For SisterOfTheCats

"You scared them away again." 

Nightmare buried his head deeper into his blankets, the shame rising from his chest and into his face. His heart ached and he hated it. Quietly, he shifted until he was on his right side, staring at the wall with a regretful frown. 

Right above him, a mattress stirred until a skull poked down from the top bunk. The other's eyes shimmered a soft golden tone, digging into his back. "Brother, why did you do that?"

Nightmare couldn't help the sudden heat rising from his chest, boiling into anger. "Why do you care!? I told you before, we could've taken care of ourselves! BUT NO!-" Nightmare turned around to meet Dream's shocked face. "YOU WANTED TO BASK IN THE PRAISE OF OTHERS, DIDN'T YOU? ATTENTION FREAK!"

Dream's eye-sockets widened and his eye-lights flickered with hurt. He quietly withdrew back into his top bunk, leaving Nightmare to his own thoughts.  With a few breathes and a bit of effort to keep his tears from spilling, he let out a big sigh. "... You need to control that."

Nightmare was facing the wall again, clutching himself in a tight hug. He stared at the wall, watching with disgust as black sludge spilled from his eye-sockets unwillingly. He closed his 'eyes', clawing at the sudden rage inside of him and fighting to keep it down, to ward it away. "...I'm sorry..."

Dream turned. "I know."

"I-It's just-" Nightmare opened his 'eyes' again, turning so that he was on his back. He lifted his hands in front of his face, staring at them sorrowfully. "I can't control it, brother. I really, REALLY try but-"

Dream's head poked out from above his bed, looking down at Nightmare. "I know, brother."

Nightmare allowed his hands to dig into his skull, as if they could scrape out the overflowing hate and malice that he never wanted. Tears were spilling from his eye-sockets. "I'm sorry-  I- I'm trying! I really am!"

His brother disappeared once more and bony feet appeared at the ladder. Dream silently climbed down from his bed to sit on Nightmare's, using his own strength to pry his hands away. "Hey, hey. It's going to be okay, alright?" Dream offered a hopeful smile when Nightmare finally looked at him. "We're going to go to a nice family and we are going to be the best of brothers. Just like we were back then. I promise."

Nightmare felt warmth emit from his brother, a gentle, tingling feeling which made him relax. It made him smile. "Right, right."

Dream's smile widened, filled with new hope. "We'll get out of here soon, alright? I'll make sure of it."

~

Nightmare couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Dream seemed just as shocked. He stepped forward, suddenly panicked. "BUT- BUT MISS! NIGHTMARE HAS TO COME TOO!"

The parents looked at one another as their caretaker frowned in disapproval. She strode over to Dream and bent down to his height. "Dream, these lovely people would LOVE to adopt you. They are the most caring and perfect family I've ever met before and I think they are the best fit for you." 

Dream started to tear up in frustration. "BUT- BUT-!" He looked over at Nightmare. His brother was staring straight at him, his eye-sockets wide and his mouth unmoving. Dream urgently gestured to him. "MY BROTHER! WHAT ABOUT HIM?"

Their caretaker smiled, petting Dream's skull soothingly. "I can promise you Dream, I will not rest until Nightmare gets a proper family. However, I'm afraid that everything has been already arranged."

Dream looked to his new parents, which were anxiously holding hands with one another, then his caretaker- who was looking at him with immense determination, and finally at his brother, speechless. He took it all in for himself before slowly retreating from his caretaker and walking over to Nightmare. "Brother-"

"Go."

Dream's eye-sockets widened. "What?"

Nightmare met his gaze. It didn't show anything, no anger, disgust, sorrow, joy, NOTHING. Just... nothing. "Go."

Dream shook his head. "I can't-"

Nightmare gripped Dream's hands in his own tightly, his gaze now intense and firm. "Dream, the only reason you've been here this long is because of ME. I've scared away more people than I've ever known in my life while you were the child everyone wanted." He forced a smile. "This is your chance to become part of the ideal family you've always dreamed of."

"But you won't be there." Dream said, trying to stress the importance Nightmare had.

Nightmare shrugged. "I'll figure out my own ending, but you? Take it while you can."

Dream frowned, quietly peering over to the family once again. They stood patiently, whispering to one another worriedly as they watched the two talk. He turned back. "Nightmare, promise me."

"Huh?" Nightmare blinked.

Dream leaned closer. "Promise me that we will meet again someday."

Nightmare blinked once again and laughed. "Of course, sure."

Dream nodded, his mind now made up. Quickly, the two shared a brotherly hug before Dream approached his new family.

His forever family.

A family Nightmare didn't have. The family he despised for taking his brother away- 
Nightmare gripped his arm tightly, squeezing until he heard the bones creak and bend until they almost snapped. No way in hell was he going to mess this up again for his brother. 

No way in hell.

~

Nightmare sat in his room, resting against the windowsill. 

His room was empty. Well, it still had furniture, but to Nightmare, it was devoid of anything. Everything was just a reminder of how much he missed his brother. How much he longed for him.

How much he hated this hell hole of a place-

He took a deep breathe, letting his fingers stab his arm once again. He counted slowly to three until he felt the uneasy hate simmer away from his chest, allowing him to release his arm and check the damage. Thousands of marks littered his left arm from where he constantly squeezed and sometimes snapped. Small cracks webbed the appendage, Nightmare tracing each line silently. This was becoming a dangerous habit of his. On the bright side, he hasn't lashed out since he started. He almost felt proud of himself. 

Almost.

Still, he couldn't deny the utter boredom and loneliness he felt. No one wanted to talk to him. No one wanted to be NEAR him. No one wanted HIM. 

He quietly let out a breathe, watching the rain pour outside.

Why don't I just run away?

He blinked, the thought bubbling up out of the blue. It was a thought he had considered many times before, however Dream never let him leave and he honestly didn't want to leave Dream either. 

But Dream wasn't here.

So, without much thought, he reached for the latches on the window, quickly undoing them and lifting his window up. The rain quickly flooded in, drizzling onto the skeleton in greeting as he clambered out. 

When his feet had finally touched the soft earth outside, a smile crept up onto his face. He took in a large, large gulp of fresh air as the rain pattered gently against his bones, the smile only widening. 

He was free.

Without anymore hesitation, he ran. 

He ran as far and as fast as he could run. He ran for miles and miles, running down the streets and down sidewalks. He ran through town and passed many buildings. He ran and ran and ran until he arrived at the edge of town where the wilderness awaited him. He sprinted in without hesitation, his feet crunching against the wet twigs and the soft soil underneath him. He dashed passed the trees, passed the mosses and insects he saw. He ran past a pair of deer, startling them and causing them to leap away. Excited, he happily chased after them, the adrenaline in his body overflowing his brain and his bones. He ran and ran so far.

Until he finally collapsed.

Heaving in shaky breathes, his vision started to fade in and out. He didn't even realize he had fell until he felt the mud against his face and the taste of dirt in his mouth. Weakly, he spat the liquid out, coughing. 

His bones ached.  His metaphorical-lungs were on fire and had felt like they exploded. His soul was pounding so loudly that Nightmare thought he might have gone deaf.

Everything hurt. 

But he was free.

Nightmare, despite everything throbbing, laughed. He laughed and laughed until it hurt to breathe, until it hurt to live. He sucked in air hurriedly to laugh some more but no sounds came out as he was all spent. 

He was done.

There, Nightmare laid in the mud with the rain showering him.

"Holy sh#t."

When Nightmare opened his eye-sockets, the light from the sun almost blinded him. He went to turn to the voice but let out a pained whine as everything throbbed with the slightest movement. Out of the corner of his vision, he could see something blurry and white.  His breathing hitched. "nn..."

The form froze as Nightmare attempted to move again. He strained to open his mouth, his voice hoarse and weak. "nnooooo..."

Slowly, a face came into view. A skeleton. His bones were pearly white and reflected the sun with such intensity that it almost blinded Nightmare a second time. He squinted at the form, trying to take them in. This turned out to be hopeless since no matter how hard he looked, the person was still hard to see. After a few moments, they spoke. "Hey- don't move." 

Gently, Nightmare felt bony hands tuck under his still body and hoist him into the air. Soon, Nightmare felt his skull lay against someone's chest, pillowing it and lulling him to a nice slumber.

~

Nightmare woke up in a bathtub, stripped of all of his clothing. It took him a few minutes to figure this out; He woke up by rubbing his eye-sockets and when he found out his hands were weirdly wet, finally noticed he was naked. Panicked, he shot up. 

Big mistake. 

He hissed quietly as everything STILL hurt from running (which was honestly a horrible idea). Quietly, he let himself submerge more, allowing the warm water to soothe him. It was nice.

He nearly screamed when he heard the knock on the door. Slowly, he turned towards the door. 

"Hey, you doing alright in there bud? I have some clean clothes for you when you get out." 

Who the hell was that? Nightmare let out a small sigh. Well, at least it wasn't anyone from the orphanage. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. What if this guy was a serial killer which kidnapped him? He slapped himself. Idiot, if they were, then he would have been dead. "t-thanks." Nightmare was honestly surprised at how awful his voice felt.

There was a bit of shuffling outside the door. "I'm setting them right outside, so you can just slip them in. I'll be in the kitchen making food." After that, he heard footsteps walk away from the door.

Reluctantly, Nightmare turned over to look around the bathroom. Everything seemed polished and shimmering... almost breathtaking. The sink and bath (HECK, EVEN THE TOILET IF SKELETONS USE THOSE-) were glittering and spotless. He ran his fingers over the material only to find himself taken aback by how cold it was. 

Ice?

How? He stuck his fingers in the bathwater. The water was hot... and the tub was made of ice? He inspected further, blinking. 

Magic ice.

Makes sense.

He sighed. This day couldn't get any weirder.

~

It got weirder.

Nightmare had gotten out of the tub, dressed in the new clothes (which were honestly nice and felt soft), and had wandered the place. Apparently from the looks of it, he was inside of a gigantic ice mansion? Well, more of a castle but still.

When he finally got to the kitchen (after wandering aimlessly and walking into some pretty interesting rooms), he was met with the most peculiar sight. 

A man was looking through his fridge as little snowman took turns skating on the ice counter. He stared. A small snowman on the man's shoulder suddenly locked gazes with Nightmare and quickly brightened, bouncing up and down. The man then turned to Nightmare, meeting his 'eyes'. He smiled. "Ah, you're awake."

"pleasedon'tkillme-"

The man blinked. "Excuse me?"

Nightmare looked around hurriedly, running to the nearest chair and picking it up. It was surprisingly light. He turned back, chair pointed at the man. "I HAVE A WEAPON! YOU CAN'T CARVE OUT MY BONE MARROW NOW!!" The man blinked again before bursting into laughter. That only unnerved Nightmare even more. "I'M SERIOUS!!"

"A seven-year-old can't threaten me-" The man stopped once he saw Nightmare again, his expression morphing from humorous to frightened. 

Nightmare wavered.  Oh god... it was happening again, wasn't it. He dropped the chair, letting it shatter into a million shards as black sludge spilled from his bones. It burned like acid against his skull. He cried out in pain as it began to drip down his body, coating it.

Before it could go any farther, he felt a pair of icy-cold hands grasp his shoulders, flooding him with magic. It froze him to the core, scattering the sludge onto the floor in an instant. 

Nightmare trembled as he met the terrified eye-lights of the man before him, his mismatched red-white iris glowing with magic.

"... what was that?" He muttered, his grip firm and tightening.

Nightmare couldn't stop shaking. "It never got this bad."

 He snapped out of his self-panic when the man shook him violently. "What the HELL was that?"

"It-" Nightmare stuttered. "It's a condition."

AND IMMA STOP HERE SO I CAN WRITE A PART TWO LATER .W.

CYA! X3