FCOR (Nightkiller)

Chapter 40 - Tiresome Hiking

The trees swayed gently in the light breeze. The forest was quiet, and the cool afternoon created a relaxing atmosphere. The faint crunch of leaves on the trail indicated people walking along the old path then suddenly, a child's voice echoed through the forest.

"Ooh! Pretty rock!" Rue exclaimed, picking up a shiny stone from the ground and calling out to his mother.

Killer chuckled and walked over, taking the rock for closer inspection. "Wow, it is a pretty rock, baby," the black-teared skeleton agreed, patting Rue on the head and the small child smiled sweetly in response.

"W-Wait... ugh... You guys walk too fast," Nightmare huffed out as he finally caught up to them, prompting a muffled laugh from Killer.

"Tired already? But we can still see the castle, Mr. Nightmare. We haven't gone that far," Rue pointed out and Nightmare patted him on the head, letting out a somewhat dismissive chuckle.

"I barely got any sleep last night, you little rascal, so don't judge me," Nightmare explained, eliciting a snort from Killer. Rue put two and two together, and his face twisted in disgust. "Eww..." he muttered before continuing on, leaving his mom and Nightmare behind.

Seeing this, Killer and Nightmare quickened their pace to catch up with their son, who was completely absorbed in the nature around him.

Trees, rocks, grass, insects, rodents—Rue was fascinated by everything. He kept looking around, touching, and picking up things. Essentially, he was like a dog let loose.

Every different tree, fern, fungus—basically every whatnot and life forms in the forest caught his attention, and he eagerly shared his discoveries with his parents.

"Mom, look! A death cap!"

"Mr. Nightmare, look! A shard of limestone!"

"Mom, look at this! And Mr. Nightmare, look at that!"

The two adults couldn’t help but play along with their son's adventurous spirit.

Rue had never seen such lush greenery as the forest surrounding Nightmare’s castle. Back at Color’s place, it was mostly just city, concrete, buildings, and the forests in that AU were too many kilometers away to visit—at least for them.

The park was perhaps the only place similar to the forest they were walking through, and possibly the only green pasture Rue had ever walked on...

Turning around the bend, Rue noticed an oddly shaped rock. It was quite large, weirdly shaped and covered in strange engravings. Curious, the little skeleton stopped in his tracks and bent down to pick it up.

"Look mom! I found a weird rock!" He exclaimed, waving the stone up in the air for both adults to see and Nightmare's eyebrow perked up, noticing how peculiar the rock looked.

Rue examined the rock closely, and his face gradually showed surprise. Excitedly, he called for the adults to hurry over, shouting, "Mom! Mom! Mr. Nightmare!". But frustrated by their slow response, he ran back to them with the rock in hand.

When he got close, he practically shoved the rock into Killer's hands, excitedly gushing over his discovery, shouting out, "Ma! Ma! Mama! I think this rock might be a fossil!"

Killer’s expression shifted to one of surprise as he stared at the rock in his hands, while Nightmare moved closer to take a look. Unsure if Rue was correct but happy that Rue was happy, Killer praised him, saying how proud he was of Rue’s discovery.

Now, Rue in turn, was practically vibrating of excitement and joy. His countenance held the biggest smile both of them had ever seen and Killer happily reciprocated the gleaming smile while patting Rue on the head as Nightmare took the claimed-to-be-fossil rock into his hands for a closer inspection.

"Am I good, mama? I identified a fossil!" Rue asked excitedly and Killer chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

Killer picked up the small skeleton and gave him a tight hug before kissing him on the forehead. "Of course, I'm proud! You were always good; before, during, after your discovery, my little archeologist! In fact, you're mommy's greatest little treasure!" Killer reassured, booping his nose with his finger.

Rue hugged back, feeling warm and bubbly inside. Nothing, nothing in the multiverse could ever replace his mom.

"Hmm... You truly are an archaeologist, Rue. This is a legitimate and authentic fossil. I give you my loudest applause," Nightmare praised and Rue looked up, happy that Mr. Nightmare had reassured that his speculations were correct.

"Oh my! Mommy absolutely cannot compare to you; my little genius." Killer praised Rue and the child beamed with pride.

Mr. Nightmare chuckled and patted him on the head while wrapping an arm around Killer's waist, pulling him much closer to himself.

Immediately, Rue's aura changed and he stared blankly at Nightmare; his eyes piercing into Nightmare's eye sockets in a dead stare.

"Uh uh... No." He whispered to him as a warning but Nightmare thought that this was amusing and let out a chuckle before whispering back "Yes, yes, yes~".

Rue's death glare worsened and it was evident that he was not playing around and he was serious but, Nightmare just couldn't take him seriously.

"C'mon, knock it off, you two." Killer intervened and gently put Rue down but the two skeletons were still having a one-on-one staring contest.

Killer sighed and grunted a bit, rubbing his lower back and Nightmare's attention immediately shifted to him. "You okay, Kills?" He asked in concern and Killer nodded, reassuring NM that everything's okay.

"Mom... What's wrong...?" Rue asked, and Killer reassured that everything was okay but Rue was still not sure. "Now look at what you've done Mr. Nightmare!" Rue suddenly indicted, confusing the dark, tall man.

"Look at mom! He's aching everywhere now because of what you did." Rue said and Nightmare raised his hands up in a surrendering manner and replied smugly (as a joke) "Guilty as charged.".

Rue fumed at that and grabbed Killer by the hand before dragging him away from Nightmare. "W-wait, Rue— n-not too fast.." Killer said and Rue abruptly stopped, a bit confused but didn't say anything, only glaring at Nightmare who was a bit concerned for Killer.

After walking alongside chaos, they finally reached their destination. Nostalgia filled Killer's senses as he sat down at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the forest below. He patted next to him and Rue followed him, seeing the breath taking view.

Killer looked further down and noticed the tree root that saved countless lives before smiling to himself, chaotic were the memories (although they sparked some fear), Killer held it close.

"Woah... the sunset here is so gorgeous..." Rue pointed out and Killer nodded. Nightmare sat beside Killer and chimed in "True, but nothing beats your mom.".

Rue nodded without a thought, he actually agreed with Nightmare on this one.

The family sat there at the ledge, basking in the orange glow and the tranquil sounds of nature. They relished in the cold breeze and watched as the sun dipped down and the moon showed its full form.

"Night, did you bring the hot chocolate?" Killer asked and the taller nodded, pulling out a kettle and some mugs from a small portal before pouring everyone a drink, but not himself.

He watched with a smile as both the two drank their share of the cocoa drink and he wrapped an arm around Killer, rubbing gentle circles on his belly with his other hand. The black-teared skeleton couldn't help but lean onto him, enjoying the attention and Rue turned to look at them.

Seeing their form;  the implication turning gears in his head...

His eyes widened and he was left speechless. "I'm ...a brother now?" He asked and Killer smiled at him nervously, unsure of Rue's feelings at the situation. "Surprise...?"