.
Beneath The Mountain
Chapter 4: Snowy Skeletal Shenanigans
Toriel wasn't lying, it was cold.
Scratch that, it was really fucking cold. Cold enough to where it reminded me of being stuck in Colter after that botched robbery fifteen years ago.
As soon as I walked through the door, I was almost blinded by all the snow in front of us.
Wait a minute, snow?
No, my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, indeed there was snow all around us.
It was almost like I was back on that mountain top again and admittedly I got my hopes up, thinking that maybe Toriel was wrong and that door actually led us to the surface.
Of course, that hope lasted for about five seconds before my eyes adjusted and I realized that wasn't the case.
Guess that thought was a little too optimistic.
Instead of a sky, there was just a tall, rocky ceiling that was studded with some sort of glowing rocks, slightly resembling a night sky.
Although there weren't any clouds, there was still a light snowfall coming down from god-knows-where.
Maybe they do have some sort of weather after all.
I examined our surroundings. To the front of us was a long path flanked by palisades of tall dead-looking trees that just went on and on.
Behind us was a cracked wall that stretched all the way to the ceiling, made out of solid purplish stone with another one of those arches around the heavy stone doors that we'd just went through.
I tried opening them for good measure, but to no avail. They were locked shut.
Definitely ain't no turning back now.
A slight gust of wind came through, causing me to shiver. I buttoned up my coat while the kid pulled up the hood on hers.
It was eerily quiet. No ambient sounds, no nothing. Just complete silence.
I didn't like how this forest felt. It felt unnatural, wrong, nothing like any forest I knew. The deafening silence made it much worse.
My father once told me that silence in the forest was a very bad sign, and if I was ever in the woods and it suddenly just became silent, to turn right around and get the hell out.
Of course, this lesson didn't elude me one bit as my desire to just get out grew with each passing second.
"Come on, let's get out of here." I said quietly.
The kid didn't protest and we cautiously walked forth, the silence being pierced by the crunching of snow, which sounded like cannons firing in comparison.
The whole time, I kept getting this feeling that made me shiver and it wasn't because of the cold.
You know whenever you feel like you're being watched? That cold, prickly sensation when you're almost certain you're not alone?
Amplify that by a hundred, and you'll get how I felt at that moment. What made it worse was the fact that we were walking straight into unknown territory where humans weren't exactly welcome, meaning anyone and everyone could be a potential enemy.
We trudged further down until we came across something lying in the middle of the path.
It was a thick, tough-looking branch that must've fallen off one of the trees. Probably could've made a good walking stick.
We stepped over it and continued on when-
*Crack*
Both of us froze in our tracks.
I turned around, my right hand gripping my schofield in its holster, ready to draw at a moment's notice .
Nothing.
The only thing that was there was the branch we'd just stepped over, which was now broken into several pieces.
I wasn't sure what could've snapped that branch like that, but it definitely wasn't the wind. A feeling of dread began to wash over me, and I had no doubt in my mind that we weren't the only ones here.
"I don't think we're alone." I whispered to the kid.
"What should we do?" she whispered back.
"Keep walking. Ain't much else we can do."
There really wasn't. Turning around wasn't an option. Even if Toriel hadn't kindly asked us to not return, those big stone doors made sure that we weren't going back.
"B-but... I'm scared."
"Don't worry, I'm right beside you. Whatever it is, I ain't gonna let it hurt you."
We continued forward, more hesitant and vigilant this time. My eyes kept darting from side to side as I scanned the treeline, trying to see if I could catch a look at whoever or whatever was stalking us.
*Crunch*
I heard the sound of a footstep behind us, but this time I didn't stop and I didn't turn around.
"Keep walking." I whispered to her.
My senses were on high alert and that feeling of being watched was so heavy it could've crushed me to death.
Eventually, I saw something in the distance. It was a small footbridge with some sort of wooden... fence? built across it.
We got to the bridge and right before we could start crossing it, *Crunch... Crunch... Crunch…*
The sound of someone walking through the snow behind us could clearly be heard.
Both of us froze. Whatever was stalking us finally decided to show itself. It got closer and closer until it was right behind me.
"Human." The thing said, slow and deliberately.
I drew my sidearm but kept it hidden beneath my coat.
"Don't you know how to greet a new pal?"
I don't know if it was just toying with me or what.
"Turn around and shake my hand."
I complied and slowly turned around, one hand outstretched and the other on my sidearm. I grabbed it's hand and-
*Flbbbbrrrrrrt*
...What the fuck.
I don't know what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn't it.
The kid burst out laughing while a disapproving scowl crept across my face, even though my tension was slightly eased.
I finally got a good look at our mysterious new friend. It was... a skeleton.
That's right, a human skeleton. Well, he looked like one at least. He was half my height and wearing a giant blue coat with a pink pair of what looked like bedroom slippers on his feet.
I wasn't sure of the implications behind a human skeleton in the underground, especially one who looked nothing like any skeleton I've ever seen. But I was long past the point of questioning anything, and was right at the stage of just accepting whatever the hell I saw.
"heh... the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny." He said without even moving his mouth.
My scowl didn't move an inch though.
"hey c'mon, lighten up buddy! say, you're humans right?"
I wasn't sure if I should've told him the truth or not, but considering that the first thing he said to us was 'human', I guess he must've already known.
"Sure."
"ayy, that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the skeleton."
"I'm Frisk." The kid said, introducing herself.
"Lancelot." I replied sarcastically.
"pleased to meet ya kid. you too lancey." he replied, giving me a wink. "you know, funny thing, i'm actually supposed on watch for humans right now-"
I tensed up again, thinking that we'd run into a guard or some sort of sentry.
"...buuuut i'm too lazy to worry about the whole human hunting shtick. now my brother on the other hand, he's a human hunting fanatic."
Oh that's just wonderful.
"hey, actually, i think that's him over there. quick, i have an idea, go right through this gate thingy."
I didn't know what this guy was up to, but I decided to go along with whatever he was doing anyway. I don't know why, but something deep inside me told me that this guy wasn't to be fucked with, and the last thing I wanted to do was accidentally piss him off.
"This is supposed to be a gate?" I replied, surprised.
"yeah, my bro made it. he ain't the best at building stuff."
I can tell.
The three of us went over the bridge and through the alleged gate where we ended up in a large clearing with some sort of wooden sentry post and an oddly-shaped electric lamp right next to it.
"here he comes. quick kid, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp. "
She walked over and stood behind the lamp which sure enough, fit her exact shape.
Conveniently shaped, huh?
"as for you, lancey... uhhh... get behind that guard stand over there."
I obliged, going over and diving behind the stand, knocking over a few bottles of ketchup, mustard, and relish in the process.
The hell are these doing he-
SAAAAAAAANS!"
...Oh my fucking god. It took all I had to not bust out laughing at whatever the hell that was.
I poked my head up a little to get a good look at whatever poor son of a bitch was cursed with that voice.
It was another skeleton.
And that must be his brother I figured.
He was tall, about my height, and was decked out in some sort of costume that I couldn't even begin to describe.
"sup, bro?" the short one said nonchalantly.
"YOU KNOW WHATS "SUP BRO"! IT HAS BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! WHAT IS THE REASON BEHIND THIS INDOLENCE?"
Jesus, if there was a world record for most annoying voice, he'd win a gold medal. I wasn't sure what he was screaming about, but he sounded pretty pissed about it.
"whoops, sorry bro. i knew i forgot to do something."
"OF COURSE YOU "FORGOT", YOU ALWAYS "FORGET" TO DO ANYTHING THAT'S EVEN REMOTELY WORK RELATED!"
"hey paps, why don't you come check out this lamp? it's pretty cool."
That immediately put me on edge. I don't know what this skeleton was up to, but I found my hand migrating back to my sidearm yet again.
Luckily, instead of taking his advice, his brother just started stomping angrily. "NO! NO! NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR ANY OF YOUR FOOLISH SHENANIGANS! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE? I'LL BE DISTRACTED! I HAVE TO BE READY! I NEED TO BE THE ONE WHO FINALLY CAPTURES A HUMAN!"
Yeah, keep dreaming, partner.
He took this heroic looking pose, acting like he came straight out of a storybook.
"THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I DESERVE!"
He went on this long, self-indulgent tirade about becoming a hero and getting friends or something, I mostly tuned it out.
"here, maybe this lamp will help you." sans said, still nonchalantly.
"ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE! YOU AREN'T HELPING AT ALL, YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS JUST SIT AROUND AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER WITH EACH PASSING DAY!"
Seeing this skeleton shout at his brother like that was honestly pretty entertaining. It's the kind of stuff you'd probably have to pay money to see back on the surface.
"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today, a skele-ton if you will." he turned and winked at us.
Oh my fucking god.
I've heard better jokes in the Blackwater Ledger's funnies section. The kid must've liked it though, because I heard her trying to stifle a laugh.
"SANS! ENOUGH OF THIS ABSURDITY!"
"aw come on paps, you're smiling."
"I AM AND I HATE IT! *SIGH* WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO PUT UP WITH A LAZYBONES BROTHER SUCH AS YOURSELF?" he loudly lamented.
"wow, your brother sounds like a real bonehead." He turned towards us again, giving a shrugging motion like he was the star of some bad comedy routine.
I couldn't help myself this time, I let out a very audible groan in response to the very awful pun.
"UGH! SEE SANS? EVEN THAT SENTRY STATION OVER THERE CAN'T STAND YOUR HORRIBLE SENSE OF HUMOR! NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE PUZZLES TO ATTEND TO. AS FOR YOUR WORK, PUT A LITTLE MORE "BACKBONE" INTO IT. NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!
He ran off, shortly returning to deliver one last "HEH!" before running off for good.
What in the name of god did I just witness?
"alright, you two can come out now."
Both of us got up from our respective hiding spots and walked back towards the path.
"so, whaddya think?"
"He's pretty cool!" the kid said.
I thought over my words for a second. "He sure is... something."
"glad ya like him. say, hate to bother, but can you do me a favor?"
"Maybe. What do you want?" I replied warily.
"right, so i've been thinking... my brother, he's been kinda down lately. he's never seen a human before and i think seeing you two just might make his day."
"Hold up now. That sounds a bit dangerous." I said, sounding suspicious.
"hey don't worry about it, paps is harmless. he couldn't harm a fly even if he tried."
I thought about it for a minute. We were in unknown and dangerous territory and one of the things we needed most were allies. If we helped this guy and his brother out, they could potentially help us get out of here. Of course, this was granted that we weren't being lied to, but I didn't really have much in terms of alternative choices.
"Alright, we'll help you."
"really? thanks a million. i'll be up ahead."
He walked away, leaving us alone.
"Sooo... Lancelot?" Frisk suddenly asked.
"Oh, yeah. It's an old nickname of mine. Or alias… Something of the sort."
"Alias?"
"It's... a long story. I'll tell you later"
"Oh... Say, Jack?"
"Yes?"
"Could you promise me something?"
Not another promise I silently bemoaned. Still, I couldn't say no to the kid.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Could you promise me you won't kill anyone while we're down here?"
"I wasn't planning to, but alright kid." I said, slightly annoyed.
"Look, I'm sorry if I sound like I'm making you out to be some kind of killer, I know that all you're trying to do is protect me. I just... I don't anyone to get hurt."
I knelt down to her level and gave her a look of reassurance. "It's fine, kid. To tell you the truth, I don't want to kill anyone either."
I really didn't. Monsters or not, I had no quarrel with them and wasn't interested in sending any of them to an early grave. The problem was that one hypothetical situation where we'd run into someone who wasn't all that keen with sorting things out peacefully. But I decided not to bring that up.
Fuck it, I'll cross that bridge when we get there.
"That's good then, we're both on the same page. Thank you."
We began going forward down the path until we reached a clearing surrounded by shorter evergreen trees that actually had noticeable foliage on them.
In the middle of the clearing I noticed a sign and a strange object. On closer examination, the object in question turned out to be some sort of box.
This is a box. the sign read.
You don't say.
You can put items inside or take them out. The same box will appear later, so don't worry about coming back. Sincerely, a box lover.
"That'll come in handy." the kid said.
"Yeah, if it's telling the truth."
I opened it up to see if anything was inside, only finding an old leather glove.
Looks like somebody's missing a glove.
"You want this, kid?"
She nodded and I tossed the thing to her.
She put it on and dropped a stick into the box.
"Let's test it on this old stick. I don't really need it anyways."
I closed the box and we took the northern path, ending up at a river too wide and deep to cross. There wasn't much of interest aside from a fishing rod that was stuck in the ground with its line in the water.
Curious, I reeled it in and oddly enough, there was something stuck on the hook, but it wasn't a fish.
It was a photograph of some ugly-looking monster with Here's my number, call me! written on it.
Yeah, that ain't happening pal. I reeled the line back out. Here, maybe a fish will give you a call.
We were fixing to head back to the main road, when some weird-looking monster fluttered forth and got in our way.
The best way I can describe him is a cross between a snowflake and a chicken. I know it sounds weird, but trust me.
*SNOWDRAKE ATK 6 DEF 2
*This teen comedian fights to keep a captive audience
Great. Another comedian.
"'Ice' to meet you! Ice puns are 'snow' problem!" He spouted out like he'd just told the joke of the century.
Wonderful. We've graduated from bone puns to ice puns. Can my day get any better?
Frisk started laughing at his poor excuse for a joke though. I figured she knew what she was doing because I copied her and gave the best fake laughter I could muster.
"Wait, laughter?" He continued. "Ok, so I tried to have some 'frosted' 'flakes' for breakfast this morning! But I was all out and had to settle for some macaroni and 'freeze' instead!"
These fucking puns keep getting worse and worse.
But we both pretended to laugh again, and fortunately it was convincing enough for him.
"See!? They're laughing! Dad was wrong, people love my puns!"
He fluttered away, a satisfied look on his face.
"Well. That worked." I remarked.
We headed back to the clearing and began walking down the main road. During our walk, I kept going over how we'd play along with that skeleton's brother's antics when I got this idea. It was a ridiculous idea, but it'd liven things up a little. Make this whole thing a little more fun.
"Hey kid, I've got an idea."
"An idea?"
"You know how Paper, or whatever his name is, acts like he does?"
"Yeah?"
"Well I've been thinking... What if I were to imitate it? Act as some larger-than-life character of my own? You know, when we run into him."
She laughed at the idea. "Now, why would you want to do that?"
I honestly wasn't sure why. Maybe I just wanted to have a little fun with the situation. Maybe the insanity of the underground finally got to me and I'd lost my mind. Maybe both.
I just shrugged. "I reckon If I'm gonna play along with that little charade of his, I might as well have fun while doing it."
"That sounds like a great idea!" She chirped excitedly.
"You just want to see me act like an idiot don't you?" I said, grinning.
"Maaaybe." She said, giving me a mischievous grin of her own.
"Well, come along then. Let's introduce them to..." I cleared my throat and mustered up the stupidest-sounding voice I could think of. "Lancelot the almighty and his trusty squire!"
The best way I could describe the sound of this voice was if you took a stereotypical French accent and a stereotypical British butler's accent, mixed them together, and added in some western twang that managed to bleed through. The end result was one of the most ridiculous voices I've ever heard, probably even rivaling Papyrus's.
Once that voice escaped my lips, Frisk immediately buckled over and began laughing uncontrollably. It took a minute for her fit of laughter to subside and by then, her face was red as a beet.
"Oh my god...That... That voice..."
"Think it'll work?"
"Oh I know it'll work."
"Well, best not keep them waiting."
We walked further down the path until we got to a clearing where the pair of boneheads were waiting.
"SO, LIKE I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE."
I cleared my throat, getting their attention. As soon as they saw me, they both started turning toward each other repeatedly until they were... spinning like tops. Eventually they stopped, their backs turned toward us.
"SANS! IS THAT A HUMAN?!"
"uhhh... actually, i think that's a rock."
"Oh. Fiddlesticks."
"hey, what's in front of the rock?"
"HMM... OH! PARDON ME, STRANGERS, BUT WOULD THE BOTH OF YOU HAPPEN TO BE... HUMANS?!"
Showtime.
I quickly readied myself and answered his question in my 'Lancelot voice' as I started calling it.
"Yes, indeed we are! However, I am no ordinary human... For I am the almighty LANCELOT! The most powerful human to ever walk the underground!"
I heard the kid try to stifle her laughter.
"And I am Merlin! His slightly less-powerful, but just as dangerous, squire!" the kid said, joining my little escapade with a ridiculous voice of her own.
"Yes! Now out of my way you weak, puny monsters!" I finished. "Stand aside or face our wrath!"
A look of pure excitement and joy came across his face.
"OH MY GOD SANS, I HAVE FINALLY DONE IT! UNDYNE WILL... IM GONNA... I'LL BE SO..."
He turned his attention back to us and assumed his heroic pose again.
"AHEM HUMANS! YOU SHALL DO NO SUCH THING, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM GOING TO STOP YOU! I WILL CAPTURE YOU AND YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN... THEN! I'm not entirely sure what will happen next... BUT THAT MATTERS NOT! IN ANY CASE, YOU ARE TO PROCEED, BUT ONLY IF YOU DARE!
"Monster! You are brave, but foolish! Very well, I accept your challenge! I'm sure it shall be... quite amusing!" I heroically replied.
"OH BELIEVE ME, IT WILL! FOR ME THAT IS, BECAUSE I CAN ASSURE THAT IT WILL NOT BE VERY AMUSING FOR YOU! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"
He ran off, leaving us three alone.
"hey, you two put on quite a show." Sans complimented.
"It was his idea." the kid said, pointing at me.
"Guilty as charged." I admitted.
"hey keep it up, paps seems to love it. i haven't seen him this overjoyed since that time he accidentally mistook the mailmonster for a human."
I chuckled, imagining that situation as he walked off, going in Papyrus's direction.
"oh and by the way, you two have a good taste in fashion."
I finally noticed that all three of us were wearing similar blue winter coats.
What are the odds?
We went further down the path when I thought of something.
"Merlin?" I asked my partner-in-crime.
"Yeah. I thought it would fit me because, y'know, Merlin is a wizard... I'm a psychic."
"Reckon I can't argue with that."
We headed forward, coming across a very shoddily-constructed stand of some sort with a sign attached to it.
It's just a cardboard box.
I took a look at the sign that was on the front.
YOU OBSERVE THE WELL-CRAFTED SENTRY STATION. WHO COULD HAVE BUILT THIS YOU PONDER. I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN! (NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN.)
Well constructed... Good one.
We continued on, shortly coming across a much better-constructed guard stand and a sign preceding it.
Absolutely NO MOVING!
Naturally, we ignored the sign and went by when suddenly something poked its head out of the stand.
It was a normal looking black and white dog. Only difference was that he was standing on his hind legs, had a dog treat hanging out of his mouth, and had a very... interesting choice in fashion.
"Did something move?" he said. "Or was it my imagination? I can only see moving things."
And this must be a guard I figured. Why a seemingly half-blind mutt was a guard in the first place was beyond me.
"If something WAS moving, for example, a human. I'll make sure it never moves again."
He jumped out and unsheathed two large knives.
*DOGGO ATK 6 DEF 1
*Easily excited by movement. Hobbies include: squirrels.
"Don't move an inch!" the dog shouted.
I actually took that warning to heart and stood still. The kid seemed to have the same idea because she didn't make a move either.
The dog sent a couple of blue-colored knife attacks toward us, but instead of hitting us they just went right through, doing no harm.
Now that's interesting.
"Now it's my turn." I said.
"Hey! Where did that voice come from?"
I unclipped my lasso from its holder and began swinging it around.
"MOVING!" the dog yelped as I threw the lasso on him, wrapping around his legs. I gave the rope a swift tug and pulled his feet out from under him causing him to fall on his back, his knives flying to the side.
"Help! Something got me! Something moving! It couldn't have NOT moved!"
I went over and began hogtying him. "Sorry about this, Fido. But we can't have you getting in our way." After I was finished, I picked him up and tossed him back in the guard post, hearing him mutter something about "needing dog treats".
I put my lasso back in its pouch and went back over to the kid.
"Are we just going to leave him there?" she asked.
"He'll be fine. Should be loose enough for him to get out on his own, but good enough to buy us some time."
"Ok..." she said, sounding slightly worried.
We walked further down the path, passing a couple of burnt dog treats. Soon, the path led to a frozen pond with our lazy skeleton friend standing by it.
"heya. i almost forgot, i got something important to tell you."
I said nothing, prompting him to continue.
"right so, my brother's got this special attack, calls it his "blue attack". basically if you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you."
Like that blind mongrel back there. I thought.
"think of it as a stop sign. when you see one you stop, right?"
I nodded, despite having no clue what a stop sign was.
"stop signs are red, so imagine it as like… a blue stop sign. simple right?"
"Sure." I replied.
"alright. remember that next time you're in a fight."
We walked forward, though when I stepped onto the frozen pond I ended up slipping and falling on my ass.
"Ow, son of a..." I muttered furiously.
The kid giggled at my slip up. "Careful now, butterboots."
"Yeah, very funny." I replied, slightly irritated.
I got to my feet and managed to control myself on the ice better. I even did a little impromptu ice skating and got over to a sign that was in the middle of the frozen pond on a piece of dry land.
North: Ice.
South: Ice.
West: Ice.
East: Snowdin Town (and ice).
"Snowdin huh?" I observed. "Well I can see where it got its name from."
"Not the most creative name, but I guess it works." Frisk remarked. "Think it's worth checking out?"
"Judging by the sign, I think it's the only thing around here that's even worth checking out." I said matter-of-factly.
We went east, but we didn't have to go far before running into the other dynamic duo once again.
Already? I silently bemoaned. But I couldn't show any signs of discontent. After all, I had to get back into character.
Luckily, Papyrus was too busy yelling at his brother to notice us at first, giving us plenty of time to prepare.
"YOU ARE SO LAZY, SANS! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"
"paps, that's called sleeping."
"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!"
Finally, he noticed the both of us standing there.
"OH HO-HO! THE HUMANS ARRIVE!"
"Well, well, well! If it isn't the doltish hero and his slacker sidekick!" I said, again in my "Lancelot Voice".
"I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR PUZZLES! BECAUSE MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED QUITE A FEW PUZZLES, SUCH AS THIS ONE, TO STOP YOU! I BELIEVE YOU'LL FIND THIS ONE QUITE "SHOCKING"!"
Was that supposed to be a joke?
"THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB I AM HOLDING WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN?! I DOUBT IT, AS THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU'LL BE HAVING WILL BE QUITE MINUSCULE! YOU MAY PROCEED WHEN READY!"
The kid and I looked at eachother and back at Papyrus, who was waiting expectantly. I shrugged and took a step onto the maze, which led to Papyrus getting a good jolt of electricity.
"SANS! WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO TO THE PUZZLE?!" he yelled, sounding absolutely livid.
"i think the humans have to hold the orb first."
"WHAT?! But I only have one orb... BLAST IT!" he threw it at the ground angrily, smashing it into smithereens.
"Looks like your puzzle has failed you, brave monster! How foolish!" I taunted.
He turned to us again, a heroic expression on his face. "DON'T GET COCKY, HUMAN! FOR YOU SEE, THAT WAS ONE MEASLY PUZZLE OVER THE DOZENS I'VE IN STORE FOR YOU! AND I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THE NEXT ONE WILL NOT BE SO EASY! IT WAS DESIGNED BY MY OWN BROTHER AFTER ALL! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!
He ran off again, presumably to the next puzzle, and we went over the "maze" and met up with 'ol Sansy.
"hey, you're doing good. thanks again, my brother looks like he's having the time of his life."
"Anytime partner."
"No problem!" Frisk replied.
"by the way, did you notice that weird outfit he's wearing?"
"Yeah. How could we not?" I said.
"we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party, hasn't worn anything else since. keeps calling it his "battle body". man, ain't my brother the coolest?"
"He is!" the kid said.
"Yep." I replied. Admittedly I wasn't fully lying. I guess those two boneheads were starting to grow on me.
We got back on the path and continued. This time we were on some sort of plateau, connected by a small footbridge. However there was someone else there. He was this tall, blue, rabbit-looking monster standing beside a cart who looked pretty disappointed.
"I don't understand why these aren't selling." he bemoaned. "It's the perfect weather for something cold..."
He noticed us walking towards him and perked right up.
"Oh! Customers!"
Frisk waved at him and I just tipped my hat and gave him a "howdy".
"Hi there! Would you like some nice cream?"
"Nice cream?" I replied, confused.
"Yeah! It's the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just 15G!"
"Frozen?" I asked, dumbfounded. I looked at all the snow and ice that was all around us.
This is the wrong place to be selling ice cream, friend. Or "nice cream" in your case.
But I didn't have the heart to refuse his offer.
What the hell. "Sure, I'll take a couple."
"Wonderful!" he said excitedly. I gave him the proper coinage, and he presented me with a couple of cones. "Here you go! Have a super-duper day!
"Thanks." I gave the kid the other, and tried one for myself. Aside from it being freezing cold, it wasn't half bad. Tasted like normal strawberry ice cream.
We crossed the footbridge and the kid started kicking a snowball around while I finished my cone.
I kinda just took everything in. Snowdin was actually a pretty relaxing place. Beautiful, peaceful, and quiet. It'd be perfect if it weren't so damn cold.
Right when I was finishing up my cone, I noticed a label stuck on the side, and ripped it off.
Is this as sweet as you? it read.
I glanced back at the nice cream guy, who just smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I returned the gesture, hoping that note wasn't him trying to flirt with me.
Right at that moment, Sans walked up from out of nowhere I presume.
"y'know, i've been thinking about getting into the treat business myself. how about some fried snow? it's only 5G."
I decided to play along with his charade. "Sure."
"did i say 5G? i meant 50G."
"I'll take it."
"really? how about 5000G?"
I knew I had nowhere close to that amount, but decided to keep going.
"Yep."
"50,000G. that's my final offer."
"Alright, I'll come clean. Ain't got that kind of money."
"you don't? hey, that's okay. i don't have the snow either."
I almost wanted to comment on the fact that there was snow all around us, but I decided to save my breath.
I went over to check on the kid and watched her kick the snowball into a hole at the end of the course.
Guess that's their version of golf.
A red flag and a sign rose up along with a bag full of coins.
Red - Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience. Using these, you were able to win.
Well ain't that something?
Right when I finished reading the sign, something cold and wet hit me in the back of the neck.
"Hey, what the-" I wheeled around only to find Frisk with a mischievous grin on her face. I felt my neck and realized that she'd thrown a snowball at me.
I just shook my head at her, trying my best to look disappointed and annoyed. But really, I was trying my best to suppress a grin.
"Oh. Sorry Jack... I didn't mean to..."
I turned around and quickly scraped some snow from a nearby tree. "No. I'm sorry..."
"For what?" she asked concernedly.
"For this!"
I turned around quickly and pelted her with a snowball of my own.
"Hey! No fair!" she laughed in protest.
"You gonna do somethin' about it, little missy?" I replied playfully.
Both of us began scooping up handfuls of snow and started throwing snowballs at each other,
I was in pure jubilation, I hadn't had a snowball war in ages. I almost felt like a kid again.
It lasted for a good while, the both of us just laughing in pure enjoyment. By the time it was over, the both of us were absolutely giddy and completely dusted in snow.
"Well. That was fun." I said, brushing the snow off my coat.
"Yeah! We should do that again!"
"I guess. Depends if we run into that pair of boneheads again."
"Aw, don't be like that, Jack. I know you like them."
"Yeah... Maybe... Come on, let's get going."
We took off down the path nearest to us where speak of the devil, the aforementioned silly skeletons were right there.
"AH, GREETINGS HUMANS!"
"The great Papyrus... We meet again." I said, trying to make my silly accent sound a bit more dramatic.
I could tell that I'd made him happier by calling him that. "I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR... Wait a minute... SAAANS! WHERE IN THE BLAZES IS THE PUZZLE!"
"it's right there. on the ground. trust me, there's no way they can get past this one."
The both of us stepped forward. I spotted a piece of paper and a pencil lying on the ground and picked them up.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
It was one of those word search puzzles like you'd find in the newspaper. I never liked these damn things.
Regardless, I did the puzzle anyway. And by that, I mean I circled a few of the obvious ones before I gave up and circled a few random columns before putting it down.
"Done."
"WHAT!? SANS! THAT DIDN'T DO A THING!
"whoops. i knew i should've used today's crossword puzzle."
"WHAT!? CROSSWORD?! I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT I AM HEARING! In my opinion, Junior Jumble is easily the hardest of the two."
"what, really dude? that easy-peasy word scramble? that stuff's for baby bones."
"Unbelievable. HUMANS?! PLEASE SETTLE THIS DISPUTE!"
"Well, even though it was, of course, no match for my superior intellect, I must admit, Junior Jumble is possibly the most difficult puzzle I've ever come across. Certainly harder than some elementary-grade crossword puzzle." I said, adding a little self indulgence to my already ridiculous act.
"I agree with you, Sir Lancelot! Junior Jumble is obviously the hardest." the kid added in.
"HAHA! YES INDEED! YOU HUMANS MUST BE QUITE INTELLIGENT IF YOU FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE TO BE RATHER DIFFICULT AS WELL! NYEH HEH HEH!
I decided to not comment on the irony of that statement and watched as he ran off further down the road.
"hey, thanks for saying junior jumble just to appease my brother. yesterday he got stumped trying to 'solve' the horoscope."
I'll admit, thinking about that situation playing out managed to get a good chuckle out of me.
We walked some more until we reached another clearing with a table in the middle of it.
What do we have here?
There was a note laying on the ground, and I picked it up.
DEAR HUMANS! PLEASE ENJOY THIS SPAGHETTI THAT I HAVE EVER SO GRACIOUSLY PROVIDED! (LITTLE DO YOU KNOW THIS SPAGHETTI IS ACTUALLY A TRAP DESIGNED TO ENTICE YOU! YOU'LL BE SO BUSY EATING IT THAT YOU WON'T REALIZE THAT YOU AREN'T PROGRESSING. THOROUGHLY JAPED AGAIN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!)
Holy cow, spaghetti. I hadn't had that since the time I was staying at Angelo Bronte's mansion back when I was four. I remember it being absolutely delicious. Hell, I still fondly remember my stay there. It was my first taste of what a proper life was like.
I tried picking up the fork, but the damn thing was frozen to the table, the plate was stuck to it as well. I poked the spaghetti for good measure, but it was hard as a rock.
"I think it's frozen." the kid observed.
Well, no shit. I thought, disappointed.
There wasn't much else I could do with the spaghetti, so we trudged down the road, coming to another clearing with another sign greeting us.
Warning: Dog marriage.
I wasn't sure what to make of the cryptic warning, so I just ignored it.
Around this time, we ran into another guard, or should I say, guard dog.
Jesus. What's with this royal guard force and dogs?
It actually looked like a normal dog, minus the fact that it was wearing plate armor and carrying a sword and shield.
*LESSER DOG - ATK 7 DEF 0
*Wields a stone dogger made from pomer-granite.
These fucking puns.
Its attacks weren't all that hard to dodge luckily, and the kid managed to defeat it herself by petting it a bunch of times, each time causing its neck to elongate for some reason.
After getting past the weird dog, we ran into a row of spikes.
Great. I thought we were done with these damn spikes.
"Hmm." the kid mused. "There must be a switch hidden somewhere."
No, to hell with that. I thought, not feeling like looking around for another switch, so I just picked up the kid and stepped over the row.
"Oh. I guess That works too." She remarked.
We crossed another footbridge and landed on another plateau, where suddenly, I noticed a couple of figures approaching us.
They were both dressed in these hooded black suits and holding long battleaxes. I would've mistaken them for a pair of grim reapers if it weren't for the long snouts that identified them as, you guessed it, dogs.
Sniff sniff "What's that smell?" ("Where's that smell?")
"If you're a smell... Identify yoursmellf!" they both yelled in unison.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
They began aimlessly running around in an almost comedic fashion until they ended up right beside us.
"Hmm... Here's that weird smell... Smells like…" ("Green danger rating…")
"That means eliminate…" ("Eliminate YOU!")
In a swift motion, they both pulled down their hoods, but I was ready for them. I grabbed both of them by the back of the head and cracked their heads together, knocking them both out cold.
They both collapsed on the ground, and my companion looked at me, shocked.
"Jack! What did I tell you!?"
"What? I Just knocked them out for a little while."
"Yeah, but you attacked them!"
"Hey, you asked me not to kill them. You didn't say anything about nonlethal force."
"*Sigh* What are you, some kind of lawyer?" she said jokingly.
I chuckled. "In another life, maybe."
"Well, can you please try to use less violent methods?"
I shrugged. "I'll try."
I got a good look at the pair of dogs I'd just knocked out. It was a man and a woman dog, both of them had an illustration of the other's face with a cute little heart above it on their cloaks, and they were each wearing a wedding ring on their finger... paws... whatever. Didn't take a detective to figure out they were married.
So that's what that sign meant. Cute.
"So, what should we do with them?" the kid asked.
"Just leave them here. They'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Let sleeping dogs lie, Frisk. Besides, They should wake up in a few minutes anyway, didn't hit them too hard."
We went down the path the two lovebirds (or lovedogs) had come from, finding another puzzle, another row of spikes, and Papyrus, standing behind them.
The puzzle wasn't at all hard, I had to step on a couple of X's on the ground and turn them into O's, which was considerably easy with two of us simultaneously working on it. In no time, we solved it and brought the spikes down, which alerted Papyrus.
"WHAT?! HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP?! And more importantly, IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?!"
"As tempting as your dish was, great hero, it was not enough to beguile Lancelot the Almighty!" I said, getting back into character. "In fact, we left the entire plate intact!"
"REALLY?! YOU WERE ABLE TO RESIST THE TANTALIZING FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA, ONLY SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME!?"
Sure. Let's go with that.
"FRET NOT HUMANS! FOR I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER DESIRE! HEH HEH HEH NYEH!"
He ran off again and we followed, running into him again not even a minute later.
"HUMANS! I... UH... I forgot the way to the next puzzle. ANYWAYS, MIND IF I WALK WITH YOU FOR A LITTLE WHILE?!"
"That you may, brave one!" Frisk replied in her "Merlin" voice.
"Merlin is correct. You may join us, hero!"
"OH BOY, OH BOY!"
Papyrus walked alongside us, getting pretty chatty. He even spoke out of character the whole way there. His normal voice was still a bit odd, but much more tolerable than his "great papyrus" impression.
"So my brother started a sock collection recently."
"A sock collection?" I replied, out of character as well, but Papyrus didn't seem to notice.
"Yes, a sock collection of all things." He shook his head. "Pitiful isn't it? Sometimes I wonder what ever he would do without such a cool guy taking care of him."
"I don't know, partner. Good thing he has you."
I guess I actually meant it this time. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was actually kind of starting to kinda like him and his brother.
We arrived at the next puzzle, which was another one of those X's and O's problems.
"WAIT! Hmm... How should I say this... YOU WERE TAKING AN AWFUL LONG TIME TO ARRIVE, SO I DECIDED TO IMPROVE THIS PUZZLE BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO RESEMBLE MY FACE! UNFORTUNATELY THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND, AND AS A RESULT, THE SOLUTION IS NOW DIFFERENT. AND AS PER USUAL, MY DEADBEAT BROTHER IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! BUT WORRY NOT, DEAR HUMANS! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM, THEN THE THREE OF US MAY PROCEED! IN THE MEANTIME, FEEL FREE TO TRY IT OUT FOR YOURSELF!
I shrugged and examined the puzzle, noting that it barely resembled some type of face.
Right before I was about to try it out, I felt something tug my coat.
"Psst. Jack." the kid whispered.
"Yes?"
"There's a lever in that tree over there."
"And?"
"I think it might help with this puzzle. I'm gonna go pull it, when I do, could you step on that pressure plate over there?"
"Sure."
Kid's good at noticing stuff. I thought. That sixth sense or whatever she calls it, must be doing her good.
I watched her walk over to a pine tree and reach her hand in. After hearing a clicking sound, I put a foot on the plate, causing all the X's in the puzzle to revert into O's.
"YOU SOLVED IT? FANTASTIC!" the skeleton remarked. "And without my help as well... I'M IMPRESSED! YOU BOTH MUST LOVE PUZZLES AS MUCH AS I DO. IN THAT CASE, I'M SURE YOU'LL LOVE THE NEXT ONE! It might even be too easy for you..."
He walked off "nyeh heh hehing" again.
We went after him again, running into his buffoonish brother along the way.
"hey, good job on solving that puzzle so quickly. didn't even need my help. which is great, 'cause i love doing absolutely nothing."
"Anytime, uncle." I said sarcastically.
"Yeah. It was "snow" problem!" the kid said.
Frisk, I swear to god...
"ayy. you're getting the hang of it kid."
I started walking forward before either of them told any more godawful puns, momentarily stopping so my compadre could catch up.
"Hey Jack. Why'd you call him 'uncle' just then?" she asked.
"Oh. Well, he reminds me of a man I knew years ago called that. Used to ride with us back in the day, before we settled down."
"Was he your uncle?"
I laughed. "God I hope not. I don't think he was really anybody's uncle, that's just what everybody called him. I don't think anybody knew what his real name was... or if he had one."
"Wow. What was he like? At least, what made him similar to Sans?"
"Well... He was lazy for starters. I remember my Uncle Arthur calling him his third favorite parasite, after ringworm and plague rats."
She laughed at the statement.
"Yeah, he hated doing work. Always blamed it on "the lumbago" and said that it kept him from doing anything, lumbago this, lumbago that."
"Lumbago. Is that even a real thing?"
"Hell if I know, kid. But if you'd ask him, he'd find at least twenty different ways to tell you how real and deadly it supposedly is. At least Sans is honest with his laziness. Doesn't try to blame it on some medical condition that may or may not exist."
"Well why'd you guys keep him around?"
"For entertainment I guess. He was like out group's personal jester, made it somewhat worthwhile to put up with his antics. Somewhat."
"Sounds like quite the character."
"Believe me, he was."
"Hey, speaking of Sans, you know all of those skeleton puns he was telling?"
I cringed for a second at the memory of his awful puns. "Yeah. What about 'em?"
"Well, I found this open journal in mo- Toriel's room that was full of jokes like that."
"Really now? That's... odd."
"Think it's a coincidence, or... something else?"
I just shrugged in response. "Couldn't tell you, kid."
Though I did remember him heading toward the ruins when he left us after we first met him. Probably wasn't anything, but it still raised a few questions.
The path ended at a short footbridge, where our favorite boneheaded bozos were waiting for us.
"THERE YOU ARE, HUMANS! I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT YOU WILL LOVE THIS ONE! AFTER ALL, IT WAS DESIGNED BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS HERSELF!"
Dr. Alphys, huh? I pondered. Wonder if we'll run into her.
"NOW, YOU SEE THESE TILES!?" ONCE I ACTIVATE THIS MACHINE, THEY WILL CHANGE COLOR, AND EACH COLOR HAS A DIFFERENT FUNCTION!
He explained the function of the colors to us, which was pretty long and convoluted, but I managed to get a good idea of what each one did.
"UNDERSTAND? GOOD! NOW THERE'S ONE LAST THING I MUST TELL YOU! THIS PUZZLE IS ENTIRELY RANDOMIZED! SO WHEN I PULL THIS LEVER, IT WILL CREATE A PUZZLE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE! NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW THE SOLUTION! GET READY..."
He flipped the switch, and various bright colors came to light and flickered around for a while before settling on a puzzle that was a path of pink tiles (passable) flanked by red tiles (not passable).
What are the odds...
Papyrus ran off without a word, and we crossed the path, running into our comedian friend.
"so lancey. i noticed you tried to eat that spaghetti earlier."
"Yeah, I guess I was hungry. Still am actually."
"believe me, you should be glad you didn't. my brother ain't exactly the best cook, which is why i eat out all the time."
"Really? What a shame."
"hey, on the bright side, that spaghetti wasn't actually that bad for his cooking. started taking cooking lessons recently, and he's been improving a lot. if he keeps it up, he might even make something that's actually edible."
Don't eat papyrus's cooking. I'll keep that in mind.
The path led to a clearing with another sentry post and a bunch of failed attempts at making a snowman, or snowdog in this case.
They all looked exactly like that weird mutt we'd ran into earlier, the one with the elongated neck. It was this elongated neck that caused the heads to fall off all of them.
There was even a cow-looking monster that described the scene of the weird dog trying to build snow sculptures of itself and how it continually failed to do so.
The path led to another X and O puzzle that was positioned around some ice. Took some impromptu ice skating and a few tries, but we managed to solve it easily enough.
The road led us through a thick length of woods and we ended up coming out with piles of snow on our heads. For some reason, the pile on the kid's head looked exactly like a dog.
Again, what is it with this place and generally weird shit?
Right away, we ran into another monster. It looked like a fucked-up deer with a bunch of stuff wrapped around it's antlers and seemed none too happy with it's predicament.
*GYFTROT ATK 7 DEF 3
*Some teens "decorated" it as a prank.
"Please, get this junk off of me!" it pleaded.
Alright then. Time to do my 82nd good deed for the day.
I reached over and pulled a photograph off of its forehead.
"That's better..." it said, a hint of relief in its voice.
The kid and I took turns removing its "decorations" until none remained.
"A weight has been lifted, thank you." it said, now sounding fully relieved.
I was fixing to move on, when Frisk gave it some kind of gift. She even wrapped it with some wrapping paper we'd pulled off of its antlers.
"Aw, you shouldn't have!" it replied.
We bid it farewell and went on our way.
I took a look at the photograph I'd pulled off its forehead. It was of what appeared to be a younger version of that Snowdrake monster from earlier, happily posing alongside who I guessed were his parents. I slid it inside my journal for safekeeping, in case we ran into him again.
Maybe he'll want it back.
The next area had a bunch of piles of snow in it, and a single doghouse.
I looked at the doghouse while the kid started examining the piles of snow for some odd reason.
"It's a snow poff." she said.
Why thank you captain obvious.
"And this... is a snow poff." she said again, examining the next.
She started doing that for literally every pile of snow that was there.
"This, however… is a snow poff."
Not wanting to hear any more of it, I went ahead to the exit when something popped out of one of the 'snow poffs' that flanked the path.
Wait a minute. Is that a tail?
Sure enough, almost as to answer my question, a fluffy little white dog's head popped out of the pile and its tail started wagging.
"Bark bark!" It's barks sounding more like squeaks.
"Hey there little guy." I said, beckoning it over.
In response it got up out of the pile, revealing that it was wearing a giant set of medieval-looking armor.
"...big guy."
*GREATER DOG ATK 6 DEF 4
*It's so excited that it thinks fighting is just play.
Right, let's play then.
"Hey boy, c'mere!"
He dropped to all fours and bounded over towards me.
"Oh f-" was all I got out before he knocked me on my back and started repeatedly licking my face.
"Hey! Hey now! Easy, boy!" I started petting him.
*Greater Dog curls up in your lap as you pet it. It gets so comfortable that it falls asleep... Zzzzz... Then it wakes up! It's so excited!
Looks like my experience with Rufus is finally paying off.
"Yeah, you're a good boy ain't you?" I got to my feet and ripped a dead branch off of a nearby tree and held it up, the dog eyeing it expectantly.
I tossed it to the other side of the plateau. "Go on, git it boy!"
He bounded over to where it landed, but it landed in a deep snowdrift and he couldn't seem to find it, so instead he uprooted an entire tree and brought it back to me.
What the fuck.
*Now the dog is very tired... It rests its head on you...
"That's a good boy!" I praised, petting him once again.
*As you pet the dog, it sinks its entire weight into you... Your movements slow. But, you still haven't pet enough...!
"You like getting pet don't you?" I said, petting him once again.
*You pet decisively. Pet capacity reaches 100 percent. The dog flops over with its legs hanging in the air.
*Greater Dog is contented.
The dog jumped out of his armor and licked my hand a couple of times before jumping back in and stomping off.
Did that just fucking happen? I wondered, finally snapping out of it.
Of course, the uprooted cedar tree in front of me confirmed that it indeed did happen.
By this time the kid showed up, holding a few coins.
"Hey, I found 30G inside that sn- whoa." she said, noticing the tree. "What'd I miss?"
I don't know how the hell she didn't notice a gargantuan armored dog running all over the place, but I decided not to ask.
"Nothing much. Just played around with some weird dog."
She shrugged it off and we continued walking, ending up at this long wooden rope bridge.
Whoa... I thought as I saw the view from where we were.
We were on the top of a mountain, probably the tallest in Snowdin, and I could see everything. Just miles upon miles of thick, untouched, snowy forestland that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Jesus, this place is massive. Must be the biggest cave on earth.
I could even see the entrance to the ruins from here, which looked very far away, making me wonder how far we actually walked.
Of course, I couldn't let a moment like this go to waste. I took out my journal and sketched the snow-dusted forestland below, labeling it "quiet forest".
We began crossing the bridge while I took in the absolute peace and silence of the place, until suddenly-
"HUMANS!"
Well, it was good while it lasted.
Our two favorite boneheads were standing at the end of the bridge.
"IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO FACE YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE YET! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!"
A bunch of deadly-looking doohickeys, along with a hanging dog (again with the fucking dogs), emerged.
"ON MY MARK, THE PUZZLE WILL FULLY ACTIVATE! CANNONS WILL FIRE, SPIKES WILL SWING, FIRES WILL BURN, AND THAT DOG WILL... DO SOMETHING VERY BAD I ASSURE YOU! EACH COMPONENT WILL VIOLENTLY SWING UP AND DOWN, MAKING YOUR CHANCES OF VICTORY VERY SLIM! ARE YOU READY? I HOPE SO, BECAUSE I AM NOW GOING TO ACTIVATE THE PUZZLE!"
Nothing happened.
"ANY MINUTE NOW!"
Again, nothing happened.
"What seems to be the matter, brave warrior? Certainly your gauntlet hasn't failed you now, has it?" I smugly taunted.
"THIS HAS IN NO WAY FAILED! IT SIMPLY HASN'T ACTIVATED YET! I SHALL ACTUALLY ACTIVATE IT... NOW!
...Need I say it again?
"that doesn't look very activated." sans remarked.
"WELL! IT APPEARS THAT THIS CHALLENGE IS DEFECTIVE! BECAUSE OF THIS, I REFUSE TO USE IT! AS I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR, AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED! BESIDES, THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT, TOO BRASH, TOO BARBARIC! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY WITH YOU!"
As if on cue, the various objects retracted.
"Well, well, well! It appears that your methods of stopping us have failed yet again!" my companion taunted.
"HOW CONCEITED OF YOU, HUMAN! CLEARLY, THIS WAS YET ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH! HEH! ...heh?"
Like clockwork, he ran off again.
We finished crossing the bridge, where sans had a word for us.
"welp. i don't know what my brother's going to do now, but if i were you, i'd make sure i understood blue attacks."
"Thanks for the advice." I answered.
"anytime. well, see you two later, there's naps that need taking."
We went up the road which took us up a small hill. During our walk up, I began seeing lights in the distance.
Soon enough, the lights materialized into a small town.
"That must be Snowdin the town." the kid observed.
"Ain't no way it's not." I said, looking around. "Seems to be the only speck of civilization out here."
"Still want to go?" she asked.
"Of course. Besides, it might be our only way out of here."
"Well, lets get going!" she said, a palpable excitement in her voice.
Together, we headed towards the cozy little town in the distance, curious to see what a place like this had to offer a couple of out-of-towners such as ourselves.
Hopefully we can find some grub as well. I thought hungrily.
A/N: This was absolutely one of my favorite chapters to write.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
Until next time.