"Egh...I'm gonna need the blades on these replaced soon," Ginger muttered to herself as she wiped her cloth down each of them.
She'd just gotten through another troublesome mob of crows with her fellow Tytos, and was tending to her battleclaws. The claw parts at the tips of the talon pieces were growing short from all of the sharpening they'd gone through. She'd have to tell Gwyndor about it when she next got the chance so he could replace them.
The owl took a look at the cloth she was using; it was smeared red with crows' blood, as well as some dirt. Filthy heathens...
She might have felt worse about killing so many if they had an ounce of refined sense. They didn't seem to be "all there," compared to other, more intelligent birds. If they were, maybe they wouldn't act they way they did; maybe crows and owls could have found peaceful grounds with one another. Maybe she could find a way to make it so someday; a world were owls and crows live in harmony.
"...Hm. That sounds familiar," she remarked.
"got me again."
"AH!"
She swiveled her head around, and a familiar figure was standing on the opposite side of her chamber, right beside her nest.
Instantly, her fears disappeared and formed a smile.
"Sans," she acknowledged. "D-dude, it's been three months!"
"and you still knew i was there, huh?"
"What? Ah, no, actually, I was just talking to myself about stuff. Uh..."
She looked down at the battleclaws she was holding, scrunching up the bloody cloth she was using on them to try and hide the bloodstains.
"So, uh...How's your hot dog stand?"
"your LOVE's at six, now. just thought i'd let you know."
"...Oh. Right. You can do that thing."
"look, kid. i don't blame you for doin' your duty. i mean, if you don't, who will? it's for a good cause...as long as it's all justified."
"Yeah...I wish I could spare them more often; a lot of the enemies I go up against aren't so willing to back down."
"so who'dja dunk on?"
"Well...Crows, mostly. Lots of them. It's the usual. And a few rebels; most of them surrendered peacefully, just because they knew they were outnumbered, but...These two guys. Bay Owls. They were, like, cult leaders or something like that. EXTREME anarchists. Had a bunch of followers...How ironic, am I right?"
"didja give 'em a bad time?"
"I ended up in a squabble with one of them, and turns out the guy had a frinking FLAIL. Would've smashed my brains in if I wasn't wearing my helmet. But he wasn't the only one with spikes. You've seen my helmet before, so you know what I mean, right?"
"right. how'dja deal with that one?"
"Right when he brought the spike part back to try and land another hit, his belly was exposed and I rammed 'em. It wasn't all that clear, since there was so much blood, but I did see something trailing behind him as he fell...Pretty sure they were his intestines, looking back.
"oh...man...it's hard to phase you, huh?"
"I've seen a lot of nasty stuff...I...But you're, like...not upset or anything?"
"ey. you're just doin' whatcha gotta do. you said it yourself; sometimes, you just have to fight to maintain peace."
"Yeah...You are right about that. Erm, speaking of which, how's everyone doin' over there? Been a while since we got together last. Sorry I haven't had the time to show up; I got a message from Joss again about a month ago saying that you all wanted me to come on down for old times sake...I think Papyrus wrote it? It looked like his handwriting. And he said something about a 'pleasant surprise' for when I showed up. I would have answered way earlier on, but it's been getting a little more hairy around here as of late. We think the Guardians might be rounding up bands of crows themselves and sending them right to the Beaks to distract us from other concerns; they have Doc Finebeak on their side you know, so I wouldn't put it past their abilities."
"understood...well...surprises...yeah, there's more than one, now."
"Really?"
"guess i'll tell you how it's been. i moved my hot dog stand to the surface. my brand is officially called "illegal hotdogs," because they're so good they should be illegal. open a good twelve hours a week."
"Oh, wow. I gotta buy another one of those sometime."
"don't sweat it; on the house. undyne actually worked at one of my stands for a bit before she moved on to greener pastures...she hated it. she hated it so much that she doesn't even wanna be a customer anymore. it's hilarious."
"Aw, man...It'd be funny to still see her workin' someplace like that. Like, what a downgrade from "Captain of the Royal Guard," am I right?"
"absolutely...she probably would have trashed the place at some point, though, so i guess it's good she quit."
"What are her greener pastures like?"
"police officer; good at that, i gotta admit. she's got that burnin' passion for chasin' thugs down and throwin' them into the slammer. she's calmed down...just a bit, since last you were last with us."
"Just a bit, huh?"
"not too much. still pretty much the same."
"What about Alphys?"
"she's a lot of things, but they all still fit under 'scientist'," he quoted with his fingers. "biotechnician, chemist, programmer, you know, etc, etc... still a huge weeb, though. papyrus tried to show her more of those dinosaur movies you two liked...the indoraptor gave her nightmares."
"'Indoraptor'? Sorry, I've, ah...only seen Jurassic Park III. Which is that one from?"
"the latest one: jurassic world: fallen kingdom. came out, like, two years ago. i saw it; thought it was pretty dope. you'd prob'ly like it."
"Man...And I still have yet to see the FIRST Jurassic Park movie, don't I?"
"that one is also dope...admittedly, more dope than all the others, in my opinion. i did the research for ya, but i won't spoil anything unless you want me to."
"Not necessary. Uh...Yeah, that reminds me. How's Alphy doin' with fish-face?" she asked, somewhat of a grimace forming on her beak at the thought.
"oh, uh, about that. that's not a thing anymore. things got pretty messy just after the last time you were with us."
"They...broke up?"
"yeah. still friends, though. actually, they're pretty okay with it; i ain't ever seen 'em closer."
"Huh...Well, I can't say I'm upset by that. They go after anyone else?"
"oh. that reminds me. my brother made a pretty good ambassador; he's in the food business now, too; bet you can imagine what he's whippin' up."
"Pasta?"
"bingo. before you freak out, though, his dishes are actually pretty impressive now. i tip my hat to ya, kid; you're the one who started helpin' him out in the first place."
"Ha...Wow...And to you as well, for your amazing dogs."
"heh...i'm proud of him. and it's not just his success in the pasta business, but...uh...what was your question again?"
"If Alphys and Undyne have their eyes on other people. I mean, I could care less about fishy, 'cause she'll drive anybody nuts, but Al' always seemed sorta lovesick, so she at least needs someone to hold onto."
"oh, yeah. that was where i was going. so, kid...remember when you were back in the underground with us?"
"Yeah..."
"and you made fun of paps and undyne thinkin' they were-"
"Oh. Oh, yeah. I remember that. That was hilarious."
"yeah...well, turns out you weren't entirely wrong about that."
"...Is this going where I think it's going?" Ginger asked, a huge, dopey grin forming out of what used to be a nasty grimace.
"it's lookin' like it's heading in that direction...neither of 'em wanna admit it, though."
"HA! I KNEW IT! I CALLED IT! I KNEW THEY'D GO GREAT TOGETHER! I KNEW IT FROM THE START! HA HA HA HAHAHA! Ha...! Heh...Eh...So, I hate to be a 'the glass is half-empty' kind of bird, but when do you think she'll drive him over the edge like my brother did to me?"
"honestly? never; he's a lot more patient with people than alphys...well, not to say she's impatient, but it takes a lot to handle her. fortunately, my bro has plenty o' that, and then some. and, uh...alphys. actually, i'm not sure about her. it's been a while since she had her eyes on anyone, but she's doin' alright for the most part. she's been hangin' out with all the rest of us a lot more often, maybe to make up for that...she's been sayin' she'd like to see you again; found some more anime she thinks you might enjoy... still has bad days sometimes, though. still feels guilty about the whole thing with the amalgamates. we're all there for her; me especially. i know how to handle stuff like that."
"...You especially, huh?"
Ginger raised her feathery brow, and Sans caught on.
"i know what you're thinkin', and no. nope. absolutely not."
"Come on; you two are the perfect size for each-"
"doot doot, all aboard the nope train. we're on our way to nopesville. population: sans."
"Fine...So, uh...What about the Dreemurrs?"
"pretty good; with tori as the teach' in one of the schools, asriel's whizzin' right through most of the courses. and asgore's gardening business is comin' along pretty good."
"So, anything new between them?"
"not since last time you were with us, but hey, at least they're good 'n' friendly with each other, and i'm rootin' for 'em. heheheh...my tricks worked. now all i need is to take it to the next level...might need some help, though."
"O-ho, KAY. I'll be your right wing bird. That's cool...That's VERY cool, actually. So, um...What'd you do, shortcut here?"
"if your game, we can head right on over to civilization right here and right now."
"Sounds great, but I gotta get Nyra's OK," she told him, heading for the exit to her stone hollow and spreading her wings. "If she approves, then we can go. Just wait right outside here!"
"will do."
Ginger flew off to find the Ablah General, and Sans stood outside her hollow, leaning up against the wall beside it. Another Pure One passed by the hollow on foot, and he failed to see the skeleton in his peripheral vision, which was obscured by the uniform iron mask he wore over his face.
"hey, fella."
The owl swiveled its head to face the voice, and immediately staggered back in shock.
"What in the name of-!?" he exclaimed, his voice as rough as his dusty plumage.
"...Wait," he realized. "Are you one of those monsters? Don't remember any lookin' like you, though..."
"that'd be the case," the monster confirmed, extending a bony hand. "name's sans. sans the skeleton."
The owl removed his helmet; he was a Barn Owl, like Ginger herself, but male, and far older, and his facial disc was adorned with several old, dark scars.
"General Stryker," he greeted, hesitantly meeting him halfway with his wing. "Head of the Army."
"so, you're in charge of the whole fighting fleet, huh? must have your work cut out for ya."
"You haven't the foggiest idea," the owl scoffed, in an almost scolding tone. "There are over two thousand owls serving in the Tytonic Army, and I'm the one who tells them all where to be, what to do, and how to do it. Two thousand soldiers. Can you imagine? Save from being the Ablah General or High Tyto himself, it's the biggest job anyone can take on in this line o' work."
"wow...so you've got a lotta blood on your talons, eh?" he asked, raising the brow of his socket.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Stryker retorted.
"so, you never feel any remorse for doin' what you're doin'?"
"Why should I?" he snapped. "They're the enemy, after all! Do you mean to tell us that we should, what? TALK to them? We tried that and it didn't work, so we went for the nest best option; slaughtering 'em all! And it's working! Remorse for defeating the enemy is a dire weakness, if you ask me, monster. You lose the moment you back down."
"you never take a look at the other side o' the coin, do you?" Sans asked him, secretly analyzing his LOVE and EXP; his was the scarily high level of 18, with 50 EXP to spare.
"come on, man; think about it once and a while before you make your claws too red."
Stryker rolled his slate grey eyes.
"Didn't you hear a word of what I just said?"
"don't you ever step down off your high horse and consider bein' a decent guy? it might do you some good, who knows..."
"Ooh, all high and righteous with your 'step off my high horse,'" the army head mocked. "And I'm getting this from a reanimated corpse, the audacity."
"hey, i ain't hatin'. just maybe use some MERCY now and then."
"And lower my guard!? See, this is why you were all trapped underground in the first place!"
"GENERAL STRYKER!"
The screeching voice came from behind, and the Head of the Army swiveled his head around to face it. Ginger had returned, and on either side of her now stood a fellow Tyto Alba. The one to her left was about her age; her feathers were more of a light buff, though, and she was less stocky, her sea green eyes wide with curiosity. To her right was a familiar-looking white being with red-tipped wings, her blue and gold eyes narrowed angrily at Stryker.
"Ablah General, ma'am," the male owl addressed, suddenly seeming much more humble. "Please pardon my outburst. I was merely educating our visitor on how things are-"
"That is not an excuse, General!" she interrupted. "And as it is, your elite squadron awaits you at the Half Spire, so I suggest you depart for there effective immediately."
"Yes, General ma'am," he complied, spreading his wings and flying off to meet his fighters. Once he was gone, the queen sighed.
"Stryker, I tell you," she huffed, rolling her own eyes. "He used to be the one everybody looked up to. But times have changed since the birth of the Union, and he refuses to let go of his precious ego. Let alone his, erm...attachment to the Pure Ones' original ideas. If he weren't such an effective leader, I'd have demoted him back to a lieutenant quite some time ago."
"wow. guy sounds like a real numbskull."
"No joke," Nyra agreed.
"you sure about that?"
She raised an eyebrow, then looked at him, then at Ginger, then at the third Barn Owl; all three of them looked like they were holding back a stream of giggles.
"Numsk-...Oh, I get it," she finally realized, emitting a light, hiccuppy laugh herself. "Because you're a skeleton."
"How long as he been with us again?" the slimmer owl inquired.
"Oh, just about thirty years, Uklah. First commander of the first generation of the Nyra Annihilators, behind my lead. He was our second-wing owl for the longest time."
"First generation, eh? Who's the second?"
"Hmm...I'm still considering it. So, Mr. Sans, friend," Nyra addressed the skeleton. "I hope you don't mind, but during our conversation, we were joined by young Ms. Uklah. Friend of Ginger's; you might remember her from the meeting in the pine tree grove back on the main land, first we met?"
"oh, yeah. haven't really gotten to know any of your crew mates, have i?"
"Nope," Ginger answered him, putting her wing around her friend. "Uklah's been SUPER curious about you guys; wasn't really sure about takin' her along until now...That is, if it's within everybody's best interests."
"no, no, that's cool. so, uh, i guess the kid gave you the scoop, your generalness? err...what was it?"
"Oh, no 'General' nonsense, just Nyra is perfectly fine. And yes, indeed, I have granted my approval...Under one condition."
Ginger's gaze turned to the Ablah General skeptically. She'd never heard anything about a catch.
"being?"
"Why, that I myself may join your party, along with Uklah!"
"oh...that's it?"
"Really? You wanna hang with us and the monsters?"
"Well, we may have met before, but that was on business! I'd like this time around to be a might more personal, wouldn't you say? Besides, I've heard a great deal about you all from the young General here...Is it true that your brother is dating the fish?"
"oh, you had to throw that one out there, didja, kid?"
"Hey, what can I say? I'm hyped."
"i thought you didn't even like her."
"Maybe so...But at least she isn't a happy murder machine anymore, right?"
Uklah's bright gaze seemed to stiffen a bit.
"Wait, the fish...Isn't that the one you told me was les-"
"That'll do, Uklah," Ginger interrupted her before she could get the word all the way out. "Ah, heheh...Yeah, not...Not anymore, apparently. So, just...Don't finish that. Hey, who knows? We might actually end up hating each other a little less this time around."
"well, you're about to find out, kid."
He proceeded to stand straight up and extend his arms out for the owls to perch on.
"climb aboard. we're goin' to the mainland."
The Ablah General and her students fluttered their wings and perched, Nyra on his port and Ginger and Uklah on his starboard.
"okay, you two, go on and shut your eyes."
They complied, and then just a few seconds after they did...
"welp...here we are."
They opened their eyes to find that they were no longer within the towering stone walls of the Tytonic Palace, but instead stood within a small suburban area. A small cul-de-sac sat before the three, and they were positioned right in the center of the small grassy patch at the bulbous dead end, out of which a few trees grew. The air was cooled by a chilly autumn breeze, unlike the slightly warmer springtime atmosphere that'd begun to develop in the Beaks as of late.
"Huh..." Nyra remarked, her eyes scanning the surroundings, quite impressed by the cozy community nestled among the forest. "I must admit; I never thought I'd see human civilization up this close before. Erm, do you think anyone is watching?"
"i'd say you're safe. people are startin' to retire. how 'bout you two dig the sunset? bright, eh? heh...like the future..."
"I should certainly hope," she agreed. "...So, which one does the goat family live in?"
"Boss Monsters," Ginger corrected lightly. "I was about to ask the same thing, though."
"well, there's two, like i said, but on the same block. this here's my place. hope you fellas don't mind, but i pre-gathered everyone here so we could all hang."
"Say, thanks for that! Hey, it, ah...It looks exactly like the one in Snowdin. Or is that just me?"
"nope. gave 'em the blueprints. nostalgia's weird, ain't it?"
"Can't say I disagree with that," Uklah nodded.
"welp...no use just standin' around out here like a bunch o' boneheads. let's head on in there."
"You've GOTTA meet Alphys," Ginger told the other young owl. "You two are gonna hit it off, I swear."
"You mean the dinosaur? Isn't that the one you said threw up over that Jurassic Park movie?"
"Jurassic Park III. Yeah, exactly. Oh, man...You're probably gonna like movies. Just as good as any book...And even better, because it's visual!"
"How many of these movies have you seen?" Nyra wondered aloud.
"Oh, I've seen a few during my visits here, and not just the dinosaur ones; I've found a few films that I have yet to show her, still, that I've seen with the skelebros! Oh, man, they're all so AWESOME...I can't wait to show you guys Sharknado!"
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A Pure One Underground
by Ginger the Barn Owl
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THE END