#skeleton reader insert

“I warned ya, Red!”

…

You never really understood just how physically strong Axe was until you witnessed him flip Red upside down by the waist and drop him on his head. He made it look so easy too, as if he was simply airing out a blanket or dumping a bucket. The squawked curse and Red’s kicking legs would have been a humorous sight had you not been in this predicament. There was also the cringe-worthy sound of bone hitting wood.

Spread out on the floor, Red’s now hazy eyelights wobble for a few moments before he rolled onto his front.

“By the Angel… Axe! It’s not what i’ looks like.”

Axe growled, yanking the other onto his feet by the back of his shirt. “Don’t know if I believe that. Ya shouldn’t of—"

Red used that moment to shove his elbow into Axe’s sternum, eliciting a snarled grunt from the larger monster.

“Knew ya was off! This’s a new low even fer you, flesh-eater!”

In the ensuing scuffle, Red ended up tripping back into the makeshift table, breaking out of Axe’s attempted hold. In his haste to get away from an incoming punch, a box full of puzzles and trinkets was knocked onto the floor, a bottle shattering as everything exploded out. Recoiling with a yelp, you hastily moved away from the two fighting males, standing to grab your blanket on your way.

This was the first time you had ever been in the middle of a heated dispute, or brawl if you were being technical, between monsters. They were far more primal than you were used to. Humans would use their fists and yelled words, but it was nothing like what you were witnessing here.

Huddled in the corner, you watched the pair circle, swipe, and dodge, almost having to cover your nasal from how strong the stench of iron, pine, and fire smoke was. Through the snarling and gnashing of teeth, it was clear that Axe was more on the offensive with Red doing his best to get away while still striking back. It wasn’t long before a roar and stumble had them crashing to the floor.

Red had the advantage of coming out on top, using it to bolt towards the exit. When Axe’s claws briefly caught on the back of his boot, he cursed. Then, within a blink, he disappeared out of existence.

Cursing himself, Axe also defied all logic and disappeared.

You don’t know how long you stood there in a state of shock. Your thoughts all ran together until eventually, you managed to pull out of it. Desperately, you looked around the small area. There really wasn’t anywhere you could hide in here. The hammock was out of the question, but the only other thing was Axe’s chest, and you definitely wouldn’t fit inside that, even if it had been emptied.

You glanced at the flaps of a door. Was it possible to find somewhere close by to hide until it was safe? Would you be caught if you wandered too far? From what little you had seen of the other ship, there had been a lot of crates and barrels shoved in all kinds of odd places. Surely there would be some nook or cranny just around the corner you could sneak yourself to…

The choice was taken from you when Blue burst through the very same door. You nearly screamed in fright with the force and speed of it, gulping a breath as you gripped your chest and tried not to tip over.

“Mr. Blue! What—"

“MAIDEN! WE DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME!”

It was only now, that you noticed how breathless he was as well as the blue sheen to his hatless skull. You tensed, dread filling your nonexistent innards. But as you went to speak, a rather angry squeal forced you to look down into your friend’s arms.

Your jaw didn’t seem to work in your confusion.

There in his grasp was the very pig creature that had wandered through earlier. To make matters even more confusing, instead of placing the creature onto the floor, he hurriedly threw the poor thing into Axe’s hammock and wrapped it up in one of the extra blankets like he was swaddling an infant. The whole time he worked, the creature squealed and thrashed. It wasn’t until it was buried under the rest of the bedding that it stopped, resigned to squirming quietly. When he was done, he gently but firmly grabbed your upper arm to lead you toward the exit.

“WE MUST MAKE HASTE. THE OTHERS WILL SURELY BE HERE ANY MOMENT.”

You did your best to keep up, stumbling slightly with from his speed. He was almost out when a startled gargle left him and he pushed you back inside, eyelights small with beads of light blue now running down his skull.

“TOO LATE, CHANGE OF PLAN. THIS WAY!”

He let go of your arm in favor of running to the side wall, lifting it from the bottom and motioning you to hurry underneath. Hesitating, the sound of voices and Blue’s frantic signals prompted you to trust where this would lead. Once through, Blue joined you, pulling you into him so you could both fit in the small space between the cloth and the crates behind you.

It was a little cramped and he had to press himself back for it to work, but you had to give him credit for the ingenious hiding spot. Most of the crates and barrels were too close to the cloth wall for it to be a feasible place for anything to hide. It made you wonder how Blue knew there would be enough room for both of you to hide here. You couldn’t think too much about it though, for no sooner had you settled in than multiple sets of boots entered Axe’s quarters.

You gripped your blanket tighter around yourself as you both froze. Not to your surprise, it was Red who spoke first.

“I’m tellin’ ya Sans, he’s keepin’ a woman in here. Had ta fight ‘m offa me just ta get ta ya.”

Sans sounded tired, not really into what was going on. “So you’ve told me. Multiple times now. You never told me why you bothered to come in here in the first place though. You know that’s also against the rules.”

Axe’s voice cut in. “He trespassed into my space, whatever beating he would have got was deserved. He’s makin’ up excuses cause he lost and ran away.”

“That’s not…” Red growled in frustration, stomping over to what you assumed was the hammock. “That doesn’t matter. Axe is keeping a woman, in his hammock.”

There was some sort of commotion with a few hard steps and the deep rumble of Axe’s growl. It made you wish you could somehow see what was going on. There was a tear in the seam of fabric in front of you, but you didn’t dare move to try to look. From the corner of your eye socket, you could see a slight grimace form on Blue’s tense grin.

Axe’s voice vibrated the air, angry and low. “Don’t.”

Red and Sans weren’t impressed.

“Let go Axe.” “Axe…”

There was a tense pause, the only sound being Red and Axe’s growls until Axe took a drawn-in breath and backed down.

“Fine.”

The growling stopped and Sans spoke. “Alright Red, let’s just get this over with. I don’t feel like being here all day.”

You could hear the smirk in Red’s voice. “Heh, with pleasure.” Fabric rustled and an angry squeal rang out from the pig, causing Red to sputter. “What, that ain’t…”

Sans let out an exasperated groan. “Is this another one of your jokes? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not usually one to judge, but that thing looks like a troll’s butt wart… Is that seriously what you brought back from that ship?”

You don’t know what kind of face Axe must have had, but his voice had a mix of relief, humor, and smugness to it as Red Floundered. “We’re in love.”

You almost felt bad for Red at the sheer confusion he was experiencing. “I don’t know what that freak of nature is, or where it came from. But that is not what I saw when I came in here! There was a woman hidden in that there hammock! She were a, a skeleton. And… and she, she was naked…”

Blue shifted beside you, getting just a little bit closer, a strange look passing over him for a split second before he let out a slow breath. It made it feel a little claustrophobic in there. Hopefully, now that they hadn’t found you in the hammock, they would leave soon.

You didn’t know why Red wanted to find you so bad, but you really didn’t want to find out. At least Sans didn’t seem too interested in what was going on.

Of course, you were never one to have the best of luck.

As Axe and the others started to argue, there was a thump and grunt followed by the shifting of the barrier in front of you. Your stomach sank as both you and Blue tensed.

Holding your breath, you were slightly relieved when it was only the pig that wormed its head into your small hiding spot. That didn’t stop the shiver that ran down your spine as its one beady eye glared up at you though.

There was definitely something off about the creature.

Its glare aside, your anxiety spiked as it unceremoniously came forward and bit the edge of your blanket, shaking it wildly in its mouth as it tugged it out and away from you.

It was only natural that you panicked, desperately clutching the only thing keeping you from being fully exposed, again. Plus, with how the creature was pulling and shaking, your hiding spot was in jeopardy of being noticed. It had already begun to back out with its prize as it drug and lifted the wall with it.

You had a choice to make, and you needed to make it fast. Release the only thing keeping your delicate form covered, or possibly having your hiding place discovered.

In the end, you folded. There was too much you still didn’t know. You couldn’t risk it. You could survive the embarrassment of being nude. You might not survive an encounter with whoever was out there. Crooks may not have understood why you needed to be kept secret, but something in the way Axe was acting made you question, especially now that Blue had gone through such lengths to hide you.

With a bitter inclination, you let go, surprising Blue as you watched the pig drag your dignity away. His face immediately burst into a glowing blue bright enough to partially illuminate the small space you were sharing, a squeak forming on his tongue.

“M-Maiden!” Even with him trying to be quiet, he was still much too loud.

In a frantic race to shush him, you ended up turning and pressing yourself into him in order to cover his mouth. In his shock he stumbled back with you into the creates behind him with a clatter, you still firmly pressed up against his chest. With how close you were, you couldn’t help but notice how his eyelights dilated to almost fill his sockets before shrinking into hazy little dots. Like a gentleman, his gloved hands didn’t seem to know what to do, eventually coming up to gently grip your shoulders while you still held your hands firmly over his teeth.

Were you in a rather compromising position?

Yes.

Was this the first time on this boat that you were in such a compromising position?

Debatable.

Would you do it all again to keep yourself safe?

Absolutely.

You could feel the warmth of your blush over your entire skull. You were so focused on not imploding from embarrassment, that you almost didn’t notice the sudden eerie silence.

Neither one of you dared to breathe.

The arguing had stopped and you had no idea what was going on. Had they heard you? You didn’t even know if the captain or Red had left, or if everyone was just in a state of hush. You prayed it was the first.

If only you had ever been that lucky.

The entire sheet was ripped from the ceiling, revealing as if in slow motion that, not only had they not left, but they were all now staring at you pressed into Blue, with wide sockets. The culprit of your discovery, blanket still in its maw, was now lying on its side by Axe’s feet as if it didn’t just ruin everything he had done to keep you hidden.

It was Red who broke the silence first, smugly holding his hand out in your direction with the glint of a gold tooth flashing from how wide his grin was.

“I told ya he had a naked woman!”

No one paid him much mind.

Axe was too on edge, his fingers twitching at his sides where his clever and hatchet rested. His eyelight was gone and you could see sweat dotting his skull. Instead of looking at you, however, he was transfixed on who had to be Sans.

He and Blue looked uncannily similar, although Sans had white eyelights and had a bit more height to him. He also dressed like Axe only with a darker blue frock coat over it all. He was also a skeleton. You were beginning to think this was an all-skeleton crew. No one had told you differently and you hadn’t seen any other type of being. The irony of never before seeing another skeleton to now be surrounded by them, was not lost on you.

You were startled out of your shock by Blue gently taking your hands off his face to speak.

“H-Hey Captain. Fancy Meeting You Here. Heh… Heh…”

Oh. Oh no.

“Blue… So uh, Red wasn’t kidding… You okay kid?” His eyelights looked like they were wobbling and fuzzy, a darker blue dusting his cheekbones as he looked you over.

Slowly, you turned to him, glancing at Axe for some sort of reassurance, but he was too focused to notice your pleading look. You didn’t know what to say, or what to do. He was the captain. It would be up to him to decide your fate and you weren’t sure if you could trust him, despite his lazy but tense grin and easy disposition. It suddenly felt very fake.

Thankfully Blue came to your rescue.

“OF COURSE CAPTAIN. ALL IS WELL, considering.”

He hummed and came closer, enough so that he could reach out and grab you if he wanted. “And is there a reason you and Axe are trying to keep her from me and the rest of the crew?”

You didn’t trust how laid-back he was acting right now. He was too calm for what was happening here, voice similar to Red’s only smooth and clear. Not even Blue or Crooks felt this ominous when you met them.

“SHE WAS INJURED, AND I DIDN’T TRUST RED…” His answer was all but blurted as he shifted uncomfortably behind you.

Red was quick to take offense but was cut off by Sans lifting a hand. “Fair enough. But you can see why I am hesitant to believe you. You know this sort of thing is highly against the rules should it be proved otherwise.”

There was a deep menacing growl from Axe. “She’s here of her own volition.”

A flash of something dark crossed San’s face before his easygoing mask was back into place. “That why she’s naked and marked?”

The angry snarl that left Axe’s was terrifying. You understood why he was so angry, but it didn’t lessen how frightening he could be. Red was certainly affected but Sans didn’t even flinch, simply narrowing his eye sockets.

“IT’S NOT LIKE THAT. WE HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT GENTLEMEN.” Blue did his best to be firm, but you could tell he was nervous.

When Sans turned his eyelights back to you, you involuntarily flinched back, causing him to sigh. “Alright then. I believe ya Blue.” He then held out his hand for you. “The name’s Sans. Captain Sans at your service kid.”

When you hesitated before carefully offering your own hand. “Y/N.”

His smile widened. “Y/N huh, it’s a pleasure to meet…”

He winked his right eye socket as he talked, the left briefly flashing blue and yellow before returning to normal. A strange feeling seemed to run down your spine and in the back of your mind at the same time. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Sans straightened himself, both eyelights vanishing. His grip on your hand quickly became bruising, the sensation it gave off changing from that of friendly curiosity to the familiar burn you were used to back home.

“Y o u . . .”

He pulled you into him with an angry snarl as Axe loudly cursed. The last thing you saw of your safe haven was the panicked look on Axe’s face as he desperately tried to reach for you before everything turned to a bitterly cold blackness.

It didn’t last long, for in the next moment you were on the deck of a great ship being pushed against the railing, wood digging painfully into your exposed spine and pelvis. You couldn’t even admire the open sky with the almost setting sun from how frightened and nauseous you were. The only thing you could focus on was the empty socket glare and the bearing of teeth from the skeleton in front of you.

Everything was terrifying.

He easily lifted you onto the railing enough that your upper half was above the water. You cried in fright as you struggled to hold onto his arms, afraid if you didn’t you’d fall. Your eye sockets were wide with dread and your chest pulsed and pounded. The smell of snow or maybe a cold rain filled your senses and overpowered the smells of the ocean waves beneath you.

“You have a lot of nerve stepping foot on my ship and taking advantage of my crew. Did you think I wouldn’t find out or notice!” He shifted and you slipped further over the edge.

You let out another cry of fear, glancing down into the dark waters below. “Please! Don’t! I haven’t done anything! I don’t mean any harm, I swear! Please!”

He leaned in close to your face. “I don’t believe you.”

Your chest gave a tremendous painful throb and you burst into tears as you felt him begin to let go. With a screech, you clawed at his arms to hold yourself up. “Don’t!”

The large clawed hand that grabbed your arm was a blessed welcome, even with the painful way it pulled you back over and tossed not only you but the captain further onto the deck. Your shoulder hit hard into the wood before you rolled away from the man that just tried to send you overboard. You didn’t even have the strength to stand up in your fright. Sans was more fortunate, rolling and fluidly getting back up to face your savior.

Axe stood there panting with a deranged look as they both stared each other down. You could barely breathe as the tears flowed down your face. You might not be dead now, but you weren’t going to count your luck just yet. Both men looked like they were one step away from going over the edge.

You hated how much of a pun that was…

“By the angel Axe! Stars, do you even have any idea who she—”

Axe didn’t let him finish before yelling over him. “I know exactly who she is. What she is. It’s you who has the problem. You don’t realize just how—”

“You hid her on purpose, didn’t you?” Sans’s voice was eerily low and calm, stating more than asking.

“You’re damn right I did, and for good reason!”

He shifted, tight grin turning into a sneer. “You had no right bringing that, thing, onto my ship! Either get rid of it, or I will.”

The eyelight in his left socket burst into existence, dilating into a large orb that flashed blue and yellow, the energy billowing out like flames. With the rise of his hand, a great dragon skull almost half his size materialized behind him to face you, the maw opening with the crackle of charging energy. Your horrified cry mixed with several other yelling voices as the energy pulsed larger and brighter.

You were petrified, bones rattling harshly as you began to sob. The light the skull produced was too bright and the energy was beginning to send a prickling burning sensation on your exposed bones. All you could do was lift one arm protectively and close your sockets. You did not doubt that if whatever that was did its job, you wouldn’t be around for much longer.

It was hopeless. What little luck you had was finally running out. What use was there to keep going? If the gods were merciful, even though you were cursed by the devil, maybe they would still allow you to be with your mother…

The buzz in the air shifted, something much angrier and more powerful permeating the area, mixing and snuffing out everything that was already there. Though you could almost feel the rage behind it, with the new energy your bones no longer prickled and burned. However, the loud sound of cracking bones followed by falling sand had you flinching back.

It was the lack of light and a huffed snarl from Axe that had you shakily reopening your sockets.

To your surprise, Crooks stood defiantly in front of you in a defensive stance. In front of him, Axe had the captain lifted off the ground by the front of his coat, the tight grip straining the fabric where his claws hadn’t punctured through. You could see and hear the open-mouthed snarl and baring of teeth. Jagged broken tipped bones floated in the air above the pair as if ready to fall and pierce anything unfortunate enough to get caught in their path. The monstrous skull was already skewered with the same bones, leaking a fine powder as it slowly crumbled away. Standing off to the side was Red, looking appalled and horrified.

A low unhinged chuckle escaped Axe as his voice echoed through your very being.

“Careful, Sans. Made a promise I intend ta keep. I may not be the captain of this ship, but we all know which of us is stronger. I didn’t fight ya in the beginnin for it fer the sole reason of not wantin’ the responsibility. But if ya try something like that again…” The orb in Axe’s socket burned bright, wisps of energy leaking from the creased edge as the taut fabric of Sans’s coat finally tore. “I won’t hesitate ta take your place, whether or not it’s over your dust.”

With a heave, Axe slammed Sans to the ground before standing tall, the latter wheezing from the impact. He didn’t so much as let him breathe before he was speaking again. “I have lived longer than you. Lived through things ya could only imagine. I know more than anyone who you are and have made and learned from more than enough mistakes fer the both of us. So when I say your grudge is gonna take the only things that are important, ya better listen. I’d know.”

Sans slowly and shakily made his way onto his hands and knees, glaring up in labored breath. “I… will never… be like you.”

You couldn’t place the look in Axe’s grin. “Ya sure about that?”

Nobody moved as the two glared at each other until a loud raspy voice and the sound of several pairs of boots broke the sob-filled silence.

…

Your chest hurt…

Previous