~𝕹𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖊'𝖘 𝕾𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙 𝕻𝖆𝖘𝖙~

Chapter 4: Backstory

Killer laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. He hasn't even bothered to lay under the cover. He wasn't tired, not in the slightest. Just... confused. What was that memory? Was it even a memory? And Nightmare and Dream were kids...and liked each other. But was that even their Nightmare? I mean, if so, he looked so different. He had a purple shirt on and a headband just like Dream. Just like the one on his nightstand...Why? Everything confused him at this point. What was he to do?

He groaned and turned on his side, facing the closed door. What should he do? What could he do? He was literally Nightmares "second hand man" in a way. All he was good at was killing people and fighting the star sans. He would probably have to visit Dream. Maybe he had more information on this... "memory". He sighed and finally sat up. Technically Ink did meet with Error every now and then. Maybe he would get lucky and Ink would come and Killer could... make a truce with them? No...Yes? He didn't know. He was completely and utterly confused.

He sighed and finally sat up. Well, guess since he had nothing else to do, he could go help Error with the kids. He got up and walked out the door. He was almost immediately greeted with someone yelling, "Drippy." He looked over and saw Blueprint, or as he was mainly called, Blue. "Um hello again." Killed greeted, awkwardly. He smiled and ran off. Killer watched him confused. He was obviously the smallest and probably the child of Ink and Blueberry. "I need out of here." He whispered, turning and walking into the living room.

"Oh, hey K. You feelin' any better?" Error asked. He was sitting on the couch knitting something while Gradient sat next to him on the couch drawing something on a piece of paper. "Oh uh,yea. I suppose. What're you doing?" Killer asked, going to sit on a chair by the couch. "I'm knitting a plush of Bill Cipher for Bill Sans. Per his request, of course. These alternates are getting less and less creative I swear." Error commented, holding up what he already had. It looked nothing like a plush yet.

"Nice, uh, totally random question. Is uh, is Ink coming by anytime soon? Just... curious, you know." Killer nervously chuckled, fidgeting with his fingers. He couldn't look at Error for some reason. "Uh, ok? He's coming by before dinner to pick up Blue and Palette. Don't worry, he already knows you're here if that's what you're worried about." Error explained, focusing back on his plush in the making. Killer nodded. Then was his chance. He nodded and pulled his hood up.

After a few hours of Killer just scrolling his phone and texting with the other two (mainly mocking them), their was a knock at the door followed by someone yelling, "Error, let me in!" "Welp, that's Ink."Error explained, getting up to check the door. "Ink! I've got company, remember!" Error said, slamming the door open. "Father, please don't yell." Gradient muttered, looking at Error. "Oh, that's right. Heyyyy Killer." Ink said, walking in. "Um hey." Killer said, hiding his phone between the cushion and the arm of the chair. "Alright, Gradient do get Palette, i'll get Blue." Error said, walking up the stairs.

Killer hesitated but stood up. "Hey Ink, serious question." he said, walking up to Ink. "Sure, what up K. Just, don't attack me please." He nervously chuckled, placing a hand on his brush. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just... You dont know any of the history between Nightmare or Dream, do you?" Killer asked, nervously.

"Oh yea, the two dreamtale brothers. What about them?" Ink chuckled, placing his hands on his hip. "Brothers?" He asked, surprised. "Yea... did you not know that? He didn't tell you?" Killer shook his head. "You wouldn't be able to tell me, would you?" Killer asked, enthusiastically. "Better yet, I can show you. Come on.Error we'll be back in a minute!" Ink yelled, dragging Killer out and into an ink portal. Once they arrived, all they saw was a chopped down tree and a bunch of dead bodies.

"Was this... Nightmares' doing?" Killer asked, examining all the dead bodies. "Yea, these are all the townspeople that used to bully Nightmare for all his life. Are you ready for a story? It might be a long one." Ink asked, past the tree stump to a cabin that was hidden right behind it. "Of course." Killer said, following him into the cabin. It was clearly abandoned and trashed. "They did this two before they uh... met an unfortunate end." He said, navigating through the garbage before sitting on the couch. Killer sat on the other end of the couch.

"Ok, we're gonna start off this story pretty simple. Dream and Nightmare were once super close. Even though they were siblings, they hardly ever really argued. Dream was the guardian of positivity and Nightmare was the guardian of negativity. And they were content with that. Well, long story short, the townspeople adored Dream, but Nightmare, well, they did quite the opposite. In fact, most of them bullied him for his puny appearance and love of reading.

Dream would always notice something was off with Nightmare when he went back after visiting the town, but Nightmare insisted it was nothing to worry about. Dream shrugged it off as him just having an off day or being lonely until he started noticing he was getting bruises or broken bones that dream would often have to heal. Again, Nightmare refused to say it was nothing more than a little fall or something like that. He cared about his brother and wanted to keep him safe, even if it meant keeping secrets from him. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Dream.

One day, Dream went off to the town over the hill again to gather supplies and such, leaving Nightmare all alone. This wasn't an uncommon acorance, but little did either of them know this time would be different. The bullies came up as usual to beat Nightmare up, or that's what he thought. Once he saw one of them with a knife and one with a rope and tape, his whole tone changed. This time they were trying to kill him. He backed up against the tree, terrified for his life. He tried yelling out to Dream but he was too far out. He tried to think on his feet on how he could possibly save himself.

Hesitantly, he grabbed one of the apples on his side of the tree. Everyone knew that Dreams apples worked wonders and to never touch Nightmares. No one knew what they did, but if he was the guardian of negativity, it couldn't be good. So no one had ever even thought about taking an apple, until then. He bit into the apple and fell to the ground. His legs were overly wobbly. The townspeople went from being ready to beat him up to wanting to run away in an instant. The apple had corrupted him.

By the time Dream got back after hearing rumors of his brother losing it, it was already too late. They were dead and the tree had been cut. Nightmare probably ripped it off its roots with his tentacles. He tried yelling out to his brother, trying to see if he was still their and if so, could he be saved. But their was no sign of him. The damage had already been done and they were now separated. That's when both teams were formed and they haven't been the same since."

Ink finally finished and looked over at Killer who had balled up on the couch. "Wow... I don't know what I was expecting but that wasn't it." He commented. Ink chuckled and stood up. "I know, a lot. I get it. But we should probably be getting back soon. The kids are waiting on me." Ink said, standing up. "Alright... let's go then."