At seven A.M., there was a knock on the door.
Ink popped up, suddenly wide awake. "Wha?"
"It's time for breakfast!" Cross's voice came from outside the room.
Ink gasped. He started shaking Ruru awake. "Come on! Breakfast!"
Ruru grumbled, but got up and followed Ink out the door. Cross led the children to the dining room, where the others had some omelettes and bacon ready to go.
Ink jumped up on a chair, standing over the table while Ruru climbed into a chair slower. "What is this?"
"Eggs and bacon." Cross informed. "We have other stuff, if you guys don't like it."
"This is fine." Ruru said, already starting to eat. His eyes lit up at the taste. "These are good!"
Ink copied him, but instead of using a fork, he used his hands.
"Thank you!" Nightmare smiled at the compliment.
"You're welcome!" Ruru said.
"So, what did you do before you came here?" Nightmare asked, curious.
"We used to draw a lot! Ruru likes sleeping." Ink explained helpfully. "And I fell in puddles."
"You got lost in puddles." Ruru said with a glare. "I told you to leave them alone. You're going to get hurt!"
"Nuh-uh!" Ink argued.
They proceeded to fall into an uh-uh/nuh-uh argument. Nightmare rolled his eyelight at the argument, not bothering to interfere.
"You need to stop jumping into random puddles." Ruru insisted.
"It's better than staying in the white place all day!" Ink yelled.
"Where else are we supposed to go?!" Ruru shouted back.
"Anywhere!" Ink smacked his hands on the table. Tears were starting to form in his sockets. "Anywhere is better!"
Nightmare frowned; it seemed that these children had been living in their Anti-Void for far too long.
"You can always come here." He said.
Ink perks up. "We can?"
Ruru was still uncertain, but Ink was right. Anywhere was better than where they currently lived.
"Of course." Nightmare nodded. "I would never turn you down."
Ink was very excited by that. "You hear that, Ruru? We don't have to go back!"
Ruru nodded quietly, still thinking while Nightmare waited patiently for an answer.
After some time, Ruru looked up at Nightmare with a slight frown. "You promise not to send us away?"
"I promise." Nightmare confirmed.
To the small Sans, promises were everything. He didn't entirely remember why, but they were important. He nodded, a serious look on his face.
He held out a hand to Nightmare. "Deal."
"All right, then." Nightmare shook the child's hand.
Ruru, happy with his deal, sat back down to finish his breakfast. The others did, too, enjoying their meals.
Once finished, Ink decided he wanted to play. "Can we play now?"
"Sure!" Killer was ready to go.
"Can we play tag?" Ink asked.
"Of course!" Killer grinned. "I'm it!"
Ink jumped up and ran to Killer. He tapped his arm. "Tag! You're it!" Ink then took off down the hallway.
"I'm gonna getcha!" Killer ran much slower than his top speed, making sure to give Ink a good chase instead of winning immediately.
Ink giggled, running around a corner. He stayed ahead for about ten minutes before he started slowing down.
Killer smirked, lightly tapping Ink's shoulder as he passed him. "You're it!"
Ink squawked. "How?!" He picked up his speed and tried to catch Killer.
Killer slowed down a bit, but he wasn't going to make this chase easy! Ink stuck his tongue out in concentration as he picked up more speed. He reached a hand out to try to touch Killer. Killer allowed himself to be tackled to the ground.
"Heh, ya got me!" Killer laughed.
Ink laughed in triumph. "Haha! You're it!" He jumped off and ran down the hall again.
"Not for long!" Killer giggled, starting up another chase.
Ink ran into an open door to escape. It appeared to be the bathroom.
And someone had forgotten to drain the tub.
Ink jumped in.
"Oh." Killer stared at the now-wet bathroom, before rushing over to Ink; hopefully, he wasn't hurt! "Kiddo, are ya all right?"
Ink was gone.
Somewhere in Underswap, there was one extra skeleton.
"Uh-oh.." Killer ran off to inform the others.
This wasn't good.
Ruru looked up as Killer came running into the dining room. He noticed the worried look on the older skeleton's face and frowned. "What did he do now?"
"Uh..he jumped into a bathtub and disappeared!" Killer wasn't sure how else to phrase it.
Ruru, knowing what a bathtub was, groaned. "He jumped in another puddle! Already?!"
Ruru got down from his chair and started opening portals to track down his friend. He looked through each one before dismissing them.
"Let me help.." Error sighed, performing the same operations, but with a bit more knowledge of what he was looking for.
It wasn't long before one of them found the AU they were looking for. Through the portal they could see Ink building a snowman next to a very detailed snowskeleton with abs.
"Should we bring him back or go join him?" Error asked.
Ruru watched as Ink finished and walked away to explore the AU some more.
Ruru frowned in thought. He kinda wanted to play in the snow. He nodded. "Let's join him."
"All right." Error opened the portal wider, allowing entry.
Ruru entered the portal without hesitation and started marching up to Ink. Ink was distracted by something.
Someone seemed to be approaching…
"What in the world are you?" The resident Ink stared down at the child.
Ink blinked up at the other Ink. He then glanced down at himself. Looking back up, he said, "I'm a skeleton."
"..I'm taking you home with me." Ink picked up the child and immediately left with him.
Inky blinked in surprise, but didn't struggle. "Where are we going?"
Ruru ran after them. "Stop! Give him back!"
The Ink disappeared through a portal as Ruru had begun to run.
Ruru stopped and stared wide-eyed at where his friend was. "Oh, no..."
He turned around and looked at Error. "We have to find them!"
"Dang it.." Error clenched his fists. "Come on; we can't get to him right now..he'll be all right."
Ruru frowned nervously, but he followed Error. He really hoped Inky would be all right.
Meanwhile…
Inky was staring curiously at his new surroundings.
The other Ink had taken the child to his house, setting him down on his couch.
"You're a cute kid, aren'tcha?" The Ink smiled. "What's your name?"
Ink smiled at the bigger him, completely unconcerned by his kidnapping. "My name is Ink! But Ruru sometimes calls me Inky!"
"Can I call you that, too?" The adult inquired.
Inky nodded, sliding off the couch. "Yeah. What's your name? You look like me. Are you a grown-up me? Ruru has a grown-up him too. He and a mud man let us stay in their house." Inky started wandering the room. He stopped when his stomach grumbled. All that playing had worked up an appetite. "I'm hungry."
"My name is Ink, too, and I am a grown-up you, it seems." Ink smiled. "I can make you some food."
Ink used his paintbrush to create a plethora of food. Inky gasped at the literal feast. His eyelights zeroed in on a chocolate cake; he immediately started eating it with his hands. His face became very messy very quickly.
Ink chuckled. "Like it?"
Inky smiled. "Yeah! I love chocolate! Even though it looks like mud." He shook his head seriously. "Mud tastes gross."
"Yes, it does."
After finishing his snack, Inky went back to exploring. He found himself in the hallway, checking what doors would open. Only two of them opened: the doors to the bathroom and dining room. Inky was uninterested in these rooms. The locked doors were much more enticing, if only because of their forbidden nature.
"What's in there?" He asked, pointing to one of the locked doors.
"Oh, that's the door to the basement." Ink informed.
"What's a basement?" Inky asked.
"Just another floor to the house, but in the ground." Ink enlightened. "I also have two higher floors, if you're interested in seeing them!"
Inky perked up. "Yeah! What's up there?"
"Bedrooms and stuff - do you want to see my room?" Ink invited.
Inky nodded. "Uh-huh! What's in your room? Do you have fun games? Do you like to draw? Paint? I like painting. One time I painted Ruru's head bright green. He didn't like that, but I thought it was funny."
"I have lots of things!" Ink smiled. "Come on, I'll show you!"
Inky followed his older self up the stairs and to his room. Ink had many games to play, as well as some cool keepsakes from different AUs.
Inky went over to the keepsakes and picked one up. "What's this?"
"That's a dragon scale." Ink smiled. "I fought and killed a dragon once - it was fun!"
"Woooow!" Inky gasped, holding the scale to the light; it shimmered brightly. "What's a dragon?"
Ink held up a picture of a dragon breathing fire. "This is a dragon!"
Inky put the scale down and took the picture. "Cool! It looks like a, a, uh... a dragon!" He didn't know what to compare it to, having never seen anything like it before. "Can I see one?" He asked hopefully.
"Sure, but not right now." Ink nodded. "Maybe some other time."
Inky deflated a little, pouting. He wanted to see a dragon...but he was quickly distracted by other things. He started asking what everything else on the shelves was. Ink answered all the child's questions, happy to accomodate the little one's curiosity.
Curiosity satisfied, Inky went over to the games. He picked out a CandyLand box. "Can we play now?"
"Absolutely!" Ink agreed, setting up the board game for them to play.
They played for hours, going from one game to the next. Eventually, Inky got bored and wanted to explore again. He went to check out those locked doors again. He tried pulling one open, but it didn't budge. Inky frowned at it. He wanted to see what was in there!
"Do you want me to open that for you?" Ink offered.
Inky looked up at him in surprise. "You'll open it? Please!"
"All right." Ink unlocked the door, and Inky walked through, curious what was hidden behind it.
The room seemed to be an art studio; there were paintings on the walls and easels everywhere. Inky walked in and examined the paintings on the walls. They looked so cool!
"This is where I paint." Ink stated.
"These are awesome!" Inky said. He looked around and found a blank easel. "Can I paint something?"
"Sure." Ink brought some paintbrushes and paint over. "Let your imagination run wild!"
Inky got to work painting, tongue sticking out in concentration. After about an hour, he had finished his work of art.
"That looks great!" Ink complimented.
"Thank you!" Inky chirped.
The painting was a picture of his friend, Ruru. Ruru was smiling in the picture, wearing a too-big black lab coat and round glasses.
"You're a really good artist!" Ink grinned. "How long have you been painting?"
Inky tilted his head, humming. "I don't know. It's hard to tell time in the white place."
"White place?" Ink hummed. "Ah, yes. You lived there?"
Inky nodded sadly. "It was boring there. Ruru put some of his strings above us, but they don't do much. It's still white."
"I understand that; I used to live in a white place, too."
Inky looked up at him with wide sockets. "Really? Did you have your Ruru with you too?"
Ink frowned. "No, I didn't have anyone with me."
Inky looked up at him with big sad eyelights. "You were all alone?"
"Yeah.." Ink nodded. "But..I was all right." He added, as an afterthought.
Inky didn't remember things very well, but the crushing loneliness, the all encompassing whiteness, the emptiness...Inky rushed forward and gave Ink a hug, wrapping his little arms around the taller skeleton's legs.
"..Thanks." Ink hugged the small child back.
Inky patted Ink's back just like how Ruru did for him when he was upset. "It's okay, you're not alone now."
Ink smiled down at the child. "Thank you.."
Inky smiled up at him brightly. "You're welcome!"
He stepped back from the hug and looked around the room. He didn't feel like painting anymore, and they had played a lot of games already.
He wanted to explore.
Inky looked up at the adult and asked, "Can we go explore somewhere? I wanna see something new!" He looked around and spotted a cup of paint water.
"We can make a puddle and go somewhere! Puddles always take me to really cool places!" He reached for the cup to make a puddle.
"How about I take you to a place I know is cool?" Ink suggested.
Inky stopped just before grabbing the cup and looked up at him. "Really? Where?!"
"A place called Outertale!" Ink opened a portal. "You'll love it!"
Inky ran through the portal without a second thought, eager to see this new place.
He stared wide-eyed up at the sky. "Wow! The sky is so pretty..."
A swirling galaxy ran across the sky, purples and blues fading into the black of space. Stars dotted around in near-seeming randomness.
"Yep." Ink agreed. "Prettiest place in the multiverse, in my opinion."
Inky walked around the AU, looking under rocks and finding shiny crystals. "This is cool!" He brought all his findings to Ink to inspect. He held up a purple crystal with blue speckles. "Look at this one!"
"That's a good one!" Ink giggled.
Inky smiled and gave the crystal to Ink before running off to find more. Ink watched the child's enthusiasm; he would have been lying if he had said that he didn't like this child. After an hour or so of exploring, Inky was getting tired. He found a boulder to climb and sat atop it, looking up at the stars with curious eyes. He'd never seen anything like this before. Meanwhile, Ink was watching from below, making sure no one came to ruin the fun. Inky was looking around and enjoying the view when he noticed someone in the distance. He jumped off his boulder and went to investigate.
"Something wrong?" Ink inquired.
Inky stopped and pointed. "There's someone over there."
"Oh.." Ink squinted, but he couldn't see who the person was from here. "How about we stay here? That person might not be so nice."
Inky tilted his head. "Why wouldn't they be nice?"
"Some people just aren't, unfortunately." Ink sighed. "Do you want to go get some nice cream?"
Distracted from the mysterious person, Inky's face lit up. "What's nice cream?"
"A delicious treat!" Ink grinned. "Shall we go get some?"
"Okay!" Inky followed the adult to the tasty treat.
Ink led the child to a nice cream stand, where the person working there was happy to not ask why there was a child who looked exactly like Ink (after some subtle code manipulation).
"What flavor would you like?" Ink asked.
Inky tilted his head and looked at the menu. He couldn't read, but there were pictures. He pointed at the chocolate flavor.
"Okay!" Ink smiled. "Two chocolates, please."
The nice cream monster gave the two their treats.
Inky didn't realize he was supposed to take the wrapper off, and he bit right in. He didn't seem to mind the plastic taste at all.
He swallowed and smiled up at the adult. "Thank you!"
Ink smiled at him. "Shall we go back to my house?"
Inky nodded and followed Ink back to the house. Ink portaled himself and Inky back home, where he invited Inky to play a game with him. Inky agreed, finishing his nice cream quickly. He even ate the popsicle stick. Ink saw absolutely nothing wrong with that as he taught Inky how to play charades. Inky liked this game. It was fun! He got to make faces and pretend to be other stuff. Some things he'd never even heard of! Ink was currently pretending to be a pilot.
Inky thinks really hard. "Are you a... bird?"
Ink mouthed, "Close!"
Inky tapped his chin, trying to remember what Ink told him about the things they would be pretending to be. "Are you...um...a person who flies things? I forgot the word."
"Yep!" Ink grinned. "A pilot! Your turn!"
Inky tucked his hands under his arms and squatted down, walking in a waddle.
"Hmm.." Ink put a hand on his chin. "A duck?"
Inky jumped up and cheered. "Yes! You got it!"
"Okay, now try this one!" Ink did a handstand.
Inky copied him, but he fell over. He tried again, but fell over again. His legs kept wiggling.
"Heh, I meant charades, but here; I'll help you!" Ink giggled, holding one of Inky's feet up.
Inky smiled up at him, as now he was finally steady.
"You like this?" Ink smiled.
Inky nodded his head, almost falling over again. "Yeah! This is fun!"
"I like it, too!" Ink grinned. "Wanna try a cartwheel?"
"What's that?"
"This." Ink helped Inky gently to the ground before performing a perfect cartwheel.
Inky mimicked what the bigger him did and managed to do it just right. He giggled. "That's fun! I have to show Ruru how to do that!"
Inky did more cartwheels, not forgetting what he planned to do, but pushing it aside for later. He'd show Ruru when he got back to Nightmare's house. He could bring big him too! They'd have so much fun together!
"I'm sure he'll love it!" Ink smiled.
After that, Inky was getting hungry again. He looked up at Ink and patted his tummy. "I'm hungry."
"Let's find something.." Ink walked Inky down to his kitchen, where he found some animal crackers, bread, and lunchmeat. "How about sandwiches?"
Inky nodded. "Yeah! I like sandwiches." He shook his head, "But not peanut butter. That's gross."
"I understand." Ink chuckled, pulling out some ingredients. "What do you want on your sandwich?"
"Um...I like cheese, meat, and jelly." Inky said, remembering all the tasty things from the picnic.
"All right, then!" Ink made a chicken and cheese sandwich, not sure if jelly would have tasted very good alongside those. "Here you go!"
Inky was mildly disappointed there was no jelly on his sandwich, but he ate it happily. It tasted so good!
Mouth full, he said, "This is good!"
"I'm glad you like it!" Ink smiled, making his own sandwich.
After they finished eating, Inky was feeling ready to go. He wanted to show Ruru all the cool things he learned! And show him the pretty rocks and crystals he found!
He looked up at Ink and said, "I have to go back to Ruru and the muddy man." He scrambled off his seat and took Ink's hand. "Come on! You can come too!"
"Oh.." Ink frowned. "I was hoping you'd be able to stay a little longer..don't you want to stay?"
Inky gave him a big smile. "You can come with!" He insisted, starting to look for a cup to make a puddle portal. "You can meet Ruru and the muddy man, and the skeleton with the hole in his head, and the cow man, and and...all the others too!" Inky started dragging him to the sink to get some water. "It'll be fun!"
"I see.." A pause.
Ink opened a code bar behind his back, typing something in quickly; he didn't want this child to fall into the wrong hands, after all! A small memory wipe had never hurt anyone. After finalizing his actions, he held the child back and knelt down in front of him.
"Inky, where are you going?" Ink asked, pretending he had just caught up with the child.
Inky blinked, his head feeling fuzzy. He held a hand up and looked at Ink in confusion. "I don't remember...were we playing a game?"
Ink chuckled. "We were just about to! You wanted to play in the yard, but the door outside is the other way, silly!"
"Oh! Okay." Inky followed Ink outside, blissfully unaware of what had just happened.
Ink had a swingset, slide, and seesaw set up in his backyard, ready to be played on! Inky ran ahead and immediately climbed the slide, going down. He giggled, going up and down happily. Ink watched the child with a smile; he believed that he liked this one..maybe he would keep him..
Inky moved on from the slide to the swing and hopped onto the seat, looking at Ink with a smile. "Push me! Push me!"
"All right!" Ink grinned, pushing the child on the swingset.
Inky giggled. "Higher!"
Ink complied, pushing the child harder to propel him higher, and Inky squealed in delight. It felt as if he were flying. He kicked his legs out and leaned back so there was less wind resistance. Ink chuckled as he continued to push the child. Eventually, Inky got bored and jumped off. He landed on his feet, but he tipped over, allowing himself to roll into a somersault.
Giggling, he got up and ran to Ink, before tapping his arm and running off. "You're it!"
"I'll get you!" Ink began to chase the child.
Inky ducked under the slide and jumped over the seesaw. "Nuh-uh!"
Ink took the long way to make the experience more enjoyable for the little one, chasing him slowly enough not to catch him just yet. The child ran around the yard, making a circle back to the slide. He climbed up and slid down in his escape. Ink giggled, copying Inky's motions. Inky kept ahead of Ink, giggling all the way and running around the play set to escape. After a while, Ink allowed Inky to get away, collapsing playfully in the grass. Inky stopped and turned around before laughing and running back, jumping onto Ink.
"Ah, you got me!" Ink smiled, hugging the child; he was keeping this one..definitely keeping this one.
Inky giggled, hugging him back. "That was fun! I can't wait to tell Ruru all about this!"
"I'd bet." Ink commented. "Are you tired, though? I could let you sleep over here."
Inky yawned, shaking his head. "No, I'm not tired."
"That yawn sounded pretty convincing." Ink smirked.
Inky sat up and shook his head again. "Nu-uh! I never get tired."
"If you say so. What do you want to do, then?"
Inky tapped his chin, thinking. "Ummm... We could... um..."
Inky blinked. There was somewhere he was supposed to be, wasn't there?
"I don't know..." He looked around for an idea. "It's getting late though."
"Do you want to go inside?" Ink offered. "It's a bit chilly out here, isn't it?"
Inky nodded. He was forgetting something, but that was normal. He'd remember eventually.
He stood up. "Okay."
"All right, then." Ink smiled, picking up the child and carrying him inside the house.
Inky laid his head on Ink's shoulder. He was not tired - just resting his head.
And his sockets.
Before they even made it inside, Inky was fast asleep.
Ink smiled softly as he walked up to his room and laid the child on his bed, tucking him in.
"Oh, Inky.." Ink sighed, still smiling. "You're going to love it here. I'll make you the happiest kid ever..and even if you don't like it now..you will, with just a bit of adjusting..no one's perfect, after all. Sleep tight, my little heir..I'll get your room ready."
Ink left the child sleeping peacefully.
Inky slept the night through without a care in the world.
Meanwhile, back in the Gang's house...
Ruru was pacing back and forth. It had been a whole day since Inky went missing. "Where is he?!"
"I don't know.." Nightmare sighed, looking just as distraught as Ruru was. "We'll find him, though; we will find him.."
Ruru paced some more, opening a few portals and looking through them. He closed them again with a huff. "Why did big him take him?! What's he going to do to him?"
"I..I don't know." Nightmare held his skull in his hands, feeling like the stupidest being to roam the multiverse..this was all his fault..somehow..it just had to be.
Ruru frowned and looked up at Nightmare. Scowling, he marched over to him. "Stop that!"
"Stop what?" Nightmare questioned, not sure about what the child was referring to.
Ruru pointed at his face. "Blaming yourself! That's not going to bring Inky back!" He crosses his arms. "If it's anyone's fault, it's stupid big Inky. He took him."
"I suppose so..but I should have watched him better."
Ruru deadpanned. "Inky is always getting into trouble. Keeping an eye on him is like expecting not to get lost in the white place; it's impossible."
"Still..I can't help but feel responsible." Nightmare sighed.
Ruru huffed, turning back around to search his portals again. "Is there a way to bring big Ink out? So we can catch him and make him give Inky back?"
"Well..we could try to attack an AU." Nightmare considered. "But if he brings the little one with him, he might put him in harm's way.."
Ruru closed his portals with a frown. "He would hurt him?"
"Unfortunately, yes.." Nightmare had too much experience with Ink to think otherwise.
Ruru glared into space, eyes hard.
"No. I won't let him."
He started opening more portals than before, searching every one of them.
"You can't find him that way; his AU is locked to the public." Nightmare revealed, although he probably should have said this earlier. "Only people with clearance are allowed to enter, and, unfortunately, that isn't us."
Ruru closed the portals in frustration. "Agghhh! Then how do we find him?!"
"..I'm not sure yet." Nightmare admitted. "I believe that we will need to form a plan."
Ruru nods, a determined look on his face. "Then let's start planning."
