Chapter Text
Everything was silent. There was no wisp of wind, winding through the trees, making them sway. There was no chittering of wildlife, no whispers on the wind. It was almost literally dead silent. The soft crackling of campfires is the only thing breaking the silence. Twenty small campfires spread across the small open patch of forest, some even in the forest itself, were surrounded by bodies of all various sizes. With the soft illuminating light of the fires casting a shallow glow across the figures, you could see dozens, maybe even hundreds of different monsters huddling together around the closest fire to them. The night was cold, forcing those who don’t want to huddle into the warm group of bodies.
Asgore watched over them from his perch on a large stone protruding from the earth. He, being the fire goat Boss Monster he was, was not affected by the cold. It allowed him to be away from the warmth of his people, to be able to look over them through the night. He took shifts with his wife, another fire goat Boss Monster, halfway through the night so he isn’t up by morning time, exhausted. And, as if his very thoughts summoned her, Toriel steps up next to Asgore, and sits down primly.
Asgore couldn’t help staring at her. She was just so beautiful, with her silky white fur and pretty little horns on her head. She was a breathtaking picture, and he hated that she was to go to war against the humans with him. She was too gentle-hearted to be a general but she was also fiercely loyal to her subjects and would not abandon them just because she didn’t want to fight. It’s one of the reasons why Asgore loves her. And the main reason she was his right hand man.
“Any sign of Helvectic?” His love spoke, breaking the dead air of the forest, and pulling him back from his thoughts. He shook his head, turning to gaze at his people once again, smoothing his beard with pawed hand to clear his head.
“No. But I have gotten word from one of his squad mates, that we are far from the humans. And that Helvectic is making sure they stay clear from us.” Asgore sighed, laying his hand back down to his lap, closing his eyes heavily. Toriel scoffs next to him, a heavily disbelieving sound, one that makes Asgore turn to her with a look.
“What? That boy is gonna run himself into the ground. Which is gonna get himself hurt one of these days.” Toriel rebukes, making Asgore roll his eyes slightly as she begins to pout. Toriel somehow manages to cross her arms primly, turning away with a huff. Asgore looks at her fondly, giving a gentle smile.
“You need to stop coddling that boy. He’s capable of looking after himself. He is out of his stripes, you know.” He teased his wife gently, who huffed in response. She eventually settled down and looked away, watching the fires flicker across the camp. Her face drops slightly, concern and fear eating in her eyes.
“I worry greatly for him. Why must he be the one to do this?” She said quietly, her gaze turning solemn as she flickered between the huddled monsters and her husband. Asgore heaved a sigh, smoothing his paw down his armored thigh in a nervous gesture.
“He's our fastest flier and our General, why wouldn’t he be out there?” He said redundantly. They’ve had this exact argument before. Once when Helvectic took off on his scouting mission, and once when Helvectic’s brother asked for him. He didn’t want to start that argument over again but his wife was adamant about Helvectic unnecessary involvement. And he knows she's right, as she usually is, but Helvectic was more useful out there then here.
She doesn’t reply, also reluctant to start another argument this close to the dozing monsters. He reaches over to her hand, taking it into his, gripping it reassuringly and giving her a smile. She smiles shakily at him, squeezing his hand back, scooting closer to rest her head on his shoulder. Asgore lets out a sigh, closing his eyes as he lays his own head down onto his wifes. They sit there, enjoying the peace of the quiet night and the slight cold breeze that washes over them. Most nights they can’t have this, this peaceful moment between them. So they try to savor it.
A piercing scream jolts them back into reality, and startles the surrounding monsters awake. Asgore jumps to his feet, summoning his trident to his hands. Toriel followed his lead, her hands lighting up with fire, ready for any threat. When no imminent threat showed itself, and the forest had gone quiet once again, they look to each other before jumping down from the rock to the no awake monsters.
“What was that?” Asgore barked to the closest soldier, a dog monster with pure white fur. The soldier straightened at his tone, stopping his rapid conversation with another soldier, saluting as they answered. Asgore notes the other civilian monsters whispering to themselves before they stopped as soon as they saw him approach.
“Sir, one of our doctors collapsed! I have just gotten the report now.” He reported, relaxing his stance to a more at ease pose, but still tense, sharing looks with his fellow officers. Asgore gave them a look, sensing their hesitation, but before he could get them to elaborate, his wife worriedly asked a question.
“Which Doctor? Do they need my help?” Toriel frets, stepping forward to stand beside her husband. She was a phenomenal healer but she wasn’t a full fledged doctor. Her healing magic was on another level with her being a Boss Monster. The soldier looks to her, before shaking his head in agitation, his shaggy fur ruffling with his action.
“No, my Queen. They have it under control. It’s just-” He cuts himself off, sharing another look with the Bunny monster next to him. Asgore was starting to get annoyed, and motioned the dog monster to finish his report. He shakes himself off again, straightening once again before forcing out the words.
“The Doctor who collapsed was none other than Dr. Gaster… Your son.”
Earlier that evening-
[PING!]
The sudden barrage of attacks was expected but not anticipated. Laced with purple magic, a rare infusion for a human, hundreds of bolts of condensed light were shot at Helvectic. Forcing him to twist and twirl mid flight, to avoid being hit by [Karma] , a poison-based magic. The higher the [L.V.] the more poison inflicted. And unfortunately for Helvectic, being part of the main war between the Humans and Monster, his [L.V] was higher than most. So, avoiding the attacks was imperative to Helvectic’s health.
As he twisted, he summoned his own barrage of attacks, spreading his wings to make it easier, his eyes alight with magic to allow him to see. As a skeleton monster with wings, he was able to manifest both bones and feathers to aid him in battle, and when in-flight the wind was to his advantage. The flurry of feathers cut into the attacking humans, interrupting their attempt at another attack and giving Helvectic the ability to create space. He landed on a high above branch, looking down upon the humans. There were only five of them, but Helvectic didn’t let his guard down. There was something about this group of mages that made him uneasy.
“Not Even A Courtesy Hello?” He quipped to the humans with a grin, as they recollected themselves. One glared at him, stepping in front of the other humans. He erected a deep purple glowing shield, forming as a dome around the humans.
“Get away from us, Monster!” The mage yelled, readying his staff. Helvectic’s grin twitched, his irritation giving way as the humans continued to yell at him, like he was some pest.
“Hey Now!” He called out cheerily, the air thickening with Helvectic’s increasing irritation, “I Wasn’t The One To Attack First.”
One of the younger ones flinched, clenching his sword with trembling hands closer to his hunched body, his blond hair shadowing his eyes. His Green soul pulsed with a dark burgundy, [Doubt] plaguing his heart. His leader though, his Yellow soul was saturated in a burnt black yellow, [Greed] and [Hate] driving him to throw more attacks. Helvectic allowed himself to fall back from the branch, dodging the now yellow drenched arrows. Summoning his gravity magic, he picks the leader up and tosses him into a flurry of feathers, all while turning in mid air to land on his feet upon the mossy ground. The leader dodges valiantly, though some stab painfully into his body, forcing him to the ground.
In just one attack, Leader’s (as Helvectic has taken to calling the Human,) [H.P.] was depleted to half, making him flounder and struggle to get himself back into the battle. With their leader hurt, the others finally move from their frozen place. The two otherwise forgotten humans summoned their attacks, one was blue arrows like their leader and the other yellow swords, while the one that hesitated summoned flowers.
Before Helvectic could even dodge, the attacks were blocked. A bright Cyan feather shaped shield solidified in front of him. Helvectic flapped his wings, jumping back, and looking over his shoulder to see his second in demand defending him. Helvectic flashed a smirk his way, to his annoyed scowl. With a growl, Huros pushes his shield forward, knocking the humans back before he grabs his commanding officer's arm and takes off. Huros being the fastest fly-er, went from 0 to 80 in 5 seconds, making ground between them and the hostile humans in a matter of minutes. Once they were plenty far away, Huros let Helvectic go, so he could fly on his own.
“You Know, Thank You For Saving My Tailbone Back There, But I Had It Handled.” Helvectic jokes, doing a flip over Huros before straightening out. Huros rolls his eyes, speeding up his flying, forcing Helvectic to fumble and try and catch up. Huros continued to ignore his commanding officer as they flew, no matter how much Helvectic bugged him. After 20 minutes straight of bad puns and pokes from Helvectic, Huros finally snapped.
“Enough!” Huros screamed, stopping mid air and hovering above the tree line with a ferrous scowl across his feathered face, glaring down at Helvectic. He flinched to a stop as his friends raised voice. The smile slipped from Helvectic face as he stopped mid flight to hover before Huros.
“Do you not understand your position!? As our superior and King Asgore's son, it is our duty to protect you!” He raised his hand, cutting off Helvectic as he opened his mouth to protest, “And I understand that you can handle yourself, as one of the most powerful monsters around, you can obviously take care of yourself. But you don’t have to!” Huros’ voice softened before hardening once again, making Helvectic flinch back with guilt at the slight waver he could hear in his best friend's voice.
“We can talk about this more at camp, okay? Let’s go.” And with finality in his voice, Huros took off once more, with his superior following him. The sun slowly setting, guarantying the monsters coverage with their flight home
Unbeknownst to both monsters, a glowing aspiration of a deer watched from within the thicket of the forest, just far enough out of sight to not be seen. Its eyesight was able to make out the magic of the monsters even as the sun's rays slowly slipped beyond the horizon. Seeing its object of focus moving on, it dashes forward to follow, effortlessly jumping and waving through the bushes and trees. Leaving behind a trail for its master to follow as it keeps pace with the flying monsters.