Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale and any of its characters. It is owned by Toby Fox. I also do not own the other characters made by their respective artists that will be appearing in the story. I only own the plot of the story, my created characters and the created places that I would be using in this story.
"Frisk, huh? Alrighty then." he smiled and stood up, putting his hands on his waist as he looked at her. "Welcome to the band of misfits, Frisk. Where you'll get your daily dose of randomness, fun and anything you'd put in-between. Let's cheers to that!" they cheered and clunked their bottles of rum. The night continued on with them singing and dancing and getting themselves drunk. Sans had to drag Frisk away from his crew a lot since they would come and offer her some hooch every now and then.
.
.
.
The morning breeze brushed her face and its freshness filled her lungs as she went out of the room. She just knew the night before that the room she was staying at was actually the captain's quarters, Sans' quarters. She told him that she could stay in another room but he said that it was okay for her to stay there since the only rooms available were there, the crews sleeping quarters and the infirmary beside it. He said it was more proper for her to stay there than the latter rooms since he didn't know what would happen if she stayed in either of those.
Sans was now currently sleeping in the infirmary. She didn't know if he was already awake or not. The ones that were already up on the deck though were David and Gabriel who we're doing the ship's daily check-up. David was the first one to notice her. "Oh lass, you're up early. Didn't wake you up did we?"
"No, I woke up of my own volition. The morning sea breeze is really refreshing, it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to feel it brushing against your skin..." She closed her eyes as she inhaled some of the air. "Or bones in your case."
Both men laughed. "I see you're much energized. But weren't you up all night like us as well?" Gabriel said after he finished checking the rigging.
She looked at his direction now, eyes filled with good humor. "It was a really fun night. Because of it, I don't seem all that tired at all."
"That so?" Felix said as he arrived with a tray of food on his hands. "Breakfast is ready milady. Come along fellas it's time to eat!" he shouted, waving at David and Gabriel to get their attention.
"Huh? Where to?" Frisk asked.
Felix looked at her, puzzled, "Below deck. That's where us chumps will be eating. So just relax and enjoy your meal."
Felix handed her the tray and called on to the older skeletons. "Alright. Have a nice meal ahead, I suppose."
"Will do miss." Gabriel gave a nod of understanding as he wiped off the dirt on his hands.
David stretched his limbs before looking at her, giving a thumbs up. "Don't we always?" She waved at them as they descended the stairs to the decks below.
As the sun began to rise higher in the sky, the pirates came out one by one. It was already late in the afternoon but Sans was still not out. She just could not make herself feel at ease with every minute that passes by without him up and about on the main deck floor. What might he being doing down there? She wouldn't know and would not dare to go down there and check as well. She might end up in more trouble if she did. "Is the captain not coming out yet? It's almost time for supper."
David was the one to answer her, "Don't worry. He'll be up any minute now. You see, our captain's a night walker. But sometimes he's awake when we go out and need some business to attend to."
"Well after doing that though, he'd sleep for long hours again and be awake again at night. Our captain's just lazy like that." Gabriel shrugged, sitting on a crate on the left side of the ship. "Hey, after you gents are done doing that, you can come and join me, Corbel, David and Felix here for a drink before we eat." He told Edward and Rod.
"Are all captains' of pirates like that?" Frisk questioned. Sans being the first one she knew of, she suddenly got curious.
"Nope, just him. He's one of those weird yet unique type of captains that already exists out there in the world. Sometimes I wonder why any of us are still here, though." They laughed at Rod's joke as both first and third mate continued cleaning. Felix was done with his chore of cooking and cleaning since he's always one of the early birds. So now he can laze about all he wants with his daily duties done.
"You know kidding aside, even if our captain's as lazy as heck and sleeps all day. When a job needs to be done, he gets it done." Edward smiled as he said that, leaning on the tip of his mop.
Corbel chuckled, "Actually, it's not just that love. He's more than just that. We've seen the things that he can do and believe me, he's a very incredible person."
"And, even if we don't admit it. We actually really like his puns." Roman came up, wiping his hands with a cloth. After that, he shoved the cloth in his pockets, sitting with the rest of his shipmates who were busy getting their drunk on.
"Yeah, they're really hilarious." Edward agreed to his statement.
"Well," Rod gave an unsure look and laughed it off the next, "some don't get there but you get the point. That's why you shouldn't judge him before getting to know him better." He stopped and looked at where Roman was beside David and Gabriel, "Hey Roman, finished on your end already?"
"If I'm not, why do you think I'm here?" he shot back at him.
"Just that, I think you're getting old at this man. You seem to be getting slow."
"Shut it. Not my problem that we're full on load with the ammo right now." He smiled, "And you shouldn't talk since you're still not done with yours. I mean, the ships not getting any bigger, so why are you not done yet?"
"You want to do this now, friend?" they glared at each other as if sparks were forming from the intensity of it. She laughed awkwardly as the others just stared at them blankly. David and Gabriel still chugging on their drinks not caring.
Corbel cleared his throat, "Continuing what was being said before. Despite his faults, he's still the captain we can rely on. You can too, lass."
Sans noticed them talking about him as he was coming out. He went to where Frisk was and looked at his crew, "Hey, are you lot talking trash about me behind my back, again?"
"Yes we are captain." The intensity the two had before suddenly disappeared as the crew replied to Sans.
His eyes furrowed, "Why you insolent!" he started playfully beating them up. "Saying things like that, have you guys finished what you are doing?"
"We're finished captain." The five men on the left raised their hands and continued drinking after.
He nodded pleased, "And you two?" he looked at Rod and then Edward.
"Nope." Rod said indifferently.
Edward just charmingly smiled, "Not yet, captain."
The heck, Sans really got angry now. His eyes darkened and he went on chasing and kicking them. "Waking up to you fools not done yet really irritates me. It's already supper!"
"The captain's a joy killer." Edward said as he pouted and leaned on his mop even more.
Rod put his left hand on his hips as he leaned on his own mop, laughing. "Why so serious. Lighten up a little!"
Sans looked at them angry, "I was, before I talked to you lot. Now get going, you disrespectful ingrates or I'll mop you off deck!"
"What?!" Edward said in disbelief, "You know we can't swim. That's a magic we don't know how to do!"
"I said get!" the two hurriedly went to continue what they were doing, looking annoyed as the others just laughed at them. "Honestly, sometimes I think of getting myself a new crew. Maybe I'd get me some of those royal pups. Those sure follow orders well." He sighed, rubbing his fingers on his frontal bone.
"But it will be a bore if they always follow your orders, right?"
"True. But still, thinking about loyal dogs coming to my beck and call and following what is tasked of them can gain me so much more than what I have now." his eyes glimmered as he imagined the possibilities that it may bring.
"Greedy dead man." she murmured to herself that made the captain look at her, eyes narrowed.
"What was that?" he eyed her and she smiled back at him as if she didn't say anything.
"Nothing. I was just saying that you may take them by force but that won't make them like you in any way. You must earn their trust first before getting any real work done." Like me, for instance. She thought to herself as she continued to make her point. "Like your crew for example, they respect you a lot."
"What?" Sans turned to Frisk scoffed at what she said, "How are you so certain of that?
"They told me about your habit of being lazy and sleeping all day."
"How is that being respectful?" he said in incredulity, "They're just talking trash about me. Well it's kind of true, but they're still ruining my image to you. It's tarnished now!"
"Let me finish before you whine." She cut in. Whine? her words stung Sans' pride a bit but still she continued, "They redeemed your tarnished name by telling all these good things about you. About being a good and reliable captain to them and them liking your puns. That's why I said that they respect you."
Sans blushed a little at that. He covered his mouth and looked to the side down. "They like... my puns?" He blushed harder as he uttered the words to himself. Frisk laughed slightly getting Sans attention back to her. "What's so funny?"
"I never thought a captain of a pirate ship could be this cute." She smiled. "You are very lucky to have them."
He replied, his eyes now filled with joy. "Maybe I am."
After days spent on the ship with the company of the skeletons, she was slowly being introduced and acquainted to their different behaviors. Corbel acted as the fatherly figure for the whole group and the first mediator of a fight before taking the situation to Sans if the fight grew beyond his capabilities. David was into collecting small precious souvenirs from everywhere they went, he told her. They were cheap and mostly could be found just on the coast but they were still all so beautiful. Roman was into sword fighting especially during their free time. He likes to challenge his crew mates for a little sparing session during these hours but he can surely handle a gun just as efficiently. One time he shot down a bird sitting on the railing at the far off back of the poop deck while he was on the bowsprit feeling the strong wind rocking him from side to side. That bird became their meal that night. Gabriel liked to experiment on different medicinal plants and what their effectiveness will be if they were mixed together, so he tends to tie one of his mates up. His favorite guinea pig was Edward being the youngest of the group. He leaves cuts on him and applies the herbs on the wounds or makes him drink his homemade concoction to see how it works. Rod was all edgy at first but when he got used to her presence, his natural flirt side came to the lime light. Of course he does his attempts when the captain wasn't looking. Felix flirts in a joking way at times but shows his real passion in cooking which was why he was made as the cook of the crew. He even showed her recipes and taught her to cook in ways she was not familiar with but was effectively good. Edward was a bookworm, though. He'd like to read more than drinking the day away. He says it was a more productive way of spending the hours than drinking all the stock they had until it run out. Sans was ultimately as the crew described him as to which she was not already surprised. He had already admitted to the said accusations first hand before.
"It's already been days since that time and I have already known most of your quirks and faults since, albeit slowly." she began as the two older skeletons began to tread their way to their eating quarters. The usual early risers were the ones to accompany her again in the refreshing morning sun.
"Yeah, it has been a while hasn't it?" Felix commented, looking up in contemplation. It has been a good two weeks since they kidnapped her and the presence of the human has already been a familiar one. If she were to disappear one day, she would definitely leave an empty space in their soul.
"Why not try to join me this time? Get to know each other a bit more? " she suggested. This time, she was determined to have them eat with her.
"No, no dearie, our table's down below. Besides, us pirates don't suit eating with a fine lady such as yourself." Gabriel stopped for a moment on his tracks going to the deck below and reasoned with her before continuing on his way.
"If that's the case then I'll be going down as well." She took the tray from Felix's hands which as usual prepared a simple yet delicious meal and walked to the staircase leading below.
He was stunned at the swift action for a moment before going after her. "Hey, wait a minute lassie!"
"No lass, you stay here where everything's clean. Down below is a mess." David frantically went to her.
She turned to them as Felix reached to tug her shoulders lightly, pouting ever so cutely, "Either you eat with me here or I eat with you down there. I won't take no for an answer."
Felix gave a tired sigh, "Fine, we'll get our things and be right up. Women and their commanding attitudes." She smiled triumphantly as they descended.
After a while they came out with their own plate of food in hand. She patted at the space beside her on the staircase leading up to the poop deck. The men sat themselves beside her and she looked at them content. "It's better eating with company than eating alone. I'd be really lonely if you denied my request."
They sighed and smiled, "Alright then. From now on, we'll eat with you. Is that okay?" Gabriel asked.
She beamed with joy and happily replied, "Yes, thank you." They laughed at her childish attitude but she didn't mind. She ate happily with them as they chatted about the most random things they could think about.
Everyone was already up and doing their usual thing. Sans stood beside her as they both stared at the far off horizon. Since they were already comfortable with each other's company, Frisk had to ask the captain this inkling question that has been bothering her since the day she woke up on the ship. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, thinking carefully the words which would help her start up the topic. "Did you... kill them?"
He looked at her with one of his boney eyebrows up. Curious about the sudden, kind of accusatory, question. "Huh? What's this sudden question all of a sudden?"
"The people from where I came from. Did you kill them?" she asked him again, the worried look on her face never changing.
"What? No. No one had an injury. Well, not a fatal injury that led to them bleeding." He said. "Wait, I'll go get something first." He left and entered his quarters. When he came back, he had a telescope in hand, "Come with me, I'll show you." She followed him as he headed to a rowboat tied securely on the right side of the ship. "Since we're not that far away from where we got you right now, we can sneak in the forest and you can see for yourself." He told his men where they we're going and ordered them not to eat their food and drink all the hooch while they were away.
Rod, Edward and now Felix looked over the edge as Sans and Frisk were going down from the side on the rowboat. "Good luck, captain!" Rod waved at them smiling as if hinting on something.
"Gather up your courage!" Edward encouraged further.
Felix whistled, "Fight captain, you can do it!" they cheered on and Sans lifted up his fisted right hand at them looking pissed. Frisk just looked at them clueless.
After securing the boat at the side of the coast, Sans marched onward into the island's forested area to a path leading to the town. "Seriously, they never stop their teasing. They've been going at it all night," He shoved his hands in his pockets. "to the point of me wanting to just sleep out on the deck... maybe I should."
"All night? I haven't heard them insist on anything last night other than giving me alcoholic drinks, like usual."
"It was when I was in the infirmary. That's what deprived me of my needed sleep. I think I should sleep again later, away from them."
"What were they insisting on anyway?" he stiffened, sweat forming around his face as he treaded faster.
"Ahaha..." he laughed awkwardly and tried to look for a distraction, "O-oh look, we're almost there!" they neared the edge of the forest. He kneeled down slowly and gestured that she do the same. He handed her a telescope as she knelt. "Here, look at the people we left. We just hustled everyone up and made them faint long enough to take what we need. We're not as violent as you think we are."
As she looked, the people were doing things like nothing happened the day before. Not even a bandage could be seen on any of them. She turned around to face him and gave him the telescope. "You really know what you are doing." She paused, "And my parents? Also the ones that were gathered in the church before, are they alright?" She had to ask him. Just thinking about them was making her worry. The guilt of leaving without a proper goodbye ate at her. But what can she do? she was kidnapped without any qualms about her feelings. It was one of her wishes to run away, but this was not what she had in mind when she thought of it.
He looked at her in a way as if she was asking something that already has an obvious answer. "Like I told you, we just made everyone faint. Even the ones inside the church." he assured her. She didn't like the smartass tone but she still sighed in relief nonetheless of the good news.
Another question then inserted itself in her mind. "But why our town though? There would have been a lot more places to go to." she looked at him waiting for his answer.
He turned his head and stared at the town once again at her question. "It's the closest to where we were sailing at. And by a quick glance, we can tell that this town is a progressive one so we were sure that it had what we needed."
"Oh? And what might that be?" she asked, intrigued by what he said. What do pirates need, anyway?
"Medicine. We've gotten a message from one of the messenger birds from our island that said the people there have been lacking on medicine for a while now. It said the ship of the merchant didn't arrive. And since we're out at sea right now, we might as well get some."
"By stealing?" she looked at him with a blank face and he just shrugged.
"Hey, in desperate times you got to take desperate measures. And also..." his face grew grim, "it said that the unexplained behaviors of monsters right now sometimes resulted to murder. You see for almost a year now, months before the first human arrived at our place, we've been having this dreaded curse that's making some of the monsters act differently from what they usually do and we don't know how to stop it."
Her expression changed to a look of horror. "That's terrible! Is the curse evolving somehow?
"I don't know. We've been away for so long that we don't have a clue on what's happening there. We've left a day before the news of a human entering our borders reached our ears. It said that the reason they killed was because of grudge, jealousy, and malicious intent but I bet to differ."
"Really? But that's what some humans would do. I mean, that's taking things too far but they still do it. Sometimes without any reason at all that I don't get why. So why do you think monsters can't do that too?"
"I'm not saying that they can't, I'm just saying that they wouldn't. All in monster history, a monster hasn't killed any of their own kind or any other kind for that matter other than livestock. If they think they can solve it through peaceful talks they would. Maybe add some fights here and there if it's really necessary, but not as far as to kill their opponent." He looked down, his face saddened, "They would need a really good reason, persuasion... or a demon to let them break that kind of history." His eyes widened slightly. He turned on his heels abruptly and hurriedly went back on the path that leads to where they had left the rowboat.
Frisk looked at his retreating back. "Captain?" he didn't respond to her call, "Captain!" Frisk reached for Sans' shoulder. He turned his head to look at her. He looked really worried, "Captain, tell me what's wrong?"
He patted her hand and gave her a reassuring smile, "I just had an idea so I need to check on something on the archives. Don't worry, I'm fine." His eyes softened, "Let's go back." He held her hand as they walked.
"Okay..." she couldn't help but feel worried, there was something he wasn't telling her, wouldn't tell her, she felt.
As they went back, a thought kept going around Sans' head, Is that it? No, that's too obvious... he gripped her hand a little tighter.
Cliffhanger
I think because of how this story is going now, the legend I thought about is not going to fit in this story anymore. Ugh, back to the legend drawing board!
~SD01
