Were We Doomed From The Start?

12.- What's In The Book

Ninja caught a very slight shine in the corner of his eye, and it was the cold black goo that held Gaster's bones together. Shadow ran over to him, going as fast as he could and colliding with great force, making them both fall into the snow as Shadow hugged Gaster tightly.

Ninja sighed and carefully made his way from tree to tree, reaching where they were and waiting for them to stand up as Shadow nuzzled into Gaster's neck. Gaster chuckled a bit and carefully stood up, picking up Shadow as he did so and placing him back on the ground before noticing Ninja's presence.

His empty eye sockets widened in shock and seemed to light up as he went over and hugged Ninja, squeezing him with immense force. He had so many questions, but instead just smiled and asked a single question, still worried about Ninja.

"Where...were you? We've been searching for so long, wondering if anything happened to you."

"I was exploring." Ninja replied as Gaster sighed.

Gaster let go of him and Ninja got the journal out of his backpack, showing Gaster all the notes about the local flora and fauna regarding the Underground. Gaster leaned in to observe the details a bit more, appreciating the effort that Ninja put in to learn about a place so foreign to him. It filled him with appreciation for Ninja, as it was unexpected.

"I can't thank you enough for writing these notes."
He said, briefly glancing up at Ninja and smiling.
"I've always seen you as someone more practical with a weapon, but this journal has shown me a different side of you." He continued.

Ninja briefly blushed, not having expected a compliment over his notes. Gaster smiled softly at Ninja's blushing. Ninja nodded, closed the journal and was about to put it away when Shadow suddenly snatched it out of Ninja's hands, quickly flipping through the pages looking for a specific page and holding it up to Gaster as Ninja tried to fight him over it.

The page Shadow held up, was drawings about Gaster and notes about him, a whole page and a half filled with them.

Gaster reached for the journal and Ninja immediately started fighting Shadow as Gaster read the page. He felt his face warming up a little bit as he saw the drawings and read the notes, seeing how Ninja described him.
He appreciated the compliments, though slightly embarrassed.

Looking over at the two fighting in the snow, he felt more comfortable with them. He continued reading, letting them settle their argument.

He looked at the page again, smiling softly. As he studied the notes more, he saw details that even he missed about himself, like scratches on certain bones and a very detailed description of his coat, which Ninja was still wearing. He was happy that Ninja took such a deep interest in him, and he started to notice the details written of as he observed himself, now with a new perspective.

With a smile and a sigh, he closed the journal and carefully put it in the backpack, walking over to Ninja, who was on the ground on top of Shadow, trying to smack him.

Ninja then turned to Gaster, seeing as Gaster was returning the journal. It hit him that Gaster read it, and he blushed at the thought of it.
Ninja kept quiet as he took the backpack, nodded, and helped Shadow off the ground. Gaster couldn't help but chuckle during this, seeing how even when they fought, that Ninja still cared about Shadow.

Shadow brushed himself off and stuck his tongue out at Ninja, who was too busy organising his backpack to notice. As Gaster chuckled, happy to see them so lively, he quickly noticed the looming shadow of the house which was being cast by the setting sun.

He looked at Shadow, then Ninja, wondering what to do next as another blizzard started to whip up.

Ninja finished cleaning out his backpack and noticed the setting sun. He turned towards the house, considering the options then shrugging it off, since they had all slept for most of the day.

He looked at Shadow, and they both nodded before motioning to Gaster to follow as they began to walk back to Snowdin.

Gaster followed but was slightly confused by Ninja's idea. Sure, he had plenty of energy, but he wasn't sure if they had the same. He followed close behind the two, trying to not be too close or far behind. Ninja led the way, using his map and his trail of marked trees while Shadow floated slowly behind him, arms crossed. Shadow silently sighed and signed something as if he was mumbling to himself.

"My idea was better."
He signed with a scoff.

Gaster leaned in to watch as Ninja hummed, taking into account Shadow's input yet not giving him the satisfaction of a proper response. Shadow sighed, knowing full well that his idea wasn't the most full proof it could have been, especially with the blizzard settling in. He continued to follow behind Ninja, slightly slouching before turning around to look at Gaster, who was starting to trail behind.

"You should walk closer with us; you are part of the group you know."
Shadow signed at Gaster.

Gaster slightly hesitated before Ninja spoke up.
"He's right you know, you're part of the group now."
Ninja said with a soft smile.

Shadow nodded and grabbed Gaster's hand, pulling him closer to the group. Gaster smiled at Ninja's comment and how Shadow wanted to hold his hand as he thought about how grateful he was to officially be a part of the group.

Around an hour later, they made it to the edge of the forest, right where they started, behind the Snowdin Inn. Despite only having been gone for half a day in that forest, it had seemed like it was forever.

The blizzard had caught up to them by then, and they huddled up a bit to not lose one another in the snow.

Gaster looked at Shadow then at Ninja, eager to know what they were going to do next. Shadow let go of Gaster's hand and explained the plan of reaching the end of Ninja's charted map then him leading the way from there, since Ninja had taken the time to map things out and make a plan.
He smiled, knowing their plan and looked at Ninja to follow him. Shadow held his hand once again and they followed Ninja, past the quiet town, everyone having fallen asleep.