Chapter three: Snowdin part I- Snowdin Puzzles
Ruby opened the door and felt piercing cold wind hit her face. She gasped and shielded her face from the snow. She pulled up her cloak and started walking.
"Note to self. The next time I unintentionally fall into an underground prison for monsters, I'm gonna bring warmer clothes." She muttered to herself. Chara giggled.
"Don't do that. You'll be practically boiled alive in Hotland that way."
"Hotland?"
"Two areas over. Trust me, you'll know when you see it."
"Alrighty."
She took a few steps before almost tripping over a really big stick. Recovering, she kept moving until she heard a snap.
"EEEK! What was that?" She asked, whipping her head around. She noticed that the stick was broken. Panicking, she picked up the pace. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around. There was nobody there. "What the heck is happening?" she kept walking and heard more footsteps. She whipped around quickly to spot a figure quickly ducking behind a tree.
"Did you see that?" Chara asked her. Ruby nodded. "Stay on your guard."
Ruby walked a little further before reaching a bridge. She heard the footsteps and froze. They were right behind her. She had her hand next to Crescent Rose, not sure what to expect.
" N." A deep and dark voice spoke. Ruby jumped and swung a fully extended Crescent Rose, narrowly missing a startled, short skeleton. "Hey watch it!" he replied. His voice wasn't as deep as before. It was actually really quiet, despite him shouting.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry. You scared me." Ruby apologized; refolding Crescent Rose and placing it back on her harness.
"Snow problem, heh heh. It's all cool." The young skeleton joked. Ruby face palmed.
"You're worse than my older sister." She sighed. The skeleton smiled triumphantly.
"I'll take that as a compliment." he stated, extending his bony hand. "The name's Sans, Sans the skeleton."
"Ruby Rose." Ruby greeted, taking the skeleton's hand. A loud fart noise erupted, causing the pair to start laughing.
"The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick." Sans huffed, winded from laughing so hard.
"It's always funny." Ruby agreed.
"Anyways..." Sans started, scratching the back of his skull. "I'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now."
"Y-you are?" Ruby asked in fear, remembering what Toriel said before.
"Relax kid. The thing is, I don't actually care about capturing anybody."
"Phew... thank Oum..." Ruby sighed in relief.
"Thank... who?" Sans asked in confusion.
"Pretty much god." Ruby replied. The skeleton nodded in understanding.
"Down here we say Thank Asgore. He's our king. Anyways... best warn you about my brother Papyrus. He's a human hunting fanatic. Actually, I think that's him over there." He stated, pointing behind Ruby.
"Wait, What?" She asked, turning her head quickly.
"Hey, I have an idea." He stated, walking past Ruby, gesturing her to follow. "Follow me through this gate thingy. Yep, walk on through. My brother made the bars too wide to stop anyone." They walked over to what appeared to be a century station and a rose bush. The bush appeared to be as tall as Ruby. "Quickly, behind that conveniently sized rose bush." He stated, pointing to it. Ruby used her semblance and hid behind it.
"What do you say Chara?" She whispered. "Should we trust him?"
"He seems too lazy to be a viable threat. So yeah, I'd trust him. Just so you know, any more puns and I'm gonna kill myself."
"Aren't you already dead?" Ruby asked innocently.
"That's the point Ruby." Chara sighed in disappointment.
"Sup, bro?" They heard Sans say from back on the path.
"YOU KNOW WHAT'S "SUP", BROTHER!" A taller skeleton, who Ruby assumed was Papyrus, shouted. He was definitely the complete opposite of his brother. Sans was short, quiet and introverted, while Papyrus was tall, loud and extroverted. "IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS, AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?" He asked, folding his arms and scowling at his brother. The shorter skeleton simply shrugged.
"Staring at these roses. They're really pretty. Surface plants aren't common underground you know. And the fact that there are roses here in Snowdin is really special. Would you like to look?"
Ruby felt bad for the monsters. A hundred years, a hundred years since they even saw the sun. Most don't even know what it looks like. Poor things. Something that humans like herself take for granted is a luxury when considering these poor monsters, imprisoned for a hundred years because of... Oum knows what.
"NO!" Papyrus replied, stamping his foot. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!? I WANT TO BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!" He stopped stamping his foot. He felt a gust of wind and took full advantage of it. He struck a dramatic pose and allowed his scarf to blow in the wind. Ruby on the other hand wanted the opposite and held her cloak down. "THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT, RECOGNITION! I WILL FINALLY BE A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO BE MY, "FRIEND"? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING!" He sighed, getting lost in his thoughts.
"Hmm..." Sans interrupted. "Maybe this rose bush will help you."
"SANS! YOU'RE REALLY NOT HELPING YOU LAZY BONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY! IT ISN'T HEALTHY!"
"Hey relax will ya? I got a ton of work done today."
"SANS, DON'T YOU DARE!"
"A skele-ton." He winked. A faint rim-shot could be heard in the background.
"SANS!" Papyrus lectured. The shorter one just smiled.
"Come on Paps, you're smiling."
"I AM AND I HATE IT!" The taller one confirmed, trying to fight off the smile that was on his face. Sans just smiled. "SIGH... WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST FOR RECOGNITION?"
"Wow..." Sans began, sounding like he was showing sympathy to his brother. Until... "It sounds like you're working yourself, down to the bone."
"UGH!" Papyrus yelled in frustration. "I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES! AS FOR YOUR WORK? TRY TO PUT A LITTLE MORE BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEH HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH" He started laughing like a maniac before walking away. He walked back soon afterwards. "HEH!" He threw in one more laugh before leaving again... he returned shortly afterwards one last time. "THOSE ROSES REALLY ARE PRETTY." He sighed before leaving for keeps.
"Not bad, though he'll hate himself for that pun later. You can come out now Ruby, he's gone." He called. The teenager walked out, bundled in her cloak, shivering. "Geez kid. You must be absolutely rigid. One moment please." He stated, teleporting away, re appearing soon afterwards with an old red sweater. "Here. It's Pap's from when he was younger. He won't miss it."
"Thank you..." Ruby smiled shyly, taking the sweater. She put it on and felt instantly warmed up.
"Don't mention it. Anyways... you best get going. He might come back. And if he does..." He was serious for a moment, now he has a giant stupid smile on his face. "You'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."
"so it's a win/lose situation." Ruby teased. Sans scowled at her, then smiled again.
"Oh hah hah." He replied sarcastically. Ruby giggled. She started walking away when... "Actually hey, wait. I hate to bother ya but..." Ruby stopped and looked at the skeleton. She was making sure she actually heard him speak, he is really quiet. He looked like something was bothering him.
"What's up Sans?" She asked, showing concern for her new friend.
"Could you do me a favour?"
"Sure? What's up?"
"I was thinking... my brother's been kind of down lately, and he's never seen a human before, and seeing you might just make his day. So... um, what I'm trying to say is... will you let my brother see you? Don't worry. He isn't dangerous or anything, even when he tries to be. So will you do it?"
"Sure. As a huntress, it is my duty to make every citizen feel happy and secure, also safe."
"You're a huntress? That's hilarious. Thanks a million. I'll be up ahead." He smiled before walking in the completely opposite direction. Ruby stared in confusion and sighed, following the path properly.
"I like the taller one better." Chara commented. Ruby rolled her eyes.
"They're both fine in my opinion. Hey look, another one of those lights."
"That is called a save point. If you die, you will respawn there." Chara corrected. Ruby nodded in acknowledgement. She walked over and touched it.
"The convenience of that bush still fills you with DETERMINATION." Chara narrated.
"You really like doing that don't you?" Ruby joked, receiving a sigh from the ghost.
"Ruby... shut up."
Ruby walked towards a path going to the left and found a river. There was a fishing rod hanging out of the water. Ruby reeled it in to find a note attached and a picture of a weird monster.
'Call me. Here's my number.'
She decided not to call. She back tracked to the other path and tripped over a rock. She didn't make much noise, but she did scare herself.
"SO AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE!" Papyrus began. But he paused, which made Ruby assume she was heard. The tall skeleton leaned in to whisper to his brother. "SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT A HUMAN?" The shorter skeleton jumped at the sudden loud volume in his ear. (Do skeletons have ears?)
"Uh... actually, I think that's a rock." He replied sarcastically. Ruby looked behind her to see he was gesturing to the rock she tripped over.
"OH..." Papyrus looked disappointed.
"But hey, what's that in front of the rock?" He asked, trying to lift Papyrus' spirits.
"OH MY GOD!" The tall skeleton exclaimed in excitement. "(IS... IS THAT A HUMAN?)" He whispered to his brother for clarification.
"Yes." Sans responded, with frustration actually present in his voice. Though, the skeleton was still smiling.
"OH MY GOD! SANS! I FINALLY DID IT!" Papyrus exclaimed excitedly. Sans gave Ruby a thankful smile, which she returned. "UNDYNE WILL... I'LL BE SO... POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!" He cheered, jumping in the air. "WAIT... SANS? IS SHE WEARING MY OLD SWEATER?"
"Uh... yeah. She was cold. I wasn't gonna let her freeze." He shrugged, scratching at his cheekbone.
"WOWIE! THAT'S SO NICE OF YOU BROTHER!" Papyrus praised, placing a gloved hand on his brother's shoulder. "AHEM! HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL STOP YOU! THEN I WILL CAPTURE YOU! AND I WILL DELIVER YOU TO THE CAPITAL! THEN..." He trailed off. "THEN... I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT COMES NEXT. IN ANY CASE... CONTINUE, ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEHEHEHEHEHEHEH" He taunted with a smile, running off.
"Well, that went well." Sans commented, grinning. Ruby was also smiling. "Don't sweat it kid. I'll keep an eye socket out for ya." Then with a wink, he left. Ruby walked the path behind him and saw a sign. Reading it, she was more confused than if she didn't read it.
'Absolutely NO MOVING!'
And of course, naturally Ruby moved. She heard a voice from the sentry station beside her.
"Did something move?" Ruby looked over to see a dog like monster poke his head out. Ruby thought he kinda looked like Zwei. He was squinting, his eyes were shifting rapidly. "Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things."
"What the hell?" Chara asked in confusion. "At least when I was alive the royal guard could fu-" they stopped them self, remembering they were inhabiting a fifteen year old. "Ahem... they could see. This is just sad and pathetic."
"If something WAS moving, for instance a human, I'll make sure it never moves AGAIN!" He shouted, dragging Ruby into combat.
"Chara! What should I do?" She cried in desperation.
"Simple. This monster can only see moving things so I'll assume he uses blue magic. If an attack is blue, you don't move or it will hurt you. Understand?" Chara explained.
"Seems simple enough." Ruby confirmed. "Don't move. I think I got it."
Doggo let out a series of attacks on Ruby. Every single one was blue, so the reaper just stood there and let them hit her. Like Chara said before, there was no pain. Ruby also noticed that her aura was untouched. With lightning speed, Ruby pet Doggo on the head.
"Pet pat pot pet pat pot pet pet pet... What? I was pet?" then the battle ended. Doggo looked bothered by something. But Ruby remembered what he said before and didn't move. "S-s-something pet me! Something that wasn't moving! I'm gonna need dog treats for this." Then he ducked behind his sentry station. Ruby, not taking chances, ran across the path with her semblance. She walked out to see Sans standing there.
"Hey Sans!" The reaper greeted warmly. The skeleton smiled and waved at her.
"Hey. I have some useful advice for when you fight my brother." He replied. He was smiling, but Ruby could hear slight aggression in his voice. "He has this ability to create blue attacks, which means that you don't move, and it won't hurt you. It's kinda like a stop sign. When you see it you stop. So, just imagine a blue stop sign. Sound easy enough?"
"Yeah. Thanks Sans, you're great help." Ruby smiled, walking past the skeleton and slipping on ice. She slid across to the other side, and then she face planted.
"You okay? There's ice there." Sans teased, teleporting to the other side and helping Ruby to her feet. She nodded and brushed the snow off.
"Yeah I'm fine. I should watch where I'm going though." She laughed. Sans laughed too.
"Yeah. I'd really hate to snow what would happen if you hurt yourself. I bet it isn't an ice experience." Sans joked. Ruby only groaned. "Hey, stop giving me the cold shoulder Ruby." He continued. Ruby sighed and walked away. She was thrown into combat randomly, only to be confronted by...
"Aw aren't you the cutest little thing?" Ruby asked, cooing over Lesser Dog. She pet its head, and could have sworn she saw its head extend. She spared it and kept going. Her scroll rang.
"Hello?"
"Ruby! I'm glad I can still get a hold of you!" A relieved sounding Weiss stated from the other end. "I researched that symbol you sent Yang. It's called a 'Delta Rune.' It's the symbol of peace for the underground monsters. The three triangles are to represent humans, Faunus, and monsters and the circle and wings are to represent a prophesized angel coming to free the monsters from their prison."
"How did you find this stuff?"
"That, Ruby is for me to know and you to learn for yourself. Getting back on topic, this prophesy is double sided, meaning that it could mean two different things."
"I know what double sided means Weiss. I'm not an idiot."
"I know that you dolt! I was just clarifying that it was a two way prophesy, not using the front and back of the same paper."
"Whatever! What are the possible outcomes?"
"The angel sent from above could save the monsters by destroying the barrier, or by killing each and every monster down there. Either way, there will be bloodshed. Monsters will either escape and kill us or, someone goes down and kills them."
"Weiss!" Ruby snapped, startling the heiress. "These monsters are not mean degenerate killers! Here, let me show you!" The heiress was confused, until she heard Ruby call someone over. "Sans! Can you come here for a moment?"
"Sure, Sup Ruby?" Weiss stared in shock when the skeleton walked on screen.
"Weiss here believes that all monsters are murders. Please tell her otherwise." Sans didn't say anything. He just glared at Weiss with blank eyes. The heiress immediately went pale. His eyes regained their pupils and he smiled.
"No. Not all of us. Just be careful of the small amount of us who do. And with the rate Ruby here is going, they will be on the good side soon enough." Then he walked away. Both Ruby and Weiss were confused.
"Wow... you sure make weird friends Ruby." Weiss commented with a sweat drop. Ruby nodded.
"I've never seen him mad before."
"You say that like you've known him for a long time you dolt!" Weis scolded. Ruby rolled her eyes and hung up. She held her head in her hand and sighed, then kept walking.
"YOU'RE SO LAZY!" Ruby looked up and noticed that Papyrus was lecturing Sans, and couldn't help but smile. "YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"
"I think that's called sleeping." Sans replied with a shrug.
"NO EXCUSES!" Papyrus yelled. Ruby died laughing, alerting the skeletons of her presence. "OH HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES!"
"Yep! That's me!" Ruby replied enthusiastically, placing her hands on her hips. Papyrus looked perplexed.
"SANS! THE HUMAN IS TOO ADORABLE! I MIGHT NOT WANT TO CAPTURE HER!" Papyrus laughed. Sans rolled his eyes and smiled. "IN ANY CASE, IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME MORE PUZZLES!" Papyrus explained with a smile. "I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE, QUITE SHOCKING!" He then realized the pun and looked distraught with himself. "...FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE."
"Dun dun dun..." Sans mumbled. Clearly Papyrus made him do the audio cue.
"WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMIDISTER A HEARTY ZAP!" He explained, pulling out a large cyan orb. "SOUND LIKE FUN?" He asked slyly.
"Yeah, I guess so." Ruby replied with a smile.
"BECAUSE... THE AMMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK..." He trailed off, looking confused. "OKAY, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW!"
Ruby took a step forward, and Papyrus got electrocuted.
"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Ruby asked in concern. Papyrus looked unfazed.
"SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Sans looked hurt at being put on blame, but shrugged it off.
"I'm pretty sure the human needs to be holding the orb first Paps."
"OH, OKAY." Papyrus realized. He walked through the maze and placed the orb on Ruby's head. Miraculously it didn't fall off. He walked back to his position on the other end. Ruby then realized he left tracks in the snow to reveal the path, and followed it.
"INCREDIBLE YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL!" Papyrus gasped in admiration. "YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY..." He eyed her suspiciously. "HOWEVER THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT WAS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM. NYEH HEHEHEHEH!" He laughed triumphantly, running off.
"Sans, what do you have planned?" Ruby asked with a smile.
"You'll just have to wait and see." He replied slyly. "By the way, thanks for helping my brother. He seems to be having fun."
"No problem. All in a day's work." She smiled, pulling out Crescent Rose and striking a dramatic pose. Sans smiled.
"By the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing?"
"A little hard not to if you ask me." Ruby giggled. She didn't notice the flustered look on the skeleton's face.
"We made that outfit a few weeks ago for a costume party. He hasn't worn anything else since. He keeps calling it his "battle body". Man. Isn't my brother cool?" he praised. Ruby smiled.
"He sure is. If you don't mind me asking, who's older?"
"I'm older. Papyrus keeps bugging me about being lazy because it isn't healthy for someone my age. You'd think I was thirty or something."
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen. Why? How old are you?"
"Fifteen." She replied with a smile. Sans looked shocked.
"Wow. I would have guessed older, but yet you're a year younger than my brother." He realized in disbelief. "Well, you best get going. I have a very difficult task ahead for you." Sans winked, teleporting away.
Ruby walked over to an ice cream vendor. He looked sad.
"Darn... I don't understand why these aren't selling... it's the perfect weather for something cold..." He sighed. Ruby tapped his shoulder, getting his attention. "OH! A CUSTOMER! Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Only 15g." Ruby smiled and pulled 30g from her pocket and bought two. The Nice Cream vendor looked overcome with joy.
"That was nice of you to do." Chara praised as Ruby walked away from the bunny monster.
"Oh hey Chara! Long time no hear. It wasn't like I was going to ignore him. He looked so sad."
"I swear I will never understand you hunters and your need to make people happy." Chara sighed.
"Yeah yeah. Come on. I have a feeling that we have a long way to go."
The next room had a snowball and some sort of hole in it. Ruby kicked the snowball and got it in the hole in one kick. A red flag popped out of the hole. Ruby walked over and found 40g in the hole.
"Sweet!" Ruby cheered, grabbing the money.
"I still don't understand how this works..." Chara mused. Ruby shrugged and kept walking. The next room contained the two brothers and a piece of paper. Ruby assumed that was the trap and rolled her eyes. Why was she not surprised?
"HUMAN! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR..." Papyrus began before trailing off. "SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE!?" Papyrus demanded, getting angry.
"It's right there on the ground. Trust me. There is no way she can get past this one." He replied with what sounded like fake confidence. Ruby rolled her eyes. At least he put in minimal effort. For Sans that's an accomplishment. Ruby picked up the paper and started working on the puzzle. She solved it in five minutes.
"SANS! THAT DIDN'T DO ANHYTHING!" Papyrus scolded.
"Whoops. I know I should have used today's crossword instead." The shorter skeleton pondered. He actually seemed serious.
WHAT?! CROSSWORD? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT! IN MY OPINION, JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST!"
"What? Really dude? That easy-peasy word scramble? That's for baby bones." Sans countered with a slightly offended, slightly amused look on his face. Papyrus looked baffled.
"UN. BELIEVABLE. HUMAN! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE! WHICH IS HARDER?"
"Um..." Ruby thought for a moment. "Crosswords in my opinion." She shrugged. Sans smiled.
"Glad you see things my way." He said, placing a bony hand on her shoulder.
"YOU TWO ARE WEIRD." Papyrus joked, ruffling Ruby's hair. "CROSSWORDS ARE SO EASY." And there goes the happy mood... "IT'S THE SAME SOLUTION EVERY TIME! I FILL ALL THE BOXES WITH Z's, BECAUSE ALL I DO IS SNORE! NYEH HEH HEH!" He got in one more little quip before running off. Sans looked mentally exhausted, but was still smiling.
"Papyrus... finds difficulty in interesting places." Sans sighed. Ruby nodded in understanding. "Yesterday he got stumped trying to "solve" the horoscope."
"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say whether that surprises me or not."
"Go ahead." Sans joked.
"Okay... I'm not surprised." Ruby laughed.
"I wouldn't be either. Bye Ruby." Sans sent his goodbyes as the cloak wearing reaper departed.
"Knowing that one day the mouse might find a way to heat up the spaghetti fills you with DETERMINATION."
Ruby rolled her eyes at the voice as she reached another save point. She noticed an unplugged microwave and a plate of frozen spaghetti. She tired picking it up, but it was stuck to the table. The aroma coming off of it was gut wrenching to say the least. There was a note.
'HUMAN! PLEASE ENJOY THIS SPAGHETTI! (LITTLE DO YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY A TRAP, DESIGNED TO ENTICE YOU! YOU'LL BE SOO BUSY EATING IT THAT YOU WON'T REALIZE YOU AREN'T PROGRESSING! THOUROUGHLY JAPED AGAIN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!) NYE- HEH-HEH! –PAPYRUS."
"I don't think he needs to worry about me not progressing." Ruby thought with a smile.
"Man, if it tastes as bad as it smells... I hope he doesn't pursue a career in culinary arts, here or on the surface." Chara commented. They sounded like they were gagging. Ruby nodded and walked to the next room.
"Dog marriage? The heck is a dog marriage?" Ruby asked in confusion, reading a sign.
"Something best avoided. They seem kind and naive, but they're extremely dangerous." Chara warned. Ruby smiled and went down the path.
"Stop you dolt!" Chara demanded. Ruby immediately thought of Weiss and shuddered. "There's a spike wall at the end of the hill. The button is over there in the middle of the three trees." Ruby nodded and walked over there. She found a button buried under the snow and pressed it. Not wasting any more time, she used her semblance to run back. Two dogs approached her. Chara explained to her that this was the dog marriage. Their cloaks were covering their eyes.
"What is that smell?" the male dog asked.
"(Where is that smell?)" The female followed up.
"If you're a smell..." The male began.
"(Identify yoursmellf.)" the female finished, in a hardly threatening tone. They ran around Ruby, sniffing at her and the area around her until they focused on her alone.
"Hmmm... this is where the weird smell is coming from." The male realized in a dark tone. "It makes me want to eliminate." He stated, pulling off his hood. His wife did the same.
"(ELIMINATE YOU!)" The female warned, pointing her axe at Ruby. Her soul flashed in front of her and the battle began.
The dog couple were named Dogamy and Dogaressa. They stood there, nuzzling noses While Ruby made the first move. She decided to roll around in the snow. She was wet and cold, but smelled like a weird puppy instead of human. She made a mental note to treat herself to some cookies for this decision when she returns to Patch. The dogs felt the urge to re-sniff her and realized that they were fighting a puppy. (Or so they think, wink wink). Ruby pets them, and blows their minds.
"WOW! Pet by another pup?!"
"(A dog that pets dogs... amazing!)"
Ruby spared them and ended the conflict.
"Dogs can pet other dogs?" Dogamy asked, pulling his hood back up.
"(A whole new world has been opened up for us.)" Dogaressa agreed, doing the same.
"Thanks weird puppy." Dogamy bowed respectfully before walking away with his wife.
"Boy... some of these monsters are weird individuals I tell ya." Ruby sighed. Chara chuckled in agreement. Ruby resumed down the path. There was a puzzle with what appeared to be two blue Xs and a button. Ruby also noticed a sign by the puzzle.
'Turn every X into an O, and then press the switch.' It read. Ruby nodded and stepped on the two Xs on the ground. They turned into red Os then pressed the button on the ground. She walked over to the now open path and noticed Papyrus standing there.
"WHAT? HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP? AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY... IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?" He asked eagerly. Ruby realized he meant the spaghetti and sighed.
"Uh, yeah. I left it there for you." She tried to sound as nice as possible. The skeleton didn't seem hurt.
"REALLY? WOWIE! YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOUR OF MY HOMECOOKED MEAL JUST SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME?"
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Ruby tried to sound sincere, and was afraid she was doing a bad job. Papyrus appeared ecstatic.
"FRET NOT HUMAN, FOR I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER WANT! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" Ruby went pale.
"Oh boy..." She faked a smile. She took back the statement about Napstablook. Papyrus was definitely more like Penny when they first met. Ruby's smile fell.
"What's wrong short stack?" Chara asked her.
"He reminds me of a friend of mine who died before my school was destroyed. Her name was Penny Polendina."
"Sorry to hear that." Chara sympathized. Ruby smiled sadly and moved on.
Papyrus was standing there waiting for her. She approached him.
"MY BROTHER STARTED A SOCK COLLECTION RECENTLY." He smiled. "HOW SADDENING..." The smile turned into a scowl really fast. "SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO WITHOUT A COOL GUY LIKE ME LOOKING AFTER HIM. NYEH HEH HEH!" He stated the last part with a triumphant smile.
"Who knows?" Ruby shrugged. Papyrus nodded.
"GLAD YOU SEE IT MY WAY HUMAN!"
Ruby walked over to the puzzle, not realizing that Papyrus was doing the same.
"HUMAN!" He bellowed, causing the young reaper to jump."HMM... HOW DO I SAY THIS..? YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME TO ARRIVE SO... I DECIDED TO IMPROVE THIS PUZZLE, BY REARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. UNFORTUNATELY THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND. NOW THE SOLUTION IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!" He appeared to be angry with himself. Ruby face palmed but did nothing. "AND AS USUAL MY LAZY BROTHER IS NOWHERE AROUND! I SUPPOSE WHAT I'M SAYING IS, WORRY NOT HUMAN!" He smiled, adopting the dramatic pose when the wind caught up speed again. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM! THEN WE CAN BOTH PROCEED! MEANWHILE, FEEL FREE TO TRY TO SOLVE THE PUZZLE YOURSELF! I'LL TRY NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER." (A/N: Neither will I.)
Ruby smiled and attempted the puzzle. After a few wrong guesses she figured it out.
"WOW! YOU SOLVED IT! AND YOU DID IT ALL WITHOUT MY HELP! INCREDIBLE, I'M IMPRESSED! YOU MUST CARE ABOUT PUZZLES AS MUCH AS I DO! WELL I'M SURE YOU'LL LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE THEN! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU! NYEH HEH HEH HEHEHEHEH!" Papyrus praised, rubbing Ruby's head. She fixed her hair and grumbled under her breath. He ran off. Ruby smiled and continued down her path. She spotted Sans on the other side of the puzzle.
"Sup Sans?"She asked, high fiving the skeleton.
"Hey. Good job on solving it so quickly. You didn't even need my help. Which is great because I really enjoy doing nothing." He winked. Ruby smiled and giggled a little. She walked past him and didn't notice the faint blue blush on the skeleton's cheek. She spotted a puzzle in the next room. Sans and Papyrus were standing on the other side of a tile bridge.
"HEY! IT'S THE HUMAN!" Papyrus acknowledged cheerfully. "YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS ONE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS! YOU SEE THESE TILES? ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH, THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOUR! EACH COLOUR HAS A DIFFERENT FUNCTION! RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE. YOU CANNOT WALK ON THEM. YELLOW TILES ARE ELECTRIC, THEY WILL ELECTROCUTE YOU! GREEN TILES ARE ALARM TILES; THEY WILL ALERT A MONSTER FOR YOU TO FIGHT! ORANGE TILES ARE ORANGE SCENTED! THEY WILL MAKE YOU SMELL DELICIOUS! BLUE TILES ARE WATER TILES. SWIM THROUGH IF YOU LIKE, BUT IF YOU SMELL LIKE ORANGES THE PIRAHNAS WILL BITE YOU! ALSO IF A BLUE TILE IS NEXT TO A YELLOW TILE THE WATER WILL BECOME ELECTRIFIED. PURPLE TILES ARE SLIPPERY. YOU WILL SLIDE TO THE NEXT TILE. HOWEVER THE SLIPPERY SOAP SMELLS LIKE LEMONS, WHICH PIRAHNAS DON'T LIKE. PURPLE AND BLUE ARE OKAY. FINALLY, PINK TILES. THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING. STEP ON THEM ALL YOU LIKE. HOW WAS THAT, UNDERSTAND?" He asked, winded from all the explaining. Ruby paused for a moment, and then smiled.
"Yep, all set." She stated with a smile. Papyrus nodded.
"GREAT! THEN THERE'S ONE LAST THING. THIS PUZZLE IS COMPLETELY RANDOM! WHEN I PULL THIS SWITCH, IT WILL MAKE A PUZZLE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE, AND PROBABLY WILL NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN. NOT EVEN I KNOW THE SOLUTION! NYEH HEH HEH! GET READY!" He concluded with a smile. Ruby waited nervously as tiles lit up and started shifting around. The tiles were changing more and more, faster and faster, until it stopped on a clear path of solid pink surrounded by two paths of red. To say it was anti-climactic was an understatement. Papyrus was embarrassed, and hid it by spinning his way out of the area. Ruby face palmed and walked the path. Sans gestured for her to approach.
"Actually, that spaghetti from earlier wasn't too bad for my brother. Since he started his cooking lessons he's been improving a lot. Who knows, maybe if he keeps it up, next year he might be able to make something edible." He shrugged with a smile.
"You got me there. To be honest, if it wasn't stuck to the table I still wouldn't eat it." Ruby agreed. Sans nodded.
"I gag when I eat his food, and I don't have a tongue, but he loves it." Sans went pale with the thought. Ruby smiled. Saying their goodbyes, Ruby moved on to the next room.
"This is... creepy..." Ruby shuddered. Surrounding her were a bunch of broken dog statues. Heads were here, discarded necks there. It looked like it was right out of a horror movie. Finding a save point, she walked to it.
"Knowing that dog will never give up trying to make the perfect snowdog fills you with DETERMINATION."
She walked up to a deer monster. The lady seemed saddened by something.
"A dog just rushed in here, filled with inspiration." The deer sighed. "It kept trying to build a snowdog that expressed its own emotions. But as it built, it grew more and more excited about the sculpture. Its neck kept getting longer and longer, it added more snow until..." She trailed off, getting lost in the tragedy of the dog artist. "It was rather sad to watch." Ruby nodded and placed a hand on the deer's shoulder.
"Geez it's just snow sculptures. You'd think that the deer was talking about someone failing to save a monster that fell down." Chara sighed.
Ruby was confused, but didn't comment further on the subject. Continuing on, Ruby paused at the sight of another switch puzzle. She examined it; looking for a pattern before thinking she saw the answer. She miscalculated her descent and fell over the edge, falling to the snow down below. She saw a snow sculpture of Papyrus and a simple snowpoff with the name 'Sans' written on it in red marker. She took a selfie with the Papyrus statue and went back uphill. She calculated her descent better and managed to solve the puzzle, sliding down the newly formed bridge. She felt something on her head and realized it was snow in the shape of a dog. Weird. She came across a room that was filled with snowpoffs. The second last one she looked at was filled with 30g, while the last one had a puppy in it... that was in a ginormous suit of armour...
"And I thought I'd seen it all at this point..." Ruby muttered as she and the Greater Dog engaged in combat.
The Greater Dog (yes that's the actual name) was huge. Ruby still thought it was adorable though. She beckoned it and pet it a lot. The dog looked like it wanted to play.
"You wanna play big guy?"She cooed, making a snowball and throwing it. The Greater Dog ran off and grabbed all the snow then dumped it on Ruby's head, panting. It appears to be tired. Ruby started petting it. It sunk its entire weight into her, making her feel heavy. Though the dog wasn't as heavy as Ruby thought it would be. She kept petting it, but Greater Dog still wasn't pet enough. Finally, pet capacity was at 100%. Ruby spared it and moved on.
"That dog is so CUTE!" She cooed, wiping the slobber off her nose. Chara was giggling.
"Yeah, he really was. But still, that'swhat our royal guard has become? I think Papyrus would be better off as a royal guardsman, and he doesn't appear that competent."
"Yeah, I kind of have to agree with you there." Ruby sighed in agreement as she was walking on a surprisingly sturdy wooden bridge. That was when she noticed...
"HUMAN!" Yep, it was Papyrus. "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!" He exclaimed dramatically, pressing a button. The gauntlet consisted of cannons, spears, fired, swinging maces... a dog on a string... other than that it was threatening. "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE, SPIKES WILL SWING, AND BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE AT VICTORY WILL REMAIN! ARE YOU READY? BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!"
"Well? What's the holdup?" Sans asked with a smirk, tapping his slippered foot on the ground. Papyrus was temporarily lost for words, as if he was caught in a lie.
"HOLDUP? WHAT HOLDUP? I'M, I'm ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW, SEE!" The tall skeleton replied with a slight blush on his cheekbones. He was embarrassed.
"That doesn't seem very activated." Ruby quipped, seeming bored and amused by the skeleton's antics. Papyrus looked at her in shock.
"WELL! THIS CHALLENGE! IT SEEMS... MAYBE... TOO EASY TO DEFEAT YOU WITH. YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED!" Ruby was trying very hard to hold in laughter. It's noble for him to do and all, but the speedster was in no danger. Chara however was dying of laughter, making Ruby find difficulty in listening to the skeleton. "THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT, NO CLASS AT ALL! AND AWAY IT GOES!" He cheered, putting the trap away. Ruby stared up to the cave ceiling in confusion. Where did the trap come from? "PHEW..." Papyrus sighed, wiping sweat from his forehead. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" He asked defensively, noticing Ruby staring at him. "THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH! HEH... HEH?" He sighed, running off. Ruby finished crossing the bridge.
"I don't know what my brother is going to do now." Sans sighed. "If I were you, I'd make sure I understand blue attacks."
"Will do, thanks Sans." Ruby smiled, giving the skeleton a small fist bump before moving on.