A wary golden eye wandered across the obscure bedroom.

The firefly had fluttered out of the closet, and was hovering around the single light on the ceiling, bumping against it from time to time. Mangle had been deeply concerned about that; she wanted the firefly close to her, and she wasn't willing to wait for it to go back to her side. She'd have to reunite with it herself, and that was what bothered her.

That colorful, sharp-toothed human was gone, and the room was completely empty, but the white fox couldn't stop thinking someone was watching her every move. She had heard the angered roars, but now it was all quiet. Everything was calm, and Mangle started to feel more secure about going out. She didn't spot any danger nearby, and her ears searched for any menacing noise; they caught nothing.

She didn't like to leave her one and only hiding spot, but she preferred to take the risk of exposing herself to danger and having her little angel around her rather than being left alone in the dark, waiting for possibly an eternity until the fluttering bug came back into the closet.

Her attentive eyes scanned the place all the time as she slowly made her way out of the closet with quiet metallic noises. The second head was the first to look up at the floating light before Mangle tilted her head at it. She was somewhat mad at it, since it had exposed them both to a possible attack. Mangle didn't know if she would be fast enough to hide again if something came, so she remained near the shuttered doors as a measure of protection.

Her attached eye flickered towards the right door just in case before its attention was all focused on the small bug. She just couldn't understand why it was so unworried. Did it even know that house was full of demons? Mangle wanted to tell it, but that little thing showed no indications of being able to speak, and it wasn't like the fox was clear in speech either. Her voicebox was too ruined to let her express herself properly, and all she could take out with it was a shrill garble that at least made those monsters back away. She wasn't happy with that, though. She wanted to communicate.

The firefly slowly fled down, briefly bumping against the lamp sitting on the nightstand before fluttering around the bed. Mangle's eyes never left it. The light was so entrancing, she could just look at it for ages and never get tired of it.

The firefly was a beautiful creature indeed.

"What?"

There was such exasperation in Ryan's voice that Nightmare Fredbear almost frowned. The kid didn't take the presence of another animatronic too well, he had too many things to work on. He had to make sure Plushtrap and BB got along well, solve the rivalry problem between Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Chica, calm down the two agitated foxes… He just could not focus on so many things.

The puppet-like being hadn't paid the bear much attention, and had melted into the shadows without saying anything. Nightmare Fredbear had seen an intelligence in those colorless eyes that he hadn't seen on anyone else, and it put him in awe. All the Nightmares were capable of thinking and had an intelligence they didn't know how to use yet, but that creature was fully aware of its knowledge. It was calm, calculating. He didn't think it was possible for a Nightmare to be like that – the skeletal puppet hadn't showed any other emotion. As soon as Nightmare left, the anger dissipated, and that sapient look had flooded its eyes as it stood calm, just as if the brief conflict had never taken place.

That thing was fully aware of what it was, what it knew, and what it was supposed to do. It didn't look hostile, but Nightmare Fredbear was unable to tell much about it.

"That one is different." he said calmly, trying to appease Ryan's irritation. He wouldn't judge him for it, he would've been angry too if he knew he had to solve so many things at a time. "It seems to know what it is, and is fully aware of its purpose and what surrounds it."

Intrigued blue eyes looked at him. "What do you mean? Aren't they all like that?"

"No."

The boy frowned at the answer. Didn't the Nightmares know what they truly were, and what was around them?

"They are still learning. Their purposes have changed since you showed them kindness, and now they are unsure about their new goals. They are still going through new emotions, and as you may have seen, they are unable to control them well." Ryan briefly nodded; the Nightmares didn't know how to react in front of new emotions, no matter if they feel them themselves or they sense them around the others. Confusion angered them, sadness was strange, fear was unexplainable. They hadn't learned how to react to the many emotions they had stored but hidden within them. "That creature is different in that way. It seems to know what emotions it's supposed to feel, and how to control them. There is something special about it."

The kid entered in thought. He was fully aware of how intelligent the Nightmares truly were, but so far they hadn't been using their ability to think twice when they should have. Ryan had been the one who influenced Plushtrap to think a little about what he was doing, and he almost managed to do it with the rest. Nightmare Chica and Nightmare Foxy had pondered about what was going on a few times already.

But they had to be taught how to, be it with words or with examples. There was one of them who apparently learnt it by itself; Ryan didn't know what that meant, but he didn't like it too much. That thing was made to behave like Nightmare, and the kid doubted it would be gentle. All the new Nightmares so far acted like their companions: Nightmare Foxy had a short temper, Mangle as well, even though she wouldn't lash out as someone unless under very specific circumstances; Plushtrap and BB both were curious and playful. Nightmare Fredbear had seen with his own eyes how that puppet-like thing didn't show any signs of being hostile, but Ryan wouldn't let the guard down. Something based upon Nightmare couldn't lead to anything good.

"Maybe it's hiding something…" he muttered thoughtfully. "What if it doesn't want you to know how dangerous it might be?" That was something to reflect on. It was intelligent; it could easily hide its true personality, luring everyone into a false sense of security. Nightmare was unable to do that since everyone knew he wasn't reliable, but no one knew anything about the skeletal puppet's intentions. It would be easy for it to fake being a careless being who just wanders around, while it's actually as merciless as Nightmare.

"You could be right." Nightmare Fredbear finally said. "We never know when it will show up. Be cautious if you ever see it."

"Trust me, I will." Ryan almost deadpanned. He wasn't eager to stumble upon it, that was for sure.

The golden bear translated the message to the Nightmares in the form of a calm, yet stern growl. Nightmare Chica snorted; she had been told what the newcomer looked like, and she was unimpressed. Few things could cause any kind of fear or nervousness gather around her anymore. She had fought against Nightmare, and something that couldn't even bite wouldn't scare her.

She chirred her feat to herself, and Nightmare Bonnie gave her a scowl when he heard it, followed by a dour huff. She fought against Nightmare? He'd believe that when pigs fled. He had won their first, show off fight, and he was well aware that the shadowy bear was thousands of times stronger than him. There was just no way the chicken had even dared to go against that monstrosity.

She uttered a low, short caw when she heard the mocking huff. She knew he wasn't going to believe it anyways, but it bothered her to be indirectly called a liar. She merely rolled her eyes; she had no time to deal with him.

Mangle's ears moved up. She heard footsteps, and they were coming towards the bedroom. She hated to hide without her companion, but she had to. Someone was coming and she did not want to be there to greet them. She, somewhat regretfully, went back into the closet as Ryan, a still slightly trembling Plushtrap and BB came back into the bedroom. The kid was frustrated, he hadn't managed to do much about the rivalry, and all because the new creature's presence caused a wave of thoughts to wander around the Nightmares. When they were pondering about something, it was better to let them think. They didn't like interruptions.

"This is just great," the boy said dryly. "Now I have a who-knows-what that I also have to take care of." He sat on the bed and looked at the fluttering bug; the light of the firefly calmed him down, but he was still irritated.

BB remembered he had to ask him what the strange red things on the weird box were, and why that plush looked so happy and harmless. The curiosity had won the fight against the patience, he knew Ryan wasn't in the mood to talk, but he just couldn't help it.

Before he could, though, Plushtrap froze with a brief, alarmed chirp. The humanoid was forced to look at the right door where the plushie was so intently staring at, and red eyes widened at the glimpse of two glowing dots just outside.

The firefly fluttered past Ryan when he noticed the surprised, almost scared looks of the two animatronics in front of him, and he felt small fear gather around him. What their eyes showed was more than enough to let the kid know that whatever was out there wasn't anything good. "What are you looking at?" he asked lowly, walking towards them trying not to make any noise.

He also froze on the spot when the round, white dots became slit-shaped.

A/N

This has been hard to write, and I apologize for it being short. My keyboard's been messing up lately.

FanficLovingPerson – I am indeed ^^

Anon – yes, I know that. The shadow around him is basically a part of his body, and so can be considered as physical.

MidnightMorpher – it wasn't me deciding that logic, though/thanks for reminding me. In Spanish, the phrase literally translates as "water clear", so I always get it mixed up.

Guest – I've decided that they won't.

icygem522 – your idea is interesting, though I should probably see a bit more of it.