Chapter 12: Scarves And Puzzles
It was a day after meeting Sans that the younger ones wanted to go play in the snow that their mother had said was just outside the other end of the Ruins. Toriel, who had just finished making them winter clothes, including jackets, had agreed, but had asked Carmen, David, and Thomas to keep an eye on their younger siblings. "While Sans is out there, the other monsters are too," she said, still a little worried about their safety.
"We'll be careful, Mom," Carmen promised.
"And maybe Sans is out there too," David said hopefully. "We can ask him if there are any other monsters nearby."
"Maybe we could make friends with them too," Julie said thoughtfully. "If they see us with Sans...,"
"And he's okay with us...," Thomas continued, catching his little sister's train of thought.
"Then maybe they'll want to be friends with us," Frisk finished.
"Do any of the other monsters have kids, Mom?" Nathan asked.
"Some do," the goat woman said with a nod.
"It's worth a try," Sarah said encouragingly.
Toriel smiled at her children. "Alright," she said. "You may go out to play in the snow. If you should run into trouble, either find Sans or use this key." She handed Carmen a brass key. "It'll unlock the door from the outside."
The eleven-year-old girl nodded. "Thanks, Mom," she said. "And don't worry. We'll be okay."
They put on their new winter sweaters and coats, finding them very warm. "Oh, before I forget." Toriel went to her knitting basket and pulled out seven scarves that she had made. "You'll need these scarves."
"I call the red one!" Frisk said happily.
Giggling and thanking their mother, the other children chose their scarves, each one choosing the color that represented their main trait, and Carmen slipped the brass key around a length of yarn and put it around her neck, slipping it inside her coat. "There," she said.
Toriel nodded in approval and let the children go outside into the winter wonderland. "Be careful out there," she said.
"We will," the children said in unison before going outside, giggling as they began playing in the snow.
Sans, who had been napping in a tree nearby, woke up when he heard the happy giggling and looked to find the seven children outside the Ruins and playing in the snow. Smiling, he sat up straighter, watching them from his perch.
"Let's make a snowman!" Thomas suggested.
"Yeah!" David agreed.
"What's a snowman?" Julie asked.
Carmen smiled. "Let's work together to make it," she said.
It wasn't long before they had a large snowman built with sticks for the arms and stones for the eyes, nose, and mouth. "Looks good," Nathan said.
Sarah was looking around. "It's so pretty," she said, seeing that the snow made everything look magical.
"Yeah, it is," Frisk agreed.
"NYEH, HEH, HEH, HEH! I think so too!"
That laugh and voice startled the kids and they looked to see a tall skeleton come into view. He wore white armor with blue shorts, red boots, red gloves, and a red cape-like scarf. The kids began backing up after a moment, not sure about this skeleton.
"Head back," David said in a low voice, but his siblings heard him and they began scrambling to get back to the Ruins. Sans watched, about to step in and intervene when he saw Julie trip and land face first in the snow.
"Ow!" She exclaimed as she got back up, holding up her hand to see a small shard of ice had pierced her glove. She removed it and took off her glove to see her hand was cut right under her thumb and it was starting to bleed.
The tall skeleton, having come closer, now stopped and kneeled down beside her. "Oh, you're hurt," he said, his tone concerned.
She looked up at him, trying to hold back tears at the cut began to sting a bit. The other children stopped to see what the newcomer was doing and they watched him as he took off his right glove and took Julie's injured hand in his own. A green glow came from his hand and seeped into Julie's hand. To the little girl's astonishment, the cut healed right up as if it had never been there. She looked at her hand before looking up at him, surprised by his gentleness. "All better?" He asked with a smile that made her smile too and nod.
Seeing this, Sans teleported beside them, making Julie jump a little, but then she gasped happily. "Sans!" She said, jumping up and hugging him.
"Hey, Julie," he said, hugging her back before looking back at the others kids. "It's okay, kids. This is Papyrus, my little brother. He won't hurt you."
Though they had witnessed the tall skeleton help their littlest sister, they others approached with caution. "Hi, Sans," Sarah said.
"Sans, how do you know these children?" Papyrus asked. "And are they...humans?"
"Yeah, bro, they are," Sans said. "And they're Queen Toriel's children."
The tall skeleton perked up upon hearing that and he smiled at the children. "Hello," he said warmly. "And welcome. What are your names?"
His pleasant and kind voice put them at ease and Frisk stepped forward. "I'm Frisk," he said. "And these are my brothers and sisters. David, Nathan, Thomas, Julie, and Carmen."
Each one stepped forward when their name was spoken. "You're tall," Thomas said in surprise.
It was true. Papyrus even towered over Carmen to the point that her head only came up to the middle of his chest. Sans chuckled.
"Yeah, my tall little brother," he said. "He got a growth spurt and that was all she wrote."
The kids giggled at that while Papyrus beamed. "Would you kids like to help me with my puzzles?" He asked.
"You create puzzles?" David asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes, I do," the tall skeleton said, his chest puffed out in pride. "Some of the best, if I do say so myself."
"They are," Sans said in agreement, smiling as the kids looked eager to help out.
"We'd love to help out, Papyrus," Carmen said. "What kind of puzzles do you have?"
When they arrived at the place where the tall skeleton had most of his puzzles and the items he used for them, they were amazed at how elaborate some of the puzzles were. One puzzle was like a crossword and they all worked together to come up with clues that weren't hard, but not easy either. It wasn't long before the kids were laughing and giggling while working on the puzzles, working together to either change some puzzles around or create new puzzles.
Papyrus himself was so happy to have new friends that were into puzzles just like him that he forgot a small detail on the one he was working on and stepped on it, getting shocked. "AIIYYEEE!" He cried out in surprise, falling backwards into the snow, his googly-eyed expression looking so comical that the kids were having a hard time holding in their laughter.
"Papyrus, are you okay?" Julie asked, going over to him and grabbing his arm to try and help him up.
"Yes, I'm alright," he said, sitting up and shaking his head rapidly. "I forgot I had the shock part of that puzzle on."
"Looks like it shocked you, bro," Sans said, unable to resist a pun.
"Ugh, pleas, Sans. No puns," the tall skeleton asked with a groan.
Julie gently tugged on his arm before going to wrap her arm around his waist area, since he was sitting on the ground, and her hand rested on his spine, accidentally tickling it. Papyrus let out a squeal of surprise and jumped, giggling.
The little girl jumped in surprise, but the giggle caught the attentions of her siblings and Frisk knew exactly what had happened. "Tickle the skeleton!" He cheered.
"Tickle the skeleton!" His brothers cheered with him as they ran up to Papyrus, whose eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he turned to escape, but Carmen and her sisters were on him in a flash, glomping him to fall back into the snow, which cushioned their falls.
"Get him!" Carmen said with a giggle.
As twenty fingers tickled his spine, another ten took off his boots and tickled his feet, and another five tickled his neck, Papyrus burst into uncontrollable laughter, squirming to get away, but the seven kids had him pinned good.
"NYEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!" He pleaded, squealing when the fingers tickling his feet went up to his toes.
Sans watched in amusement as the kids were tickling his brother to pieces. "Hey, Carmen. Try raspberries on his spine," he said to the older girl. "Pap will really lose his head if you do that."
Giggling, the eleven-year-old did what he suggested and the squeal that escaped the tall skeleton echoed through the forest before he suddenly moved and turned the tables on the kids, catching a few of the kids in his arms and tickling their stomachs. They laughed and squirmed happily, but he had them good.
Sarah giggled before seeing something out of the corner of her eye and looking fast to see someone in a black cloak move behind a tree. Quickly, she got up and went to Sans. "Sans, someone just went behind that tree," she said, pointing the tree out to him.
The pun-loving skeleton activated his magic just in time to sense a disappearing presence. "Hmm, they've disappeared," he said to the girl. "But...it seems peaceful. I wonder if it was Gaster."
He turned to her. "He hasn't reappeared again in the Ruins, has he?"
The nine-year-old shook her head. "Not that I know of," she said.
Papyrus came up to them with Julie on his back as he gave her a piggy-back ride while Frisk and David were wrapped around the tall skeleton's legs, giggling as he walked around with no trouble, smiling down at them. Nathan and Thomas were trying to hit each other with snowballs and Carmen was giggling as she watched them. The tall skeleton smiled. "I'm glad Queen Toriel adopted you children," he said.
"Why is that?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Because now my brother and I have you all as friends," Papyrus said, smiling again. "I didn't think I'd ever have so many friends and now I do."
The kids all smiled at hearing that, hugging the tall skeleton happily as Sans nodded, smiling too.
I think I just died of a fluff overloard. XD
Well, the kids now have two monster friends. Things definitely are looking up for them. What monster will they meet next? Stay tuned to find out! :) Also, out of all the puzzles Papyrus has in the game, the one I remember the most is the one where he gets shocked because it makes me laugh when he seems so perplexed as to why he got shocked. XD
And please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
