Heya! This chapter is a bit more chill than the other ones. But that's just because some really big drama is coming soon and, oh boy, you're so not ready for it.

Chapter 16 : The cabin in the woods

Sans' tiny legs struggled to move into the deep snow coat on the ground that reached his femurs. He was trying the best he could to follow Toriel's steps, but the weight of his sleeping brother on his back and the biting cold that whipped his face made the task difficult. They were walking under big snowflakes for about six hours now. The night ended long ago. Undyne, Charlie and Papyrus showed signs of weakness two hours ago, exhausted, and the Queen and the remaining skeleton decided to carry them to win some time. They couldn't stop now: it was too cold to rest and the King's soldiers were probably already searching for them. Toriel carried the fish girl and the human, one on her back, holding her like a koala, the other in the front, hiding their face into her purple dress. Sans kept Papyrus to help her, knowing he could still walk for a bit.

However, he was slowly regretting his choice. Papyrus was heavier than when Sans made him climb on his back to play rodeo. His legs hurt atrociously. But he couldn't find the heart to wake him up. His brother had hidden his head inside his hood, and he was hugging him tight from time to time, to make sure Sans was still here, which broke his heart in two. Papyrus only slept here because he was trusting him blindly.

"We will be there soon." Toriel encouraged him, waiting patiently ahead for him. "We will be able to rest soon, I promise. You are very brave, Sans."

The skeleton didn't answer. He was saving his breath for the last part of the road. She put her hands on his cheeks and soon, her magic warmed his face. This was nice. He thanked her with a low voice, then they kept going.

One hour and a half later, they were there. Woods cabins filled the horizon and the Queen finally slowed down. She woke Undyne and Charlie and put them on the ground, asking them to stay with Sans behind a wall, while she was checking if the place was safe. It didn't take long, she soon made big signs to them and they joined her on the porch of the biggest hut around. She unlocked the door and waited as the children discovered their new temporary house, at least, what they could see in the darkness.

With confidence, Toriel walked to the cold fireplace. Her eyes shined with a golden light and a fire ball suddenly set the old wood ablaze. The logs, a bit humid, took a long time to burn, but they soon slowly lighted the living room.

"I'm going to activate the electric generator." Toriel announced. "Please stay near the fire to warm yourselves up. I'll be right back."

The children didn't need to be asked twice. Sans sat in a big couch and slowly unhooked Papyrus from his back and lied him down in front of the fire. The tiny skeleton didn't react much, deeply asleep. Sans then helped Undyne and Charlie to get rid of their wet clothes, before doing the same with his brother, as slowly as possible to not wake him up. When he finally started to do the same with his own clothes, the lights switched on and Toriel soon joined them. She smiled to the children, then made her way to the kitchen.

Sans spread the clothes in front of the fire place, then sat next to Papyrus on the couch. Charlie and Undyne jumped on the one in front of him, but each of them in a corner. The fish monster was still uncomfortable around the human.

The tiny skeleton twisted and turned next to him, slowly realising Sans was not there anymore. His hands searched for him, and when he touched his leg, Papyrus opened two sleepy eyes to make sure everything was fine. He frowned, then looked around him, lost.

"We arrived." Sans reassured him. "You can go back to sleep, I'm not leaving you."

"Okie dokie…" he whispered, while struggling to find a better position. "Night night, Sans. Love you." he yawned.

"Love you more, buddy."

Sans affectionately petted Papyrus' skull, just when Toriel came back with some biscuits. She put them on the coffee table, and enthusiastically, Undyne and Charlie jumped out of the couch to eat. The Queen gave Sans some too, which he appreciated a lot. Toriel explained the food came from a magic storehouse, dating from the time where monsters lived here. Since magic food couldn't perish, the biscuits were as fresh as the day they had been made.

After that brief break, everyone decided to go to sleep. The hut had only two rooms. Sans carried Papyrus to the first room, and decided to share one with him, not only because his brother was glued to him, but also because he wanted to leave Undyne some privacy. She took the second bed of the room. Toriel and Charlie took the second room.

Exhausted, the children succumbed to sleep in minutes, without any dream to enjoy.

The sunlight came way too early for poor Sans, wrapped up in a comfortable cocoon of warm blankets. Papyrus deserted the bed at dawn, too impatient to explore their new house, but that was far from Sans' concerns right now. Still tired after the trip, the slightest movement made him wince in pain. He gave all he had the previous day, certainly more than his weak condition was able to support.

So, in a tired moan, he fell back asleep for a few more hours, to the point that, when he opened his eyes again, it was midday. The house smelled nice: tomato sauce and, since Papyrus was screaming so enthusiastically, spaghettis seemed to also be involved in the equation. Slowly, Sans pushed the blanket and put a foot on the ground. Every bone in his body creaked when he stood up, trying to guess how he was supposed to walk again. Next to the bed, a pair of fluffy pink slippers welcomed him. They were a bit big for him, but so soft that he couldn't resist putting them on.

He dragged his foot to the kitchen where loud voices could be heard. Standing up on a stool, Papyrus, wearing a way too big apron, was stirring pasta with so much concentration it looked like his life depended on it. Toriel was supervising, helping him when it was getting too hard. Undyne and Charlie were already waiting at the table, a plate in front of them. Sans quickly understood one of the other three ones was for him. Judging the long red scarf on one of the chairs, Papyrus already chose his place, so Sans sat next to him.

"Good morning, Sans!" said Toriel, enthusiast. "Sorry I did not wake you up sooner. You looked very tired yesterday, I let you sleep."

"It's fine, thanks."

"Look, Sans! I'm making spaghettis all alone!" screamed Papyrus, overexcited. "As dad always said, when the mind is all shitty, take some spaghettis!"

Undyne gasped loudly, jumped out of the chair, and ran to Toriel to pull on her dress.

"Miss Toriel, Papyrus said 'shit', it's a bad word!"

"No, it's not!" argued the skeleton, outraged. "Dad says it all the time! Sans, tell her!"

Everyone turned toward him. Sans felt a bit of tension in the air, especially when he met Toriel's stare, disapproving.

"Uh… That's just because Dad is an asshole." answered Sans. "Don't use that word too much."

"Told you!" triumphed Papyrus.

"Miss Toriel, he just said an even worse word! That can't be right!" complained Undyne.

"Children, please… You can go both sit down now. And Papyrus, please, avoid using these words. They are bad words indeed."

Papyrus reluctantly obliged, arms crossed against his chest, pouting.

"Don't be mad, bro." Sans comforted him. "At least, you made spaghettis. You're the coolest."

The little skeleton tried to keephis serious face, but the start of a smile illuminated his face. Sans tickled him, and the result didn't take long: Papyrus screamed with laughter, trying to escape him. When Toriel took their plate, they calmed down a little. Sans crossed eyes with his brother, he was thankful.

His big brother knew it was a lot to proceed for a small monster: their run in the forest, Undyne's mom death, their dad's unbelievable plan and now a forced exile. How much more could he still take? Sans was already at his limit, but what was Papyrus' limit?

Sans didn't know what he could do more to ease his pain. Gaster's motivation had no limit, and soon, in a few hours, maybe in a few days, he was going to find them again. Toriel was nice, but the skeleton knew it was a temporary solution. Their dad would always find them, one way or another. They were just toys to him, rebellious toys that wouldn't take long to submit to his will. Papyrus was in danger.

To protect his brother, Sans understood he had no choice anymore, he had to teach Papyrus to defend himself. To use his magic despite how wild it was. But how? He barely controlled his own magic. Papyrus' magic potential was still evolving anyway. What if he started teleporting like him, or developing weird other powers? Sans was not sure he had the skills to deal with all that.

Toriel put down a warm plate of spaghettis in front of him, dragging him out of his dark thoughts. The queen stared warily at his face. Sans tried to ignore her, but the more the was looking at his plate, the more he realised he was not as hungry as he originally thought. Without asking for his consent, Toriel put a hand on his forehead.

"Oh, dear, you have a fever, Sans!"

Did he? He didn't even notice, too focused on his brother. Now that she was mentioning it however, maybe the difficulty he had to get out of his bed had a link with that.

"It's my fault, is it not? You caught a cold with all this walking and the exhaustion… Please, try to eat at least a little, then you can go to rest again if you…"

"No, no, I'm fine." Sans insisted. "We…We need to learn magic. For… For Papyrus, he needs to learn, to… Please…"

"My child, one thing at a time. As far as I am very happy you are that eager for me to teach you how to use your magic, I'm afraid it can be very dangerous with a bad fever, especially at your age and with your… particularity. Please, Sans. You are safe for now, and your brother is too. He can't hurt us here. We have time."

Sans lowered his head. She was right. He was not in condition for any magic. If he hurt himself because of how tired he was, that wouldn't end well for anyone. Next to him, Papyrus was now nervous, struggling to find a good position to eat his spaghettis. He kept glaring between the queen and him. He had to calm down, his brother was worried.

Sans nodded.

"Papyrus and Undyne are in better shape than me." he insisted one last time despite everything. "Please… At least the magic basis. They need it."

"Sans…"

"I'm sorry, I know." he said, looking elsewhere.

"No, that's not what I want to say. I will, if they want to. But… Please, for the love of monster kind, be a child and stop thinking about these horrible things. You are way too young to have to bear such responsibilities. I can't believe you are needing an adult to teach you how to be a kid, that's saying long about what your dad did to…" She sighed, slightly relaxing. "I know you are worried and scared. But you need to understand that I am here to protect you. Let me protect you. I'm the adult, I am the one who is supposed to do that. And I can promise you that, for as long as I'll be here, I will fight for you until the last piece of my soul breaks. I'm only asking for one thing from you: to trust me."

She put a hand on his cheek.

"You need to take care of yourself, Sans. Because someone, here, several someone actually, are really caring about you." she added, looking at Papyrus.

Sans didn't break eye contact for a very long time, until Undyne, a little uncomfortable, decided to change the subject.

"Are we really going to learn how to use magic?" she asked, hopeful. "Mom already showed me some stuff! I even have my bullet pattern!" she said excitingly.

"Wowie!" Papyrus encouraged her, very happy to change the subject too. "Me… Dad didn't want me to use magic too much. He said it's dangerous. But I trained a lot with Sans in my room when he wasn't looking. One day I made a bone so big it broke a window! Then dad was mad at us… But I can make very huge bones, even if Sans says I should concentrate on smaller ones for some reason. I think he's just jealous because his bones are tiny. Like him."

"Excuse me?" asked Sans, clearly amused. "My bones are perfectly normal sized. It's not my fault if using magic is making me bone tired."

"Urgh, Sans, no!" whined the tiny skeleton. "Not your horrible puns!"

"Anyway, that's only the beginning. I told you to focus on tiny bones because they are easier to deal with. You'll learn with giant bones later, when you'll grow up a bit."

"That's so unfair! You're already turning people blue, and teleporting, and all this cool stuff and I can't do anything! Lady Toriel, can you teach me how to turn people blue? Please, I'll be very good and very wise and I'll listen to everything you say I promise!"

The queen lifted an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't know. Young monsters are usually unable to use colour magic before a very long time. Some of them are precocious, like boss monsters, like me, but so soon, it's quite new, even for me. But, to answer your question, blue magic is a rare magic and it's usually hereditary. It's a defensive magic, that can make people so heavy they can't walk, or make them so light they can be thrown in the air like they're nothing. However, since your father is controlling two different types of magic, I'm not that surprised this would be your magic, Sans."

"He can do that?" asked Papyrus, in bewilderment.

"Yes, his other magic is orange magic. It's a semi-defensive magic that force people to move all the time during an attack, which tires them. If the enemy stops moving, he's taking damages. I would not be surprised if you end up having it, Papyrus. This type of magic is common for very energetic monsters. It's hereditary too, like green magic, which Undyne will very certainly be able to control."

"Yes! Mom and Dad were using green magic! It freezes enemies so they can't run away or dodge our bullets." she recited, very proud of her knowledge.

"Indeed. That's a very strong magic. Most of the royal guards are green magic monsters. It makes the job easier when a criminal can't run away. But I don't doubt one second your mother told you all of that already. She was one of our best commanders." she said with a bittersweet tone. "She was one of my closest friends too. I will miss her a lot, and our people even more."

"When I get all grown up, I'll be captain of the royal guard, like her." the little girl said, very determined. "I'll make her proud."

Toriel smiled gently.

"I am very sure you will."

Charlie lifted their head from their plate, mouth covered with tomato sauce.

"And you?" they asked to Toriel. "Are you using a coloured magic?"

"Indeed. It is very discreet and us, boss monsters, are the only ones to have it: it's white magic. It can help to control fire and lightning, but its main function is for healing. My husb… Asgore is using it more in an offensive way. As for me, I'm best at healing. I have to preserve my forces, I'm not all alone in this war."

She put a hand on her belly and Sans eyes widened when he understood what she meant. His dad always said that an heir to the crown would bring hope to monsters and the will to win the war. The skeleton didn't really understand how the birth of a child could have this power, even more since he knew humans didn't hesitate one second to take the life of children. But if the royal scientist was crazy enough to sacrifice his brother and him, could he have plans for Toriel and Asgore's child as well? Sans doubted his madness would stop with them.

After lunch, the children went to play in the living-room. Sans lied down in one of the couches to doze off a little, an eye socket still open to watch over the others while Toriel was taking care of the dishes. Papyrus and Charlie were working together on wood puzzles on which they seemed very focused. Undyne was sitting next to him, reading a book in silence. From time to time, she looked at them, frowned, then went back to her reading. Sans could tell something was troubling her.

"Why don't you go play with them?" he asked.

"No, thanks. I don't want to bother them. Besides…"

"Yes, I know, you don't appreciate the human much. That's because of what happened in the wood?"

She closed her book and brought back her knee against her, thoughtful. Sans sat up and put his hands over hers.

"Hey, there's nothing to be ashamed of, ok? It's alright if you don't want to be with them, and it's alright if you need to cry. What happened is horrible, and you have the right to be angry and sad."

"But it's not even Charlie's fault, and I feel bad…I don't understand why I can't be nice with them, they weren't the one who k-killed my m…"

"You don't have to be friends yet if you're not ready. I'm sure they're understanding already, and if they insist, you can still explain them what you're feeling so they gave you more space. You know, when… When I lost my mom, I was very angry against the humans too. Against dad. Against everyone. Dad said that if I had things to say, I just had to imagine that all these people were the trees in the garden. I insulted them and hit them again and again, until, eventually, I felt a little better. If… If you want too, we could try that. Just you and me. It could be our secret or something."

She seemed to think for a second, then she nodded energetically and rushed into his arms for a hug. Sans smiled and held her tight against him.

"Thanks Sans." she said. "You're the best big brother I ever had. Even if you're the only one."

The skeleton felt his heart melt inside his chest, as his eyes brightened to this unexpected confession.

Toriel interrupted that little moment of complicity, some wood sticks in the arms.

"I am free now. If you want to try some magic, we can…"

"YES, LET'S GO!" screamed Papyrus, running past her to get to the garden.

Toriel laughed, surprised. The queen and the rest of the children followed him happily.