One-shots [Reqs: 5]

[Leviathantale Short from Tumblr] part 2

if you don't know which one i'm talking about, read [Shorts From Tumblr - 3]

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Dust and Killer were arguing. Horror had long since given up on trying to separate them, and instead was helping Nightmare try to find Cross.

Helping, as in going in to find the thresher by himself. Horror's eyelights extinguished, the shark relying on his far more trustworthy other senses to navigate the pitch-black cave system. He followed the first disturbance he felt, chasing it down a long, seemingly endless branch. The walls grew narrower the further he went, but he could sense something now. A ripple in the water, constant and carrying the scent of hurt and betrayal. Bingo.

He slowed his approach, worming his way into the cavity Cross had crammed himself into. Horror couldn't see him, but it wasn't hard to picture what the other looked like. It wasn't a nice image, considering the way he sounded, which was also not good.

Horror hadn't seen Cross do anything more expressive than a slight change in expression or posture. So, with the way Cross was hyperventilating and garbling broken words around his sobs, Horror was reasonably uneasy. He didn't know how to handle this. He didn't know how to handle Cross.

He wracked his memory, trying to recall an instance or situation that could help him now, but there was nothing. Cross had never been very involved with the Shiver. He never ate with them, never indulged in any of the food they brought. He slept in another location entirely, alone and cold with no one to comfort him or keep him well rested. He hardly interacted with them. Cross was seemingly always content to be alone. Despite how he was also always reeking of longing and loneliness.

Horror tugged at his skull, anxious and confused. He had to try though. They needed to get Cross out of here. "...um."

Cross gasped, the water vibrating with how hard he was shaking. "Go away! L-Leave me alone!" Horror frowned. "no.. gotta take ya.. home.." There was a wretched sound, one of pure fear. "No, no, no, please, I'll be good, I don't-" Cross hiccuped, his voice breaking, "I-I don't wanna go back, it hurts, it- he hurt- I-"

Horror struggled to get closer, his flesh tearing on the jagged stones as he squeezed in alongside Cross. As soon as he could, Horror began to lick at the salty tears staining the water from Cross's cheeks. Cross whined, flinching away, so Horror ran his tongue over his collarbone, grooming him in an attempt to calm him. "killer.. didn't mean it.. he won't hurtcha.."

Horror's attempt to soothe seemed to be working, Cross's irregular breathing evening out little by little, his words less choppy. "Please, I-I'm- I don't want t...to go back, I-I don't want to go back, don't make me-" Horror rumbled, firm as he told Cross, "we gotta.. night is.. worried aboutcha.." The words only made Cross sob harder. "I don't want to go back, I don't want to, I don't-"

And in a series of slurred words and pleading, Horror found himself learning why Cross was so afraid of 'going back'. It was only bits and pieces, not enough to truly piece it together, but it still left a yawning pit of hot anger slicing through Horror's gut.

They stayed in the cave for what felt like hours. Cross had curled against Horror, clinging to him, whispering half-hearted phrases that he'd already said before, his body going limp with his exhaustion. Horror's mind kept replaying Cross's words, stuck on one sentence specifically that was, at that moment, the worst thing Horror had heard.

"I don't want him to find me again," Cross had choked out in a ragged voice, his words broken up by his hitched breath. Horror was tempted to hunt this "him" down just to make sure Cross would never have to fear him again.

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Nightmare's tentacles coiled anxiously. It was far past nightfall, and Horror hadn't returned. Dust and Killer had ceased their petty fighting and were gone, the two of them off to retrieve Dream from the shallows. The goldfish had stayed behind earlier to catch up on his missed sunbathing, and it was another hour before the three of them all returned.