It was very cold outside the ruins. Huge trees surrounded the area. There was only one real path to take. Exiting the ruins door, Gohan tip toed his way through the forest. It was dark, breezy, and scary. He didn't like this and had half a mind to turn back. That wasn't an option though, he couldn't turn back after the fuss he made back there. He couldn't turn back because he needed to go home.

Stepping over a large branch, Gohan quickened his pace. He had to keep moving, it shouldn't be too far now. He heard a large snapping noise. Startled, he turned around. The stick was in two pieces. Something had snapped it. Gohan quickened his pace even more. His fear was gripping him more and more. Hearing a shuffle behind him, he turned around again.

He called into the darkness. "H…H-Hello…?" There was no answer.

He continued forward. Gohan heard more shuffling behind him. Deciding it was the best move, he took off running. He didn't get far however, as there was a gate preventing him from continuing onwards. Footsteps. There were footsteps right behind him. He didn't want to turn around; he was really, really scared. He curled up, shaking in fear.

Eventually, the sounds stopped. A deep, dark voice sounded out. "Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

Trembling still, Gohan turned around slowly. Looking down at the dark extended hand, he hesitated. He decided he was doomed either way, and shakily took it.

Watery fart noises echoed across the forest.

Fear dissipating rather quickly, Gohan blinked. He glanced up to the dark figure. It was a smiling hoodied skeleton. It released his hand.

"heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick… it's ALWAYS funny."

Gohan covered his mouth a little bit. It was kind of funny.

The skeleton continued. "anyways, you're a human right?"

The four year old nodded nervously. "I-I'm… yeah. My name is Gohan."

The skeleton looked away knowingly. "that's hilarious." He faced the young boy again. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton. i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but… you know… i don't really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus, he's a human-hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, i think that's him over there."

Gohan looked through the gate nervously. A human-hunting fanatic? Oh no, that did not bode well for him at all.

Sans chuckled a little at the boy's fearfulness. "i have an idea. go through this gate thingy."

The boy's gaze switched between the skeleton and the gate rapidly. What was he talking about?! It was closed!

"yeah go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone." Sans lead the boy through the gate. In his fear, Gohan didn't realize he could just slip right through just like he said.

"quick, behind that lamp. he wont find you there."

Tension rising, Gohan dove behind the lamp. He was too big, he stuck out. The shining dragon ball was in plain sight! He wished he could make himself invisible. Hearing footsteps, Gohan remained silent. He didn't dare steal a peek outside.

"sup, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP' BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES. YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna take a look?"

Gohan choked. He thought the skeleton was HIDING him! Why was he selling him out now?!

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THE SHINY, CHOKING LAMP! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH? I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT… RECOGNITION… I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, FRIEND? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING.

"hmm… maybe this lamp will help you."

Gohan flailed a little behind the lamp. Why?! The lamp was knocked a little, causing it to rock against the snow. Luckily, the brother was stomping his foot.

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton."

The boy covered his mouth. An audible laugh escaped him before he could stop it.

The stomping stopped. "SANS!"

"come on. you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT! SIGH. WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME… HAVE TO DO SOME MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION…"

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone"

This skeleton will be the death of him. Gohan covered his mouth desperately, but he couldn't stop the very audible laughs."

"UGH! EVEN THE LAMP ISN'T IMMUNE TO YOUR PUNS! I WILL GO TO ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES NOW… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE... BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!"

A pair of footsteps left the area, only to scurry back rapidly.

"HEH!"

The footsteps left the area again. After a moment, Gohan dared to peek over the lamp.

"ok, you can come out now."

Slowly, Gohan stepped out from behind the lamp. Realizing that he was safe, he marched over to Sans. "Why'd you keep telling him to look behind the lamp?!"

Sans looked down at him, amused. "don't worry, i know my own brother. he wouldn't have looked. it was funny."

Pouting, Gohan turned away. Admittingly, the exchange was funny.

The skeleton continued. "you really ought to get going. he might come back. and if he does… you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes." He winked at the small child.

This was Gohan's chance. Turning around to face Sans, he grinned. "But Mister Sans. I find your jokes to be…" He paused for dramatic effect, just like Sans and Miss Toriel did when they told jokes. Sans' eye sockets widened in anticipation. "…humerus."

Sans leaned forward in disbelief. Then he chuckled to himself. "wow. you're good. but you should really get outta here. we'll joke together more, trust me."

Giggling to himself, Gohan nodded and skipped away from Sans. He wasn't mad at him anymore. If he ever was, anyway. Reaching the next crossroads, he wondered which way to go. He decided to continue on the path, maybe it was a straight shot to the exit?

Eventually, he saw The Great Papyrus talking to his brother Sans. But… Sans never passed him on the way here? He looked around nervously, but there was nothing to hide behind this time.

"SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE…"

Gohan backed away, only for the tall, scarf wearing skeleton to notice him instantly. He turned to his brother, who noticed at Gohan in a similar manner. They faced themselves, then back at Gohan, then back at themselves. They both spun around like tops until they eventually faced each other again.

"SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT… A HUMAN?!"

Both skeletons faced Gohan carefully.

"hm, i don't know. let's test it."

"TEST IT? WHAT DO YO-"

"knock knock"

Gohan jumped. He knew what to do in this situation. "Who's there?"

"dishes"

Papyrus' eye socket visibly twitched. Gohan giggled. "dishes who?"

"dishes a very bad joke."

Gohan cried out in laughter. He remembered Miss Toriel tell him this joke last night. It was funny then and it was funny now. However, someone didn't agree.

The tall skeleton rounded on his brother. "SANS! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I MEANT! YOU'RE LOLLYGAGGING AROUND! WE HAVE A HUMAN WITHIN OUR GRAS-"

The cheery four year old piped up. "Knock knock!"

Papyrus realized that it was directed at him. Sans merely nudged him encouragingly. The tall skeleton furrowed his skeleton brow.

"WHO IS THERE?"

Gohan smiled. "Harry!"

The skeleton paused. He didn't like this. "HARRY WHO?"

"Harry up, it's cold out here!"

Sans slapped his knee and chuckled. However, the other Skeleton turned back to his brother, shaking visibly. "SANS! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU'VE MADE THE HUMAN UNLEASH JOKES ABOUT THE COLD!"

The shorter skeleton winked at his brother and shrugged. "snow kidding?"

Papayrus threw his arms up in frustration. "ENOUGH!" The tall skeleton faced Gohan again, his faux anger abating. Bad puns aside, this was a great opportunity. "HUMAN! I WILL BE THE ONE WHO CAPTURES YOU! THEN, I WILL BRING YOU TO THE CAPITAL! ALL MY DREAMS WILL FINALLY COME TRUE! CONTINUE, BUT ONLY IF YOU DARE!" The red scarved skeleton ran away, cackling in his strange laugh.

Once Papyrus was out of eyesight, Sans turned to Gohan. "that went better than i expected. you're a natural, kid. oh, and don't worry about him. i'll keep an eyesocket out for ya."

Gohan nodded. Sans began to follow his brother, but then he paused for a moment. Turning around, he went back to Gohan and handed him a small . "know what? take this with you. you might need it one day." He winked at the small boy. "from one comedian to another, y'know?" and went on to follow his brother.

Opening the carefully, Gohan turned to a random page. Jokes, inside each page were a load of jokes. Interested, he flipped around the . It was designed as a real . It had chapter headings, an index, and even a glossary. It's true he liked jokes. They made him laugh, after all. He wouldn't call himself a comedian by any stretch though. He appreciated the thought, and he would certainly enjoy reading it as he did Toriel's.

Closing the book and putting it in his pack, Gohan faced forward. Walking past a rundown looking senty station, Gohan let himself get lost in thought. Such interesting and funny people he's been meeting. He felt as though he could trust Sans, even if he had almost sold him out their first meeting. After all, he gave him a book. He must be nice.

He reached another sentry station. It was better crafted than the one he just passed. He glanced at the sign next to it. 'Absolutely NO MOVING!', it read. Gohan stood still for a moment. A few minutes went by. Was this long enough? Shaking his head, he strode past the sign and sentry station. He heard a noise that sent him chills.

"Did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things."

Gohan didn't move at all.

"If something WAS moving… for example, a human… I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!"

Gohan stood frozen. He wanted to cry. He wanted to whimper. He forced himself not to.

Several minutes passed. The voice hadn't said anything else. Gohan breathed silently, trying hard not to move. He had an itch on his nose. Of course he had an itch on his nose.

"…Maybe it was just my imagination."

The young boy heard shuffles behind him. Assuming whatever it was had left, he slowly walked away. He didn't want to alert it with loud and frantic running. He did scratch that itch, though.

Walking forward pondering his situation, he felt his soul leave him once more.

A large bird with an even larger head fluttered in before him. Gohan backed away uneasily. This bird looked mean. The bird muttered something quietly. It was so quiet Gohan didn't quite catch it.

"I-I'm sorry Mister Bird. W-What did you say?"

The bird went from a whisper to a shout. "MACARONI AND FREEZE!"

It wasn't that funny, and the delivery was awkward. Gohan stared at the light blue bird, confused.

The bird suddenly became uncomfortable. His voice again went to a quiet whisper. "I-Ice to meet you."

He realized that the bird was trying to make him laugh. The bird was doing a terrible job at it though. Taking pity on the poor unfunny bird, Gohan let out a delayed but audible chuckle. The bird fluttered excitedly. "SEE?! Laughs! Dad was wrong! I can be funny!"

Smiling, this would be a great time for Sans' joke. He went for it. "Snow kidding!"

The bird freaked out, causing Gohan's soul to launch itself back inside. "Omigod! OMIGOD! How did I not know THAT one?!" The bird bounced around madly until it fluttered itself face to face with Gohan.

Chuckling weakly, Gohan nodded at the bird. "Well, I only just learned that one. Mister Sans taught it to m-"

The bird freaked out even harder. "SANS?! SAANS?! OH MY GOD THAT DUDE IS A LEGEND! HE DOES STAND UP WITH MY DAD AT THE MTT HOTEL!"

Was Sans that big of a deal? Taking out the book Sans gave Gohan from his pack, he showed it to the crazy bird. "He's nice. We were just joking around not too long ago, then he gave me this book."

Once again, the bird went absolutely ballistic. Could birds have heart attacks? "IS THAT?! IS THAT?! IT'S SANS JOKEBOOK! OMIGOD!"

Slightly nervous, the young boy allowed the bird to take the book in his wings. The bird salivated while reading the book. He laughed loudly and obnoxiously at some of the jokes. Gohan didn't want to be rude, so he sat on a rock while the bird flipped through the pages. Eventually, the bird put the book down and rounded on Gohan. "This is definitely his joke book! And he just gave it to you?!"

The young boy nodded. The bird squawked around and fluttered. "I'm Snowdrake, by the way! My friends call me Snowy! Hey, can I borrow this book?! I'll give it back tomorrow!"

Gohan tilted his head to the side. Normally he wouldn't mind, but he's trying to go home, and who knows how long it'll take for him to visit back? Not to mention, how would he find Snowy again? Finally, he shook his head. "Sorry, I'm on my home. I don't mind if you read it with me, but I really gotta go."

Snowy's expression dropped. The bird appeared to ponder for a moment. "Can I tag along to where ever you're going? This joke book is everything I need!"

The four year old boy didn't see any problem with this. "I don't mind."

He led the bird down the path he'd been taking. The bird followed Gohan. Snowy's beak was deep in the pages of the joke book, while Gohan swung his arms humming. He felt safer with a companion, like he had with Loox. He saw Sans down the path and waved at him, Sans waved back.

"hey kid. i see the book was of use to you after all." He said, winking.

Gohan nodded. He supposed he made sort of a new friend. Gohan turned to Snowy, who was still deeply entranced by the joke book. "Yeah, Sans, this is Snowey. Snowy, this is Sans."

"yo."

Snowy looked up with a bored expression. "Hey what's u-". His eyes practically bulged out of his skull. "S-S-Sans…"

The lazy skeleton chuckled, and turned back to Gohan. "so kid, my bro's gonna be throwing puzzles at you for a while. nothing dangerous though."

Gohan felt Snowy's wing grab his robe roughly. He turned to his bird friend confused, and turned back to Sans who wore an amused expression.

"he's just up ahead. be seein' ya."

He nudged Gohan on down the path. Gohan looked back at the stout skeleton. Sans looked as though he was daydreaming. His bird friend was muttering things rapidly. Gohan occasionally caught things like "he actually talked to me" and "he's so cool".

A wide opened area greeted them further down the forest. Gohan looked across the wide area, there stood Papyrus and Sans waiting. How did he keep doing that?!

"YOU'RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"

"I think that's called… sleeping."

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES! OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES WITH A FRIEND! MY BROTHER CREATED SOME PU- …WAIT A FRIEND?"

The tall skeleton's gaze locked on to Snowy. He eyed him up and down. Snowy was preoccupied staring at Sans. Eventually, Papyrus shook his head.

"NO MATTER! WE HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! THIS ONE YOU WILL FIND QUITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN? BECAUSE, THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL, I THINK. OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW."

Gohan stared at the tall skeleton holding the orb for a moment. He raised his hand meekly.

"YES, HUMAN?"

Gohan dropped his hand back down. "Uhm. Excuse me, but if the orb gives off a zap, will that zap you or will it zap me?"

Sans' smile widened. Papyrus looked down at the orb. "OH, WELL. IT WILL ZAP YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN FOR MY WELLBEING, HUMAN, BUT I HAVE THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING."

Nodding, the boy tried the electrical maze with Snowy close in tow.

All of a sudden, the tall skeleton received a hearty zap that left him sizzling. Panting, the skeleton dropped the orb. "OKAY. SO YOU WERE RIGHT. GIVE ME ONE MOMENT."

Picking up the orb, Papyrus navigated the maze. A trail of deep footprints were left in his wake. The solution of the maze was revealed. The tall skeleton handed Gohan the orb. "PLEASE HOLD THIS."

The boy looked down at the clear blue orb. Papyrus had scuffled his way back next to his brother. Sighing again, Gohan raised his hand.

"YES, HUMAN?"

Gohan's gaze dropped to the ground, embarrassed. "Well, you, uh. You left a trail to and from me. The maze isn't a maze anymore."

Papyrus glanced at the ground and then at the boy, his expression dropping for a second. However, he began to cackle again. "NONSENSE, HUMAN! THE TRAIL IS A REWARD FOR YOUR HONESTY AND WIT! GO ON, THIS IS ONLY THE FIRST PUZZLE AFTER ALL."

The four year old brightened up. Oh! So that's what it was. Of course, his good deeds got him an easier puzzle and praise from the tall skeleton! That made sense. Holding his bird friend's wing, he skipped across the maze with ease. Upon reaching the end of the maze, Papyrus and Sans clapped for him. Sans clapping was noticeably lax.

"GOOD WORK HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, COMMEND YOU. HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM!"

The skeleton cackled and marched away, being followed by his brother.

"nice save, bro."

"INDEED, I AM A MASTER OF MANY THINGS. DECEPTION IS MERELY ONE OF THEM."

Following the brothers, Gohan and Snowy encountered a sighing ice cream man muttering to himself. The blue gentleman perked up. "Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just 15G!"

Gohan wanted to try it, yes. However, he didn't have a single G to his name. He didn't want to mooch off of Snowy either.

His bird friend pecked him on the shoulder. "Got any cash, dude? I kinda ran away from home without money."

The young boy shook his head sadly. "No, I don't have any money either."

A voice called out from the way they have just come. "Well, I have some money."

Gohan perked up at the familiar voice. Without hesitation, he ran back down the trail. Snowy remained standing next to nice cream guy.

Gohan reached the speaker and grabbed his clawed hand. The young boy jumped up and down excitedly.

Loox gave Gohan a toothy grin. "I missed you too, friend."

Author's Notes: You guys are awesome. Especially the people without FF accounts that I can't talk to. What a shame.

WHAT A SHAME.

HINT HINT.