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Chapter Text

Y/n groaned, her eyelids feeling like lead. Her head was pounding, and she felt something warm and wet trail down from her scalp all the way to her lower lip. Just what the Hell had happened?

Oh.

She began to slowly recall what the hell happened, and why the hell she was freezing her tits off in the middle of a snowy forest. She was on the job, guarding this kid (she refused to call them cute aloud, but secretly admitted it internally) as requested by her new employer. Y/n couldn't say she knew him (as they had only conversed briefly, and that was done virtually, never in person). She knew that the kid was being shipped off to her employer's house (as they had recently adopted them after visiting them in an orphanage, or so she had heard from the gossiping flight attendants). Her job was just to keep watch of the girl, and make sure that she didn't run into any trouble.

Apparently, her employer had a lot of enemies that would love the chance to get back at him by killing an innocent kid.

However, that was none of her business. Her job was to guard the kid, deal with any potential threats swiftly, and make sure that they were happy and comfortable. Ordinarily, the latter part may have pissed her off (as it was her job to be a bodyguard, not a sodding caretaker), but when it came to her latest charge? She couldn't help but make a few exceptions. Indeed, she truly had gotten soft.

Thinking of that kid, she fought against the lethargy sweeping over her, and managed to stand (barely). Around her were an innumerable amount of what she guess were pine trees (as she wasn't exactly a tree expert), and looked around the crash sight. Flaming debris lay strewn everywhere, many trees in the surrounding area either bowing, on the ground or stabbed by large pieces of burning metal.

Y/n had no idea how she survived such a horrific crash, especially due to the destruction and carnage around her. As she limped in exploration around the site, she noticed a few of the people who were also on the plane (such as the two attendants, another fellow body guard she had only just met on the plane along with the pilot). Some were on their seats, whilst some where on the ground - wait, how did the pilot end up in the tree?

She shook herself from that thought, wiping the liquid that collected on her upper lip that she realised was blood. Her head, she found, had a large gash and her lip was bruised and bust. If she was being completely honest, she had felt worse (namely due to the multiple brawls that occurred during her time in prison, the conflict either directed at her or she was simply caught in the crossfire).

Y/n then noticed that there was a large piece of metal gauged into her left arm. She surmised she hadn't realised until then due to the shock and adrenaline in her system numbing the pain.

She had no idea why they crashed, and although she was curious, that could wait. Y/n decided that it was probably best that she leave her wound until she found out where the kid was (and if she even survived).

A loud wail interrupted her thoughts, startling her slightly. She ran towards the sob, her injured leg slightly buckling as she finally reached the source. Y/n sighed in relief through her nose, kneeling beside her charge's side as she cried into her singed hands, dark patches from the smoke smeared all over her. Abby gasped upon seeing the person she knew was supposed to be... What were they called again? Ah, bodyguard.

The young girl latched onto Y/n, clutching and crying into her shoulder. Y/n hesitated before enveloping her arms around the poor kid. The bodyguard wished that she could cry, but she knew that it wouldn't be a good idea. If she was alone, then yes, she would have cried over how she knew she'd never get rescued, and how she'd never get to see her Uncle again, the man who raised her and treated her as his own child.

But, she had Abby to think of, so she reined in her own emotions as she began to think rationally. In terms of survival, she knew that she would have to get water. That was solved when she thought about melting the snow, which would not only be fresh, but free of bacteria also if she boiled it enough. But where would she get the fire? She almost laughed at her stupidity. There was still some fire burning away at the  debris, meaning that if she got some dry fuel, then that would suffice.

But what would the snow be contained in? Again, as she hugged and stroked Abby's back in soothing motions, she realised she could use a large metal piece, place it atop the burning fire along with the snow to get the water (as she knew that they would survive for three weeks without food, so water was their priority at that moment in time).

A violent shiver wracked through Abby, making Y/n finally register how cold the kid was. Immediately and without thought, she took off her leather jacket (it surprisingly only had a few scrapes, and was mainly intact), wrapping it around Abby's small form. This then left Y/n in a pair of black jeans and a black tank top, showing her sleeve tattoos and muscular arms. Y/n stifled a shiver from the cold breeze that blew through the trees, not wanting to distress the kid and for them to demand her to wear the warm jacket. The kid wrapped herself in it, grateful as she sniffled and wiped the snot from her nose using her wrist, the jacket trailing behind her due to its long length (as it reached Y/n's mid-calf's) .

The next priority, was shelter from the cold. She luckily knew how to build an igloo from her Uncle teaching her when they went on holiday to Greenland, but she also knew that it would take too long. They had already been in the cold for awhile, so that begged the question for what she was going to do next. She stood up to better scrutinise her surroundings, Abby clinging to her muscular leg.

Y/n's stern face turned, and eventually saw where the rest of the plane was: a large, icy cliff fifty metres away. It was curved in a way that a cave-like structure was formed underneath it.

Without saying a word, she picked up Abby, cradling her to her chest as to conserve body heat as well as to hide the bodies from the girl's vision, and began to approach the wreck of the plane that wasn't on the cliff. She picked up her suitcase, removed the things that were sprawling out of it and keeping the rest that managed to remain intact, carrying  both the suit case and the kid to the small opening of what Y/n decided to just call a cave (she wasn't exactly skilled in the geography department).

Abby didn't say a word as Y/n gently placed her and her suit case in the cave. She briefly turned her back to Abby to rifle through the case when she took out some more of her clothes along with her favourite velvety blanket, wrapping the blanket around the girl as she put two woollen jumpers on herself so that she didn't freeze on the way back to the crash sight.

Y/n turned to leave but was halted by Abby's small hand holding her wrist, whimpering and tears streaming down her face. A stern, intimidating look from Y/n made Abby instantly relinquish her grip, her tiny arm returning to her side. As a means to comfort the poor girl, Y/n informed, "I'm just going to get more supplies. Wait here, and don't move. Make sure to jog around whilst keeping everything on you, too. But stay in here." Her command left no room for argument as Abby watched her bodyguard walk back to the site.

Abby was distraught, the whites from her blue eyes red from crying, her face sore from both her tears and the cold, and her brown hair was a complete matted mess. Sniffling and hiccoughing, she did as ordered, jogging around the small, enclosed space, already feeling slightly warmer as she hugged the nice smelling jacket and blanket around her small frame.

It didn't take long for Y/n to return with a large stick that was flaming at the end, a few pieces of fabric and wood along with a piece of metal that was curved in on itself, resembling more like a bowl than a part of a plane. She scooped up some snow, lighting up the wood and fabric in front of the cave. Abby watched in fascination as the snow began to melt, the metal turning a bright red from the heat of the flames beneath it.

Abby looked from the fire to Y/n (who was sat in front of the fire, watching the snow melt). Steeling her resolve, she asked quietely, "How did you know how to do that?"

Y/n's amused smirk sent a tremble of fear through Abby's spine, as it looked far more malicious than what Y/n had intended (unbeknown to her). "My crazy Uncle Larry.

When she didn't elaborate (and she hadn't glared at Abby yet), she questioned feebly, "Why was he crazy?"

Noticing how unsettled Abby was, Y/n attempted to calm her charge down and improve her mood. She grinned, "He used to walk around in the middle of the day in his pyjamas, claiming that the only time society can dictate what he wears is when his corpse is being dressed for his burial."

Abby was bemused to say the least, "That's weird."

Y/n surprised Abby with a chuckle, "That's Uncle Larry. But that was tame compared to some other stuff he did. Really strange guy, but, I loved him."

Y/n couldn't help but smile internally when curiosity sparkled within her blue eyes, "What other weird stuff did he do?"

So with that, she regaled all the crazy shenanigans they both got up to, including the time they stormed into his workplace with paintball guns, shooting all of his colleagues in the arse (she was only ten, but his colleagues were used to the crazy stuff her Uncle Larry got up to). Their chatter eventually died down as the night crept up on the pair.

Abby couldn't help but be slightly afraid from the darkness, as they could only see for around four metres before everything was too dark to make out. Y/n remained unbothered, which calmed her down somewhat. An exhausted yawn escaped her, gaining Y/n's attention.

"You should sleep." Abby was about to meekly protest when Y/n added, "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for you, and protect you from any danger."

"...Promise?" Honestly, despite the situation they were both in, Abby was still far too cute.

Y/n held out her little finger and smirked, "I promise."

Their little finger interlocked and shook, before Abby laid down on the hard ground. It was somewhat softened by the giant fluffy blanket her bodyguard had given her (she couldn't remember her name, something that made guilt settle in her stomach uncomfortably). Before she fell asleep, Y/n made sure that she had some of the water that she had heated, careful that it didn't scold her. Afterwards,  she went out like a light, eliciting an amused huff from Y/n. 

She made sure that the fire was still going, looking with focused precision within the darkness, ears perked for any sound of potential predators. It unnerved the bodyguard slightly that the only noise that could be hear was the crackling of the fire, but she tried not to think about it as she brought her attention to her wound.

She was lucky that her Uncle Larry was always paranoid about her getting injured when she was younger, as it meant that she knew a thing or two about dealing with injuries (but she was no professional, however). So, she ripped some of the fabric she had collected, putting it inside her mouth as she roughly pulled out the jagged metal from her arm. She groaned, stars dancing across her vision from the pain as she watched her blood flow from the deep wound. Y/n couldn't help but think how lucky she was that it wasn't further to her right, otherwise it would have punctured a major artery, making it so that she would have bled to death, leaving Abby alone and defenceless.

The tears she accumulated she wiped with the cloth (as she remembered her Uncle once mentioning that it had antibacterial properties), and tied it tightly over her wound as to stem the blood flow. Her muffled groans hand't woken her charge up, thankfully, but the loss of blood really wasn't good as she felt herself pale.

She couldn't allow herself to fall asleep the first night. Who knew what nocturnal creatures would be lurking in the darkness? Y/n decided that she may sleep the next night, but she would make sure that nothing was around before she made herself (and subsequently her charge) vulnerable to attack.

Y/n had no idea where she was: all she knew, was that she was going to do her damnedest that her charge- no, Abby, would survive. Determination enveloped her, making her wake up from the slight doze she had gotten into.

She blinked disbelievingly, unsure if what she was seeing was a figment of her imagination due to her slight head trauma, or if what she was seeing was real. In the darkness she saw two bright blue lights. As they seemed to move in her direction (it freaked her out how the pinpricks of star-shaped lights looked like fucking eyes), the lights becoming brighter and larger. The fuck...?

She immediately stood to attention, her back rigid and her chin up, her eyes glaring at whatever the fuck that thing was which was staring at her. Y/n discreetly stood in front of Abby (as it hadn't seen her yet, that she knew of), obscuring his view of the inner cave-like structure she had set up shelter in). The lights seemed to raise as though the thing was standing, the lights being half a foot taller than her. It hesitantly came over, the light of the fire revealing that it was - wait, is that fucking freaky ass thing a skeleton?

Y/n really must have been going, as her crazy Uncle Larry called, "doolally". It was around six foot three, and it still seemed to be hunched over, almost looking submissive, its bright blue star-shaped eyes looking at her in wonder and awe. Wait, how could Y/n even discern the emotion of a skeleton? Shouldn't they be, oh she didn't know, maybe not moving? Not breathing? Well, it certainly looked like the thing was doing fucking both!

Upon her harsh glare, it seemed to go down on its knees and prostrated itself, avoiding eye contact with Y/n (could she even call those fucking lights eyes?!).

No, she definitely wasn't panicking. She was just... Just... Fuck it, she was fucking panicking! 

She had no weapon on her (her gun she couldn't bring on the plane along with her knife, so she was fucked in that regard), and how exactly would you fight against a fucking skeleton that should be buried six feet deep in the ground ?!?!

Y/n needed to calm down, and think about this rationally. If it was going to attack, it would have done (and it certainly wouldn't be in such a submissive position). She looked around cautiously in case it had any "friends", and walked over to it, making sure that not a speck of her inner turmoil was showing.  

When she was stood before it, it whimpered, their sharp fingers (Y/n had no clue what to call them) into the ground. Y/n found some morbid amusement in the thought of poking it with a stick like a few deranged little shits do when they find a dead animal (but this humanoid skeleton thingy was alive, despite the rational part of her brain saying that it just shouldn't  be).

She almost jumped out of her skin (is that what this skeleton thing did, and that's why they were just made of bone? she found the thought morbidly funny in her shocked mind) when his raised its head slightly, making audible noises through its sharp teeth (although they did appear to be slightly larger than the size of a human's). It reminded her of a gentle stream of water, of the times her and her Uncle Larry would fish upstream and immediately hide when someone came along (as he didn't exactly have a licence for it).

Was it trying to communicate? It must have been.

"Sorry, I don't speak Skeletor." By her emotionless response, the thing too seemed to be confused at what she said. Y/n wouldn't admit it, but she was super freaked out by how clever whatever the thing was. Its behaviour just seemed like an alternate version of human behaviour: similar, but still different. It made a few more confused noises, but Y/n made no more sounds as she observed the thing's movements.

Feeling oddly compelled, she kneeled down by the thing's side and reluctantly stroked its head (skull?). She was astonished: it was the softest thing she had ever touched in her life, softer than silk and cashmere. It purred against her hand, pressing further into it. Bemused, she stood up again and (deeming that it wasn't a threat) strode back to the cave (although, her paranoia wouldn't allow her to turn her back on the skeleton thingy, so, she just walked backwards). She ignored the thought in her head that sounded oddly like her Uncle's that she was practically moon walking back to the icy cave.

The skeleton thingy whimpered and followed, lights (eyes?) cast downwards fearfully as it also entered the cave. It started when it saw the sleeping form of Abby.

Y/n sent a warning glare at the thing tilting her head in Abby's direction along with her index finger and pointer towards her eyes, followed by pointing them at the thing. For good measure, she scowled murderously at the skeleton thing, sliding her finger across her neck threateningly.

It seemed to get the message as it quivered fearfully, nodding - wait, its fucking nodding now? Y/n, not wanting to get a headache, refused to question the skeleton thing's actions and eerily human behaviour. Y/n looked away from it, and out of the cave, observing her surroundings to see if she would get anymore surprise guests.

Y/n sighed through her nose when it curled up against her side, it's thick fur pelt rubbing against her thigh as it finally got comfortable on her lap. "Cheeky." she huffed in amusement, stroking its skull (she decided to just call it a skull), the skeleton purring against her. It really was going to be a long, rough night. After much thought and deliberation, she decided to call whatever had taken up residence with her and Abby Blue (or Stream, she couldn't decide between the two so she'd probably alternate between the two).

Chapter Text

Stream's (Blue) POV

I was furious! My brothers were tormenting me yet again! For what seemed like the millionth time, my food stash had been hidden so well that I couldn't find it by none other than Stretch. Yet again, I went to my brother, the Wingdings (aka Chief, but he preferred to be called Ding or just Wingdings) to ask him to scold him, and yet again he simply laughed it off in his usual merry way, patting my head and saying that, and I quote, "He's just bored, Blue. Let him have his fun!"  I mean, the nerve ! I knew that he was the Wingdings of whatever it was we were (as all the "tribes" consisted of three members including the Wingdings, meaning that it barely resembled a tribe at all).

I had had enough! Enough of the pranks! Enough of the puns! Stars, the puns were atrocious. That was when I decided to run away, to give myself a break from Ding and Stretch.

At first, it was supposed to be short term (mainly due to my passion often scaring away prey, so I would be unable to get any food), but as I roamed along the snowy banks of the forest we lived in, I couldn't help but love how quiet it was. I loved how peaceful it was: no more pranks, no more puns, no more excuses for inexcusable behaviour... Just.... Silence....

Of course, I, the Magnificent Blue, eventually got bored of the solitude. I began to feel lonely without my elder brothers. I tried to return, retracing my steps like Ding taught me, but the steps I had taken in the snow had already been covered from the wind...

I was lost.

For the first time in a long while, I truly felt scared.

I called out for Ding, I even called out to Stretch (despite still being very angry with him)...

But nobody came.

I was startled by a series of loud bangs, and a loud screeching sound. I hunched into myself to make myself seem smaller, as the sound was just so... Terrifying. 

So I, the Magnificent Blue, valiantly ran away. I guessed that that it was the sound of  predator I had never seen before as I bravely made my escape. That was when I stopped. Me, the Magnificent Blue, scared? What a laughable thought! I steeled my nerves, and ran back to where I was, and towards the sound. I was shocked at what I found.

Lots of the trees had either collapsed or had a strange material embedded within it. Much of the strange material was on fire (I only knew what it was due to the time when the southern Wingdings tried to claim our land and brought it with him along with his other tribe members). I tiptoed around all the material, inspecting and trying to ascertain what it was.

Was it one of those strange inventions that the tribe in the East made? My brother Stretch had told me about it when they both had traded goods to try and avoid conflict. I liked the Eastern tribe (although they too had someone who punned, but luckily, Stretch and their "Punner" had gone off somewhere to have a chat, or so my brother Stretch had said). 

Although I didn't like the Southern tribe, it was those from the West that really disturbed me. Now they were definitely weirdos.

The tribe in the North were... I couldn't really think of how to describe them.

My soul lurched suddenly, which caused me to fall face-first into the snow. Shaking the snow from my sockets and nasal cavity, I looked up to see what exactly made my soul act in such a weird way. The sight I saw made me blush, and I could only assume that my eyelights were stars.

In the distance was a... I had no idea what it was. It had the shape of a skeleton, but had flesh on it.. Hairless flesh, other than the hair on top of her head (my soul somehow knew whatever it was was a she). Despite the distance, I could smell her tantalising scent... I had no idea what it was, but it was a mixture of something floral along with something herbal... Whatever it was, is smelled amazing.

I knew from the smell of blood that she was injured (that along with her limping and clutching her arm which had a piece of that strange material was embedded in her flesh). Blood dripped on her wound, yet she still seemed unfazed. Her being injured did not deter from her beauty, as I felt my soul hum and buzz pleasantly as I watched her. 

A loud, pained cry interrupted me. The female too seemed to have been alerted, as she ran towards the noise. I followed, making sure that I hid behind the trees so that she didn't see me (as I didn't want to scare her). As i watched her pick up what I knew was clearly a young member of the female's species. She made a few noises towards the young child, as she too inspected the burning material around her.

I was enthralled. I couldn't stop watching her. She took off what I assumed was clothing of some kind, placing it on the child. I gaped at the strange markings on her strong-looking arms. I couldn't make out what it was from the distance I was away from her, but I knew that it looked cool. She collected an oddly shaped rectangular object, carrying the child along with the object towards a cave.  

She eventually gathered some supplies, placing a soft-looking blanket on the child and more clothes on herself. I didn't understand why they both need so much to wear at one time, but I guessed that she must feel cold like the animals do around these parts.

It had already gotten dark when the young child had fallen asleep, and yet the female remained awake, staring into the fire she had made (I was still impressed and amazed by her intelligence and control of fire). I eventually gained some courage, and approached her. I had to admit, despite the way she made my soul feel, she was still really intimidating. She immediately leapt up to her feet, making herself look taller and lifting up her chin.

She moved in front of the child - was that hers? It must have been! That's why she seemed so protective of it!

When I made it in front of the fire, her glare hardened. Although she was shorter than me, the murderous look she gave me made my bones rattle. Just how could she be so scary?!

Without thought, I went onto my knees, and pressed into the ground as much as I could to appear smaller.

I whimpered and clawed into the ground, still trying to make myself as small as possible in case she decided to attack me. I had no idea what to do if the fleshy maiden were to do so. I mean, where exactly do you hit a fleshy skeleton? All their weak points would be cushioned and protected, so even if I chose to fight back, it would be futile!

The joy I felt when she approached me did not make my anxiety and fear disappear. Wanting to know if she was going to attack, I looked up from my position on the ground. "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! I WANT TO HELP YOU! PLEASE LET ME JOIN YOUR TRIBE!" I begged, hopeful that she would allow me to (as I felt too ashamed and embarrassed to go back to Ding and Stretch).

Her face remained impassive, her eyes seemed to pierce his soul like daggers, the light of the fire making her stern, cold scowl even more menacing. She opened her mouth, making a strange pattern of noises that sounded hard as rock.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" I asked, confused. She didn't answer, merely looking as though she was deciding something when she knelt down beside me. Oh my stars she was so close! She then surprised my by stoking my skull with her fleshy hand. It was slightly rough, but the squishy feeling made it feel heavenly when she stroked further. I purred, leaning against her more to get more attention from her. 

I stifled a whine of protest when she stood up. She stiffly walked back into her cave, keeping an eye on me (I assumed it was to make sure I wouldn't attack her child). I whimpered and followed her cautiously into the cave, hoping that her not shooing me away was her accepting me into her tribe. I then saw her child's sleeping form, holding in a squeal of delight for how surprisingly cute the thing was, all bundled up in a blanket. 

I just couldn't believe that this fleshy skeleton trusted me enough to be in her tribe! My soul swelled in happiness, affection rolling off of me as I looked at the child to my new Wingdings, who I dubbed Ice (as her stern glare was as cold as one).

Her eyes bore into my eyelights, making me tremble in fear. Was she going to hurt me?

The female tilting her head in the child's direction, and then got two of her phalanges, pointing from her eyes to me. Her glare and scowl were bone-chilling, as she slid her index phalange across her neck. I was confused for a moment, until it clicked: she was threatening me that if I harmed her child, then she'd kill me.

The promise in her harsh gaze made me nod quickly, shivering at the fact that she would probably dust me all too easily. The fleshy skeleton looked out of the cave and towards the outside, her cold scrutiny of her surroundings making me glad that she wasn't looking at me like that. Wanting to gain her trust, I curled up against her (her flesh seemed hard as a rock at her femur, but was still comfortable nonetheless).

She seemed to huff in amusement, making another strange sound he had only ever heard her make when she started stroking my skull. I crawled onto her lap, finding comfort there that I hadn't had since I was a young babybones. I could get used to this! Not the malicious glares, but her stroking my skull.

Chapter Text

The first thing that Y/n thought when Abby first woke up was that she really needed to teach the kid how to survive. If she was to hazard a guess, clearly there were more than one of these skeleton thingies around wherever they were (she still had no clue about her location, just that it felt extremely weird, like there was a constant, barely noticeable electric buzz in the air that if she concentrated hard enough on, made her skin break out into goosebumps).

She adamantly refused to admit that Abby waking up with a snort was cute. No. She refused to go there. She was supposed to just look after her, and that's it. She wasn't supposed to be getting soft enough to actually feel attached to the kid. That could get her killed, or worse (if the skeleton thing she called Stream, and yes, she decided to just stick with that name as Blue was too on the nose for her taste, was anything to go by, especially for how he seemed to like snuggling up close to her). It made her groan how, once again, she heard a voice in her thoughts that sounded suspiciously like her uncle say "or worse, expelled". She loved her uncle, she really did. Didn't mean that he was any less annoying, though.

If she had learned anything from her crazy Uncle Larry, it was to trust her instincts (but not so much so that it blinds all rationality, but it needed to be taken into consideration). That was why she decided that she would trust Stream, as it didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards the kid and herself, so as long as it stayed out of her way, she supposed it could stay. She also thought it would be nice for the kid to have someone else around other than her (kids like having friends, right?). Not only that, but she had heard somewhere that kids are usually great judges of character, so, if she felt unsafe being near Stream, then, well, she supposed she'd just get rid of him. The kid needed to feel at least somewhat safe, not terrified.

"Miss... Why do you have a Halloween decoration?" she mumbled tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. No, the kid wasn't cut goddammit! Shut it! 

Her speaking seemed to rouse Stream as it woke up with a yawn, sitting up slowly. Did Stream's sockets just move like eyelids? Know what, Y/n wasn't even going to think about it. No. She wasn't going to give herself a headache over it.  Stream started when it looked at Abby, both of them observing the other in curiosity.It made a series of sounds similar to it's name-sake, confusing Abby even more.

"Why is the Halloween decoration making strange noises?" Stream seemed equally confused, tilting it's skull as it continued to look at Abby.

"Not a Halloween decoration." she shrugged in response, standing from her crouched position and popping her back and joints (Stream seemed to simultaneously blush and wince at this). 

"Then what is it?"

"Fucking Jack Skellington."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes beaming with hope.

Y/n just snorted, "No, just kidding. I have no fucking clue." Abby didn't seem bothered by Y/n's constant swearing, as she too stood up, the fluffy blanket still wrapped around her small form. She cautiously approached the skeleton thingy, and gave it an experimental poke. Y/n tensed, concerned that Stream would react violently to such an invasive, annoying action (as she knew how well she'd take ti if a strange kid just got up and poked her - she wouldn't exactly react violently, but she'd be pretty damn pissed).

Much to her surprise, Stream's ever-present cheery grin widened with joy, as he poked her cheek. Abby giggled, swatting away his hand. She looked at Y/n imploringly as she pouted, "Can we keep him?" Jesus, this kid already knew how to pull on Y/n's heartstrings and get what she wanted. It was confirmed: Y/n was getting soft.

"That was the plan." shrugged Y/n, attempting to ignore Abby's bright smile as she jumped around on the spot. "How do you even know its a 'he'?"

"Well, I don't really know." she admitted sheepishly, drawing in her blanket closer to herself (it was Abby's and not Y/n's as she mentally gave it to her without explicitly saying so). "But calling whoever this is a 'he' is better than 'it', right?"

"I'm not really bothered either way. You do you, I guess." She walked to the entrance of the cave, the fire still, surprisingly, on fire. The bodyguard's first priority was to get some water. She did what she did the previous day, only this time she showed Abby how to do it as Stream silent watched the pair in fascination.

"Kay, so, you get some of the snow, yeah that's it, scoop it up." she directed, having Abby use the cooled metal (as Y/n had taken it out of the fire for it to cool down in the early hours of the morning). Abby did as instructed, scooping some of the snow by the cave. Realisation flashed across Y/n's face as she tutted, walking over to Abby as she properly tied the blanket around her and securing it. By the time she was finished, it almost looked like Abby was wearing a black, fluffy potato sack. It looked odd, with a few lumps here and there, but it'd do.

Y/n stepped back, giving Abby plenty of room to go back to the fire. The girl eyed it warily, unsure of what to do next. "Why are you making me do this anyway?" she asked in curiosity, still slightly anxious by being close to the roaring flames.

"Because, you need to learn how to do this yourself." was Y/m's simple reply.

"But why?"

Y/n sighed, rolling her eyes, "Because, you need to know how to take care of yourself for if I wasn't around."

A flash of hurt briefly flitted across Abby's face when she questioned quietly, "Why wouldn't you be around?"

Because I'd be fucking dead thought Y/n gruffly, the reality hitting her harder than expected. Shaking off her dread, she ignored Abby's question by further instructing her, "Now place the metal on the fire."

"H-how?" stuttered Abby, nervously looking at the bright flames. Y/n briefly went back into the cave before coming back out, holding thick piece of leather than she had ripped from one of her jackets in the suitcase. She handed the leather back to her, telling her to hold the material whilst picking it up, and guided her to slide it over the fir from a safe distance. 

The rest of the "lesson" went smoothly, as the trio eventually drank the newly cooled water from the metal bowl-like object. Y/n then went through what she had to do next. Her next priority, was food. As she thought on it, her gaze flickered to the skeleton who was idly playing with Abby's hair (whom was giggling and enjoying herself far too much). How should she get food? All the food that was on the plane would be completely obliterated, and even if it wasn't, it would most likely be inedible.

Her stomach churned in disgust as she thought about the charred corpses fifty or so metres away, hidden under large pieces of debris. She hoped she wouldn't have to resort to that, but she knew that she'd do anything to ensure that Abby lived, no matter what she had to do. It'd be hard for her to deal with the bodies if she were to do such a vile thing, as well as make sure that Abby neither saw it nor knew what she was actually eating. 

Y/n decided to put that thought on hold, wanting to at least try to get food elsewhere before even considering to do... That.

So, that left her hunting for the time being. But how would she do that? Her surroundings were so eerily quiet, as though nothing in the vicinity even lived in the area that she occupied. She looked at Stream, wondering whether he would know where a food source would be. Y/n knew how to skin and cook animal meat (yet again something that her paranoid Uncle Larry had taught her), so she'd be alright by killing an animal like a rabbit or something. She'd feel like an absolute piece of shit afterwards, but again, she knew that she'd do anything for Abby to live, and almost anything just to see her happy and smiling.

Jesus the kid was going to be the death of her.

Not just that, but she was determined to at least try to escape the hellhole she and Abby were in. After all, she had to pay up on the bet she and her uncle had made. Sure, the bet was on the existence of Big Foot, but she knew that she had to at least pay half due to the skeleton thing existing despite there being no prior knowledge of such a thing being considered to exist. Not only that, but she wanted to have another game nice with him and bring Abby along too. Wait, where did that thought come from? 

It was official: she truly had gone "doolally".

When she considered getting Stream to help, she waved off the idea. He didn't look to be a hunter, especially with the way he was acting with Abby. Y/n groaned, irritated that Abby had already gotten so attached to the skeleton thing. It was of no consequence, however. If he tried to harm even a single hair on her head, she'd kill him. And she certainly wouldn't be merciful and spare him the pain of death, either. She'd make sure that it was slow, and painful enough to bring it to the brink of madness.

She really hoped that it wouldn't come to that though.

Having decided that she would leave Abby in his care (as he seemed far too happy to be with Abby also, so that convinced her that he wouldn't harm her if she went to hunt for food). How did she know that? She knew from experience that people will ill intentions who played the part of being friendly often fidgeted unconsciously, looking from the person they feared to the person they were willing to hurt as soon as their back was turned to make sure that their facade was believable . Stream wasn't doing anything like that.

It warmed her heart that the two of them seemed so happy and animated.

"Abby." she said sternly, instantly gaining both Abby's and Stream's attention. It almost made Y/n laugh how they seemed to sweat bullets and near shit themselves from the look she was giving them. Almost. "You stay here, and make sure Stream does also. I'll be back soon." She turned to leave but her sleeve was tugged, making her halt in her steps.

"Where are you off?" murmured Abby, seemingly sad as tears began to form at the corner of her eyes. Oh no. Shit. Y/n had no idea how to deal with crying children. The only time she ever saw children cry was when she was a kid herself. She either dealt with the crying person by beating the shit out of the one who caused them to cry, or, she was the cause of the crying by breaking the little shit's nose. By God did the little shit Sandra deserve it.

The fuck should she do?! No, shit, stop panicking! It's fine, just, just, just tell her the truth! Yeah, do that! That should calm her down, right? Right?!?!

"Just going to get some breakfast for us all." she replied, attempting to smile to appease the kid (though to Stream it looked far more like a pained grimace). 

"Will you come back?" she croaked, looking as though she was already near tears. Luckily, the skeleton thingy knew how to comfort, as he began to hug her and pat her head comfortingly.

"Said as much, didn't I?" said Y/n awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

Abby held out her little finger expectantly, stifling a sniffle as she mumbled, "Promise?"

How could she ever refuse that face? Y/n sincerely hoped she wouldn't figure out that she could practically ask for the moon and she'd gladly give it alongside a fucking unicorn for good measure. Steeling herself, she quickly took her little finger in her own, shook it quickly and withdrew her hand just as fast. Despite her seemingly awkward, cold expression, her eyes seemed to calm Abby as she stated, "I promise to try my best."

Y/n couldn't bring herself to promise to come back. She was always true to her word, and although she didn't need to worry about such things if she died, it still didn't sit well with her to lie to the poor kid. Y/n quickly left with a fleeting, threatening glare at Stream before she began to walk further into the forest. Before she did go hunting, she went back to the crash site, and got a sharp piece of metal that was no bigger than the size of her palm, thankful that it was broken in such a way that it almost resembled a jagged knife. Each tree she passed, she marked it with the sign "TNT", as in her desolate solitude, she couldn't get the fucking song by ACDC out of her fucking head. 

When she walked what she assumed was approximately a mile, she began to hear much more wildlife, such as the hooting of owls (at least she thought they were owls, or a breed related to them), along with the odd movement in the snow. As she stalked her way stealthy, looking around for an animal to hunt, her concentration aloud her to realise that there was a slight sound of movement coming from her left. She immediately hid behind on of the large "pine trees" (she thought they looked like them, but she was no tree expert, and not only that, they were the largest trees she had ever encountered, so she had no clue what to call them).

She slowed her breathing down to make as little noise as possible, as she looked around the tree to see what was making. It sounded light, so maybe it was just a small, scurrying animal. As her gaze focused across the other trees, what she saw made her eyes widen. In the far distance was a very large creature which she recognised to be the same as the skeleton thingy. It was fucking tall, being about seven foot five. It's orange eyelights scoured it's surroundings, its brow bones furrowed in what Y/n deduced was a worried frown. 

She was about to make her escape when their bright orange eyelights looked directly at her.

Well, shit...

Chapter Text

The large skeleton seemed rather bemused for a second, as was Y/n, to be completely honest. It seemed very similar to Stream, the same smooth bone and fur pelt. However, this one seemed much taller and leaner in comparison, not to mention that it's eyelights were a bright carrot orange, contrary to the Stream's blue ones. She had no idea what to do, and seemingly, neither did the skeleton.

That was until it seemed to sniff something and growled menacingly at her. That wasn't good.

Without thought, Y/n went out from behind the tree, and stood in a defensive fighting position. There was no need to rile it up more than it clearly already was by attacking first. Not only that, she further reasoned that it would give her ample opportunity to learn it's fighting patterns, and if it would fight like a rabid beast or a strategic fighter. She had no clue of it's intelligence, but she wasn't going to be taking any chances. And if the behaviour from Stream was anything to go by, it would be better to make the skeleton thingy make the first move.

It bared its large teeth, making sounds that reminded her of her Uncle's wheezy cough (the result of having been a smoker since he was fourteen). She still held her position, her arms raised in preparation. It seemed as though it was going to run at her and attack but was interrupted by a sound to Y/n's right. Both of their heads snapped to that direction, one of them eyeing yet another skeleton thingy with relief and the other in caution. 

Jesus this one was eight feet tall!

It wasn't as lanky as the other one, but not as large (width wise) than Stream (though he wasn't that wide if she was being honest). This one looked from it's companion to Y/n, startled. It too sniffed the air, a flash of recognition in it's blue and orange eyelights. It stalked in front of it's companion, holding out a long arm in front of it to prevent it from moving.

It was then that one of the strangest things that Y/n had ever experienced happened. The world seemed to almost disappear, leaving she and the skeleton thingies the only things being visible amidst the darkness. They also seemed to almost glow, all colour drained apart from their eyelights, which glowed ominously.

Despite her panic, she still maintained her position, eyeing the two warily. It was then that she noticed two upside down greyish-whitish hearts floating above them, and it took her a moment to notice a heart in front of her also. The colours were so vibrant that it was almost blinding, the colours pulsating in tandem with her own heartbeat. It was predominantly yellow, with a mesh of purple and orange intertwined.

She then was surprised to read the word "ENCOUNTER" in bold letters floating in the air, alongside other words, such as "FIGHT", "ACT", "ITEM" and "MERCY".

The fuck was this shit?!

What was even more confusing was the "messages" (she had no clue what to call them) coming from each skeleton thing. It seemed to name the one with the carrot-coloured eyelights "Stretch", whilst the other taller one was called "Ding". Had she gotten hypothermia and was hallucinating this shit?! 

* YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A BAD TIME

* YOU FEEL DISAPPOINTED THAT YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY OF DING'S FAMOUS STEW 

 

Huh....?

Not knowing what to do, she moved her hand over the "ACT", only to reveal options such as "Check" as well as "Talk". Would they even be able to understand her if she did try to speak with them? Not liking her odds for two against one, she decided that it would be best to at least attempt to resolve the situation as peacefully as she could. Getting injured could be detrimental for Abby and, hell she was just going to be out with it, Stream. Even if it didn't eat what she and Abby did and could, she would still try to protect him.

So, Y/n then hovered her hand over the word "Talk".

* You tell them that you don't want to fight, as you have two people to look after.

* Stretch seems to disregard this whilst Ding seems curious

"Where is my brother?! What did you do to him?!" yelled the skeleton named Stretch. It's eyelights disappeared, revealing a large, dark void.

"We just want to find our baby brother. You tell us where he is, and we'll leave you in peace." assured the taller skeleton calmly.

Out of nowhere, and assembly of white bones shot up out of the ground, starling her. Without much thought, she grabbed the heart shaped object before her, running and dodging each attack. She was too slow for one of the bones, as it hit her. She gasped, pain enveloping her as she coughed into the crook of her arm, blood spurting out. How the Hell did getting grazed by a fucking bone cause that?! The onslaught stopped, leaving her gasping for much need breath. She returned to her previous position (if a bit more hunched over as her hand balanced her on the ground).

Thinking quickly, she realised that they must mean Stream. She went through the "ACT" and "Talk" process again.

* You tell them he's safe, and that if they kindly stopped throwing fucking bones at you, then you'd show them the way yourself. 

This seemed to placate Ding, as he gave you "MERCY". Having seen this, Stretch grumbled and also gave Y/n "MERCY". The world returned to the way it once was, the only difference being the slight orange sheen on Stretch's brow, along with the trio's laboured breaths. Stretch said something, but strangely, Y/n could no longer understand it. Ding seemed to quickly recognise the apparent language barrier, so rather than talk, he simply indicated for Y/n to guide them.

If she was being honest, she was surprised that the skeleton called Stretch let up, as he seemed to angry to have thought rationally about it. She was at least thankful that the other skeleton seemed to calm him down as they started their trek back to her cave.

It was a nuisance, really. Not only would Abby be sad that Stream would be gone, but they'd also have to find shelter somewhere else.No way did she feel confident enough to risk Abby's life by staying in the same place they knew they slept in. Again, she didn't like her odds for three against one (as she assumed that the other two would most likely talk Stream into attacking them). 

What she especially didn't like about the situation, was that they were following behind her. Her Uncle taught her to never leave your back exposed to a potential threat, so their insistence that she walk ahead of her unnerved her. Her grip on the metal that she had in hr pocket discreetly tightened.

She knew they were conversing behind her, but she had no idea what they were talking about. She really wanted to know, in case they were plotting to slit her throat when they found their "brother". She'd be damned if she let that happen, as it would mean that Abby would be left vulnerable. She shivered at the thought of what they may do to her if she was killed by them. No - she wouldn't allow that to happen. She refused.

When they reached the area for where the cave was, her stomach rumbled loudly, alerting the skeletons behind her. She adamantly decided not to look at their expressions, especially due to her embarrassment. As they passed the crash site, she noticed that the two pairs of footsteps behind her stopped. She looked around curiously, only to realise that they were staring at one of the corpses. 

She hadn't thought to bury them. The bodyguard knew that it was disrespectful and insensitive, but her first priority was to make sure that Abby survived, herself included. Why worry about catering to the dead when she had the living to look after? That was what she told herself, at least. Stretch seemed to look at the wreck, and looked back at Y/n, pointing and saying something she couldn't understand. She guessed he just meant whether she came from it, so she curtly nodded, turned on her heel and beckoned them to follow with a wave of her hand.

They did so obediently, their steps a tad slower as though their deep thoughts slowed them down. Y/n supposed that seeing a frozen corpse of a never-before seen species would make someone be in a thought-provoking mood.

They finally reached the entrance of the cave, seeing Stream still playing with Abby's hair, as she yawned tiredly."I hope she comes back soon..." she mumbled, calm but still slightly sad. It almost broke Y/n's heart. Abby must have been hungry, and these bastards prevented her from getting food for her. She exhaled through her nose in irritation.

She knew that they could survive another day (and a few more) without food, but it still didn't sit right with her. 

Both of the skeletons made a move towards the cave, but Y/n was quicker. She stood between them, glaring warningly at them despite their immense size. This seemed to make Stretch growl, but was swiftly cut off by a look from Ding. He seemed to nod, understanding her apprehensiveness to let them in (especially when he noticed the young child there).

Stream, having noticed their arrival, seemed to glare something fierce at them, saying something to them. Stretch replied with equal irritation, making a step in his brother's direction. Seeing a possible escalation, Y/n immediately took Abby and placed her behind her. "What's going on...?" she questioned meekly, trembling slightly.

"They wanted their brother back." replied Y/n simply, watching the interaction between the trio. After Stream's tirade, Stretch and Ding looked directly at the pair. Ding sighed, saying something to the two of them as he quietly approached them. He raised his hands to indicate he wouldn't harm them, as he knelt down and laid submissively like Stream did the previous night. It wasn't just Y/n who was baffled, as Stretch openly gaped at the display, voicing what she could only assume were his protests about the situation.

Still on the ground, Ding replied something rather cheerfully, as he waited for Y/n's next move. Stretch said something but was once again interrupted by Ding. Grumbling, he too laid on the ground alongside Ding. Y/n looked from Stream (who seemed both confused and pleased with the strange turn of events). Seeing her bemused (yet still just as intimidating) look, Stream nodded in encouragement, gesturing towards them.

"Abby?"

"Yeah?" she asked tentatively.

"How would you feel if they all stayed around?" Y/n wasn't sure what to do. Part of her surmised that they were doing what Stream did the previous night (meaning that she would most likely have to do what she did last night, well, that was what she guessed anyway). With an ecstatic squeal, Abby hugged her torso tightly. 

"I'd love it!" she beamed, smiling at the two skeletons. From their position, they couldn't help but smile at Abby's antics as she skipped around the cave merrily. 

"Welp," sighed Y/n, looking at the three skeletons, "guess you'll be staying awhile." She knelt down before them, stroking their skulls experimentally. Stretch seemed to begrudgingly like the attention, whist Ding unashamedly leaned into her touch, purring like Stream did the previous night (albeit a deeper purr). The more she considered it, the more she realised that Ding sounded like a mixture between Stretch and Stream, although he did sound deeper in pitch than they did. 

They both sat up, looking at Y/n expectantly. Just what had she gotten herself into? 

Again, as Abby hugged both Ding and Stretch with a strength Y/n hadn't predicted (Stream joined in on the hug and pulled her into it also), she couldn't help but think that all of them (especially Abby), would be the death of her.

Chapter Text

I was exhausted.

All day and all night, Stretch and I searched for Blue after he didn't come back from running out of our shelter. We had initially left him an hour or two to calm down, but when he didn't come back, we were extremely worried.

So that was why Stretch and I were searching our territory in order to find him. Stars knew he couldn't hunt food himself (often feeling far too guilty after the kill), as well as the fact that he wasn't really a fighter in general. Although there was the occasional predator we needed to be wary of (such as the large dogs that had a profound hunger for bones), there was still the unpredictability of the Southern tribe we needed to be on guard for. It had been awhile, meaning that it most likely wouldn't be long before they challenged me again for our land. Ordinarily, I would happily trade with our other fellow tribes (as we had a long standing arrangement with the Eastern tribe), especially if it came down to food (as every now and again, we put food at the border for those in the West, albeit cautiously, however). Alas, we couldn't do that with the Southern tribe. It wasn't food or resources they wanted.

It was power and domination over the rest of us.

Luckily, we had only ever run into them crossing the border between their territory and hours, and even then, it was never too violent.

They were clearly only scouting the area and trying to find weakness in our defences.

It was as we separated (but not by much) when i hear my brother's enraged growling. I hastily made my way over, and found what had riled him up so much.

What in star's name was that fleshy skeleton?

It was tiny, and yet seemed so incredibly intimidating that I fought myself over taking an instinctual step back. I was puzzled, as I had never seen anything like them before. Moving in front of my seething brother, I further observed them.

They were rather interesting. Their stance somewhat reminded me of those in the South, but theirs was more precise and practices, making those in the Southern tribe look like bumbling idiots in comparison. I inhaled their scent, astonished for how intoxicating it was.

Having figured out that they were female, I tried to discern what they smelled like. It was like a flower I didn't recognise, along with herbs I had never before encountered. It was mesmerising as it was enchanting. 

It was then that I realised what got my brother so angry. In there scent lingered the familiar one of our youngest brother Blue's. Despite my preservation, I knew that I needed to figure out why they smelled like him, and if they had done anything to him (although my instincts told me that if they did, they would smell of his dust rather than it smelling as though he had hugged her). I pulled her into an ENCOUNTER.

It was obvious that the female had never gotten into an ENCOUNTER before, especially due to the slight confusion within her fierce scowl. She remained in the same battle-ready stance, glaring daggers at us both. Her soul popped out of her chest, making me almost gasp at its beauty. The predominantly Justice soul with embellishments of PERSEVERANCE and BRAVERY only confirmed one thing that I had already guessed: she was a warrior, and a very skilled one at that.

* YOU FEEL LIKE SHE'LL BEAT YOU TO A BLOODY PULP IF YOU HARM HER CHILD AND FRIEND

That certainly fascinated me. Who exactly was her child and friend? The more I gathered of her scent, the more I realised that there was another intermingled with my brother's scent and her own. It smelled like a tropical foreign fruit that he had once seen dangling from one of the large trees in the Southern tribe's domain. That must have been the child I reasoned.

I then selected the option to ACT, then used the CHECK option.

LV 6

HP 40/50

AT 20 (30)               EXP: 200

DF 12 (0)                 NEXT: 100

WEAPON: Metal Shard

ARMOUR: Three Knitted Jumpers

FOOD: 0                   KILLS: 4

It was then that she used the TALK option.

* Y/n tells you she doesn't want to fight as she has two people to look after.

"Where is my brother?! What did you do to him?!" shouted Stretch, anger rolling off of him in waves.

"We just want to find our baby brother. You tell us where he is, and we'll leave you in peace." I said in attempts to reassure them, wanting answers. Part of me believed that one of those people that her soul revealed were under her protection was my brother, but I knew I'd have to wait before finding out.

Before consulting em, Stretch used the FIGHT option, attacking her with a barrage of bone attacks, non of which were orange (yet). She skilfully dodged all but one, coughing up blood from the hit. Guilt welled up inside of me at the sight, making me feel both ashamed and angry that Stretch had attacked her without even attempting to resolve the matter peacefully. Despite her LV, EXP and KILLS, I still trusted her, oddly enough. I somehow knew that all she wanted was to protect them, and to survive the ordeal so she could continue doing so in the future.

Not only that, but I felt wretched with the idea of killing her if she has a child to look after, along with whoever this "friend" of hers may be (but I suspected who). I expected her to FIGHT also, but was surprised when she used the TALK option again.

* Y/n tells you that he's safe, and that if we kindly stopped throwing fucking bones at her, she'd show us the way

I could tell that my brother was suspicious, clearly thinking that it was some sort of trap she was luring them to. However, I trusted her (for some inexplicable reason), and chose the MERCY option. My brother, seeing this, did the same (but not without a few choice words).

"I don't trust this." he grumbled, eyeing the female suspiciously and glancing back up at me. All three of us were panting (Stretch and the female called Y/n from excursion whilst mine was in attempts to calm myself down). Stretch then glared at her, "You try anything, and I'll dust you, and if you've done anything to him, I won't hesitate to make sure that you  burn in hell."

Rather than have the desired affect of fear, Y/ eyed him curiously. That made me soon realise that there was clearly a language barrier that could only be broken during an ENCOUNTER. I gestured for her to walk, which she did. At first, she attempted to stand by us, but we eventually persuaded her to go on ahead as to make it easier. I had to admit that her near unwillingness to turn her back on a possible threat was commendable, however, it was not necessary. I'd make sure that Stretch behaved himself (who was at that moment grinding his teeth and clenching his fists). She gripped something tightly in her pocket, her back tensed.

"Why are you going along with this, Ding?" huffed Stretch.

"She's trustworthy."

He laughed humourlessly, "How's you get that? Especially with her LV and weapon she's clearly gripping onto for dear life?"

I raised a brow bone incredulously, "You did attack her without provocation."

He guffawed in response, "Without wha? Are you serious? She, whatever she is, could have hurt, or worse, killed Blue, and your saying that me attacking her was the wrong call?"

I nodded vehemently, "Yes. There is no proof that she did harm him, only that they've been in close contact. Not only that, but I highly doubt she'd be rid of all the dust from her garments, especially given the kind of texture the material has."

Stretch seemed mortified, "How could you say that?"

"The world is harsh." I chastised as gently as I could. "There's no point in sweetening the bitter root to make it easier to chew. It is what it is, after all. You know just as well as I do that this is a game of survival, so we must treat it as such." My eyelights softened as I looked sadly at him. "It pleases me non to talk this way, but it must be done."

Stretch sighed, nodding in agreement (but still not too happy about it). I could understand, and part of me did feel sad about it (and I may have used more tact when speaking about it), but we both knew that the possibility of any one of us dying at any time was too large a thing to ignore.

As we neared the cliff side, a large rumbling sound emanated from the female in front of us. She stiffened, still continuing to walk as though nothing had happened. I chuckled, "Clearly Y/n is hungry. Once we make sure that Blue is safe, why don't we go get her and her child some food?"

"Ugh, fine." Stretch rolled his eyelights, garnering another chuckle from me.

"Great! That means I can make us all some stew!" I chirped excitedly. If I was being completely honest, I was rather excited to see her child. Perhaps it was the parental instincts in me stirring, but I just couldn't wait to meet them, and to see if they were anything like their mother.

As I inspected our surroundings, I couldn't help but pause mid-step. Around us was utter carnage, metal strewn everywhere as though something large had been destroyed. As I looked around, my eyelights stopped on what was already half-buried in the snow. Stretch too seemed to look around, his eyelights as wide as my own. What I deduced was a corpse of the female's species was reaching out a frozen hand, their flesh burned and peeling. The stench almost made my sockets water, the smell of some strong unknown thing alongside fire, charred flesh and death.

Stretch barely held himself together when he gained the female's attention and pointed, "Did you come from whatever that was?"

I wasn't too surprised whens he nodded, turning on her heel and beckoning us to follow once again. I knew it wasn't the time nor place (neither was it appropriate), but I couldn't help but watch her as she walked, my vision lingering at where her coccyx would be, along with her strong looking arms that seemed to be constricted from the "jumpers" she wore. 

Eventually we ended up arriving in a cave, Blue seemingly playing with the hair that was on a child's head. The child seemed to say something that struck a cord with Y/n, as her intimidating demeanour faltered if only briefly. If I hadn't have been looking, I wouldn't have noticed it. Clearly, there was more to her than I and my brother initially thought. Far more, by the looks of it. 

Before we could even attempt to enter, she darted in front of us, a deep scowl etched onto her features. "Let us in!" growled Stretch menacingly. Undisturbed, she continued to glare just as, if not more, harshly that Stretch. I put an arm out in front of Stretch, and nodded at Y/n in encouragement. It was understandable that she be cautious, especially due to having unfamiliar skeletons near her and her child. Despite the child being hers, I couldn't quite see any similarities between them, something I found rather odd (but decided not to dwell on it).

When Blue finally noticed our presence, he snarled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"To take you back." growled Stretch with equal irritation. Y/n moved in front of her child protectively, backing away from the ensuing conflict. I stifled a sigh as Stretch and I moved our way into the cave. Both the young child and female seemed to interact with one another briefly as they watched on.

Blue huffed, "I'M STILL ANGRY WITH THE BOTH OF YOU!"

Stretch sighed, "I'm sorry, OK? I promise not to prank you anymore if you come back. Please Blue." 

"WHAT ABOUT PUNS?" Blue's eyelights narrowed, his arms crossing in front of him.

Stretch seemed to sweat nervously, "Huh... I can't promise anything about that..."

"HM!" he exclaimed in indignation. "AND WHAT ABOUT YOU DING?"

"Me?" I repeated in confusion.

"YOU NEVER PUNISH HIM! WHENEVER HE DOES SOMETHING, YOU'RE ALWAYS TOO SOFT!"

I sighed, "I'll try my best then."

Although he smugly grinned, Blue waved them off, "IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER NOW, ANYWAY."

"And that's because...?" asked Stretch.

Blue seemed even more smug if that was possible, "I RENOUNCED MY POSITION IN THE TRIBE, AS I JOINED THE LOVELY MAIDEN'S!"

"You can't be serious?!" snarled Stretch. "We con't even know what she is!"

"SHE'S KIND!" he huffed, rolling his eyelights as though it was as obvious as the sky being blue. "SHE COULD HAVE TOSSED ME AWAY, NOT LETTING ME STAY, AND YET SHE LET ME! SHE LET ME PLAY WITH HER CHILD, WHO I AM NOW FRIENDS WITH! SHE IS MY NEW WINGDINGS! BECAUSE, TO BE FRANK,I'M TIRED OF YOUR SHIT!!"

I struggled to keep my moth from gaping. Blue never swore, nor did he curse (as he believed it to be below The Magnificent Sans). With much thought and deliberation, I knelt on the ground submissively in front of her. "What the hell are you doing?!" demanded Stretch, astonished and gaping at his brother.

"What does it look like?" I chirped, chuckling. "I now renounce my position as the Wingdings, and am now joinng Y/n's tribe."

"You can't be serious!"

"But I am." I smiled. "As Blue said, I'm too soft on you. If i'm being honest, I don't think I have the leadership skills necessary to be the Wingdings, so, I'm giving the position to someone more capable."

"But... You can't!"

"I can. And as your last order as Wingdings, I'm telling you to do the same." my tone, as I knew it, left no room for discussion. Stretch hesitantly did the same, cursing under his breath. Y/n and her child interacted with one another briefly. From what Y/n said, it made her child bounce around happily, which made me subconsciously smile. Indeed, the more I thought on it, the more so I was convinced that this was the right decision. I was far too doting and affectionate to be as strict as I knew I needed to be, and I knew that Y/n would be able to fulfil the role better than I ever could. A warmth in my soul pulsed as I looked up slightly from my position.

Happiness overhwlemed me as Y/n said something and approached, stroking mine and my brother's skulls. I couldn't help but melt at the contact, the warmth in my soul increasing tenfold. When her hand retreated, but Stretch and I looked at her expectantly. I was suddenly bombarded by the tiny child, as she tackled me into a rib-crushing hug (along with my brother). Blue of course joined in, overjoyed. Blue pulled our new Wingdings into the group hug, making my soul feel as light as air in that moment of happiness.

I knew as soon as Y/n accepted that I would be immensely happy, so long as I was with my brothers and my newfound family.

Chapter Text

Once everything had calmed down somewhat (as calm as it could be with the kid and Stream), Y/n couldn't help but zone out, deep in thought for what she should do next. Extra people to look after would be an utter nightmare, but if it was something that Abby wanted, then she'd do it (begrudgingly).

Jesus the kid was making her a real sappy bitch.

But she just couldn't help it.

She looked at Ding and Stretch, wondering what she should do about the food situation. They looked to be hunters, if the odd scratch and chip to their bones was anything to go by, so it would be fair to assume that they knew where food was. If anything, them staying around would be a real asset due to them having a knowledge of the land she didn't possess yet. It almost made her shiver when she thought of the yet part of the equation.

She'd preferably want to be out of the hellhole she found herself in along with Abby within a month, but, if she was being realistic, it would most likely take far longer than that. She'd have to have navigated around the area to fully know the resources she had available. The, she'd have to hopefully get (or most likely make) some equipment to that she could scale of the cliff side so that she could get a full view of the land, and a vantage point for where she could signal for help (most likely through using fire and the smoke using Morse Code to signal SOS). God she loved how her paranoid Uncle taught her Morse Code.

Either that, or she'd have to find a way around so that she could walk up it safely, then do the distress signal.

But again, her main priority was food seen as though she had a steady source of water from the snow surrounding her.

The bodyguard stood up, alerting the group as she exited the cave. When she finally reached the crash sight, the frozen corpses reminded her that she still hadn't buried any of them. Making a quick decision, she began to collect some of the larger pieces of debris, using the metal to dig into the snow and eventually through the ground.

She was startled when she found that Ding had followed her outside, and that he too began aiding her efforts. He smiled sympathetically as her, digging into the snow and dirt using his deathly-sharp talon-like fingers. Although she didn't like being helped (a flaw of hers her Uncle always pointed out), she was still grateful for his efforts. When she was done with the six-foot deep hole, she was quite literally plucked out by Ding, and amused smile on his face as he looked at her annoyed scowl.

With a tired, long-suffering sigh, Y/n finally took the time to count the corpses. She was surprised to find that there were five in total: two flight attendants, the fellow bodyguard she had met for the first time on the plane along with the pilot and co-pilot. Some small part of her felt ashamed that she hadn't even paid enough attention on the plane for the people surrounding her and her charge that she didn't even know how many people had died.

Shaking off the feeling, she went through the pain-staking process of dragging the bodies that were on the ground to the hole, dropping them unceremoniously into it. Ding too began to help (albeit much for gently and considerately than Y/n). When they were done with those on the ground, they then moved their efforts to the one in the tree (the pilot). Y/n attempted to jump up to grab him, but huffed when she realised that it was futile: she was just too short.

Luckily, Ding took down the body delicately, gasping in surprise as frozen entrails were revealed, the top part of the pilot's body having been severed from his torso. Both Ding and Y/n grimaced at his frozen expression of horror and the realisation that he was going to die. However, as Y/n dragged him (wincing as the two parts separated, and upon her insistence), she smelled the distinct scent of alcohol. Her fears confirmed, she saw a flask in his breast pocket glimmer as she moved him.

"Fucking bastard was drunk. No wonder we crashed the stupid dick." she grumbled, finally dumping him in the hole along with the others. Although he didn't understand exactly what she said, he somewhat caught the gist by nodding grimly, placing the bottom half of him  in the grave tentatively. She briefly wondered why the co-pilot hadn't done or said anything, but immediately brushed it off. Clearly, the poor sod was too intimidated to talk back to his inebriated superior, so, he just went along with it. He only looked young, too, probably inexperienced enough to be able to be reassured that what the pilot was doing was regulation and alright (especially in terms of the drinking aspect).

It was interesting, the conundrum she was trying to solve. As she saw the flask winking from the grave, she could have sworn she saw scratches on it. From experience (as one of Uncle Larry's old friends was a drunkard old fool), that would mean that the drinking was habitual (especially if drinking on the job was anything to go by). If the pilot hadn't crashed previously due to being drunk, that may mean that there was something else at play for why they crashed.

The only way to be sure would be looking at the Flight Recorder, and she didn't know how to access that shit (as she was no fucking computer genius).

It was of no matter, however. Whilst she was dillydallying, she along with everyone else, was getting hungry. She refused to stand for that. Sure, she and Abby (she had no clue if this was also true for the skeletons) could survive longer without food, but that would be a last resort.

She didn't want Abby to be in pain, after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ding's gentle pat on her shoulder. Looking up, she quirked a stern brow at him. Smirking in cheerful amusement, he began to walk away, beckoning her to follow. She huffed as she caught up to his impossibly long strides. "Slow down you tall fuck!" she groused, jogging up and matching his pace with much smaller, faster steps.

It was clear to Y/n that the smug bastard was enjoying her struggle to keep up, as he sped up slightly. "I swear, if you don't slow the fuck down-!"

A sound similar to a shush escaped him, covering his bony lips (just what the fuck were they called?) with his index finger in a silencing motion. In pure agitation, she slapped his femur. "Don't shush me, or I'll my foot right up your non-existent ass!" Although he didn't understand her, he seemed to get the message as he climbed up the large tree, escaping behind the dark green foliage that was reminiscent of the leaves on a pine tree.

"The fuck?" Y/n was extremely bemused. One moment, he was being an annoying prick, the next, he just skedaddled up the fucking tree like a ... Like a... She had no clue how to describe it other than it was fucking weird. The tree rustled as he dangled down from a branch she could see, he upside down face grinning as he beckoned her again, his eyelights almost having a glittery quality to them as he disappeared once more.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." The bodyguard steeled herself, and began the trek up the impossibly large tree. Hell, the more she considered it, the more she realised how everything in the shithole she occupied was huge. Her feet slid a few times before she finally found somewhere stable to place them. She heaved herself up, grabbing the first thick branch she could and hauled herself on top of it, repeating the process as she finally reached the smiling fuck who forced her to climb a fucking tree of all things.

Before she yelled his proverbial ear off, she looked in the direction that he was. Much to her surprise, a few trees across from theirs was one with a strange creature on it. Y/n was no zoologist, but that was just fucking unnatural. It's long limbs were wrapped around itself multiple times over, making it look like a strange, sallow sausage roll. It's large eyes were closed, seemingly asleep as it's chest moved rhythmically. The body itself was like a mixture between a monkey, a sloth and a cat, it's long tale dangling off of the large branch it was snoozing on. 

Despite the distance between she and the strange creature, she already knew that it was way larger than herself. It wasn't as large as the ginormous skeleton by her side, but it was still larger in both width and height that herself. 

With a tap to her shoulder that really fucking annoyed her, she glared at Ding who simply point at the creature, then point to where his stomach would have been if he wasn't.. Whatever he was.

Y/n instantly knew what he meant, but that didn't make her any less confused. How the fuck were they supposed to take that back? Sure, she was strong, but that thing looked way too heavy and large for her to carry by herself (and she doubted that Ding, literally being just bone and no skin could carry it). Although, the more she considered it, the more she realised that it could be done (although it would be really gruesome, and she'd have to find somewhere to wash herself and her clothes so that Abby didn't see the gore.

Shit, she hadn't thought of that. 

With the weapon at her disposal, it would most likely make a very gruesome mess. She couldn't risk scaring the poor kid, nor could she risk getting an infection in the wound in her arm (as she yet had to replace the bandage, something that would be relatively easy if she boiled some of the water and used it for the bandage before putting it back on again). On the other hand, she couldn't exactly make herself cry in front of the group for the antibacterial properties to further reduce the risk of infection (as it would be a sign of weakness, and she really didn't want them to worry, especially Abby).

Should she just swallow her pride and ask for Ding to do the kill for her?

No. That would be bad, especially due to having already established some dominance. Showing any kind of weakness would give ample opportunity for it to be exploited, even if her instincts told er that Ding would do no such thing. 

Y/n almost fell out of the tree when she heard the thing screech, and fall out of the tree after seeing a blur of brown, grey, green and red.

Ding, who had clearly been waiting for Y/n to decide what to do, immediately snapped to attention, diving down to the snowy ground with ease as he glared at the cause. The creature was already dead, blue-coloured blood oozing from the wound that the large spear had caused.

Startled, Y/n began her descent down the large tree, going as fast as she dared (as from the height she was at, if she fell, she'd most likely be either dead or paralysed).

Ding stood his ground, his eyelights narrowing at the member of the Southern tribe who dared enter his Wingding's land. That thought alone made his soul flutter, a wave of protectiveness washing over him.

When Y/n reached the bottom, she readied herself into a fighting stance (more offensive than defensive) as she glared at the cause of Ding's distress. Before the pair stood a skeleton with bright, piercing crimson eyes, cracks adoring it's skull proudly as it's gaze looked down at her. It was surprised before it sneered, communicating with Ding.

This skeleton was by far way different than Ding. It looked far more battle-worn, as it's rigid posture added to his haughtiness and malice. It wore what she could only describe as an article of clothing similar to that of a tribesman from the Amazon jungle, green vines wrapping around whatever animal skin that was (it was oddly bright red in colour). It was just as tall, if not an inch or two taller than Ding, and it seemed that it loved every inch it had over Ding. They continued to communicate, Ding sounded both frustrated and enraged as the other seemed to laugh mockingly.

Y/n moved in front of Ding, much to both skeleton's surprised. She scowled, "Fuck of ya lanky bastard." She moved her head to further indicate for him to fuck off. He merely tilted his head in confusion, but quickly regained his bravado as he said something else. If she was to compare his voice, it sounded like the shattering of glass mixed with sandpaper against gravel. Seeing that he hadn't quite got the message, she moved her hands in a shooing motion.

She missed how he covertly flinched as she raised her hands. He looked deep in thought as though he was deciding something before he span on his heel, stalking off back to wherever the fucker came from. She cautiously went to the animal he killed, pulling out the sharp spear. Fortunately, Y/n noticed that it had been killed almost instantly, so at least it hadn't suffered. 

She almost jumped out of her skin when Ding gently patted her shoulder. She looked up, but was eyeing him warily as he hadn't taken his eyes off of the other skeleton's form as he left, before vanishing completely. Shaking himself from his troubled thoughts, he looked down and, seeing the size difference between the creature Stretch had named the "Dingallow", he chuckled as he picked it up with ease, heading back to his new home and making sure that Y/n was still following.

Despite the lanky bitch having left, Y/n couldn't shake off the feeling of dread as she and Ding went back to the shelter with the animal in tow. It unnerved her, and she couldn't help but feel that a tempest was brewing as she looked over her shoulder.

Chapter Text

Ding POV

I was rather surprised when my new Wingdings stood up and left the cave. Part of me expected her to make us hunt, but by the looks of it, she seemed far too independent and prideful to allow us to do any of the heavy lifting, it seemed. Not that I was too bothered, as it was an admirable trait.

However, that did not mean that I would not help her.

Thus, I too followed on behind her, wondering where she was going and if she was going anywhere where I knew there was a great deal of prey to be had. We finally reached where the Wingdings said she came from when she sighed, as though exhausted, and began to use the metal to dig into the ground. I knew what material it was, as it was often something I saw the Eastern tribe make and use, be them inventions that could get a better view of the stars, or simply better traps that were around the perimeter of their territory.

I smiled at her, and began to help her. She seemed surprised, and accepted my help (if begrudgingly). Eventually, she dug a rather deep hole that she seemed to look around critically. I almost burst into hysterics upon realising that she was trying to figure out how to get out of it. Deciding to be merciful (and not outright laugh at her), I picked her up, placing her back on the ground. I was rewarded with a scowl, making me stifle yet another laugh at the whole thing.

She looked around, the way her eyes moved revealing that she was counting the dead. Had she not know them? The more I thought on it, the more I debated whether it was racist or not to assume that she knew the others of the same species. Disrupting that line of thought, I began to help her place her, well, what I assumed were her fallen kin, into the hole we had just dug. I noticed how she attempted to do it quickly and efficiently, seemingly unbothered by the corpses. It begged the question for if she had seen so many previous to this that she was no longer bothered by them. That, or she was especially good at hiding her discomfort through her usual irritated scowl.

Eventually, we came to the last body, which was frozen and stuck on a rather thick branch of the tree. She comically jumped, huffing that she couldn't reach it. As I aided her in her endeavour, I let out a shocked gasp as the upper part of the fleshy skeleton's body separated, a thick fleshy rope-like object being the only thing connecting the upper part to the lower. She grabbed one hald whilst I held the other, both dragging them back to the hole we had recently made and placed it back.

Her scowl turned thoughtful, a frown marring her features as she seemed to think something over. Was it over that strange, shining metal object along with the distinct, sharp scent of whatever it contained? It must have been, as her eyes flashed in seemingly morbid realisation as she seemed to figure something out. I wondered what exactly she was thinking, and I really wished that there was no language barrier, and that it could only be broken by being in a encounter.

She seemed to grumble something in her native foreign tongue. I guessed that he must have something to do with her current predicament due to her cold, accusing glare at the body in question. I nodded solemnly, wanting more than anything to calm her down. 

I then recalled earlier the loud noise her stomach made and, due to the fact that I hadn't seen her eat, realised that she must have been hungry. I patted her shoulder to express my sympathies and to let her know that I was there for her. She looked up at me with a stern, questioning gaze.

Finding my Wingdings far too amusing, I began to walk away, gesturing her to follow me. She huffed, speeding up to catch up with my long strides. She seemed to say something bitterly in a commanding tone, making me believe that she must be telling me to slow down. Unable to stop myself from teasing her a little, I walked faster in the direction where we'd be able to hunt a Dingallow. She eventually caught up when we arrived in the desired destination, growling something harshly.

Not wanting to scare the Dingallow away (as well as annoy her a tad more), I hushed her. Much to my surprise, she fiercely slapped my femur, snapping at me in her native tongue once again. Knowing that she was most likely telling me to not shush her, I made the decision to not agitate her further as I began to climb the tree for a better vantage point (as well as to show my new Wingdings where there was a food source, as I didn't want her to feel incompetent in not being able to hunt any prey).

Having realised that she hadn't immediately followed, I dangled myself from one of the upper branches, smirking and gesturing her to follow me once again. I climbed further up the tree until I was almost right to the top, and waited for my Wingdings to follow. She said something else, and climbed up the tree, eventually reaching the sturdy branch I was perched upon. I couldn't help but smile, finding her struggles amusing and oddly enough, rather adorable (especially due to hearing her feet slip initially when she gained her footing on the base of the tree). 

Instead of looking at her, however, my gaze was on the sleeping Dingallow a few trees across from us. I scrutinised every angle that we may strike it down and make a clean kill (as I always made sure that they never suffered too much, as it was cruel otherwise). Then I thought to myself, and questioned if I had made it clear for where I was directing her. Thinking on it further, I was surprised that she followed me at all, especially considering that she seemed rather standoffish and cautious around us (understandable really, due to how foolishly Stretch acted upon first meeting her).

Warmth swelled in my soul at the thought that she already trusted me enough to lead her somewhere that she had never been before, and I struggled to rein in my pleased grin.

I tapped her shoulder, and was met by one of the fiercest scowls I had ever seen. I clarified through gestures that it was the Dingallow that we were hunting.

Before I could make a move to kill it, it screeched, falling out of the tree. I instantly recognised both the scent and the spear that had pierced through the Dingallow's flesh: the Southern Tribe. 

I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of them being here. They shouldn't be! How did they find a way through our defences?

Clearly, they were attempting to start a war with us again if they were going about killing our prey so tat they could eat it themselves. Their own territory was fruitful and had a great deal of food to choose from (from animals to fruits), so the only reason why they would be here was to either display their intent to take over my Wingding's land, or, it was clearly a threat to do just that.

I immediately jumped down, hoping that my Wingdings wouldn't follow. There was no telling what they would do if they realised that not only was there a female here, but said female was now the new Wingdings of our territory. That certainly meant that things wouldn't end well.

I openly glowered at the person, their predator-like gaze observing my every movement. The thought of what they may do to her and her child made my soul boil with rage, and a wave of protectiveness wash over me. No, I won't let those brutes harm any of my family, new or old. I will defend them all, and sacrifice my own life if I must. We sized each other up before my Wingdings followed me, her practised offensive stance and her scowl being far more intimidating than usual.

The member of the Southern Tribe, Edge, if I correctly recalled his name, looked shocked before sneering. "AND JUST WHAT MAY THIS FEMALE BE? A NEW MATE, PERHAPS?" His harsh voice would have sounded conversational if I hadn't known better. No, this was a threat. A mocking threat that he would easily attempt to see through.

Edge's POV

It had taken awhile (too long, in my opinion), but I had finally found a weakness in their traps around the border of their land. After that, it was far too easy to find a Dingallow to kill. The original plan, was to kill it and impale it, making a show of all its gruesome entrails and placing it in front of where I discovered was their home. It was to make a statement, as the Dingallow, for them, was an animal often associated with their tribe (known as the Middle Tribe). It was going according to plan. Until it just wasn't.

Trust my luck to actually run into the Wingdings. It was far too easy to come up with a lie, but I found myself briefly speechless when something else dropped from the tree that what I recalled his name to be Ding was. My breath almost hitched as I caught their floral, herbal scent.

A female... How very interesting. Very interesting indeed...

I had no idea what it was, but something about it stirred a hunger I didn't know I possessed.

"You know that you are forbidden to enter these lands without the permission of the Wingdings. Why are you here?" glowered the weak skeleton.

I struggled to stifle a laugh at his pathetic attempt to be intimidating, "WE SADLY RAN OUT OF FOOD, AND, KNOWING THAT YOU ARE OH SO CHARITABLE TO THOSE FREAKS IN THE WEST, I THOUGHT THAT YOU WOULDN'T MIND. AFTER ALL, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU HAVEN'T PLENTY OF GAME IN THIS REASON." I then grinned menacingly, "I FIND IT INTERESTING THAT YOU ARE SPEAKING AS THOUGH YOU ARE NO LONGER THE WINGDINGS OF THIS TERRITORY. ALMOST AS THOUGH YOU HAD BEEN CHALLENGED AND DEFEATED." I spared an almost knowing glance in the female's direction. I knew that their whelp of a skeleton known as Stretch was far too lazy and weak to win against him, and the other, the most pathetic one of them all, wouldn't have even tried to. That only left one thing, one changed thing that would have meant that he was no longer the Wingdings: the fleshy skeleton.

Ding tried and failed to remain impassive as he feebly threatened, "You are not wanted here. I suggest that you leave before you regret it."

I couldn't fight the grin on my handsome face as I asked, "YOU, THE WHELP AND MOST PITEOUS SKELETON, WHO LOST TO SUCH A SMALL THING AS HER, DARE TO THREATEN ME, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE EDGE? HA! SUCH A LAUGHABLE THOUGHT INDEED!"

The fleshy female moved in front of Ding, their stance being maintained. Now, that was indeed very interesting. It seemed as though the female actually knew how to fight, and seemed willing to do so, contrary to those cowards who should be ashamed to call themselves skeletons. Although Ding was not as great and terrible as I, I still knew that he was still an adversary to be wary of. If such a small (I would never admit to threatening or being scary!) defeated him, that only confirmed that she was not to be underestimated.

She seemed to say something in an irritated way, tilting her head to her her right.  I was confused to begin with (as it was difficult, even for I, the great and terrible Edge, to understand such an inarticulate creature). However, I couldn't help but be amused, "HA! SOMEONE WHO CAN'T EVEN SPEAK PROPERLY DEFEATED YOU! THIS DAY KEEPS GETTING MORE AND MORE AMUSING!"

I definitely did not flinch as she made a shooing motion, her voice sounding like a hard rock clashing against a boulder with how stern and cold it was. It was a curious situation. I wanted to challenge her myself, but I knew better. My Wingdings would be furious if I did not return having completed the task he set me, even more so if I had not informed him of all the information i had gained. Not only that, but it was unfortunately the Wingdings who had to challenge another. 

Also, this seemed to need a plan that only the rightful Wingdings could construct. Having decided that I would leave and inform him of this interesting development, I immediately left, completely forgetting about the kill I had just made. A savage grin curled on my face as I thought on how we would finally gain more land, increasing my Wingding's power, and by extension, my own also. I was, after all, his second in command (as Red was far too lazy and reckless to have such an honourable responsibility).

Part of em hoped that once the rightful Wingdings had gained this territory, that he would allow me the privileged of having some private time with the female (as I was sure that Wingdings would want her to be a part of the tribe so that we may benefit from her skills). I definitely did not hope that she would like my cooking.

Chapter Text

It was awful. Truly awful. Y/n remembered how to do it, remembered both the guilt and pride when she had done it the first time, her crazy Uncle Larry giving her his usual pat on the back (which, as usual, made her fall face-first into the ground from the force). Even her experience of having done it before hadn't helped all that much when it came to actually stinging the creature thing.

She made sure to do it away from Abby and Stream (as they really didn't need to see it), going slightly into the forested region where she knew neither Stream nor Abby would venture. 

It was one of the most gruesome things she had ever seen or done, and it made her stomach churn nauseatingly. Blue coloured blood oozed and spattered out of the corpse, spraying her and soaking her. She shivered from the cold, the damp as a result of the blood exacerbating things. She persevered, skinning the creature as best she could so that she could keep the fur and, hopefully, make use out of its strange hide. It was extremely soft, surprisingly, which would mean that it would make rather nice clothes or even another blanket.

She shook her head at the thought of making a blanket out of it. She already had some: what she really needed, was to hopefully make a bed for Abby. Despite the thick blanket the body guard gave the kid, it still wouldn't be enough to make a bed out of it.

Y/n carved into it's flesh, separating muscle from bone as she emptied the carcass of its entrails, blue blood dripping down her cheek and neck from when she accidentally hit an artery. She knew that with any other creature, it shouldn't have spurted blood as though the heart was still pumping, but this this freaky ass creature, it seemed to almost defy nature. That was also confirmed when she discovered a second, much smaller brain above where it's stomach (well, guessed what was it's stomach) was. It was incredibly eerie and strange, but once again, the bodyguard decided to not think about it. Headaches impeded judgement, and she couldn't afford that, especially with her earlier assumptions of there being other skeletons.

When she thought back to that ginormous skeleton, she still couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy (not that she'd admit that aloud). The way it looked at her just didn't sit right, as though it was planning something. And if she was to hazard a guess, it was clear that Ding knew about it. She really needed to do that thing again... Oh, what was it called? Ah, yeah, a fucking ENCOUNTER. Sure, she hated it, especially for how vulnerable it made her feel, but she knew that it was most likely the only way to communicate with them. Unless...

That could work. If she were to teach them Morse Code during that time, it meant that she wouldn't have to endure another ENCOUNTER, and it would certainly be better for if they were in a noise-sensitive situation (such as hunting a particularly difficult animal, or worse, trying to evade capture by something). She nodded to herself, finally deciding that it looked more so like an alien meat than something Abby could identify and be traumatised by. Using the hide, she placed the meat onto it, dragging it back to the fire that was in front of the cave (as breathing in too much smoke could damage your lungs, and she didn't want Abby to suffer from any illness: this would have only been worsened if it was inside the cave, as although it was ventilated, smoke would still be within the cave after the fire had gone out).

Before this, Y/n had made sure to have all of them stay in the cave. It was more so a test of trust, if she was honest. If Abby was completely fine (she knew that they wouldn't hurt their own brother Blue), then, she knew that she could trust them almost completely. This was especially due to her following Ding earlier. She had no idea initially where he was leading her, and she didn't even think about how that could have ended if Ding wanted to take advantage and attack her.

As she finally heaved the thing in front of the cave (alerting the group to her presence), she sighed. Y/n knew that she'd have to change out of her soaking clothes so that she didn't get hypothermia. It was a pain, but it had to be done. She'd have to take off her clothes, and place them by the fire to dry. The bodyguard knew that she'd smell like a bonfire on the fifth of November, but, it was the best she could do given the circumstances. She knew that she didn't have very much left to wear in her suitcase (a ripped leather jacket, a black long-sleeved button up shirt, three pairs of socks, a thick leather belt with a thick silver buckle and a pair of black trousers).

It wasn't ideal for the freezing temperatures, but again, it was the best she could do.

That then reminded her: why hadn't she looked for Abby's suitcase yet? Surely there's plenty of clothes for her that she could wear? Although, the baggage that she had seen was all scattered, strewn across the ground and most burned to a crisp. Actually, the more she thought on it, the more she realised that she may have seen the pink suitcase destroyed, the plastic having melted from the blistering heat of the crash.

That ruled that option, she guessed. Fucking typical. Everything just seemed to be going just fine and dandy, didn't it?

No no, she needed to rein in her blossoming temper. Non of the others deserved to have the bodyguard snap at them, nor did they deserve her waspish attitude (well, excluding Stretch that was, as she was still pissed with him). Yet another flaw of hers: her ability to hold a grudge till her last dying breath.

Yes, she was still angry about that little bitch Sandra who made her drop her favourite doughnut. It was the fucking last one ! Fucking cunt was only jealous that she had gotten to it first. The bitch Sandra did pay for it, though, when Y/n's younger self smashed her pug-like face against the curb. The bodyguard could still remember the loud crack of her front rabbit-like teeth breaking upon impact. That was fucking satisfying (but not as satisfying as if the fucking bitch had left her and her fucking doughnut in fucking peace in the first place).

Jesus she was craving a fucking doughnut.

And she had only then just realised how truly violent she was as a child. Well, she was still violent, but at least it took a great deal more for her to see the familiar black tinted red that she had grown acquainted with over the span of her life.

Abby cautiously walked out of the cave, the others joining her as everyone sat around the fire. Much like she did with the water (but with a different piece of metal, one which was large enough to hold all of the meat). As the meat sizzled and cooked, Abby questioned curiously, "What is that?" Y/n, having been pulled from her thoughts, looked briefly bemused before she realised that she was talking about the creature she was cooking (she had already thrown the hide inside of the cave).

The bodyguard stifled a grin, "An alien."

"An alien...?" she repeated. Fuck, the kid wasn't cute goddammit! No matter how confused she got which only seemed to add to her cuteness- no, uncuteness!

"Yep." she replied. She adjusted the meat so as to get a much better even coverage. The three skeletons seemed to idly chat with one another as Y/n continued talking with Abby.

"How did you...? And why are you...?"

"Magic. And as for why? It's tasty."

"How is eating aliens tasty?"

Y/n sniggered, "Wanna find out?" The meat had been cooked, and using some wooden carved bowls (when the hell had the skeletons brought them to the cave?), she handed out the meat. Abby eyed the dish cautiously, hesitating. Before Abby took a bite of her own food, Y/n made sure that she ate some of the meat (to make sure that it wouldn't cause Abby any harm). For Y/n, it tasted like chicken.

Having seen Y/n eat some, Abby too took a small bite. Her eyes widened at the taste, as she began to scarf it down. The skeletons seemed to be amused by her enthusiasm, and it didn't take long for all of them to finish. Having decided that she should change, she gestured for the group to stay as she got changed in the cave (it didn't matter that they were skeletons, she still refused to get changed in front of them). She folded her soaking clothes, shivering from the cold as she put on her dry shirt, trousers, leather jacket and some clean socks. 

The bodyguard knew that she would have to wash her and Abby's clothes at some point (as she highly doubted that the skeletons could sweat due to being made of bone, meaning their pelts wouldn't need to be cleaned). She surmised that she'd probably have to use boiling water for it, to really get it as clean as she could. Her eyes then caught onto a very familiar spear within her cave. When had Ding picked it up and brought it back? 

Deciding not to question it and give herself a headache in the process, she sat back to where she was previously, staring into the roaring flames of the cosy fire. Abby seemed to fight with ehrself over something, before she finally garnered enough courage to ask about something that had been bothering her for awhile. "What's your name?"

Y/n was surprised, but instantly became amused (her smile appeared far more malicious than intended from the light of the fire, making Abby gulp nervously). "You seriously can't remember my name?"

Abby seemed distraught as she avoided her gaze, "Yes... I'm so sorry..."

The bodyguard chuckled in understanding, "It's fine. We've been through a load of shit, so of course your aren't gonna remember stuff like that. My name's Y/n, but you can call me whatever you want. Within reason, of course."

Abby seemed to gain the last remnant of courage she had when she said, "Mommy?"

Wait, hold the phone hold the fucking phone ! Did she just say what Y/n thought she just said? No, of course she wouldn't! That'd be silly! She wasn't a mother figure or whatever... Jesus, how the fuck should she respond to that? Especially with that look on her face?! HOW COULD SHE SAY FUCKING NO TO THAT INNOCENT HOPEFUL FACE?!?!

No, she really needed to calm down and stop fucking panicking. Christ she had been doing that a lot, panicking. But could she really be blamed? With all her being she really wanted to say no, to refuse and to just outright say that she just wasn't parent material. She just wasn't cut out for that kind of shit. Hell, she hadn't even had a fucking mother, having been raised by her crazy Uncle Larry who was, unsurprisingly, still a bachelor despite being in his mid fifties.

Her resolve crumbled as she thought further about the kid's circumstances. Although she didn't know the specifics or anything, she knew that she was, prior to getting on the plane, in an orphanage. That meant only two possible things: she had no family, or her family didn't want her. The latter of which made the bodyguard's heart ache and her blood boil in rage. Who wouldn't want such a nice kid?! Who the fuck would be so heartless to just leave her poor kid- wait, her poor kid? 

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh fuck no.

Oh fuck to the hell to the fucking no.

Sure, she admitted that she found the kid adorable (she was just going to admit it), but had she seriously gotten fully attached? The kid was her charge, she was hired and she was paid to look after her. So why was she being so sentimental about this? So emotional about this? Although she really didn't want to acknowledge that annoying niggling voice in the back of her mind, she just couldn't escape what she had probably known since the crash, when she saw the poor kid bawling her eyes out, alone, and not knowing what to do.

She actually cared about the kid.

At first, she just brushed it off to how cute she was. But the more she considered it, the more she realised that it ran deeper than that.

But, she was planning on actually getting home, which would mean that Abby too would have to go to the guy who hired her, as he was the one who had legally adopted her.

Fuck, this was just too much.

She didn't want to lead the kid on (as she knew full well that she probably wouldn't ever see the kid again, whether she wanted to or not wasn't part of the equation). But, she didn't want to hurt her either. To see the disappointment and sadness in her eyes if she just said no. Y/n didn't think that she could handle that. It would break what little heart she had left, making her even colder and more bitter, and Abby (and non of the other skeletons for that matter) deserved that.

"Uh...." Wow, how eloquent and well spoken. Truly, Y/n had surpassed even Shakespeare in her articulation. Shaking off the feeling, Y/n steeled herself. She couldn't think of anything else to say, so, she commanded, "Its time for bed."

"But-"

"No buts." she raised her brow as she further commanded, "Go to bed and sleep. Don't want you getting sick." With a pout (and not pressing the issue), Abby did as commanded, going into the cave and snuggling into the corner with her thick blanket. Y/n sighed, dragging her hands along her face as she groaned. That was real smooth she mocked herself. An annoying tap on her shoulder immediately gained her attention. The skeletons looked concerned (even Stretch, surprisingly). That then reminded her of her earlier thoughts.

Y/n stifled another sigh, standing up and looking down at them. "I want to do an ENCOUNTER." They looked at her in bemusement, making her roll her eyes. She knew that there was a language barrier and they couldn't help it, but it didn't make it any less annoying. Thinking about the heart shaped thing that popped out of her chest, she immediately tapped at her breastbone.

Whilst Stretch and Stream remained confused, Ding seemed to realise what she meant when he too stood up. The world went darker like it did this time, however, an air of mutual understanding was between them rather than the tension that was prevalent during the last ENCOUNTER.

"What did you wish to speak about, Wingdings?" he inquired politely.

* YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE TALKING TO DING

* YOU STILL WANT SOME OF HIS FAMOUS STEW

Wingdings? What kind of fucking nickname was that? And what the hell was his deal with stew? Getting her whits about her, she selected the ACT option, followed by the TALK.

* You ask Ding what the fuck was the deal with the emo Skeletor wannabe

"I don't know what you mean by the last bit, but as for him, he is a member of the Southern Tribe. He's called Edge, and the Tribe is lead by the Wingdings known as Majesty." he informed, his smile both warm and somewhat worried.

The bodyguard went through the same process again, the heart-shaped object floating above her.

* You ask rhetorically how large the silver spoon was, the one which was shoved up his ass, but then proceed to ask about the Southern Tribe. 

"They are a ruthless tribe." he notified grimly, a dark look crossing his features. "They claim to be warriors, the strongest tribe here and so they attempt to demonstrate their strength through brute force and aggressive acts of violence. They have already tried to take this land before, and failed, so that will only fuel their fury further when they attempt do so again. Edge is their second in command, if I recall, and is often used to scout and area they wish to claim."

Y/n already didn't like the sound of that, especially for how he made it sound that it was something certain for them trying to take over. She uses the ACT and TALK option again.

* You ask him why they want to take over so badly, and what it would mean for you all.

His dark expression worsened in severity. "They wish to take over as this is, essentially, the intermediary point between all of the tribes: the Middle Ground. If they were to take over, it would be far easier to conquer the other tribes also." He then added, "Believe me, I don't think you want the details for what they will do if they were successful, and what it would mean for us all. Especially you, as you are the Wingdings of the Middle Tribe now."

The bodyguard was baffled. What she originally assumed was just her showing her dominance as to avoid further conflict with the skeletons, turns out it made her the Wingdings. She wasn't one hundred percent sure what that entailed, but if she was to guess, it probably meant Chief. 

She used the TALK option again.

* You ask about the relationship with the other tribes.

"I wouldn't really ask for aid from the West. They wouldn't want to get involved, and neither would those in the North. However, I do believe that our relationship with the East is enough to try and have them help. But it may take some time, as the only times we meet is when the moon is shrouded completely in shadow."

Y/n continued on with the ENCOUNTER, successfully hiding her anxiety and unease about the situation. If she was being honest, it was a just a load of shit. All she wanted to do, was to ensure that she and Abby survived, and escaped that hellhole, but no, she had to prepare for a fucking war with the fucking natives. It was fucking shit!

It didn't take long for her to teach the skeleton Morse Code. Astonishingly (although, the more she thought on it, the less surprising it was), Ding learned the code quickly and efficiently, becoming fluent in it in less than half an hour. When the ENCOUNTER eventually ended, they all went back into the cave, Y/n laying next to Abby, being a human-shield for anything that may decide to sneak into the cave whilst they all slept.

She then finally understood her crazy Uncle Larry's constant paranoia, and why it took such a tole on him. She was incredibly stressed, mulling over everything she had just learned. She knew that it would be a few days before they met with the Eastern Tribe, as she had checked up at the sky before fully retiring to the cave to sleep (as she had convinced herself that due to the number of them, it would most likely dissuade others from trying to take advantage.

It wasn't the ensuing conflict she was scared about. It was the potential casualties as a result. She knew a fare few things from her Uncle Larry, being able to fight efficiently was one of them. But would that be enough? 

Trying to finally clear her thoughts, she closed her eyes, comforted by everyone's soft snores and Abby's rhythmic breaths.

She decided that at that moment, she would do anything to ensure they all survived, and she was determined to survive herself. She would persevere, and get through it. That she was certain of.

Chapter Text

Fortunately, it seemed that Ding had taught both Stretch and Stream Morse Code after learning it from Y/n, meaning that the bodyguard didn't need to have another ENCOUNTER any time soon. Not only that, but she was surprised, if a bit miffed that they had learned it so quickly and easily. It had taken her months to fully learn the fucking alphabet of Morse Code, let alone form fucking sentences with it. So for them to master it so quickly and effortlessly? She was impressed and pissed off.

She had no dreams that evening, to which she was glad. That didn't mean that her worries had abated, however.

She knew that given her current predicament, it was imperative that once they meet with the Eastern Tribe, that she convince their Wingdings that aiding her would be beneficial for both parties. Y/n had already thought of a valid argument, one which she had been going through non-stop during her breakfast. It was leftovers from the previous evening, but she knew that Abby (and herself for that matter) couldn't live on just meat. They needed fruits and vegetables for vitamins they needed and sorely lacked at that moment.

Nodding her thanks when Ding offered her a steaming bowl of stew he had made from the meat (it was actually pretty good, no wonder the skeleton was proud of it), she asked him in Morse Code, "Is there an area where we can get fruit and vegetables?"

Taking a hearty sip from the bowl, he replied (also in Morse Code), "Yes, but it's Blue who really knows where to look."

Having heard the mentioning of his name in the strange "language" he had been taught, he beamed, "I COULD SHOW YOU THE WAY, WINGDINGS!" His eyelights were in the shape of vibrant blue stars, almost appearing to be sparkling. Y/n, although glad they could communicate for a change, she couldn't help but internally cringe from the sound of bone-on-bone for when they tapped on their arms or hands. She did find it funny that even in Morse Code, it seemed like Stream was almost shouting.

"Thanks." she communicated simply, tapping her index finger on the back of her opposite hand.

Stretch then tapped on his ulna, "I'll come along too."

Y/n shrugged, "Fine by me, carrot cake."

He blushed a vibrant orange, grumbling something in his own language before tapping on his ulna again, "Don't call me that."

Chuckling in amusement, Y/n stood up and began to follow the excited skeleton who she assumed was in fact called Blue (but she decided that she'd continue to call him Stream as a nickname). Before continuing to follow Blue, she turned around and tapped on the back of her hands once again, "Keep Abby safe, or you'll have me to answer to." Her harsh glare made Blue shiver when he looked back, however, Ding seemed unaffected (at least outwardly).

Ding smiled as he answered, "Of course."

Her stern glare then turned to Abby, making her gulp audibly. "Behave yourself, and do what Ding says. Don't wander off."

"OK." said Abby nervously, wringing her hands. With a curt nod, Y/n then followed Stream through the forest, Stretch walking alongside her. He kept sparing her glances every now and again, as though he was expecting her to become a wild beast and attack Stream (who happily skipped along to where he knew there was fruit). Wishing to speak with her, Stretch tapped on his ulna loudly.

"What's your end game?"

Y/n snorted and replied, "To become an Avenger."

Stretch glared, but knew that it would be futile (as nothing seemed to faze her, much to his chagrin). "Are you planning on dusting us in our sleep? Take advantage of us? Manipulate us?"

Y/n glowered up at him, unbothered by how she had to strain her neck to look directly into his eyelights. "Look, I understand that you're trying to protect your family. Hell, if I'm honest, you're being rather tame for what I'd do in your circumstances. But, I won't do that to any of you. Not just because you know my weakness and how to get to me, but because you all seem decent so far. You're trying to survive. I get that. Hell, so are we. So, would you kindly back the fuck off and stop being such a little bitch?"

This only made Stretch angrier as she continued, "If I was going to harm any of you, I'd have already done it by now. If it was what I wanted, to see you all dead, well carrot cake, lets just say that none of you would have even woken up today." Her serious tone and the way she seemed to calm about it made Stretch shiver, before he looked away from her again. Although he had know in theory that she could have done that, somehow the acknowledgement of it as well as the promise hidden in her hard tone made it all the worse for the second oldest skeleton of the Middle Tribe.

"Besides," she huffed, "even if I needed to kill you all Abby wouldn't let me hear the end of it. Damn kid's got spirit, gotta hand it to her." Her sharp smile looked anything but fond, but from what Stretch had gathered from her interactions with the child, he knew differently. Knowing that he had as much leverage over the warrior than she did on him calmed him. He decided to at least give being friendly towards her a shot (and ignore those feelings that had begun to stir under the surface), even if he still didn't like the idea of her being Wingdings. Though, he had to admit that what Ding had said about the whole thing did ring true. Just because it was true though, didn't make him any happier about it.

"HERE WE ARE!" notified Blue, tapping his own ulna loudly so that Stretch and Y/n could hear. The bodyguard struggled to rein in her confusion and awe at what exactly the fuck she was looking at. It looked like a bush of some sort, but was twice the size of her, and twice the width also. The leaves were golden in colour, looking like the leaves from palm trees, and large berries could be seen hidden within it. The berries themselves were, well, they reminded her of wenge coloured furniture, each one being as big as her palm.

"The fuck are these?" she asked in her native tongue. Quickly realising her mistake, she repeated her question in Morse Code by tapping the back of her hand.

Stream looked like he was on a gaming show as he presented, "THESE ARE FAVVIES!" He immediately plucked one, popping it into his mouth and moaning from the taste. When she looked back at Stretch to see if it was normal, he was gone. Blinking in surprise, she looked around and found him lounging on one of the large leaves, snoring. How the fuck did he get there without Y/n noticing? It was like the fucker teleported. And why the fuck was he sleeping there of all places?!

Stream handed her one tentatively, grinning at her expectantly and with unbridled excitement. Jesus, how was he so fucking giddy and energetic? She took the large berry, dusting off the snow as she took a bite from it. It was...

Fucking Amazing.

It was a culmination of all her favourite foods, and yet it didn't taste strange for them being mixed together in such a way. She hungrily chowed down, much to Stream's happiness (Stretch was still sleeping the lazy fucker). Once she had finished it, she looked back up at Stream. With a neutral expression, she told him, "It was nice." Without warning, she was picked up and twirled around in a warm, strong embrace. When he finally let go, she tried not to show how winded she was, or that her lungs were straining from how tight the grip was. He said something in his own language before correcting himself.

"I'M SO HAPPY YOU LIKE IT WINGDINGS!" He then began to gather some up in his arms, smiling widely all the way. When he finally noticed his brother, he scowled and grumbled something before cheering up immensely, and "innocent" smile on his face. "WOULD YOU MIND WAKING UP THAT LAZY OAF I CALL A BROTHER? THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE SHALL TAKE THESE BACK!" Before waiting for her reply, he dashed off back to the cave, leaving Stretch and Y/n alone.

She strode over with purpose, folding her arms as she scowled down at him. She nudged him with her foot, fighting the temptation to just slap him awake. Y/n was in no mood to play his games. She needed to go back to the cave, and discuss with Ding for how they should make and fortify  defences (as well as if there was a way to communicate with the Eastern tribe sooner than when they were going to meet). The bodyguard knew that it was only a few days, but she really didn't like the idea of waiting. Waiting meant that the Southern Tribe had more time to plan their next course of action, as well as to infiltrate the traps that Stream had set up with Ding's help.

Stretch snorted as he woke up, looking up at Y/n's stern glare through hazy eyelights. He looked around for his brother, worry etched into his brow bones. The bodyguard, noticing this, huffed as she notified, "He's fine. Just gone back to the cave to drop off the fruit."

Looking relieved, he shrugged and stood up, walking by Y/n's side quietly as they headed back to the cave. Wanting to break the ice, Stretch smirked as he tapped on his ulna, "Knock Knock."

An undecipherable emotion flitted across her features as she looked back up at him, stifling a smirk as she tapped the back of her hand, "Who's there?"

"Snow."

She was trying really hard not to smirk, "Snow who?"

Stretch grinned down at her, his eyelights flashing, "Snow point pretending you don't know me."

Stretch was startled by her cackle, as she clutched her stomach and wheezed. He couldn't fight off the orange blush that came to his cheek bones as he basked in her uncharacteristically happy face. Stretch had never seen her laugh before, and so genuinely too. The skeleton hadn't known her that long, but from what small things he did know about her, it was like a fierce scowl was a relaxed facial expression for her, so it had been a pleasant surprise to hear her laugh. 

Recovering, she smirked, "Knock, knock."

"Who’s there?"

"Some!"

"Some who?"

"Some asshole talking to a knock knock joke."

The pair continued to tell jokes back and forth until they finally reached the cave. Not seeing the two skeletons and kid, Stretch and Y/n warily looked at one another before they entered the cave to look for them. They both sighed in relief when they saw them. Ding was hunched in the corner, hugging Stream and Abby as all three of them slept, the juice from the fruit smeared all over their faces. They all snored softly, finding comfort with one another.

With an indifferent expression on her face (something which she struggled to maintain due to how cute the sight was), she grabbed one of the blankets and draped it over them, none of them even stirring. As she did this, she noticed that Stretch had also joined them, snoring and draping over all of them. She sighed through her nose, making sure that the blanket covered him too as she went to the mouth of the cave, sitting and watching for any potential trouble, the fire still burning.

Chapter Text

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"You do realise that this isn't a request?"

"That's exactly right. You aren't going, not without one of us."

"Sorry, but that isn't your choice to make, so do as I fucking say goddammit!" Y/n and Ding glared at one another challengingly, the loud knocks of bone-against-bone as well as the slapping of flesh-against-flesh being the only sound in the cave. Abby watched on in confusion as both Ding and Y/n continued their row in Morse Code, neither of them relenting and both far too stubborn to relent. Stretch was sat in one corner of the cave, playing with a strand of Abby's hair as he lazily regarded the arguing pair. 

Stream watched on in concern, eyelights bouncing from one to the other as they continued their rant. He just couldn't fathom why the Wingdings was being so downright uncooperative. They were just trying to protect her, and with the rising tension from the threat of the Southern Tribe, they all had to be extra cautious.  It was two days until the monthly meeting with the Eastern Tribe commenced, so they really needed to think rationally, something that Stream thought, at that moment, his Wingdings was definitely not doing.

"No. I'm going alone, and that's final."

"Why are you being so irrationally irresponsible currently?" groaned Ding in irritation, resisting the urge to grasp his nasal bone between his phalanges as he continued to furiously tap his ulna with his phalanges . "It is far better to have two people to check our defences rather than one. It's simple strategy, to which I am confused as to why you are struggling to grasp such a concept!"

"You really wanna fucking know why ?" she growled menacingly in her native tongue whilst tapping on the back of her hand, taking a threatening step towards him. He instinctively took a step back, his sockets widening as she grabbed him by the fur pelt he was wearing across his body and pulled him down to her level. Realising that she wouldn't really be able to communicate in that position, she relinquished her grip, but continued to furiously tap the back of her hand with her index and middle fingers. "Because having another fucking person to look out for would be suicide! If I'm just worrying about my own safety, then I will fare a damn sight better in a fight than I would with someone else to fucking worry about!"

"But then that person could aid you should a fight ensue!"

"What, and risk their life if the enemy  worked out that I clearly have an affable relationship with them? To have that person used as leverage before they finally strike the killing blow? I fucking think not!" With an air of finality, she grabbed the spear that Wingding had brought back from their confrontation with Edge, and turned back to glare at Ding as she tapped the large spear against the ground in Morse Code. "The fact of the fucking matter is, that if I were to die, Abby would still have you lot to look after her. You have better knowledge of the land than I do, and each of your skills are unique to each of you, meaning that there would be no love lost if it was me dying."

Ding knew that he wasn't getting through to her, but he somewhat understood her point (albeit begrudgingly). As a last-ditch effort, he communicated, "But you are our Wingdings. We need you. Abby needs you."

A sad, sympathetic smile flitted across her stern features, making Ding's and all the other skeleton's breath hitch. "Have you already forgotten that you yourself used to be the Wingdings? And besides, Abby doesn't need me specifically. All she needs, is someone who can feed her, clothe her, comfort her and take care of her. I've seen the way you all treat her, and I'm satisfied with my assessment that you are all trustworthy, and that you would do all these things without being asked."

She then snorted as she bid farewell, "Besides, it'd a whole fucking lot to kill me. I'll be fine." Despite all their protestations, she continued her trek to where the perimeter of her land (she found it odd to think of it as such) was to check that all the traps were functional, as well as to find out any weaknesses that the Southern Tribe may take advantage of.

Y/n was glad that she had told Abby previous to the argument that she was going to be heading out and that she would be back late (as she knew she had quite a walk to get to where she needed to), otherwise she knew that Abby would be worried sick (something she hated the thought of). She had had breakfast that morning (another one of the "Favvies" that Stream had collected) as well as made some water for Abby (making sure that it was contained in a bowl close enough to the fire that it stayed warm, but far enough that it would be cool enough to drink).

She trudged along the snow, avoiding some of the snowbanks that had collected over some of the large trees. The bodyguard was also glad that she had thought to bring the spear, as not only was it a decently made weapon, but it was large enough so that it could be used as an odd staff to help her walk).

The biting cold wind made her nose and cheeks redden, her breath visible in the air. It had been a few days since she had been alone, and she was thankful that she finally had some time to think. It had been a trying few days since she and Abby had ended up in that hellhole, and everyday she marked the cave wall with a stone for each passing day, her stubbornness warring with her ever-present sense of dread and hopelessness.

Although she had caught herself numerous times being utterly consumed with doubts (namely the escape of the dreaded place she unfortunately occupied). However, whenever this did occur (something that was increasing as the days went on), she instantly shook off and ignored the niggling feeling at the back of her mind. She wouldn't say that she was determined, more so it was an almost overwhelming urge to persevere.

So, persevere she did, no matter the fact that the winds had picked up as well as becoming more icy in temperature. Y/n panted from the effort of walking through the thick blanket of snow, complaining internally all the while. Ordinarily, she wasn't exactly lazy (as a result of the many training sessions her crazy Uncle Larry had given her as well as having to be constantly on alert due to the nature of her job), but the cold didn't exactly help her want to return back to the toasty cave any less.

"I can't be bothered with this shit." she grumbled to herself, propelling forward suing the spear that was at least two feet taller than her. When she looked at the stone blade at the end of it, she couldn't help but be relieved that she was the one wielding it rather than someone else throwing it at her.

She neared the border of her territory, having been walking for at least three hours (it felt like her calf muscles were being doused in acid from the strain of walking through the thick snow). She cursed the voice that sounded like her crazy Uncle Larry quote the beginning of that nerdy fantasy game- what was it again? Lame-rim? Justdie-rim? (She knew all too fucking well that it was called Skyrim, but she outright refused to even admit to herself that she enjoyed playing the nerd-fest of a game, especially when she was playing alongside her Uncle, swapping the remote so they could just mess about on it).

She was lost in fond memories when she was alerted to the snap of a twig behind her. Pretending that she hadn't noticed, she continued on whilst her grip on the spear tightened, the sound of something walking on the snow behind her made her instincts perk up. She stopped in her tracks, the noise too stopping alongside her.

the bodyguard hid her nervousness well, her breathing seemingly calm, which was in complete contrast to her internal panic. Just what the fuck was following her? Was it a herbivore? An omnivore? God forbid it being a fucking predator, but hey, that was just her fucking luck wasn't it?!

She remained nonchalant outwardly as she calmly turned around. She could have sworn that she saw something flash at the corner of her eye, but it was too quick to fully see what the actual fuck it had been. When she looked in the snow, she saw a strange set of foot prints. Not only was the large shape of them strange, but the way they walked  was also odd. It almost appeared as though that they walked a few paces, stopped, fucking teleported ahead and then just repeated the cycle.

It was eerily quiet, even for the shithole she had become somewhat familiar with. Too quiet...

Did something just fucking breath on her?!?!

She span around and quickly jabbed her spear, only to paused in confusion. How the fuck was there nothing there? There should have been! And whatever the fuck had been stood behind her should have also been skewered like a fucking kebab !!

Shit she really wanted takeout at that moment.

Y/n knew that it would be pointless to try to speak with... Well, whatever the fuck had been following her! It would be arrogant to assume that they spoke English (wasn't like she was in a fucking English speaking country that was for fucking certain), so trying to communicate was a definite no-go.

Was it seriously too much to ask the fucking universe to give her a break and give her a fucking  chicken vindaloo?!

She was getting side-tracked.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention as she felt a presence behind her. Christ she really didn't fucking like that! Not one fucking bit!

Y/n turned around slowly (and cautiously), her eyes narrowed and the spear poised. She was then met face-to-chest by something tall (and very wide). Her grip still tight on the spear, she looked up at the person who had, out of fucking no where mind you, began to fucking harass her (yes, she really was fucking pissed).

It was a giraffe- nah, it was, surprise surprise, another fucking skeleton (did they mate like rabbits or something she questioned, not really sure if she wanted such a question to be answered). It was wearing a jumper (one that looked hand-knit), and seemed to be the fur of a weird-ass blue animal of some kind, the same material being used for shorts of the same colour.

The skeleton in question seemed to have an omnipresent grin on their face, their white eyelights seeming to gleam with an indecipherable emotion. Upon seeing that he had made no move to attack her yet, she lowered her weapon, her grip remaining the same, however. The height of the skeleton seemed to be the middle between Stream and Stretch, being taller than the former yet smaller than the latter. Their girth, however, seemed to be bigger (how was that even possible for something made of bone she questioned herself in bemusement).

It was two metres away from her, their grin widening as they held out their hand, saying something in the skeleton's strange language. The way they spoke had the same gruff likeness with what Y/n associated with a weak Brooklyn accent which confused her even more. how the fuck could they have a Brooklyn accent?!

They seemed to expect a response as they held their hand out, looking down at Y/n with a strange look in their eyelights. With a furrowed brow which emphasised her confused signature scowl, she held out her left one, waiting for the skeleton to change their hand for the shake. This was a strategic move on her part, as it enabled her to still have her strongest hand grip her only weapon whilst the recipient (the skeleton) would automatically assume that she was left-handed, giving her an advantage if there was to be conflict. She couldn't count how many times this strategy both worked and saved her neck from the chopping block, so to speak.

As expected, they swapped hands and shook her left hand with their own left. They seemed amused as they said something else in their native language, clearly expecting a response that Y/n couldn't give. Struggling not to roll her eyes (as it may antagonise them, and she really didn't like the idea of fighting the sneaky bastard). When each of their hands retreated to their own sides, the skeleton still eyed her expectantly.

It was then that they raised their brow bone, making Y/n irked to say the least. "For love of- I can't fucking speak your language. What is it with you fucking skeletons and expecting me to know a fucking language I've never shitting heard before?"

To put it mildly, she was really sick of the shit she had to deal with. Clearly, the skeleton realised that she both couldn't speak their language, along with her obvious irritation. They seemed to consider what they should do until an idea struck them. The world around the pair darkened.

"Not another fucking ENCOUNTER." she groaned, as the heart shaped object popped out of her chest, and a grey upside down one hovered above the tall, wide skeleton.

The usual options were presented to her, which made her conclude that all ENCOUNTERS must be set up in that way.

* YOU SUDDENLY FEEL AS THOUGH YOU ARE IN A VERY PUNNY MOOD

"Oh fuck me..." she groaned inaudibly.

"heya pal, the name's Sans. Sans the skeleton." he greeted, his back hunched casually as he balanced on the balls of his feet.

Y/n then went onto the ACT option and selected TALK.

* You tell him you name and species in much the same way he greeted you.

"human, huh?" he repeated with a thoughtful expression, his smile unwavering. It seemed to Y/n that the skeleton was in fact a male. He continued, "never heard o' tha' before."

She went through the ACT and TALK options again.

* You tell him that until recently you hadn't  come across a fucking walking skeleton before, so the world is truly full of surprises.

"heh, you really have a potty mouth, huh?" he grinned. 

Y/n's unimpressed deadpan only made him chuckle as he looked at her.

* You tell him that he fucking would too if he went through the kind of fucking week you had

"you have'in a bad time o' somethin'?"

* You ask him if he ended up being in a plane crash and almost being flambéed whether he'd have a fucking jolly old time too.

He raised his hands in surrender, "jeez, no need ta be like tha', jus' a question is all. an i have no clue wha' ya mean abou' a 'plane' or bein' 'flambéed'. "

* You tell him to just fucking tell you why he was there.

"alrigh' alrigh', no need ta ge' sassy. we jus' registered a disturbance, is all. came to look fer it. don' matter now, though. seems i already foun' the reason behind it, wha', with ya tellin' me 'bout somethin' crashin' an all. so, i guess i'll be leavin then."

Before he could fully exit the ENCOUNTER, she used the TALK option once more.

* You tell him about the Southern Tribe, and if you could talk to his Wingdings.

Y/n knew that he wasn't the Wingdings instantly, as it wouldn't be wise for a leader of a certain territory to scout an area themselves in case things went awry.

"look pal, it's clear ta me that ya've a' least talked ta some o' us skeletons, as well as bein' aware of this 'ole business wi' the southerners, so, i'll speak ta ya plainly: i gotta tell 'im the situation, an then e'll let us all know if we're gonna 'elp ya or no'. we'll jus 'ave ta wai' til the next time we meet, which is, wha', two days? i'll see ya then pal, and by the way, it was real nice ta meetcha."

The world regained its colour, and as soon as Y/n blinked, he was gone. The only question that ran through her mind was, well, what the shittery dickery fuck just happened?

Chapter Text

Y/n had checked all of the traps (evading some successfully she had accidentally triggered some of them), the defences still upholding. But that begged the question for how the Southern Tribe were getting n, especially due to none of them looking as though they had been tempered with.

And what the diddly fucking dandy was that whole Houdini shit that the skeleton pulled?! Oh what was his name again? Bans? Fans? Jeff?

Ah, he was called Sans. Poor guy being called a fucking font, now his parents really must have hated him. Must have really been a little shit for a name like that. Not that she had a problem with that, of course. Just meant that his parents were nerds along with disliking their child.

Again, she wasn't one to judge. The kind of names that she had encountered when she still lived with her Uncle definitely left much to be desired (names of his closest friends).

What kind of name was Sandra, anyway? Sounded like someone called Karen, only far bitchier and more dick-like. Fucking Sandra... The name made Y/n skin crawl. She supposed that she was still a fucking bitch. Isn't it said that people don't change, only wear a different mask? At least, that was what her crazy Uncle Larry said, anyway.

She was getting sidetracked.

Shaking herself from that line of thought, she began her journey back to the cave, still confused as to how they had managed to get it. Seriously, the fucking border between the Middle and Southern territories was locked up tighter than a fucking chastity belt on a nun. So, how the fuck did they manage to sneak in?

The more she thought on it, the more she began to realise something. Something that would really mean they were completely fucked, and not in a good way. Well, not that she'd especially know if being fucked would be good, although media and such said that it was. The thing was, she was no innocent when it came to her mind and thoughts, but... Embarrassingly, she hadn't done the Devil's tango in, what...? 

Never?

...Yes. Indeed, she had never actually had sex before. Not for the like of trying, though. In fact, throughout her late teens and later on, she had numerous crushes to which she really wanted to get down and dirty, as it were. However, she never really was able to. According to them, she was too "aggressive", too "scary" just... Too much. She always snorted at the thought. Wasn't her fault that they were pussies who couldn't get it up when she was the one instigating the whole thing.

She couldn't be the one to flirt with them first. Couldn't be the one to initiate the kiss. Couldn't be the one to ask them out on a date. Couldn't be the one to use pick-up lines. Couldn't be the stronger one of the two. Couldn't be... Well, herself. That was according to them and others she had asked advice from, at least. That excluded her crazy Uncle Larry, of course, as he was the only one who seemed to be proud of how she made her intentions, opinions and personality unambiguous. Back then, when he said as much when she was only sixteen, she didn't really have much value in it (he was called crazy for a reason, after all). As she got older, though, she couldn't help but respect and love her Uncle more because of it.

Fucking- she was getting sidetracked again.

Clearly, wherever the fuck she was was making her crazy. Well, crazier, that was.

Returning to her previous train of thought, she considered the possibility that perhaps this Sans skeleton fella thingy wasn't the only one who could teleport. If that was the case...

They were royally fucked, as in gripping the crown jewels in a vice-like grip and twisting it fucked, as in being stuck in the middle of nowhere and the only option to get back was to climb a fucking icy cliff fucked, as in having to hitchhike one time and the only vehicle that stopped was a black van with tinted windows, as in that time that fucking bitch Sandra took her fucking food away from her-

What...

The fuck...

Was that...?

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!?!?!?!?

Her grip tightened on her spear, swapping it to her dominant hand and gripping it even harder. Ahead of her was a dark, horrendously huge silhouette. It was humanoid in shape, but it was the tallest fucking living thing she had ever encountered.

She really was attracting all of the weirdos as of late, huh?

Whatever the fuck it was, was two metres in girth, and around ten feet tall in height. Due to the impending darkness (as it was already evening), she couldn't make out any distinguishable features of whatever it may be. The only thing she could be certain of, was a large, brick red orb of light that was the size of her clenched fist. What was even more disturbing, was that it was looking straight at her.

She wasn't used to being scared. Never had been, and never would. If anything, she was the person that most people would shit themselves over if they incurred her wrath. Not this time, though.

This time, it was her who was fucking terrified.

It hadn't moved since spotting her, and neither had she. They seemed to both be in an intense staring contest, scrutinising one another.

And she was practically shitting herself over it.

Wait, this wasn't right! Not at all! She was never scared, never scared of anything. Dark Alleys? Loved to skulk around in them. Dark forests? How relaxing. Bringing a knife to a gun fight? A good time. Horror movies? Child's Play- shit! That oh so punny skeleton had really gotten under her skin- oh for fucking Satan's fartbox's sake! It was not the time to be having an inner-monologue about a punderful skeleton- right, she'd given up. She gave herself permission to pun away at that point. After all, it looked like she was about to be teared a new one anyway, right?

Ah, now she couldn't come up with a fucking pun! How puntastic- oh, wait, there was another one.

Jesus fucking aged Christ stop fucking panicking!

WAS IT GETTING FUCKING CLOSER-?!

The bodyguard had indeed confirmed that it had taken a step towards her - and yes, that was another step and - oh, how scandalous, another fucking step - right, it was full-on approaching her then (albeit sluggishly, but it was coming nonetheless)!

It stood at a respectable distance of five metres away from her then, it's height and girth daunting. Despite her fear, she stood her ground, adjusting her stance in case it went to attack her. If she was going to die, she was going to die fighting and on her own terms God fucking damn it!

Rather than pounce like she thought it was - Christ it was another fucking skeleton (they really must fuck like rabbits -  if rabbits went into heat, that was).

From the the light in there eye-orb-thing, it lit parts of its mangled face. Webbed cracks that looked painful even to her were pronounced on it's thick-boned skull, a large hole gaping from it's right socket up to the middle of its skull (she had no fucking clue about what the specific bones were called, she was no fucking doctor after all). It's omnipresent grin was wide and manic, teeth sharper than an obsidian blade, the tips yellowed and warped.

It raised its head, making Y/n freeze, thinking that it was about to lunge at her and bite her fucking head off (God knew its maw was large enough to do it in one swift chomp). However, the skeleton (which was clad in a fur pelt that looked similar to a bear's hide, only larger) sniffed the air, it's eye-orb-thing (she decided to just call it a fucking eye from then onwards) becoming slightly larger and fuzzy in appearance.

If this was a normal person, she may have been self-conscious about the fact that she hadn't bathed or showered in a few days (where the fuck would you do so in a snowy fucking forest without turning your tits into Jack Frost's dicksicle?). Not only that, but the larger-than-life (great, another fucking pun) looked as though it had seen better days if the gaping abyss of a hole in its skull was anything to go by. It then purred- that's right, it fucking purred - as it observed her further. It honestly sounded like a fucking lion, like the kind of lion that was on a documentary narrated by David Attenborough during a particularly bad hangover whilst having a huge-ass tub of ice-cream.

Y/n couldn't exactly decipher the emotion in its gaze, but she knew one thing.

She really didn't like it.

Wasn't being scared shitless by one large Millennial-Houdini reject wannabe skeleton enough ? Just what was life's fucking game? It was like God or whatever was being utterly sadistic, taunting her with this utter shitshow that was going on. 

Fuck you whoever gave this crap the go-ahead!

It took another step, the bodyguard taking one backwards. It once again did the same, as did she. The forested region was deathly quiet, no sounds of birds chirping or any wildlife whatsoever. It was just her, a bodyguard on unfamiliar terrain, with a skeleton you definitely wouldn't want to find in any closet. Well, it'd have to lead to fucking Narnia for the skeleton to actually fit, the fucking fat bastard (could skeleton's even be considered fat due to being skin-and-bone, just, without the skin?).

Should she stay and fight, stay and maintain her pride? Or should she run like a little bitch, but still be alive to tell the tale of her meeting with a creature from the depths of Hell? Which one, which one?

She fucking noped the fuck out of there, and bolted.

The skeleton made a loud, deafening sound as it bounded after her, the snow hindering her movements whilst it remained unaffected.

"Shit in a shoebox!" she shrieked heroically, making a split decision to propel herself from the ground and begin to climb one of the trees. She climbed like a monkey on crack, using the spear to dig into the bark as she pushed herself up using her strong thighs and biceps. The bodyguard's body was burning from the strenuous effort, but she paid no heed, no mind to the increasing pain. She didn't look back (as that would have slowed her down), but she could hear the large skeleton clawing at the base of the tree, also beginning to climb.

She was right at the top of the tree, her chest heaving when she looked across at a tree. The closest branch was still far away from the tree she had climbed (and was being climbed by the skeleton monstrosity from the Devil's pit), but not so far as to make it completely impossible for her to reach it if she jumped. It just made it unlikely.

Her heart pounding and adrenaline pumping, she ran and leaped over to the next tree. "Fucking shitting balls!" she cursed loudly, her fingers gripping the thick branch she had jumped onto. Groaning, she took her spear and placed it horizontally on the branch before heaving herself onto it. Her hands were bleeding from the sharp bark of the branch that had cut her flesh, but her panic had made her numb to the pain.

Not pausing to think if the skeleton was catching up to her, she then swung herself from the branch she occupied, embedding the sharp stone from the spear into the tree. The bodyguard helplessly dangled from the spear, until she propelled her body to another branch, gripping it harshly and climbing up it. Luckily, it had a large hole in the middle of it that would be obscured from any other tree or even the ground due to the thick leaves.

"Eek!" she squeaked, almost falling as she pulled out the spear from the tree. She sighed in relief as she got it, hurling herself towards the hollow trunk. She cursed again when she realised the spear was too long to fit in alongise her, so, she threw it at the tree opposite her, the sound of it piercing the air then the trunk of the other tree being one of the only sounds that was breaking the eerie silence. The other sound was the skeletal thing scrambling, branches and such snapping from the tree it was holed up in.

Y/n muffled her mouth with her hands, attempting to calm her breathing so that it couldn't hear her (she had no idea how something without ears would be able to do so, but she wasn't taking any chances). She hugged her knees, shrinking into herself to decrease the risk of being discovered. Loud grunts and growls could be heard, before the loud snap of a tree could be heard, along with a loud thump and grunt. The bodyguard couldn't see anything from where she was, so she waited and strained her ears for any potential sounds. She heard the skeleton's loud footsteps in the snow (she figured the tree couldn't hold its wait, causing it to fall to the ground), as it roamed around in search of her.

It was like that for what felt like eons, a loud, primal and guttural sound echoed. She could feel the vibrations from the tree she hid inside, making her even more glad that she had taken the coward's way out (she knew there was no way she'd be able to fight it by herself, as it would have been suicide). 

Y/n almost sighed in relief when she heard its footsteps becoming quieter, meaning that it was leaving (or at least looking somewhere else). She waited there for what she guessed was an hour or two before she finally sighed in relief, her hands trembling. Sure, she's usually brave in what are usually considered scary circumstances, but that?

She never had felt so scared, so relieved. 

The reason why she went out in the first place was that she thought that she was expendable (as Abby would have had those three skeletons she had recently become friends with look after her). They knew this area, knew where to get food, knew how to fight (if them not having been taken over by the Southern Tribe was anything to go by). She only knew one of those things.

However, at that moment, she couldn't express in words how happy she was that she'd be able to see Abby again, see the skeleton's again- hell, to even see the fucking sky again. She survived. Sure, it was by a coward's means, but she lived nonetheless.

God almighty did she want a fucking whiskey.

Chapter Text

The bodyguard trudged through the snow, hugging herself and shivering from the cold and residual effects of adrenaline. Due to the snow and how she escaped, she was soaking wet, her trousers clinging to her legs as she finally neared the cave. She knew that the manoeuvre she previously made to avoid that skeleton fucking thing was dangerous, especially due to the potential of falling from the tree that she hid from, not to mention her jumping across two or three trees just to get away from it.

Jesus she was fucking paranoid. Y/n kept looking over her shoulder, the darkness of night making it difficult to gain her bearings and see anything.

She couldn't see jack-shit. 

It was a miracle really that she managed to reach the cave in her condition, the beginning of hypothermia setting in. At least, she presumed as much due to her headache. Although, that could have just been due to the stress that had just transpired. Christ was she just not fucking used to feeling scared, let alone that level of fear. There was just something about the skeleton's large stature, creepy eye and the fucking gaping hole in its skull that just... Unnerved her.

Not only that, but there was just something about it that made her stomach squirm uncomfortably, the instincts she had honed over the years under her crazy Uncle Larry's tutelage  telling her to run the fuck away from the behemoth of a bastard. If she was to describe it, it was as though the fucking drama club from her old high school had free rein on the fucking decorations, and decided to scare the fuck out of everyone by making what should have been a child-friendly "Goldilocks" story into a fucking horror movie.

Jesus she hated the fucking drama club. Perhaps she was just bias though, as it was Sandra who was in charge of the whole operation-

Fucking Sandra. Couldn't shake off the bitch in primary school, and had to endure her fucking presence as the leader of the fucking drama clique that had the whole school wrapped around their little finger (including the parents and teachers). She loathed everyone in that fucking club (apart from Jeremy, her crush of two years). To be fair, it wasn't like they liked her back, so there was no love lost; apart from Jeremy, who always fearfully ran away from her advances- the more she thought on it, the more she could have sworn that he had actually pissed himself when she had approached him during the Halloween dance dressed as Hellboy. At the time, she just assumed that he was just scared of her favourite hero at the time (as he was badass), but when she got older, she realised that maybe, just maybe, he was scared of her and not the costume she wore-

For fuck- once more, she was getting fucking sidetracked. Would her suffering from both herself and the fucking world  never cease ?

Clearly not.

It was lucky that it was when she had stopped thinking about such nonsensical trivial matters (yes, Sandra was fucking trivial, and she didn't care about that fucking bitch), as she was immediately tackled in a hug by flesh and bare bones. Otherwise, she may have accidentally hurt one of them from her agitated state, as she wasn't exactly thinking clearly. Clutching onto her was Blue as he wailed, Abby too tearing up as she wrapped her arms around Y/n's waist and gripped her with the strength of s python. Jesus the kid was stronger that she looked.

Y/n quirked a brow, and was even more surprised when Stretch and Ding began to hug her also. Wait- was Ding fucking crying?

Why the fuck were they being so fucking emotional-?

Was Stretch stroking her  fucking  head?!

No, she wouldn't fucking have that. No, she refused. 

Her posture stiff, she patted them all on the arms, glaring at them to try and get them to let her the fuck go.

"Where were you?!" sobbed Abby, rubbing her face against Y/n's wet jumper. Y/n watched them all, unamused. She was the one who nearly died, so why the fuck were they the ones who needed fucking comforting?!

Not that she needed comfort, of course. She'd never allow herself to become that vulnerable in the first place, let alone accept anyone's fucking pity. 

Although, she wasn't exactly one to refuse comforting others when needed. Well, when she meant "comfort", she meant a backhand to the face and her telling them to get a fucking grip. However, she hadn't the heart to treat them like she had others in the past (she really was a fucking softie). Y/n continued to awkwardly pat the kid and skeletons, trying to ease their distress the best she could.

Jesus it was fucking awkward, especially to have so many people fucking crying.

Once they had all calmed down, they sat by a newly ignited fire that was in front of the cave, allowing Y/n to both get warm and dry as well as get answers from them. It wasn't like they knew about her tso confrontations (well, one fucking magic-ass-trick, the other giving her a near heart attack and loss of limb). When she looked at the skeletons (both Ding and Stream seemed both worried and relieved whilst Stretch resolutely avoided all eye contact with her).

It was then, amidst the burning embers and crackling fire, that she realised something.

She forgot the fucking spear!

Y/n was such an idiot! She hadn't made a mistake like that since that one time when she was guarding a prince from the Middle East, forgetting to check the drink he had before they quenched their thirst. It really didn't end well, with the prince practically throwing his guts up, heaving in the toilet (he was also winded from Y/n having to punch his stomach to expel the poison from his system). He had paid her half of what she was owed, claiming that giving an employer a bruised stomach (she had internally added bruised fragile ego to that) wasn't exactly protecting him. For that, she briefly regretted saving him, but only briefly, as she had managed to "borrow" a pair of gloves he owned that were made of vicuna wool (whatever the fuck that was), giving her a small fortune in return when she had sold them (the arrogant bastard hadn't even noticed them missing, the stupid fucker).

The reason why Y/n was so irked by herself for having forgotten the spear, was that it could have been used to help her climb up the icy cliff so that she'd have a vantage point of wherever the fuck she was, as well as a place to signal for help. But what would happen with the skeletons then, if help came at all?

The bodyguard hadn't even thought of that.

She shook her head of those thoughts, deciding that she'd think about that when the time came. She tapped the back of her hand with her opposite hand's index finger, communicating with the skeletons in Morse Code (Stream and Abby sniffling every now and again).

"Why were you so upset?" she asked.

Blue quickly tapped against his radius, "WE WERE WORRIED! YOU HADN'T COME BACK YET AND THEN WE HEARD ONE OF THEM !"

Y/n was both intrigued and confused as she tapped her hand again, "'Them'?"

Ding nodded solemnly as he tapped against his ulna, "The Western Tribe. Not to mention we felt someone from the East. But really we were more worried about the one from the West."

"Yeah, I did meet one from the East." affirmed the bodyguard. "Sans, I think his name was."

"Didn't do anything, did he?" interjected Stretch, the expression on his skull and in his eye-orb-things unreadable.

Y/n shook her head. "No, he was just a Houdini-wannabe avocado-loving son of a bitch of a Millennial. The one I'm worried about-" she inhaled sharply as Abby curled into her side, snuggling into her finally dry, smoky smelling jumper. Exhaling slowly, she continued, "it's that bloody big-ass bastard that I'm concerned about."

"Did he harm you?" questioned Ding, concerned. "Can you describe him?"

Y/n smirked, "'Course he didn't harm me, the slow-assed fat cunt. To describe him?" She hummed in thought, looking towards the starry night sky as she considered what the actual fuck he looked like. "To be honest, he looked like a fucking byproduct of a mauled victim made chew-toy of Daddy Bear; if Daddy Bear had steroids and a few too many beers fetched by his kid, that is."

All three skeletons looked at her in confusion. "Anything more specific...?" asked Ding.

Y/n huffed, reluctantly wrapping an arm around Abby's sleeping form. "He had a huge hole in his skull, like, oh I don't know... Like an egg hatching, only that his head's empty of all thoughts so that there was nothing in there to escape the confines of his egg-skull to begin with." She knew that she was being a bit of a bitch, but it wasn't like it was uncalled for for fuck sake! God, her Uncle was right about her having a problem with how she dealt with things. Maybe he was friendly and got, well, excited (un-fucking-likely)? 

Although they didn't really understand some of it, what caught their attention was one part in particular, recognition flashing in their eyes. Stream shivered, wrapping his arms around himself as Ding frowned. Stretch gave Stream a half-hug, trying to calm his little brother down. "Savage."

"Come on, what I said wasn't that bad." 

Ding looked confused as he shook his head, "That's his name: Savage."

Comprehension flashed across her features as she nodded. She then sniggered, "Fucking accurate though, gotta say." she then thought back on what he previously said, looking puzzled before it turned to an amused grin. "And what do you mean you 'felt' Sans? You didn't molest him, did you?" She understood how they would have heard the behemoth of a skeleton (she wouldn't have been surprised if the whole world had probably heard it, it was that loud).

Their mortified expressions made her bark with laughter, struggling to rein herself in so that she didn't wake up Abby. Looking down cautiously, she was glad that she hadn't woken up the kid. Christ, the kid was a heavy sleeper, it seemed. "We would never!" tapped Ding furiously.

Y/n smirked, "That's what they all say."

Ding sighed long-sufferingly as he informed, "We felt his presence- his soul, his magic."

The bodyguard couldn't help the cackle that escaped her, "'Soul'? 'Magic'? What are we, Dragonborn ?!"

Stretch raised a brow bone incredulously, "You don't know about magic and souls?"

The woman snorted, "The only 'magic' I know of is what me and your mum had last night. As for 'souls', well, I wouldn't know: I haven't got one."

"EVERYONE HAS A SOUL!" 

"Indeed." agreed Ding, nodding at his brother. "Do you not remember the ENCOUNTER we had?"

"That shit?" hummed Y/n thoughtfully. She shrugged, "I just thought that it was an hallucination, if I'm honest."

"But you saw your own soul." communicated Stretch, continuing to tap against his bone. "And you also had one with Sans." 

"Again, I'm in an unfamiliar environment with weird-ass creatures- no offence-"

"-Non taken." assured Ding understandingly.

"I mean," she continued, "I just survived a fucking plane crash. Wouldn't surprise me if I had suffered head trauma or something."

Ding sighed, muttering under his breath, "I really didn't anticipate having to explain something even babybones know about." He turned his attention back to Y/n. He explained, "Souls are the culmination of our very being, made of love, hope and compassion."

"Pfft- I definitely don't have one then."

"I must disagree, my Wingdings." said Ding respectfully. "I do think that it may be different for whatever species you are, but I do recognise certain traits that you seem to possess. You do have a soul: a Warrior one, to be specific."

"'Warrior'?" she eyed him in incredulous amusement. "Hardly. I know what I am: a human, and a rather violent one at that."

"I have no idea what a human is, and yes, I must admit that you are a rather violent individual." he conceded, before continuing, "but you live by a code, one of being honourable."

The bodyguard chuckled humourlessly, "I have no honour. Granted, I live by my own rules, but doesn't that mean that I am the opposite?"

Stretch scoffed, "Are you kidding? You might be a pain in the coccyx, and I can barely tolerate you most of the time, but you are honourable. I mean, despite everything, you have made sure that your kid was looked after, stars, even putting their needs above your own. If that isn't honourable, I don't know what is."

"Wait, what do you mean? She isn't my kid."

The three skeletons looked at her in bemusement. "BUT, YOU LOOK AFTER HER LIKE SHE'S YOUR CHILD!"

"I'm just doing my job." she huffed. "I'm supposed to protect her, its part of the contract. I'm paid to make sure that she stays alive." She felt an odd, unfamiliar twinge in her heart, one she couldn't describe. All she could really say about it was that it was uncomfortable, and somewhat painful. She reasoned that it must have been the weird meat she had eaten earlier in the day.

"Even if you don't know when you may return home?" Ding quirked his brow disbelievingly.

Stream pouted, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? ARE YOU LEAVING US?!"

Stretch seemed to glare at Y/n as she felt her sins crawl on her back. Not that it bothered her much: she had accepted what she had done a long time ago, and regret did nothing but distract you from the task at hand. In fact, she seemed to huff in amusement at his attempt to scare her. His disapproving glare did nothing to her. She had faced far worse ridicule before, that was for certain. Y/n nodded, her normally scowling face remaining neutral, "Yes."

"B-BUT W-WHY?" tears pricked at his eyesockets, causing him to sniffle. "DO YOU NOT LIKE IT HERE? WE CAN CHANGE IT, IF YOU WANT! WE'LL GET A DIFFERENT HOME, GET MORE FOOD, MAKE YOU AND YOUR- I MEAN, THE CHILD MORE COMFORTABLE!"

"We'll need to go, though." she shrugged, ignoring the guilt that felt like lead in her stomach. "I need to think about Abby. What kind of future would she have here? Clearly not one she deserves. The constant threat of death looming over every fucking tree? Having to constantly look over our shoulders? No. She deserves to be happy, and this place just won't do it for her."

Surprisingly, it was Stretch who interrupted the silence when he suggested quietly, "Why don't we come with you?"

It was a novel thought, Y/n had to admit. But she knew about reality's cruel nature, and she really didn't want to get into how if they went back with them, there was a potential for them to be experimented on (whether she tried to prevent it or not), as well as how others may react to them. She could always hide them with Uncle Larry (she knew that he would be elated to have guests, especially such "unique" ones, as he would say). But what kind of life was it? To be constantly hiding? Constantly worried about being discovered?

The bodyguard sighed, "I think we should probably talk about this another day. It's been exhausting."

"Indeed." agreed Ding, looking solemn and deep in thought. "Shall we retire for the night, then?"

Chapter Text

Sans' POV

"UM, GASTER, WHAT IS THAT?"

"I am unsure, Papyrus."

I was relieved that it wasn't just me who felt it, but at the same time, I knew that whatever it was that changed in Ding's territory had to be trouble. I was, as usual, taking a nap in the long green grass which reached my funny bone (heh), whilst Papyrus was trying to get me to help him and the Wingdings, Gaster, who were scavenging for food. It was routine, something we always did every few days to stock up on much needed food. That was, until we felt it. We didn't know what it was, other than how it felt like it just didn't belong here. It was unnerving and unnatural...

It just shouldn't have been there.

I stayed silent, attempting to feel what had gotten us all so anxious, but I just couldn't figure it out. All that any of us could tell, was that it was in the Middle Tribe's territory.

We were closest to that tribe (not just in distance but also relationship wise), so of course we were rather worried. If this was coming from any other tribe (The Northern Tribe were arrogant narcissists, the Southern Tribe homicidal maniacs and the Western Tribe, well, let's just say that they were by far the hungriest). That was why we were concerned, as we were good terms with the ordinarily pacifist Tribe.

At first, Gaster reasoned that we should wait a day or two to see how things were. If it lasted more than two or three days, then we should be worried.

And we were.

The ominous feeling we had never did go away, which even put a damper on Paps, and that was saying something.

That was when Gaster decided that we should discuss who should check the Middle Tribe to see if they were alright. They were, after all, a really nice Tribe and we had both benefited from the monthly meetings we had. 

Of course it was Paps was the one who offered first. Isn't he the coolest? "I SHALL GO, BROTHERS FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE THEIR DEFENDER IN THEIR TIME OF NEED!"

Gaster shook his head, his piercing white eyelights scrutinising me unwaveringly. It really took a great deal of self-control to not shiver from it. Sure, I was used to how my bro was, but it still didn't mean that he didn't creep me out every now and again. "No, Papyrus. Sans shall go."

"GASP! ARE YOU SURE THAT IS THE BEST CHOICE? HE'S A LAZY-BONES! HE'D MORE LIKELY BOONDOGGLE THAN ACTUALLY AID THEM!"

"He shan't be doing anything of the sort, Papyrus. Is that not correct, Sans?" 

I sweated nervously under his threatening glare. Seriously, why was he so creepy? Real spooky scary skeleton right there, huh? Heh. Real spine-tingler that one.

"'course, G-ster. i'll be willin' to put some backbone into it."

"UGH SANS!"

"yep?"

"ENOUGH WITH YOUR PUNS!"

"come on, bro, that was a rib-tickler. heh, you're smilin', see?"

"YES, AND I HATE IT!"

I chuckled as I made my way to the border between our territories. It didn't take me long as I used a shortcut most of the way, but I stopped just as I went to the line. Under normal circumstances, we couldn't exactly (we being me and the other skeletons who could use a  shortcut). Usually, there was a faint buzz in the air from the magic on The Continent, which meant that we couldn't really shortcut into another's territory without their Wingding's permission. Well, there were ways around it, but they were all too tiring to even do, and stars knew I was just too lazy for any of that.

The buzz was gone.

What...?

How was that possible? I didn't - no, couldn't understand . There should be a barrier of some sorts preventing me from going in (as it wasn't the designated day that we met with the Middle Tribe, the day where both us and them could enter each other's territory). When I took a shortcut inside, my theory was confirmed: we could enter regardless of the Wingding's permission.

My supraorbital ridge furrowed, blue beads of sweat dripping down my cervical vertebrae. I shouldn't have been able to go through. Something was wrong, I could feel it in my gut. Heh, I was feeling pretty gutless when I began to go further into their territory, minding the traps as I went.

I trudged through the snow, only to feel something other than the foreboding feeling crawl down my spine. It was strange... Welp, guess I could say that things were  nerve-wracking really, making my hair stand on end, I guess I could say. The only way I could describe it was that The Continent felt disturbed, like poking a sleeping bear only to find out that it was actually a slipper Paps made himself. Damn, my brothers was cool.

That was when I felt, then saw what had made me so uneasy. I couldn't believe it. They didn't belong here-

w h a t  t h e  h e l l   w e r e   t h e y   d o i n’   h e r e ?

I never thought that I'd ever see even proof of another one of those things at The Continent, let alone alive and breathing.

 t h a t  c o u l d  b e  r e a r r a n g e d . . . . 

Attempting to assess the situation, I observed them as they moved through the snow, their strange clothes looking wet from the snow they ploughed through. They scowled as they looked around, clearly looking for something. What was weird was that I caught whiffs of not only the members of the Middle Tribe (smells of stew, narangies and mountain springs), I also caught the stench from two members of the Southern Tribe. My nasal bone wrinkled at the smell of charcoal and volcanic rock as well as the repugnant reek of singed bone and molten lava ... I didn't make any sense... Why did that thing have one of their treasured "superior" weapons?

Nothing was adding up. 

The grip on the spear made anger surge through my bones. It was experienced- expert.

The murderous scowl that appeared to be constant didn't help my first impression of it. The glint in it's fleshy eyesocket I knew all too well.

It had sinned before.

Despite my bone-rattling anger, I couldn't help but appreciate their natural scent, not to mention that despite their strong muscular frame, it looked so small and so soft that I wanted to just run my phalanges through it's short hair, basking in what I could only imagine were silky tresses. It was a shame, really. 

a  s h a m e  t h a t  i t  w o u l d n ‘ t  m a k e  a  d i f f e r e n c e  . . . 

Both the thing and I were alerted to the snapping of a twig. Punnily enough, it seemed to pretend it hadn't heard anything (the barely noticeable flinch giving away that it had actually heard it). I quickly took a shortcut out of her view (just in case), stifling a sigh of relief that it hadn't seen me yet. Amidst my slight panic of having nearly been discovered so soon before I could have my pun, I wondered what had made the noise. It almost sounded like it came from above, but as soon as I looked, there was nothing in the large trees.

I was too lazy to just walk, so, I had been following along behind the thing using my shortcuts, walking a few paces to recover my stamina before repeating it. 

My grin widened as I decided to take a shortcut behind her. It was rather surprising how small it was compared to me, which seemed to make it even more jarring to consider what sins it had committed.

How could something so small seem so strong and intimidating?

I barely managed to shortcut away when she jabbed where I had previously been standing. It took all of my self control to not grind my teeth to dust. I managed to calm down somehow, regaining my usual laid back grin. It's scowl became more pronounced as it looked around, clearly looking for me. It turned back and walked further until I took another shortcut, appearing behind it. It seemed to sense my presence before it slowly turned around, the spear directed straight at me.

Like Paps making a puzzle, I was shocked to see it lower it's weapon. If anything, I assumed it would just outright attack me. After all,

i t  w a s  n o t h i n g  b u t  a  s a v a g e  b e a s t .

Being the better skeleton, I held out my hand. "hey, the name's sans. sans the skeleton. what brings ya out here on a nice day like this?"

It seemed confused, but nonetheless swapped hands with the spear, offering their left. Damn, I had to give credit when due, it was somewhat clever, swapping hands to make me think that it's strongest hand was it's weakest. Might have worked too if I hadn't noticed the way it used the spear like a staff to help it walk across the thick snow. Sorry pal, afraid to say that I'm far too observant to fall for it. 

We shook hands, our arms going back to our sides. I raised my right supraorbital foramen in question, waiting for it to answer me. It seemed incredibly agitated (the feeling was mutual, pal), before they grumbled something in a foreign language. I held back a groan: a language barrier. Heh, not the usual barrier I'm used to, but I could work with it. Had done so in the past, and could do it at that moment just as well.

The only thing I could think of was to pull it into an ENCOUNTER.

"Not another fucking ENCOUNTER." it groaned petulantly. Heh, look at me, a big-boned skeleton using such big-words. Real big of me, huh? 

* YOU FEEL AS THOUGH SHE IS TIRED OF MEETING FUCKING SKELETONS UNEXPECTEDLY.

How many skeletons had she met just going at it in a bush I wondered .It seemed to grumble something before I introduced myself again.

"heya pal, the name's Sans. Sans the skeleton."

The thing surprised me again when rather than just use the FIGHT option, it used the TALK instead.

* She tells you sarcastically that she's Y/N, Y/N the human.

Huh, guess that's what those things called themselves. Didn't change anything, though: a piece of shit by any other name would smell as awful.

"human, huh?" I mimicked thoughtfully, grinning lazily at it. I then said, "never heard o' tha' before."

* She tells you that until recently she  hadn't  come across a fucking walking skeleton before, so the world is truly full of surprises.

Got ourselves a comedian, huh? I tried not to frown when I said, "heh, you really have a potty mouth, huh?"

It's deadpan look that just said it had given up on life actually got a real chuckle out of me. 

* She tells you that you fucking would too if you went through the kind of fucking week she had

I was genuinely curious. Who had already given it a bad time? Stretch, maybe? It made sans-e. But what didn't was why it was still alive and kicking.

"you have'in a bad time o' somethin'?" I asked.

* She asks you if you ended up being in a plane crash and almost being flambéed whether you'd have a fucking jolly old time too.

Just what was it talking about...? Is whatever this crash what caused the disturbance? I already had my suspicions that this thing had something to do with the disruption, but I was still debating to what degree.

I tried to placate it by raising my hands in surrender, "jeez, no need ta be like tha', jus' a question is all. an i have no clue wha' ya mean abou' a 'plane' or bein' 'flambéed'. "

* She tells you to just fucking tell you why you were there.

Constantly angry and blunt? It was getting better and better, it seemed. "alrigh' alrigh', no need ta ge' sassy. we jus' registered a disturbance, is all. came to look fer it. don' matter now, though. seems i already foun' the reason behind it, wha', with ya tellin' me 'bout somethin' crashin' an all. so, i guess i'll be leavin then."

It was before I was about to leave the ENCOUNTER when it used the TALK option once more.

* She tells you about the Southern Tribe, and if she could talk to your Wingdings.

So it seemed that she was aware of The Continent's politics. Heh, of course it was. That was what all those "humans" even cared about- politics. I knew it wasn't a good idea for it to meet Gaster, as I didn't know how he'd react. Not only that, but I didn't want that thing anywhere near my brother's, if I could help it. Wouldn't want to give it any opportunity. I wouldn't allow that to happen, not again. 

n e v e r  a g a i n .

"look pal, it's clear ta me that ya've a' least talked ta some o' us skeletons, as well as bein' aware of this 'ole business wi' the southerners, so, i'll speak ta ya plainly: i gotta tell 'im the situation, an then e'll let us all know if we're gonna 'elp ya or no'. we'll jus 'ave ta wai' til the next time we meet, which is, wha', two days? i'll see ya then pal, and by the way, it was real nice ta meetcha."

I exited the ENCOUNTER, and took a shortcut back to my home to think things over, and decide what exactly I should do next.

Chapter Text

Savage's POV

Starving. Always, always so hungry- starving. 

We needed more food- always more food. I couldn't let them starve again. Never again- again? Were we starving before? 

Wait, what were we doing before? It was something uncomfortable- I couldn't let it happen again! I couldn't !

... Let what happen again...?

What was I.....?

What was I doing, again?

No, no, never again!

n e v e r   a g a i n . . . . .

Hatchet told me to do something, didn't he.....?

Where was he? Where was Bones?

w h e r e   w e r e   t h e y ? !

They're safe. They're at home. Bones is waiting for me to get some meat for him, and Hatchet is tending to his collection..... They're fine.

Ah, that was it. i was supposed to be getting some food. 

I scratched and pulled at the itch in my skull, sighing in relief as the ebbing in the hole in my head. I couldn't remember how I got it, I seemed to have always had it. I usually forget that I had it at all, until the uncomfortable itch returned.

Wait, where.....?

There was no snow near our home, only dried twigs and leaves and hollow trees-

e v e n   t h e   t r e e s   s t a r v e d  . . . . . .

These trees seemed in better condition than the ones we had, and there was only one territory who had snow and trees like these.....

I didn't mean to go into their land, I shouldn't have been able to. How had I managed to get in.....?

It didn't matter, as long as I got - what was it? Ah, food- as long as I got us all food, it didn't matter where I got it.

Or how, for that matter.

It was dark, I noticed. The stars were out that night... It made my skull itch just looking at them all.....

What was that.....?

It was small, whatever it was... It looked so familiar...

m y   s o c k e t   w a s   b u r n i n g

What was it.....? I knew what it was, but I didn't know.....

Part of me was angry. So angry it felt as though my bones were combusting.

Part of me was.....

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

Happy. So so so happy.

I wanted to talk to her, get to know her, joke with her, hold her in my arms.....

e a t   h e r

No..... I shouldn't eat her, I shouldn't .....

She looked rough around the edges,  a short temper and a stubborn streak. But.....

She also looked caring, if you looked behind her barbed exterior and the scowl on her pretty face. She smelled so nice, and I could see myself maybe, hopefully, becoming friends with her. It had been so long since I had a friend- wait, I've never had any friends. Have I.....?

It didn't matter. What mattered was getting food. I had enough time to talk to her. Maybe we could have a chat? Maybe something more ? My soul fluttered at the thought.

What did her voice sound like? What did her laugh sound like? What did her moans sound like?

w h a t   d i d   h e r   s c r e a m s   s o u n d    l i k e ?

Despite her intimidating appearance and demeanour, her anxiety was near touchable. Adorable .....

I inhaled greedily, my bones shuddering as I failed to stifle a purr. She seemed to tense from the noise. 

No, no, don't be scared! There's no reason to be scared. I knew I could make her feel better. I understood that I wasn't exactly the most handsome (Bones had that title), but I wasn't going to hurt her, if I could help it. My mind raced so fast that I couldn't keep up.

friend

food

friend

food

friend

food

friend

food

friend

food

friend

food

mate

prey

mate

prey

mate

prey

She ran.....

The food was getting away! I can't go back without food- I can't, no, I won't let them starve again!

I chased after it. It climbed one of the trees, so I followed also. I noticed that it made a few strange noises, but it didn't matter. What mattered, was that Hatchet and Bones wouldn't go hungry tonight. I won't let them down.

It was fast, climbing further up the tree and leaping to another. I couldn't catch up, it was too fast.

I heard it leap again, the branches straining under it's weight. I couldn't see where it was anymore. The sound of stone hitting bark interrupted the silence. Where was it? Where had it gone? Where had it gone?! Where had it gone?!?!

I needed to see it from a better angle. I growled in frustration, dropping from the tree I was on and landing on the soft snow. I walked around, trying to determine where it was. I couldn't find it! I couldn't find her!

..... Her.....?

Friend. Mate. No..... What had I done.....? She wasn't food, she wasn't prey.....

Why did I do that.....?

Where was she? I need to tell her that she's safe. I didn't- I didn't mean to. I need to say sorry. I need to ask her to forgive me. Please let her forgive me!

But, I needed to find her! I needed to find food-!

Wait. I needed to feed Hatchet and Bones.

Should I still look for her? Or should I get some food then look? 

I cried out in frustration at the choice I needed to make.

Feed them, or find her?

No. There was no reason to be like that. I'll get some food, go back home, and look for her again. 

With that reassurance, I roamed the snowy forest once again, eventually finding a ..... What was it called.....? A Dingallow.....? Right. I then went home, and gave the food to Bones to cook.

We wouldn't starve that night.

n e v e r   a g a i n

Chapter Text

"Fuck off."

Stretch snorted behind his hand, snorting in his native tongue, "charming our new wingding's, huh?"

"STOP BEING SARCASTIC STRETCH!" huffed Blue, shushing him as Ding and Y/n continued to converse. It was finally the designated day when they would meet with the Eastern Tribe, and Ding was teaching her the traditional ceremony they had to do as a form of greeting and a demonstration of respect. What irritated the ex-Wingdings was the fact that she was being so stubborn and uncooperative. Just how hard was it to simply comply and follow his advise?!

"I am not fucking prancing around like a fucking Disney Princess."

"Please just do it."

"Read my lips Big D: Fuck. Off." she hissed in her native language, forgetting that Ding didn't understand it.

"And you read mine, Wingdings: Do. It." he replied.

"First of all, you haven't got any lips, you're a fucking skeleton. Second, I'm not going to do it you Shia LaBeouf bastard."

Y/n wasn't going to fucking do it. Nope. Nada. Fuck to the hell to the fucking no. No. She wasn't going to throw fucking leaves in the air like some fucking theatre student going through their confetti stage. Yes, she was talking about fucking Britanny, the most backstabbing bitch second only to Sandra. Fucking Sandra... They were like two hot dogs in one hotdog bun: too much sausage in one bun to be considered healthy (if the amount of STD's they most likely had was anything to go by). Ugh, that Houdini little shit (she refused to acknowldge that he was way taller than her) really had to indulge in her bad habit, a bad habit that was only encouraged by her Uncle Larry. He really just had to do it, didn't he? Fucking bony bastard.

  No, she wouldn't stoop down to that bitch's level by being dramatic (yes, she was still talking about fucking Brittany and Sandra!). Y/n just didn't understand it: what was the point? Why couldn't they just shake hands like people usually do, and get straight to the fucking point? Why couldn't she just not have to skip around a blazing fire, throwing leaves into it like a  self-proclaimed witch from Texas dancing around a campfire and adding drugs to the fucking smores, claiming it to be "magical dust" from the snowbanks of the South pole. Jesus that bitch Brittany from that frat party she once attended (regrettably) was fucking crazy. There was just so much wrong with what she said on a regular basis. Who the fuck thinks that crack is not only "magical dust", but is made by fucking Santa Claus in the South Pole? Santa doesn't even live in the fucking south pole, the stupid cunt!

"Wait, how the fuck are you speaking to me right now?" Y/n was thoroughly confused. The more she thought on it, the more confused she got. At first, she chalked up the skeletons learning 'Morse Code' to them being intelligent, but how were they able to translate it into their native language to begin with? Especially without anything to sufficiently translate (her 'help' could only go so far, after all).

"Oh?" he grinned smugly. "You really want to know, Wingdings?"

It was very difficult to stifle the laugh that was bubbling beneath Ding's smug smirk. "You see, Wingdings, I was able to identify your vocal patterns and facial expressions to certain phrases to what you call 'Morse Code', and as such, was able to soon pick up your own language."

Ding further babbled, "The reason why i was able to learn 'Morse Code' in the first place was that it was rather similar to what may be roughly translated as 'Font'. The reason why Stretch and Stream, as you newly dubbed, can't understand us right now is due to their idiolect being different enough to 'Morse Code' as to make it difficult for them to learn your own language (as all three of us and the other tribe's trios have different idiolects also). Oh, I just realised that I failed to explain the different 'roles', so to speak, that are prevalent in all of the tribes on The Continent. The Wingdings, as you know, are the chiefs of each tribe, often being labelled as 'The Hands'. Another, considered as either the Judge or the intermediary depending on the circumstances, are known as 'The Comic'. Last, but certainly not least, is 'The Roman'. This, contrary to the other 'roles', are far more flexible, and it truly depends on that specific tribe's traditions as to what 'role' they may fulfil. In our case, 'The Comic' is Stretch, whilst 'The Roman' is Stream, who's 'role' in the tribe is 'The Trapper'."

"OK... It isn't like I asked for this fucking info dump which is fucking days late by the way, but what does that make you then?" The bodyguard was genuinely curious. What 'role', as he called it, was he? It seemed that each tribe only had three members, so the Middle Tribe was unique in technically having five members. She would never designate a fucking 'role' to the kid.

Ding was rather shocked with the questioning, and looked to be deep in thought as he considered it. The reason why he hadn't told her yet, was that he had genuinely forgot to. The fact was, that it was common knowledge on the island, so he had unintentionally forgotten to actually tell her. He knew that there was probably more he needed to tell her, but for the life of him he couldn't think of anything. It didn't really matter, though. He'd tell her when he remembered. If Ding was being honest with himself, one reason (of many, that was) for allowing Y/n as their new Wingdings, was to act as a sort-of prank on the Eastern Tribe. He could only imagine the looks on their skulls when they found out that someone of her ilk was the chief of the Middle Tribe, their 'Comic' and Wingdings (Sans and Gaster) specifically. Ding didn't think that they'd hurt her or the child they had just taken in would be in any danger with them. It would, at most, be a rather nasty shock... Ding truly did have a rather wicked mischievous streak, didn't he?

"I guess I would say that I am your 'Adviser', of sorts."

"... I'm still not dancing around like a fucking ballerina." 

With that statement, they were back to bickering again. As Ding and Y/n continued, Abby ate the Favvie soup Stream had made her (the one meal he could competently make). She gasped at the amazing flavour, wiggling happily as she took large gulps of the delightful food. "This tastes just like cotton candy!" she squealed.

Stream beamed, "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU SAID LITTLE SUNSHINE, BUT I'M GLAD YOU'RE ENJOYING IT!"

Stretch sat between the pair, inhaling the smoke billowing from the orange coloured cylindrical wood that he held between his phalanges. He exhaled the same coloured smoke, the orange vapour pouring from his nasal cavity, large sharp teeth and eye sockets, twirling and swirling in the air. Abby eyed it in awe, her eyes sparkling in curiosity. "What's that, Mr. Skeleton?" she pointed at an object she couldn't help but find similar to cigarettes. 

Stretch looked briefly confused before he realised that she was pointing at what he was smoking. "Just a Reyell, kid. Why, wanna' smoke?" he held the Reyell in her direction, her head tilting inquisitively. Before she could grab it (she was just going to look at the swirling orange smirk from the end of it as it dissipated into the afternoon air), Stream backhanded the object out of Stretch's hand, causing it to fall to the ground and extinguishing from the impact with the snow.

Scandalised, Stream scolded, "YOU CAN'T JUST GO AND GIVE A REYELL TO A BABYBONES, STRETCH!"

Stretch, rather than pay his younger brother any mind, stared at the object in despair. "It took me the longest time to find a Chiller tree to make that..."

"YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE SMOKING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE! IT'S BAD FOR YOU!"

Stretch continued to stare at it, the last remnants of orange vapour cascading down his mandible. "It's not like I've got any lungs, bro..."

"EXCUSES EXCUSES!"

"Fine! I'll fucking do it you overgrown gangly-ass Draugr!" bellowed the bodyguard."

"We best do it quickly, Wingdings. Not long until dusk when we are to meet them."

Chapter Text

It was finally time, and all Y/n could think about was how she really didn't want to be there. She was very tempted to just tell every single one of those skeletons to 'get fucking boned', and just leave them there. The bodyguard would of course bring along the kid, who seemed far too excited for meeting more skeletons for Y/n's liking. A wide goofy grin overtook Abby's face, which definitely didn't make Y/n's chest swell with warm affection.

God she hated being so fucking soft.

Stream too seemed rather excited, bouncing around and babbling excitedly (she had no fucking clue whatever the living fuck he was talking about, and she wasn't so sure that she even wanted to know). Stretch trailed along behind them casually, glancing up every now and again before returning back to looking ahead of them. Ding, meanwhile, was walking ahead of the group as he guided them to the meeting point.

She definitely didn't find it cute how Stream skipped alongside Abby, for fuck's sake!

With narrowed eyes, the bodyguard hastily stomped over to Ding so that they were next to one another. Her much shorter legs were somewhat struggling to match his long strides, but she didn't fucking care. She knew more than most how first impressions were everything. If this 'Eastern Tribe' or whatever saw Ding walking in front of her, her being the Wingdings, it wouldn't exactly look well, as it may make them think that not only was she easy to push around, but she also needed protection.

Sandra knew fucking well that she didn't need protecting after her pug-like face met her mailbox (not Y/n's: she used Sandra's own to make it sting her fragile pride and ego all the more).

Ding quirked a brow bone in question at her, his eyelights observing her curiously. Y/n swiftly responded with a menacing scowl before facing forward once more. With a shit-eating grin, Ding took to speeding up his pace, his eyelights dancing with mirth as Y/n moved her much smaller legs even faster to keep up with the tall skeleton. "Slow the fuck down!"

"Whatever is the matter, dear Wingdings?" his smirk seemed to widen as he once more upped his pace. "Can't keep up with me due to your tiny legs?"

She huffed from the strenuous exertion of keeping up with him, but she somehow managed. "Just means it'll be easier to kick your ass!" she snarled.

"If you can reach, that is."

"Do you want to die?!"

"So violent." he grinned in amusement.

"Yeah, so don't test me you fucking skele-bitch!" This back and forth went on for some minutes before they entered a clearing of sorts. It was strange: one half was much like the snowy forest that they had been traversing through, yet the other half was filled with long green grass that reached Y/n's shoulders. She looked left then right, seeing that the difference in landscapes was as though someone had drawn a huge line between her territory (it was still weird to her that it was technically hers) and the 'Eastern Tribe's'. Not only that, but on each side there was a large pile of wood, making two in total. The middle of the area seemed slightly singed, indicating that numerous fires had been held directly on the border between the two biomes.

Her observations made her realise just how much she hadn't a fucking clue about wherever the fuck she was.

She'd never heard of a place with such varying environments. Well, to be fair she had never even heard of sentient skeletons before, so who the fuck was she to judge was should and shouldn't be real? Although she struggled to fathom it, she resolutely decided to no longer think about it. She was surprised that she hadn't even experienced a migraine yet. Though, she knew that it probably wouldn't last.

"Alright dear Wingdings, we need to set up the fire-"

"Great balls of fire?" smirked the bodyguard. Ding responded with a sigh, and ignored her.

"-then, well, you know full well what must be done." he continued, rolling his eyelights. The woman huffed, rolling up her sleeves (she really needed to try and wash her clothes somehow- she must have been reeking something awful, she imagined). As directed, she set up the fire, the wood on their side easily being set ablaze. It was then that she was struck with an amazing- a truly fucking amazing- idea. Question was, would it work? The bodyguard already had plans to try and alert people to their location using fire, but would it work on the ground as well as it would from the cliff near their shelter?

Shit! Fucking bollocksing shit! The woman stifled a groan of irritation. The fucking trees would get in the way, wouldn't they? Fucking gangly fucks (and that was just the skeletons).

Although disappointed, she soldiered through it and made a very impressive fire (if she did say so herself). Ding nodded his approval before collecting some leaves from the trees and placed them beside her. Blue and Stretch did the same, soon followed by a beaming Abby. Bless the little shit- she was just so fucking happy to be there, wasn't she?

The sound of movement garnered her attention, her eyes narrowing in the long grass as she saw three large silhouettes emerge. One of them she recognised to be the Houdini little fuck, whilst the others... If she was being honest, they looked far too similar to Stretch and Ding for her to feel comfortable. It was just so fucking uncanny and creepy...

The one that looked like Stretch seemed to stand taller than him by four inches, whilst the other one who resembled Ding stood a good five inches above Ding himself. Though, the more she looked at them, the more she was able to discern their differences. The one that looked like Ding had two dark cracks in his skull, one leading from his left eye to his teeth whilst the other trailed up and beyond his right brow. Also, another key difference was that his eyelights seemed to be the colour of extravagant pearls, reminding her of the adorned necks of some of the wealthiest charges she was hired to protect (mostly Duchesses or some other rich pompous ass). However, Not-Stretch's eyelights resembled that of soft cotton, seemingly rather friendly. In terms of what they wore, Not-Stretch wore a handknitted scarlet scarf that seemed well cared for, whilst he also wore what seemed to be shoddy metal armour around his torso, chest and pelvis. Not-Ding wore a long, black toga that seemed to be placed over armour of his own (although this seemed to be better made than Not-Stretch's). The Houdini bastard still looked the same as ever, only under his outfit he too seemed to wear the same type of metallic armour.

The trio seemed to be holding glowing rocks that had even brighter bioluminescent algae of sorts (she only knew what to compare it to due to the numerous times she watched a documentary narrated by David Attenborough during an especially harsh hangover), which was the only source of light that had revealed their appearance (as they were approaching from the shadows the fire couldn't reach). When Not-Ding saw the group, the skeleton paused. It looked from each member, lingering on Abby then finally landing on the bodyguard. The skeleton's face was indecipherable, Not-Ding's gaze boring into the woman's.

She met his with equal challenge, discreetly widening her stance as she lifted her chin defiantly, craning her neck to fully meet his gaze. Not-Ding's companions noticed his hesitation, finally seeing what he was. Whilst the Houdini motherfucker remained passively nonchalant, Not-Stretch looked both confused and extremely happy for some reason. It was then that one of them decided to speak, that being Not-Ding. 

It was in his native language, so Y/n had no fucking clue what he was on about. "What's the creepy fuck on about?" she voiced her confusion. Her eyes never left Not-Ding's, nor did Not-Ding's leave her own.

"That isn't exactly polite to say, dear Wingdings." grinned Ding, who seemed to be enjoying himself far too much.

"Well, what do you fucking expect? It's creepy as shit how much he looks like you!" she snarled.

"I never knew that you were speciesist, dear Wingdings."

"The fuck you on about?!"

"Oh, nothing but the fact that you just insinuated that we look alike. Almost as though you believe all skeletons to look the same."

"Ding, now is not the time to be a fucking smartass!"

"Someone has a short temper today." he sniggered, ignoring the bemused looks of the members of the Eastern Tribe as well as Stream and Stretch.

"Exactly." she smiled sinisterly, finally looking over her shoulder at the annoying skeleton. "So, if you wanna keep that head attached to yourself, you'd be smart to shut the fuck up, and do your fucking job!"

"And what job may that be, dear Wingindings?" It was surprising how much he looked like a Cheshire cat at that moment, especially for a creature without any skin let alone fur.

"To fucking translate you dipshit!"

"Why of course! Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I swear, when we get back, I will drop kick you so hard, that the fucking moon-man will end up suing you for going up in his grill when you weren't even invited to the fucking barbeque!" Ding shivered from her threat, which seemed to at least calm Y/n down enough so that she felt smug about scaring him. Well, she assumed that he shivered from fear, at least. Why else would he shiver? It wasn't like he could get fucking cold, was it?

Not-Ding seemed to say something else, continuing to direct it Ding. When Ding replied, he seemed both astonished and completely done with everything. "Oh!" exclaimed Ding in realisation, looking to his chief. "Almost forgot to actually translate! This here," he indicated to Not-Ding with a flick of his bony wrist, "is the Eastern Tribe's Wingdings, Gaster."

Ding then seemed to say something in his native tongue, indicating to Y/n with a flourish that time. Gaster's clawed fingers twitched, his sockets and eyelights narrowing in suspicion. "This," he then began to introduce Y/n to the skeleton she didn't know, "is the Middle Tribe's 'Roman', Papyrus!"

Papyrus' eyelights seemed to engulf his eyesockets, seemingly awestruck when he looked down at the intimidating human woman. He also seemed just as excited when he looked at Abby who, Y/n then realised, was hiding behind her, shyly looking from around the group. As Y/n further scrutinised the group, she couldn't help but notice that Houdini-wannabe's eyelights had completely disappeared, his dark abyss-like sockets directed at Abby. The child squeaked, fully hiding behind Y/n.

"The fuck is what's-it's-face's problem?" she growled. Ding, noticing the tense atmosphere, looked at the shorter, stockier skeleton. Much to the bodyguard's surprise, he seemed rather nervous, but also rather serious. It was strange how one minute he was as happy as a maniac at the funny farm, the next he seemed genuinely concerned and cautious. This only added to the bodyguard's apprehension to the situation, as she wrapped an arm behind her so that she tucked Abby into her back.

Papyrus looked at what's-it's-face, he too becoming worried. He gently clasped the shorter skeleton's shoulder, startling him as he looked up at Papyrus in question. They seemed to share a whispered conversion before the Houdini-creepy-fuck sighed, relenting. "It's nothing to worry about, dear Wingdings." assured Ding, his shoulders seemingly relaxing when he realised that the shorter skeleton wasn't going to do anything. Seriously, what the fuck was all that about?! He genuinely looked like he wanted to murder the poor kid! Y/n wasn't sure that she really liked him before, but she definitely didn't like him after that fucking stunt. 

No one scares her kid!

No one.

"I know that's a load of shit, ding-dong. But, I'll let it go for now. I wanna get this fucking shit over with."

"Ah!" chirped Ding. "It's finally time for the ritual!"

"Ugh, fuck me." she groaned.

Ding winked, "Maybe later, dear Wingdings. But only if you behave!" He then had the fucking nerve bend down to her level and fucking to boop her on the nose.

"You mark my words, I'm gonna fucking snap your neck one of these days." barked Y/n, seething with rage.

Chapter Text

It was the time for the God-forsaken ritual. Y/n hadn't been looking forward to it at all. When she went through the motions (it always seemed to remind her of her Uncle Larry doing karaoke to that song by Kylie Minogue whenever she thought of the word 'motion'), Ding had insisted that Stretch and Stream (along with Abby by proxy) not be around when they practiced, claiming that it was sacred tradition that when practicing, that the Roman and Comic of the tribe weren't around the Wingdings before heading over to the rendezvous point (though he described it as the 'holy land', but no way was she going to willingly give herself a headache over the implications of such wording).

The bodyguard soon realised that it was a mistake to be alone with the too-tall gangly non-assed skeleton.

He was just so fucking infuriating!

Every attempt she made he would make a snarky comment at, tapping her, yes, fucking tapping her with a branch he had casually torn off one of the native trees. He hadn't even taken off the fucking needles-leaves, whatever the fuck they're called!

She was getting side-tracked.

The bodyguard took a deep breath, and exhaled just as deeply, attempting to calm herself down before she had to do the ritual.

God fucking knew how much she really didn't want to be there, to be gawked at by skeletons of all creatures, and to make a fool out herself in front of the kid. Well, guess that meant that she had to perform it well, didn't she?

Ugh, fuck her life.

Avoiding all eye contact with everyone there, she lifted up her right leg, hopping in a clockwise circle. She could practically feel their stares on her, which only added to her anxiety. Y/n could have sworn she heard a snort, but that just may have been her dragging her foot along the ground and standing halfway between the forested region that she knew to be her territory, and the grassland of Gaster's territory. The flames of the fire on either side continued to roar, the stars twinkling in the night sky. She paid no attention to the beauty of the landscape, however. All she was concerned with, was getting the utter shit-show she had been dealt on the road.

She squatted, span on the spot then walked sideways on the line between the two territories. Y/n knew that she probably looked like a fucking crab, but she also knew that if anyone said that she did, she would simply reply "your fucking mother would know, wouldn't she?!". Indeed, she was in an even fouler mood than usual, her scowl becoming more pronounced and her brow furrowing in irritation (the bodyguard knew that she must have a few veins in her temple fully visible if the throbbing was any indication). She wished that it would just be over. Who the fuck came up with such a fucking dance?! Who thought that prancing around like a fucking crab amputee was a fucking great idea to do in front of a neighbouring tribe?!

She then lifted her knee, her opposite elbow touching it before jumping and switching with her other elbow and knee. After that, the bodyguard shimmied (yes, she had to fucking shimmy for this fucking ritual shit!) to the left, then the right, which was followed by flailing her limbs with her hands in a thumbs-up gesture (she really wanted to use her middle finger, but Dings said that it was offensive to them, which was a shame really, she was looking forward to flipping them off and saying that it was a sign of peace).

Y/n performed what she could only describe as the dance move "the running man", followed by "the moon walk" (when she was being directed and complained about it, Dings merely replied with a smug grin that it was an integral part of the dance, explaining that it was a sign of "good will"- she thought that he good shove his own "good will" up his back-crack on the second shelf). The bodyguard span once again, but this time she had her arms outstretched as though she was in an especially terrible 70's fitness video (she only knew as her Uncle refused to use anything other than VHS, claiming that anything else would be tracked by the corrupt government). She squatted, raising her clenched fists in the air then doing as Ding had instructed her to do when the dance concluded: battle cry. She knew full well that she could at least manage that. With a deep breath, she battle-cried, "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Breathing heavily from exertion, she finally looked up at the skeletons, attempting to give Ding a look that conveyed "you fucking happy now, bastard?!?!". Whilst she expected at least a few impressed looks or at the very least a neutral expression, that was not what she was met with at all.

The Houdini-shit, Stretch and Dings took one look at her, then burst out into manic laughter. Enraged and confused, she watched as the Houdini-shit rolled around on the ground, hugging his ribs as what she could only assume were blue tears rolled down his face. Stretch wasn't any better, hitting his thigh-bone-whatever the fuck it was, honey-coloured tears collecting at the corner of his sockets. Ding's bones were trembling, shoulders shaking and his face covered with his bony hands.

The fuck? Why were they fucking laughing?!

Why the fuck were they laughing?!?!?!?!

When she looked at the others, it wasn't that much better. Abby looked to be struggling to rein her amusement, her mouth twitching and her eyes averted from Y/n's. The skeleton she remembered was named Papyrus looked genuinely puzzled, brow bones resembling actual eyebrows in the way they were furrowed (Stream too sharing the expression). Gaster, on the other hand, seemed indifferent on the surface. However, Y/n didn't know if she was imagining it or not, but his pearl-white eyelights seemed to convey just how freaked out he was.

"The fuck you laughing at, prick?!" she barked, grabbing Dings by his "clothes" (if you could call them that) and yanking him so that they were eye-to-eyelight. 

He was struggling to form a coherent sentence, but managed to mumbled under his rattled breath, "I can't believe she actually did it!". That statement gained her attention, her eyes narrowing and glaring daggers at him. He took a few breaths to calm himself, then he looked back at her. His mismatched eyelights were ablaze with unconcealable mirth, even more vibrant than usual. Despite acknowledging how enchanting they were in the very recesses of her mind, she was far too angry to spare such thoughts a second glance.

"Congratulations, dear Wingdings." he giggled again before regaining his composure. "You have successfully completed the ritual!" The way he said it confirmed her growing suspicions.

She snarled venomously, "There wasn't an actual fucking ritual was there?"

His smug smirk was the nail in her coffin. She was mortified and wrathful, hell-bent on retribution. The fucker had actually pranked her! Fucking little bitch ! 

When she first saw a sentient, walking-talking skeleton, she couldn't help but think it odd that a skeleton was actually alive. In that moment, she knew that such a thing could be easily remedied. Not that she would actually kill him, she doubted that she ever would be able to (unless he threatened Abby's safety, that was, but she knew that he wouldn't do something so underhanded and vile). Her grip on him tightened exponentially, his smirk still in place despite her bone-chilling stare. Her face had relaxed, but her eyes revealed her untameable fury. Dings bones rattled and he shivered, his eyelights unable to look away from her own. If anything, the light from the fire only made her look even more intimidating.

It was then that she was awoken from her murderous musings, a familiar feeling of someone tugging her shirt.

She immediately looked down, seeing that it was Abby. The kid looked nervous, her eyes cast to the ground. Seemingly emboldening herself, Abby took a deep breath before looking up at the bodyguard. The kid's pleading expression pulled at her chest, making Y/n increasingly uncomfortable. Her next words made Y/n's heart freeze. "Please don't hurt Mr. Skeleton." The woman's grip immediately dissipated, making Dings fall backwards into the snow (as those in her tribe were sat in their territory whilst the Eastern tribe sat at theirs).

What broke the woman's heart more was just how genuinely surprised and relieved Abby was when she let go of Dings. It rubbed her the wrong way, her thoughts trailing to what exactly the kid had gone through. Sure, she had briefly thought about it, and for an even briefer moment considered asking the kid, but she ultimately decided that it was none of her business. Not only that, but she didn't exactly want to pressure the kid. If the kid wanted to talk about what she had been through, then she would do it on her terms, and no one else's. Not even hers.

Did Abby honestly think that she was going to kill him? The way she said "hurt" seemed to convey the word "kill" more, if Y/n was being completely honest. Did the kid really think her capable? Sure, she had killed before, but it was more so out of necessity rather than anything else.

Was she that much of a terrible person?

Y/n acknowledged early on that she wasn't exactly a saint, and the word "kind" wasn't in her vocabulary, but she at least had some morals and at least a sense of integrity, even if it was slightly warped and potentially skewed. 

When she looked up and around, she saw just how scared Stream was, and that although Stretch looked as though he was ready to fight at a moments notice, the anxiety was all too clear in his expression, even if he was usually hard to read due to being made entirely of bone. Papyrus seemed worried, wringing his gloved hands as his eyelights flickered from Gaster and the Houdini-fucker (who's eyelights had vanished, his left socket emitting a blue and yellow mist) to her. The tension in the air was palpable, Gaster apathetically observing the scene but looked as though he was debating whether or not they should intervene. She understood his hesitancy, especially as it was between a Wingings and a member of their own tribe, and not his. It was, from what Y/n had gathered when she was talking to Dings about them, a very tentative friendship. Their loyalty to their own above another tribe's was both an asset and a liability.

The Eastern Tribe needed the resources that only the Middle Tribe had to offer (or were willing to offer), and vice versa.

Her signature scowl returned, which seemed to put both Stretch and Stream at ease, their tense shoulders relaxing. The bodyguard looked down at Dings, who was scrutinising everyone else and their reactions. However, he seemed rather surprised at what Abby had said, he too seemingly wandering about what she may have experienced to seem so suddenly downtrodden: a downtrodden daze, at that. 

Attempting to calm the situation, Dings looked up at Y/n (as he had propped himself up on his elbows). "Care to help me up, dear Wingdings?" he smirked, holding up his large hand and wiggling his fingers.

"Only one thing I'd fucking help you with, and that's throwing you through the gates of fucking Hell." she grumbled, looking away from him but offering her hand to actually help him up. His expression remaining the same, he delicately grabbed at her much smaller hand, and yanked her down on top of him. He knew full well how strong she was, and how she could very easily hold her own against him, which was why he did it so fast that she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. "Oof!" Her face collided with his sternum, the bodyguard laying on top of him.

"Dear Wingdings!" he feigned a scandalised gasp. "I didn't know you were such an exhibitionist!"

Her scowl deepened, her past irritation resurfacing as she glowered at his shit-eating grin. Before she could make an angry retort, Abby asked innocently, "What's an exhibist?"

Dings actually looked abashed, "Nothing to worry your little head over, sweetie!" he squeaked, quickly jumping to his feet and dragging Y/n's small form with him. As soon as she steadied herself, she harshly slapped his arm, making him retract it and rub. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"For being a complete and utter oblivious dickwad!" she hissed. "Which is an achievement, seen as though you don't even have one!"

A mischievous grin overtook his expression as he wiggled his brow bones. "Are you sure about that, dear Wingdings?"

Her grin rivalled his own, "Even if you did, I'm certain that mine would be bigger."

He chuckled, "How naïve, dear Wingdings. Did your parents never tell you that it isn't the size, but how you use it? What's the point of having a hot man with a foot-long who doesn't even know where to put it?"

She snorted, "Just sounds like a you problem that."

"So you think I'm hot then?"

"I think that you need to have some fat on you for me to be actually fucking interested. Never liked the type who're just skin-and-bone, and you're even lacking one of them." She then continued with a raise of her brow, "Why did you make lame-ass puns about hotdogs, anyway? How do you even fucking know about hotdogs? Haven't you lived here all your life?"

Dings looked rather shift, his grin faltering slightly. "You really know how to bomb-bard your adviser with questions, dear Wingdings. I pegged you for the type to allow their explosive temper to do the talking." His smug smirk then returned as he asked, "Why exactly do you like puns?"

Her eye twitched, "I don't fucking like puns. They're shit."

His smugness increased. "Then, why is it, that you are smiling, dear Wingdings?"

"Shit!" she cursed, realising that she was in fact smiling. It was then that Dings finally turned back to the group, his smile sweet as he spoke in his native language. As he was speaking, he was interrupted by Stream surprisingly, who seemed to stomp his foot and look as though he was demanding something. With a reluctant nod, Stream beamed as he looked at Y/n before saying something excitedly. The other skeletons then began their conversations, but Y/n noticed the Houdini-fuck was nowhere to be seen. That was until she smelled the familiar scent of a hotdog roasting over an open flame. Despite the hotdog smelling weird (as it seemed more herbal than meaty), she couldn't deny that it made her stomach twist in hunger.

She looked around, finally finding where the Houdini-creepy-fuck was. He was lounging by one of the fire, lazy roasting a hotdog that had been skewered with a twig. Y/n really didn't want to go over there, afraid that her last thread of self-control would snap, and that she would beat the ever-loving shit out of the guy who had the nerve to scare the kid. But, she was feeling very hungry, and greasy foods always put a pep in her step and cheer her up. Her nostalgia was also making her gut churn with home-sickness, as she was reminded of the hunting weekends she had with her crazy Uncle Larry. Why was she thinking about that old coot so much lately? It wasn't like she hadn't gone for long periods of time without seeing the barmy fucker, so why...? Why...?

Why did she miss him so much...? 

She remembered his crooked grin, his god-awful teeth that were in desperate need of braces, his long bushy beard that reached his torso, his unkempt wild hair that reached his shoulders, the constant smell of old people, shoe-polish and Cuban cigars that never seemed to leave him, his infamous tattered flannel shirt that he claimed had survived three wars, his thick wellington boots that always made it so that everyone in a two-mile radius would hear his approach, the wicked cackle and the atrocious puns and claims that conspiracies were real and anyone who said otherwise could lick his ass and kiss his knee, the drunken nights out at the pub when she had to practically drag him to his bedroom and take off his favourite boots, his loud snores that shook the very foundations of his cabin...

More than anything, she really wanted to introduce him to the kid, introduce the skeletons to him, hell, she's even willing to pay that stupid fucking bet she knows she owes him.

No. She needed to stop thinking about him, otherwise she'll lose control. The last time she last all control, it didn't exactly end well. She still couldn't remember exactly what happened, but the aftermath was something that still haunted her if she thought about it for too long, something that always gave her a migraine.

Steeling her resolve, she stomped over to the Houdini fuck and sat as far away from him as she could whilst also being in reach of the hotdogs. He seemed rather surprised, raising his brow bone at her whilst she stared into the flames. He seemed to sigh when he realised that she wasn't going to look at him, he too turning his gaze to the fire. He then said something in his language rather calmly, before he looked at her again. She met his gaze coolly, unable to fully hide her displeasure of him being in the same vicinity as her. He sighed, said something else before shrugging nonchalantly. When he next opened his sockets, they were devoid of all light and life, before his voice went a few octaves lower, speaking slowly and deliberately.

Y/n, even though she couldn't understand a single fucking word he said, could identify a threat when she saw one. Completely unfazed (much to his surprise), she gave him a a deadpan look. "Look twit-twat fuckwit, there's no point in threatening me if I can't fucking understand you. Hell, you know what you fucking look like right now? You honest to fucking God look like a  Halloween decoration bought at the dollar store, and you can tell that it's from the fucking dollar store because it literally just run out of batteries despite the garbage having been bought a day ago."

Her unimpressed look seemed to surpass the clear language-barrier, before she turned back to the fire. Amidst the quiet chatter that was happening behind her (Abby seemed to be chittering happily about something or other whilst Dings nodded enthusiastically every now and again), she began to reminisces about her Uncle again. It made her heart clench, so she used all her remaining effort into trying not to think about him. 

She started, looking from her lap to the Houdini-fuck, then repeating again in disbelief. Her questioning gaze made him shrug, as he looked back to the fire, roasting another hotdog.

Begrudgingly, she took the hotdog he had placed in her lap, taking a small nibble of it. Just because he tried to get on her good side by feeding into her bad habit of eating crap, that did not mean that he was forgiven! Sans would have to do a hell of a lot more than that ! Especially after he scared the kid!

Why did he have to act like he was on his fucking period ?!

Chapter Text

Stretch's POV

It was finally the time to meet the Eastern Tribe, and I really couldn't be bothered with it. They were going to be confused about why we had a human as a Wingdings, and why Ding was no longer in charge. I knew that they'd most likely think that she challenged Ding and subsequently won, not that he willingly gave up his position. To be honest, when that happened it really pissed me off. I would have rather had that obnoxious midget Czar as my Wingdings than a human, specifically that infuriating human, which was saying something.

Although, we had come to an understanding of sorts. I was wary and sceptical of her. Humans, from my experience, were back-stabbing bastards who had no morals and an inflated self-worth that gave Czar a run for his money. Stars how I hated the Northern Tribe. Why was I even thinking about them, anyway? 

Maybe because the disgustingly obedient dog Constantine uprooted all of the Chiller trees! Bastard...

I was more than willing to share my stash if the price was right, but, of course, he had to give his usual amount of shits and just steal the whole lot. He really was a perfect example of being careful of the quiet ones...

I guess I was slightly annoyed because I really needed a smoke before having to have a chat with Sans. It would be exhausting, and I knew he wouldn't take my word for it that my new Wingdings wouldn't do anything to intentionally harm anyone unprovoked. Sure, I admit that I'm not really fond of humans, but Sans...?

His hatred was on another level entirely.

I kept an eyesocket out for any trouble, in case the Western Tribe decided to enter our territory again. It still confused me how they managed to get in without our permission. Should have been impossible, even with how powerful they were (to be fair, were were all powerful in our own right, some just had more power in terms of strength than others). Although my thoughts on my new Wingdings were confusing, I knew that I had to protect my brothers, as well as Abby. That was another thing I was slightly anxious about.

Abby was the same age they were when all Hell broke loose.

I knew that Abby was a good kid. Despite not understanding a single word she said, I could still tell that she was sweet, if a bit clumsy (from the amount of times me and the others had to grab her arm to stop her from slipping on the ice). But Sans? Sure, we got along just fine and could have a few good laughs, but that didn't mean that I was completely blind to him being completely ignorant (even if I didn't have any eyes to begin with, heh). He was smart, but so was I, and at least I was able to keep a cool head and look at things objectively, whereas Sans had a tendency to let his own predetermined judgements cloud his current views. That was why when I actually found out about Sans' and my new Wingdings' meeting, alone nonetheless, I was genuinely surprised that he didn't show her that "you reap what you sow".

"I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE PAPYRUS! HE'S SUCH A COOL GUY! NOT AS MAGNIFECENT AS ME, OF COURSE, BUT STILL COOL! I'M SURE YOU'RE GOING TO GET ALONG SWELL, SUNSHINE!" chittered Blue, bouncing around excitedly. I couldn't fight off the smile on my face at the scene. It surprised me when Ding and Y/n began to speed off, the Wingdings growling heatedly whilst Ding remained the smug bastard I always knew him to be.

We eventually reached the clearing where we always meet with the Eastern Tribe. Whilst I wasn't too bothered about it, Y/n seemed increasingly interested, a pleasant glint in her otherwise stony gaze as her usual scowl didn't so much as twitch. I admired how she could keep herself together. Hell, when me and my brothers first turned up here, I was panicking and sweating up a storm. But her? She looked angry, if a little scary if I was being honest, but seemed relatively calm. I had suspected and it was indeed confirmed in my mind that her scowl was simply her version of a neutral expression. It reminded me of Edge from the Southern Tribe, but hers seemed far more practiced and was far more frightening than his (which was a feat).

Ding and Y/n began to speak with one another again, which somewhat grated on my nerves. I would definitely have to try and learn her language from Ding, as doing "Morse Code" was far too much effort for my liking. She then huffed at whatever Ding had said, rolling up her sleeves and setting up a fire. Her skin looked so soft, despite seeming to be rather muscular. What got my attention were the tattoos that adorned her skin, trailing up her forearms and wrapping around them. I really wanted to trail my phalange over the dark patterns, feeling the bone underneath my palms, gently grasping them and leaning down to- where was I going with that thought, exactly?

I quickly shook it off, wishing that I had saved the Reyell so that I could calm my rattled bones. 

Wanting to fully distract myself, I helped my brothers in putting leaves and sticks into the fire, the flames devouring them hungrily. The light on my Wingdings' skin almost made me not notice the members of the Eastern Tribe emerge from the grass on the side opposite us. They all held their iolum rocks which are native to their territory, wearing their traditional armour. We too wore armour which we had once traded with them as they got whatever they needed from us (I couldn't exactly remember what, I was too busy working up a sweat napping, heh). When Gaster saw us, he stopped in his tracks. He eyed (heh) us critically before is gaze lingered on Y/n. 

In response, Y/n turned up her chin, squaring her shoulders and adjusting her stance to that of a defensive one. They both seemed to size each other up before Sans and Papyrus noticed that Gaster had frozen in his tracks, sending a bone-chilling stare to Y/n, not breaking eye contact. When Papyrus saw Abby and Y/n, he seemed to buzz with happiness, unable to fully keep still. Sans, whilst on the surface seemed relaxed, also seemed surprised when he saw Y/n. Had he thought that she was lying? Probably, knowing him.

"I see that you have some new tribespeople, Ding." noted Gaster, tone cool and reserved. "I do not believe we have been officially introduced, my dear. I am Gaster, the Wingdings of the Eastern Tribe. Here is my brother, Sans, and my youngest brother, Papyrus."

Irritated, she seemed to ask Ding a question. They went back-and-forth, Ding becoming more smug by the minute whilst my new Wingdings became increasingly more annoyed. She then smiled evilly, sending a a chill down my spine as she continued to talk with Ding. Ding eventually shivered from what she shouted at him, her face finally becoming smug herself. 

"What exactly is she saying, Ding?" questioned Gaster, looking completely done with everything. 

"She's just expressing how happy she is to meet you, Gaster!" chirped Ding, smiling at Gaster. For some reason or other, I really doubted that was what she said. He exclaimed something, snapping his fingers before presenting the Eastern Tribe like those old gameshow hosts we used to watch as a babybones. He then repeated the same gesture, directing it at Y/n and Abby. "And this is the Middle Tribe's Wingdings, Y/n, and this little cutiepie is Abby, Y/n's child!"

When Ding introduced Papyrus, he seemed to thrum with happiness, eyelights engulfing his sockets as he stared, clearly awestruck. A murderous aura seemed to interrupt the otherwise casual introduction, magic filling the air so that it was almost suffocating. Immediately knowing who it was coming from, I looked over at Sans, who's eyelights had completely vanished. That wasn't good. His anger seemed to be directed at the kid, who hid fearfully behind Y/n. When she finally saw this, she growled at Ding, who also seemed rather tense from the situation.

Papyrus clasped his brother's arm, whispering reassuringly, "It's alright Sans, they won't hurt you."

"you don't know that, paps." replied Sans in a low volume. "they're the kind of creatures who don't give a shit about anything but themselves. what's to stop them from killing you when you finally turn your back?"

"Even if they try, they won't be able to get passed my amazing bone attacks, and we can easily just have a nice talk over some tea."

This seemed to calm the temperamental skeleton as Sans sighed, his eyelights returning and his lazy grin returning to his face. That skeleton really had some issues (not that I was really one to talk, but at least I didn't want to kill the kid as soon as I met her).  Once everyone had finally calmed down, Ding seemed to talk once more to Y/n before sitting down by the fire. Stream, Abby and me soon joined him, as we enjoyed the comforting crackle of the flames. As I looked around, I was really confused why Y/n hadn't joined us. Usually, we'd all sit by our respective fires, trading 'dogs and ketch-ing up with what we had been doing over the past few weeks, Stream and Papyrus taking the lead and regaling tales of bravery which they of course exaggerated, but were still great.

When all of the Eastern Tribe had sat down, they too looked at Y/n in confusion. Why hadn't she sat down yet?

Much to our puzzlement (heh), she lifted her right leg and span on the spot. Just what was she doing, exactly...?

Ding snorted as she dragged her foot across the ground, standing between the barrier of our respective territories. She squatted, walking sideways back-and-forth across the line before jumping and touching her left elbow with her right knee, repeating the process with her opposite elbow and knee. She shimmied - wait, did she actually just shimmy?- left then right, flailing her arms and giving us all a thumbs up whilst not looking directly at any of us. I had no idea what the moves were called, but it seemed to be "dad-dancing" of some degree, and span around again. When she danced, I was oddly reminded of Stream doing his fitness routines, which only added to the absurdity. She finally squatted, raising her clenched fists in the air and roaring, "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

....

....

....

....

...

I couldn't control myself anymore as I howled in laughter. I just couldn't take the last part! It was like she stepped on some Lego! Tears ran down my cheek bones, as I struggled to calm down.

She barked something in her language, stomping over to Ding and grabbing him roughly. I sobered quickly, eyeing them in concern. I had seen her angry before, I mean, I it wasn't like it was too difficult to rile her up. But I'd never her seen her so livid. It was honestly terrifying, and how Ding could still smile was a complete mystery to me. I stepped forward, anticipating having to talk her out of killing him or to possibly even fight her. All I knew, was that she needed to calm down and fast, and by the look of Sans, it would be better sooner than later.

Abby cautiously walked up to her, tugging on her clothes. I was worried for a split second that Y/n, in her enraged state, might actually hurt the poor kid before I thought better. Y/n was hellbent on making sure that Abby remained unharmed and as happy as she could be, so there was no risk that Abby would get hurt. Abby said something that seemed to spark something within the woman, making her drop Ding unceremoniously to the ground. 

She looked up, examining everyone's expressions including my own. I breathed a sigh of relief when her usual scowl returned, and not that manic look she had. When I thought about the kid, I was both shocked and, surprisingly, worried. Seemed like Abby had gone through some unsavoury stuff if that look and pleading expression was anything to go by, especially with the glint in her eye that made it seem like an all too familiar situation. Just what had happened to her before coming here?

Ding held out his hand, wiggling his fingers in Y/n's direction as he presumably asked for a hand up. She begrudgingly grumbled something before she clasped his hand. Her eyes along with everyone else's widened as she was pulled down, practically onto Ding's lap. A strong emotion that left a bitter taste in my mouth almost overwhelmed me at the sight. That was why I felt rather happy when she finally got up, and slapped his arm. He rubbed it, clearly complaining about it as she seemed to discreetly smirked. I only caught it as I was paying attention.

It shocked me how it seemed to be the only genuine smile of happiness that I had seen, and I couldn't help but crave for more, even if my feelings regarding her were complicated.

As they were talking, Ding's smile seemed to falter slightly before waving it off and grinning again. The same emotion I had just escaped from had me in its clutches once more, a deep desire to know her language making itself known. I wanted to talk to her as she was talking to Ding, to get to know her and hopefully sort out what exactly it was that I was feeling about her. I honestly couldn't make up my mind whether or not that I felt disdain towards her, or something else, and it was gradually turning me insane.

Stream demanded, "DING, YOU NEED TO TEACH ME HER LANGUAGE!"

Ding's sweet smile became shit-eating, "But isn't Morse Code enough? You can still communicate with her."

"IT'S NOT THE SAME, DING!" huffed Stream.

Ding feigned annoyance as he rolled his eyes, giving a long-suffering sigh. "I guess I shall teach you, then."

"YES!" cheered Stream. He then turned to Y/n and beamed, "SOON WE'LL BE ABLE TO HOLD ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS WITHOUT HAVING TO USE THAT CODE! I'M SO EXCITED!"

Ding eventually turned his attention back to the rest of us. "Sorry about that. As you can tell, my dear Wingdings has a slight temper."

"That's putting it mildly." I snorted.

I was ignored as Gaster quirked a brow bone, "Yes, you have yet to inform us for why and how she became your Wingdings. Care to explain?"

"Hmm..." Ding mockingly held his chin between his index phalange and thumb, a devious smile curving his teeth, "Should I? Shouldn't I? Such a conundrum!"

"Just tell us, Ding." grunted Gaster, already tired of him. 

Ding clapped, "Because I wanted to, silly!"

"What...?" The usually apathetic skeleton was stunned.

Ding merely chuckled and waved off his shock, "I wasn't cut out for leadership. You know that as well as I do. In fact, I do believe that you have said numerous times that- oh, what was it again? Ah, yes, 'you would make better work of leading a mass of flies to their deaths at the mouth of a house spider than to guide your brothers over a snow dune'."

"Then why not hand such responsibility to your Comic, Stretch? Why a human, of all things?"

"THATS WHAT THEY ARE?!" exclaimed Papyrus. His jovial smile then turned to a confused frown, "WHAT IS A HUMAN, EXACTLY?"

"nothin' for you to worry 'bout, paps." grinned Sans, his lax smile somewhat strained at the edges. I knew that he must be really rattled if he didn't even try to make a pun just then.

Gaster ignored his brother, still demanding an answer from Ding. I quickly grew tired of it, standing next to Abby and Stream as he chattered about everything and nothing. It was as I was trying to listen to him that I heard Sans speak to Y/n. Curious, I sat by one of the fires, keeping an ear out (heh) for anything he might say. 

"i guess you aren't the type to just kill in front of others, huh?" he more-so stated calmly.  His eyelights met her own, before he sighed, "look, i'm glad you didn't just up and attack ding. sure, he ain't part of my tribe, but that doesn't mean that i won't look out ding or his tribe. as you human would say that you would 'look out for your fellow man', guess you could say that i'll look out for my fellow skeleton. i can tell that you aren't half bad, for a human at least, but that kid? i know you're responsible for her, so that means that any sins she commits are therefore your own, and from my perspective, you've already done a great deal of sinning yourself." he then shrugged nonchalantly, closing his eyesockets before opening them again, only this time they were devoid of light.

"if either of you do anything, anything at all that even so much as makes anyone uncomfortable, well...  y  o  u   r  e  a  p   w  h  a  t   y  o  u   s  o  w ." His tone would make the bravest of souls piss themselves in fear, and make hell freeze over.

However, much to my astonishment (and admittedly admiration), Y/n remained unfazed as she looked at him in an unimpressed way. She seemed to hiss something in her native tongue, and although neither myself nor Sans could understand, we could vaguely get that she wasn't amused, and that she wasn't bothered. She turned back to the fire, ignoring Sans again whilst he continued to look at her, deep in thought. Was that my imagination, or was there a hint of respect in his eyelights? It must have been. Sans would never feel anything like that towards a human, that I could bet my stolen Chiller trees on (and yes, I was still rather bitter about that). 

Sans then picked up one of his famous 'dogs, and- did he just give it to her? Willingly ? What the hell was going on?! After that threat, too, and then he just up and gave her something? It felt wrong, and rubbed me the wrong way. The look in his eyelight, although i couldn't recognise it, I didn't like it one bit. It was... All I could only say that it was similar to the way that the Western Tribe looked at the food we gave them when we interacted with them from time to time for when times were tougher to get food. It was something more than that, though... Something far more sinister that was buried underneath his well-practiced lazy grin.

Y/n seemed just as shocked. Grumbling to herself, she ate from it, looking almost nostalgic. Even on her scowling face, I couldn't help but like it when she was in a pleasant mood, as, although I didn't like to admit it, it somewhat made me happy too.

Chapter Text

"Your report then, Aldrich?" demanded Czar, royal purple eyelights boring into the much taller skeleton's mauve ones. Czar was the shortest skeleton of the Northern Tribe, his older brother being the tallest and younger being the second tallest. It was a sore-spot of topic for the Wingdings (that being his height), so, his brothers naturally avoided mentioning height at all in any given conversation. The shortest skeleton wore a golden sash over his dark armour, which was imbued with golden designs on the black breast plate and the design of what the Wingdings of the Northern Tribe claimed to be the "family crest", which consisted of a skull and cross bones (he claimed that it was a dignified symbol of the superior skeleton monsters).

Czar's sabatons (the part of his armour that covered his feet) were also a matching black, the gaps between the riveted plates also being gold in colour and substance. They looked as though they could very easily crush someone's bones, the armour heavier than it really should be, but he wore it as though he was wearing a simple suit, the metal not weighing him down any. He interlaced his phalanges that were clad in black and golden gauntlets, his entire ensemble reminiscent of a dark knight in the medieval period.

He was sat on a throne made entirely out of gold, which had been meticulously carved into bone designs and atop the back of it was also the "family crest". The table in front of his had a strange material covering it, which looked to have been intended to be a red velvet table cloth, but was a tad too rough and coarse to be considered to be velvet. He insisted that where they dined should be consistent of their positions, which was clearly likened to that of royalty in Czar's mind.

At the opposite end of the table, sat at a far less ostentatious and luxurious seat (but still of relatively good quality nonetheless), was the oldest skeleton of the Northern Tribe, Aldrich (who was considered to be the Comic, whilst their youngest brother, Constantine, was the Roman of the tribe). Czar's sockets narrowed across the table at the quiet Aldrich, whilst Constantine remained dutifully stood by Czar's side, his plumb coloured eyelights remaining indifferent.

Constantine wore a hand-made tunic that was white and tan coloured breeches, and no shoes covering his feet. Also, he wore a furred black jacket and a golden necklace with a purple jewel around his neck, the "family crest" having been melded into the back of the necklace. Aldrich, however, wore a grey tunic, grey breeches and a black surcoat that reached his knees, the same type of necklace worn above the surcoat but the jewel was red rather than Constantine's purple.

"It seems that your decision regarding the observation of the tribes was wise." informed Aldrich, looking as surly as usual but with a hint of something else underlaying it. 

Czar scoffed, "Of course it was! I was the one who made the decision. Could you have expected any less?"

"No." he replied diligently. "However, I do recommend that extra measures be taken given the current events."

A pompous and haughty smirk curled at Czar's sharp teeth. "What do you recommend with your measly intelligence and incompetency?"

"We convene with the South." he offered, unbothered by his brother's usual insults.

"Oh?" chuckled Czar humourlessly, his gauntlet covered phalanges tapping against the wooden dining table rhythmically. "What makes you believe that those uncouth barbarians would be at all helpful in this? Why, I find that discussing philosophy with a rock would garner more results than those fool's bumbling's."  

"Indeed." nodded Aldrich in agreeance. He continued, "However, I do find that their expertise will be rather useful. As you know, ever since that strange event occurred with the bird-like machine, that we have been able to test the barriers and have found them broken. Also, might I say that it was a brilliant idea to use the freak for the test, and how you lured him into the Middle Tribe's territory using the one thing that seems to gain their attention no matter the grievous situation-"

"Yes, yes, you may kiss my boots another time!" he waved off, feeling irritated. He ordered, "Just get to the point, Aldrich!"

"- of course." he bowed his head briefly before looking at his younger brother again. Before he continued, he shared an amused look with Constantine, who also seemed to be sharing the same thought which was roughly the single word "kinky".

Aldrich continued, "You know of their shared desire to rule the island? Well, why don't we aid them in such an endeavour?"

"Are you speaking of treason, brother?" glared Czar menacingly, his teeth grinding in silent threat.

"Good heavens no!" he denied swiftly, raising his hands in surrender. "I merely speak of how we may use such imbecilic ambitions against them." Satisfied with that answer, Czar minutely relaxed back into his throne-like chair, gesturing for him to continue.

"You see, the others of course won't be too pleased with being conquered and subdued, but, I have an idea for such a situation. They are powerful indeed, so if they decided to work alongside one another (an unlikely but possible outcome of our inevitable victory), they may rebel against us, and if they won?" he dragged his finger across his neckbone to drive the point home.

"Are you stating that we would lose to such weaklings?"

"That was not my intention." he shook his head. "It is a distinct possibility, one which we simply cannot ignore."

Although displeased and somewhat disbelieving, Czar recognised that all possibilities must be considered if their plan was to work. "So, I propose an alternative." This intrigued the second oldest skeleton, as he covertly leaned in to fully listen to his older brother's suggestion. "Perhaps if it was the South that were, 'victorious', and the others decided to rebel, well... We would be on hand to aid them. Such a vicious battle is sure to have casualties, and despite being certain that we will live, some of the others most definitely will not. This is ideal. Not only would we have disposed of a potential threat, but when the dust clears, we will be the victors, and we shall be able to subdue those remaining. After all, how much easier would it be for gaining control over those who have given up hope? Grief does strange things, and whilst I'm sure we may be able to avoid them falling down, it will be far better to gain the upper hand when they are too distraught to see what is happening before their very sockets."

Czar struggled to hide how impressed he was, but he managed (not before his brothers took notice, however). "Hmm. What you have suggested has merit, Aldrich. With some tweaking, your idea may very well be competent enough to work."

"My most gracious thanks, my liege." he smirked.

"Indeed." grinned Czar in response, missing the slight sarcastic tone he had to his address of his brother. He snapped his fingers, gaining Constantine's attention. "Fetch me one of the last bottles of wine we have. This deserves a celebration of our impending victory!"

"Yes, my liege." he immediately disappeared with the whispered response, leaving Czar and Aldrich alone. As Czar was thinking, realisation dawned on his face, proceeded by a frown.

He glowered, "Brother?"

Aldrich's own smile bordered on a coprophagous grin. "Yes, my liege?"

"Did you just say a pun?" he inquired, his eyelights flickering and his hands twitching towards the hilt of his sword.

"Perhaps." He barely managed to block his brother's attack with a summoned bone, Czar seething. He would be frothing at the mouth if he thought it wasn't beneath him.

"HOW DARE YOU ALDRICH! APLOGISE AT ONCE!"

The smirk on his face on enraged Czar further as he smirked, "I thought that shouting was for halfwits and plebeian?"

"BE SILENT YOU WRETCHED CUR!"

Chapter Text

"Please my dear Wingdings, please reconsider!"

"You only brought it on yourself bastard!"

"It was all in jest! Nothing malicious was intended, I swear!"

"Bullshit! You stay out in the cold until you learn to fucking cool it!"

"I thought puns were beneath you?"

"Right then, guess that's just bought you another fucking day."

"No! Please, I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"...Really?"

"........"

"........"

"........"

"........"

"...No."

"Then stay the fuck out there you piece of shit!"

Ding gave a long-suffering sigh before he turned on his heel and trudged out of the cave with a mopey look on his face. He looked over his shoulder to say something but immediately thought better of his from the murderous glower Y/n was giving him, her arms crossed and her scowl ever-present. Snow was falling lightly, but the dark clouds only confirmed that there was going to be a storm, and soon. "Are you sure this isn't a bit too harsh?" questioned Stretch, standing by her side as the group watched Ding settle himself on the snowy ground, huddled in a foetal position by a nearby tree that was in front of the cave.

"Fuck no." she snorted. Stretch had recently learned how to speak English thanks to Ding. Once again, once Ding explained the language to Stretch in their own native tongue, it didn't take long for him to understand it. That only left Stream (who was sat in the corner of the cave pouting at the unfairness of it all, as it seemed it would take longer for him to learn English than it did Stretch) who couldn't understand her and Abby.

"But Mr. Skeleton was only joking." said Abby softly, looking at the skeleton outside in sympathy. As if to confirm that he was listening to the whole conversation, a loud sniffling sound was heard coming from Ding, who had his back to the entrance to the cave.

"He humiliated me." she shrugged simply. "Fucker deserves what he gets. And it's not like he's permanently vacating. It's just going to be five days."

"But it was supposed to be four!" shouted Ding in despair from his spot in the snow.

"It was until you started being an asshat!" she responded venomously, shutting him up instantly. He seemed to grumble inaudibly about the injustice of it all and that Y/n wasn't going to get any of his famous stew. Well, she guessed so at least, as the snow storm outside began to pick up. The wind howled, nothing being visible passed the cave's entrance. It was so sudden that it startled the bodyguard, but the storm only seemed to make Abby worry even more, especially due to it extinguishing the fire that was burning outside.

"B-but won't he get c-cold?" she stuttered nervously, looking towards the ground.

"Kid, he hasn't even got any skin. How would you expect that walking-corpse motherfucker to actually feel a change in temperature?" grumbled Y/n in exasperation.

"We experience different temperatures." informed Stretch, making Abby fret even more. "But it ain't like it'll kill us or anything."

"Exactly! No need to worry about anything." she said, going over to the side of the cave and sitting down. She gathered some blankets and wrapped the around herself before opening them up to allow Abby to join. With a wary glance outside of their dwelling, Abby sighed before joining her, revelling in the newfound warmth. Stream seemed to decide that being in blankets with them was better than being in his pity corner as he too joined them, followed by Stretch himself. For Stream and Abby, it didn't take too long for the two of them to fall into a blissfully ignorant sleep, leaving just Stretch and Y/n the only ones awake in their blanket pile.

"What was what's-it's-face's problem?" she asked out of the blue, startling Stretch from his own thoughts. He looked at her in confusion, raising a brow bone for her to elaborate. She huffed, "You know, that skeleton with a stick up his ass."

"Gaster?"

"No, the other one, dumbass."

"Oh." said Stretch, realisation dawning on him. He looked to the opposite wall, looking at each and every crack and sharp rock that was sticking out of it. "He's had... Well, we all have had bad experiences with humans."

"I thought that you didn't even know about us until we first met?" she raised her brow in suspicion, but managed to keep her voice low as to not wake the sleeping pair.

"Neither did I." admitted Stretch, looking particularly troubled. It somewhat surprised the bodyguard when she realised that this was only the second time she and Stretch had spoken alone, but it wasn't as though he actively sought out chatting to her with just the two of them. To be fair, neither did she, so it wasn't like she could say very much. "It was weird. It all started as fragments of memory, but eventually, I seemed to remember everything."

"So you had amnesia and didn't even know it." she surmised with a scowl. "Brilliant, just fucking brilliant."

"That's the gist of it." Stretch caught himself once again wishing that he could have a smoke, some honey, hell, he'd just have a lollipop so long as it would make this interaction easier. He seemed to be both comfortable and uncomfortable simultaneously, enjoying the warmth the blankets and close-contact created, but also uncomfortable for the very same reasons. "I think its to do with that for why he reacted in that way."

"Why did you forget, anyway?"

"Don't know. I have a theory for why I remembered in the first place, but not why I forgot. Still pretty foggy on that."

Y/n smirked, "What do you expect for being brainless?"

Stretch sputtered, eyelights wide as they looked at her in astonishment. They seemed to strangely morph into hearts before returning to normal. He chuckled, "Well aren't you a bunch of roses. I tell you that I have amnesia, and you call me stupid. tibia honest, I think that was pretty cold of you." When Stretch heard her pun earlier, he had just assumed it was on accident. But when he looked into her eyes and saw that glint there, he instantly knew that she loved puns. Not only did she love puns, but she hated the fact that she did. Stretch felt a strange warmth in his chest when he took in her expression of irritation and mirth.

"Just cold-hard facts." she quietly snickered whilst picking up a stray rock, which only made him struggle to rein in his own laughter which was bubbling to the surface. Her expression then changed to one that was far more thoughtful, her brows furrowing. "But what was your film theory? Don't just do jazz hands and say it was fucking magic either, dipshit."

"Something to do with that plane you came crashing by on." he notified. "Something to do with the magic barriers which are on The Continent. Not sure on the details, but I do know one thing. I'm not the only one who is beginning to remember."

"Why would he just be like that though with Abby?" she said, irritation and disdain laced in her tone. "She did fuck-all and then he goes and scares her."

"Its... Complicated." he winced, looking at Abby's sleeping form. His expression softened at the cute scene of Stream snuggling with Abby, both of them with slight smiles on their faces as they continued to sleep.

"Sore spot for you I'm guessing, huh?" she guessed, shocking Stretch when he turned back to her. She waved off his surprise, "I have a few of those, too, as you can tell." she grinned.

He scoffed, "Doesn't take a genius to work that out."

"Same goes with you and that prick's aversion for human children." He practically went slack-jawed, looking at her in wonder and slight suspicion. "Look, I'm bull-headed and often act before I think, I know that, but that doesn't mean I'm completely blind. He didn't react to me the same way he did with her, and then I've caught that look you give her sometimes which just screams 'I want to trust you, but I don't know if I can and I hate that I'm thinking this in the first place'. Believe me, I know that all too well." she sighed, looking away from Stretch and towards the opposite wall.

"Nyeh." he huffed a laugh. "Didn't expect that."

"Pfft I didn't fucking expect that! 'Nyeh'? Seriously?!" she was struggling to not outright cackle. "You definitely sound like skeletor. That or you failed trying to be one of the Knights Who Say 'Ni'."

"'Knights Who Say 'Ni'?" He repeated incredulously. "The hell is that?"

"Uncultured swine." she scoffed, nudging his shoulder good-naturedly. "It's from Monty Python's Holy Grail."

"Never heard of that. Sounds like something Stream would enjoy, though."

"You'd be surprised. I think you and Ding would probably get a kick out of it."

They sat in a companionable silence, the wind whistling and continuing to howl outside. After a few minutes, the bodyguard found herself drifting off to sleep. It didn't take long for Stretch to follow suit, but not before he tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, his head laying on top of her own as they snoozed.

"DING! WHERE ARE YOU?! DING! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Y/n snorted awake, her head colliding with Stretch's skull who hissed at the painful impact. They both groaned, rubbing their own foreheads before blearily looking up. Stream was no longer in the cave, and Abby continued to sleep undisturbed. She was a very heavy sleeper, after all. Upon realising what Stream had just shouted, the human and skeleton jumped to their feet and ran outside of the cave. The storm had ceased, leaving an even thicker blanket of snow that reached Y/n's knees.

Stream was frantically looking around, searching the trees as though Ding was going to magically appear. Paling considerably, the bodyguard's scowl deepened as she looked around, finding that Ding was nowhere to be seen. "What happened?" questioned Stretch worriedly, grinding his teeth together as he too frantically looked around.

"I DON'T KNOW!" wept Stream, blue tears falling down his cheeks. "I CAME OUT HERE TO COOK US BREAKFAST, BUT I CAN'T FIND DING ANYWHERE!"

Stretch was about to ask something else before he instantly froze. He tilted his head in the air, inhaling deeply. When he looked back down again, his eyelights had completely extinguished. "STRETCH, WHAT IS IT?!" 

Stretch growled deeply, "The South..."

When Y/n realised what he was talking about, everything seemed to click. Her face became expressionless, a dark and menacingly look glinting in her eyes as she rolled up her sleeves. She snarled, "Where do they live?"

Stretch shivered from her tone, his anger evaporating from just how unnerving and frightening she looked. Her teeth were bared viciously, eyes narrowed and pupils dilated so much that they almost filled her iris completely. "Uh... Not sure that's a good idea."

Her glower instantly turned to him, making him take a step back. She may be small, but that didn't make a difference whatsoever. "Take me to them, then take Ding out of there. Seems we have a meeting that is long overdue. Oh, and Stream?"

"YES?" He squeaked.

"Fetch me the chainmail and sword we recently traded."

"Y-YES! RIGHT AWAY, WINGDINGS!"

Y/n knew that it was reckless to go without a solid plan, but she didn't care. All she cared about, was getting Ding back, and exacting her vengeance of kidnapping him. 

Chapter Text

Y/n ritualistically placed the chainmail over her black shirt and black jeans before expertly placing her long black leather jacket on over it. Her facial expression revealed how determined she was, a fierce glower a near-constant. She took a longsword from Stream's trembling hands. He took a step back as she admired her weapon of choice, the metal glinting in the light of the sun, reflecting her narrowed eyes in the sharp blade. She flicked her wrist, spinning the sword by testing the extent of her dexterity when carrying such a heavy weapon. Satisfied, she placed it in the sheath, wrapping the strap around her back so that once she reached behind herself she could easily grasp at the leather handle.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Y/n." stammered Stretch, intimidated by how battle-ready she appeared. It wasn't just her appearance that sent shivers of dread down his spine, but how well such a look actually suited her, as though she was born for the chaos and carnage that came with the battlefield.

"Take me there." she commanded in a tone Stretch knew he could never refuse, for fear of the consequences. He stiffly nodded, reluctantly placing a large hand on her shoulder. He was surprised to find just how muscular she seemed to be, the hidden strength beneath was what seemed to almost drive Stretch to the edge. Her cold eyes then turned to Stream as she then demanded, "Take care of the kid."

"R-RIGHT! DON'T WORRY, THE MAGNIFENT STREAM WILL LOOK AFTER HER, MAIDEN!"

She nodded in gratitude, before both she and Stretch disappeared. When they emerged from the bottomless darkness of the void, they found themselves in a jungle of sorts. It resembled the Amazon jungle to Y/n, but she paid no mind to the sights. She observed her surroundings, and took extra care when Stretch pointed to a specific area. Ahead of them was an expansive muddy river, the flow wild and untameable as the water clashed with the large river bank that looked like a small pebbled beach. Upon closer examination, she noticed that in the far distance was a large volcano, phosphorus smoke billowing out of it ominously. 

"You find Ding and bring him back. I'll see to the rest."

"Come on, just let us help. At least let me help." he begged, eyeing his surroundings nervously.

"No." she refused. "You take him back and you stay there."

The last of his protests died then, as understanding dawned. She seemed to think that he didn't care for whether or not she lived. Either that or she believed that he cared about everyone else more that he cared about her. Although part of him is inclined to agree, another which is far too complex for him to wrap his head around was second-guessing that. Still didn't mean that he wanted her to die, but they both knew that that didn't really matter. What mattered was that everyone was safe, and if that meant she had to sacrifice herself, then so be it. He knew that was what she was thinking, and he also knew that he wouldn't be able to change her mind. She was far too stubborn.

"Real brave, sweetheart. Speakin' like a true figh'er." 

Both Stretch and Y/n both whirled around, facing the person who spoke. "Red." growled Stretch, unknowingly stepping forward and holding an arm in front of Y/n as a form of protection.

Red chuckled, his golden canines shimmering in the sunshine. His neon red eyelights looked down at the bodyguard, a red tongue oozing crimson saliva sliding across his razor-sharp teeth lasciviously. "Damn, sweetheart. When Edge told me 'bout ya, I didn't know ya'd be so fine." he growled lecherously, eyelights roving her much smaller form. Red wore similar clothes his brother had: green vines wrapping around red animal fur (although it was shaped and stitched together to resemble a parka jacket whilst the vines added to the patterns on it), looking very much as though he belonged to a tribe in the Amazon rainforest. However,  he seemed to be shorter than his eight foot two brother Edge, coming around six foot ten, but he also seemed far more big-boned that Edge. Not only that, but Red also seemed to have a voice that would be far to sensual for "polite society" as Y/n's crazy Uncle Larry would say, resembling the crackling of a fire along with the constant growl of an animal in heat.

"I'll come back for you." he promised, looking down at her resolutely, ignoring Red. She curtly nodded and with a sigh, he immediately teleported and went looking for Ding.

"So how can you speak English, fucking prick?" she questioned bluntly, looking completely unimpressed.

Red guffawed at her attitude, wiping away a red tear of amusement that had collected at his sockets, "Heh, you got a righ' pair a claws on ya sweetheart, huh?" He then sniggered, "I've jus' been around is all. No nee' ta worry ya pretty li'l head 'bout i'."

He nonchalantly strolled forward until he was around two metres in front of her. "I'm a 'fraid ya gonna have ta come wit' me, sweetheart. The ol' Wingdings of this fine real estate 'as been wannin' ta meetcha." He then chuckled, "'Though, I am surprised tha' ya sen' ya li'l boy-toy away. Ya either fearless or gotta death wish."

"Just take me there, or I'll have to resort to kicking your ass too quickly to fully enjoy it." she hissed, fully ticked off at how patronising and condescending he was being.

He raised his hands in mock-surrender, his predatory grin widening, "Woah, no need fer the violence. At leas' not yet, anyway." With that he span on his heel, looking over his shoulder at her expectantly before walking ahead. With a steely gaze and her chin lifted, she followed behind him within a healthy distance. He seemed to be heading towards the river bank, as he climbed down and casually walked over the pebbles. They walked along the the pebbles until they reached an area that seemed to have a canopy over it from the large leaves of the trees. Wild birds chirped and squawked, and despite the tranquil atmosphere from the sounds of the river, the bodyguard felt anything but fucking relaxed.

Underneath the canopy was a large throne-like chair made from the foliage and trees of the surrounding areas, red moss having been used for the cushions, backrest and actual seat for a complete comfort experience. Red stopped in front of in, and as soon as he moved to stand by the right of it, Y/n realised that it was occupied by the second largest skeleton she had seen on the island (second to that beast with the gaping hole in his skull- the thought of him still gave her shivers).

The sight of the skeleton just lounging on the throne as though he hadn't a care in the world royally pissed her off. She was seething, livid. That fucking asshole had the nerve to kidnap Ding, and then just sit around on his fat ass- she doesn't care that he didn't actually have a fucking ass the no-bum's-Bobby - and looking completely at ease. Well, it seemed that it was her responsibility to change just how relaxed he was.

His burgundy coloured eyelights scrutinised her, humming thoughtfully as she stepped before him. He also seemed to be wearing green vines with red animal fur, only this time it was in the shape of a trench coat, with extra fur stitched into the collar. He then stood up from his chair, making her have to crane her neck to his height of eight foot eight. He then gruffly introduced himself with a tone that could cut steel, "I am The Rightful Wingdings of the Southern Tribe. You may address me as Wingdings, or Majesty."

Y/n snorted, "I think I'll fucking pass, thanks. Conceited Asshole suits you so much better." It was stupid, she knew. But when had that ever stopped her impulsiveness?

Rather than ripping her to pieces with his elongated fangs, he chuckled, "I see you are not one to cower before your betters. Ah well, it's all the same to me. You shall kneel, one way or the other."

The bodyguard, despite her resolve and courage, couldn't help but think back to what Ding had told her when she had spoken to him about the Southern Tribe to what felt like ages ago: "Believe me, I don't think you want the details for what they will do if they were successful, and what it would mean for us all. Especially you, as you are the Wingdings of the Middle Tribe now.". She knew nothing of how he fought, if he fought honourably or fought dirty, if he could be reasoned with or ignored common sense. She knew nothing about the opponent that stood before her. Well, she knew one thing: that he would ultimately regret fucking with her and her tribe, that she promised.

"Where the fuck is Ding?" she snarled savagely, seeing Red flinch in the corner of her eye.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THE RIGHTFUL WINGDINGS IN SUCH A WAY, RUNT!" bellowed a wrathful, grating voice. Edge stormed his way over, glowering menacingly at her. He leaned down so that they were at eye-level, sockets narrowing. 

Unfazed, she sneered, "What are you going to fucking do about it? Throw another spear and miss again? Oh no, the terror! Look, I'm shaking in my boots."

"WHY YOU INSOLENT LITTLE-!"

"Edge." His rant was interrupted, causing him to instantly close his mouth. He scoffed before taking Majesty's other side, all three of them looking down at her.

Jesus fucking Christ, was she going to have to fight all three of them? The fuck?! How could she possibly take on all three of those gangly-assed giants?! Sure, she guessed she could take one down definitely, a second if she had enough energy, but all three?!

No, stop fucking panicking! She needed to fucking do this! For Ding ! For all of them!

These fucking bastards thought that they could mess with Y/n L/n, world-renowned bodyguard (maybe she was over-exaggerating, but she didn't give a fuck, and she was still a great bodyguard)! A cold look of mocking disgust set her rage ablaze as Majesty scorned, "You could always just surrender. It's easy, even for an idiot such as yourself. Kneel before me, female. Surrender your land, your tribe, your name, to me. I'll even reward you, and I will be oh so gentle with you." The licentious stare he sent her only enraged her further.

How dare he the perverted fucking Bonejangles bastard!!!!

"Allow me to cut your un-life short. I'll even give you a helping foot and fucking kick into the burning flames of hell." she bared her teeth, positioning her legs in an offensive stance before grabbing the hilt of her sword. With ease she drew her sword, positioning it diagonally in front of her as her eyes narrowed challengingly. 

Edge and Red stood back when Majesty raised his hand, gesturing for them to do so. Bloodlust clouded his eyelights as he smiled maniacally down at her. "I knew that there was something special about you, dear love." He then took out a weapon of his own, this one being a spear much like the one she had commandeered from Edge when he had left it behind when he and the bodyguard first met. The sounds of drums could be heard, and in the corner of her eye she could see that Edge was playing them, the sound emanating that of a Viking readying for war. Red too joined in, albeit far lazier as he occasionally tapped his own less enthusiastically than his brother Edge.

Majesty adjusted his stance to also be offensive, poising his spear ready to pierce her flesh. Well, that wouldn't happen. Not if she could help it. Edge's grating voice then seemed to almost sing something in his native tongue, ruthlessly hitting his drum in a strange rhythm that Y/n couldn't recognise. It was disappointing how he had wasted a perfectly good opportunity. If it wad her rocking out on the drums, she would have done spooky scary skeletons.

Both the large skeleton and the small human began to circle one another, weapons prepared to strike if the other so much as moved. As soon as Majesty stopped, so did she. Whilst she had anticipated him to try and skewer her, what she didn't expect, was that what Ding has explained was her soul suddenly burst out of her chest, her surroundings turning monochrome, leaving only Majesty's eyes the only remaining colour.

* YOU FEEL THE DARKNESS GROWING

"I must say, I am not yet disappointed. Your soul is... Perfect." he whispered intimately, marvelling at the predominantly yellow soul that had purple and orange swirling in its depths, his own grey inverted soul was also laid to bare. The usual options had turned up, but due to Majesty being the one who had initiated it, he unfortunately hade to make the first move.

Y/n, feeling particularly snarky, chose the ACT option followed by Talk. "Can't say the same for yours, bitch. Grey just isn't my thing."

A hearty chuckle escaped him as he grinned, "I suppose black is though, hmm?"

"Got that right fucking son of a whore, and let's just say that its been awhile since I've been back in black." Her eyes turned stony as she ordered, "No make your first fucking move!"

"Well," the drumming and song seemed to stop as an eerie silence settled over the pair of them. Y/n couldn't even hear bird song no more. The thing she noticed was the complete lack of sound, as though she was in a dark vacuum, "if you insist."

She was then grabbed and yanked from behind, having been tossed a good few feet before she landed heavily on the ground with a loud and slightly pained "Oof!". Immediately, she got to her feet and span on her feet, her eyes widening at the sight before her. Looming over her were large holed skeletal hands, red light flickering in the holes. They looked as though they had been sharpened for the specific purpose of gouging out one's entrails, a thought that made her pale considerably and break out into a cold sweat. Shaking her head, she dived out of the way as one of them attempted to backhand her- it wasn't the fucking time for fucking lame-ass puns!

When one of the other hands reached for her, she swung her sword expertly in an arc, slicing through the bone. The hand turned to dust, only to be replaced by another. She dodged and leaped the best she could, cutting them when able, but that didn't stop her from getting cuts all along her body. When they abated their assault, she realised that she had survived to make her first turn. The bodyguard didn't even have to look at her options to instantly know which one she would choose: FIGHT.

With a fearsome battlecry, she swung her sword from her left to her right, aiming for where his stomach would have been if he hadn't been a skeleton (as she was specifically aiming for his spine which would be exposed there). "What the fuck...?"

She'd missed...? But how...? The skeleton was right fucking there, for fuck sake! How the fuck did she miss?!"

A sinisterly smug chuckle was heard amidst the static lack of sound. "Confused, dear love?" his voice rang out, echoing all around her in the endless darkness. "A shame for you, isn't it? You are in my domain now. Don't worry though, I'll make your defeat quick." 

Chapter Text

"Come on, get up." grumbled Uncle Larry, stroking his bushy beard. His face was in a permanent scowl, one which would make even the Devil turn tail and run for his life. He held out his large, calloused hand, pulling up a much shorter child. Her nose was bloody, eyes red and swollen from having cried earlier.

"My ass hurts, Uncle." she moaned, rubbing her sore bottom with a hiss and grimace.

"You asked for these lessons, so you need to bare the consequences." he shrugged, brushing off the dried mud that was on his shoulders, flannel shirt partly unbuttoned. He took a step back from his niece, positioning his stance so that it was defensive. He raised his large hand and gestured in a beckoning motion. "Again." he commanded, eyes narrowed and his bushy brows wild. With a cry she dashed forward, taking a mad swing of her large wooden staff. All too easily he dodged, swiping his leg under her so that she, once again, fell on her back. She groaned, breathing heavily from the exertion as sweat trailed down the ten year-old's forehead.

When it looked as though she wasn't going to get back up, Uncle Larry rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. "Honestly, where did your fire go, girl?"

"Shove it up your ass."

"Oy, that ain't no way to speak to your doting Uncle!"

"You talk like that to all the kids around here, so why can't I talk like that?"

"Because they're little shits, that's why."

"What, so I'm a little shit now?"

"Yes. But unlike them, you're a tolerable little shit."

"Ugh." she groaned, still trying to catch her breath. Uncle Larry sighed, kneeling down beside her as he fixed her a steely glare. In any other circumstances, she would have fixed him with a glare of her own, just like he had taught her to do if anyone did so, that included him too. After all, he would never raise a quitter, and he knew that she would never be one (and breaking eye-contact with someone who you could feel had hostile intentions was never an option, as it gave them reason to believe that she was weak when she was far from it). Or so he said.

"Look, I can't help if you don't put a little bit more effort in. You won't let me deal with those boys, so its up to you to do it."

"I know." she mumbled. "Its just..."

"Hard? Painful?" supplied Uncle Larry, stroking his beard again as he took to lying down by her side. It was late afternoon, the autumn air chilling the girl to the bone, but she didn't complain about it. She had grown up on that chilly hill with her Uncle, so the cold was something that she was used to. The sun's beams cascaded down on the pair, the girl's breathing still laborious as she continued to gain her lost breath and calm down some. The swelling, bluish purple bruise had caused to be unable to see in her right eye, her left cheek too was just as if not more so inflamed and her nose was crusted with dried blood. The child wasn't even supposed to be there, but she had been allowed to go home early due to what had happened to her. It was the only reason why she was able to see her Uncle. As soon as he had heard about the incident, he had asked to have a vacation day (one of precious few he had) and he decided that he would spend it with her.

"The fact is girl, life is hard. Life is painful." he admitted, though snorted bitterly, "S'not like we humans make it any better, eh?"

They looked at the bright blue sky, both of them covertly marvelling at it's stunning beauty. White, fluffy clouds slowly drifted, making the moment even more tranquil and surreal. It had been awhile since the two of them had spent time like that, what with Y/n at school and Uncle Larry working at ungodly shifts at work, often at the arse crack of dawn. They both silently wished that they could spend more time together, just like they were then, although in much better circumstances that was.

"Look, the entire school system is rigged against kids like you, girls especially. Boys are able to get away with a bit of rough and tumble, to be rowdy. After all, 'boys will be boys'. But girls? Heh, I was as oblivious as they went yet even I noticed when girls were noisy they were treated worse than boys who were being just as noisy. Society wants girls like you to be quiet, to comply and to obey. Society wants boys to be fighters, to be tough, to be the ones in control. I don't want that for you."

Y/n seemed to turn far more thoughtful as she continued to listen to her Uncle. "The rich want to stay rich, and they want the poor to stay poor. To do that, they need to have the poor to do as they say, to not question their motives or the way they've lived their entire lives. To do this, they need to separate everyone. The better off, the unemployed, the homeless, the old, the young, the gay, the straight, the girl, the boy, and everyone else. They want us to fight amongst ourselves so that we don't see what they're doing. You know what brings this divide? Hatred. Be it at other people with an 'us vs them' attitude, or towards themselves. People want you to be ashamed of yourself, to cower, to back down and to not fight back. You know what you should tell them?" he smirked. Uncle Larry  would have looked creepy as all hell to any bystander, but to those who knew him, they would have known that it was a grin of cheekiness and wicked glee. "Tell them to fuck off." 

Uncle Larry then stood up, dusting his knees as he once again offered his help up. "Wanna hand, girl?" 

The girl giggled at the pun, gratefully grabbing his much larger hand as he pulled her up with unsettling ease. His expression then turned contemplative as he raised a bushy brow, "So, was there a reason that they beat you to a pulp. I mean, you look like shit, girl."

A devilish grin crossed Y/n's features as she beamed up at him, "You should have seen them."

"Lemme guess, they were worse off?" he inquired.

"No, they were perfectly fine."

He snorted into his hand, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he looked down at her. Without further comment, he lectured, "Now, when you're facing bastards, you gotta treat them like bastards, and when dealing with bastards, you need to learn to not only accept the pain, but take it within yourself, and love it. They hit you? Hit them twice as fucking hard. Remember the Rule of Two: they hit you once, you hit them twice. Count each injustice they do to you, and fucking double it, girl. You gotta count each one they give you so you don't lose track. Now, repeat after me. " He once again positioned himself, raising his large hand in a beckoning motion with a glint in his eye.

"One."

The wind was knocked out of her, but she still managed to whisper the number she had reached as she was hit with a floating hand. That made it nineteen at that point. She painfully skidded across the ground, but managed to land so that she was in a squat, if barely.  If she had been hit any harder, she knew that she would have fallen flat on her face, revealing her back. She fucking refused to do that, to show such weakness to that arrogant fucker. Sure, she knew she was arrogant and prideful, but he was on a whole other level of being fucking delusional.

"I must say that you are rather surprising. I had expected you to have given up by now, especially due to not having a red soul. Although, I much prefer yours." he purred, causing the bodyguard to shiver in disgust.

She clutched at her injured side, blood dripping down her left cheek from the sixth hit that managed to make a deep gash. "Why don't you stop being a coward using this magic bullshit and fight me like a fucking man." she growled savagely, her teeth bared with a snarl curling at her lip.

He merely chuckled, "Because I am not a man, dear love. I am so much more." Majesty sent yet another attack but sighed in disappointment as it had once again reached her turn. His disappointment swiftly dissipated as he took in the sight of her. She was a complete mess, and he loved it. The rouge on her cheeks from the exertion of the fight, her blood cascading down her cheek,  the sweat on her brow, the tight grip on her large weapon as she continued to glower at him defiantly. It had been so long since Majesty was entertained, and he hadn't realised until that moment how much he missed it: the thrill of the fight, the ecstasy of the hunt.

Majesty's grin turned smug as he looked down at her small form, "What shall you do now? FIGHT me? Or will you perhaps attempt to beg for mercy? I meant what I said when I assured you that I would be gentle with you. All you need to do, is kneel, and accept defeat."

When her shoulders started shaking, he honestly thought she was going to break down into a sob. He was astounded when she began to cackle. Majesty would never admit how the sound froze his very marrow, and if he had skin like she did, he was sure that he would have paled. Majesty quickly shook off the feeling, amusement dancing in his eyelights. When she calmed down somewhat, she grinned. Her grin was that of fondness, as she looked very deep in thought and lost in memory. "Afraid to fucking disappoint, but those aren't things I'm particularly familiar with." she shook her head as her eyes inadvertently softened. "The old man at home wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I backed down. I definitely don't wanna disappoint. Hell, I still fucking owe him on a bet we made."

With unsteady legs she stood, propping herself up with her sword. Y/n was battered and bruised, her muscles aching from the strain of so much activity and her lungs felt as though she was breathing in ice. As she looked at the skeleton, she couldn't help but huff a laugh, "All this magic shit really is pissing me off, but," she sighed, "I'll manage."

The bodyguard then fixed him with a steely glare as she spat, "Let's tango, bitch." With that said she picked the FIGHT option again, dashing forward. Majesty simply stood with his hands behind his back, and waited for her to be a metre in front of him before he disappeared. He was about to chuckle and scorn her pathetic attempt to hit him before he held out his arm, blocking the blade from slicing diagonally across his large, scarred and chipped ribcage. How did she...?

He had teleported behind her, only to find that she had already anticipated the move and curved the blade so that it struck whatever was behind her. She pushed the blade down on his arm as he shook from the strain (as did the sword). He knew that if he hadn't have been able to catch it (it was on pure instinct that he could to begin with), that she would have wounded him rather badly. Majesty wouldn't have been dusted, it'd certainly take more than one swing of that blade to do so, but it would have hurt and impeded on his prowess in battle if he hadn't managed to catch it. 

The skeleton looked briefly off-guard and concerned before he once again regained his lost bravado. "Impressive."

She snarled venomously, "I learn."

"So I can see." he smiled condescendingly, "I won't be making the same mistake of underestimating you again."

"You sure about that, Dickless McGee?" her smile turned far more wicked as she took the weight she was using with her sword, causing Majesty to lose his balance and lean forward from the momentum. Without a moment's hesitation, she kicked him hard in the coccyx, causing him to fall flat on his face. She swung her sword downwards, only to be met by darkness. He had fucking teleported again the twit-twat! The bodyguard span on her heel, but couldn't see him anywhere amidst the darker than black surroundings. 

A hearty chuckle echoed across wherever the fuck she had been sent to, before he crowed in unconcealable delight. "My dear love Y/n! You have truly been an opponent worthy of fighting me! So much so, that I will even be merciful when this battle of ours concludes. I was originally planning on having some fun with you, then killing you. Although, I suspect the fun I may have relished in may have caused you to die anyway, if I was being completely truthful. You must understand that this would not have been personal: simply an example to be set. But now? Not anymore."

Y/n didn't say anything, attempting to strain her ears for any other sounds that may indicate his approach. Her turn had been and gone, and it was his at that moment. Where the fuck was he? What was he going to do? And what the fuck did he mean by 'having some fun'?! Y/n dreaded what that may have meant. Did he really...? No, no, of course the fucking cunt couldn't ! He didn't even have any packaging down fucking there! There was no way that he could do that!

Right...?

The very thought sickened her, but she quickly shook off her fear. She would never let him do such a thing! Fuck no!

She refused.

When she fully comprehended that yes, she was fucking scared shitless, she almost barked out an ironic laugh. Sure, she was fucking scared when she saw that skeleton with the gigantic hole in his noggin, but it was nothing compared to how she felt at that moment when she couldn't see Majesty, nor anticipate his next move. Y/n hadn't felt that scared since she was in prison serving time for knocking ten bells out of a fucking prick who deserved it. She was holed up in a cell with a serial killer of all people, and not only that, but she just so happened to fit the exact type that they loved to just slice. It really wasn't knife to have to share a room with them, as she constantly stayed awake. She was a fucking psycho: every time Y/n drifted off to sleep, she'd hear her cellmate whistle ominously, tapping on the metal framework of the bunkbed. Jesus she must be scared if she was trying to lighten the mood with an internal monologue of puns- of all fucking things, it had to be fucking lame-ass puns.

She needed to stop fucking panicking !

Wait, why couldn't she move? Why couldn't she...?

WHY COULDN'T SHE FUCKING MOVE?!?!

Y/n then felt large, clawed skeletal hands grip her shoulders, icy cold and feeling as though she was being embraced in the frosted clutches of death. She felt Majesty's breath on the nape of her neck as he leaned in to the side of her face, his cheek bone against her uncut cheek. "Checkmate."

All she remembered from that point was being knocked the fuck out.

Chapter Text

Y/n was blinded by the bright daylight, her vision blurry as she looked around. At first, she wasn't able to figure out her surroundings, so she decided to try and make sense of what had happened to her. The bodyguard remembered fighting Majesty (the utter ball-sack of a fucking dick), and then... Nothing. Nothing at all, just complete bottomless darkness. Her muscles were sore, and every time she tried to move she would stop just to catch her breath from the immense pain.

She also noticed that her movements seemed to be hindered by somethings, as it rubbed uncomfortably as her wrists and legs, specifically her ankles. Y/n strained to move her arms that she soon discovered were in fact tied behind her. A loud ringing was in her ears, and when she finally became fully coherent, she realised that she was laying on warm, rocky ground. It was too warm to be from the sun, but for the life of her she couldn't locate where the heat was coming from. Not only that, but the ground resembled charcoal, digging into her sore body which didn't add to her comfort at all. However, when she looked down she noted that there had been a red animal fur blanket on her, but she had seemingly kicked it off of her in her sleep, from the way it was scrunched up by her tied up ankles.

"Look who decided ta join the livin'." snickered an all too familiar voice, making her internally groan. "How'd ya sleep, sweetheart? Cold and lonely wit'ou' a bag o' bones ta keep ya company?"

"Fuck off."

Red guffawed at this, finally coming into view. When he saw then blanket, he sighed and shook his head, placing it over her. Once he was satisfied, he decided to sit beside her, leaning on his elbows behind him as his legs sprawled across the ground.  He seemed rather anxious, a bead of red sweat dripping down the side of his temple. It honestly surprised her, but she certainly wouldn't voice it aloud. "I'm sorry. 'Bout everythin'." 

"Huh?" Well done Y/n, clearly you are a fucking articulate, intelligent individual for saying something so fucking profound.

This only seemed to make the large skeleton sigh, as he rubbed the back of his skull. "I jus'... I don' wan' any o' this... Tha' figh' ya had wit' Majesty? Tha' was a load of ol' shit, tha'... An', sweetheart... I jus' don' think i' shoulda happened in the firs' place."

Whilst he seemed genuine, Y/n wasn't going to believe a fucking word he said. Why should he feel sorry? He didn't know her, at the end of the day. Besides, why the fuck was she tied up if he was sorry?! Sure, she might try and beat the shit out of him and escape, see if she could find Ding anywhere (as she had no fucking clue if Stretch had managed to find him). When she thought of Ding, guilt broiled in her stomach, making her veins feel as though ice was pumping through them. If she hadn't have put him at risk like that, then non of that shit would have happened. Part of her reasoned that it was his fault to begin with, that he shouldn't have humiliated her, but even with that part of her voicing protests over the feeling, she still felt guilty as all fucking hell.

Jesus she really fucking messed up...

She couldn't help but laugh cruelly within her mind about how it had taken her being beat by a magical, walking talking skeleton to admit that she was at fault.

"If you're so sorry, why don't you untie me?" she asked in a sickly-sweet tone, glaring heatedly at him.

He seemed to wince, another bead of sweat trailing down his skull as he audibly gulped. "Sorry, sweetheart, no can do. Wouldn' 'ear the end o' it if ah did."

She huffed, "At least tell me where the fuck I am."

"Ya in ma room." he admitted sheepishly. Looking at war with himself, he finally seemed to make a decision as he helped the bodyguard sit up from her laying position. Around her were what seemed to be oil lamps embedded entirely in the wall, the wall a charred black and rocky whilst there was a hole in the ceiling, the sun peaking through a white fluffy cloud as the light continued to cascade around her. A multitude of red animal fur blankets were carelessly tossed in the corner of the room (she honestly thought that it looked like a rocky cavern). Other than the blankets, it was devoid of all things that seemed to have any personal value: no souvenirs, no favourite objects... Nothing. It was more barren than anything, if she was being honest.

"Damn, how do you move around in a room filled with so much shit?" she smirked, earning a chuckle from the skeleton.

"I know, I jus' don' 'ave very much... No' really the sentimental type."

"I get that." she admitted, still looking around the room.

"We're inside the volcano." he informed, making her whip her head and look him dead in the eye, paling slightly.

"The fuck...?"

"Yeah, my thoughts too when we first got holed up 'ere. S'fine though. Lots o' passageways in the rock, and this section of the volcano don' give off fumes, neither. See those lights?" He pointed to the ones lighting up the darkest parts of the room. "Tha's the gas tha' escapes through cracks in the wall, so, we ended up lightin' it up so tha' the fumes would be burned off." He then smirked cheekily, "Plus, we got free underfloor heatin'."

"You're in real hot water now from that shit joke." she grinned, which made his nervous grin widen with an odd sparkle in his red eyelights.

"No need ta be boilin' in anger. Really, ya breakin' ma heart 'ere."

"Well if you can't handle the heat, get the fuck out of the kitchen."

Red snorted gleefully, looking at the corner of the room with an odd, fond smile. When silence prevailed once again, Y/n decided to do what she did best: be as blunt as a blunt object. "So, what's going to happen to me now?"

"Huh?" seemed like it was the skeleton's turn to be confused.

"You going to kill me? Eat me?" She couldn't help but think of that gigantic skeleton she had unfortunately met, making her inadvertently shiver.

"Eat ya?" he looked positively appalled at the thought until a mischievous glint was in his socket. "Unless ya offerin'?" Her deadpan look was the only answer he needed as he sniggered, rolling his eyelights playfully. "Nah, nothin' like tha'."

"Nothing like what?" Both Red and Y/n jumped as they looked to the entrance of the room, seeing non other than Majesty, the fucking prick.

"Nothing like ya mum. Had more of a pleasant time bangin' the dishwasher to get the fucking thing to work than bangin' her." replied Y/n smoothly, giving him an unimpressed look. If Red was drinking he would have spat it out immediately. He guffawed loudly, practically cackling like a witch as he wrapped his arms around himself, crying red tears of mirth.

His nasal bridge seemed to crinkle in distaste, "Must you always be so vulgar?"

"To assholes like you? Yeah, yeah I do." she nodded, much to his irritation. She then asked, "So, how's Ding?"

A devilish smirk graced the arrogant prick's features, "Ding? I haven't the foggiest clue what you are speaking of, dear love."

"Cut the crap and tell me if he's fucking alright." she snarled, making Red sweat nervously as he looked from Majesty to the bodyguard and back again.

"Feisty." he grinned, gliding his long red tongue across his sharp teeth. The revolted glare she sent him only made him more amused as he stepped further into the room. "You see, I do believe that there has been... A misunderstanding."

"One you encouraged, fucking ass." grumbled Red, but was ignored by his older brother.

"I don't fucking understand how you kidnapping him could be a fucking misunderstanding." she growled.

"You see, we never so much as touched him."

"Liar." she accused, eyes narrowing. If her hands hadn't been tied behind her back, she would have rung that bony neck of his.

"'E's tellin' the truth, sweetheart." said Red, looking anywhere but at her. "He was already gone by the time I got there, so, I jus' wen' back 'ere an waited for ya to come."

"We knew that Stretch would have detected his scent and jumped to conclusions." notified Majesty. "The reason why we wanted you here was so that we may gain control of the Middle Tribe's territory."

"More like you wanted to just take control you megalomaniac."

"Such harmful, venomous words spewing forth from such a delectable mouth." She was about to say something but quickly closed her mouth, thinking better of it, especially by the pleading look Red sent her. The woman was honestly confused, and she just wanted fucking answers. Majesty then continued, "Based on our observations, Ding was not kidnapped at all. He went to the Eastern Tribe in attempts to bargain about gaining something. We're unsure what, but we know that he was staying there whilst that dreadful storm passed." he then kneeled in front of her, breaching her personal space as he leaned in, his large arms caging her in. "I must say that you are quite the vengeful vixen aren't you, dear love?"

Y/n looked surprised whilst he only libidinously, "Yes, we indeed know about the events that transpired at the meeting. He humiliated you, so you punished him." He then stroked her cheek with a curled phalange, finding pleasure in her discomfort and sickened expression at the bone-to-skin contact. "What a devious punishment that was. Leaving him alone in a storm at the mercy of nature and other tribes... Simply delicious."

Unable to think of anything else, she scoffed, "Don't touch what you can't afford."

Majesty laughed heartily, drawing himself away from her as he raised his arms in surrender, "Apologies. I did not mean to insult your delicate sensibilities."

"Only thing you'll be sensing is my foot up your ass."

"As you humans would say, 'Been there, done that'." he grinned, recalling when she had gained the upper hand in their little "tryst" and kicked him to the ground. He then turned to his brother who remained silent all that time, his smile unwavering. "Why don't you go inform our little brother that he will now be able to serve dinner."

Thoughts of them eating her resurfaced as her mouth became dry as the Sahara. "Sure thing, Wingdings." With one last nervous look in her direction, he smiled apologetically as he disappeared into thin air, leaving Majesty and Y/n completely alone. 

Y/n eyed him suspiciously and yelped when he picked her up, carrying her like a sack of potatoes. "Let fucking go you bastard!" she demanded, wriggling around. She cursed as she realised she couldn't hit him, nor could she kick him. With an idea in mind, she went limp in his hold as he laughed and walked out of the room, walking down a corridor of sorts that had the same kind of lights Red's room had.

"Given up already? How disappointing." he teased, making her blood boil with rage.

"Not exactly."

"Hmm?" he hummed, intrigued. Whilst he was anticipating her to try and hit or kick him again, what he didn't anticipate was that she would straighten her back and successfully head-butted him. Dazed, he let go of her as he tried to regain his balance. When he finally recovered, he looked up and barked out a laugh at the scene before him. The bodyguard was, unsuccessfully, trying to roll and wriggle away from him, grunting from the effort. Fully amused and with an amused smile, he picked her up once more, strolling towards wherever he was taking her.

When she finally gave up her futile struggle, she simply slumped in his hold, trying to catch her breath from having been winded by the fall. Millions of thoughts raced through her head, dread weighing down her heart as she thought of where he might be taking her and what he might do to her, especially due to how he was acting before with her. Was he going to-?

"MOVE OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY, RED! I'M TRYING TO COOK!" bellowed a grating, familiar voice. When Majesty finally stopped, she realised that it seemed that he wasn't going to do as she had feared. The room he had carried her into seemed to be a large dining room of sorts, the table being made completely out of stone. The smooth surface of the black stone reflected the light from the lamps, making it look like a modern counter-top. Seats were also set up with the same stone, only it seemed to be much thinner and lighter looking than the table. Before the bodyguard could do anything, she was delicately placed on a chair beside the head of the table as Majesty made sure that she wouldn't fall off the seat. 

Satisfied, he sat at the head of the table whilst Edge, in the corner of the large room, seemed to stir something in a large cauldron. Y/n didn't know what to make of her observation when she realised that he was using a lava pocket to heat up the large cauldron (it was honestly large enough to fit three of her). Next to the cauldron was a stone oven of sorts (which used the same pocket of lava to heat it) seemed to be cooking what smelt like garlic bread.  Red was sat across from her, seemingly snoozing as he snored and Edge gave him the odd disapproving glance from where he was cooking. 

"So, how have you been enjoying your stay here?" smiled Majesty conversationally, setting up some cutlery and stone bowls (everything looked completely handmade and hand-carved). Y/n snorted at how much he sounded like someone working at a hotel asking for feedback.

"Honestly, I'd give it one star out of ten." she shrugged. "The bed was rock-hard, bedding unwashed and I couldn't even find the light switch." 

Both Majesty and Red laughed boisterously, eyelights glowing with mirth. Seemed that Red wasn't asleep after all.

"You mean reach the light switch, right?" Red poked fun, whilst Majesty continued to chuckle (Edge made a strange "Nyeh heh!" sound, but she couldn't for the life of her work out if it was out of amusement or annoyance).

Y/n glowered, "You calling me short?"

"Nah." he waved off nonchalantly. "You're just a bit tied up at the moment."

"NYEH!" exclaimed Edged, slamming down a bowl of what looked to be meat and vegetable soup on the table. He pointed the ladle he had at Red, waving it in his face which made the broth go everywhere. "ENOUGH WITH YOUR FUCKING PUNS!" He then turned to Y/n, pointing at her accusingly, "AND STOP FUCKING ENCOURAGING HIM!"

He sat on the chair beside Y/n with a loud thud, pouring out bowls of broth and giving them to her brothers. Edge then took out a stone plate with what was indeed garlic bread, placing it on the table before he turned the bodyguard with a scowl. "I SUPPOSE I'LL HAVE TO SPOON-FEED YOU LIKE A BABYBONES!" he huffed, getting her plate ready as well as a spoon whilst his brothers ate.

"No fucking way!" she shouted vehemently. "I can do it my-fucking-self!"

"REALLY?" a smirk curled at his sharp teeth as he looked her up and down. "YOU SEEM TO BE A LITTLE TIED UP AT THE MOMENT NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Then untie me!" she groaned, sick of all of their shit. She just wanted to go back and see if Ding was alright as well as see if any of the others had gotten into trouble. Where the fuck was Stretch, anyway?!

"NYEH HEH!" laughed Edge loudly. "I THINK NOT, LITTLE HUMAN!. FROM WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD, YOU'RE NOT EXACTLY ONE TO BEHAVE, NOW, OPEN WIDE!" he commanded, getting a spoonful of the broth soup. He blew on it, holding it to her mouth as he seemed all too amused. "NOW SAY 'AH' LITTLE HUMAN!"

It was humiliating, completely embarrassing. Every time she was spoon-fed, they all just seemed to laugh at her misery. However, she couldn't deny how much better it went than she had originally thought. They were assholes, that much was true, but she was honestly questioning how bad they were. Sure, they were rough around the edges (she needed to stop spending so much fucking time with punners, honestly) but so was she. All things considered, it was actually alright...

The time eventually came when she was, according to them, supposed to leave. She was surprised that they were letting her go, but she certainly wasn't going to voice it in case they decided to change their minds just to be assholes. The four of them stood outside of the volcano, the soil soft and brimming with vegetation as they all looked at the setting sun. "I know that you are unfamiliar with our customs, so I have decided to inform you that, technically, you are no longer the Wingdings of the Middle Tribe."

"Fuck you." she hissed, but stopped when he raised a hand (one she desperately wanted to bite off, as she still hadn't taken off her restraints). 

"However," he began again, ignoring her, "I do not wish to have control of the tribe's members. They're far too weak and cumbersome to be of any use, so, you shall be the one in charge of them. All we'll have is control and ownership of your territory. Continue what you have been, dear love."

Whilst still irritated, she didn't want to test her luck by talking back. "Yeah, yeah just fucking take me to Ding so that I can make sure he's alright."

"Of course." he smiled, ruffling her hair much to her annoyance. "Red, take her to the Eastern territory, and come back as soon as you have."

"Sure, sure, wha'ever." he waved off, grabbing her arm as they both disappeared.

It was by far the strangest sensation, to be someplace then in a literal blink of an eye be somewhere else. Red, who had been carrying her, gently dropped her into the long grasslands that surrounded them. The grass was as soft as silk, as strange as it sounded, and it just made her want to curl up and sleep. Y/n knew that she couldn't, as she had yet to find Ding and see if he was there. "Righ' then. I'll be seein' ya aroun'."

"Hopefully in better circumstances." she grimaced, making him chuckle.

"Yeah. Be seein' ya. Don' worry, one o' them's nearby so they should untie ye, and it's no' like there's any predators in their area. Vanilla's a dick, bu' if 'e's the one tha' finds ya, 'e should le' ya go."

"Why don't you fucking do it, piece of shit!" she bellowed.

He grinned cheekily down at her, "Because I need to get back 'ome straight away like Majesty said."

Before she could chew him out for being such a fucking pillock, he teleported her away, leaving her in the field. When she looked around, the sun was nowhere to be found, the stars glittering. There were even some insects that looked like dragon flies, only these seemed to glow brighter and were a bit larger in size.

"heya pal, what brings ya out here on a night like this?"

"Ugh." she groaned in irritation. "Can you untie me?" she questioned.

"heh, nice ta see ya too." he grinned, looking down at her.

"Can you at least tell me if Ding's alright?"

"yeah, i heard ya been pu' through the ringer today." he said, his omnipresent grin unwavering as his eyelights lingered on her form, a strange look to them that made her feel slightly unnerved. "i also heard tha' ya left 'im outside like a common animal." his sockets darkened as he squatted beside her head, tilting his skull as he gave her an "innocent" look. "is tha' what ya think o' us skeletons? tha' we're jus' some animal? you know wha' i think?"

It was just like what happened with Majesty: she just couldn't fucking move. No matter how much she tried, she was completely frozen. What the fuck was wrong with her?

His sockets became pitch-black as he roughly grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her to him as he whispered in her ear, "you're the real animal, and deserve to be trea'ed like one."

She was immediately pushed to the ground on her stomach, head held down into the dirt. Try as she might, she still couldn't move. "What the fuck are you doing to me?! Get off me!" she demanded, only for her hair to be yanked back painfully. 

"animals don' talk, so why don' you just hush ya trap?" 

Before she could say anything more, she was once again pushed to the ground. Her thoughts were incoherent, screaming at what he was doing. Was that it? Was that how she was going to die?!

Her mouth was muffled as he held his skeletal hand to her mouth, clawing into her soft flesh. It was then that she felt his other hand at her pants before he began to unbutton it, undoing the zip and yanking them down her legs. No, no, the fuck was he doing? He wasn't, was he?!

She still couldn't fucking move!

It was like there was a giant fucking weight in her chest that travelled to the rest of her body, preventing all possible movement.

The sound of clothes moving could be heard as he continued to hold her face to the ground, his grip hard around the back of her neck. He then yanked at her underwear, the sound of it ripping disrupting the quiet tranquillity of the surrounding area as the strange fireflies continued about their business. He let go of the back of her neck, but she was still unable to move from her position as he spread her legs, revealing her womanhood.

"this is wha' ya deserve, filthy human." he spat, grabbing at her shoulders as he moved himself between her legs. She felt something warm and pulsing against her thigh, making her breathing quicken even further. He then unbuttoned her shirt slowly and gently, as though mocking her with a lover's caress as he dug his hand in, roughly grabbing her breast. His sharp claws drew blood, she could feel it dripping down her chest and onto the ground.

Was that...? Please, she begged, she fucking prayed that what was happening wasn't, and that large throbbing thing she felt by her thigh wasn't what she thought it was. He pulled up her much smaller body to his own, his seven inch girthy member leaking pre-cum as he rubbed and pressed against her entrance. He wrapped his arms around her chest, harshly fondling her breasts as he pressed his chest against her back. Without preamble, he thrust into her making her hiss. It was the most painful thing she had ever been through, as tears streamed down her face for the first time since she was ten and those boys beat her up. Funny thing to think of at a time like that, huh?

Her inner walls stretch to the brink of feeling as though she was being ripped from the inside, and amidst her mind-numbing pain, she could hear him exhale in pleasure as he nuzzled into her neck, his cheek bone against her own cheek. He pulled out almost fully before thrusting again with even more force, making her breath hitch. At that point, she couldn't even move her jaw so she could bite his fucking fingers off, as it was as though her mind was held hostage in her own body, still able to feel every painful sensation and every painful thrust.

"so tight and warm." he hissed a murmur against the shell of her ear, beginning to set up a slow steady rhythm if only to make her feel even more pain. Sans enjoyed every single moment of it, that much was obvious as he increased his pace, his thrusts becoming even more forceful if that was possible, the sound of his bone hitting her flesh the only sound in the quiet buzz of the night. His breathing was becoming more laboured, and her revulsion only increased as she felt his sweat drip onto her face and neck. The bodyguard whimpered as he pulled down the shirt off of her shoulder, drawing back as he opened his sharp maw wide before biting into her. Blood oozed from his teeth, but he only seemed to moan in gratification further as it poured down his jaw.

For what felt like hours to her, his movements began to slow ever-so slightly before he became sloppy. He thrust again and reached his orgasm, releasing his sperm into her. Even if some unknown force was preventing her to move, she doubted she would be able to. Pain wracked her body, her flesh already bruising as he thrust a few more times before collapsing on her, his breathing heavy as he tried to regain his breath. 

Sans still had his member in her when he nuzzled into her cheek, dragging his blue tongue across it and savouring the saltiness. When he had finally calmed, he laid on his side, dragging her along with him as he embraced her, his chin on the top of her head as he marvelled at the stars in his post-orgasmic bliss, ignoring how her own chest heaved and she silently sobbed, unable to make a sound still. Shaking out of his daze and not relinquishing his hold, he buttoned up her shirt, using her underwear to wipe at her thighs that were covered in his cum as well as a great deal amount of blood. He then pulled her pants up before returning to his previous position, staring once more into the clear evening sky.

Chapter Text

Ding POV

I felt very conflicted. On the one hand, I felt overwrought with guilt with how I had embarrassed her, especially in front of the Eastern Tribe of all people. However, I couldn't help but simultaneously think that the look on her face when she realised that it wasn't a ritual at all. The red flush on hr cheeks and the narrowing of her eyes as she glared heatedly at me, and only me...

I had never felt anything like that before, the thrill of her enraged and standing above me. It still confused me when I thought back on how everyone thought that she was going to kill me. I admit that she was aggressive and sometimes violent, but I at least knew that she would never kill me. Hurt me? Yes, she would. But would I be against the idea? No, not if she gave me that look again.

I then decided that yes, I was feeling remorse for what I did. I thought that I deserved the punishment she gave me, and I wanted to make amends. I knew that she was the kind of person to hold a grudge, especially due to the kind of soul she had. Such a beautiful soul that was, too. So, that was why I made my way to the Eastern Territory, so that I could make it up to my dear Wingdings and beg for her forgiveness. She meant a lot to me, which was why I didn't want her to hate me.

Blue echo-flowers were a symbol of devotion, desire and loyalty on The Continent, which was why I wanted to get one for her. Would dear Abby want one? I'm sure she would find an echo-flower fun to play with. With that idea in mind, I decided to get a pink echo-flower for her, as they were meant to express how someone wishes for their wishes to come true. I did, too. Abby was such a darling, I could see why Y/n was so protective of her. Well, I supposed that I too was protective of her, and came to even care for her as though she was my own child also.

"What are you doing here, Ding?" questioned Gaster, looking at me with boredom and disapproval. 

"Oh, Gaster! Why must you be so cruel to me?" I pouted, revelling in how it irritated him.

"i gotta ask the same thing, dingus. s'not like you're one ta make visits." asked Sans, lazing around as per usual as he sat at the base of a tree. 

"NOT THAT IT ISN'T LOVELY TO SEE YOU, DING!" beamed Papyrus. He always was the most pleasant of the trio. Gaster was completely boring, his personality being equal to watching paint dry. Sans? There was just something about him that never sat right with me, a darkness underlaying that easy-going grin, a darkness which he thought was justified and was simply his Judgement coming to play. Or I could be overthinking it, as I usually did. It still didn't make me like him any better, however.

"I have been cast out!" i sighed dramatically, raising my arm and holding my forearm to my forehead. 

"WHAT?!" gasped Papyrus. "I'M SURE THERE HAS BEEN A MISUNDERSTANDING! IF WE TALK TO YOUR CUTE WINGDINGS, I'M SURE WE CAN RESOLVE WHATEVER ISSUE THERE MAY BE!" His optimism was also something I greatly liked about the young skeleton, reminding me very much of my youngest brother Strea. Although, that wasn't exactly what caught my attention.

I smirked, "'Cute'? You find my dear Wingdings 'cute'?"

He nodded innocently whilst also gaining a shift look, "YES! IF A BIT SCARY TOO!"

"I am sure that whatever that oaf has done he has deserved it." stated Gaster in disinterest.

I gasped, "Gaster! Why must you be so mean to me! I have you know that it was over that stunt I pulled the other day!"

"heh, that was pretty funny." snickered Sans. "the look on her face... though, i wasn' a huge fan o' when she went ape-shit."

"SANS!"

"yeah paps?"

"LANGUAGE!"

"font."

"SANS JUST STOP!" screeched Papyrus, throwing up his hands in exasperation as he stormed off someplace else, leaving just Sans, Gaster and I in the field of pink echo-flowers. I carefully walked around them, deciding which ones were the best to be picked for Abby. I was positive that she would love them, and I hoped that Y/n would like her own echo-flowers also.

"so, what did ya mean ya wingdings cast ya out?" asked Sans nonchalantly, but I knew differently. It was clear that he was all too interested in my answer, but I decided to humour the shorter skeleton (I would have said short but my dear Wingdings already has that title).

"She didn't really." I huffed, rolling my eyes. He really was always one to take things too seriously, wasn't he? "Just kicked me out of the cave for a few days."

"huh. well, ain't tha' interestin'." hummed Sans, closing his sockets as he sunbathed.

"I still think you deserved it." said Gaster, looking around the flowers. I didn't know why he was traipsing in it, but the mental image of him wearing a wig with braids and pigtails along with wearing a frilly lolita dress made me burst out into laughter. Gaster quirked a brow at me as I struggled to regain my composure, and Sans seemed to have already fallen asleep. "What amuses you now, imbecile?"

"Oh, nothing." I waved off with a grin. "Just thinking about how much pink would suit you."

Gaster gave him a deadpan look. "I will dust you."

"Oooh, Gaster! You really know how to make a girl hot and bothered!" I fanned myself, earning another eyeroll from the skeleton with a cardboard personality.

It was around mid-day when I had finally collected all of the flowers, both the blue echo-flowers (for my dear Wingdings) and the pink echo-flowers (for the little dear Abby). It was when I was about to turn and head back to my Wingding's territory when I was stopped by Gaster's grip on my shoulder. I quirked a brow at the fellow monster expectantly. He then held out a bunch of flowers that looked to have been far better picked than the ones I took (the pink echo-flowers, that was). "You're giving me flowers, Gaster? I'm surprised that you would be so open to the fact that you have feelings for me-"

"They're for the child." That certainly made me pause, as I looked at him in surprise. He simply sighed at my expression, holding out the flowers and relinquishing his grip on my shoulder. "As an apology for my brother's behaviour. Don't think I didn't notice how he scared her. These ones are the echo-flowers that change colour."

"Who knew that you had a heart?"

He deadpanned once again as I sniggered. "I don't."

"No, but it seems as though, like you always have, had a soft-spot for kids."

"Just take the flowers and leave. Stay here for as long as you need, just stay out of my sight."

"Will do Gaster!" I chirped, picking up the flowers and putting them in my own. "Will do!"

I wandered around their territory for a spell, admiring the lush foliage and plant life. It was always so calm and serene there in the East. I preferred where I lived, don't get me wrong, but it was still pleasant to get away for awhile. It was as I reached a particular field when I heard my brother Stretch teleport behind me.

"Ding! Thank the stars you're alright!"

"Oof!" he hugged me hard enough to make me stumble, almost losing the flowers in the process. "Stretch, whatever's the matter?"

"It's bad!" he stammered. "R-really b-bad!" I was worried to say the least. He only ever got back into his habit of stuttering when he was highly stressed, usually over life and death matters.

"No it ain'." huffed a voice from behind. Stretch span around, growling at the shorter skeleton. Red raised his hands in surrender, looking from both me and Stretch. 

"The hell are you doing here? Where is she?!"

"Easy now carrot-cake, I ain' 'ere ta star' no trouble. Jus' came ta let ya know 'bout a few things." He then looked at me and the bundle of flowers I was holding. "The fuck are they fer?"

"My dear Wingdings!" I informed happily. "As well as the kid!"

"Hmm. Kid seems ta be the type ta like flowers." he said, clearly more so to himself. Both Stretch and I shared a look before returning our gazes to him. Stretch had his usual lazy grin on his face whilst I had my own usual happy smile.

"Red?" I smiled, aware that my tone was sickly-sweet. "How exactly would you know about that?"

The question seemed to have caught him off guard as he cursed under his breath, anxiously looking anywhere but at us. Stretch's sockets narrowed in suspicion, "Funny, I've been wondering why I've been smelling you Southerners around our home. I thought it was just 'cause of the spear we had lost and it was the wind carrying the scent from that, but I guess I was wrong."

My sockets too narrowed as my voice deepened, "You've been watching us, haven't you?"

"Uh... Look, I was jus' doin' as I was told-"

"But you did more than that, didn't you?" I practically cooed, handing off the flowers to Stretch as I stalked towards him. He took several steps back (the coward), making me giggle in merriment at the sight. "I know what Majesty is like: you went the extra mile, didn't you?"

"Look." he groaned, rubbing at the back of his skull. "It was just a job 'e gave me, an sure, I wasn't exactly told to stay longer than I did. But... I jus' needed ta make sure she was alrigh', 'spcially after her run-in with Vanhilla and the freak." A fond sort of smile crossed his features as he chuckled pathetically. "Then, when I did tha', and saw tha' she had a kid an' not only tha' but took such good care o' her, always worryin' 'bout her safety... It got me curious, 'cause she... She reminds me o' me, o' us... She acts like we do, in a way, yet she still took care o' her own, even if they weren't rela'ed by blood..."

I couldn't help but feel nauseated, "So, you spied on our dear little Wingdings and her child all due to a flight of fancy? And not only that, but became rather smitten with her as well?"

"I know i ain' the only one!" he shouted, shocking both Stretch and I. Shaking his head, he glared up at us, "I only came ta tell ya tha' she's fine wit' us. When she wakes up, I'll bring 'er 'ere myself. Jus'... I know you'll be able to know where she is anyway 'cause o' bein' so familiar with her scent. Now, I gotta go." Before Stretch could hold on to him to hitch-hike, he was gone. Stretch and I once again shared a look of understanding. No one knew where they stayed, so there was no actual way of knowing where she was. All we could do, was wait.

"Stretch, would you please bring these back home? I think I'll stroll a bit more and wait for her. Look after Stream and Abby?"

"Sure." he nodded, taking the flowers and soon teleporting.

It was when the stars were finally out and the nightlife could be heard that I finally caught onto my dear Wingdings scent. I knew it was in a particularly beautiful field, one of long grass and fireflies... It was stunningly beautiful, so beautiful in fact, that when I walked over the border of the Eastern tribe and was confronted by Gaster, I had made a deal that I would give him our reserve of favvies for a month so that I may bring Y/n with me as a way of making it up to her. I knew she wasn't the least bit sentimental, but I knew that even she would have appreciated the beauty of the place.

I frowned slightly, sniffing the air... I smelt the grass, the surrounding wildlife... I smelt her... But, what was that scent exactly...? 

And where was she? She wasn't in the grass trying to scare me, was she? I know that I would have deserved a prank such as that for the one I pulled on her. I would have even found it funny, but all I heard was silence...

I walked through the long grass, parting it as I looked around for her. She was rather short, so maybe she would have gotten lost in it? The thought of her annoyed face at the fact that her height made this a practical maze to her didn't fail to amuse me.

I followed her scent, and when it was strong enough, I realised that she was only just a few metres ahead of me. Clearly the grass was too high for me to see her normally, so I separated the grass, a wide grin on my face as my soul thrummed at excitement. Although i was slightly disappointed that I wasn't the one who brought her here, I was still happy with the idea that we may look at the stars together, simply talking about nonsensical things and bicker about things others would find stupid. I always did love those times with her.

I opened the grass and beamed, "Hello dear Wingdings! Did you miss me?"

My smile instantly dropped at the scene before me. Sans was clutching Y/n, her cheeks tear-streaked and red, her eyes puffy as though she had been weeping for hours. Sans, having heard me, immediately jumped to his feet, leaving her on the ground. She was tied up, and although he clearly tried to conceal it, I could tell that her clothes had been opened then hastily put back on. At the corner of my eye I saw her undergarments, stained with Sans' sin and Y/n's bloodied pain.

The smell... I could smell her distress, her pain, her despair, and I could practically feel how she begged and prayed for it to stop...

I could also smell Sans' arousal and bliss...

"heya, ding..." he said nervously, sweating under my gaze. I kneeled down beside her, checking her pulse as her eyes were closed. I breathed a sigh at the small mercy that she was still alive, as she breathed shallow breaths. I quickly got to work untying her, turning her over so that she was laying on her side in case she threw up when she awoke depending on how much pain she was in.

I stood up to my full height, my face, I knew, was devoid of emotion and completely blank. I could only assume that my sockets were empty of light. I slowly raised my hand, my phalanges glowing blue and orange as smoke of the same colours billowed out of my sockets.

"i was doin' you a favour, teachin' it a lesson fer treatin' yer like it did."

"'It'?" I repeated in no more than a whisper. 

Panicked, he tried to teleport, but it was no use, his struggle futile. I stalked towards him with even steps, Sans stepping back hastily as he knew he wouldn't be able to teleport. That was my magic, after all. Once someone was in my grip, well...

They could never break free unless I willed it.

And I knew I wouldn't.

I ever-so gently raised him in the air, my blue and orange magic encasing him as his arms were stuck to his sides. It was as though I was holding a child, as my magic caressed his bones. "Sans?"

"y-yeah...?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Beg."

I immediately threw him in the air, my grip on him unwavering. When he was a good thirty feet in the air, I slammed my hand to the ground, causing him to mirror the act only with his face hitting it. He gasped and sputtered, mud spewing forth from his sockets as he coughed and winced in pain. I heard the cracking of bone as he collided with several trees in the surrounding areas, splintered bark following him as he passed through the trees. I then raised him once more, repeating what I did before only to hold him against the ground, his face in the mud. He struggled and writhed only to give up, knowing that he wouldn't be freed from my magic any time soon.

 I strolled over to him, standing by his side. I raised my foot, putting pressure on his femur. I didn't stop applying pressure, not when he started to wheeze from the intense pain, and certainly not when I heard the bone crack and splinter. Sans coughed up marrow, dust and dirt. "d-ding s-stop." he wheezed again.

"Hmm? What was that? I don't think I heard you." Using a disembodied hand, I grasped at his shoulder blade, squeezing until I heard a pop and yet another crack. He cried and howled in pain, dust splattering across the ground of a place I once found beautiful. I then repeated it on his other shoulder blade, causing him to hack a cough and more dust and marrow spew from his maw. "I think I may leave it here, for now. I'll certainly let all the other Judges know, and I'm sure they'll decide from there what other punishment there should be. Don't worry, I'll make sure your dearest Papyrus knows of what you've done." With that I went over to Y/n and cradled her in my arms, being careful of anywhere that may hurt if pressure is applied.

"no, p-please... not paps..." he managed to mumble, but I still managed to hear it in the quiet. 

"Oh yes, Sans. How revolted and appalled he will be that sweet skeleton... You brought this upon yourself." With that I walked away, headin back to our home so that I could fully tend to her wounds and have Stream heal any further injuries she may have had.

Chapter Text

"How's she... Uh... Is she...?"

"... What do you think?" glared Stretch coldly, Red wincing from his tone. "No thanks to you, anyway."

"Don' go blamin' me snowflake." growled Red, teeth bared. "You an' I both know tha' there ain' no predaters there in the East, no nothin' tha' could ah 'armed 'er. Even if I did untie 'er, you an' me both know tha' i' wouldn' 'ave made a difference, no' wit' Vanilla's magic." The two of them were sat at a rounded, wooden table that had been carved by hand, snow surrounding them in the eerily quiet forest. They were directly in the centre of The Continent, still  being in the Middle Tribe's territory: neutral ground. They had notified the other Comics, knowing that it wouldn't be long before they arrived. Despite all of their squabbles (that being all of the tribes on The Continent), all of the Comics had agreed that when one tribe attacked another without provocation, in most cases the allied tribes, then all of the Comics were to notify one another by placing a bioluminescent algae covered stone in each territory, which would notify the others that a meeting was in order to discuss the sentencing and punishment of the perpetrators involved.

Truth be told, Red was already feeling like shit. He didn't need the carrot-top to make it worse. 

The table at which they sat was a long table that was in a semi-circle shape, carved wooden chairs already tucked into it. In the gap if said semi-circle was Sans, who seemed to be incapacitated enough as he looked around in confusion, his mouth having been magically gagged. Cracks spiderwebbed across his bones, some of the deeper ones still leaking marrow and dust as he fidgeted on his knees (as he was forced to sit on them uncomfortably and painfully), eyelights looking everywhere warily.

"Apologies for being late, I was... Preoccupied." spoke a voice ahead of the group. Stretch and Red both looked up only to groan at who it was. Sure, they already knew that he would come, but it still didn't make his appearance any more pleasant. Aldrich stood tall before the seated skeletons, only to look down in surprise at who it was whom was on trial.

"Never thought I would see the day that you of all skeletons would be here." he hummed, regally side-stepping his prone form before taking his designated seat. He then turned to the other Comic, who were both glaring daggers at me. "It is as pleasant for me to see you than it is for you to see me: do not be mistaken, for the emotion is mutual." Aldrich faced forward again, his phalanges tapping restlessly on the wood of the table.

"I see that this pig-sty has not changed much." he sniffed, making Stretch bristle and Red to overtly crack his knuckles threateningly in his defence. Before they could retaliate, they all heard the shifting of a chair as the largest of all the Comics sat down, scratching, pulling and tearing at the huge gaping hole in his head, making everyone (even Aldrich) wince.

"h e r e . . . " 

Aldrich snorted disdainfully, "Indeed, I do believe that much was obvious. Tis' not as though you are hard to miss, after all." Despite his insult, Savage paid no mind as he ignored him, closing his eyesockets as though he was about to snooze. He shook his head in irritation only to look at his fellow Comics, or as was the case with the commencing trial, the Judges. "Now, why did you all claim my precious time? What was so significant for this meeting to be conducted."

"Vanilla 'ere did something he should never 'ave done." snarled Red, his eyelights boring holes into Sans, who still looked at the group in confusion, not fully comprehending what was going on or so it seemed.

Aldrich sighed, face-palming, "I, miraculously might I add, had already deduced as much from us having this Judgement in the first place."

"He violated my Wingdings." glowered Stretch, spitting at Sans from where he sat. Aldrich and Savage looked up in shock.

"Ex." corrected Red dryly, crossing his arms.

"From what I gather, it wasn't like Majesty was being entirely fair."

"Never is in a life o' death situation though, is it snowflake?"

"Hold your tongues for a moment!" commanded Aldrich, "You are stating that Ding was overthrown by Majesty?"

"Heh, bi' slow on the times, eh, pal?" smirked Red hatefully.

His confusion only made Red even more satisfied, as well as his subsequent irritation. Stretch sighed and informed, "No. For awhile we've had a new Wingdings: a human one at that. Recently, she's been put through hell and back, thanks to this  VILE THING ."

"Human?" inquired Aldrich curiously. "What, exactly, is that?"

"Ya don' rememba?" snorted Red, only to look at him in puzzlement. "Ya don' rememba." he stated, sockets wide.

"h u m a n . . . ?" repeated Savage, his empty socket spiking in pain from the name. He briefly recalled seeing something... Something small... Fierce... Soft-looking... But it was all a blur to him, increasing his irritation.

"S'prise, s'prise, 'course the head-banger don' rememba." sighed Red in exasperation.

"We're not here to discuss that. He violated her." reminded Stretch, seething.

"Of course." nodded Aldrich turning his attention to the skeleton in question. "Let us remove the gag." With a swift flick of his wrist, the gag dissipated, making Sans cough and sputter, looking somewhat relieved. "Speak." ordered Aldrich.

"look, i don' even know what's goin' on-"

"Tha's fuckin' bullshit!" bellowed Red, enraged, slamming his hands on the wooden table. It splinted upon the impact, making Aldrich roll his eyes at such infantile behaviour. Although, what else could he expect from such an uncultured dolt?

"-all i know," continued Sans, attempting to rein in his emotions and calm himself down. "is that one minute, I sleepin' in my hammock, the next, i'm bein' hauled 'ere by you two whilst feelin' the worst pain o' my life."

"It does not do well to lie, Sans." warned Aldrich, eyelights staring frostily at the incapacitated skeleton.

"No..." murmured Stretch, sockets widening as confusion and anger boiled in his marrow. "How are you doing that?"

"Wai', the fuck is the prick doin' now?!" shouted Red, looking from Stretch to Sans.

"... He isn't lying."

"Wha-?! You can't be fuckin' serious!" Red was outraged, to say the least.

"At least he thinks he's telling the truth... It's like he has amnesia, or something..." Stretch honestly didn't know what to think, but his magical ability to instantly know if someone was deceiving him wasn't activating.

"Great, another skeleton with his parie'al bone loose." grumbled Red.

"what exactly do ya mean i violated her?" asked Sans, disconcerted. For him, it was all completely blank. He couldn't remember anything since yesterday when he was just chilling in his hammock, chuckling at the idea of Ding begging Y/n for forgiveness with a bunch of flowers. He had to admit that his feelings were incredibly complicated when it came to her, but that was mainly due to her being human in the first place, not to mention how aggressive she could be, which always seemed to put him on the defensive.

"It means exactly that, V a n i l l a. You did the unthinkable, the unforgiveable. Not only did ya break my trust in ya sense o' integrity, bu' ya also 'urt 'er." Red resembled a wild bloodthirsty animal as he practically frothed at the mouth.

"It is not making sense." said Aldrich. "How could he have forgotten? I have deemed it certain from your reactions that this crime was committed, but why does he not recall the incident."

"g u i l t ?" suggested Savage.

"Heh, why do somethin' like tha' in the firs' place if it's gonna make ya feel guil'?" Red shook his head in disbelief. 

"ɨȶ ֆɛɛʍֆ ɨ'ʍ ʟǟȶɛ ʄօʀ ȶɦɛ քǟʀȶʏ."

The group span around behind them at the new voice that seemed eerily familiar skeleton. He towered over them, standing at a height of ten foot with a long black cloak that trailed behind him. All that was visible were a pair of glowing eyelights that resembled smoke for than anything, the colours of the rainbow dancing within them.

"Who the fuck are ya?!" shouted Red, standing from his chair. The other Comics followed suit, staring at him in bafflement.

"ɢɛռȶʟɛʍɛռ, քʟɛǟֆɛ ɖօռ'ȶ ʀɨֆɛ օռ ʍʏ ǟƈƈօʊռȶ. ƈǟʀɛ ȶօ ֆɨȶ?"

"The fuck we-!" 

"ֆօ ռօɨֆʏ."

Red immediately hushed, his jaw closing as he stumbled back to his chair sitting back down. Stretch looked at him in worry, as Red just... There was something completely wrong, especially with that dazed look on his face and how quiet he was being.

"ɨȶ ɨֆ ǟ քʟɛǟֆʊʀɛ ȶօ ʍɛɛȶ ʏօʊ օռƈɛ ǟɢǟɨռ, ɢɛռȶʟɛʍɛռ. ǟʟʟօա ʍɛ ȶօ ʀɛɨռȶʀօɖʊƈɛ ʍʏֆɛʟʄ. ʍʏ ռǟʍɛ, ɨֆ ʍǟʀɨօռ."

Chapter Text

Ding sighed as he rubbed between his sockets, willing his throbbing skull to stop hurting to much. He had taken the Bodyguard to where their previous home was before she entered their lives: a moderately sized tree-house that was in the second largest tree in the Middle Tribe's territory. The skeleton decided that it would be best to heal her himself through the plants that grew in the local area, rather than risk Stream heal her and have her wake up. He knew that Stream looked too alike to that thing for her not to have an adverse effect, and he didn't want her to go through unnecessary stress that would be cause  her reacting in a potentially aggressive way (which Ding completely understood, but he also knew that if she did anything to Stream and came back to her senses she would never forgive herself). Abby was staying with Stream for a similar reason: he didn't want the child to make her stress more about having to put up a façade that she was perfectly fine (not that it would be the child's intention to do so, but that still wouldn't stop it from happening).

The skeleton also wanted to give her a choice for whether she wanted to heal magically or not. He considered doing so, but ultimately, he wanted it to be her choice, to give her some control over what happened with her body. Ding would gladly heal her if she asked, but if she didn't want to, he would respect that. He could only imagine how traumatic it would have been for her to wake up unscathed, as though non of that really happened even though it did.

If anything, Ding understood that she needed to be someplace where she felt comfortable enough to release her true emotions, and not worry about the consequences. Ding knew that she could do anything to him and he wouldn't think any differently of her. With him, she could cry, she could scream... she could do whatever she needed to do to feel better. If she wanted to punch him, kick him, tear at his eyesockets? Ding would be alright with that.

Guilt and despair roiled in his magic, his marrow feeling like icy lead as he continued to wait for her to wake up. He was sat by her side (as she was laying down on his old bed of thick fur pelts of their native beast the Dingallow), unable to stop his warring thoughts. Why did he have to leave her vulnerable? Why didn't he get Stretch to teleport him to the Southern Tribe? Why ?

Why didn't he just do it differently ?

It sickened him to his very core that he had in any way been associated with that thing, that he had even been allies with it's tribe. He wanted so desperately to go and storm the meeting the other Comics were in, wanted to pull out each one of it's ribs oh so slowly so that he could feel every fibre tear itself from it's spine, to crush it's hands, his legs, it's arms, it's pelvic region- the very thing that hurt Y/n so much. He wanted to watch as it screamed and begged for the pain to stop in much the same way it had made Y/n, and watch as it's sockets became devoid of life and it's broken body turned to dust. Ding, unfortunately, knew that he couldn't do that- at least, not yet.

Y/n didn't deserve what happened to her. Well, no one did. His dear Wingdings (he refused to acknowledge Majesty as such for being relentless and using magic intentionally despite knowing that she could not use it) was someone he always felt so comfortable with. It thrilled him every time she glared at him, and made ecstasy warm his soul when he saw he stony mask briefly falter as a genuine grin graced her features. Y/n was terrifying. She was also somewhat arrogant in a way, whilst being aggressive and bull-headed. But he still... Ding still...

Ding still loved her.

Hell, if he was being honest, he loved how feisty she was, and her no-nonsense-or-I'll-punch-you-in-the-face attitude always got his figurative blood pumping. Her brief tender moments when she looked after the others, her overwhelming protectiveness over all of them (him included he delightfully noticed), her fearlessness and brashness...

The skeleton was positively smitten with her.

He supposed that was why he teased her so much, why he enjoyed being with her so much, why he loved her so much...

Why it hurt so much to see her like that.

For the life of him, Ding couldn't figure out how he was going to approach her when she awoke, how he would react to finally see her awake. For the first time in a long while, Ding was scared, terrified. 

Y/n stirred in her slumber, her eyes slowly opening as she groaned painfully. Ding immediately grabbed the steaming bowl that he placed on the floor, holding it out to her and making sure that he didn't touch her (no matter how much he wanted to comfort her). She was in a daze, blearily looking around her surroundings as she groggily sat up, hissing and wincing in pain. "Here my dear Wingdings, drink this."

The woman jumped in fright, scampering away from him as she clutched at the fur pelt that was covering her, acting as a blanket. When she finally realised who it was, she sighed in relief. Awake she looked even more haggard and exhausted, dark circled tracing her eyes as they remained red and sore. It almost made Ding's soul completely shatter at seeing her so afraid... He had never seen her like that, never. He suspected that she probably never had been. 

She tried to talk, but the croak in her voice made her immediately stop as pain wracked her throat, making Ding even more concerned as he continued to offer her the bowl. "It's my famous stew." he clarified softly, unable to even smile. Seemed that neither the bodyguard nor the skeleton were being themselves as they continued to observe one another. With a curt nod, Y/n took the bowl from him, staring at the meaty chunks and the strange vegetables within it.

The human it the food in silence, much to the skeleton's growing concern. It pained him to see her so... defeated. 

When she finished, she placed the bowl on the ground and pushed it towards him, looking increasingly apathetic.  In attempts to at least make her feel more comfortable, he asked, "How was it?"

Ding saw a flash of something, if only briefly, in that distant gaze of hers. It was only a quick glimmer, but it did give him hope. Hope that she could get through it. He knew that she was strong enough, she just needed someone to push her in the right direction. 

"... It was shit..." she wheezed hoarsely. 

Ding feigned offence, "How dare you! That is the finest stew ever!"

Y/n huffed slightly, her lip quirking upwards ever-so slightly, "...If you say so..."

Despite the (rather pathetic) banter between the two of them, his concern only grew worse as silence once again reigned over them. She hugged her knees tightly, looking at the ground in deep thought. Ding couldn't fathom what thoughts were racing through her mind, but what he did know, was that he wanted her to be unburdened by it. He knew that what happened to her would never be forgotten, and that she would likely never be the same as she was, but he still wanted to be there for her.

"...Where am I...?"

"Just where we used to live before you became our Wingdings." said Ding.

"...Guess it's ex now..."

Ding gasped, "You're breaking up with me? But I thought we had something special!"

"...As if I'd consider being with you... to begin with..."

The skeleton pouted and sniffed, "My dear Wingdings, you break my heart!"

"...You don't have a heart..."

"Such cold words!" he exclaimed dramatically, holding his forearm to his forehead.

The quiet once more returned, making Ding shuffle slightly as his eyelights looked at the ground. "... How is everyone...?"

Ding decided to just be honest with her, he owed her that, "They're worried. Worried, but fine all the same."

"...And Abby...?"

Ding smiled genuinely at her, "Yes, she's perfectly safe and unharmed."

That made Y/n exhale deeply in relief, breaking Ding's soul just that little bit more. "I noticed you haven't asked how I am, dear Wingdings." his words would have sounded harsh if it wasn't for his playful tone, which Y/n quickly caught on to.

"...You're alive and talking, aren't you...?"

Ding huffed a quiet chuckle at that. Recalling something, he slowly stood up so as to not startle her, and went to the entrance of the treehouse. Y/n didn't say anything, but watched him curiously as he came back holding something behind his back. He stood in front of her as she continued to sit on the ground, making him fidget anxiously. "I wanted to say sorry." he said regretfully, eyeing her as she observed him in surprise.

"I'm so sorry that I humiliated you, that I couldn't do anything to-" he stopped mid-sentence, his breath hitching as he looked to the side wall, then returned his gaze back to her own. "My dear Wingdings, I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble... If-if it wasn't for me, non of... it wouldn't have..."

He then held out what was behind his back, surprising her even more as he knelt down beside her, making sure that there was some distance between them so that she wouldn't feel uncomfortable as he held out a bouquet of blue echo-flowers. "These- I wanted to give you these, before ... I'm sorry if it's inappropriate, but I just thought..."

A sniffled made him look up at her, worry encasing his being. Her face was scrunched and red, as she clearly was trying to withhold her tears from pouring down her face. This made tears well-up in his own sockets, as she delicately took the flowers from his grasp, placing them by her side as she then turned back to fully face him. Before Ding could react, she pounced on him, hugging him tightly as she hid her face in the crook of his neckbone. The strong hold didn't bother him, even if it did feel as though she was about to crush his ribcage. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her as he felt his clothes and shoulder getting wet, not that he minded in the slightest.

They both eventually sobbed and cried whilst they held one another, clinging as though the other would simply disappear.

Chapter Text

The skeleton known as Marion looked at the group of skeletons, expression indecipherable through his dark cloak darkening every feature of his other than his eyes. Stretch could already tell that he was bad news, his marrow freezing in his bones as a bead of sweat trailed down his skull in anxiety. Reluctantly, he along with the other skeletons sat back down before Marion walked around the semi-circular table so that he was stood by the incapacitated form of Sans, who's sockets were extinguished and he too appeared to be sweating nervously.

"Who may you be, sir?" inquired Aldrich, propping his skull with his hand as he propped his elbow on the table. The fact that he was being respectful seemed to put all the other skeletons on edge, as not only was he a member of the Northern Tribe (renowned for their vanity and pride), for him to show respect to a stranger (albeit a familiar one) unsettled them further. Red had finally awoken from his strange daze, sweating buckets and looking increasingly panicked as time went on. Savage seemed to be the one who was taking the situation the calmest out of all of them, as he scratched at the large gaping hole in his skull as he eyed the newcomer in suspicion.

"ɨ ɦǟʋɛ ǟʟʀɛǟɖʏ ȶօʟɖ ʏօʊ: ɨ ǟʍ ʍǟʀɨօռ."

"The fuck did ya us' do ta me, asshole?!" cursed Red, attempting to come across as threatening as he glowered at the taller skeleton. If skeletons could pale, Red was sure he would have done so as Marion chuckled deeply, a few rainbow coloured sparks dancing in his sockets before they returned to the previous mist-like quality. 

"ȶɦɛ ֆǟʍɛ ȶɦɨռɢ ɨ ɖɨɖ ȶօ ȶɦɛ ƈօʍɨƈ օʋɛʀ ɦɛʀɛ, օʄ ƈօʊʀֆɛ."

The strange skeleton then gestured to Sans, who was still kneeling on the ground beside him. Sans recognised the skeleton, but from where he was uncertain. He knew that he had started to remember a great deal about his life before the immigration to The Continent, but there were still many things that were fuzzy and it gave him a migraine every time he tried to recall those blurred memories. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was potentially memories regarding the skeleton beside him, but he couldn't be certain from his throbbing skull.

"What, pray tell, is that, Mr. Marion?" questioned Aldrich, scrutinising the skeleton before him. The resounding chuckle in response only made the skeleton's dread increase exponentially.

"ֆɨʍքʟɛ ɦօƈʊֆ քօƈʊֆ. ȶɦǟȶ ɨֆ աɦǟȶ աɛ ɖօ, ƈօʀʀɛƈȶ? ʏօʊ ֆɛɛ, ɨ ɦǟʋɛ ɢʀօառ ɛʋɛʀ ֆօ աɛǟʀʏ ǟֆ օʄ ʟǟȶɛ, աɦǟȶ աɨȶɦ ɮɛɨռɢ ƈօռʄɨռɛɖ ȶօ ȶɦɨֆ քʀɨֆօռ."

"ǟʟǟֆ, ȶɦɨֆ ֆɦǟʟʟ ɛռɖ, ǟֆ ɛʋɛʀʏȶɦɨռɢ ɛʋɛռȶʊǟʟʟʏ ɖօɛֆ ɨռ ȶɦɨֆ ʄɨռɨȶɛ ʀɛǟʟɨȶʏ: ɨȶ ɨֆ օռʟʏ ǟ ʍǟȶȶɛʀ օʄ ȶɨʍɛ."

A look of understanding flitted across Marion's eyesockets as he hummed.

"ɨȶ ǟքքɛǟʀֆ ȶɦǟȶ ʏօʊ ɦǟʋɛ ɨռɖɛɛɖ ǟʟʟ ʄօʀɢօȶȶɛռ ʏօʊʀ ȶɛʟօֆ օռ ȶɦɨֆ ɨֆʟǟռɖ. օɦ աɛʟʟ, ɨȶ ɨֆ օʄ ռօ ƈօռֆɛզʊɛռƈɛ օռɛ աǟʏ օʀ ȶɦɛ օȶɦɛʀ: քɛʀɦǟքֆ ֆɨʍքʟʏ ǟռ ɨռƈօռʋɛռɨɛռƈɛ. աɛʟʟ, ʄօʀ ʏօʊ, ȶɦǟȶ ɨֆ."

"Stop bein' so fuckin' cryptic-!" 

"ɨ ʄɨռɖ ȶɦǟȶ ʏօʊʀ ֆɨʟɛռƈɛ ɨֆ ɮʏ ʄǟʀ օռɛ օʄ ʍʏ ʍօֆȶ ʄǟʋօʊʀɨȶɛ ֆօʊռɖֆ, ɮօʏ. ƈɦɨʟɖʀɛռ ǟʀɛ ȶօ ɮɛ ֆɛɛռ ǟռɖ ռօȶ ɦɛǟʀɖ: ֆօ ɮɛ զʊɨɛȶ."

Red immediately went into a daze, eyelights fuzzy and not looking at anything in particular as he became silent once again, much to the fear and bewilderment of everyone else. Although most would admit that the brash skeleton being quiet would have been a blessing in any other circumstance, but whilst being with the Marion, it only made their worries grow. None of them were sure why they hadn't attacked him by then, but it was as though some unseen force was holding them back.

"... w h a t  d o  y o u  w a n t ?" asked Savage, his usually bloated eyelight a mere pinprick.

"ʄʀɛɛɖօʍ, օʄ ƈօʊʀֆɛ. ɖօ ʏօʊ ռօȶ աǟռȶ ȶɦǟȶ ȶօօ? ȶօ ռօȶ ɦǟʋɛ ȶօ ʄɛɛʟ ȶɦɛ ʀɛֆȶʀǟɨռȶֆ ȶɦǟȶ ǟʀɛ ȶɦɛ ɮǟʀʀɨɛʀֆ ǟƈʀօֆֆ ȶɦɛ ɨֆʟǟռɖ? ɨ ǟʍ ɦɛʀɛ ȶօ ɦɛʟք ʏօʊ, ɢɛռȶʟɛʍɛռ."

"ɨʄ ʏօʊ աօʊʟɖ ǟʟʟօա ʍɛ, ɨ ɦǟʋɛ ȶɦɛ ʀɛֆօʊʀƈɛֆ ǟȶ ʍʏ ɖɨֆքօֆǟʟ ȶօ ɛֆƈǟքɛ ȶɦɨֆ քʀɨֆօռ օռƈɛ ǟռɖ ʄօʀ ǟʟʟ. աɦǟȶ ɖօ ʏօʊ ֆǟʏ?"

"The barrier's already down, though." observed Stretch, raising a brow bone in scepticism.

"ȶɦʀօʊɢɦ ȶɦɛ ȶɛʀʀɨȶօʀɨɛֆ, ʏɛֆ. ɮʊȶ ʄօʀ ȶɦɛ ʀɛֆȶ օʄ ȶɦɛ ɨֆʟǟռɖ? ռօ, ռօȶ ǟֆ օʄ ʏɛȶ."

"What resources, may I ask?" queried Aldrich, eyelights narrowing. The skeleton seemed incredibly powerful, and the fact that he could seemingly control other's actions was indeed a concern of his. With a strange skeleton of questionable intent and morals, just how were they planning on getting rid of the outer barrier of the island?

"ȶɦǟȶ ɨֆ օʄ ռօ ƈօռֆɛզʊɛռƈɛ. ʏɛֆ, օʀ ռօ: աɨʟʟ ɨ ɦǟʋɛ ʏօʊʀ ǟɨɖɛ, օʀ աɨʟʟ ʏօʊ ɢɛȶ ɨռ ʍʏ աǟʏ? ǟ ʄʀɨɛռɖ, օʀ ǟ ʄօɛ?"

"You were controlling Sans when he violated my Wingdings, weren't you?" snarled Stretch, as realisation dawned on all of the other skeletons who soon began to glower at Marion threateningly with empty sockets. Rather than be intimidated, he seemed increasingly amused, as though a child was arguing with him about having the last cookie from the jar.

"ɨȶ աǟֆ ֆɨʍքʟʏ ǟռ ɛӼքɛʀɨʍɛռȶ, ɢɛռȶʟɛʍɛռ. ɦɛʀ ֆօʊʟ ɨֆ ȶɦɛ ӄɛʏ, ǟռɖ ɨ աǟֆ ֆɨʍքʟʏ ȶɛֆȶɨռɢ ɨȶֆ քօȶɛռȶɨǟʟ."

". . . W H A T ?" Without hesitation Stretch summoned his Gaster blaster, aiming it at Marion and swiftly firing a bright orange laser from it's maw. The attack was blocked with ease, only it wasn't from Marion's own magic. It was from Red's, as he summoned a barrage of bones and threw them in at Stretch, Aldrich and Savage. Whilst Stretch and Savage teleported, Aldrich jumped out of his seat, doing a back-flip over it whilst using the chair itself to block the attack.

"ռօա ռօա, ɮօʏ. ʏօʊ աɛʀɛ օʀɖɛʀɛɖ ȶօ ռɛʊȶʀǟʟɨֆɛ ֆȶʀɛȶƈɦ ǟռɖ ֆǟʋǟɢɛ, ռօȶ ǟʟɖʀɨƈɦ."

Red said nothing as he simply stood on the other side of Marion, not seeming at all like himself as he seemed deranged, hell-bent to sate his bloodlust.

"What's gotten into you, Red?" shouted Stretch, as he teleported out of the way of yet more bone attacks. Savage did the same, whilst Aldrich, with all his strength, picked up the table and span it around himself, making the bones either rebound in Red's direction or be imbedded into the wood as it splinted and cracked. Red didn't respond as he continued to attack them, dodging the stray bone that bounced off of the wood of the table in his direction.

"ɨ ɢʀօա ɮօʀɛɖ օʄ ȶɦɨֆ. աɨʟʟ ʏօʊ ƈօօքɛʀǟȶɛ, օʀ աɨʟʟ ɨ ɦǟʋɛ ȶօ ɖօ ȶɦɨֆ ʍʏֆɛʟʄ, ǟռɖ ʟɛǟʋɛ ʏօʊ ǟʟʟ ɮɛɦɨռɖ?օʀ, ɨ ƈօʊʟɖ ֆɨʍքʟʏ ʍǟӄɛ ʏօʊ. ɮʊȶ աɦɛʀɛ աօʊʟɖ ȶɦɛ ʄʊռ ɮɛ ɨռ ȶɦǟȶ?"

"Burn in hell!" growled Stretch, as he shot at Marion once again from his Gaster Blaster. Savage said nothing as he gracefully sliced through every bone sent his way with a hatchet made of bone, glowing the same colour as his lone eyelight.

"ֆɦǟʍɛ. ɨ աǟֆ ʟօօӄɨռɢ ʄօʀաǟʀɖ ȶօ ȶɛǟƈɦɨռɢ ȶɦɛ ɦʊʍǟռ'ֆ ǟ քʀօքɛʀ ʟɛֆֆօռ ɨռ ʋɨօʟɛռƈɛ ǟռɖ ƈǟքȶɨʋɨȶʏ. ǟʟǟֆ, ɨ ʍʊֆȶ ɮɨɖ ʏօʊ ǟʟʟ ʄǟʀɛաɛʟʟ. ɨ ɦǟʋɛ ʍʊƈɦ աօʀӄ ȶօ ɖօ, ֆօ ʊռȶɨʟ աɛ ʍɛɛȶ ǟɢǟɨռ."

Red then summoned his own blaster, shooting the ground which subsequently made snow cascade everywhere. When it finally cleared, all of the skeletons were panting in exhaustion, looking from one to the other as they tried to catch their breath. Savage, Aldrich and Stretch looked at Red, who seemed deathly still. Dust and marrow leaked from his sockets and nasal cavity, as he soon collapsed to the ground. Stretch rushed over, holding Red's head in his lap as he checked for any injuries. Red's breaths were shallow, and his bones rattled, which only made Stretch worry further.

The skeletons that were conscious looked at one another, understanding crossing their features as they all nodded in silent agreement. Marion would pay for what he did, that they all promised.

Chapter Text

Ding and Y/n sat on the floor of the tree house for some time, clinging to one another as they both eventually stopped crying. Although they both felt somewhat better, neither could help but still feel the oppressive ache in their souls when they thought back on what happened. The bodyguard sniffed loudly as she slowly relinquished her desperate grip on the skeleton, leaning back so that she wasn't as close to him anymore. Taking the subtle hint, Ding too sat back to give her more room, making her breath a sigh in relief. Sure, the hug had been nice, but the woman couldn't be certain if she wouldn't just shatter right then and there if she didn't put some space between them.

Her heart twisted painfully at the feeling of guilt, not wanting Ding to misunderstand her actions. Surprisingly, like he had been the entire time since she had woken up, he had been completely considerate for what she needed. She didn't want to remember what happened, but flashes every now and again would almost take her breath away and another sob would want to escape her. Never had she been through anything like that, and she never wished such a fate on anyone. Had she been threatened? A great many times, her being the main culprit, of course. Had she almost died? Too many times to count what with the nature of her job. Had she seen death claim a soul right before her very eyes? Yes, she had, some of which had regrettably been by her own very hand.

The people she had killed, all four... She would never be able to forget their faces, the sound of their last laboured breath before their eyes became unseeing and blurred. The bodyguard knew that their deaths couldn't have been avoided, that in those situations it was kill or be killed. Her rational side argued that nothing she had ever done would have made her deserve that happening to her.

Her emotional side couldn't help but think that it was punishment for the sins she had committed.

Of course, that was ridiculous. He hadn't done what he did on the basis of her sins (as only she knew of them, she was sure). No matter what vile things he had said during that, she knew that he had found too much sick pleasure for it to have been anything but a demonstration of power. Y/n mused that she had been rather foolish to believe that she was strong, strong enough to defend herself and too stupid to have not been more cautious. The bodyguard had fucked up, and that had inevitably lead to that.

No... she didn't want to think about it. It'd only make her cry more-

How could she have not been strong enough? He was a bag of fucking bones, yet she couldn't even fucking move! Was she that much of a coward that she couldn't even move when she needed to? It hadn't been the first time she had been in a bind, but without a knife on her or her famed razor blade hidden in a band aid on her ankle, she wouldn't have been able to escape the rope. Why wasn't she more capable? Why was she so fucking helpless?! Did she even deserve to care for Abby after this, to even look at her in the first place? Could she even do that, or was she too weak for it?! Never before had she felt so powerless, so feeble- could she even look after her...?

The bodyguard glared at the ground, her brows furrowed and a sorrowful scowl on her face. She felt so helpless, so unworthy to call Abby her kid, so...

Disgusting.

She needed to wash off all of the repulsive things he had done to her. Y/n needed to get rid of it, to scrub her skin until it was raw and bleeding, she needed to get fucking rid of it-!

"I suppose you'll want to get clean, won't you?" smiled Ding comfortingly, standing up before he offered her a hand. He continued softly, "I know the perfect place for you, dear Wingdings."

Y/n looked at his offered hand, hesitating before finally taking it. Ding delicately helped her stand. She silently followed him as he walked out, holding her hand as he guided her across the bridges that were attached to each tree before they eventually reached a ladder that went to the ground. He went down first, expertly landing on the ground as he waited for her. Reluctantly, she climbed down slowly, hissing and wincing from the pain she was still feeling. Once she finally reached the bottom, she looked up at Ding expectantly before he said, "Do you want me to heal you? Ease your discomfort?"

No, she didn't that was for fucking sure. She needed to feel everything that he had done to her, so she may repay the favour to the one who hurt her in the first place. If she was healed, it'd be like it had never happened at all, and despite wanting to forget about what had happened, she knew that she also didn't. It was contradictory, that she knew, but amidst her despair and uncharacteristic apathy she felt an all too familiar feeling boiling in her gut, searing through her veins. An old, primal feeling she had been well acquainted with, a feeling that in the face of adversity, she considered to be an old friend...

Vengeful Wrath...

The bodyguard knew that she needed to sort herself out before she did anything. It was funny, really. She was usually the type of person to fall head-first into any problem and resolve in then and there, but in that instance? After the injustice that had happened to her, the dishonour the revolting disrespect... Oh, she was willing to be fucking patient alright. There was a saying that her Uncle frequently said when she was being especially impulsive, and although she never had before listened to it, she was willing to given the situation: "To lose patience is to lose the battle."

She wouldn't lose, she fucking refused to.

Before she even realised it, the pair had finally arrived at where Ding was taking her. If Y/n was capable to admire beauty at that moment, she would have acknowledged how awe-inspiring it was. A large waterfall like spring was in a large nook of a rockface, a heavy mist over the surface of the water much like in a steaming sauna. It was pleasantly warm just being in the presence of it, and her shoulders untensed when she breathed in the soothing smell. Y/n could only compare it to smelling fresh roses with a tinge of peppermint, and it seemed to have been coming from the water.

"Well, I shall leave you to get cleaned up then, my dear Wingdings."  Ding was about to leave to give her some privacy before a grip on his wrist paused him in his tracks. Bemused, he looked back down at her questioningly. The bodyguard wouldn't meet his gaze, a self-loathing scowl on her face. She didn't want to be alone and by herself, especially in another unfamiliar environment. She couldn't believe how fucking pathetic and needy she was being... Why was she so weak...? "I'll stay with you, for as long as you need." promised Ding, causing her to look up with a startled look on her face. He didn't comment on it, merely waiting patiently for her to be the one to let go of him, for her to set the boundaries.

"You better not look, asshole." she grumbled, avoiding his gaze.

He gasped in mock offense, "How could you even insinuate such a thing? What do you take me for?!"

Y/n snorted, "A pervert."

"You have me all wrong, dear Wingdings! I would never-!" He then paused and interrupted himself with a mischievous smirk, "Unless you want me to?"

"Fuck off at that rock." she huffed, pointing to one to their left. "And turn your back."

"Oh my dear Wingdings! Who knew that you were one to be so generous as to allow me to pleasure myself? And not to worry, I won't ever turn my back on you."

Her deadpan glare sent him into a fit of giggles as he did what she asked, sitting on the rock with his back turned to her. She scrutinised him for a moment or two before she took of her sullied clothes (she knew that she would find great pleasure in burning them later). The bodyguard inhaled deeply as she finally worked up the courage to look at her body. The vision that she was met with made her eyes widen in shock as she stared. Black bruises covered her entire body, her breasts having scabs from the deep gashes she had received. She honestly looked as though she had been mauled by a bear and been put through the fucking dryer.

Clearing her straying thoughts, she hastily wove into the water, unable to hold back a pleasured sigh at the comforting warmth and pleasant smell. The bodyguard couldn't understand how the fuck it smelt so nice naturally, but it wasn't like she was complaining. Her burning muscles abated slightly to a dull ache, something she was glad about. She was able to still feel the pain she felt she needed, but it also didn't hurt so much as to make any sudden movements impossible. 

She swam into the large body of water, floating serenely as she enjoyed how it felt so utterly cleansing. She still felt vile, but she didn't feel as dirty as she did before, which was definitely a welcome reprieve. The woman closed her eyes as her body relaxed, distantly hearing a hummed tune as time went on. The only sound to be heard other than the humming (she knew that it must have been Ding for how tranquil it sounded) was from the waterfall ahead of her, calming her nerves even further.

Despite the relaxing heat and the pleasant sound of water, the strange feeling of restlessness hadn't abated. She had started to feel it as soon as she realised what that boiling feeling in her veins was, and she just couldn't seem to quite shake it. Was it dread? Anticipation? A hunger for retribution? Perhaps. Maybe it was a mixture of all of those things, but at that moment, she was adamantly attempting to rid herself of such thoughts, to simply take a breather before she would have to get out of the water and face the reality (hell more like) that she was faced with.

When she finally felt that her skin was pruning, she huffed in irritation before swimming back to where she came from. Ding seemed to have not moved an inch from his spot, the only new thing being a blue pelt that looked to have been ripped then sewn back together with blue thread. Her old clothes were in a pile far away from the clean pelt, making her curious. Where exactly had the pelt come from? Ding hadn't moved, and she knew that unlike the other Comics (as far as she was aware), he couldn't teleport either. 

"Where and the fuck did you get that?" she questioned in bemusement, picking up the pelt and placing it over herself.

Ding still didn't look back at her when he answered, "They're actually my clothes. I used to come here a lot to just have some time to myself, my own little hide away... Of course, it didn't exactly stay private for long what with Stretch's tendency to snoop, so, whenever I used to bathe here he used to steal my clothes and hide them." he chuckled fondly, seemingly reminiscing about it as he made sure his back was still to her. "So, I had to resort to hiding them under this very rock so that I wouldn't be prancing around naked."

Y/n sniggered, "Isn't exhibition you kind of thing though?"

"Oh, but what is the point of a show without an audience?" he replied dramatically.

Y/n waited a few seconds before she informed, "You can turn around, now."

Ding slowly stood from the rock he sat on, brushing himself off before he turned to her. His warm grin faltered before he began giggling madly, clutching his ribs as he pointed and laughed, orange and blue covered tears streaming down his face. Enraged, Y/n bellowed, "The fuck you looking at?!"

"Y-you've g-got it the wr-wrong way a-around!" he stammered between laughs mirthfully. 

"How the fuck was I supposed to know?! It looks the exact same either fucking way!"

"There's a pattern knitted into the back." enlightened Ding, still laughing at her angered face.

With an irritated huff, she placed her arms back inside of it before spinning it around, pushing her arms out of the half-sleeves. When Ding finally calmed down (much to her chagrin as she  practically ground her teeth to dust), he beamed, "I must say, you suit the uniform of Wingdings well."

"Wait, this was your fucking Sunday Best?"

"Essentially," he conceded, "But it looks far better on you. I looked like a complete imbecile in it, whereas you look like a proper chief."

Y/n disagreed, feeling rather stupid in it herself. However, she didn't exactly want to open that can of worms, so she decided to just leave it. Although, not before saying, "You look like an 'imbecile' anyway."

"You're so mean, dear Wingdings!"

"No I'm not: I speak the truth."

"Lies, dear Wingdings! Lies!"

"Pft, your dad would know when he went to the store for a packet of cigarettes."

"Don't bring him into this!" sighed Ding, feigning a look of irritation.

Chapter Text

"'ow the fuck are we gonna bring all this up ta 'er?" growled Red in frustration, running his hands over his skull. He had recovered from the previous ordeal, having been told exactly what he had done and why there was a gap in his memory. Red had a feeling that what he was feeling was what Savage felt on a day-to-day basis, which made him significantly more sympathetic to the permanently injured skeleton's plight. However, to Red it still didn't make the cannibalistic prick any less of a ditzy bitch. 

His skull throbbed in pain, groaning as it had been Stretch knocking him over the head with a tree trunk that finally managed to break him out of whatever kind of fucked up voodoo-ass shit he was under. That was why the group of Comics were sat at the table they had just set right, unable to actually sit down after Aldrich having the fucking genius idea to throw them at the Marion bastard. Sans was no longer bound, his eyelights extinguished and sweat dripping down his skull, his bones trembling in such a way that it almost made Red concerned. Almost.

Really he couldn't give two flying shits about the Vanilla asshole, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and he needed him just as much as everyone else needed him and each other (including Red) to figure out what should be done about the new skeleton. What he did to the Spitfire was revolting, the very thought of what had occurred made his soul settle uncomfortably in his ribcage, especially at the thought of how he was to break the news to her that Sans wasn't even aware of it. Heh, fucking shit excuse in the context, huh? Oh, he didn't mean to rape you, he just wasn't in his right state of mind ! It was actually this fucking weird-ass skeleton you've never heard before, that used magic to control his mind  just to violate you!

It even sounded like a crock of shit to Red's ears, and he didn't even fucking have  ears.

Guilt still weighed heavily inside his marrow, making him almost heave the proverbial contents from his metaphorical stomach. He shouldn't have trusted Vanilla so easily in the first place- hell, any of them. The skeleton normally wasn't the trusting type, which had been the reason (among just dumb luck) for how he and his brothers had survived for so long: a healthy dose of scepticism with a shot of paranoia, and a temper to spice up the mix. He shouldn't have let her leave! He shouldn't have talked his older brother out of letting her leave! What he really should have fucking done, was have her stay with them where he knew she was safe, and taken the kid too so that she too would have been safe. Red would have never left her kid behind or separated the pair of them.

Unlike Vanilla, he didn't have a problem with human kids.

Although, whilst he technically could be considered to be a child murderer, couldn't he just as technically still not be considered one seen as though it technically hadn't happened, what given the RESETS and all? Sure, Red had a PHD in quantum physics, but that didn't mean he knew how to actually address certain situations and what should or shouldn't be considered something in that specific context of timeline-fuckery. Actually, Red corrected himself on "child murderer" - you can't kill a husk of a soulless being, even if they were in the form of a child. 

Stretch hesitantly patted the shorter skeleton's back, unsure of what to do or say. Red honestly had no clue either. "I honestly don't know." he admitted reluctantly. "Everything I come up with just sounds ridiculous, delusional or that we're just lying to cover up the actions of a rapist."

Sans openly flinched at that, looking at the ground defeatedly. "i didn't..."

"Yeah, we fuckin' know." hissed Red heatedly, glowering as Sans shrunk in on himself. 

"Red, what were you feeling?" inquired Aldrich curiously as he mulled over a thought of his.

"The fuck ya talkin' 'bout dandy ass?!"

Aldrich rolled his eyes and tutted, "Before your mind was under Marion's influence. What are your feelings towards us?"

"Heh, if ya waitn' fer a confession ah love, ya can kiss my ass!"

"Red." he snapped, finally silencing Red as all of the skeletons turned their attention to the prideful Aldrich. "Do you have any animosity towards us all? Or anyone specifically?"

"It ain' like ah particularly like any ah ya, if that's wha' ya gettin' a'."

Aldrich hummed before turning his attention to the solemn skeleton. "Sans, what are your feelings regarding this ex-Wingdings?"

That seemed to finally gain Sans' attention as his eyelights returned, albeit more dimly, as he looked up from the position he was in (as he had been holding his skull in his hands previously). "i..." sighed Sans, struggling to fully put how he felt towards her into words. "it's complica'ed. on the one hand, i hate her guts, i hate how determined she can be, i hate how she jus' waltzes her way into our business as though she belongs there, and i jus' hate tha' she's a filthy human."

A wistful grin made it's way to Sans' features as he continued, "bu', i also like how she doesn' seem to take shit from no one. i like how she viciously protects the ones she cares about, even if they aren'- heh, blood-related - an' i also like how her scowl disappeared when she ate the 'dogs i made, an' how she smiles when she thinks no one's lookin'."

It was silent for a few moments, everyone gobsmacked. That was until Red decided to break the silence, "Fuckin' bullshi'! Ya don' giva a shi'  bou' 'er, an' ya n e v e r  w i l l."

"Riveting..." said Aldrich breathlessly, looking as though something had been confirmed to him.

"What is it?" spat Stretch, growing more impatient as time went on.

"It seems as though Marion is only able to manipulate the mind and actions of others if they already felt compelled to do so."

"i never wan'ed to do that to her!" snarled Sans, standing and stalking towards him. He was stopped when Savage held out his arm to stop him, his singular eyelight the size of a pinprick.

"You hated her, correct?" surmised Aldrich, speaking as though he was addressing a petulant child.

"in a sense..." replied Sans reluctantly.

"You also liked her in a sexual sense, correct?"

This made Sans blush in embarrassment, and despite his silence, his body language seemed to be enough to confirm Aldrich's suspicions. "Marion, thus far, has only demonstrated an ability to control those who already feel an inclination towards behaving a certain way or, as is the case with Sans, had the emotions necessary to be manipulated into behaviours that the recipient would not otherwise consider without the influence of his magic. This is simply a hypothesis, however, and I do not know for certain, but intuition tells me that this is most likely the case."

"Well, it's a star', ain' it?" nodded Red gruffly. "Be'er than nothin'."

"That's all well and good," drawled Stretch, craving a cigarette to calm his nerves, "but it doesn't exactly change how we have no idea how to combat his magic."

"Gotta agree wit' the toothpick." grumbled Red in exasperation. "Jus' 'cause we 'ave some idea 'ow i' works, doesn' mean tha' we're any closer ta figurin' 'ow to stop 'im."

"'Well, it's a star', ain' it?'." snorted Aldrich in derision, his impression of Red undoubtedly awful with his naturally posh accent. Red merely growled in response, fighting with all his might to rein in his temper and not completely eviscerate him. Heh, been a long time since someone got rekt, but despite his inclinations towards doing just that, he knew that it wasn't the time nor place for it. Whilst the situation really needed to be dealt with as soon as possible, what required his immediate attention, Red knew, was actually telling the Spitfire about this whole thing. The more he though on it, the more he was convinced that it should probably be him to say. He was the one who made the mistake that sent the tower tumbling, so it was his responsibility. Did he want to face her after that? Hell no. Did he need to? Absolutely. 

Red didn't want any of the fellow Comics to be the one to tell her as again, he was the one in the wrong, the one who ultimately put her in that nasty position in the first place. Not only that, but if he recalled correctly, she was now part of his Tribe ever since his brother had won. That though gave Red pause, his grin stretching as his golden tooth glinted. He would have plenty of opportunity and all the time in the world to make it up to her, and what better way would that be than to bring over the kid and show her that she was safe? Safe with his brothers and safe with him?

"'aight, le's jus' say tha' we ain' gonna be figurin ou' anythin' today. i go' stuff ta do, so, I'll be off. Carrot cake," Red turned his attention to Stretch specifically, who had looked to be deep in his thoughts. Stretch quirked a brow at the shorter skeleton when Red furthered, "Seems like ya gonna be wit' us, wha' wit' the recent developmen'. Why don' ya go make an 'ead star' an' move ya shi'?"

"Why should I move?" questioned Stretch in mild irritation, "It isn't like you'll be staying where we are, you'll just go back to your jungle and swing on the vines like George or whatever it is you do other than jerk off."

"Heh, tha's where ya wrong." smirked Red, smugness oozing from his eyelights. "We're movin' in."

"The hell you are!" snarled Stretch, stalking over to him threateningly as he towered over him. Red remained unaffected by his empty-socket treatment, shrugging nonchalantly with a feigned look of regret on his features."

"Well, I guess ya gotta poin'." grinned Red, as he elaborated, "Can' be movin' in if we've already moved in. My bro, the champ, 'as probs already se' everythin' up durin' this whole shitshow."

"Then move your coccyx back out-!"

"Whilst this juvenile squabble is amusing," interrupted Aldrich dryly, "I do believe that it would be most beneficial for me- both Savage and I, I mean- that we meet this woman."

Savage nodded in agreement, scratching at the gaping hole in his skull as his bloated eyelight glared with such intensity that had even Aldrich tense despite him having been the one to propose the idea in the first place. "Ya don' need ta mee' e'r!" growled Red after a brief moment of silence. "It's none ah ya business ya pompous prick!"

"Not to mention that Savage has already met her- well, met as in scared her out of her skin."

Savage looked incredibly puzzled, his phalanges twitching as he plunged them into his empty socket, pulling and clawing harshly at the bone and dust and blood marrow cascaded down his cheek bone. The fellow skeletons cringed at this, Aldrich looking completely repulsed whilst Red and Stretch winced. "w h a t . . . ?" 

"Ya me' 'er already! 'ow 'ard is tha' ta understan' dumbass?!" barked Red, irked with how empty-headed the large skeleton was being. He fucking well already knew that Savage had met her, after all, he had been watching her ever since his brother had told him about her, and was then ordered to keep an eye on them. He also had witnessed when the vanilla shit had met the little spitfire, he recalled. That was the day he was almost caught by the vanilla bitch himself, as Red discovered that Classic had caught onto his scent as well as Edge's, which almost got him found out seen as though Classic knew that the weapon the spitfire was armed with that day was in fact Edge's. Red, when Classic first met her, honestly thought that he was going to kill her. If it had come to it (luckily it hadn't, but if it had), he would have intervened indirectly as to not reveal his position in the trees. It was especially intense for the red-eyed skeleton when he saw Y/n almost jab the vanilla bitch (he would have paid good money if he had any just to see that prick's smile be literally sliced off of his ugly mug) with Edge's old weapon, but the skeleton actually didn't do anything, much to Red's relief and confusion.

"w h e n . . . ?"

"When you took a little detour to our territory." informed Stretch dryly, phalanges twitching for a much needed smoke.

The large skeleton scratch his head, trailing his index phalange across the rim of the large hole in his head much like one would with the rim of a glass of water. The resulting grating sound made all of the skeleton cringe, scowling, sneering or grimacing. It just wasn't natural for a skeleton to be endorsing in the habit that Savage did when clawing at his skull, his empty eye socket or hole in his head being the main places. Whilst all of them knew that it was necessary for Savage to do what he did to ground himself, that didn't exactly make the tick any less disturbing for every other skeleton who was forced to witness it. Sans couldn't even look away what with still being unable to move from the spot on the ground floor that he occupied, snow gathering on his tribal outfit as snowflakes began to fall.

"Maybe some other time," suggested Stretch gently, "I think she needs to come to terms with everything we're gonna' tell her first before introducing unknown variables to her that might worsen how she is right now."

"Welp, been a pleasure an' all, ladies," mocked Red, saluting them as he was readying himself to teleport over to where he thought Y/n would be, "bu' I think I'll go an' gree' the new additions to my tribe."

Before Stretch could make a rebuttal for his obvious jibe, Red was gone, leaving a pair of lonely footprints in the snow. "I shall inform my Wingdings of these events." said Aldrich, as he too disappeared, leaving just Savage and Stretch together. Stretch cursed, soon following by Red's example which just left Savage by himself. Not that the large skeleton minded, as he did like his solitude. However, in that instance, he really didn't want to be alone in case he got anymore ideas about tracking the woman and formally greeting her. After all, even with his short-term memory loss, he was able to remember at least one thing from the encounter the Judges had with Marion.

H e  r e m e m b e r e d   h o w   t o   s p e a k   t h e   h u m a n ' s   l a n g u a g e .