Hi guys,
Asgore is yet to appear but I thought a bit of bonding time was needed between Verra and Sans no?
This chapter came out pretty quick since I had a lot of inspiration, but I'm sorry if it's not very good since I had a lack of ideas when it came to getting the pair to interact.
Anyway, thank you for reading my stories and I hope to see more of you guys in the future! Also, feel free to drop by a review or comment to maybe bring in your own original characters into the story and think of some scenes that I'll bring into the story!
~AcidDeath332
Weeks passed silently, Toriel… hadn't visited, but Verrater presumed that it was because she was busy, as she had not been a part of the royal's life for many years. Humming a joyful tone of a song she had learnt throughout the ages, her body kneeled next to the bundle of orange buttercups, stroking the petals gently whilst she worked around them, pulling and tugging at weeds that would tarnish the beautiful floral life.
After pulling out a deep daffodil she squeaked in surprise at the feeling of fabric. Gentle about the surrounding flowers, she dug up the piece of fabric that caught her attention, breathing and movement stilling in an instant. In her hands was a familiar, forest green scarf which was slightly torn and very dirty.
Blinking, an image shot to the forefront of her mind near instantly. The skeletal image, akin to that of a canine or dragon, was standing with sharp talon baring hands resting on the hip-bone atop the long robe like trousers that rested on them, a brown and dark green robe similar to that of a mage's as a shirt with the long, forest green scarf floating comically in the wind, wings tight against the back and tail swaying in the air. The skull tilted back enough to see the eye socket as amber pinpricks warmly glanced in her direction with a much larger grin on the ever existent grin.
Opening her eyes, a warm smile graced her visage whilst she brushed off the dirt on the scarf as much as she could before wrapping it around her neck loosely. The scent of dirt was overpoweringly strong, but beneath it was the phantom scent of her brother, the scent of rosemary and pine lulling her into a calm state.
Filling the hole with the soil that was left out, her hand reached out and cupped one of the amber flowers before gently bopping it with her forehead. "Thank you… may you rest in peace forever more, my brother." Murmuring with deep gratitude and happiness, she stood and looked over the colourful plains. At first sight, it was a simple field of buttercups, but she could see each differentiating shade where different monsters laid at rest. The odd patches of blue, green, purple, pink, red, and so on were the ones she tended to notice the most, but each flower different from one another.
Tending to the flowers until nightfall, her head lifted to the side at the sound of footsteps coming in her direction. They were on the lighter side and very frantic. Perking up instantly, her body stiffened in alarm when a young monster burst through the trees. They were reptilian, or she thought so at least, they resembled a raptor almost, but they had longer, sleeker arms and body with glittering orange scales.
Alarm was set in her veins when she noticed the small cuts and bruises on the child. Standing instantly, she ran in the direction of the child, noting its terrified expression before slowing down and bending to the height of the child. "It's okay, it's okay! I won't hurt you." Attempting to calm the child, she rested a hand on their shoulder as they quivered. When their quivering lessened when they looked into her eyes, she smiled softly. "Now, tell me what happened." She spoke softly.
Just as the tiny child moved to speak, the rustling of bushes cut the little guy off as he squeaked and ran directly into her, clinging tightly whilst she protectively curled her arm around the small body. Almost as if on cue, four young adult humans burst through the greenery, tripping and stumbling across the bed of flowers she spent her weeks tending to. In their hands were weapons, a rounded stick of sorts with a handle, a knife, and some things of a similar calibre.
"Where did that little brat go?!" What was presumed as the leader cried out, searching across the field frantically before landing on the pair of them and smirking in what she assumed was victory. "Aha! Found you, you little bastard." He growled out, but Verrater stood and caught the attention of the stupid human male. He faltered slightly before smirking once more, walking up to them confidently.
"Hey, what's a beautiful girl like you doing defending one of those beasts? Come on, let us have him and I'll give you a… reward." The very prospect of the 'reward' sent shivers down her spine whilst she frowned before her lips parted in a manic grin, showing off the jagged teeth she owned whilst her wings spread open, one of the wings appearing as if half was cut off, due to the part that fall off turning to dust before she could salvage it. Tilting her head, a small manic giggle passed through her teeth, which opened to view a glowing amber forked-tongue.
"Hehe… did you really think I was a… pathetic little human? Hehehe, oh how wrong you are!" Her voice was high pitched and it made each of the humans pale considerably at the sight of her. But she didn't stop there.
"H-Hah! If a monster was found attacking humans you would all be thrown back underground again! Now hand the brat over!" Stumbling over his own words, she let out a small purr whilst chuckling deeply. The injury around her neck had healed to a large, healthy scab. Feeling the strain of her skin, her body grew and morphed, the sickening cracks and drips of oozing black stuff from her eye sockets, matched with the insane eyelight, had the human men quivering in their own skin.
Snapping her jaws open, a hollow, broken cackle burst through the void of her jaws, the thick sludge dripping from her teeth whilst she spread her arms out wide, talons gleaming in the moonlight unnervingly whilst they angled down at the men, standing to her full height and leaning over the men. Their breathing seemed to have almost ceased entirely, skin pale as a corpse and sweat glistening across each and every brow.
Their fear was nearly tangible to her, her senses tingling as her semi-parted jaw stretched into a wide, open grin. The thuds of weapons hitting the grass and ground ringing in her ears. Inhaling with a dark, echoing rattle she cocked her head and spoke in her demonic, warbled voice. "NoW wHO SaID I waS a mOnSTeR?" As soon as those words left her teeth, they began stumbling backwards, trembling terribly.
With a single step forward, they scattered, screaming at an incredibly high pitched voices, only the leader remaining due to a skeletal hand wrapped around the front of his clothes. Leaning in towards him, brushing her jaw against his ear, her voice echoed out of the void between her jaws to reach his ear eerily.
"If you ever, attempt to hurt, or even look at a person the wrong way again, be it monster, human, alien or whatever, I will personally track you down and… heh, I'm sure you can imagine what is in store next. And that is a promise." She pulled her skull away with a dark look, the terrible scent of faeces and urine greeting her nose. He nodded his head frantically, whimpering and scratching at her wrist. "YoU UndERsTand YoU'vE mAde a Deal with the DEVIL RiGht? BrEAk It aND yOu'LL FaCE the ConSeQuENCes." With that final warning, she released the man who went scrambling and tripping over his own feet.
Shrinking to her usual form, her head turned towards the small monster child, only to find that it was no longer there. Sighing, downtrodden, she moved back to her flowers, grabbing an empty bucket she had once found and walking down a forest trail in pure silence. Upon reaching the river, the tension in her body had faded as she bent down and scooped up the clear water. The clear liquid sloshed roughly as she stood up, spilling on the ground slightly.
Setting it aside, she unravelled the scarf resting around her neck and dipped it into the clear liquid, gently rubbing the ancient fabric to rid it of the dirt. The icy fingers of the water brushed across her hand and wrist as it began to cloud a dark brown colour. It had taken several minutes before the scarf resembled its former coloured glory. As much as it could anyway, due to its old age, it was faded in colour and rough to the touch, but she treasured it either way.
Slinging the sodden fabric over her shoulder with tender care, she stood, gripping the bucket, and made her way back to her secret little garden, hidden in dense forestry yet residing a short distance from the entrance to the underground. Upon stepping through the dense vegetation to the place she was bound to, she immediately walked through the pathway that the flowers left, narrow but useful, and then came to a stop next to the willow tree that she decided to use as her home for the time being.
Reaching for the scarf, she hung it on a branch open to the moonlight, allowing it to dry once the sun ascends. Setting the bucket aside for the morn, she hoisted herself up into the cradle of branches before settling down in the small dip, letting her head rest back on an overlapping branch as a pillow. Tiny flashing lights lit up the surrounding area, floating in and out of existence, some giving off the buzz of an insect, some merely the hum of magic.
Sighing in a relaxed manner, she allowed her eyes to drift closed, letting darkness engulf her vision as her consciousness faded to the chirp of crickets and the cries of the woodland creatures in the dark of night.
Prod.
Groaning uncomfortably, she absently swatted at the touch, but just slapped the air with a sleep induced haze. The distant sloshing of water caught her ears. A shriek passed through her lips as icy cold water dripped from her form, breaths ragged and her soul pulsing fiercely in fright whilst her entire body sprung from the cradle, colliding onto the floor.
Groaning irritably, the deep chuckles that resonated from a short distance away irritating her ears whilst she growled lowly, peering her eyes open with irritation making them flare up in a bright amber hue. Shifting to a standing position, she grumbled beneath the breath and rung her dripping hair before turning to face the culprit.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice as she turned to a certain skeleton. He stood there with an easy grin on his skull with hands loosely resting in the pockets of the thick, puffy hoodie that gave his form a more chubby appearance.
"Nothin' just caught wind of a little kid running home crying after seeing a 'demon'." The inquired threat behind his easy tone, easily sent shivers down her spine before anger clouded her mind briefly. Sighing irritably, she reached up towards the forest green scarf of her past and circled it around her neck loosely. Picking up the empty bucket, her feet followed the thin forest trail to the river whilst the skeleton followed closely, eyelights never leaving her form.
"What would you rather have? A kid seeing me, or a kid dead because I didn't step in to stop three human men from beating the poor little guy." Snorting in discomfort at the confrontation, she bent down and filled the bucket whilst the skeleton simply hummed, walking behind her as she began her way back to her little sanctuary.
Silence filled the atmosphere even as she walked across the fields, watering the flowers before setting the bucket down and moving towards the orange flowers that she found to be the most prized of all of them, the most sacred. Crouching next to the… resting place of her brother, she began to care for the flowers, ridding of the dead and debris, of the weeds, ensuring they remained undamaged.
"You seem to really love those flowers. Kinda feel sorry for the rest of them." The deep baritone of Sans irked her. "Would be a shame if somethin' happened to 'em." The threat rung loudly in her ears as she froze, standing up and turning to glare up at the tall skeleton. He appeared short at first sight, but he was easily in the six foot range, 6"5, 6"4, somewhere along those heights.
"Touch a single petal on those flowers and you will regret it." Snarling, she snapped back to tending for the flowers, but the skeleton just didn't know when to quit.
"What? You'll dust me, like you did those other monsters? Well tough luck doll, I aint goin' nowhere." The threats and growls of the skeleton just made her sigh as she stood, placed a hand on his sternum and pushed him back so he didn't crush any of the flowers in the area, as he previously was.
"No. I wouldn't ever want Papyrus to feel that grief. Ever." Softly spoken, she turned away and began tending to the other flowers whilst silence seemed to engulf the area, uncertainty evident in the skeletons aura and expressions.
"…what do you mean?" Quiet and solemn, Sans spoke.
"You see those orange flowers?" She pointed over to them, watching Sans closely and only continuing to speak after he had somewhat subtly nodded. "That… They… They're the grave of m-my… my brother." A knot formed in her throat tightly, but she swallowed past it and pushed away the tears that dared to try and surface. "H-He was exactly, EXACTLY, like Papyrus. Innocent, playful, energetic… the best big brother I could have asked for. I loved him with all of my heart, more so than anyone else, he was very dear to me." Speaking softly she looked up at Sans, his expression unreadable to her before she took in a shaky breath and continued. "T-Then the war came around, he was put on the front lines. Don't get me wrong, he was very strong, I was put in to fight by his side." She took a few deep breaths.
Gripping the scarf around her neck tightly she just stood silently for a few moments. "I'm not sure how it happened, it was all too fast, but one moment a mage sent an attack to me, the next… my brother turned to dust right in front of my eyes. There was anger… so my anger, fear, betrayal, but it all went dark after that. In his last moments, he made me promise him something, the next time I woke up… everyone around me was dead. My parents… my brother… my friends, new and old. They were all gone. Either dead, or turned their back on me." There was no hatred or anger in her voice, only hurt.
"So, I accepted my fate, I let Asgore brand me and seal me away so I couldn't lose control and hurt anyone again. It still haunts me to this day, these talons are forever tainted by their blood and dust." Lifting her hand to glint the black weapons in the light, tears shining in her eyes as she turned to Sans, who was watching with black sockets and the grin diminished completely to be a completely straight line.
"All these flowers. They are the remains of the monsters, humans and mages alike that I had killed. I will preserve the life they created in their wake, I will preserve their graves. It's the only thing I can do…" Whispering the final part, she wiped her eyes and became more stoic, tending to the flowers kindly and completely ignoring the skeleton. "Why am I even telling you this? I barely know you and you probably don't care." Grumbling at her stupidity of opening up so easily, her tail lashed against the ground in frustration.
Stiffening at the feel of some sort of touch at the scarred tissue around the lost part of her wing. "It didn't grow back?" The concern resonating in his voice calmed her slightly as she turned and stretched the remainder of the wing out and inspecting it before shaking her head.
"It turned to dust before I could reattach it when I returned to the cave where I left it. It doesn't matter, I'm flightless either way." Speaking in an emotionless manner, the touch left her as she took notice of the phalanges sifting through the very thin leather as it formed to black mist and reformed weakly.
"I'm sorry…" Sans spoke up, but she didn't turn, merely folding her wings and standing up before walking to another section of flowers and tending to them. Slight rustles sounded out as the large skeleton kneeled down, doing his best not to crush the flowers and wordlessly attempting to care for the flowers.
"What are you doing?" The gentle murmur escaped her before she could stop herself.
"Thought you could a hand, everyone needs a buddy every once in a while, am I right?"
A gentle smile graced her features as she chuckled slightly, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes.
"No, you're left."