Chapter Warnings:

Discussion of situation in HorrorTale; i.e. starvation, famine, cannibalism (shouldn't go into too too much detail)

Chapter Two Start

     The slight swoosh of filtering air and the hum of the air system were the first things Horror became cognizant of. His eyelight fuzzy and flickering, he drew his gaze across the room in a slow crawl. He couldn't hear Paps downstairs in the kitchen, and this wasn't his home in Snowdin.. Where was he again? It took a long moment for him to recall where he was, safe in Nightmare's castle. He had teammates and friends nearby, and food to cook with. The relief was nigh overwhelming, but more than welcome.

     Making his way out of bed, Horror slid his feet into his slippers. Pulling on his jacket over his t-shirt, he snuggled into the fluffy hood for a moment. Shuffling his way over to his door, he decided his sweatpants were fine for pancake day. It was too early for his shorts anyway, he didn't feel like giving up his leg warmth yet.

     The light in the office was already on, but Horror would give Nightmare a seat at the table just in case. Pulling out flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, Horror began sifting the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Making a well in the center of the dry ingredients, he poured in a mixture of eggs, milk, and butter before mixing well. Preparing to make the various types of pancakes the crew liked, he pulled out all the necessary toppings and additives.

     He separated most of the batter into individual bowls, two parts to be stirred with chocolate chips, two parts plain, and one special spicier batch for Boss. He himself didn't much care for whether or not they had chocolate, but he could admit he didn't care for the spiced blend. Adding in the chocolate chips was easy, but he would have to add more for Nightmare's mix.

     Adding some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, he roughly chopped some dark chocolate to keep off to the side of the stove with the rest of the batter. Setting up the table for five, Horror moved onto what was arguably the hardest part of the morning. Waking Dust and Cross may prove to be a challenge.

     Horror decided to start with Cross first, as he usually woke up more agreeably. Nudging his way through Cross' door, Horror made his way over to Cross, who was seemingly buried underneath a mountain of comforter and fluffy blankets. He had to dig a little before he managed to unearth Cross, who was face down until gently rolled over in his cocoon by the larger skeleton. Patting his face lightly and nudging his skull, Horror was able to pull some soft mumbling from the sleepy skeleton.

     After a few more minutes of gentle prodding, Horror was able to wake Cross enough to pull him from his fluffy fortress, lightly slinging the smaller monochrome skele over his shoulder to be deposited on the living room couch. He mumbled and blinked a bit, but settled into the cushions without complaint. 'One down, one more to go...'

     Dust was one of the more unpredictable of the crew, and Horror has had to dodge more than a few attacks in his past attempts. A little apprehensively, Horror opened the door to the smaller skeletons room and closed it behind him gently. Dust rarely woke up loudly, but it was better if an attack pierced the door rather than the hallway.

     Picking his way through the organized chaos of Dust's room, Horror successfully made it to his teammate's bed. Dust was curled up under a blanket, clutching onto his brother's scarf. Gently, Horror reached out to pet Dust's skull in a few light passes.

     After a few moments passed, Dust leaned into his hand with a small questioning hum and loosened his grip on the scarf. Horror flared his magic a little more, brightening his eye for a moment, to let Dust feel his magic signature. Dust pulsed his own magic in response, and settled more into his hand. It took a few more minutes of attempting to rouse him, before Horror was finally able to move his friend into an upright position. Dust grumbled, but pulled out of Horror's arms to half-heartedly shoo him away.

     "Alright, alright 'm up. Let me get dressed, I'll be down in a minute." Dust rubbed his eye socket tiredly, but began to move to grab his scarf and jacket.

     Horror grinned and gave him an affectionate head pat, already out the door before Dust could even try to swat at him. Making his way downstairs and towards the living room, Horror could see Cross had huddled himself into the couch more and had piled pillows around himself. Horror dropped his jacket on the makeshift fort in passing, before grabbing an apron in the kitchen to tie around himself. It was Pancake Time.

     Already heating butter in a large pan on the stove, Horror began to pour and cook some of the plain pancake batter. He could hear Dust meander his way into the living room and plant himself next to Cross on the couch. Placing the first two pancakes on a plate next to the stove, Horror was surprised to hear hurried footsteps and the fridge opening and closing behind him. Turning to see Killer grab a pancake, Horror wondered why he was up earlier today. Usually he'd sleep in until Horror could bring his breakfast up to his room, and then he might sleep a little more after.

     "Heya Killer, you're a little early for your day off, huh? Sleep well?" He seemed the tiniest amount rushed, but Horror couldn't think of anywhere Killer would need to be. Nightmare was adamant about his rule of allowing the gang one day off each week, even if he regularly broke it himself.

     "Yeah, didn't wake up in the middle of the night or anything. I assume yours went well too? Would stay to talk more, but I'm gonna have to head out soon." Well that was vague.

     "That's alright. I am wondering where you're going on pancake day though, you usually stay and sleep in." Horror decided to try and address it directly, absentmindedly cooking more pancakes.

     "Going on a walk, decided to enjoy the morning when it's not for a mission." Honestly, this was really odd now. Killer was usually one of the crew to complain about physical exertion whenever it was asked of him - even if it was just moving two steps forward.

     Truthfully, Killer was probably lying, but so long as he came back in fine condition there was nothing Horror could do about it. Slowly, Horror replied, "Alright, just make sure you get back in time for lunch, or let Boss know if you're not."

     Once Killer left the kitchen, Horror turned back to the stove and flipped his pancakes. As he cooked, genuinely on airplane mode at this point, Horror reminisced on how he'd ended up in a castle, flipping pancakes and working under the King of Negativity. It was a little difficult to recall, given the years and his less-than-stellar recollection.

     Sans slumped at his wooden workstation with a feigned ease, tightening his grip on the cleaver below the wooden countertop. Skull rested idly in the crook of his arm, he tilted his head just so, consciously adjusting his position in order to hide his betraying eyelight. He looked restful, as still as the snow surrounding the rotting wood of his sentry post. Any predators would be allured by the feigned moment of vulnerability, soon to become prey. He would have to move on later if nothing came, as he did most days, roaming the barren forests surrounding Snowdin for anything edible.

     Trap successfully in place, Sans took the time to conserve his energy and remained alert. It had been long enough since the last human fell that the residents of Snowdin were beginning to grow agitated and restless, weary of each other and the growing temptation of cannibalism. Most were scattered among their homes or the streets, Grillby's growing quiet once more. The Empress's guards hadn't been seen much in the last months, busy guarding the dump and any resources that may come from it, among the castle and resource depots.

     She had started seizing any and all resources she could not long after the CORE and Alphys had been downed permanently- SNAP! The loud splinter of a twig rang out in the quiet of the clearing, and Sans strained his hearing to listen for whomever may be approaching. The air was quiet, but tense with an anticipation of an encounter. Desperately, hunger began clawing at him, reawakened and impatient in the face of a potential meal. In a sort of jaded way, Sans pushed aside the gnawing hunger and focused on his opportunity. Paps would be happy to have another meal. A quiet, near imperceptible shuffle of snow to his right, and Sans pulled himself taut to lunge for the approaching creature.

     Sans leapt for the figure that was off to the right of his station, the figure a mass of tar and shadows. Digging his claws into the snow, Sans pivoted to look at the figure again, largely undeterred by their sidestep. It was another skeleton, eerily similar to his own image, but many things were off. They almost resembled him before the final human fell during the reign of Asgore. They were shorter than he, but their cold gaze and strong posture was intimidating nonetheless. Eyelight akin to a chip of ice, they scanned his form, seeming to linger on his brittle and ashen bones.

     The beginning of a snarl started low in his ribs, and he attempted to spring forward again, clawed fingertips glinting in the light, cleaver held high. Caught mid-leap by a strong tendril that sloped from behind the figure, he started thrashing, trying to escape their grip.

     "None of that. Rest now, I have a deal to offer you later." A tendril swept over Sans' skull, sleep magic a gentle pulse as their fading voice echoed through his skull. It was peaceful.

     Hours later, he came to with a start, whirling around the room to find himself alone. He couldn't feel the permeating cold of Snowdin, nor could he find his cleaver or spare axe. He didn't have to wait long though, footsteps could be heard striding down the hall, coming to a stop before the door in front of him. The figure from earlier appeared in the doorway and spared him a small glance before gesturing for him to follow. Uneasily, Sans followed.

     Upon reaching a smaller kitchen area, they waved him towards a barstool at an island in the middle, busying themself with something else around the room. Warily, Sans sat and figured he may as well start asking questions.

     Gruffly, "..what's yu'r name?" They took a moment to answer, still prepping something, by the way they were pulling items from cabinets and drawers.

     "I am known by a few things, but Nightmare is the most common. What shall I call you?" Their voice was strong, deep, and gruff in a light way. There was a faint reverb too, distinct.

     Taking in their similarities, Sans pondered his response. This odd, wrong doppelgänger was intimidating, if their name was any indication, and Sans wasn't sure he wanted to tell them his actual name even if they were versions of the same person. He could remember the multiverse theory, at least.

     "..how about Horror?" He figured he looked the part, at least.

     They gave a chuckle, "Nice to make your acquaintance Horror. Now, how would you like to work for the King of Nightmares?"

     Horror began plating the pancakes, setting them at his teammate's respective spots. He'd never expected how much could change in just a few hours, how many lives would be saved in just one day. All it took was one word, yes. His deal with Nightmare was still standing steady, and he would always be grateful to his boss for it.

     Their years of suffering were brought to an end, food and supplies going to their starvation ridden town. Nightmare would take small amounts of food and supplies from other timelines who he'd made deals with, a large amount of them some type of Fell-verse, and would distribute the resources to other universes that were in need. He wasn't able to help all of them, not with the Empress squandering the available resources and keeping a tight hold of New Home and some parts of Waterfall.

     In return, Nightmare got ample amounts of suffering to feed off from the universe without having to remain discreet, and got healthy workers and helpers once their health was as recovered as it could be. HorrorTale residents were remarkably resourceful and more than eager to help their food supplier. Horror and his brother Trap were arguably his biggest assets though, Horror being a part of his personal gang and Trap was a wonderful healer. Trap tends to stay in their home AU, but they both cook astoundingly.

     Horror popped his head out of the kitchen after he was done plating and setting up the table, trying to see where his teammates were. He couldn't help but laugh a little at what he saw, Dust seemed to have spotted his coat where he had lain it atop of Cross earlier. Both of the smaller skeletons had squished themselves together and wrapped his larger coat around the both of them. 'They were actually cuddling together in his coat, oh my stars this is too precious!'

     Taking a moment to snap a quick picture of the scene, he made his way over and lifted up the hood to peek at the skulls underneath. Apparently they'd both been tired enough to fall asleep again, and Cross had tucked his skull under Dust's just enough that they could easily nuzzle into each other. Horror gave them a sappy, affectionate look before he gave them both a little skeleton kiss to the skull, taking care to scoop them up and set them into their seats.

     He felt a little bad for having to wake them up after such a cute moment, but food was important. Horror nudged them both awake before taking a seat at his own spot next to Dust, starting on his own pancakes. Cross started eating almost instantaneously, drawn by the smell of chocolate chips, but Dust took a few moments to blink dazedly and start on his food once he was aware enough. Their breakfast wasn't all that loud, mostly small comments and compliments on the food among smiles. He made sure to rib them a little, he found their coat cuddling moment absolutely adorable. The purple tints were definitely worth it.

     Horror took care to wrap up the leftovers and put them in the fridge, setting up a plate and prepping some coffee for Nightmare. He took Cross and Dust back to the little blanket nest on the couch, tucking his jacket around them and setting the remote within their reach. Grabbing Nightmare's plate and coffee mug, he checked to see it was nearly 11:00 before making his way up the stairs.

      Trailing down the hall, Horror gave a soft rap of his knuckles on the door to Nightmare's office, hearing a distracted "come in" before he opened the door with a soft click. Nightmare was resolutely hunched over a small scattering of paperwork on the desk, the slight scribbling of a pen the only other ambience.

     Horror set the plate and mug down on a clear section of the desk's surface, giving one of Nightmare's idling tendrils a little pat. Nightmare turned from his duties, thoughtful still on what seemed to be more legal paperwork, downing the coffee without a second thought. Horror huffed a little, but knew that Nightmare liked black coffee more than seemingly anything else. It cleared a little of the distant look from his eyelight, at least.

     Starting on the pancakes, Nightmare gained a small smile from his preferred variety. "Excellent as always Horror, thank you for keeping me in mind."

     With a grin, "No problem boss, I like cooking for all of ya.You're gonna take a break for later today, right? Ya been pretty busy this week, the boys've missed ya." Horror missing him as well went unsaid.

     "No worries, I just need to finish up some legal work from one of the Swapfells and one or two Surface timelines. Should be finalized by lunch, then I'm free for the remainder of the day." Nightmare's response was patient and resolute, but Horror knew he'd be glad for the break.

     Horror grinned at him, collecting the plate after a little more listless chatter, giving him a little wave before he walked out. A tentacle lingering near his shoulder gave a little wag in return. The door was closed behind him with a quiet click, and Nightmare spared a small moment of quiet gratitude once more before he refocused his efforts on the paperwork before him.

Hope you enjoyed, feel free to comment what you thought about it :D

Characters created by:

Horror Sans - Sour Apple Studios

Dust Sans - Ask DustTale

Killer Sans - Rahafwabas

Nightmare & Dream- Jokublog

Cross - Jakei (Jael Peñaloza)

Error - Crayon Queen/Loverofpiggies

Outer Sans - Mimipippin (previously 2mi127)

Ink - Comyet/Myebi

Blue/Swap - Originally Popcornpr1nce, CommunityWant to get to know me and see art for the book?

Check out my bio!

Words: 2,835 

Pages on Docs: 6