Dreamcatcher

6. Battles, Mistakes And Cakes

"Didn't think you-u'd use my string so soon-n..." Error mused as he eventually exited the portal. Though, he went silent as he registered the sight in front of him.

Dream stood not far away from him, as did Dust and Killer. The stances the three held and injuries they bore confirmed they were in a fight. Dim light reflected off them from a sunset, illuminating their skulls and making their magic attacks glow bright.

The surface AU was unusually empty, (evacuated, rather) other than some panicked residents sprinting across the battlefield to safety. They all eyed the many dust piles and blood splatters scattered around frightfully, sobs and cries emitting from a few of the anomalies throats in fear. Error was undisturbed by the bloody and dusty mess, having caused countless himself, and focused on the two subordinates of Nightmare.

Neither were in particularly good condition. Killer had a couple scrapes on his bones and one of his knives was far-flung and abandoned. The determination endlessly dripping from his sockets was smudged and the irregular breaths proved he was exhausted. Regardless, Killer held an exhilarated grin, chuckling away as he resumed his assault on Dream with his knife and blasters accompanying him. 

Dust, however, seemed more perturbed. 

His phalanges were gripping tightly onto his hood, the bone attacks he fired seeping out far too much magic than normal. Error could just about make out the codes of his phantom Papyrus, lingering beside Dust's shoulder, muttering inaudibly to the hooded skeleton. 

Error suspected his LV was acting up and his physical (and mental) condition was unstable. He could feel the sparks of heat emitting from Dust's magic even from where he was standing.

He'd heard Nightmare mention Dust suffered with problems like this, having the second most LV out of the gang. Killer had the most by far, though his emotions were often suppressed by Nightmare due to the problems his stages above 2 could cause. 

The reason behind Dream's summoning became clear as Error moved his attention to the positivity guardian. 

Dream held far more injuries than the other two, skull littered with scrapes and golden blood trailing down certain cuts. His clothes were torn in places, and he held his left arm over a spot on the right - Error could spot the golden blood coating a deep wound - most likely caused by Killer's knife

While he held his ground well, Dream attacked little and resorted to mostly to defending himself from the blows. Error knew it was due to Dream's pacifist views (which he still found stupid, he could name thousands of anomalies that deserved to be killed). But Dream seemed shaky on his feet, and the exhaustion in him was clear.

While Error knew Dream wasn't in serious danger, he could get severely hurt if this continued.

(Protectively) Error grabbed the blue strings trailing from his skull and shot them towards Dust and Killer. Immediately, their souls were tied up and Error forced their movements to a stop. They both yelped in suprise, Killer's knife clattering to the ground and Dust's struggling halting as the strings yanked hard on their souls, forcing them to kneel.

Dream stance became defensive at the attack before he spotted Error and he relaxed, eye lights softening. He took a couple deep breaths, putting his twin blades away.

"Error! Thank you for coming!" He said, jogging (stumbling, more like) over to where Error stood, yet still kept his distance. Killer and Dust finally looked up. Killer groaned and glared daggers towards him, which didn't do much with the lack of eye lights.

"error, you traitor! you're meant to be on our side!" Killer snapped, smile dipped unusually into a frown. Error was sure he was only disappointed he couldn't have a battle anymore.