The Animals Inside

Chapter 6: The Plush and Magic Learning

Author's note: Flame has deemed Error trustworthy, and Frost now has a fox plush they carry around that alerts Error if they are in danger. How this works is something I don't know. I just thought of it. Frost has figured out most of the hidden features of their new plush, such as being a magic conducter and being able to turn into a pendant hanging on a necklace. They still haven't figured out that it works as a walkie-talkie. Also, from this point on, the person reincarnated as Frost won't be you, instead being me. It will also act more like a normal book when not specifically viewed from a person's POV. All of Frost's morphs that have a tail have a black-tipped tail, and all morphs that have ears have black-tipped ears.

"Hello"- talking | (Hello)- muttering or whispering | "Hello"- yelling | "Hello"- unholy screeching *Hello*- thinking | Hello- emphasized

Error POV:

The moment I closed the portal I opened up a one-way window into the AU the duo seemed to be in, before realizing that I never asked what their names were. *Oh well, I would probably see them again, and ask the next time,* I thought as I watched the floating fox start teaching the skeleton how to use magic. One thing I didn't tell them was that the plush I gave the skeleton was tied to me, which would let me send magic through the plush, which is what I was currently doing to create a decently large barrier around them. Then, something partially peculiar happened. The skeleton scooped up some dust, and put it into a small jar, before eating some of it. (What the actual fuck-) I muttered as I watched them eat more of it, seemingly taking the edge of a sharp pang of hunger that had caused them to faint. As I continued watching, things only got stranger.

Frost POV:

Flame kept teaching me how to use my magic when I felt a sharp stab of pain near where my stomach would be. Flame noticed this, and worriedly told me that I needed to eat. "I know it sounds extremely gross, but you need to eat some of the dust lying around. And since you aren't Sans, and don't know what to do, you should probably take some of the dust as well to eat when you can't find any food." I did what Flame told me to do, but I also felt something come from my newfound plush, like a small source of magic. I questioned Flame about it, and they didn't notice anything, telling me that it must have been because I was extremely observant, the wariness I was feeling not helping.

Frost: (Since Error gave me this and told me that it would tell him when I'm in danger, could it do more than that? Because only telling him when I'm in danger would require a lot more coding to accomplish, whereas coding it so that magic could siphon through and tell him when I'm in trouble or need help would require less coding, and would be more convenient. Could it be that Error is siphoning some magic through my plush?)

Flame: "Hey Frost, what are you mumbling about?"

Frost: -Proceeds to give extremely detailed reasoning about your guess that the plush Error gave you has more use than simply telling him when you're in danger, and the extreme possibility that Error is siphoning magic through the plush, most likely to protect you, and at the same time unknowingly startling Error, who is glitching out at how observant and reasonable you are.-

Flame: "That was... surprisingly reasonable, and now that you mentioned the magic siphoning through the plush, I can see that there is some type of barrier around us, probably Error's doing."

Meanwhile, in the anti-void...

Error: "What the actual fucking hell how in the entire fucking multiverse did this kid notice the magic I was siphoning through??? More importantly, HOW DID THEY GET ALL THAT JUST FROM THE SLIGHT NOTICE THAT MAGIC WAS SIPHONING THROUGH THE PLUSH THAT I GAVE THEM!?" -Glitches out and crashes-

Flame POV:

*How did they notice the magic when I didn't??? I'm a magical creature!* "Alright, now on about your abilities, you can turn into normal creatures that have a maximum of 4 legs. You can't turn into any fish-like creatures, and you can't turn into any insects, but there are a few exceptions. The normal creatures are normal, except for maybe enhanced speed when you are low on magic and panicking. Your instinct will guide you on how to fight in close combat when you are in any creature form. You can turn into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac: mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon- the snake-like type, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. I don't know what kind of powers the zodiacs have, since you need my magical help to turn into one, but I do know which ones you've become. You said that the zodiac animals would all have the word 'zodiac' before them when mentioning them since all of the animals are on the list of what you can turn into. All of these have some sort of twinkling look to them. You can also turn into a winged dragon, a kitsune/nine-tailed fox, a phoenix, and a griffin.

"The dragon, the normal one and not the serpent, can fly and breathe fire. You have never used the powers of the kitsune, and never turned into the phoenix or the griffin, so that is all I know. The only creatures you have turned into are the kitsune, the dragon, the zodiac snake, a fox, and a bird. I'm pretty sure that the phoenix is on fire, from what I've heard, but I don't know for certain. The kitsune is pretty though. Oh, also you have a mark on the foreheads of the creatures you turn into in the shape of a lotus. I'm pretty sure it's so if you have any friends they know which creature you are."

Frost: "Okay, thanks Flame."

Flame: "You're welcome Frost."

They continue practicing magic, and Flame encourages Frost to turn into a bird or a fox. Frost tries, and fails successfully. By that, I mean Frost didn't turn into a bird but managed to get a pair of wings that Flame quickly summarizes saying that Frost could make a pair of wings appear and disappear at will. It was also explained that if they had an injury above the level of a large and serious cut, they couldn't turn back into skeleton form until it healed. The lotus mark was also there to serve as an automatic healing function so that you healed while Frost fought or ran. Frost decided they would avoid turning into any mythical creatures and any zodiacs until they knew exactly what they could do.

Unbeknownst to the two, there was another skeleton who took an interest in Frost, and that skeleton was none other than biased Dream. He had felt a negativity spike from there, and when he told Ink about it, Ink jumped to conclusions and decided that the Bad Sanses must have done something, without any reasoning except that the Bad Sanses were 'horrible' and 'murderous,' which wasn't true at all.

1180 words

~Toodles!