Chapter Text
You were mad at Chara, and the specter wasn't exactly pleased with you either. The pair of you sat at the edge of the river that ran north of Snowdin, ignoring the fishing pole and its bobbing message trapped in the current. Despite not being visible beside you, in the reflection of the water Chara glared at you, arms crossed and a pout heavy on her lips. You ignored her ruby-red eyes and picked dirt from beneath your nails using your knife.
It wasn't the toy knife, or the real knife. It was a slim knife meant for cutting fruits – short, with a heavy silver handle with a stylized orange etched at the end. You'd stolen it (repeatedly) from Toriel's cutlery drawer beneath the cooling pie in the kitchen, and kept it tucked at the small of your back, blade-down in your waistband. The tip was sharp, and worked well for what you needed.
The reflection of Chara sighed, crossing her arms and glaring at you. "I'm not going to apologize," she snapped, shaking her dark bangs out of her face. "I was trying to help you."
Your expression remained calm, even as you dug the knife farther beneath your nail, drawing blood. "You killed everyone." You kept your tone as even as possible, though did nothing to mask the undertone of hurt beneath your words. "Twenty-four times."
"I made you strong," Chara corrected, not meeting your eyes.
"You ruined everything." You dug the blade beneath your next nail, the set of your shoulders relaxing as blood bubbled past the tip.
Chara huffed and blustered for a moment, then vanished with an angry grumble, leaving your reflection alone in the river. You could still sense her, SOUL bond thrumming and telling you that she was still there, in the back of your mind. A quiet, stubborn presence, incapable of going farther but perfectly happy to ignore you.
"HUMAN!"
The knife slipped, slicing open the tip of your finger. You dropped the knife in the snow between your legs and stuck the bleeding digit in your mouth, grimacing at the coppery taste. The snow shook beneath you as bright red boots stomped it flat, coming to a stop behind you.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus boomed again as you squeezed your thighs together, hiding the knife beneath your dark pants, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OFF THE PATH?"
You had to lean back and crane your neck to see the skeleton, who in turn was leaning over you, hands on hips as he beamed.
"I'm watching the river!" You answered, injecting as much cheer in your voice as possible. "It's really pretty with the ice and snow floating in it."
Papyrus straightened his pose and eyed the river, sockets squinting as he surveyed the sight. "Ah! Yes, it is a grand sight, isn't it? The great Snowmelt river feeds right into Waterfall and Hotland! It is a very hard working river." He hummed to himself, appreciating the busy-body river, no doubt comparing it to his own lazy-body brother.
The two of you shared a surprisingly quiet moment, before Papyrus clapped his mittened hands and boomed, "We need to return to the path, HUMAN! We have many more puzzles to conquer!"
Your smile grew more strained at the thought of moving and continuing the television rerun that was your life. "I'll be right there, Papyrus. I just have to do a, uh, human thing first."
"Oh?" He tilted his head like a confused and adorable puppy. "What is this human ritual you need to take part in?"
"It's – uh, well, it's kinda – private?" You hedged, shifting your legs against the ground and feeling the knife press against your pants. You doubted you could convince Papyrus (or Sans) that carrying around a knife was some kind of human ritual. "I just need some privacy for a minute," you flicked your gaze past him, down the path to the three-way intersection.
"Hm? OH!" Papyrus struck a pose once again. "Of course, human! I shall wait for you at the next puzzle!" He flicked his scarf/cape combo over his shoulder and put his hands on his hips. "Join me when you are done doing whatever private human things you need to do!" He turned and strode confidently down the path. Once he'd vanished from sight, you pulled the knife from beneath your leg and brushed it off. The metal was uncomfortably cool now, and the slip of blood left from when you'd jammed it against your finger had frozen on the edge. You pulled up your pants and wiped the gooey blood off on your sock, out of sight of any curious monsters.
The freezing cold knife went to its place at the small of your back, and a shudder ran all the way up to your shoulders as you stood. You threw one last glance at the river, but Chara didn't reappear. With a shrug, you trekked back down the path and continued east.
"HUMAN!"
Papyrus was booming at you before you'd even stepped foot on the long footbridge between Snowdin Forest and the small village itself. You slowed to a stop, grabbing onto the rope handrail and watching as he charged forward, making the bridge swing beneath his feet.
"You have finally arrived for your final challenge!" The exuberant skeleton came to a stop a few feet away and posed, staying perfectly still even as the bridge rocked. "I, the GREAT PAPYRUS, present to you, the GAUNTLET of DEADLY TERROR!" He motioned to the hanging implements behind him. Spears, spikes, a flamethrower, a cannon, and Toby the dog on a rope, looking perfectly happy and completely clueless.
At the far end of the bridge stood Sans, rocking back on his slippered heels and hands shoved in his pocket. He was watching the scene with half-lidded eyes, but when you met his sockets, his left eye flashed bright blue and yellow for a moment before becoming empty once more. You swallowed hard and turned your gaze away – you'd long thought that he could remember the resets like you could. If that were true, then Sans would remember the last twenty-five runs of you (not Chara – he didn't know Chara even existed, nobody did) killing his brother over and over again.
Bile surged in your throat, and you fought it down as Papyrus began expounding on all the marvelous amenities of his puzzle. You did your best to refocus on him, glad to hear the familiar spiel after so many rounds of him giving up on challenging you with his puzzles.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus stooped down, so you were face-to-face now, "You're crying!"
You were? You pressed your palms to your cheeks and felt at the tear streaks in confusion. Why were you crying? When had you started?
"I know it is quite beautiful," Papyrus reassured you, resting a heavy hand on your shoulder, "It makes me overjoyed to see a fellow puzzle lover overwhelmed with the greatness of this configuration!" His smile softened, becoming affectionate, and you jerked back from him as a memory, a fuzzy image, overlaid him – an image of his head falling from his shoulders, the kind smile of faith disappearing along with his body, turning to shock.
Papyrus narrowly grabbed the back of your sweater as you leaned dangerously far over the rope railings of the bridge and vomited into the abyss below.
"Human? HUMAN!" Papyrus' worried yelling echoed in your head, hurting your ears and making your brain ache. The skeleton pulled you back upright and held you at arm's length, eyeing you up and down. "Human, are you alright?" He demanded. "Is expelling fluids in that manner a regular part of a human's schedule?"
"Nah, bro." At the sound of Sans voice right behind you, you jumped and screeched, crashing forward into Papyrus. He wrapped his long limbs around you in a tight hug, steadying you. "That's something humans do when they don't feel well."
You could hear his slippers shuffle closer over the rough wood planks. "What's the matter kid? Something bugging ya?" He snickered at his pun, and you groaned against Papyrus's chest plate.
"Sans, puns are not conducive to proper health!" Papyrus chided, before sweeping you up into his arms. You made a surprised noise and threw your arms around his neck out of reflex. He shifted so one arm was beneath you, holding you against his chest. It made you feel like a toddler. "Are you alright human?"
"Yeah, kid," a hand rested on your knee, and Sans peered up at you, a dangerous expression lurking beneath his laid-back smile, "You got something you need to get off your chest?" He raised one brow.
"I – I'm fine," you reassured Papyrus, ignoring the hidden meaning behind Sans words. "I think I just got dizzy. I, uh, I don't like heights much." You hedged, not wanting to admit that you'd been having flashbacks to his death.
"Oh! Allow me to assist you, human!" Papyrus spun on his heel, nearly knocking Sans over, and rushed to the far end of the bridge before you could blink. "Ahah! We have conquered the 'heights' together, human!" He took several steps away from the cliffs edge and set you down beside the large Snowdin sign. "Now you have passed my gauntlet of puzzles!" He glanced back at the bridge, where the deadly tools still hung, and frowned. "Except for that one – well, it was far too difficult for a puzzler of your level!" He pulled out the remote and hit one of the buttons, making all the weapons vanish. "You will be up to it someday!"
He stared at the bridge for a moment longer, then turned back to you. "Now, human," he cleared his throat and struck a pose, "Since you have bested my puzzles, the next test will be to best the one, the only – ME!" He flicked his head back and laughed boisterously into the sky. "I will await you on the far side of Snowdin! You will know you've reached it when you have passed the awesome house with the sparkly lights and skull flag!" Without waiting for a response, he dashed off, kicking up a plume of snow in his wake.
You stared after him for a moment, trying to wrap your mind around the odd circumstances. It had been a long time since something so off-script had happened, and you weren't sure what to make of it.
"Hey."
The universe wasn't giving you time to think. You jumped a bit and stumbled over your feet as Sans spoke from beside you. He'd appeared without a noise, using his shortcuts you were sure. He didn't say anything about you 'falling' for him – in fact, he didn't make a pun at all.
"If you're thinking of fighting my brother," his tone was calm and casual, even as his eye pips disappeared and his black-hole eyes turned to seemingly bore into your very SOUL. "D O N ' T."
The skeleton vanished right before your eyes with a parting wink, leaving you standing alone by the sign. You swallowed hard, trying not to think of the challenge and threat the bone bros had just shared. Scratching at your arm – the one you'd already used after leaving the Ruins – you ventured into Snowdin, hoping to find a spot of quiet to add a few more marks to quell the queasiness in your stomach.