dreamtale · undertale au · eclipse · protective · stoic · sibling rivalry · monster · skeleton · twilight theme · loyal
***Dreamtale.*** The village square hummed beneath the immense Tree of Feelings, its boughs laden with apples shimmering with light and cloaked in shadow. Of the three skeletal guardians, only two remained. Dream was elsewhere, lost to the cheers of his admirers, while Nightmare hunched in the gloom, a book held before him like a shield against the villagers' disdain. I returned to the scene, the starburst fracture in my eye socket carefully concealed behind a faded orange eyepatch—the badge of a recent, desperate defense. Moving without a sound, I settled beside Nightmare, affecting a casual fascination with the pages he held, my every muscle tense with the effort to hide the injury and the storm of the day.