Reborn As A Dust Sans [Undertale Multiverse]

Ch14 - Horror

Ashe's POV

You were sitting with all of the chickens when a new presence entered the barn. Led by the hens Mother Clucker and Eggbert (both named by Farm, of course), several chickens scattered towards the stranger, demandingly pecking at his feet with the expectation of being held.

The new skeleton was easily identifiable as Horror to you. His stature was quite large for a Sans, teeth and hands looking rather sharp and deadly. He reminded you of a bear somewhat, deadly yet strangely huggable.

The larger skeleton stared at you with his single red orb, expression doing nothing to indicate his thoughts or feelings upon seeing you. He stayed only a few meters form you, ignoring a greeting from Farm to watch you, possibly waiting for your reaction.

Your gaze silently shifted to the large gaping hole in his skull, deepening the longer that you stared at it. Perhaps it was disrespectful for you to fixate on his wound like this, but you were not doing it to be cruel or judgemental, instead finding a sense of comfort and sameness due to the damaged state of your own skull.

You must have been staring for too long because agitation built in their expression, along with something you thought might be disappointment. Taking in a deep breath, you moved your hand towards your grey hood, pulling down the fabric after a long moment of hesitation.

All agitation instantly drained from the other when he saw your own skull, instead replaced with surprise, and then, understanding. He knew why you were staring now.

"....Like... me..." He spoke slowly, his voice sounding low and gravelly. "...How?"

You brought your hands up to sign a response. Horror seemed to be slow with communicating, so you made sure to be slow as well, hoping it would be easier for him to interpret. 'Ghost Papy says a rock fell. Our underground was falling apart. I don't really remember anything from before it hit me.' Well, that was more because you weren't originally this Sans, but it wasn't technically a lie. You didn't really remember your human life anymore. Just your death.

The giant was silent for a long moment, and just as you started to wonder if maybe he couldn't understand sign, he gave a slow nod. "Does it... hurt?"

You hesitated to answer. You wanted to deny being in pain, to say that you were fine, but then your orbs shifted to his wound for a moment, and you realised he would understand. So you were honest. 'It always hurts. Some days are worse, and anything other than my hood touching it is really painful. But I'm okay enough,' you finally settled on.

"NYEH... I DO WISH YOU HAD TOLD ME IT STILL HURT, ASHE," The spirit of your brother let out. You turned to give him an apologetic expression, but then back to Horror, more focused on talking to him than your brother.

Since he was the first to ask, you figured it wouldn't be crossing any unsaid boundaries to ask the same question in return. 'Does yours hurt?'

"It doesn't hurt... Used to... not anymore." He let out carefully. His gaze never left you, even as one of the chickens attempted to leap at him for his attention. "Why... are you... here?"

'I was driven from my home by The Star Sanses. They thought I was Dust and attacked me,' you confessed. 'Papy can take us to new timelines, so we decided to visit new places to explore and learn about them.'

He seemed satisfied with your answer. His single red orb looked over you again, this time more narrowed and focused. You weren't sure what he was trying to figure out, but he must have been upset as his expression suddenly shifted into a grimace.

Horror meandered over to you and suddenly lifted you bridal style into his massive arms, causing you to let out a startled squeak. "You are.... very underweight," he declared, much to your increasing confusion. It was probably true, but why did he care?

He was already walking to the house before you could think of a response. His magic radiated SAFE-CONCERN-DONTSTARVE, making you relax in his grip, even resting your head against his chest.

"I SEE YER GETTIN' ALONG," Crop let out amusedly as you were carried past him and through the front door. "IF YER LOOKIN' FER SOMETHIN' TA EAT, SOUP IS IN TH' SLOWCOOKER, AN' WE ALWAYS 'AVE PLENTY OF LEFTOVERS FOR YA, BIG FELLA."

Oh. Was he carrying you because he wanted you to eat? You did remember he had come from an underground ravaged by famine, so perhaps it was triggering seeing others not eating enough. Not that you could complain, considering your own underground had also run out of food - you wouldn't say no to a meal if it were offered to you.

You were dropped onto the large sofa, given a simple command of "Stay" as the gentle giant retreated into the kitchen. Not even a full minute later, he re-emerged with a large bowl of soup, shoving it into your hands with insistence. "Eat."

You nodded. He seemed to have forgotten a spoon for you to eat with, so you simply tipped the bowl a little and ate the aromatic stew that way. You couldn't identify exactly what you were eating, but you could tell that they were various types of vegetables.

You tried to eat slowly, not wanting to rush yourself, your body apparently decided otherwise, and the soup was gone within minutes. Horror watched you intently the entire time, only relaxing when your bowl was completely emptied. "...Good," he muttered, expression softening.

'Thankyou,' you signed with a small smile.

"Will get... more." The giant said as pat your shoulder and collected your bowl. He probably would have pat your skull had there not been the wound, but the action was still comforting to you regardless.

Despite being somewhat frightening visually, Horror was so much more gentle than you would have ever expected. You were a stranger and yet here he was, insisting you were fed simply because he realised you were underweight. You felt strangely safe around him, soul warmed by his firm caring.

There was a sudden snapping of magic, as though something were setting into place. Horror instantly froze, seemingly having felt it as well, shrunk eyelight looking at you in surprise. "....You just... bonded with me...?"