Nuttopia

I can finally write some more! [NB for last post, this forum does not like the word c-r-a-c-k. Go figure]

====8<====

(WDG-1S)

The crying was done with, and he'd eaten slightly more than his fill. It was hard to remember that Toriel was not Him, and would not withhold food to see what happened next. With her around, there had never been a moment of hunger. And now, with a slightly unpleasant feeling just under his ribs, One would have much rather cuddled up in the pillow pile and slept it off.

No such luck. She insisted on going for another walk into the chamber of flowers.

Walking so far exhausted him. What he wouldn't give for a short cut. An easier way to get around.

Toriel stopped for rests, often. Let him get his breath back before they journeyed onwards. And maybe that was why...

He wanted to blame himself. Everything bad that had happened with Him seemed to happen because of something One had done. Blaming himself came as a reflex. If he hadn't made Toriel cry. If he had just tried to go back to sleep. If he had woken Two and let him help. If he had kept the function of the handplate to himself...

Then maybe...

(Toriel)

They met the human in the room with the long hallway and the single column. She was already dusty from murders. She wore some kind of fancy skirt that stuck out sideways and carried... a pair of shoes? She used them as a weapon. Swung them around.

"Fear not, my child," she began, but got no further. This child wanted to fight. And they were aiming at Little Brother. _NO!_ It barely took a thought. She dived between the human and the smaller skeleton. Shielding him from harm with her own body. "Run! Run and hide!" she urged. The skeletons fled.

Toriel blocked the human's way. All she had to do was stay in her way long enough and then flee. With luck, this child might not find her again. And Toriel had pockets loaded with treats. She could heal herself if necessary. But if this little girl found Little Brother again...

She used her showiest attacks, intending to frighten rather than harm. And it worked. After a long and arduous battle, the child fled. Toriel let her go, gave herself just long enough to recover her breath and then... went searching for the skeleton brothers. She dared not call out, very loud. Not at first. More time was needed to give the murderous child space.

She found their arms in a nook behind the column. Their right forearms. A misdirection that might have worked on their former tormentor. Toriel channeled her healing energy into the arms, knowing they would feel it. _ I am alive, dear ones. Have courage._ They could not hear her thoughts, but they would know she was still able to help them. She held their arms close to her heart and willed all of her protective magic at them.

And then she searched. Every room. The candy room. Wept at the rooms drifting with dust. Searched down every hole, in every linking corridor between hidden places.

She could feel the murderous child hammering at the door between the ruins and the rest of the underground. Toriel debated whether to let her through.

If the human child went on, she would kill more monsters. And Asgore would surely end her if nobody else did. If she remained... she would backtrack. Hunt down any living monster that had managed to avoid her. Two lives that were so very precious to her versus the whole of the underground. The life of a human child... who may not know any better.

Toriel increased her pace, not knowing what to do. Her imagination was quick to supply horrors. Both arms in her grasp, crumbling and turning into dust. One arm at a time doing the same. And worst of all, only one arm crumbling in her hands. And her, helpless to stop it.

She let the first door open. Felt the child slip through. Closed it again. Now the little murderess was trapped between two doors. Everyone was, however temporarily, safe.

But she could not find the brothers. She knew they were alive, yes, but she could not find them. They could be trapped. If they were hurt, they would not be hurt for long. What if they were allergic to something? Would healing magic work against allergies? What if they'd caught a sickness? What if some other creature of the underground was menacing them? What if they'd become lost?

Now her imagination pictured them somewhere dark and cold, lost and alone, separated in their flight. And each of them falling ill.

It was no surprise that she was nearly in a blind panic by the time she reached her little home. The fire had gone out. Half the food was missing. The cushion nest that Little Brother preferred to lounge in was knocked askew. She knew the murdering child could not reach them, at least. Only now did she dare call for them. "Little Brother! Big Brother! Where are you?"

"Miss Toriel Ma'am," came a distant voice. Big Brother! "Is it safe?"

"Keep calling," shouted Toriel. "I am coming for you. Is Little Brother with you?"

"Yes, Miss Toriel Ma'am. We hid good! And we stayed hid no matter what that creature did. What was that creature, Miss Toriel Ma'am?"

They were in her bedroom! Of all the sights that made her soul feel its best, it was the sight of four little glowing eyes staring up at her from under that bed. "It is safe, my children. It is safe..." She all but fell to the floor, arms open wide and hands offering the brothers their arms back. "The bad one is... contained... for now."

They emerged at last. Big Brother went straight for a hug, and Little Brother hung back as he reattached his arm. "...uh... why's there red comin' outta you?"

She hadn't even realised she'd been injured. "Oh dear. That child must have hurt me..."

Big Brother lit up like a city, healing magic flooding his body so hard that it flared out of him like a bonfire. The sheer power of it made Toriel gasp. He healed her in less than a minute and would not relax his power until she said, "Enough. Enough. I am well. All is well. We are all fine, are we not?" She felt her grip on the Greater Underground door slip, just for a moment, and the human child slid through.

_I am sorry. I am so, so sorry..._

(WDG-2P)

Two let himself relax against Miss Toriel Ma'am. Safe. Well. They were good words. Warm words. Happy words. Healing made him feel sleepy and weak. And out of breath. "We are," he panted. "Thank you, Miss Toriel Ma'am."

And then, a small miracle. One slunk into her lap (another warm and happy word) and murmured, "...i don't mind bein' called sans no more." He must have caught Two's expression because he added, "...yeah, bro... you can be papyrus if you like, too."

Papyrus had been waiting for a chance to say it. "My brother, Sans," he cheered. "You are amazing!"

He laughed. "...maybe... i'm kind'a glad all that healing stopped, though... your magic gets toasty after a while, Toriel."

She squeezed them against her and laid her lips against each of their skulls with a little squeaky noise. "I am so glad that you are well. I am so glad that you are safe."

He had so many questions that they couldn't come out. Papyrus didn't know which one to ask first. Why couldn't she heal herself? What was that bad creature? Where did all the dust come from? Why had the bad creature made red come out of Miss Toriel Ma'am? Why was it called a child? And what did Miss Toriel mean by 'contained for now'?

Questions for another day. Hugs and healing were too important.

====8<====

More whenever I can.