A/N: Frisk makes some new friends. Also they're not over the convenience of that lamp.
Starting with this chapter, I will be writing my usual minimum of 3000 words per chapter!
Thank you to my beta joviamod and Nurse Joy for putting up with me!
The cold air ripped through Frisk's sweater with an ease that made them shudder violently. Becca's teeth chattered as they finally got the door open and they slipped past it to close it. The door thudded to a close with a finality. Frisk was almost certain they would not be going back there. They wrapped their arms around themselves and turned to face their new environment. They were in a forest with black tree trunks extending as far as they could see. There was a path worn into the snow that didn't look like it had seen any fresh snowfall in a while. Frisk kneeled down and scooped some of the snow up before they allowed it to slip through their fingers back to the ground.
"I . . . I knew it was cold but . . . I didn't think there was snow." Becca confessed, her face pale as she looked around the scenery. "I haven't seen snow in so long."
Frisk was still wondering how it was possible. A gust blew past the trees, making Frisk shiver and curl into themselves again. They looked at Becca, who seemed to be faring a bit better. Frisk wasn't doing as well in their shorts, but at least their boots were tall enough to block the snow. Becca snapped out of her marveling to look at her companion.
"Oh, crap. We should hurry and try to find shelter." She looked Frisk up and down before she started walking. Frisk joined her side. The path had made the snow low enough for the both of them so they didn't have to trudge. Frisk looked at the ground. There were footprints in the snow. Becca seemed to be on high alert, her body stiff. She kept her hand on her knife at her waist as she stepped over a large branch in the path. Frisk paused to look at it. It was too large to carry. They liked their stick just fine.
"Hurry." Becca ushered them along. "You don't want to freeze, do you?" Frisk hurried after her. Both children lept out of their skin when a crack issued through the area. Becca's knife was out of its holster instantly, glaring at the now-broken branch. Frisk noticed that the knife was only a toy. That didn't seem very useful for fighting monsters, but Frisk supposed their stick wasn't much better.
"Who's there?" The girl called out. Nothing responded. They continued to hesitate for a few moments longer before Frisk took a step backwards. Nothing jumped at them. Perhaps it had been a coincidence? They doubted it, but they weren't sure they wanted to wait around and see what could be fast enough to break that branch and disappear. They tugged carefully on Becca's sleeve before they started off again. The girl gritted her teeth before she joined them.
Frisk could tell her hackles were still raised. Which was good, because anxiety began to creep into Frisk's heart. Neither human knew what was out there with them, and Frisk worried it was something less-than-friendly. They stiffened when they thought they saw a shadow pass through the trees. Becca hissed a little under her breath. Okay, maybe Frisk hadn't imagined it.
There was a bridge ahead with strange wooden pillars on it that crossed over a small gorge. Frisk hurried towards it, but Becca quickly grabbed them back. "No!" She hissed. "Wait, just . . ." She looked around, face confused but no longer scared. Frisk opened their mouth to ask what was wrong when they realized they could hear footsteps crunching through the snow. Both children tensed as the footsteps got closer. Frisk's heart raced in their chest, too scared to turn around. Becca continued to hold their arm, preparing herself.
The footsteps came to a stop behind them and a slow, deep voice rumbled out, "Humans. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hands." Frisk gulped and shared a look with Becca. Becca gave a small nod, and the two slowly turned around. Frisk didn't even look at the owner right away as they grabbed the hand offered to them.
Twin farts ripped from the grips of the humans, long and high-pitched. It petered out with small poots. Becca barked an unexpected laugh, making Frisk jump a little as even their "new pal" began to laugh. Their hand was released as Frisk took in the form of their companion. It was a skeleton in a heavy blue jacket and some snow pants. He had some boots on, but they were unzipped and unlaced and appeared to barely be on his feet. He grinned at them widely, but Frisk didn't think he couldn't not grin. His sockets had two white lights in them, almost like pupils.
"hehehehehe, two in one go. that's gotta be a record." The skeleton said. His voice wasn't as deep as it had been previously, but it was still pretty low. He had a bit of a drawl to it as he talked, almost like talking was too much of an effort and halfway through each word he would've chosen to stop if he could've before he said the next word. "anyway, you two are humans, right? that's hilarious."
Frisk tilted their head, wondering how that was funny. And about how this monster had immediately known they were humans. Becca, next to Frisk, was covering her mouth in an attempt to smother the last of her laughter from the joke. The skeleton shot her an amused look.
"the name's sans. sans the skeleton."
"Oh!" Becca dropped her hand, her humor gone. There was understanding on her face. "Sans! I didn't think we would meet you right away. I didn't think you were a skeleton either. I should've guessed from the jokes."
"oh hey, i recognize that voice. how's it goin', pal?" He appeared honestly delighted to meet the other human. "what're you doin' out of the ruins?"
"It was time to leave. And I thought I would go with my friend." Becca's entire body was relaxed. Frisk was sure this was a monster they could trust if even Becca seemed content in his presence. "My name is Becca, by the way."
"nice to meet 'cha. who're you, kiddo?" Sans turned to Frisk.
"Frisk." They introduced themselves with a small smile. They gave Becca a curious look wondering how she knew the skeleton when she had never left the Ruins. Becca didn't get the chance to explain, however, as Sans continued,
"it's not exactly safe to be wanderin' 'round out here. see, i'm not up for huntin' any humans, but my brother, papyrus? he's a human-hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, i think that's him over there." Sans nodded past them. The humans turned to look. Frisk saw someone approaching quickly. "i have an idea. go through this gate thingy." At Frisk's confused look he added, "yeah, go right through. my brother made the bars too wide to stop anyone." The three of them passed over the bridge and through the gate effortlessly. "quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp."
"Super convenient." Becca commented dryly as she dragged Frisk over to the strangest looking lamp that Frisk had ever seen. It had two heads on it, one taller than the other, and looked to be perfectly-shaped to hide both humans easily. Frisk wondered why it was there as the two of them ducked behind the lamp. A new skeleton monster burst into the scene right then.
He was a tall skeleton dressed in red, white, and blue armor and what appeared to be a black body suit underneath. His boots were about half of Frisk's height. He came to a stop in front of Sans and cried, "THERE YOU ARE!" Frisk winced a bit at his loud voice.
"sup, bro?" Sans asked, shoving his hands into his coat pockets casually.
"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IS 'SUP', BROTHER! IT'S BEEN TWO HOURS AND YOUR PHONE HAS BEEN RINGING OFF THE HOOK! YOUR WORK HAS BEEN CALLING WHILE YOU'VE BEEN OFF BONEDOGGLING! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING THIS FAR FROM HOME?" Papyrus scolded. It seemed like he was either extremely upset, or Papyrus didn't have an inside voice. Frisk made a face over how loud he was.
"staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna look?" Sans asked, amusement lacing his voice. Beside Frisk, Becca cursed under her breath. From the angle the taller skeleton was standing, he could probably easily see them. Frisk made sure to stay still.
"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!" Papyrus raged, stomping his foot in frustration. "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! THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS," the skeleton posed proudly, his cape waving in an imaginary breeze, "WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT . . . RECOGNITION . . . I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, 'FRIEND?'. I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING." Becca made a face at the end of his speech. Frisk thought the skeleton was kind of silly.
Sans hummed in understanding before he side-glanced at the lamp again, looking even more amused. "maybe this lamp will help you."
Papyrus completely ignored Sans's game and began to stomp his foot again. "SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK AND ANSWER YOUR PHONE ALREADY INSTEAD OF SITTING AROUND BEING LAZY?!"
"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton." He winked.
Becca's hands shot to her mouth again as she tried to muffle her giggles. Even Frisk began to grin, finally understanding. This skeleton loved jokes, and Becca appeared to be quite the sucker for bad puns. Frisk thought she appeared much younger when she giggled like that.
"SANS!" Papyrus cried, outraged.
"come on." Sans coaxed, grinning. "you're smiling."
"I AM AND I HATE IT!" Papyrus freely admitted. Frisk wondered how a person could tell the difference between a skeleton smiling and their default face. Papyrus sighed, his anger leaving him as quickly as it had arrived. "WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION . . ."
"wow," Sans commented, not sounding the least sympathetic, "sounds like you're really working yourself down to the bone." He winked again. Becca's laughed harder and covered her mouth with the crook of her elbow. Frisk bit their lip to stop their own giggles.
Papyrus groaned. "I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES . . . AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE BACKBONE INTO IT!" This time the children's laughter was covered up by Papyrus's own laugh as he ran off, only pausing one more time to let out a final embarrassed laugh as he realized he had stooped to his brother's level.
The children spent a few minutes gathering themselves. Becca hunched over, almost in tears, and her laughter only made Frisk laugh harder. Sans walked over to the lamp and leaned between them. "ok, you two can come out now."
Becca swatted at him, and he dodged back. "You knew I was going to laugh, Sans!" She accused as he chuckled.
"can't help that you love dumb jokes just like me." He said. "anyway, you two'd oughta get going. he may come back. and if he does . . . you'll have to sit through some more of my hilarious jokes."
"You aren't coming with us?" Becca asked. "You have to go the same way, right?"
Sans shrugged. "i'll catch up with you two later. there's a town not too far from here called snowdin. s'where me and papyrus live. if you two make it there without being captured, you can stay with us."
"Thank you." Frisk said.
"Wait, answer a couple of questions first!" Becca pressed, clearly eager to learn more.
"what's the holdup?" Sans nodded behind them. "there's nothing to be afraid of." He winked. "it's just a dark cavern filled with skeletons and horrible monsters."
"Sans!" Becca complained.
"hurry up, kiddos. we'll see each other again. then you can interrogate me a bit more. meanwhile, i've got some stuff to do and i'm already late for it." Sans turned to shuffle off, and then paused, "actually, i've been thinking . . . my brother's been kind of down lately . . . see, he's still real young and the guard doesn't take him seriously . . . and that's really eatin' at him. he doesn't really know what a human looks like, and seeing two of you might just make his day."
"We're trying not to get captured, thanks." Becca snarked, crossing her arms.
Sans just smiled. "don't worry, he's not dangerous. even if he tries to be." This seemed to humor the skeleton a lot.
Becca looked about ready to protest again, but Frisk nodded for the both of them. She shot a glare at Frisk, but Frisk rather liked both of the skeletons. They didn't think that Sans would try to purposely get them captured, and Papyrus seemed nice enough. They wondered if they could make friends with any of the monsters. They were curious. Sans gave Frisk an appreciative look. The human had a feeling they had just succeeded in gaining an ally.
"thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." Sans turned to walk away again, but he stopped a third time as he seemed to realize something, "oh, and be on the lookout. that kid sandro likes to chill around this area. thanks again." He walked off and disappeared into the trees. Frisk wondered what kind of business he had in there. Becca made an annoyed noise.
"He's always like that!" She huffed before spinning on her heel to storm off towards where Papyrus had gone. "Why did you agree to that? Sans is a prankster. He could be trying to trick us!"
"He's your friend." Frisk responded simply. There was a box up ahead with a sign next to it. Becca went over to go check it out, not responding to Frisk's statement. Frisk took it as silent agreement as they gazed back the way they had come. The convenience of that lamp still filled them with determination, certain that things would work out in their favor from there on out. They made a SAVE while they could before they joined Becca.
"It's a box." She said, reaching into the box. Frisk read the sign next to it to learn that a box lover claimed any item in the box would appear in a later box. That sounded useful. Frisk's pockets were getting a little full. Becca almost fell into the large box, but she righted herself and pulled out an item. It was a thick pink leather glove. It looked tough, but a little careworn. Becca sighed. "Well this is a nice glove, but there's no second one." She handed the glove to Frisk, who shoved it into their pocket.
"How do you know Sans?" Frisk asked as they followed the bootsteps on the ground leading further into the Underground. Becca checked their surroundings as she followed them. They could both hear talking and noises not far from there. It seemed they were getting close to the populated area like Papyrus had hinted at.
"He . . ." Becca considered how to respond to that. "He likes to practice knock knock jokes on the door to the Ruins . . . and when I was younger, I heard his jokes and . . . they comforted me." Her voice was quiet with her memories. "Obviously he has a brother who seems even younger than him, and I don't think he's much older than me . . . but I think he could tell I was scared. Maybe it was some kind of instinct. And we told each other jokes . . . and it kind of became a trend to get me through the lonelier days."
Frisk didn't respond. How long had the girl been down there in the Underground? In the Ruins? She had met other humans, obviously, but she had made herself wait alone for who-knew-how-long until Frisk had arrived. They didn't yet have to courage to ask her about her story.
They stumbled as their foot hit a rock and sent them sprawling. That seemed to bring Becca out of her mood as she helped the child back to their feet. Her voice was a bit stronger as she continued when they were both walking again, "If anyone knows what happened to the other children, it's him. At least Sandro is still alive." Frisk gave her a surprised look. So Sandro was another human!
Becca pulled to a stop suddenly, stiffening, and Frisk stopped too when they saw the brothers standing a little ways away talking to each other. It was easier to see the height difference with the both of them together, and Frisk finally noticed just how young both of the brothers looked. Papyrus had a gangliness about him that Frisk had come to associate with older teenagers that were either just past their majority, or were about to reach it. Sans held himself only a little more securely, without the gangliness.
"SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE," Papyrus was saying, before he noticed the two humans. He gaped and turned to his brother, who turned to the humans. Sans playfully mocked his brother's shock, turning back to Papyrus, who turned back to the humans. The brothers repeated looking back and forth, getting faster and faster until they were literally spinning in circles, before they stopped suddenly, facing the humans. Papyrus grabbed his brother and leaned in close as they turned their backs again on the kids. "SANS!" The taller skeleton cried with excitement, "OH MY GOD! ARE THOSE . . . HUMANS!?" They turned back around to check again.
Becca and Frisk shared a look. "uhhhhh . . ." Sans drawled, trying to hide his shit-eating grin as he said, "actually, i think those are rocks." Frisk glanced behind them at the rocks that had tripped them.
"OH." Papyrus said, clearly disappointed and no longer caring.
Sans quickly asked, "hey, what're those things in front of the rocks?" Papyrus spun around again to look, excitement back in his face.
"OH MY GOD!" He whispered to his brother loud enough that the humans could easily hear him, "ARE . . . ARE THOSE HUMANS? TWO OF THEM? RIGHT THERE?"
"yes." Sans whispered back.
"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus screamed again, more excited than any one person had a right to be. His voice cracked just slightly. "SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL . . . I'M GONNA . . . I'LL BE SO . . . POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!" He jumped up and down and pumped his fist once. Frisk grinned at the sight, looking at Becca. She rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile on her lips as well.
Papyrus quickly calmed down as he realized the scene he was making. He cleared his throat and deepened his voice slightly to say, "HUMANS! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN . . . THEN!" Papyrus paused. "I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT." He admitted. Becca frowned, her mood darkening a little at the mention of the capital. "IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE . . . ONLY IF YOU DARE!" He laughed cheerfully as he ran off again.
"well," Sans said, clearly pleased, "that went well."
"He sounds really serious about trying to catch us." Becca pointed out, displeased.
"don't sweat it, kid." Sans winked. "i'll keep an eyesocket out for ya, just like i did with all of the other kids." He turned and left then, not giving the humans a chance to talk anymore with him. He disappeared before the humans could catch up. Becca scrubbed at her face while Frisk rubbed their hands together to warm them.
"He's gonna piss me off real fast, I can tell." chill Becca
"I like him." Frisk decided. Becca shot them a disgruntled, but amused look.
"You would." She decided. "Now come on, let's see if we can maybe find Sandro. If we're going to escape the Underground, we might as well see if we can get as many humans out as possible."