Two Worlds, Two Souls
Chapter 12: Puzzles Almighty! Part 2
Frisk's Point of View:
The rest area was a bit strange when we arrived. My sister didn't pay much attention to what was in the area other than the small shack like sentry station in the corner of the space where she huddled inside and got off her feet. I, on the other hand, looked around first before taking a seat with her.
There was strangely a table and chairs set out here in the cold. Snow had settled on them, but it was so powdery, I was able to brush it out of the way with ease, though it did make me a tad cold. We'd been out all morning long and the brisk air was finally getting to us. It'd been a few hours we'd traveled since we'd left the ruins that morning with Toriel. We'd been following the skeleton brothers since we left there all those hours ago. As for what time it was, I glanced at my phone and saw it was around two in the afternoon. It had been five hours since we'd left our warm home…
But that is what we wanted. We wanted to try our hand at a new life, though my sister wanted that still more than I did, but I enjoyed the adventure.
Not to mention, I loved teasing Angel about Sans…
On the table before us was a container of spaghetti left for us. As hungry as I was, Sans had said it wasn't edible. Besides, it looked frozen. I pouted as I saw the food and I was forced to watch only, unable to eat.
I was getting hungry…
"Hey Angel?" I walked over to where she was huddled and seemed to be content. Her eyes were drooping slightly from all the walking we'd done earlier on and it seemed to she was struggling not to take a nap. It was warmer inside the shack she was hiding away in and I quickly noticed there was a red crystal in there that seemed to be radiating heat. It was so warm; I actually wanted a nap too.
"Frisky, make sure I don't fall asleep…" My sister yawed and struggled to sit up away from the warm crystal.
"Maybe we should go then…" At first, I was concerned, but then mischief came to me as it always did. "Sans is waiting on you, right?"
The fluster in her cheeks was enough to make me move. I giggled as I slid back from her and my sister rose to her feet, instantly covering her head again with her hood. Once my sister was standing, I stepped out of the doorway so she would follow me. The fluster in her cheeks made her narrow her eyes at me, but she said nothing.
"Angel, we don't happen to have any snacks, do we?"
"Hmm…" My sister thought for a moment before she pulled her bag down from over her shoulders to look. She rummaged through it and quickly found a small bag of grapes that Toriel had packed for us, as well as some trail mix. "We have a couple snacks. I'm glad she did that, it's been a bit since we've had food." My sister glanced over at me, handing over the bags. "Go ahead and pick one."
I reached over and grabbed the trail mix, craving the salty flavor. Yet I hesitated before opening it. I didn't want to take it all from my sister, knowing how much she liked some salty foods too.
In my hands it sat while she took back her hand with the grapes still in it.
"Did you want some too?" I held it back to her to glance at. My sister loved trail mix from what I remembered when we were younger. However, knowing her, she wouldn't take any of it.
Just like I thought, my sister shook her head and just munched on one of the grapes. "I'm fine Frisk. Let's keep moving, I know those brothers are waiting on us. We don't want to keep them in suspense."
I followed after my sister then, the energy that we once had a long time ago earlier in the day was slowly starting to seep away from us. My sister was getting tired from all the walking. So was I.
I hoped we made it to Snowdin soon…
As my sister and I followed the mountain path, still following the deep holes in the snow from Papyrus, we had come to an area where a party just seemed to have taken place. Trash and decorations were thrown everywhere, partly covered by the snow. I glanced to the side of us to see a sign siting there as we approached.
Warning, dog marriage. (Yes, you read that correctly.)
"Dog marriage?" I blinked away my tried eyes, trying to rub the exhaustion from them as I looked around the area. Only a few yards ahead seemed to be the path that Papyrus had run down, but it was blocked off by some spikes sticking up out of the ground. The path was blocked.
"It's seems we're stuck here with a puzzle from Papyrus…" my sister murmured. "Let's take a look around and see if there's anything we can find in order to get past those spikes."
"Okay." It was the one time my sister let go of my hand and actively let me explore on my own. She seemed to be easing up on the idea as we got further away from the ruins. Our first experience with that flower left quite the bitter taste in our mouth, and I knew my sister was trying to be careful. Monsters could be nice, or they could hurt us. We had to be careful, even if most of the monsters we'd met so far were mostly harmless, or didn't care enough to attack us.
However, that number was still quite small… we'd only met a handful of monsters so far… one of which we lived together with for months…
"Ow!" The piercing cry caught me by surprise as I turned to see my sister hoping around on one leg that she must have hit quite hard. My sister wasn't normally one to complain about pain, so it either really caught her by surprise, or it must have hurt. "Son of a-"
"Angel!" She cut of her cursing as I approached, not wanting me to listen to that language. "Here, let me heal you."
The same glittering energy that Toriel had used all that time ago on us I used on my sister. Her red soul emerged from her chest with the smallest chip on the edge of it. It quickly healed as I helped it. She let out a heated breath as her pain slowly diminished and she was able to place her foot back on the ground. By her toes, I saw that her boots that I would never assumed would break, had a dent in the waterproof material then. She had certainly kicked that metal lever pretty hard…
She sighed and lowered herself to the ground to look at what she hit. "I guess I found the switch. Talk about a lucky and unlucky situation…"
"You okay Angel?" After sucking in a large breath, my sister reached over to pat my head affectionately.
"I'm fine Frisky, I'll be okay shortly. You don't need to heal me anymore." I hesitantly looked at her before nodding and pulling back. My sister shook her head, most likely at her own luck before she pulled on the lever next to her. Once she did, the spikes we saw a distance away had dropped and the path to follow after the brothers had been freed.
"Cool!" I watched in fascination as the path had been cleared and looked back to my sister. "You don't think that we'll run into the people from the dog wedding, do you?"
My sister gave me a concentrated look, finger to her chin as she thought. "I'm not sure. Though I hope not just yet with how hard it seemed they partied. There may be a few drunk ones around…"
"Oh…" That put a slightly dark mood over me. I remembered someone we knew who was always like that… it had been really hard on us. I never liked him… not even when Mom and Dad were still alive and told us to tolerate him.
"Hey," a gentle flick to the back of my head got my attention as my sister looked down at me worriedly. One look at my face had her kneeling in front of me and holding me close in her embrace. "He's not here anymore. He can't hurt us. Okay?"
But the wrenching feeling didn't leave me.
"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?"
A dark chuckle escaped her lips. "It's my job to protect you Frisky. I'm the big sister, not you."
"Still…"
"Don't worry about it, it's gone and passed." She rose back to her feet then and took hold of my hand once more. "Shall we? We have a set of brothers to find."
"…okay." I squeezed her hand and followed after her lead as she moved toward the rocky path that led further down to the base of the mountain.
My sister and I had only made it a few feet past where the spikes had been before something glittered off in the distance. I heard the cutting of wind and my sister leapt backward, myself caught in her arm as an axe landed where we had stood only moments ago. The scream that ripped out of me from the startling attack caught me off guard.
I watched my sister narrow her eyes as two figures came close to us; one picking up the axe that had been thrown that was nearly half the size of my sister. Both were dressed in armor, but two dog heads were exposed that reminded me of beagles with their large floppy ears, white and brown color that was exposed from the armor. My eyes widened as I saw the two of them nuzzling their noses, one with a bow around its neck and the other with a bridal veil over the back of its head.
"What's that smell?" The bow tie one asked, he had a deeper voice to indicate it was a male.
The one with the veil walked around him with an axe of their own. It sounded female as it approached. "Where's that smell?"
The two of them were sniffing the air and seemed to focus in on us. Both of them growled at us sisters. They slowly approached, axes at the ready to swing once more. A glint in their eyes as they smelled us that showed that we were not an ally.
"If you're a smell, identify your smellf!"
My sister cursed softly next to us. "I should have known… we don't smell like monsters to them, they can smell us from a fair distance away."
"Well then, what if we change our smell?" I cautiously asked her. "These guys down here aren't the brightest bulbs in the closet, maybe we can fool them if we roll around in the snow and dirt?"
My sister didn't get a chance to respond as she dove to the side to avoid a nasty swing of the very axes we were avoiding. The dog monsters were consistently smelling the air, testing that we were enemies.
My sister's grip on me was solid, I wasn't going to be able to do the trick like I did the time before where I tested the theory on the last enemy we faced. My sister was too hesitant to try something, so I had to do it first.
And I wasn't about to let that hesitance of hers get us killed!
Using all the might in me, as well as some determination magic, I shoved my sister into the snow below us. My sister was caught off guard by the move and yelped in response as we ended deep into the snow, specifically where Papyrus had dug up the snow. Once we landed into it, I used the snow to cover us as quickly as I could, or at least my sister who wouldn't believe me. I threw a few handfuls of snow in her direction, which she yelled out at me from the cold, before I hurled myself down into another patch to conceal my scent.
Once I had done that, I glanced up at the dogs to see if there was any change with them. The second I did; their faces had changed. The smell we had on us moments ago was not the same, it smelled more like the nature, the snow and that made them rethink.
"Hey! They smell like puppies!" the male armored dog noted.
"They do!" the female replied. "Weird puppies!"
While my sister was still down in the snow and stunned for the moment, I hurried forward and reached up to pet the dogs that were before us, trying the same trick that seemed to work on the last dog we faced. I patted the male first, since he was closer, only being able to reach up to his chin. However, after a few moments of being petted, he grinned quickly and leaned down more to my level and a tail popped out of his armor that began to wag excitedly.
"I've been pet by the weird puppy!"
"Hey!" I turned just in time for the female to look at me with pleading eyes and kneeling as well. "Don't leave me out!"
So, I reached over to pet her along with the male. The female was thrilled as I petted her and the pair yipped happily at me. My sister continued to sit on the ground and watch me with an unlocked jaw that would have fallen to the ground if not for her muscles and skin attaching it.
"Thanks weird puppy!" The two monsters dressed as bride and groom then left us in the middle of the frosty mountain and went about their way back to where the party we'd seen just a few minutes' walk behind us. My sister was finally able to unlock her jaw from the shock and approach me with an incredulous look on her face.
"Unbelievable…" was the only word I heard out of her mouth.
"See?!" I held up my hands in exasperation. "It worked! Have a bit more faith in me and know I'm not trying to kill us!"
The deadpan look my sister gave me was all I needed to see in order to shut up.
"Regardless, we're making more progress." My sister stood from where I'd knocked her over and came to my side, helping me up from where I had been kneeling to pet the two dog monsters. "Let's keep moving."
A flash of red caught my attention, and before my sister knew it, I was yanking on her hand.
"Angel! Come on! I saw Papyrus! He's just up ahead!"
I dragged my sister along the path that led to him, following the chopped up, white, snowy road before us.
This world was getting more, and more exciting the more we traversed it. As the moments ticked by, this new, exciting world became more of what I'd love to experience everyday rather than just the one time. The surface was losing its calling compared to how I felt about it before. It was amazing and I was eager for the next part in my story.
Papyrus was only a short distance away from us, only separated by more spikes that appeared out of the ground. His back was to us while my sister and I stopped for a moment or two to catch our breath while looking about the area. We looked to see what would be the tool in order to free up the path.
"Hey," my sister commented softly. "Look at this."
She pointed to a couple areas in the snow that seemed to have lights peaking through the snow. Both of them appeared to be blue 'x's. My sister attempted to brush the snow off of one of them in order to get a better look at it when she pressed just hard enough and the color changed, startling us both. The 'x' then turned into a red 'o' and both of us turned to stare at the still remaining marks.
"This reminds me of some of those old games we used to play, remember Sis?" I looked up at Angel as she thought about it too. "Remember those old games? It was like one of those puzzles where the character had to step on them and it'd opened the next area."
My sister quickly nodded at me. "Yes, I actually do. Let's try the other one then."
Following my sister's orders, we quickly moved over to the other spot and stepped on the blue marked spot. It soon turned red and the spikes separating us from Papyrus had all but vanished.
"There!" I cried gleefully before dragging my sister to where the younger brother stood on his own.
Turning around, Papyrus soon saw that we were past his latest trap, which made his jaw nearly fall to the ground.
"What? How did you avoid my trap?" Papyrus exclaimed as he jumped from his spot. He pouted for a moment before glancing at us with sad eye sockets. "And more importantly… is there any left for me?"
That caused me to blink for a moment and turn to my sister to see if she could figure it out. It took her a moment before her eyes widen in realization and she matched her gaze with Papyrus.
"You must mean the spaghetti you left us," Angel let the words drift from her tongue so easily. "Of course, we left it for you Papyrus. It didn't feel right to eat it without you."
That caused the younger skeleton to have large tears well up in the edges of his eye sockets. "Really? Wowie… you resisted the flavor of my homecooked pasta just so you could share it with me? Fret not humans! For I, master chef Papyrus, will make you all the pasta you could ever want! Nye heh heh!"
Papyrus moved down the path again, once again leaving large digs in the snow to show us where he wanted us to follow. Papyrus seemed to be having fun, even if he was failing at capturing us at every turn.
My sister took my hand again then. "We'd best follow him, hopefully we're not too many puzzles away from Snowdin."
"I hope so…" I held my stomach as it rumbled for both my sister and I to hear. "I'm hungry Angel."
"I know." Angel rummaged through her bag once more to see if there was anything else we had on hand. She scrapped away down to the bottom and found a small baggie of cookies that had been left for us. "It's not much but have a couple of those. See if that will help."
I felt terrible as I took more food from my sister. But I was starved, and that was the only thing that kept my voice down about her having food too. I took the baggie from her hands and began to munch away with what food we had before moving onto another area, following behind Papyrus in his wake.
Later that Afternoon:
Half an hour later, I was surprised to see Papyrus actually waiting for us at the base of the hill we'd climbed down. He sat in an open area before some spikes again that seemed to lead to Snowdin. I could only assume that he had another puzzle for us to solve to move onto the next area.
Geez… I wonder what this guy does if someone wants to go through the area? That must suck…
Papyrus didn't seem to notice us at first, so my sister and I somewhat ignored him to get a better look around the area for some idea as to what we needed to find for a switch or something to solve.
I was sifting around through the snow when my sister gasped next to me. She was looking into a tree next to us that had a hollowed-out spot in its bark and a lever seemed to protrude out, much as it was made to look just like a stubby branch to hide it.
My jaw dropped. "How in hell did you find that?"
"I don't know!" My sister hid her surprised behind her hand. "I just figured we should check everything and low and behold, there it was!"
"Well pull it!"
She gave me a deadpan look. "Yes, your majesty."
My sister still reached for the lever then and pulled it down. We gave it a few moments to see what would take place, but nothing had changed. My sister and I looked worriedly between each other before back to where Papyrus was.
"Shouldn't that have done something?"
"I thought it would…" My sister pondered with a finger to her chin. "Perhaps we should speak with Papyrus and see what he has planned next for us?"
"I guess…"
Not like we had much choice in the matter… Much as I loved the puzzles and the work that Papyrus had put into all of this, it was starting to get on my nerves. I was ready to get to Snowdin. Get a hot, fat meal, and crawl into bed for a long winter nap. I could tell that my sister knew I was thinking the same thing, but she was much less vocal about it. She knew how to hold in her emotions and hide how she truly felt. I was hoping she teach me that trick someday…
"Humans!" Papyrus soon saw us approach and came quickly over to us. Just as he did, only then did I notice the puzzle before us that had many blue x's like before that lined the area. "Hmm… How do I say this? You were taking a long time to arrive, so I decided to improve the puzzle! I arranged the snow to look more like my face!"
He paused for a moment to let that settle in with us, which caused me to groan and my sister to be irritated by Papyrus' lack of changing his ways. He still was calling us humans, and while that was true, it was irritating my sister.
I hoped that she got back at him later for it…
"Unfortunately," the younger skeleton brother continued. "The snow froze to the ground, now the solution is different. And, as usual, my lazy brother is nowhere around."
My shoulder deflated a bit and I pulled on my sister's jacket to get her attention while Papyrus talked. "I'm gonna sit on that rock."
My sister looked to where I pointed and nodded. I walked over while Papyrus continued to talk.
"So, what I'm saying is, worry not humans! I, the Great Papyrus, will solve this conundrum! Then we can all proceed! Meanwhile, feel free to try the puzzle yourself. I'll try not to give away the answer."
"Ugg…" I groaned as I sat down on the stone I wanted to take a break on when I felt it give underneath me. I yelped and feel to the ground while the area around us turned into green o's and the spikes went away to the next area. My eyes met my sister's and I finally understood what the level was for.
"Your button was activated by the level I pulled?!" My sister blinked widely at me before hurrying over to help me to my feet. I felt something in my back pop when she did that, that made me yelp and feel so good all at the same time…
"Wow! You two solved it!" Papyrus cheered in glee. "And you didn't even need my help! Incredible! I'm impressed! You must care about puzzles like I do!"
More like we're trying to solve them as fast as possible to get this over with… I hope Sans is around so Sis can get the info out of him of how many of these crazy things are left…
"Well, I'm sure you'll love the next puzzle then!" Papyrus carried on, as if he couldn't see the irritation on us, or more me then my sister who hid it much better then me. "It might even be too easy for you! Nye heh heh!"
Papyrus tore out of the area no differently then all the rest. He was gone within moments of his talking with us. A yawn escaped me after all the walking and puzzles we'd done in the day, sleep and a very early bedtime actually sounded heavenly to me.
God, I sounded like an old lady…
"Hey ya, Precious, Frisky." We both looked up then to see Sans a short distance behind the puzzle we had just solved. He waved his boney hand at us and I couldn't tell you the relief we felt as we came in close to him. "You two are makin' good time and progress. I don't think ya'll be out here more than another hour."
"Oh, thank goodness." My sister sighed and we both sunk to the ground. "Oh Sans… please tell me there isn't too many puzzles left…"
"Just two more Angel, that's all." Sans chuckled at the two of us, yet it was short lived. He soon saw just how tired we were from all the hiking and traveling we'd done int the day. "Hang in there ya two. You're almost there. When ya get to Snowdin, I'll get you a bite ta eat and show ya where the inn is. Ya two can hunker down there."
"Yay…" I rubbed my eyes and it took a lot of willpower to stand back up and move once more when that was all we'd done in the day. We hadn't walked or moved this much since the last time we jumped towns on the surface…
"Just follow Pap's path. The next puzzle is just on the other side of the hill." Sans saluted us before he ducked behind another snow pile and vanished from the area. I didn't even try to run after him this time due to my lack of energy.
"Angel?" She looked down at me with the same tired expression. "I'm tired…"
"I know Frisky, just hold out a little longer. We're getting close. Sans said so." She pulled on my hand and got me walking. "Let's get moving, only two more puzzles left."
I followed after her, truly it was the only thing I could still do…
Early Evening:
I blinked myself from the haze I was setting myself in once my sister and I stopped before the second to last puzzle. It felt so good to be so close. I could smell burning wood in the distance, which meant that there was a home or homes nearby. I was beyond excited to sleep. Food actually was not my concern anymore, just rest.
The puzzle before us was a bit strange, it looked like a dance floor made of lots of random gray colored blocks. A grey square machine was hooked up to it and on the other side of it stood Papyrus and Sans who waited and watched us. The stage itself was hung over a giant chasm below that didn't seem to have a bottom to it, or at least one that I could see…
"Ah!" Papyrus cheered. "It's the humans! You two are going to love this puzzle! It was designed by the great Doctor Alphys Chordata!"
The skeleton gave us a moment to look over what stood between us before giving us the explanation.
"You see this set of tiles? Once I throw this switch, they will begin to change color. Each color has a different function. Red tiles are impassible. You cannot walk on them. Yellow tiles are electric, they will electrocute you. Green tiles are alarms. If you step on them you will have to fight a monster. Orange tiles are orange scented. They will make you smell delicious! Blue tiles are water. Swim through if you like, but… if you smell like oranges the piranhas will bite you! Also, if a blue tile is next to a yellow tile, the water will also zap you! Purple tiles are slippery, you will slide to the next tile. However, the slippery soap smells like lemons, which piranhas don't like! Finally, are pink tiles, and they don't do anything. Step on them all you like." Papyrus took a moment to breath before he looked up at us with glee. "How was that? Understand?"
…What?
"So, we can step on pink, purple and blue tiles, so long as there no yellow tile next to the blue. Those are truly the only ones we can do without getting hurt." My sister murmured as she thought about the explanation Papyrus had given her. When she looked down to see my tired face and that I'd not understood a thing, my sister chuckled and rubbed the top of my head. "I got this Frisky, just hang back for a moment while I solve it, okay?"
"Kay…" I was running on fumes at that point as it was. Any excuse there was to rest was fine by me.
"So, humans!" Papyrus waved to us from the other side. "Understand?"
"I believe so." I saw my sister glance to the other side where Sans stood and he gave her a curt nod. I guessed that meant she would be fine or he worked with it somehow to make it easier for her. I wasn't sure, but Sans did seem to be helping us out when he could.
"Great!" Papyrus exclaimed before moving to the machine. "Then there's one last thing… this puzzle… is entirely random! When I pull this switch, it will make a puzzle that has never been seen before! Not even I will know the solution! Nyeh heh heh! Get ready!"
Papyrus then pulled the lever on the box next to him while my sister and I watched the flashes of color on the board light up from what had been variants of grey beforehand. It continually made multiple random patterns of the colors that we were told before finally settling on a pattern. One that was entirely pink with red along the edges so that we didn't have to fall into the chasm below us.
When Papyrus saw this, his jaw flew off his body and onto the ground. We watched him for only a moment before we saw him pick it up carefully, reattach it, and allow the shock to cause him to spin around uncontrollably into the distance, heading toward the apparent last puzzle.
"Thank you, Sans…" My sister sighed as she slowly crossed the path made by the machine. I slowly followed behind her and leaned into her side from how tired I was. My eyes slowly dropped before I felt her tap my back and I shook my head to wake myself up. "Come on Frisky, don't fall asleep yet. We just have one more puzzle."
"I'm tired Angel…"
"I know Frisky, I am too."
"Sorry 'bout that Precious. But ya only got one more." Sans turned around to point in the direction Papyrus left. "Follow this path, don't take any turns. Before ya know it, there will be a bridge that connects one mountain path ta the next. That's the last puzzle before town. Yer really close now."
"Thank you, Sans." I saw my sister nod to him while I nodded off leaning against her again. I heard her sigh before I felt her move. My sister startled me and I had to hold onto her arm before she kneeled next to me. "Come on Frisky, hop on."
I didn't even try to argue or fight with her. I was too tired to care how this looked or how it might have wounded my pride. I climbed up against my sister's back and she picked me up, adjusting my legs around her waist and my arms around her neck. She leaned forward slightly so I wouldn't have to grip her so hard.
I saw her glance back at Sans after that. "I'll see you at the last puzzle, Darling."
"Ya better," Sans chuckled. "If ya don't, I'll be awful bonely with Papyrus."
That caused my sister to giggle below me before I felt her move. My limbs swayed against her as she moved past Sans and he vanished from his spot for the umpteen time. I slowly began to relax against my sister and allow her to lead me away from the most recent puzzle, where I fell asleep on her back.
Angel's Point of View:
Frisk had fallen asleep just after we'd made it ten feet from the previous puzzle. I wasn't surprised that she fell asleep so soon. We'd been out walking and hiking all day for at least eight hours with little food to keep us going other than the snacks Toriel had packed us or the nice cream we'd picked up from before.
I just prayed that we made it to Snowdin before we were out too long… I didn't need her freezing out there while she slept…
Most of the walk was smooth sailing as I made it across a couple of icy fields. There were a couple of times where the path veered off to the left or right, but as per Sans instructions, I didn't dare stray from them. I continued on only strait to where he said the final puzzle would be and finally I could rest.
I blinked when I made it to another snowy field with lots of small piles of snow before me and another sentry station that looked almost like a dog kennel. However, there was no sentry on duty from as far as I could tell. I carefully looked around the area before seeing the path that would lead to the bridge that Sans was talking about. I was so thrilled to see it, I started hurrying toward the bridge. At that moment, I couldn't see Sans or Papyrus, but I knew they weren't too far behind.
A yipping sound caught me off guard and forced me to stop. I was startled to see a pomeranian in the snow that was the same color as the cold substance. It cutely wagged its tail at me and barked again to get my attention. I hesitated for only a second before I tried to approach it.
It seemed harmless, and in the instant that it wasn't, Frisk had proven to me twice today that the dog monsters were much like normal dogs. They just wanted attention and to be pet. I didn't believe her those last two times. However, she'd proved me wrong so much with the others cases, I decided to have an unbelievable moment and trust what my sister had shown me.
As I approached the dog, I wasn't as surprised to see it's cute little head and tail that had been the only thing sticking out form the snow suddenly appeared to be covered in a large armor as it stood, nearly double the size of myself in height and width. The pup in armor still looked happier then a clam to see me…
"Come here boy!" I waved it over to me in an attempt to pet it. The dog guard hurried over in no time and pressed his body weight into me as I began to pet him. It only took a few short minutes of petting (while somehow still holding my sister on my back mind you) before the dog rolled over onto the ground and held its legs up in the air as if asking for a belly rub. Its armor exposed only a minimal amount of flesh, so I tried my best to pet it, even as I struggled to hold my sister as well.
"Wolf!" The pup barked happily at me before it rolled away and stood to its feet. I watched the Pomeranian pop out of its armor long enough to stand before me and lick my nose, causing me to squeal, before it hoped back into its armor and left. I watched the pomeranian pass the end of the bridge easily before Sans and Papyrus appeared at the end of it.
I was so ready to be done with this.
I walked across the long bridge that had Papyrus and Sans standing on the other side of it. Just past them was the rumored town of Snowdin that I'd been dreaming of finding since I left the ruins in the early morning. The smell of smoke had me sighing at the heat of a fire I could lay before and let it warm my muscles and bones. Frisk was still somewhat warm, but that didn't mean I still wasn't worried for her being out so long.
"Humans!" Papyrus called from the other side. He had me stop about twenty feet away from the end of the bridge. I could only prey that nothing would cut said rope. "This is your final and most dangerous challenge! Behold! The gauntlet of deadly terror!"
Six deadly items appeared around me that caused me to suck in a breath of concern. From above there was an iron ball with spikes hanging from a chain, a spear with a large steel blade at the end, and a pomeranian attached to a string of rope. From below, I saw a cannon, a flamethrower and another spear of similar size and sharpness pointed at us. I glanced over at Sans in worry, but his face still remained calm, which in turn forced me to try and settle my uneasy feelings about that.
"When I say the word, it will fully activate!" Papyrus cried out in excitement. "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! Are you ready? Because… I… am… about to do it!"
Papyrus held the switch in his hand then. I was fully prepared to jump and use my magic if needed to save my sister and I, but I eased up when I saw how hesitant he was to push the button. We waited for a minute before I saw him turn away and Sans gave his brother a bit of a sideways glance.
"Well?" the older skeleton asked. "What's the hold up?"
"Hold up?" Papyrus questioned him right back. "What hold up? I'm… I'm about to activate it now!"
Still nothing happened…
I waited with baited breath as I hoped to God that Papyrus had given up on using this trap and would let us cross and prepare something another day. I was exhausted. All my sister and I wanted was a nice warm bed to rest for a while.
"That… uh…" Sans cautiously chose his words. "Doesn't look very activated…"
"Well… it seems… that… maybe…" Papyrus began to sweat a bit under the thick scarf wrapped around his neck. "Too easy to defeat the humans with! Yeah! We can't use this one!"
I couldn't help the sigh that escaped me when he said that.
"I am a skeleton with standards! My puzzles are very fair! And my traps are expertly cooked! But," Papyrus hesitated, and I could only hope it was his subconscious telling him this was a terrible idea. "But this method is too direct! No class at all! Away it goes!"
The traps then disappeared as soon as they had come and vanished into whatever hole they jumped out of. I had to fight the feeling of falling to my knees with relief. I couldn't help but wonder about what Sans had said about his brother being a softie that prevented him from doing this, which made me quite relieved.
"What are you looking at?" Papyrus snapped at me and my quizzical look. "This was another decisive victory for the Great Papyrus! Nye heh… heh…"
Papyrus sounded conflicted by the end of it and gave no one a glance before running in to the town. I scurried across the bridge, landing quickly next to the remaining brother who took a single look at me and his boney features softened in understanding.
"How 'bout we take a raincheck on dinner and plan on breakfast instead, Precious?"
"Please." I stumbled lightly on my footing but managed to catch myself before running into Sans. He held out his arms, ready to catch me if I did it again, but when I didn't after a few moments, he led me into the town.
I hardly noticed where I was going or what building we'd walked into, but Sans was leading us. I heard him talk to someone. I glanced up. The warmth greeted me easily, and I struggled with the remainder of my willpower in order to not keel over. Sans was talking to a bunny woman who handed him a set of keys. Sans glanced back at me after taking care of whatever he was doing. Later I would discover it was getting me a room for the night, before leading me up the stairs to where a bed was waiting.
Once we were inside, I saw Sans come in close to pull off my sister's shoes and jacket she was wearing. Once those were removed, he took my sister from my arms and placed her on the bed. I vaguely saw his boney figures motioning me to come closer to the bed.
Once I made it there, I somewhat fell as I tried to sit down. Sans pulled my jacket away from me along with my shoes, setting them off somewhere. I glanced up at him and saw the male monster chuckle before he pushed me down to the sheets where my sister's body already lay. I curled into her before settling down, vaguely remembering feeling a blanket being placed over me and the sound of scratching before I feel into a deep slumber.
Witch's Note:
Dear me! They finally managed to make it to Snowdin! Now my dear ladies, gents and people of all kinds, we will be spending a hell of a lot of time in Snowdin! We won't be traveling to other areas of the underground for a while! So, I do hope your ready for some lovely moments with some dear townies and our beloved skeleton brothers!
So, what do you all think when you get to hear the story from Frisk's point of view? She certainly doesn't hold back her thoughts, now does she? I adore when I get to write in her perspective, since it's a lot more straight forward then Angel's careful thinking with how she interacts with everyone. What do you all think of the differences between the girls? Love? Hate? Not sure? Would love to know!
And now to respond to our lovely reviews this most recent time!
RoseCentury: So, between yourself and your guinea piggies, what do you think of the story thus far? Have you been enjoying it? Have they? Would love to know!
Alright everyone! Let's enjoy this latest chapter before we get to explore Snowdin! I hope you all love the new descriptions and changes I slightly made to the town when describing it and the other areas when we get there in time! I spent a lot of time trying to think of the underground as a much larger place then how the game presented it.
Love you all and see you next week! Please don't forget to review! I really love them along with Mystic Girl! They keep us going with more content for you all!
Halloween Witch
