Snowed Inn Hotel
That morning, there was a fierce snowstorm, and the windowpanes rattled to the howling of the wind.
There was something cold and hard is in Frisk's bed. It was the Real Knife, wrapped in yesterday's newspaper. A message was written in red ink: Stay safe.
So Chara had disarmed himself. He'd surrendered his weapon to her.
So I'd like to believe, thought Frisk. Chara probably has more than one knife, right?
Keen to stay out of the blizzard, Frisk decided to take the undersnow tunnel to Sans and Papyrus' cabin. Papyrus was bound to be worried.
The whole town was very quiet, and the underpass was deserted.
When she was about to exit, she found the door wedged shut with a bone spear.
"…turn around.. and face me.." It was Sans' voice, from behind her.
She turned.
Sans cornered the human in the underpass. It seemed to sense his intent was less than friendly, and looked around nervously. But the underpass was deserted.
Sans didn't know what he wanted to do. He didn't really have a plan. Did he actually want to kill the human? Or just intimidate it and scare it away from town? Some of his nightmares felt too real to just be dreams.
The human looked frightened. It edged backwards, but it didn't run. "..Sans? It's good to see you", it said, smiling timidly, "I was coming to visit".
Sans felt horribly guilty about what he was about to do.
With a wave of his hand, two skull blasters materialized from each end of the tunnel and took aim at the human.
"..sorry kid. please understand this is nothing personal.. i love my brother more than anything, and humans are too dangerous"
"Wait!" cried the human.
Sans fired. The aim was perfect. A blinding flash of light filled the underpass. But somehow, the human dropped to one side just in time, avoiding the beams of light.
"Sans, what are you doing?" the human asked. "Why are you fighting me?"
I'll scare it, he decided. Let's see if it will fight back.
"humans are dangerous. they all have to die.." he said flatly. He summoned a cage of bones around the human, but it darted away before he could trap it.
He threw his fastest and most complex attacks at the human, but each time, it seemed to dodge. Yet, it never took the opportunity to counterattack.
Suddenly, Sans was the one who was scared.
Is it toying with me? Sans wondered. Something about the way it moved, so confident and sure-footed. It moved only enough to evade, never stumbling or losing its balance. As if it had done this kind of thing before. He started to sweat.
"Please.. stop!" said the human. It looked upset rather than afraid.
"..you can't run forever. turn around and fight me!" Sans challenged. He prepared his most powerful bone attack and hurled it at the human.
He managed to strike it a glancing blow on the leg, but as he was preparing his next attack, it pulled out a Nice Cream and ate it, recovering health.
Sans shot at the human again and again. With each attack, it fled, just in time.
I can't win, Sans realized. Nothing I do has any effect. On the rare chances I can hit it, it heals itself.
"What have I done?" asked the human. "Why do you want me dead?"
Sans unleashed a flurry of bone spears and almost impaled the human. Had he.. hesitated? Was it the thought of killing someone as they begged for mercy? Or the memory of Papyrus crying over its lifeless body?
"I wouldn't harm anybody. I'm only a child.." it pleaded.
His next attack was a wave of energy that threw the human flat against the wall. The human cried out in pain and twisted free.
"Is this about your brother? Are you afraid of him being friends with me?"
"that's right" said Sans, "there's nothing i wouldn't do to protect him"
Sans attacked again and again. He was exhausted. Beads of sweat were collecting on his forehead. He stared at the human. It still hadn't tried to fight back, not even to defend itself. Instead of countering or running away, it was just standing there, looking at him.
"Sans.. you don't really want to kill me, do you..? All you want to do is save your brother" said the human. It slowly held out its arms to Sans and closed its eyes. "I know you're a good person. I believe in you.."
It was so much like something that Papyrus would do.. Sans was spooked. He hesitated. The human didn't move. Sans pointed a skull blaster at its nose.
I could kill it, right now. Nobody would know. It's too powerful - this is the only chance I'll get.
On the other hand.. if it does have some strange power and survives what I do next, maybe it won't be so merciful. Undoubtedly, it's strong. Even I couldn't bring it down. Isn't that a sign of a good person? Someone who could use their power for their own gain but chooses to do the right thing instead?
"Sans", said the human softly, still with its eyes closed, "You can see my SOUL, right? Look in there.. and tell me what you see.."
With great suspicion, Sans edged closer.
Closer still.
The human's face was scrunched up and it was biting its lip. It looked so afraid, yet it kept holding out its arms. His eye glowed blue and he looked into the human's SOUL.
"you have.. no EXP. your Level Of Violence is literally… nothing.."
Sans didn't move. He believed in karma. He believed that all actions had their consequences. Now he had proof it was innocent.
"Please, Sans.. mercy.."
The human was sparing him, and had been doing so since the beginning of their encounter. Sans felt ashamed of himself. The human was even shorter than him, and its frame was far more slender. It looked quite frail and pitiful, really. He made his decision.
"..kid.. you're shaking", said Sans, clapping a hand to the human's shoulder.
Slowly, the human's little arms went around his ribcage and it stood on tiptoe to rest its head on his bony shoulder. It was hugging him. He could feel its rapid breathing and its racing heart.
"..c'mere buddy", he said, hugging it back and mussing its hair.
Sans was embarrassed. He'd failed to kill the human, and then been spared by it.
"..uh.. pal.. i'm really sorry about what i just did. howzabout.. i make it up to you by taking you for brunch at grillby's. you wanna come?"
Frisk smiled sweetly. "Sure, it's a date!" she said, winking at Sans, tossing her hair.
"…k-kid, are you flirting with me?"
"Maybe…."
"this is a great place.. i take pretty much all my breaks in here.." said Sans, pushing the door open.
Sans greeted the monsters in Grillby's diner. Everyone seemed to know him.
"here, get comfy", he said to Frisk, pulling out a chair for her. She sat down-
PBLPBLpblpblpblp-weet
Everyone in the bar burst out laughing, none louder than Frisk herself.
"He got me this morning!" whispered a pelican monster perching next to her.
"anyway, let's order", said Sans, "whaddya want…?"
"I'd like a burger please", said Frisk.
"sounds good! grillby, we'll have a double order of burg" said Sans.
Sans pulled out a comb and brushed it across his hairless scalp. He saw the human's expression.
"..what? i'm on a date! i gotta look good.."
"so, what do you think of my brother?" said Sans.
"He's really cool!" said Frisk happily.
Their food arrived. Sans pushed one burger towards Frisk and said, "bone appetit."
Frisk declined the ketchup and Sans necked the bottle in one go.
"cool or not, Papyrus tries real hard… he's been training with undyne for several years. but she won't let him join the royal guard cos she's scared he'd get hurt."
Sans gestured for another bottle. Grillby snapped the cap off a new bottle of mustard and sent it sliding across the table to Sans' hand. The yellow bottle came to a stop against one of Sans' finger bones, with a soft CHINK.
"he was supposed to capture you.. but ended up befriending you instead", said Sans, tipping the bottle into his mouth. Nothing came out and he frowned.
"Papyrus is not bad at fighting. He's just not good at killing" Frisk explained.
Sans upended the mustard and was looking directly up into the bottle. Frisk almost stopped him, then thought better of it.
"i've been watchin' you fight, kid. then i actually fought you. you fight good. like, you've already experienced a lot of fights.."
"Really? I see it differently. I'm not good at fighting, I'm just good at avoiding fights." It was a lie. But one she had to tell. Frisk knew she had to convince Sans she wasn't a threat. She had to earn his trust.
It certainly gave Sans something to think about. He seemed to believe her.
"..so you've avoided fighting any monsters..?"
"I read, in the library, that monsters express themselves with magic. Every encounter is just an encounter, even when a monster looks like it wants to fight."
"..that's the bare bones of it, i guess."
Flirt? Why not?
Frisk smiled mischievously. "Maybe.. when a monster is feeling passionate inside, that's what makes its attacks fierce..!"
All of a sudden, Sans felt uncomfortable. For once, he couldn't come up with any wisecracks or puns. He might even have blushed if he had skin.
He groaned.
"..grillby.. gimme a beer.. and a mop.."
"..kid.. i got a difficult request for you. d'you think you could move on from this town? papyrus has already been given the order to capture you.. it's only a matter of time before more monsters come after you.. y'see they need that SOUL of yours to break the barrier that keeps us trapped down here.. so get going, pal. stay safe. lemme give you my number, then you can call me if anything comes up ok?"
Frisk promised to leave the next day. He seemed satisfied with that.
They exchanged cellphone numbers.
NIGHT
Frisk paced back and forth as she awaited Chara's arrival. She was looking forward to seeing him, and she couldn't keep still.
Chara had been so happy to see her, to be close to her. When she had held him, she felt his loneliness and desperation, and then the comfort that he drew from her. Her SOUL had become a two-way channel. She remembered reaching out to Chara through that bond. In that moment, their emotions had rushed across each other in a powerful counter-current.
A complicated arrangement indeed.
In an attempt to distract herself, she picked up her stick and practiced a few moves.
"Greetings" said Chara. He was perching on the window ledge.
Frisk walked up to him and hugged him gently. Chara seemed surprised and delighted. He put his arms around her waist.
"You're looking a lot healthier than last night. What did you get up to today?"
"I had a fight with Sans!" Frisk decided to leave out the part about the date in Grillby's.
"Sans?! The most powerful monster? I wish I'd seen that!"
"He wasn't as determined as the last time I fought him. But it was a great fight! I only got hit once.."
"How did it end? Did you…?"
"I'd call it a draw. I spared him."
Chara's excitement radiated from him like heat from a fire. "Frisk.. I want to watch you fight. If you're even half as good as you say, I want to be there."
I want to show him, Frisk thought, I want Chara to see how strong I am and admire me!
As Frisk recounted the details of that battle, she couldn't help thinking of Papyrus' words: to have someone cool and smart think that you are cool. These complex feelings.. Papyrus was wiser than he looked.
Outside the window, the blizzard was still raging. Frisk held Chara, warmed by the SOUL that seemed to pulse between their bodies. She felt invincible.
Peace, Mongo Xx
Writer's note:
Today at school, I found out I got 41% in my English exam. Luckily, the nice messages you guys have been sending really made up for it. I can't believe people are reviewing this rubbish already.
Lady L0uise: your kind words fill my SOUL with determination
Nick Write: all aboard the shipping train! It gets worse, I promise you. Abandon ship while you can!
Fgon3742: if you review my completed story, I will trim a cheese in the shape of your smile. You are very great.
I'll try and upload something each morning until the end of November..