5 years later....
I stormed through the hall, searching for Dust. We were about to go on a destroying run, and he was slacking off, as usual. "Dust! Where are you?! We're gonna leave you!"
In the past few years, we went through a lot. Dust and I found out how to install running water, electricity, and what everybody else called "internet." They showed me how it all worked, how to use my own phone, and how all the appliances worked. I was absolutely dumbfounded when the stove started a fire by itself, but once I learned how the electric components used energy from the solar panels and water mill we built - and partially stole - to heat up and cook food, I realized it was indeed much easier. However, I still had to start and maintain a fire in the winter to keep the castle from freezing over.
We brought in a bunch of new stray cats as well. Kitty's litter of four we named Tux, Misty, Uma, and Icon. Tux and Icon were boys, and Misty and Uma were girls. We found out there were other strays because Kitty got pregnant again. Her second litter didn't survive over a particularly cold winter, but that brought in the strays. There were five in total; two girls and three boys. Sometimes, it was difficult to keep track of them all, much less feed them.
Ink had become more privy to our movements over the last year. We'd been going with Error more often to help him, as well as gather supplies. We managed to keep Horror's AU supplied enough that it didn't take as much effort to restock, anymore. Which left us with whatever leftovers we picked up.
I decided to turn the gallery in the castle into a medical bay. As much as I liked the art, it wasn't really useful for us. We needed a medical bay more, especially in the aftermath of many of the fights. Ink was recruiting more and more AUs to watch out for us, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to escape an AU unscathed. One of us always had at least one injury.
I got to Dust's room, and found him on his phone. He glanced at me, then shut his phone off. He got out of his bed and headed out the door with me. I gave him a scolding look.
"Honestly, Dust. We make these plans ahead of time, and you're nearly always the one who's late."
He smirked. "Well, you can always count on me to be late then, huh?"
I shook my head at him, smirking back in amusement. "Can't argue with that one."
We got down to the living room, where everyone else was waiting. Error was impatiently tapping his foot, eyeing the cats warily. He hated them for some reason, though I could understand that, since he had a fear of touch. When he saw me, he opened a portal and gestured for us to follow. I led the way, and the gang followed closely.
We split up and swiftly made our way to the designated areas we all had to comb for supplies and potential spies for Ink. This time, Killer came with me.
Killer flipped his knife idly. He had taken a liking to knives as weapons, though I warned him not to leave them lying around to hurt someone. He constantly forgets, and oftentimes I have to remind him to put them away, or do it myself. We were nearly through the Snowy Woods when the snap of a twig caught our attention. I nodded to Killer, and he teleported to the sound. I watched for a scuffle, and Killer soon brought out the Sans of the AU. He struggled in Killer's grip, but couldn't break free. He glared at me.
"You won't get away with this!" he cried, displaying more confidence than he was feeling. I smiled evilly at his attempt to be brave. "Ink will stop you, you bastard!"
"Oh?" I cooed. "Where is he, then? He hasn't stopped us so far, as you may have already guessed, heh." I shot a tendril out and grabbed him by the neck, strangling him. "And you will have called for him in vain~"
The Sans gasped for air, but my tendril tightened around his neck. My smile widened at the fear and despair, and I drank in the power it granted me greedily. It will come in handy when I inevitably have to face Ink, again. I snapped the Sans' neck, my smile fading to a more serious expression as the light left his eyesockets. I dropped the corpse as it dusted, then made a quick scan of our surroundings. No one was around. Good. We can move on to the next area.
We headed in the direction of the town, killing random monsters on the way. It's funny, really. The Sans knew to call Ink, but not to evacuate his people. Then again, where could they go? This... Doodlesphere I keep hearing about from Ink? Regardless, these "Judges" don't really have any foresight, do they?
Suddenly, an all too familiar aura entered the forest. I gave a subtle nod to Killer, who acknowledged it with a curt nod of his own. We started to branch off, splitting off to about ten yards away from each other. I continued a little farther, when a shout sounded behind me. I whirled around and summoned a sword, just in time to block Ink's strike.
"Seriously, Ink?" I returned his blow, swiping at his feet, then sending a downward strike. He dodged the first, then blocked the second strike. "Do you not know how surprise attacks work?"
He growled at me, pushing me back then swinging his giant paintbrush. I melted into shadow, materialized behind him, then kicked him to the ground. I slashed down, but he rolled away. I sent my tendrils after him, but he teleported away. I could feel him retreating, and I sighed in relief. He isn't usually this withdrawn with his assaults, but that could be a good thing. Not being so aggressive means fewer injuries for my gang and myself.
Killer came out of his hiding spot, still looking around for Ink. "Ya think we scared him off?"
I nodded. "I can't sense him anymore, so he must've left. Let's go join the others."
We got to Snowdin to find Cross and Error finishing off the inhabitants on this side of Waterfall. Horror and Dust were in New Home, probably in Hotland by now, working their way here. We raided the general store, throwing supplies into portals, and killed off any remaining monsters.
My gaze snapped to a figure landing right in front of the bridge to the forest. It was Ink again, and I prepared to defend myself.
"Tch, can't get enough huh, Ink?" He growled and shot inky black bones at me. I dodged them expertly, sending a flurry of spears at him. He summoned a wall of ink, and Killer moved in to attack. I stepped back and let my eyelight wander around. Cross and Error had gone on ahead, leaving us to deal with Ink. I figured that was fine. He was no match for us both.
I returned my attention to the fight just as Killer was knocked aside. I sent my tendrils toward Ink, and he swiped paint to counter them. I advanced on him, my tendrils shooting out and retreating to force back. He was backed up against a destroyed building, and I managed to knock him off balance. He looked behind him, then back at me, fear evident in his eyelights. He sat frozen as I raised my tendrils to strike, a smug smile on my face.
>Shink!<
I yelled out in pain as something shot me in the back. I fell to the ground, clutching my side in a hopeless effort to try and dislodge the object. In a burst of anger, I whirled around with a roar, and lashed out with my tendrils.
They knocked Dream clean off his feet.
My eyesocket widened in shocked horror as my brother, my dead brother, scrambled to his feet. He summoned another arrow, then pointed it at me.
"Leave him alone!" he yelled, pulling the string of his bow back. I could only sit there, staring at him. Dream... is alive! I wasn't sleeping, was I?! Was I going crazy?! Did Ink shoot me with some sort of hallucinogenic paint?!
No. Those eyelights.... They were Dream's. I could never mistake them. And they were trained on me with the most condemning glint I've ever seen in them. I stood up painfully, the arrow of light in my shoulder burning into me like a searing hot iron. I looked into Dream's eyelights, not sure what to believe, anymore.
"D-Dream...."
He seemed to hesitate, then gritted his teeth. "Leave my friend alone, you bastard!"
My soul felt like it had cracked. I could feel only disdain from him, and I stumbled back. I melted into shadow, but only got as far as the edge of Waterfall before I reappeared. I tore the arrow out of my shoulder, and tried to go a little farther. Tears stung my eyesockets, and I struggled to even crawl away. How is Dream alive?! Jeffery, he... he told me Dream was dead! I couldn't sense him, I saw his cape torn to pieces! This can't be happening! I must be dead, or asleep! He's not here, he's not here, he's not here-!
I whimpered in pain, feeling my blood soak into my turtleneck and jacket. My sight was getting blurry, and I felt too tired to continue. I tried forcing myself to my feet, but my legs were going numb. I concentrated and used m tendrils to drag me into Waterfall.
"H-help," I croaked, tears of sheer pain and exhaustion pouring down my face. "P-please. Some...body.... Dust.... Cross.... H... help...."
... ... ...
I jolted awake and shot up. I hissed in pain when I felt the bandages around my shoulder shift. I laid back down carefully, then looked around. I recognized the medical bay in the castle, and sighed in relief. Ok, I'm in the castle. That's good. Getting captured wasn't ideal, but I would prefer that over dying. Neither being the case was better than anything else.
I sat up again and swung my feet over the side of the bed. I noted sadly that Killer was unconscious in the bed across from me. He looks like he took a worse beating than I had. His head was bandaged, and his arm had a splint. His ribs were bandaged too, and I sighed. I stood up, wincing as I grabbed my jacket hung on the bedpost. I threw it on carefully, then went off in search of the others. I limped to the living room to find Error pacing in the middle of the room. Dust and Horror were sitting on the couch set up against the window on the right, and Cross was stressfully petting Tux on the couch facing the doorway. Yeah, we did a little redecorating. Error noticed me first, and immediately stormed up to me.
"WhAt ThE HELL wErE yOu ThInKiNg??!!!" I winced slightly as his voice caused a headache to form in the back of my skull. "Do YoU rEaLiZe YoU cOuLd'Ve GoTtEn KiLlEd??!!!"
Despite the headache, I smiled. "Heh, didn't think you cared."
He huffed and crossed his arms. "YoU'rE lUcKy I dO. OtHeRwIsE, yOu WoUlDn'T bE aLiVe, RiGhT nOw."
"Hey!" Dust retorted. "I was the one who saved him from Ink and his buddy!"
"TcH, iF i HaDn'T gOtTeN iMpAtIeNt, We'D nEvEr HaVe GoTtEn ThEm BaCk In TiMe!"
"Guys," I said softly. "Just stop fighting. Thank you for getting us back safely."
I turned and went up to my room. My headache was getting worse, so I thought I'd sleep it off. I needed rest anyway if I was gonna heal properly. I had never really thought about how much it would hurt to be shot with Dream's arrows.
'Yeah,' I thought, tears starting to form. 'I never thought I would be at the receiving end of one, either.'
I climbed into bed, mindful of my injured shoulder. I stared out into space, thinking back to what Dream had said.
"Leave my friend alone, you bastard!"
I gulped harshly, fighting down tears. I knew he wouldn't have liked what I've become, but I didn't know how badly it hurt to know what he thought of me. My own brother... hates me. He hates me! He hates me! He hates me!
I buried my face in my pillow, hot tears rolling down my cheek. I tried to banish that scornful look in Dream's eyelights, but it burned itself in my memory. I gripped the pillow harder as a sob escaped me, desperately attempting to hold myself together. I took several deep, shaky breaths, but each one allowed another sob to leave my skeletal lips. Soon, I gave up. I let myself cry, my pitiful whimpers being partially muffled by the pillow.
'Dream hates me,' my mind repeated. 'He'll hate me for the rest of our lives.'
... ... ...
It had been a few weeks. Error had refused to leave, hanging around me like I was going to die. I tried to convince him I didn't need looking after, but even Dust insisted they do everything for me. I accepted it after awhile, and my thoughts went back to Dream. Where was he right now? What could he be doing?
"Hey, you ok, boss?"
I perked up. Killer was giving me a concerned look, so I smiled to dispel his worry. "Oh, don't worry about me, Killz. I-I'll be fine...."
"That's not what's bothering you though, is it?" He sat next to me and studied me intently. It sometimes caught me off guard how insightful Killer could be. "It's that guy who helped Ink."
I nodded. It wasn't hard to figure out, after all. Even I had to admit I'd never been this devastated by a loss to Ink. Killer leaned forward on his unaffected arm, appearing to be lost in thought. After a moment, he spoke.
"You know him, don't you?"
"Y-yes, I do."
"Who is he to you?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but hesitated. I had told the gang my brother was dead. What would they think of me if they were to find out he wasn't? They'd probably think I attempted to kill him. They'd think I thought I killed him, but he survived. They'd think me a dirty liar, as well as a murderer. They would never trust me again.
"Either you don't want to talk about it," Killer said half seriously, "or you really don't wanna talk about it."
I scoffed at him. "You probably wouldn't get it, even if I did tell you."
"Heh, try me."
I glanced at him. His attention was on me, and I shifted a little. "Alright. He's... he's my brother."
Killer remained silent. I looked down guiltily. He is probably gonna say I've been lying to them this whole time. And I have, haven't I? Dream was alive all this time, so I was lying to them. I even lied to myself.
"So what happened?"
I looked up. The rest of the gang had gathered in front of me on the floor. Error, of course, was standing in the doorway, but he was still listening. I averted my eyelight and rubbed my arm nervously.
"I-I didn't think- no, I guess I believed Dream was dead because I didn't stop to think the kid who told me could've been lying. I should've gone looking for Dream. I would've found him, eventually. They couldn't have taken him far. But.... I didn't. And now, I'm paying the price for my impulsive decisions."
I closed my eyesocket. Dream and I would still be at home, protecting Mother, if I had been more patient. He'd have come back eventually, probably a bit dazed and confused, but he would've asked me how long it's been.
"How long was I gone?"
I would've jumped up and brought him in for a hug. "Too long, Dream. You've been gone too long."
My eyesocket snapped open when I felt someone wrap their arms around me. Killer had gotten closer, and Dust was getting up to join in. In fact, they were all coming over to give me a hug. I smiled tearfully.
"Thanks, guys."
"No problem, boss."
I hugged them back, frowning at Error. He was just standing there, arms crossed over his chest. He didn't budge, and I looked away from him. It's fine. He doesn't need to join in this. If it's his fear stopping him, there's no need to force him into something he isn't comfortable with. I shrugged the thoughts away. I was content with the comfort the gang was offering of their own free will.
Once they let me go, Error walked up to me. I lowered my head in embarrassment, waiting for him to say something. Instead, I felt him engulf me in a short hug. He stood up quickly, a blue blush on his face.
"I-i OnLy DiD tHaT cUz EvErYbOdY eLsE wAs DoInG iT. DoN't ExPeCt Me Ta GeT aLl ToUcHy AnD sTuFf JuSt BeCaUsE i HugGeD yOu, GoT iT?!"
I smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Error. I appreciate it."
I giggled softly as he walked away, grumbling something about being cute. Even though he mostly keeps to himself, he's still a part of our family. He knows it, I know it, we all know it. It wouldn't be the same without him.
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Totally not awake at 2 am right now, what u talking about-
Anyway, two chapters within hours of each other! Yaaaaaay.....
Rip my sleep schedule. I mean, it's been off for the last week, but I'm still functioning! I'm just more tired than usual. Heck, I'm tired right now! I'll probs pass out the instant I set my phone down. Wonder what kind of nightmare I'll endure tonight! :D