Sometimes kindness is enough

Chapter 18 : Into their lair...

"Nghh..." Red groaned in pain, turning onto his side to try to lessen the pain he was feeling. "Oww..." His right arm hurt so much when he tried to move it... 'Broken?' He barely opened his eyes, but couldn't see anything anyway, as the darkness were everywhere. He tried to listen for any sounds that could indicate him where he was, but only the silence ruled there. He flexed his valid arm a little, but was met with resistance. Was it blocked by rocks or something? Then a flash of lucidity came to him, making him go stiff. Sans! "Sweetheart? Ya hear me? Come on, wake up." There was no answer. "Sans, please, ya have ta wake up now!" Still nothing. Red began to get really worried at this point, shaking him slowly. "Sansy, please! Don't do this to me!" "Hmmm..." Sans weakly moved, blearily opening his eyes. "Red...? Where...?" Red could have wept out of pure joy and relief upon seing Sans finally conscious, but he settled into hugging him. "Stars, ya scared me so much..." "I did? Ah, sorry...Wasn't intending to..." With Red's help, Sans sat up, squinting his eyelights to see where they were, but of coursehe was met with darkness. "Do you know...?" "Nah, I just woke up." "Wait! Where's Flowey?!" Sans grew panicked, not hearing his friend at all. Red looked around him, but couldn't spot him. "Maybe he landed farther, We should go and check it out." "O-okay..." Red stood up, before picking Sans up in his arms.

"I can't see him...Where could he be?" "I don't know. Let's keep going." Red was walking for what felt like ages, thankfully they could see where they were going, as some mushrooms emited small rays of light. They kept walking, until they heard something, or rather someone, that made Red stopped. "Ya hear that?" "Yes, and I think I recognize this high-pitched voice, don't you?" "Yeah, it looks like we found our small weed. About time." Red walked a little bit faster, following Flowey's voice. He sounded...scared, telling something to back off. When they reached him and when he spotted him, both Red and Sans thought that he was going to cry. "FINALLY!!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU COME SOONER????!!!! I ALMOST GOT EATEN BY THOSE THINGS!!!!!!!" "Sorry Flowey, we searched for you from the moment we woke up. We didn't intend to leave you alone like this." Sans told him softly, with an apologethic smile. "I-if you say so..." Flowey wiped his tears with his leaves, before crawling at Red's feet, which he climbed before resting upon Red's shoulder. "What attacked ya? I don't see anyone there." "What?!" Flowey looked around, but had to agree with Red : there was nothing there. "They must have been scared by your appearance. I hope we won't see them again..." Red looked at Flowey for a moment, before shrugging. For Flowey, everything was a threat, so it must have been nothing really dangerous.

The three of them kept going, but the atmosphere grew heavier with each step they took. Sans was nervously looking back behind them. he felt observed, and that since they found Flowey. No. Even before, but he has been too preoccupied by Flowey's disappearance to notice it. Someone, or something was watching them, following them. But it wasn't the worse for Sans. What put Sans on edge was that whatever was following them never tried to attack them. People who tend to prefer this, but it wasn't, for it meant two things : this thing was intelligent, and it's intent wasn't to confront them directly. He couldn't know what was there intentions to do. They watched. They just watched. They watched and waited for something to happen. But what were they waiting for? Were they waiting for Red to get too tired to defend them for a surprise attack? Were they waiting for them to fall asleep to kill them during their sleep? Were they reporting everytjing they did to someone or something else? Sans couldn't know, since they didn't show themselves, and that was maddening for Sans. He felt like he would go completely crazy. And with that endless maze of tunnels...

Red shot a worried glare to Sans, who was too busy looking back to listen to anything Red or Flowey was saying. Not that any of them were curently talking. Of course he felt that too. Thos eyes on them. It was different from Alphys' cameras, for he knew who was behind them. Here, he didn't have the slightest idea. As he kept walking, Flowey would look up, trying to see if their followers were there, but he had no such luck. Dread was gnawing at them, eating them slowly, one by one. Red though, was used to it : Dread and Danger were old companions to him. Even if lately, things had changed for the better, he couldn't get rid of them. For now at least. He stopped thinking about that to get back to the task at hand. He hesitates to talk to Sans, but decided against it. it would just make him more anxious. Instead, he hugged him tighter, sending reassurances and love to the smaller skeleton. It seemed to work, as Sans pressed himself closer to Red. The both needed that. Red patted gently Flowey's head, conveying reassurances as well. Flowey flinched a little, not used to it, but he accepted the gesture nonetheless.

As they kept wondering, the three of them noticed the growing numbers of cobwebs here and there, some small, some big. "Seems like no one went there for a long time, huh?" "Hmm... it seems indeed..." "Yes, and we shouldn't disturb this place more than we already did." "It would be with pleasure, but we have to find the exit first, you know?" "I know, you bonehead!" "Why are ya calling me like that, weed? Looking for a fight?" "If you listened to me, we wouldn't be lost! I told you to turn right, but noooo, the edgy skeleton HAVE to do as he wished!"  Red began to growl at the accusations. "Oh, because you know this place better than I do?! Then what are ya waiting for? Tell us where's the exit then! Oh, but of course you wouldn't tell us, because ya are as lost as I am! If it weren't for us, you would still be stuck in this room, playing the paranoid with your invisible ennemies!" "How dare you? I may not know this place better than you, but I'm at least better to orient myself than you! I bet you got lost in Snowdin's forest more than once!" "WHY YOU LITTLE-" "STOP!!! THA'T ENOUGH YOU TWO!!" Both Red and Flowey got startled at Sans sudden outburst. "That's enough! Do you think that it's the moment for that? You two are always squabbling when we're stuck in such a situation!" Sans breathed, in and out, before continuing more calmly. "We are all stressed, because of this situation, so let's not lose it, and-" "It's his fault!" "Not, it's yours! Ya're always criticizing me; whenever you got the chance! As if you were perfect!" "Guys, please!" "Oh, now ya're on his side? Why do I have the impression that I'm always the bad guy in those situations?!" Sans looked baffled at Red, not quite believeing what he just heard. "What?" "Ya're always on his side, no matter what! 'Oh You're right Flowey!' 'Maybe we should listen to Flowey!' 'Why don't we do as Flowey told us!' Why don't you agree with me, for once! I begin to doubt that you really love me!" That was too much for Sans. He never got really angry, sometimes he would, but not too much and not for a long period of time. And since he got there, Sans barely get mad. So seing snap put Red and Flowey out of their rage, making them go pale. "OH, SO BECAUSE I LOVE YOU I SHOULD ALWAYS TAKE YOUR SIDE, HUH? OH YOUR RIGHT RED, WE SHOULD LEAVE EVERYONE IN THIS FORSAKEN PLACE TO ROT! IT'S ALWAYS FLOWEY'S FAULT WHEN SOMETHING GOES BAD! YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M TIRED OF YOUR PETTY ARGUMENTS! YOU WANT TO KEEP SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER? FINE!" With that, Sans hopped from Red's grasp. He wobbled a lot, he could almost not stood, but he rested enough to at least walk a little. "THEN KEEP DOING THAT ASD MUCH AS YOU WANT! AND WHEN YOU'LL BE CALMER, THEN YOU CAN TELL ME!!!" And with that, Sans left the two others alone, not looking back once at their dumbfounded faces.

Sans walked a little, mind completely blank, tired for screaming so much. In a small tunnel, he found a preety big rock. He sat on it for long minutes, before putting his face on his hands and crying. He was tired, anxious, hungry, but more important, he felt heartbroken. He knew that Red was as anxious as he was, that he was hurt, because of Flowey's eternal defiance -even if it was less obvious -, that he didn't mean what he said. Sans knew that. That didn't make it less painful. As he kept crying, he heard something something behind him. He turned immediately, but see nothing next to him. But in the distance, he couls see something. Was it...?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

I hate but love cliffhangers, and I know understand why people like putting them! Can you guess what is it? There are some hints here and there! I hope you liked that chapter! As usual, comments and questions are welcomed! I hope you are all having a lovely day or night! See you soon!