Notes (A Crossmare FanFiction)

Chapter 9

Night had nearly lost track of time when Chara started to complain about being cold and how much their feet hurt from having walked for so long. It had slipped the skeleton's mind how much more sensitive the human was to the weather in comparison to the rest of them. Night tried to be sympathetic as the group continued to walk, and Ink tried his hardest to encourage him to keep walking, but Night eventually gave in and quietly spoke up in his defence. 

"We can stop for the night if it's alright with everyone else." He said, coming to a halt and looking around at the rest of the skeletons. "We'll want to set up camp before we lose the rest of the sunlight, right?" He asked, looking up at the sun in the sky, which was in the early stages of beginning to set. "It would suck to set everything up in the dark." 

Reluctantly, the other skeletons came to a halt as well, looking at each other for a moment before Ink nodded in agreement and Chara casted him a grateful look of relief, practically hugging himself to shield his thin skin from the cold of the snow that was still blowing in. It never seemed to stop around here, not until the summer, anyways. 

"Night and I can start to set up the sleeping arrangements if you guys go looking for firewood." Ink suggested. "Or just anything we can burn." 

"Can't you just paint something for us to burn, or hell, paint a fire for us?" Error spoke back in retort almost immediately. It was clear he didn't want to do any more work than he actually had to, and Night couldn't really blame him for it. 

It seemed to take Ink a moment or two to process what Error was suggesting before he perked up, remembering that he, indeed, actually had magic that he could use to make the group a fire. Error shook his head in irritation at the artist, getting to work on getting his horse tied up and retrieving the bag he'd brought with him. It was a bag crocheted with blue string. A backpack, to be more exact. 

Taking his attention off of Error, Night found himself looking at Cross again, who had remained silent pretty much the entire time the group of them had been travelling. From the looks of it, he'd been zoning out for a major part of the trip, lost in his own thoughts. Night couldn't really blame him for that either, though. One moment Cross had been enjoying his time in the comfort of his own home, and the next he was out in the snow running from the royal guard of DreamTale with a skeleton he barely even knew. It'd been an eventful last few hours. 

Part of him wants to approach him and ask if he's doing alright, but based on his expression he figures that he should leave the other skeleton alone for the time being. Plus, he should probably start getting his things unpacked and everything if they're going to camp there for the night. Setting things up in the dark would suck and he knew it. He reluctantly moved his attention away from Cross too, moving to help everyone else set up instead. 

It didn't take very long; less time than Night thought it would, but with tents and bedding finally set up, the group finally got the chance to sit down around the fire and relax for the first time in awhile. For the first few minutes, everyone was silent with exhaustion and nobody knew what to talk about, leaving the only sounds around them to be the chirp of crickets and the crackle of fire, alongside occasional movement from one of the group members or the horses. It was clear Ink wasn't quite a fan of the lack of conversation, though.

"A lot of travelling today, huh?" The colourful skeleton tried to start a conversation, his eyelights changing each time he blinked as he looked around at the others. The look he gave them was practically begging them to say something in return and relieve some of the tension that was beginning to build. Night couldn't help but take pity on him, opening his mouth to speak before Error cut him off. 

"I'm going to bed." The glitchy skeleton announced, shaking his head and moving to stand up from his spot on one of the logs that had been placed around the fire. "Aren't you going to eat?" Ink questioned, his expression saddening slightly as he watched him move to get away from the other skeletons (and human). "No." He responded simply, heading off in the direction he'd set his hammock up in. Considering the lack of lighting in their area, it wasn't much of a surprise that he quickly vanished into the dark.