Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

The fire had long since burned low, reduced to a smoldering nest of coals surrounded by bones. A faint warmth radiated from it, but even that seemed like a lie — the Dream Realm had a way of faking comfort. The false aurora above twisted like a serpent in the sky, dull and dim in the dead of night.

Everyone was asleep.

March had rolled herself into a cocoon, muttering something unintelligible every now and then. Dan Heng lay flat on his back, one hand resting on the hilt of his weapon even in sleep. Seele was curled beside her sleeping bag, not quite inside it — her breathing calm, steady, dreamless.

Sunny should have been asleep too.

But something cold brushed against the edge of his mind — not a noise, not a feeling. A familiar presence urged him to move.

Gloomy.

The shadow, foul-tempered and ever-suspicious, stirred against his skin like a restless snake. A second later, Sunny’s eyes snapped open, and a feeling of unease rose within him without even knowing why.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. He just let his vision stretch.

Through Gloomy’s eyes, Sunny saw it — a figure slinking through the trees at the edge of their island camp. Low to the ground, too many joints bending the wrong way. Smooth skin like chitin, the texture of wet stone. Its movements were unnaturally quiet, and it stopped just before the clearing, crouching in the tall grass.

It was watching Seele.

Sunny sighed in dismay. His hand was already reaching for the Cruel Sight before it was summoned, resting on the imaginary hilt. He didn’t move, instead deigning to observe. He wasn’t sure what he found so strange about the Nightmare Creature.

The Nightmare Creature in question wasn’t strong — an Awakened Beast, if the feeling he felt from it was correct. But something was... off.

It shouldn’t have had that much control. Not at that Class.

Awakened Beasts weren’t clever. They charged, they screamed, they clawed. This one was waiting. Calculating.

Then it moved.

A ripple passed over it’s form as it’s chest contracted. Sunny’s eyes widened.

"Sh—"

The creature’s mouth snapped open, and with a sharp crack, a bullet of compressed air blasted out — silent, invisible, faster than any warning could travel.

Sunny was already moving. Gloomy surged beneath him, pushing his body forward with an augmentation.

His arm collided with Seele’s shoulder just as the air bullet punched into the ground where her head had been.

The sound it made wasn’t loud. But it was enough.

Seele bolted upright with a gasp. March rolled over and let out a confused groan. Dan Heng was on his feet in an instant, spear already in hand, instincts sharper than steel.

The creature hissed — but even Sunny, someone who wasn’t a Nightmare Creature, could tell that there was something wrong with the way it did it. Like it was forced, or false.

Seele clutched her scythe before she had fully registered what was happening. Her violet weapon shimmered like a falling star, the curved edge catching the last light of the dying fire. She looked to Sunny, breath quickened.

"...What is that?"

Sunny didn’t answer. It wasn’t directed to him.

Instead, he drew the Cruel Sight in a burst of white sparks, the short sword coalescing in his hand like a shard of broken glass. It’s mirror-like surface reflected everything. A moment later, the weapon elongated, stretching into a full-length spear, just in time.

The Nightmare Creature lunged.

It moved too well. Not like a Beast, but like something that had learned. It’s gait shifted mid-charge, limbs contorting unnaturally to correct it’s balance as it weaved around Dan Heng’s first thrust. It’s body was long and lean, too flexible, too fast. Pale hide rippling over the mass of wrongness beneath.

Dan Heng spun his spear behind him and struck again with the shaft. The creature ducked — not on instinct, but intent. Its head moved aside just enough to avoid the impact, then lashed out with a clawed hand.

The spear’s rotating core flared. Dan Heng parried.

Seele dashed forward to intercept, her war scythe tracing a deadly arc through the air. But the creature had already twisted it’s body into a backward spring, using it’s own momentum to leap away from the two of them and land beside the fire pit.

Its obsidian eyes locked on Seele again.

Sunny narrowed his gaze.

March, now fully awake, scrambled to her feet behind him, bow half drawn.

"Should I shoot?"

Sunny shook his head.

"Wait."

They shouldn’t be having so much trouble with an Awakened Beast. Only one of them, at that.

The creature didn’t charge. It paced, glancing from Dan Heng to Sunny and back again. It was... hesitating.

Not because of fear.

Because of calculation.

Sunny’s eyes darkened, and his shadows stirred. His last two shadows rippled outward, circling around him before converging under his skin.

It bolted sideways, toward Seele.

Too fast.

The shift in speed was jarring, like the ground suddenly tilting beneath their feet. One moment it was creeping like a predator; the next, it was a blur. A crack split the air as it fired another bullet from its throat — louder this time, the compressed air howling like a gunshot.

Seele twisted aside with a grunt, the air shot grazing her ribs and removing a chunk of her flesh. Her war scythe retaliated with a horizontal slash, carving a trench into the earth where the creature had just stood. But it had already melted away, it’s body collapsing and reforming like a tangle of worms dragging itself apart.

The Nightmare Creature’s body was unraveling — it’s arms splitting at the seams into segmented tendrils, slick and twitching like veins come alive. Maggot-like filaments writhed in it’s chest cavity where lungs should have been. It stood on three limbs now, the fourth slithering beneath it like a tail.

A grotesque hiss slid from its throat.

Sunny adjusted his grip.

’It’s not that strong. But that weird air cannon... wasn’t Seele’s clothes a Transcendent garment?’

Even if they weren’t focused on defensive ability like armor, they were still Transcendent. An Awakened Nightmare Creatures attacks shouldn’t tear through so easily.

Dan Heng’s spear thrust forward with perfect precision, aimed at the creature’s malformed chest. But it anticipated him. It sidestepped before the strike landed, body folding inward like paper, and then twisted it’s lower half in a full rotation to slam its tail-limb into Dan Heng’s side.

Dan Heng staggered back with a pained grunt.

Sunny moved.

With shadows enhancing his speed and body, he crossed the clearing in a blink, bringing the Cruel Sight down in a brutal diagonal slash. The mirror blade reflected the monster’s warped face for an instant — something inhuman staring back — before the blade connected.

It passed through the creature’s left arm.

Black ichor sprayed across the bone ring around their fire.

The Nightmare didn’t scream. It didn’t even flinch.

Because in it’s place, was a paper figurine, shaped like a human. It’s arm was torn to shreds. Sunny whirled around, seeing the Nightmare Creature lunge towards Seele.

It dove low and fast, like a thrown javelin, limbs splaying back to reduce resistance. It didn’t hiss this time. Didn’t scream. Just a chilling silence as it sliced through the air toward her chest.

Seele’s eyes widened. She raised the war scythe just in time — but she wouldn’t make it in time.

Sunny didn’t hesitate.

His shadow was already placed near her.

In a heartbeat, Sunny appeared between the two, crouched low, spear reversed. The Cruel Sight’s mirrored edge caught the starlight as he twisted his body and drove the butt of the weapon into the Nightmare’s jaw.

Then, with a quick spin, the blade stabbed into it, burning through it with divine flame as it turned to ashes.

The Nightmare Creature spasmed on the end of Sunny’s spear, a final twitch jolting through its mangled limbs as the Cruel Sight’s divine flame surged through it. It’s tendrils curled inward like dying spiders, the chitinous plating cracking, curling, burning. Then, in a moment, it was gone — scattered as weightless ash, vanishing into the coals as if it had never existed.

The silence left behind was heavier than the fight.

For a while, no one spoke. No one moved. The Dream Realm’s false aurora twisted lazily overhead, casting everything in an unnatural sheen — soft pastels over hard truths.

He looked down at the spot where the creature had died.

"...Well, that was annoying."

Dan Heng didn’t respond at first. He lowered his spear slowly, the rotating orb at its center dimming. He seemed mostly uninjured — aside from a bruise forming where the creature had struck his ribs.

March finally exhaled. She hadn’t fired a single arrow.

"That thing was gross."

Seele hissed as she pressed her palm to the wound at her side. Her breath was still fast, her pupils sharp and wide.

Sunny’s gaze flicked to her injury. Shallow and bloody, but nothing vital had been hit.

"It didn’t really act like a Beast."

He paused.

Then shrugged.

"Still died like one."

March gave him a long look, then stepped toward Seele and knelt to inspect her wound. Seele flinched at the touch but didn’t stop her. Dan Heng stood guard at the tree line, eyes scanning the edge of the forest.

But the creature hadn’t brought friends. There was no second wave. No echo of movement in the tall grass. The Dream Realm returned to silence.

Sunny stared at the spot again.

He should’ve found it more concerning. The paper figurine technique, the air cannon, the strange, rehearsed behavior — all of it suggested intelligence, and was eerily similar to Sparkle’s abilities. That was never a good sign in Nightmare Creatures.

But...

He tilted his head, then turned away.

He had fought worse. He was worse.

His shadow twitched beside him.

Seele hissed as March finished applying a light salve to her side. Dan Heng walked past them, gave a small nod, then resumed his place on the other side of the fire pit. The smoldering coals crackled once, a spark leaping up before dying.

That was it.

Everyone was tired.

Seele muttered something and stumbled back toward her sleeping bag, war scythe dragging behind her in the grass. Her breath was uneven, shoulders tight — but nothing unusual, considering she’d nearly been gutted a few minutes ago. March trudged behind, muttering something about wanting just one peaceful night, while Dan Heng resumed his seat at the edge of the fire pit, posture perfect, eyes closed.

The camp fell quiet again.

The false aurora overhead continued to twist silently, swirling through pastel greens and blues that didn’t quite feel like light.

Sunny remained standing.

He watched Seele out of the corner of his eye — not out of concern, just habit. The kind you developed when something was always about to go wrong.

She was walking oddly.

Half a step behind her usual rhythm.

Slower.

Unnaturally so.

Sunny’s eyes narrowed.

Seele stopped walking entirely, just a few steps from her sleeping bag. Her war scythe tilted, barely supported in her grip. Her free hand twitched at her side, fingers trying to clench — and failing.

Sunny took a step forward.

"Seele?"

No response.

Her eyes were open. Breathing steady. But something was wrong.

Too wrong.

Sunny was beside her in an instant, shadows carrying him forward. His hand reached out — not to catch her, not to support her.

To pinch her.

Hard.

Right under the arm.

Seele jerked like she’d been struck by lightning, a sharp gasp tearing from her throat. She staggered back, nearly dropping her scythe, eyes wide in sudden confusion and pain. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"What the hell—?!"

Sunny didn’t answer.

His gaze was locked on her face. A second ago, her expression had been... flat. Empty. Like she hadn’t really been there.

Now, her pupils were dilated, breath hitched, pulse hammering in her throat.

Alive again.

March blinked.

"What was that about?"

He didn’t answer her, either.

His eyes were scanning the clearing. The trees. The shadows beyond.

Nothing.

But something had happened.

Sunny’s gaze shifted, checking her soul. Strange illusory threads seemed to have been cut off from the twin moons, falling limply before dissipating completely.

Seele stared at him, chest still heaving.

"...I wasn’t falling asleep. But I couldn’t move. I don’t think I was even thinking."

Sunny’s expression didn’t change. His fingers twitched at his side, and the shadows rippled once beneath his feet.

He looked back toward the spot where the Nightmare Creature had burned.

Then toward the forest.

And then, toward the stars.

A thought flickered through his mind, cold and certain.

’Something else is here.’

Something they hadn’t seen.

’Damnation!’