Bit of an announcement, Petalthorn, co-author of Forging Rifts and this story, as well as the writer of Corrupted File Exe, made an animatic for the Prologue to the first story in this series, Souls Entwined! Now I can't really post links on this site, but if you search for Souls Entwined Prologue on Youtube, you should be able to find it. She's still called Petalthorn on their so it should be easy. Check it out!
Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters.
Fading sunlight swept across the forest, tinting the snow pink and gold as the sun set behind the horizon. Snow-clad trees glistened, stirring softly in the light wind that caressed every bough as though it was a long lost lover, finally come home. A nightingale perched on the boughs of an oak tree, lifting it's voice into song.
For a moment, all was peace and beauty.
Then, from the direction of the dense forest to the north, there was a sudden blast of noise, causing every bird for miles in any direction to take flight in panic. The sound was loud and untamed, but if one listened closely, it almost sounded like someone… barking?
"Borf!"
A blast of sonic energy emitted from Greater Dog's maw, sending a cluster of smaller Beasts flying back. Some slammed into trees, shaking them hard enough that the snow resting atop their boughs dumped unceremoniously onto the nightmarish creatures. Others came to a stop on the ground, disoriented and hissing in protest.
"Greater!" Dogaressa commanded, blocking an attack centred on her husband and kicking the offending Beast away with a squeal. "Doggo needs assistance!"
The heavily armored dog barked his affirmative, then lumbered over to where Doggo was busy trying defend himself against two of the Human-sized Beasts that were pushing him back step by step. The black-and-white furred dog already sported a few nasty cuts and was breathing heavily under the assault.
Greater Dog leapt to his comrade's defence, his golem armor battered and scratched already from the fight. Still, he seemed eager to plow into the attacking Beasts, diverting their attention from his friend.
Dogaressa's eyes narrowed, and she quickly swept the scene around them, even as her axe sunk deep into one of the smaller Beasts, rending it to dust. Lesser Dog was energetically holding off several Beasts, nimbly dodging around the trees to avoid their attacks and yipping excitedly to keep their attention.
But this place was swarming with Beasts. Most of them were the smaller ones, sure, and there weren't any of the really big ones, but even so. They were starting to get overwhelmed, and Sans… he was nowhere to be seen.
"Dogamy," she murmured to her husband. "We can't stay split up like this, we're going to get overwhelmed."
"You're right," her soulmate agreed, cutting down another Beast. "What are your orders, captain?"
"We'll send out a couple of joint attacks, catch these Beasts off guard. Then, you take Doggo and Greater, and I'll handle Lesser. Bring them back here, to the centre."
"Understood."
Both of the dogs took a paw off their weapons and clasped their hands together, allowing magic to flow forth. They knew each other's strengths and limitations, and complemented them with their own.
"Now!"
Once, twice, three times they unleashed their magic attack, a spinning circle made up of heart-shaped energy. Each was fired in a different direction, momentarily slowing the Beasts swarming the rest of the Unit.
As soon as the last attack was finished, Dogaressa released her husband's hand and charged over to where Lesser Dog had been forced to resort to defending himself with his shield against the onslaught. Even though the supporting attack had impacted the Beasts assaulting him, he was beginning to tire and was slowly being pushed back.
His ears perked as Dogaressa charged in with a roar, swinging her weapon in a wide arc. She cleaved two of the smaller Beasts in twain, sending them to dust.
Lesser's energy seemed renewed at her appearance, and he started fighting more on the offensive again, though he still seemed more inclined to hide behind his shield than usual.
Focusing on his energy, Dogaressa gritted her teeth. He had taken quite a beating already, he wasn't going to be able to take much more.
"Lesser, come with me," she ordered. "We're falling back to the others."
Her subordinate yipped in grateful agreement, and obeyed, stepping back and letting her take up the brunt of the Beasts rage. The creatures shrieked and clawed angrily at them, but the canines were able to slowly make their way backwards, keeping on the defensive while their enemies tried to break through.
"Dogamy!" Dogerassa called, dodging a swipe and blocking another Beast's attempt to bite her with her axe.
"Here!" her husband called from behind, though she dared not take her eyes off her foes. "We're coming for you, love! Just hold tight!"
There was a loud barking sound as Greater Dog voiced his agreement, and Dogaressa couldn't help the smile the spread across her muzzle. They were such good people, her Unit. There was no-one else she'd rather have by her side in a fight.
In moments, the group was together again. Dogaressa felt her husband relax upon being at her side again. Now, the Unit fought together against the Beasts swarming the clearing.
But even so… they were still being overwhelmed.
Doggo yelped and sank to one knee as a claw tore across his chest. He was panting heavily now, and trying to keep from whimpering in pain. Once again, Greater Dog pulled him back into the center of the circle, taking the next blow that had been meant for his friend and barking furiously at the attackers, the blast sending them staggering back.
But even Greater Dog's armor was looking worse for wear, and each of the Unit sported their own wounds. They were beginning to slow down, and the Beasts seemed to recognize that, increasing their assault with howls and keening wails.
Suddenly, there was a huge beam of white light, and an entire group of Beasts crumbled to dust before they had time to even loose a cry. Bones shot out of the ground and from the air, impaling the survivors who died with angry shrieks. And just like that, the battle was over.
Dogaressa panted, trying to regain her composure while a ragged cheer rose from the rest at the timely arrival of their savior. However, once she was no longer gasping for air, she glared around, searching for Sans before spotting him in one of the trees, standing on a branch and leaning against the trunk.
"Where the hell were you?!" she demanded, resting her axe on her shoulder. "You were only supposed to be gone for a few minutes! We nearly got overwhelmed here!"
"Sorry, I got delayed," Sans explained, teleporting out of the tree and appearing in front of the fuming canine. The others of the Unit had started backing away, but Dogaressa didn't notice.
"You can teleport!" the woman pushed her hood off her head and glared at the small skeleton, her claws kneading the snow beneath her feet. "You couldn't come back and check before now? Nothing can stop you from getting somewhere unless you want it to! What-"
"There's another of the big ones." Sans interrupted. His voice was low, but it stopped the angry Canine in her tracks.
"Another of the…"
Sans nodded grimly. "I didn't see it myself. But even a swarm of Beasts can't cause the destruction I've been seeing around here. It went straight through a campsite too. I spent the last half-hour getting survivors to the nearest town."
Dogaressa deflated slightly.
"Oh."
Sans gestured to the dust-strewn clearing.
"I didn't realize there would be more Beasts around, they must have come in to fill the gaps after the big one left." He focused his attention on the rest of the Unit, noting their wounds. "We can probably make it to a nicer clearing, there's one just up ahead. Gonna need to rest for a bit after today, I think."
Dogaressa nodded swiftly.
"Of course. We're going to need to be at our full strength if we're gonna take on one of the big ones."
"Let's just hope it's not as bad as the one that attacked the city on day one," Sans murmured while Greater Dog slung the wounded Doggo over his shoulders and the rest of the Unit got themselves ready to march again. "If it is, we're gonna need backup."
Dogaressa shuddered at the very idea, And Dogamy gave a low, comforting sound, coming up behind his wife and licking her ear.
"We'll be fine, darling," he murmured softly, and she sank back into him, grateful for his support. Lesser Dog yipped his agreement, plowing into the two for a hug. Dogaressa laughed quietly and let him in, giving a sigh of content.
The next several minutes were mostly quiet as the group trudged through the snow, taking comfort in each other's presence in the battle's aftermath. It wasn't long until they reached the clearing Sans had talked about.
Upon reaching it, Lesser Dog promptly flopped himself down with a soft whine, burying his muzzle under the snow. Dogamy chuckled at the sight, reaching down to pat the canine's armored shoulder for a moment.
"Don't you want to take that armor off before you crash?"
The only answer was a tired yip, muffled by the snow. Dogaressa shook her head in amusement, then took a quick look around the clearing.
"Greater, could you clear out the snow on that side? I'd like somewhere relatively dry to sit on today." She pointed in the direction she wanted, and Greater gave a quiet bark and lumbered over, his damaged armor squeaking and groaning in response to his movement.
"I'll get what we need to get a fire going." With that Sans vanished and the female Canine gave a half-hearted glare to where he had been.
"I can't believe him," she grumbled, going over to where Greater was setting Doggo down before getting to work.
"He's certainly proven full of surprises." Dogamy agreed, following close behind.
"I don't like surprises." the woman groused, kneeling beside Doggo and softening her gaze. "How are you feeling?"
Her subordinate grimaced and looked up to her.
"I'm holding together… I'd kill for a dog treat though."
"We'll get you one soon," Dogaressa promised. "Just hold tight for now." She raised her head and looked in Lesser's direction. "Lesser, come over here, see what you can do about these wounds."
The canine gave a pitiful whine but reluctantly complied. He slowly got up from the snow, shaking himself in an attempt to get rid of it before making his way over, leaving his sword and shield behind.
Dogaressa went to retrieve his equipment as her husband and Lesser got to work on their wounded comrade. Once again, the canine leader thanked her lucky stars that the two of them had shown at least some aptitude in healing magic.
"Look, I know I need you to move while I'm working on this, but could you not move the parts I'm fixing?"
Greater Dog gave a smug little yip at Doggo's grumbling, rolling the shoulders of his golem armor while Doggo rested both paws on his chest. Magic seeped from the dog's fingertips and into the metal.
Next to the crackling fire in the middle of the area that had been cleared out, Dogamy and Dogaressa snuggled close, wrapping their cloaks around each other to stay warm. Lesser Dog was lying nearby, curled up out of his armor next to the flames, his chest rising and falling gently with little breaths.
On the opposite side of them, Sans sat cross legged, staring silently into the fire. He hadn't said a word since he'd gotten back.
"How're the repairs coming, Doggo?" Dogamy asked, glancing up to the star-strewn sky above them for a moment before looking to where his friend worked. Doggo huffed, adjusting the position of the smoking dog treat in his mouth.
"Well, I ain't exactly fully charged right now myself. At least I can keep him from squeaking whenever he moves, but I don't think this thing's gonna be able to survive another battle unless I can patch it up proper."
"How long will that take?" Dogaressa's voice was tinged in concern. "We need him on the front lines, Doggo."
"Don't think I don't know that." the husky grumbled. "It'll take a day… maybe two to finish fixing up the armor. And that ain't taking into account any extra enchantments you want on there."
Dogaressa cursed under her breath. Dogamy gave a soft, sympathetic sound in response and hugged her a little tighter.
"Greater's got powerful magic, even outside his armor," Dogamy muttered.
"But not durability." Dogaressa argued. "Face it, love. We can handle ourselves, but we need someone who can take the hits and keep attention off the rest of us. Especially against these things."
"They do put up a lot more of a fight than the Humans we've been contracted against," her husband agreed reluctantly.
Dogaressa sighed.
"Mercenary work has served us well, but we can't afford to take chances. We still have a litter at home we need to come back to. It's bad enough we're out so much now with the Beasts… I feel like it's been forever since we saw them last."
Dogamy emitted a soft whine in agreement, closing his eyes and licking her between the ears gently.
"I wish Moonlight was here," he murmured softly, and Dogaressa grunted quietly in agreement.
"Of all the times to go radio silent…"
"Still, at least we have Sans." The male looked up to the skeleton, who didn't appear to be listening, his sockets still glued on the flames. "At least with him around, we stand a chance even against the big ones."
"Yeah…" Dogaressa still didn't sound convinced, but she turned and nuzzled Dogamy's neck affectionately. "I just hope all this gets finished soon. When all this is over, we'll take some time off. Spend time with the pups, see our friends. The world can go on without us being rescue dogs for a while."
"Hmm, thinking of retiring?" Dogamy teased, grinning widely. Dogaressa snorted.
"You know me better than that, love."
"I don't know, it could be a nice idea. Spend all day lounging around with the pups, maybe take them down to the lake and let the River Person ferry them around for a while… leave the two of us to our own devices…"
Dogaressa smacked him lightly at that.
"You're such a dog."
Dogamy pulled his head back and stared at her for a moment, blinking in confusion. Then they both burst into laughter, their bodies both shaking with merriment.
"Gods, I love you," Dogamy managed once he could breathe again. He nuzzled his wife gently, who gratefully reciprocated. "How did I ever manage to be lucky enough to end up with you?"
"As I recall, I didn't give you much of a choice," the woman replied smugly.
"Ah yes… what were the first words you said to me? 'You're cute, let's snuggle?'"
"And then I dragged you off." Dogaressa chuckled at the memory. "What can I say? You're cute when you're confused."
"What, I'm not normally?" Dogamy gave his wife an exaggerated hurt look.
"Hmmm," Dogaressa smiled and licked at her husband's face. "Come on, cutie. We should get some sleep, we have a lot of things to figure out tomorrow.
Long after the canines had fallen asleep, Sans remained, staring at the fire. Thinking, listening and above all…
Remembering.