They had no choice but to keep going. Standing around wouldn't help anyone. Becca was furious and terrified, Frisk knew just by looking at her. Her jaw kept clenching and unclenching, ignoring the scenery around them both as they reentered the forest. The trees helped to block a lot of the snow, but it was still rather difficult to see. There was another sentry station here, but the guard appeared to be instead trying to build a snowman . . . or . . . snowdog? Lesser Dog seemed to be struggling though. Frisk didn't have time to stop and help the pup. There was another monster watching the poor dog struggle, seemingly debating assisting as well. The thought that the dog would never give up on making the perfect snowdog filled Frisk with determination, and they took the opportunity to form a new Save. Becca took no notice of anything around her, the cogs in her mind turning over thoughts.
They exited the forest again only to find a frozen plain before them. There were Xs marking various spots on the ice that Frisk recognized they would have to turn to Os before they could proceed. There appeared to be a path on the other side of ice plain, but there was no bridge connecting it. There was a path south they could take, but Frisk suspected that the puzzle was necessary to complete before they could continue.
"What will we do?" Becca asked softly, her anger fading to instead bring her worry to the forefront. Frisk stopped examining the ice to look at her. There was old horror on her face, the lines beneath her eyes seeming deeper. Frisk was suddenly struck with the thought that maybe Becca hadn't gotten enough sleep earlier. Neither of them had had a decent meal either. And Becca had been stressed since the moment they had left the Ruins. At some point along the way, Frisk had become relaxed by their surroundings and the monsters that weren't as scary as they had suspected. Becca didn't look like she was relaxed at all.
Frisk reached out and hesitantly touched her arm. She looked at them, and Frisk smiled reassuringly. Becca stared at them for a moment before dropping her eyes. Frisk recognized old trauma when they saw it. "Sandro will be okay." They told her.
"How do you know?" Becca asked, her voice a bit more fragile than she probably liked.
"Because Sandro and Papyrus . . . are friends." Frisk also didn't think that Sans would actually let Sandro be taken to the capitol. He had already told them that he was watching out for the children. But Frisk doubted that Becca was very happy with Sans at the moment.
Becca considered this for a long moment, so Frisk added, "You can . . . use your power?"
Becca stared at the ice plain, and then seemed to come back to herself more. She shook her head sharply as if to clear it, and her confidence returned. She held herself straighter. Frisk was relieved at the transformation. They decided she looked much better holding herself with confidence. She was stunning that way.
Becca flushed a bit, ducking her head into the collar of her coat as her cheeks darkened further. She had to tuck a loose curl back behind her ear as it fell into her face. "Ah . . . Thank you." She murmured, clearly flustered. Frisk hadn't realized they had spoken their thoughts aloud, but it had worked out well. The older child rubbed at her cheek before pressing onwards, "I can't use my power yet, though. I've used it a lot already, and it tires me out more with each use." She glanced across the ice plain again, her green eyes focused. "If I had some real food, I would feel a lot better. And if I had some pants rather than this skirt." She lifted the soaked hem of the skirt as she said this. Frisk sympathized. They couldn't feel their bare legs a whole lot.
"In the meantime, how about we check out what's down there?" She pointed to the open path that led down a sharp incline. It appeared that the ice puzzle was above the ground down there. At least if either of them fell off the side of the slippery ice, they had snow to land on . . . but Frisk wasn't so sure the landing wouldn't hurt something.
The incline was almost too steep, causing both children to stumble. Frisk fell flat on their face at one point, but they climbed back to their feet and half-hopped, half-ran down the rest of the slope. At the bottom they discovered nothing but a snow Papyrus and a lump of snow with "Sans" written on it in red marker. The snow Papyrus was actually rather impressive, Becca had to admit. The skeleton had even managed to make abs and biceps on it (that Papyrus didn't even have).
"There doesn't seem to be anything down here." She said. "Let's go back up and . . . Frisk?" Becca paused, confused, to see Frisk building up some snow in a pile next to the Sans lump. The child appeared to be trying to make a small snow-Frisk, but the hair didn't seem to be cooperating. Becca frowned. "Frisk," She said patiently, "we don't have time for this."
Frisk continued to dig into the snow and add more. The snow was now starting to look like hair. They added three lines to the face for what looked like eyes and a mouth before they stood up and put their hands on their hips, proud. The body of the snow-Frisk only had two lines on the body for stripes, but the snow-Frisk actually appeared decent. They looked at Becca expectantly. She clapped for them. They motioned to the spot next to their snow-Frisk.
She sighed. "We don't have time. We have to find Sandro before anything bad happens to him."
Frisk seemed unconcerned as they reached for her hand. They boldly grabbed it and led her over to the correct spot. Becca felt strange at their touch. She was unsure if it was because she was unused to the touch of another human, or if she was just getting into that weird age that her mother had talked about with her when she had been younger. She suspected the former.
Frisk waited for her to make something. It didn't look like she had a choice. Reluctantly she started to build up the snow too, patting it to form a sphere for her body. Frisk joined her, adding more so that she would be taller than the snow-Frisk. She didn't work as hard on the hair, but she did make a typical smiley face. Without her noticing, she had begun to focus hard on the task before her. The bow she took her time with perfecting was the final touch. It wasn't the best snow-person, but it was rather cute.
There was a giggle, and Becca startled to realize it was Frisk. When she looked at them, they pointed at the torso of her snow-Becca. There were two lumps there, obviously hastily added on that were already starting to fall off, that represented breasts. She gasped, scandalized, as Frisk giggled a bit more. Becca caught one of the lumps and tossed it at Frisk, smacking the child in the face. Their laughter just got louder.
"How gross!" Becca scolded, even as a smile threatened to break on her face. Frisk only looked her dead in the eye, snow slipping off of their face, and smirked as they made jiggling motions in front of their chest playfully. Becca grabbed more snow to throw at them, covering the child in the cold. Frisk shrieked and threw some snow back before they scrambled to their feet and ran off back towards the slope. Becca took off after them, yelling too. Frisk fell in the snow on the way up, and Becca laughed as she managed to scramble past them, making it to the top first where she crossed her arms over her chest.
Frisk grabbed her hands and spun them both in a circle under the falling snow before they both toppled backwards from the momentum. Becca rolled over, both children panting as they stared at the snow. They couldn't see the tops of the caves they were in, but neither could they see where the snow was coming from. Puffs of air escaped their lips as they recovered from their play.
Frisk turned their head to look at Becca and saw that the girl had closed her eyes. They were glad to see her more relaxed. Frisk wasn't so sure she had played a whole lot in the past years she had been down in the Underground. Would she have played with the other children before they had left to wherever they were now? Secretly Frisk was also happy to have a friend to play with. They didn't have any friends. They couldn't help but enjoy the moment they were in despite the treacherous situation of possibly being captured. This was the happiest they had been in far too long.
Finally Becca sat up and climbed to her feet, brushing snow off of her coat and skirt. The material looked like it was starting soak through around her bottom as well. She tugged her coat down to cover it as Frisk also got up. "We have to keep going." The girl said, her playful mood falling away into something that was still relaxed, but serious. Frisk nodded in agreement. They would either have to solve the puzzle, or jump the gap into the treeline they could see. Frisk didn't think they would be able to jump it, so solving it was.
Neither child dared to step onto the ice until they were positive of which route to go. They had seen how Becca had slid completely across the ice, so they assumed they would slide right off the end if they reached the edge of the ice plain. They needed to both hit the X that was in line with the treeline if they wanted to slide over there.
The children split up, careful in their movements as they slid back and forth across the ice to make sure they hit all of the Xs and turned them into Os. At one point Frisk nearly slid over the edge, but Becca had managed to grab their hand and yank them onto tractioned ground with her. The puzzle turned out to be easier than expected with two people, so they progressed forward towards the treeline, sliding and wobbling as they tried to maintain their balance while moving. They didn't hit tractioned ground for the treeline, though, and instead slid right past the trees until they were in the next section. Becca stumbled and nearly fell at the sudden stop, but Frisk toppled for the third time into the snow. They weren't sure they were having fun with that anymore.
Becca gave a small snort, though, as Frisk stood up. At the younger child's confused look she said, "You have a snow pile in your hair."
Frisk couldn't help their own small smile as they pointed to Becca's own head. Somehow she had a snowdog on her head. She didn't get to see the creative little sculpture, though, as she brushed her hair off as well as Frisk's. Frisk blinked, a little startled at her friendly touch, but didn't fight against it.
The new place they were in had multiple snow poffs. And another path that led downhill. The kids dithered, considering whether to keep heading towards town or to explore more. The snow was starting to clear up again, and with it brought more sights to behold. Becca touched Frisk's arm, her face brightening at the sight before them. There was a town with smoke billowing from it. It appeared to be just over the bridge that wasn't too far away.
"We're almost there!" Becca sighed happily. "I can almost feel the heat and my face again." Frisk nodded eagerly in agreement. "Let's keep going forward." She told them. "We can go back to that path later maybe. I just want to be warm." At this point Frisk could do nothing but agree. They were cold, tired, and starting to get very hungry. What time even was it? It was impossible to tell in the Underground.
The strange snow poffs were scattered around the clearing that had nothing else in it but a small doghouse. Frisk gladly ran over to it as Becca examined some of the snow poffs curiously. What a cute doghouse! It was about up to Frisk's shoulders. They wouldn't be able to fit in it, but there was a doggy bed and a couple toys there.
"I found some gold." Becca informed them as she rejoined Frisk. She was pocketing the gold. "It was in one of the snow poffs. Maybe there's more?"
Neither of them had the chance to look, though, as fast footsteps approached. Both of the children turned to see a flash of blue headed right towards them followed by the loud clanking of metal. Frisk's mouth fell open at the sight of a little white dog in huge metal armor charging after Sandro as the boy ran towards them.
"¡CORRAN! ¡ES GREATER DOG! ¡Y QUIERE MIMOS!" He shouted, waving his hand at them to run.
"What are you saying?!" Becca cried, even as she and Frisk turned to run as well. Neither wanted to be in the way of the charging hulk of a dog.
"¡ÁNDALE ÁNDALE!" Sandro screamed instead, grabbing their hands and dragging them after him. Both children stumbled, but righted themselves as they tried to escape the dog. But there was nowhere for them to go. The dog, despite its size, was gigantic and in need of affection, and before the children knew it they were being tackled to the ground, their Souls suddenly erupting from them as a battle commenced.
Greater Dog yipped excitedly, his tail wagging, as he climbed back to his feet and prepared for battle. For whatever reason, the spear the dog held, as well as various parts of his armor, also had faces on them.
Sandro groaned, already on his feet. He threw his head back dramatically, hands coming to his face as he bemoaned his face. "Greater Dog, no!" He scolded the pup. "I told you that I did not want to play!"
Greater Dog whined a little, appearing slightly disheartened by the scolding, before he crept closer. Sandro could tell the dog just wanted affection, but Sandro also didn't want to do it. He liked dogs well enough, but Greater Dog was very insistent on the amount of love and affection he wanted.
"What do we do?" Becca asked, alarmed at the overly-affectionate dog. Greater Dog was still inching closer. It was Frisk's turn.
Frisk appeared to already be on it though. As Sandro watched, the other boy motioned the dog closer and began to vigorously pet the pooch. Greater Dog collapsed into Frisk's lap as he pet the puppy. This went on for so long that Greater Dog fell asleep in Frisk's lap.
"Oh." Becca said.
"You did it, Frisk!" Sandro praised in a quiet voice so as to not wake Greater Dog.
"But wait, why are our Souls still-" Becca didn't get to finish as suddenly Greater Dog popped up, full of energy. He was so excited that he swung at them with his spear. Frisk and Sandro yelped and didn't manage to avoid a full hit as they were thrown backwards. The light blue magic flashed across Greater Dog's spear, so Becca held still in time to avoid damage.
Sandro grumbled something angrily in Spanish as he climbed back to his feet. He exclaimed in horror at the sight of the front of his coat ripped open, some of the stuffing falling out. "Greater Dog!" He shouted, stomping his foot roughly and shaking his fist. "You ripped my coat! Munny is going to be mad at me now!"
Greater Dog seemed unrepentant as he dropped to all fours and patted the ground excitedly. Frisk gave a sorrowful glance at their damaged coat as well, wincing at the blood that was starting to stain the white fleece inside. They didn't understand how Sandro could take a hit like that and be fine. They could see the blood on his shirt too. They had some of the candy left from the other puzzle, but that was it.
"Frisk, give me your stick!" Becca hissed at them, motioning for the stick. Greater Dog rolled in the snow, twitching with barely-contained ecstasy as Becca procured the stick from Frisk and then threw it. The entire ground shook a bit as the dog took off after it. The four of them played fetch with the dog for a while until he was tired out. He made one more swing at the children, but this time all three managed to dodge any damage. Greater Dog returned to Sandro for more affection.
"Ugggggh!" The boy complained, but finally plopped down on the ground to cuddle with the dog and pet him. Greater Dog laid his full weight on Sandro, so the boy couldn't move very well. Frisk and Becca decided to use their turns to also pet the puppy. Soon enough the dog's pet capacity was full, and Greater Dog flopped over with his legs hanging in the air, contented.
Greater Dog sat up and stood back to his full height as the children's Souls were released. Surprisingly, a small white dog emerged from the armor, hopping down to lick all of the children in thanks. Sandro made a disgusted face, clearly still upset about the matter, before Greater Dog jumped back into his armor head-first, and marched back over the bridge and towards Snowdin.
Sandro wiped at his slobbered-on face and grumbled, flicking his hands to remove saliva from them. Frisk rubbed at their wound and ate one of their pieces of monster candy. Monster candy didn't seem to heal all wounds completely, but it did make them stop bleeding at least. It was better than nothing. Frisk didn't have to worry about bleeding out.
"Sandro, how did you escape?" Becca asked, turning back to the boy. Frisk blinked. Oh right; hadn't he been captured by Papyrus? "Did Papyrus try to take you to the capitol?"
"What? Pssssh! No!" Sandro laughed, waving his hand at the very thought. "Papyrus captures me all of the time! Es mi amigo."
"But how did you escape?" Becca repeated, stressing the escape part.
Sandro shrugged. "Papyrus always makes the bars too big. I just walked through them and ran over here from his shed."
Frisk and Becca shared a look, recalling the "blockade" on the bridge where they had met Sans. Frisk smiled and Becca rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you were right." She told them, shaking her head.
"We're glad you're alright." Frisk told Sandro quietly. Sandro grinned and slapped a hand on Frisk's shoulder, jolting the child.
"Of course! But you must be very cold. Snowdin is right over there! And Munny will probably have food ready for us!" Sandro pointed, already hurrying his way across the snow. Becca and Frisk didn't hesitate to run after him, no matter how tired they were. The finish line was finally in sight, after all! They only had to cross the bridge!
Sandro led the way, holding onto the ropes that were there for safety, as the three began to cross. Becca held her head high, determined not to look down while Frisk chose to hang onto the back of her coat. Only Sandro seemed completely at ease, bravely crossing the small bridge (although, it was really steady for a bridge, Becca thought. It felt more like they were walking across rock).
"Look! Isn't it a beautiful sight?" Sandro asked, pausing briefly to point into the distance. There was an entire forest beneath them and as far as they could see. A few cottages dappled the landscape, their windows warm with light and fire. There was even a large lake down there. They were so high up, the trees looked practically like toys. Becca had to bite back a whimper, her eyes clenching shut briefly as she recalled the terror of first falling into the Underground.
"Keep going!" She barked, fear sharpening her command. Sandro shot her a dirty look, annoyed, but continued on anyway. Becca felt a little bad at that. However they didn't get very far before Sandro suddenly stopped again. Becca saw why as on the other side of the bridge stood Papyrus and Sans. She could feel Frisk tugging on her coat wanting to know why they stopped, but Papyrus was already calling to them.
"HUMANS! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS . . . SANDRO!" Papyrus suddenly cut off, shocked to see the boy. "THERE YOU ARE! PLEASE ASK NEXT TIME BEFORE YOU ESCAPE! I WAS WORRIED SICK WHEN YOU DISAPPEARED!"
"Lo siento, mi amigo." Sandro apologized, only sounding a little bit apologetic.
"i told'ja he was fine." Sans said.
"ANYWAY, HUMANS, THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE!" Papyrus threw his arms out. "BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF THE DEADLY TERROR!" Sans pressed a button on the remote in his hands, and suddenly weapons descended from above. All three children blanched with terror at the sight of spears, cannons, flames, a swinging spiked ball, and a dog. "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!"
Becca and Frisk huddled close together, staring at everything with dread. They were all trapped. How were they supposed to dodge any of this when they were on a bridge? They would die a horrible death at this rate. Only Sandro held himself straight, recovering from his initial horror.
"You would not dare to use it!" Sandro yelled, puffing himself up to stand as tall as he could. Becca considered possible ways out, and wondered if the boy could use his power here to save them. She didn't know if he could. This was worse than anything they had encountered before.
"CANNONS WILL FIRE!" Papyrus denied. "SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN! "
"Do not do this!" Sandro called, suddenly looking worried. Frisk admired his ability to stand there when they felt like they would collapse. They didn't even think they could make a run for the other side. Even if they somehow dodged all of the attacks, the bridge would collapse under the onslaught.
"ARE YOU READY!?" Papyrus asked, heedless of the boy's pleas, "BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!"
The children tensed, waiting for the attacks to begin . . . but nothing happened. There was a tense silence in which they could do nothing but stare at Papyrus, waiting for him to kill them and seal their fate, but the skeleton didn't move.
Finally Papyrus turned around so his back was towards them. Sans turned to his brother. "well?" He questioned, "what's the holdup?" Becca thought he sounded way too amused for the horrible scenario they were in.
"HOLDUP!?" Papyrus asked, offended. His voice seemed a bit higher pitched. "WHAT HOLDUP!? I . . . I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!" He whipped around holding out the remote to activate the device as he prepared to destroy them all. The three children tensed again, waiting for their fate to befall them, but again nothing happened. Frisk eyed the flamethrower uneasily. They could feel the heat from where they were at.
Sans's grin only widened. One would think that it was just a silly game with the way he teased, "that, uh, doesn't look very activated."
"Shut up shut up shut up!" Becca hissed under her breath at the shorter skeleton.
"WELL!" Papyrus complained, "THIS CHALLENGE! IT SEEMS . . . MAYBE . . . TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMANS WITH."
"You got that right." Sandro said loudly. "Far too easy! No challenge at all!"
"Shut up!" Becca hissed, punching him in the back some.
"The Great Papyrus would never use a trap like this!" Sandro continued nonetheless. "The Great Papyrus wouldn't get the fame he deserves if he captured us humans in this stupid trap!"
"YEAH . . . YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE!" Papyrus agreed. "I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!" He commanded. Sans pressed the button again, and the machine ascended again. Frisk breathed out a shaky sigh of relief, unknowingly matching Papyrus's own sigh.
Sandro was grinning brightly at his friend. "I knew you would not use it!" He cheered.
Papyrus whipped back around. "WHAT ARE YOU SMILING ABOUT!? THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!" He laughed in impressive staccato before ending on a confused note. He didn't seem to understand how it was a victory for him anymore than the children did. He turned and headed quickly back towards Snowdin. The children eagerly crossed the bridge.
"You!" Becca suddenly turned on Sans, who was still standing there. "You . . . you bonehead!" She yelled.
"can't deny that." Sans agreed, grinning.
"I thought you were supposed to be helping us?!" She demanded.
"i am."
"By helping Papyrus try to capture us?"
"yeah. hey, listen." He interrupted the girl before she could get more upset. "i don't know what my brother's going to do now. if i were you kids, i would make sure i understand blue attacks."
"We do." Becca sighed, apparently deciding she would get nowhere becoming angry at Sans.
"They are very tricky!" Sandro agreed.
"good. well, see ya then." The children turned to head into town, but he stopped them. "oh, by the way. the guest room is open to anyone who wants to stay there."
"Really?" Becca asked, already thinking of a warm blanket by the fire.
"Ugh! No!" Sandro said, huffing. "I just left there! It was full of dog food!"
Sans chuckled at that. "yeah, pap doesn't know what humans like apparently."
"Wait, you were in the guest room? I thought you were in the shed?" Becca asked incredulously.
"They are the same place." Sandro explained blandly.
"No way, then!" She agreed, glaring at Sans. "Let's go!" She grabbed Frisk's sleeve and gave them a sharp tug. Frisk waved to Sans as the three children entered the town. They were finally in Snowdin.