Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first thing you realize when you wake up is that you’re laying on sand. There’s a bright blue sky above you, dotted with white clouds.

You’re eighty percent sure you fell asleep on the cruise ship, not some random beach. How did you get here?

Suddenly your mind is filled with pictures of flooded staircases and panicked flailing, trying to keep yourself afloat as you’re swept away by the raging water. That’s right, you remember now, something had gone wrong on the ship and you were last being flung around like a rag doll.

Godamnit.

You push yourself off the sand and look around. The wreckage of the ship is scattered about the beach, there’s some suitcases, twisted metal bars, and pieces of a wooden table. There’s a forest to the left and you can see a mountain in the distance.

Wow you’re stranded on some random ass island. Your luck is awful, isn’t it?

Whatever, you don’t have time to mope around if you want to survive long enough for someone to rescue you. First things first, you think as you stand and brush some sand off your clothes, you’ll need to scavenge around and find shelter.

The suitcases you zip open are all filled with water but you find some clothes close enough to your size, along with a cigarette lighter (it was locked in a sealed box so it’s completely dry, apparently someone was paranoid about dropping it). There’s even some water bottles!

Ah, you’re starting to collect too much to carry all this.. okay next step of the plan! Find shelter. You have no idea how to build shelter though…

Wait a second, two of the larger pieces of the boat are leaned together against a rock, creating a makeshift cave of sorts. Perfect!! You started dragging your now prized possessions over to the shelter. It’s far enough from the ocean that you shouldn’t have to worry about water, even during high tide, but far enough from the woods that wild animals probably wouldn’t stumble across you.

You pile the suitcases on top of one another and fix some of the soaked clothes into a makeshift bed that looks more like a bird's nest. Hmm, you’re kind of hungry though…

Maybe there are some wild berries in the forest? The sun is still high in the sky so you could probably go investigate a little before heading back.

The forest welcomes you with a cool dampness and the sound of birds chirping their daily songs. You look around for a moment, there’s all sorts of fauna you don’t recognize, surely there’s got to be edible fruits somewhere…

You’re investigating a small bush when the plants behind you rustle loudly, but when you spin around expecting a small animal of sorts you find yourself staring down at a skeleton (a skeleton that's crouched down, head tilted towards the floor and small lights in empty sockets staring up at you.) There’s also a tattered bandana wrapped around its skeletal neck, it’s the only covering on it.

A soft rumble escapes its toothed smile. That’s incredibly creepy, the fact it’s a living (?) skeleton and that it’s smiling up at you while also in a submissive stance.

It continues to crawl towards you until it’s skull is pressed into your leg. It sniffs at you curiously. You’re still staring at it in surprise, debating what to do in this situation. Well, you’re already stranded on an island… might as well make friends with a magic skeleton thingy.

You scratch lightly at its skull and it flinches at first before looking up at you curiously. Deciding that scratching might not be the best, considering its bone (and your nails hurt), so you start rubbing at it with your thumb. It lets out a cooing noise and presses into your hand.

Adorable. You’re going to keep it. But first, the berries.

You crouch back down and start picking berries while your new friend hovers behind you. Wait… what if the berries are poisonous?! They definitely don’t look like any fruit you’ve ever seen before, they’re triangle shaped and neon yellow. The skeleton’s skull pops into your view and starts eating berries straight from the bush.

Maybe they’re not poisonous?? You’re already stranded, might as well try them. When the berry pops between your teeth you are overwhelmed with the taste of… sweet watermelon?? Eyeing another fruit with confusion, you squish it and bright red juice seeps out of it.

A glowing blue tongue licks the excess off your hand and you jerk away from the strange thing and look at the offending skeleton whose tongue is still lolling out of its mouth.

It looks startled and confused. Maybe it was just trying to help? You hold your hand out and it carefully starts licking again, eyelights focused on your reactions like it’s scared you’ll freak out again.

After a few short moments of licking your hand it is completely clean (besides the wetness despite the lack of saliva). The skeleton looks proud when it sits back on its haunches, chest puffed out.

Well… at least you know the berries aren’t poisonous.. yet.

You quickly start stashing the berries into your pants pockets at which Blue (you named him that based off his bandana) started sniffing at them. Once both pockets were filled you began heading back to the beach, ignoring the skeleton trailing just behind.

Blue hesitates at the edge of the tree line and you beckon him forward “Come on! Everything’s fine.” It hesitantly puts one skeletal foot on the stand, and then slowly emerges from the shadowed forest and into the bright light of the beach. It grows more confident and walks up to you happily (it’s adopting your posture, though still remaining hunched enough to go on all fours at a moments notice)

You lead your new companion to the ship wreck to which it immediately starts sniffing everything. You let it wander about as you quickly start packing the berries into a bowl you find, and mentally note that there’s probably a fresh water source deeper into the woods.

It’d probably be good to start a fire soon. The sun wasn’t setting but it was considerably lower than when you first set out.

Blue follows you back to the tree line and watches you start collecting decently sized sticks before copying you. It seems happy to help, for which you are grateful.

A part of you realizes the skeleton is far more sentient and aware than any regular animal but quickly file that thought for later.

When you return you quickly start a makeshift fire and the skeleton lets out a sharp yip when the flames spark to life. “Hey, hey…” you pull it forward until it’s a few feet away from the fire and then walk closer yourself to show it’s safe.

Blue looks between you and the flames before deciding to trust you and moves to stand beside you.

Blues POV

He’d snuck away from the den to go find some Melon Berries, promising himself he’d be back before his brother noticed he was gone.

He’d also have to make sure to grab some for Papyrus since it was his turn to clean the beddings.

His pack was small, consisting of his brother, Sans, Papyrus, and himself. Then again they were also the largest pack on the island…. and the only one where the Alpha wasn’t even in charge.

Blue huffs as he continues to walk. His brother, despite being an Alpha, was incredibly lazy and reluctant to take responsibility. That left Sans, the pack’s beta, to take charge instead of Stretch.

As for Papyrus, he himself was an Omega. He often stayed closer to the den and only ventured out when necessary, but he also acted as a peacekeeper. Anytime Stretch got particularly aggressive towards Sans… well the Alpha found his bedding quite coarse until he apologized. Blue was a Gamma, meaning he didn’t fit into either of those categories, but often found himself leaning towards Papyrus’s role. He enjoyed the simplicity and guaranteed safety from it… but he also found comfort in being able to roam their territory (much to his brothers worry)

He was pulled from his thoughts by a strange scent drifting on the afternoon breeze. Blue paused mid step, both in surprise and trepidation. He didn’t recognize this scent, not even as any of the prey on the island… it smelled similar to his own kind but with a more earthy tone.

It smelled like….. like the ocean? There were also hints of smoke and various other’s scents that were fading. Had the stranger been separated from their pack??

No, that didn’t make any sense. He didn’t recognize any of those scents either….

Blue crept closer until he could see the stranger who was bent over a Melon berry bush. He must’ve been too loud because they spin around in alarm. He quickly adopts a more submissive stance to show he’s not a threat, while also keeping his eyelights up to see what they are.

They have a similar shape to a skeleton, like himself, but seem to be covered in skin and hair like the other island animals. Instead of one or two pieces of clothing, both their forearms, chest, feet, and legs are covered.

“HELLO??” The new creature doesn’t react to his greeting… there must be a language barrier. He still can’t quite make out their scent so her creeps forward until his nasal is pressed into their clothes leg.

The scent is strong… but the other scents cloud it so much he’s unable to tell wether the newcomer is a Beta or an Alpha. Shame, he’d been hoping for another Gamma….

There is a sudden scratching on his skull and he looks up at the fleshy skeleton curiously as to what it’s doing. Perhaps this was its way of greeting? The creature stops and then continues, this time with just its fleshy appendages rubbing him.

“HELLO TO YOU TOO!” He says while pressing into their hand. Blue doesn’t want to scare off his new friend, he needs to show he isn’t aggressive.

They quickly turn their attention back to the Melon bush, seeming to observe the fruits carefully. Blue looked at their face, it was pinched in concentration…. perhaps they didn’t know what these berries where?

Nothing to fear!! He quickly nipped some berries and carefully chewed to show they were food. The flesh skeleton seems to understand as it puts one of the berries into its mouth and literally melts at the taste.

Blue resists the urge to laugh at its expression, they’re just adorable!

They put a bit too much pressure on the next fruit, causing it to leak. Blue is quick to aid them, immediately forming a tongue to lick away the sticky juices. (It’s habitual, he had to do this for Stretch when they were little, the younger skeleton always was a messy eater.)

But his new friend jerks away and for a second Blue is afraid he did something wrong until it slowly holds its hand towards him. Perhaps they were startled? He makes sure to keep an eye on their reactions as he finishes cleaning them.

When that is done the flesh skeleton starts shoving berries into the folds of their clothes before starting to walk away. Blue makes sure to follow close behind. While the newcomer was leaving their pack's territory, he was uncomfortable letting them wander on their own.

Wait a second…. the beach?? He stops at the edge of the forest and his friend pauses, halfway onto the beach by then.

Behind them is a collection of oddly shaped rocks and miscellaneous things he doesn’t recognize.

Suddenly the flesh skeleton lets out a series of soft noises and making ‘come here’ motions with its hands. So it could talk!! It had been so quiet he’d been afraid they would never communicate.

He’s quite proud of himself when he leaves the woods and enters the direct light of the sun. None of the beaches on the island were marked territory (there wasn’t anything of use) so he rarely ever ventured out of the forest.

They led them over to the strange rocks, and what appeared to be their den based on the smell….

He liked this new creature, they were nice and friendly, and he hoped his brother would allow them into the pack…

Chapter Text

By the time the sun was setting both you and your new companion had devoured all the berries you’d picked, as well as some granola bars you found stashed into a ziplock bag. Blue seemed very enraptured with them.

The heat from the fire kept you warm as the wind from the ocean blew cold sea spray onto your backs. Your new skeleton friend really seemed to like it, because for a while they had run along the edge of the water, splashing and playing before returning to your side and snuggling close.

It was… peaceful. Calm.

Eventually though, Blue slowly untangled themself from you and started making their way towards the woods.

“Where are you going?” You asked despite knowing the skeleton couldn’t understand you. They looked back at you, then at the forest like it was debating something. Suddenly it reached up and untied the bandana from its neck before holding it out to you.

You took it “Thank you?” Blue made a cooing noise before quickly scampering off into the woods, leaving you alone on the beach as the last of the suns rays dipped below the trees.

It was going to start getting cold soon… Luckily the blankets you’d set by the fire were not only dry but also quite warm. You bundled them into your arms and walked into the makeshift shelter made of the two boat pieces.

The light from the progressively dimming fire was enough for you to maneuver yourself into a little cubby in one of the boat pieces. You quickly burrioted yourself in the blankets, soaking up all their warmth.

There was a little bit of sand on them but it was fine.

Despite all the stress that was sure to come, you found yourself drifting off to the sound of waves lapping at the shore and crickets chirping in the forest. drifting off to the sound of waves lapping at the shore and crickets chirping in the forest.

Blue POV

Only once the deepened shadows from the trees reached the den did Blue finally depart from his new friend. He gifted them his bandana to show he would return before scampering back into the woods.

Running on all fours through the woods was always an exciting experience, the wind rushing over his exposed bones and the jolt after he landed from a particularly high jump.

Soon enough the surrounding trees grow into pines and the ground becomes evened out, only broken by piles of rocks. His pack’s den is a rock pile filled with various nooks and crannies that make up their individual ‘rooms’.

His brother is sprawled out across a rocky outcrop, his orange hoodie (his only piece of clothing) making him stand out against the rough gray.

Sans slinks out of the food storage and immediately pins him with a glare “Back a bit late aren’t ya-“ the other skeleton pauses and sniffs at Blue “wh…?”

Blue quickly perks up at the unspoken question “I FOUND A NEW FRIEND!” Papyrus emerges from his own cubby at his fellow pack members yelling. “NEW FRIEND?” Blue nods excitedly. “YES!! THEY WERE LIKE US- BUT FLESHY!!”

Both skeletons look at each other in confusion “FLESHY?”cubby at his fellow pack members yelling. “NEW FRIEND?” Blue nods excitedly. “YES!! THEY WERE LIKE US- BUT FLESHY!!”

Both skeletons look at each other in confusion “FLESHY?” Sans shakes his head “where are they?” The Gamma turns in the direction he came and jerks his head forward “THEY WERE ON THE BEACH! APPARENTLY THEY BUILT A DEN THERE!”

Now they only look more confused “WHY WOULD ANYONE NEST ON THE BEACH? WHAT USE IS IT?” Papyrus inquires to which Blue shrugs his skeletal shoulders “do ya know what they are?” Sans doesn’t need to elaborate for the other to shrug again, already understanding the question “DEFINITELY NOT A OMEGA, AND I DON’T THEY’RE A GAMMA EITHER!!” Papyrus wilts at the information, clearly discouraged by the lack of another Omega but perks up again “DID YOU TALK WITH THEM?”

Blue shakes his head sadly “THEY DON’T SPEAK THE SAME AS US! BUT!! THEY WERE VERY FRIENDLY!” Sans looks skeptical at that but his brother only grows more excited. “THIS FLESHY SKELETON SOUNDS AMAZING! NOT AS AMAZING AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS THOUGH!! NYEHEHE!”

Papyrus’ loud laughter rouses Stretch from his semi nap and he peers down at them from his perch. “what’s all the noise about?”

“BLUE FOUND A NEW FRIEND!!” Sans chuffs at his brother before answering himself “he found some kinda ‘fleshy skeleton’ livin on the beach.”

The alpha stretches his hind legs with a groan “mmm… it’s too early for that, we’ll deal with it tomorrow.” Stretch then curls back into his hoodie and closes his sockets.

“BROTHER!! WE CAN’T LEAVE OUR NEW FRIEND ALONE AND DEFENSELESS!!” Blue huffs as his brother simply lets out an over exaggerated snore. “THIS IS SERIOUS!!” Sans bumps into the Gamma’s side reassuringly “they’ll be fine for tonight. you should rest.”

Blue can’t even protest before Papyrus has picked him up by carefully gripping his upper ribs in his maw. Struggling against the Omega is useless so he just goes limp and allows his pack mate to drop him into the pack nest (there are multiple nests, but this one is always the comfiest)

He falls asleep to the sound of the other skeletons snores. Blue hopes his friend will be okay.

Chapter Text

The first thing you do when waking up from blessed sleep is roll over and start spitting sand out of your mouth. Your clothes stick to you with sweat and sand rubs between the folds of your skin uncomfortably.

You’re also hungry, thirsty, and have a massive headache.

You lay there for a few moments, wallowing in your own misery. Welp, might as well grab something to eat. The water bottles you found are warm now but the graham crackers you find tucked away in a metal lunch box are surprisingly tasty.

Now hydrated and fed the headache starts to abate, still leaving a throb in your temples but no longer excessive. The sun is already beating down on you from above despite it still being early morning.

You very quickly decide it’s time to take a bath in the ocean. Luckily those clothes you found yesterday are nice and dry now so once you are done you’ll have a fresh change.

The cool water brushes against your legs as you walk buck naked into the sea before sitting down so that the waves reach your shoulders.

The sand, sweat, and blood from the wounds you hadn’t known were there are all washed off, though the salt leaves a harsh sting in the open cuts on your legs. When you look closer, they are very obviously from walking in the forest with sandals, you’d nicked yourself on twigs and such… idiot

They’re not deep enough to worry about though, so you simply dry yourself off with a random tshirt before changing clothes. This time you’re wearing a tank top coupled with khaki shorts. You can’t believe you’re fighting to survive on an island while looking like a beach dad. The humility!

Now fully dressed, you decide it’s time to stop procrastinating…. whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing. Lets see, you’ve got enough water and food rations to last a few more days (it might be smarter to save the water bottles) there’s shelter, warmth, what else??

Thinking back to the skeleton creature, there were probably more of them running around and they weren’t all going to be submissive… and since you’d come across Blue in the forest just ahead you assumed that was his ‘territory’ and they seemed to like you…

You’re getting distracted. It’d be best to find a source of fresh water on the island, some more berry bushes… maybe some fruit trees? You know you’ll have to start hunting animals to keep healthy but you’ve got no idea how to do that. Maybe there could be some fish around the island, you do remember the cruise ship having a game about catching fish with nets, you might be able to find some of the nets laying around if you’re lucky (if not, you can always fashion one out of torn clothes or vines)

But first, fresh water. It’ll definitely be inland… with the skeleton creatures…

Eugh.

Steeling yourself, you push onwards into the woods while being careful to only walk in a single direction as to not get completely lost. You might not end up back at your camp but at least you’ll be able to find the beach.

The only landmark you have is the berry bush where you met Blue. So pick a few fruits and continue walking. The sound of birds overhead is loud but not annoying, and you find yourself thinking back on life as you walk.

Stuck on this island, everything and everyone you knew are essentially… gone. They probably think you’re dead, along with everyone else on the ship.

You wonder what caused the wreck. There had been a pretty bad storm going on but it certainly wasn’t anything the boat couldn’t handle… perhaps there were maintenance issues? Or maybe the captain was really drunk or something, you couldn’t blame him, that place had some great booze.

Oh. It’s just occurred to you that you’ll never get to eat your favorite snacks again. Or watch that one show. Or see cute animals (that aren’t feral or oddly sentient skeletons)

Wait- no!! You shake your head aggressively. This isn’t the time to start getting pessimistic. While chances of rescue are slim they aren’t zero, and if you can manage to scrounge enough materials you might be able to make a raft and head out yourself.

Then again… if you are rescued, there’s no doubt that Blue and his kind (if there are more) will be taken for science. Along with everything else on this island. So, it’s better to hope for salvation from yourself instead of outside.

You’re snapped out of your thoughts by a low cooing sound from up ahead. You recognize it immediately and smile as Blue wiggles themselves out of a bush. The skeleton canters up to you happily and purrs as you brush dirt off its skull.

Then they turn around and make another cooing noise directed at the bush, to which the foliage shakes and another skeleton appears, followed by another close behind. The first one is a lot larger than Blue, even in their crouched state. There is a faded and tattered red scarf wrapped snugly around their neck.

The second skeleton looks almost exactly like Blue, but this one's eyelights hold a completely different aura to them. Instead of Blue’s accepting warmth, they radiate cold judgement.

You feel your sins crawling on your back…

And then promptly shake it off because if this skeleton wants to judge you on things they have no business about then fuck them.

The judgy skeleton is wearing a blue jacket with a fur lined hood.

You look at the two new skeletons and then at Blue who is looking up at you expectantly.

“Uhh… hello?” You say to the newcomers. The taller one makes a high pitched noise that you can’t understand and skitters closer. Even crouched it’s skull comes up to your shoulder…. god these things were clearly never human. You mentally mark off the necromancy theory from the list.

The red scarf skeleton makes a cooing noise similar to Blue and you hesitantly reach out to it. The thing purrs and presses against your hand. Blue seems happy as it nudges your other hand with their skull, clearly saying they also want to be pet, to which you comply.

Now with both skeletons purring you have time to look at the other skeleton. It’s not giving you that cold look anymore and instead is slightly slouched. “So, uhm. Do y’all have names?” Blue and the other skeleton look at you in confusion. You sigh, point to Blue, and say their name.

Blue and the other skeletons look at each other and the back at you.

“Bluerhh?” The noise Blue makes is definitely not a word but it’s much better than the chirps and yips from before. You nod at him. Apparently they do somewhat understand the concept of names… maybe?

You then point at yourself “Y/N.” Blue makes a garbled noise that makes you snort.

The taller skeleton puts a hand to its ribs and makes a very weird noise which you assume is their name. Trying to repeat it, all you manage is a harsh growling of random syllables. Clearly the skeletons have more flexible vocal cords than you.

Of course they do… fucking magic skeletons…

Maybe you should name the two new skeletons? Hmm. The noise the taller one named sounded like a popping…

You turn back to the scarfed skeleton and point at them “Poppy!” Poppy seems quite happy with their new name despite not understanding it. Now for the next one… this one is still standing a bit farther away but has moved closer during your interaction with the other two.

Blue coat with fur… you’re not naming them Furry (even if it would be slightly ironic). They were judgy of you at first so maybe Judge? No, that’s too on the nose. Which they don’t have.

You look around for inspiration and see a bird perched on a nearby tree. It’s almost completely white except for the blue markings around its eyes and wings. You look between the bird and the unnamed skeleton.

“Birdy!” The skeleton doesn’t seem impressed with its new name.

Now that the skeletons have names… you don’t have to keep calling them ‘skeletons’. Blue seems very happy that you’ve named their friends and nudges you forward with their skull. You look down at them in confusion.

Poppy pulls at the hem of your pants with its teeth, they’re clearly trying to tell you to follow them. You do so, Blue taking up the rear and the others walking in front.

Eventually the woods around you change into that of a pine forest and the ground becomes rather bare other than the needles that crunch under your sneakers. The bird song in the canopy dies until it’s only an echo in the distance. The only thing interrupting the flat ground is trees and rock piles, and the skeletons lead you to a significantly large pile that has many different books and crannies along with an outcrop where another large skeleton (this time in a bright orange hoodie) is sprawled beneath the sun.

Blue shouts up at them while Poppy nudges you forward.

The other skeleton hops down from its perch until it’s only a few feet away from you. It looks you up and down, judgingly. What is with these skeletons and being judgy?!

Two can play at that game, you think as you start doing the same to them. Just like how Blue and Buddy look oddly similar, the same goes for Poppy and this new skeleton. Other than the clothing choice and that Poppy is slightly smaller, the edges of their skull are softer, and mister-hoodie has orange eyelights, there are few differences.

You didn’t quite realize how annoying it was to refer to them as just ‘skeletons’ until now…

The new skeleton slowly stands up into its hind legs, bringing itself to tower over you with squared shoulders. Is it posturing at you?? (Thank you discovery channel for teaching you about animal behaviour!)

You look at the other skeletons and see they’ve all remained crouched down (Poppy and Blue more than Birdy.) Maybe this hooded skeleton is like in charge or something? The apparent alpha, at least you think that’s what it is, starts snarling at your lack of submission.

“Hello, mister alpha man.” He blinks in surprise at you and looks to the other skeletons. Blue makes a chirp noise in response.

The alpha skeleton stalks towards you without dropping his posture and sniffs at your neck. This is incredibly weird. Actually… you take a whiff of the air and there’s a faint smell of honey coming off them.

You point at him and go “Honey.” Blue and Poppy make excited noises at their newly named friend. Honey looks between them and you with a raised bonebrow (how?)

It turns back to you and starts posturing again. Eugh… you thought this was over with!! You smack the palm of your hand against its face, to which it stops snarling in favor of staring down at you in confusion.

You pat it’s face affectionately. Honey snorts and retreats back to the rock pile.

Blue jumps around happily and pushes you after them. Poppy follows after you two, equally happy and Birdy trailing behind them. You’re soon sat on the ground under an outcropping with the two friendlier skeletons pressed into your sides.

The calm quiet is interrupted by your stomach growling out at the lack of food since you woke up. Poppy and Blue both jump and look at your abdomen in confusion. You snort to yourself and make a chewing motion with your mouth and then point at your stomach, conveying you were hungry.

Poppy is the first one to understand, you think, because they quickly bolt out of sight and return with a pep in their steps before letting a weirdly shaped fruit to fall into your lap. The fruit is shaped like an apple but the size of a cantaloupe and is also a blueish hue with purple specks.

You expect it to crunch like an apple but instead it gives way beneath your teeth like it was made of jelly. It tastes like…. tater tots?? You stare down at the fruit in shock because holy shit this fruit tastes like tater tots. In the next moments the fruit is gone and you’re licking the remaining juices from your fingers.

Poppy seems proud of their accomplishment of bringing you something you liked. You rub the top of their skull to show your appreciation. The skeleton purrs loudly and if they had tails you’re sure it’d be wagging right now.

Blue huffs and lightly nips your other hand, to which you give in and start petting them too. Wow. You’re petting skeletons… in any other situation you’d be very afraid that you were losing your mind, but frankly you have bigger problems than possibly going insane.

Speaking of problems, you still need to find a fresh water source for when your bottles run dry.

Considering Poppy brought you food so quickly you assume they have food stored somewhere nearby (since there definitely weren’t any plants you saw when walking over here.) So they must need food like any other living animals, so it’s likely they also need water, which means there’s probably a water source near their home.

Despite the refreshing fruit your mouth still feels a bit dry.

You push away from the purring skeletons and step out of the covering of the rock pile, looking around. Poppy and Blue are at your side almost immediately.

Deciding to pick a random direction and start walking, your attempts are halted by Blue’s jaw clamping onto the hem of your shirt. “Wh- hey, chill man-“ you lightly try to pry them off but they’ve got a good grip on it. There’s going to be tears in your shirt now…

Poppy wacks the other skeleton over the head with their hand. Blue lets go and looks up at you guiltily.

You pat the smaller on the head “It’s fine. I’m just going to go find water.” Poppy tilts their head questioningly. Stupid language barrier!

You continue walking in a random direction with the skeletons following behind you.

The woods slowly grow louder with the sounds of animals the farther you walk, and the flora itself grows out until you’re pushing giant leaves out of the way. A tree branch wacks you in the face while you’re distractedly watching neon colored birds fly about.

You rub at the stinging sensation in annoyance until you’re greater with the sound of… rushing water! You bolt towards the noise, earning surprised yelps from your companions who rush after you.

When you break through the tree line there’s a large river waiting for you. It’s flow is interrupted by sharp rocks jutting out at random intervals but nonetheless it’s water. It’s cold when you dip your hand in, but a welcome difference from the ocean bath you’d taken earlier.

Blue sniffs at you curiously before lapping at the water with a blue… glowing blue tongue. You turn to Poppy and eye his bright orange tongue. How??? Did they have those before????

Wait. They were literally walking , talking (to each other), and sentient, all while being nothing but bones. They also had random articles of clothing, so the fact that they had oddly colored tongues shouldn’t surprise you.

Is it safe to drink the water straight from the stream? You try to think back on those survival shows you’d watch when there wasn’t anything else on Tv.

Remembering back you think they said that it’s better to drink from upstream… you don’t know the details like why, but it’s not like it matters. Besides, maybe if you go upstream you’ll find some more tasty fruit (maybe this time something like hotdogs? You’re really craving hotdogs right now…)

You wash some of the sand off your hands before beginning the trek upstream.

Poppy’s POV

Papyrus had been both nervous and excited to meet Blue's friend and had been shocked that the description of ‘fleshy skeleton’ for them was perfect. He found himself quite pleased when they rubbed his skull, their fleshy hands were warm and squishy.

Their fleshy friend also seemed to have given them names in their own tongue and had named him… well he didn’t actually know what it was but that trying to say it aloud required him to make harsh noises.

They were clueless to pack social structure considering they’d shown zero reaction to Stretch. Despite their strong scent, likely an Alpha, they didn’t seem keen on challenging Stretch or Sans for their positions.

They also seem to enjoy the Fav Fruit he’d brought them. Then they’d suddenly started walking away, but in the opposite direction they came.

Blue had tried to make them stay but Papyrus knew that the fleshy skeleton was probably curious about their surroundings, so the two of them accompanied it.

It was quite funny to watch their (hopefully) new packmate struggle against the plants like a babybones. He and Blue shared a look of amusement at that.

Then the creature found themselves by the river and both the skeletons decided to stop by for a sip.

“SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THEM?” Blue asked curiously between laps at the rushing water. Papyrus thought for a moment “I LIKE THEM BUT THEY HAVE A LOT TO LEARN! SUCH AS THE PROPER WAY TO-“ he cut himself off when it became apparent that the fleshy skeleton was no longer hovering behind them and was instead walking farther upstream.

“FLESHY FRIEND!! WAIT!” Blue was startled by his yell and quickly followed after him.

The river ran from the Fell’s territory into theirs and then looped around the mountain into the other packs territory. And the fleshy was heading straight for the Fells land.

They jumped at his loud scream and were startled when he started pulling at the hem of their clothes. Papyrus was glad they took so much care into their full body attire, it made restraining them much easier.

However they seem insistent on continuing forward, for whatever reason, despite both his and Blue’s attempts to keep them away. Papyrus decides to pull out his ultimate weapon, the one he’d perfected when he was just a little babybones.

He summoned magic to his eyes and hunched his shoulders downwards and let out a high pitched whimper. The fleshy skeleton’s shoulders dropped and it immediately went to comfort him, forgetting about traveling up river.

“NICE GOING!!” Blue praises.

“what tha’ fuck are ya doin?!” Oh shit.

Red, a member of the Fell pack, is standing on the other side of the river with a snarl showing off his sharp teeth. His glowing red eyelights lock onto the fleshy skeleton, who is undoubtedly startled by the newcomer. “And who’s this?”

“This is our new pack member.” Blue answers confidently. “Oh really? They sure don’ look it.” Red says mockingly while looking them up and down. Papyrus pulls the fleshy skeleton behind himself in an attempt to shield them from the other.

Red was a Beta, but since his pack consisted solely of dominant members he was treated the same way one would a Gamma. Papyrus would never understand how the Fell pack didn’t tear each other to shreds, not only were they all dominant leaning, they're members were nothing but angry assholes.

“Well, they are.”

Chapter Text

You look between Poppy and the new skeleton with worry.

This one had similar proportions to Birdy and Blue, excluding the sharper teeth (which one of them was golden and glinted hardly in the sun), and it’s choice of clothing was a red and black parka with lots of fluffed fur on the collar.

Well… at least they had good fashion sense.

But, unlike the four skeletons you’d met previously, this one was blatantly aggressive. It snarled and growled at you like you’ve insulted it’s mother. And it seems it isn’t on good terms with Poppy or Blue considering their reactions.

You move out from behind Poppy and instead stand beside them. Hiding will only make you appear weak, and you’ll avoid that for as long as possible… because you’re going to keep your dignity just a tiny bit longer.

The red eyelighted skeleton snarls something and Blue hisses back a response that you can’t understand.

“Nice to meet ya, scary skele man.” You direct towards them, earning a confused scowl. “My name's Y/N.” You say, placing a hand on your chest for emphasis. “And I’m going to name you… hm.” The skeleton looks at the other two who shrug that they don’t understand either.

Suddenly an idea springs into your head. You place a hand on your hip, move your legs apart, and point directly at the edgy skeleton. “Crimson!!” You shout proudly to which Crimson just looks even more confused.

Now satisfied with your naming skills, you realize you’ve wasted over half the day goofing off and will have to rush back to the beach before it gets dark. Shit.

You don’t even give warning before spinning around and bolting off into the woods. Multiple surprised yells come from behind followed by the steps of skeletal hands and feet running after you.

Eventually though you grow bored of running and slow to a leisurely jog, much to the relief of your companions as they quickly start hovering around you nervously.

You rub Blue’s skull affectionately “I’m okay lil’ man.”

The skeletons seem calmed by your response even if they don’t understand and follow close behind as you retrace your steps back to the beach.

***

It’s almost dark by the time the sound of waves lapping at the shore greets you once again. Poppy had split away at some point, but not before giving you a gentle goodbye nudge in the stomach.

Blue apparently planned on staying as when you snuggled into your cubby pile he whimpered until you scooted over to allow him room inside.

Your stomach clenched angrily but you ignored it in favour of the weight dragging down on your limbs. Your skeletal companion cuddled into your side before you slipt off.

Dark waters fill your dreams, bringing with them freezing cold and the sense of suffocation. You claw at the water but the surface remains still, trapping you. Everything fades to black when a skeletal hand breaks through the water and grabs you by the hand.

You wake up with a start. Blue is whining and pawing at your side.

Pain shoots from your neck up and you groan “Damnit… I must’ve slept wrong I’ve got a crick in my neck.” You snarl but push yourself up anyway.

Blue crawls ahead of you, out of the makeshift cave, and you follow close behind.

The sky is filled with dark clouds that hide away the blue from above.

“Looks like a storm is coming…” you mumble to yourself. Blue whines and presses himself to the ground as the sky rumbles with thunder. You offer the skeleton a head pat but are immediately met with a bigger problem when cool water brushes against your feet.

The ocean has overtaken parts of the beach, and inches closer to your cubby hole with every second. Some of the luggage bags you’d stored nearby have already been swept away by the waves.

That’s… not good.

You can’t stay here, especially when the storm hits, you’re liable to be swept off to sea again, along with all your progress. Blue makes a noise that sounds vaguely like a stream of garbled words but you wave him off in favor of grabbing what luggage you can and pulling it farther up the beach.

The skeleton follows your actions carefully before taking everything out of the makeshift cave and putting it by the pile.

By the time you’ve saved what’s left, there are soft drops falling against your exposed skin and a sharp wind causes you to shiver and wrap a jacket you’d found in the pile tighter overself.

Blue hovered by your side nervously, also wrapped in a jacket you’d helped him put on. It was pink with floral patterns but would still keep his bones warm.

“Hey, Blue, do you think your friends would mind if we crashed with them?” The skeleton just looks up at you.

“... I’ll take that as a yes.” You grab as much stuff as you can carry (and shove the rest under the roots of a tree in hopes they’ll be there when you get back) and start off in the direction of the other skeletons' cave.

You don’t remember the exact way but Blue seems more than happy to guide you, even as he carries a variety of things in his arms. It’s mostly water bottles, some of which are empty and you make a note to use them to catch rainwater.

The ground beneath you grows mushy as the two of you jog beneath the rain, it’s not pouring yet but it’s enough to plaster your hair against your face.

Poppy runs to greet the two of you before you even reach the rock pile’s clearing and takes some of the load off of you.

Birdy greets you next, followed by Honey who eyes you up and down before returning to his nap. Wait- since when had you started calling the skeletons male?

Well, it wasn’t like you could just ask them what their preferred pronouns were so… he it was.

The sky split open, the rain hitting the ground as the sound of thunder became deafening.

Blue buried his head into your side when lightning flashed across the sky.

This indent of the rock pile was hardly big enough for a human and four skeletons as both Poppy and Birdy bump into you whenever they move.

The air gets progressively colder and colder.

“Fuck.” You say with chattering teeth while searching for a blanket in the pile of stuff you brought.

When you find one you place it over yourself and Blue, and then raise it, offering the other skeletons to join.

***

Blues POV

Blue was really happy that his fleshy friend had decided to leave their cave by the ocean, even if they had brought all those strange things with them.

Now they were practically a member of the pack!!

They were also really, really warm.

The jacket they gave him was definitely not his style but had kept his ribs dry as they rushed home under the drizzling rain. And now snuggled into their side under the large and fuzzy thing he was barely aware of the nipping cold.

Skeletons didn’t produce heat unless they were ill or in, well, heat. And it wasn’t a harsh heat, the warmth was soft and welcoming as he buried his skull into their shirt. Their scent filled his mind with a fuzzy calm that, coupled with the sound of pouring rain, lulled him into sleep.

Or, it would have, if not for his fellow pack memebers chattering back and forth about the new addition.

Papyrus was very excited about it, while Sans and Stretch were still wary of them.

“You said Red saw them, what if he and his brother decide to use them against us? They’ve already wandered off once-!” Sans argues as his brother scoffs and crosses his arms. “
THEY ARE ONE OF US NOW, WE’LL PROTECT THEM!!”

The fleshy skeleton looks between the two of them in blatant confusion. They then make those weird noises of their language again, and this time Blue successfully recognizes the name they’d given Papyrus.

“HEY PAPYRUS I THINK THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT YOU!” The taller skeleton looked at the fleshy one in confusion to which their brows shot up in surprise.

Blue giggled at their expression. “I THINK I'M STARTING TO UNDERSTAND SOME OF WHAT THEY SAY!!” Stretch opens an eye socket to look at his brother “oh yeah? well that’s good… you can teach em to not smack an alpha in the face…..”

Sans snorted at that. “I still think they’re alpha themselves. Smell too strong to be a Beta.”

“WE SHOULDN'T ASSUME THEIR STATUS IMMEDIATELY SANS!!” Papyrus disagrees.

“ m’ just sayin Paps”

“HEY PAPYRUS COME FEEL HOW WARM THEY ARE!” Blue says from his spot curled next to the fleshed skeleton.

Papyrus slips under the fuzzy cover and lets out a pleased sigh at the soft heat. “BROTHER COME HERE!” Sans sighs affectionately and follows after his brother, his bonebrows raising in surprise.

“woah.. it’s like a sun rock-“ Stretch perks up at that and pushes his way into the cuddle pile next to his brother. “this is nice..” Blue scowls at his brother trapping him between himself and the new pack member.

The cover is spread thin until the fleshy skeleton grabs Blue and hefts him onto their lap, getting a high pitched yelp out of him. Stretch lets out a tired growl in warning but stops when the strange creature makes no threatening moves.

His brother moves closer to sniff at them curiously. “i think sams might be right about em bein an alpha.” Sans gives his brother a ‘I told you so’ look.

Stretch presses his nasal cavity into their side only to pull back in mild surprise. “Ey, Blue… do you feel that?”

Blue looks up from where he’d buried himself face first into his comfy friends chest. “Feel what?” His brother points at their side. “they’ve got ribs in there.”

“Of course I know that! That’s why I called them a fleshy skeleton!!”

Sans opens one of his own eye sockets from where he’s laid over his brother's rib cage like a baby bones “so their like some of our prey and have a skeleton under all that fleshy stuff?”

Blues shrugs “I’m not too sure!”

Stretch pulls one of the fleshy skeletons arms out from beneath the covers and pokes at it curiously. They eye his brother cautiously but let him continue inspecting them.

Sans props his skull up on an arm “do ya think they like some evolved version of us?” All four skeletons looked at each other.

“nah.” Stretch decides while wrapping a hand around the creature’s own. He presses down and feels with his phalanges, indeed confirming that there were bones all throughout the fleshy muscle.

The creature pulls against him half heartedly, but the alpha was too enraptured with their strange anatomy to notice.

Stretch POV

It was so weird, the ‘flesh skeleton’ was exactly what Blue had said, a skeleton covered in muscle and flesh. So similar to them, but so different all the same.

He faintly remembers his first encounter with a skeleton inside another creature back when he was a babybones and Blue had been stuck inside the den with him for days because he had been too scared to leave. Too paranoid that he’d be eaten by a ‘flesh monster’ until their father had explained that it was a natural thing for creatures not made of magic.

But to see a creature so similar to them, but made of organic material instead of magic?

It was fascinating.

Usually he wouldn’t take so much interest in something, but maybe it came from all the philosophy he’d been subjected to at the hands of his uncle, who was Papyrus’ and Sans’ father. (Their father had once explained that they weren’t actually related, despite looking so similar, but actually the same entity. None of them had understood so the two were forced to drop it.)

The feeling of bones under flesh and muscle was such a strange feeling. He could even feel the pulse against his phalanges.

This close, the scent of the flesh skeleton was far stronger… and more potent. They were an alpha. No doubt about it, their scent had the same sharpness that his and the other alpha’s had. If a bit muted by... something else.

Coupled with his intense fascination, and the now added addition of his instincts feeling off put by another alpha around his pack, and the sight of his older brother cuddled against them like a babybones…

he added a bit too much pressure and-

SNAP

***

Pain.

SHITSHITSHITHSHIT FUCK FUCK HOLY FUCKING SHIT-

Your wrist hurts.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WHAT FUCKFUCKFUCK OW

You were drifting off to the sound of rain, had Honey added a bit too much pressure?

GODDAMNIT WHAT THE FUCK DID HE DO IT HURTS SO MUCH IT HURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS

There was the sound of something loud thumping around the inside of your skull but all you could feel…

Was pain.

…

…….

…………….

As if someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water on you, you snap out of your haze and become aware that the loud noise is actually you.

You never knew humans could be capable of such a gut chilling sound.

Your wrist is not only bent down, but you actually see a sliver of bone poking out at you. It’s quickly turning purple and blood rolls down in red rivets.

Holy shit.

You pull away from the skeletal hands around you and take off out of the cave, and when something tries to pull you back… you punch them in the face and earn a loud crack for your efforts and take off again.

Too much. There’s too much going on.

It hurts, it hurts, the rain immediately soaks you to the bone (hah)

Keep running, you think to yourself. You can’t stop. If you stop they might hurt you again.

A part of you doubts Blue would hurt you, that it was just the alpha skeleton treating you as a threat, but you can’t think clearly and you’re already running. The sound of the river greets you through the rain, followed by a clap of thunder and lightning that illuminates the rushing water that’s risen past its bank.

You skid to a stop on an outcrop and turn around.

The skeletons followed you, and have cornered you.

Anything they’re saying is lost under the roar of the river and the adrenaline pumping in your veins.

Blue takes a cautious step towards you and then another, approaching you like one would an injured animal, which you technically are.

But then Honey moves forward and you take a step back out of instinct but there’s no ground and suddenly you’re falling, but only for a second before the water sweeps you away.

You’re tossed around like a rag doll, slamming into the rocks before being tossed up and then back down over and over.

Drowning. Your lungs burn.

A skeletal hand grabs the back of your jacket and yanks you up.

***

Papyrus POV

Papyrus had just been drifting off when the worst noise he’d ever heard startled him awake.

The flesh skeleton was screaming, louder than the rain and thunder, and louder than any unfortunate prey that Papyrus had listened to moments before they died.

It sounded like something straight from his worst nightmares.

And then there was the smell of blood.

The fleshy skeleton’s hand was bent at an odd angle and crimson ran in streams down their arm.

Stretch was froze in shock, eye sockets dark as his brother frantically started using his healing magic, but was shoved away as they made a dash for the exit.

Sans was the first one up, already teleporting just behind them and grabbing at them. The flesh skeleton reeled their good hand back and brought it down on his brother's skull. A bright -0.5 flashed in his vision as Sans was sent to the floor while his assailant ran out into the storm.

Blue took off after them immediately.

“BROTHER!” Papyrus shouted worriedly, waving his hands around his brother, but Sans waved him off “we gotta.. hrk! go after them!” He nodded and swept his brother into his arms and took off after Blue.

With cold dread Papyrus realized the flesh skeleton was running right for the river.

They ended up cornering their injured pack mate, who looked like a startled Snapfang, terrifying yet ready to flee at the slightest sign of danger.

“FRIEND! PLEASE COME BACK, I- I CAN HEAL YOU!” Blue’s screams were drowned by the roaring rapids and Papyrus carefully set his brother onto his feet. “k-keep em away f-from the edge!” Sans grunted, phalanges pressed against the injured part of his skull.

Stretch steps forward “listen- I’m sorry!” The flesh skeleton takes a scared step back and disappears into the river.

Blue screams and lunges forward, his brother's frantic grab as his collarbone is the only thing stopping him from diving head first after his friend. “NO!!”

Sans stumbles forward, ghostly blue coming from his eye as he reaches out with his magic. Papyrus catches him as he falls forward with a grunt.

“HEY-! HEY!!!” Blue is screaming again but this time at something else.

Papyrus has to squint to see what it is through the rain but eventually he can make out what it is. A short distant down the river, the fleshy skeleton is being pulled out of the water by… Mutt.

Oh shit.

“HEY!” Both brothers jump at Stretch’s angry yell. “GIVE THEM BACK-“ Mutt disappears with a puff of magic, taking their pack mate with him.

***

Chapter Text

Mutt POV

It had been a regular day until Red teleported back into the den, all huffed up about Stretch’s pack having a ‘new member’. Edge and Blackberry didn’t pay him much mind until he started describing the strange new creature as some sort’ve skin covered skeleton.

And then, of course, BlackBerry ordered Mutt to investigate.

Sneaking into another pack’s territory was practically asking for a death wish, so Mutt stuck by the river where Red had said he saw them.

But nothing happened for a long while so he decided a little nap wouldn’t hurt anybody, so long as BlackBerry never found out.

Which leads to his current situation of being startled awake by a loud crack of thunder as the sky above split open and torrents of rain beat down on the canopy.

“Hrk!” He yelps as the first drops of cold water seep through his jacket. “Damnit…” well, might as well teleport back-

Mutt stops, a foreign feeling in his soul telling him to stay and watch. He obeys, if reluctantly, and settles back against the tree with his hood pulled up over his skull.

He waits for what feels like hours before the first sign of something appears through the forest on the other bank of the river. Their appearance is masked by the curtain of rain but he watches with baited interest as the entire east pack barges out of their forest.

Wait… if the four of them are there then that must mean the other one is the stranger Red was talking about!

Clearly he’s missed something as when Stretch steps forward the other one moves back, falling into the raging river.

…

Mutt remembers a situation very similar to this, years ago when he was still a babybones and his father was still… alive.

He and BlackBerry had been playing too close to the river's edge when his brother had… fallen in. Neither could swim at the time, not like they could now but they were lucky that Red and Edge’s father was nearby and fished him out of the water.

Blackberry would have nightmares about drowning for weeks to come, and no matter how much he tried to hide how much they scared him, Mutt knew. He always knew.

Maybe that’s why he teleported to the rivers bank and grabbed them out of the water. At least, that’s what he told himself.

They were heavy but not enough to stop him from swooping them into his arms and teleporting when Stretch had started yelling over the sound of the storm.

Red was startled from his nap by the sudden buzz of magic and sound of water hitting the burrow’s floor in globs.

“What th’ he-“ the shorter skeleton cut himself off when he noticed the creature in his arms.

Mutt stared down at them. They were exactly like how Red had described, the same physical structure as them but covered in flesh. And hair, in some spots. Most of it was hidden under various layers of clothes.

It was… really nice to look at them. Soothing, almost. But their expression was pinched in pain, even unconscious.

The unmistakable stomping of his brothers clawed feet against the dirt brought him out of his thoughts. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS…” he stared down at the strange creature then back at his brother “EXPLAIN.”

“Was watchin’ em like you said too but they got chased out by Stretch and ‘is bunch and fell in da river.” Blackberry put a phalange to his chin in thought at his brother explanation.

“WHAT IS THAT?” Edge asked as he emerged from the darkness behind BlackBerry. “IS THIS THE CREATURE YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT BEFORE?” Red nodded at his brother's question.

“PERHAPS THEY TRIED TO CHALLENGE STRETCH FOR HIS POSITION?” BlackBerry pondered out loud.

Despite Stretch’s lazy nature and habit of leaving things to Sans, the skeleton was not weak by any means. After all, if he was, then they would’ve overrun his territory ages ago.

“ARE THEY INJURED?” Edge questioned and Mutt shrugged before laying them down on the ground. He noticed that they were shaking from the cold and began to remove the extra layers that were soaked before his brother smacked his hand away. “DO NOT UNDRESS THE STRANGE CREATURE WITHOUT CAUTION YOU IDIOT!”

Mutt backed away and let his brother inspect the strange thing. BlackBerry inspected them carefully until something on their arm caught his attention. He lifted it up and poked at whatever it was.

His actions earned a pained whimper from it.

“THERE IS BONE STICKING OUT OF ITS WRIST.” Blackberry said calmly, despite how bad that statement was.

Mutt’s pack was mostly carnivorous, considering the desire to constantly fight things and that they couldn’t just turn on each other. Because of this, they were pretty aware of how their prey’s anatomy worked.

All the non-magical creatures on the island had skeletons encased with flesh and muscle, and squishy pulsating organs. And having that skeleton outside of all that, usually meant a quick death.

A soft green light bloomed around BlackBerry’s hand and slowly circled the injury.

With how often his pack mates went at each other’s throats, Blackberry had been the first to cave and begin practicing his healing magic, which he was surprisingly good at.

When the creature's skin had stitched itself back together his brother stepped back with a huff. “THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT BY WATCHING THEM, MUTT!!”

“what are we suppose’ to do wit’ em?” Red asked from where’d moved to sit cross legged on the ground.

“we could hold em against Stretch-“ Edge cuts Mutt off “WEREN’T THEY CHASED OUT?” Mutt shrugs “none of em seemed happy about me grabbing em…”

Edge looked down at the strange creature “I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD WAIT FOR IT TO WAKE UP.” Blackberry nodded his agreement “WATCH OVER IT MUTT, ALERT ME WHEN IT WAKES.”

The two alpha’s retreat back into the darkness, leaving Mutt alone with Red who gave him a grin before slinking off after the others, presumably to nap while his pack mate is forced to stand guard.

Ugh. Sometimes Mutt hated being at the bottom of the pack structure. He wasn’t an Omega, no, but he was a submissive Gamma, placing him below Egde and his brother who were alpha’s, and Red who was a Beta.

Wait… what is the new creature? Mutt was unable to tell because of the overwhelming smell of rain water but as he leant closer, practically pressing his nasal cavity into their skin, he could smell the faint scent of an Alpha.

He pulled back and stared down at them. The pained expression was gone, replaced with a soft scowl, probably from the cold.

There was an Alpha prone and helpless at his feet, and that thought filled him with a sense of power and.. something else.

He really, really, liked looking at them. Skin dotted with rain drops and hair stuck to their forehead….

Mutt pulled away before his less than appreciated thoughts could appear.

***

The first thing you feel is cool dirt under your exposed arms and legs. The pouring rain is muted to a dull roar.

Despite this, you are oddly warm. There are pulses of warmth spreading from your wrist to the rest of your body.

Wait… your wrist?

You shoot up and wince at the headache that hits you but ignore it in favor of inspecting your injury. The skin is black and swelled but there is no longer blood or protruding bone.

Where are you though? Last you checked you had fallen into the river when running away from the skeleton pack, and this certainly wasn’t their place, considering it was dark and damp unlike their warm rock.

You look around, there’s a skeleton crouched not too far away from you. He could’ve been mistaken for Poppy or Honey if it wasn’t for the black coat with fluffy lining on the collar, along with a sharp gold tooth. It looked at you through lidded eyelids (?) and blinked tiredly.

“Hi.” Your throat is scratchy and dry. Wonder how long you’ve been asleep?

Your stomach rumbles loudly and startled the skeleton from their doze. He looks at you in slight annoyance before retreating farther into the darkness of the… uhm, dirt den?

It’s more of a burrow, you think as you look around. There’s a large opening that leads outside into the storm and then the opposite direction leads deeper in where the faint light can’t reach.

The sound of shuffling greets as the skeleton from before returns with… a dead rat in his jaw. It’s dropped into your lap and you freeze.

You stare down at the dead animal and then back up at the skeleton who looks at you expectantly.

“I am not putting that in my mouth.”

The skeleton makes a few short chirping noises before going back into the dark part of the burrow.

You pick the rat up by its tail and set it away from you.

You mentally name the skeleton Rat.

Rat returns after a few minutes, but another, lighter, pair of footsteps follow shortly behind. It’s yet another skeleton, this one being of similar proportions to Blue and Birdy, along with Crimson- who emerged behind the other two with his head furrowed into the fluff of his jacket.

The unnamed skeleton strides up to you with confidence, allowing you to take in its features. Slightly sharper edges than Crimson and deep red eyelights that match its scarf (it looks like a red version of Blue’s scarf..) and two cracks jutting up and down from an eye socket.

It says something in that strange bird language of theirs to which you just stare at them.

“Dude. Language barrier.”

The skeletons look at each other then back at you. Rat makes a grumbled noise before retreating back into the darkness.

The one with a red moves to inspect your hand which you jerk back out of instinctual fear. It pauses, skeletal hands still raised, waits, and then slowly reaches for it again.

Crimson gives you a thumbs up over his shoulder.

Wait- they know what a thumbs up is?? What the hell??

Distracted by the strangely familiar gesture, the skeleton before you lightly grasps your wrist between its phalanges. You freeze, but allow it to inspect the injury.

After a minute of tension the skeleton lets your arm drop back to your side and turns to Crimson. It barks something, like literally barks, and Crimson disappears in a poof of red, leaving you staring at the spot where he was just moments before with wide eyes.

Did… did he just disappear?? Where did he go???? You look around, expecting to see the skeleton climbing upside down on the ceiling. You don’t find him nearby and turn back to the still unnamed one before you.

It looks between the rat on the floor and yourself before mumbling something. A sharp, scratchy, growl makes you snap your head to the side.

You crane your neck, still sitting on the floor, looking up at the new skeleton emerging from the darkness.

It looks like an even sharper featured Rat, without the golden tooth, and instead red eyelights that stare down at you with contempt. It’s taller than any of the skeletons you’d encountered thus far, although that could be because of the rusty red high heeled boots it’s wearing.

That wasn’t even an article of clothing!! What was with these creatures and being half naked all the time??? Does it even count as being naked if they don’t have skin?

After a few more seconds of the two talking in their own language they stare down at you before talking again.

That’s… ominous and slightly worrying.

Wonder if you could just… leave?? You cast a look at the torrents of rain coming down outside and then at your clothes that would definitely not protect you in the slightest. Not to mention, you didn’t exactly feel like going back to the other skeleton pack… not after what Honey did.

You miss Blue though, despite knowing him for only a short amount of time. He had been your first companion since the wreck and you’d be lying if you said there wasn’t a part of you that clung to the semi familiar interaction you had with him.

Despite being feral, magical skeletons, they were all sentient and cohesive creatures. You could roughly communicate with examples, such as when you told Poppy you were hungry by mimicking the movements of eating.

Wonder if you could do the same with these guys??

Your back hurts so you push yourself off the ground, the vertebrae in your spine popping as you stretch.

The two skeletons light up like red Christmas lights, staring at you as if you’d suddenly stripped naked.

Hm. Weird.

There’s an audible zap before Crimson reappears at your side, nearly giving you a heart attack. A familiar red fruit is held in his phalanges.

Is that what you think it is??

You take it from him and inspect it carefully before taking a bite. Holy shit, this is an apple. And! It’s delicious!!!

Crimson makes a chuckling noise as he watches you devour the apple like it’s your last meal. Which, with how the tallest skeleton is looking at you, it might be.

The half eaten apple is smacked from your hand and you look at it, heartbroken.

Mister-high-heels says something that you can’t understand, but the tone used is condescending, like one would use to scold a child.

“Bitch I am not taking shit from a guy wearing nothing but heels!” You gesture to his shoes and then the rest of his skeletal body.

They look between each other with unreadable expressions. Eugh…. How annoying.

Deep breathes, Y/N.

Rat returns, once again, dripping wet with rain. He mumbles something to the red scarfed skeleton who scowls at whatever is being said.

The rain outside is no longer torrential but still enough to obscure the view outside of the den.

A skeletal hand is placed on your shoulder, it’s the high heels guy, and he's staring down at you with a glare. He leans closer and you lean back, only to find Rat has suddenly moved behind you and is now half heartedly pushing you forward.

High-heels sniffs your collar bone to which you raise a hand between his skull and your skin. “Sir, personal space.”

Something wet trails up the back of your neck. Craning your head you catch Rat with an orange tongue lolling from his jaw. You elbow him in the ribs, earning what sounds like laughter from the other three skeletons.

Despite having been unconscious for an undetermined amount of time, you find yourself blinking back the tiredness from your eyes.

Your new companions seem to notice and the red scarfed skeleton beckons you to follow them into the darkness. “Absolutely not.” You say while shaking your head ‘no’. Any blind trust you’d had for these creatures was stomped half dead by what Honey did to your arm.

You’re still confused on how it’s healed so quickly. There definitely wasn’t a doctor on the island, so it’s not like you got surgery.

Reds POV

He looked between his brother and the flesh skeleton as they debated what to do with it. There were many options apparently, not that he was paying much attention.

Instead, he let his eyelights roll over the creature's body. Very skeletal shape, but with flesh, eyes, and hair.

They really seemed to enjoy the apple he gave them, and Red wonders when the last time they ate was. The rat Mutt had offered was denied so it was possible they were a herbivore?

He couldn’t help a spike of uncomfortableness in his soul when his brother sniffed them so closely, and even more when Mutt literally licked them. Such things were normal in the everyday life of a pack, less so in theirs considering they avoided each other pretty often, but this flesh skeleton was clearly different from them in more than just body.

The strange, raw, rumbling sounds it made alluded to it having its own language. They also wore clothes over their entire body (Blackberry had pointed that out, displeased at how unconventional that would be for hunting or… othering things)

Yes, Crimson would admit he shared the same ‘interest’ with the others about this fleshy thing.

But the Alpha’s seemed more interested in the possibility of the creature being able to carry pups, and also take care of the den instead of himself or Mutt.

He didn’t know how Mutt felt, but with the way he’d stared down at it when holding its soaking wet body between his arms, Red knew it wasn’t his usual disinterest.

And as for himself….

His eyelights follow them as they stretch and take a seat against the wall. Following the wave the hair on its head moves, how easily their expression twists and turns, and how soft the exposed skin looks.

They don’t react much when he sidles next to them other than a curious once over.

“WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THEM? THEY CLEARLY CANNOT UNDERSTAND US!” Edge said in exasperation.

“YET. WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND THEM, YET.” Blackberry quips. His brother hovers behind him “what do ya mean, m’lord?”

The alpha shushes his brother before starting his loud tirade “THE FLESHY CREATURE’S LANGUAGE APPEARS TO USE SIMILAR THINGS TO OUR. VOWELS AND SEPARATE SENTENCES FOR EXAMPLE. THE WAY THEY PRONOUNCICATE IS MUCH HARSHER THAN OURS, ITS POSSIBLE WE MAY BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THEM BY COMPARING WORDS.”

Red blinks and looks at the flesh skeleton who, despite BlackBerry’s loud voice, has managed to doze off. He lightly tugs them until their head is rested atop his collar bone.

“SO YOU’RE IMPLYING WE LEARN THEIR TONGUE INSTEAD OF TEACHING THEM OURS?” Edge asked incredulously. “why we gotta learn at all?” Mutt grumbled to himself.

“BECAUSE IF WE WISH TO IMPREGNATE THEM, WE MUST FIRST ASSERT DOMINANCE AND THEN COURT THEM PROPERLY!” His brother chided.

“uh, hate to break it to ya but yer plans how some flaws.” The three turned to him, eyelights flicking to the creature leaned against him. They burrowed their face into the fluff of his parka and snuggled into his side.

A light blush dusted his skull as he continued “I mean, w-we don’t even know if it can carry pups.” Edge nodded in agreement “WE DO NOT YET KNOW THE CREATURES BIOLOGY! NOR DO WE KNOW ITS STATUS.”

“ya not get a good enough wiff when ya sniffed em?” Mutt teased and the other skeleton scoffed despite the soft blush on his bones “IT WAS A BIT DIFFICULT WITH THOSE OTHER SKELETON’S STENCH ON THEM.”

Hmmm… Red turned his skull and buried his nasal cavity against the creature's scalp.

The strong, musky, scent of an Alpha hit him in the face like a truck.

“boss…” his brother gave him a nod to continue “c’mere and smell th’ top.” Edge strode over and bent to sniff where his elder brother was pointing.

The skeletons' sockets widened. “THEY’RE AN ALPHA!!” The loud yelling disturbed the fleshy’s sleep as it groaned loudly in protest, pressing even closer against Red. And oh boy, was he struggling to keep his hands shoved into his pockets.

“HMMM… IT’S NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR AN ALPHA TO CARRY, BUT IT WOULD BE SAFER OF THE BETA AND GAMMA DID SO.” Blackberry noted while gesturing to Red and Mutt respectively, both of whom were shocked by the comment.

Mutt was a bright orange as he scratched at the side of his skull and kicked his feet around nervously. “i ain't sure bout that m’lord….”

Red stared off into space with darkened sockets and a dark red blush.

Him? Carry pups??

He snuck a look at the creature as it snuggled against him. So far they’d acted more like an Omega or submissive Gamma, but they were an alpha…

Red wasn't opposed to courting them, but mating?? He would prefer to see if they could actually provide for him under such terms. That, and he’d like to know them just a bit better, so courting first.

“OF COURSE, SINCE WE ARE ALPHA’S, WE HAVE THE FIRST COURTING RIGHTS.” He was startled from his wandering thoughts by his brother's off handed comment.

Were Blackberry and Edge… actually interested in courting?? What?????

“maybe we should ah… get to know em a bit first?” Mutt asked the two quitely. Edge nodded his agreement.

Red was so confused.

Chapter Text

Blues POV

Stretch paced back and forth beneath a outcropping of their den, to and fro as his three pack mates watched.

Papyrus had busied himself healing his brother the moment they arrived, but Sans still had a noticeable crack coming up from his socket, a permanent scar.

The magic blue tears had dried, leaving Blue with only simmering rage as he watched his brother pace.

Each of them was still soaking wet, and the sound of shaking bones filled whatever space was left under the sound of roaring rain and thunder. He missed the fleshy skeleton and their warmth.

The jacket they’d gifted him was clutched tightly between his phalanges.

They had been so nice to him, accepting him as a companion the moment they met as if it had been destiny. As if there was some understanding there that passed through their status and language barrier.

Back on the beach, it did not matter that they were an Alpha and he was a Gamma. They simply existed, side by side.

Blue couldn’t tell if he was shaking from cold or anger.

He was angry at both himself and Stretch. Stretch had hurt them just minutes after they began to show trust, they lost one of their pack mates to the fells.

But Blue found himself cursing his inability to see the fleshy skeleton’s side of things.

They were a packless Alpha, no friends, no family, they were alone. Of course they were going to be untrusting and wary…

But he’d been too blind to see that.

There was still a way to fix this though, but it wouldn’t be easy.

Stretch had stopped his pacing at some point and instead moved to stare off through the thin layer of rain. Papyrus sat on his haunches beside his sleeping brother, vigilant and alert.

Blue inched closer towards the opening to his left, eyelights trained on his brother's back.

Papyrus’ skull snapped around, like he sensed his packmate’s sneaking, but his expression softened in understanding. The skeleton pointedly turned away. He was letting Blue leave without telling Stretch??

Blue owed him big time after this, he thought while continuously sneaking back until he was far enough that his hurried running wouldn’t be heard by his brother.

The trees passed in a blur as the jolting of colliding with the ground sent shots of pain up his bones. The ground got softer, still moist with rain, as he ran until he neared the edge of the river.

This would be the hard part. There was a land bridge down river but it would take too long to even get there, his best chance was going straight across.

It was times like these that Blue wished he inherited the teleportation ability like some of his cousins.

He takes multiple steps back, he gets a running start before pushing himself off the river bank. The rushing river passes beneath him in a blur and he lands just before the other side of the bank.

He digs his phalanges into the soft mud of the bank and scrambles when he continues to slip further into the river. He kicks his legs against the ground, gaining more and more traction until the pull abates into nothing.

If he wasn’t soaked before he sure as hell is now…

Blue scurries away from the river and deeper into Fell territory and worms his way under the roots of a large tree. A raccoon bolts from the shadows of his new hidey hole.

If he wants any chance of finding his friend he has to wait out the storm.

Blue curled himself into a ball to wait out the storm, the shaking of his bones loud enough to overpower the sound of thunder.

***

When you wake up it’s slow and agonizing, every muscle as stiff as a rod. That’s what you get for sleeping on a dirt floor…

When you finally blink your eyes open all you can see is darkness. You turn your head this way and that but nothing changes.

Are you… dead??

Two red lights grow into the darkness above you. Those are eyes. Is that a demon??

A skeletal hand grabs you, pulling you to your feet and farther into the dark.

You really are dead, huh..?

A light appears at the end of the tunnel.

This must be the grim reaper then, escorting you to whatever awaits. You look the reaper over curiously.

…. since when did the grim reaper wear red high heeled boots??

Oh you remember now! This wasn’t the grim reaper it was… well you still haven’t given this skeleton a name yet, but you suppose Grim could work?

Grim leads you to the entrance of their den, the place where you woke up before. The other three skeletons are already mulling about, Crimson and Rat have copious amounts of leaves in their arms and Mister-Bossy-McGee barks orders at them.

You’re starting to understand the hierarchy now. Grim and Mr. Boss-Man on top with the other two at the bottom.

Grim seats you on a flat rock before moving to stand just out of your field of vision. His expression is cold and unmoving whenever you crane around to see what he’s doing.

Crimson and Rat approach you, offering the leaves in your direction.

The bossy skeleton looks at you expectantly. Confused, you pick up some of the leaves and inspect them.

They just look like regular leaves to you.

All four skeletons stare at you liek they’re waiting on something.

“Uhm.. yes, these are very… nice leaves??” It sounds more like a question as you rub a stem between your fingers.

You’re going to call the bossy one Boss. Boss sighs and barks an order to the other two, who then slink away into the darkness with their leaves.

Grim guides you to the mouth of the den, which only then you realize the sound of rain has disappeared. Indeed the storm has gone as quick as it came, leaving a blue sky and damp air.

Boss follows after you, so that the two skeletons are standing to either side of you like bodyguards. The taller of the two makes a quiet noise that you imagine is a mutter under his breath.

Boss says something back and the two of them quickly descend into the loud shouting (it sounds like barking) they were doing earlier.

You step back and allow the two skeletons to snarl freely at each other while you observe from the sidelines.

Something tingles in the back of your brain, a feeling you’ve come to realize means you’re being watched, and spin around just in time to catch Blue sneaking on all fours before deciding to just bull charge you.

“Hey-!” Skeletal phalanges trap your wrist and start pulling. For such a small, cuddly creature, Blue sure has one hell of a grip.

His strength isn’t enough to cause you to more than stumble though.

“Blue?! What’re you doing here!?” Your shout alerts the other two skeletons who both whip around in alarm.

An array of bones rises up between you and Blue, and he lets go allowing you to pull back to avoid being impaled.

You stare down in a mix of horror and amazement because, holy shit, bones just shot out of the ground.

Blue jumps back, narrowly avoiding getting speared as more bones jut up around him like spikes.

Grim grabs you by the shoulder and pulls you so that your back is flush against his pelvis. Boss steps in front of you, a circle of glowing red bones floating around his hand.

He shoves his hand forward and the bones follow, sending them flying at Blue who barely manages to duck out of the way.

“Hey-! Dont fucking shoot at him!” You yell in agitation. How dare they try to kill Blue!? He hadn’t even done anything!

The grip on your shoulder tightens as Grim pulls you back towards the den. You stop on his heeled foot, earning a hiss and the loosening of phalanges digging into you. You shove the hand away and run forward, past Boss, to where Blue is just managing to duck and dodge his way to safety.

Boss’s attacks stop the moment you’ve joined the fray, standing between the two skeletons with a sneer.

“Can you fucking stop?!” Despite the language barrier, Grim and Boss both seem to understand the message of ‘stop fighting’.

You look over at Blue with a worried expression. He’s clearly exhausted, panting heavily with globs of cyan sweat rolling down his skull, but seems unharmed overall.

That’s a relief. You sigh and allow the tension to leave your shoulders before you remember where you are and whirl on the other two skeletons. “What was that about!?” You gesture to Blue and then to them with a confused scowl.

Grim as the audacity to look annoyed with you while Boss at least looks slightly embarrassed at the turn of events.

Another sigh leaves you “god… so annoying. I can’t even understand you and you’re still annoying!” Boss’s sockets narrow as his friend twitches. He makes garbled noises that sound vaguely familiar.

“What??” He repeats the noise, taking time between each collection of syllables. “Are you.. are you trying to speak?” You question and he nods.

Wait.

Wait a fucking second-!

Your jaw hits the floor as you point at Boss with wide eyes “You can understand me!?” It takes him a few seconds to nod, probably piecing together what you said in his head.

How… how could he learn so quickly?!

Grim looks at the other skeleton with approval. Boss attempts to talk again but the letters get caught in his throat and come out raspy and misshapen.

It sounds like someone trying to talk with a cheese grater lodged in their throat.

You take an unconscious step forward, still reeling that this skeleton can understand you.

“Y/N?” You nearly break your neck with how fast you turn to look at Blue.

The skeleton is still crouched down on all fours, his eyelights staring up at you as he repeats your name with more confidence this time “Y/N!!”

Your face splits with how wide you smile “Yes!! Yes I’m Y/N!! That’s my name!” Blue grins back at you just as brightly.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N!!!” The skeleton chirps as he bounces on his feet with excitement.

BlackBerry’s POV

His father had spoken a language similar to the fleshy skeleton’s once, so it was only natural he was the first to understand them.

Using context, voice, and what few syllables he recognized, Boss managed to piece what they were saying together.

They looked so shocked and he felt a surge of pride that he was the one to do that. And then Blueberry had to fucking say some bullshit and they completely forgot about BlackBerry.

The fleshy skeleton had their back turned to him and he wanted so badly to know what expression they were making to have Blueberry smiling like a giddy babybones.

Was the skinned skeleton.. smiling?? Why couldn’t he see that too???

He understood them!! He just… everytime he tried to form those words the syllables seemed to choke him up with how rough yet smooth they were.

It wasn’t fair.

***

Grim’s loud voice breaks you out of your little joy fest with Blue, and you turn back to the other skeletons.

Boss somehow looks dejected, his scowl flat where as it’s usually filled with annoyance or anger (you’ve only known him for a day and you already know that??? Creepy!)

“Hey you!” You direct at Boss who’s skull jerks up. “You understand me?” A pause before he nods. As you thought, it takes him a while to calculate what you’re saying. It’d be best to speak in short sentences for now.

“I’m Y/N.” He nods.

“You’re Boss.” You point to him and his sockets narrow in concentration.

Blue whines and nudges you pointedly. “Hmm?? What is it Blue??” The small skeleton lets out a gurgled noise and points back the way he came.

It takes a moment for it to click that he’s probably trying to take you back to his pack.

Grim grows threateningly, picking up on the message, and hovers over your shoulder dangerously. Boss just stands there, menacingly.

You have to give Blue credit for not running with a metaphorical tail tucked between his legs. In fact he barely trembles under the harsh glares.

“Knock it off.” You swipe at the closest skeleton, which happens to be Boss who gets a light smack because he’s so short.

The air buzzes with magic and then two poofs sound beside you.

Rat stands just behind Boss, poker faced, while Crimson stands beside you with a snarl.

More drama queens, how fantastic.

Blue’s bones audibly rattle but he doesn’t move an inch despite the globs of sweat running down his skull.

….. is he really doing all this for you??

You can’t help but feel a little flattered and reach out to pet the adorable skeleton, only to find a different set of phalanges clamp down on your wrist.

Your eyes slowly trail to Grim who reaches over your shoulder to grab you. Crimson has also moved so that part of his body is blocking yours.

Four skeletons all pressed up against you, one holding your wrist.

Last time this happened you ended up nearly drowning.

Grim doesn’t get time to react before his heeled foot gets fucking crushed under yours (again), his grip going slack in surprise. It takes zero effort to shove past Crimson and move to stand with Blue.

He looks up at you with a goofy smile and rubs against you like a lovesick puppy.

“Y/N!” He chirps. You return the grin. It feels nice to hear familiar words after everythings gone to hell.

Mutt’s POV

He and Red had been fixing a larger nest in the den for their new pack mate, using the softest leaves they could find, as instructed by BlackBerry.

Mutt was very tempted to lay down and go to sleep, but the feeling of his brother's magic spiking alerted the two of them that something was wrong. They teleported on instinct so of course Mutt was behind his brother.

He covered his back against attackers.

Now imagine his surprise that the runt gamma of the east pack would be there, standing up to them as he usually ran like a coward.

“Wh’ the hell are you doin’ here?!” Red snarled. Blueberry flinched and the fleshy skeleton lightly smacked the offending skeleton on the skull.

“I’m here for my Alpha.” Blueberry proclaimed, puffing up.

That was actually more than just a regular statement.

If Blueberry was calling the fleshy thing his Alpha, his chosen protector and leader, that meant he was disowning Stretch….

“you… left your pack?” Edge asks quietly. Leaving a pack is more than just taboo, it’s a death sentence. Blueberry was willing to die if it meant remaining by his new alphas side.

Mutt couldn’t decide if he respected Blueberry’s courage or was annoyed by how easily he left his family behind. It was something he could never do.

“I did. My Alpha is strong, I know they’ll protect me.” The intruding skeleton hums while rubbing against the fleshy appendage on his skull. The skinned skeleton smiles softly at him.

Mutt mentally takes note that they respond better to submissive and less hostile personalities. Not exactly a good fit for his pack…

But he can make due.

“WELL YOUR ALPHA IS OURS.” Mutt looks at his brother in mild surprise. He was already claiming them part of the pack?? That was quick…

But Mutt supports his brother “yeah they’re ours.”

Blueberry looks the four of them over, almost judgingly.

“SO UNLESS-“ BlackBerry doesn’t even get to finish before he’s interrupted “Then I guess I’m yours too.”

Mutt swears his soul fucking froze.

Sans POV

Stretch was losing his mind, and it only got worse when he found out Blueberry had left the cave.

Sans mentally scolded himself for being asleep and unable to do anything.

The Alpha paced back and forth like a wild animal, muttering a thousand miles per hour about how he was going to storm into fell territory and take both his brother and the flesh skeleton back.

It was a risky idea, they weren’t weak but the Fell’s were fighters, it came naturally to them. Not to mention they were short a member.

And for the life of him, Sans couldn’t figure out what had possessed Blueberry to just leave like that. Sure, he liked the flesh skeleton, but he’d practically abandoned his family in order to chase them into a death trap.

He tuned back into whatever Stretch was saying.

“Why did he leave?? Why would he leave to go after someone we just met? What’s so great about them? Did I do something wrong..?” The Alpha muttered to himself.

Sans would be lying if he said he wasn’t also doubting his abilities as a member of this pack. If they were so bad to Blueberry that he fell for the first Alpha to show him affection..

“ey’ can you not?” Sans barely held a flinch when Stretch’s skull snapped to look at him. “listen, I don’ know why he ran off but we gotta go get em.”

Papyrus nodded in agreement “WE CANNOT LEAVE OUR TWO PACKMATES DEFENSELESS WITH THE FELLS!!”

Stretch’s expression softened “right.” He turned and trotted out of the cave, the other two following shortly. “sans, how is your injury?”

Ah, Sans almost forgot about that. He unconsciously reaches up to brush a phalange across the minuscule crack jutting from his eye socket. His brother was great with healing magic but even he found trouble with the damage done.

A hit like that wouldn’t have caused that much damage if by anyone else (except the monstrous brothers on the other side of the island) . He theorized the flesh and muscle on the new skeleton was able to act as a cushioned battering ram. They could add more force behind hits without injuring themself.

Even if they weren’t part of the pack, having them as an enemy would be a bad idea.

So Sans followed the Alpha through their territory. Papyrus trailed behind them.

Typically the Omega wouldn’t be allowed so close to the border, much less come with them to fight the Fells, but they would need his healing.

Besides, Papyrus was not a pushover. He was the coolest brother on the island. He could take care of himself.

The river is a difficult challenge since none of them can swim, much less with the waters rapidly rushing.

Stretch could teleport but Papyrus couldn’t and San’s magic was already low. So, the Alpha made two trips across the river, teleporting the two each time. It took less magic to teleport twice with two people than it took once for three.

Sans felt what little magic he had spiked dangerously around his soul, alarmed that he was in enemy territory.

“c’mon. we’ve got a pack to break.” Papyrus and Sans followed behind Stretch.

Chapter Text

While you don’t understand what’s being said, you get the feeling it’s important if the way Crimson’s jaw hits the floor is an indicator.

Blue continuously chirps against Grim’s loud yelling and honestly you’re starting to get a headache.

Also, you’re hungry again.

You feel a rush of embarrassment as your stomach interrupts the skeletons' conversation with a loud grumble. “Ah ha..” you laugh nervously.

Boss barks an order to Rat who poofs away only to reappear a second later with yet another dead animal. This time it's a weird amalgamation of a rabbit and fox, and just looking at it makes you question life.

Your face must betray your emotions as Rat, thankfully, doesn't shove it at you.

Blue chirps something to the gathered monsters and Boss’s eye sockets light up. Suddenly he reaches up, having to stand on his tip-toes, and pulls you down by your shirt. His phalanges pry open your mouth and he inspects it with a critical eye.

Despite the instinctual flinch, you don’t pull away from the skeleton until he sticks his hand into your mouth and you gag.

He pulls away and says something to Rat who nods and teleports off again.

Blue sniffs at your shirt with a pinched expression and only then do you notice the faint blood stains. Ah.

You then remember that all your supplies are either at Honey’s base or stashed under a tree back at the beach. Shit.

Rat reappears once again with a banana in hand, which you accept gratefully.

The skeletons continue their conversation as you snack on the fruit with vigor.

Your eyes catch motion through the trees before anything else, and you would’ve thought it was a regular animal were it not for the flash of neon orange between the leafy greens.

Honey.

Grim hears them first, taking a step in front of you with a deep growl that reverberates through the air, followed by Boss.

Honey takes a step out of the tree line, Poppy and Birdy following close behind.

You notice Birdy had a new scar on his skull that wasn’t there before. The memory of you fleeing through the storm flashes through your mind, and you realize that it was you who did that. You feel a bit guilty, since Birdy had been relatively chill with you despite the distrust.

All three skeletons were standing on their hind legs (Grim’s pack stood like that almost naturally but Honey’s seemed to prefer a crouched stance.)

Blue hides behind you with a whimper and you hold an arm out in front of him.

***

Reds POV

He should’ve figured that Stretch would finally get off his lazy ass just to come bother them.

“HELLO, STRETCH.” Edge said, looking down on the other skeleton even in tone. Blueberry was ducked behind the flesh skeleton like a scared little doe.

“heya…” Stretch’s eyelights were trained on the fleshy skeleton and Red instinctively moved in front of them.

“i think ya have somethin’ o’ mine.” BlackBerry scoffed at the other alpha’s words.

“AND WHAT COULD THAT BE? PERHAPS THE FLESHY SKELETON YOU INJURED?” Red snapped his skull to look at BlackBerry in surprise, and then to the flesh skeleton who simply shrugged at him in confusion.

“BLUEBERRY!” The skeleton jumped as BlackBerry yelled his name “I REQUIRE YOU TO INFORM THE FLESHY OF OUR PREDICAMENT. Mutt, take the two of them into the den.” He whispered the last part and his brother nodded, grabbing both Blueberry and the flesh skeleton before poofing away.

“RED! GUARD THE DEN!” Red nodded at his brother's orders and backtracked so that he blocked the burrow’s entrance.

“You can’t keep my own pack away.” Stretch snarled.

“Like hell we can.” BlackBerry said, summoning a bone sword in his left hand.

***

You look around in startled confusion, once again finding yourself in absolute darkness. The only thing keeping you from freaking out was Blue’s comforting grip around your waist.

During, what you assume was some kind of teleportation, he’d been so startled that he jumped up, wrapping his legs around your waist. You instinctively held him there as the last of the electric buzzing faded from your bones.

He fitted perfectly against you, strangely enough. Blue even started purring!

Rat tapped your shoulder, his left eye a bright orange that casted soft light across the edges of the room and allowed you to make out the surrounding area. It was a dirt room with a few piles of leaves jammed together in what you assume were beds.

You move to sit down but Rat pulls you to a larger one, gently pushing you down on it. It’s quite comfy.

Rat sits behind you with his legs spread out and hands trailing up and down your back. You can feel him breathing down the back of your neck, which is weird because he’s a skeleton so why is he breathing?

Blue nuzzles his face into your neck from where he sits in your lap.

The skeleton’s nuzzle and press against you like needy pets. Rat’s breath is strangely hot and seems to fill you with an uncomfortable heat that has you shifting. Apparently you jostle Blue around too much because he whines into your ear loudly, to which you apologetically stroke the back of his skull.

He leans back into your touch, finally giving your neck some room to breathe as he chases after your hand with a… very unexpected expression. His face is tinted neon blue with a blush (?!) and globs of similar colored magic appear on his skull. His eyelights are fuzzy in his half opened sockets.

Wow. Uhm..?

Rat’s breathing becomes labored as he replaces Blue’s spot in the crook of your neck, inhaling deeply as his grip on your sides tighten.

Blue is still chasing after your hand, leaning far enough that you have to catch him before he falls and in the process you jostle the position of both skeletons.

Blue is now being held up by your arms and his legs wrapped around you, back facing the floor with you hovering over him. Rat’s moved to follow your movements, arms crossed over your chest and his pelvis presses against your backside.

For a moment all his silence until Rat jerks his pelvis against you and MOANS-!?

Blue does the same, rutting up against you and panting heavily at the barest contact.

So there are now two skeletons humping you. You’re not sure whether to feel flattered or annoyed.

You pull Blue up so that he’s flat against your chest and lean back, Rat instantly giving way until his arms encasing you become a problem.

You fall back, sitting atop Rat’s pelvis from where he’d still had his legs spread out, plus Blue wrapped around you like a snake. Something presses against your ass and you nearly snap your neck with how fast you turn around.

Rat is blushing just as heavily as Blue, although his skull is turned away from you in an attempt to preserve his pride. That doesn’t mean his pelvis doesn’t give an involuntary jerk against you.

You shift just a little to see what’s poking you, and low and behold it’s a glowing orange jelly dick.

“Holy shit.” You whisper in awe because MAGIC DICK EXISTS??

You can’t resist poking it out of curiosity, earning a groan from the skeleton beneath you. It’s cold to the touch, but not in an unpleasant way and you find yourself poking it more.

The noises Rat makes are rather.. adorable, you suppose as you poke at the cock below you. You wonder…

You lower yourself back down so that the cock rubs against your ass pleasantly and the skeleton beneath you whines.

Blue nips at your shoulder blade, a pout on his skull that you’re only focused on Rat.

“Aww, is my little Blue upset?” You tease and Blue blushes even brighter. The skeleton leans up and presses his teeth against your mouth, in what you assume is a kiss.

He rocks himself back and forth on your thigh, and you notice a glowing blue mist forming near his pelvis, along with the feeling of something cold seeping through your pants.

And then he opens his mouth and there’s a bright blue tongue dripping drool as he continues to ride your thighs.

With one hand preoccupied being wrapped around Rat’s cock and the other keeping Blue from falling over, you’re left out of hands to help. You do have your own tongue though, even if his is almost twice the size of yours...

You lean forward and take the tongue into your mouth, sucking it gently, and Blue shivers so hard it rocks you back onto Rat’s dick.

Rat, in turn, lets out a muffled scream of sexual frustration.

Red’s POV

He dropped down just in time to avoid a bone to the face as Papyrus threw wave after wave of attacks.

BlackBerry and Edge acted as the main offense, and him as defense, so Papyrus shot attacks around the main fight in an attempt to knock him away from the den’s entrance.

Stretch was fighting for his life against Edge and BlackBerry, Sans only able to provide support since his magic reserves were still low.

This was troublesome, but Red doubted it was anything to worry about.

He jumped away as another curtain of bones shot from the ground.

Seriously, how was Papyrus missing him that much?

Red gets his answer when his back hits bone on his next hop and one of the bones chips his leg.

He hisses in pain and pulls back only to find he’s trapped behind a wall of bones. He quickly teleports out only for the ground to split open with bones.

Red swore loudly as he hopped this way and that in an attempt to escape Papyrus’ onslaught.

He thought the omega was only a healer, not a fucking range fighter!!!

“Gak!” Stretch shrieked as he was supplexed by BlackBerry, teleporting away only to get met with Edge’s heeled foot kicking him in the back.

Edge snarled as a gaster blaster blocked the killing blow from his bone-dagger. The blaster charged, knocking the skeleton over, giving Stretch enough time to scramble onto his feet.

The fighting died to a quiet as everyone stood on a hair pin trigger, waiting for the first person to make a move.

And a high pitched moan came from the den and Red felt his skull light on fire with how much he blushed. Was that Mutt!?

What in the world was going on in there!?

Everyone else looked equally surprised except for Edge who simply pinched his nasal ridge in exasperation.

Sans took their momentary distraction to send BlackBerry flying into a tree after a gaster blaster side slammed him.

Stretch took off for the den only to get football tackled by Edge.

Red was so focused on them he just barely caught the end of Papyrus’ scarf trailing into the darkness.

“Shit!! BOSS!!” He yelled and Edge looked up from where he was pushing the other alpha’s skull into the ground.

“Papyrus got inside!!” Edge cursed loudly and pushed away from Stretch to run after him, but the downed skeleton tripped him with a bone attack.

Shit.

BlackBerry was honest to god fighting Sans's gaster blasters with his bare hands and the other two Alpha’s were tussling it out on the floor, which left Red to go after Papyrus.

Eugh.

He teleported into the den, to the sleeping area which is where he assumed Mutt would’ve gone, and he was right.

Papyrus stood at his side, equally traumatized by the sight before him.

The fleshy skeleton was sitting atop Mutt’s cock, the tall skeleton a blushing mess as he buried his skull into the nest’s leaves. And in their lap was Blueberry, who was in an even more embarrassing state, considering he was drooling and practically ready to foam at the mouth as he dry humped his new alpha’s thigh.

The only one who noticed them yet was the flesh-thing as it waved at them with its one free hand, the other being used to keep Blueberry from falling over in his drunken state of horniness.

And the smell. Oh god, the smell. It was suffocating in here! Red could hardly breathe through the thick stench of heat permeating the air.

The two gamma’s were practically leaking pheromones and Red swore to himself. The new alpha had made them horny, and then their own instincts bounced off each other and they entered an early duo heat.

He cast a worried glance at Papyrus, half expecting the omega to be jerking off to the sight, since he would also be affected by it.

Papyrus's skull was almost completely orange but his hands remained clenched at his sides.

Hm.

Red would give it to him, the guy had more self control than him.

He shouldn’t even really be affected by the pheromones that the alpha was accidentally giving off, but yet his magic began pooling near his pelvis anyway.

Seriously…. how was the fleshy skeleton being so calm while giving off such a thick scent!?

It was intoxicating and all encompassing.

….. Red forgot what he was supposed to be doing.

Chapter Text

You waved at the two skeletons who continued to stare at the three of you with varying expressions. Crimson looked traumatized and Poppy looked… intrigued but seemed to be holding himself back.

Wait…..

Aren’t Rat and Blue from different packs? Wouldn’t it make more sense if they were territorial during sex?

Unless they were omegas? You’re pretty sure the internet taught you this at some point.

Oh.

Oh damn.

You were so caught in your thoughts you barely had time to react when Blue’s tongue started lapping at your collar bone.

Crimson barked something that you could imagine was a threat, receiving a lust filled glare from the blushing skeleton in your lap.

The other stalked forward, snarling as his red eyelight sparked dangerously.

With both hands preoccupied and being held down by Rat, all you can do is glare protectively and pull Blue closer to your body. Blue’s body is oddly warm.

Poppy suddenly steps between you and Crimson’s path of fury. While you can’t see his expression you imagine it’s not pleasant by the way the shorter skeleton begins to sweat.

Rat’s phalanges press deeper into your skin and you hiss, pressing down on his dick with your ass and earning a high pitched whimper in response.

“Y-Y/N!” Blue shouts suddenly as a cyan goo leaks from his glowing pelvis and down your leg.

Did…

Did he just cum on your leg??

You’re conflicted on how to feel about this development when Ray suddenly howls and something cold splashes against your rear.

Two for two. Nice.

Blue’s body goes limp in your arms and you hurriedly catch him. You lower him into the soft nest, watching him curl into the leaves with a small smile.

Rat’s already snoring by the time you pull yourself off of him, brushing down your dirtied clothes.

Now you’d really have to make the trip back to get your stuff, these clothes were completely ruined.

Poppy makes a concerned trilling noise as he prods at you with furrowed brows.

“I’m okay man, see?” You raise your hands in surrender and allow him to inspect you.

Crimson watches from the sidelines with a red mist surrounding his pelvis.

Suddenly Poppy leans forward, inhaling deeply as his nasal cavity is pressed against your shoulder. Skeletal arms snake around your waist as he leans on you heavily.

“Uhh, you okay there bud?” You ask with a nervous smile.

Crimson growls something, taking a threatening step forward with a snarl.

“Excuse me, we’re in the middle of something.” You say while gesturing to the panting skeleton.

You place a hand against Poppy’s skull, finding it pleasantly warm to the touch. His bones are flushed bright orange as he suddenly pulls away.

Poppy smacks his hands over his face, turning away from you.

You look at Crimson in confusion and he rolls his eyelights in return, stalking over to the nest where Rat and Blue are resting.

There’s an odd protectiveness in your chest as you hover behind him, practically daring him to lay a hand on the peaceful sleepers.

Crimson pokes the side of Rat’s skull repeatedly until his offending hand is smacked away by your own.

He glares up at you.

“Let the boys rest.” Even if he can’t understand you, he gets the gist of your command and pulls away from the nest.

Despite his obvious annoyance, Crimson turns his attention to Poppy, saying something in their guttural language.

Poppy jerks from his thoughts before bolting off into the darkness.

You are then reminded of why exactly Poppy and Blue are here and nearly smack yourself for forgetting.

You take off after the tall skeleton, hearing Crimson call after you.

Bumping into more walls than you’d like to admit, you eventually find your way out of the den and back into the sunlight, wincing momentarily at the brightness.

Grim has Honey in a choke hold on the ground, the latter practically foaming at the mouth as he claws at the others arms.

Birdy is… dancing?? Oh wait, no, Boss is throwing bones at him. You’re still a bit confused on how the whole ‘bone summoning’ thing works, but at the same time you’ve experienced teleportation, and also are surrounded by living skeletons, so it’s nothing too surprising.

Poppy looks as lost as you feel, looking between the fights with panic. He throws his skull back and lets out the most horrendous screeching noise you’ve ever heard.

You, along with the other skeletons, press your hands to your ears with a grimace.

The offending skeleton looks pleased that he was able to get the others attention. He chirps something to them, pointing to you and then to the cave.

Honey’s eyelights disappear and Boss flushes a bright magenta color.

You assume he’s explaining your escapades with Rat and Blue.

There’s a little bit of fear that Honey might tear you to shreds for touching his pack member but he’s gone rag doll limp in Grim’s hold, in what you think is shock, not even reacting as he’s dropped to the floor.

Grim, on the other hand, approaches quickly. You can’t understand his expression as he towers over you.

You stare up at him, unimpressed.

Did you fuck a member of his pack? Technically not, Rat came from dry humping your ass, therefore not your fault.

Did you enjoy it? Well that’s not any of his business.

***

Edge’s POV

If you told him less than ten minutes ago that Papyrus would come out of the den smelling like heat and the fleshthing following after with magic ‘residue’ on their pants… he would’ve killed you for being stupid.

Unfortunately, you would’ve been right.

He stalked up to the fleshy, their face remaining passive even as he began to lecture them.

“SO YOU GO INTO OUR DEN, WHILE WE ARE TRYING TO PROTECT YOU, AND FUCK NOT ONLY MUTT, BUT A MEMBER OF THE PACK WE ARE LITERALLY FIGHTING?!”

Even if they didn’t understand, the squishy skeleton had the decency to scratch their neck sheepishly.

As they did so, Edge was hit with a thick musk that had his head spinning.

So that’s why.

They were in a rut.

Did one of the Gammas go into heat? That shouldn’t be possible since neither were Omegas! The only Omega here was Papyrus and, while he seemed flustered, he did not appear to be in heat.

Edge eyed the flesh skeleton warily, knowing from experience how volatile an Alpha’s rut could become.

There was a small scar on his ribs from when Blackberry had gotten particularly worked up once.

Edge knew first hand how protective an Alpha would become over their own pack mates, and yet…

They had left Mutt. Did this mean they did not view Mutt as a pack mate?

But, that would also mean the same for Blue, wouldn’t it?

Now that Edge took a closer look, the flesh skeleton didn’t look very off put by his presence. If anything, they looked… worried?

Edge realized he’d gone quiet after lecturing and they probably thought he was angry with them. Which he was, totally not because he wished Mutt was him right now, but that could come later.

Right now…

He turned around, just in time to see Stretch teleport below him and send an array of bones into the sky.

A few scratched his fibula but nothing severe.

The flesh skeleton flinched as Stretch rose to stand between them and Edge.

That didn’t last long before BlackBerry threw himself at the intruder, literally. Both he and Stretch were sent tumbling off to the side.

Sans was hunched by the tree line, obviously down for the count in terms of battle. He must’ve used up the last of his magic reserves.

Papyrus looked from the flesh skeleton to his brother, clearly conflicted.

Edge could see it in his eyes that the other knew this battle was lost.

“Take him and leave.” Edge commanded. “The flesh thing stays with us. We will take care of them.”

The omega looked him up and down before rushing towards his fallen pack mate, scooping him up, grabbing Stretch on the way and throwing him over his shoulder, and took off into the trees.

BlackBerry snarled from beneath the bone prison Stretch had trapped him under.

“RED!” Edge shouted, turning around as the loud buzz from his brother's teleporting sounded behind him.

“yeah?”

“PLEASE TELL ME NEITHER OF THE GAMMAS ARE MATED.” His brother shook his head and Edge sighed in relief.

Even if their end goal was to mate the flesh skeleton, doing it so soon, especially as the winter season nears, would be asking for trouble. Speaking of which, they really should start preparing for the winter….

“uh, bro?”

Edge looked down at his brother, “WHAT?”

Red pointed ahead “where did the fleshy go?”

“FUCK-“

***

You decided to head back towards Honey’s territory to get your stuff you’d left behind…

but unfortunately you went the wrong way.

How do you know this?

Well, you’re going uphill and the trees are looking more and more dead the farther you go. Cold wind has you clutching at your arms, shivering and teeth chattering as you walk.

It would probably be a good idea to turn around and head back the way you came and yet…

Something in your chest thrums loudly, pulling you forward, leading you on.

Keep going, it whispers.

Persevere, it sings.

Stay determined..

Don’t turn around, it screams.

Wait what?

And like an idiot, you turn around.

You crane your head up and up until you finally find the face of the large creature that somehow snuck up behind you.

Same skull as Birdy, Crimson, and Boss, except for a gaping hole on the side of it’s head, looking as if someone took a hammer to it.

Sharp, bloodied, teeth pulled into a tight smile.

And a bloated red eyelight staring down at you with hunger.

Every instinct tells you to run.

To flee.

That you are prey, standing before a predator.

The scream that leaves you can be heard all throughout the island.

And across that island, eleven skeletons look towards the sky.

Chapter Text

“NOPE NOPE NOPE-“

Your screams follow you as you run across the barren woodlands, the strange monster’s loud footsteps sounding like thunder behind you.

You slide under a fallen tree and keep running. A glance over your shoulder shows the skeleton monster literally body smashing through it.

It’s gaining on you! How can something so big move like that?!

The surrounding forest is getting even more barren, the trees are dead and the chilling air makes your chest sting. Not to mention, you’re literally running uphill.

“Fuck!” You swear as your foot gets caught in an up turned root and you’re sent tumbling to the forest floor. You scramble to stand, freezing when a dark shadow falls over you.

Clawed phalanges scoop you off the ground and the monster uses it’s hand as a makeshift seat and holds you to it’s chest. Even like this, it still dwarfs you in size.

You can’t move, or more so, you don’t want to.

I mean, it hasn’t killed you yet, right? Don’t want to piss it off...

A rumble shakes your entire body and you realize the giant is purring. That’s either really good, or really, really bad.

The monster begins to back track the way it came, with you carried in its hand.

Now that you aren’t running, you notice the larger creature is actually caring something. A large axe almost as tall as you are. The head is chipped from use and stained red.

Oh. That’s even scarier. Not only is it a giant skeleton monster, it’s a giant skeleton monster with a bloody axe! Just you’re fucking luck! Where did it even get that!?

Well it’s not like you’re going anywhere.

The beast lumbers past more fallen trees until you come to a cave on the side of the mountain.

It looks too much like a gaping abyss for you to feel comfortable.

Now or never! You jump out of the skeleton monster’s grip and bolt to the left.

You barely make it three steps before a different set of clawed bones shoot out of the darkness and grab your legs, sending you face first into the ground.

“Ugh..” your face stings as you flip onto your back.

The axe wielding skeleton, who you’ve dubbed as Axe, is staring down at you with what you assume is humor.

You scowl at him finding your misery funny.

The owner of the hand that grabbed you slowly appears from the cave and somehow is even scarier than Axe.

This skeleton is not just tall, it’s actually massive, even more so than Axe who’s already twice your size! Similar face structure to Grim, Honey, and Rat, but definitely… how do you put this…?

Absolutely terrifying!

Mouth filled with jagged teeth that makes it look painful to even smile, it stares down at you with flickering eyelights that fade in and out.

You notice belatedly that Axe is naked.

Or at least by the standards of the other skeletons who all had at least some article of clothing. But Axe? Nope!

The other one had a tattered scarf that reminded you of Poppy’s except this one was faded to an almost grey color. You’ll call him Tatters, for now.

Tatters leans over your fallen form and you shrink back with a wince as his skull hovers over your legs.

A grey tongue starts lapping at the cum stains on your pants.

You watch him in befuddlement, slowly pushing yourself off the ground.

Once you’re fully standing, both Axe and Tatters look down at you expectantly.

“Sheesh… didn’t know there were actual demons on this island.” You mutter thoughtlessly.

If the others weren’t straight out of a horror movie, then these guys definitely were. Just looking at them made your heart stutter.

Axe grumbles something in the island tongue and moves to scoop you up again. You skid out of reach but don’t run, already knowing they would catch you instantly.

Better to play it safe for now.

Neither skeleton seem put off by your actions. Tatters retreats back into the cave and Axe gestures to it, implying for you to follow.

“Heh, is that necessary?” You ask, even though you know you won’t get an answer.

Axe tilts his head like a demented puppy.

You sigh and head into the cave.

It’s pitch black for only a few steps when it suddenly gets brighter.

There’s a crack in the rock ceiling that allows pale sunlight to flood the cave in an eerie light. It illuminates the piles upon piles of bones scattered around.

You feel Axe’s immense presence over your shoulder as you freeze up.

Tatters suddenly scoops you up, cooing at the soft yelp you make, and sets you on a rocky outcropping on the nearest wall of the cave. Why do they keep picking you up..

The smaller skeleton slinks off into the darkness again, leaving Tatters alone with you.

Faint eyelights remain pinned on your tense body.

“Uhm. Hi?”

***

Teddy’s POV

The small creature was so, so adorable!

Horror had mentioned smelling something near the border of the Fell’s territory but neither of them had expected for the strange… thing to wander into their forest.

Teddy eyed the creature up and down.

They certainly were strange, wearing so many extra layers of clothes like that. Perhaps it was to keep warm?

“Oh dear, I hope it isn’t too cold for you.” He fretted over them.

They stared at him in confusion.

Oh! They couldn’t understand him! That explains why they were so frightened of him and Horror, they couldn’t hear their words of comfort.

Teddy cooed, running a clawed phalange through their hair. It was matted with dirt and grime.

The large skeleton scoffed slightly, missing the fleshthing’s flinch. Didn’t the Fell’s know how to take care of a pet?

Apparently not!

Not to mention they reeked of Mutt and Blueberry….

Maybe it would be best to take their extra clothes off? But at the same time he didn’t want the poor thing to freeze…

Teddy was brought from his thoughts by the sound of brother’s heavy footsteps returning.

Horror had a large boar slung over his shoulder, blood and guts spilling down his exposed bones. “hey bro..”

“Horror! Thank goodness, I was starting to get hungry…” they were always hungry but, well, neither wanted to admit it.

The eldest dropped the dead animal to the floor unceremoniously.

His bloated eyelight zeroed in on the shaking flesh skeleton. “ ‘think yer… pet’s cold..?”

Teddy hummed thoughtfully “I thought the same thing! Maybe some food will warm them up!” He said cheerfully.

His sharp claws tore through the boar's muscle with easy, earning him a lump of fur and flesh that he held up in offering.

***

Red’s POV

Oh things have gone to absolute shit.

When Edge realized the flesh thing had wandered off he immediately left to go find them, leaving Red to tend to an injured and angry BlackBerry as well as the Gamma’s.

Speaking of which…

Blueberry woke up just a few moments ago due to Blackberry’s rather loud hissing whenever his wounds rubbed against something.

The Gamma’s eyelights were still fuzzy as he poked his head out of the nest. “Mm? Where’s Y/N?” He mumbled sleepily.

“uhhh..” Shit! What was he supposed to say? That they just fucking walked off!?

“Edge took them hunting.” BlackBerry supplied calmly.

Blueberry looked doubtful but didn’t say anything as he lounged across the leaves of the nest.

Red looked back at the injured Alpha who just rolled his eye lights in annoyance. “If he finds out they’re gone he’ll run after them.” He whispers quietly.

Red nodded in understanding.

There was a strange feeling in his soul, though. It twisted at the idea of Y/N being out there alone.

Wait a fucking second-

“The flesh skeleton's name is Y/N?” He says out loud in surprise. He hadn’t even registered that Blueberry had called them that.

Both berries nodded.

“Personally I don’t think we can even call them a flesh skeleton, they’re so different from us.” BlackBerry muttered.

Blueberry perked up “Can’t you understand them?”

The Alpha nodded reluctantly, confused as to where this was going.

The smaller skeleton clapped his hands excitedly “That means we can communicate now! I speak to them while you translate!”

Red’s bonebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn’t even thought up being able to communicate with the flesh-

With Y/N.

The thought made his soul flutter.

***

You’re going to hurl if Tatters tries to make you eat again.

Blood covers your face as you curl into a ball, protecting yourself from the offending skeletons.

Whenever you tried to run, Axe would always be right behind you.

Granted Tatters never actually forced your mouth open, thankfully, but he was very insistent on shoving the bloodied carcass in your face.

Eventually he got the memo that you weren’t going to eat it and stopped.

Let's just say your appetite was ruined…

Axe and Tatters exchange words in their guttural language. They seem to be debating something..?

You screech in surprise as Tatters suddenly scoops you up with his hand. He coos quietly while cradling you against his chest.

Axe turns back to the boar and you look away when he opens his mouth. That is not something you want to see.

Thankfully, Tatters begins walking out of the cave as his packmate eats.

You shiver, the biting cold now very apparent now that you’re outside of the cave. It was a bit strange, considering it should be colder inside than outside, and yet the cave seemed to be almost toasty.

Your captor carries you deeper into the barren woods.

He walks for a while until you perk up at the sound of bubbling water.

Pressed against the slope of a cliff are various pools of steaming water that practically siren call you.

Tatters doesn’t even get to put you down before you’re running for the hot springs.

You shuck off your clothes and dive in head first. The water is not only warm but it’s pleasantly refreshing.

Your skeletal companion giggles at your behavior and crouches next to the edge of the spring.

“Oh~ that feels so good!” You groan while stretching like a cat. Your bones pop lewdly, not that you knew that.

Tatters picks at your discarded clothes with apparent distaste on his features.

You scrub the dirt and grime from your body, watching as the clear water turns a murky brown. Sheesh, you didn’t even start on your hair yet…

“I wonder how everyone else is doin..” you mutter quietly. It’d be a lie to say you haven’t gotten attached to your previous skeletal companions.

Not like you have anyone else on this island.

Now content with your bath, you stand up from the spring and immediately sink back down when the cool mountain air hits your body.

Tatters seems to understand your predicament and lifts you out of the water. You shiver and yelp when a greyish tongue laps at your legs.

The monstrous skeleton is focused on his task of drying you off.

His tongue is desert dry and almost seems to radiate heat as he works.

Before you know it, you’re only mildly damp and able to slip your clothes back on without any hassle.

Tatters seems oddly giddy when you don’t struggle as he picks you up.

He carries you back the way you came, to the cave.

You mentally devise a plan of escape. You need to get back to your supply stash before something happens….

Chapter Text

You decidedly keep your eyes down on the floor as Tatters carries you into the cave. There’s a large red blob in the corner of your vision that you promptly ignore in favor of the skeletons.

You’re set gently onto the floor and Tatters slinks over to the red blot.

Horror replaces him, thumping onto the ground next to you. His fibula is as thick as your legs…

The large skeleton stares down at you. Wow it suddenly got very, very hot. You follow a line of ants on the floor. Wait no that’s just dirt.

Tatters, finished with his meal and now baring even redder teeth, sits on your other side.

Well… now you're stuck between two demon skeletons who just devoured a boar the size of a small car. You really should’ve stayed with Grim and Boss.

Tatters curls his legs up as he leans against his brother, scooping you up so that you’re situated half inside his rib cage. Axe half falls over, caught by his brother who brings him to rest again his legs.

The larger skeleton manages to wrap an arm around both Axe and his own legs.

Effectively trapping you.

Sun still filters through the crack in the roof. Why are they going to sleep?

Tatter’s snores softly, sounding like a tiny dog.

You wait and wait for Axe to follow his… brother?? You’ll call them brothers.

It takes what must be an hour until Axe’s labored breathing finally evens out. He doesn’t snore, unlike his brother.

The light coming from the crack in the ceiling is getting dim… if you want to escape you should get going before night, unless you want to get eaten.

The hard part is going to be getting out of your cage. Tatter’s legs block your exit from inside his rib cage.

If you try to move will they wake up?

Axe probably will, you have a suspicion that his dark sockets are still watching you. Creepy…

Maybe if you… you twist your body to peek through the gaps between Tatter’s lowest rib and pelvis. It would be a tight fit but you can probably make it…

***

Edge’s POV

Shit shit shit-

He double checked the fallen log on the ground before moving on, his skull whipping this way and that, trying to catch sight of the small fleshy thing.

Why did they wander off!? Where did they go?!

Edge had followed their scent as best he could but the closer he got to the Horror brothers territory the harder it was to discern between scents. The smell of blood and dust coated the air like a thick syrup.

So now he followed the general direction he guessed they went, checking under every fallen tree and in every hole in the ground.

He didn’t want to go to the Horror brothers nest, or den, or whatever the fuck they had.

Not only would he probably find the flesh things bones but his dust might become it’s fine covering if he got caught by either brother.

Edge wasn’t too sure about leaving his pack mates behind, considering Blackberry was injured, Mutt (and apparently Blueberry) were hella horny, and Red…

Well.

He would never admit it but Edge trusted his brother. Red was stronger than he let on, Beta or not.

Since the flesh skeleton already had Blueberry and Mutt’s magic on them, it would make it easier for the Gammas to get pregnant or even-

Edge flushed slightly.

Soul bonds were practically taboo on the island, the only way he knew about it was because his father was soul bound to someone he called Grillby.

The idea of being soul bonded…. to the flesh thing…

Edge shook his head and continues his trek through the forest.

***

Okay, so, you managed to wiggle out of Tatter’s rib cage, at the expense of your clothes and shoes. They kept getting caught on the edges of cuts in his bones so you had to shed them.

Which, in hindsight, was a terrible idea as you’ve already lost feeling in your fingers and toes from the cold.

The sun was slowly but surely setting meaning it would only get colder.

At least you didn’t have to worry about wild animals attacking you, since there weren't even birds or squirrels. Did Tatters and Axe eat everything in this place!?

You hiss as a stray branch cuts your ankle.

Your feet hurt like hell, you’re freezing to death, and you haven’t eaten anything since you left the other pack.

Stumbling, you catch yourself on your hands and knees as a dark shadow passes over you. Goosebumps rise on your skin, not from the cold but from fear.

Something murmurs in your ear and you bolt off the ground.

You swear as your leg gets caught on, guess what, another branch!

This time, you’re sent tumbling down a hill, getting scratched and bruised on the way down. You land with a shriek.

Fuck. That was pretty loud.

What if Axe or Tatters heard that? You were far enough that a normal human wouldn’t hear but…

That shadow from before….. you can almost feel it over your shoulder, but when you look there’s nothing there. Nothing but the oppressive feeling of fear and helplessness.

“Move!” Something yells right next to your ear.

You don’t stick around to figure out what it was, taking off again despite how much your body just wants to curl into a ball and sleep.

“Fu- fuck!” You gasp as your legs begin to burn from the strain and cold air.

Then you smash straight into Grim.

Both of you are sent tumbling by the force of your momentum.

You land on top of Grim’s rib cage, hands planted to either side of his head to catch yourself.

Grim blinks, realizing you’re not an attacker, and then flushes a deep red, sputtering something you can’t understand. Wow. Fanservice, how unexpected.

You scurry off of him. The skeleton stands again only to get glomped as you trap him in a hug.

“Grim! I’m so glad to see you!” You cry in relief.

Grim says something that you assume is reassurance based on how he runs his phalanges down your exposed spine.

You definitely don’t start crying as he picks you up bridal style and starts heading in the opposite direction of Axe and Tatters

There’s a little bit of guilt about leaving them like that but, to be fair, Tatters tried to shove boar down your throat, they kidnapped you, and you were likely to freeze if you stayed here any longer.

Grim must feel the shivers racking your body as he removes his stilettos and offers them to you.

They fit rather well and will keep your feet and lower legs protected from the cold. It’s better than nothing.

The air is suddenly split with a loud, horrifying scream from deeper in the woods. You know exactly what that was and it fills you with fear.

Grim doesn’t hesitate, already running as fast as he can back towards his territory, careful to keep you pressed to his body.

You grip his sternum like a life line, tears welling in your eyes.

Why can’t you move??

It’s as if your entire body is so soaked with fear that it’s become too heavy to move.

You see that shadow from before pass by in a blur of the trees.

Squeezing your eyes shut, you whimper quietly into Grims chest.

***

Teddy’s POV

He’s roughly awakened by his brothers snarling.

“Horror, I am trying to sleep-“ his sleepy murmur is cut off by Horror pointing at his rib cage with a shrunken eyelight.

Twisting his neck downwards, Teddy investigates whatever could be wrong.

Pet isn’t there.

The soft, little creature that smelled so nice and looked even nicer was gone?

Teddy swung his skull up and around, doing a 360 with his neck in an attempt to find them.

It was hopeless.

Even Pet’s smell was beginning to fade from around them, except for the trail that led outside.

So he screamed.

Loud, panicked, and filled with fear.

Horror tugs violently at his empty eye socket with enough strength for it to crack. His remaining eyelight, shrunken to the size of a bug, was trained on the entrance to the cave.

Teddy pulled him from his trance by yanking him forward.

The brothers rushed out of their cave, splitting up wordlessly, following Pet’s scent trail but going to either side in case it decided to run again.

Teddy couldn’t understand why their Pet was so stubborn and stupid.

Had he not taken good care of them? Perhaps it was because they hadn’t eaten and so went to go look for prey themselves?

Maybe he could convince himself Pet had gone to bring them a meal back as an apology if it weren’t for the smell of fear permeating the air.

But his panic quickly turned into anger when the smell of a Fell mixed with the scent trail.

Teddy could only imagine his brother's anger as he galloped on all fours across the forest. His claws dug into the dirt, sending up clouds around him.

How dare Edge take their Pet!?

Their sweet little Pet… soft and cute, had no place in the Fells pack. They would never be able to take care of them.

Neither brother stopped their rampage when they met the end of their territory, both continuing their war path into the Fell’s borders.

Nothing, not even trees or animals, could stop them now.

***

Sans POV

Gods, he was so tired…

His magic reserves were practically at rock bottom after that whole fiasco.

Papyrus tapped his claws against the stone impatiently, skull facing out of their sleeping area, watching the tree line intently.

Sans turned his head to look at Stretch who was snoring in the nest beside him.

The alphas expression was disturbed and he would twist and turn like he was having a nightmare.

“Brother?” Papyrus broke the silence, speaking for the first time since they’d left the battle grounds.

Sans grunted, too tired to speak.

“Do you feel that?”

He made the same noise in response. Papyrus didn’t push.

Of course Sans felt it, the oppressing sense of doom that had descended on his soul the moment they fled. It was eerie.

But even more so…. it was familiar.

This was the same way it felt the night that his father died… along with all the others of their pack.

After the incident, he, his pack, and what now made the others, has split up and agreed to never talk about it again.

Sometimes Sans missed Gaster and Ding.

But right now….. he was worried that either himself or the flesh thing would be meeting the same fate sometime soon.

Chapter Text

By the time you returned to Grim’s den the moon was halfway into the sky.

At least it was warmer here than in the mountain area. You were still freezing but you probably would get frostbite now… probably.

Grim didn’t slow down in the slightest, running full speed into the den, dodging walls expertly in the dark.

Blueberry’s POV

Imagine his surprise, as he’s dozing off in the nest, that Edge runs in with a naked Y/N wearing his stilettos and with faint traces of not only blood-

But the smell of Horror and Teddy.

Blueberry is barreling towards them before Edge can even set the fleshy on their feet, quickly pulling them towards the nest.

Mutt, roused by the sudden noise from Blackberry and Red who’re just as surprised, blearily blinks as Y/N is laid beside him.

“WE HAVE TO GO! NOW!” Edge barks above the commotion.

“WHAT? WHY!?” Blackberry shoots back, even though he’s already stumbling to his feet.

Blueberry runs his phalanges over his alphas exposed skin, wincing at how cold they felt, turning to Mutt. “Give me your jacket!” The other skeleton complies and hands him his clothing.

The jacket fits snugly and will at least keep their top part warm.

“THOSE DAMN MONSTERS PROBABLY FOLLOWED US BACK!” Edge screeched. “WE HAVE TO LEAVE!”

“THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?! WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GO?” Blackberry yelled back.

Blueberry nuzzled into Y/N’s side with a whine. They were awake but seemed… delirious? We’re they getting sick? He pressed his phalanges to their forehead to check the temperature.

Edge grabbed his brother by the back of his parka and hoisted him up like a purse. “ANYWHERE BUT HERE!”

“what? you planning on running into Stretch’s ground?” Red asked as he hung in the air.

Blackberry drug the Gammas from the nest as Mutt scooped Y/N into his arms as they remained zoned out, shivering and mumbling incoherently to themselves.

“ITS NOT LIKE WE HAVE ANY OTHER OPTIONS!” Edge shot back.

***

“What the fuck.” You murmur quietly, watching the color mirages flicker across your vision.

Ever since Grim had entered the cave you’d been overcome with this sense of floating like you were in water. It felt… familiar… like when you were in the shop wreck.

Wow, it feels like it’s been forever since you thought about that.

How long has it been anyway??

Oh, Rat gave you his jacket. It’s warm and you snuggle into the stringy fur on its hood.

“so warmm.”

Blue presses his cool bones against you face and you squint at him in confusion. “The fuck is you doin?”

He doesn’t really respond other than whining and nuzzling you before Rat scoops you up.

You sure are getting carried a lot. Not sure why since your legs are working just fine… probably. Your limbs are a bit numb and nothing happens when you try and wiggle your toes in the confines of Grim’s stilettos.

Hm. That’s not good.

You belatedly notice that your group has left the den and is now booking it through the woods like their lives depend on it.

Your weight is probably slowing Rat down as both Crimson and Blackberry jog behind you, Grim leading the front with Blue behind him.

Another groan leaves you as sunlight starts to peek through the leaves. Wait a second… even in your delirious state, you know it’s nowhere near time for sunrise.

Not to mention that the light is coming from the wrong direction.

Instead of appearing over the horizon it seems to be hovering near the edge of the distant mountain on the far side of the island. And yet it’s bright enough to illuminate your path.

The sudden brightness catch’s your pack off guard, you can tell by the way Grim skids to a stop before Blue promptly shoves him forward with more force than somebody his size should have.

“Ehehe…” you giggle senselessly. The warm light makes you feel like you're floating.

Rat’s grip on you tightens, his steps surer as he rushes forward.

Your group reaches the river fast and you barely have time to register it before there’s a fucking dog… dragon.. something skull underneath Rat’s feet that carry both him and Boss across the waters. Crimson, Grim, and Blue travel on another, slightly different looking, skull.

“You are so cool man.” You compliment Rat while patting the side of his skull.

He sends Boss a questionable look. Boss grunts a response as he ducks under a tree.

Rat’s face warms beneath your hands, causing you to squirm in his hold, pressing yourself against his steadily heating bones.

Suddenly your flustered taxi skids to a stop and you shift around to see why.

“Ohhh… heya Birdy.” You greet the skeleton with a goofy grin and attempt to squirm out of Rat’s arms, but he hastily readjusts you so you can’t.

Birdy looks rightfully startled and confused, and makes a questioning grumble towards Grim.

Whatever Grim said is short but alarming, as Birdy’s sockets widen and he quickly spins on his heels and the rest of your group follows after him.

That light is getting dimmer now. You wish it wasn’t, it made you feel strangely safe…

Suddenly you’re being handed to a new skeleton, and since you weren’t paying attention, you look around in confusion before realizing you’re back in Honey’s den.. cave… rock pile thingy.

Rat’s handed you off to Poppy, although he hovers beside you as you’re laid down on a nest of leaves. The cool vegetation feels good against your hot skin.

You attempt to remove Rat’s coat but find it difficult to properly move your arms for some reason. Poppy and Rat share a worried look.

***

“YOU FUCKING WHAT-“ Stretch guffawed once Edge told them what was happening. “You-! The horror bros left their territory!?”

Edge nodded grimly (hAH).

The other alpha drug his hand down his skull before rounding on his brother. “are you alright?”

Blueberry almost winced at his brother's soft tone, but managed to keep his expression neutral. “I AM. Y/N IS NOT, THOUGH..” he cast a concerned look behind Stretch to where his alpha was sprawled in the nest.

“yeah, what’s up with that?” Sans finally piped up from his spot by the entrance of the rock pile. He had taken it upon himself to keep an eye out for the horror brothers.

Blueberry turned to Edge with a raised bonebrow. “WELL? YOU WERE THE ONE WHO RESCUED THEM.” He spat out the last part, a bit envious that it was Edge who saved his alpha while Blueberry had been peacefully sleeping… it should have been him.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Edge denied aggressively. “THEY WEREN’T LIKE THAT WHEN I FOUND THEM!!”

“IT MIGHT BE FROM THE COLD.” Blackberry said before an argument could break out. “THEY’RE MADE OF… MEAT AND STUFF, THE COLD MIGHT AFFECT THEM MORE. AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THOSE MONSTERS COULD HAVE DONE TO THEM.” His sentence ended with a sharp tone, showing his anger.

But if you thought Blackberry was angry, oh, you should see the dark glare Blueberry was directing at the floor, his stare metaphorically boring holes into the ground.

Stretch eyed him like he wanted to say something but decided better.

Papyrus stood from where he’d been knelt at Y/N’s beside, nestside? He shook his head at the expectant looks everyone had. “I TRIED HEALING BUT I DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT I SUPPOSED TO BE HEALING.”

“can’t ya like.. heal everythin?” Red questioned.

The skeleton huffed at that. “NO. NOT EVEN THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN DO THAT.”

“if only we could just ask them what was wrong..” Rat trailed off.

A moment of silence before Blueberry’s eyes lit up in recognition. “WAIT A SECOND! WE CAN!” Six skulls snapped his direction. “BLACKBERRY! IF WE WORK TOGETHER WE CAN TALL TO Y/N!”

Blackberry nodded hastily as they both scrambled to Y/N’s side.

Stretch sent a confused stare at his brother's back, but seeing he was busy, he turned to Edge for his questions instead. “they understand that thing?”

“Thing?” Edge repeated lowly. Stretch repressed a flinch at his word choice. Why was he feeling so aggressive all of a sudden? “sorry. y/n.”

“Your brother can somewhat speak their tongue while Blackberry can understand it.” Edge answered reluctantly. He most likely only answered because he was technically trespassing in Stretch’s territory right now.

Meanwhile, Blueberry and Blackberry where struggling to decipher anything their companion was saying.

“What the fuck is a donut.” Blackberry grumbled to himself, shaking his skull in disappointment. “Tell them to take this seriously!”

“Y/N, please, we just want to help you.” Blueberry pleaded quietly, grasping his alpha’s hand in his own. “If- If you can just tell us how to help, we’ll do whatever we can!” He had to pause multiple times to articulate the words properly but Y/N seemed to understand well enough.

Unfortunately, their sickness apparently made them more stupid than usual as they just snickered and pet the top of his skull.

Yes, Blueberry loved head pats, but now was not the time for that!

BlackBerry’s bonebrows furrowed in concentration as he attempted to decipher whatever nonsense the sick alpha was spouting.

“They said something about having a… survival..kit? That has… antibodies?” Blackberry finally managed to decipher. “I’m not sure what that’s supposed to be or where it is…”

Blueberry didn’t even need to ask his alpha, the answer already clear to him. “THE BEACH!”

Apparently his shouting was loud enough to startle the other skeletons from their uneasy guard over the cave’s entrance.

“what about it?” Red questioned.

“THE BEACH IS WHERE WE FIRST FOUND UH… Y/N!” Papyrus struggles to pronounce the name but manages with a grin. “THEY HAD ALL SORTS OF LITTLE KNICK KNACKS THERE!”

“didn’t they bring some of there stuff here?” Sans murmured, pointing towards a stock pile of suitcases and bags. He and Papyrus had actually gone back there before to retrieve everything else that hadn’t been swept away during the storm.

Blueberry scrambled over to the pile, throwing stuff left and right. Mutt narrowly dodged a lamp aimed for his face.

“how are you supposed to know what you’re looking for-

“I FOUND IT!” Blueberry cut off sans’ words as he hefted a white box with a red cross over his head.

Blackberry eyed the box warily “AND JUST HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?”

Blueberry focused his unwavering eyelights on the alpha and spoke in an unsettlingly monotone voice, “I know because he told me.”

“who the fuck-“

“ANYWAY-“

Whatever excuse Blueberry was planning to say was silenced as Y/N started reaching for the box in his hands, curling their fingers in grabby motions.

“well. guess tha’ was the right thing.” Red murmured in surprise.

The skeleton handed the survival kit over, watching the fleshy rummaged through it tiredly, motions slow and clumsy.

They pulled out a cylindrical white container and shook some little capsules out of it. The monsters around them stared with rapt attention, although some tried to pretend they weren’t.

With two little capsules in hand, Y/N brought them to their mouth and swallowed them.

The skeleton’s all stared.

Y/N turned over and started snoring.

Papyrus let out a relieved sigh.

“Don’t relax just yet.” Edge grumbled quietly, eyelights trained out on the forest. Red stood on the other side of the entrance. “shouldn’t they hav’ been here by now..?”

“maybe that big lightshow scared em off.” Sams suggested.

Mutt looked up from his place where he’d sprawled across the floor next to the sick fleshy’s nest. “mm.. what even was that?”

“IT DIDN’T FEEL DANGEROUS… IF ANYTHING, IT… SAFE?” Papyrus spoke, unknowingly saying what the others had also been thinking. The mysterious light was welcoming and warm.

Reminiscent of how things used to be.

Stretch rolled his shoulders, finally allowing himself to relax a bit. “alright then. who’s taking first watch since we can’t all just stay awake forever?”

All hands except for Mutt and Red went in the air.

Red sent a raised bonebrow at Sans “you? skipping a chance to sleep?” It was both a jab at their shared lazy nature but also the forming navy blue bags under his sockets.

Not like Red wasn’t getting those either.

“i dont think i could sleep knowing you’re here anyway.” Sans snarks, teleporting away to presumably sit on top of the rock pile.

“WE WILL STAND GUARD.” Blackberry and Edge said in sync before sending the other an annoyed glare.

Papyrus shook his skull in disagreement. “HAVING ALL THREE-“ Blueberry shot him a pointed look. “SORRY, HAVING ALL FOUR ALPHAS DRAINED WOULD ONLY MAKE US MORE VULNERABLE. WOULDN’T BE BETTER FOR ONE OF YOU TO STAY HERE?”

Blackberry and Edge simultaneously turned to Stretch.

“like hell i’m letting you two have free reign over my turf. besides, edgy spike lord looks like he could use a power nap.” Stretch countered.

Blackberry turned a critical eye towards his fellow packmate, eyelights honing in on the way Edge’s ramrod stance seemed to be skewed and the tightness of his jaw.

“HE HAS A POINT.” Edge looks at Blackberry with an expression that’s says ‘the audacity!’

“you heard the man.” Red says quietly, mentally pleading that his brother would relent and just rest for a bit.

The gods must’ve been smiling on him, that or Edge was far more tired than he seemed, because the stubborn skeleton reluctantly stepped away from the entrance.

“FINE! BUT RED WILL ACCOMPANY YOU.” Edge declared. Blackberry nodded in understanding “THATS FINE.”

Red obviously didn’t agree but couldn’t argue before he was already being dragged away.

Stretch and Papyrus took up guard over the nesting area.

Mutt and Blueberry were already snuggled into Y/N’s sides. Mutt had his head resting on their stomach, legs wrapped over theirs along with his arms. Blueberry’s skull was pressed against their neck as he awkwardly spooned them despite being way too small.

Edge hesitantly maneuvers himself to sit crossed legged off to the side of the cuddle pile.

That works for all of three seconds before a fleshy hand grabs one of his ribs and practically yanks him down, making his skull become squished on Y/N’s chest.

They absently kindly rub his skull, humming softly, the vibrations then transferring to the very flustered alpha.

Papyrus, being the smart guy he is, didn’t even need to turn around to know what was happening, and instead just quietly laughed to himself. “Nyeh heh!”

Stretch gave the other monster a questioning look but decided against asking.

Papyrus was known for being equally strange as Blueberry, if not more. They’d had the same imaginary friend growing up.

But Stretch couldn’t shake a nagging feeling in his soul that kept pulling at that specific memory.

You were warm, and happy. Happy and warm.

And your happiness fed him, and so he slept with a full belly and a smile.

Chapter Text

You are dreaming. You know this because the sky is yellow and the grass shifts between blue and green the closer you stare at it.

Translucent fish swim in the air around you, looping in circles around one another.

You aren’t alone. You’re not sure how you know that, but for some reason the thought doesn’t scare you, instead you feel elated. It’s strange but not unpleasant.

“Hello?” You call out curiously. “Is anyone there?”

Grass crunches behind you. You turn but whoever was behind you is gone now. “Who are you?”

“A friend.” A soft voice carried over the wind. “I want to help you.”

A warm breeze brushes your exposed arms before you find yourself falling into a plush bed of leaves, the walls of a cave surround you. A skeleton sits across from you on his own pile of foliage.

His edges are soft, and the gold of his toga compliments his white bones. Golden eyelights travel from you to a book in his hands. “Welcome to my home, Y/N.” he shuts the book. “My name is Dream, it’s nice to finally talk to you.”

You blink, slowly processing his words. “Uh, hi? I don’t think I’ve met you?”

“You haven’t. But I’ve met you.” Dream chuckles.

“That’s a bit creepy man.”

“Oh- my apologies. I haven’t really… talked to anyone other than my brother for over two decades.” The skeleton murmured quietly. He shakes his skull as if to dislodge the thoughts. “But that’s not the point, I came here to ask you a favor.”

You shift nervously. “Isn’t this just a dream though?”

“It is but you will find I live on the island too.” Dream sighed. “You will come to understand in time. But for now you should be wary of my brother, as he has begun to take action against you bringing so much joy to the others.”

“I don't… understand anything you’re telling me right now..” You say. Seriously, this couldn't be anymore than a fever dream, right?

The world begins to shift around you, the walls turning into liquid and the bed of leaves turn to dust as everything starts to fade away. “Wh- what’s happening?!”

Dream remains calm, impassive as he sits cross legged amidst the chaos. “You are waking up. Please come find me at the top of the volcano when you are ready.”

His words are the last thing you remember before being jolted in consciousness.

It’s dark but you can see moonlight illuminating the outside. You can make out Poppy and Honey standing like opposing statues at the entrance.

Belatedly you realize the reason it’s so hard to move is because you have three different skeletons clinging onto you. Blue on your left, Rat on your right, and Grim partially laid across your chest, his legs intertwined with yours.

Your mouth feels dry and your limbs heavy. Your shirt sticks to you as you maneuver your way out from under the skeleton pile. When did you get clothes on again? Who the hell dressed you-

Poppy must have heard your struggle as he turns to look at you and immediately rushes over. Obviously, you can’t understand most of it, but you do make out the words “Hurt?” and “Y/N.”

“I’m fine-“ the words send a sharp pain in your head. You snap your mouth shut with a wince, cupping your face in your hands.

Poppy whines worriedly, nudging your hands away with his skull and searching your face, eyelights bright in the dark. Honey bounces on his feet nervously, side eyeing you as if debating if he should approach.

You ignore him and instead look around for the two missing skeletons. Neither Crimson or Boss are in the cave, and you’re almost sure you’d be able to hear Boss’ shrill shrieking.

Speaking of skeletons- Tatters and Axe. The weird guy in your dreams, coincidently named Dream, and his advice. You notice an open bottle of meds by the nest and wonder if it was some sort of fever dream, concocted by your exhausted mind.

Poppy nudged you again, rougher this time. You gently push him away with a huff. “I’m alright man, no need to get pushy.” The skeleton hums, rubbing his skull into your hands.

The moment is interrupted by Blue. “Y/N?” His voice is slurred with sleep as he blearily looks around the nest, eventually sitting up and his eyelights landing on you. “Good morning, Blue.” You say softly. He seems to get that you’re talking to him and scurries out of the nest to stand by your side.

A loud bark announces Boss’ return before you even see him, the skeleton trudging in covered in dirt and mud. Crimson follows close behind, dripping wet and shivering like a dog.

Boss is already shouting at Honey before anyone can react, throwing his hands up in what you assume is exasperation.

Crimson stumbles past and all but falls into the nest with a muffled thump.

The noise startled Grim out of his sleep, as he looked around in half asleep confusion, bonebrows furrowed as he looked at Crimson’s face buried in the nest’s leaves. He grumbled something before crawling out of the nest himself.

Whatever conversation, or argument, Boss and Honey were having finally ends as the former pushes past him and starts talking to Grim.

Your brain is still a bit slow, wether from sleep or from getting sick in the cold last night, you’re not sure, but it takes you a whole of five seconds to realize that Birdy is suddenly beside you when he wasn't before.

“ACK- Oh it’s just you.”

Birdy scratched his skull sheepishly. He says what you assume is an apology. He looks tired. Actually, so does Boss, Poppy, and Honey. How long had they been up?

You tug Birdy by his coat and usher him towards the nest. Whatever protest he had is squashed as Poppy gently pushes him along into the nest, dragging a protesting Boss as well.

Now the only ones awake are you, Grim, Poppy, Honey, and Blue. Rat seems to stir for a moment but remains quiet.

Poppy and Honey look exhausted though, so you push both of them towards the nest. Honey protests weakly, but a quick bonk on the head and he’s sleeping peacefully.

Grim stands guard by the entrance, cutting an imposing figure against the darkness. Blue is practically glued to your side, pressing the back of his hand against your forehead and cooing worriedly.

You swat his hand away with a laugh. “I’m fine! A bit… shaken, but I just need some food and I’ll be okay!” You pat your stomach for emphasis.

Blue seemed to understand your words as he rushed off to presumably get food.

You scurry over to join Grim by the entrance. The cool night air does wonders, as it is crisp and calming, and your headache seems to disappear. The large skeleton looks out into the darkness with a grim expression, appropriate to the name you’d given him.

Blue appears again, this time with an object cupped on his hands. It is shaped like a pear but glows a neon pink, casting light onto your hands as you bite into it. It tastes sweet.

Before you know it, the not-pear is nothing more than a thin core littered with teeth marks. Sheesh, hungry thing aren’t you?

Your eyelids feel heavy and you sway in place. The antibiotics in the medkit must’ve been making you sleepy. But you feel bad leaving the skeletons to take care of everything themselves…

As if hearing your thoughts, Blue places a reassuring skeletal hand on your shoulder, his eternal grin softening into a small smile. “Rest. We good.” He fumbles out.

****

BlackBerry’s POV

To say the patrol was hell would be… exaggerating, but it did suck.

Not only were neither Blackberry or Red accustomed to the terrain, but apparently the flora and fauna on this part of the island was completely different from theirs. This was evident when Red was swallowed by a mushroom with a mouth and Blackberry had to pry him out.

It was awful. Blackberry couldn’t understand how Stretch or any of his pack could even hunt with all the different smells wafting through the air.

But that was only part of what made the patrol awful. The second part was the overbearing feeling of being watched.

No matter how much BlackBerry tried to shake the feeling away, it felt as if no matter where he turned there were eyes watching him from the shadows, and the darkness seemed to swallow what little light the moon was giving them.

Was it the monster brothers? Surely he would’ve heard or smelled them if they were that close?

Red sniffed one of the trees. “m’ don’t think the monster bastards have crossed the river. I ain’t smell em anywhere.”

Blackberry hummed thoughtfully, carefully stepping over an upturned root. “EVEN THOSE TWO WOULD NOT TAKE STARTING A FULL WAR SO LIGHTLY.”

The other skeleton snorted humorlessly.

A soft breeze rustled the overhead canopy and Blackberry stilled, straining his nonexistent ears for… something. He knew there was something.

Breathing.

Something, or someone, was breathing heavily. Neither he or Red were making the noise, and the latter was tense.

The breathing is wheezy, as if the preparator was having difficulty getting the air in and out. Blackberry turned slowly.

Through the gaps between the bushes, he could see across the river, see the larger of the monstrous brothers pacing back and forth.

Teddy was hunched over, going back and forth on all fours, his gangly limbs comparable to a spider as he breathed in shakily. The skeleton’s jaw was completely open and bordering on being unhinged from the rest of their skull.

“what th’ fuck..?” Red murmured, also peering through the bushes with wide sockets. “th’ hell is it doin’?”

Blackberry leaned forward in an attempt to see if Horror was also on the other bank. It wasn’t. That was more than worrying, as he had never seen the two brothers split apart unless on a hunt.

“We should clear the river bank before we head back.” The alpha murmured.

Red groaned quietly. “great, it’s not like we need sleep or anythin.”

The two slowly moved away from their spot in the bushes, going up the bank and then down in search of any sign of Horror. There were none, and the skeleton's smell was nowhere to be found either.

“you think th’ fucker fell in the river?” Red joked.

Blackberry rolled his eyelights, ignoring his pack member in favor of peering under a collection of large roots.

His search was interrupted by Red screaming. He whirled around, magic already flaring for an attack. But the other was nowhere to be found.

Oh.

Red was attempting to haul himself out of the river.

Blackberry stifled his laughter behind a hand.

“OI DONT LAUGH YOU ASSHOLE!” The beta snarled before shrieking as his grip on the bank began to give, the current a constant pull on his body.

With an exasperated sigh, Blackberry grabbed the others wrists and began to pull. They struggled against the current, the alpha even being pulled to his knees by it twice and ending up with his face in the mud.

Eventually they were both free of the damned river, one soaking wet and the other covered in mud.

Blackberry flicks a drying piece of mud off his arm with a hiss. “I can’t believe you fell in the river. It’s a new low even for you.”

“I didn’t fall!” Red growled. “I was… pushed.”

The alpha stilled in picking the grass stuck to his bones, turning to the other with a raised bonebrow. “Pushed?”

As strange as it would sound, Blackberry knew well that Red would never lie, as his father had all but drilled it into his head that it was below him.

Red nodded, his eyelight flaring as he looked around the forest. “yeah. we was talkin’ and then it just- it felt like somethin’ pushed me.”

Blackberry hummed thoughtfully. It couldn’t have been Teddy, he was still stuck on the other side of the river, and his brother was still MIA, but they would’ve heard or smelt him.

He could remember very faintly, when he was younger, over hearing his dad talk about similarly strange occurrences happening to him… before he died that is. Being pushed, waking up with night-terrors, constant paranoia that something was watching him.

And then his dad went missing, shortly followed by all the other adults on the island… sometimes, when it was a particularly cold night, Blackberry would miss the times when he and the other young skeletons would fall asleep in a bone pile.

Now was not the time to be thinking of such things.

“Let’s head back to the others. The moon has begun to descend, it would be best if we got some sleep ourselves.” Blackberry cut through the silence.

Red seemed… nervous, although he tried to hide it behind a smug grin. “course we can head back if yer gettin’ tired.”

Blackberry huffed.

***

Teddy’s POV

Oh no no no

Where was his brother? Where was Pet?! Where was home!? Where was HE?!?!

Teddy paced back and forth, inhaling and exhaling deeply the way his father had taught him to do when he began to panic. It was not helping.

If anything it made it worse, as everytime he inhaled he could taste the unfamiliar smells and he COULDN’T SMELL BROTHER-

Where was his brother!?

Taking another deep breath, Teddy slowly stopped his pacing and sat on his haunches. Okay. Think, what was he doing last?

…. he and his brother were chasing after the Fells who had taken Pet. Teddy hoped Pet was okay, it seemed far more fragile than anything the Fells should be allowed to be near. And Pet was oh so adorable and fun!

Wait he’s getting off track again.

Right. Horror had said to continue ahead while he went to investigate the bright light that had momentarily blinded the two of them.

Teddy was still very confused about that.

He hoped Horror was okay… his brother tended to be a bit forgetful and Teddy felt guilty for letting him wander off on his own. Maybe he should go after him?

But what about Pet!? They could be in danger! Who knows what the other skeletons could do to such a pathetic creature!

But there was a river between where the Fells had fled and where he was, and Teddy couldn’t swim. Sure, his legs might’ve been long enough to wade across, but Teddy just didn’t like water in general.

He should head back to their den. Clearly it was unsuitable for Pet, as he had smelled their discomfort and sickness while hunting them.

Teddy began to retreat into the forest, idly retracing his steps. Pet was fleshy. Maybe it would like other fleshy things to eat? Oh! Teddy remembers seeing a large furry creature making a pile of leaves to sleep in, maybe he should do that?

Spurred by the new motivation to renovate his home, Teddy went back to the den in his territory.

His brother would be fine. He did have one of the volcano skeletons favor after all.

***

Dream hovered near the treeline, eyelights fixated on the rock pile den where the majority of the island's inhabitants had taken shelter. The only reason he had left the safety of the volcano was because his brother had, once again, started to incite chaos on nothing more than a whim.

And they did not need a repeat of what happened to the Gasters.

So he… may or may not have contacted the human in their dreams. They seemed nice at least!

But Dream had sworn off interfering with the other skeletons when they were still baby bones, and here he was breaking it for a human that wasn’t even supposed to be there!

Perhaps he owed them this. As repentance for his brother’s actions that brought them here. For the Gasters.

The human also seemed to make many of the others happy, and even he felt a bit… content talking to them. He blamed it on being a hermit for the last decade.

Still. Dream would do his best to protect the human.

Protect you.

Chapter Text

The first thing you wake up to is the sound of grumbling in your ear. You roll over in protest of getting up only to get a face full of bone.

You tiredly glare up at Rat through his phalanges, annoyed that he’s just holding your face. He, apparently, thinks it’s hilarious and giggles like a schoolgirl before letting you go.

It turns out that the grumbling was Birdy, who was face planted into the nest on your other side, presumably asleep. Was he… talking in his sleep? Wow. Even magic skeletons can sleep talk.

Sunlight shines into the rock pile cave, signaling it's time for you to get off your ass and be productive.

You sigh but push yourself up and step over Birdy’s prone form. It looks like everyone else had gone off to do something except for… Honey. Oh, just your luck. You pointedly ignore him, instead heading outside to get fresh air.

Rat follows close behind.

You hear Honey clear his throat- or mimic it at least, and you turn to him with an unimpressed stare.

The skeleton’s socket twitches but he remains unphased. He looks you up and down before sighing, and carefully moves closer.

Rat steps closer to you, and places a hand on the back of your arm in reassurance. You hold your ground even as Honey stops just inches away from you. His eyelights go from you to Rat and then back.

To your surprise, Honey lowers his head and murmurs something that sounds… apologetic.

You look to Rat for confirmation and the skeleton gives you a nod. When you turn back Honey is already gone, and you huff at how he just ran away.

Whatever, you’ve other things to do.

Like getting a bath preferably. Even though you technically got a bath with.. Tatters, you’re already covered in dirt and grime, and seeing the neatly put together Dream made you feel even ickier.

Speaking of Dream.. they mentioned something about the volcano, right? You glare at the tip of the volcano that’s barely visible over the canopy.

You make a mental note to ask Boss about it and start trekking into the forest. Rat follows close behind like a skeletal shadow, barely making a sound as he trails after you.

The river is easy enough to find since you remembered its general direction.

Maybe you can find a spot where it’s a bit calmer though. You start heading down stream, and to your luck, you find a small concaved area in the river bed, where the water still flows but nowhere near as fast.

Yes. This is perfect.

You chuck off your clothes and slide down into the waters with a content hum.

Honestly after being manhandled naked by a giant demon skeleton, you don’t really feel all that worried about Rat seeing you nude. That and he got off on your thighs once. So, yeah.

Rat joins you in the water after a careful moment consideration, leaving his jacket on the bank with your clothes.

Ah yes, a nice, peaceful moment of relaxation.

Which is then ruined as you feel the ghost of a hand over your thigh.

Your eyes snap to Rat who stares at you like a deer caught in headlights. A moment passes and he pulls his hand away before experimentally placing it on your arm.

You watch his skeletal digits trail up and down your arm before arching over your shoulder and down the side of your chest.

Goosebumps raise on your skin as his hand stops just over your pelvic region.

You decide to follow his example and cup the side of his skull in your hand, Rat leaning into it and… purring? Oh that was just adorable!

Leaning forward to cup the other side of his skull, you unintentionally brush a leg against his thigh bone and earn a sharp gasp from the skeleton.

Quite the sensitive one, isnt he?

Curious, you reach a hand down and trail a finger over one of his ribs. Rat shudders at the sensation.

Looking down you see a faint glow illuminating from under the water. Peering closer you realize it’s dark orange and in the shape of... a dick.

Rat seems to grow confident when you don’t show disgust and grabs your hips, pulling you closer.

Nope, nope- you know one rule that’s kept you alive this long, and that’s to never show weakness. That time with Axe and Tatters excluded.

So in retaliation you lift Rat up by placing your hands and lower arms under his ass bones, getting a squeal as you lift him partially out of the water. Thankfully these skeletons weighed about as much as a dictionary.

Pressing Rat’s back against the side of the river bed so that he wasn’t just in the air and partially on the water, you inspect his dick once againX

You can feel the heat emanating off of it.

It’s not overly large, maybe around six inches, nor is it very girthy. Nothing too impressive.

Rat thrusts his hips up, his dick slapping against the side of your face

You glare up at him and he grins smugly. His arms are spread out to lay across the river bed, giving him a relaxed pose despite the violent flush on his bones.

Well since he insisted...

You crane your head down until hot breath is brushing down on the sensitive organ.

Rat hissed impatiently, and probably would’ve bucked his hips again if it weren’t for you licking the tip teasingly slow.

He groans, eyelights going fuzzy as you continue to tease him, only licking and brushing your lips against the tip.

Warm phalanges find themselves in your hair and next thing you know the cock has been shoved past your lips, hitting the roof of your mouth.

Annoyed, you scrape your teeth over his jelly like magic flesh. It tastes like cinnamon.

Rat’s phalanges dig deeper into your scalp but he allows you to move around at your own pace, merely following your lead as you bob your head up and down.

You can feel his legs twitch before they wrap around your back, pulling you all the more closer.

The skeleton whines and whimpers under your tongue, head thrown back as you bring a hand up to fondle his balls. It only takes a squeeze and suddenly there’s a rush of something warm hitting the back of your throat.

Rat’s orgasm is nothing short of a show, as he spasms and something appears from his chest as he howls in pleasure.

Pulling away, with magic cum dripping down your chin, you inspect the upside cartoonishly shaped heart. It’s pulsing.

For some reason you decide that grabbing it is a smart idea.

Rat apparently loved the idea, as he screamed out, cumming again immediately. Holy shit. You look at the heart in your hand in awe. Was this like his pleasure thing?

You rub a thumb along the misty surface and the skeleton growls out something in his guttural language. His eyelights are so fuzzy they can’t even seem to focus properly.

He looks spent.

With a gentle kiss, you guide the heart back towards Rat’s ribcage and it disappears, and for some reason you miss the feeling of holding it.

You brush the feeling off and instead focus on how Rat looks like you’ve sucked the life out of him.

His body is limp, eyes fuzzed out and bones flushed orange.

After washing away the residue magic from both his bones and your skin, you pull him out of the river and splay his body out across the grass, his warm bones a sharp contrast to the emerald grass.

You continue cleaning yourself in the river for a little longer before eventually putting your clothes back on.

Eugh, clothes on wet skin.. they stick to you in the most uncomfortable way.

Something drags your mind back to the dream from before, and strange skeleton who’d greeted you, and even spoke to you. Why were you suddenly filled with-

A loud snore interrupts your thinking.

Rat’s turned on his side towards you and snoring louder than a fucking train.

Your eyebrow twitches as he gets louder as if it purposefully annoy you.

Well... you can’t just leave him here, and it would be rude to wake him up, besides, we’ve already established the skeletons weigh nothing close to a human their size.

He’s a bit hard to carry with how gangly his limbs are, and you end up slinging him over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes and trudge through the underbrush.

———

Dreams POV

Dream had merely been trying to keep an eye on the human, trying to keep them out of trouble for more than five seconds, and, hopefully, keep his brother in check.

What he didn’t expect was for said human to start mating with Mutt!!

Unlike the other skeletons, Dream still had some semblance of modesty, wearing clothes over his body, so he nearly choked when they started removing their pants.

Technically he had seen them naked back in the Horror brothers territory but... well he’d been a bit focused on keeping them alive back then.

That wasn’t to say they weren’t hot as hell.

Watching them scrub the dirt off their skin, the little droplets rolling down their exposed back...

Then- then they started making out with Rat and oh Dream could feel the magic pooling beneath his pelvis.

He shouldn’t watch.

But, he needed to protect them, right??

How could he protect them if he couldn’t see them...

When Rat’s dick disappeared behind their lips is when his own phalanges curled around the length in his pants and started stroking.

He matches the pace of the two perfectly, stroking himself in time with how the humans lips love along Rat’s dick.

If only that was him..

By the time the other skeletons’ soul was exposed, Dream was too far under in his own lust to think about anything other than his own approaching climax.

There was no doubt that Rat, his brother, and all the other skeletons on the island were feeling some extent of his growing euphoria, courtesy of his powers.

Dream’s climax was hard. Hard enough that he collapsed to his knees, hands braced against the ground as golden drool trickled from the corner of his shaky grin.

What was the human’s name again??

(Y/N).

(Y/N). (Y/N). (Y/N).

The skeleton made a mental note to remember that for... future use.

——

 -Horror’s POV-

Horror lumbers further into the wood, the dark leaves brushing the edge of his open skull.

There are no sounds. Everything smelled of ash and dust.

The volcano skeleton was waiting for him, perched atop a jagged rock, the black tar dripping off him and onto his midnight blue robes that swirled out below him like a dark cloud.

“Tch. Certainly did take your time.” Nightmare’s voice warbled, a strange amalgamation of dribbling sputtering and dark muttering.

“Sorry.” Horror grumbled unapologetically.

“Whatever, either way, my brother’s poking his nose into my fun. Him and his stupid flash bang.” He rolled his single eyelight in annoyance. “If he’s going to-“

Nightmare froze mid sentence, the growing feeling of euphoria on the island increasing suddenly, the feeling burning his bones like a fresh fire.

Horror, on the other hand, merely grunted in confusion at the growing feeling of happiness forming between his legs. “Wh’s happenin?”

“Get out.”

“Huh?”

“I said get out!”

The larger skeleton grumbled and trudged back through the underbrush, annoyed that he’d wasted his time for the little trip to visit the Volcano Tar Man.

Even as he walked the strange, foreign emotion continued to wash over him, causing a strange tension to grow in his chest. Horror groaned as he stopped walking and leaned against a tree.

What was happening to him?

Without even realizing his phalanges began to trail downwards towards the rusty red magic forming between his femurs. He stroked the growing dick with a growl.

An image started to form in his head against his will, of the little Pet kneeling between his legs with a mouthful of rust red magic, a little dribble leaking from the side of their open and stretched mouth.

Such a warm, wet, and tight mouth. It felt great…

He thrust into his hand aggressively, chasing the fleeting imagery and feeling as his mind spun in circles as euphoria washed over him in waves, drowning out everything else.

There was nothing else.

Only them.

————

Chapter Text

Sans POV

He was patrolling the outskirts of his pack’s territory, mostly just to avoid Pap’s nagging about the new crack in his skull. Sans mindlessly ghosted a phalange over the wound, feeling the jagged edge from where it cut up from his socket.

The fleshy really did a number on him.

They were seriously strong, even for an Alpha, if that’s what they were. He liked to think that’s what they were because it made the fact that they uppercut him slightly less embarrassing.

But.. something about the situation made his soul thump against his rib cage.

A permanent mark, not exactly a claim, but..

Sans froze midstep. Did he just think of the fleshy claiming him?

The thought made his eyelights flicker as his magic began to pool between his legs. This was so embarrassing, was he seriously getting turned on by the fact that they’d punched him?

And so quickly too?

The glow in his pants told him that, yes, yes he was.

Sans groaned, half in annoyance and half in arousal as he trailed a hand down into his pants.

Wait a second… that wasn’t his phalanges. He knew what his bones felt like but these, they were warm and- and-

He looked down and, sure enough, he was straddling Y/N’s chest, a grin split across their face as warm hands explored the space between his legs.

The look they gave him had Sans squeezing his sockets shut and whining from sheer embarrassment.

That ended quickly as a hand cupped his ass and squeezed. He didn’t even realize he’d summoned so much magic to his ass..

Oh but it was so worth it when Y/N suddenly flipped their positions so that he was sprawled across their lap and they harshly smacked his ass.

Sans yelped before groaning as the stinging sensation left him with tingles.

“Pl-please… again..” he begged.

“Oh? You’re begging now?” They mocked. “Pathetic.”

He nodded in agreement. He was pathetic, but he was enjoying this, enjoying them.

Another smack had him digging his face into the ground, and the next had blue tears welling in his eyes.

Suddenly the growing pleasure in his soul exploded outward and he spasmed as he was forced to ride out what was definitely the best orgasm he’d ever had.

He could still feel the fleshy’s hands cupping his ass, though this time they massaged the magic flesh, caressing it as they guided him through his orgasm.

Sans jolted awake with a gasp, looking around the cave with a completely blue skull. His blue magic was still swirling around his pelvis.

He quickly teleported out of the cave to.. go take care of his problem elsewhere.

Nightmare POV

Nightmare could not fucking believe this. He could feel Mutt’s growing pleasure as he spoke with Horror but then it was his fucking brother!!! Dream’s aura was thick and heavy as it washed over the island.

He could see Horror getting antsy and quickly dismissed him before the broken skeleton started jerking it off in front of him. Nightmare could deal with a lot of things but he’d rather not deal with that!

Speaking of dealing with things, Dream’s magic was causing a bit of a problem for him as well. He wasn’t horny but he was a bit.. restless.

The dark skeleton tapped his sharp phalanges on the surface of the rock he was sprawled across. Dream’s arousal had triggered a chain reaction and now every damn skeleton on the island was aroused!

Sure, you were fairly fun to play with but Nightmare had no interest in you as of yet, in fact he found the way you brought happiness to the island rather annoying! That was the entire reason he’d led you to the horror brothers but then you just went and seduced them too!!

Nightmare had half a mind to suspect you of some weird sex magic.

“Ugh!” He groaned in annoyance, tentacles writhing around. It was so hard to think with all the positive feelings everywhere! Specifically of the sexual variety!!

Maybe getting off would clear his mind? Or at least distract him from his own restlessness.

Nightmare propped his skull up with one hand and used the others to stroke around his pelvis as he summoned his magic to form a pussy and circled a phalange around his clit.

His tentacles curled and uncurled as if they were longing to grasp something. Something warm, soft.. fleshy?

The goopy skeleton paused with a finger already inside him.

That.. oh.

Oh no.

Nightmare groaned in agony as he realized that he too was fantasizing about the human. Fucking great!

Then again the fear they felt when meeting Horror and Teddy.. just thinking about it had his tongue forming behind his grin. It tasted so good!

Maybe he should keep you with Horror then, since he would also technically own you by extension, which meant he could rub it in his brother's face that the human was his now.

He absent mindedly thrust his phalanges in and out of his pussy as he thought about all the ways he could coax fear and hatred out of you.

Would you be scared of him? Would the mere sight of his dripping tentacles send shocks of terror down your spine?

Or, maybe, would you be filled with anticipation?

Nightmare slid his fingers from out of his folds and lowered one of his tentacles to caress his entrance instead. He groaned to himself as the writhing mass pushed its way into him.

The tentacle pumped in and out in an almost lazy fashion as he stared up at the ceiling of the cave.

He’d have to get you back to Horror and Teddy as soon as possible in order to keep you under control. Nightmare knew how hard it was to control the Gasters when he originally let them run free, which ended with him having to..

Cut the losses.

Stretch POV

Stretch had briefly gone to hunt, to get his mind off the stressful events that had disrupted his usually monotonous day. He didn’t hunt very often, but when he did, it was like he became laser focused in on his prey, only hearing the heart beat of whatever he was hunting.

But today.. his mind was elsewhere.

His soul felt out of place, like there was something else he should be doing.

The strange emotion that was slowly seeping into his soul didn’t help his confusion. The feeling was not his, because he just knew it wasn’t.

It felt almost familiar.

Stretch watched with growing annoyance as the boar he’d been following ran off after hearing his frustrated sigh.

Why was he so horny today?!? Seriously, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this- even during his ruts he usually just went off into the woods and took a nap until it was over.

But this? No, this was an awful itching in his bones that he couldn’t ignore.

Stretch sat on his haunches and put his skull in his hands. Everything was happening so quickly and he- none of them, really knew how to handle that.

Horror and Teddy were probably skulking around the edges of his territory and here he was with his magic pumping a shameful orange between his legs. His skull felt like it was on fire with how hard he was blushing.

He couldn’t focus like this!! When the only thing he was thinking about was-

Oh. Oh no.

Stretch felt his face heat up even more, if that was possible, as Y/N’s fleshy-face flashed through his mind. (Could you blame him, though? The way they looked at him with such disgust had his soul thumping in its cage)

This was so pathetic, getting off on the thought of someone hating him but Stretch couldn’t help the weak moan that escaped his teeth, cold phalanges gripping his dick in a painfully tight way.

That’s right, Y/N wouldn’t be gentle with him-

The throbbing pain was only intensified as something foreign pressed into his soul and pumped him full of ecstasy. The sudden and overwhelming sensation caused him to squeeze even harder, imagining his hand was muscle and flesh instead of just bone.

There were tears running down his cheeks but all Stretch cared about in that moment was this feeling of pain and pleasure.

His orgasm looked more like an uncontrollable spasm as the skeleton fell down, barely catching himself on his knees whilst his body shook.

————

When you returned to the rock-pile-cave it was completely empty with no one on guard either. It also smelled kind of like fruit punch, but that wasn’t important.

You gently laid Rat in the large nest, careful not to wake him. He grumbled quietly in protest before rolling over onto his side and continued snoring.

With nothing better to do you decide to take stock of all the supplies that were stuffed into the corner of the den. After a minute or so you decide to rummage around and find some warmer clothes. You’ve had way too many close calls with hypothermia lately, and Falk should be right around the corner-

You freeze halfway with your pants down.

How long have you been on this island?

The sudden thought is heavy enough that you sit down, still half dressed, on the cold rock.

Has it really been that long? It doesn’t feel like it…

Did that mean no one was coming to rescue you? And oh, that wasn’t a thought you’d had in a while. Being rescued… it had completely slipped your mind somewhere between talking skeletons breaking your wrists and having raw boar meat shoved in your face.

Did the thought of going back really skip your mind like that?

What about everyone you left behind?

You look back at Rat’s sleeping skull.

Working on a raft couldn’t be that bad, plus it would take a while!! And it’s not like you could go sailing in the middle of winter either.

Then there was the subject of that weird glowy skeleton.. Dream, you think he said.

Even if it was just a dream- checking the volcano couldn’t be all that bad, right?

There was just one problem, said problem walking in as soon as you thought about it.

“Speak of the devils and they shall appear.”

Crimson and Boss looked varying degrees of uncomfortable. Crimsons’ face was buried in the tattered fur of his jacket, but it wasn’t enough to hide the bright red hue painting his bones. Boss was so rigid and jumpy he nearly took your hand off as you grabbed them both by their shoulders.

You grin evilly. “You two are coming with me.”