Hello ! Here goes the next chapter of our little skeletons' adventures ! Things are getting bad.
Chapter 4 : The Death is walking
Papyrus really loved his big brother. Very much. But Sans got a very annoying flaw : once he was sleeping, nothing could wake him up before he decided to. He was holding him close and refused to let the small skeleton go despite his protests. On second thought however, Papyrus was not so sure he wanted to be alone again in this very scary place. When he woke up all alone sooner, he really thought Sans abandoned him. Or worse, that he joined his mother, wherever she was now. Sans said she went on a long vacation after she got him. At least, Sans knew what she looked like. Despite some photos, Papyrus never had this chance.
He lift shyly his head towards his brother. Sans looked so peaceful like this. He was all Papyrus had now. There was still his father but… It was not like he was here often. Or ever. Sans taught him how to walk, how to talk, how to put his clothes even if Papyrus knew he was always confusing his left and his right and even how to use his magic. His father… He couldn't even remember the last time he spent more than two minutes alone in a room with him. Sans said it was normal, that he was the Royal Scientist, but Papyrus was not that gullible. He saw how Sans acted strange around him sometimes, how he didn't let his father stay too long with him like he was scared of something. Sans was always hiding things from him. And he was always scared for some reason. It was so annoying.
And there was also the fact that King Asgore said one day on the phone that all the skeletons had fallen. Papyrus asked Sans why they didn't simply get up instead of making his dad so sad, but like always, Sans said he was too young to understand. He was still wondering why they didn't though. Since this day, his father had been even more strange than usual. Papyrus stayed alone most of the time while he was playing with Sans in the basement. Or was it playing ? Sometimes, he could hear his brother screamed in pain, but when he joined him again, it was like nothing happened. So, Papyrus concluded that they were both preparing a show or something. Maybe Sans was just pretending ?
All these thoughts didn't resolve his main problem : he was still prisoner. Papyrus grumbled and pushed his brother ribcage to put more space between them. A loud snore echoed from his brother throat. Papyrus sighed and tried to be more vocal.
"Sans ?" he called in a whisper. "Wake up ! It's morning !"
"Nooo… Five more minutes, Dad…"
"I'm not Dad !" exclaimed Papyrus, outraged. "Move your bones, now !"
He tried to put a hand to his eye socket, but somehow, Sans caught his wrist before he could reach it. Papyrus struggled, growling and hissing like a very small kitten to escape his grip. However, he stopped quickly. Moving too much hurt his head. He grimaced and touched the back of his head, covered by a bandage. He whined a little. How long was it going to hurt like that ?
The small sound woke up Sans. All he heard was that pain groaning and it was enough to revive his brotherly instincts. The older skeleton rose his head, worry, and crossed eyes with his brother.
"You're alright, lil' bro ? Are you awake for long ?"
"Yes ! Now let go, I'm not a teddy bear !"
"Pap', I'm serious."
"I know… I'm… I'm fine. And you ?"
Sans avoided the question. He sat on the sleeping bag and looked around him. Papyrus knew he wouldn't have an answer, so he put a hand on his leg to change the subject.
"Sans, where is Dad ? He was supposed to be here, right ?"
"We're not in the Mountain yet. But I'm sure he's looking for us too. Don't worry about that. You have to rest now."
It was a lie. Papyrus was not stupid, he could tell when his brother was lying. He still didn't understand why he would lie about something like this. Papyrus knew that when people were going to war, some never came back. The neighbour's children lost their mom at the war. All he wanted to know was the truth. But Sans wouldn't tell him, even if he insisted, so he gave up.
The hessian's tent opened in a loud friction sound, cutting straight the conversation between the two brothers. The patients of the infirmary moaned in unison, holding out their hands towards the creature who walked between the beds. The Shaman, an orange reptilian-like monster, was serving bowls of food, rationing scrupulously each portion.
Sans hid slightly behind his brother. He almost forgot he shouldn't be here at all. Maybe Undyne didn't noticed his absence yet and he could sneak out of this place ? Or maybe not, he understood quickly when the Shaman made eye contact with him. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the monster growled, very unhappy and annoyed.
"Toryne !" he roared angrily.
Undyne's mother showed up at the entry. The Shaman pointed an accusing finger in Sans' direction. The little skeleton firmed up his taking on his brother's body, determined to not let go. Toryne sighed when she saw him and crossed the small distance between them to get him. She grabbed his arm and lift him. Sans struggled violently and yelled to protest.
"No !" he screamed, his voice cracking up. "I want to stay with Papyrus !"
"Sans, please, it's dangerous here."
"Well if it's dangerous, I'm not letting my brother here ! Let me go !"
"My child, don't make things harder than they already are. Your brother needs to…"
A loud detonation echoed somewhere outside, freezing all the monsters of the tent. It seemed all of them stopped to breathe at the same second. Toryne asked everyone to remain silent with a simple movement of the hand and walked quietly to the entry. She sniffed the air like a dog and her face immediately closed up.
"Gun powder", she announced lugubriously. "Humans are coming."
"What ? We have to get out of here then !" screamed the Chaman, already panicking. "You said we were one week ahead from them !"
"They were ! Don't yell at me, Gordon, you coward. They are close, one or two hours from here I think. We won't have time to package the tents and some of them can't walk." she calmly, pointing the ill monsters around them.
The Shaman stared disdainfully at the two skeletons brothers. Sans knew instinctively he wouldn't like what he was going to say next.
"We don't need to take them. They'll slow down the humans while we run away."
"Are you kidding me right now ?" roared Toryne. "Who do you think you are to decide who lives and who dies ?! I am the captain here and I decide what we are doing. Stay at your place. I fought for days to get all of these people out of the city ! I lost friends for them ! And I won't let them down."
"And if they're coming with us, we're going to end dead like that group we crossed path with a few days ago ! What a great sense of justice, Captain ! If we take them, you are not condemning only them, but all of us ! What will you tell to Asgore if you're the only survivor ?"
"I prefer to die my spear in hand than to have their souls on my mind for the rest of my life ! This is the duty I signed for when I joined the Royal Guard ! I'm here to save people, not killing them !"
The Shaman hissed menacingly as Toryne put her spear under his throat.
"Do as you want." he said, disgusted. "If you want your daughter being tortured by these creatures for hours before she gets dismembered, that's your problem. But me, I won't stay here one more second. You're not my captain. Alphys !"
A little reptilian monster, hidden behind a huge table, shyly got out. She was looking just like the Shaman, but in little. Sans guessed she must be as old as him.
"We're leaving, sweetie." he said. "Gathered the medicines, please."
"What ?" Toryne enraged. "You're going to leave with the supplies ?"
"I don't give a shit about them ! I will save my daughter, and you should do the same instead of caring of some stupid skeletons. He's what ? Five years old ? You know like me he won't hold the week before humans or illness dust him like the others."
"Let my brother out of this ! Can't you see he's right here ?" screamed Sans, angry. "You're not a good monster anyway, people like you never ends well."
Terrified, Papyrus was crying in his brother's arms, shaking. The Shaman lift his arm to hit him, but Toryne backed it off violently with her spear.
"Don't you dare hurt that child" she growled. "You want to leave ? Fine, go. I hope I'll survive so every monster still alive out there knows what coward you are."
He didn't reply and walked away to packed his stuff. Fists tighten, Toryne watched him do it, powerless. Sans centred his attention back to his brother and hugged him to comfort him. Of course, he couldn't show it without scaring his brother more, but he was also terrified. Papyrus was still weak, he couldn't flee by himself if humans ran after them.
The tiny skeleton put a hand on his big brother's arm.
"Sans ? Are… Are we going to die ?"
Sans hated that sad expression on his brother's face. Papyrus shouldn't be that worry. He promised everything would be alright.
"N… No. Of course not." he answered with a very small confidence. "You and me, we are fighters. We're going to make it. You're the best, bro, I know we can do this."
Papyrus knew his brother didn't believe a word he said, but for now, he accepted it. Toryne gently smiled to them and left the tent. The children heard her screaming to pack everything they could. Those who wanted to flee could follow the Shaman. Only one other monster decided to leave, all the others welcomed the announcement of the coming attack in a determined silence. Even if they were not soldiers, they would fight for all of them.
On an hour, most of the equipment had been cleaned up. All the ill monsters and the children moved to a small cave, not far away from the main camp, helped by those who could still stand up. Toryne entrusted Sans to watch over Undyne and Papyrus. Even if, for now, the children were chatting happily, the older one knew both of them were stressed out by what was coming. The Captain of the Royal Guard hid the entry with branches and rocks like she could, leaving all of them in the dark.
In an absolute silence, all of them were now waiting with apprehension what would follow.
"Everything will be alright." murmured Undyne to Papyrus. "My mom, she's going to kick their butts, and then we will go to the Mountain to help King Asgore and his army. Mommy, she is the strongest monster of all the monsters. There's no way she can lose."
Sans hoped she was right.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Papyrus fell asleep in his brother's arms. The cold freezing air made the silence even more unbearable. Seeing his brother shaking, Sans sacrificed his still wet jacket to cover him a little more. He watched the monsters around him, in bad shapes. Even if they survived this, how many of them would make it to the Mountain ? Some couldn't walk, others were not even conscious. He was not sure himself his dad could have even survived outside. He was clever, but even the most clever monster couldn't do nothing facing a lot of humans. His royal scientist job didn't grant him immunity anymore. These stupid titles weren't important anyway. Today, everyone was a soldier.
Sans lift the head towards Undyne. The little girl approached a giant alive snowflake who was breathing heavily. She looked distressed, a small needle in the hand. Alerted, Sans put his brother down and joined her. The monster wasn't looking very well. Sans noticed three holes in his chest, covered under some bandage.
"What's happening ?" asked Sans.
"I don't know ! He was fine, and then he started doing this and now I don't know what to do to help him !"
A loud crack answered her words. Sans pulled her backwards. The monster stopped breathing and dusted right under their eyes. The two children stayed speechless, shocked by this death as brutal than unexpected. The other monsters watched sadly, but quickly looked away. It was something common today.
Undyne fell on his knees, hands shaking. She put her hands in the warm dust, sorrowful. Sans pulled her back.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."
"But… But he shouldn't have turned to dust. I was helping him. Why… Why did it happen ?"
"We can't save everyone, he was too hurt. You did what you could, come now."
Sans swept a tear away from her face and helped her getting up. They got interrupted by screams outside and gunshots. Papyrus woke with a start, just like all those who were sleeping. Every monster froze at the same time. Among all sounds that were existed, this one was well-known from all of them : the sound of the death walking.