p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 115%;" align="center"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"uspan style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"?/span/u/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""AND THEN, THE FLUFFY BUNNY HOPPED ALL THE WAY…" Carrot stopped reading; Blueberry and Chara were asleep. "HOME," he finished quietly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Shutting the old, beloved storybook, Swap Papyrus slid it onto the shelf and gazed out the window distractedly. Stars sprinkled the sky, slowly brightening as the moon rose to join them. Night was truly beautiful. It'd been about five months since monsterkind moved to the surface, and Carrot still couldn't get over the stunning view./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Turning back to his brother and the human child snuggled up beside him, Carrot carefully pulled the covers higher over their shoulders. Nodding to himself, the Papyrus sat on the ground, slouched against the bedframe, and sighed. Time to keep vigil./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCarrot knew sleep was inevitable. Despite his best efforts, he always fell into a shallow slumber before morning. Over the past few weeks, he had trained himself to wake two mere minutes before Blueberry did. Then, he would slip away and pretend to be asleep in his own bed—but even that short interval terrified him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"All it would take was a minute. Just a second. If he looked away, that accursed Destroyer might appear and snatch him. Error would come back and take Blueberry away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"STAY AWAKE, /emCarrot thought to himself. He shook his head vigorously, struggling to remain alert. A few seconds later, he jolted awake and silently scolded himself for nodding off. It happened a few more times. Gradually, he drifted off again…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The Papyrus's eyes snapped open. His breath caught. An unfamiliar Sans stood nearby, shrouded in moon-cast shadow—staring intently at Blue. In a surge of soul-stopping panic, Carrot sprang up and swung a swift kick at the intruder's head. But the stranger simply raised an arm and blocked it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Carrot." Carrot hesitated. He recognized the voice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""INK?" he asked, baffled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Yes," Ink answered, turning to glance at Carrot./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The moonlight illuminated his face with a cold, silvery glow. The Artist seemed uncharacteristically… blank. Carrot could read no evident emotion in his expression. No happiness, no sorrow, no anger or contentedness. He didn't seem nervous, but, neither would Carrot describe him as emcalm/em. Tired, perhaps, Carrot finally decided. Or uninterested./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""DREAM SENT YOU, DIDN'T HE?" Carrot guessed, crossing his arms indignantly. Much as he loved Dream, Carrot wished the Protector would stop fussing over him. Surprisingly, Ink shook his head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""No. Dream doesn't know I'm here." Carrot frowned, debating whether he believed this statement. Ink evidently read Carrot's expression, for he quietly insisted— "Dream is not the only one who worries about you, Carrot. Blueberry is safe, now. You should get some sleep." Carrot suddenly felt immensely irritated with this unannounced visitor./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""ERROR SNATCHED HIM CLEAN OUT OF OUR WORLD ONCE BEFORE, SO FORGIVE ME IF I DOUBT YOU," he challenged. Annoyed as he was, he kept his voice low in hopes of leaving his sleeping brother undisturbed. "HOW CAN YOU BE SURE THAT BLUEBERRY IS SAFE HERE?" Ink's gaze drifted back to his young teammate./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Error has gone missing," the Artist said simply, "along with many other forces of evil in the Multiverse." There was a strange pause./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""YOU DON'T SOUND PARTICULARLY HAPPY ABOUT IT," Carrot observed tensely. He never trusted Ink, soulless, sociopathic creature that the Artist was. Hearing him speak so dismissively of his brother's captor made Carrot seethe. It seemed Ink sensed the Papyrus's reaction, for he shook his head thoughtfully./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Don't get me wrong. Error's a total menace, and the Multiverse is way safer without him running around. I'm just worried, is all."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""WORRIED ABOUT WHAT?" Carrot pressed. "HE'S GONE; ISN'T THAT THE OPPOSITE OF A PROBLEM?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""No, not exactly," Ink sighed, looking wearier by the minute. "When Error nearly dusted Blue, I watched something just… embreak /emin him. I've never seen him like that before. I'm concerned that Error has done something drastic and permanent. To himself." At this cryptic description, Carrot snorted./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""I DOUBT IT. ERROR'S WAY MORE LIKELY TO KILL BLUEBERRY OUT OF RAGE THAN HIMSELF OUT OF GUILT." Ink considered this evenly, then admitted—/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""I know. But that conclusion leads me to fear that Error has done something worse." This response deeply unsettled Carrot. Ink continued. "If Error is alive, he won't snatch Blue away in the middle of the night. No, his next move's gonna be big, for the whole Multiverse to see."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He paused to let this sink in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""And if Error does act—if you want to have a chance to fight back," Ink insisted, "you need to be at top strength, Carrot. You need sleep."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCarrot wanted to argue, but something about Ink's statement struck disturbingly true in his soul. Yet, he couldn't just em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"leave /emBlueberry. Ink noticed his hesitation./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""If it helps you relax, I can watch Blue tonight."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Carrot hesitated, frustrated. Entrusting Blueberry to Ink's care felt akin to treason. This scoundrel was the reason Blueberry had been captured at all! But, overwhelmed with weariness and disquieted by Ink's report, eventually, Carrot relented./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""emFINE/em. SO LONG AS YOU DON'T DISAPPEAR BEFORE MORNING," Carrot demanded. The Artist nodded./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""I won't go anywhere. I promise." This, finally, convinced Carrot. With one last glance at Blueberry and Chara, and a wary frown at Ink, he reluctantly left./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"There was a minute of acute silence, broken only by the faint chatter of nocturnal birds and bugs. With a sigh as quiet as a breath, Ink slipped onto the end of Blue's bed as carefully as a cat. Putting his back to the backboard and pulling his knees up, Ink watched over his friend, his mind swimming with worries./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBlue's fate might already be sealed. His choice to save the Artist's life might have decided the fate of the whole Multiverse! span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"Ink wasn't sure it was a worthy exchange: his own life, and the risk of all-out war. Error wouldn't lie low forever, and Ink feared the repercussions awaiting his friends./span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"This thought carried weight. Ink tried to shake it away. emThere's no point in worrying about it, now/em, he chided himself. emOnly time will tell. /emIndeed, they'd surely know the outcome, soon enough… for better or for worse. With chin to knees, Ink closed his eyes and released another silent sigh. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Only time will tell./em/span/p