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imtrashraccoon · 16 days ago

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This is actually the longest chapter yet, somehow?? I think I just got really into it. What can I say, I like writing little character introspections.

@owl-bones

First, Previous, & Next Day

Bad Sansuary II: Dust - Restrained

Word Count: 2,094

While you had been able to run away, you knew the guards would catch up to you eventually. They knew what you looked like and, because you were an obvious outsider, would soon track you down to the tavern. You hadn't encountered any other dog monsters in the city either and even if you had, once news spread, no one would be willing to hide you. The other problem was that you had a feeling getting out of the city would prove impossible.

So what should you do?

This was the first time you had had a run in with the law. You had looked up to soldiers your whole life, believing they served an important role in keeping order, and for a time you did your best to do the same. Ever since choosing to abandon the Klasical Kingdom and stay with your soulmate, you knew you would eventually end up in a sticky situation like this. You knew your comrades weren't good people and, by choosing to align yourself with them, neither were you at this point. This new reality was difficult to come to terms with, but now wasn't the time to contemplate such things.

Using natural handholds, you hauled yourself up another wall and then up to an overhang. After resting for a moment, you climbed onto the roof of the building, finding yourself across the street from the tavern. You could even see your room's window that you and Reven had climbed out of earlier.

For a moment, you stood there under the open sky, staring at the building. The rain had picked up again and your armour was soaked, but you barely registered it. The mission was a bust. You hadn't learned what was going on with the weird eye symbol and now Reven had been arrested. If he hadn't resisted too much, there was a good chance the guards would keep him alive while they looked for you, but after that, his fate would be a grim one.

The punishment for murder was death. Some kingdoms had different methods for how the death penalty would be carried out, but the result was always the same. It didn't matter if the guards knew just how many murders Reven was responsible for or not. When the guards caught up to you, they would probably charge you with accessory to murder which, while generally considered a less serious offense, would likely mean execution for you as well.

You sighed and ran your fingers through your sopping wet fur. You had two equally difficult choices. Either you could hide until they eventually found and dragged you off to jail, or attempt to rescue Reven and restore your honour. There was a high chance you would die no matter what you chose, but to you, the right thing to do was obvious. It was far better to fall in battle than to die a coward's death in a futile attempt to change your fate.

You returned to your room long enough to gather up whatever gear you had left behind, namely your rucksack and your bow. They would have gotten in the way so you hadn't been bringing them along on your nightly escapades. Besides, if you couldn't see your target in the dark, you certainly weren't going to hit it.

You picked up the sound of footsteps and raised voices downstairs as you were slipping back out the window. It looked like you had just managed to get out in time. While it might have been entertaining to wait around and watch their reactions to finding the room empty, you knew better and decided to make yourself scarce.

After making sure you were a safe distance away, you crouched down on a roof to figure out your next move. You would need to figure out where Reven had been taken, but you also knew that the longer you waited, the harder it would be to rescue him. Even if you knew where he was, going in now would likely also prove to be a bad idea as it would be swarming with guards. It seemed you would have to handle this situation with the utmost care if you wanted to have any chance at succeeding.

~ ≈ V^ᴥ^V ≈ ~

You watched a guard exit the barracks, silently counting the seconds as they walked away. You were perched on a roof where you had a clear view of the door but still out of sight from the street. From what you had observed, word had spread pretty quickly among the soldiers and they were out in full force searching for you. Luckily, they weren't expecting you to be here and were out scouring the city.

You had been here for a few hours now, just observing and memorizing their movements. Your keen ears had picked up a few snippets of conversations between a few of the guards about "a crazy paladin" so you were confident you had found where they were holding him.

After a few seconds, you dropped down next to the door and carefully turned the knob, finding it unlocked. With a quick glance around, you crept inside the building, closing the door behind you again.

The room seemed like an office of sorts but thankfully there wasn't anyone in sight. There was a desk with some papers and what looked like a book for record keeping. You also noticed a few rough wooden benches against one of the walls and two doors, one behind the desk and one near the benches.

The door near the benches was more heavily reinforced and you surmised that it led to the dungeon. Unfortunately, it was locked but you found a key hidden in one of the desk drawers that thankfully fit in the keyhole. You figured it must have been a spare for when whoever owned the desk was away.

Beyond the heavy door was a set of stairs going down. Pocketing the key, you took a deep breath before beginning to descend into the dungeon. You kept low, being careful not to scuff your paws on the stonework and give yourself away.

The deeper you went, the more obvious it was that you were in the right place. The air smelled stale with a hint of blood and other bodily fluids, and occasionally, you could hear the sound of metal on metal, like chains being rattled. You couldn't hear much movement though, so there was a good chance the guards were still away.

You reached the bottom of the stairs and carefully examined your surroundings. The only light was from a nearby lantern hanging from a nail and a flickering candle in a room off to the side. Slowly, you crept forward, peering around the corner.

There was a man lounging in a chair facing away from the door. He was wearing a similar uniform to the guards but lacking the helmet, which you noticed sitting on the table in front of him along with an opened bottle of spirits. You were debating whether you should just sneak past, when you noticed a ring of keys on his belt that presumably would open up the cells.

Drawing your dagger, you tiptoed forward until you were right behind the jailor. In one fluid motion, you covered his mouth with one paw and slit his throat with your weapon. While you couldn't help but silently revel for a moment in the small burst of energy from absorbing his EXP, you knew you had limited time before someone came to check on things. Carefully, you propped the man's head up so it would appear as if he was asleep and swiped the keys.

Now you just needed to find Reven.

There was only one other prisoner, but they seemed to be asleep or maybe too out of it to care what you were doing. Maybe if they had noticed, you would have been willing to let them loose as well, but as it stood, you couldn't afford to have any extra liabilities.

Reven was chained up to the wall by his wrists in the farthest cell. His gear was gone, leaving him in a pair of tattered pants with his upper half on full display. His bones were littered with small cracks and scrapes, several of which were leaking small amounts of dust, but you noticed there were several older scars across his ribcage as well.

Despite your best efforts, the keys clinked together as you fiddled with the lock, but Reven only looked up when you managed to get the door open. At first, he just stared at you, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing was even real. Only when you hurried to his side and started working on the wrist irons suspending him, did he even attempt to say anything.

"you shouldn't have come..."

After unlocking his restraints, you pried open the metal bands, letting him ease himself down onto the stone floor. He was weak and you didn't even want to imagine what he had gone through in the hours since being captured.

"...i deserve what comes next," he muttered, slumping against the wall.

You shook your head. "No, don't give me any of that. You're a valuable member of the team and I'm not about to abandon you, no matter whether you think you're worth saving or not."

He stared at you, a mixture of disbelief and shock in his eyelights. His gaze briefly flicked to your left, focusing on something unseen and he mouthed a few words under his breath, but you couldn't understand what he was saying.

You could tell he was in no shape to run and you didn't know any healing spells. Then you remembered that you had packed a health potion before entering the city, just in case something happened. You quickly fished the small vial out of your rucksack and pressed it into Reven's hand.

"It's not much, but we're going to need to move quickly and I can't carry you the entire time."

He blinked, as if he'd been shocked back to reality, before popping off the cork and downing the potion in a single gulp. The effect was immediate and most of the cracks across his bones began to close, although the old scars remained untouched.

"why do you care so much?" He rubbed at his eye sockets before adding, "i thought i made it clear from day one that i didn't like you..."

You nodded, "Oh I know." Holding out your hand, you smiled at him and added, "I don't need to be friends with you, just knowing you have my back is enough in my eyes."

He grasped your hand and you helped him to his feet. When he stumbled, you quickly moved to support his weight, wrapping your arm around his shoulder blades.

"i'm surprised you trust me not to stab you the moment you turn around..." he murmured.

You clicked your tongue, slowly helping him out of the cell. "When I served under Captain Undyne, we had a saying. It went like, 'No one gets left behind.' While I no longer take orders from her, I still follow that rule." You paused for a moment before adding, "If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have even left the Dark Fortress, let alone snuck into a city with you."

Reven said nothing.

By the time you reached the jailor's room again, he had gained back enough strength to walk on his own, but you still stayed close by just in case. Thankfully, his gear was still stashed away in a chest meant for prisoner possessions and nothing seemed to be missing. You stood guard at the entrance while he donned his armour again.

"Any chance you could teleport both of us out of the city?" you asked when he finished.

"i wish." He huffed and shook his head. "i'm pretty low on mana, but i think i could do it over a short distance, like through the gate."

You sighed and ran a paw down your face. "I was afraid of that... I guess we'll have to get there first, huh?"

Reven chuckled and started to climb the stairs. He glanced back at you over his shoulder, a manic grin stretched across his skull. "if you still trust me after this, i'll buy the first round next time we're in a proper tavern."

"Not if I have to carry you out in pieces, you sorry sack of bones," you responded with a snort.

#badsansuary #raccoons drabbles #undertale #dusttale #the dark fortress #a sight for sore eyes #dust sans #dust sans & reader #reader #gender neutral reader #platonic relationship #aw they're bonding #i think it's fitting since i somehow made reven a lot more hostile than intended #he's coming around #next up is an epic escape sequence...#yay...#i'm kidding i'm sure i'll figure it out

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