The Things That Lie Ahead [OPEN]

"Mama, why do the humans hate us?" said a small, white furred child. He kicked his feet back and forth as he lay on the carpet of a living room floor, doodling idly on a sketch pad. Toriel sat in a rocking chair, reading glasses perched upon her muzzle as she finished the last paragraph of "Snails 101". Upon hearing the child's request, she arched an eyebrow. "What sparked this all of a sudden?" she asked. The child shrugged, still drawing. "I dunno... Dad says the humans don't like us because we're monsters... Is this true?" Toriel just clicked her tongue, closing the book and setting it aside. Kneeling down to the child, she rubbed it's head with affection, looking down upon their form. "Tch tch tch. Dearest one, the humans do not hate us because we are monsters. The humans do not like us... because they do not understand us...  People generally show disfavor for the things they d not understand but... In all honesty, we are not too far apart, humans and our kind." The child looked up to Toriel, a smile on their face. "Really?" they said. "Definitely, my child. I know one day, humans and our kind will live together in peace and har-"

Their moment of talking was suddenly interrupted with the loud barge of the door flying open. There was a palted guard there, panting heavily. "My queen, there is disaster! There is no time to lose!" he cried. Toriel's face scrunched up with confusion as her hand left the child. "It's... your child..." said the guard. Terror. That could be the only word to describe Toriel's expression during that one moment. The smaller child's cry for his mother was drowned out as she quickly rushed past the guard and to the door.

"NO!" Toriel woke 38th a start, leaping upright and clenching her chest. A dream... That's all it was... The woman lie at the base of a tree, back against the bark. Her face was wet... Not 18th sweat but... Tears? Those memroies kept returning, over and over. How desperately she wanted to see her children again. To good and love them...

"hey sis, are you feeling OK? your... looking kinda hurt. um... Noire, please say something. your scaring me, Sis" a young, small girl asked Noire, looking very concerned about her health and to see if she was feeling OK. "uh? Uni....? ow... where...are we...? uh.... oww... my head." Noire said, having a large amount of pain in her head, almost like some people had disappeared from her mind. "Sis, we are in toontown. mom and dad took us here a few days ago. they... haven't come back at all. i hope they are OK. hey... your feeling OK? a flash of light came down and made you faint. what is that face for? wait... you didn't forget Mom and Dad, Didn't you?!" Uni asked as she helped Noire up and started to cry. "Parents...? oh... Uni... i am sorry. my... head is hurting like crazy... Uni... i... can't remember... anyone.. but us... i.. am sorry, Uni. " Noire explained to Uni, trying her best to calm her down.

it was all just a dream, yet it was so real. it was a memory in a dream, and yet... Noire still felt terrible for leaving her kid sister, Uni, back at toontown. Noire had gotten up and still had tears in her eyes, feeling bad for Uni, who was most likely scared and frightened then anything else, but She could be wrong. Getting up and changing into her usual outfit, Noire had got breakfast ready for herself and Toriel, bacon and eggs, cause Noire didn't know what her new mother liked to eat and only had a small knowledge of cooking food. hopefully it was good enough for Toriel. "i hope this is OK. i am not a good cook but... i tried my best to make it edible. breakfast is served." Noire said as she pulled a chair out for Toriel, got a chair for herself and sit down on it before eating her food.

Toriel, still in bed, rose out from it. She was renting out a room in an inn with Noire, a temprary place to stay that was not outside on the floor. Her sensetive nose caught wind of food being cooked. Bacon..? Ah, the sweet smell of bacon. If it was one thing Troiel loved beside pies, gardening, animals, rain, the sweet smell of nature, was bacon. Rising out from the bed, Toriel rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes and gave a stretch. Though she had tossed and turns for most of the night, she still found a little bit of energy to keep on moving. Besides, humans had that great creation known as "coffee" that restored vigor to your body even when you did not have any! Toriel managed her way down to the kitche, where Noire was there waiting for her, a plate of breakfast sitting at an open chair. "Oh Noire... Is this... for me?" Toriel said, clasping her hands over her mouth in joy. Such an angel, making breakfast herself. "You didn't have to... Thank you." Toriel sat at the seat, picked up a fork, and took a bite out of the food. The flavors mixed and mingled in her mouth to provide a very delicious meal. "Mmm! Where did you learn to cook? This is divine!" and she took yet another bite.

Toriel would wait until she finished swallowing her food, dapping her mouth with a cloth before continuing. "How did you sleep, dearest? I was going to spend a decent portion of my day preparing for the Iron Fist Tournament; my next turn is soon to come any moment now."

Noire would blush very brightly as Toriel had complimented her cooking, even though it wasn't that good and she barely knew what she was doing as her cooking skills were from her past, and it was all a mystery for her. "i... learned my cooking... from my past... and.. Uni told me that our parents taught me how to cook. umm... i want to show you something. you know i can transform into a older form, but it has changed. here goes nothing. " Noire said as she began to change forms into her older form, with the new look and appearance.

Black heart, Next form:

the new form of Black heart was much different to her previous form. her clothes had became more Blue then Black, her hair got longer, her body was more delicate and more refined. "what do you think, Toriel? is this form to your liking? my night was... different. i was dreaming the day i lost my memory... the day Uni cried the hardest i ever remember. it... was upsetting but... it doesn't seem to bother me anymore. " Black heart explained to Toriel, holding her chest with her left hand, having a small upset look on her face as she felt very upset about her sister

Toriel took another bite, savoring that suculent flavor of bacon on her taste buds when she heard vauge words. Something about a transformation? And that's when Noire turned into her alternate form, a process Toriel was always intrigued by, though this form had changed from when she had last seen it. It carried few resemblances to the last, or Noire herself for that matter. Toons were such strange creatures to say the least... "It's quite interesting. You do have to tell me how you are able to do that one day. Quite the spectacle I must say," chuckled the woman. Setting her fork down, Toriel slid the plate away, folding her hands and crossing one leg over the other. She listened attentively to the story Noire shared, about her sister Uni. That girl seemed to be all on young Noire's mind recently. She must have meant a lot to her. Almost like how much Toriel missed her young ones. So many secrets were hidden behind dreams. The visions that could reach into your deepest subconscious and pull out things one did not even know that was there. Dreams showed people things they could not even face themselves. So many were revealed within them.

"Noire," Toriel sighed, ears drooping. "You're going to stress yourself sick at this rate. You have to take a breath. All things will happen in due time, but you mustn't force yourself upon this..." Though as Toriel spoke, she felt the words resonating more for herself than Noire in all reality. Nights of sleep lost, days spent in her bed. Ever since that encounter with Kasey, Toriel thought it would fill her with newfound hope. Instead it's just been beating away at her slowly... She needed to relax, to get away from the situation...

Toriel... wow, she was a worry wort but Noire understood her pain, as she was the same when she was a kid with Uni, keeping her away from harm and protecting her from anything dangerous. "Toriel, i worry about Uni as she was, as most kids was, very curious and a bit of a... dangerous kid. i won't worry myself to become so stressed. i worry a standard amount, but i can understand your worries. please... don't freak out... i... am sorry... please... don't freak out.. but.. i encountered a spirit and... she... stabbed... me.... right... here... " Black heart told Toriel as she would show the stab wound from the spirit, known as Nameless, to Toriel, hoping she wouldn't freak out.

"Toriel.... i... am so... sorry... i... tried... my best... to go... back to you... but... the spirit... didn't... let me go... i... was so scared.... i am so... so sorry, Toriel... " Black heart explained to Toriel before breaking down into tears, hugging Toriel and trying her best not to let go off Toriel, as she felt as if Toriel was the only person, besides Uni, that could protect her and keep her safe. Black heart felt so sad, so bad inside that she didn't want to let go of Toriel, as she was so fluffy, warm and safe.

Toriel lepat to her feet so fast, nearly knocking over the table in the process at the sight of the wound. It was still very red around it, with a bandage covering her entire mid section. It did not seem to have been taken care of by a doctor, but rather naturally perhaps? "N-Nore..!" Toriel's hands quivered as she reached to the laceration in her chest, just below her breast.

"Mama..."

Suddenly she found herself underground once more. The room she was once in was a shadow of it's former self, and instead she was back in that small home... The house in the underground. Then Noire... Noire was not Noire anymore but rather... "Asriel?!" Her child, a younger appearing goat morph very similar to Toriel stood in front of her, a few inches shorter than Noire, and bleeding from multiple wounds all over. Arrows protruded from their back. There... there was so much blood everywhere. Asriel was soo bloody, so deformed. A mess from what he once was. Limbs were broken, an eye was missing. Toriel gagged. She wanted to vomit, she wanted to cry and scream. Muscles tensed, her head was hazy.

"Where were you, mama...?"

"AHHHHH!" Toriel threw herself back from Noire, flying into the far wall of the room. Her fingers were curled back, clutched around her ears as she screamed, and screamed, and screamed. She crumbled to the floor, curled in a fetal position as she rocked back and forth, her cries resonating off the walls of the room. The woman was flying into shock, the images still flashing in her eyes as she stared forward, unblinking.

oh... Black heart didn't think Toriel would react that badly. it... was painful for her to watch, it... felt like she was being stabbed in the heart with a thousand needles. "Toriel... i am... so so sorry... i.. didn't think you'd react that bad... i am... so so sorry... please... stop crying... please... stop... your... gonna... set me... off again... so please, stop crying... " Black heart asked Toriel, going back to her and patting her on the back, feeling terrible for making her cry and scream.

"toriel... you have no idea... the pain... i went through... so you don't... deserve to cry.. you... shouldn't cry... toriel.." Noire thought to herself, not noticing that she was actually saying it right to Toriel, hugging her and petting her soft, warm, fluffy back, actually crying very hard and feeling terrible for making such a kind and sweet person cry.

Toriel's entire body was racked with quakes of shivers, her eyes tiny pinpoints of sapphire as she stared blankly ahead. There... was so much blood. But even with her terror, the warm embrace of Noire seemed to calm her. Noire could physically feel her muscles beginning to relax, her fur that was just standing on end flattening back onto her skin as she slowly hugged Noire back, burrowing her muzzle into Noire's shoulders, her tears having been soaked up by her satin fur. For a moment, Toriel sat there without a word, just the steady breathing and constant beat of her heart the only noises in the room.

"Thank you..." Toriel whispered, adjusting her muzzle. "You, Noire... You're like a gift from above... How lost i'd be up here without you..." Toriel let go and ruffled her hair, that warm smile one would come to know and love back on her face. "You remind me a lot... of my own little ones. They were so happy and vibrant and full of joy..."

Toriel.... did she know the pain that was in her own heart? Black heart's heart was feeling shattered but she didn't want to show how much pride, joy, happiness and confidence she had lost after having encountered Nameless, having her sword go through her, being so helpless and useless. it was so hard to keep such a calm and convincing smile on her face, even though all the joy in her now almost destroyed heart was gone. "thank you... Toriel... it... warms my... heart... to hear you... s..say that... to me.... i... dunno... what i can... do anymore... Toriel... " Black heart said as she would start to cry out very hard, trying to wash away all the pain and suffering her heart had sustained after that encounter. her heart was so hurt, it had no pride, no joy, no determination, it had nothing but suffering, pain, sadness and a feeling of being helpless. it was hurting her so much, she just wanted all of it to just disappear, vanish... never to be seen again, as it was getting too hard to keep her act up.