#crorror

[maccogato]

hehrheheheheheh Crorror

[shroomie-oomie]

The Hunters Forest.

a HorrorCross one-shot (4k word count)

CW- mature (but only really at the end)

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The thick fog that covered Nightmares homeworld had always emitted an eerie deep blue glow to it, it was never really noticeable from the castle that they resided in. not even from the garden Cross often found Horror attending too, Cross never really paid attention to it at first. Not until he noticed what was supposed to be a white flower tinted blue, or other fruits and vegetables colours that didn’t quite look right. When he questioned Horror on it he was only given a blunt simple worded answer. 

“Dunno, some’th to do with th’ bos’.” 

It wasn’t exactly helpful to him, and since he noticed it in the garden he's noticed it in other places as well. When he goes to the top of one of the watchtowers (a habit from the past to patrol the grounds. Even if he knows no one else can enter Nightmares domain without permission) he can see the way the fog rolls over everything, getting into every nook and cranny. It allowed him to see the very few cracks in the structure of the castle as the fog attempted to break in, following those cracks to where they would be inside, he noticed how there was an almost invisible fog inside as well. Cross started to make theories on it, too strong willed to ask the boss or any of the other residents (outside of that one time with horror) about it either.

The thought of the fog had sat idle in the back of his head since the first discovery. It had been years now since he was first brought here, and to his surprise he was the second fastest to catch onto the fog being something that always surrounded them. None of them knew what it was for, and the boss never explains anything other than necessary information. Killer theorised it was poison when he first came here, after he discovered it on a run away attempt to the forest. Dust also thought that apparently, he even tried to run some tests on it but whatever the fog was made of wasn’t organic to the world itself. Cross never made a sound enough theory to share out loud with the others, but he did connect more dots. Both Dust and Killer thought the fog is of its own nature, yet Horror told him it was something to do with their boss. Then again Horror wasn’t the most reliable source of information with the crack in his skull.

“What about you big guy? Any theories?” Killers voice cut through Cross’ thoughts and everyone's attention snapped to the one in question.  

Horror didn’t give an answer or even bother to look up from where he stood behind the bar counter top, gathering items for dinner prep. It was clear Horror wasn’t gonna answer but everyones attention stayed on him, the longer the silence stretched the more Killers smile pulled taut his short temper about to reach his limit before Horror finally spoke up.

“Hunt, out’ta fresh meat.” 

The smile Killer had been wearing somehow managed to grow even sharper at the denial to his question, Cross had never seen Killer so determined to pry information out of Horror before. It was an unestablished rule that they left Horror alone if he didn’t want to speak, even the most basic sentence structure and words were hard for him. Not because he was stupid, Horror was far from that. Cross had seen him in action on the field, both in strategy and in terms of fighting. Horror was smart and quick thinking, he was a hunter and a damn good one. Able to set traps and lead his prey to them, Dust and him were a great match up and they both seemed to be able to communicate without speaking to one another. No, the reason why speech was so hard was because of the massive obvious crack to his skull, and the fact his lower jaw was completely gone. 

It had taken Cross an embarrassingly long time to come to that realisation. The crack was obviously painfully so, Cross remembered when he wasn’t able to take his eyes off it, all he could imagine was the unbearable pain it must have been to get it and the pain Horror must carry with him day by day but never showed. But Horror took more care to hide his missing jaw, Cross always wondered how Horror was even alive after sustaining all those should be fatal injuries especially considering they sans’ only had one HP. But he could never just ask, it was another unestablished rule not to ask about backstories or pry for information. 

However the reason for Horror's survival to his fatal injuries was revealed when their group mission went south. Cross hand found himself in a tight spot, purple marrow running down his head, his vision blurring on the verge of passing out. Their enemy didn’t let up though, it was supposed to be a scouting mission mostly. They were stationed in a mafiafell variant, it was a peaceful timeline, their job was to create splits in the timeline to make more negative leaning ones. They were given cases of drugs to distribute, all made with a different unnatural resource that couldn’t be found in this au so it wouldn’t be mass produced. It went south when Cross let his gaze linger too long on one of the dogs, his above average stature and aggressive looking outfit, obviously meant he was trying to pick a fight. 

So an all out brawl was started, it would have been fine had he been left to deal with it on his own. But Horror had stepped in the second the first punch was thrown, immediately coming to his aid. At first Cross was offended, he may have been new to the team but he wasn’t new to fighting he had the most training out of all of them. From there the fight spiralled, guns were pulled out and an evacuation was ordered so innocents wouldn't get hurt in the crossfire. Things turned south for them when the stars decided to show up as well, the whole team was completely split. And Cross had underestimated Swap, leaving him cowering away like a mut, his hiding spot must have been pretty obvious though. The brute dog that started this whole thing had found him, clearly out of revenge.

“Where’d ya boyfriend run off ta?” The words left Cross completely speechless, an unwilling blush spreading across his cheeks. He tried to come up with a response, forgetting about the battle to save his pride, forgetting the fact he’s already injured from another battle. He didn’t have time to react as the gun was brought up, aimed right between his eyes. 

His eyes only had time to widen before the shot rang out, the world went black…

He heard Killer call his name, He felt how tightly his eye-sockets were closed.

Opening his eyes, he saw Horrors back hunched over, Killer by his side and Nightmare's familiar portal behind him. He couldn’t make out the voices or what was being said, only that they were being ushered through the portal and Nightmare had come down from his office so whatever happened must have been pretty bad.

Nightmare went straight to Horror and took him to the infirmary, the bullet sound continued to ring out in Cross’ head. Horror had taken the bullet for him, the bullet aimed to kill him.

“H-horror is he. They were gonna is he” the words failed to get out but Dust seemed to catch on, though he looked a little confused.

“He’s fine. He’s immortal- kinda, he can’t die from injuries like we can. And by we I mean me and you, you’ll also have a hard time killing Killer if u tried. How else do you think he survived all the injuries he has? Hell his HP is literally in the negatives, have you never checked it?”

“I-i no? I was told not to.”   

“You actually followed that rule?”

Cross nodded his head in shame, and Dust scoffed. Muttering something about old habits dying hard. Horror took a week to recover, during that time Cross had volunteered himself to be the largest of the groups care taker. The words the dog had spoken never left his mind, now that the heat of the battle was over it was easier to hide his emotions. But whenever Horror was sleeping and no one else was in the room he couldn't help but blush and get fidgety.

“-llo, earth to Crossy. Is anyone home in there? Or ya gonna continue to stare at Horror tits” 

The words snapped Cross out of his trip to memory lane, a bright purple blush spreading across his face, his head snapping towards Killer's direction “WHAT?! I am-”  the words died out as Cross realised the shadow being cast over his face, and the fact Horror was now positioned in front of him, now dressed in his black apron used for hunting a bear trap slung over his shoulder and butcher knife hocked into the pocket on the side of his apron.

“I-i” 

“Aske’ ya a question…rude not ta answ’r.”

“You- you did? I zoned out sorry” Cross hung his head in shame guilty for making Horror repeat his words, usually Horror wasn’t even one to repeat his words but to his surprise he actually did.

“Was gonna hunt. Wanna come?” 

The words made Cross’ heart flutter, the blush not dying down any as he nodded his head. “I would love too” Horror was usually a lone hunter, said adding other people ruined his traps. So the fact he was asking was a big surprise, and an opportunity Cross wasn’t gonna pass up. He stood to join Horrors side, ignoring the questioning glance that was thrown his way as they made their way out the back towards the forest.

Cross was confused by this, he had always thought Nightmare took him to a different AU for hunting so seeing Horror walk so confidently into the forest was interesting. He didn’t voice anything though, he was trained to follow orders and he didn’t want to mess up Horrors hunt like the others had apparently.

The further they walked into forest the thicker the fog grew, it never raised over their feet but Cross could see the colour change. The way it reflected off the ground and bounced off the trees, left the whole forest tinted blue making the environment around them darker. Horror blended in seamlessly with it, it was almost scary how the big lunky skeleton seemed to disappear into nothingness. He would hate to fight Horror on home turf, he was definitely an opponent not to be undermined. He also now realised why Horror had shot him a look before, his outfit mixed in with the fog turned a soft baby blue. 

“Maybe I should have changed..” the metal guard around his neck and the spikes attached to his shoulders seemed to sparkle, which was sure to scare off whatever it was they were hunting. 

“S’okay.. You look pretty” 

Dumbfounded Cross paused his steps to look up at Horror. Did he hear that right? Horror steps didn’t falter however, his steps were still confident and light. Cross wrote it off as one of his speech quirks, maybe pretty was just the easiest word for him to say. That had to be it.

Taking a few quick steps to catch up with Horror again Cross regained his original position next to the larger, his steps somehow louder than the gentle giant beside him. It was terrifying how quiet Horror was able to walk and move, he didn’t even leave any foot prints behind.

A rustle was heard from the foliage drawing both skeletons' attention, Cross sharpened up bracing for any signs of a threat while Horror barely moved. The forest seemed to still, and it was only then did Cross realise he couldn't hear any sounds but his own. As a guard they were always taught birds and other smaller critters were the first to recognise any signs of danger, if the forest was quiet it meant things were hiding and you should be too. And yet Horror showed no fear, or even the smallest of reactions instead he sniffed the air.

From the side Cross could see Horrors singular eyes pupil sharpen to a raiser thin point, it was like a switch was flipped and he suddenly became aware as to why the forest had been so quiet since they entered. Horror was the apex hunter here, everything was hiding from him. The sharp shiver of fear that shot up Cross’ spine left a buzz of adrenaline in his marrow, he had to admit it was kinda hot.

Cross followed Horrors gaze to the thorned bushes, trying to make out what the other was seeing. Nothing moved for minutes, both parties held at a stand still until he heard Horror let out a husk laugh, the first real sound he’s heard since they left the castle.

“Hunt’s begun”

The tone of voice and the manic smile on Horrors face caused a blush to creep up the spiked guard's face, and he was forced to quickly move into motion as Horror sprung back into motion. Subconsciously he moved closer to Horror falling into perfect step behind him, Cross tried his best to keep his footsteps light like Horrors but one set of deep prints in the soft soil followed them. He failed to dodge scattered leaves and branches on the ground, too scared to risk looking down and losing sight of Horror. 

Horror wasn’t moving fast by any means, and yet looking away for a mer second made it feel like he could completely lose the over-sized skeleton.

`````

Hours had passed, maybe, Cross wasn’t sure. He was trained for long stamina missions but he couldn’t shake the sneaking dread the further from the castle they travelled, the fog had gotten thicker and the world around them grew darker. Both behind and ahead of them the forest stretched forever, making it hard to tell which way they even came from he knew they made many turns (Cross had tried his best to keep up with them, playing a mental game to make sure they wouldn’t lose their way back but he messed up and gave up. He was completely reliant on Horror to get them home now) honestly, he felt useless. The big brute in front of him was the one leading the hunt, he wasn’t given any instructions as to what he needed to do. And to make everything even worse it was getting harder to keep track of Horror, with the change in atmosphere he had already blended in pretty well before, but now he was almost invisible making it harder to do his one job of following the leader. One slip up, one missed glance and he would lose him. 

A snap of a twig had Cross’ skull snapping to the right, the magic that had been buzzing near his finger joints was quick to form his solid weapons ready to attack. But nothing came flying out of the tree line to jump them.

His dual swords fizzled out of a physical form, and a defeated sigh left him he looked back to where Horror was only to find the lunking silhouette he was trailing wasn’t there anymore. Panic spiked in Cross’ chest, he spun around eyelights looking in each shadow for a hint of the red glowing eye of his teammate. Only to find nothing, he attempted to move from the spot he was left in but something in the back of his mind told him to stay still until Horror found him again. He tried to call out but the deathly silence of the vast unknown emptiness around him, made his marrow spark with hesitance and fear. He was a complete sitting duck right now, and instead of the thrilling fear with Horror earlier this one felt cold, dangerous.

The forest had been quiet before but now it felt deafening. Cross was constantly checking over his surroundings waiting for the comforting red glow to come save him, but he was only greeted with that eerie fog. Even taking a singular step left him disorientated, each time he observed his surroundings which way he deemed north changed. There was no sense of direction, only his own left and right, and even that was starting to lose meaning. It was similar to the void he spent god knows how long in, the endless white still haunting him years later. Only now it was an endless forest. His ribs somehow grew tight, the grumpy stuck up guard persona crumbling quickly as he grew more desperate for any other colour, his teeth parted to call out. The silence be damned he couldn’t be alone any longer, with the forest so quiet Horror was bound to hear him. He drew the breath in to call Horrors name, but all wind was taken out of guard as sudden rushing movement came from the thick treeline.

Two Dears and a Buck came bolting right at him, his previous disorientation left him without a way to fight back. Magic, not willing to cooperate as his eye-lights shrunk to tiny dots, unable to do anything, but stared at the small herd running straight at him. He braced for the pain, only for the hit to never be delivered. 

When Cross was able to get his false nerves to calm down enough to pry his eyes open he found Horror standing in front of him, the shine of his butcher knife dulled with red and crude blood stained bones stuck up from the ground where the herd once was. 

He could vaguely make out Horror making a small disappointed click of his tongue, but before any attempt at the apology could be stuttered out of his mouth Horror was already turning around to scrutinise him. 

“Hunts over darlin’...stop th’ shiverin’......not gonna let anythin’ happen.”

Horrors' tone of voice was surprising, the cruel smirk he had before was still there. But the edges seemed softer, Cross watched dumbly as Horror reached his hand up to wipe some of the splatter Dear blood that managed to get on him. Unable to tear his gaze away as Horror licked it off his fingers, His cheeks burning a bright lilac as Horrors smirk grew even more.

“Help me…bring these back.”

Cross didn’t trust himself to talk so he just nodded, following Horror much closer as they moved to the carcass. Horror had taken the legs of the Buck and the Bigger Dear, leaving the guard to carry the older fawn. Usually he would have protested the unfair work load, Horror had already done all the hunting and killing, and now he was carrying home the heavier load. But Cross had been through one to many emotions already, he just wanted to get home, eat, and sleep to forget all this.

Once getting a good grip on his own ‘catch’ he gave Horror a small nod to let him know he was ready to set off. 

He must have been truly off his game after everything, when he noticed the forest seemed clearer now. The fog felt lighter and he could actually see Horror again, and just when he thought nothing else could possibly be weirder than the fog and Horrors affectionate pet names. One of Nightmare's portals had opened in the clearings.

The absolute confusion Cross felt must have produced a startled sound, if the somehow even smugger look on Horror face was real. Cross could only lock eyelights with Horror briefly before looking back at the portal then the forest around them. He had to have repeated that at least five times until Horror broke off into low chuffs again, the fog in the forest seemed even clearer now almost like they were back at the beginning of the trees. He could make out all the features on Horror again and he was sure it left his face burning. 

Ever the merciful Horror tried to stop his laughs to save some of Cross’ pride. 

“Told ya…boss’”

The cryptic words didn’t help any of the confusion the guard was feeling, but Horror didn’t pay any more attention to him as he started to walk again towards the portal. Cross followed reluctantly, still unsatisfied with the answers but he’d be damn if he was staying in this mindfuck of a forest anymore.

`````

The portal had led them to the castle's cool room, bloody meat hooks and unused off cuts of meat were left to the side. Truth be told Cross had never seen this room fully before, Horror didn’t trust anyone else in here. 

Cross helped Horror set the meats up to drain in a room off to the side, before he was ushered out and given a few firm words of advice to have a shower and clean up before dinner. And just as Cross was about to leave the refreshing chill of the cool room, he felt Horror's larger hands wrap around his forearms pulling him back into the largers chest.

The soft clunk of bone on bone as Horror delivered a surprisingly tender peck to his cheek left Cross head reeling as he was shoved out of the room. Barely catching the parting words from Horror.

“Good job today..sweethear’.”

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Cross carried those words to the shower his cheeks aglow the entire time, The memory played on repeat even as he dressed himself. He tried to take his mind off it all his feelings by opening his sketch book, but Cross found himself only able to draw Horror. The manic smirk from where their hunt first ingrained burned into his memory, the same blessed thrilling chill running up his spine again.

He spent the hours leading up to dinner perfecting that sketch and a few others, each one with Horror as his muse. The loud pounding knock at his door, left Cross scrambling to close his note book and hide any evidence of his sins. Killers voice rang out from the other side of the door, calling him to dinner. Cross didn’t protest the disturbance for once. He itched to see Horror again.

His lack of protest must have surprised Killer as well, the nimble skeleton looked dumbfounded by Cross’ willingness to open the door and join them. The walk to the dining room for once was quiet. Killer had truly lost his words by Cross’ sudden change in attitude. 

Entering the dining room behind Killer, Cross was able to see the way Horrors face light up. That smile that had been plaguing his thoughts right in front of him again. Cross couldn't help but blush, taking his usual seat at the table across from Horror. Killer followed his actions and Dust helped to set the table, only once everyone's food was set in front of them did Horror join the table the softer smile sent to Cross didn’t go unnoticed.

Unfortunately for them, Killer had also noticed. His eyes darted between the two, and then the plates that sat in front of them. Cross followed Killer's invisible gaze to what he was looking at and noticed how his plate seemed to be fuller than the others, only causing Cross’ blush to deepen. 

Killers' offence grew as he shot Horror a look of shock and mocked anger, only to be met with a simple shoulder shrug. Just as everyone was about to dig in Killers scratching voice cut through the air.

“You guys fucked didn’t you.”

“WHAT-” Cross yelled, looking at Killer in disgust and shock. Horror was on the other side of the table choking on his food, while Dust looked like he wished to be anywhere else.

“Why else are you all blushy, and Horror gave you a larger portion!” 

“No! That didn’t- we didn’t- WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP AND EAT!” 

“No! Answer the question!”

“I just did!”

“Will both of you just shut the fuck up and eat!” Dust's eyes glowed with anger at the two skeletons' childish bickering, causing everyone to flinch. 

Cross mumbled a quick apology, and Killer mumbled something. The rest of dinner was had in silence, but Cross knew the teasing would continue once Dust wasn’t around again. But he would worry about that later. For now, he just enjoyed the delicious meal Horror had cooked up for them.

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i didn't beta read these so apologies for any mistakes. :>

if there's any other ships people want me to write for it would be nice of you to leave them in the comments.

The Hunters Forest - A_Dust_Bunny - Undertale (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

it's also posted to ao3, so it would be pretty cool if you checked that out as well