Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox, not me.
I decided to split the first introduction chapter, so Sans could end one as well. He won't be able to do it in person for some time now.
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The stars on the cave glistered faintly, only flickering sometimes when light of magical flames grazed by.
Darkness was creeping up around them and the monsters did their best to huddle close to the ones that were able to share some light and warmth. The Outskirts were always dark and cold, an uncomfortable chill seeping through cloth and skin. The energy distribution network of the CORE wasn't large enough to support long distances, so people in Snowdin had been happy to even receive energy from it in their home village.
The Outskirts weren't in the supported regions. You could say they were untouched nature. Freezing cold and dark as coal without the powered stars.
They had docked their boats as soon as they deemed it far enough from the village. Everybody hoped they wouldn't have to stray too far into the depth of the dark cavern parts, but they had to keep distance before they could afford to return to their village later on.
Luckily up to now they hadn't encountered any hostile recluse monsters. Especially the kids were frightened about that since their parents used to tell stories about bad kids straying too far from their homes and getting chased by such monsters.
However the freezing cold was enough already. They didn't know how much colder it was in the Outskirts than in their little cosy village. Unlike snow the frost mercilessly sneaked its way through thick fur and warm clothes. Especially the kids had a hard time with it.
Papyrus threw a calculating look behind, debating whether they were far enough away from the river. He then directed the shivering monsters over to a cave wall, his loud voice easily drowning out the hushed voices and other sounds. Hopefully the wall was enough to provide a little protection against the cold wind and bounce back a bit of their lights.
Soon enough the place was filled with shuffling and monsters trying to make themselves comfortable. The cold was still there, but they built a close ring with their belongings and blankets and cuddled up around the warmest monsters.
Papyrus, one of the few that felt little to no cold, was pacing around the tired and shivering group of monsters, occasionally adjusting blankets and packages and keeping an eye out for anything weird approaching.
He was worried about the safety of everyone. Were they far enough away? Were these mean monsters of the stories hiding in the darkness, angrily watching them and slowly creeping closer? He shuddered. Did the human notice them and came after them? He still couldn't fully believe what made him give up his post and instead help with the evacuations. Sure, they needed every help they could find. But still… didn't the human as well? He needed to consult Sans about that. His big brother had seemed so sure of the unchangeable vileness of the human, even though neither of them had ever met any of their kind.
He surveyed the bundles of miserable monsters for his brother wrapped in the blanket he had given to him that morning. Was it really just this morning? It felt more like a week or a month ago after so much happened. Hopefully his brother's illness hadn't gotten worse. Papyrus barely had any time to look after his brother since the evacuation, but he made sure to at least occasionally overlook the crowd for the blanket his brother had wrapped himself in. Fair enough, there he was, sitting next to the Bunny Lady.
…Or was he?
Papyrus squinted his eyes as he stepped closer. From this position his brother's form looked as if it was unusually slim. Maybe just the darkness playing a trick on his eye sockets. Or his brother was just tied up really tight. Still, even through all these reassuring thoughts he felt a tingle of unease creeping around. Must be because he was constantly on edge since the evacuation. Nothing more. Nothing to worry about.
He got next to the bundled person and hesitantly tapped them on the shoulder.
The person that turned around a bit startled was definitely NOT his brother.
A fuzzy white face greeted him, a bit startled at the sudden contact. It was a Bunny Kid. Papyrus hastily withdrew his hand, shock written on his face. "Wha…" He tried to compose himself. "KID, FROM WHERE DO YOU HAVE MY BROTHER'S BLANKET?"
The kid shivered slightly. "Plese don't teke it from me…" Surprised, Papyrus couldn't help himself to lightly stroke the kid's head. "O-OF COURSE NOT. BUT I'M WONDERING FROM WHERE YOU GOT THAT BLANKET?" He liberally overlooked the wary glare the kid's mother gave him. The kid tugged on the edges of the blanket. "Sens geve it to me." He hadn't noticed that. When had this happened? He asked the kid, confusion coursing through his soul. "Uhm… Efter we left the boets?"
Then that meant he accidentally looked out for the wrong monster...! But that didn't clear up the whereabouts of his big brother. Once again his gaze surveyed the group of refugees – but didn't find what he searched for this time.
"DO YOU KNOW WHERE MY BROTHER IS?" He asked the monster. Only a hesitant headshake though.
Papyrus wordlessly got up and began seeking his brother in the mass of exhausted villagers. "SANS?" He rounded the huddled big group. "SANS?" He squeezed himself in between people, asking "EXCUSE ME, HAVE YOU SEEN SANS?" and such. He was getting more worried by the second.
"SANS?! THIS IS NOT FUNNY, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!" He was really getting a sinking feeling of fear now. Something wasn't right. Papyrus was sure his brother was with them as they got off the boat. So that meant… that Sans somehow lost them on their way through the darkness!
"Heeey, keep yar *hic* horses doown, will ya? Someone's trying to sleep heeere" a voice slurred and he felt someone's slackly grip on his scarf. "AH, I'M SORRY…" he uttered surprised. The strong reek of alcohol drifted from the two persons on the ground. Papyrus recognized them as the pair from Grillby's, the ones that had spoofed him the first time he came to the bar into thinking they could translate what Grillby thought.
"Hhmmn, sleeep sure sounds goood…" answered the second one. Papyrus made a grimace at the stench they emitted. He tried to tug his scarf out of the first one's hand, wanting nothing more than keep a little more distance to them. Gosh, how Sans stood them was beyond him. "AHEM, COULD YOU PLEASE LET GO OF MY SCARF? I NEED TO FIND SANS." However the monster ignored him and even tightened his grip, laughing lightly. "Saans? No bud. Pity he's not here."
Papyrus perked up, his attempts to free his scarf forgotten for the moment. "Huuuh? Why nat?" the second answered before he could. The first one threw himself onto his backside picking his nose, scarf long freed from his grasp. However Papyrus didn't dare to move. The monster had seen his brother?
"A asked ham if he'd come along, ya know? Kept lagging behind." "Aaaaah… aand?" "Told ma had things ta do. "Aaah…" "And then ha *hic* turned around and went back to the boats." „Just like this?" „Just like this, dude! Can you believe it? Just like this."
Papyrus shot up as if he was sitting on hot coals. "WHAT?!" He didn't mind anymore that the drunks continued to ignore him. "Had things to do" the first continued, getting bored with picking his nose. "Thiiings, dude! Buzy man." "…Is?" "Buzy." "Hmmnn…" "Tellin' ya, one day these thiings will kill him if ha keeps tem up…"
He'd heard enough to worry greatly for his big brother. If these drunken monsters were correct, then Sans…
Papyrus sprinted to where the other two patrols stood. One of the two bears and Ice Wolf were currently chatting with Grillby over the heads of sleeping monsters and early noticed his hasted approach.
"SANS IS NOT HERE!" Papyrus practically whisper-yelled as soon as he came to a halt. He didn't want to wake all the monsters up, but his evident building panic got the better of him. "Calm down, dude" Ice Wolf provided, surprised. "I CAN'T! I CAN'T FIND SANS ANYWHERE!" Papyrus did his best to keep his voice as hushed as possible, wringing his hands in worry. "Have you looked everywhere?" He nodded fiercely.
"I HAVE TO GO AND FIND MY BROTHER!" He didn't leave the others any more opportunity to delay his departure and took off, leaving a "I'M SORRY!" behind. He had the sinking feeling that his brother might be in trouble. In deep trouble.
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Why in the whole Underground would his brother go back to the village?