Underearth/Book 1/Chapter 7

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The location outside the Citadel was very different, the most obvious being that the air was bitter cold, and that snow decorated the ground. The path laid in front of Frisk was a linear one with incredibly tall trees densely packed together on either side. Frisk walked forward, the cold biting at his nose and ears, though his blue sweater helped with warmth a bit. Some ways down the path was a rather large and sturdy stick, though clearly too heavy for Frisk to carry around effectively. Frisk stepped over it and continued down the path for a few second before hearing a loud snap. When Frisk turned around to see what the noise was, he saw nothing except the stick, now in many pieces on the ground, smashed like it was nothing. He could feel chills climbing his back as he turned back around and continued down the path. Some ways down, Frisk heard another sound, this one sounding like the crunching of snow. He decided to go just a bit faster. Ahead was a bridge spanning a gap with some strange wooden object looming over it. The moment he reached the bridge, Frisk heard the crunching of snow coming from behind him. This time he just froze in place. The sound lurked closer and closer until it stopped just behind Frisk. Fear coursed through him as he awaited what was to come next.

**"Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."**

Frisk didn't know what to do, so he just complied and turned around. He couldn't get a good look at the figure, though he did see an outstretched hand. He went to shake it, as instructed, though when he grabbed the figure’s hand, there was a sudden farting sound. As this was happening, Frisk got a good look at the figure. It looked to be a rather large skeleton, though no taller than Frisk.

"Heheh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It's *ALWAYS* funny. Anyways, you're a Human, right? That's hilarious." The skeleton spoke in a rather humorous voice. "I'm Sans. Sans the Skeleton. I'm actually supposed to be on watch for Humans right now. But... Y'know... I don't really care about capturing anybody. Now my brother, Papyrus... He's a Human-hunting *FANATIC*." As Frisk listened to Sans, there was a shrill, unintelligible noise from across the bridge. "Hey, actually, I think that's him over there. I have an idea. Go through this gate thingy."

Frisk looked back at the strange wooden object. *That was supposed to be a gate?*

"Yeah, go right through. My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone." As Frisk looked at the gate thing, Sans started pushing him through, across the bridge, and into a clearing. "Quick, behind that conveniently-sized lamp."

Frisk rushed over to the lamp, which was quite large, large enough to hide behind at least. He then heard some loud snow-crunching, which caused him to crouch behind the lamp. A few seconds afterwards, A much taller skeleton appeared.

"Sup, bro?" Sans asked the taller skeleton.

"YOU KNOW WHAT \*SUP\*, BROTHER!" The taller skeleton announced, who must be Papyrus, the one Sans mentioned earlier. "IT HAS BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T... RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!?"

Sans pointed at the lamp. "Staring at this lamp. It's really cool. Do you wanna look?"

"Is that cursed skeleton ratting me out?" Frisk whispered to himself.

"NO!!!" Papyrus shouted. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!!! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH!?! I WANT TO BE READY!!!"

A chill went down Frisk's spine as Papyrus finished that sentence.

"I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!" Papyrus brought his gloved hand to his chest valiantly, half-cape fluttering as a barely perceptible breeze flew by. "THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT... RECOGNITION... I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO BE MY, \*FRIEND?\* I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING!"

Sans sat quietly for a second, pondering. He then pointed to the lamp again. "Maybe this lamp will help you."

"Stop trying to rat me out you idiot!" Frisk quietly yelled to himself.

Papyrus became a bit furious. "SANS!!! YOU ARE NOT HELPING!!! YOU LAZYBONES!!! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!!!"

"Hey, take it easy." Sans objected. "I've gotten a **ton** of work done today. A skele-**ton**."

Papyrus tried to sound even more mad than he already was, though was clearly trying to hide a bit of a laugh. "SANS!!!"

"Come on, you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT!" Papyrus gave out a big, voiced, huff of air. "WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME... HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION...?"

Sans's smile grew a slight bit. "Wow, sounds like you're really working yourself... down to the **bone**."

Papyrus groaned a bit. "I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES... AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE, \***BACKBONE**\* INTO IT!!!!!" Papyrus 'ordered' "NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!!" he howled as he ran off before coming back to get in one last "HEH" before disappearing once again.

"Ok, you can come out now." Sans directed at Frisk, who came out from behind the lamp at that moment.

"That was... interesting." Frisk said. "Thanks for trying to rat me out." He then said sarcastically.

"No problem. You know, you oughta get going. He might come back. And if he does... You'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."

Frisk just stared blankly at Sans, not exactly amused.

"What's the holdup? Look, there's nothin' to be afraid of. It's just a frozen cavern filled with skeletons and horrible monsters."

Frisk turned around and began walking along the path towards where Papyrus disappeared earlier. As Frisk approached the narrowing of the path from the trees, Sans called out to him.

"Actually, hey... Hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor?"

Frisk turned around to face Sans. "What is it?"

"I was thinking... My brother's been kind of down lately... He's never seen a Human before, and seeing you might just make his day."

Frisk gave Sans an annoyed look. "You want me to put myself in danger just to help your brother feel better?"

"Oh don't worry, he's not dangerous. Even if he tries to be."

Frisk let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Thanks a million. I'll be up ahead." Sans said before walking off towards the Citadel.

Frisk looked back at Sans.

"What do you mean you'll be up ahead? That's the way towards the Citadel." Frisk shouted back, though by the time he finished, Sans was nowhere in sight.

He decided not to worry about it, it wasn't his business anyway. He continued along the path up until he came upon a curve and a branch in the path. Looking around, it was actually quite peaceful. Frisk decided to take a moment's rest, resting up against a nearby tree.