Book 2: The First Fallen Human

Ashes to Ashes

There it was again. More stains. More blood. Dust followed the trail, his slippers crunching through the fine ice. What was it? He wanted to know. The human hadn't arrived for years. But this blood. This blood was fresh. New. Warm.

Brother... Brother, what is it? Papyrus' whispered close to Dust's head and Dust blinked.

"M'finding out, Bro, don't worry..." He mumbled, his voice raspy. Finally, he came into another clearing. A red shape was hunched over. It was human-shaped. Oh, it was human-shaped. Dust twitched. "Heya!" He barked, making the figure jump. It had blood-red tentacles jutting from its back. Four of them. It looked like Nightmare... but a red, human-shaped version.

Glowing red hair drifted around it and it turned to him with glowing red eyes. Dust froze. That was... "You... seem familiar..." He growled. It had Scooter's facial features. Even had the freckles. Dust twitched again. "I hate it." The shape tipped its head.

Dust noticed something. It sat in the snow, blood seeping out in every direction. Blood ran down its mouth. Then, he saw its arm and his grin widened. The arm was dangling by sinews. Was it eating itself?? He gave a hesitant laugh. "That's an odd meal plan, don't ya think??" He said loudly, his voice carrying. It didn't matter how loud he was. There was no one around besides them.

His eyesocket twitched and red magic shot down the side of his body. The creature seemed surprised. Dust wasn't going to call it a human. "Too much blood for you to be human, huh?" He said, his eye scanning it.

Dust twitched as Papyrus floated over to the figure, circling it. The figure jumped and followed his movements, reaching up and seeming confused when it couldn't touch him. Papyrus floated back. I don't like it, Brother. There's dust on its breath. Papyrus whispered to him.

The human-shape slowly stood up. It reached down and lifted its hand, using that one to lift the dangling arm. It opened its mouth and all Dust could make out was a red glow. He twitched as he saw it bite down and blood squirted out, staining the snow. There was a horrifying sound. The tearing of meat of the bone. Dust turned away.

"Freakish..." He mumbled. Was this creature trying to prove a point?? He didn't get it. Was it literally THAT hungry? "Autocannibalism..." He muttered under his breath. He closed his eyes for a moment. What the hell was this thing? "Why... do you look... like her?" He pulled a doll out of his pocket. He'd found it at his post. He hadn't seen Scooter for quite some time. He assumed she was dead.

At the sight of the doll, the figure froze in place. It didn't seem happy to see the doll. Dust slowly held it up and seemed to compare the two. "Almost... almost... almost..." He whispered curiously. His fingers on his other hand twitched in a quiet succession. "You're almost a spitting image... but..." He gave a slow, mocking grin. "You're so much uglier..."

The shape yanked its arm off and Dust watched as a new one quickly formed in its place. The shape continued to eat, tearing the flesh and chew quietly, never breaking eye contact with him. Dust twitched his head to the left as jagged bones suddenly impaled the creature from the ground, causing it to spit up blood like a fountain. Dust heard Papyrus whisper that it was hideous.

"You've been staring a bit too long for my liking." Dust said quietly. The shape continued to cling to the arm, despite the horrendous wounds now all over its body. Dust threw his hand up and a jagged bone tore open the front of the creature's chest.

Dust studied the exposed SOUL. It was black and red, twisted and melted into itself. Dust wrinkled his nose. "Ugly. Ugly. Tainted." He growled. The thing's chest grew back and he dropped it to the ground, puncture wounds all over its body spurting blood. Dust watched it quietly as it gagged and gurgled. "Hideous. Pathetic."

He sounded bored as he rolled the doll along his palm. "Are you immortal like her? Are you strong like her?" He circled it slowly, jabbing it in the throat to keep it looking at him. "Do you DESERVE to wear her face?" He knelt in front of it as it gurgled. He gave a grin. "You're easily one of the most disgusting, pathetic creatures I've ever met." He formed a pointed bone and used it to lift the creature's chin.

Dust's eye sparked dangerously. "Just how much blood is in that stolen body of yours?" He whispered, before his face stretched into a cold, eerie grin. "I haven't had something to entertain me for quite a while..." He watched as its tentacles began to wave and he pinned each of them down with several shards of bone, causing the shape to let out a gurgling screech.

For some reason, Dust found the sound absolutely hilarious. His grin cracked a bit before he began to laugh loudly, his eyes wide open. The creature sounded like it wasn't used to this kind of thing. "What's wrong?! You aren't used to LOSING??" Dust asked, grinning as he tipped his head, his eyes glowing from under his hood. "You aren't used to being the VICTIM?!" He sent another bone shard through its back.

He sent two through the holes in its SOUL, pinning the creature. He leaned in, chuckling maniacally. "Boy, oh boy, can't wait to see what you're made of..." He stabbed two pointed bones through its shoulders, spattering himself with its blood. "Oh, and if you can't DIE!! Oh, IMAGINE the fun we can have!!"

Dust got down on his knees as the figure struggled to lift its head. "You give off a feeling. A certain feeling that only someone else who has done the same thing can sense." He giggled, tipping his head back. He continued to hold onto the pointed bones in its shoulders. He inhaled shakily. "You've hurt a lot of people, haven't you?"

His question was light and teasing. The human-shape blinked before nodding. Dust blinked before grinning. "I appreciate your honesty! So!" He twisted the bones, making the figure screech. Dust heard Papyrus give a soft giggle next to his head. His grin widened.

"I'll make this THREE TIMES as fun!!"