.

Why Children Climb Mountains

(so run and run)

Frisk waited maybe thirty seconds before their curiosity drove them to leave Sans' bedroom and pad down the short hallway to Papyrus' room. They would do exactly as Sans had instructed and commandeer the immense knowledge of the world wide web to find information on the first child.

As expected, Papyrus' computer was already on. A browser window was sitting open on a social media site. Taking a seat in the comfy swivel chair, Frisk opened a new tab and pulled up a search engine. Oliver Winterlance they typed into the textbox and hit enter. The name 'Winterlance' felt strangely familiar to Frisk, though they couldn't place where they would've heard it before.

In just a fraction of a second, thousands of results popped up. The whole first page was filled with headlines about the missing child.

Balting Youth Razes Local Hospital—Flees The Scene

Winterlance Heir Missing After Incident at St. Vincent's Pediatric Clinic

Accident or Arson? Child Runs from Police After Hospital Goes Up in Flames

Three People Wounded and One in Critical Condition After Hospital Fire

Interest piqued, Frisk clicked on an article. The page reloaded and they were presented with a small blurb about the case followed by a photocopy of a newspaper article from the 80s. They skimmed over it with interest.

Last night on the 4th of May, sirens blared through the quiet town of Balting as St. Vincent's Pediatric Clinic went up in flames. Authorities arrived on the scene mere minutes after receiving the emergency call but the clinic was already completely engulfed. According to witness reports, five people managed to escape the blaze; two doctors, a visiting psychologist, a nurse, and the clinic's lone inpatient. One of the doctors, Dr. Edmond Murray (MD) is currently in critical condition after suffering numerous burns as well as a fractured wrist and three cracked ribs. The second doctor, nurse, and psychologist all escaped with minor burns. The patient, twelve-year-old Oliver Winterlance, reportedly fled the scene after injuring an officer who attempted to detain him. Witnesses claim he was screaming nonsense and thrashing around as if possessed. More startling is that there is strong evidence to suggest that young Oliver may have started the fire himself after a disagreement with his care providers turned ugly.

"He's always been a troubled child," Oliver's teacher, Mrs. Mary Montgomery told reporters after she was called to the scene. "Moody, recalcitrant, doesn't get along well with other kids, exhibits antisocial behavior… It was a joint decision between his parents and the school to have him administered to the clinic for therapy."

Oliver's classmate, Jonathan (Johnny) Buchannan had an even less positive opinion of his peer. "He's a psycho," Johnny stated, full of conviction. "Everyone knew he was a hair away from losing the plot. To be honest, nobody is surprised that he finally went apesh*t. It's why they moved him to that clinic in the first place."

Oliver's parents declined to comment, but they have police as well as community volunteers out searching for their son. As of this morning, Oliver Winterlance's whereabouts remain unknown.

Frisk closed the article and opened another. Then another. They were all largely the same. Oliver Winterlance, local troubled youth, commits arson and runs from the authorities. It was clear from the articles that Oliver had a reputation in Balting. Those who knew him generally described him as withdrawn at best and many people seemed to believe he was full-on crazy. He was apparently an embarrassment to his family; a wealthy noble clan who had roots in Balting dating back hundreds of years. Of the boy himself, Frisk could only find one small black and white photo that had been clipped and then photocopied from a newspaper. The dark haired adolescent stared back at them solemnly from the screen. He looked so young; so small. It was hard for Frisk to picture him assaulting grown men.

But Sans was right. The word of a mentally unstable problem child probably wouldn't hold much sway no matter how glowing a review he gave of the underground. It sounded like nobody had really even been that troubled by his disappearance. From the statements made by the people close to him, Frisk got the impression they were mostly just relieved not to have to deal with him anymore. Frisk looked at the boy in the picture once more and recalled Sans' words two days prior. He could've really used a friend like you.

Suddenly, Frisk felt very sad for Oliver. They wondered if anyone had even made an effort to get to know him. They had seen first-hand how damaging ostracization could be to a child's psyche. To think that not a single person had anything positive to say about him after his disappearance. To be so completely rejected at such a young age—it filled Frisk with sorrow. They hoped that wherever he was now, he'd managed to find at least a little bit of happiness.

Mission accomplished, Frisk closed their tab and stood from papyrus' chair. Now that their only plan had proved to be a bust, they'd need to think of some other way to help their friends. They already knew they were out of time, though. The search team would come back any day now and reveal that they had found no trace of the missing children bar the personal effects that proved they'd been in the underground. From that, the humans would conclude that the children had been eaten or had their remains dumped into the core or some other such nonsense and that would be the end of any chance at peace between the two races. Everything they'd worked for would mean nothing in the end.

Frisk didn't bother going back downstairs. Instead they curled up on Papyrus' racecar bed and just lay there until they fell asleep.

The next morning, Frisk's name appeared on the news. The state had officially declared them missing. Frisk was not surprised by this. They were only surprised that it took the police so long to announce it publicly.

As they'd feared would happen, a team of officers showed up at the skeleton brothers' door merely an hour after the news broadcast with a search warrant.

If the situation weren't so dire, Frisk would've found it funny the way the brothers dealt with the cops. Papyrus answered the door and politely invited the officers in. He stood by with a friendly smile as the team searched every nook and cranny of the house. Sans had made good on his prank threat and the officers were met with all kinds of mischief, from unexpected dogs to cabinets overflowing with hotcats to Jerry sitting on the toilet holding a newspaper. (Actually, Frisk wasn't sure Sans had arranged that one.) All the while, Papyrus offered unappreciated commentary on everything the officers inspected, much the way he had when Frisk had first been invited to the brothers' house.

Sans himself had his hands full teleporting Frisk from room to room as the men searched. He took great delight in keeping them just out of the officers' sight and he and Frisk watched with amusement as the officers stumbled upon prank after prank. By the time they left, confused and grumpy and thoroughly owned, Sans and Papyrus were in stitches. They high fived as the officers pulled away in their cop cars.

"DID YOU SEE THE LOOK ON THE TALL ONE'S FACE WHEN HE OPENED THE OVEN AND IT WAS FULL OF MUSTARD? PRICELESS!" Papyrus laughed loudly, placing his hands on his hips boastfully.

"heh. that was pretty good, bro," Sans praised. "by the way, how did you convince napstablook to take a nap in the trash?"

Papyrus blinked down at his brother. "I THOUGHT THAT WAS YOU?"

Sans stared back at him and the two of them shared a moment of silence before shrugging and continuing to joke about how they'd played the cops.

Unfortunately, their good mood couldn't last long in the face of all the negative news that continued to pour in. As funny as it was to prank the authorities, Frisk's status as "still missing" only continued to add fuel to the fire and now protesters were rallying behind a new slogan of "Save Frisk! Drive the monsters out!"

Around noon, Undyne came to visit. She was dressed from head to foot in her armor and she looked exhausted. She collapsed onto the couch and Papyrus brought her a glass of water which she sucked down gratefully. "I can't believe how bad it's gotten," she proclaimed as she slammed her glass down on an end table. "I've been out there all morning trying to keep those damn humans from jumping any monster who leaves their house. At this rate it's only a matter of time until someone gets dusted." She rested her hands on her knees and leaned over them wearily. "Toriel's a wreck, too. Asgore is staying over at her place and looking after her for the time being, but the situation's looking pretty grim. I've got Mettaton guarding Alphys while I'm out."

Papyrus wrung his hands together worriedly. "IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP?" he asked, regarding his former mentor earnestly.

Undyne shook her head. "Stay inside. Stay safe. That's all I want you to do right now. If it comes down to it, we may have to use force to protect our right to be here," she paused to shoot a pointed look at Sans. "But until then, we're gonna lie low and continue to hope peace will be enough."

Frisk didn't miss the intent behind that look. Undyne expected Sans to help her fight in the event that the situation continued to worsen. Did she know that Sans was weakened on the surface? Frisk had a feeling she didn't. She probably expected to use Sans as a trump card and Frisk already knew that Sans wouldn't refuse.

"It won't come to that," they spoke up, surprising even themself with their boldness. "If it means keeping everyone safe, I'll go with them. I won't let them hurt any of you."

Everyone turned to look at them. Papyrus and Undyne wore disbelieving expressions as if they'd said something totally off-the-wall crazy. Sans was the first to speak. "we appreciate the thought, kid, but we'll pass.

Undyne nodded. "It was thanks to you that we were even able to get to the surface. It would be meaningless to enjoy living up here without you. Not gonna happen. No way."

"AS YOUR FRIENDS, WE COULD NEVER ALLOW YOU TO DO THAT," Papyrus agreed, scowling down at Frisk as if daring them to contradict him.

Frisk looked back and forth between the three of them, anxiety rising. They all wanted them to stay, but to Frisk, everyone's safety was so much more important than their own happiness. Of course, they didn't want to leave, either. They'd finally found a family who loved them for who they were; who they'd do anything for. They didn't want to go back to a life of jumping from foster home to foster home; never belonging—never being enough. But for the sake of the wonderful friends they'd made in the underground, they'd do it. If it meant Sans wouldn't have to fight, they'd do it.

As usual, Sans read their mind like words on a page. He stepped forward and took their hand. "listen, frisk. if you tell me honestly right now that you want to go—want to, not feel like you have to—then we won't stop you. the world is yours, kid. you have the freedom to do anything; be anyone; go anywhere." He tilted his head and looked down at them with eyes full of tenderness. "i asked you before if you'd given any thought to your future because i wanted you to know that you have one and it's waiting for you. so if you want to go, that's fine. but if you want to stay here with us, we're willing to fight to make that happen for you. it doesn't matter what you decide to do as long as you do it with determination."

Frisk stared back at him, speechless. They'd never heard him talk like this before, as though he were the one overflowing with determination.

Beside them, Undyne nodded and Papyrus wiped away a tear. "THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL, SANS."

Frisk looked at the two of them standing supportively by their side and then back to Sans who still awaited their answer. Perhaps they had been looking at everything all wrong. Battles weren't won alone. Leaving now would be the same thing as giving up and giving up was something they couldn't do. Not under any circumstances. They were determined and they would persevere. They felt pressure building behind their eyes and they turned to give each of their friends a watery smile. "I don't want to go," they said, wiping their eyes with their sleeve. "I want all of us to be together forever."

Sans reached out with his free hand and patted their head. "nothing's forever, kid," he reminded them, his tone full of fondness. "but i want that, too."

"We all want that," Undyne agreed, punching Frisk's arm lightly.

Papyrus pulled a handkerchief from inside his glove and used it to dab his eyes. "FRIENDSHIP IS SO WONDERFUL," he said, sniffling emotionally.

Frisk agreed. They wouldn't trade these friends for the world. They would figure this out—somehow.

"All I'm saying is this: it's been nearly a week now and our search team has yet to find any of the children. And I can tell you with confidence that they're not going to. If any of those kids were still alive, the monsters would've brought them out by now. They know what's at stake. The only reason they haven't is because they can't," Balting's mayor declared, slamming his hand down on his podium. "We already know the missing children were in the underground. We also know monsters were responsible for the death of Chara Hewley. How many more children are going to have to die before we finally say enough is enough?"

Frisk watched as the old man spoke to a veritable sea of anti-monster protestors. Their numbers had tripled almost overnight after word got out about Frisk's "disappearance", and that was just counting the ones who showed up to the mayor's rally. According to polls published by various news stations, the number of people who wanted monsters gone had grown to a staggering forty-eight to fifty-one percent of respondents, depending on the station. Currently, the mayor was trying to win support for a full-fledged purge of monsters from so-called "human zones". These zones included the town of Balting as well as the city and all its suburbs. Basically, he wanted to remove monsters from human-inhabited areas entirely. With the amount of support he'd been able to rally, the threat was a very real one.

"We can't keep allowing their kind to live among us when we know the danger they pose. As a society, we have an obligation to protect our own. These are our cities, and in our cities, we come first."

The frame froze and minimized, the image of the mayor's furious visage coming to rest at the side of the anchorwoman and man. "Such a powerful statement from Mayor Winterlance," the lovely blonde anchorwoman commented, looking straight at the camera. "But we want to know what you think. Should the Monster Removal Act be passed? Visit our website and let us know in our poll…"

Frisk had already stopped listening. Now they knew why the name 'Winterlance' had seemed familiar before. It was the name of the mayor who had been fighting them at every turn. Could it be that Mayor Winterlance was related to Oliver Winterlance? Looking at the math, the mayor was certainly the right age to be the kid's father…or perhaps an uncle.

Suddenly, Frisk felt angry. How could that man talk about "protecting our own" when he'd possibly allowed his own son or nephew to be treated so horribly. It was gross. Frisk wanted to jump through the TV and slug him.

"your expression says you're thinking violent thoughts."

And there was Sans, right on cue. His arms were folded over the top of the couch and his head was resting atop them lazily. He was so close that Frisk wondered how they'd possibly missed him. "that anchorlady give you a nasty look or something?"

Frisk's cheeks reddened at his proximity and they hurriedly shook their head to mask it.

Sans' eyes travelled to the man still frozen in the box on the screen and only then did Frisk realize that they'd paused the channel. "I'm guessing you took my advice. i figured you would."

"Is that man…related to Oliver?" they asked, wondering how much Sans knew—or would be willing to reveal.

Sans grunted. "far as i know there's only one winterlance family in balting," he answered, lifting his head up to rest his cheek on his palm instead. "so, what did you think of the little pyro? still feel like finding him?"

Frisk frowned as they recalled the articles they'd read about the young Oliver Winterlance. To be honest, a part of them still wanted to find him. Not to get him to testify for monsters, but just to see what had become of him and maybe hear his side of the story. Everyone had been so quick to point fingers at him and call him crazy, but all Frisk saw was a lonely kid who nobody had taken the time to understand. Maybe he was crazy and maybe he did do things to earn his peers' contempt, Frisk had no way of knowing without talking to someone who'd known him back them, but had he really been so terrible that not a single person could think of one positive thing to say about him after his disappearance?

"I found lots of articles. They made me sad," they replied honestly. "I wish I could talk to him."

Sans seemed surprised by their answer. He raised his head and let his hand drop back down to join its partner the sofa. "you serious? you know the kid burned down a clinic, right? even injured several people. most folks would be happy to be rid of a child like that."

Frisk smiled slightly at Sans' bewilderment. It was rare for them to be the one surprising him. "I know. But weren't you the one who said that the only reason a child would choose to climb Mt. Ebott is because they believe whatever's waiting for them there is less terrible than what they're running from? Wouldn't that apply to him, too?"

Sans' eye sockets widened slightly and he was silent for a moment, just looking at them as if they were the most novel thing he'd ever seen, and then he closed them and shook his head. "you know, kid, I noticed you've been using your voice more lately. i'm glad. i feel like there's a lot going on in that head of yours that people need to hear."

Frisk felt their face flush again and this time they knew Sans could see it. They could tell by the way his eyes grinned, for once matching his mouth. His amusement just caused their flush to deepen. They were just thinking that they liked it when Sans made that expression when the happiness in his eyes faded and he looked away to the left.

"listen, kid. i've got something important i need to tell you," he announced suddenly in a heavy tone. "tomorrow the bigwigs are gonna vote on that monster removal act. unfortunately for us, it's going to pass."

Frisk's eyes widened. It couldn't be. Had the anti-monster faction really already gained that much support?

"at that time, monsters will be given an ultimatum: leave or be forcefully removed, but you already know that so i won't waste your time going into the specifics of what that will entail. what's of more concern to us right now is what's gonna happen to tori and old king fluffybuns." At Frisk's confused look, he explained, "you see, we've been keeping an eye on the investigation down below and a few hours ago they found seven suspiciously child-sized coffins in asgore's basement. as you can imagine, they put two and two together pretty quick.

"we all know asgore can't lie. he'll confess everything because he's too good a person to know what's good for him, and then it won't matter if we're in 'human zones' or not, we'll all be hunted down and slaughtered like cattle."

Frisk's jaw went slack as their brain processed the things they were hearing. All they could think, though, was that this was too soon. They weren't ready yet. They'd thought they still had time. Weren't they going to all put their heads together and figure something out? How were they going to do that if the decision that would determine the fates of all of monsterkind would be made in less than twenty-four hours?

They were snapped out of their head when they felt a gentle pressure on their crown. "frisk, i need you to promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow, you won't reset." Sans was now staring at them intently. "if you can promise me that, then i'll make a promise to you that everything will turn out okay. deal?"

Frisk grabbed Sans' hand and pulled it to their chest. They had a very bad feeling suddenly. Sans was planning something they weren't going to like. "You hate making promises," they reminded him, trying to keep the tremble out of their voice.

"yeah," he agreed. "promises don't work too well without determination. but this time, i think I'm gonna need it. i don't know if i'll be able to do what i have to without your promise."

Frisk took a shaky breath and hardened their resolve. They had to believe in Sans. He might not have always been the most straightforward with them, but he'd never lied. Frisk didn't know what his plan was, but they trusted him to keep his word. "Alright. I promise. No resetting."

"no matter what," Sans pressed.

"No matter what," they agreed.

They just hoped they didn't come to regret that promise.

oO0Oo

And there's chapter five! An extra special thanks to Liliana Dragonshard, BadDRUMMERboy15, Mute, ChildishMage, and SneaselXRiolu for your comments.

We're nearing the end now. Be sure to strap in, because things are gonna get wild in the next chapter.