p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"For a horrible moment, I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I couldn't even breathe. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"it isn't a dream. this isn't a dream! /emspan style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"I felt downright petrified. Despite this, /spanI suddenly felt span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"illogically/span compelled to go greet the child. To my staggering dismay, I sensed my feet start moving. My soul fluttered frantically, protesting this horrible decision. It was like I wasn't in control. I couldn't stop./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Distantly, too late, I noticed a branch in my path. My foot came down a little too hard in just the wrong place. The limb cracked. The human whirled, but I had already teleported back into the cover of the trees. A dark, sinister smile snaked up their shadowed face. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"they know i'm here. /emAt this thought, the spell broke./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI dug my heels into the snow. What had possessed me? I hadn't been in a battle for years! Even if I was capable of challenging this creature, why should emI/em take such a risk? All I wanted to do was flee. No, I had to get emPapyrus/em to safetyem—/em! Fragmented images flashed through my mind. I'd seen this scene in my nightmares. I knew what was supposed to happen next./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Maybe the persistent dreams were a crazy coincidence. Maybe they didn't mean anything! But if they emwere/em sent to warn me, I had to act, immediately. I could make out the faint emcrunch/em of Papyrus's boots in the snow. Approaching, fast. He was heading this way…! A searing desperation, no, emdetermination, /emsurged in my soul. I pinpointed the direction of the noise, and as a twinge of pain flashed through my left eye socket, I teleported away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The shortcut opened right above Papyrus. We collided so hard that I knocked him straight to the ground. I flailed to stand./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""S-SANS?!" Papyrus stammered, baffled. "WHAT ON EARTH—?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""shh!" I shushed urgently, grabbing his arm and tugging. "we need to leave. quick, before they see us!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""BEFORE WHO SEES US?" Papyrus asked, bewildered, as I uselessly tried to drag him to his feet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""we gotta get out of here, today. undyne can handle this. she can warn the royal guard, and—!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Papyrus gasped. His widening eyes were locked over my shoulder. My soul sank with dread, and slowly, I turned to see what Papyrus was staring at. There, standing stiffly in the snow, was the child./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy. With such an animalistic stare, it barely even seemed human. Even so, I generously decided to deem the creature as a em"they"/em instead of an em"it."/em Choppy, charcoal-brown hair fluttered in the wind about their neck, occasionally flitting across the kid's shadowed face. They didn't bother to brush the strands away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Their shirt was black, with a single broad stripe of orange across the torso. Black, battered leggings led down to old chestnut boots. The shoes' surface was sprinkled with grey specks. Dust. They no longer held the knife openly, but I noticed its faint outline beneath the folds of their clothes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I forced myself to meet their cold gaze. Their irises were blood red. Yet, oddly, that wasn't what concerned me. What worried me was the fact that I could see the color of their eyes at all, at such a distance. I felt like they shouldn't be open so wide./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThere was a heavy silence./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""SANS," Papyrus whispered, "WH-WHAT emIS/em THAT?" A sharp chill ran down my spine./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""just imagine it's a rock," I breathed, puzzled by my impulsive, nonsensical answer. I shook my head and tried to drag him away. "listen, i'll explain later when we're safe—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""OH! OH MY GOODNESS," Papyrus exclaimed, suddenly bouncing to his feet. "SANS, IT'S A HUMAN! IT'S emGOT/em TO BE!" Papyrus seemed to be waiting for a response from either me or the child. None came. "HUMAN!" he exclaimed, thrilled. "PREPARE YOURSELF! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL CAPTURE YOU! MY PUZZLES SHALL HAVE YOU BEFUDDLED. YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO MATCH MY WIT. I WILL AMAZE YOU WITH MY TRAPS! MY JAPES! AND MY INDESCRIBABLE COOKING SKILLS!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"well, he's got one thing right, /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I thought distractedly, feeling downright dizzy with dread. I tugged at Papyrus's scarf, but his attention remained undivided. He pointed boldly at the human./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""YOU WILL SOON BE MINE. AND I SHALL BE PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! NYEH! CONTINUE… IF YOU DARE!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"And with that, Papyrus sprinted away, giggling elatedly. Doubtlessly, he was off to go complicate his obstacle courses and bait his traps. The whole time he spoke, though, the child had kept a straight face and a stiff stance. With no emotion, with no reaction at all, the human stalked onwards. I stared at them, disquieted./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""…and you don't even bat an—" I caught myself. Where were these words coming from? I had no desire to talk to this creature!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I took an unsteady step back. A spark of pain popped in my mind, and my hand went to my head. The child paused to glance my way, then smirked. Strutting confidently past me, they followed Papyrus's footprints into the forest. As soon as the ground stopped churning, I teleported after my brother. If the human cornered him, they'd surely attack him. I didn't dare leave him alone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Initially, it seemed my fears were misplaced. At every turn, the human ignored Papyrus. Every obstacle course and puzzle he presented was trampled without a second thought. His requests went unheeded, his questions went unanswered. Nothing he said prompted a response from the human, and nothing I said deterred him from attempting to capture the creature./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Perhaps, I reasoned, the kid was just scared of my brother. Papyrus was dauntingly tall. His angular face made him appear serious and stern. His brilliant mind was balanced by his struggles to communicate; he often defaulted to being overly loud and enthusiastic. But despite his efforts to appear formidable, it was obvious he wasn't a threat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"None of his contraptions could ever harm anyone, let alone capture them. To him, this was all a friendly competition, and the human was a potential playmate. He tried again and again to entertain this aloof visitor. But not a single puzzle piqued the interest of the heartless human./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Had the kid been uninterested in my brother, I might have felt relieved. But, considering all the condescending smirks and snobbish glares, it was evident they were acting out of spite. Finally, I couldn't take it. As the kid moved to follow a retreating Papyrus, I reached out an arm to bar their path./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""i'll be straight forward with you. my brother'd really like to see a human, so it'd really help me out if you kept pretending to be… one—wait. no." Their inquisitive glance twisted aggressively as I grabbed their shirt and shoved them roughly against a tree. "you know what? it'd be a heck of a lot better if you just em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"stayed away from him! /emspan style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"you have no idea what i'm capable of. /spani'm warning you, i—!" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I briefly believed I'd been shot. Fiery pain split through my head. I dropped to my knees, gasping. My trembling hands pressed over my left eye as the stabbing sensation tripled. Blazing, swirling white filled my sight. I couldn't see a thing. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"what's going on? /emspan style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"I pondered in a panic. /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"what's happening?!/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Sensing movement, I tried to force myself to look up, or blink, or lash out. Nothing happened. I was frozen. To my mind-numbing horror, I felt soft hair brush against my skull. My soul iced over as the human leaned down right beside my head and whispered—/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""If you know what's good for you, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"you'll/em stay out of em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"my/em way." It was the first time the kid had spoken. Their voice sounded like a teen's, and yet, their tone carried a malicious bite, embodying a darkness that shouldn't reside in one so young. "It doesn't matter what you do; I'll always win in the end... em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Serif./em"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"At the unfamiliar name, a sharp shudder racked up my spine. I crumpled. Despite my best efforts, a quiet whimper slipped past my grit teeth as a fresh wave of pain smothered my senses. The child snickered and kicked a snowdrift my way. Then, they turned and stalked off, leaving me twitching helplessly in the snow./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Eventually, minutes later, the pain started to subside. Through my churning vision, I found a tree trunk. Holding to it for support, I dizzily fought to my feet. Huffing to catch my breath, I stared numbly down the path ahead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I had to find Papyrus./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Distantly, too late, I noticed a branch in my path. My foot came down a little too hard in just the wrong place. The limb cracked. The human whirled, but I had already teleported back into the cover of the trees. A dark, sinister smile snaked up their shadowed face. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"they know i'm here. /emAt this thought, the spell broke./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI dug my heels into the snow. What had possessed me? I hadn't been in a battle for years! Even if I was capable of challenging this creature, why should emI/em take such a risk? All I wanted to do was flee. No, I had to get emPapyrus/em to safetyem—/em! Fragmented images flashed through my mind. I'd seen this scene in my nightmares. I knew what was supposed to happen next./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Maybe the persistent dreams were a crazy coincidence. Maybe they didn't mean anything! But if they emwere/em sent to warn me, I had to act, immediately. I could make out the faint emcrunch/em of Papyrus's boots in the snow. Approaching, fast. He was heading this way…! A searing desperation, no, emdetermination, /emsurged in my soul. I pinpointed the direction of the noise, and as a twinge of pain flashed through my left eye socket, I teleported away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The shortcut opened right above Papyrus. We collided so hard that I knocked him straight to the ground. I flailed to stand./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""S-SANS?!" Papyrus stammered, baffled. "WHAT ON EARTH—?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""shh!" I shushed urgently, grabbing his arm and tugging. "we need to leave. quick, before they see us!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""BEFORE WHO SEES US?" Papyrus asked, bewildered, as I uselessly tried to drag him to his feet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""we gotta get out of here, today. undyne can handle this. she can warn the royal guard, and—!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Papyrus gasped. His widening eyes were locked over my shoulder. My soul sank with dread, and slowly, I turned to see what Papyrus was staring at. There, standing stiffly in the snow, was the child./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy. With such an animalistic stare, it barely even seemed human. Even so, I generously decided to deem the creature as a em"they"/em instead of an em"it."/em Choppy, charcoal-brown hair fluttered in the wind about their neck, occasionally flitting across the kid's shadowed face. They didn't bother to brush the strands away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Their shirt was black, with a single broad stripe of orange across the torso. Black, battered leggings led down to old chestnut boots. The shoes' surface was sprinkled with grey specks. Dust. They no longer held the knife openly, but I noticed its faint outline beneath the folds of their clothes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I forced myself to meet their cold gaze. Their irises were blood red. Yet, oddly, that wasn't what concerned me. What worried me was the fact that I could see the color of their eyes at all, at such a distance. I felt like they shouldn't be open so wide./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThere was a heavy silence./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""SANS," Papyrus whispered, "WH-WHAT emIS/em THAT?" A sharp chill ran down my spine./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""just imagine it's a rock," I breathed, puzzled by my impulsive, nonsensical answer. I shook my head and tried to drag him away. "listen, i'll explain later when we're safe—"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""OH! OH MY GOODNESS," Papyrus exclaimed, suddenly bouncing to his feet. "SANS, IT'S A HUMAN! IT'S emGOT/em TO BE!" Papyrus seemed to be waiting for a response from either me or the child. None came. "HUMAN!" he exclaimed, thrilled. "PREPARE YOURSELF! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL CAPTURE YOU! MY PUZZLES SHALL HAVE YOU BEFUDDLED. YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO MATCH MY WIT. I WILL AMAZE YOU WITH MY TRAPS! MY JAPES! AND MY INDESCRIBABLE COOKING SKILLS!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"well, he's got one thing right, /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I thought distractedly, feeling downright dizzy with dread. I tugged at Papyrus's scarf, but his attention remained undivided. He pointed boldly at the human./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""YOU WILL SOON BE MINE. AND I SHALL BE PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! NYEH! CONTINUE… IF YOU DARE!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"And with that, Papyrus sprinted away, giggling elatedly. Doubtlessly, he was off to go complicate his obstacle courses and bait his traps. The whole time he spoke, though, the child had kept a straight face and a stiff stance. With no emotion, with no reaction at all, the human stalked onwards. I stared at them, disquieted./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""…and you don't even bat an—" I caught myself. Where were these words coming from? I had no desire to talk to this creature!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I took an unsteady step back. A spark of pain popped in my mind, and my hand went to my head. The child paused to glance my way, then smirked. Strutting confidently past me, they followed Papyrus's footprints into the forest. As soon as the ground stopped churning, I teleported after my brother. If the human cornered him, they'd surely attack him. I didn't dare leave him alone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Initially, it seemed my fears were misplaced. At every turn, the human ignored Papyrus. Every obstacle course and puzzle he presented was trampled without a second thought. His requests went unheeded, his questions went unanswered. Nothing he said prompted a response from the human, and nothing I said deterred him from attempting to capture the creature./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Perhaps, I reasoned, the kid was just scared of my brother. Papyrus was dauntingly tall. His angular face made him appear serious and stern. His brilliant mind was balanced by his struggles to communicate; he often defaulted to being overly loud and enthusiastic. But despite his efforts to appear formidable, it was obvious he wasn't a threat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"None of his contraptions could ever harm anyone, let alone capture them. To him, this was all a friendly competition, and the human was a potential playmate. He tried again and again to entertain this aloof visitor. But not a single puzzle piqued the interest of the heartless human./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Had the kid been uninterested in my brother, I might have felt relieved. But, considering all the condescending smirks and snobbish glares, it was evident they were acting out of spite. Finally, I couldn't take it. As the kid moved to follow a retreating Papyrus, I reached out an arm to bar their path./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""i'll be straight forward with you. my brother'd really like to see a human, so it'd really help me out if you kept pretending to be… one—wait. no." Their inquisitive glance twisted aggressively as I grabbed their shirt and shoved them roughly against a tree. "you know what? it'd be a heck of a lot better if you just em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"stayed away from him! /emspan style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"you have no idea what i'm capable of. /spani'm warning you, i—!" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I briefly believed I'd been shot. Fiery pain split through my head. I dropped to my knees, gasping. My trembling hands pressed over my left eye as the stabbing sensation tripled. Blazing, swirling white filled my sight. I couldn't see a thing. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"what's going on? /emspan style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"I pondered in a panic. /spanem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"what's happening?!/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Sensing movement, I tried to force myself to look up, or blink, or lash out. Nothing happened. I was frozen. To my mind-numbing horror, I felt soft hair brush against my skull. My soul iced over as the human leaned down right beside my head and whispered—/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""If you know what's good for you, em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"you'll/em stay out of em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"my/em way." It was the first time the kid had spoken. Their voice sounded like a teen's, and yet, their tone carried a malicious bite, embodying a darkness that shouldn't reside in one so young. "It doesn't matter what you do; I'll always win in the end... em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Serif./em"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"At the unfamiliar name, a sharp shudder racked up my spine. I crumpled. Despite my best efforts, a quiet whimper slipped past my grit teeth as a fresh wave of pain smothered my senses. The child snickered and kicked a snowdrift my way. Then, they turned and stalked off, leaving me twitching helplessly in the snow./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Eventually, minutes later, the pain started to subside. Through my churning vision, I found a tree trunk. Holding to it for support, I dizzily fought to my feet. Huffing to catch my breath, I stared numbly down the path ahead./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 115%;"span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"I had to find Papyrus./span/p