Chapter 3: Grinning Skulls
Frisk moved along the path that Toriel had shown her, pulling her scarf a little more securely around her neck, feeling the cold air against her cheeks and nose. She looked up and spotted the two children she had seen earlier. "Hey!" She called out to them, running up to them.
The goat boy turned and his eyes widened while the girl's eyes grew fearful and she hid behind the goat, who noticed the winter clothing Frisk now had on, recognizing it to be from Toriel, his mother. The ten-year-old girl finally caught up to them and looked at them. "I saw you before," she said. "Does Toriel know about you two?"
"How do you know Toriel?" The red-eyed girl behind the goat asked her.
"I met up with her in the Ruins," Frisk answered. "She gave me the winter clothes."
The goat boy now spoke up. "Are you going to free us?" He asked.
"Yes," she said instantly.
"How?" He asked.
"I don't know," the brown-eyed girl admitted. "But I won't give up."
The two were stunned by her answer and suddenly took off, but before she could ask them what was wrong, the goat boy turned back to her. "Don't tell anyone about us!" He called back to her.
She nodded, curious, but deciding to keep her promise, realizing that the master Toriel had been speaking of must be searching for the two children, but she had to wonder who they were. They knew Toriel. Maybe she was their mother. That thought made her resolve harden to get the monsters free of their master. From what Toriel had told her, he was very cruel.
As she was walking, she didn't notice anything unusual, thanks to the snow, which was why a moment later, she screamed as a rope wrapped around her ankle and she was suspended in the air right under a very thick tree branch. After a moment, she glanced up to see if she could get free of the rope, but she instantly saw that it was a complicated knot and the wet snow had soaked into the rope, making it harder to get loose from.
Frisk hung upside down again and took some deep breaths to stop herself from getting dizzy when all of a sudden, she saw two skeletons coming towards her. Stunned, she went still a moment before renewing her struggles to get free of the trap. The short skeleton, who wore a long-sleeved blue shirt, blue jeans, a blue scarf around his neck, and blue slippers, chuckled. "Something bugging you, kid?" He asked with a smile, pulling out a fake bug from his pocket and showing it to her. She gave him an unamused look that actually made him laugh again, but her eyes went wide with fear when she saw he was an actual skeleton, something she didn't think was possible. Frightened, she began struggling harder.
The taller skeleton, who was wearing a long-sleeved orange shirt, orange jeans, an orange scarf around his neck, and orange boots, looked at her with narrowed eyes before he recognized the signs of her shutting down as fear was taking over. Worried, he kneeled down and gently grabbed her, lifting her up into his arms so that she was right-side-up, but the rope was still around her ankle. He gently hugged her, something that seem to cut through her fear and made her stop struggling. "What's wrong, young one?" He asked, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, activating his ability. Frisk began to calm down as the hug began soothing her fear and he stroked her head. "Who are you, little one?" He asked, his voice now a soothing coo.
Something about his voice made her feel safe with him and she rested her head on his shoulder. Seeing this, the tall skeleton smiled, glad that his power of encouraging emotions was helping her. "Frisk," she answered his second question.
"Frisk, why are you afraid of Sans and I?" He asked gently.
She hugged his neck a bit tighter, something Sans noticed and came up to them. "You okay, kid? You're clinging pretty hard to Papyrus," he said.
She was quiet for a moment. "I'm afraid of skeletons," she said softly.
Papyrus looked at her. "Why?" He asked, his voice still soothing.
Frisk sniffled. "When I was littler, one of the bullies at school locked me in a storage closet with fake skeletons, but the fake skeletons looked really real and it was scary," she said.
The brothers looked at each other, understanding on their faces before they turned their attention back to the child and Sans undid the rope from around her ankle. "Hey, kid. My bro and I aren't scary if you mean well," he said, his tone friendly.
She looked at him. "What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well, if you mean no ill towards us, then you don't have to be afraid of us, kid," he answered. "Really, we're harmless."
While that helped a little, Frisk didn't feel completely better. "I want to go home," she said with a whimper. "That's all I want."
Sans looked at Papyrus and nodded. "She's an honest kid," he whispered to the taller skeleton. "But she needs a big pick-me-up right now."
His younger brother nodded and gently stroked Frisk's head to get her attention and she looked up at him. "Frisk, can Sans and I help you to feel better?" He asked.
She sniffled again. "I…I'd like that," she said softly.
The two grinned and began walking towards a building that had been abandoned sometime back, but was structurally sound and the heating still worked. Going to the structure, Papyrus walked inside and held Frisk as Sans turned the heat on so that the room would be warm. The old couch was still there and thankfully still soft and comfortable as the tall skeleton sat down with Frisk in his arms while Sans sat beside them. As the room got warmer, the young girl removed the heavy winter coat, scarf, hat, and her gloves, leaning against Papyrus' side and hugging him, to which he returned the hug before smiling and lifting her up before placing her in his lap and holding her in a gentle bear hug. "I've got her, Sans," he said.
The short skeleton chuckled. "Good," he said, moving closer and reaching forward, his fingers gently poking Frisk's sides and she squirmed, a small giggle escaping her. "Ah, good. You're ticklish."
The brown-eyed girl giggled and squirmed as Sans kept up the gentle pokes to her sides, ribs, and stomach. "Well, if you're giggling from just this, then you'll no doubt be a barrel full of laughs when Pap and I tickle your funny bone."
His teasing only made her giggles grow and Papyrus, who decided to tolerate his brother's puns because they were helping Frisk feel better, moved his hands so that his fingers could gently poke the child's underarms. She quickly pressed her arms tight to her body when he did that, her giggles growing a bit louder. "Shall we, brother?" He asked his older sibling.
"Oh, yes," Sans said with a grin, now wiggling his fingers into the young girl's stomach. The big laugh she let out before trying to stop his hands proved that he had just found her ultimate tickle spot. "Oh, your little tummy's very ticklish, huh?" He asked teasingly. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo! Gonna tickle your little tummy!"
Frisk laughed harder now from that and from Papyrus tickling her underarms and keeping her from trying to protect her stomach and making her scrunch up her neck when he sneakily began blowing raspberries into her neck. Sans grinned at seeing what his younger brother was doing and moved the young girl's red shirt up just a little so that her tender stomach was exposed along with her belly button and he began wiggling his finger gently into her belly button.
A loud giggling squeal left the young girl's throat as she squirmed even more now, but was trapped in Papyrus' ticklish hold and Sans grinned widely. "Brace yourself, kiddo, because here comes a tickle monster's secret and most favorite weapon," he said teasingly before leaning toward her stomach and blowing the biggest raspberry he could right onto her exposed belly button. Frisk almost left her skin as she squealed her loudest and almost squirmed free, but the two skeletons didn't let her get away from them. However, they did give her a breather and she lay still for a bit, giggling a little before giving them a hopeful look.
"Can you guys…do that again?" She asked.
The answering grins told her their answer and a moment later, she was laughing as they playfully tickled her again, this time including her feet, which Sans made sure got plenty of tickles while Papyrus found out that Frisk's shoulder blades were ticklish and mercilessly tickled her there, making her arch her back to get away from him, but in doing so, she also left her stomach open for Sans to blow a big raspberry into, which made her fall back against Papyrus and squirm again, her cute giggles and laughter filling up the room until the two stopped, seeing their little ticklee was getting a bit tired.
After a bit, she sat up. "Hey, I was wondering something," she said.
"What?" Papyrus asked.
"Do you guys know how I got down here?"
At that question, they were silent before Sans sighed. "Sorry, kiddo, we don't," he said, although both skeletons did know, but were afraid Alphys would get hurt more if they did tell Frisk. The short skeleton however got an idea. "But, I can give you something so that you're not alone when you travel."
Frisk perked up at that and Sans took her small hands in his, holding them with her palms upward and a moment later, a small Gaster Blaster appeared in the young girl's hands. It was no bigger than a small bird and had a light blue outline surrounding it. "This Gaster Blaster is a gift for you," the short skeleton said with a smile. "He'll keep you safe and has the ability to create twisters."
The young girl's face was filled with awe as she gently petted the Blaster, who flew up to her face and nuzzled her cheek, making her giggle happily. "I'm going to call him Twister," she said before hugging Sans. "Thank you, Sans."
He returned the hug. "You're welcome, kiddo," he said, rubbing her back gently.
Papyrus smiled and his smile grew when Frisk hugged him. "Thank you, Papyrus."
"You're welcome, Frisk," he said happily before looking at Sans. "Brother, do you suppose…?"
Sans nodded. "Come on, Frisk. Let's get you back in your winter clothes for now," he said. "Pap and I will take you to the next part of the Underground."
Nodding, the brown-eyed girl put her winter gear back on and Sans teleported them all to Waterfall. "Okay, follow the path here," the short skeleton said to Frisk. "And be careful."
She nodded. "I will," she said. "And I'll free all the monsters down here. I promise."
"You be sure to keep that promise, kiddo," Sans said to her in a slightly stern warning and Papyrus nodded. Frisk also nodded and watched them disappear before she began following the path they had told her to follow.
Sans was exhausted by the time they got to their master's lair and Papyrus helped him up, knowing that with the bracelet-like chains on them restricting their powers, using their abilities too much would exhaust them. They saw their master step forward and braced themselves, but then saw Alphys was safe with their brother Gaster, who was holding the small dinosaur protectively. "Well done, you two," the master said, looking happy. "You did your jobs."
He walked away, making them sigh in relief and Sans secretly smiled as he realized the monsters' cruel master didn't know about Twister. Papyrus also realized this and nodded softly.
The enslaved monsters began to feel a bit more hope now. Perhaps this child would indeed be the one to truly free them and stop their cruel master once and for all.
Well, looks like Frisk is doing well, but can she stay hidden from the monsters' master when he goes to hunt for her? Stay tuned to find out! :)
And please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
