Homesickness was growing. It was getting hard not to ponder that one question over and over—when would I go home? True, Ink and Dream were busy trying to defend worlds and fight Error and Nightmare and save Blueberry… but I wondered if they'd made any progress on figuring out how to get me back to my world.
Deciding not to push it, to give it a bit more time, I spent my days trekking through AUs. Most trips were to MelonTale and BirdTale. A few trips to UnderFell, and Cherry suspected my existence. I had to be careful. Other than the familiar stomping grounds, I'd checked out RebornTale, ButtonTale, AfterTale, DanceTale, and FlowerFell. It never failed to amaze me how diverse and profound each story was. Though, on top of slightly nerve-wracking, ButtonTale was strange. Things seemed… off.
Today, though, I simply wanted to hang with Raven. I flipped through one of Ink's notebooks, searching for a picture of my feathered friends. Finding art from the AU, I tapped the page and leapt through the window that formed above it. Unfortunately, my mind was elsewhere… so I didn't notice the strange static flickering outside the streams of magic. By the time I noticed the colorful, swirling lightning storm-clouds to my left, it was too late. I drifted too close, there was a shock of dry wind, and I was suddenly sucked off course.
After a terrifying ride, I was flung into a thick tree. Too surprised to grab on to anything, I hit almost every branch on the way down, and eventually landed in a deep pile of snow. Sitting up, disoriented, I stared dizzily ahead. what… just happened…? I stood; my jacket shed a bunch of pine needles. Brushing the few remaining sappy ones, I looked around.
Assuming I was in an AU, I decided I must be somewhere in Snowdin Forest. The trees were thicker than I remembered, though, and, I'd never seen snow-dwelling vines. Wandering through the dense foliage, I did my best to keep from stepping on the diverse flowers and saplings. why is it so lush here? this is a winter wonderland! how can all these plants survive?
A step later, I found my answer. Just as I rounded a thick cluster of trees, I came to a startled, back peddling stop. There, a few yards away, in a lush, blossom-encrusted clearing, sat a Papyrus. Ducking behind a bush, I gaped at him. Sitting on the edge of a smoothed rock, he gingerly stroked the edges of a long-leafed plant, quietly chatting to it. He was mostly skeleton… partially plant?
From his left eye socket bloomed a full orange-accented purple flower. It didn't seem to bother him; on the contrary, he would occasionally tap its petals, speaking to it and smiling slightly. His scarf was one long weave of young vines, tiny spots of tangerine blooms emphasizing the bright lime. His grey armor was tinted with a thin layer of moss, muting its shine to a gentler light; green boarders accented the edges. Small, swirled lavender badges were patched to the shoulder pieces. The leggings on his arms and legs were a deep, earthy brown. The orange clasps on his woven leaf-gloves shimmered slightly as he tenderly untangled the seedlings sprouting from his holly-green boots, which were laced orange and filled with dirt. Returning his focus to the plant in front of him, he patted the leaves once more, and it suddenly produced buds from out of nowhere and bloomed.
Standing carefully so as not to tip his flower-pot-boots, the Papyrus, who I decided to nickname "PlantPaps," started to the other side of the grove. Going over to one of the older looking trees, he stroked the bark; the dark wood turned a shade lighter. he's healing the forest, I realized. Curious, I silently edged a little closer, wondering what he was saying. Soon…
"i'm s-sure snowdrake is f-fine. it's normal for p-people to go missing… i suppose." I was shocked at how quiet and meek PlantPap's speech was. Typically the Papyrus of a world was upbeat and confident. This one seemed timid. "i'm worried. d-did he get taken to the m-m-maker?" Planty seemed to shiver. "no, i b-bet he's f-fine."
I heard a snap somewhere behind me. Glancing back, I scanned the woods. Nothing. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if magical vines were pruning old branches off the trees. I returned my attention to Planty.
"i hope b-brother's happy," Planty explained to a shrub, "wherever he is. he would like it out here, i think, even if he d-d-doesn't l-like m-me." There was a pause. "actually… that might n-not be for the b-best…" He glanced around, murmuring "f-flammable..."
He wandered a bit further into the tree-line, complimenting each weed and flower with things like "your petals l-look l-lovely today," and "you're stem has g-g-grown an entire inch, how w-wonderful!" and even "your c-chloroplasts are looking especially g-green today," I moved to follow—
Ping!
Suddenly, my feet were no longer under me as my soul was yanked backwards. I flew through the air and slammed into a tree. My HP went from 1.0 to 0.7. I crumpled to the ground. On hands and knees, I struggled to stand, dazed. Sensing the slightest motion, I let myself drop again. Something shot over me. An orange, flaming slippered foot cracked into the pine behind my head; a flying kick. My attacker shoved off the tree, flipping back, the edges of his white-striped black shorts igniting. Using his falling momentum, he brought a burning staff-like bone attack hissing through the snow as I leapt to the side. Snapping around, I summoned a half shield just as my attacker pounced, clinging to the edges of the partial sphere.
It was a Sans. His brown jacket's hood, which was composed of wisps of flame, was pulled over his face. But I could still see his blazing eyes, staring fiercely at me. A deep seared mark could be seen on his left cheek bone. For a moment, I distractedly wondered how a flaming skeleton could get burned.
Before I could finish forming the protection bubble, he pulled back a fist of fire and pounded it into the barrier. Though it didn't break through, the shock of impact was enough to send me toppling back. The shield fell. The flame monster shot forward. I swiftly rolled. The ice evaporated as soon as he touched it. He sprang after me, wildly ferocious, like a savage animal closing in for the kill.
I was starting to panic. There wasn't enough room overhead to take off and fly away to safety. I couldn't fight back and risk hurting him. I tried to ping his soul. I couldn't. He was soulless. Dodging another attack, with no better options, I unfurled my wings and leapt for the narrow opening in the canopy of branches—a hand grabbed my ankle, singeing my slipper, and yanked me down.
Next thing I knew, I was sprawled out in the snow with a pyromaniac standing above me. An inferno lit in his gaze as a roiling sphere of flame formed in his hands. He grinned, aimed it at my chest—
A gale of cool, foggy air blasted through the trees. The flames died. A clear, young female voice cried out—
"Fira, wait!"
A human child dropped from a high branch on a nearby tree, her fall unnaturally slowed by another gust of wind, and scrambled towards us. My deep-seeded fear of humans kicked in; I flinched away, nervous magic static flickering around my clenched fists. The Sans above me, who was apparently named Fira, sensed this and was suddenly viciously aflame again. The fringes of the child's white-striped blue shirt and white hair thrashed in the burst of wind that snuffed the flames out again.
"Stop it," she gently insisted.
"Breeze. Let me burn him!" Fira exclaimed, "It's the perfected replacement. He's gonna betray us! He was even stalking Papyrus!" Fira summoned more fire. It was extinguished for the third time. Long brown pants led down to white boots, leaving light swirly designs in the snow as the kid came closer, frowning a little now.
"Even so… we can't just kill him, it's not right." She paused, sizing me up. "But, what kind of…?" Fira scowled.
"I don't know. He's freakish."
"i'm right here, ya know." That almost got me incinerated. But, Breeze persisted in her mission of mercy and kept me from getting roasted. "look," I said, "i'm not a threat to you. i was just passing through."
Breeze shot a pleading glance at Fira. After what must have been a silent debate between the two, Fira slowly stepped back, keeping between me and the human, and sent a flaming death glare my way. If I tried anything, I was toast. Slowly, I stood. Breeze tried a timid smile.
"If I may ask, which type are you?" Breeze ventured.
"what?" I said, puzzled.
"What kind of elemental are you?" she replied.
what? "elemental"? I wondered, then noticed the fire symbol swinging from Fira's zipper, and the wind designs in Breeze's footprints. ah, i see. that would explain planty papyrus. Fira narrowed his eyes at me.
"What element?" he insisted. Suddenly, I felt panicky. If they hadn't recognized me as an alternate version, they evidently weren't aware of the AUs. I couldn't explain but I couldn't blend in. I couldn't tell the truth but I couldn't lie. what do i do? oh no, what do i—
"hope." Where did that come from? "i'm hope. my name is serif. i mean you no harm," I said, holding my hands up to prove my sincerity. Breeze appeared interested, perhaps hopeful herself, while Fira remained skeptical. "i'm not like most elementals… i guess."
"Why were you watching Papyrus?" Fira challenged. I chose my answer carefully.
"i stumbled upon him while wandering the forest. i miss my brother, and, papyrus reminded me of him. i was just curious."
"You lost your brother? And you're alone in the forest?" Breeze asked, concerned.
"yeah, i'm, ah… far from home."
"How'd you get here, huh?" Fira pressed. "Where'd you really come from? 'Hope' is not a natural element, and I'm starting to think you're too weird to be a perfected artificial elemental. Things aren't adding up." The pyromaniac stared hard at me. "You're not from here, are you?" There was a horribly painful pause. I felt choked. How could I answer? Then, something changed in Fira's expression. "Are you… a traveler?"
I realized what he meant. Practically all us Sanses understood. am i a time traveler?
"sort of," I admitted. "more like… space and matter. a traverser of dimensions." Breeze was evidently confused, but this answer appeared to resonate with Fira.
"I think I believe you," Fira eventually murmured hesitantly. A nod to himself and a tiny sigh of relief later, he turned to Breeze and said—"He's not the perfected."
"are you in some kind of danger? who is this 'perfect' you keep mentioning?" I asked, trying to turn the conversation, hoping not to break any fourth walls or shatter the timeline.
"My replacement," Fira murmured, almost bitterly. "There's a death penalty for being a mistake." This was startling, a fact my widening eyes must have conveyed.
"people are trying to kill you? how do you hide? the underground is so small!"
"The northern side of the forest… we are safe there," Fira replied simply, gazing that way, as if longing to return home.
"wait, 'we'? breeze is in danger as well?"
"Since I wasn't made, since I simply exist, I'm an… 'unpredictable,'" Breeze affirmed, the tiniest hint of dread in her voice. Fira must have picked up on this, because his flames, which had slowly extinguished, suddenly sparked again.
"Remember, I won't let them get you, Breeze," he growled. "If they so much as lay a finger on you, I'll make sure they burn—" The human brought his protective threats to a stop by slipping her hand into his, smiling, and assuring—
"I know I'll be safe long as I'm with you."
Fira let out a little yelp of surprise and frowned profusely, literally steaming, and muttered "Don't do that…" I couldn't help but chuckle, earning a glare from Fira and an inquisitive glance from the human. Fira seemed about to say something about all this when my pendant started pulsating. I almost shrieked, myself. Pulling it from beneath my jacket, I gazed at it confusedly. It'd never done this before.
"something's wrong," I murmured, soul hitching. "something's very wrong!"
At the words "something's very wrong," there was a burst of heat. I snapped my head up. I was alone. Fira had teleported Breeze away, evidently alarmed at my murmurings. A gentle wind passed through the trees, and I heard a whisper in the air—
"Should you ever return, you know where to find us… friend."
A slight smile tugged at my face. I formed a protection bubble, shattered the thrumming, flashing pendant, and disappeared, dread in my soul at what was to come.