Chapter 3: Snowdin

Rick and Chloe both had to take a moment to look about their new surroundings and realize how different this new area of the Underground was compared to the Ruins. Behind them, the doorway they came from was surrounded by rock and part of the inner mountain. Infront and around them, was what best could be described as a forest in winter. The air was cold, there was snow all over, and it made them wonder just what sort of world they stumbled upon. "It's freezing out here!" Chloe would yell out as she was already rubbing her hands over her arms as a sudden windchill blew past them. "How could there be a forest underground? Let alone under a mountain? Magic?" She'd ask Rick as he was looking around almost as confused as Chloe before he turned to her. "It's the only thing I can think of… Come on, maybe this path will lead us somewhere a lot warmer." "Let's hope." The two would begin to follow the path ahead as they looked around to try and see through some of the trees. The forest around them was quite thick, and it seemed like the best thing to do was to continue on the path ahead of them rather than risk trying to go through the forest on either side. However as the two walked, neither Rick nor Chloe could shake off the feeling that someone may be watching them. "I wonder what the other Monsters are like down here… I've heard about Adventurers fighting off all sorts of things like undead and demons back at the Kingdom." Chloe would say as she tried to think up a conversation while the two walked. "Really? I didn't know Melandra had things like Adventurers." Rick would say back to Chloe. "Oh yes, some would gain some jobs from the Barracks or the Inn. They both had job boards for Adventurers." "Wow… Ever tried taking some of those jobs?" Rick kept trying to keep up the conversation, though he had to admit he had to keep looking behind them every now and then, feeling as if someone may have been following them… "Once, but they told me I needed to be older." Chloe took a moment to look behind as well as both realized that they felt that feeling of being watched, yet nobody was there. When they looked away to continue on the path, ahead was a small narrow bridge, and from the look of the bridge it had been maintained fairly well. The moment Rick went to step onto the bridge though he felt like someone was behind him… Someone not Chloe. "She did say that some may be a lil… Violent." Chloe would say nervously as she resisted an urge to look behind her. "Yeah… That she did…"

"hey." A voice would speak up from behind them, both unsure if they should run or fight, "you know how to greet a new pall? why don't you… turn around… and shake my hand?" The two looked at each other for a brief moment before they slowly turned around. Chloe was first to hold her hand out, and was rather… Confused, when she took the hand of a small skeleton man… With a whoopee cushion in said hand that began to make noises when their palms met. "What.. The…" Chloe began to speak as the strange, smiling skeleton began to laugh. "the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick, it never gets old." The two looked at each other again as the skeleton removed the whoopee cushion from his hand, "so, this is rather unexpected. i never expected to see more than one human come down this way." Hearing that, Rick's gaze turned to Chloe for a moment before he'd say, "We heard about the other human, a young child named Frisk?" "so you know about her, hmm? are you her friends" The skeleton would ask as he looked between the two.

"No, but Toriel mentioned them to us. I'm Chloe." She would speak up as Rick placed his hand on his chest, "And I'm Rick. We just came from Toriel's house, and she told us about the child… We thought we would try and catch up to her." The Skeleton man would take this moment to walk pass the two onto the bridge, motioning them to follow while he spoke. "my name is sans. sans the skeleton." The two looked at each other for a moment before following him across. "You say that you were expecting only one? Was this like… Predetermined or something? Like… Some destined prophecy?" Chloe would ask curiously, "well… you could say that…" The two keybladers just looked at one another from his answer. "you said that you were wanting to catch up to her, yes? well unfortunately for you, she's already making tracks away from here." "Well, would you be willing to give us a hand? We'd like to try and catch up to her." Rick would step up to him when Sans leaned against what appeared to be a guardpost that was in the clearing they approached. "a hand? sure! But i must warn you, i'm quite attached to it." Chloe couldn't help but giggle, "i could perhaps give you a, handy-cap." "I feel like that was worse than the last one." Rick groaned, all while Chloe just giggled from the skeleton's puns. "well at least i know one of you has a bone in them… a funny bone."

Rick just groaned as Sans motioned for them to come closer, "So I have to ask, we heard that this place is called the Underground, but… I didn't expect to see these trees and snow." "well that's what you get for coming to snowdin. in this part of the underground, it's always like this." Sans would explain as Rick took a glance over to a lamp that was…. Oddly just being in the middle of the clearing. "So, if this is Snowdin, I take it there are other parts of the Underground?" "there are indeed, all with their unique features and quirks. waterfall has well, lots of water, hotland is pretty much a volcano, and then the lab and the core area, all connected together." Sans would explain as they continued to follow him pass what looked like a small wooden guard house. "So…. How long ago was it when the kid came through here?" Rick would ask as they continued walking. "oh a while, they honestly just finished up a date with my brother." "Wait, date?" Chloe would ask as she stopped for a moment, "She went on a date with… Your brother?" "yeah, my brother papyrus. oh don't you worry though, see originally he was supposed to capture her, since we have to catch any and all humans who come through here. but i wouldn't worry about it. though… i'll admit, wasn't sure what would happen once she got here." There was something in Sans' voice that caught Rick's attention, and when he looked to Chloe he saw that she was concerned as well. Sans almost sounded relieved, yet sad. "Well we did promise Toriel that we would try and help out as best we can. So if she's um… Done with this date by now… Where is she?" Rick would ask, as they came to the edge of a cliff that looked over parts of Snowdin. "probably on her way to waterfall. though they best be careful… undyne has been keeping an eye out for her, and will do everything she can to capture her. oh, and before you ask, undyne is the captain of the royal guards."

This caused Chloe to stop for a moment and ask, "Captain of the Royal Guards? So does this mean she reports to that um, King Asgore that Toriel told us about?" "yep, that's right. she must have told you quite a bit about us, huh?" The two would look between each other for a moment as they walked with Sans, "Yeah, she read us a story and helped us understand about this place." Chloe would say. Sans would stop after a bit of walking, the area they were at seemed very wide open, with what looked like… Traps or puzzles that were already completed it seemed. "well that makes things easier then. so, how about we catch up with my brother, hm? i know a shortcut." Sans would motion for the two to come closer, and as Rick and Chloe took a step closer towards Sans, they suddenly found themselves in front of a sign with what looked like Christmas Lights on it that said, Welcome to Snowdin.

"and here we are, snowdin." The town they would walk towards was small in scale, but it was also rather warm looking. A shop and an Inn, further down were several houses and a Christmas Tree that was out and decorated. Further in as they walked was a building that looked like a bar or Cafe named Grillby's, and Chloe gave a confusing look as she noticed a building that she guessed was supposed to be the Library, but was instead named Librarby. But what was noticeable was the different monsters walking around, and some taking glances at the two new humans in the area. "Quite a lot of… Different monsters here.." Chloe would comment as she kept close to Rick and Sans. "I'm guessing they weren't expecting more than one human to be here…" "well i would be lying if i said that we were… to tell you the truth, usually it's only been one human that has ever come down from the surface." Sans would say as he walked ahead of them, "but don't you worry, stick with me and nobody will give you any issues, and as long as you're not trying to harm anybody, people will treat you with the kindness and care you give them." When he said that, Rick took a moment to stop and look around. Though he saw a few dog looking creatures that held weapons, the majority of the monsters in this town seemed harmless by the looks of them. "Well, they're not Heartless… And so far nobody's tried to attack us since we came here."

"SANS!" A loud voice would ring out catching the two Keyblade Wielders off guard as they saw what looked like a tall Skeleton running towards them, wearing what looked like some armor. "Someone you know?" Rick would ask as Sans gave a small chuckle. "yeah that's my brother, papyrus." Sans would explain as Papyrus walked over to them, "SANS! YOU MISSED SUCH A FAN TIME WE HAD. WHERE WERE YOU? DID YOU FINALLY CALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES? OR WERE YOU NAPPING AGAIN UNDERNEATH A TREE?" Papyrus would say to his brother as the two Keyblade Wielders looked at eachother, it seems like Papyrus had yet to notice them. "Nah bro, i wasn't napping, i was patrolling. and a good thing too, cause i found two new humans." "TWO NEW HUMA-" the second Papyrus looked up at the two, he froze, if he had any eyes they would have been popping out of their sockets in surprise as Chloe put her hand up and waved to him. "Hello." The moment she spoke, Papyrus pulled Sans closer to start whispering to him.

"SANS! TWO HUMANS!? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!?" "uh yeah, that there are two new humans here." "IT MEANS THERE ARE NOW THREE HUMANS IN THE UNDERGROUND. THREE SANS! GOLLY… THEY LOOK OLDER THAN FRISK." The two would speak to one another as Rick and Chloe stood about fifteen feet away. Papyrus took a moment to look back at the two before he leaned back down towards Sans. "AND IS IT JUST ME SANS, OR ARE THEIR CLOTHES QUITE DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER?" This caused both to look at each other for a moment. "what do you mean bro?" "WELL LOOK AT THEM SANS. THE BOY IS WEARING A HOODIE AND PANTS, AND THE GIRL LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF ALPHYS' ANIME COMICS THAT UNDYNE LIKES." This caused Chloe to look at herself now, her clothes were certainly different compared to Rick's, but then again considering the differences of their worlds… "now bro, you know it's impolite to judge a person's attire." "I- WELL…. YOU'RE RIGHT, I SHOULD INSTEAD GIVE A STUPENDOUS INTRODUCTION!" Suddenly Papyrus would turn to Rick and Chloe, standing tall as he holds his hand out to them. "GREETINGS HUMANS! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I'M SURE YOU WERE GIVEN A WONDERFUL TOUR BY MY BROTHER, BUT FEAR NOT! FOR I WILL HELP END THIS TOUR BY MAKING IT THE GREATEST ENDING YOU EVER ENCOUNTERED!" Rick glanced over to Sans for a moment at his brother's introduction before glancing back as Chloe replied with a smile, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Chloe." Rick slightly turned his gaze to Chloe before returning it to the tall Skeleton. "I'm Rick." "IT IS A PLEASURE TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE CHLOE AND RICK! GOSH, I DIDN'T EXPECT US TO HAVE THIS MANY GUESTS…." "hey paps, speaking of guests, where's the kid? i thought she was with you." Sans would ask as it was obvious that apparently Frisk was not with Papyrus. "OH THEY WENT OFF AHEAD TO WATERFALL, SAID THEY WOULD TRY AND EXPLORE, PERHAPS TRY AND GET PASS UNDYNE. I TOLD HER THAT SHE SHOULD TRY TALKING WITH UNDYNE, I'M SURE THE TWO WOULD BE THE BEST OF-"

"WAIT SHE LEFT!?" Both Rick and Chloe would nearly shout out at the same time, interrupting Papyrus as he looked at the two perplexed. "HUH? WELL WHY YES SHE DID! WE HAD OH SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME TOGETHER, BUT IT WAS JUST NOT MEANT TO BE. WE TALKED AND AS I WAS NEEDING TO LEAVE AND MEET UP WITH MY BROTHER, SHE SAID SHE WOULD TRY AND MAKE HER WAY TO WATERFALL." Rick would walk up to Papyrus and ask, "Can you take us to the entrance of this, Waterfall place?" "BUT OF COURSE HUMAN RICK! THOUGH I CAN ONLY TAKE YOU CLOSE TO IT. I GO BACK ON DUTY SOON, AND YOU!" Papyrus would suddenly point to Sans, "YOU NEED TO GET TO WORK ON THOSE PUZZLES LIKE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO YOU LAZY BONES! AND YOU NEED TO CLEAN UP YOUR SOCK FROM THE LIVING ROOM!" "kay." "SERIOUSLY SANS! THAT SOCK HAS BEEN ON THE FLOOR FOR MONTHS!" "kay." Chloe couldn't help but giggle, and despite the ridiculous antics…. Rick couldn't help a small chuckle, "Alright, well if you can lead us to as far as the entrance we can handle ourselves from there." "you sure kid? i know my brother said that we have our duties but i can help keep an eye on you…. if i had any eyes."

Rick shook his head a little as he smiled over to Chloe, "Despite what we may appear, we can handle ourselves. Besides, so far… I'm not seeing much danger to this place to warrant us needing to defend ourselves." Sans would look between the two before letting out his own sigh, "alright, just remember, most of these monsters have been ordered to gather up human souls, but they're still good monsters at heart." Chloe would walk over to place her hand on the skeleton's shoulder, giving him a return kind smile. "Don't you worry, we'll make sure they know they can't harm us, nor do they have any reason to be scared of us." The short skeleton seemed to have been put at ease, looking a little more cheery as he smiled to say, "well alright, but do be careful of undyne. she's not a push over, and may not want to listen to everything you'll try to tell her."