Chapter 7: Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland
I looked around to see if I was alone. Monsters seemed to flock when my soul appeared, but luckily it was just Snow Papyrus, the snowy staircase leading back up to the puzzle, and I. There wasn't really any other chance of privacy I had...
Mentally reaching into myself, I summoned my soul again. I held it in my hands and felt the energy tingle against my fingertips. I still couldn't get over the fact that this glowing heart was the very essence of my being... How was it even scientifically possible? From the pulses of unease going through me at the slightest pressure from my fingertips, it felt fragile. I wondered if Alphys could tell me, once I reached her.
Make me fly again. I ordered. My soul waved back and forth, as if shaking its head. Come on! You're supposed to obey me, right? You're my soul! I fiercely thought. Almost hesitantly, the soul floated back to my chest and hovered a few inches from it, pulsing bright until my shoes glowed with red light. I grinned and stood up, willing myself to rise into the air. Gravity was a joke, I didn't need to do the puzzle! I looked up the cavern above me, past the puzzle and willed myself to float past the gap.
I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A face. I looked towards it and the gaping maw of a giant ice monster greeted me, its eyes flashing red and the ice crumbling as it was revealed, the snow tumbling off it in waves. I blinked, wide eyed, and it had turned back into the puzzle cliff. Unease crawled up my back. Suddenly nervous, I slowly turned around and saw cloaked figures in the dark cavern, completely still and watching me.
I was gripped completely by fear when I looked at their white eyes. The white snow seemed to turn darker. It was turning to night. The figures were pulling me into the cavern through some unknown force, hands crawling out from the gaps in the rock of the cliff.
My feet touched the edge of the cliff and I could see glints of knives within the cavern, dripping with blood. They were going to kill me in there, and I was convinced that I was going to die. I had dropped my stick at some point, and had only my fists to deal with. My heart thundered in my chest and I just wanted to hide. I gritted my teeth, willed myself closer, and reached out to one of the cloaked figures, only for my fear to spike to mind-blurring degrees. My hand went through it. It wasn't real. It wasn't real, but I needed to get away from it.
Letting out a strangled scream, I willed my soul to shoot through the cave- it wasn't supposed to hurt me, right?! It didn't hurt me in the game! My fight-or-flight response went to literal levels as I shot blindly through the cave, the knives glinting bright red around me, nicking through my skin as I narrowly survived getting impaled by them. I was inches above a path of blood, and couldn't stop my panicked velocity as I was lead to a meat wall. I went through it, and cold shocked me back to my senses as I rocketed above snowy ground, the brightness and snow burning my eyes before everything started darkening again...! I collapsed to the ground on my knees and didn't dare look back, gasping for air and feeling blood welling to my cuts. I gripped the snow, trying to get a hold of myself.
I knew those were illusions, but let fear control me anyway. I was... ashamed. The hallucinations were like those I had at night, when I was alone... never during the day. I managed to catch my breath, and the glow faded from my chest and my soul went back inside me. The hesitance of my soul to make me fly... the terrors... the connection didn't escape me. It looked like I could fly whenever I wanted, but I had to deal with night terrors.
"What a inconvenient power." I muttered, standing up and brushing off my burning hands of what snow I could. I most likely lost hit points from that fiasco. I had progressed and learned more about my soul, but was it worth it? Now that it was over with... It was, I think.
There were two paths before me- a path down full of cliffs on either side and a path that led to piles of snow far in the distance. I walked down the path that had cliffs surrounding it, feeling more hidden behind them. I still wanted to hide, and now that the adrenaline was fading away I could feel stabs of pain from where the knives... er, icicles, cut me. They had torn my sweater and pants to shreds that barely held together, and I kinda just led them bleed. They aren't that bad. I thought. But I should've bought some nice cream... I still somehow have my gold bags... When I get to town, I'm gonna buy a lot of stuff. And take a nap.
In the distance I could see that the cliff I was walking on ended and the path curled to the right. A flash of blue caught my eye amidst all the gray and white and I paused when I saw who it was.
"What's up?" Sans asked while I blinked at him. Seeing a skeleton talk and look at you with glowing pupils after a night terror wasn't the best way to calm down but I shoved my feelings aside to respond.
"Nothin' much." I said in the same tone as his, feeling something trickle down my arms and down my fingers. I looked at the source. Oh yeah. I was bleeding. Maybe the cuts on my arms were deeper than I thought. I really am an idiot. My soul tried to warn me but nooooo... I had to find out! I sighed at the thought and walked past Sans, I didn't have much to say to him.
A figure leapt from the cliffs and slammed into the snow in front of me, huffing great breaths of steam. It was a deer-like creature with pine trees for antlers and a mouth like pinchers. I saw the anger blazing in their eyes and stepped back, lifting my hands up.
"Whoah, man, just passing through." I said with an uneasy smile, eying the pictures and fluffy pipe cleaners decorating the... Gyftrot's antlers and head.
"You think I'm stupid, kid?!" The gyftrot shook it head in anger, stomping his hoof for emphasis as dozens of baseball-sized orbs of white magic surrounded him, "You're not putting any more things on me!"
My soul sparked back to life and I focused on the orbs. They seemed to slow as my mind went silent, feeling a sort of odd calmness spread over me as I followed the best pathway to twist and dance through, every movement propelled by adrenaline. I felt some of them skim by my shoulders, which I felt blood rush to but pain was not a priority right now. In a gap of the attack, I briefly felt unease as I glimpsed the red glow surround my feet again, before I ordered my soul to get closer to the Gyftrot. The orbs paused as I rocketed close to the monster, not wanting to fire themselves at their own caster as he retreated back. I reached out and plucked off a photo of Snowdrake from his tree-like horns. Gyftrot bounded back from me and the orbs danced in random directions. I looked around wildly as they surrounded me, not finding an opportunity to weave through them right away. My feet tapped the surface of the snow and I looked up to find a hole. I surged through it, the orbs following behind me like a horde of slow angry bees. The wind whistled against my face, fluttering through my clothes and making me pissed off at how cold I was.
"FLUPPER DUPPERS IT'S FLIPPING COLD!" I yelled, my bags of gold pulled slightly at my belt loops as I suddenly switched direction, divebombing towards the Gyftrot. He looked at me wide eyes and tried to retreat back, but I merely stopped myself quite suddenly. My coin bags slammed against my sides. I was probably going to be bruised, heck, my arms were bright red with blood and dripping on the Gyftrot at this point. I fiddled with the pictures attached to him and Gyftrot actually stayed still for once. Taking them off, I tossed the pictures to the ground and Gyftrot stomped on them. The orbs of magic surrounded us, and I quickly fiddled with the pipe cleaners on Gyftrot's tree horns. I wasn't gentle, I was impatient, and Gyftrot snorted out steam at me.
"Be more gentle, punk!" He growled, but with a wary glance at the orbs I realized he had finally stopped attacking me, "And quit putting paint on me!"
Oh yeah, I was all drippy with that coppery-smelling stuff. I started laughing for no reason at the sight of it dying the monster's bark a reddish color and making his green pine needles red as well when my hand brushed by them. It didn't really matter that the pipe cleaner ends were poking my fingers; at this point, I was so cold my entire body was numb. It took a few minutes of me floating about the Gyftrot to fully take off the pipe cleaners, and eventually we both began to calm down. His orbs dissipated and gravity slowly began to claim me again. I tossed those pesky things aside and stood admiring Gytrot's cleaned, if bloodstained, tree horns. He eyed me with a sort of hopeful happiness twinkling in his eyes.
"You're not gonna kill me... right?" I asked. Oh boy, here comes the dizzyiness. I kept my eyes on the cheered up monster, still cautious.
"No... I feel better now," Gyftrot said, but added with an annoyed tone, "I do hope that red paint was not put on me on purpose."
"Nah. This is blood." I said leisurely.
"Blood? Like a human?" Gyftrot said suspiciously, but shook his head, his branches rattling, "Nevermind, I suppose I'll trust you..." He walked off past me, and I watched him go. He has the body of any other deer. Once he was out of sight, I obeyed my dizziness and sat down, holding my head, not caring if it I was getting blood on my forehead and hair.
"I'm a mess." I muttered, chuckling as I examined my injuries. My sleeves were nonexistent, just tatters. My arms figuratively looked like wolves had chewed on them. Besides previous death cave injuries, I couldn't feel or see anything else. I decided that getting to Snowdin was a priority, and looked in the direction I was heading in. It looked like there was another cave... in the distance? I really didn't feel like going into any more caves today. Closing my eyes, I tried to catch my wandering thoughts of where I should go. Uh, that cave led to a mystery dead end. I didn't have the energy to explore it. I just wanted to sleep. I brought myself back up and walked back from where I came, shivering.
Sans was in the same spot, and looked at me as I looked at him. I gave him a halfhearted wave.
"What's up?" He greeted, again.
"Probably nearly dead." I replied nonchalantly, my thoughts having some kind of rave party in my head. It was difficult to speak properly, and at this point I didn't care, "Have fun?"
"You could hop over to town and buy a cinnabunny." Sans said, shifting his weight to his other foot.
"I'd gonna hop on your head." I muttered, walking away, "Allll the way home. Wee woo woo woo wooh!"
I tried to hop in a brilliant act of defiance, but slipped on a patch of ice upon landing and fell onto my butt. It didn't hurt. Sans barely muffled his laughter.
"Shut up." I grumbled, standing back up and stomping up the hill, "Three little piggies, two little piggies, one little pig went to the supermarket and ran all the way home..." I smiled as I remembered my mom telling me the rhyme I couldn't quite remember. What else would I forget in time? What if I couldn't get out of here? "I wanna go home..." I muttered, feeling like a small child hearing the rhyme for the first time.
My emotions dull, I kept walking on even as I wanted to lie down, blood leaving a trail behind me. I walked past a doghouse, around piles of snow, and the smell of pure wet dog assaulted my nostrils as Greater Dog stood up from a snow pile.
"Woof!" He barked, jumping out of his armor and tackling me to the ground to assault my face with licks. Dog licks were magical, no matter if they were monster or not. Immediately pure and utter giddiness surged through me and I started to laugh and sputter.
"Down! Down!" I exclaimed, laughing and pushing the dog off me. The fluffy white dog didn't mind the blood that got him and ran in circles around me. I chased him around. I quickly tired after about ten seconds though, letting myself fall into the snow and frowning at the sudden dizziness assaulting my senses. Greater Dog approached me, his tail wagging, and bolted away as soon as I sat back up.
"I... uh... Sorry. Can't play. Gotta sleep." I said to him. Greater Dog whined and licked my face again before hopping into his armor and having the giant suit stomp away, the steps heavy enough to shake the ground. I stood up and found that playing with the dog had broken some scabs forms on my arms. I yawned and stumbled onwards, to find a bridge over a gap. I looked down and didn't really feel afraid of the height for some odd reason. Maybe it was because I could fly? I could see a forest beyond the bridge.
I got to the middle of the bridge when I heard an audible gasp. I finally lifted my heavy head to find the Bone Brothers, right on schedule.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted, "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE." I decided to sit on the ground and wait it out, putting my forehead in my hands. If I didn't interact, things would go as they did in the game, right? "BEHOLD! THE DEADLY GAUNTLE- HEY! HUMAN! WAKE UP!" Looks like I was wrong. I debated ignoring him and just laying there. Maybe he would just carry me to Snowdin. But ugh, I didn't want to use him like that. I stood back up and put on my best bravado.
"SHOW ME, PAPAYA!" I mocked loudly, smirking. Whoah, dizziness, screaming with so much blood loss was not a good idea.
"I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Papyrus shouted, momentarily annoyed before he proudly announced, "BEHOLD, HUMAN, THE DEADLY GAUNTLET OF TERROR!"
Floating up from the ground and down from the black ceiling, cannons, giant torches, giant spears, a giant flail mace, and a white dog with a skinny tail hanging by a rope appeared. Despite knowing what would happen, I felt a little scared. What if Papyrus actually did activate it...? Did I tease him too much?
"WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!"
"I'm going to die." I muttered, chuckling to myself, accepting the worst possibility as I leaned over the edge of the bridge and towards the giant torch for warmth, my arms hanging over the edge. Oh, man, the pain was coming back now.
"ARE YOU READY?! BECAUSE I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!" Papyrus yelled.
I closed my eyes, okay with that for some reason. I just wanted to sleep. Sans's voice said something but I was too tired to understand words at this point. I forced my eyes back open and watched the flame flicker below as if hypnotized by it.
"HOLDUP?!" Papyrus's voice echoed, sounding far away. I felt my knees touch the wooden bridge, and my arms, however bloody and throbbing they were, seemed like great pillows at the moment. I couldn't proceed until the flames were put away. I should just close my eyes just for a few seconds, sleep just for a second, and then I'll feel better. But I refused.
"YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I'M A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS!" Papyrus's voice came back into focus as I panted as if I ran a race.
"Uuuuugh." I groaned as my body started giving me pain and a massive migraine. I almost wished I was numb from the cold again, but frostbite was bad.
"MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXCELLENTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!" Papyrus proudly justified his hesitation, and the fire and the other weapons went away. Including the dog, if he was a weapon. "PHEW!"
I raised my head and brought myself back to my feet, frowning at all the white and brightness of the wintery wonderland.
"DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS THE LAST YOU'LL SEE OF ME! THIS IS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH... HEH..." Papyrus boasted.
"Come at me bro." I said, lifting my arms and swaying as I approached him.
"I WILL NOT BE SWAYED BY YOUR OFFER OF A HUG!" Papyrus yelled before quickly walking away.
"My dad says I'm a hugger." I said, giggling madly as I walked past Sans. Papyrus was much too fast, and I dropped my arms to look blankly at Sans. I was seeing double at this point. I wondered how I was staying awake, "It's a lie though. I dislike hugging." I corrected myself.
"I don't know what my brother's going to do now. If I were you, I would make sure to understand blue attacks. And maybe take a nap." Sans said helpfully.
"H'much hp do I 'ave?" I muttered, rubbing my eyes and yawning.
"How much do you think?" Sans asked.
"'ive." I grunted.
"Two. And it's slowly decreasing... maybe from how you're bleeding?" Sans corrected.
"Dang son." I chuckled, a question forming in my head, "One?" I pointed to him, looking confused.
"Yup."
"How?"
"How what?"
"The thing... with the..." nevermind." I muttered, stumbling away from the skeleton. I saw a sign and frowned at it, "Welcome..." I felt unease making my heart thunder in my chest even as relief settled in as I recognized the sign, but I was too dizzy to read it.
I felt something call me with a resonance with my soul, and ignored the stares of the townspeople as I followed it. The snow crunched underneath my feet and I reached out to touch the floating save point. My vision cleared and my arms mended in an instant, my clothes reforming as to what they were. I felt energy surge through me again, and I blinked.
Oh. My soul had been glowing bright in my chest the entire time, through my shirt. I quickly hid it back inside of myself, and retreated from the monster's stares into the Snowdin's inn.
A/N: Oh man this story was in the back of my mind but I never found the time or inspiration to actually write more of it.
Connie Hooper: Cliffhangers are pretty fun. Thanks!
Aurawarrior13: To be honest, I had your words echoing my mind as I wrote this chapter. Hopefully I got enough thought from the MC. Write on~!
: Thanks man.
ChillingShadow: Did this chapter answer your question?
PinkPippa: I'm happy that you find amusement in my silly story! I'm honestly making up 80% of this on the fly lol
Whack-A-Flowey: (x3) Oh my, thanks you for the reviews! High expectations give me reason to actually edit! Thanks! I'll try my best to update. Also, why would you give me Sans feels gosh darnnnn yoouuuu! XD
