A Tiny Error

Chapter 12

Ink panicked when he saw that Error wasn't near him. Oh dear, he should've been watching him more carefully! But, this was no time to sit and think about the past. He quickly retraced his steps, looking in every direction to see if he could spot Error. They were in a park, with sparse foliage, trees, and a few buildings here and there. It shouldn't be that hard to find the poor dog.

Error went back the way he thought he came, but didn't see Ink anywhere. The grass wasn't very tall, so he could see above it well. His nearsightedness wasn't bad enough that he couldn't see figures in the distance, so finding Ink shouldn't have been this difficult. He whimpered, and began wandering around, trying to find something, anything that looked familiar.

Dream landed in a park and looked around. The fear he was feeling came from two different directions, so he headed to the one on his right. A few minutes passed, and he finally spotted Ink. He ran up to him, breathing out in relief.

"Phew, finally found you, Ink. Where's Cinnamon?"

"I-I don't know!" Ink's voice shook with alarm, and Dream patted his shoulder to calm him down.
"One minute he's walking right next to me, and the next, he's just gone! What do we do?!"

"Calm down, Ink. If you are here, then Cinnamon is probably the other source of fear I felt. C'mon. I can feel it getting stronger. Follow me!"

With that, the two headed in the direction of the fear Dream felt. Hopefully, Error isn't in trouble.

... ... ...

Error sat down near a tree, exhausted. It felt like he'd been walking forever, and he was hungry and thirsty from the workout. Maybe by staying in one place, Ink would have an easier time of finding him? In his mind, staying in one place worked the opposite of continuing to jump from one place to another when it comes to escaping. His logic: if Ink can't find him if he is constantly moving from place to place standing still will surely get him found. Or so he hoped.

He heard the snap of a branch and perked up. Standing, he wagged his tail unconsciously, hoping it was Ink who'd come to find him.

Instead, it was the familiar face of his long-time enemy.

Fresh.

Error's tail went between his legs, his ears swept back in fear, and his eyes widened. If he's lucky, Fresh won't recognize him. But, with the unpredictable Virus, no one is ever sure. He slowly backed away as Fresh approached him.

"Well, hey dere, mah radtastic broseph. Whatcha doin' all up 'n alone?"

He took another step towards Error, intentionally frightening the poor pup. Error tried to bolt, but a wall of bones erupted in front of him, cutting off his escape. Fresh chuckled.

"Aww, is da poor puppy scared? Wonder why? Oh, I got it. It's cuz yo ain't really a dog, are ya, Error?"

Error froze. How...? How did he figure it out? Nothing Error had done so far had indicated he was nothing more than small dog. Except when he "spoke" to Sci. Maybe he betrayed him. He was positive Blueberry would never do anything against him, but Sci? There's no telling what his agenda is with how smart and cunning he could be. He flinched as Fresh knelt down in front of him.

"So, mah brotastic brotato chip," he said casually, picking Error up by the scruff of his neck.
"How didja straight up transformalize inta a teeny tiny puppy dawg? Heh, ya couldn't tell me if ya wanted to. Yo is a dog, dawg!"

He stood up with Error still in his hold. He looked to his right to see Ink and Dream run up to him. He smirked as they approached.

"There you are, Cinnamon!" Ink exclaimed. "Thank you for finding him, Fresh!"