A Steamy Proposal
You had just made it out of Waterfall, the various welts from earlier flaring up at the intense heat. The heat was stifling, making you sneeze loudly before rubbing at your nose. It was hot. Way too hot. Your fur was burning, a thick band of sweat building at the base of your neck. You hardly ever noticed how much your senses were dulled before you bumped into something. Or more like someone. The individual had steadied you and backed up, the person being none other than Sans. He'd looked as if he'd just gotten up out of bed, the bags under his eye sockets darker than ever. Only your bags could rival his, as you hadn't truly slept in a while. The strong smell of ketchup and metal was stronger, making sure that his particular scent would stay in your roster forever.
"heya kiddo. you look like you've been busy." You tried to reply, but nothing came out. You tried again, this time, a small whimper barely making it through. Your throat had begun to throb, and you started to panic. When did this happen?
"you alright there, bud?" You threw Sans the most sarcastic look, narrowing your amber eyes before you took out an extra piece of paper and your trusty quill. You'd began to write down something hastily, the inked quill flying over the paper. Checking it carefully, you flipped the paper around, showing it to the small skeleton.
"you... can't talk, huh?" You nodded, turning the paper back towards yourself.
"so you have to talk to me with just paper?" You nodded again, moving you left paw to your throat for exaggeration.
"so why can't you talk? cat got your tongue?" You angrily shrugged, not even knowing the answer to that yourself. If you could reprimand Sans for his pun, you would have. But you couldn't due to your strange hinderance. You slowly looked back at him, only to see that Sans was closely studying your body. Shit. Your legs were out in the open, full of cuts and bruises, not to mention the reddened welts.
"you look real dinged up, kit. i take it that waterfall wasn't your cup of sea?" You groaned on the inside, moving a paw to hold your face, all the while, involuntarily giggling. It hurt your throat.
"so... water you planning to do now, kit? i sea that you've made it to hotland. i gotta say, i'm surfprised to see you that you actually made it through in one piece. tide must've underestimated you, as you seem to be fine. anything fintresting happen in there?" You wanted to backhand Sans so hard right now, but you stopped yourself. You nodded, motioning to the cuts and bruises on your body with another obviously sarcastic look, a scowl portraying your open emotions.
"what happened to you?"
'Tems' You'd scribbled hastily, flipping the parchment around to show him.
"seriously? the temmies did this to you?" You nodded, furiously writing the happenings of the last couple of hours on the large piece of paper, writing small as to fit all the words. You flipped around the paper, your frown deepening at his disbelieving smirk.
"oh really? kid, there's no way that the temmies did that to you. they're not cannibals, kid. they were probably worried about their friend." You almost screeched at him, heavily marking the paper in rebuttal.
'They cost me a LIFE Sans. No matter how you look at THAT, that's still awry and terrible.' You flipped around the paper, showing Sans just how serious you were about those tems. You were never going in there again. As soon as he had begun to read it, a very worried expression came into view, the lights in his sockets dimming but not disappearing. You were crossing your bare arms, a 'what now?' expression playing on your own face.
"oh. so you're on your…?"
'Seventh life now.' Losing another life in such a short span had taken a heavy toll on you, your magic becoming weaker and less effective for the time being. It would gain normal power later. Sans held the paper out to you, your paws taking the paper back.
"hey. i mean, i did warn you."
'You didn't warn me of the barbarian temmies, nor did you warn me of how dark it gets in there at night.' You showed Sans the paper. He gave a deep chuckle and messed up your fluffy hair with his heated phalanges. Gosh darnit. You remembered what time it was and scribbled onto the paper again.
'Speaking of which, why are you up so late? It's somewhere during the night in Waterfall. You can't really tell in Hotland...' Sans had read off the question carefully, stopping to think of an acceptable answer.
"couldn't sleep so i decided to take a walk."
'Who takes walks late at night in a fiery hellhole? Not that I'm judging you or anything but aren't the others worried?' You could feel your throat slowly loosening, the pressure gone for now.
"nope." Welp. Okay.
"hey kid, i gotta question to ask you something serious. are you okay with that?" You slowly nodded, turning your body to face him, your ears pricked and at the ready. He looked torn between something, small beads of sweat that you didn't see before slowly rolling down his pearly white skull. His normal grin was still there, but more forced than usual.
"now i know that i'm probably overlooking this and all, but it's been stuck in my skull for the longest time... what i'm trying to ask is… um… where's your soul? i can't see it, no matter how hard i try and it's really starting to bug me." His eyes were staring holes into your chest, his hands beginning to fumble with the corners of the ignored paper that he was harshly gripping. You remembered back to that icy night in Snowdin when you, Sans, and Frisk were walking back to his home from Grillbys. You'd felt eyes burning into your chest, but you'd looked at the two. He didn't seem to be looking at the time… But he was. You had begun to sweat, not from the heat, no. The tension quickly began to amplify, so thick you couldn't slice it with a sharp knife. You attempted to grab the piece of paper from him, the paper slowly sliding out, but to no avail. It wasn't going anywhere. You had hastily cleared your throat and spoke with words that were so quiet and hoarse that you had to strain yourself harshly to speak normally.
"I have a soul. Two to be precise, but nobody except myself can see them. It's in its normal place. Right here." You put your right paw over the center of your chest, trembling and trying not to lose your cool. It was time for the truth. You'd gone far enough.
"two? h-how?"
"A birth mutation. I just happened to be born with two. One monster, one human." The lights of his eyes had immediately dimmed to nothing when you mentioned the human soul. This was it. This was where everything would change.
"...stats."
"Wha-"
"i need to see your stats." His voice had lost it's calm and laid back attitude, sharpening in a seriousness that you'd never heard before. You placed your paw over your heart, closing your eyes, your black claws sinking into your sweater. You could hear your rapid heartbeat beating hard and fast. You felt your SOULS, the two of them pulsing gently. You gave a gentle tug, a sharp pressure in your chest appearing before slowly vanishing.
In front of you floated two SOULs, one, a stormy gray monster soul, the contents displaying a grim secret. The human soul had changed, the flames from inside had whittled down to become weaker, a faint green glow shining from the inside, contained by the thick glassy covering. You pressed against both SOULS, a menu of stats hovering above. Sans had immediately snapped his eyes onto the menu scanning if for something abnormal. He had found it, a crazy grin illuminating his features.
NAME: HAZEL (LION)
Hp: 700
LV: 17
EXP: 24,573
TO THE NEXT LV: 1,098
ATK: 80 DEF: 80
SPK: 100 SPD: 120
EVADE: 50 ACC: 90
"TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK."
You took a heavy step back, Sans's single blue iris illuminating quickly. The atmosphere had suddenly gone cold, a sinister air to this entire ordeal. He was getting ready to attack and you knew why.
"Wait! Now I know what you're going to say and do, but I'm asking you to hear me out. I DO have a reason for having so much LV. If you attack me now, it'll be in vain, seeing as how I'll just respawn again…"
"why should i? a level of violence that high only comes with people who've done unspeakable things…" His voice had turned much colder, you taking a step back towards the cliff.
"Okay, so I've done some things to get me here, but if you'd stop going crazy on me, then we could talk this out. I have three good explanations for my LV and if you're not going to listen, then I'll just abscond and leave this to another day. Hunt me down all you want but you'll never find me." Sans was strangely quiet, the hiss of the machine echoing loudly. He slowly eyed you with his single cyan eye, a challenging gaze to it.
"...fine. i'm listening…"
"Well here goes nothing.. Reason number one: as you know, I have a boss monster SOUL. It's not supposed to be this dark, though. My level of violence passed down onto me from my parents who've had to endure a lot of hardships in their prime. Now is the time to ask questions, as I have two more reasons for you not to violently murder me!"
"..so you're a boss monster huh? that monster soul you have is much darker than the normal boss monster SOUL, and only boss monsters have a difference in shades… the darker the shade, the darker the monster... so explain to me how this is possible when the only boss monsters down here are the king and the queen..." You fucking knew that he'd ask this question. Welp. They say that the truth will set you free. Might as well start flapping your gums.
"Okay… I'll ask you a question that has to do with my second reason.. Would you believe me if I said that I'm from the surface?"
"no."
"Okay then… This is going to make things a lot harder. If you remember the great war hundreds of years ago, you would know that humans sealed monsters underneath the mountain, correct?"
"what does that have to do with your SOUL?" He snapped.
"Well, just because they sealed monsters underneath the mountain, doesn't mean that they sealed ALL of them... " At this, his gaze had hardened, a curious but intense glare holding on your amber eyes.
"...go on…"
"When the human mages 'trapped' the monsters under the mountain, they didn't trap all of them. The majority, sure. But they failed to remember that there were many monsters that were spread out across the world. This is where my SOUL comes into accordance."
"..."
"Those rogue monsters who didn't show themselves had lived on the surface fighting to survive amongst a world where the humans dominated. A war went and passed. The monsters dwindled to a small amount. My parents happened to be the only pair left. They'd lived for hundreds of years, killing multiple humans just to go on living. And when I mean hundreds, I mean hundreds."
"..."
"What I'm trying to say is that my parents had done most of the killing and the mass build up of LV had passed down onto me when I was born. That doesn't mean that I'm innocent, as I've killed a couple of humans in my youth. I mean, what would you do if your life was threatened by billions of humans who wanted nothing more than to skin you and make a nice carpet out of your fur? But since you don't have fur, they could use your bones for medicine. The humans that surrounded us were merciless, Sans. If you had been born on the surface, you'd know…" You had involuntarily eased up, a wistful gaze settling over your eyes.
"...so you killed to live..?"
"On the surface, it's kill or be killed. Quite literally for monsters such as myself. It was like clockwork, day in day out. Humans were constantly seeking us out with their firearms, a grim reminder that we weren't safe in our own home. Poisoned bait, fox traps, bear traps, guns, etcetera. You name it, the humans used it against us. They tried to KILL us, Sans. For what, I have no idea."
"..."
"And I know that that's no excuse… And that you think that I'm going to attack Frisk now. But I won't… I only did what I did because I loved my parents and they loved me. We protected each other to survive. To pass on the story of the monsters who came so far only to fail… Tell me Sans… What would you do if you were in my place?"
"what do you mean by that?" He still hadn't eased up his stance, a heavy bout of gravity making you take a knee. You wearily gazed up at him, a sad smile grazing over your muzzle.
"What would you do if you and Papyrus were the last rogue monsters on the surface? If you were surrounded by billions of monsters who wanted nothing more than to kill you, and keep in mind that they could at any time, magic or not. What would you do if death awaited you around every corner, every minute of the day? What would you do if malevolent humans came into your home, intent on finding you.. or Papyrus..? Would you remain calm? Or would you protect Papyrus from these humans? Keep in mind that humans will go out of their way to kill. For no good reason too…"
"..."
"If you were in my shoes, do you think that i'd take pride in knowing that I have the blood of many humans on my paws? Because I certainly don't. My parents weren't merciless either. Hell, we were thinking of just retreating into the mountain…. But we didn't. We WANTED to remain on the surface. It was better than being caged under a giant forsaken mountain! But now that I'm not up there anymore, I don't have to constantly be on my toes. I don't have to look over my shoulder wondering if a human is pointing a gun to my head from the shadows. And it's nice… Not having to be hostile all the time. So kill me if you want, but that's not going to do anything. Trust me. I know..."
Sans had carefully eyed your stormy gray SOUL, his eyes slightly softening as they came to rest on your human SOUL. That faint glimmer of emerald green could only indicate one trait: kindness. But it was so perfectly hidden by the dancing golden flames that he couldn't see it anymore.
"...fine. i'm choosing to believe you for now. give me one reason as to why i should kill you and i will…"
"Wow. Way to bring the tension, Sans. Oh yeah! Reason number three! You're gonna love this one. Remember that human you were looking for the that day we met? When you'd asked me if I saw anything strange around Snowdin?" You saw him narrow his eye sockets at you, his cyan irises searching for… something.
"Well, that 'human' was me. Well, not necessarily a human, but a fairly convincing one, seeing as how you guys bought into it! Speaking of which, is that search party still searching?"
"...why should i believe you?"
"Well, I was the one who skipped some puzzles, left the huge water puddles all over the ground, stepped in the golden flowers, ran through the tight corridors, melted the brass hinges of Toriel's door off, messed up the carpet of the stairs, opened not one but TWO doors and fled through the Snowdin gate. And if that's not convincing enough, I can describe every step of my journey here. Even that small conversation that you guys had held in that dead end room. I was listening by the way. You guys just didn't notice me. I was literally hanging from the walls, and let me tell you-"
"okay. stop. stop... just.." Sans had closed his eye sockets firmly, his thick phalanges pressed thoughtfully against his mandible. He'd stopped sweating, the light of the magma shining on his skull.
"so you fell from the surface?"
"Well, not entirely fell. I was deliberately pushed by something into the hole. But yes, I deliberately came to the mountain. Why do you ask?"
"why would you come to a mountain where children go missing, not to mention that you just said that you would never retreat into the underground?"
"It was my parent's final wish before they died on the surface. To retreat to the mountain, so that I wouldn't have to deal with the humans alone. It'd be too much to handle, seeing as home humans are constantly invading my home 24/7."
"wait a second. with all those humans on the surface, there had to be some good ones... you or your parents could've brought seven SOULs to the king... well, why not? why keep us in the dark for so long?" Ah. You were afraid of this question. You knew that the monsters would get mad at your parent's selfish act. Sigh. Here goes.
"My parents didn't free the monsters because of the distortion in the time span. Humans still knew of monsters and were murdering the masses even as the majority were trapped underground. Since nobody wanted to come down here, they preyed on us instead. Freeing you guys would've just brought more bloodshed than necessary. They wanted to wait until the humans were less viscous,but that day never came. Even if it did, we couldn't even get the necessary materials, none of the humans having the desired traits of DETERMINATION, KINDNESS, and PATIENCE. They were rare SOULs to find, and the majority of ours were BRAVERY, PERSEVERANCE, and a few humans with JUSTICE. We wanted to help really, but they knew the consequences. And besides. We can't just go walking into a human civilization and say 'hey, we came here to take your SOULs, prepare to die' could we? The humans would've annihilated us with their advanced nuclear technology. That was a no go."
Your amber eyes had clouded over, remembering that the humans had finally had their day eight years ago. When the incident occurred all those years ago… You looked towards Sans. He was angry, wasn't he? He was going to hit you, wasn't he? He was gonna declare that the long imprisonment of the monsters was all your fault. That you could've done SOMETHING. ANYTHING...The truth hurt. It cut deep scars in your SOULs. You knew what was gonna happen next.
You crouched down, picking up the abandoned piece of paper and quill that was lying on the ground. Sans looked torn between something, as if he was trying to piece together something but he just couldn't. You threw one last reprimanding look at him before leaving. You hastily padded past him, inhaling the stifling scent of Hotland. A set of hardened phalanges wrapping around your shoulder had held you in place.
"wait."
"That's what I'm doing now. What?"
"just-"
"That's the truth, Sans. There is no supposed 'human' running amok in the Underground. That was just me. I'm from the surface and now I'm down here. I'm sorry if I caused you guys to panic or get your hopes up. But that's the hard truth. If you don't like it, then kill me." You murmured quietly.
"but why though? you have the duo of needed souls to cross the barrier... why would you come down here, knowing the situation as it is?"
"I told you. My parents didn't want me to fall to the humans after they'd perished so they wished for me to rejoin with the monsters. Simple as that. And I didn't know the situation of the monsters. If I would've know the monster's situation, then I would have come clean instead of scrambling around the Underground thinking that the monsters following me were monster-eating cannibals."
"...don't you want to go back? surely it's much better up there..?"
"No. Not really in my eyes. Despite the situation down here, it's a lot more peaceful down here, despite the bad parts. To me, this place is like a safe haven, but to the locals, it's like a maze with no way out. I get why you'd ask me that question, and I know that your outlook on the underground isn't so great. But the surface isn't all that happy and great as monsters make it to be. You've heard what I told you: humans were constantly attacking and killing us. It's like retiring after a long bout of war. And if somehow, the barrier is broken, you'll see what I mean when you get up there." You gazed away from the shocked skeleton, your dark amber eyes sadly roaming over the bubbling magma.
"And it's not like I could be of help. My soul IS useless. It's a positive negative soul. I can't absorb anybody's souls nor can anybody absorb mine. That's my life for ya. Nothing but a…" You wanted to finish that sentence with 'mistake'. Or perhaps 'joke' would better fit the situation.
"... a joke… I can't do anything to help you. I'm sorry..." You were no help to the monsters, your parents, no one. You couldn't do a damn thing but cower and hide behind your magic and your extended lives, the only things which got you this far. To the monsters, you were just a tease, as you could travel between both dimensions easily.
"You should get home... The morning will be here soon… I should get going too.. I have a lot of work to do today." You started off again, interrupted by Sans calling you back.
"kid.."
"Yeah?" You were so ready to walk away, to be done with the truth and to be free from your burdens, but after this, you'd just be alone with more work to do.
"you said it was just you, right. you're... by yourself..?"
"Huzzah. You finally figured it out. Yeah.. I don't exactly have relatives in the Underground. They all died on the surface… So yeah, I'm by myself."
"so just where exactly are you heading to?"
"I don't really know Sans. I just want to map out the Underground before I do anything else."
"ya' know, if you don't have a place to stay, which i now know that you don't, you could always come and stay with me and papyrus. everybody misses you, and Tori's worried sick about you. they've been keeping an eye out for you ever since you disappeared during that snow fight..."
"I really doubt that. And besides. I prefer to be by myself. Just tell them all that you saw me around Hotland and that I'm doing just fine and dandy. There's literally nothing of importance going on out here..."
"...but can you consider it? where are you going to go after your map is completed?"
"I don't know, nor do I care. I don't want anybody's pity as I learned that empathy towards helplessness will get you nowhere. I'll just stick it out afterwards and see where it leads me. After all, I've gotten this far. Who's to say that I can't stick it out until the end?"
"that's a really bad idea, kid."
"I know, but what other choice do I have? It's not like they gave me specific instructions when they burned to death! They just told me to go down to the mountain! To rejoin my kin or whatever the heck that means! And it means absolutely nothing. I'm here and I regret nothing. I'll just go with the flow." You were getting impatient. The tension was rising higher and higher. You liked to be independent and hated the looks of pity that your parents gave you when you were in your helpless act of learning magic. It left a mental scar on your cautiousness. You'd be fine on your own...
"and after that?"
"I don't know! Build a house or something! It doesn't even matter right now."
"..where have you been sleeping?" His question was suddenly abrupt, branching off of the main questions.
"Haven't slept at all. I've been on my feet ever since I left your house, not counting that igloo because that was just a nap."
"igloo? i had a feeling that you were behind that.."
"It's hidden somewhere in the woods. You found it?"
"yeah, but you're killing me here, kid."
"Hey! I never asked you to listen to my present woes! I'm doing perfectly fine on my own! Despite the cuts and bruises, I'm still alive and kicking!"
"yeah, but you've already lost two lives. what about the others?" You went very quiet at that… You weren't exactly sure what was lying ahead. You made it through the Ruins, Snowdin, and now Waterfall... You could handle yourself. Even if that meant losing a life.
"all i'm tryin' to say is... take care of yourself, kid. you may think you're all alone in this world and that you'll be fine on your own, but you've got friends to fall back on... dying is nothing to brag about… if you ever need anything, you know where to find us."
"I know but-" You didn't get to finish. Sans had wrapped you in a tight hug, the exterior of his jacket warm and the pungent smell of ketchup stronger than before. You gradually gave into the hug, absentmindedly falling limp in his grasp.
"what the-"
"Woops! Sorry about that. I don't often give people hugs, so it happens." He'd gone silent, and after a few more uncomfortable seconds, he'd let go. You just shrugged it off and hitched your paws in your sweater pocket, a nonchalant expression covering up your true emotions and acting as a facade.
"welp. see ya around, kit." And with that, he was gone. You weren't sure where he went or just how fast this skeleton could move… You were now all by yourself, the hissing background of Hotland fading back into your senses. The impact of his words had cut into you. Hard. You didn't like using the word friend. It was a misused word, one often betraying the other. You didn't mind if he told the others what you'd told him. You would certainly regret it once they would start smothering you with pity. It was just… you didn't want to count on anybody for your survival. You had gone through your entire life knowing that you were supposed to have your own back. Trust nobody but yourself… But he was just so thorough in assuring you of his assistance that it stung like lemon juice in fresh cuts. You kept pushing everybody away when really, they just wanted to help you. That they were genuinely concerned for you was a huge turnabout… You didn't want anybody coming over your bridge… They didn't need to know what happened during those solitary eight years… They would NEVER know.. You turned your back on the exit of Waterfall, a dull heat washing over your fur. You felt a little better, the half-truth of your background being put into the open... It lifted some of the weight that had weighed you down, off of your shoulders.
You realized that he was being dead serious during your conversation. Not once in that conversation did he use a pun, the introduction being excluded. And yet, even after he'd seen your level of violence… how much of a monster that you could really be… he didn't kill you. You couldn't smile, not at the moment at least. What were you gonna do when you were finished with your map? You could build a house, but... where? Not to mention that buying the land, and the cost of supplies would be expensive. You cautiously checked your current currency. You had somewhere around eight hundred gold stashed in the right pocket of your shorts. You didn't know how much a plot of land would cost and more importantly, how would you pay for other things down here? The only thing that you'd bought had been some paper and some quills.
You hastily plunged your paw into your sweater, taking out your long map and unfurling it. Taking out some extra pieces of paper, you carefully melted the pieces together. Your map was as long as you were tall, about five feet with some slack. The extra pieces had now tacked on another foot, the slack elegantly draped across the dusty ground. You had written down the details of your surroundings on the extended pages and rolled it back up. Sticking it bag in your huge sweater pocket, you hooked your thumbs in the pockets of your shorts and gazed out at the bed of magma. The darkness of Waterfall was starting to clear up, daytime on the rise. You turned on your heel, setting forward towards the heated terrain on the further side.
What were you gonna do?