Bdubs didn't know what to do anymore.
It'd only been a few nights since his horrible vision, and between his confrontation with Doc and the sudden, unexplainable fire at his neighbors and friends' house, things were happening a little too fast for him to comprehend it all. Hell, he was hardly phased by the whole fire, and the full weight of the situation was finally starting to press itself onto him now, multiple days after it happened.
The worst part was how undecided he was on keeping it all a secret. He wanted nothing more than to sit down with his partner and tell him about everything he saw, but he just... couldn't seem to muster the courage. He already had to relive it to tell Doc, and with how beautifully that went, he couldn't stomach the thought of letting it all out again. He knew Impulse, the tinkerer was as kind and patient as he was handsome, but yet Bdubs still wondered how much willpower he was using to hold himself back from shaking the shorter man by his shoulders to get some answers to his sudden abject misery.
The nightmare he had the portion of the night they spent in the hospital certainly didn't help either. In it, he awoke on the indoor bench as if he just had a dreamless night, but he was sprawled out on the cold metal by himself. He thought Impulse maybe just woke up and didn't want to disturb him, but as he went down every hallway and looked inside every room, there wasn't a soul to be found. Now panicked, he ran outside, only to see that it was still as empty and desolate as the building was somehow. The rest of it was a blur, as dreams tend to be, but while it was visually blurry, he could still remember one thing: he was terrified, more than terrified even. He used everything left in his voice to call out every name he knew, hoping that someone would answer back and let him know he wasn't alone, but no one answered. He was the sole living spirit in a ghost town, and his loneliness was killing him.
It felt like ages passed before he awoke, and all he wanted to do when he did was hold his bound closely and never let him go, as if doing so for even a second would leave him alone again. He hated it. He hated being so afraid. He was never this scared of anything before, and if he was, he could talk about it. Here, he was stuck in this never ending loop of being too scared to face it, too scared to turn his back on it, and too scared to call out for help.
He felt sorry for Impulse, trying to do everything he could to get Bdubs to feel at least a little bit better in these harsh times. It made him thankful that it was only physical pain they shared and nothing else.
Hell, right now Bdubs had his eyes shut as he leaned on his partner and held his hand in his own. They were both sat on the couch, the TV still on despite the movie they had going ending at least an hour or two ago. It was hard for Bdubs to get any sleep nowadays with the fear of the nightmare and general restlessness in his anxiety, so despite how tired he was and the fact that it was at least 2 in the morning, he was still awake.
His grip on Impulse's hand tightened, if only a little. Maybe tomorrow morning would be right to tell him about the vision. If he could get it over with and tell him right now it would be good, but he obviously wasn't keen on waking up his partner in the middle of the night. The morning would be fine, their heads would be clear and they could talk about it with an awareness that just doesn't exist in a midnight discussion. He still dreaded bringing it up, but it was what he needed to do, he was sure of it.
While Bdubs was still racking his mind over the fountain, Impulse was in a completely different plain of reality. Of course the ghosts would be looking for him, since he promised to meet back up with them after the night in the hospital, but it's been a few nights since then, and Impulse, for one didn't want to leave his partner alone even in spirit, and two, didn't even dream to begin with. He wasn't sure what caused him to not be in the ghost world for all those days, but he assumed it was his urge to stay with Bdubs incase the shorter brunette needed him.
But now he was back, and though he was still reluctant to leave his partner's side, he figured he'd be alright for now as Sausage led him through the forest and to the entrance of the cave Shubble mentioned at the hospital. It wasn't a very large opening, and from the outside, it hardly seemed like a cave. Grass was grown all over it, thin vines hung from the mouth, and he couldn't get a good look inside, but there seemed to be moss on the ground in it. The only reason he knew this was the right place was because Shubble was there waiting for them, and someone new was standing just inside the cave.
The new woman had long ginger hair in one thick braid, decorated with many different and bright flowers. Thin antlers poked from her head, also with some flowers on them, as well as deer ears and thin deer legs. Her blue overalls covered most of her green shirt, but it didn't cover the string necklace around her neck with a purple gemstone for a charm. Emerald green eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, lighting up her freckled face as well as a large scar going over her left eye. He wouldn't have even noticed the scar going across her neck had it not gleamed as bright as her eyes. In one hand, she held a wooden staff planted in the ground, the top end curling around a purple glass sphere.
"Hey Impulse!" Shubble cheered. "Thanks for bringing him back, Sausage,"
"No hay problema!" Sausage responded.
"Sorry I didn't come when I said I would," Impulse apologized, watching as Sausage walked off. "Lot of things happened,"
"I get it, my naps are three times as long as that anyway," the gnome said. She turned around to face the faun at the entrance. "Gem, this is Impulse. Impulse, Gem."
Gem looked Impulse up and down, still not moving out of the cave as she leaned slightly closer to Shubble. "You sure this is the right guy?"
"Wha- What's that supposed to mean?" Impulse asked defensively. Shubble nodded her head at Gem, like they didn't even hear Impulse's remark.
"I'll have to go down and get something real quick," Gem said, beginning to walk deeper into the cave. "You're welcome to come with,"
Impulse almost thought he imagined her odd tone at the second statement, but he thought nothing of it and proceeded to follow her. He stepped halfway into the cave before Shubble realized what he was doing, and she shouted.
"WAIT, DON'T-" they exclaimed, quickly cutting themself off seeing that Impulse already stepped in. Gem whipped around, and Impulse stopped dead in his tracks.
"...that's new," Gem half muttered, turning fully around. Impulse still didn't move out of fear.
"You said I could come with you!" He said.
"I was kidding," the faun responded, "but that's only because there's a barrier preventing anyone from crossing to the other side where you're currently standing."
"Oh... is that concerning? At all?" Impulse asked.
"Depends. Anything hurt?" Gem asked.
"No," Impulse confirmed.
"Good," Gem said bluntly, "this'll make my job way easier. Shrub, don't wait for us, alright?"
Though Gem had a smile on her face, Shubble sighed in disappointment. "Okay, I'll see if Sausage wants to go people watch the insomniacs again,"
As the gnome walked back into the trees, Gem motioned for Impulse to follow her further into the cave. It was dark and damp, and Impulse could swear he felt the moistened moss under his feet despite not being able to feel anything in this form. Speaking of the moss, the lower they went, the darker it became, until there was a small glowing dot in the midst of it. Then another. Pretty soon, it was like the stars in the sky, except most of it was on the floor and walls rather than the roof. Was it even moss anymore? It looked too strange to be moss.
"Sorry if I seemed a little rude earlier," Gem said out of the blue. Impulse waited a moment, expecting her to follow up with an excuse or explanation of some kind, but she remained silent.
"It's fine. Last time I came here a guy laughed at me for falling and smashing my face on the floor, so you're not the worst," Impulse said.
"Sounds like a Sausage thing to do," Gem said.
"It was Pause actually," Impulse corrected.
"Oh, you were at the hospital. That makes sense," Gem said. "I've never seen Pause before, but Beef comes along with Shrub sometimes, and he talks about him whenever he can. He sounds like a child, I wouldn't be surprised if he died at like 14 or something. Don't tell him I said that."
"Oh uh... okay," Impulse said uneasily. He quickly decided to change the subject. "So what're you showing me?"
"Shrub told me you might've been part of one of the prophecies the Watchers left on the walls down here," Gem explained. "It might be good for you to see it since you're able."
"Prophecies? How many are there? I only know one," Impulse asked.
"Oh, plenty," Gem said, "Watchers used to make prophecies just for the sake of making them, at least that's what I've heard. And I don't doubt it either."
"That's... interesting," Impulse said quietly.
"Speaking of, we're here," Gem said, stopping as she stepped into a room. It was a wide clearing in the cave, but the darkness made it impossible for Impulse to see even a foot in front of him. Before he could make a complaint, Gem walked into the middle of said darkness, and Impulse heard a slam and a sort of woosh as the "moss" all around lit up the room in a nice, cold teal.
Gem's staff was now planted in the middle of a rock pile, fitting perfectly in the middle so it stood up on its own. The walls, instead of being rocky and disgruntled like the hallway, were smooth all around, safe for the aforementioned engravings. Some of the carvings were simple images, but others looked like lines of text in what Impulse assumed must've been the Watchers' language.
It was one of the carvings that first drew his attention, not only because it was the only one that glowed, but it was also the only one he had seen before. 14 symbols, all surrounding a large circle in the middle. But strangely enough, it wasn't just the clock that lost its glow.
"I see that one's already caught your eye," Gem said. "7 pairs of soulmates-"
"Bounds. Soulbounds." Impulse corrected. "Soulmates is outdated."
"Oh, I never heard of that changing," Gem said, "I'm guessing you're one of them?"
"Yeah, this one," Impulse answered, pointing to the yellow "i".
"So you've heard the story before then?" Gem asked. "Or at least an iteration of it?"
"Doc told us about it," Impulse nodded, going on to explain the legend the German goat gave them. Throughout his retelling, Gem seemed to smirk, and he was just about done when she couldn't help herself but to chuckle.
"What?" Impulse asked. "What's funny?"
"I really wanna know where Doc heard it, that's not right at all!" Gem said, still smiling. "I think you're due for a much more accurate-"
A dazzled woosh interrupted the ginger faun, getting her and Impulse to turn to the noise. From the wall to their right, a new ghost had phased through and into the room, seeming to stretch and stifle a yawn. He looked around for a second.
"Oh, sorry, I thought this way was the 4th hall again," he said, smiling at himself. His eyes didn't fix on anything, but Impulse's eyes were fixed on him in a mix of horror and confusion.
Blonde hair. Goat ears, little horns, and tail. His brown button up coat. Even the way he spoke, clearly joyful and carefree despite still seeming half asleep. Impulse couldn't have recognized him any sooner.
"It's alright-" Gem went to say before Impulse couldn't hold his tongue any longer.
"Zedaph?" He called out. His old friend's eyes widened as much as his own.
"Imp?" Zed called back.