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Y’all been walking for a while now!
How far had you traveled, how long have you two been walking in this silence - the scenes of time have been lost to you ever since you fell down here, but you are pretty sure that the two of you have been trekking for a good while now. Still nothing but trees and snowscapes as far as the eyes can see - you were starting to get bored. Your mind begins to wonder as well as your eyes as you continue your quiet commute with the skeleton monster.
Trying your best not to be too obvious you stole some glances towards the monster that is currently walking to the left of you.
Hands still in his pockets, you couldn’t help but truly take in just how big this monster is compared to you - if you’re 5ft then you can only guess its 6 or 7ft. Indeed, he is a walking and talking skeleton but his bones seem to be so thick and sturdy - if you were to strain your eyes, you could have sworn that along his exposed bones there were nicks and cuts. What could have done such harsh damage to a brick wall like this skeleton - at least that’s what he felt like whenever you bumped into him.
You originally thought that maybe the coat he was wearing was the reason why his size seem so big, but with it being around your lilith form, you can actually see just how solid this monster really is, the red turtle neck that the skeleton is wearing seems to be stretched to its limit and the sporty black and yellow shorts he wore hung off his form in just the right way…
Wait!
What did you mean by that?!
You quickly pulled your wandering gaze away from the monster and faced forwards, a familiar heat within your cheeks as you chastised yourself.
What’s wrong with you, what the hell did you mean that those shorts hung off him in ‘ just the right way ’. Dear gods above, you must be tired. You let out a long sigh as you placed a hand on your brow.
He noticed.
He knew you were stealing glances his way and he didn’t mind. Fuck, had to do something on this boring as fuck walk. Might as well drink in the scenery.
Your attention seems to he quite focus on the horizon ahead, the skeletal monster took this chance to take a good look at you. He couldn’t help but notice the sway of your form as you walk - he can tell even through his coat you walk with purpose. Though your form is currently modestly covered, his mind hasn't forgotten what your body really looks like. Such a unique form, at first your clothing did throw him off for a while, he was slightly relieved when you admitted that you weren’t a child… however, he did question himself over why he felt such reassurance over your actual age. Whatever, if he had to admit to himself, seeing you in action was actually quite thrilling; the way your body would move when it's in motion - your body seemed elegant to him but you moved so stiffly from time to time. It was as if you weren’t used to this body of yours. That right there might have been his first hint that your current body is new to you.
A monster with a human soul, It's been quite a number of years since Sans felt that intellectual hunger. It brought back fond memories of his glory days of being a worker at the core, You being the mystery that fell into his lap - that hunger is coming back with vengeance.
What happened to make you in such a state?
Who were you before you became this?
How was a human - not gifted at all in magic, able to become a monster?
And how is it you were able to retain your human soul?
So many questions, so many ways to gain the answers he seeks and it all lies in you.
“...name…”
“What?” it took your voice for Sans to realize that he was staring at you this entire time.
You would sigh through your nose and then bring your gaze towards him, “I asked, what is your name ? I can’t really keep calling you skeleton or bone boy , y’know.” you would shrug, all while giving him a dull expression.
“Oh that's right my name, I - really, boy bone?” Scrutiny evident on his face.
You would answer him with a huff like laugh.
“The name’s Sans.” He would use one hand to gesture towards himself.
“Sans.” you would test his name, you briefly wonder why a skeleton would be named after a font.
“And your’s, doll?”
You would give him your name - first name only, you still weren't too sure about this skeleton. He seemed to be in a deep thought before you asked him his name, he was staring really hard at you as you two were walking, you hoped that maybe it was a gaze of analytics and not one of animosity.
“------” He would test your name.
You could feel your tail suddenly quiver as you heard him purr out your name, his voice was so deep that it seemed to weigh down your mind - you were quite happy that the coat was large enough to hide your tail.
“Don’t say my name like that.” You would demand - eyes facing forward.
“What?”
“Better yet, don’t say my name at all.” Stubbornness was dripping from your tone.
“Tsk, whatever, kid.” The skeleton would wave you off.
“Not a chi-”
“Actin’ like one.”
You both would exchange glares at each other - only for you to huff and turn your head away from him in a haughty manner, he would roll his eyelight in response. Soon silence will fill that air, yet again, as you two continue onward to Snowdin. This guy is such an ass, you would mentally pout - but you would almost slightly scold yourself too; he is offering you help… sorta, and it wasn’t like he’s actively trying to kill you.
What if he was lying to you, this whisper of anxiety seems to come from nowhere as you traverse the snow. Flowey and Toriel seemed so worried about you being out here - they both warned you to be wary of monsters that live in the underground, but here you are walking alongside one of those monsters.
What if they were wrong and some monsters can be trusted?
What if they were right and this Sans guy lied to you only so you can be an easy kill?
What if this can be your only chance to get away?
All these what ifs, they swirled and drowned your mind. It's too quiet, you have to distract yourself. Taking in a breath you choose to fill the silence with a bit of Q&A.
“... you thought I was a kid when we first bumped into each other, right?”
“I mean yeah, again, stripes are only worn by kids.”
“Yeah, I get that. But,” you looked over to him, “it seems like you were trying to get me to come with you, what would you have done if I really was a monster child?”
You would see his bony brow rise in slight surprise - that's actually a pretty good question from you. He then would bring his gaze down and watch his red sneakers trek through the snow, trying his best to word his answer to you.
“I mean, I hate to admit it, but a lotta kids do try to run away from home… I mean, my bro is guilty of doing that when we were younger. So, I thought you were one of them kids that were trying to run away from home. If you were I was gonna try and get ya some place safe and talk things out.”
Oh… that's…. That's actually… nice of him. You watch him refuse to give you eye contact as you two continue to travel, but you could swear that you see some color in his cheek bones, is he… no way, is he blushing?
“You… have a brother?” you question innocently.
“Uh…”
Well, that snapped the color right out of his cheeks - he suddenly looked nervous, you could see what seemed like sweat forming on his brow. Why would something like mentioning his brother gain a response like this from him?
“San-” You wanted to tell him he didn’t have to answer if he was uncomfortable.
“Yeah, I do, but uh, I just call him Boss most of the time,” His voice was tight and he seemed to be finding the ground quite interesting as you two continued to walk, “D- do you have any siblings?”
The subject change was quick but your answer was just as quick.
“No, I am an only child.”
“O-oh….”
There it is again, sweet thick silence. You were starting to get tired of the sound of your feet moving through the snow and ice, bringing your eyes up, you noticed that the once sea of dead trees were starting to change. Along with the barren trees you were starting to see some pine trees here and there - their scent filling your nose every time you take a breath..
“We’re getting close.” Sans would say as you look over to him and then face forward.
Finally something new, something different than white snow and gray trees, for some reason the tiredness you felt in your legs and the ach in your feet slowly seem to go away as you heard those words from Sans - your pace increases as you seem to move farther ahead of the skeleton.
He would watch you in mild amusement as you rushed ahead a bit, it was quite refreshing to see someone finally eager about his hometown. Lately, things have been getting so dull in this quaint little snow drift of a town. Sure, Grillby has his bar, Undine with her training does come around but after a while of timeline repeats it was starting to wear on him.
The simple mondaine things he used to love, just wasn’t hitting right any more.
That is.. Until you came along, the mystery that he will figure out.
Snow soon fades away to a wooden bridge that seems to cross over a gap within the woods, the sight of something new causes you to stop. Analyzing the area you can see midway on the bridge looked to be a grate. Was this supposed to separate this side from the other?
If so it was done very poorly, the bars are spaced too far apart - you would even guess that Sans could easily walk right on through them.
“Yeah, My brother built this.” Sans spoke as he finally arrived behind you.
“Oh?”
You look at him, then back to the wooden bars and then back to Sans with a confused look on your face. Sans would rub the back of his neck and sigh, “Yeah, yeah, I know, he kinda didn’t measure everything out before he built it.”
“Ah.” was all you can say as you just looked at the disaster before you - you took some steps onto the bridge and made your way towards the grate in the middle.
Standing directly under it, you would let your eyes inspect the structure - it looks sturdy and well built, other than the spacing of the bars, this is a pretty great grate.
“I mean it seems that he did try his best, he gets a gold star for effort.” You would shrug and complete your travel across the bridge and towards the otherside.
Sans would watch you, taken back by your compliment towards his brother’s handy work - it isn’t often monsters would toss compliments and kind words to each other. It was… nice, for some reason a foreign feeling of pride swell within his chest and it made him so nervous.
Yeah, your words were nice but normally monsters around here don’t talk that way, if you keep this up sooner or later a random monster will get suspenses and snatch you up.
The skeleton monster would soon be hurrying after you, he can’t let some rando take you - he just got you and you’re starting to make things a bit more interesting around here.
His hurried feet would have him speed walking across the bridge. No, he was going to have to make you wise to how things work around here, he was gonna have to toughen you up and fast.
“Hey kid!” He would call out to you, finally making it across.
This is the umpteenth time he called you a kid or a child, you were starting to get tired of it. How the hell were you supposed to know that wearing a stupid striped shirt ment you’re a child in monster culture.
You were quick to stop your progress and whip your head towards him, “NOT A CHILD!” this time you would yell this at him - eyes glaring.
The reaction from Sans caught you off guard, the glare from your eyes melted to that of concern as you saw him flitch and freeze.
“H-hey sorry, I got frustrated, I’m sorry that I yelled.” You worried that maybe you might have scared off the only monster who was willing to help you.
Sans would gather himself - placing a hand on his chest and taking a breath in. After calming himself, he would cut his eyes towards you, “Look, you need to chill with that lil’ miss polite shit.”
“What?” There was clear confusion on your face.
“Yeah, monsters down here don’t do that nice shit.”
“So, treating you with respect is a bad thing down here?!” You would challenge his ire with one of your own.
“I mean yeah, monsters down here will eat you alive if you give them a chance!”
“You didn’t!”
As you two went back and forth, both your voices would raise in volume.
“Hey, I’m different from most monsters ‘round these parts!”
“Look, I already met monsters before you and they seem alright, not all monsters are as vicious as you say!”
“What, you ran into other monsters?!! Did they know you were-!”
“SANS!” A shrill voice priced the air, it sounded as if it came from the trail that led further into the pine forest ahead.
Watching the shadows of the path ahead, your ears would swivel forward - trying to pick up any sound of movement. You would only bring your eyes back to Sans when you noticed that he was silent for longer than normal. The rather burly skeleton was frozen, the red eyelights within his sockets were gone - only leaving a pair of dark abysmal sockets in your direction. A deep concern would tug at your heart as you moved closer to Sans, you waved a hand in front of his face - he didn’t respond.
“U-um, hey… Sans, you okay?” you questioned as you slightly nudged him.
Still no response, your concern for the skeleton monster grew even more. He seemed to be in a stun state of fear. What in the world could have caused him to have such a reaction to someone’s voice.
“SANS, I KNOW I HEARD YOUR VOICE!!” That piercing voice would echo from down the path again, this time sounding just a bit closer. The distant sound of something stomping through the snow could be heard.
“Shit.” Sans suddenly cursing caused you to jump and bring your attention back towards him.
“The hell you went to, man?” You couldn’t help but question as you give him a worrying look..
“Listen,” He would reach out and grab you by your shoulders, his grip was tight and panic was clear in his eyes, “I need you to really listen and understand.”
“RRRR SAAANSS, ANSWER ME!!” This growl-like scream caused both you and Sans to look down the path.
“S-sans, who is that?” You would weakly question, the fear from Sans was slowly starting to seep into you - maybe you should break away and run?
“That’s my brother,” He would state this as he turned his attention back to you, “and if he finds out that you are human, he will turn you into the king.”
“SANS!” The stomping is getting closer.
“I HEAR YA, I HEAR YA, I’M RIGHT HERE!” Sans would finally answer him back, looking over his shoulder towards the path ahead.
“The king? I mean, that's a good thing right, I want to see the king anyways.” You would voice.
“Ya can’t.”
“What, why?!”
“The king will kill ya!”
“...what?” Your voice would come out softly - the hurt in your voice was evident. He never told you about the threat of being killed by the king,why would he keep this from you… maybe, Flowey and Toriel were right, you should trust any of the monsters of the underground.
Your look of betrayal was enough to make him wince, “L-look, I know I shoulda told ya, but the King wants a human soul to open the barrier - but for him to get a human soul he would have to kill the human.”
A barrier?
“...why didn’t you tell me?”
“We don’t have time for this, doll. I didn’t because I wasn’t too sure about your soul okay, I mean yeah it looks human but is it really?”
“Yes!” You snapped.
“You don’t know that!”
“YES, I DO!” You would finally burst, the sudden raise of volume in your voice caused Sans to let go of you and step back, “I AM A HUMAN, YOU SAW MY SOUL,” You would squeeze your eyes tight as if trying to fight off all the doubt within your mind, “I CAN REMEMBER IT, I. WAS. HUMAN!!”
“Were you now?”
Hold on a second… that's a new voice, slowly opening your eyes you would see Sans with his back to you, his full attention was drawn to someone that was a few feet away from the two of you. Looking past him you would see - another skeleton monster. This one was taller and slimmer than Sans.
He was clad in what looked like black leather, on his narrowed hips were red clawed gloves as he stood there in the snow with his blood red boots. His sockets were narrow and held red pin prick eye lights.
“B-boss.” Sans shaken voice would address the newcomer.
The other monster’s sharp crimson eye light would look from Sans and towards you - this caused you to flinch and duck further behind Sans.
“Who is this?” his tone was low but it had a gravelly growl to it.
“Uh, one of the kids from Snowdin, yeah, sh-she got lost in the woods.” Sans would quickly answer, beads of sweat could be seen on his skull.
“Why is she wearing your coat?” He would narrow his sight towards Sans.
“Ah, well, the little shit was complaining about being cold so I-I threw my coat at her.” After sans said that he would snatch his coat from off your body, nearly spinning you in the process - during all of that, his sockets never left the other monster.
The fur on your tail would stand on end as you glare daggers at Sans, “Asshole!” you would bark at him as he slipped his coat back on. The cold was like daggers to you, but right now you were too scared and angry to let it affect you.
“So,” The lanky monster would fold his arms, “she is a child from snowdin?” his claw gloved hand tracing his chin - his eyes never left you.
“Y-yeah” Sans would answer.
“I have never seen them before.”
“She’s new, that's why she got lost.”
There was a lengthy pause between the two brothers; Sans stood between you and this new monster - the air was tense. You couldn’t help but notice just how tense Sans has gotten since this monster had arrived. Isn’t this his brother, you never seen siblings act like this during your time on the surface - why does Sans seem almost afraid of him?
“Why… was she just yelling for all to hear, that she was a human?”
“Oh, ah, well you know kids, always playing around and shit.”
“A game?”
"Yes, y’know that game they always play around the town, uh, kill the human, yeah.”
The newcomer would answer with silence as his narrowed gaze stayed on you - you noticed that Sans would shift his weight just a little as if trying to block you from view. The taller skeleton monster would let out an annoyed growl,
“Move, Sans.”
“Wh-what?”
“This is a command. Move.”
“C-c’mon Boss, you’re gonna scare the kid off.”
The silence within the air was tight and full of thick tension, as the two brothers stared each other down. Though Sans tower over you - you can tell, he’s scared, terrified actually, but he was standing his ground. Looking past Sans you can see the glaring monster that was just a few feet away from you two, he would raise his gloved hand and flick his wrist.
What happened next was all a blur to you.
Sans would jump to the side as a cluster of bones jut from the ground below him, you would gasp as you saw this.
“Sans?!”
“Don’t! move!” The other monster would bark out, this caused both you and Sans to freeze on the spot.
Breath shaking, you look towards the tall monster that had his eyes locked on you - the way he was staring at you, it was almost the same way Sans looked at you before finding out you had a human soul.
And just like Sans, he reactions were the same - puzzlement, confusion, but then something different: wide eye disgust.
“Boss, wait!” Sans would call out to his brother.
“HUMAN!” The other monster would roar, your legs would shake.
Your ears picked up on it first, the sound of the earth under your feet would rubble, before you felt the vibration. Quickly, almost as if in pure reflex, you jumped back, just in time to see a grouping of bones erupting from the ground you once stood on. Looking up and towards the attacking monster you would seem him marching over towards you - taking large strides.
You glance over towards Sans - please help! The desperation within your eyes was not lost on Sans, but his face held conflict. Should he really risk it and defend you against his brother - a monster, a human, a creature he just met?
“SA-AH!” You called out to him again, only to be interrupted by a force slamming into you, it was enough to send you flying back only to land weakly on all fours.
You coughed and wheezed and watched as two red boots came into your hazy vision. Looking up you would see the taller skeleton towering over you, a bone weapon pointed down at you.
“Your soul is mine, human.”