"Humans."
The voice rasped out from behind them, and Papyrus froze, clutching Sans' hand. Toriel's words from not too long ago echoed in Sans' ears: 'They come. They leave. They die.' As much as he wished to flee the ominous voice, the bridge in front of them was blocked off by bars, and neither of them were thin enough to fit through the gaps. Maybe he could give Papyrus a boost over the bars? Then at least one of them could be safe...
"Don't you two know how to greet a new pal?"
He already knew Papyrus would never agree, though - Papyrus would never willingly leave Sans in jeopardy. That was why they were here in the first place.
"Turn around and shake my hand."
Slowly, Papyrus turned, and Sans found himself turning as well, to face whatever monster had stalked them through the snow. The monster in question was shadowed, but Sans could see their hand held out to them. Was this a trap of some kind?
If so, he couldn't let his brother trigger it. He reached out and clasped the monster's hand...
...only to stare as their joined hands released a wheezing flatulence. Almost against his will, he snickered, and Papyrus groaned.
"JUST GREAT," Papyrus shouted. "SOMEONE ELSE WITH YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR!"
The monster giggled and dropped their hand. "Whoopee cushion in the hand," they whispered. "It always lightens up the mood." Their smile flickered. "You two... you're human, right?" The two nodded. "You might want to be a little quieter, then. You don't want to attract my sibling's attention."
Sans raised an eyebrow. It would take more than monsters to quiet down Papyrus. "gotcha," he said. "who are you, exactly...?"
"Oh!" the monster said. "Sorry, I forgot that part. I'm Frisk. Frisk the skeleton."
They did appear to be a skeleton, Sans observed. The skeleton - Frisk - wore a large, striped sweater, paired with blue shorts and some ratty sneakers. They were small, only slightly taller than Sans himself. The strangest thing was their eyes - well, eyesockets. Their eyesockets seemed to be almost closed, a feat that should have been impossible for a skeleton.
"I'm a sentry here in Snowdin," Frisk continued quietly. "I'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. But I... don't really care about capturing anybody. My sibling, though, jeez. You'd think they had some kind of personal vendetta..." They cocked their head, listening. "Actually, I think that's them coming now. They're the one that barred this bridge. Don't worry, though, I know a shortcut."
Frisk led the pair through their shortcut, which made Sans' head spin but resulted in the three of them walking out of the forest on the other side of the bridge. "Here," they whispered, "behind these lamps. Go on. And be quiet."
Sans and Papyrus had just settled behind two conveniently placed (and shaped - one was just tall enough to hide Papyrus, while the other was more reasonably sized for Sans' frame) lamps when another skeleton came marching up the path. This skeleton, unlike Frisk, was suited in armor, and now that Sans realized it, the clanking of their armor had been faintly audible for some time. No wonder Frisk had been able to hear them coming.
The new skeleton came to a stop in front of Frisk, and Sans could definitely see some similarities. Their skull looked to be of similar shape to Frisk's. They were only slightly taller than Frisk, and even then that might just be the armor. Were the two twins? Their eyesockets were wide open, however, rather than Frisk's perpetually lidded eyesockets.
"Sup, sib," Frisk whispered. They were so quiet, Sans could barely hear them.
The new skeleton scowled. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" That was another difference - unlike Frisk, their voice resounded through the forest.
Frisk shrugged. "Bro and sis aren't right, gender-wise, and sibling doesn't give the same casual vibe."
"How about my name, then?"
"All right. Chara. What brings you to my humble sentry station?"
One of Chara's eyesockets gleamed red. "To check in with you, of course. Seen any humans yet?"
"Nope."
Chara curled their hands into fists. "One of these days," they vowed, "a human will fall down here. And I will capture them. Then I will be captain of the Royal Guard, and have the ear of King ASGORE when we ascend to the surface." There was a gleam of silver from their clenched right hand.
"I've never doubted you," said Frisk.
For the first time, Chara smiled. "Yes. You've been with me all the way, sibling," they said. "Even if you could stand to put some more effort into your own career, you've never failed to support mine." They stood there in peaceful silence for a minute, before Chara shook themself out of it. "Now, have you recalibrated your puzzles?"
"Didn't you walk past them on your way here?"
"Would it kill you to answer the question I asked?"
Frisk somehow managed to give off the impression of rolling their eyes despite having nearly-closed eyesockets. "Yes, O Mighty Chara. The puzzles are pristine. Completely ready for any theoretical humans."
"Good. Now, tell me again: what is the purpose of puzzles?"
'Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys,' Sans thought, remembering Toriel's words. Neither skeleton seemed to quite agree with the caring goat monster, though.
Frisk shrugged. "To make walking from place to place more difficult for everyone?"
"What? No! I can't believe... Okay, let me put it in a way even you can remember. We set puzzles to trap humans out in the open, so that when they get stuck trying to solve one, we can swoop down upon them and snatch their souls! Understand?"
Nod.
"Good. Maybe now you can put some backbone into your work, remembering what's at stake."
Frisk giggled.
"What?"
"You... you said put some... eheh, backbone into it. And we're skeletons. Get it? It's a pun!"
Chara growled. "I've had enough," they said. "Tell me when you are willing to take your work seriously." And with that, they stomped off, their armor clanking.
"All right," Frisk said, "you can come out now." The two humans obediently shuffled out from behind their respective lamps.
"THAT WAS YOUR SIBLING?" Papyrus asked, his volume just below a yell. Frisk winced, but the sound of armor clanking was only growing fainter. They nodded, and Papyrus grinned. "I CAN SEE IT!"
Frisk blinked. "Really? Most people say... that we're about as alike as night and day."
"YOU BOTH HAVE A CERTAIN DRIVE! IT'S ADMIRABLE!"
Sans looked up at his brother, then at Frisk. For a moment, looking into Frisk's nearly-but-not-quite-closed eyes, he almost thought he could see what Papyrus was talking about. A hidden resolve, less obvious than Chara's but no less present.
Then Frisk blinked again, their eyes lidded, and the resolve Sans thought he had seen was no longer visible. "That's kind," they said. "But you really should be glad I'm not much like them. If I was... well." They shook their head. "You'll want to get going. You'll need as much time as possible to work through my sibling's traps and puzzles. 'Cause if they catch you while you're trying to solve one..."
Sans could fill in the blanks, but Papyrus said, "TRULY, IT SOUNDS AS IF THEY HAVE A PASSION FOR PUZZLES! ONE THAT MIGHT EVEN MATCH MY OWN!"
"What?" Frisk looked taken aback; Sans sympathized. "Look, just... try and avoid them, okay? If you can make it out of Snowdin without running into them, you're in the clear. I'll try and help you when I can."
"why?" Sans asked, speaking up for the first time since Chara had left.
Frisk looked away. "Why? Well, my sibling's in charge of the Snowdin chapter of the Royal Guard, but once you get out of Snowdin you're out of their jurisdiction."
He shook his head. "why are you helping us?" he clarified. "if you're with them all the way..."
"BROTHER!" Papyrus yelped. "THAT'S RUDE! I'M INCREDIBLY SORRY, FRISK..." He tugged at Sans' arm, but Sans stood his ground.
"no," he said. "i want to know."
Frisk opened their eyesockets, looking impossibly tired. "With them all the way... those were their words," they said. "Not mine. I don't... want to see anyone get hurt. Including them, but... also including everyone who's not them."
Slowly, Sans nodded. "thank you."
The skeleton closed their eyesockets again. "Thank me when you're out of here," they whispered.
"right. well. i guess we'll just... skel-daddle!"
At first, Frisk stared. Then they laughed, and their ever-present grin seemed more genuine. "That was a good one," they said, and Sans grinned back.
Papyrus only groaned. "WE ARE LEAVING," he announced,
"heh, guess you're right," Sans said. "after all, we can't skullk around here forever."
The sound of Frisk's laughter followed him even as Papyrus marched him away, and he smiled. The skeleton had been creepy at first, and their relationship with their sibling was strange, but if they appreciated his puns that much, they were probably all right.
Toriel had liked his knock-knock jokes, and Frisk liked his puns. Maybe if it wasn't for the whole "being trapped underground with monsters who want to kill you" thing, he could have made it here as a comedian.
...If only. Unfortunately, staying with Toriel - the best audience he'd ever had - would have meant being trapped in the Ruins, and he refused to limit Papyrus' dreams that way. And Frisk - who was currently ascending to second-best audience - had the small problem of a sibling who was out for his and Papyrus' souls.
Save your dreams for the surface, he told himself.
The convenience of those lamps filled him with determination.
Author's notes:
it's snowing somewhere else, now on FFN! I have a few more chapters of this already written (in fact, they're already posted on the AO3 version) but after that, there may be a bit of a wait.