Chapter 1

It was dark and stormy. Thunder rumbled so loudly that it threatened to shake the earth. Rain fell in huge gulps, pounding harsh and merciless against the ground. The sky was covered with a layer of thick dark clouds. Neither the stars nor moon were visible, it was pitch black. Wind howled, violently rattling trees and bushes, threatening to tear the roofs off the quaint little houses in the village. It was biting cold. The air was filled with chaos. Amidst the storm, were screams, cries of agony, fear, panic. Explosions, breaking glass, splintering wood, the clang of swords, the banging of cannons. The once peaceful village was under attack.

Inside a small house, a male skeleton in a black cloak over ragged clothing was scrambling in a panicked frenzy as he packed necessities and shoved them into a rucksack. His breathing was harsh and shallow, and his eyes were glowing in fear. Meanwhile, his oldest son, a young boy of only about seven or eight years old, was trying to soothe and calm his infant brother, who was wailing loudly.

"Papyrus...Papyrus…" the boy said through tears as he held his brother against his chest and rocked him, "Papyrus, shh, shh...it's okay...we'll be okay...we'll be okay. We're gonna get out...shh, shh…" To no avail. The boy's lit eye sockets met with his father's.

"Dad, what's going on? What's going to happen to us?" one of the child's eye sockets was glowing blue. His father's eye sockets were also glowing: one orange, one blue. Fear and dread hung over them like a thick cloud of fog, The children's' panic stemmed from the obvious panic of their usually collected father, and the war raging outside. The little boy knew. The father knew. They were coming. They were coming for them. They needed to get out. They needed to get out. Fast. They had already taken most everyone in the village. They had taken Lucida. His wife. The mother of his children. And as far as they knew, they were the only skeletons left.

The skeleton man swung the heavy rucksack onto his back, pulled his hood over his skull and then lifted both of his children into his arms and ran out of the back of the small, once cozy house that they had once called home. He ran from the village he once loved, as it went down in flames and cannon fire. He vanished into the forest, boots crunching through the cold, biting snow.

-xXx-

Gaster did not know how long he had trudged deep into the heart of the forest. Hours? Days? Weeks? There was scarcely any light so there was no way to tell. All he knew was that he was about ready to pass out from exhaustion. His arms, legs, and feet were of aching numbness, and he felt like a hunchback, what walking so hunched over with throbbing back pain. His clothes and the rest of his luggage, were freezing and damp, as it had snowed earlier.

The forest seemed to be endless expanse of tall, dense, dark trees and foliage, with danger and the unknown lurking at every corner. He knew he would have to find some means of shelter and soon. His children were both shivering, however Papyrus seemed to be in a deep, less disturbed sleep. It was Sans that he was concerned about. The eight-year old boy had always been weaker in his health than his brother had, and he was currently shivering and breathing very hard. Gaster could not tell if he was awake or not. He was wrapped in a thick, wool blanket, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. And Wingdings was very concerned. He needed to find shelter and he needed to find it fast.

He continued trudging through the forest, using the lights from his eyes to dimly light the pathway.

Sans suddenly sneezed, "D-dad...I-I'm c-cold…."

"I know, I know...I'm trying to find us shelter. Hang in there."

He continued on, rapidly snapping his gaze around, desperately searching. When he was about ready to give up, something caught his eye. Sunlight, or so at least he thought it was sunlight, shone through a collection of ivy vines that were hanging off a pile of rocks. It seemed like a peculiar thing to have inside a forest. From where he was standing, it just looked like a dead end. But he was desperate, and the fact that the tiny bit of sunlight showing through the vines suggested the remote possibility of shelter, he was going to go for it. He hastily moved forward until he was facing the ivy vines.

"Sans, I know you're cold and exhausted, but I have to put you down for a moment." He set the small statured child onto the ground, and then walked over to the hanging vines. Pushing back some of them, a dark, rocky corridor was revealed, leading into the inside of a small cave. It was very dark, and a bit damp, but it was warmer than the outside world and shelter nonetheless. He could not sense any other presence, and therefore assumed the came was vacant and had been for quite some time. After all, it was almost completely hidden. Holding his infant close, he took his older son by his tiny skeletal hand and led them towards the back of the cave.

His aching bones were screaming to sit down and rest, but getting a fire started and making sure his sons were fed and comfortable enough to sleep was his priority.

"Sans, take your brother for me while I get the fire going."

The small child sat down on the hard floor of the cave, and held out his arms to take his younger brother from his father. He held him close, and the baby made a tiny contented noise and moved slightly to adjust himself, curling into his brother's chest, where the warmth of his soul radiated from.

The boy watched curiously as his father started a fire and laid out blankets for them to sleep on. Once he had laid everything out, he warmed some cold leftover stew over the fire.

-xXx-

"Dad, what's gonna happen?" Sans asked, once the stew had finished and they were at last settled down and had eaten their small meal. They were currently resting on the makeshift bed against the rocks of the cavern wall. Sans was sitting beside his father, leaning against him, while Papyrus's tiny form was curled up on the skeleman's chest.

Gaster sighed, "I don't know, son. But I'll find us somewhere to stay, somewhere that we'll be completely safe and won't have to worry about anyone trying to hurt us again."

"Why did skeleton's have to be cursed with the rarest magic type? It's not fair."

"That, I do not know. But I would not call healing magic a curse. Healing is a beautiful gift that we are lucky enough to have."

"Also unlucky enough. If we didn't have it. If we just had normal magic, then no one would try ta hurt us. We wouldn't have had ta run away from home and leave everythin' behind."

"Yes, I know."

"And Mother would not have had ta die."

Gaster felt as though his soul had been stabbed with a thousand daggers and was suddenly washed over with a wave of grief. His wife had been taken by the mages for her healing power. They had taken her straight out of the garden, where she was tending the flowers. She was taken to suffer the same fate- forced to endure the torturous experimentation that had wiped out many of the skeleton population. He remembered the last time he saw her. She had managed to escape from the lairs and came back home, staggering, battered, and beaten, on the verge of collapse.

He had ran out the door of their small, cozy cottage, and met her on the path. She collapsed into his arms, HP dropping...and dropping...and dropping. He had tried to heal her, he had tried. But it was in vain, and she turned into dust right in his arms.

He was snapped out of the heartbreaking memory by his son's voice.

"I don't want it ta happen again. I won't let it happen again. I'm gonna protect you and Papyrus with everythin' I've got in me! I'm not gonna let a single mage get close to us ever again."

Gaster smiled in spite of himself. He could not help but be amused and proud of his son.

"I am proud if your ambition. However, you are still very young. You may want to protect us, and you may think you can, but the world is much too dangerous for an eight year old child. But, I will start training you to use our defensive magic. It is an important thing to know how to use. But first, we must find a safe place for you and your brother. I still want to give you the childhood you deserve, alright?"

"Okay."

Gaster yawned, "But for now, let us try to get some sleep, my child. If we keep talking we might wake your baby brother."

Sans yawned as well, "G'night Dad."

"Goodnight."

-xXx-

Wingdings awoke early the next morning. He felt the tiny bit of warmth that came from the glowing soul of his infant son, who was asleep on his chest. Sans, meanwhile was sleeping soundly beside him, curled up with a blanket over his tiny body. Very carefully, he lifted the swaddled baby from his chest and gently lay him down beside his brother. Then, he got up off the ground and decided he would scope out the surroundings. It was still quite dark inside the cave, however, for some reason, it was not as dark as one would expect a cave to be. In fact, from where he was standing, the skeleton man saw light at the end of the corridor coming from the cavern they had been sleeping in. Of course, curiosity immediately drove him towards it. He would go for a quick look and then return to his sons. He grabbed his cloak and pulled it around himself, pulling the hood over his face, and then he followed the path of the long, narrow corridor out toward the light.

When he reached the source he realized it was due to a mouth that led out of the cave. He exited the cave, discovering a clearing that lay in a sort of canyon. In the clearing was a frosted grassy field, a pond, and a waterfall pooling over the cliff side, and directly in front of him, was a tall, old tower. It was a very peculiar thing to have in the middle of a forest, but at the same time, it offered some degree of relief. It was shelter, at the very least. However, he needed to make sure it was safe before he brought his sons to it. He walked across the frosty grass towards the old structure. The thing itself was covered thickly in ivy vines, but an examination of the base led him to determine it was still quite sturdy. It was made of thickly packed and crafted stone and brick. There were no doors or stairs, just a large window up at the top, which would require nothing but a simple teleportation to get inside. Good. I won't have to worry about anyone breaking in and trying to hurt us.

His skill was a bit rusty, but he was able to teleport to the inside of the tower. It was lit by the light from the large windows. It had a musty, stale smell, and the air was dusty, with spider webs in corners and on the ceilings. Perhaps at one point it had been home to someone, but whoever they were, they had been gone for a long time. The tower was completely vacant.

The main room was sort of an all purpose. It had mainly an open area, with a little kitchenette on the side, and a fireplace on the back wall near the middle. There was an old, faded wardrobe, and a dusty armchair. On the far side of the room, there was a winding staircase that led up to the second floor. Gaster climbed the stairs to the second floor. It was mustier, colder, and dirtier up here. There was small hallway, with two little rooms that could be used as bedchambers. It meant Papyrus and Sans had to share, but Gaster doubted they would mind that.

He spent a few more minutes exploring the old tower. It was dirty, and old, and some mice and spiders had definitely made a home of it, and the space was smaller than their old cottage, but, even so, it could work, it merely needed some work done to it, and Gaster could make it like a home. This can work. So as long as I can keep my sons here, so as long as they do not venture past the cave, we can make this our home. It's isolated. Which means I won't have to worry about any mages or anyone else trying to hurt my family.

He smiled in spite of himself. What a weight lifted off his shoulders this was. And with that, he teleported back out to the base of the tower, and headed back towards the cave. He had already been gone long enough.