Chapter VIII

And they did

Sans freezes, not expecting Grillby to come to such a conclusion that fast. Though he wasn't without knowing that this poor costume of his wouldn't be enough to fool every monster... Still, it just feels... wrong. As much as he doesn't want to lie to anyone, he feels too exposed.

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'Don't be so surprised, humans usually come across this town.'

'You saw a human before?!'

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Honestly, the young boy doesn't know whether Papyrus's fascination for any human being comes in handy or is only weird. And a bit disturbing, as well. Since Papyrus has all the fire monster's attention, Sans takes advantages of the opportunity to look at the town. As its name already point it out, the whole place is covered with snow and its small houses are like warm little lights in the freezing cold. He'd like to stay here, with Papyrus. He'd like to rebuild everything here even though it will never be possible. He'd like to forget about the past days and start a new life here.

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But I'll never forget.

I can not forget.

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'Sans? Grillby said that your... Uh... Things around your mouth shouldn't be bluish.'

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Geez...

I'm turning into a popsicle.

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oOo

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'So you're heading for the Labs?'

'Yeah... Not that we could go anywhere else, though. I promised Paps we'd find his dad.'

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They were sitting on the ground in the garden shed of the park — if it could be considered one, since it was merely used that way. Sans was stroking Papyrus's head while he was answering Grillby's question; the leftovers of two hamburgers had been pushed in the corner. The skeleton child was sleeping, taking a rest he definitely deserved. And the teenagers kept talking.

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Even though it had been hard, Grillby managed to get Sans talking about the details of what happened: the Royal Guard knew a human had fallen, and it only was a matter of days before the rumor spread all over the Underground. He and Papyrus were running out of time, and there was almost nothing the young fire elemental could do to help them. However, he would never have considered letting them down; They deserved a happy ending.

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This idea in mind, he did his best to explain to Sans how they could get to the Royal Laboratories. Giving him all the tricks and advises he could think about, Grillby even described how patrolled Snowdin's sentries, yet he wanted to believe he could make them stay. The way to New Home wasn't the easiest one, and even though their destination was situated some miles closer than the town; reaching it was still far from being less dangerous.

First, they would have to cross Waterfall; and even a temmie knows it would literally be suicide for a human. The danger is less in its endless tunnels than in the monsters who live there... From what the fire elemental knew, they were told to be more aggressive than in Snowdin. He didn't know more than what rumors told, but it was enough to warn Sans; they might have known each other for less than a day, he didn't want to send the human to his death. However, to get to the laboratories, Waterfall remained the safest path...

After this, they would arrive in Hotland. Even though Grillby had his family living there 'an uncle, for what his father told him, the region was a great mystery: arid with lava and few inhabitants, it wasn't the kind of place he would ever visit.

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'W-Wait. Can you come back at the aggressive monsters point?'

'Hotland's monsters?'

'Yeah, that's the one. Aggressive how?'

'Well... They would attack any human who comes across them, like most monsters around here, but... in a more violent way?'

'Like most monsters... But you didn't attack me. '

'I saw Papyrus.'

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At this point of their conversation, Grillby didn't really want to admit the truth: if it wasn't for the little skeleton, he would have wiped Sans off the face of the earth without thinking it twice. But the kid seemed to care about him, so he observed for a while. Then, he decided to give the human a try. Maybe he wasn't as bad as the one who killed his mother...

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'Now, I know I was wrong, but...

'Come on, Grillbz! There's snowthing wrong with being suspicious! Humans, well... You know. They kinda are the bad guys of the story.'

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And they started to talk about more cheerful things. When the sun showed up the next day, Sans and Papyrus were gone.

Grillby soon noticed Sans had forgotten the parka, so he kept it in his room in case they came back. The fire monster truly hoped they would. And they did.

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He's facing them.

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"Please, he needs help. I don't know what happened!"

Yes, I know almost snowthing happened in this chapter but... I really wanted to keep the action for the next one. This is getting to one of my favorite part, and it's supposed to "introduce" it.