This was before Frisk came to Undertale.
Snow fell down lightly for the sky, adding a new layer to various objects like a cold, wet, thin blanket of ice. Any traces left in the ground made in the previous fallen snow was slowly filled and covered up, blending in like it had never been disturbed in the first place. Not that it mattered to him.
His boots crunched against the snow as he walked, head down and hands in his pockets. Cold wind brushed past him and for a slight moment he was glad that he didn't have any skin, otherwise he would be freezing right now. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Not the cold, or the snow, or even the distance that he had traveled away from Snowdin.
Stopping a moment to look back, he could see that he had traveled far from the town. Far enough that it was just a distant far away glow from this point between the tree lines. He blinked. Had he really gone that far? He'd only been walking for a while now… Then again, it wasn't really much of a walk if you ran first then slowly went into a walk. A deep sigh emanated from his mouth, continuing his walk with no destination in his mind.
It was quiet here, aside from the crunching snow under his boots, and making it sort of relaxing. Good, he needed to relax. Relaxing would clear his head of these… thoughts.
Trees went past him as he walked, snow piled onto his shoulders, growing bit by bit. He didn't have any care to swipe the snow away and just let it continue to build on him. His arms crossed themselves against his chest, gripping his bones tightly.
Why? Why did this happen? Why did this day have to turn out so… rotten?
The day started out normal enough. Getting up and out of bed, putting cloths on, making sure to wake his brother up for breakfast, heading out and doing routine patrols around the perimeter, recalibrating his puzzles to make sure they were up to date to catch any humans that came through, yelling at his lazy bone brother to wake up and chastise him for his laziness, noting he was being more sluggish than usual and figuring out that his brother had got a slight flew and carried him back to the warmth of their home, getting him tucked up in bed… after scolding him slightly for not straightening it out again for the past month now and fixed it first, then got him into bed. After that he switched between patrols and going back to check up on his brother most of the afternoon.
Skeletons usually didn't have to worry about getting sick as they have no organs or flesh for any viruses to attack and make them ill. However, they are not completely immune to everything and can once or twice get a bit under the weather. Especially to serious diseases that attacked the bones. It didn't happen often to skeletons and the majority rate of a skeleton getting such cold or disease is extremely low rate and possibly very rare. But it was still worried him to no end, even if it wasn't a real serious cold that his brother had.
None the less, he made sure to keep doing his job and made sure to check up on his brother timely. When it was past noon and he had gotten back from his patrol to check up on him, it broke his none existing heart to know that no progress was made on his brother's health and had slightly gotten worse. What was worse that he started to have a cough as well, but it was more heartbreaking when he had tried to hide it from him. Feeling his brotherly instincts kick in, he made it very clear that he would watch over him and make sure that he would recover, going far enough to call Undyne to cancel their training today.
When it had reached evening, his effort was rewarded when his brother started to feel less sick, but the cough was still there, upsetting him greatly. It was even more upsetting when he couldn't find any cough medicine. So the only solution was to go out and buy some. He felt somewhat slightly uneasy to leave his brother alone, but it would be a horrible thing for his brother to still be having his cough. So, he decided to head out, grabbing his coat and ready to head out.
He never was able to reach for the doorknob.
His voice, slightly scratchy sounding and hoarse with the lingering traces of drowsiness from just waking up, stopped him in his tracks, asking him where he was going. If his brother wasn't so sick, he would have found the way he was groggily draping one arm over the second floor rail, rubbing his left eye with the other arm, and not wearing his signature light blue hoodie kind of cute in a brotherly way. He remembered the conversation well.
"pap? where ya going bro?"
"SANS? WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP? YOU SHOULD BE RESTING!"
"i think i've got enough rest for once today. heh heh. *Cough! Cough!*"
"SANS! I'M SERIOUS! GO BACK TO BED THIS INSTANT!"
"tell me where you're going first… and i might consider it."
"UGH! FINE! I'M GOING OUT TO GET SOME MEDICINE FOR YOUR COUGH! WE DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY HERE SOON I WILL BE GONE MOMENTARILY."
"…"
"… WHAT'S WITH THAT LOOK? DO I HAVE SOMETHING ON MY FACE?"
"nah, you're fine bro. i'm just…"
"… JUST WHAT?"
"…"
"COME ON, SPIT IT OUT. I'M LISTENING."
"… well, i appreciate your concern for my health and all. but, uh. *Cough! Cough!* … i don't think it's that bad for medicine."
"NOT BAD?! SANS, IF THAT COUGH OF YOURS ISN'T DEALT WITH NOW, YOU COULD WIND UP EVEN MORE SICK THAN EVER!"
"i know. *Cough!* i know. still, uh, maybe we should wait it out a bit? you know, to see if- *Cough! Cough!* -if it cools down on its own."
"SANS, WAITING FOR IT TO GO AWAY ON ITS OWN WON'T HELP YOU! IN FACT IT SEEMS TO HAVE GOTTEN WORSE!"
"pap—"
"NO! I'VE MADE UP MY MIND BROTHER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL GO DOWN TO THE SNOWDIN SHOPKEEPER AND BUY YOU SOME COUGH MEDICINE FOR YOUR TERRIBLE COUGH!"
"… snowdin… shopkeeper?"
"YES! THAT'S HER NAME! … I THINK… IS IT SNOWDIN SHOPKEEPER? OR IS IT SOMETHING ELSE?"
"nah, she's cool with- *Cough! Cough!* -with bein' called- *Cough! Cough!* -called that. you go on ahead."
"RIGHT! I WILL BE BACK IN A FEW… WAIT A MOMENT, WHY ARE SO SUDDENLY ALLOWING ME TO GET YOUR MEDICINE?"
"nothin' bro. just- *Cough! Cough! Cough!* -just don't take long… ky?"
"OF COURSE I WON'T BE LONG! IT'LL JUST BE A SHORT WALK AND BACK! NO LONG WAIT!"
"mmm…"
"NOW, OFF TO BED WITH YOU! I'LL BE BACK MOMENTARILY WITH YOUR MEDICINE."
His gloved hands clenched, stepping over a fallen tree with ease thanks to his long limbs. There was no medicine. All the medicine that the shopkeeper had had been sold out for weeks. It had saddened him, but it quickly went away when she asked him to pick up an order of medicine from a shop in New Home, even throwing in the medicine that he needed for free for his help if he did it. Now that was something he couldn't say no to, especially since he didn't think to bring any money with him.
So he went off to New Home, making a quick stop at home to check on his brother once more and relieved to see him getting rest, leaving a quick note and headed off again. The trip to New Home was quick and finding the shop for the order was even quicker. The monster there was a very nice fellow, he almost wished that he could spend a few hours talking with him. But the thought of his brother still ill was on his mind more than hanging out with the shop owner. So with a heavy non existing heart, he gathered up the order of medication, bid the monster farewell, after which the monster was nice enough to give him a piece of paper with some jokes on it for his brother, good jokes, not those horrible puns that his brother uses, and was soon off again with a box filled with medicine for different flues and colds secure in his long bony arms. He had to walk carefully. Moving too fast would mostly cause him to trip and drop the box and its fragile contents.
His jaw bone felt firm against his skull. How he wished he walked a little faster.
How he wished that he remembered.
How he wished that there was somewhere else that the medicine could have been obtained.
How he wished that he recalled why he and his brother moved to Snowdin in the first place.
How he wished that he never gone to New Home.
How he wished that he never, not even in a million, no, TRILLION years, ever, no matter what, down to his very soul, encounter the very same reason that they moved in the first place.
And how he deeply wished to be far away from New Home and back at his home in Snowdin.
At first, it was peaceful. Just walking down the stone grey pavement, smiling happily to himself, occasionally thinking about his brother's health and how the medicine would help him recover quicker. Then a chill went up his spine. Odd, skeletons had a hard time feeling temperatures thanks to their lack of flesh and such. So feel such chill in his spine was strange.
Then he heard… that voice. The same one that made his bones shake uncontrollably in fear when he was young. Slowly, he turn around, managing to make his skull face look that of slight horror.
Three monsters, a bird like creature with unimaginable amounts of colorful feathers on her body with thin twig legs and slender neck, a monster mix of the loch ness monster with armor plating on his back that resembled an ankylosaurians with a club tail included on his thick smooth tail with a curved horn at the end of his snout, and the biggest of the group, the big, black, jean torn, missing right ear, tail band wearing, gold tooth werewolf, flashing him that all too familiar smile that made him sick to the bone.
And they were walking right towards him.
The mixed monster, Morfran as he remembered, was the first to go up to him, shoving his face too close for comfort in front of his head, staring deeply into his sockets with his yellow glowing eyes. "Well! Well! Well!" He grinned, showing his yellowing deer teeth. "If it ain't good old Papyrus! How you doing tremble bones?"
Tremble bones. His old nickname they gave him so long ago.
"Hellllooooooo? Anyone home?" Morfran asked, pressing his against his. "It's rude not to say anything to an old pal!"
"Morfran, I think you're invading his space slightly." Her voice, still melodious and soft as glass bells, but cold and unfeeling, made him shiver some, taking a step back from the loch ness mix. "Besides, he might not recognize you. It has been soooo long after all."
A lump swelled in his flesh-less throat, his cheeks started to feel a light warmth. Khaalida, or Kay for easier remembrance, was still beautiful as he remembered her.
"After all, skeletons don't really have any brains in those thick heads of theirs." She lightly laughed, still cold and cruel as he remembered her.
"Nah! He wouldn't forget about us after all these years. His face says it all."
Now he was starting to shake, wanting to run as fast as he could go to get away from here quickly as possible. But he couldn't. He was frozen in fear, doubling into terror as the werewolf towered over him, grinning down at him with dog saliva dripping out from his mouth.
"Long time no see Pappers." He greeted smugly, his breath smelled of rotten flesh and year old garbage. "How've you been?" One of his claws traced against his skull. "Haven't seen you in long while. You going up and leaving just like that. Which is really rude by the way." His claws clacked against his skull. "What's with the face? We're friends right? Right fellas?" The two laughed, nodding their heads. "You know, it got really quiet once you and that brother of yours left New Home… What was his name again? Something that rhymed with hands." He nearly screamed as he was lifted off the ground, lifted at eye level at full height with the werewolf. His grip on the box tightened, pulling it closer to his chest as he pulled his legs closer to his body. "That's right isn't it? Rhymed with hands or something like that?"
He slowly nodded his head, not finding the will power to speak.
"What? Can't speak? What's the matter? Wolf got your tongue?" He cackled, grin spreading wider than before. "Come on." He pull him closer. "Answer my question. It's a simple yes or no question."
"… Y… Y-YES…"
"Yes, what?" He felt the grip on his skull tighten.
"Y… Y-YES… DECEBAL."
Decebal smiled, pulling him away from his face. "See? Wasn't that easy? Now then, if you would kindly hand me that box you're holding, we'll be—"
Something of glowing light blue flashed between them, cutting through the air and nicked Decebal's nose slightly, embedding into the stone wall. It was enough to startle the big wolf to drop him.
The drop wasn't so bad, though it did hurt a little to land on cold stone other than the cold snow he was used to. His head turned in the direction which he saw the blue thing go. His eye sockets widened slightly at the slight of the magic spear embedded in the wall.
In all his years, he had never been so happy to hear Undyen's voice as she growled at the three menacingly to back off and see her coming up to them with her spears out and ready. They didn't take the warning lightly and ran off as quickly as they could. He was so glad to see her… but, slightly confused. Why was she here?
But that didn't stop there. No, to his surprise as Undyen helped him up, he was shocked to learn that his brother had called her. His brother? Calling Undyen? Why?
She said that it was because he was worried for him. Oh, that explained it. He still remembered why they left New Home in the first place while it didn't even cross his mind one second. He thanked her as they walked out of New Home. And, for a long while in his life, he was completely silent as the made their way to the River Person, parting ways with her there.
Once he was back in Snowdin, he delivered the medicine that he was sent to get, and as promised was given the medicine that his brother needed for free. He was soon standing outside his home, a little hesitant to go in. If his brother had called Undyen because he was worried, then what would he do when he saw him? Would he be upset that he went to New Home? Would he be worried? Would… would it be possible that he was scared that he lost him? He shook his head. This was his brother! There was no way!
He opened the door, shouting out that he returned with the medicine… and almost had part of his head loop off by a blue bone thrown at him.
His brother wasn't sad…
He was furious.
After that… well, it DID get a little heated at first, but he managed to calm his brother down with a bit of explaining. They apologized to each other. He apologized for going to New Home despite their past there, and his brother apologized for getting angry and throwing an attack at him. He forgave him, and he was forgiven as well. His brother took the medicine, and late into the evening they had spent their time watching the television. Everything was fine…
Up until they heard an explosion outside.
He ran to the front door, swinging it open, running out, almost running back in and slamming it shut in fear. They were there. How?! They must have followed him from a distance. They were messing up the town. Picking up defenseless monsters and tossing them like sticks. Laughing like it was some sort of game to them.
His bones trembled at the memory, growling lowly under his breath. It was all a game to them. It was ALWAYS a game to them. Picking on monster's that were much smaller and weaker than them. Pushing them around, laughing at their misery like it was a joke. A sick, cruel, stupid, joke. His bones trembled more, shutting his eyes tightly and picking up some speed in his steps, gnashing his teeth together.
Just seeing them, just watching them, just seeing the destruction! Hurting the monsters he grew to know living there! Everyone! The fear! The torment! Their cruel laughter! He… He… He…
He…
HATED, them.
First, it was him, now they decided to attack his home?
Something boiled inside him that moment, something hot and sickening as fear drained away. The next thing he knew, he was running outside, curling one of his gloved hands up into a fist, and swung it, making contact to the side of Decebal's head, stunning the werewolf enough from the unexpected attack that he fell back from the force. After that, all hell broke loose.
He dodged a lot of their attacks that were mostly of punches, feathers as sharp as blades, and the occasional swing of the clubbed tail that would aim for his ribs or his skull. A few times he got nicked slightly, but never got the full blow of the attack. There were a few openings were he gave his own attack, but they were either dodged or hit with little effect.
It went on for what could feel like for hours. He was growing weaker and weaker by the minute. He couldn't keep going for long, but he had to get them out of Snowdin, he HAD to!
But, alas, it was not meant to be.
Decebal was coming at him from the side, pulling back his arm to swing at him. He quickly went to dodge by jumping out of the way… when he was yanked back into the line of attack by his scarf. He only had a fracture of time just to look back behind him, seeing Kay holding on to the end of his scarf, being the one who pulled him back. When he looked back, time felt like it had slowed down, most of his life running through his mind before it caught up and Decebal's fist…
He shuddered, lifting one hand up to his skull, tracing lightly at the cracks around his right eye socket that had remained shut for a long while now. A sharp hiss of pain slipped out through his teeth, bending over slightly, cupping his eye in both hands as one crack throbbed worse than the rest. Skeletons were not immune to pain. They can feel any amount of pain that anyone else can feel, only slightly duller thanks to the lack of skin and flesh. However though, if the bone had somehow been damaged, their pain lingers much longer than others. Whether by small cracks or completely broken through, the pain lingers as the bone heals, even after it is fully fixed it will stay for some time.
With a grunt, he staggered on, trying hard to ignore the throbbing of his right socket. It burned. It burned like a hot raging fire that was out of control, growing bigger and bigger by the second with an unending hunger as it consumed more and more. And it didn't just burn. It stung, stinging like long thin jagged needles that were hammered in and pulled out all in the same spot over and over and over and over and over.
He wasn't expecting it to hurt so much, or the sickening crack he heard as he went flying from the force of the punch, gliding ungracefully through the air and crashing into the snow, flipping and twisting around uncontrollably till his body finally came to a stop, face down in the snow. He was in a daze. Lying there with his right side buried in the snow, somewhat dulling the pain lightly. His mind was blank for a while, contempt to just lay there in the snow, feeling it soothing him of the pains of his injuries slightly. Exhaustion seeped into his body, the edges of his one still open eye socket was getting dark. Maybe he could rest for a few minutes?
But his rest was stalled somehow. Something had started to shake his shoulder roughly and he faintly heard someone yelling something. His vision wasn't all that great at the moment. Everything was blurred and out of focus. Still, he managed to lift his head slightly to look up, his remaining eye tried to see who it was through the blurriness. In and out his focus went, blinking rapidly to try and clear it more.
Once it was clear enough, he could see is brother kneeling beside him. Tears were rolling down his face, dripping into the snow. He was probably saying something but his hearing couldn't pick it up at the moment.
Then…
"NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His hand swung into a fist, colliding into a thinly thick pine tree, braking through the bark and past its middle. He quickly pulled it out as the upper part of the tree fell over, clutching his hand in pain. Heavy breathes of air heaved in and out as the pain traveled through his hand and up into his arm. Tears pricked at his good eye socket, threatening to fall.
They just had to mess with his brother!
They just had to HURT him!
Right in FRONT of him!
SWATTING him aside like!
Like!
Like!
LIKE!
Like GARBAGE!
And after that! After hurting his dear brother! His only remains to family! He!
He!
He!
… he… didn't know. His memory was vague at that point, only remembering Decebal coming up, stomping hard on his rib cage hard enough to crack a few bones and swat his brother away and then… nothing. He wasn't sure if he blacked out or his memory did a relapse of some sort, but when he came to his senses, he was holding Decebal by the throat in a vice steel like grip in one hand. His was vaguely aware that someone was holding on to him at the moment as well, but his focus was on the werewolf at the moment. He quickly took notice of the deep purple bruises, the bleeding cuts, and the broken arm, all having burn marks that resembled somewhat of hand prints.
He shifted his gaze down, blinking in surprise to see his brother hugging his waist tightly, begging him softly to stop. He was confused. Why was his brother crying? What happened? Why was he holding Decebal by the throat? HOW was he holding Decebal by the throat? What was going on?
Then… he took notice of his hands.
Bright glowing orange fire enveloped his hands, yet did not burn the gloves he wore, twisting and moving in unnatural ways that a regular fire did not do. Then he noticed how warm the right side of his skull felt, burning in both pain and… something else. Something that he hadn't felt or used in a very, very, very, very long time in his life.
… oh… oh… oh no…
His grip on Decebal's throat loosened and released the werewolf, letting him fall to the ground litter in bones and melted burn marks. Fear gripped at his soul as he took a step back, looking between the area to his brother still having a grip on him, looking up at him now with feared fill eyes and big wet tears rolling out of them, breaking his non existing heart. H… had he… had he… scared his own brother? His one and only family he has ever known?
And that was when he ran.
He turned and he ran. Not stopping even one second as his brother called out his name. Wind whipped past him, fluttering his cloths and scarf like a flag as he ran into the woods as tears rolled out his left eye socket while the right burned brighter and gloved hands lit his way. No… NO! He never meant for that to happen! He never wanted to harm anyone! He just wanted to stall them long enough for the Royal Guard dogs to come and stop them! It wasn't supposed to end up the way it did!
His brother's voice faded out as he ran farther and farther away. He needed to be alone. He needed to stay away from everyone for a while. Just until his mind was clear and think this through.
And now, here he was, walking aimlessly in the woods far from Snowdin, hands still burning with magic and right eye socket cracked with magic seeping out. Tears had long since frozen against his cheeks. The sea of trees parted out into a large clearing, a sole pine tree stood tall and proud in the middle, thick in the trunk grown by the years it had lived. He went over to the tree, sitting down against it, looking out at the snow covered clearing.
For a while, he sat there, gazing out at the clearing as the snow fell lightly to the ground. It was quiet, no birds chirping in the background, no squirrels scurrying in the tree tops, no soft howls from little white dogs.
Nothing.
Then, he shifted his gaze downward, almost wishing that what he was seeing wasn't really real. The magic had died down a bit, now it made his gloves give off a low orange glow, bits of tiny yellow dots light up for a few seconds before going out. He sighed, rubbing one hand with a thumb. Good, at least now he had some sense of control over this type of magic now that it was calm, thankful that the gloves served as a restraint against it… somewhat. He frowned.
For as long as he could remember, he always wore gloves, specifically these gloves that he wore right now. Red velvet mitts, sewn perfectly almost as if it was made by careful and skilled hands that no stitch was out of place. The fabric was well woven and aligned, the edges folded in neatly with a gold trim, and its size fit his hands in a snug yet comfortable fit. It was as if they were made pacifically just for him. They looked normal, they felt normal, they were like normal gloves… and yet, they somehow felt special and unique that separated them from any other mitts or gloves. What it was he couldn't tell or figure it out. He just never thought of them any more than just plain old gloves that he had worn all the time since he was a little skeleton.
However, a question did cross his mind once or twice of how he simply acquired them. He certainly didn't ever recall getting them and his brother was no help when he asked him. And what was even more curious about them was that… well, whenever he took them off, which was as rare as his brother actually doing something for once, he had this strange and unexplainable urge to hold onto them and not let go. It wasn't for fear of his magic. No, his magic hadn't had such outburst like that in years, so he wasn't exactly afraid to take them off because of that. No, it was something else… something that he couldn't explain. Something like a close importance to him, but could no longer remember what it was but still held on to it no matter what.
Hesitantly, he reached for one glove, pausing a bit before gripping the edge tightly and slowly pulled it off. Bits of bone were uncovered. First the scaphoid and lunate, then the triquetrum, the lower parts of the capitate and hamate, the pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, the metacarpals, then the bits of phalanges, starting with the proximal, then the middle, then finally the distals. He tested each bone out, trying hard to ignore the dark color that they were and focus more on the magic that still lingered off of them.
The magic coated his hand in a ghostly form of fire, but wasn't exactly like fire since it did not burn his bones. It acted like fire, sparking, making a snapped pop once in a while, even moving like fire, but, again, it was not fire. It was magic. Magic that he was gifted with… but had trouble controlling it to the full extent.
He could only control a small amount of his power, and even with great control over it, going full blast would… He shook his head, slipping the mitt back over his hand, sighing.
It was obvious by what he saw that he still had a tough time controlling it. And by his brother's scared look… he must had lost himself to his rage to lose control of his magic.
A groan played in his mouth, rubbing his face in shame.
How could he have DONE such a thing like that?! Scaring his poor brother like that?! He must see him as a horrible brother now! Losing himself to his anger like that after so many years of keep it under control only for it to snap right there and then! He was a shame to all monsters! And… oh… oh… oh… OH DEAR SWEET LORD HE ALMOST KILLED SOMEONE! H-he almost! H-he c-could have! His neck was in! Crushing! Couldn't breathe! He could of! He might have! No control!
MURDERER!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
His hands flared and burned with magic, his right eye throbbing and leaking magic as he jumped up, twisting around and pounded his hands against the tree he just seconds ago was leaning against, screaming out with mixed emotions of fear, confusion, anger, and sadness.
He felt fear because whenever this happened when his magic spiked when he was young, he feared that he would hurt someone close to him by mistake and go out of control.
Confusion, for how he was gifted with such magic. Confused to why it was just so hard to control, why he had such problems with it, why it caused so much pain.
Anger, because he never wanted any of this to happen. NEVER!
And sadness, because he had gone and sacred his only family into thinking he was a freak. A horrible, nasty, good for nothing—
With a final cry, he punched the tree one final time before breaking down into a sobbing fit.
"ya know, pounding at the tree and screaming like that, someone might end up thinking you went through a bad break up."
He froze, hearing a hoarse, scratchy, laugh behind him before breaking out into a fit of coughs. He didn't turn around. "… YOU'RE STILL SICK SANS… GO BACK HOME."
"what? and leave you all the way out here after finding you? nah, not happening bro."
"… WHY ARE YOU HERE?" Now that was a stupid question.
"was worried about ya. you DID run off without warning you know."
His hands clenched. "… SANS… LEAVE ME BE."
"yyyyeeeeaaaaaahhh nope. sorry pap. not happening."
"SANS! I'M SERIOUS!" He twisted around, spotting his brother not too far off. This time, he was wearing his hoodie. "LEAVE ME BE! I WANT TO BE ALONE!"
"and leave you to wallow in guilt?" He chuckled a bit before coughing, patting his chest a bit before looking back at him. "wow, they must of cracked you head worse than i thought."
"SANS! I'M IN NO MOOD FOR YOUR JOKES! LEAVE ME BE!" His magic flared a bit, his damaged eye glowed bright with intensity. "… PLEASE. JUST… JUST LEAVE ME BE."
"…"
He sighed, turning his gaze away from his brother to the ground. Silence filled the area again. That is, till he heard the sound of slipper clad feet crunching the snow underneath them slowly approaching him. He didn't say anything as he felt bony arms wrapped themselves around his legs.
"… pap, look at me."
He didn't move. He didn't want to see his brother's face.
"papyrus, come on."
"…" Reluctantly, he looked down. Pain panged at his chest as his brother looked up at him with concern and sadness. His permanent grin still the same, but he could tell that it didn't hold its regular attitude in it.
"pap, don't worry about it, alright? i'm here to listen to you, so don't be down in the dumps."
He shifted his gaze away. Bring up one hand he glanced at it as the magic still burned in his palm.
"… must have been scary huh? seeing that kind of magic again after so long."
He nodded his head slowly. It was kind of scary. Popping out of nowhere, unpredictable, eating away at his emotions that fueled it. IT was scary to imagine if it might one day destroy him if he wasn't careful.
"but, uh, ya know. not seeing it for so long makes it kind of easy to forget."
"…" He glanced back down at his brother, who averted his gaze to his slippers.
"i mean, you did great at hiding it for so long ya know? keeping it under your control and such. that's cool." White dots looked up at him, feeling his arms tightening a bit. "and, only you can do something as cool as that, bro."
"…" A small smile came upon his face, patting his brother on top the head. "WELL… I… AM PRETTY GREAT, AREN'T I?"
"you sure are bro. you sure are."
The smile grew a bit bigger.
"you were even great enough to beat up those chumps like no problem."
… aaaaaaaaannnnd now it's gone.
"NO. I WASN'T." He sighed deeply, rubbing his face in shame.
"what? come on papyrus, you were—"
"HORRIBLY MAULING THREE MONSTERS INTO A BROKEN MESS IN BLIND RAGE!" He cut in, shaking his head in shame. "I SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT! I DON'T KNOW WHY I EVEN BOTHER TO FIGHT!" Tears were starting to form in his left eye, threatening to fall.
"you had a good reason to bro. don't be too hard on yourself. besides, you gave them a good beat down…"
He turned his head sharply, his right eye burned with intensity. "… SANS… I… I… I… I… I could've killed someone…"
"…"
"…" He looked away, cupping his right eye.
"… ya know, if you didn't step in like you did back there, i'm pretty sure most monsters in snowdin would be dead right about now."
He quickly looked back at his brother, still holding his right eye.
"it's true. if you hadn't done anything, those jerks would still be tearing half the town down. and in my opinion." His eyes grinned up at him. "you did have an awesome control over your power this time. no one got hurt this time… if you don't count those three."
"B-BUT—"
"pap, what you did was a good thing, even if you lost a little control with yourself for a moment. all i'm sayin is that despite what you think, you did one heck of a good job. a job that only my cool bro can do."
"… SANS." He didn't know what to say. What could he say? Thanks but I still feel like a monster no matter what you say to me? His brother coughed a bit, covering his mouth with both hands. He was still sick. "SANS, YOU SHOULD BE AT HOME RESTING." He knelled down to his brother's level, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. "YOU'RE STILL SI—" He stopped, retracting his hand away and looked at it. It still glowed, but now it was brighter.
"pap, you're magic ain't gonna hurt me." His brother grasped his hand, the magic swirled around his bony fingers but did no harm to him, frowning with his eye sockets. "though, i can't imagine the pain your eye is going through right now."
His eye? "SANS, MY EYE FEELS FINE. NOTHING ABOUT IT HURTS." He paused. In fact, he couldn't feel any pain right now. He didn't notice till now how much his eye didn't hurt. Or his rib cage. Quickly he grabbed his shirt with his other hand, lifting it up high enough for his ribs to be seen.
Both he and his brother stared in shock and wonderment at his ribs. Mostly at the magic that coated the cracked bones like a thin protective casing, keeping broken bones in proper place.
"wow. never seen your magic do that before." His brother commented, poking at the magic that glowed a little brighter than the rest, holding together a broken through bone. He looked at him. "you say you can't feel anything? no pain or nothing?"
He shook his head.
"wooooow, neato." The edges of his grin went up a little, going back to poking at his ribs, being mindful of the cracks. "man, they really took a crack at you."
"SANS!" He groaned.
"what? that joke didn't rattle your bones did it?"
"… AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLE!" He threw up his hands. Suddenly, a row of bones came out from the ground, circling them. They jumped. "… S-SANS? WHAT DID YOU DO?"
"i didn't do anything bro. honest! they just came up on their own… did… did you do that bro?"
"… I… I MAY HAVE. BUT I DIDN'T DO IT INTENTIONALLY!"
"well, if you didn't do it intentionally, then how… come…"
They both looked at his hands. Orange light glowed intensely, radiating magic that flared out from the rims of his gloves. A whine of fear came out of his mouth. Oh no. His magic was acting up!
"whoa, stay calm bro. your magic is acting up on your emotions." His brother tried to calm him down. "you just gotta calm down."
"HOW?! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?!" Worry edged into his chest. "MY MAGIC—!"
"papyrus, calm, down." His brother grabbed his hands, looking him straight in the eye. "it'll be okay, alright? just stay calm."
He nodded slowly, gripping his brother's hands tightly.
"okay, now, do you remember how to get your magic under control?"
Again, he nodded.
"alright. keep your eye closed, calm thoughts, and i'll do the rest… and i promise to be careful."
He nodded again, closing his eye, letting his sight fall into darkness. Calm thoughts. Calm thoughts. Already, he could feel his magic building up in his body, following freely throughout his being, burning with power fueled by his dark memories. Calm thoughts. Calm thoughts. Something touched his magic that wasn't his own. Cold, calm, powerful, yet burning with something that he couldn't quite describe. It touched his magic again, gently brushing against it. His magic shuddered at the touch, backing away slightly, but the known magic kept coming, brushing against it gently till his magic was used to the touch. The magic then started to tug at his magic, though not a hard mean tug, but a small playful like tug. It kept tugging, wrapping around him like a soft blanket. Another tug, and this time, he could feel some of his power being drained slowly. Fear was pricking at his mind. Calm thoughts. Calm thoughts.
More tugs came, and more of his magic drained away, the known magic was both soothing and calming. Little by little his power was drained, and little by little he could feel his worries start to fade. Then, the tugging stopped, leaving some amount of magic and slipped out of him.
Once the last of the magic was gone, he opened his eye, suddenly feeling heavy for some reason. Wearily, he looked at his brother, still holding his hands. Both his eye were closed, but he could see the light blue trail of magic seeping out of his brother's left eye.
He managed a small smile, squeezing his hands lightly. His brother opened his eyes, seemly filled with relief. "there. now, that wasn't so bad right?"
He nodded, slowly standing up.
"whoa, hey easy. don't want you falling for me."
He shot him a glare, ready to open his mouth and yell… before finding himself on the ground on his side, dazed and in pain.
"Pap!"
He felt his head being lifted carefully, looking at his brother's worried form.
"Ah jess! I-I-I drained too much!" His voice sounded far off.
A measly moan was all he could manage to do.
"Pap, ah jess, I'm so sorry." His brother apologized, moving his body carefully so he was laid in the snow on his back, putting his head on his small lap. "Oh man, oh man, oh man!" He muttered before having a coughing fit. "We gotta… we gotta… gotta get you… you home… home pap." His voice wheezed, huffing in-between his breathing.
If could have the strength, he would frown deeply. He wasn't the only one who needed to get home. If he had the strength, he could carry them both home.
Suddenly, his brother's eyes widened, looking up. "wait, you hear that?" Well that was a stupid question. He could barely even hear his voice. "… undyen… Undyen! UNDYEN! HEY! WE'RE OVER HERE! HEY!"
Undyen? What was Undyen doing all the way out here?
"UNDYEN! HEY WE'RE—!" Another round of a coughing fit hit. "U-undyen!" Another. His brother kept calling out, but his voice was weakening. Soon all he could manage a hoarse voice that could barely call out to anyone. "u-un… und… undyen…"
Worry pricked at him. If Undyen didn't find them soon, his brother would keep yelling for her, making his voice worse, and get even sicker than he was. And worse still, if his bones weren't treated soon, he was sure that he would go blind in his right eye… wait.
Slowly and painfully, he moved one arm up, looking at it. If Undyen couldn't hear his brother, maybe she could see a flare? Painstakingly slowly, he moved his other arm, removing one of his gloves, exposing his hand. He focused, trying to draw up just a little magic that was left in him, keeping his arm pointing up to the sky.
At first he could feel nothing, then, his hand started to glow dimly. He concentrated more, holding his arm steady, building more power into his one hand. The glow grew brighter by the second, diming slightly for a second. Come on! Come on! This has to work! He forced more power into the hand till it was glowing brightly enough, just strong enough for one blast. This had to count. His vision was already starting to grow dark around the edges.
With one final push of his will, the magic jumped out from his hand, twisting, bending and forming out into what he could assume was a giant dragon skull, opening its jaw wide and firing a beam of bright orange light into the sky. He smiled, arms falling. There, that should work.
His vision was fading faster now, and he could faintly hear his brother's frantic cry, possibly because he didn't expect him to do that. The last thing he saw before his world went dark was his brother crying, possibly yelling his name, and Undyen's form running towards them.
The very first thing he was aware when he woke up was the grogginess and massive headache. When his head cleared a little, he found himself in his room under the covers of his bed. The lights were on and from what he could bend his neck to see the door was slightly open. He moaned, trying to sit up but fell back, grunting in pain.
Why was he…? Oh, right. The fight. He frowned, shifting slightly, then blinked, looking down at his side. His brother was fast asleep next to him, clinging onto him like a small child would cling to their parents. A smile crept up on his face, shaking his head slightly. Looking around his room more, he quickly spotted a note next to his bed on the table holding his action figure. He picked it up, wincing form the pain of moving his limbs, and read the note with his good eye.
Hey dork!
Fine time you woke up! Your bro and I were worried about you when you passed out. Well, more your brother than me since he kept yelling at me to hurry and get you here. Anyway, glad you're not dust, I don't think Sans would be happy if you died on him. You really scared the scales off of me when I found you and your brother out there. Even worrying still when I saw those broken bones you had. Took me and Sans forever to set and wrap them up.
He stopped a moment to lift his shirt, a red one he noted, they must of changed him into his pajamas, slightly enough to see the wrappings around his ribs, slightly impressed that they managed to find some gauze to wrap each bone with. Moving one hand, he touched his head, finding his right side wrapped tight and secure.
Your eye was losing some small pieces that Sans had to hold onto the they till we could find something to hold them together. Anyway, if you're reading this, then you're awake and I'm probably downstairs whipping something up for you to eat and help with your brother's flew. See you when I feel like it.
Undyen.
P.S.
I saw you fighting those monsters when Sans called me about them wrecking the town and you fighting them. You did an impressive job there! You might make a good Royal Guard one day!
The note trembled in his hand.
Undyen…
Undyen… saw him… fighting… those monsters.
And… was IMPRESSED!
His smile grew, giggling gleefully. He stopped when he felt his brother shift in his sleep before settling back down, snoring loudly. He put the note back, getting himself comfortable, pulling his brother closer to him. His tightened his grip slightly, mumbling something before settling down again.
He didn't stop smiling as he closed his eyes, letting himself fall back into a light slumber. Maybe today wasn't so bad, after all.