For some reason, when the first human fell after Chara and Ariel died, resetting and saving no longer worked. Any human who fell could not load a save file to prevent their death, nor could they heal instantly. In order to balance out the power monsters had, any human that fell from Mt. Ebott were given an ability that helped them survive. Only six were planned out. Any human with an aqua aura could stay still and not be hit. If they had an orange aura, all they had to do is run head on into enemy attacks and they wouldn't be hurt. A yellow aura could shoot at enemies as they attack to disable them. A green aura was given a shield in which they could deflect enemy attacks. A purple aura could focus enemy attacks into three lines and hop around to avoid being hit. A blue aura could jump extremely high to avoid attacks. A few years later, another human fell. She was saved by a mysterious person she soon learned she could call "friend." But there are things more dangerous that even he cannot save her from.

Disclaimer: The only thing I own in this fan fiction is Caia and the story. All other characters and places, as well as references, belong to Toby Fox.

Soft. I feel something soft underneath me. I open my eyes a little and see stars. No. Those aren't stars, they were stones. Why would there be stones in the sky?

I sit up and glance at my hands. In my right I hold what appears to be a fake knife and in my left I hold a slightly worn ribbon. I drop the knife and inspect the pink fabric. I shrug, finding nothing special, and deftly tie it into my short hair as a headband. I stand and dust off my clothes with a smile.

"Why, howdy!" a voice calls. I freeze and search for the source. "Did you just fall from Mt. Ebott?"

My eyes land on a yellow flower with a cute smile on its face. I try to speak but my throat wheezes a bit. I clear it and continue. "I-I think so."

"Well, don't forget that knife of yours, it seems like it's very important to you." The gold flower reveals a coy little smile I can't see once I turn.

I bend down and pick up the small blade. I rotate it in my palm, trying to figure out what it means to me.

"My name's Flowey. If you want I can give you some advice about surviving in the underground," the flower offers cheerily.

It takes me a moment to understand what it has said; when I do I nod happily. At least someone was willing to help me out.

"Okay," some small white pellets appeared from behind Flowey. "These pellets are filled with LOVE. If you collect enough of them, your relationships with the monsters will increase. Catch them."

Flowey flings a LOVE pellet at me with a suddenly cruel smile. Without enough time to react, it flies right through my heart and hits the wall. The golden flower gawks then throws more of the white things at me. This time I try to catch them. They spin into my left hand and hit my palm.

"Ah!" The moment the LOVE pellets touch my hand, a burning sensation shockwaves through my body. I fall to my knees clutching the injury and fighting the pain.

Flowey's face transforms into a mask of pure cruelty. "You idiot!" he spits out. "In the underground it's kill or be killed!"

Multiple pellets surround me in a wall. I gaze at them in confusion. How had I angered Flowey to the point he wanted to hurt me?

I glance at Flowey. "What did I do wrong?" I ask quietly.

Flowey laughs maniacally. "You trusted me!" he replies with a smirk.

The wall begins to close in on me and I hold his eyes with my own. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large bone hits Flowey and hurls him away from view. The LOVE pellets disappear all at once.

"WOWIE! I ACTUALLY HIT HIM!" I look up and see an extremely tall skeleton with a triumphant grin. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS WINS ONCE AGAIN! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" the skeleton crows.

He suddenly realizes I'm there and turns to me. "ARE YOU A HUMAN?" he asks kneeling in front of me.

"I don't know." I reply a little shyly. I should thank him. After all, he did just save me. "Thank you for saving me."

"IT'S A HERO'S JOB TO SAVE INNOCENTS IN DISTRESS," he suddenly stands and strikes a, very dramatic, heroic pose. "AND I, PAPYRUS, AM THE GREATEST HERO OF ALL!"

I giggle, amused at his antics. He gives me a funny look then offers a gloved hand. I accept it and Papyrus helps me stand. I let go and fiddle with my skirt.

Papyrus spots my ribbon and says, "THAT'S A PRETTY HEADBAND YOU HAVE. IT MATCHES YOUR AQUA SCARF AND EYES," his voice sounds a little jealous when he mentions my scarf.

"Do you like scarves, Papyrus?" I ask with honest curiosity.

Papyrus's eye sockets widen in surprise, then he glances away with a slight blush. "WOWIE! HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

I shrug and smile. "Lucky guess? I think if I try, I can make a decent scarf. What color would you want it to be?"

"RED. NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus answers without hesitation. "RED LIKE A HERO'S CAPE!"

"I promise I'll finish it as soon as I can."

"HMM…" Papyrus taps his chin thoughtfully. "DID YOU FALL INTO THE UNDERGROUND?" he asks out of the blue.

His question confuses me enough that I start stuttering as I reply. "Y-yes. And then F-Flowey told me about LOVE pellets-" As if the very mention of Flowey conjured it, a painful spasm ran from my palm to my heart. I press my thumb onto the wound hoping to stifle my protest. It fails and I let out a squeak of pain.

"OH, YOU'RE HURT!" Papyrus grabs my wrist and inspects it.

I let out a strained chuckle. "That isn't where it's hurting, Papyrus." I say.

"OH DEAR! WHERE DOES IT HURT?" Papyrus asks sweat dropping a bit.

I move my thumb and point. "Here."

Papyrus looks closely at my palm and looks up, "WOWIE! HOW DID YOU GET LOVE PELLETS EMBEDDED THERE?"

"Flowey told me to catch them, but when I did they hurt me."

"WE NEED TO GET THEM REMOVED IMMEDIATELY! FOLLOW ME, NYEH HEH HEH!" He begins to lead me away from the pile of golden flowers when I realize something.

I pull away and run over to the toy knife. I bend down to pick it up and walk back over to Papyrus. He grabs my hand with a comically stern look then dashes off with me in tow.

After having traversed through a multitude of puzzles, which Papyrus solved easily, we stood outside what Papyrus called "the Ruins."

We had been walking down a snowy path for a bit when Papyrus stopped and faced the opposite direction. He hides me behind his body protectively and squints into the shadows.

"Is this how you greet your best-skele-bro all the time?" A slightly deep voice called as a figure wearing a blue winter coat materialized from the shadows. It was then I realized how cold it was.

"SANS! YOU NEARLY SCARED THE BONES OFF OF ME AND-" Papyrus pauses for a second then turns to me as I shiver. "WHAT WAS YOUR NAME AGAIN, HUMAN? I DON'T RECALL YOU TELLING ME."

I freeze a little bit before recovering. "C-Caia. I'm s-sorry I didn't say s-sooner."

"human? did she just fall?" Sans asks.

Papyrus's eye sockets seem to gleam with pride. "WHY YES SHE DID BROTHER! I GOT THERE JUST IN TIME TO SAVE HER FROM A RAMPADE FLOWER! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Sans grunted. "hmph, seems a bit farfetched to me, but whateva," he shrugs then offers his right hand to me. "the name's sans. nice ta meetcha."

I timidly accept his offer. "My name is Caia. Its nice-" the moment I clasp hands with Sans a sharp buzz shakes my palm, triggering another stab of pain to race to my heart. I flinch and jerk my arm away, crying out in surprise.

"jeesh, it was only a joke." Sans huffs out and places his hand back in his pocket.

Before I have a chance to explain, Papyrus jumps the gun and berates Sans. "SHAME ON YOU, SANS! THAT JOYBUZZER CAUSED THE LOVE PELLETS IN CAIA'S HAND TO HURT HER MORE!"

I pull Papyrus back and say in a slightly strained voice. "It's okay Papyrus. Sans didn't know. He was just trying to make me laugh." I give Sans a tiny smile. "Thank you for trying to make me feel better."

"you do remember that you need to take her to undyne right?" Sans asks, changing the topic. My brows furrow in confusion. Had I really upset Sans that much?

"I KNOW THAT. I WAS THINKNG OF MAYBE HANDING HER OVER AFTER I REMOVED THE LOVE PELLETS FROM HER SKIN." Under his breath Papyrus murmured, "MAYBE NOT EVEN THAT SOON…"

Sans waves his brother on. "you go ahead and prepare everything. i'll get her home safely."

"WOWIE! REALLY SANS? THANK YOU!" Papyrus suddenly takes off cackling 'nyeh heh heh' the whole way.

Sans turns to me and begins to speak, "you seem like a good human, caia. just don't purposely hurt papyrus or make him feel bad. if you do," Sans' eye sockets suddenly become black. "You're gonna have a bad time."

Sans's casual threat takes me aback. I was positive he would act upon his promise. In fact, I knew in my heart he would. With sudden determination, I take the toy knife out of my boot and hold it out, handle first. "If that's the case, maybe you should keep this for me. That way I won't be tempted to hurt him."

Sans accepts the knife with a shocked look. He places it into his coat pocket and nods. With that he leads me in the opposite direction Papyrus had disappeared.

Somehow Sans and I arrive at the front of a house door. I glance at the mailboxes and see one empty, the other overflowing. Sans notices my line of sight and answers my unspoken question. "the one on the left is mine and the other is papyrus's. he never gets any mail so he never checks it." Sans shrugs then opens the door and enters. I follow him inside.

I see Papyrus sitting by the stairs holding a pair of tweezers and a roll of white bandages. I shiver then sit on the stair closest to him. I hold out my left hand and look away while he pulls the LOVE pellets out. Each time Papyrus tried to remove one, it felt like barbs were connected to my palm. Several times I bit back the pain so my cries wouldn't distract him from his work.

Once they are all out, Papyrus deftly wraps the cloth bandages a few times around my damaged palm. He pulls out a clip then connects it to end of the wrap and the closest available area.

"THERE! NOW YOU'RE ALL BETTER!" Papyrus proclaims. "YOU SHOULD GET SOME REST THOUGH. I PROMISE SANS AND I WON'T BOTHER YOU. THE COUCH WILL HAVE TO DO FOR NOW UNTIL WE GET SOMETHING BETTER."

Papyrus point to where the couch is then leaves to find extra bed things. I sit down and wait only a moment before he comes back with a fluffy pillow and red felt blanket. I accept them and place the pillow on the arm. I spread out the cover and inspect it.

This would make Papyrus a great scarf, I muse with a thoughtful smile. For now though, I was exhausted. I lay my head on the pillow and pull the quilt up to my chin.

"Thank you, Papyrus." I murmur sleepily.

Papyrus's voice sounds softer when he speaks, "YOU'RE WELCOME, CAIA, NOW SLEEP WELL." Somehow the lights turn off and plunge me into darkness.

My eyes grow heavy and I snuggle deeper under the fabric. "Good night." I whisper then drift into sleep.

"papyrus, how do you know for sure she isn't a violent human?" a voice asks in a low tone. Sans?

An exasperated sigh escape Papyrus, "IF SHE WAS VIOLENT, DON'T YOU THINK FLOWEY WOULDN'T HAVE TRIED TO KILL HER?"

"it could've been an act." Sans replies with distrust lacing his voice.

As Papyrus talks, his voice seems to fade out. Finished speaking with Sans most likely. "FRIENDS WILL NEVER HURT EACH OTHER INTENTIONALLY, SANS."

Sans breathes in deeply, "you don't have to pretend to be asleep anymore," he says.

I open my eyes and sit up to ask the question in my mind, "Sans, why do you distrust me so much?" I pull my knees up and place my chin atop them, making Sans meet my eyes. "What did I do wrong?" I murmur for the second time that day. Why was everyone but Papyrus threatening or trying to kill me?

"last time a human fell, they killed everyone, including papyrus. so to fix it, i reset everything before i died."

"So you believe I'm going to be the same way?" Sans nods and I grit my teeth in disbelief. "Don't you know that no human is exactly alike? If you don't you should. Just look at everyone here. Do they act the same way? Well it's the same for humans."

Sans tries to speak but I cut him off. "I've loved strange and unique things since I was little. I was strange myself. I would climb trees, wear shorts under my skirt. I wear a scarf during all seasons. I prefer boots with visible socks to flats or heels. I've hated all things girly for a while, all except the ribbon I wear. Instead of pink, my favorite color is aqua." I sit up and whisper to Sans in a sad tone. "And don't you think I would've kept my knife if I wanted to hurt people, Sans?"

A/N: I hope you lads and lassies enjoyed the first chapter of Red Petals. The cover you see is only temporary for now until I get the real one that I drew myself scanned onto the computer and the title added. I cannot guarantee regular updates either because there are times when I'm quite busy or I don't have enough inspiration. It also takes me forever to get stories typed out because I edit as I go and also make changes on the written out part so I have more than one copy. Yay! SO I really hope this isn't too much of a cliffhanger. I also apologize if I offended anybody with my story by making the characters too OOC. Please let me know if I did and how I can make them more in character. See ya!

~Pixie