I feel like the last few chapters have been just a tad bit too short. I really don't want to change my plan, though, so is everyone okay with continuing as it has been? I try to write at least seven pages, but recently I've been lucky to get past five. Any tips would be appreciated.

Other than that, hope you enjoy and tell me what you think!

WOO-HOO!

This could very well be considered the best day of Template's life! He's been having a lot of those recently and it was honestly getting a bit unnerving. It was turning out to be the best week of his life.

It…

It was just the best feeling in the world. Like, sure, they didn't get an entire kingdom of allies. Yeah, if they had heard of this place sooner, maybe then they could have a bigger advantage. However, no one could predict this would've happened. No one could predict that the kingdom would be destroyed.

(If you asked Template, he would say that he was probably missing something, but…)

It happened.

However, they did find a new friend.

And, in his opinion, that was just as good, if not better.

Could that just be the years of loneliness talking? Maybe. He did feel the exact same way when Nightmare first saw through all his talk of heroism. Usually, people either completely ignored it, laughed at him or ridiculed him for it.

Nightmare…didn't.

It was a relief.

He—

Template yelped as he tripped over a rock, falling on his face. It was silent for a few seconds before he groaned slightly, rolled over, and began to quietly laugh at himself.

He should've watched where he was going.

He sighed after a while and stared at the sky. A calm feeling settled over him as he watched the cloudless sky. It was a pretty blue colour, too, that almost seemed to draw him in. He inhaled and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Then, he shot them open again and got to his feet. "Well! I should probably head back."

It didn't take him long to get back to the castle. He hadn't run far in the first place. Along the way, he admits he did get distracted by a bird—only once, though! Okay…twice. He couldn't help it. They were pretty birds, okay?!

Anyways, before he announced his presence to his friends, he paused and looked closely.

They were talking too quietly for him to hear, but something about their poses made him pause. Nightmare was talking about something, using lots of hand gestures. He had a wide smile on his face. Template was honestly a bit shocked. This was the happiest he had ever seen Nightmare and he might even be a tad bit jealous.

Cross, on the other hand, was listening to Nightmare intently, with a smile on his face as well. He nodded along every now and then, adding few comments, but when he did it seemed to encourage Nightmare to continue. And there was…wait, no. Template had to be seeing things. Well, maybe…

He took his glasses off and cleaned them and looked again.

Yep, he was right the first time.

Cross was…blushing. Just a little bit. He probably doesn't even realize he's doing it.

Huh.

Weird.

Template shrugged and walked up to the two, who looked up at his arrival. That was something he'd have to think about later. "Heya! Sorry for running off," he directed this to Cross, "I was just excited."

Cross blinked and laughed softly, which made Nightmare smile, which then made Template narrow his eyes for a second. "It's fine. I'm used to it." Cross's smile dampened a bit.

Template blinked, tilting his head. "Oh?"

Before Cross could answer, not that it looked like he would, though, Nightmare interrupted. "Anyways, now that we've done what we needed to do," he paused, "and picked up another member," he shoots a little smile to Cross, who smiled back, relaxing. "we need to discuss what we do next."

Everyone was silent for a few seconds.

Template hummed, an idea entering his mind. "Well, we haven't been at the base for a while. We could check in with them?"

Nightmare blinked, thought it over, and smiled. "Sure." He sent Template a look. "If you could open a portal, this time though, Please?"

Template blushed slightly. It wasn't his fault that he kept forgetting about his portals! Nevertheless, he flicked his pen and created a portal and the group headed through.

Core paused in the middle of their walk.

They liked going on walks. Something about existing in the middle of the trees, the animals and everything in between calmed them. And the calmness was exactly what they needed after this month, with Ink moving into the Omega Woods.

Ink was a dear friend of theirs. The two had met years ago, before he came into the picture. They still had missed feelings about the Destroyer, even after all this time.

That wasn't the point, though.

In order for the Omega Woods to be populated, to pretty much be the way they are, Core had developed a special ability. They could feel when someone lost something important. Which usually meant someone was in need of a home, with others like them. Which is what the woods are for in the first place.

They didn't feel like this constantly. In fact, at most, it only happened at least once a month. Usually, when they felt like this, they would drop everything and go to the origin of it. However, this time gave them pause.

It felt…delayed.

Weird.

They should probably check it out anyway. They frowned and teleported.

Core arrived in the middle of a kingdom, right in the castle, which was filled with dust. This gave them pause, though they didn't feel anything. It happened. It was natural. Why would they feel something? Yet…there was no one around. They looked around, but there was still no living person around.

They frowned further.

That was weird. Maybe the feeling was delayed because no one survived? Though, usually, they never got a feeling in the first place if there was no one alive to give them the feeling. Maybe the survivor here just had someone they could go.

That happened. It was rare, yes, but it happened.

Core nodded to themself. That was probably it.

With that, they shrugged and teleported back to the Omega Woods. They had a walk to finish, after all.

Pale stared up at the ruined castle in front of him.

They had arrived here a little more than an hour ago. A record for a group of their size, but then again, they had sent a few people to escort Razz and the other survivors of Kingdom Swapfell to Empire Sun. That had given them lesser people to worry about.

Once they arrived here, he had called the order to spread out and check for survivors. It was rather unlucky that this place was destroyed before they could get here.

So far, Pale didn't think there were any survivors, based on what he saw. There was too much blood, too much dust. Too much death that suggested anyone survived. He didn't have high hopes that his men would find anything.

He sighed and entered the castle, looking around.

Still no sign of anyone.

Pale inhaled slowly. He had sent word to Dream that they had heard of a kingdom that would be a good asset to their empire. Dream would be expecting them to return with an ally. Which couldn't happen, not with what they found.

He…didn't know how Dream would react to that.

Something tells him it wouldn't be that pretty.

"General Pale!" Pale turned at the call. The female who no one knew the name of was at the entrance to the castle and approached him. "No one found any survivors."

Pale sighed. He knew it.

"Now what do you want to do?"

Pale looked away and crossed his arms.

He didn't know.

They could continue to look around, but he doubts that they would find anything worthwhile. However, Dream was expecting them to return with more people than they departed with. It was either wait and face disappointment or go and face disappointment. Neither option was good.

Though…

It was better to just get it over with, right?

Pale turned back to the female. "Help me gather everyone and tell them to meet at the entrance. We're heading back."

"Template."

"…Yeah?"

"Does this FOREST look like the base to you?"

"…No?"

"Then WHY THE HELL ARE WE HERE?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"WELL THEN, FIX IT!"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW!"

"GOD—"

"Uh…guys?"

"WHAT?"

Grrr…

"AAAAHHHHH!"