Scour the jungle, find a human, capture said human, and bring it back to camp. Those were the direct orders Sans had gotten from Chief Asgore. Everyone in the tribe knew there was a young human child roaming around in their jungle, and the chief had decided to divide the responsibility of finding it among the monsters in the tribe. More often than not, however, no one would ever be able to find the human after a long day's work of tracking and searching, and they always returned the following sundown empty-handed. The day before was Sans' brother Papyrus' turn to scour the jungle, and now it was his today.
Sans didn't really care one way or another if the human was finally found and captured. He just wanted to lounge back in a tree and take a nap, but he knew the consequences of doing so if his brother or even worse, Undyne, found him slacking off on the job. Of course that didn't stop him from doing so every so often.
Today was a different day, and Sans felt strangely motivated to actually do his job right for once and track down the wandering human. Perhaps it was because of Grillby's promise to reward him with a large quantity of crushed tomato paste if he at least found where the human resided in the jungle.
The sudden sound of rustling caused Sans to stop in his tracks, falling completely still and expanding his senses to detect his surroundings. It didn't take him long for his trained eyes and ears to spot movement behind the trees. Stealthily, the skeleton leaped into the nearest tree and crept along the branches, peering down through the dark green leaves at the small dirt path parallel to the one he was walking down just moments before.
He couldn't believe his eyes. It was the human! It was walking down the dirt path leisurely, completely oblivious to the watchful eyes that stared from above.
Chuckling softly to himself, Sans sprang skillfully and silently from tree to tree by the branches, careful not to shake loose any leaves that would give away his position. Once he was close enough, he prepared to jump.
Without a sound, he leaped over the human, twisting in the air to land on his feet, facing it. His arms stretched out as a gesture to halt the child, a grin stretching across his face. "Heya."
The child squealed and immediately leaped away before the skeleton could wrap his arms around it. It quickly turned heel and raced down the path from the direction it came. Sans growled softly to himself in frustration before taking pursuit.
Low-hanging branches and their leaves whipped across Sans' cheeks as he ran close behind the fleeing human, grunting with the effort to not give in to the fatigued that tugged at his bones, screaming for him to slow down. He wasn't used to running, and even when he had to it was only for a short period of time to chase down prey that had spotted him a second too late. He began to heavily pant as he struggled to keep up with his escapee.
The human looked back at him, the look of fright etched across its face giving Sans a little more stamina to push forward. All of a sudden, the child disappeared in a blink of an eye with a squeal, and too late did Sans realize it had accidentally run over the edge of a ravine before he followed suit. A cry was forced out of him as he and the human tumbled down the steep cliff, both trying to regain balance, grab onto any roots, and skid their hands and feet against the loose rocks and dirt.
In no time they had both reached a tangle of tree branches and vines at the bottom, and with several snaps of wood and swishes of leaves they crashed through the greenery.
The human's fall was finally broken by a rather large leaf close to the ground. It slid off the green surface and softly collapsed to the ground, panting and trembling heavily in shock. Sans, however, wasn't so lucky. He yelped and grunted as his body weight tore through the vines, snapping a few of them on his way down. Just before he reached the ground he shot back up into the air by the vines. After a few little bounces he was reduced to subtle swaying back and forth, his limbs caught in the tangle of vines. He grunted and growled as he tugged at the thick greenery, but his restraints held fast.
Sans stopped struggling when he saw the human climb to its feet and brush itself off. It looked back at the skeleton in fright, slowly backing away, and his SOUL pulsed in alarm. "H-Hold on there, kiddo, don't leave me hanging like this!"
The child stopped and blinked at him, seeming to try to decide what to do. It nervously brushed a little twig out of its hair before speaking. Its pitch of voice told Sans the human was a male.
"Well… You shouldn't have been chasing me."
Sans was a little shocked to find the human could speak. Quickly getting over the initial surprise, he chuckled and grinned. "Hey, sorry about that, but that's kinda what we monsters do. We capture humans."
The human narrowed his eyes at Sans. "So that means if I were to let you go you'd just capture me anyway?"
"Well… uh… yeah?" The skeleton's grin slackened into one of sheepishness.
The human pouted and crossed his arms. "Then I see no reason why I should let you out. Maybe if I let you stay there that'll teach you not to capture humans. Or perhaps…" His grin grew deviously, making Sans feel very uneasy, "I should find another way to teach you a lesson."
"What are you talking about?" Sans grunted, giving his limbs a nervous tug against the vines.
"I'll offer a deal to you," the child bargained with a small chuckle. "If you agree not to chase me around anymore, I'll let you go. But if you refuse, I'll have to resort to extreme measures."
"O-Oh, yeah? And what might that be?"
The human approached the skeleton slowly, softly humming to himself. Once he reached him, he plucked out one of the blue feathers out of his tribal head accessory. Without a word, he gave the fluffy plumes a quick swipe over his exposed rib cage.
Sans' grin grew wide and he squeaked, tugging at his binds even more. "W-Wait, kid! D-Don't do that!"
"Well, you wanna capture me, but at the same time I don't want to have to keep running around," the child reasoned. "I believe this is the only way to get you to give up your pursuit on me." His grin grew wide as he resumed stroking Sans' ribs with the feather.
The giggles came immediately despite Sans' best efforts to keep them bottled up. He began squirming even harder in the vines, tugging desperately at his limbs, especially his arms. They were just so close to reaching his arms to protect them, but still so far. "E-Ehehehehehe! Hehehey! C-Cut that ohohohout!"
"Did they really have to send out someone as ticklish as you to track me down?" the human teased with a smirk. He began gently spidering his fingers down the skeleton's spine as he kept the rhythm of the feather-brushing going.
"N-Nohohoho! Shut up, yohohou! Ahahahahehehe!" Sans protested, a light hue of blue spreading across his cheeks. He felt so humiliated!
"Aww, but listen to that laughter! You gotta admit, it's pretty cute." The human started stroking the feather under Sans' arms, the vane gently yet maddeningly caressing the tips of his humerus bones.
This caused Sans to squeal loudly, the tugging on his arms intensifying. "Ahahahahahaha! Nohoho, stop ihihit! I-I'm really ticklish, okahahahay? Now knock it ohohohoff!"
"Not until you agree to stop chasing me around."
"Nehehever!"
With a shrug, the human plucked out a second feather from Sans' hat, using it to wiggle between each rib. Sans squeaked and giggled profusely, bouncing and bucking around a bit in his bonds. His head tossed back and forth, the last remaining feather atop his head fluttering around with each toss of his head.
"Maybe I should try to find a sweet spot," the child spoke aloud to himself. He chuckled as he began exploring, feathering the skeleton's collarbone and neck, rewarding snickers and yelps from the monster.
"N-Nohoho! Kkhhehehe!" Sans whimpered, tilting his head in hopes to protect his neck with each swipe of the plumes.
Deciding this wasn't even close to what he was searching for, the human glided the feathers up and down his humerus bones. Sans trembled slightly, though barely any giggles came out of him unless the tips of the arm bones were touched. Still not he was looking for.
Glancing past the rib cage and spine, he poked and swiped against his hip bones, working down his legs and swirling in the pits of his knees.
By this point, tears began to bead in Sans' tightly shut eye sockets, though he still hadn't burst into harsh laughter. "G-Gihihive it a rest, kid! I'm not gonna st-stahahap searchin' for ya!"
The child ignored his comment, deep in concentration. He glided across the fibula and tibia bones, not getting much of a reaction at all, and finally when he reached his feet he removed the small brown sandals, tossing them to the ground.
Sans jolted and grinned sharply, his breathing intensifying as unbearable anticipation crept over him. "D-Don't you think you've d-done enough, kiddo? C'mon…"
Taking note at how nervous the skeleton seemed to be, the human giggled softly to himself before give the two soles an experimental swipe with the feathers.
The reaction was immediate and completely what the human was searching for. Jerking violently in his bonds, Sans squealed loudly at the initial touch, his toes curling. "A-AHAHAHA! Nohoho, don't!"
"Jackpot," was all the human said before beginning the merciless assault. He glided and fluttered the plumes along Sans' soles, causing the skeleton to practically howl with laughter. His thrashing began even more vigorous, but the vines did their job in keeping his feet still."
"GAHAHAHAHAHA! N-NOHOHO, STOP IT!" Sans laughed loudly, his toes curling and wiggling in time with his fingers, the blush on his cheeks turning a shade darker. "AHAHAHAHA! THAT REALLY T-TIHIHIHICKLES!"
The human grinned and giggled to himself as he started paying close attention to the wiggling toes, flitting the feathers between them and sawing underneath. He slightly winced at the high-pitched shriek that tore from the skeleton.
"NOT THE TOHOHOHOHOES!" Sans wailed in distress. He aimlessly flailed around in his bonds, trying desperately to free himself. The longer the torture stretched on, the less he was able to withstand. "PLEHEHEHEHEASE! I CAN'T TAHAHAHAHAKE IT! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"I don't think you've learned your lesson just yet," the human chuckled mischievously. He dropped the feathers and started wiggling his fingers under and between the squirming phalanges mercilessly. "Tickle tickle tickle! For someone without any skin or nerves, you sure are a sensitive little thing, aren'tcha?"
Sans' eyes flung open at the initial touch, proving to be ten times worse than the feathers, and his strength of his bucking and squirming intensified to the max. He cachinnated raucously at the gargalesis, the tears finally beginning to slide down his now bright blue cheeks. At this point, he could care less if he got that crushed tomato paste from Grillby, he just wanted the torture to stop! "O-OKAHAHAHAHAY! OKAY, OKAY, YOU WIHIHIHIN! I'LL STOP CHAHAHAHASING YOU!"
"Are you suuuuure?" the human snickered, gently prying each toe apart so he could gently scratch between them.
Sans let out a harsh squeal, his toes trembling in the effort to curl them again. "YEHEHEHEEEEES! OH, PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAP! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
With one last rough tickle to the toes, followed by a distressed wail of hysteria from the skeleton, the human finally stopped tickling. He giggled giddily to himself as he unwrapped the vines from around Sans' limbs and torso, letting him collapse to the ground, panting heavily.
"Let's just hope you hold true to your word, otherwise I won't be so merciful on you next time." The human child giggled with a playful wink before walking off.
Sans huffed, groaning in defeat, as his head fell limply to the ground. How was he going to explain to his fellow tribe mates what just happened? Well, he'd worry about that later. For now, he just wanted to rest.