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It was a freezing evening in the midst of winter when Rus first saw the strange monster for the first time. He was bundled up in the heavy jacket he was wearing, trying his best to keep every inch of his body covered and protected against the fierce wind that tore at his bones and threw snow up into the air. He was beginning to regret turning down Edge’s offer of a ride back home in the car rather than walking.He was close to home, wandering along the path that bordered the local woods, when he heard an odd sound to his side. The skeleton looked up, squinting through the snow and into the dark forest beyond. There was a bright, glowing light in the distance that seemed to illuminate all of the trees nearby, and he could clearly see someone moving about in the shadows.Shrugging it off as nothing more than someone doing some late-night work, Rus continued on his way home. It was unfortunate that he only managed to get a few further steps before an ear-splitting shriek had him jerking in surprise. He whirled around in time to get a glance at the animal that knocked him off his feet and into the snow with a heavy thump.The large, feathered creature lunged at him, its jaws clamping down around the fluffy jacket that shielded his neck. It yanked at the material, easily tearing through the clothes and breaking off chunks of stuffing that it quickly began to gnaw on.Rus was completely stupefied, frozen in place while he watched the creature destroying what had been his hoodie only moments ago. Its lithe body was crouched closely to the ground as its blade-like claws and sharpened teeth tore at the soft material, shaking it back and forth as though trying to kill the inanimate object.When the raptoresque animal had realised it had not grabbed anything worth consuming, its large, brown eyes narrowed on Rus once more. The large feathers of the raptor’s crest rose high into the air as it took a step towards the monster, its teeth curled back in an ugly snarl while it hissed and chirped.Rus couldn’t move, his whole body frozen as his soul thundered against his ribcage when the reptile began to bear down on him. It was when the animal paused, shifting its body into the position to pounce on its prey when an attack shot through the air, striking the raptor’s side and drawing a pained scream.Before it could recover from the devastating attack, the monster responsible for the bone weapon leapt at it, another large, crimson blade within their grasp. They brought the attack down hard on the dinosaur, spearing cleanly through its neck, the momentum just enough for the monster to snap through the vertebrae with a sickening crack. The creature paused, a brief moment of realisation passing through its eyes before it slumped, all life drained from its body in an instant.Rus looked up at the other monster, recalling finally how to breathe. At first he had thought Edge had been the one to jump to his defence, but upon closer inspection, it seemed that it was a completely different skeleton, albeit one with a similar appearance. The other looked down at him, scowling in disapproval shortly before he turned away to look back at the deceased raptor.He studied the carcass for a long moment before reaching down and grasping the animal’s tail firmly in one hand. Without a word, a began to drag it through the snow and towards the distant glowing light, leaving behind a trail of red snow.“W-Wait!” Rus finally shouted, his body finally obeying his commands once more as he scrambled shakily to his feet to stumble after the receding figure. His coat forgotten and the adrenaline slowly wearing from his body, he was forced to curl his arms tightly around himself, wondering how the other monster was walking around clad in only some thin clothes and completely bare foot.“Wait up,” Rus continued, noticing that the other monster didn’t seem to have noticed his words, or perhaps was ignoring him, “Who the hell are you, and what the hell was that?” he demanded, trying his best to keep his racing mind from throwing too many questions at the stranger at once. “Are you even listening? Who ar-”Rus yelped when the stranger rounded on him, his hold on the raptor forgotten as he snatched Rus’ neck, holding him against the nearest tree. Despite being slightly shorter than him, the other skeleton seemed to have no problem leaving Rus dangling in his grip, and he was forced to desperately claw at the other’s hand to try and relieve some of the pressure from his neck.The monster looked him over, seeming to check him before scoffing slightly, dropping Rus unceremoniously to the cold snow below. He shook his head, grabbing the dinosaur’s limb again before proceeding back towards the strange light. “Leave now,” the skeleton growled, refusing to look back at Rus, “You were lucky this time.”Rus had many questions, but he also had an overriding sense of self-preservation, and with the aching pain in his chest from when he was thrust into the icy ground several moments ago and the slight stinging of his neck, he decided it best to heed the other’s words. While it might have been his only chance to find out what strange happenings were occurring in the woods in the middle of the night, he was in no hurry to throw himself into danger so soon after reaching the surface.After taking a moment to gather himself, Rus used the tree he had been momentarily pinned against as leverage to help himself to his feet before he quickly turned, running back the way he’d come and towards home. He was late, and Blue would be sure to throw a fit over the damage to his brand new jacket.
The second time Rus encountered the skeleton was one late summer afternoon, a year on from the first meeting. He’d left the cool sanctuary of the local shopping mall and was wandering the small market stalls that popped up every Saturday. There were farmers showing off their fresh produce, artists offering their specially crafted pieces, and so many other strange and wonderous items sat on sale that it often felt a little overwhelming.The skeleton stood in the shade of one of the tents, looking over the handful of beaded jewellery that lay out across the table before him. No one he knew had a fondness for fancy necklaces and bracelets, but there was no harm in looking at the pretty jewels. From the corner of his eye, Rus was startled briefly when he thought he saw Edge walking through the nearby crowd.He moved away from the stall, taking a closer look at the monster who bore such a close resemblance to his friend, but was clearly very different in presentation. The monster wore long, dark green trousers that had many a tear and a thin tank top that seemed to also have its fair share of damage. His whole body was smeared with greens and browns as though he had been rolling around in the grass, yet he seemed not to notice his rather dishevelled appearance.The torn fabric, however, was nowhere near as badly broken as the other skeleton’s bones seemed to be, littered with poorly healed scars and fractures. It was then he realised, that it was likely the stranger he had encountered many moons ago. Fortunately, he began to inspect a nearby clothing display, allowing Rus to continue to observe him without seeming too suspicious. He began to look through the clothes as well, keeping an eye on the stranger.The monster selected a pair of long, black trousers, looking them over quickly before holding them up to his hip to ensure they were an appropriate size. With that, he began to walk away, clothes still in hand. No one else seemed to notice his presence at all and had Rus not been watching so closely, he would have been able to simply take the clothing.“I hope you plan on paying for those,” Rus stated, stepping out from the rows of clothing racks to speak to the taller monster.The other skeleton’s crimson eye lights had the same fierceness to them as Edge, his features strikingly familiar if not for the crack running down the bottom of his jaw rather than across his eye. At first when the monster looked at Rus there was anger, but then there was a hint of amusement deep within them as the monster grinned, apparently also realising they had met before. Glancing back to ensure that the shopkeeper was still preoccupied with customers he held out a hand to Rus.Something was placed into his hand by the monster, and Rus was quick to look down at the wet object now in his grasp. He almost dropped it when he realised that it was, in fact, a living creature that he had received, and one that looked rather similar to a cockroach at first glance. However, once he looked closer, Rus was amazed to find that he was holding a living trilobite.It twitched and squirmed, obviously not used to being removed from its watery home. Rus looked up, only to find that the other monster had seemingly vanished into thin air along with his stolen goods. With all the grace of a headless chicken, Rus raced along the marketplace, asking every store tender he came across until he found a small plastic tub filled with water.He breathed a sigh of relief when the tiny animal began to happily swim around in its temporary enclosure. Of course, it couldn’t be a permanent solution – Rus knew nothing about looking after an extinct arthropod – and so he was quick to take a short cut back to his home, muttering a quick apology to the small animal for the rather disorientating sensation of teleportation. Not that it would understand him.With the trilobite safely placed on the kitchen counter, Rus pulled out his phone, dialling up his good friend Undyne and immediately beginning to question her on everything she knew about the animal that had been extinct only a few minutes ago. He then teleported to the nearby shopping centre, walking swiftly to the small pet shop on the corner.Mentally thanking the stars that he’d been paid already that week, Rus purchased a small fish tank, water filter, and a bag full of ‘feeder fish’ as they were labelled. Undyne had informed him that most trilobites fed on a diet of small, aquatic worms, and so he hoped that the small fish would be enough to keep it satisfied.