A Shadow of the Past

Breaking Point

Meanwhile, in Outertale....

Ink ran through the forest, closing in on the source of the echo he's been hearing since he got there. It was exciting, enticing, soothing, and magnetic, drawing him further into its depths. He gave himself up to finding the end to this melodic rainbow of song, and pushed his body to run faster, ignoring the soreness he felt. He reached a clearing of trees, a cliff protruding from the edge of the forest showing the vast expanse of stars, as well as the endless drop into them below. The echo was deafening now as he looked around. It pulsated with impatience, urging him to look harder for its source. His eyelights came to rest on a figure lying on the ground, and the echo lessened in intensity until it was barely a whisper.

It was Error.

"O-oh my stars!"
Ink rushed over to him and knelt down. He surveyed the damage to Error's body, taking special note of the huge crack in the right side of his skull. He gently lifted Error's unconscious body onto his lap, tearing up.
"Oh my stars, E-Error. Who d-did this to you?"

He stroked Error's cheek, tiny glitches almost as bright as sparks lighting up the wounded skeleton's face. Ink liked this feeling, and didn't want it to end. He felt... calmer knowing Error was safe in his arms, but immediately felt guilty for it. His greatest enemy would probably be screaming at him for daring to touch him. More tears ran down Ink's face as he traced a phalange down Error's chin, specks of rainbow dotting the glitchy skeleton's face.

Error stirred, feeling irritated by the droplets on his face, and opened his eyesockets. He thought he was dreaming when his eyelights tried to focus on the person in front of him. That can't be Ink, can it? His terrible eyesight must be playing tricks on him, again. Not to mention, everything was still dark and slightly fuzzy.

Ink had looked away from Error, wiping his tears away and sniffling. He hadn't noticed that Error was awake, yet.
"I-I'm sorry, Error. I'm s-so sorry. I could've prevented this, b-but I was stubborn, a-and I didn't want to listen, and we could've been f-friends-"

His breath hitched, making it difficult to speak. It really was his fault, and he wouldn't blame Error if he hated him forever. He must've been in so much pain after their fights, barely escaping sometimes with wounds that might've taken weeks to heal. But, Error would step back into the battlefield to face Ink, to face another universe of pain, to stop Ink from destroying the multiverse. He actually did care; it was Ink who didn't. Even now, Ink felt realization after realization, first that it was his fault for Error's injuries most of the time, second if it hadn't been for his narrow-mindedness, he and Error would be friends instead of enemies, and third he felt guilty and selfish for falling in love with the destroyer.

Now, Error was sure it was Ink. That voice was unmistakable, and he knew no other skeleton who blushed rainbow, nor shed rainbow tears. He slowly smiled, his headache escalating to a vicious migraine. In spite of the pain he was in, his soul leapt for joy seeing the creator again. He'd been scared he'd never see Ink again, or that he'd hate the sight of Error and try to kill him for the zillionth time. He took a shaky breath, almost a sigh, catching Ink's attention.

"Stars, Error! Y-you're awake! You s-scared me..."

"I-Ink..." his voice wasn't glitchy, but it was raspy and quiet, like a whisper, and his throat was dry and scratchy. He tried to speak anyway, barely able to focus.
"...h-how... did you... f-find.... me?"

"I- you probably won't believe me, but um, I thought I heard your voice. Y-you sounded.... scared, and like you were in extreme pain, and I could almost feel it myself. So, I followed the voice. I don't know why, I just- I guess I needed to make sure you were ok. But, you weren't."