"Don't let go of my hand!"
The rain is streaming down, mixing with tears.
"I'm- I'm slipping." Sharp inhale. "I'm gonna pull you u-up, just-"
A clap of thunder.
"N-no, what are you-n-nnngh!"
Stones and wet earth tumble down into darkness.
"Don't let go, please!"
The sound of soaked cloth tearing at the seams. In the brilliance of lightning, her hands are empty of everything except a wet, purple sleeve.
"MOM!"
THUMP!
Frisk is panting, a squirming mess of blanket and limbs on the cold cement floor. Unbidden tears spring from her eyes, and she muffles a sob. The dream- it's just a dream- just a dream.
Eventually returning to her bed, sleep does not come to Frisk again that night. Just fitful tossing and turning.
...
Sans stares at Frisk from across the cafeteria table, a bonebrow raised. She hasn't touched her breakfast - fruit cake and golden flower tea.
"feeling alright there, kiddo? I thought the king's tea was your favourite."
Frisk studies the tea, feeling his gaze on her. "...It is..."
A sigh, then the sound of shifting cloth as Sans walks around to her. Frisk watches him stoop down, white eye lights stern. She quickly looks away, fidgeting with the tea cup.
"kiddo… look at me for a sec." he says.
"I… I can't."
"heh. you know better. c'mon."
Frisk grimaces, facing him. It only takes half a second for Sans to see the guilt in her eyes.
"kid… remember what we talked about the other night?"
Her eyes run to the teacup. "Uh. Yup. Paps, uh… where is Papyrus?"
"you're changing the subject."
"I said I remember."
"so… is there anything you wanna say, or give me"-he winks-"before you get a bad time?"
Wordlessly, Frisk opens her inventory and passes over an unbroken fork.
Sans holds the fork for a moment, "kiddo… i dunno why ya wanna leave. You have friends here, good food, and a good life.
"And if you left… paps would really miss ya. Ya know he talks about ya all the time?"
Sans pockets the fork, eyes staring lazily toward the courtyard door. Papyrus is outside, running to and fro with panels and bundles of cables.
"look at him. he's making a puzzle for ya as we speak."
Sans nods matter-of-factly. "yeah, he'd be worried sick if you left. And that kind of stress for my bro, ya know…"
He looks back toward her, eyes hollow. " ' ."
Frisk shivers, wide-eyed, words on her tongue coming out like a terrified squeak.
Sans watches her before winking, "relax kid, i'm just kiddin'."
He stands, tucking his hands in his pockets. "when you're finished, why doncha come join us outside?"
Frisk looks down at her tea while Sans walks away, her heart frantically beating.
She pokes at breakfast when she hears Undyne. The warden is holding a door open for two human technicians. Frisk notices the plexiglass panels and kits in their hands as they walk behind Undyne to the cell block.
As Undyne opens the cell block gate, her suspicious eye bears down on Frisk, and Frisk sputters on a piece of cake.
Frisk hides a red face behind her cup, attempting to sip some tea.
It's freezing cold.
...
"HUMAN, YOU'RE JUST IN TIME!" Papyrus looks up from his work, laying in the last panel. Sans is beside him, lying in the grass, eyes closed.
Off on one side of the grass field, Papyrus has constructed a platform full of small squares, and bundles of wires leading to an open electric box. Some squares have marks of white paint on them.
Frisk stands across from Papyrus, and he proudly explains that this maze will require the greatest cunning and wit the human has ever displayed.
A few zaps later, Frisk deliberates while retracing her steps to the beginning. This maze is nothing like the one in Snowdin. Papyrus sees the struggle in her eyes and smiles.
"I KNOW JUST THE THING TO MAKE THIS EASIER FOR YOU, HUMAN FRISK."
Papyrus walks through the maze, not noticing the prints he leaves on the panels as he walks past Frisk to the cafeteria. He has a gloved hand raised.
"I WILL BE RIGHT BACK HUMAN, YOU KEEP TRYING. I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT."
Frisk watches Papyrus go, then turns to see Sans. He's asleep.
She swallows hard, eyes trained on the electric box. Out of the two fences surrounding the courtyard, only the outer one was electrified. If her idea worked, maybe she wouldn't need any more forks.
She snaps off a red switch in the electrical box, and a dull beep sounds. A warning system for the guards. Her eyes snap to Sans, still peacefully asleep.
Scrambling, Frisk climbs the first fence with ease. The second, she touches - no shock. Digging her shoes into the wire, she scales the larger fence, scratching against the barbed wire at the top. She manages to swing a foot over.
"HUMAN! OH MY GOD!"
She whips her head around. Papyrus has his hands pressed against his head, two Nice Creams thrown to the sides.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? COME DOWN FROM THE FENCE BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF!"
Frisk panics and loses her footing, falling to the ground on the other side. Her whole weight lands on a twisted ankle. She hears a pop sound, and pain shoots up her leg.
"OH MY GOD, HUMAN?!" Papyrus says, running up to the fence.
Frisk lets out a gasping cry, struggling to her feet.
Papyrus clicks a button on his walkie, "BROTHER! MISS UNDYNE! THE HUMAN IS HURT!"
The radio crackles, and Undyne barks on the other line. "Papyrus! What's your location?"
"WE'RE IN THE COURTYARD. THEY'RE HOPPING TOWARD THE TREES. I MUST STOP THEM BEFORE THEY DO FURTHER HARM TO THEIR INJURIES."
"Frisk is… ESCAPING?" Undyne roars. "Catch that punk, Papyrus!"
Frisk limps from one tree to the next, using as much cover as possible. Her progress is slow, her ankle is burning—putting any weight on it causes tears in her eyes. Through cloudy eyes she sees a gravel road and turns away from it, hoping to lose her pursuit in thicker trees.
Papyrus calls out her name in the forest. The trees aren't dense enough. She's sure orange stands out easily against green and brown.
Frisk hobbles a few more steps.
"HUMAN? IS THAT YOU?" Papyrus sounds alarmingly close.
Frisk holds her breath, looking up. Maybe she'll try climbing the tree. Using her good foot and her hands, she pulls herself up to the lowest branch. And then the next, until she's high up in the branches, limbs bending under her weight.
"UM, UNDYNE HAS ASKED ME TO SAY THAT THE LONGER YOU STAY OUT HERE, THE MORE ANGRY SHE WILL BE."
Frisk pictures Undyne's intense face, and swallows hard.
"PLEASE COME OUT, HUMAN FRISK. I PROMISE THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL KEEP YOU SAFE."
The terrible, heart-wrenching sound of a branch snapping below her weight.
"Oh no."
Her hands grasp for anything to keep herself up, but it's no good. The air rushes past her as she screams, eyes tightly closed.
She falls into soft arms, perfectly catching her. Papyrus is smiling, slightly out of breath.
"DO NOT FEAR HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE CAUGHT YOU." Papyrus says. "AND I SHALL RETURN YOU HOME SAFELY."
Frisk looks up at him, smirking despite herself. "Did you, uh, just say a pun?"
"I DID?"
"Caught."
"...DON'T TELL SANS."
Frisk lets out a tight giggle, then winces.
Papyrus notices, adjusting the little Frisk in his arms. "WE CAN'T HAVE YOU WALKING ON YOUR FOOT, SO I SHALL CONTINUE TO CARRY YOU. AND WHEN WE ARRIVE WE'LL GIVE YOUR FOOT THE MEDICAL ATTENTION IT NEEDS, OKAY?"
Frisk flushes, worry in her face. But Papyrus smiles at her again and simply begins to walk. The rhythm is soothing, her foot's pain eases.
"Okay, Papyrus…" she says, her eyes growing heavy.