Glitched Dreams (discontinued)

Chapter 7

I just found this and thought it was cute.

Sorry, not sorry-

The skeleton opened his eye sockets. He floated in a dull grey void. It took him a moment to understand that he was dreaming, which was odd for him. Usually, these things were obvious to him. Worry prodded at his soul as he realized, he must be in bad shape if his mind wasn't able to distinguish between realities.

But...what had happened? He recalled saving his friend's brother. Blue's brother. Orange. And he was with...Ink. And Cross, and Error. His friends. Then they were attacked. By a...giant...octopus...?

The skeleton shook his head. No, not an octopus. Nightmare. His brother. And his teammates. Dust, Horror, and Killer Whale.

...He didn't think that last name was quite right. But he didn't have time to think about it as his dream changed. Instead of a grey void, he was now floating above a crowded street. Humans were passing by, talking, laughing, sometimes arguing. There were a few monsters, too, but they were hard to spot in the crowd.

Off to one side, the skeleton saw another. This one look like he had been through a blender. His black, glitchy bones were marred with cracks as marrow leaked through. His chest quickly rose and fell as he tried to bandage his wounds on the bench he sat on.

Movement caught the dreaming skeleton's eye again. A second skeleton, smaller then the black one, stumbled up to him. The glitching one froze at the sight of him. The paintbrush on the smaller one's back was missing many hairs. The handle looked like it had barely survived a wood chipper. The skeleton's white bones were just as cracked and damaged as the black one's, only this one had a large crack going down his skull.

The black skeleton seemed taken aback as the short one stopped in front of him. The dreaming skeleton watched as the smaller one's mouth moved, then his knees buckled. He grabbed the bench for support, and managed to haul himself up to sit next to the black one. The black one seemed uncomfortable, but he continued his task.

Then, a third skeleton came. This one was even smaller than the last. His left ulna and radius were completely broken off. A steady drip of marrow left a trail as he made his way towards the other two. His blue and grey outfit was torn in many places, and he was otherwise just as cracked and broken as the others. The black one looked shocked, and the arty one stared, his white eye lights small.

A fourth one. In monochrome clothes that mostly covered his body, except for his skull and hands. The dreaming skeleton sensed something from this newcomer. Sure enough, when he found the rest, he collapsed and turned to dust. The blue one cried out. Over the din of the city, the dreaming skeleton could just make out what was said.

"Cross!"

The black one coughed, his black bones cracking with the sudden movement. The blue one knelt over his friend's remains. Then, his blue eye lights vanished, and he too disintegrated. The dreaming skeleton covered his mouth with his hands. The glitching one seemed to be too hurt to be able to properly show the grief and anger he felt. But the dreaming skeleton knew what he was feeling. His ability also told him that the arty skeleton felt nothing except physical pain. Soon, he dusted as well. The black one was alone. He sighed, and looked up. The dreaming skeleton wanted to comfort him, but he knew that the black skeleton wouldn't hear him. And, he reminded himself, it's hard for someone who's grieving to comfort another grieving person.

The glitching lessened. The black skeleton seemed to smile for a moment before he, too, passed.