No matter how much he wanted to, fear prevented Ryan from running away.
His eyes were planted on the thin, white slits that stared at the three with malice, and a mumbling hiss could be heard from the creature. The wide, sharp-toothed smile Ryan managed to oversee through the darkness was unnerving. He didn't wonder why Nightmare Fredbear wanted him to avoid that thing.
It was terrifying.
He knew fear only made the situation worse, but it was absolutely impossible for him to contain it, and Plushtrap and BB were no less terrified. Blue eyes flickered towards the plush bunny when he pressed against Ryan's arm. He had been given a great scare when he was almost reduced to shreds by Nightmare, but the presence of that thing alone was even more frightening. The kid heard him give a low whimper as the tips of his ears lowered fearfully.
None of them broke eye contact with the black creature, and its glare sharpened at that. From the closet, Mangle retreated towards the corner. That thing was absolutely frightening. Her ears fell low as she looked through the shuttered doors; she felt an uncontrollable fear among her when the creature started advancing into the bedroom. She vowed to herself that she would not ever come out again.
Plushtrap whimpered at his friend as they slowly backed away. He wanted him to do something, anything that could get them out of their situation. Ryan would have screamed for help, but he felt voiceless as the slit-shaped pupils pierced into his soul and the menacing hiss invaded the room.
"I-It's alright, g-guys…" Ryan almost whispered, faking a smile full of fear and nervousness. "Nothing's g-going to happen, we- we just have to s-stay together…"
He was silenced when the puppet-like creature's hiss increased for a moment, almost as if telling him to shut up, or else. And indeed, the kid did not hesitate to go quiet immediately with a small flinch. The pupils became even thinner the more eye contact was kept. For some seconds, Ryan could have sworn the creature was looking at him intently, and not focusing so much on the other two – and that was certainly not good. He did not like to be that thing's target; especially because the other two would not be able to protect him, and the increasing fear didn't let him run towards the Nightmares for help.
The white head tilted to the side as the constant hiss lowered, and the slits became slightly rounder. Ryan stared with curious eyes at the creature. It appeared to have calmed down, but it was still wary.
It was looking at him with a sudden curiosity, but not only at him. He briefly glanced at BB; he was in that creature's sight too. It almost seemed confused.
There was something that caught Plushtrap's attention as he stood partially hidden between Ryan and BB. He furtively eyed the creature in front of him. Its teeth were menacing, and, what a surprise, sharper than his, but it had less. However, that was not what exactly brought a bit of happiness among the plushie; it could not close its mouth.
And that meant those teeth were useless, and only served for show.
Plushtrap, by the other hand, could perfectly use his.
His eyes slightly widened when he noticed something that made him the happiest animatronic in the house. Only to put more joy into him, he noticed how the extremely long fingers that thing sported weren't all too sharp. And while they were sharp enough to make Nightmare become a one-eyed monster, they still were pathetic compared to the others' razor sharp claws.
He didn't doubt it. That creature, no matter how large and downright terrifying it was, had less useful weaponry than he did.
He could barely contain the smile, and he could almost see all his fear going away from him. A Nightmare animatronic that couldn't even bite? Plushtrap felt an urge to laugh at that. He was no longer Plushtrap-The-Useless-Small-Non-Nightmare-Animatronic. He always thought that, if something was ever to occupy his spot as the runt of the Nightmare family, it would have to be stupidly small, toothless and clawless, and too sympathetic or curious to even be considered a bit dangerous. But no, turns out the one who was somehow less dangerous than him was a nerve-racking entity that dwarfed him completely.
The sudden happiness caused BB to look at the apparently happy bunny, and Ryan startled when the puppet gave a brief, louder hiss again. It wanted them to give it eye contact; the humanoid did not know that yet, but the kid did. When dealing with an apparently angered Nightmare, eye contact mustn't be broken.
Ryan feared Plushtrap and BB would have to learn that the hard way, but fortunately there was no need to. More startled than anything, they looked up at the waiting black eyes. BB did not understand the meaning of the firm hiss, but Plushtrap did; it meant 'look at me.' That creature would not communicate without proper eye contact.
It was inspecting the three, and there was undoubtedly something about Ryan and BB that caught its attention. Plushtrap was completely minor for it, and it even gave him an unsettling look to make him understand that he wasn't worth its time.
The slit pupils slowly became rounded after the creature realized what it was looking at. Children. The hiss gently became a hushed croon. Ryan started wondering if that thing had a voice, it always seemed to make all too quiet noises. And while he didn't imagine it uttering thunderous roars, he had been expecting louder, creepier noises coming from it, not drowned sounds. Still, those quiet hisses only made it more disturbing. Its appearance was scary enough, but the hushed hisses and croons that accompanied it put the icing on the cake.
But it was much calmer than before and so far showed no murderous intent, and that was all the boy cared about. It took him a moment to realize that it stopped looking mad after it had taken a good look at him and BB. And considering the fact that they were both kids –even though not really in the humanoid's case–, it only led Ryan to think that the puppet creature was affectionate towards children.
Then again, that didn't make sense for him.
It was Nightmare's rival. In other words, something that derived from a bloodthirsty, cruel, ruthless killing machine whose only purpose was to kill an innocent kid. Why would something that was supposed to behave like him be affectionate towards him? He couldn't comprehend it.
Or maybe, the rival thing didn't always work the same way.
BB hadn't shown any urge to stay in the hallway. In fact, he was perfectly fine with not being there and didn't complain when Ryan told him not to go there. Plushtrap spent more time with him than in the corridor, but it was still his favorite place to be. Maybe that creature didn't have any desire to kill unlike Nightmare.
Another thing that Ryan found interesting about that thing was its eyes. The Nightmares were capable of showing millions of things through their eyes; that puppet could show even more so. It clearly could not narrow its eyes, or frown, or make any expressions at all, so it relied on its pupils to show its emotions. If they were slits, it meant it was angry. The rounder they were, the happier or calmer it was. Those eyes truly showed a beaming intelligence. They were so cold and calm, yet calculating, and smart. That thing knew more things that all the Nightmares together did, and understood them.
It tilted its head to the other side as the white pupils became a bit rounder, and a soothing croon surrounded it. BB was confused at what it said. It had told them they were 'nice humans', but he knew he was not an actual human. Was that creature aware of it? BB didn't want to tell it if that was the case, because it didn't really seem fond of anything that was not a human. A kid, to be precise.
"So is it friendly or not?" Ryan whispered quietly, not taking his sight off the patient creature, hoping that either BB or Plushtrap would give him any indication as to whether he could trust it enough to talk to it.
Plushtrap knew he'd have to ask, since the humanoid was unable to, and he was unhappy at that. The hard look it had given him made him want to just walk away. It did not like him much.
He made an attempt to look innocent – which was hard for him, since he was dealing with something less dangerous than him. He wished that thing to have been smaller. He didn't feel right with acting submissive towards something that finally proved itself not to be at his level.
He chittered the question quietly, trying to hide the fear as he stood under that commanding, again slit-shaped white gaze. He'd act respectful, not fearful towards it. It pondered about actually deem answering his question. It didn't seem dangerous, and it was clearly considered a friend by the two kids standing in front of it, so it decided to give a simple answer in the form of a hushed coo.
'Trustworthy.'
It was honest with its words. Plushtrap found that creature totally incapable of lying, even if its life ever depended on it. It was a gentle being, and it acted with human conscience. If it had the regular point of view of any other Nightmare, it would've growled at the question or even snapped because of it, or simply passed from responding. The animatronics weren't fond of simply telling they were trustworthy, or friendly in any way by just saying it. They preferred to show it. But that puppet told Plushtrap as if he was a close friend, even despite he wasn't its favorite.
He gave a reassuring chirp, though the lack of happiness or relief it would normally have confused Ryan. He didn't act so respectfully towards the others, but he seemed to be doing so with that one.
And he was, indeed. That puppet was extremely intelligent. It knew more things that he did, and he was not going to fight against that. It was disappointing how he had to act like that around it, but it was the luck he had. He had always been the unfitting one; it couldn't change just like that.
The calm, white eyes looked at the closet. That thing was fully aware there was a terrified animatronic, and it was not content with that. While it didn't appreciate anything that wasn't cheerful children around it, it wouldn't leave an innocent creature fearing for its life. It knew it was afraid of it, and the skeletal puppet wouldn't question it. It knew how disturbing it was, and it still couldn't understand how Ryan and BB hadn't run away from it. Children would normally run away if they encountered such a demonic thing.
Mangle tensed when she felt the piercing eyes fixed on her. Now she was panicking; she felt her limbs trembling as if she was alone in the middle of a freezing, winter gale. And worst of all, the firefly wasn't there to protect her. She was alone, and a nightmare-inducing monster was staring at her likely about to attack. She just hoped it didn't know how to open doors, or that the human wouldn't help it with that. Considering how cruel they were, that was probably what was going to happen.
She couldn't help uttering a fearful, raspy garble.
Her only chance was faking being hostile. With some luck, that creature would walk away.
Nightmare Chica gave Nightmare Bonnie a sharp sideways glance with an annoyed grumble. The rabbit would not believe she actually fought against Nightmare and lived to tell the tale, and what truly bothered her was the fact that he wouldn't stop mocking her of being a liar. She was jealous of him being stronger, it was all he said. Nightmare Chica was really struggling against the urge to leave him earless that time.
Nightmare Freddy merely rolled his eyes. He wouldn't even try anymore, those two were like toddlers. Not everything is learnt through mistakes, but the bickering animatronics needed more than one mistake to realize their wrongdoings. Both of them wanted to be right.
Their constant arguments, strangely, did not seem to annoy Nightmare Foxy, for he was way too lost in thought to pay them any attention. Why was that other fox so similar to him? And why did he become angry? It was a jigsaw as messed as that thing's body; unsolvable. He would snap if an answer didn't reach out to him, and Nightmare Fredbear was aware of it. While he knew it was good for him to think the problems out, he couldn't just wait for him to go berserk for overthinking it. He kept wary eyes on the fox. If he gave any signs of irritation, he would immediately order him to take his mangled version out of his head.
The firefly had fluttered out of the bedroom, and wandered through the lifeless hall. The soft, green-yellow glow that highlighted among the darkness made the corridor seem enchanted. Nightmare Bonnie had been the first to notice the faint glimmer, and gave a delighted rumble. The mysterious light was back! He had missed it; when he first saw it, time seemed to have stopped ticking. For him and the other Nightmares, there was nothing more beautiful than the little bug.
He told the others through a soft growl.
'Small light back.'
The three Nightmares looked toward the darkened doorway, seeing the poor light outside. Nightmare Chica made a pleased chirr. She could stare at the firefly forever.
It didn't take the fluttering bug too much time to enter the salon carelessly. It was followed by glowing eyes as it slowly fled around the ceiling, greeting the Nightmares with an enchanting light. The quiet rumbles soon became deep, low purrs as their eyes widened while staring at the soft, graceful light.
Nightmare Foxy let out a low, shivering growl.
'Small light more important than enemy.'
He heard the agreeing noises at that. For him, such beauty was more worthy of his time than some stranger. He started to wonder why he paid so much attention; it was useless, that thing would probably remain hidden in-
The closet…
Tattered ears moved up as the golden gaze became bitter. The firefly made him question and temporally forget everything, but he soon realized that something that dared to stay on his hiding place couldn't be forgiven. If that thing acted like him, then that'd meant she would be in the closet, and as fearful as it was, would not leave. Definitely unforgivable. Nightmare Foxy had been roaming around that house for longer than Mangle was. The closet was his, and no one was allowed to go in there. It was his place to be alone, lost in thought. He wouldn't let some stranger claim it. Not without a fight.
He growled louder.
'But enemy in closet. Closet mine. Closet not anyone else.'
He looked at the doorway; he was thinking of paying that thing a surprise, but of course, there was the downside. Ryan was there, and the fox didn't want to scare him with a fight. But he needed to show that impostor who was the one who had authority.
'No. Kid near closet. Kid not to be scared. Useless.'
Nightmare Chica's chitters briefly stopped him.
'You watch small light. Small light calms down, small light is good, white you is not important.'
She was right in a way. Golden eyes rolled. Nightmare Foxy never threw away a chance to fight, but it was true that starting a brawl that he'd likely win while he could just stare at a piece of magic was pointless.
Nightmare Fredbear had listened thoroughly. If it was true that the firefly could keep them away from conflicts, then he was sure he'd need that little hope-bringer around all the time.
A/N
Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, my keyboard completely screwed up and we had to buy a new one. Sheesh T-T
The hazel-eyed bookworm – sí, hablo españolo X)
icygem522 – that little story actually has me caught up! You're doing a good job at it ;)
Rock Raider/Rubixcube98 – no worries, everything's going as planned. This is a very long story, and what I'm working with now will not seem so long after it's completed. It might be because of the shortness of the chapters. I'm really not someone who likes posting really long chapters.
MidnightMorpher – he's more towards the polite-but-distant type. I don't really like Undertale, so I probably won't make stories about it.
Plushtrapisboss - Fredbear, Nightmare, BB and Plushtrap are the only ones capable of speech, yes.
SawgTrap – ye, sorry about that X( Broken keyboard is broken.