A Shadow of the Past

Cross

Error walked down the steps with a smug look on his face. Hah! Red will never find the chocolate, now! When he reached the bottom of the stairs, his jaw swung open.

There, at the entrance to the living room to the right of the stairs, Blueberry was hugging Dust. What happened?!

"DaFuQ?! HoW tHe HeLl DiD yOu MaKe FrIeNdS wItH hIm So FaSt??!!"

Blueberry jumped and hastily pulled away from Dust. Again. Dust glared at Error, his cheekbones tinted with just barely a hint of purple.

It had taken Error weeks to gain Dust's trust, as well as the trust of the others, and Blueberry making friends with them within an hour of meeting them made Error jealous. Of course, he hadn't met Killer yet, so maybe this was just a lucky streak?

"You're not a hugger, remember?" Dust stood up and helped Blueberry up with him. "At least Blueberry can handle a pat on the back or a friendly handshake without glitching out like a broken machine." He snickered, coming up with a pun, but decided to spare Blueberry's ears. It would suck TV in Error's position; can't hug, can't play tag, can't even sit on the couch next to someone. Not that he would do that, anyway. Oh, well. Best save it for later.

"Welp, Imma go grab somethin' ta eat. C'mon, Sweet Cheeks, let's go."

Blueberry blushed at the nickname and covered his hands. Dust chuckled at this, and Error rolled his eyelights, shaking his head. Just then, Red came storming out of the kitchen having heard Error's voice, intent on getting back what was his.

"ERROR, YOU BASTARD! GIMME BACK MY CHOCOLATE!!!"

"Uh, No ThAnKs." Error teleported back to his room, assuming it was safe to leave Blueberry with Dust. He wasn't exactly a coward, but a fight breaking out between the two of them would probably cause a lot of damage, and worse.

Blueberry could get caught in the crossfire.

Blueberry looked down and edged away from Red. Dust stuck his hands in his pockets and shot Red a strained, almost threatening smile.

Red looked toward Blueberry, scowling.

"Tch, you're still here? Why dontcha go back to the wimpy, little wonderland ya came from? Or are ya Error's pet now?" He chuckled darkly, a chilling sound that sent shivers running up poor Blueberry's spine.

"Hey, leave him alone, ya bully. He's done nothin' ta you, so back off," Dust said, his tone lowered to match Red's aggressive, almost territorial intimidation display.

But, the threat in Dust's voice didn't faze him. He stepped closer to Blueberry, whose eyes were wide with terror. Red towered over the smol skelly, a menacing 6'4", his eyelights glittering.

"Listen up, pipsqueak," he bellowed. "If ya think yer gonna be stayin' here, ya gotta learn ta stay outta my way. Even Dust knows that, so don't expect him ta come ta yer rescue if ya get on my bad side. This place isn't all sunshine and rainbows, kid; in this world, it's kill or be killed. So, good luck on not gettin' dusted on yer first day, bitch."

Blueberry's hands had been raised to his chest, ready to block an attack if one came, and he trembled. Error's earlier remark about him making friends so quickly suddenly started to make zero sense.

He was scared.

He was alone.

He was helpless.

He had nobody to turn to.

What would become of him?

His worry was for nothing, however. As soon as Red was done with his speech, a tendril snaked around him and threw him against the opposite wall, holding him there.

A deep, gravelly voice came from the owner of said tendril, creeping Blueberry out.

"Bullying again, I see? You should know better than to pick on those who don't want to fight back. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"S-sorry, boss. It w-won't happen again."

"Good, because we've got a new member of the team."

Nightmare let go of Red and gestured to the monochrome skeleton standing beside him. The new guy had stayed silent, glancing at the familiar but new faces, taking in the details of the castle around him, and every so often, glaring over his left shoulder, as if he expected an attack. Or, he heard something he didn't like.

"Go on, introduce yourself," Nightmare grinned at the skeleton, AND whatever seemed to be behind his shoulder. Maybe they're both paranoid, or crazy?

"The name's- ugh, Cross," the skeleton said, gritting his teeth as he said his name. He seemed to dislike his own name, and Blueberry could kinda see why. Looking at his outfit, there were layers of fabric resembling X's sewed onto his clothing, a black and white scarf was wrapped snugly around his face, blocking some of it, and a tiny red scar underneath his right eyesocket matched the hue of the eyelight above it. Maybe he disliked puns as well?

Cross looked toward his left once again, and stepped up to Dust and Blueberry. He held out a hand, looking Blueberry straight in the eye.

"It's nice to meet you."

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Hoo boy, I'm tired. Red's an insecure babybones, but he'll come around. I'm just too tired to say anything more on the subject, and I'm running out of ideas for the next chapter. It's supposed to be transitioning to the next part of the story I have planned. Ok, good night, everybody! :']