Snowdin town

Frisk set out to patrol the East side of Snowdin town. The snow was deep and she used her stick to steady herself. Today she felt good. She was refreshed and well-rested, for the first time in weeks. She felt optimistic – meeting Chara had been a bit scary, but so far, he had listened to her and behaved himself. Maybe he just needed some good company, and everything would turn out alright.

Sans followed at a safe distance. He was relieved the human was leaving. He'd become fond of it, and was very glad he could let it go peacefully on its way.

If it leaves town, I'll stop following it. I'll assume it's harmless. It never showed any signs of being dangerous. My instructions were wrong after all..

Then he saw Papyrus blocking the human's path. His instincts were screaming at him- something awful was about to happen. Some terrible premonition. He remembered a nightmare he'd had, where his brother had been killed, and he'd felt the indescribable pain of losing the person who mattered most.

Not Papyrus.. Anyone but Papyrus.. He hated himself for that, but it was true. He'd trade anyone's life for Papyrus, even his own.

He sped up, using a line of trees for cover.

The human stopped in front of Papyrus. Until now, it didn't show any inclination for violence, but nobody had opposed it yet. What might it do if someone tried to stop it? Might it attack?

"HUMAN. ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU OF SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS" Papyrus was saying, "THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER'S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL…"

Papyrus, you idiot! Sans thought. Get away from that creature! We don't know what it's capable of! Let it leave peacefully!

But Papyrus was oblivious to the danger. He was still talking to the human.

"THESE FEELINGS.. THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW! I PITY YOU, LONELY HUMAN… WORRY NOT! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL.. NO.. NO THIS IS ALL WRONG!"

The human was advancing on his brother. Sans' eye glowed blue and two skull blasters materialized beside him.

I could just blast the human to dust right here! Sweat trickled down his forehead. He wondered how he'd explain that to Papyrus if he did fry the human with a beam from his blasters. His brother loved that human. Still, it would be worth it, if Papyrus was safe.

Something was holding him back. He couldn't bring himself to shoot it, not yet. So far, it was innocent.

"I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND! YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU! THEN I CAN FULFIL MY LIFELONG DREAM OF BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

No Papyrus! Don't antagonize it! Let it be.. Let it go!

Sans stretched one of the blasters into a long, thin shape. The muzzle narrowed. The teeth morphed into cross-hairs. Gripping his new sniper-blaster, he crouched, controlled his breathing, and sighted carefully.

Papyrus was trying to corral the human with his Blue Attack and his bone attacks. Sans was horrified to see how quick and nimble it was. It was much faster than Papyrus.

It's powerful, all right. It's very efficient with its movements – it never moves more than it has to, and it always avoids the attacks in time.

Another fragment of his nightmare resurfaced. It was he, fighting the human, and it dodged every attack he threw at it. It kept coming and coming, trying to stab him with its horrible knife.

He shivered and his fingers shook. He tried to ignore the rising urge to vomit.

Papyrus was still trying to talk to the human. It was coming closer and closer to him. Papyrus held out his arms. Here- here is where Papyrus had been murdered. Sans saw it clearly. This was the scene from his dream. The human struck as soon as Papyrus offered it mercy. And now with one more step, it would be within striking distance.

Sans gritted his teeth, set the cross-hairs on the human's body, and shot it right through its tiny heart. It staggered, then fell at Papyrus' feet.

Sans didn't stop to look. He turned and ran for home.

In the distance, he heard Papyrus howl, "NYOO HOO HOO! THE HUMAN! I KILLED THE HUMAN!"

Sans was balled up in his greasy bedsheets, overcome with shame and disgust.

I had to do it, he told himself, I couldn't risk it any longer.

What if it was innocent?

How could it be innocent if it fought that well?

But I never saw it hurt anybody, except in my dreams.

He heard Papyrus come into the front door. Then a soft knock on his own. What would he tell Papyrus?

"..SANS…" called Papyrus in a broken voice, "…ARE YOU AWAKE..? SOMETHNG TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED."

Sans forced himself out of bed. He opened the door. There was Papyrus, clutching the limp body of the human. Its head hung backwards and its eyes were closed.

Papyrus was bawling his eyes out. "..I WAS TRYING TO CAPTURE IT… THEN IT.. IT CONFESSED ITS FEELINGS FOR ME.. THEN I GOT DISTRACTED. I MUST HAVE MESSED UP MY ATTACK… AND NOW IT's DEAD.." He convulsed with emotion. "IT'S SO SMALL.. SO SOFT.." he was saying, touching its cheek, then its hair, "I WAS STUPID TO DO SOMETHING SO DANGEROUS."

Sans took a closer look. "bro, it's still breathing", he said. "put it in the shed and let it recover, ok?"

Papyrus hurried off to try and revive the human. Sans went straight back to bed. He crawled into his nest of dirty laundry and bedsheets, and tried to sort his head out. Was he supposed to finish the human off? He couldn't face it tonight.

Frisk woke up in a shed. Her head was resting in a dog bed. Everything hurt. Wincing with pain, she looked around. There were some dog toys scattered on the floor, and a bowl of kibble with spaghetti and a cut-up hot dog mixed in.

Ah. Of course. This was the 'capture zone' for humans captured by Papyrus - of which she was the first. Frisk struggled to her feet. There were bars over the exit, but set too wide apart to stop her from getting through. She escaped.

NIGHT

After the day's escapades, Frisk's whole body was weak and aching. Somehow, she'd grazed a knee very badly and it was bleeding. She limped back to her room in the Snowed Inn Hotel and lay on the rug, too sore to clean herself up and too dirty to get into bed. I should at least make myself presentable for Chara, she thought. Since when did I care how I look when Chara sees me?

Dusk was falling outside her window.

I should move. I should do something.

But she couldn't. She just lay uselessly on her rug.

"Hey", came Chara's voice from behind her. "What happened to you?"

Chara looked really worried. "You got beaten up, didn't you?" He sat by her head. "That skeleton nearly wiped you out!"

Frisk shook her head. "He never does. Papyrus never hits someone when they're down. I experimented a few times before, and each time he got me down to low health, he just carried me inside his shed to recover. Every time. He never turned me over to Undyne, not even once."

"Your health is pretty low right now. Wait there!" Chara opened the door and left the room for a few minutes. He came back carrying a basin of hot water and a flannel. "Have a wash. You'll feel better", he said.

"Thank you", said Frisk, surprised by Chara's kindness.

"I'm going to find you some food to restore your health. I'll be back soon!"

Feeling very determined, Frisk stripped off and washed away all the mud she'd collected. She dumped her soiled clothing in a pile and eased herself into Sans' old shirt. Her skinned knee wouldn't stop bleeding. She dabbed at it gingerly with the flannel, but it was too tender to clean properly.

Chara knocked on the door. "Come in", said Frisk.

Chara shouldered open the door carefully. In one hand, he carried a take-away tub, and in the other, he was balancing a few paper bags of groceries. "Here", he said, handing Frisk the tub and a spoon.

Frisk clumsily popped the top off. It was a thick stew, still steaming hot. She dipped the spoon in, and tasted it cautiously. There were vegetables and some grey rubbery bits that might have been mushrooms. The flavor was excellent. She started spooning it up greedily.

"That's my favorite snail stew. It reminds me of my Mom's cooking", Chara said proudly, "I had to go all the way to the snail farm to get it."

Frisk nearly choked on her mouthful, but Chara was oblivious. He was rooting through his bags of shopping. Finally, he found what he was looking for. "Spider cream! For your knee." He held up the tiny pot triumphantly. Frisk stuck out her grazed leg gratefully. She was definitely feeling better. Healthier.

Chara busied himself cleaning the grit out of Frisk's knee. Could this really be Chara, wondered Frisk. What happened to the murdering and the violence? Cautiously, she reached out with her mind, exploring Chara's feelings, and her own. She felt:

Deep gratitude.

The feeling of making a new friend. Shyness. And the hope that this new friend likes you as much as you like them.

Were these feelings hers? She couldn't tell. Chara was putting a soft sticky web-like bandage on top of the graze. The cream was soothing and the bandage stopped the bleeding.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"I feel great! Thank you, Chara", replied Frisk. "I'm good as new."

In this Underground world, is there anyone who can't be won over by kindness? Here, isn't there a non-violent solution to every encounter? For most monsters, it's just a matter of finding kind words and actions.

I saved Asriel, once, Frisk remembered. I held him and comforted him, and he became good and kind. Love prevailed, over seemingly overwhelming odds.

Maybe I can do the same for Chara..

"Chara", said Frisk, holding out her arms to him, "you're really kind. You've been really kind to me, even though I didn't trust you at first. I'm sorry."

Chara approached her slowly. He held both of Frisks hands in his. "I think it's this SOUL of yours. It longs for kindness. It wants to be loved."

Frisk remembered back to her battle with Sans, when Sans offered to spare her. Despite all the terrible things she had done, she had longed for forgiveness and hope. She summoned up her kindest, most compassionate feelings. She called out to her own SOUL, and feeling it resonate within Chara, she reached out and held him gently.

I am here and I know what you need. I'll save you. No matter what you've done, I'll forgive you. You are my own SOUL. Nobody understands you better than I. I believe, deep inside you, there's a good person who's worth saving.

Then, as if at her fingertips, she touched the dark emptiness of Chara's SOUL, just beyond her own. It was-

Bitter. Painful. Sharp.

Broken...?

That's OK. I won't flinch. You're in pain and I'm here to help you. I won't let you fall apart.. I'll heal and soothe your wounds, and hold you together with my Determination.

Chara's SOUL resonated at her touch. It was resonating with her own SOUL. He sank into her arms and let his head rest on her shoulder, then relaxed completely as she held him.

"Bedtime?" asked Frisk. "Come on… it's been a crazy day and I'm worn out."

She coaxed Chara to stand and pulled him into bed.

"You're ok with this?" asked Chara, holding one of her hands, "You don't mind me sleeping in your bed?"

"I don't mind. You're really kind to me" said Frisk. "I can trust you", she said, praying it was true.