I forgot to put the new appearances of these 3 in the last chapter, sorry for that.

This thing needed a timeline bc it's getting confusing (to me) so here it is:

And finally, a quick reminder on the new names:

Error = Eclipse

Nightmare = Nightlight

Horror = Hunter

Dust = Ash

Killer = Mellow

Cross = Chrome

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Hallownest, The Abyss (A few days after "Void Communication")

It had been several days since their arrival, and he kept finding new tunnels to explore, the Abyss seemed to extend beneath all of Hallownest and probably beyond if the stories of his siblings who had left the kingdom before their dad's 'awakening' were anything to believe.

It had been a hectic few days, between all the questions they had about their new family, this new world, and finally having the time to adjust to their new physical changes, Nightlight couldn't blame his siblings for feeling overwhelmed, despite Shade Lord's suggestions to stay in the Abyss for a couple of weeks to be sure that their changes had had no adverse effects.

But suggesting to Chrome and Mellow to do something was like not telling them anything, the fact that they had stayed below for more than a day was already quite generous of them, the little they had seen of the kingdom on their first day had peaked their curiosity and it was not as if they were going on their own, Hallow, Ghost and another Old Vessel named Stone were going to accompany them, more tour guides than protectors since it didn't seem like there was anyone foolish enough to attack them on this world.

Nightlight took a random turn at a fork, pretending not to hear the sound of stones moving behind him, preferring to focus on remembering the events of the past few days, such as the fact that the re-named Hunter didn't seem to want to leave the side of one of the Old Vessels, he couldn't remember their name but he assumed it was the Vessel that found Hunter, Chrome, and Ash.

It was obvious that something had happened, but Nightlight knew better than to press his brother for information, he would get the story from him or the other two later when they felt like it.

They had all the time in the world for that now.

Minutes turned into hours, the rocks behind him continued to fall, the sound of rattling and poorly concealed explosions increased, and from time to time he climbed walls towards other caves to piss off his small stalkers, and the presence of insects became more noticeable too, but he tried to stay away from them as much as possible as soon as he heard them, although dubious that any of them would try to do anything to him, it made him uncomfortable to approach them.

His new siblings followed after him.

The improvised game of hide and seek continued like this for a few more hours, the rules were never discussed, they just began to follow him and "hide" every time he turned around, so he had begun to catch those who were too slow to hide in time with his tendrils, but he never stopped paying attention to the noise of other insects.

He did not feel comfortable leading his younger siblings towards a group whose intentions he did not know, it did not matter that even the youngest of them all could calmly finish off any enemy that stood in front of them with enough motivation, a little voice in his head reminded him of the last time he had let his guard down in front of a group of villagers and the pain that bring on him.

How absurd, so many years had passed, and at this point, he had forgotten the faces and names of all those people, Dreamtale was a dead AU, he had taken the Tree of Feelings, his first mother, far from there, where Dream could never find her. It had become so ridiculously strong that the idea that a group of villagers expecting everything on a silver platter could harm him was ridiculous.

And yet... his footsteps moved away from the noise, a universe away from everything in his past and it still clung to him like a parasite that refused to leave him. Dream would probably laugh that he was still affected by something so "minuscule" ... although Nightlight supposed that first, he would have to believe that he had happened in the first place.

He forced himself to push those thoughts aside, reminding himself that he was safe now, that he could now heal, one day he would be able to walk right into the sound instead of running away, maybe even have friends out there instead of seeing everyone that wasn't family as possible enemies.

There will even be a day when he won't even remember Dream, when that small part of himself that was still a child asking, begging, for his older brother to come and save him from the people who only knew how to hurt and belittle him, the part that made him doubt the first times he fought against Dream, will disappear never to return.

Several pairs of arms hugging his legs brought him back to reality, from his tendrils hung the last Vessel, he had won the game, but the worried voices ringing in his head made him realize that his emotions had leaked into the mental link which his Dad had warned him now they were all part of, and his little siblings were now apologizing for 'making him sad'.

"No, no, I'm sorry kids, you didn't do anything wrong, I just got lost in my thoughts." He tried to calm them down the best he could, angry at himself for allowing those old memories to affect him so much. Perhaps it was time to return to the Abyss, his short time in what he now knew was called the Deepnest had made him underestimate how quickly he could adapt to this new universe. "How about we play something else while we get home?"

His proposal was followed by small explosions of void, which he had learned to associate with laughter and excitement from the little Vessels, the way back was led this time by the little ones trying in vain to escape from Nightlight, hide and seek had been replaced by tag and he was 'It'.

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His new name gave him conflicted feelings. He could see the logic behind this, the hunters were a key point of their old universe, in a world where food was scarce, those who were strong enough to not only go to unexplored parts of the Underground but also share what they found, were loved and respected.

There was a time when Snowdin loved 'Sans' for more than just his jokes. He was their best hunter, in those first years, Snowdin and Waterfalls had barely changed thanks to him and the food he brought from afar, avoiding the fall towards cannibalism that the Capital and Hotlands had had.

And maybe that was where the problem came from, he hadn't felt like a hunter in years, not since Undyne ruined his eye, after he couldn't bring as much as before, when he needed the help of others but no one could keep up with him outside of the Canine Guard who had been relocated to the Capital as soon as Undyne proclaimed herself queen, he could feel the people slowly losing Hope and Faith in him.

And Horror knew that it was not his fault, the people of Snowdin and Waterfalls knew that it was not his fault, they were just coping with the new circumstances in their own way, everyone knew that it was Undyne's fault for leaving him almost blind in one eye because in her paranoia she had convinced herself that 'Sans' was planning a rebellion, she had found out that he was friends with Toriel, she knew about the food stability of Snowdin and Waterfalls.

She knew everything.

Papyrus had told her everything.

Because of all the inhabitants of Snowdin, his little brother was the only one who truly believed that everything bad that had happened since the human left, was 'Sans' fault. He couldn't even be bothered to try to understand the "reasoning" behind such an accusation, it was just easier for Papyrus to believe that the only two times he had spoken to the human had been enough to convince them to kill the King and many other Monsters. It was easier for him to believe that 'Sans' was truly planning a rebellion than to recognize that Undyne had lost her mind after Alphys' death.

It was easy for him to give 'Sans' to Undyne in exchange for food, an amount that was less than what Sans even in his weakness brought to the village every week or two, but by that point, Papyrus had already lost his mind too, or maybe he was still sane, but nothing 'Sans' did was enough for him.

The inhabitants of Snowdin and Waterfall tried to stop his capture, because no matter how weak he had become, outside of a hunter, 'Sans' was still their friend, a beloved member of their community, so much dust and blood were scattered in vain, in the dungeons, believing that his only fate was to be devoured by Undyne, the only thing 'Sans' could do was cry for those lost Souls.

And when did Nightmare appear, drawn to his negativity, with the dust of tyrant covering him? He accepted his hand even before he knew what he wanted from him, just the promise of getting out of there was enough to swear loyalty to him, later he would realize that he had gained more than he had lost, but he never felt like a hunter again, he did not doubt that his brothers loved him, but a part of him had felt incomplete for years when abandoning the old title that earned him so much love in his old world to the point that many lost their lives just to prevent him from losing his.

And now he was Hunter, now it was more than a title, now it was more than a self-imposed need, it was his Father's way of promising him that no matter what he did, he would be loved.

But what was the first thing he had done when arriving in this new world? How had he honored this new opportunity? He had almost killed one of his new siblings, that's what he had done!

But there were no consequences for what he did, and that made him feel worse, Kin was so understanding of it, not once had they complained about his current need to be attached to them 24/7. "It is completely understandable after what you went through Hunter, if you need this to feel better, granting it is not difficult." That's what they said when he asked about it.

Du- Ash and Chrome had completely agreed with that logic when he told them about it, it's not like Chrome hadn't done the same thing the first day after waking up, the three of them had talked about it even, Ash probably understood better than anyone how difficult it was for him to adapt to this new environment, he also had complicated feelings with his Original Universe, he had also attacked loved ones in what he believed was the right thing to do, his new name also bring him these mixed feelings.

His other three brothers were giving him space, he knew it and he was grateful for it, he knew that if they had asked about the whole situation his anxiety would have made him start eating and that would have only made him feel miserable and sore after, not only did he still not know which bugs were edible and which ones were citizens with families like the ones he had destroyed back in that mine, but even after so many years, his stomach still didn't know how much food was too much.

Speaking of food...

In front of him now was what appeared to be one of the blue fruits he had seen on the other side of the Abyss, he didn't know how long Kin had been offering him food, but as always, his sibling (older? younger?) showed no signs of it being problem to just let Horror get lost in his thoughts and do nothing.

"...Why are you so patient with me? I've done nothing but cause you trouble." Horror asked quietly, taking the food from their hands, for the first time expressing out loud what had been on his mind for the past few days.

"Mmmm... Because you are my family, I can't think of anything you could do that would make me see you as a problem or believe that you don't deserve my patience, you just need time and I will give you all the time you need." The answer resonated in his head in more ways than one, it was no different than what any of his brothers had told him at some point of their lives together.

But he had only known Kin for a few days and their first meeting should have given them more than enough reasons to at least distrust him, but here they were, giving him food, letting him follow him only for his mental comfort, even telling the Young Vessels that they shouldn't overwhelm him too much.

And while he still didn't fully understand why, Hunter felt his Soul lighten at the idea that one day he would, so he began to eat. And for the first time since he woke up in the Abyss, he allowed himself to lean against Kin, which several Young Vessels took as their cue to come and snuggle with him.

They had all the time in the world, they were safe here.

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*Sees the date of the last update* At what moment did we reach February???? It was November when I updated this poor thing, I don't even have a draw for this one, University is consuming my soul and money.

The next chapter is either the rest of the Gang or the start of Dream's redemption arc (AKA I will show the Twins' backstory from Dream's POV) how will he get redeemed? *Holds the 'unreliable narrator' tag* this finally will help to justify something else besides the plotholes of this thing, wish me luck o7

Hope y'all having a better year than me, no idea when I will update next, now that I have a job AND my studies to keep up, but at most, in April there will be updates 100%. Good night/day everyone :D

Edit: Grammar mistakes corrected, thanks MDaPlayer for it!