In these time of War (Grillby x Gaster)

Chapter 1²: Hostage

The next day beat down all the soldiers of the Underground: the humans, as a traitor, had come into the trenches of the monsters to attack them in front, and that was saying little: some had their guns, others had forks and steel swords, still others, risking bare hands on the weakest monsters - see even just the sleepiest ones. The screams had started so abruptly that Grillby had awakened with a jump, still dripping with sweat because of his previous day's sickness.

- What's happening ?..., he had said in a pasty voice.

The others, outside, and in their rooms, were fighting with all their strength, and Grillby who had got up, jumped when his door burst open, and a human, armed with a huge sword, pushed him to the ground. The human had a demented face, a disillusioned smile on his face, and, worse still, the fact that he was missing an eye troubled the soldier of flames at the highest point.

-What .. what are you doing here? You're traitors, spat Grillby, you're all the same, all of you !

Frowning, Grillby struggled, trying to let go of the human, who had a powerful grip, or at least enough to keep the man-flame on the ground. The heavy sword came dangerously close to Grillby's abdomen, threatening to sink into his flames, which, despite everything, were material and could be wounded as if it was skin. The human did not pay attention to the threats and insults that Grillby threw in his face. On the contrary, he was humming in a sinister tone.

-Tonight, a monster will be found dead here, and then, they'll have to realize that we have the power, right, monstrosity, he said to Grillby.

-You disgust me, said Grillby, and besides, you are incapable of killing me. You do not have the guts! These are just words in the air!

Grillby stared at him defiantly. Outside the dormitory, the roar of the nearby fight was heard, and, thought Grillby, perhaps even the nurses had to fight. The human seemed hesitant, as if Grillby scared him, but he refused to believe that a monster could be superior to him. So, this one, with the same defiant gaze that the flame-man had thrown at him, violently thrusted his sword into his chest, as Grillby writhed in pain, scarlet blood spurting on the nearby wall . Everything was becoming blurry ... only the laughter of a madman above him seemed close. The purring of the battle was far away, it was the pain of course, it would not kill him so easily, but he felt faint, and he felt ashamed to be surprised. The human had let out a deafening rattle, his neck straining with blood - now dead, a scythe buried in the neck that had almost cut his head in full, he should have collapsed on Grillby, but instead fell on the side, as if throwned. Grillby was hurting. He put his hand to the wound, and cut off the side of his hand, touching the edge of the sword, still stuck in his abdomen. He tried to get up, but the sword was an obstacle to him, and as he got a little worse by moving, he stretched out with a gasp. He felt the weapon slowly emerge from his body in a sucking sound as he curved under the pain. But everything was still vague around him and it hurt his eyes - he closed them to avoid feeling bad. He fell himself transported and then gently placed on a bed higher than that of his dormitory. Then he heard people talking around him. First a female voice.

-Is he going to survive? It is already the twelfth found injured, we have no place here. This is the second day of war and humans have already used treachery ... Then a male voice that answered the first ..

 -Yes, Toriel, said the voice, and then in the need, we will use the dormitories - besides, it will be necessary to disinfect them, our soldiers will fall ill if they are made to sleep in rooms where the blood has spurted - even if it is theirs, finished the voice, which broke as the person spoke.

But Grillby recognized the voice; it was the person who looked after him, who spoke. This voice, he had heard just yesterday, when he was not feeling well, it was WD Gaster, this nurse, and even today, he took care of the man-flame (He felt a bandage around his aching abdomen). Between these two men there was a strange connection, a sort of almost invisible friendship; Grillby, who was usually not one of those who liked the contact, let this nurse touch him - it was not a perverse touch, it was only care, but still - without complaining he simply kept his eyes closed and suffered in silence. It seemed to him that W.D and the other nurses spoke for an eternity, before the sound of the war stifled, and finally a heavy silence fell. The humans had returned to their trenches. Grillby heard the King speaking, and the voice of his wife, terrified.

- I think humans have sought to weaken us, said the King, and it is confirmed. Many of us are already injured and will not be able to fight tomorrow.

-Oh, Gore, said another voice, and Grillby recognized Toriel, I knew it was not a good idea to accept this war treaty! I knew it ! We should have stayed home!

- Humans would have condemned us immediately, Tori. Think about it, the king had said in an unanswerable tone, announcing the end of the conversation.

Grillby felt the rest of the conversation was not important and preferred to extend his head on the fresh pillow. He only noticed that one of the nurses had remained to watch the dozen wounded. He was expecting Toriel, but by narrowing his eyes a little to see who was sitting next to him, it was obvious that it was Gaster. The flame-man repressed - he did not want to show how happy he was to see his friend, although it was a silly smile - and stood where the sword had cut him deeply. Gaster was reading next to him, the other wounded probably had to sleep, but a deep joy filled him and he could not sleep. When he was cured, he promised himself, he would take revenge.

Everything passed very quickly, however. At nightfall, while the others had insisted on returning to their dormitory, and Grillby had finally found sleep, two silhouettes sneaked into the infirmary, ropes in hand and candle to light. One of the men had grabbed Grillby by the feet, which had the effect of waking the flame-man. He wanted to defend himself, but the other had grabbed in turn and tied both hands, then gagged him. As he came out of a heavy sleep, it took him a moment to realize that he was being captured. The two men had lifted him, while he was securely tied from hand to foot, and had come out of the infirmary as silently as when they had entered. It was dark in the tunnels but Grillby provided a sufficient source of light to the two captors to allow them to reach the exit. All three were outside now, the men holding the flames firmly, and were starting to climb the steep slope of the trenches when a crunch was heard down the tunnel. In the same gesture, Grillby and the two kidnappers had turned their gaze to the entrance of the galleries. At first, the moving figure made no sense, and then the flame-man recognized Gaster again. His hand was up, and one of his eyes was glowing purple. One of the men had dropped their hostage and Grillby had hit his head on the ground.

-Hmmphf ..

Grillby could not speak. The man who had let go of the flame-man hurried to the nurse and knocked him out by striking him hard on the back of his neck; Gaster had collapsed without a sound or a complaint, and Grillby raged a little more; but he could not react. The humans took him, noiselessly there again, to their trenches.

The room was damp, and shabby bars had been installed. It was their prison, in a way, and it was there that they had put the man on fire. He was tied up in an uncomfortable position, his hands raised, his arms against the wall, and although the rest of the body was free, a kind of metal belt, connected to the wall, was clipped around his waist, then closed with a padlock, preventing him from standing up. Difficult to think that just before (a few minutes, a few hours maybe?), He had found himself, first in his cozy bed then injured, installed in the infirmary. But now he was a hostage and he was going to stay here a long time because he knew that their king would not let him down - a great man like Asgore Dreemurr. He would be delivered maybe, but it would not be for now.

And to the top of all, he was far from his only friend.