Shadowtale (Undertale AU)

Chapter 5 || Camp

(Shadow's POV)

I woke up to a stabbing pain piercing my back. I gasped and clenched my teeth. I guess that means I'm alive? When the pain had subsided somewhat, other sensations started hitting me. I was leaning against something soft, rising and falling slowly. I realized it was someone's chest, which was weird. Who the hell is this?

"Hey, you okay?" I heard a soft voice from behind me. I instantly recognized it. 

"Mmmh...no..." I squirmed, trying to get into a position where it didn't feel like getting stabbed all over again.

"You want me to heal you?" 

I just nodded.

His hands slid underneath my shirt, pulling the back up to expose my spine. I didn't really care if anyone saw. There was a sharp intake of breath from behind me, obviously of surprise.

"That bad, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, you got messed up pretty bad back there. That human kid told me what happened. Lean forward."

"Yeah, yeah...the human kid..." I muttered, slowly leaning forward, ignoring the prickles of pain shooting up my spine.

"They're watching us right now." He chuckled, but the sudden movement made we wince. "Sorry."

"Nope, all good-" I said, but cut off as I was surprised by the sensation along my back. Healing magic always felt like that. Sort of cool and tingly, but in a nice way. Like snowfall. I sighed, letting the magic slide into my bones, repairing what damage had been done by the dog's blow.

"You're covered in bruises." He noted.

"Gee, wonder how that happened," I said sarcastically. He ignored me, continuing to heal whatever else I had managed to injure.

"You did a really good job of messing yourself up, huh?"

"I seem to be good at that."

Thunder was silent. He didn't like me joking about that. In a little while, he spoke up again.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. I'm gonna get some cocoa. Don't try and move," His weight shifted behind me, moving upwards and sliding me into a rather uncomfortable position leaning partway against a wooden box. "I love you," he said, smiling. He kissed me quickly, and walked away.

I watched Thunder leave, going toward the campfire. He was slightly shorter than me and wore a baggy blue hoodie with a lavender stripe patchily sewn onto it. He was covered in these little light blue splotches, which he told me were called vitiligo. I was lucky he was at camp, because he has his own AU to live in, so can't come all the time. He's the best healing mage I know, so it's usually his job to heal all the injuries I manage to get. I wouldn't trust anyone else.

I pulled myself farther up the crate I was leaning on (With difficulty) and tried to ignore the pain throbbing from my spine.

My back still ached, but it was bearable. I'm not sure exactly what happened to it, but I figured it was broken to some extent. I'm glad I didn't die from that, but I guess I have more HP than I started out with.

I sighed, looking around at the camp surrounding me. It's the closest thing to home any of us have. Man, if no one had found me, I would have died for sure. Even so, I might've died anyway if Thunder wasn't here. No one here is good at green magic, and I wouldn't want anyone else to heal me anyway.

(Frisk's POV)

I sat by a little campfire where everyone else was sitting, blowing on a cup of...something to cool it down. I don't really know what it is. I think it was made by that spider lady. Muffet was her name, if I remember correctly. There was this robot guy too, who looked kinda like a ninja but also like a supermodel. Then there were a couple rabbit people, an orange cat looking thing, and what appeared to be a man entirely make out of fire.

There was this other skeleton, too. He was healing Shadow for a little while, but then came over to the fire to get some hot chocolate. He smiled and introduced himself as Thunder. He seemed nice.

The camp was in some corner, hidden away in the eternal darkness. The ground was dense, the condensed snow packed down by everyone's feet. There was a campfire in the center of camp, which melted the snow underneath it and revealed the stony cave floor. The camp was littered with crates full of food, weapons, and armor. On the far side, there was a bunch of makeshift tents, presumably where people slept. There were eight of them, so I assumed that some people slept together, or some weren't here all the time. The whole place was surrounded by a tall wooden wall, constructed of what looked like broken pieces of houses nailed together. There were several windows and doors thrown into the mix, making the whole thing look like a bizarre piece of modern art.

The fire was warm, and my hot drink warmed me up from the inside. It was nice to actually consume anything, because the last time I ate was back in the ruins. It feels like forever ago. All this new stuff is a lot to take in, but I guess this is where I am now.

I'm gonna try my best to survive here, no matter what crazy dangers come my way.

(868 words)