Thank you for the support :D Horrortale is always one of those AUs where you're like, "That's messed up. But I like it." My friend lended me a hand by linking me to the Undertale map when I tell myself, "Well, how will the human get out of this?"
The door led to a forest, with snow covering everything. Vines quickly closed the door behind me, and I could hear pounding and a faint sobbing. I put my hand against the door, pulling it away when the vines snapped at me. I waved goodbye.
Still, I had to keep walking. The snow crunched under my flipflops. I slipped on a sweater from my bag, feeling a shiver up my spine. The rhythm of my footsteps kept me going. The forest was barren, but I heard life beyond the trees, unlike the ruins. Sometimes, I could hear other footsteps, even when I stopped to catch my breath. Maybe it was a hallucination.
Out of my eyesight, I could see a shadowy figure. Scratch that, two. They slowly approached me. I turned around, facing them. It couldn't possibly be that bad. I opened my eyes, bracing myself.
Skeletons. Somehow, I expected this. "Don't get too close," I whispered under my breath in reference to the shorter one, but despite him having razor sharp bone teeth and a gaping hole in his skull, was the shyer of the two. He stayed behind the taller one, who seemed way too happy to see me. He had a bright red scarf, and strutted towards me.
"Human!" I flinched at him patting me on the back. "Do not worry, for I, the great Papyrus, member of the royal guard, shall capture you!" I backed away and bumped into the shorter one. Wasn't he just...?
"'sup kiddo," He greeted me, interrupting my thoughts. "How are you?" He extended his hand, and I shook it. He looked like he wanted to break my arm, but broke into hysterical laughter when the whoophe cushion in his hand made me jump. "Quite the fearful one they are, bro."
The taller one, Papryus, merely said, "Then I shall be gentle in the process of capturing. Sans, we could keep them in the house instead of the garage! That way, they won't feel the need to escape, because they'll be drowning in hospitality."
"If you want them to drown in hospitality, I think the river in Waterfall would be a great place for them to stay." He faced me, and when I didn't respond to his joke, he still chuckled. Then he frowned. Papyrus took my hand and lead me to a town. The decorations made it seem like it was Christmas. Sans stopped Papyrus at a decaying restaurant.
Papyrus groaned, "Sans, you always go here." Sans tugged at his scarf, stopping him despite his small stature.
"It'll be a bonding moment between me and the human," He pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug. He put up a smile, though I could tell it was fake.
The taller skeleton sighed, staring at the hole in Sans's skull, and said, "Fine, go for it!" He looked at me, and immediately added, "But bring them back here for their inevitable capture!" Papyrus ran off, softly laughing, leaving Sans staring directly at me.
I waved, and he only grunted. He dragged me inside, and exclaimed, "Nothing like bonding with fresh meat and fries on the side, eh?" Something felt incredibly wrong about that sentence. I sat down with him at the counter. "Here's Grillz, the hottest and most fiery dude in town. Literally." He looked like he told that joke a thousand times before, and the bartender looked like he heard that joke a thousand times as well. "Anyway, how are you liking Snowdin so far?"
"It's... empty." Sans dropped his smile. "Where is everyone?" I asked.
Sans grabbed my hand, and said, 'We do not talk about that, kiddo." I looked around the restaurant. It felt... sad. And hopeless. Exactly what Toriel described it, but I don't see the madness she described. Grillby, assuming he named the place after himself, put down two plates of fries and a burger. Sans held a ketchup bottle, "Want some?" I shook my head. I didn't know why, but teeth that could cut me by just grazing my skin kind of freaks me out. "Heh. More for me." Instead of dumping it on his plate, he just drank straight from it.
I stared at my plate. It would probably be the only proper meal I would eat down here. My hands started shaking as I realized he was staring at me with vacant eyes. "Kid. I saw you come out of that door. That lady... Is she okay?" He asked. It seemed he really cared, but visions of Toriel breaking down in front of me popped into my head.
"She's doing fine..." I muttered.
Sans picked at his food. "That's good... I could say I ruined her life. Somebody had to tell her the news... about Asgore. And how we're doing... I thought she would take it okay..." I never heard the name before, but I still reacted like I was surprised. "I always assumed she... passed away. Like..." He stopped there. "Anyway, I'm full," He pushed away his full plate. "C'mon kid." But before I went out the door with him, he grabbed my sweater. "I'm giving you one warning. If you ever lay a finger on my brother... well... If I were you, I'd hope for the best. Because my patience is starting to wear thin."
He snapped back, like changing personalities was just like a change of shoes for him. "Put it on the tab, Grillz." The fire monster sighed, and Sans looked back at me, and said, "Hope you like spaghetti. Honestly, you look like you need the meal. Like any second, I'll find you pasta-way." He laughed hysterically, even wiping some tears from his eyes. I walked to his house with him.
I found Papyrus in the kitchen, cooking spaghetti. He looked behind him, and found Sans right next to me. "Hello, brother! I see you brought the human! But first we have... some matters to discuss." He put his hand on his hip. "Sans, I don't know if this is an elaborate prank, but whatever you did to tamper with my top-class pasta, it recently started to taste metallic. Did you do something with it?"
Sans snickered, and said, "Bro, I haven't done a thing. It's probably the pot rusting or whatever." Papyrus studied the pot.
"Very well, brother. I'll be off to the store to get some noodles, so can you chop the tomatoes?" Sans nodded. "Delightful!" Papyrus slammed the door in a hurry. Sans smiled, and grabbed the knife already by the cutting board. It was stained red. Somebody had forgotten to wash it. Considering the ridiculous height of the sink, I don't blame them. He limped towards the fridge to grab some tomatoes. He laid them on the cutting board, and started chopping. Sans was admittedly a little too good at using the knife. He glanced at me watching with intent. "Hey kiddo, wanna lend me a hand?" I nodded, and he chuckled.
He dug his bony fingers into my hand and slammed it on the chopping board. "It's better this way. I don't want to hurt his feelings when you eventually run out of thyme." A knock was heard at the door, and Sans quickly took my hand away, to make it look like he was guiding my hand to help me cut up tomatoes.
"Hello, Sans! I followed your knock before entering rule this time, so can you help with the groceries?" Sans grabbed two bags from Papyrus's hands and put the contents up. "So human, how do you like my brother?"
I flashed a nervous thumbs-up, to which he replied, "Splendid!" Sans whispered something into the part of Papyrus's skull where an ear would be. "Excellent idea, Sans. We could bring the mattress down from your room so you could guard the human!" Papyrus sauntered away, humming a catchy tune while dumping the whole box of noodles into the pot. Sans before passing me, whispered, "Look at that, we're going to be slumber pals." He put his hand over my mouth. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick." Papyrus rounded the corner, and said, "Sans, can you get the hose, I can't reach the sink..."
"Sure thing bro." He slumped outside, like he was injured. Papyrus sighed, letting his smile drop.
He stared at me, not even bothering to say something cheery, "It's hard. Watching over him. He's been having trust issues. I have to give him errands to keep him from... well."
"What was that?" Sans asked from the door, worry in his... eye.
Papyrus quickly composed himself and said, "I said it was dinner time, dear brother!" He handed me and Sans a plate each from the fridge.
"Heh. I guess we're having a leftovers night." Sans chuckled. I looked up at him. Something seemed off.
He sat down on the couch, almost blending into it. Like he'd disappear if you looked away. Speaking of which, I kept in Papyrus's line of sight. I picked at my plate of spaghetti. Sans turned on the television.
A robot newscaster. A robot reality star. A robot singer. It was the same person. It was maddening. "Let's take a moment to mourn." The music stopped. Sans's staring became more apparent. "For our fallen King, our fallen people, and our fallen angel. They could not see the Surface, but they have seen a time where humans were thought to be good."
"Oh, Mettaton is on. I love his work," Papyrus joined us. "Sans, what is in this couch? It's killing m-" Papyrus stopped. "It's very uncomfortable, I mean... Look at the time. One has to wake up early for Royal Guard duty. And you, Sans, have to watch out for humans. And the human has to be well rested for whatever comes after I capture you!" He went up the stairs, and Sans passed out on the couch.
I could not sleep here. I'd rather sleep outside than sleep in the same room with him. I walked up the stairs, trying not to make any noise.
A creak sounded through the house. Sans woke up sweating. "Oh right... The human..." He was clearly looking up the stairs. Maybe I could blend into the wall...
Sans walked up the stairs, rubbing his eyes. It seemed like he was in some drone-like state. He stared at me from the top of the stairs, and disappeared into his room. I took the chance to run into Papyrus's room, and into the closet. I peeked out, and only heard rummaging. Sans walked through the hallway, something dragging against the floor.
He opened the door, being as quiet as he could. There was a moment where he just stopped everything and dropped the weapon. Papyrus bolted up.
"Sans! I talked about this! No weapons! You could hurt someone or even yourself!" Papyrus yelled from his car bed.
Sans turned around, and said, "Bro... What I'm doing here is for us."
Papyrus looked like he was going to accept it and go back to sleep, but he started yelling again, "Sans, we don't need to become like them out there! We have everything down here. Food, water, and companionship."
"They never came back," Sans droned. "Papyrus, that human will never come back to us. Even after they promised. I'm not waiting for a dumb prophecy." He took the axe in his hand and threw it at the door. I ducked, and ran out the door. If I couldn't escape, I would die. The skeleton would be too fast for me if I ran outside.
I grabbed a book from the bookshelf and hurled it at the window by Papyrus's computer. The glass shattered, and I jumped. There was no way I could come back, I thought as I landed in snow. It felt like a pillow. If pillows could give you hypothermia.
Sans stared out the window. But he didn't do anything. The voice told me to stay determined. To keep going.
I kept walking. There had to be something.