Level 4

"Good job, Sans."

Sans found himself blinking madly, the world around him different than where he cried himself to sleep. He was inside a small, brightly lit classroom, where he found himself sitting in a seat in the front row.

"What?" He was about to turn his head back but the clearing of a throat stopped him.

"Sans?" He turned his attention to the front of him, where an imposing figure stood.

A tall woman, whose hair was cut short and eyes sharp held out a paper for Sans to take. "Your test."

"Oh, thanks." Sans gripped the paper and by taking it the teacher moved on. Sans looked to the paper first, noticing a 100 written at the top followed by his calculations. Wait, he knew where he was.

Head turned back, Sans recognized a lot of the students that were in the class. There was Jeremy who always sat by the door, leaving immediately when the bell struck, and Tia looked glumly at her paper just a few seats down from him. She considered herself his 'rival' but the way she made scores on her test was a joke to Sans.

This was his algebra two class in high school.

But where was-?

"Papyrus." The way the teacher said the name aloud, it was disappointed, but to be expected.

Sans scanned the room behind him before finally finding the teacher hovering near one desk, and with it the tallest teenager in class. Papyrus seemed to fiddle with the cords of his headphones, eyes unable to meet the teacher. "Y-Yes?"

She merely handed his him paper before proceeding back to her desk. He watched Papyrus grip the paper, his eyes growing wide before burying his head on the desk.

Upon seeing that Sans felt his heart ache, but he didn't have time to linger on it as the bell suddenly rang. The other students made their way out of the class but Papyrus still stayed in his seat.

Sans pushed himself out of his seat, walking over to where Papyrus laid. His breath was caught in this throat. "Papyrus?"

When he saw his brother's shoulders move his concern grew, placing a hand on said shoulder. "Hey, it's ok. You just need more tutoring."

"Sans." Papyrus lifted his head back up and what Sans saw left him to be startled. His brother wasn't crying, he was laughing.

The test he held firmly in his grip read 56 but Papyrus still gave a huge smile. "I did it, Sans. I got a higher score! Mom and Dad will be so proud of me!"

He then continued to laugh, so hard in fact that the math room was filled with his chuckles. Nyeh heh heh!

Sans could feel his heart ache deeper in terms of reality, but for now he willed himself to push such feelings out of his mind. His smile returned and he chuckled along with his brother. "Don't scare me like that, Papyrus."

"Well, I am a master at scaring others." Papyrus chimed in once his giggles were subsiding.

Sans shook his head, watching his brother stand up from his seat. Grabbing his arm, Sans pulled Papyrus down to his level and swung his arm over his shoulder. "How about you and me grab some fast-food after school? To celebrate your achievement. I'll even pay."

"Really?" Papyrus' eyes lit up, quickly grabbing his backpack as both made their way out of the room. "Can I pick the place too?"

"Sure, bro." Sans closed his eyes in blissful peace. "You deserve it."

"Wowie! Thanks, Sans!" Upon exiting the room Papyrus stood back up and lifted his arms into the air. "Tonight, the Great Papyrus and Sans shall dine on French fries and milkshakes!"

Sans couldn't help but continue laughing, nodding his head. "Alright, you need to get to your next class. I'll meet you at your car, okay?"

"Okay!" With that Papyrus sped off down the halls, waving back to Sans and shouting his thanks in advance.

Sans just stood outside of the math door and waved as well, trying to stop his chuckles.

"Hey, Sans!"

Sans then turned upon hearing his name from a different voice, watching a few other teenagers walk up to him. They were from the school's math team, which he was a part of.

"Hey guys." Sans started, placing his hands in his pockets. "What brings you to my domain?"

One of the guys gave Sans a teasing smile. "Don't tell me you forgot about our debate tonight with Oysterfield? Or are you that cruel with your humor?"

"Oh, that was tonight?" Sans gave a small shrug with an apologetic smile. "Sorry guys, I can't make it. Papyrus and I are going to go celebrate his success on his algebra test."

The team looked disgusted upon hearing Papyrus' name, followed by an agreement of 'what' 'oh come on' 'Sans, no!'.

Sans frowned. "Hey, this is a special occasion. You guys don't need me for the debate."

"Sans, you're in the top 10% of the whole school." One of the boys tried reasoning with Sans, gesturing a hand. "You're like smart concentrated! We won't stand a chance without you! Can't you… pick another day with Papyrus?"

Sans shook his head, trying to keep his annoyance from showing. "I told you, no. Papyrus is really looking forward to this dinner."

"Yeah well with how his grades are you can do it again next year." One of the boys muttered, but Sans overheard it.

Any hints of keeping cool dropped immediately and he pointed an accusing finger at the boy who spoke. "You want to say that again?"

The boy however didn't seem fazed; instead he took a step forward. "Your brother is a failure, Sans. He's been in that same Algebra two class for two years now. Why do you even hang out with him? He's nothing but a loser."

"Whoa." The first boy from before intervened, lightly pushing the other boy back. "Chill, Max."

He looked apologetic to Sans, but didn't apologize. "What he's trying to say is that Papyrus… is special. He probably is super nice when you get to know him but… he's just not good for you."

The rest of the team nodded their heads in agreement. "You ditch us all the time for him and, well, let's face it. You could be doing a lot more beneficial things if you hung around him less."

Upon hearing such a speech Sans felt an old fire ignite in his stomach, eyebrows furrowed and teeth gritted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He took a step forward to get near the boy but suddenly found himself immersed in a world of black. Confused and startled, Sans moved backwards and scanned his surrounding, trying to find any source of light. "Papyrus?"

The sound of a child crying made Sans spin his body around. He knew that cry anywhere. "Papyrus!"

Before him, like watercolors that rippled was a memory, one he had burned inside his mind.

A banner hung from the ceiling of the dining room in their house, which read, 'Happy Birthday 10th birthday, Papyrus' and the table was decorated extravagantly. There were a few presents next to a racecar cake, and just by looking at the party decorations one might have surmised that this was a happy day.

But it wasn't.

He suddenly found himself back as a child, watching the tears fall from Papyrus' eyes. They were the only two that sat at the table, but he could remember his mother standing in the shadows of the kitchen, having an argument with their father on the phone.

"Why…" Papyrus sobbed, trying to steady his shaking voice. "Why did no one come? I-I thought I had so many friends…"

The way Papyrus cried, how empty the room was. It was on that day that Sans felt his heart grow heavy, and it never grew lighter.

Sans moved his hand over to Papyrus but suddenly the image vanished before him. He blinked to find tears streaming down his face, back once more inside his teenager body.

"Sans." The familiar voice sent chills up Sans' spine, forcing him to turn around. Before him was a giant with the upper half of its head masked in shadows. A grey, business suit adorned their body, and their skin was bronze much like his. But the frown on the giant's face, it was one he had come to know all too well.

Sans took a frightened step back. "Dad?"

His father did not respond to his voice, his mouth opening to speak.

"I'm doing you a favor."

Eyes darting open, Sans leapt up from laying down into a sitting position, hand grasping his chest. His breathing was eradicate and fearful as he tried to calm down his mind. It was just a dream… but it wasn't a dream.

"Sans?"

Head turning to the bed, Sans noticed that Papyrus was already up. He leaned on the back wall to the bed, walkman in his hands and the headphones shoved into his ears. But when he saw the fear in Sans eyes he slid his headset down and pressed a button on the walkman to pause it. "Sans, what's wrong?"

"No-Nothing bro." Sans physically shook his head as if to shake off the fear and sorrow that plagued his heart and mind, flashing a smile to Papyrus. "Just scared myself a little."

Papyrus didn't seem to buy it this time, his lips pursing. "Sans, you know you can talk to me if something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong, bro." Sans felt himself get back into the habit of smiling, standing up to stretch from the uncomfortable sleep he had. "If something was wrong I would tell you."

Papyrus frowned, but didn't continue the discussion. "Do you think it's safe to go back outside?"

"I don't know." Sans shrugged, grabbing his backpack and resting it on the bed. He plopped himself down and scooted over to where Papyrus sat, opening one of the compartments.

It wasn't until now that Sans could feel how empty his stomach had become. Looking back now he wished he had gotten in a few bites of spaghetti. With familiar crinkling, Sans pulled out a bag of chips and opened the top, munching on a few. He talked through his bites. "I can check though."

"Sans, that's disgusting!" Papyrus scooted a little aways. "Don't talk while you eat; you're getting chips everywhere!"

"What, you mean like this?" Sans then purposely grabbed a good handful of chips, munching on them and then proceeded to talk. He angled his head right at Papyrus for maximum chip projection. "Because I think that it's not so bad when you get the hang of it. You just have to chew and chew and chew and-"

"Sans!" Papyrus yelled, holding his hands up to block the bits of chips and turning his head away.

Sans couldn't help but laugh through his munching, deciding Papyrus had enough before closing his mouth and swallowing. "You left yourself open."

"Yeah, well!" Papyrus' hand soon breached the chip bag, shoving the chips in his mouth and doing the same. "I'm Sans, I love to eat with my mouth open and get it all over my awesome brother because it's so much fun!"

"Aw ew, Papyrus." Sans remarked through his laughter, holding his hands up from the incoming chip projectiles. "Didn't anyone teach you manners?"

"Not you!" Papyrus wanted to be mad, but with Sans laughing he couldn't help but join in.

The two spat chips all over each other and laughed until the bag was empty.

Needless to say, the rabbit at the counter of the hotel reframed from asking why the two were covered in little freckles of chips.

Sans wore the biggest grin that his face would allow, while Papyrus gave Sans a teasing smile. "We're ready to pay."

"Oh no need." The rabbit smiled, though it was hard considering the state the two were in. "Someone came in last night and covered your bill."

This surprised both boys, turning their heads to one another before back to the rabbit man. "Wait, who covered us?"

"Besides yourselves?" The rabbit man let forth a loose chuckle, to which both boys looked to one another with goofy smiles.

"They said they wanted it to be a surprise." In drifting to his thoughts, the rabbit man gave a pitiful smile. "That must be nice, having friends who cover your bills."

As the two left the hotel, Sans was shuffling through his wallet, which was one of the few things he kept on his body. Papyrus still wore his confused gaze. "Sans, I'm confused."

"Yeah, I'm too." Sans sifted through the money in his wallet, counting how much he had. "I wonder what the currency exchange rate is…"

"Do you think it was the parrot?" Papyrus asked, going back into his routine of bringing his feet up and over the snow. Already his stick body was shivering once more from the cold.

Sans eyed his brother. "Nah, I don't think he would help us."

He then breathed, watching the vapors of his breath float upwards and away from his face. In pocketing his wallet Sans reached for the Pocket watch, which he now kept safely in his pocket for easy access. He flicked his wrist and pressed the button to open it simultaneously, looking at the time.

He heard the crunch of snow behind him and knew Papyrus was looking over his shoulder, mostly do to the fact that Papyrus literally did just that. "What time is it?"

"Hmm, almost noon." Sans closed the watch, staring at the silver lid and the chain that dangled from the clock. "We were up pretty late last night."

"What do you think Mom is doing?" Papyrus asked, lifting his head back up while Sans started to walk off. Papyrus followed.

"Well, she said she was going to be out of town for the weekend thanks to her job." Sans remarked, stuffing both of his hands inside his pockets and keeping a leisurely stroll. "So I'm guessing she's doing her job."

Papyrus frowned. "I never liked her job; always having to leave or being called in."

"Well that's what happens when you work in ER." Sans' eyes followed Papyrus and how his taller brother was just a bit faster in his walk. "You don't get a lot of time to rest."

"Or hang out with your children." Papyrus crossed his arms, releasing an irritated huff. "Dad was the same, wasn't he? Retired military man, now a credible lawyer."

"Yeah." Sans kept quiet during the turn of the conversation, instead burying his chin in his T-shirt.

"You know Sans, this might sound crazy but… it's always just felt like you and me."

Sans removed his chin from his T-shirt, looking up to Papyrus. It was rare to see contemplation on Papyrus' face. "I mean, sure, Mom and Dad were there for a lot of things. But… they weren't there like you were."

Sans felt a sincere smile sprout on his lips. He felt a light blush come to his cheeks, which he scratched at. "Aw, Papyrus. Don't get sentimental on me."

"I'm serious!" Papyrus gestured his arms as if he were annoyed, but he could see that Sans had taken the compliment.

Feet crunching through snow, Papyrus couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Guess that means you'll have to be especially good to me when I come back from boot camp."

Papyrus continued to chuckle, not realizing that Sans had stopped. His smile had completely vanished, left in its wake were lost eyes and a hopeless frown. The grip he had on his backpack got tighter. "Yeah. Boot camp."

Papyrus, noticing Sans wasn't following turned around. He cocked an eyebrow. "Sans, why aren't you following?"

"Hm?" Sans wasn't expecting to hear Papyrus so soon, eyes darting side to side for an excuse. He gave a false smile and then gestured his hand to the left. "I was hoping we could explore that shack you found last night."

Papyrus looked to the side, and true to Sans point the shack laid just a few feet from them.

Papyrus frowned. "I thought you didn't want to go in there."

Sans shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't say that. I said it wasn't a good place to hide, but we don't need to hide anymore."

Making an example Sans made his way over to the shack, lightly pulling on the metal handle of the door. It wouldn't budge but with a firmer pull the door cracked open. Sans allowed the door to slowly open up with a high creaking noise and then motioned inside. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Papyrus seemed hesitant to walk inside now that the danger level was low, but moved inside anyways when Sans disappeared behind the door. Upon entering the shack the floorboards greeted the two with the sound of creaks and wood moving under their feet. Papyrus lifted his feet up and danced around the room in desperation of finding some planks that didn't shift under his feet, but Sans was less concerned about that.

The shack was much bigger on the inside than what it eluded to on the outside. The only light came in through the window, but even then the room was still dim and hard to see in. Cobwebs lined every window sill, while a scuttling; black mass was huddled in the corner.

"Erm, I don't want to investigate anymore." Papyrus drew back towards the door when he noticed the black mass in the corner. His hand instinctively whipped out his stick, motioning his hand to Sans to get behind him.

"Sans, Sans!" He whispered, continuing to motion. "Get behind me! I'll protect you!"

Sans contemplated obeying Papyrus, but his curiosity got the best of him and moved his legs forward. He could plainly hear Papyrus protest and whisper louder to get behind him, but Sans wasn't one to be so easily scared.

"Hello?" Sans called out, stopping when he was a few feet from the black mass. The dim lighting didn't help him identify what it was that was shifting around, but what Sans could surmise was that it was a lot of little creatures rather than one.

He could hear the creaking of boards behind him which indicated that Papyrus was moving closer and the movement stopped. The black mass seemed to stay still for a few seconds, before dispersing across the ground and up the wall. Sans soon recognized what it was he was looking at, only to be confirmed when he heard Papyrus screech. "Spiders!"

Sans hated spiders.

In trying to get away the poor teenager felt his foot get caught by a loose floorboard and slammed into the ground. He landed on his stomach but quickly turned to be on his back, shuffling away in fright.

He would have gotten to his feet and bolted out of the shack, had it not been for the vibrant pull of violet that started to be unearthed from the mass of spiders. "Huh?"

Upon close inspection the spiders had been covering something when they moved, keeping their distance just as much as he was. A small, violet box now sat in the room, as if the spiders were waiting for Sans to do something with it.

"Sans? What are you waiting for?" He turned his head to see Papyrus already near the door, urging him to follow.

He instead got to knees, keeping still as his nerves crawled up his spine. "I… don't know."

It was his curiosity again that was holding him back from leaving. He wondered if it would one day be the end of him, but for now something inside of him told him that the spiders weren't going to eat him for lunch.

From the mass of cobwebs at the back of the shack came a few more spiders, all carrying white pieces of paper four times their size. They halted when they got onto the ground, holding them up for Sans and Papyrus to read.

Welcome to Spider Bakery.

Spider Donut 50 G.

Help Spiders raise enough G for heated car to make it across Snowdin.

"A spider bakery?" Sans felt his heart jump when he heard the nearby voice, turning his head only to find Papyrus practically near him. When did he get so close?

He seemed less frightened than he was before and both their eyes were pulled to the violet box near the corner of the room. The spiders had opened it to reveal a bunch of unappetizing pastries, which Sans assumed they were trying to keep from freezing as well as themselves.

"Those… don't look edible." Papyrus disgustingly surmised, his face scrunched up from the sight of them.

Sans however couldn't get over the fact that these spiders were rather intelligent, even if their pastry skills were lacking. And the prices left Sans with a very empty feeling in his wallet.

"Welp. This is strange." Papyrus cleared his throat and walked back over to the door. "I'm really glad you stopped me from going in here last night, Sans. Really, really glad."

Sans kept to his spot however, as if he was contemplating something. Papyrus frowned. "Well, you coming? I think I can safely say we've both have had enough spiders for our lifetime."

"Bro." Sans slightly angled his body over to Papyrus, his face filled with much grief. "As much as I hate to say this… we can't leave these spiders here. They'll die in the cold."

"What?" Papyrus seemed taken aback by his brother's statement. "Oh come on, Sans. I'm sure they'll be fine! I mean look at them!"

He gestured a hand to what both could agree was probably hundreds of spiders, all coming back together to huddle and spread warmth. "We don't know how long they've been here and they seem to be doing great!"

Sans lost his smile, a frown resting on his face. "It wouldn't be the right thing to do."

Papyrus scoffed. "Sans, if you haven't noticed, we're wanted right now by every monster for our soul! Now is not the time to be heroic or do the right thing! Now is the time to get out of here before the Royal Guard catches us!"

"Not this time, bro." Sans turned his head back over to the spiders, who still scared him immensely. But the thought of all of them freezing to death pushed that fear far down his body, giving them a warm smile. "Sorry, I don't have enough money to pay for your donuts. But I do know of a warm place not far from here. I can take you there if you want, and you won't have to be cold anymore."

The spiders seemed to like the idea, as they started scuttling close to Sans. They all rushed over to him, which gave the poor teenager a small heart attack.

He pushed himself away, holding his hands up. "Yo-You can ride in your box! I can carry your box of donuts with you in it, so let's do that instead of climbing all over me!"

The spiders stopped before they could latch onto his knees or other body parts, going back towards their box to scurry in. Sans let out a huge sigh of relief, looking back to check on Papyrus. He leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed in a pouty mood. "Oh come on, bro. You can't be that heartless."

"I'm not." Papyrus spat, giving his brother an annoyed glare. "But have you forgotten we're on a time-frame? We need to get home before mom returns or dad gets back from his meeting in New York."

"We will, I promise." Sans sprouted a knowing smile, but it diminished when Papyrus still glared at him.

Sans fingers tensed a little. "I'm doing this Papyrus, with or without you."

"Fine, head over to Grillbys then." Papyrus waved Sans off with his hand as he looked at the snow outside.

Sans clenched his teeth. "I was thinking more of the Ruins."

"The Ruins?" Papyrus' attention was pulled back to Sans, eyebrows raised. "That's where we started!"

"I won't be long; it's not that far of a walk." Sans tried to reassure his brother that this wasn't a big deal, but Papyrus had to make it one.

"You're going to walk all the way back to the Ruins?" Papyrus asked, as if he wouldn't believe Sans' words. "You're going to collapse from exhaustion before then!"

"Why, because I'm fat?" The response was one Papyrus wasn't anticipating, neither was Sans. His eyes widened for a moment before his brain decided to stick with it, his frown digging deeper into his face. "Or is it because I like to help poor, defenseless creatures and I should stop wasting my time on them and live my life?"

That last statement left both to pause. Sans couldn't believe how much anger he was letting slip but it was like his mouth was its own entity.

"What? N-no… I wasn't..." Papyrus' eyes grew innocent, and for a moment Sans knew he had done wrong.

Before he could apologize though he watched his brother's eyes harden as he looked away, letting out an irritated huff. "Fine, save the spiders for all I care! It'll just take another few hours from our journey, no harm there!"

"Glad you're ok with it." Sans bitterly replied, turning back to notice the spiders gone. All that was left was the violet box, to which Sans picked up. He struggled for a moment, not anticipating how heavy it would be with all the spiders in it and walked over to the open doorframe.

He eyed Papyrus as he stepped back out into the snow and he wasn't following. "Well? You coming?"

"Actually, no."

Everything in Sans seemed to stop when he heard Papyrus' answer, turning back to his brother who just kept leaning on the doorframe. He eyed Sans, then went back to staring at the snow outstretching the horizon. "You're going to come back this way anyways, so I'm going to save my energy. I might even go and finish that spaghetti you didn't let me eat."

Sans gritted his teeth, shoulders hunched as he turned his body away. "Fine then. Stay here, I'll be back soon."

Sans got in a few more steps before he heard Papyrus mutter, "Try not to save every creature you find."

Sans could feel a burning sensation crawl up his spine, but he willed himself to keep walking. There was no way he was going to blow up on Papyrus, not with this petty of a situation.

He tried to steady himself with a few good deep breaths, trying to tell his mind that it was Papyrus he was getting mad at, not someone else. But the nerve of him to say such things.

Sans didn't know how badly Papyrus' words had stung until he was well out of Snowdin, walking back through the fresh snow and towards the Ruins. He kept to a leisurely pace as his heavy backpack and the donut box left him having to stop a few times to rest. During one of those moments, Sans couldn't keep his anger contained any longer.

Defiantly he kicked a small puff of snow, having set down his backpack and the donut box to relieve some of his pent up stress. "I can't believe he would say that."

Sans found himself pacing. "'Try not to save every creature you find.' Are you kidding me? How insensitive could you be?"

The violet box shuffled before the lid slowly opened, a few spiders poking their heads out to watch Sans kick up some snow. "I get it, we don't have a lot of time to goof off. I understand that this wasn't supposed to happen, and I darn know that we're in danger. But to just abandon people when they're in trouble?"

Sans shook his head. "As if he knows what I go through for him."

The more Sans talked, the more he felt his shoulders slump, the less he stomped and kicked. "Like he knows what people say behind his back… heh, maybe he does and he doesn't care, but I can't…. I can't…"

Sans let out a sigh as if to relieve the sadness washing over him, taking a seat on a nearby rock. He placed his head in his hands, allowing himself to show his sadness. "Like I can talk. It's my fault we're down here, the least I could do is get us back home. I wanted to find another world, not Papyrus. He's probably scared, no, I know he's scared and just wants to go back to what's familiar."

Sans slumped more. "And here I am prolonging his misery…"

The sensations of something crawling up his leg made Sans gasp and scurry backwards. A long, black trail of spiders lead out of the box and over to where he originally sat, as if the spiders had come over to comfort him. Not that Sans wanted the comfort, far from it.

He fell into the snow and kicked at his leg, watching a few spiders fly off and into the snow. His heart was racing and his mouth open, then his mind patched together what the spiders had been trying to do and sat up. He sheepishly looked to the spiders. "Uh, sorry. Not used to the feeling of spiders all over me."

Sans shuddered at the thought. But seeing the spiders allowed a thought to click in his head. Slowly he got back to his feet, watching the spiders retreat back into the donut box. "No, what I'm doing is right. Papyrus might be upset to be down here, but when we're gone, who would help little guys like you?"

Sans felt himself regain his smile, as he saw the lid of the box close. "Papyrus has a right to get upset, but I know he'll get over it. We're tough like that."

With firm hands Sans picked up the donut box, giving himself a warm grin. "Now let's get you spiders somewhere warm."

As Sans walked back to his backpack, ready to continue his small journey something bright green zipped past his body. Startled Sans dropped the pastry box, unleashing hundreds of spiders on the ground and onto his feet.

Sans gasped and backed up, paying more attention to shaking off the spiders than what crossed his path for the moment. That changed when another green object zipped past his head and made Sans fumble farther backwards.

Upon steadying himself and knowing the spiders were off did Sans finally see what was attacking him. Two long, brightly glowing arrows had pierced the icy path he walked on, and when turning his head up into the trees he saw another flash of green zip towards him.

Sans moved to the left to dodge the oncoming arrow, but his big T-shirt was caught by the tip and a small corner was ripped off.

"Human!" The call was echoed far into the snowy world, and with it Sans immediately and grimly knew who his attacker was.

The spiders were crawling back into the box just as Sans snatched it up along with his backpack. He ran as fast as his legs would go, panting and feeling the sweat start to stick to his back. But he knew this wasn't the time to stop or take a break, especially after he heard a loud thud from where he sat followed by a shrill cry. "So you finally decide to show your face again!"

Sans allowed himself to look back for a moment only to see another green arrow coming right for his body. He lunged himself forward and onto the icy ground, bruising his stomach and skidding for a few moments while the arrow whizzed past the air where he once was.

Sans struggled to get back up, noticing that he was so close to the bridge and beyond it the door to the ruins. If he could just get closer-

A heavy boot on his backpack stopped Sans hopeful thinking before it turned to thoughts of pain as the foot came down harder. Sans let out a cry of agony, struggling to get out of Sagiv's grip as the Head of the Royal Guard loomed over him.

"So, you thought you could outrun me, human?" The parrot asked, his head turning as his eyes scanned the forest before down at Sans. If beaks could smile, Sans knew he would be grinning.

"For years now we've been waiting for another human to fall down into our realm; but none seemed to venture. We were starting to lose hope that the humans had grown wise and would never come to Mt. Ebott. That was, until you and your brother showed up."

"What are you implying?" Sans gritted his teeth, looking up at Sagiv with intense anger. His struggles got more fierce but Sagiv only stomped on his backpack to knock the wind out of Sans.

"It means it would be an honor to kill you and your brother." Sagiv crouched down, still keeping his foot on Sans but getting closer to eye-level. "Do you have any idea what it's like? To live down here in isolation, scavenging whatever we can get our hands on from the trash of your world? Do you know how extinct the word 'weather' has become, or how we live in you humans shadows?"

Sagiv stood back up, his right arm rising with the long, black bow he held. From his left hand a flash of light appeared and disappeared, leaving behind a long, bright green arrow.

Sagiv pulled back the string of the bow, the tip of the arrow aimed directly at Sans' head. "With you and your brother's soul, we shall have our seven souls and we will break the barrier that sealed us within this hell. Then, King Asgore can plague the human world once more and it'll be the humans turn to live underground!"

Something inside Sans told him to throw the box of spiders at Sagiv. If he did that, then he would be able to escape and probably hide in the trees until Sagiv left. But as tempting as that plan sounded, Sans wouldn't throw the box, there had to have been another way to get out of this situation alive.

For a second, Sans cursed himself for not being strong. That he wasn't fast enough to run away from Sagiv or that his fat wasn't muscle. If only he had strength, if only he could fight his way through.

Knowing he didn't have much time to think before Sagiv would shoot an arrow through his skull, Sans let go of the box and shoved one hand inside his pocket. Come on, come on!

"Thanks for the soul." Sagiv happily stated just as Sans had thrown his wallet up and at the parrot. To his luck the packet of leather soared through the air and smacked Sagiv in the eye, making him stumble back and shoot the arrow.

Sans put his hands on his head in a sad attempt to protect himself, hearing the arrow pierce the ground and thankfully not his skull. When he opened his eyes and sat up, the arrow was just inches away from where he laid.

By the time Sagiv had regained his eyesight Sans had rushed past the bridge and down the long trail towards the Ruins. Sagiv gave chase, lifting his bow and bringing forth more arrows. "You're only prolonging the inevitable, human! I promise you'll see your brother soon from where you'll be going!"

Sans knew he wouldn't be able to outrun the guard, even when he was sporting a full suit of armor. In a desperate attempt he threw open the box of donuts, digging his hand into the mass of spiders for one of the donuts. He held back the urge to scream and throw the box, quickly closing it when he had one. "Sorry!"

He then threw the donut back, hoping that it would smack into Sagiv and make him falter. However his aim wasn't so lucky this time, instead flopping to the ground with a smack.

Sagiv still stopped however upon noticing it. "Oh, a spider donut."

Bent over, Sagiv started to nibble at the donut while it was still on the ground, not bothering to pick it up or pursue the chase. Sans was so baffled he nearly stopped, but remember he needed the lead. Well, at least the donut was effective in halting Sagiv.

That seemed to last only a few moments as he heard Sagiv once more. "Why all the struggling? Do you actually think you can escape me?"

Sagiv scoffed as he pursued Sans, who was now a fair lead ahead. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned forth an orange, glowing arrow, aiming for Sans. "Let's see how you fair against some magic."

By the time Sans looked back again he felt something pierce his back. He sucked in a deep breath of air, watching the spiritual arrow exit his body without even so much of a puncture wound. But the feeling was something Sans never wanted to experience again.

Sans faltered suddenly for his balance, feet not connecting with the ground anymore. In fact, his body was slowly starting to rise off the ground, as if his weight was nonexistent.

"What the?!" Sans started, his running slowly coming to a halt as his feet was just connecting with the air.

He noticed Sagiv starting to catch up with his green arrows pointed at him. "I feel like getting some practice in with my bow!"

Teeth clenched, Sans moved the box of spiders to his legs and gripped them with his thighs, using his arms in an attempt to swim away. It seemed to be working for the most part as Sans steered his body over to the tall pine trees while also dodging the green arrows that seemed to light up the sky.

"Hold still!" Sagiv yelled, lining up three arrows in his bow before firing them.

Sans rolled and moved his body so as to not get pierced, finally over by the trees. He grabbed a hold of the top of one, pushing himself forward from tree to tree, still determined to get to the Ruins' door.

Sagiv noticed this and gave chase. "Thinking of hiding in the Ruins? Not if I get there first!"

"Just leave us alone!" Sans called down, but kept most of his focus on grabbing the trees. If he was off on his pulling he might just drift back out into the middle of the field or go way off course.

"Now why would you think I would do that?" Sagiv sneered, lining up his shot again. This time it was a red arrow. "You're the reason we're trapped down here!"

Shot fired, Sans was able to successfully dodge the arrow. However the arrow seemed to curve unlike the other arrows and fire back into him. As the arrow exited his chest Sans felt his body grow heavy again and with it his descent to the ground.

He smashed into several tree branches before flopping onto the snow, creating a small cloud of snow with his drop. He kept his legs up however in an attempt to not flatten the box in his legs, which remained battered but not destroyed.

Sans lifted his head from the freezing snow, taking a gasp of air before struggling to get up. He noticed he was close to the door, clutching the box of spiders in his hands as he limped over.

His foot dragged behind him and everything hurt, but Sans knew he couldn't abandon his quest when he was so close. His spirits almost lifted when he managed to make it to the door first, with Sagiv close behind.

Setting down the box, he futilely pulled on the gap of the two doors to open it, but knew he wouldn't be able to in his current condition and without Papyrus. If only he were here!

Knowing he wouldn't be able to escape behind the door, Sans lifted the top off of the box, urging the spiders forward. "Go, crawl underneath the door!"

The spiders responded to Sans voice, making their way out of the box and underneath the door frame. Sans could feel a wave of relief wash over his being, knowing that he had completed his quest.

That was quickly ripped from him when Sagiv hoisted him in the air by his shirt.

Through his brown eyes he was quickly met with black, beady ones. "You gave me quite the chase, human. I applaud your efforts in trying to escape, given your current condition."

A fist was raised, and Sans soon felt searing pain in his right eye. It closed instinctively after Sagiv had given it quite the shiner, the teenager sucking in a breath of air and refusing to cry in pain. Sagiv clicked his beak. "But now, it is time for the human to meet his e-"

Sans anticipated Sagiv to not finish his sentence and just stab him with one of his arrows, but that wasn't the case. Sagiv's eyes seemed to be elsewhere, near the ground. "What the?"

He held Sans aside, watching the last of the spiders leave the donut box and scurry underneath the door. "The spiders from that old shack?"

Sagiv looked to Sans, who felt a nervous smile sprout on his face even when his face hurt like heck. "I-I brought them somewhere warm. So they wouldn't die."

"You mean you kidnapped them!" Sagiv narrowed his eyes before lightly shaking Sans.

The poor teen gripped the giant parrot's hand for stability, his voice shaking just as much as his body. "N-no! I re-really did he-help them!"

Sagiv gave a moment of rest for Sans, where he really felt Sagiv's eyes bore holes into his already exposed soul. Then after a moment of silence, the parrot dropped Sans and left him to land stomach first. "Why?"

Sans faltered to get up, his muscles straining to work from all of the extraneous exercise he had done. He looked to Sagiv after sitting up, rubbing his right cheek as it was starting to swell. "What?"

Sagiv gave Sans a confused look, as if we thinking things through. He then shook his head. "It doesn't matter what you just did. You are still going to die."

Pulling out his bow, Sagiv materialized one of his green arrows, to which he aimed directly at Sans. The poor teenager had barely any fight in him, and knew he wouldn't be able to dodge from this close.

Just before the arrow was released, a single spider crawled back out into the snow and seemed to squeak something insignificant. This got Sagiv and Sans' attention, with Sagiv making the arrow disappear. "Hm?"

He crouched down to hear the spider better, who squeaked once more while Sagiv just nodded his head. Sans wondered what the spider was saying, but then contemplated running while Sagiv was distracted. No, it was a stupid idea, as if he tried to get away now Sagiv would notice and probably kill him on the spot.

"Hm, I can do that." Sagiv, having heard enough stood back up. He grabbed the violet box on the ground, then pulled back one door with barely any strength. He set the box down inside the ruins, then picked up the spider and dropped them over the door. "There you go."

With a smile and a wave Sagiv closed the door, looking back over to Sans. "Sorry about that. The spiders didn't want to lose their merchandise. Understandable."

Once more the arrow came back, Sagiv pulling back on his bow. "Now then…"

Sans didn't want it to end like this. He didn't want to die here, with this parrot looming over him ready to end everything. He didn't want his last words to Papyrus to have been so bitter…

Just when Sans had anticipated the arrow would shoot right through him at any second, the sound of a pager going off alarmed both of them. Sagiv let out an irritable squawk and let the arrow disappear once more, reaching for the pager in his pocket. "What now?"

He trained his beady eyes on the small words that flashed across the screen, and Sans wondered what the text said. He knew it wasn't good, for soon Sagiv regarded Sans with a click of his beak. "Well, well, it sounds like my Knights have captured your brother."

The mention of his brother sent chills up Sans' spine, his left eye widening as much as it could. The cool blues and white of the world started to fade along with his heart.

Sagiv shook his head, then placed his bow behind him with a conventional clip in his armor. "I would kill you now, but I am off to help my knights in securing your brother. You won't get far in your condition anyways, and I'll just come back when I'm done to finish the job."

As if Sagiv held all the cards he then started to strut away, trying to whistle a happy tune but ultimately failing. "I hope you enjoyed what little time you had down here, human. It will be over very quickly."

Sans felt his body lunge forward, as if to grab Sagiv and stop him from walking off. But his hand barely reached and with it he felt his body fall forward and onto the icy path.

Struggling, Sans lifted his head and felt his voice rip through his throat. "No, get back here! Papyrus… You won't hurt him! I WON'T LET YOU! PAPYRUS!"

Sans felt hot tears resurface once more, teeth clenched as he tried to keep it inside. "Please, I beg of you! Kill me but don't hurt him!"

He choked back a sob. "DON'T DO THIS!"

But Sagiv neither turned around or stopped. Instead he only heard Sagiv's cheerful laughter before disappearing into the horizon, leaving Sans to freeze.

Muscles shaking, body aching, Sans willed himself to stand and walk, even if he still limped. His mind was going crazy, his breaths heavy and deep but he kept walking, knowing that if he stopped it would be like giving up on his brother. His backpack dragged him down like heavy chains, but Sans ignored the weight and kept going.

It couldn't end this way… it wouldn't end this way.

Sans didn't know how long he walked. He didn't know how cold his body had gotten, or how dead he felt inside. All he knew was that he couldn't stop, and his determination pulled him through the snowy banks and icy paths like a train.

Salvation came to Sans in the form of the sign announcing Snowdin, where Sans felt the smallest bit of relief come to him. It was barren, like normal, but Sans had to know Papyrus was still there. He had to still be waiting for him at the shack, he had to be alright. "Papyrus!"

It hurt to call out Papyrus' name, but Sans continued to shout it at the top of his lungs, hoping that his brother would arrive soon and relieve him of his worry. He couldn't be captured, he wouldn't! "Papyrus! I'm here! I'm back! …Papyrus!"

Dragging himself over to the shack, Sans expected his brother to still be leaning on the doorframe. He wanted to hear Papyrus shout his name and rush over and worry about his wounds, to which he would calmly play them off with a smile.

But there was no one at the doorframe. There was no figure inside waiting for him. And there was no Papyrus to see his smile.

Sans felt the world around him slowly start to fade, and with it his heart smashed. He dropped to his knees, giving one last shout. "PAPYRUS!"

So cold, so dead did Sans feel. What came next was the feeling of nothingness, and his face hit the floorboards.

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to tell you that this story has almost hit 2,000 views and has 50 followers! Thank you so much for the continued support on this ongoing project!

I also wanted to say that I'm looking for someone to do a cover for this story, if anyone is interested. If anyone is PM me or show me what you make! I have a deviantart account under the same username here so if you have one and it would be easier to upload there let me know!