Chapter Text
Sunlight poured itself through the gaps between the woods, casting darkened pillars of shadows across the wild nature where the sun did not dare to touch. Critters roamed the wooded area, feeling benign and protected by nature's wooden pillars, reaching up to touch the skies. Such a perfect summer day it was, at least until the first arrow was shot.
THUNK!
“How did you miss that? It was right in front of ya, idiot!” Killer remarked, a distasteful sneer upon his face. Cross let out a disgruntled scoff, shooting him a glare. That tear streaked bastard of a skeleton that Cross hesitated to call his acquaintance knew very well that Cross specialized in medicinals and harvesting, not nonsense like archery and hunting. He didn't even bother to reply to that rude remark, pulling his arrow from a tree’s bark.
“No wonder Nightmare favors me more.” The skeleton snickered, his eyelightless gaze flicking to one of his numerous snares, as it went off due to a young rabbit stepping into it.
“At least I do something for the team.” Cross scowled, tossing the arrow to Dust, his more tolerable teammate. The hooded skeleton caught it, sheathing it in its quiver. Dust, to Cross, was an unusually quiet skeleton. His shadowed expression was quite always deadpan and indifferent, and to the others it almost felt like he was SOULless, just like the mute painter that resided in Dream’s group. He might as well have been that paint freak, as he didn't talk much either. Cross only heard little mumbles of words from Dust during the meetups with the other groups or when he was paired up with Horror during hunts. But, Dust was still rather good at doing what he was told to and not complaining. Cross liked that about him.
Letting out a quiet heave, he shot a glare at Killer as he went off on his search for medicinal herbs. He heard a snippet of a half-witted insult from that mascara streaked looking monster as he passed, anger bubbling in his SOUL.
“I’m going back to camp. Have fun with your little knives and arrows.” He hissed out as he stormed off, going down the quickest path he knew. It was not like he needed to be there anymore, he had gotten all he needed to treat Error's illness. That was most likely the reason behind Cross’s unusual outbursts, as Error had been worrying him all week with that sickness of his. He swiftly ran down the list of symptoms in his mind: Cough, fever, vomiting, chills, fatigue. He repeated that list over and over, taking swift glances into his bag to double check he had the right medicinals. He was truly desperate for Error to get better, as they had been by each other's side ever since they were forced into this damned forest. Sure, Error's laziness and refusal to exercise got on Cross’s nerves, but through it all, he just felt a sort of connection. He didn't understand why, but it just felt right to protect and be with that glitched skeleton. Maybe it was the universe guiding him, or simply just his SOUL picking favorites. To Cross, it was the latter, as he was never very religious from the start. But, maybe, there was a celestial being out there who connected Cross and Error..?
…
“Stop-p!” Error hissed out as Cross tried to gently force medicine down his throat. He smacked the herbs and things out of his hand, giving him an agitated glare.
Cross sighed patiently and picked the items back up, deciding to resort to his last option. “If you don't take your medicine, I won't give you any chocolate.”
“CHO-OCOLATE?!” Error squealed, immediately attempting to grab at Cross’s bag to find said chocolate. “GIVE! GIVE-E!”
“No! You need to take your medicine first, needy boy.” He led Error’s grasping hands away from his bag, pushing him into a more seated position than his previous, awkward half-laying down one.
Error tried to make a noise of disapproval, but caught himself in a wave of heavy coughs. Cross patiently waited it out, light concern washing over him. This was precisely why he needed to heal his poor glitch, this sickness was getting the better of him. After
Error finally stopped coughing, he emitted a painful groan and leaned his skull into Cross's ribs.
“..Hurts..” He mumbled in a half sentence, the other skeleton presuming that both his glitches and the sickness affected his speech more. Error wasn't very known for speaking fluent sentences in English due to being an error, but Cross was very patient with him and had learned to understand his single-word sentences. They had even learned ASL together, as it worked well for the glitch despite his shaky hands.
“Do you want your medicine in liquid form?” Cross inquired in a soft tone of voice, running his phalanges over the other's head in soothing pets. The other skeleton quietly nodded, his eyesockets shutting.
“..Ple-ease..”
Taking his spice grinder out and a little container of water, Cross carefully placed the herbs and medicinals in the grinder, along with a small amount of that water. As he began grinding everything together with the grinder, he inquired once again. “How’s your heat treating you?”
“Ba-ad.” He mumbled, burying his face in Cross’s clothing.
“Poor baby.. I’ve got medicine to help soothe it, okay?”
“..Mkay..” He finished grinding it together once the mixture was now a type of paste, pouring it into a wood bowl that was conveniently next to him along with the rest of the water. He mixed that together until it became more of a soupy substance, placing the bowl in Error’s hands. Error mumbled a thank you and took a long, slow sip, savoring the coolness of it.
Cross watched quietly before glancing outside of the den to find Killer and Dust back from the hunt. They gathered around the Stump, dropping two rabbits, four mice, voles, and a squirrel. That was obviously not a good hunt, as usually someone would come back with a faun or birds. Cross heavily sighed, looking down at Error, who had finished his medicine and was now trying to sleep.
He stayed there patiently for a while until he was sure that Error was asleep before sliding out from underneath and pulling a nearby blanket over him. He whispered a ‘sweet dreams’ before kissing the top of his skull and slipping out of the den to report to Nightmare.