Papyrus watched as guards walked in, they all lined up and stood there silently. Papyrus sighed, "Is there anything new?" All of the guards nodded, and one of them spoke. "We have found out that your brother is fine...but we have other news." The guard looked at the others and then he continued talking, "We've found out that the Winter Phoenix race is still around, they have been getting materials from the workers of the ruins. They must've had an agreement." Papyrus stood up, "What do these Phoenixes do?" Another guard spoke up, "They have had disagreements with our rules for a long time now, they are peaceful, but they will cause problems with our balance if they continue. We have located their village, it's on the other side of Snowdin forest. What should we do?" Papyrus thought for a moment, anything that is a threat to resources at this point should be dealt with immediately. This kind won't follow the rules that they have been given, and they are rebels. "It's quite simple actually," Papyrus said, a few murmurs were given, he looked down at the guards. "burn them. Burn the village, make sure there are no survivors" The guards recoiled slightly, "But king Papyrus! If we burn their kind it might start rumors!" Papyrus held his hand up, "There is no need to get worked up over this, I can protect myself against anyone who will try to kill me. You have no need to worry, now go." The guards all looked at each other, then they nodded and left. Papyrus looked down, hoping he made the right decision. He heard footsteps and looked up, it was Alphys. It looked like she was walking in as quickly as possible, "K-King Papyrus!" She stumbled up to him, "I have urgent news!" She paused for a second, panting. "I-it's Sans... I lied to the g-guards..." her expression changed, "I didn't mean any insult! I-I just didn't want a-any rumors g-going around..." She sighed, "Sans isn't fine, actually, I have no idea where he really is at the moment... I-I haven't checked his house but I came here to tell you this first. Sans was attacked by a creature that has been in my lab ever since the underground changed. W-well, he w-was... N-nevermind, h-he was j-just attacked. He told m-me to f-find something to k-knock it out. W-when I came b-back all that w-was there was a-a blood splatter..." Papyrus's eyes narrowed, "So you lost my brother to some creature?" Alphys flinched, "I-I'm not saying it ate h-him! I f-found blood droplets n-near the e-entrance of m-my lab..." Papyrus took a step towards Alphys, his eyes glaring at her. "He was wounded, but how badly, Alphys?" Alphys gulped and looked away from his gaze. "I-I didn't see m-much, but h-he had a spike t-through his chest, and a gash on his forehead, arm, and chest..." She looked up at him nervously, Papyrus's gaze hardened. "Alphys, this creature you have is dangerous, get rid of it. The next time I come to your lab I don't want to find it. If I do, I have a jar waiting for you." Papyrus turned away from Alphys and walked away, Alphys fell to the ground, trembling and crying in fear. "W-what am I-I gonna d-do?..."

"Decisions..."

Wilhelmina was panicked, she had fallen asleep and later awoke and found Sans, clutching his chest in pain. He was breathing heavily, and sweat dripped down his forehead. He looked at her, eyes half-lidded. "T-take me, t-to Alphys... Sh-she will h-help.." He grunted his pain and shut his eyes. Wilhelmina's eyes widened. She couldn't bring Sans anywhere, she would be killed! "I-I can't..." She managed to whisper with a pained look on her face. Sans opened his eyes again, looking up at the ceiling. "Y-yes you c-can... I-I know you c-can do i-it Wil..." Sans slowly sat up, supporting himself with the couch. Wilhelmina nodded, she grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around Sans. "G-get on my back..." Wilhelmina crouched in front of him to make it easier. Sans slowly got on her back, wrapping arms around her neck he wasn't that heavy, but she didn't know if her strength would last long enough. Wilhelmina opened the door using one of her hands while the other supported the skeleton on her back. She looked around and saw that it was snowing and windy. She stepped out and made sure there were no monsters around, "Where do I go?" She asked quietly. Sans snuggled into her warm more before responding, "Go left..." Wilhelmina turned and starting running towards another area, once she got there she slowed down a little. It was peaceful here, she pushed her way through some plants and continued down the pathway, Sans gave her directions whenever she came to a path with more than one way. There were things called Echo flowers, as Sans had told her, and another thing called Temmies, which were harmless. There were star-like rocks on the black ceiling of the underground, weird glowing turquoise water, beautiful, glowing yellow stars floating around in certain areas, and the blue ground was quite squishy, sometimes she even had to walk through water. Before she knew it, Wilhelmina was almost to hotland. Wilhelmina spotted two guards sitting around, they didn't look at her, she ran past quickly with her head down. "Hey! What are you doing here?!" One of them said, Wilhelmina stopped, but she didn't turn around, she had to come up with something. "M-my friend... He's s-sick... I-I have to g-get him t-to a person n-named Alphys..." She heard footsteps, her heart was racing, she shivered a little when the guard got in front of her. "YOU'RE A HUMAN!" He yelled and aimed his spear at her neck, her eyes widened. "N-no! Don't k-kill me!" She backed up, she felt Sans shift on her back. "You would really kill a harmless human trying to help a monster?" The guard looked at Sans in shock, "You're the..." Sans scoffed, "Yes I'm the brother of Papyrus, don't kill her... She belongs to me." The guard lowered his head, "Back off." The guard backed off and let Wilhelmina pass, which she did quickly. "How did you do that?" Sans shrugged, "I'm a sentry, right below royal guard, luckily those guards were lower ranks than me, they have to listen to their superior." Wilhelmina hummed and continued walking, she was starting to get really tired, but she knew she could make it. The unbearable warmth of the lava, the cracked, dry ground, and the lack of water was only making it worse. Wilhelmina kept her head down as she passed the monsters, trying to keep as much attention away as possible. By the time the lab was in view, her legs felt like lead and her back ached, sweat was dripping from her forehead. She pulled Sans up more so he wouldn't fall off, then she wiped her face and knocked on the door. She heard some scrambling from inside before someone opened the doors. "O-oh goodness! A-a human?..." Alphys looked confused until Sans peeked out from behind her and the lizard looked at him. "Oh... Come in..." She moved out of the way and allowed Wilhelmina to bring Sans inside. Alphys lead them over to a bed, Wilhelmina carefully slid Sans off of her back and laid him on the bed. He whimpered slightly when Wilhelmina took off the cloak, his jacket, and his sweater. Alphys gasped when Wilhelmina carefully removed the bandages, "I-it must've been p-poisonous!" Sans grimaced in pain, Wilhelmina carefully took his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

Alphys cleaned the wound, Sans whimpered and buried his head in Wilhelmina's chest. She carefully pets his head to calm him down while Alphys worked, Wilhelmina examined the materials carefully, she wanted to get all the information she could. She had used rubbing alcohol to clean the wound, she smeared some odd herbs on Sans's wound, then she replaced the lost fractured parts with metal, so they could grow back together properly. Finally, Alphys wrapped bandages around the wounds with the metal in place. She finished with the other, more minor, wounds and then she left. Sans snuggled into Wilhelmina's lap, wanting warmth, she smiled and held him close. Alphys returned with water and gave it to Wilhelmina, she carefully let Sans drink the water, once he was finished she returned it to Alphys. He seemed sleepy, Wilhelmina grabbed a blanket and placed it over him, his eyes fluttered shut and Wilhelmina sighed happily. She watched as the skeleton fell asleep on her, Wilhelmina decided she would sleep too, she laid down and held Sans close, falling asleep with Sans in her arms.

"A little light"

Shard ran around, trying to dodge flaming arrows and burning debris, guards had suddenly attacked her home. Everyone scattered in a panic as their homes burned, she saw many already wounded or dead. Her eyes burned, her lungs ached, but she ran to where Mr. Gemstone lived. "Mr. Gemstone!" Shard heard a groan and saw stomach had been pierced by a fallen crystal, his blood was staining the ground. Shard ran over, "Mr. Gemstone! Please stay with me!" She nudged him softly, the old Phoenix smiled weakly at her. "Shard, you know that I won't survive this, but don't fear, I'll be with our ancestors..." With that, the color in his eyes faded, Shard knelt next to his body, sobbing. She heard something and turned around, it was the guards. Shard opened her wings to fly away, but one shot her in the wing, Shard shrieked in pain and fell over on her wounded wing. The guards put a metal collar on her neck, she struggled to break free from it. One of the guards crouched down to her level, "Either you listen to us, or you get killed, alright?" Shard nodded and they started leading her through Snowdin forest, she realized that there were others Phoenixes that had survived, she wanted to cry out with glee. Shard stayed quiet so she wouldn't be killed, there was a male with dark pink designs on his body beside her. She looked at him a little closer and found that he had black feathers, this meant he was already the age where he could get a mate. Shard had only just barely started getting hers, she snapped back into reality when the male looked at her. Shard blinked and looked at one of the guards, they were covered in armor so you couldn't see their features. They took them to a castle, a skeleton stood in the throne room, holding a crushed golden flower in his arms. Once he saw them, he dropped it and walked over. "King Papyrus," the guard bowed, "We have brought you some of the obedient survivors, we made sure to kill any of the weak or the stubborn." The king smiled a dark, crooked smile that had danger all over it. "You are smart, my guards, now sort them by their skills. I'll take care of the rest." Shard shrunk back in fear when his eyes landed on her, his smirk was burning into her mind. He kept eye contact with her as he talked, "Make sure they get whatever they deserve. The king looked away and Shard kept like all of her energy left once he looked away. A guard tugged on her chain connected to her collar, she quickly starting to follow them. Shard kept her eyes on the ground, a little shaken up from the experience. After some testings, all of them were sorted into categories. Shard was going to a phoenix that was only there for being ridden. Specifically just higher ranks like sentries, any royal guard, and the king himself. The guards told her to meet Papyrus at the throne room, Shard arrived and there he was, waiting for her. Shard noticed other Phoenixes walked in and she almost sighed with relief, she wasn't alone. "Now that you are all here, I must tell you. If you break any of our rules without reasoning, you will be executed, understand?" All of them nodded, "Now my servants will lead you to where you shall be staying." Papyrus watched as all of them were taken away, but Shard felt that his eyes mostly fixed on her.