Chapter 7: Bravery Shining Through

The five Royal Guard dogs stood to attention and activated the FIGHT sequence. Kayla's face fell. "No!" She protested. "I don't want to fight you!"

"I'm afraid you have to," Dogaressa said, though her voice was soft.

"Humans must be brought to Undyne or the King," Doggo said.

Dogamy was saddened, but pulled out his weapons, as did Lesser Dog and Greater Dog. Kayla had tears in her eyes, seeing there was no way around this and worst of all, Papyrus was standing there, looking shocked and he had a long femur bone in his hands, ready to battle Kayla after the battle.

"I don't want to fight," she repeated. "Please."

"You have no choice," Greater Dog said.

With that, weapons began swinging from the dogs and Kayla jumped back, pulling up her hood and her hands glowed with her reflective magic. Spinning and throwing up her hands, she warded off the attacks, but knew she had to conserve her energy and think fast.

Papyrus was watching Kayla and noticed her fearful expression, which made him wonder if she had been in a fight with monsters before. She certainly looked like she didn't want to fight and her magic was unusual, reflecting back attacks. This made him even more curious as the pups gathered behind him, looking a bit fearful themselves.

Sans hid nearby, seeing Kayla was afraid and she was doing her best to keep her reflective magic going and possibly use her protective magic. "Hang on, kid," he whispered, the wind carrying his voice to her. "You can do it. You're very smart. Use your magic wisely but be careful. It can drain you. Try to use what knowledge you have in this battle and take on the dogs one at a time. They won't gang up on you if you're battling one of them. They'll wait until either you or their companion win."

Tears had gathered in Kayla's eyes, but as she heard Sans' encouraging words, she took a deep breath, calling up her protective magic and then her reflective magic, either mixing them up or using them in tandem, something she had been working on and River Person helped her with. Sans grinned, seeing that the girl was using the magics very carefully and in tandem. "Good job, kid."

As the magics became a bit easier for Kayla to call up, she became a bit more confident and remembered that Lesser Dog loved being petted and then she remembered most dogs loved belly rubs. "Well, it's worth a shot if I can get close enough," she said to herself.

Moving rapidly, she reflected another attack from Lesser Dog and slid underneath him, reaching up and starting to rub his belly, hoping he'd stop and perhaps flop over. The moment she began rubbing his belly, he stopped and cocked his head to the side before suddenly flopping over, panting happily and one of his back legs began shaking. Kayla giggled at seeing that and continued rubbing his belly, seeing him drop his weapons and grin as she continued.

Kayla sighed in relief and decided to keep it up until the spare option came up and Sans chuckled from his hiding place. "Not only smart, but brave too," he said to himself. Usually when fighting the dogs, not many were willing to get close to try and use something a dog loved to get them to stop fighting. But the girl was proving she was brave and wanting to make friends instead of fighting.

Lesser Dog was happy with the belly rub and spared her, which filled the girl with relief and she hit the spare option too, but then she turned to the other four dogs and Papyrus, all silent reminders that the battle wasn't over yet. Quickly, she pulled out some candy and ate it, feeling her strength returning and she turned to face the others. Dogamy charged next and Kayla quickly ducked, jumping onto his back and quickly began scratching his back.

Unexpectedly, he flopped down, making her yelp in surprise at the sudden movement, but she kept up the gentle scratching and he was panting happily after a moment. "Oh, down a little," he requested and she moved her hands down a bit and he sighed in happiness, laying flat in the snow. Kayla couldn't help gigging a little at his funny antics and she felt relief that the back scratch tactic worked, but she still had three more dogs and Papyrus to battle.

Dogamy soon arched his back and she carefully jumped off. "Did you like that?" She asked him.

"Yes," he said. "I haven't had a good back scratch in a while. Do you think I could have one from you now and again?"

"Sure," she agreed.

Happy, Dogamy spared her and she spared him and turned to the others. "Two down, four to go," she said to herself.

Sans decided to see about giving Kayla some hints and saw Greater Dog coming towards the girl. "Greater Dog is really a big softie," he whispered. "Comment on his armor and see if you can give him an ear scratch."

Observing battles and the fighters had come in handy for Sans, so he knew what the dogs liked and what could get them to stop fighting and perhaps spare their opponent, especially if the opponent didn't want to fight. Kayla, hearing Sans' words as the wind carried them to her, looked up at the large dog guard. "You look like a strong protector," she said to him. "The king must be very proud to have such a strong fighter willing to be one of his royal guard."

Greater Dog seemed quite pleased with her flattery. "I am one of the strongest," he said.

Kayla smiled. "I'm sure you are," she said, moving closer slowly. "Strong. Willing to defend the kingdom. Bravely standing against enemies and not letting any fear show. No doubt enemies feel intimidated and think twice about their actions when facing you."

The dog's fur fluffed out in pride. "I have scared away many an intruder," he said, which was true and stood proudly with his head high. "They take one look at me and flee."

Seeing she was close enough, Kayla reached up and began gently scratching his neck. Surprised, he turned to her, but then leaned into her hand. "Would you scratch me ears?" He asked hopefully.

She saw she wasn't quite tall enough. "I'd love to, but I can't quite reach them," she said.

Greater Dog spotted a tree stump nearby and pointed to it. "That tree stump might help," he said.

"Good idea."

With that, she went over and climbed up on the stump, which gave her the right height to now scratch Greater Dog's ears and she began doing that, making him pant happily and lean his head into her hand, making her giggle.

They're really just like normal dogs, she thought to herself. They love attention and belly rubs, back scratches, and ear scratches.

Sans chuckled again. "She's doing really good," he said with a nod.

Greater Dog spared Kayla and she too spared him before facing Doggo and had an idea. One thing she knew a father loved was being told praise about his children or how he was raising them. She smiled. "Your children are absolutely adorable," she said. "I've never seen such cuter puppies than them."

Hearing that, Doggo felt his pride swell. "They are one of the best things that ever happened to me," he said. "Along with my beautiful wife."

Kayla smiled again. "A strong knight she adores and knows her children will grow up to be just like their father, proud and strong."

That tickled Doggo's ego and he grinned. "I do my best," he answered modestly.

Another smiled came to her face. "You definitely have," she responded.

Liking her praise, Doggo spared her and with a deep breath, Kayla turned to Dogaressa, unsure about how to battle the mother, but just then, the female guard dog surprised her. "You defeated my associates with cleverness and without harming them and you even stopped my husband from attacking you. You're a very clever human," she said.

"Thank you," the girl said. "I do try."

Dogaressa looked curious. "Did you really mean that you had never seen cuter pups than my own?" She asked.

"Yes," Kayla responded honestly. "They are very adorable."

With a nod, Dogaressa spared her. "Perhaps there are some good humans after all," she said, walking away, calling her pups to follow as they caught up with the rest of the Royal Guard.

Kayla now looked over at Papyrus, who looked unsure about battling her, but then sighed, giving her an apologetic look and activating the FIGHT.

The girl felt her heart drop in fear, having hoped that in proving herself with battling the dogs, the skeleton would change his mind, but it seemed that wasn't the case. She had to get through to him another way.

And she had to think fast as Papyrus' attacks started flying towards her.

Oh, dear! Can Kayla convince Papyrus that they can be friends too? Stay tuned to find out! :)

And please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418