~Brayden~
Everyone was throwing snowballs at each other. They'd moved up to a large patch of snow shaped like a mountain and surrounded by trees. They were on separate sides. Brayden threw a snowball at Cody (which he blocked with his frying pan) so now Clover was out for revenge. Faye was trying to get Melody to chill out (snow pun definitely and always intended). Percy had wandered off. He was sitting underneath a snow-covered tree, taking notes.
"LOSERS!" Brayden taunted. He grinned at the eighth human who was wearing gloves now. "Let's be a team!"
The eighth human nodded.
"That isn't fair!" Clover protested. "Y'all have gloves!"
"And you've got four team players!" Brayden retorted. He gazed at Percy under the tree. "HEY! NERD BOY! COME JOIN US!"
"No thanks." Percy replied, focusing on his books.
"Come on, Percy, it'll be fun!" Brayden encouraged.
That was something Brayden found odd about Percy. Percy didn't really like... trying new things. Even Melody sometimes was willing to branch out. But not Percy. He stayed with his books. Brayden didn't really understand that.
"If Percy doesn't want to join in, don't make him, Brayden." Melody told him.
She gave Percy a faint glance.
"Yeah, besides, you've got your gloves," Clover pointed out. "We've got more team members but y'all have those. Our hands are gonna freeze to death."
"Good luck, guys!" Cody told them, standing near his sister. "If you want me to stop throwing snowballs at you, just tell me!"
He grinned. Faye waved at Brayden and the eighth human.
"You're on that team Faye, you're our enemy now!" Brayden replied, making a face. "NO MORE TALKING! LET'S DO THIS!"
He picked up snowballs and started throwing them at the 'enemy'. The eighth human copied him. They threw a few snowballs at Clover, almost knocking her down. They had amazing aim.
"Not bad," Clover told them, wiping snow off her shirt. "Top this!"
She picked up a snowball (quickly, since it was freezing her hands) and chucked it at the eighth human. They dodged it effortlessly.
Brayden, meanwhile, was throwing snowballs at everyone he could. Cody had a frying pan, so he could deflect them. Melody was getting hit a lot. Brayden had to admit, it was pretty funny how she shrieked when she got hit. Faye didn't really do anything when the snowballs hit her; she just sat there and said, 'okay'. Brayden really didn't know what to say about that. Typical Faye.
"YEAH! YOU GUYS CAN'T STOP US!" Brayden yelled, throwing more snowballs.
"Augh! I hate this!" Melody complained, glaring at the snow all over her.
"You just sad 'cause you can't beat us!" Brayden teased, blowing a raspberry.
He and the eighth human shared a high five.
"Not yet, pardner," Clover retorted, folding her arms. "We're not all out."
Her brother held his frying pan in front of his face. Faye was standing there, biting her lip. Clover covered her hands in her yellow bandanna and scooped up some snow. She threw it at Brayden and the eighth human. Naturally, the latter dodged, but the former was splattered in the cold stuff. He ended up falling over and getting covered in more. He looked a snowman again.
"Nice work!" Melody told Clover, giving her a high-five.
Brayden wasn't quite as happy. He brushed all the snow off and stormed over to Clover. She was right. This wasn't finished yet.
"Screw snowballs!" he yelled. He cracked his knuckles. "LET'S WRESTLE! CLOVER! I CHALLENGE YOU TO WRESTLE ME!"
"You want me to wrestle you?" Clover asked, staring at him. She looked incredulous. "You sure about that, pardner?"
"Yeah!" Brayden challenged.
"Fine, then." Clover replied, squeezing liquid snow out of her bandanna. She tied it around her neck and approached Brayden. "Let's go."
The eighth human stood with everyone else, watching them. There was a tense silence.
Brayden approached Clover and tried to tackle her. She ended up pinning him to the ground and sitting on him like a couch.
"I WAS TAKING IT EASY ON YOU!" Brayden snapped.
"Oh, really," Clover commented. She got up, offering a hand. "Get up, pardner."
"It wasn't fair." Brayden grumbled.
He felt humiliated, especially since all his friends were watching. His dad would be really upset with him. He'd probably do that awful thing again and tell him he was weak...
"According to my calculations, yes, it was." Percy commented from his little spot. Brayden glared at him.
"YOU WEREN'T EVEN WATCHING, NERD BOY!" he shouted.
"Alrighty, calm down now," Clover spoke, waving her hands. She offered her hand to Brayden. "C'mon, we'll shake it off. Sign of peace. You did well."
"NO WAY!" Brayden shouted, turning away.
He would never submit like that! He wasn't a coward.
"Um..." Faye spoke up quietly. "How about... we build a snowman?"
She eyed a small, clear patch of snow next to the wall of the cavern. Perfect for snowman-building. Percy was now watching, but he still didn't look like he wanted to come over. He kept reading whatever he was reading.
"A snowman!" Cody gasped. He grinned. "That's a great idea!"
"AWESOME! But the snowman has to look like me!" Brayden said, flexing. "Flexing!"
"Uh, no, it does not." Melody retorted, folding her arms. "You said we're a group - so we all pitch in. And besides, that would look stupid."
"I don't mind." Faye mumbled quietly.
"Are you guys wearing gloves?" Brayden asked, poking his tongue out.
The eighth human took their red gloves off and gave them to Melody.
"Sans was right," Melody said, accepting the gloves. She smiled at the eighth human. "You're a smart kid."
"Of course I'll share them around!" Melody huffed. "Even if I really, really don't want to."
She eyed Brayden. He glared at her. He knew she was going to do her Mom-thing.
The two kids formed a large ball of snow on that clear patch. They somehow managed to do it without Melody telling Brayden off for whatever reason. Well, mostly.
"Yeah, put more snow on that side." Clover observed the snowman. Melody did that. Clover grinned. "Looks good."
"Faye and I will get some sticks and things to put on the snowman," Cody said. He looked at Faye. "Well, if you want to, Faye."
She nodded. The two kids headed off to do such thing. They ended up encountering a monster. Clover and the eighth huma nran off to rescue them. That left just Melody and Brayden fixing the snowman.
"I hope you're not too upset about losing that little fight." Melody commented. "Also, you're using too much snow."
"I'm not upset! It's just some dumb fight!" Brayden retorted. He removed some of the snow.
"Oh, Brayden, you're always upset about fights," Melody sighed. "... and your dad."
"AM NOT!" Brayden shouted. "I'M NOT UPSET!"
He punched the snowman's base. It cracked. The snow crumbled all over the place.
"Brayden!" Melody complained. There was snow all over her tutu. "Now we have to start all over again! And I just cleaned my tutu!"
"WHO CARES?" Brayden asked, standing up.
He wished he was home. And he wished he had the same dad as his sisters and not his stupid dad.
"I do." Melody mumbled.
She brushed the snow off her tutu. She gazed at the ice in the distance. Their friends were fighting a collection of monsters. Brayden was too busy punching the snow to notice.
The other kids came back and helped finished the snowman. Brayden's mood began picking up again.
"WE'LL BUILD THE BIGGEST SNOWMAN EVER!" he cheered.
They did make the snowman quite big. Everyone pitched in (aside from Percy), one way or another. The eighth human drew a face on the snowman's head and a heart on its centre. It had sticks for arms and rocks as eyes and a mouth and nose.
"Oh, it has a SOUL." Faye observed the heart. "That's really pretty."
"I think we all did really good!" Cody commented cheerfully.
The eighth human nodded.
"SNOWMAN FOR THE WIN!" Brayden agreed, punching the air.
Everyone admired it for a bit. Even Percy, who stopped his reading.
Brayden grumbled, "Okay, I'm bored now. Let's go!"
"Here we go again," Melody sighed.
The kids found Sans and Papyrus and an electricity maze. The puzzle was easy, since Papyrus covered it in his footprints and gave away the answer. Melody wanted to say something, but the eighth human shushed her. Brayden didn't care too much. He didn't like puzzles. So he just raced across the whole thing. Sans seemed thankful the kids were playing along. He spoke to a few more of them while Brayden raced ahead.
"ICE-CREAM!" he yelled when he arrived at the next area.
It was two large split areas, connected by a tiny bridge. One area had a large, flat icy area that was turned into a golf-like game. There was a rocky wall surrounding both areas. Paths led off from the second large area. Brayden rushed up to an ice-cream... well, Nice Cream vendor, grinning. The vendor looked sad about something.
"I don't understand why these aren't selling..." the vendor sighed. "This is the perfect weather for-"
"GIMME AN ICE-CREAM!" Brayden yelled at the vendor.
"No need to be so rude," Melody snorted, appearing behind him.
"And who said you could be first?" Clover agreed, barging in.
The eighth human waddled over, holding out their GOLD.
"Ice-cream?" Cody asked. He smirked. "I've always wanted to make my own!"
In the end, everyone was eating Nice Cream, whatever you want to call it. Brayden finished his first, of course, then wanted to try out the golf... which was more frustrating than it initially appeared.
"STUPID GOLF!" Brayden raged. He kicked the snowball. "FIGHT ME!"
"I don't like this." Clover grumbled.
Melody seemed more focused on the ice-skating. She was having a great time, dancing around. The eighth human simply kicked the ball, not looking frustrated at all. They were also having a great time. Everyone else was sort of watching. The eighth human managed to finish the golf thing. They got a red flag with a message attached.
Percy read, "Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience. Using these, you were able to win at 'Ball Game'. These appear to be in colours... our SOUL colours."
"What?" Brayden raced over. "AWESOME! What SOUL am I?!"
Percy had already written down all the SOUL colours and notes.
"Bravery." he answered, adjusting his glasses.
"Yesss!" Brayden cheered, punching the air.
"Well, I can't say that doesn't fit." Melody commented, shaking her head.
Percy frowned.
"It doesn't say what trait the red soul is," he said, staring at the eighth human. "Aside from 'ball game', whatever that means."
Now everyone wanted to find out their SOUL trait, which they did. Then, after speaking to Sans, they found the skele-bros again, nearby a wall of rock. In front of them on a patch of snow was a crossword. Sans and Papyrus got into argument and asked the kids if junior jumble or crosswords was harder.
"BOTH SUCK!" Brayden answered.
"I prefer adult's 'junior jumble'," Percy answered. "Crosswords are too easy."
"Um..." Cody stared at Papyrus. He grinned. "Junior jumble!"
"Junior jumble," Faye agreed.
"Crosswords," Melody answered. "I'm not a puzzle fan and crosswords are easier."
"Junior jumble, I suppose." Clover said, shrugging.
The eighth human pointed at Papyrus.
"Also, I already solved it," Percy spoke up. He handed the sheet of paper to Papyrus.
"WOWIE!" Papyrus observed the puzzle, grinning. "THAT WAS TOO EASY FOR YOU AS WELL...? WELL, WORRY NOT, HUMANS! THE UPCOMING PUZZLES WILL LEAVE YOU ALL IN A DISPUTE! NYEH HEH HEH!" He raced off, cackling.
"thanks for saying 'junior jumble' just to appease my brother." Sans told the kids, winking.
"No problem, LET'S GO!" Brayden yelled in response. He was about to rush off.
"whoa, you really need to slow down, kid," Sans chuckled, eyeing the boy. "trust me, asgore's not gonna come after you. you've got plenty of time."
"He's not gonna come after us?!" Brayden asked. "Well then... WE'LL GO AFTER HIM!"
He wasn't going to let that king stand in the way of going home! No one was going to stop him - or his friends. Everyone was gonna go home, and he was going to make sure of that.
Sans almost looked... amused. "good luck with that, kid."
The kids proceeded. Cody was most elevated about the fact that Papyrus made spaghetti, and wanted to try it, but it was frozen and the eighth human advised against it. Also, it was apparently a trap. Percy figured it out without reading the note Papyrus had left. Brayden was kind of disappointed, since he liked spaghetti.
The next area was a large field of snow with little balls of snow covering it. There was a rocky cliff above a blocked pathway. The pathway the kids needed to proceed. The eighth human walked onto the cliff and pressed something in the snow. The spikes cleared.
"YOU ARE AWESOME!" Brayden told them.
They were awesome. They knew everything. Brayden thought that was amazing.
Suddenly, the kids encountered Lesser Dog. It was a large, white, fluffy Pomeranian wearing armour. It was wielding a sword and shield. Its shield had that emblem on it. Its tongue was sticking out. The eighth human held up their stick and waved it around. The Lesser Dog looked hypnotised by it.
"Wait!" Faye squeaked. "I wanna pet it!" She frowned. "Well, if that's okay with you..."
The eighth human had a grin on their face. Faye pet the dog. Its neck grew.
"What in tarnation?" Clover asked, her eyes widening.
"Can I pet it too?" Cody asked, looking eager.
The eighth human made a face. The dog swung its pomer-granite dogger at the children; it was a FIGHT, after all. One was blue; the other white. Brayden got annoyed about the blue one. But he didn't move because he didn't want the eighth human to hug him again. The white one he could... sort of move? Then Cody, Faye and the eighth human pet the dog. Its neck grew very long.
"MY TURN!" Brayden pet the dog. Its neck grew. He made a kawaii face. "So soft..." He realized he made a kawaii face. "UH I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!"
A few more turns later and the dog was pretty much a giraffe. Even Clover was getting involved now. Melody didn't really feel comfortable and Percy was hiding.
It's possible you may have a problem.
Finally, the dog-petting session was over. The spikes had been cleared, so the kids could continue. They crossed a bridge, then came to an area surrounded by rocks. Two hooded dogs wielding axes approached them.
"YOU WANNA FIGHT?" Brayden yelled at them.
"Don't anger them!" Melody groaned.
The dogs thought the kids smelled weird, so they got into a fight. The eighth human threw the stick for them.
You threw the stick and the dogs ran to get it. You played fetch for a while.
Well, that was until Brayden got bored and stopped the eighth human... then started playing fetch himself. You can infer how that all turned out.
After that nonsense, the kids followed an icy path and found a simple X's and O's puzzle on the snow. Brayden groaned once more.
"I know how to solve these," Percy said. He walked over a blue X, turning it into a red O. "To solve this puzzle, all the X's must be turned into O's. Then you have to push the button."
He was about to say something more, but he was interrupted by Papyrus.
"WHAT!?" Papyrus asked, eyeing them with surprise. "HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP?!"
"It was stuck to the table." Melody told him.
"But, um, I'm sure it would've been delicious!" Cody added, grinning. "Do you like cooking? I love cooking! We should cook together sometime!"
"YES, SMALL GREEN HUMAN, WE SHOULD!" Papyrus agreed, looking happy. He shook it off. "I MEAN! NO! I CANNOT AFFORD TO ASSOCIATE WITH YOU HUMANS! I MUST CAPTURE YOU AND BLOCK YOUR WAY WITH PUZZLES!"
"SCREW PUZZLES!" Brayden yelled. He stormed over to the spikes and shook his fist at the skeleton. "WE SHOULD FIGHT RIGHT NOW!"
No more puzzles. He wanted to use his fists!
"YOU ARE SO EAGER TO FIGHT, LITTLE ORANGE HUMAN!" Papyrus gasped.
"I'M NOT LITTLE!" Brayden protested. He wanted to jump over the spikes and punch the skeleton in the face.
"BUT! WE SHOULDN'T FIGHT YET!" Papyrus replied, waving his red gloves. "ALTHOUGH I APPRECIATE YOUR EAGERNESS, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PASS ME! AND, WELL..." He paused for a moment. "I ASSURE YOU THE NEXT PUZZLES WILL SURELY STUMP YOU! THEY WILL READILY PREPARE YOU FOR THE BATTLE AGAINST ME! WHICH, ACTUALLY, WON'T PREPARE YOU AT ALL..." He frowned. "OH WELL! THEY'LL STOP YOU ANYWAY! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" He ran off.
"COME ON!" Brayden complained, glaring at the snow. Dumb snow. It was too cold. The spikes disappeared. It seemed Percy completed the puzzle.
"We'll fight him pardner, don'tcha worry." Clover told Brayden, flicking his shoulder. He gave her a glance.
She snorted. "I don't like these puzzles either. Borin'."
"Whatever, cowgirl." Brayden said, crossing his arms.
The kids proceeded, coming to another field of snow. On that field was another X's and O's puzzle, then the path. It was blocked by a wall of spikes. Papyrus was standing next to the puzzle, looking annoyed about something. Trees were behind him.
"MY BROTHER STARTED A SOCK COLLECTION RECENTLY," Papyrus told the kids. "HOW SADDENING... SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO... WITHOUT SUCH A COOL GUY TAKING CARE OF HIM? NYEH HEH HEH!"
Brayden loved his sisters and all, but they could be painfully annoying. And he kind of envied them. They were actually his half-sisters, since they had a different dad. Brayden sometimes wished he had their dad, even though he passed away. Brayden's father, according to his whole family, was as good as dead as his sisters' dad.
"HUMANS!" Papyrus yelled. He frowned. "HOW DO I SAY THIS... YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME TO ARRIVE, SO... I DECIDED TO IMPROVE THIS PUZZLE... BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND. NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT..." Brayden tuned out.
"These guys talk too much," he complained, staring at Faye and the eighth human. The latter looked they'd heard Papyrus' dialogue a million times and nodded in agreement. "Can't we just fight already?!"
"... I'LL TRY NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER!" Papyrus cackled, finishing whatever he was saying.
"Okay," Percy said, eyeing the puzzle.
Brayden thought Papyrus said something about them solving an X's and O's puzzle...? Percy stared at the puzzle, which sort of looked like Papyrus' face. "
To solve this puzzle, we need to-" The eighth human flicked a switch on the trunk of a tree. The puzzle was solved.
"Oh." Percy said, sounding dead inside. "Nevermind."
"AWESOME!" Brayden high-fived the eighth human. "NOW WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT STUPID PUZZLE!"
"How'd you know that was there?" Clover asked them. She sounded both suspicious and astounded. They shrugged.
More skimming. Sans and Papyrus stopped the kids with a tile puzzle, which ended up malfunctioning. Well, before Percy pointed that fact out. The kids continued, stumbling across a bunch of broken snowdogs. Faye and Cody got upset about them.
After that was another X's and O's puzzle. Percy, being the puzzle-whizz, had it already figured out. He wanted to do it alone, so everyone else sort of messed around. They built another snowman in a snowy cave underneath the puzzle, next to snow... skeletons of Sans and Papyrus.
"YEAH!" Brayden cheered when it was done. He stared at the others. "We'll call it Brayden Junior!"
"No, we will not," Melody protested. She folded her arms. "Something else."
"Snowy?" Cody suggested.
"I like Sir William III..." Faye admitted.
Clover groaned. "Let's just keep goin', y'all."
After that puzzle was done, the kids wandered through a whole area full of trees. Snow fell on the eighth human's head; they looked like they were wearing a hat. After that was an area heading downwards; it led into a rocky area with some caves and creepy people. They met Sans and encountered Gyftrot, a cranky monster who was tormented by teens and decorated like a Christmas tree.
The kids helped undecorate them and Clover promised Gyftrot she'd bring them justice. Brayden said he'd beat up those teens, which was basically the same thing. Cody gave them 35G because he felt bad for them. The kids also found a crystallic and cool-looking tunnel with a door that refused to open. There were also some squeaky mushrooms around it.
The kids left that spooky cave place and followed the main path. They stumbled across a bunch of snow poffs on a flat, snowy surface. The kids also encountered the Greater Dog. The eighth human held out their stick again. The dog got excited and chased after it. Then everyone wanted to pat the dog. It ended up falling asleep on them.
"GET IT OFF ME!" Brayden complained, covered in a mountain of dog fur.
"I think it's really cute." Faye said, petting the dog. "I love dogs."
"Well, we've already got one with us." Clover joked, pointing at Brayden. He glared at her.
The kids spared the dog and continued. They came to a long, wooden bridge. It led to Snowdin Town. Sans and Papyrus were standing on the other side. The kids walked across the bridge and stared at the skele-bros.
"HUMANS!" Papyrus greeted. "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!"
A bunch of weapons appeared around the kids, like blades, jets of fire, cannons and a little, white, fluffy dog.
"They can be dangerous after all." Melody mumbled. Clover was making a face.
Brayden was pretty surprised, since nothing so far had been actually dangerous. But at the same time, happy. It was good to face a real challenge.
"WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!" Papyrus exclaimed. "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!"
"Oh no." Percy commented with no emotion whatsoever. "We'll probably die."
Cody whimpered. Faye looked freaked out. Brayden grinned, narrowing his eyes.
"ARE YOU READY?" Papyrus asked. He smirked. "BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!"
Everyone braced themselves. Brayden gave Faye a thumbs up and a grin, hoping it would make her feel less freaked out. She blushed.
... but nothing happened.
"well? what's the holdup?" Sans asked, raising his bone-brow.
"HOLDUP!?" Papyrus asked incredulously. "WHAT HOLDUP!?" He seemed hesitant. "I'M... I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!"
But still nothing happened.
"Are you gonna do it or what?!" Brayden asked, staring at the skeleton.
"kid's got a point," Sans agreed. "that, uh, doesn't look very activated."
"WELL!" Papyrus protested. "THIS CHALLENGE! IT SEEMS... MAYBE... TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMANS WITH!" He made a more... heroic expression. "YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I'M A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS..." Brayden sort of tuned out.
These skeletons spoke way too much. He stared at Faye who looked very relieved.
"Hey, Faye," he whispered. She stared at him. "It's not so bad, right? You look pretty happy."
"Um, I guess..." Faye whispered back. She smiled. "Thanks... again."
He just gave her a thumbs-up in response. Percy was trying hard not to fan-boy. Papyrus and Sans talked a little more, but Brayden wasn't really listening. He was staring at Faye. She stared back. For some reason, it made him really happy to see her happy. He thought about when they'd first met, and when they reunited at their new school...
"Come on you two," Melody interrupted them. "The kid's showing us a town."
"AWESOME!" Brayden yelled, rushing off.
And so, the kids arrived at Snowdin.