the boy's hood and pulled it to him. "Watch where you're flying!"

The boy's lips curved into a sneer when his hood slipped off to reveal sterling eyes. He tilted his head up and raised his eyebrows. "I'll help you. But only if you give me your straw. Mine broke, you see, and Lady Tsuki refuses to give me anymore."

"That's your own damn fault. You know how important they are, Ren!" Kumo clenched his teeth, looking away. "How could you be that stupid?"

Ren chuckled while shrugging his shoulders. He grabbed Kumo's hands to tug them off. "I'm a very clumsy boy. Now give me your straw before we both go splat."

"Ha! Yeah, right. You've got your sandman holding you. I'm the only one in danger here."

"That's exactly why you should give me your straw!" Ren pulled the boy's head to his, growing anxious by the second. Brown scales climbed up his pale skin as the sun began to rise. He rummaged through the playful tapir's jacket, patting every nook and cranny until something skinny brushed his fingertips.

A sense of dread washed over Kumo's body. He didn't think the boy was serious. "Suna!" he yelled while trying to pry Ren's hands from his straw.

"No! You will give it to me." Ren growled, his fangs becoming notably sharp. "I have to live. It doesn't matter who dies in the process!"

Kumo winced. Deciding Ren was a lost cause, he turned his attention to the cloud of sand above them. "Astro, you're going to let him do this?"

"...Those are my master's orders."

"But at this rate, he'll―agh!" Kumo gripped his chest. Someone took hold of his heart and squeezed it. He tried to kick Ren away but could only gasp when he gripped his straw once more. Kumo's mind and body went numb as his eyelids closed.

"Thanks, friend." Ren chuckled while watching the black and white straw glow in his hold. He got what he wanted; Kumo was no longer useful. So he let go of the baku, allowing him to plummet to his death.

Before he could order Astro to take him to a nearby nightmare, a cloud of black sand surrounded them. "Give it back," Suna hissed, in no mood for games. She crushed them with her embrace, smiling at the sound of Ren's bones snapping. At that moment she was a snake coiling around the boy until he had no air left in his lungs.

Despite her threatening tone, he shook his head. "N-No, I won't." He bent the straw much to the unconscious Kumo's dismay. "You can't make me!"

Suna didn't utter a word. Instead, she opened her mouth to swallow them up.

Astro grabbed Ren's leg and pulled him to the nearest exit. If anyone had to die, she'd rather it be her. After all, she swore to keep him safe.

Alas, her attempt was futile as the last ray of dawn was blocked by Suna's body, encasing them in darkness. Sand trickled onto their heads soon after.

"I'll say it one more time," the living cage muttered while diving to Kumo. "Give the baku his straw back. Unlike him, I'm not as merciful. I won't hesitate to crush you."

Ren looked to Astro, who was preventing the sand from suffocating him. They'd been together for centuries; that was more than enough, he decided. With clenched fists, he held up the straw. "Fine. Take it."

"Thank you. Farewell." She snatched it from him before letting them go, then raced to Kumo. The caution she would've felt towards traveling so close to the city was gone with the wind―Suna had all of her attention on her partner, who laid motionless on the ground.