Disclaimer: Undertale doesn't belong to me. Also happy belated holidays!

-Chapter 11: Bonetrousle Blues-

Finally well enough to move freely on my own, I found myself in a curious position. Frisk had somehow roped me into helping Papyrus with cooking lessons. According to Papyrus, he was already getting private cooking lessons from Captain Undyne, but Frisk had managed to convince him that it couldn't hurt to have additional classes. So he could 'wow Undyne with how far he'd come' as Frisk put it.

Appealing to Papyrus's ambition had clearly been a good move, because his enthusiasm had never been higher. Unfortunately, it also meant he was blasting through ingredients at a record speed... and that meant someone needed to go get more. Sans was a no-go for that since he was god knows where right now, doing god knows what. That left the duty to fall to me.

This gave me a wonderful chance to really look around Snowdin, so I was all for it. Really a rather small place once you got to really look at it. About 5 or 6 houses, counting the bone brothers, a library (with the sign inexplicably spelled librarby instead), A station with a conveyor and a wolf monster constantly chucking blocks of ice brought up from it into the river, a dock which seemed rather disused, Grillby's, a quaint but cozy looking inn, and the general store which was my destination.

I unfortunately found myself completely entranced and confounded by a rabbit-woman walking a smaller rabbit on a leash. Pet? Kin? I couldn't be sure. That quickly became not my priority though as I nearly tripped over a monster about Frisk's size. Stumbling briefly, I quickly righted myself and caught them to keep them from falling themselves.

"Yo! You got like, crazy fast reflexes there! Thanks for catching me." They were pretty unassuming in appearance all considered. A yellow, reptilian monster with no arms, a tail, and spikes on the back of their head. A yellow and brown striped poncho of rather distinct make that they were wearing caught my eye though. It reminded me a bit of the garbs said to be worn by a tribe that supposedly lived near the mountain.

"No problem, kid. It's my fault for not watching where I was walking anyways." A big wide grin graced his face. Damn this monster kid was infectiously cheerful. "Dude, you're totally Frisk's friend aren't you." I blinked in surprise. "Wait, you two know each other? When'd that happen?"

They trundled along after me as we talked. How did they get by without arms? Then again, if I grew up without arms I'm sure I would have figured out some way to manage. Human or monster, people can be very adaptive to adversity. "Yeah dude... Er... I mean dudette? Met them a few days ago and we really hit it off. Real bummer about you getting super sick, there. Seems you're all better now though."

I shrugged. "Pretty much over it now. Not like I'd want to stay in bed all day for the rest of my life." The young monster gave a small hum to themselves, nodding slightly. "Yeah. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't able to get out and play." He tilted his head. "Hey. You got a striped shirt too. Does that mean you're also a kid?"

Oh. Right. I still had that on, didn't I. "Not quite anymore. I just never got around to changing it for something non-striped." A bit of a half-truth. I hadn't actually put much thought into my attire. There was... much more pressing matters at the time. Well, another thing to pick up on this trip then.

I carefully weighed my feelings on Papyrus as well at this moment. The monster kid was saying something but it only came through as a distant din as I walked. Was my feelings for the taller skeleton more than just a passing fancy? A crush brought on by the uncontrolled hormones of coming of age?

That would definitely take some time to think over and sort out. Then there was the matter of me being a human... but that was far more easily resolved in my head. If I was going to make myself a lifetime partner to someone it was for sure going to be a monster. My experiences with humans, Frisk aside, left something to be desired to put it lightly.

The fact Frisk likely had similar experiences with humanity, given that they had decided to join me down here, only reinforced that for me. Which isn't to say I hadn't known some decent people... but to paraphrase a phrase a bit, "if you wish in one hand and shit in the other, which would fill up first?"

I couldn't help but grimace a bit at that thought. That negative mindset didn't have a place in my life anymore. I had a future now. I had hope. Me and the kid just needed to make it to the capital and convince the king to let us stay here. Mom was worried about him, but from everything I'd heard he was a kind and reasonable man. I'd just need to convince him to let us stay while I helped work out a way to break the barrier.

That was the plan anyways. On top of not getting killed by my hopefully future employers, and whatever those demons were. If we were gonna survive till then we needed to be prepared though. As it went, our current supplies were not gonna cut it, and my tote bag wasn't gonna hold up for carrying what we'd need. Not with how beat up it was from the last few years.

"Yo. I just noticed you got the Delta Rune on your coat. Are you in the royal guard or something?" His eyes sparkled hopefully. "Well, not quite yet I'm not. Some day soon though I hope." He became a bit disappointed. "Aw man. So you don't actually know Ms. Undyne then. She's like... the coolest! I wanna meet her some day!"

Ho boy. I knew a bad case of hero worship when I saw it, and he had it for Undyne BAD. " Tell you what. When I make royal guard I'll personally introduce you to her." Provided she didn't wind up sticking my head on a pike first and handing my soul to the king of course. Still a bit mixed with my feelings about that.

I had managed to piece together a bit of why the king made that decree on humanity. Losing a kid really messes with your emotions as a parent. It seemed to have given the residents of the underground a degree of hope as well. The idea that one day that barrier could actually be taken down.

The knee jerk reaction, being a human would of course normally be to be terrified, indignant, or something of the sort I'm sure, but I could see the other side of things. This wasn't exactly a black and white issue. A hefty load of grey with a lot of ancient bad blood. Perhaps I was a fool, but I had a feeling that I could be the one to do something about that. Moreso, Frisk could. The scholar seemed to be a natural at the whole peacemaker deal.

My train of thought was derailed by the kid making a particularly excited squealing. "Wow! You'll really do that for me?!" An encouraging thumbs up. Hope and enthusiasm like that... I wasn't going to let that down. "Sure. You're down with Frisk, so that makes you alright in my book."

A bit after that they shuffled nervously and looked to make sure no one else was listening before whispering in a slightly awed tone. "Yo... I was wondering but... are you a human?" My heart jumped right up into my throat at that. "Where did you..." Had Frisk somehow let that slip to them? Did they trust the kid that much? "What if I am? Will you be afraid of me?"

I watched his reaction carefully. If he decided to turn me in there wasn't much I could do about it. I wasn't going to be a child murderer. The very thought of pulling my knife on him filled my throat with stinging bile. They took a bit of a gulp, seeming about as nervous on the outside as I felt inside. "No. You're like... not a bad person. Besides, those demons are scarier. Are you... gonna fight them? Frisk said you were gonna."

I cracked a warm smile to him. "The underground's my home too, kid. Heck yeah I'm gonna kick their butts." And possibly get the bejesus smacked out of me in return, but I let that go unspoken. "Haha! Alright! You really are cool, like Frisk said!"

"I try... but now I'm gonna have to do something super uncool." I gave him a sympathetic smile. "You should probably go home. It's not exactly safe to stick around outside right now, and I don't want to worry about you getting caught in the crossfire if a demon decides to attack." Oof... the look of disappointment on his face tugged at my heart a bit.

"Aw man... but I wanna see you fight 'em!" I gave a soft sigh, shaking my head. "Kid... this isn't like some game. They won't go easy on you because you're a child like in the story books. They are vicious and brutal, and they will have no qualms with trying to dust you or me. I'm not going to let a child die on my account." I was determined not to let that happen.

"...Alright, dudette. Don't you forget about what you promised though!" And with that he was off. In time for me to stop outside the local shop. Pushing the door open, I was greeted by a small bell jingling the first few bars of a tune that I couldn't place but... I knew I'd heard it somewhere before. I was also greeted by the warmth of being indoors. Which was nice.

A rather pleasant looking bunny-woman was managing the counter, a couple of what I presumed were her children playing around the store. "Hello, traveler. How can I help you?" I nodded slightly. "Yeah. I need to pick up a few things. Some of it's for a friend, some of it's for the journey ahead."

She gave a thoughtful hum, slightly adjusting her straw sun hat. "I can't say I remember the last time I saw a fresh face around here. Where you from, stranger?" I looked over a scroll hanging from a corner of the shop near the counter bearing the Delta Rune. Royal guard recruitment poster of sorts. "The Ruins, why?" She seemed more than a little shocked.

"Folks still live there? Well I'll be..." I started picking out the ingredients I was asked to get, eyeing a tomato to make sure it wasn't blighted in any way. "Yeah. Not so many as in it's heyday though." I wasn't gonna take a perfect one and have it go to waste in training.

"Right... when it used to be called just home. Now they call it Verlorenheim." She hummed a bit to herself, as the kids ran out the door to play outside in the snow. "Between that and the current capital, New Home, makes you wonder how long it is we gotta keep on running..." I just shrugged in response. "I guess. I would liked to have seen the surface capital, Unserheim, in it's prime myself."

Noticing some rather thick and tough looking gloves, I grabbed a pair for myself and Frisk. It'd help guard against the cold. "So." I started as I tried them on. A bit tight and stiff. They'd need breaking in. "How's life treating you down here?" The shop keeper did a 'what can you do?' type shrug. "Life is the same as usual. A little claustrophobic... But...we all know deep down that freedom is coming, don't we?"

I gave a non-committal hum as I picked up a sewing kit. "As long as we got that hope, we can grit our teeth and face the same struggles, day after day... That's life, ain't it?" I nodded, taking a roll of cloth and some thick fur to line the sleeves and hood of my jacket with, placing my purchases on the counter. "I suppose it is." I picked out a couple warm bunny shaped cinnamon rolls as well. Some food for the road.

As she tallied up the cost my eyes were drawn to a rainbow pattern scarf. It seemed rather weather worn but... "That caught your eye?" She held it up, her words snapping me out of my reverie. "Where did you get it?" I asked on impulse. She gently placed it on the counter.

Gently she laid it out in full. " Well Y'see... my grand pappy was out hunting one day. Found it hanging from a tree branch. Looked like it'd been there a little while and didn't feel quite right leaving it there in the middle of the woods so he took it back with him. Felt like there was something to it and there's no way the owner would find it anyways if he left it there. Been in the family ever since."

Her eyes bored into me a bit as she became thoughtful. "Tell you what. I'll throw it in for free. Been in the family long enough, and I get the feeling you'll get it to the right place. Besides, it's cold out there and you aren't one of us furred folk, so you'll need the extra warmth." I blinked in surprise at her. "Umm... thanks I suppose?"

Handing her the money for my goods, more than half what I had left, I gathered the stuff up and got ready to set out. "Bye now! Be sure to come visit us again!" she called out cheerily after me. "I'll be sure to!" I called back, before stepping into the cold a bit warmer than before.

The trip back was uneventful and ingredients were delivered. I handed Frisk the stuff I got for them as well. They nodded softly, taking the goods gently. "Thanks..." they barely even whispered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Papyrus on a phone. He seemed worried. Well as worried as a skeleton can be, and flinched every now and then, casting glances my way. Either something was going bad on Sans's end or Undyne was giving him hell. Whichever case clearly my time in Snowdin was almost up.

Given I had to carry at least half the stuff in my arms back, now was time for an upgrade to my bag, so the rest of the afternoon was spent sewing a rucksack together from the cloth and the tote bag, with some limited success. The result was a bag that was at least able to carry more without getting in my way as much. The fur lining for the hood was understandably less simple to manage, but I managed to get by with that as well by the time dinner rolled around.

Unlike the last few times, there was a very tense atmosphere hanging about the room. Even Sans wasn't as witty and wisecracking as usual. On the bright side, Frisk had at least managed to help Papyrus cook something which could be called edible.

The night went and day came. I got up early, waking Frisk so we could get going. Checking to see if the skeleton brothers were home so we could say our goodbyes, and I could finally get my thoughts off my chest, I found that neither of them were.

This wasn't exactly ideal, but it was time to go and I at least had Sans's number so I could call them if I needed to. It was a quiet morning. No one in particular was out and about yet besides me and Frisk. Almost eerie how empty the town seemed.

As we worked our way to the edge of town towards Waterfall a fog started to set in. It became hard to see even a foot in front of me. Eventually I was able to make out a tall silhouette. Papyrus? "Human... Chara..."

I gulped slightly. " Allow me to tell you about some complex feelings... Feelings like... the joy of finding another pasta lover. The admiration of another's puzzle-solving skills. The desire to have a cool, smart person think you are cool... " My heart caught in my throat. Was he... confessing?

"Papyrus..." He held up a hand to silence me, before continuing. "These feelings... They must be what you are feeling right now. They must be, because I feel them as well. You've made me realize something, humans. We are all three of us very lonely." Papyrus stepped closer, a bit more visible in the mists which had started to clear.

"Worry not. You shall be lonely no longer! I, the great Papyrus will be your... No... No, this is all wrong." One of his gloved hands claws at his skull in frustration. My heart dropped like a stone. "I can't be your friend! You are humans! My duty is to capture you! Then I can finally fulfill my lifelong dream! All I have to do is subdue you for Undyne and..." Despite his declaration, Papyrus seemed terribly conflicted.

Hearing him say the word friend rather than... something else. It should have stung more... but it kinda took a weight off my shoulders. It probably would have sucked more if not for the fact that I was now pulled into a battle with Papyrus... I'd get my thoughts sorted out after this.

I hesitated, my breath held, as he made his first move... slow moving high and low bone shaped projectiles that were easy enough to duck and jump over. I refused to fight back. Maybe we didn't share any feelings for each other but he was still my friend, even if he was being stubborn about that. The last few days spoke stronger than his words.

"So you won't fight... Then, let's see if you can handle my fabled 'blue attack'!" Blue. Blue stop sign. Right, Sans warned me about this one. I held stock still as he launched a wave of pale blue bones at me, and in spite of them hitting me, I was left unscathed...

But it turned out it wasn't that simple. Suddenly my normally red soul turned a dark blue and I was yanked down by it into the snow as it suddenly felt like it weighed as much as two bowling balls. Gritting my teeth, I managed to get back to standing with some serious effort. "You're blue now! That's my attack! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!" I was gonna kill Sans next time I saw him.

It took all my strength to manage to dive out of the way of his otherwise simple attacks now. I was too busy trying to keep alive to really pay mind to what he was now rambling about. Something about the king trimming a hedge in the shape of his smile? Said smile started to waver.

"I'll have lots of admirers but... Will anyone like me as sincerely as you? Someone like you is really rare... " I gritted my teeth as a bone slammed into me. Where the heck did Frisk go in the midst of all this? " Papyrus! You don't have to do this." He let up on his offensive somewhat.

I took the chance to stuff a cinnamon bunny into my mouth. Still warm thanks to the magic in it, and I could feel my injuries sorting themselves out a bit. "Chara, please just give up." He bit out, not as much his usual carefree self. "Please give up, or I'll have to use my special attack."

By this point the battle had ground to a halt. "I can't do that, Papyrus. There's too much riding on this for me to give up." Frisk had appeared back on the scene, sticking behind me now. " Very soon I'll use it, Chara...!" Papyrus held a hand high. A good 30 seconds passed. " Not too long and I'll use that special attack!"

I grimaced against the cold and stood my ground. " This is your last chance, humans...!" I extended my hand to Papyrus. "Papyrus! You don't have to prove anything to anyone here. You're our friend! We believe in you! So please...!" Papyrus's raised hand shook and he squeezed his eyes closed before letting his hand drop. The dense effect of his 'blue attack' faded, my soul returning to it's usual red color.

"I... I can't do it. I can't hurt you... Undyne will be so disappointed in me... and I'll never get to join the royal guard." I could say something... but actions speak louder than words. I pulled that big dumb skeleton into a hug. "Papyrus... We're friends. Just keep that chin up. We'll find a way to work stuff out." Frisk went ahead hugging one of his legs as well.

"Really...? You want to be friends with me? Well then... I... I guess I can make an allowance for you! " Papyrus cheered proudly. "Who knew that all I needed to make some friends was to give people awful puzzles and fight them!" Oh Papyrus. The more things change...

"As your friend, I hereby grant you permission to continue forward! Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be at home being a cool friend! Good luck, dear friends! Oh, and here's my number. Call me ANY time!" With that, Papyrus was off again, having handed me a slip of paper with his number on it, pasta sauce stained of course.

Having pocketed it, Frisk and I went forth. The snowy forest giving way to dark blueish stoned cave with the river from Snowdin rushing by, large chunks of ice floating in it. Small glowing crystals dotted the walls as we walked past and the chill started to die down some, though not enough that the scarf and coat were uncomfortable.

I had a feeling that from this point on all bets were off. We had it easy up until now, but beyond this point we would have to deal with the likes of the royal guard and no doubt demons. The fact that I hadn't encountered one since the Ruins was cause for concern.

Having a chance to finally think and reflect on what happened, the emotional payload finally hit me, and a bitter melancholy settled onto my soul. Did falling out of love always hurt this bad? Even when the relationship didn't really go anywhere? My realization that Papyrus could never feel the way I had about him for a time must have been obvious on my face, because Frisk had keyed into it. "U-um... Ms. knight... are you gonna be ok?" Frisk gently held one of my coat sleeves.

Kid... I steeled myself. Wake up, Chara. It was silly and stupid thinking you could get with Papyrus anyways. Biting down those bitter feelings, I resolved myself with the fact that it was just a passing fancy. I'd know for sure when I saw someone I really had feeling for instead. "Yeah, scholar... I'm gonna be alright. We're both gonna be alright..." It hurt, even if it had been a silly and stupid hormone driven crush with someone I shared so little in common with, but I'd survive.

I exchanged a glance with Frisk. It seemed they knew we were going to be in for a rough time as well. Still... I was about as ready as I ever was going to be. The sting of falling out of love still nipped at my heart a bit, but the knowledge of what I was trying to accomplish... it filled me with the determination to move on.

Catching glimpses of something small and yellow trailing behind us out of the corner of my eye did not set my mind at ease though. I'd catch just the barest of a glimpse of them burrowing into the ground to hide if I looked quick enough. That little snake of a flower was following us! Next corner, I was gonna try to catch them and get them talking... they knew way more than they let on.

MsYakumo: As it happens, I am not in fact dead. I got blindsided by a combination of needing to drop everything to handle the holidays and a rather persistent writer's block. I hope this chapter will prove enjoyable for you as something of a post-holiday surprise.