You guys are either going to really love me or hate me for this chapter. Possibly both.
The song featured above is the one I was listening to while writing this story, it's called "Subconscious" by VanilluxePavilion. They have a plethora of really nice remixes, mostly centered around the Pokemon OST, but also some really nice original work, like this one. Consider giving them a listen~
With that said, onto the story, where we check in on the small bean.
Chapter Warning: Blood (Marrow)
***
Goth stirred slightly at a buzzing noise in the distance, a shiver running through him. When he shifted, a dull pain shot through his skull by his left eye socket. Clutching at his skull, he hissed as his fingers touched upon a crack. Something wet and sticky lined the edges.
That definitely wasn't there before. Am I bleeding?
He tried slowly opening his eyes. Darkness met his vision, but not the kind that nighttime brought. This was darkness from lack of sight. In both eyes.
What was wrong with my left eye? Am I completely blind now?!
Trying not to panic, Goth began feeling around sluggishly. He felt the cold and wet ground beneath him and the tug of damp clothing surrounding him.
Snow? I'm... outside? Yeah, I fell... maybe? Everything that isn't numb feels sore... it hurts to think... it's so cold... I'm so tired...
A ringtone and a dim flash to his left caught his attention.
So I'm not completely blind... just mostly.
Slowly dragging himself towards it, a small rectangular light came into view. His phone. Letting out a groan, Goth reached for the device. Even this small effort seemed to sap his energy. As his hand closed upon the plastic casing, he hastily swiped his thumb across the screen in a long-practiced motion and drew the phone close to his skull.
The sound of footsteps and breathing answered him. "Goth, thank the stars you finally picked up! Where are you?" Palette's voice. Goth breathed out a quiet laugh. Palette took on a worried tone on the other end, "...Goth?"
"P-," Goth tried to speak, but his voice felt frozen along with the rest of his body, "...pa...le...tte." Goth gasped out slowly, trying to answer Palette's question despite his hazy thoughts, "I... h... idunno... fell... 'scold... hurs... can'see... s'blurry..." Each raspy word felt like energy seeping out of him.
"Goth, tell me what happened. Please," the taller skeleton's voice urged over the phone.
Goth tried gathering his thoughts together. It hurt so much to think. Where had he been again? He fell... where? He was... the... "Th... th'park...," he realized, "I... w... waswalkng... p... pas'atree... n'slipped... now... headhurs... cold... n'tired..." A blip was heard from the phone.
That sounds familiar...
The battery. That's the sound of the battery dying.
Dread sank into him. Goth whimpered, tears leaking from his eye sockets at the thought of losing Palette's voice in the cold darkness.
He tried to compose himself and steady his breathing amidst the wave of fear, "...m'scared...I... don'wanna... b... bealone... please... h... helpme..." Another blip caused a small sob to escape Goth's mouth.
"It'll be okay, Goth! I'm at the West park entrance now!" He heard Palette shout.
Palette's already so close?
Goth let out a faint sigh of relief. "Mister Reaper's looking too! I promise you'll be okay!" Palette repeated as Goth willed himself to listen to his crush's words. "I won't leave you alone! Never! You-"
Silence. The light next to the small skeleton's skull was gone. Palette's voice was gone. His phone had finally given up, the battery having burned through everything it had to give. He was alone, with only the wind and the hazy darkness surrounding him.
Goth curled up where he lay, clutching the dead phone to his chest as breathy sobs shook him. "P....pa...," he tried to call out between wet gasps, straining to be heard over the wind.
Palette's coming. He might even be nearby, searching for me.
The small skeleton wasn't even feeling that cold anymore, just... numb... tired...
He remembered reading somewhere that was a bad thing... but he couldn't remember why, as if his thoughts were playing tag with him, slowly wearing him down to nothing.
No matter how much he tried to raise his voice, though, the wind only seemed to swallow his weak attempts. Crying hadn't helped his weakened state either, making his head swim and feel as though the ground was swaying beneath him. He wanted so badly to rest. His eyes, along with the rest of his body, were fighting him in his effort to stay awake.
"Pal...et... p... pleas... hur... ry...," Goth whispered as he slowly began losing the will to fight the darkness surrounding him.
---
"He said he was at the park. Something about a tree," Palette yelled into the phone. He was racing down the path, moving his flashlight back and forth, hoping to catch a glimpse of something, anything, that would lead him to Goth.
Reaper's voice responded from the other end, "A tree, huh? Any other landmarks?" His voice sounded laid back on the surface, but there was a tense and dangerous undertone to it.
"No... I don't think he was able to see very well. He also didn't sound like he was all there," Palette replied, trying to crush his panic at the thought of Goth being hurt and alone out here... how weak his voice sounded...
Palette was about to race by yet another bench, but something stopped him.
The snow... the snow on the bench! Some of it looks like it's been knocked off recently!
Pointing his flashlight towards the ground, the skeleton's starry eyes lit upon some tracks, just barely visible in the freshly fallen snow. "I think I found something," Palette breathed excitedly, following the tracks.
He barely heard Reaper's voice coming through the other end of his phone, too focused on the faint imprints on the ground that eventually turned into rough clumps.
He was so focused, he nearly ran himself into a tree. The thick branches above him seemed to snarl around each other, tangled together as if they were fighting for space. As he re-oriented himself, a flash of red caught the light of his flashlight to his left. His soul leaped as he focused on the object.
A red patch of cloth fluttered on the branch of a bush, a little way down a hill.
Easing himself towards the bush, he noticed clumps of snow kicked up leading away from the bush. His flashlight traveled along the trail until it fell upon a larger white lump...
"GOTH!" Palette cried, abandoning his slow pace to rush the rest of the way down the hill. He absently noted the yelling coming from his phone as he slid to a stop next to the smaller skeleton.
Goth was laying on his left side, clutching his phone limply. His clothes and slippers were covered in snow, dirt, and small rips, Palette guessed from rolling down the hill, and his hood was drooped over his face. Palette barely made out shallow, labored breaths. Shifting the phone between his skull and shoulder to free up his hand, Palette reached for Goth's shoulders to turn him over.
His soul stopped at how cold the small skeleton was.
Most monsters had an ambient heat produced by their magic that could be felt upon contact... Goth's was nearly non-existent. That usually only happened when a monster didn't have enough magic to generate such heat... when a monster... was...
"Mister Reaper, I found him... he's... he's really cold...," Palette stuttered into the phone, pulling his limp friend up into his arms with their head cradled against the crook of his right elbow, trying to fight back tears.
The cloaked skeleton went silent over the other end for a moment. "Where," his voice finally replied, taking on a dark, icy tone that brooked no argument. Palette paid it no mind as the smaller's hood fell back enough to reveal a crack along the top corner of his left eye socket, dried marrow running along the edges.
Goth did mention everything being blurry...
"Down the hill, from a big tree near the park walkway on the East side. Part of Goth's scarf is hanging from a bush near the top. He also has a crack in his skull, next to his left eye. He... he needs a hospital," Palette's voice began cracking towards the end as a tear slipped down his cheek, "Please hurry."
Reaper didn't reply as the line went dead.
The colorful skeleton put his phone away and carefully moved his unconscious companion, pulling their head in close to his chest without any concern for the smudge of marrow staining his jacket, so he was seated in Palette's lap off the cold ground.
Ignoring the stinging tracks of tears on his cheeks, Palette wrapped his friend in a tight embrace, practically curling around him in an attempt to shield him from the cold and leech some warmth back into his body.
"Hang on Goth," Palette whispered, pressing his mouth gently against the small skeleton's skull, his voice warbling, "I got you... help's coming. Please... just hang on."
***
So, I'm actually really proud of this picture since the only referencing I had to do was figuring out how Palette's feet would be positioned and how the tears would look. Also, bones are hard... to draw.
Edit: I forgot the gold trim on the brim of Palette's hat like a dingus...
Word count:1,443