These Lonely Depths

Part Two

That's how this death march began. Horror has been following Hearts around for days as the smaller monster shows no signs of coming back to his senses. He freaks out and looses it whenever someone tries to touch him, even to heal him.

Horror trails half a dozen feet behind Hearts as they trek through Waterfall. Horror doesn't care enough anymore to keep track of what AU they're in. The only thing he does care about is keeping Hearts within his sight. Blood covered as they both are, the frightening sight keeps most monsters away. Horror's reputation keeps others from the more violent AUs from approaching. A skittering of gravel makes him jerk his gaze away from Hearts. A Skeleton, most likely the Sans of this AU, is peeking out at them from behind a rock formation. A loud growl bursts its way out of Horror's throat. He won't let anyone touch Hearts.

Quickly closing the distance between them, Horror gets closer to Hearts before opening up a new portal in his path. Hearts is still too out of it to notice or care. Horror glances back over his shoulder to look for the Sans. When he does, his foot meets empty air as a splash sounds out below him. Horror gasps as he falls and hits the water right after Hearts.

The water shocks him, but after a moment, he regains his senses and tries to find Hearts. The water is dark and churned up from their own movements and the strong waves. Horror only finds Hearts after the other brushes up against his legs. Hearts is violently thrashing around in the water. Blood washes off them both of and stains the water. Horror grabs a hold of Hearts arm and forcefully drags him up the surface. It's difficult with Hearts flailing like he is, but Horror is stronger than him. The sunset blinds Horror when they surface. He re-adjust his grip on Hearts and tries to figure out where they are.

The portal opened up in an ocean. That much is clear, and Horror wants to scream at the realization. This is why he doesn't use his portals often. He could drop them both into a volcano or even some AU's CORE. Horror spins around in the water with Hearts still fighting against him. Thankfully, they've somehow landed only a few yards from some sort of island. The drop off is deep, and it takes Horror several minutes to swim them both in. Hearts fights him all the way. Horror is losing patience by the time they get onto the beach. He just wants Hearts to be okay.

Horror does not let go of Hearts this time. Even with his struggling, Horror pulls Hearts down to sit on the sand. He pushes Hearts skull down to rest on his shoulder, and wraps his arms around Hearts to pin the smaller monster to his chest. Horror tried something similar when he was still trying to get the attention of a healer. Even now, Hearts is thrashing too much for healing magic to be of any use. He's bruising Horror's ribs with the struggle. They sit there like that on the beach while the sun fully sets. Slowly, very slowly, Hearts calms down. It's almost an hour later by the time Horror realizes that he's gone completely limp.

"Hearts?" Horror asks quietly, voice cracking. Receiving no answer, He carefully sits up to pear at the other's face. Hearts is asleep. Horror curses his bad luck. He'd do anything in that moment to be a healer. Hearts looks much more peaceful than he has during the little sleep he's gotten over the last few days. Horror himself has not slept. He settles Hearts back against his chest and watches the waves crash on the beach. This close, Horror can hear Heart's soul beat if he listens quietly enough. The sound is calming and comforting. Slowly, Horror's head begins to droop.

He jerks back awake, hours later, to the sound of shifting sand. Panic grips Horror like an iron fist. He should never have let his guard drop. Horror is laying on his back with Hearts pressed up against his side. Where's his axe!? It must have been lost in the ocean when they first arrived. Even without it, Horror won't go down without a fight. He'll protect Hearts until they're both dust. Horror keeps careful track of the footsteps. When they get close enough, he flips over in a lightning fast motion, sand spraying, and launches himself at the attacker. They both go down in a mess of limbs. Horror is too angry for words, and snarls in the other's face. Ink yelps and cries out when he's shoved to the ground. He didn't expect Horror to be awake.