The Raven's Nightmare

CHAPTER FOUR

It has been two months since Nightmare and Raven met. Everyday Raven would walk from her home all the way to the Tree of Feelings just to spend time with her friend. But she wouldn't come unscathed; sometimes she would show up with minor injuries but today was different. When Raven limped up that hill the Guardian was met with a sight that scared him; Raven's bottom lip was split with fresh blood dripping from it and she had a black eye. But what bothered him the most was the large bruises that covered her small body; the skeleton couldn't help but tremble as tears flowed down his cheekbones while crying out "Raven!"

Giving a weak smile, the beaten child replied in a voice that hardly counts as a whisper, "Night....mware.." Stumbling into his arms, Raven could hardly keep her eyes open leaving Nightmare to quickly use his weak healing magic to try to reduce the damage that she received. Noticing some of her injuries have been somewhat reduced, all he had to do were to check her HP but he would have to pull out her SOUL to do so. He hesitated at the thought, looking at ones SOUL was a very personal subject for monsters and he would have brought Raven up to her mother if she wasn't so injured. He didn't want to risk her condition worsening if necessary.

Looking down at the barely conscious child he softly said, "Raven? I'm going to pull out your SOUL and check your STATS to make sure your stable enough to move, ok?" Giving a nod of her head and a pained smile, Nightmare automatically activated his magic and brought his hand to her chest; making a pulling motion as her SOUL was released. The Guardian of Negativity gasped at the beauty of the minty blue heart in front of him; a perfect combination of both PATIENCE and KINDNESS. But the odd thing he noticed about Raven's soul was the firebrick red outline that surrounded it. Was this another trait? If so, what kind of trait would be that color? Pushing those inquiries aside, Nightmare looked above him where her STATS were:

❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

RAVEN

LV 1
HP 5/10

AT 1 EXP: 0
DF 10 NEXT: 10

ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS TO SEE HER FRIEND SMILE.

❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎

'What the Hell is up with her STATS?! Why is her HP so low?! Why would she have the need to protect me?'

Is this why Nightmare hasn't seen his attackers lately? Was she stopping them... by offering herself as a punching bag?! Nightmare instinctually pulled Raven closer to him, which he has been finding himself doing more often, and let out an animalistic snarl at the thought of the bastards laying a hand on her; unconsciously letting out a wave of negativity throughout the town. Wails and screaming could be heard in the distance as people experienced their worst nightmares imaginable.

Soft hands made their way to the Guardian's cheek and pulled his snarling mouth into a smile causing Nightmare to look down at Raven in surprise. As soon as the negativity has been released, it disappeared as soon as Raven spoke, "Pwease don't frown Nwighty... I want to see that pwetty smile you always mwake! That's why... I told them to lweave you alone in excwange... for them to tawget me instead..."

"Why would you do that?! What's the point in smiling if you end up dead?! If something like that were to ever happen, I wouldn't know what I would do! So why would you do that for someone like me?! I'm not important like my brother! So why...!" A broken sob escaped his mouth as purple tears streamed down his face. The child gave a small frown as she started to wipe away the skeleton's tears; disappointed in herself that it seems her small sacrifice seemed to have backfired; Raven wanted to make Nightmare happy not sad! She never really thought about how he would feel about it... maybe she was just being selfish?