Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was dark in Snowdin. Despite the fact that it was the middle of the afternoon the only lights present came from the oil lamps hung around the town and the large bonfire that sat in the center of the town square. In times past, great lamps installed in the ceiling of the cavern would activate at certain times of day, creating a facsimile of a day and night cycle.

Alas, such a thing was no longer possible.

Away from the heat of the fire the chill pervaded all. Few residents of the town were out and about, and the ones that were had the swift walk of someone who wants to get back inside quickly.

Among those aforementioned few there was one that stood out.

He was a tall skeleton with an individualistic costume, something that looked like it was taken straight out of a video game, complete with a long scarf that billowed behind him as he dashed.

The skeleton stepped on to the porch of a quaint wooden building, footsteps echoing clearly. Without a single pause he stepped forward and knocked on the door.

One second passed, then two, until the door opened up. On the other side, was a tan rabbit monster.

“Oh, Papyrus. It’s nice to see you dear, making your rounds aren’t you?” She greeted cheerfully, but the dullness of her fur and the shadows underneath her eyes revealed a deep exhaustion.

“Of course! It is the great Papyrus’ duty to ensure that everyone is fed!” Papyrus’ voice boomed as he struck a cool pose.

“So! Here you go!” He continued as he held out a package. The rabbit monster perked up at the sight and quickly snatched it out of his hands.

“Thank you Papyrus, this means the world to us, truly,” the gratitude in her voice elevated Papyrus’ soul.

“Naturally, the gre—” his sentence was cut off by the sound of a slamming door. Papyrus stopped for a moment. He looked at the door that was slammed in his face, then shrugged and took off. She’s probably busy feeding her family. A very important task that takes a lot of time he knows.

Off he goes, the skeleton then dashed up to the next house. The rooms beyond the windows were dark but it never hurt to check. Papyrus raised a gloved hand and knocked on the door.

There was a shuffling sound from the other side, then the front door opened with a creak. An eye appeared through the crack between the door and the doorframe. A moment passed as the eye watched Papyrus, then the door was flung open the rest of the way.

This time, it was a haggard dog monster that stood before him. She gave him a dull look, her face set into pain and exhaustion.

“Dogaressa! I have come to bring you some food!” Papyrus announced.

Dogaressa looked at him blankly and slowly took the package from out of his arms.

“So! How’s your husband doing. I hope he’s doing better!” He declared.

“He’s not,” Dogaressa said simply.

“Oh,” an awkward silence ensued. Papyrus shuffles his feet. Dogaressa stayed silent.

“Well! I think it’s time for me to go! I have puzzles to recalibrate. Have a good one Dogaressa! I’m sure Dogamy will be fine,” Papyrus reassured.

Without responding, Dogaressa closed the door. This time Papyrus was slightly relieved. That was the last of his rounds. At least now he can get to his puzzles. 

So Papyrus headed off again. This time at a more sedate pace.

Suddenly, flashes of light filled the air. The abrupt changes in brightness searing Papyrus’ eye sockets. It went dark again. Then, more gradually, a light appeared up above and lit up the sleepy town.

The artificial sun lit up Snowdin. In the light many more features of the town were visible. The once peaceful and vibrant atmosphere was gone, replaced with an air of a struggling community. Homes had fallen into disrepair, trash had piled up on street corners, the spruce trees that surround the town were dying. Fallen needles covered the snow. The few living trees were scraggly, dead branches hanging off the sides of their trunks.

As suddenly as they turned on, the lights went dark, again casting the underground into darkness. Papyrus stifled a sigh. It was going to be hard to recalibrate his puzzles. But no matter! That’s why he brought a flashlight.

Papyrus clicked on his flashlight. The beam illuminated his path. Thus, Papyrus left Snowdin to the west, relying on the flashlight more and more as he left the lights of the town.

Unfortunately, this was not enough. As Papyrus was crossing the bridge his foot slipped into one of the gaps between the boards. “Heck!” Papyrus cursed as he caught the railing to stop his fall. Someone should really fix that, he thought as he carefully extracted his foot.

Now that he was free Papyrus continued crossing, now slowly and carefully. Like the other infrastructure, the bridges over the chasms by Snowdin had gone into a date of disrepair from poor maintenance. Everyone was simply too busy to get it done.

He used to have The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror in the area he just passed but he didn’t bother stopping to work on it. Recent events made him realize that that particular puzzle was simply too hard. It’s no fun if any humans have no chance of actually solving it. Papyrus was planning on having it replaced with a better design he came up with. Unfortunately, in the dark it would be difficult to install and Papyrus was a busy monster these days so it will have to wait.

The only sound was of snow crunching under boots as Papyrus moved on.

Now, for the puzzle he’s there to be recalibrating. The tile puzzle was a huge disappointment. It had been so clever! So complicated! Truly something that could only have come from the great Papyrus! But it just kinda broke. 

But Papyrus will not let that get him down. He went to work, opening up the panel to the puzzle’s circuitry. Surely there was a way to prevent that from happening again.

So absorbed was he in the puzzle that he didn’t hear the sound of footsteps growing closer and closer.

“Hey, bro.”

Papyrus very much did not yelp and did not hit his head on the hatch frame, thank you very much. With great dignity and calmness Papyrus turned towards the familiar voice and said:

“Oh! Hello brother! Are you here to finally recalibrate your puzzles?”

“Nah. Just dropping by to see how you're doing.”

To most people Sans would seem completely relaxed and at ease, but Papyrus knew better. This was leading up to something.

“Well, I am doing just fine brother! Your concern is welcome but unnecessary!” Papyrus stated proudly, extracting his head from the machine and standing.

Just as he straightened his spine Papyrus felt the world around him start to spin and his vision went dark around the edges.

“Paps? You okay there?” Sans asked as Papyrus swayed on his feet.

“I am perfectly fine, rest assured!” Papyrus declared. The spinning sensation finally came to pass.

“...I actually want to talk about that,” Sans said, looking away from his brother. There was a tinge of nervousness in his expression. Papyrus waited, silently hoping that Sans would drop the subject.

“...look. I know that you haven’t been eating. Grillby told me that you’ve been giving away your rations.”

“You… you can't keep doing this, Paps. At the rate you’re going, you're gonna collapse.” The concern in his brother’s voice was clear. Papyrus started to tense.

“Nonsense! The great Papyrus does not need to eat much. I will be fine, Sans!” Papyrus responded, gesturing grandly for emphasis.

“Bro, you just nearly fell over from standing too quickly,” Sans was unconvinced.

“I am just fine, Sans! There is no! Need! To worry!” Papyrus insisted. His tone was sharp.

“Okay, okay, fine,” Sans said, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. Papyrus was not surprised. Sans was never good with conflict.

Papyrus turned back to his puzzle and continued on fiddling with its interior. By the time he turned around again, Sans was gone without so much as a footprint marking his trail.

And that was simply how the days went by. Papyrus would deliver food, work on his puzzles, and deflect any concern that came his way. The routine was monotonous and would get boring soon, but Papyrus held onto the happiness he saw in the townsfolk whenever he helped them.

The predictable everyday couldn’t last forever, however. Eventually, the time came for Papyrus to report to Undyne at the core.

The journey through Waterfall was nice. It had been a while since he left Snowdin, so a change in scenery was welcome. Even through the darkest caves Papyrus had no trouble navigating. He used to come through this area every other day to train with Undyne, after all.

Waterfall was not quite as nice as it used to be. Much of the lucious plant life that rimmed the river had been stripped away, presumably by hungry locals looking for food. Papyrus couldn’t even see any water sausages, even though they used to be numerous. That’s a shame, he was hoping to bring some back for Sans, although his brother is no longer running that (illegal) hotdog stand. It would have been nice.

A shudder passed through Papyrus’ spine. It felt like someone was watching him. Looking around, Papyrus couldn’t see anyone, but the sound of rustling grass betrayed someone’s presence. Oh well, he thought, maybe they're just shy (or maybe he has a secret admirer?)

Despite his faith in his unknown watcher Papyrus didn’t linger. The dampness of Waterfall faded away as he entered Holland.

Papyrus did not like Hotland. The heat was incredibly unpleasant. It always made him start sweating within minutes of entering the area. He was always disgusting by the time he left.

The place had gotten even worse since the food shortages started. At least before there were plenty of friendly monsters to talk with on the few occasions he actually went there. Now, it was even more destitute than Snowdin and Waterfall.

That was when Papyrus heard a faint cry from behind. Before he could turn around something pointed pressed on his spine. 

“Give me your food. I know you have some! I can smell it on you,” a shaky voice called out. Well, if that’s what they want.

Papyrus turned around to face the monster. It was a whimsalot. They had the point of their spear pointed straight at him. Without hesitation he takes out the sandwich that he packed for lunch and he relinquished it.

The whimsalot watched him with a stunned expression for a moment before quickly yanking the offer from his mitts.

“Thank you, thank you,” the monsters thanked as they flew backwards, hovering in the air, prize in hand.

“Honestly, you could have just asked politely,” Papyrus chastised. The other monster looked at the ground, seemingly appropriately ashamed of themselves.

“Sorry… I just have a daughter to feed, and nobody here has enough to give away. I don’t want her to die,” having said that, the monster burst into tears.

Papyrus’ soul ached at this stranger's pain. He didn’t want to think about loss. He doesn’t want to think about what happened to Asgore and what is happening to Dogamy. 

“Don’t worry! I’m sure that Undyne will be able to get the core fixed soon! Everything is going to be okay! I, the great Papyrus, promise!”

The whimalot seemed unconvinced, their gaze down, staring at the rough red rock floor of Hotland. Without saying any more, the whimsalot flitted out of sight.

Papyrus sighed. At least he helped a monster in need! That is always a good thing. But, although he refused to admit it to himself, Papyrus was bummed that he no longer had a lunch for today.

It didn’t even take Papyrus a half hour to cross Hotland and finally reach his destination.

The core.

The heart of the underground. What every monster had been relying on for their power. It supplied all the geothermal energy needed to keep monsterkind fed and happy. The closest equivalent they had to the sun.

And it was dying. Papyrus didn’t understand why it was failing, the explanation went over his head when Alphys and Sans had tried to explain. Papyrus wasn’t stupid in the slightest, he just didn’t have the scientific background to understand why it was failing.

The core used to be a quiet machine. Only a select few parts of it had made noise and those parts were far enough from the public pathways that few people except for engineers and maintenance workers ever got to hear it. To those people, the whir of steam pushing to rotors and the dripping of the condensation as the water returned to the underground river was ingrained in their memories.

But the steam powered parts were not what were failing. The other mechanism of the core, and what created the most power, was not well understood. It was odd, but most of the original plans seemed to have been completely lost. Not to mention that most of the monsters that helped build it didn’t understand it either.

But that is not what matters to Papyrus right now. He had a report to make.

Entering the core, the first thing that Papyrus noticed was the stale air. Dust (of the non-monster variety) clung to the walls and floor. The hallways were dark, the little light coming from the open doors just barely illuminating his path.

Despite the darkness Papyrus has little trouble navigating. He had already memorized the route from the entrance to where he wanted to go.

Sudden light burned his eye sockets as he stepped out of the building and onto a walkway. He was very high up off the ground, if he were a monster afraid of heights the lava far below would have filled him with dread. It was so high up that the walkway was attached to the ceiling of the cavern rather than the floor.

It was a maintenance platform for the core. One of the ones that creeped along the sides of the exterior of the massive machine. Workers would come here to fix cracked metal sheets and replace burnt out wires. It was only one walkway in a whole network around the core.

One of the pathways was different from the rest. The style of construction was different, more modern. The materials that it was composed of were not the same as what composed the core. And it was… not very solid in comparison to the others. When Papyrus walked on it the path would sway slightly, and on occasion he could hear creaking noises.

Papyrus rounded a corner, and a figure appeared on the other side.

“Undyne!” He called out. Undyne turned to face him, her tired expression lifting into a smile when she saw him.

“Papyrus! It’s about time you got here! I’ve been waiting all day,” Undyne scolded playfully. She slapped his back, almost sending him forward with the force of it.

“My apologies Undyne! I got held up a little,” Papyrus confessed, averting his gaze.

“Oh, someone giving you trouble?” A protective gleam entered Undyne’s burning gaze.

“Nothing that the great Papyrus cannot handle!”

“Alright then. Also, where the heck is your brother. I know you must have passed on Alphys’ message. Still don’t know why she’s asking for him of all monsters, though,” she added that last part under her breath, as if speaking only to herself.

“Erm, Sans has been quite busy… with… sentry work.” 

In all honesty Sans hasn’t been doing much of anything, not that Papyrus was going to tell her that. He’s sure that Sans has his reasons but Undyne is a monster that values effort and initiative, two things that his brother is not very good at.

If Papyrus was being honest with himself he would think that it is starting to grind on him too. Sans had always been lazy but with the food shortages it had been getting harder to excuse. Every other monster had been busting their tails looking for solutions and feeding their friends and family, while Sans had done just about nothing at all to help.

Papyrus didn’t really understand it. Sans never used to be this bad. When they were young he would put in effort if the stakes were high enough but some years back he changed. He got secretive and lethargic and dare-he-say depressed. Papyrus wanted to help. He just didn’t know how, which hurt.

“Of course he is,” Undyne grumbled. Then she shook her head and gave him an intense look. “Just make sure he reports in soon, got it?” Papyrus nodded vigorously.

“So,” Undyne shifted, leaning slightly against the railing. “How are things going in Snowdin?”

“Fantastically! Except for a few things!” Undyne watched expectantly. Papyrus shifted uncomfortably, starting to sweat, and not just from the heat.

“Well, nobody’s died yet! But a lot of monsters aren’t doing too well. Dogamy, um, kinda Fell Down. But I’m sure they’ll be okay!”

“Yeah, I heard about Dogamy. I’d like to visit but I have my schedule full.”

“I’m sure you will get your chance!” Papyrus declared.

“Good attitude!” Undyne cheered, but it was half-hearted. She glanced away for a moment and when it came clear that Papyrus didn’t have anything more to say stood up straight.

“There’s something else I need you to pass on, Papyrus. To the guard dogs in Snowdin. Tell them that there’s a particularly nasty thief running around. They were last seen in Waterfall, but it seems that they’re heading towards Snowdin.”

“I will! Perhaps I can catch them myself! Yes, I’ll make sure to find them and put them on the right path!”

“... right, just be careful, okay? This one isn’t like the others. If you get in their way they will hurt you.”

“Even so! I’m sure they just need a bit of help to get back on the right path!” The apparent doubt in him stung a little.

Undyne sighed. “Just get the guard dogs if you see someone suspicious.” At least that he could agree to.

“Is there anything more you need help with?” Papyrus enquired, secretly hoping for more to do.

“Geez, I could use help with fucking everything !” Undyne shouted suddenly. Papyrus reeled back slightly at the outburst.

“Sorry, sorry,” Undyne murmured. She rubbed her face with her hands. When she looked back up, Papyrus could see the stress she’s been through written on her face.

“It’s just… being queen is a lot. Like, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but there is so much I didn’t think about before I took this role. It’s not like being captain of the royal guard,” she confessed, looking out over the vast section of underground visible from their height. Papyrus hated the uncertainty in her voice. It’s not how she should be, proud and fierce. But once again, he did not know how to help her. Just like how he couldn’t help his brother.

“... but it’s nothing anyone can fix. But I will not give up. Working together, monsterkind can overcome ALL obstacles in our way! We WILL leave the underground and reclaim the surface from humanity!” That’s the Undyne he knew and loved, her fist raised before her head, her entire countenance radiating passion. Papyrus was relieved.

“That’s the spirit!” Papyrus cheered. As he moved to strike a heroic pose along with his friend another bout a dizziness struck him. Papyrus stumbled. The world tilted.

Papyrus felt a warm scaled hand grip his humerus.

“Woah there Papyrus, are you okay?”

Papyrus blinked hard as the vertigo came to pass. He realized that he was being partially held upright by Undyne’s grip.

“Never better,” he declared, standing up straight again. Undyne let go of his arm. She gave him a long hard look, then sighed.

“Just get a good meal, would you? You can’t help other people if you don’t take care of yourself first, understood?” Undyne said, her tone completely serious.

“Don’t worry about me, Undyne,” Papyrus said. Admittedly, his tone was harsher than usual but dealing with other monsters’ worry was starting to get tiring. He was the great Papyrus, as he tells himself. He doesn’t need any help.

“Fine, then.” Undyne snarked back.

“Anyways, I have things I need to do. You ought to head back to Snowdin where you can make yourself useful.” Papyrus was slightly taken aback from the acerbic layer to her words but he didn’t get mad. She was only stressed.

Papyrus took the hint and left. He felt relief when he exited the rickety platform. He was even more relieved when he exited the stifling heat of Hotland.

His return to Snowdin was uneventful. This time, no monster tried to shake him down for food, probably because he didn’t have any.

Just the thought of his missing lunch sent a pang of hunger through Papyrus. He had never been this hungry before. Even when he and his brother were at their poorest all it took was a polite request to a shopkeeper to get a meal. There were few monsters cold enough to let a child go hungry.

This hunger was plainly painful. Whenever Papyrus turned his attention to his appetite a burning hunger made itself apparent. It felt like his soul was trying to eat through his own bones in order to sate itself. Irrationally, Papyrus feared that his marrow might be slowly consumed from the inside, rendering him hollow and fragile.

There was not much he could do about it, though. Not even eating worked to ease the discomfort. The paltry portions that he was allowed in the famine only served to wake up his appetite, intensifying the constant burning.

The only real reprieve that he has was his distractions. If he recalibrated his puzzles, if he made his reports, if he assisted the neighborhood with various tasks, the focus it took to do those things took his mind off of the hunger. It was so much easier if he didn’t have to think.

Entering the area east of Snowdin from Waterfall, Papyrus could feel eyes on the back of his spine, again.

It was quiet. The only sound that he could hear was the rushing river and the sound of his own footsteps. Papyrus’ foot hit a rock and he stumbled slightly. Why does he keep on stumbling and tripping? Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing. At least nobody was around to see it.

Papyrus stopped walking to regain his footing. The sound of footsteps continued. It was coming from behind him.

Papyrus whirled around quickly and saw the monster that was behind him. It was a bee monster. A friendly looking fellow with thin limbs and covered in a fine fuzz. He was slightly surprised. Insectoid monsters usually did not come to the cold areas of the underground as they were more vulnerable to the cold than most monsters.

He could not help but relax. The nervousness from before vanishing. Papyrus was kinda embarrassed at his reaction. Undyne’s talk must have gotten him a bit nervous. Surely this was just a regular monster that’s looking for help. He was sure of it.

“Hello there! I couldn’t help but notice you behind me! I haven’t seen you around here before, so I, the great Papyrus, am wondering if there is anything I can help you with, stranger!”

The bee monster fixed him with an odd look, like they were unsure what to make of him. For a moment, Papyrus felt awkward but he quickly covered it up with reassurances. They probably didn’t know how to act when faced with someone as great as him.

“Oh, I’m good. I’m just passing through,” the bee monster stated. That was an odd statement considering that there is nothing much beyond this point except for Snowdin. Papyrus knew every one of Snowdin’s residents, there weren’t a lot of them, and he doesn’t think any of them were related to this monster.Nor had he ever seen this monster before. Maybe they're coming to visit a friend. That made more sense to him, except for the fact that they were dressed too lightly for the weather.

That reminds him. “You seem cold, stranger! I would offer you my coat, but unfortunately I do not have one! You can borrow my scarf, however! You would have to return it before you leave again.”

The monster gave him another strange look, but this time it seemed uncomfortable, tense maybe. “Thanks for the offer but I really am good.”

Without waiting for a response the bee monster stepped forward, brushing past Papyrus’ shoulder as they passed him. Without a goodbye they power walked away. It seemed like they were struggling to keep their footing on the slick trampled down snow path. Luckily they had extra pairs of legs to help them keep their balance. Must be helpful.

There wasn’t really anything for him to do so Papyrus continued on his path. He was going in the same direction as the other monster for several minutes. They were walking faster than him, almost like they were in a rush, so they slowly got further away. Eventually, Papyrus rounded a corner to find that the other monster was not in sight.

That too, was a little strange. They weren’t that far ahead of him that he would lose them, especially considering that the path ahead was straight, with no branching paths.

But that was not of great concern to Papyrus. He merely continued on. Soon enough he reached Snowdin.

It was starting to get late, he knew. Even when the lights were out Papyrus had a strict schedule to keep. It’s no good to let his sleep fall out of rhythm. Not that the great Papyrus needs a lot of sleep, but it’s still important.

With that in mind he figured that it’s about time to return home. There’s still chores he has to do. Sans, the lazybones, had probably not done any cleaning. That leaves Papyrus to do most of the work, and without electricity many of those tasks have become even harder and more time consuming. Another reason why he doubts that Sans has done them.

As much as Papyrus likes to complain about his brother’s laziness in truth he never minded too much. Papyrus was a monster that liked to have something productive to do, he hated to sit still and do nothing.

There were no lights visible through the windows when Papyrus arrived at his house. The door was unlocked, however.

Papyrus let himself into his home. Now that he was inside he could see the faint flickering light of a candle from the living room, and the pair of eyelights glancing towards him.

As he thought, his brother was home.

“Hello, Sans,” Papyrus greeted.

“Goodbye, Sans,” Papyrus said as he bounded up the stairs, not giving him a chance to speak.

It wasn’t personal, but Papyrus wasn’t in the mood to talk to his brother tonight. The worry-wart was probably still concerned about him, and Papyrus was tired of people’s concern. All he wanted to do now was to finish up his chores and go to bed.

So that’s what he did. He didn’t get a bedtime story that night.

Papyrus woke up at five am sharp, as he always does. Usually, he would practically bolt out of bed, ready to take on the day but this time he couldn’t. His bones felt as if they were as heavy as concrete. Just the thought of getting out of bed was tiring.

Geez, was this how Sans feels all the time? If it is then no wonder he likes to sleep in.

Eventually, Papyrus found the will to get out of bed. Once he was up and about it was easier for him.

So, he went about his morning routine, albeit with some changes. It is difficult to brush your teeth in the dark but Papyrus managed.

It was even harder when breakfast came.

There was so little food in the fridge. Because of just how little food there is available these days rationing has been strictly enforced. Supplies were distributed to each household, the quantity depending on the number of occupants and the species of the family. Not all monsters have the same needs.

He and his brother did not get a lot. Papyrus stared at the contents of the fridge, feeling bizarrely guilty. There was barely enough for one monster. As frustrating as Sans could be Papyrus did not want him to go hungry.

Although Papyrus tried to bury the feeling under a wave of optimism he was worried for Sans health. His brother had always been so frail. 1HP does not give someone a lot of leeway in terms of taking care of their health.

A resounding bang resounded. Papyrus startled, slammed out of his reverie. The noise happened again. Then, he heard a voice.

“Papyrus! Papyrus! Are you there! We need your help,” a feminine voice called out.

Without preamble Papyrus rushed to the front door and swung it open. There, with a fist still raised for knocking, was the purple rabbit monster that ran the general store a few blocks away. She had a panicked expression on her face.

“What happened!?” Papyrus asked.

“It’s my store! I’ve been robbed! Lesser Dog is apprehending the thief but he needs help!”

That was all the information he needed before Papyrus shot off down the street, almost knocking into the rabbit monster on the way.

Luckily, Snowdin was a small town, and the shop was only a few buildings down from the house, which was probably why she came to him, as the other members of the canine unit lived further away. He only had to travel a few meters before he started to hear the sound of a struggle.

A howl ripped through the air, followed by buzzing. There, by the side of the store, was Lesser Dog in the midst of combat. He was facing towards the alleyway with a snarl on his face and his dagger raised.

A swarm of monster bullets came from out of the alleyway and struck the dog monster’s shield, pushing him backwards and making him stumble. The monster bullets were shaped like insects.

From out of the alley burst the bee monster from yesterday with a bag stuffed full of goods in one of their four hands. Papyrus fought back a feeling of betrayal and disappointment. The bee monster took advantage of the dog’s stumble and darted away in the opposite direction from Papyrus. Papyrus quickly began to give chase.

Lesser Dog recovered fast and started to pursue as well. He was much closer to the thief. Lesser Dog let spears of blue magic fly at the criminal. The bee monster, having glanced backwards in time, came to a jarring halt. The blue magic passed through them harmlessly.

In moments, Lesser Dog was upon them. His shield slammed into their thorax as he lunged, almost bringing them down. However, the other monster used the force of the attack to knock them to a safer distance, hovering in the air with their wings beating rapidly.

Again, the thief struck. Another swarm of bee bullets formed and shot out. This time, Lesser Dog’s shield was not enough to block all the attacks. Some of them rang true, and the dog whimpered as his HP fell.

All of this happened rapidly, as Papyrus was charging towards the conflict.

“Wait!” He called out as he placed himself between the combatants.

“There is no need for fighting!” He turned to the bee monster and spoke in a firm but pleading tone.

“Please give back the stolen goods! I know you must have had a very difficult day but this is not the way to solve your problems!”

The large eyes of the bee monster gazed straight into his soul. All became quiet as they stared at him for a moment.

The spell broke as they spun around, dropped to the ground, and fled on foot.

Again, Papyrus gave chase. But not two seconds into the pursuit his vision began to swim, again. The world around him wobbled and tilted to the side. The last thing that Papyrus saw before everything went black was the yellow fuzz of the bee monster and a flash of white.

Papyrus regained consciousness gradually, over an unknown period of time. First he was faintly aware of a familiar voice speaking above his head, but that quieted. Then, his mind started to turn back on much like a laggy computer struggling to function. 

Finally, Papyrus squinted open his eye sockets. Immediately, the ambient light made him cringe and close again. He tried again, holding one hand above his eyes to block the light. He could feel his arm tremble at this easy task.

This was when Papyrus realized that he did not know where he was. He looked around. The furniture was unfamiliar. This was not his home. One of the appliances around him was an electric lamp. It was turned on. Ah, this must be one of the houses that still have their own generator.

Papyrus shifted and turned his head the other way and was met with the back of a couch.

“You're awake,” he heard Sans say, followed by soft footfalls. Papyrus just let out a small groan in response. A hard hand pat his shoulder soothingly, and Papyrus looked back. There was Sans, as expected.

“Hey, Paps. How ya feeling?”

“Not too great,” Papyrus admitted. Speaking such a short sentence shouldn’t have taken as much effort as it did.

“Where are we?” He asked.

“The shopkeeper’s place. She brought you in after you collapsed,” Sans told plainly. That made sense. As far as Papyrus knew she lived on the second floor of the shop.

“...and the other monster?”

“They got away with the food.”

“Ah,” Papyrus was disappointed in himself. If only he hadn’t collapsed at the worst possible time, then he would’ve been able to talk the other monster down. It would have taken some time but he knew that he could do it. He’s done it before. He just had to mess things up by fainting. He—

“I hate to say this, Papyrus, but we need to talk,” Sans interrupted his internal self flagellation. Papyrus refocused on his brother’s face. Sans looked more tired than he’d ever seen. A sense of dread pooled in Papyrus’ soul.

“It’s pretty bad out there, right now,” Sans stated.

“That monster got away with a lot of our food stores. Until the next shipment comes in we’re all going to have to do some pretty intense rationing. It’s gonna be rough.” Shame sunk into Papyrus’ bones. The entire town is going to be angry with him. Papyrus looked away from his brother but could still feel Sans’ gaze.

For a moment, all was silent. Then, a sigh rang through the air.

“Here,” with that prompt Papyrus looked back to Sans. He was holding out something long and brown. A cooked water sausage. “You gotta eat. When was your last meal anyway?” Papyrus stared at the sausage, hunger and guilt warring within. Eventually, Papyrus shook his head.

“Other monsters need it more than me,” he replied with guilt in his tone.

“This ain’t your fault. You know that, bro?” Sans questioned.

“I’m the reason that monster got away with the food. Other people are going hungry because of me. I need to make it up to them,” Papyrus reasoned.

There was a sense of helplessness and distress in Sans’ eyes. He looked like he wanted to argue with him, to refute every claim but didn’t know how. Sans rubbed his face with his hand and sat down hard on the armrest of the sofa.

“God, Papyrus. Y’know I… I…” Sans struggled to get his words out, staring off into space.

“I don’t think I’ll survive without you,” at that statement pain welled up in Papyrus’ soul.

“You aren’t going to lose me, brother,” Papyrus said gently.

“But I just might,” Sans laughed humorlessly.

“I can see how bad you're getting. D’you know how this feels? To watch your only family slowly wither away from hunger? God, Papyrus, by the way you're going I’m scared you’re gonna starve yourself to dust.”

“Brother…”

“And if you go, if you go, then I won’t be able to survive either. You’re the only reason I get up each morning, y’know?” Papyrus didn’t know that. Sans almost never spoke about his emotions like this, and Papyrus didn’t know how to handle it. Part of him wanted to escape but the rest of him squashed that cowardly desire.

In a rare moment of introspection, Papyrus wondered what he would do if he was in Sans’ place. How he would react if he watched his brother get weaker and weaker from hunger until his body couldn’t keep up.

Terror jolted through his soul at the very thought (oh god oh god that might just happen Sans had always been fragile how long can he last in these conditions). The feeling was unbearable, so Papyrus forced that chain of thought out of his mind.

There was another fact that Papyrus could no longer refuse, no matter how much he wanted to. His brother was right, he couldn’t go on eating as little as he was. Papyrus had never felt this weak before, not once in his life. From before he could walk he had been hearty and energetic. He never gets sick. 

The change in his condition was hard to grasp and harder to accept, but he must do it. If things stay the same he’s going to hurt himself and his brother. He can’t allow that to happen.

Gradually, Papyrus props himself onto his elbows. He sat up slowly, resting back against the couch.

Silently, he held out his hand and gently took the water sausage from Sans. He could see relief cross his brother’s face.

Papyrus took in the sausage in front of him. There were monsters that needed it more, hungry children and the sick. There was nothing that he could do for them if he dusts.

Papyrus began to eat.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in Waterfall a monster clad in armour panted for air. He stopped for a breather.

“...You okay there?” Said his partner, beside him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder

“Like, I’m okay,” said RG 1. RG 2 acknowledged him silently with a nod.

They couldn’t stop for long. They had a duty to do.

Chugging alongside them was a large carriage being pulled by a team of several different kinds of monsters, including a woshua, a sloth monster, and another monster that was difficult to describe. It was an old construction, made in the days before numerous technological advances were made. The wooden wheels of the carriage made a constant clatter against the store floor. Inside the carriage was precious cargo indeed. In fact, many monsters will be in trouble if they fail to protect it.

Escort missions had become a common duty of the royal guard. Before the famine they never had much to do, in all honesty. Humans only fell down once a decade, at most, leaving long stretches of time where the royal guard had nothing to guard.

They had duties other than catching humans. Mostly general peacekeeping, breaking up fights, catching thieves, the like. But, there was not a lot of crime in the underground, so they spent much of the time working other jobs or doing hobbies.

The most severe issues typically came from monsters that couldn’t find a job and became desperate, resorting to theft and violence to help themselves and their loved ones. In those cases punishment was not appropriate as they are acting like any other living being would. The issues then were solved through social support programs.

But, unfortunately, thefts and violence were becoming more and more frequent as of late what with food shortages and the core. Desperate monsters take desperate actions, even if it means stealing from those who are in need as much as they are.

That brings us back to why these two members of the royal guard were here today. This convoy is carrying vital supplies to the most remote areas of the underground. As such, it is at high risk of being attacked and stolen from.

The two guards were on high alert, looking and listening for any sign of life other than each other and the monsters pulling the carriage. Luckily, all was quiet. They had yet to encounter any issues.

And so the escort continued. They weaved through the narrow winding corridors and shallow streams. That was, until they reached an impasse.

RG 1 sighed in annoyance. “Like, who on earth took the bridge seeds down? It’s just a pain! Everyone knows how to do this puzzle!”

Indeed, the bridge seed plants that usually made a bridge across the channel was gone. This stream was wider and deeper than the past few ones. This may be a problem.

“Hey guys! Can you, like, pull that through the water?” RG 1 asked.

One of the monsters, a woshua that was pulling the convoy, shot him an irritated look. “Of course not,” the woshua grumbled.

Well then. RG 1 looked around for where the seeds regenerated. They were in the water, of course, just not aligned. Quickly, he aligned the seeds in the water, but as he did so he noticed something. One of the seeds was missing.

RG 1 looked around again, eyeing the areas further from the river. Eventually he spotted something that looked awfully like a blossom on the other side of the water.

“I think I see the last one on the other side of the water, bro. You stay here while I get it, ‘kay?” RG 1 said to RG 2. The other guard nodded silently in agreement.

With the safety of the carriage taken care of RG 1 walked into the water. It was hard to push his way through the current with how the armour weighs him down, but he managed. Along the way, he could have sworn that his foot grazed something too soft to be a rock.

Just as the guard reached the other side and the blossom all hell broke loose.

Water splashed on rock as large blurs shot out of the pool and straight towards RT 1. He had just enough time to reach his sheathed weapon before the assailants tackled him.

RT 1 staggered backwards but was able to keep his footing and not fall on his bottom. He regained his balance just in time to see monster bullets flying at him.

He cursed, yanking his sword from its sheath and slashing at the oncoming attacks. Many of the bullets ricocheted off of the enchanted metal, rebounding all across the cavern, but he wasn’t able to block them all. Magic bullets struck him, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and even hit the monsters that cast them, by the sound of the pained cries filling the air.

The royal guard went on the offence. With a yell RG 1 lunged forward, shoving his weight into his foes, knocking several of them back.

RG 1 sent out a barrage of monster bullets. The white weapons of magic reigned down on his enemies from above. Cries filled the air as the other monsters were driven backwards in their attempts to avoid the bullets.

Now that the crowd had been beaten back RG 1 was able to see what was happening to the rest of his team.

Across the water RG 2 was struggling against another mob of monsters. He was awesome, fighting with a grace only seen in the most skilled of fighters. But even the skilled persons would struggle fighting alone against many.

Behind the other guard, the convoy was being raided. Several monsters, many native to Waterfall and Hotland had thrown open the rear doors of the carriage and were making away with the packages inside. One after another, they grabbed as much as they could then made a break for it. The escapees were heading in the direction of Hotland. The monsters in charge of pulling the carriage were hopelessly overwhelmed.

Damn it. At this rate everything will be taken before they are able to take control of the situation. He and RT 2 had always fought best together. Their only chance to salvage this situation would be to meet back up again.

With that in mind RG 1 slashed his sword in front of him. Several monsters dodged to the side and those who didn’t were knocked down by the impact.

That gave him an opening. RG 1 barreled through and over living bodies, then nearly leaped into the water. He didn’t have time to spare in this water. Many of his opponents were semi-aquatic monsters and would have a combat advantage in this pool, so he has to get out as soon as possible.

RG 1 heard a war cry coming from behind and felt monster bullets strike his back. Pain flowed through his soul. He cursed. Attacking someone from behind, how cowardly can you get?

As much as he’d like to give them a piece of his mind he ignored it. He continued to plow through the water until he reached the other side.

Water dripped from his soaked armour as he relocated his companion. RG 2 was getting overwhelmed. He was being attacked from all sides. RG 1’s soul burned with rage at the sight.

With an enraged shout RG 1 barrelled into the crowd. Monsters cried out in surprise as they were gracelessly and aggressively shoved to the side. This tactic, primitive as it was, was effective.

“Bro!” RG 1 shouted as he reached the side of his comrade. Through the slits in his helmet RG 2 gave him a relieved look. He was surely thinking the same thing as RG 1. Now that they're together, everything is going to be alright.

RG 1 gave the other a quick scan for injuries. The other guard's armour was scratched and dented in places, and he seemed to be favouring a foot. But luckily, his HP was only down one fifth.

The two guards quickly fell into synchronization. They fought in tandem. When one’s guard was open, the other would defend him. Their combo attacks drove back their attackers efficiently and ruthlessly.

Suddenly, they found that their bullets and blades were striking only air. The enemy was retreating. Few of them dove back into the water, swimming away presumably, while most bolted from where the caravan came from, the same direction where the thieving monsters ran.

RG 1 chased after the thieves until he reached a corner. Just as he was about to round it a hand grasped his wrist, holding him back. He turned around to see RG 2 giving him a look.

“...don’t bother. We can’t catch them,” RG 2 said quietly. RG 1 blushed at the contact and also in embarrassment.

“Like, you’re right, bro. We have to protect what we have left,” he responded. With that said both guards turned back and went to the carriage.

“Hey! Like, are you guys okay?” RG 1 asked, silently kicking himself for not thinking of the others sooner.

“We’re fine. The dirty thieves didn’t attack us if we didn’t put up a fight. Oh how I would have liked to clean them up,” the woshua grumbled, the water in its back audibly swishing in its anger.

“I did get hit with a couple stray bullets,” a sloth-like monster complained.

Still, RG 1 checked each of the monsters, none of them had more than a couple HP missing. A few had none missing at all. It really does seem that they were not targeted. He let out a sigh of relief. At least they didn’t totally fail in their duties.

RG 1 couldn’t help but want Undyne to be there. Ever since she became queen the royal guard was thrown into disarray.

The thing was that she didn’t actually resign from being the captain of the royal guard. So now she was playing double duty, and with the responsibilities of royalty, the royal guard was falling on the wayside.

The royal guard followed a strict hierarchy. Members had to get permission from the government before partaking on any sort of mission. That was a rule estated long before their time to ensure that the force did not start misusing their power. But now that rule is causing them issues.

There was more crime and civil unrest in the kingdom’s history since the first horrible years that they got trapped underground. The guards had more to do than ever, but they couldn’t get permission to do what they needed to do to keep the peace.

Not to mention that Undyne was the best fighter among them. That was one of the main reasons that she was the captain, after all. If she had been there when the carriage was raided the attackers would have been driven off in less than a minute, RG 1 would bet on it. That is, if they would have dared attack at all with her present.

She was always the best of them at rallying their forces and keeping up their spirits. RG 1 remembered the times that she would go on an inspirational monologue that any monster in the area couldn’t help but be enraptured by. Her heroic spirit was truly something else.

But that’s neither here nor there. There’s something more important to get to. RG 1 looked at RG 2 who was parked behind the carriage, evidently taking stock of what had been stolen and what remained. RG 1 strolled over to him and took a look inside the compartment.

“Yikes,” RG 1 said, and he meant it. He had gotten a good look at what it held at their last stop, Temmie village. At that time the vehicle was a little under half way full, at least two dozen parcels full of food. Now the number was low enough to count easily. There were seven left.

Shame sunk deeply into RG 1’s soul. What will he tell the poor people of Snowdin? They’re the next and final destination. The furthest town from the capital (other than whoever still lives in the closed off ruins).

God, the deliveries were barely enough for the monsters that got their proper allotment. He can only think of what hell is awaiting the people of Snowdin. There’s not going to be another shipment for at least a week, probably two, as the capital's ability to produce food was severely limited with the breakdown of the core.

The guard could only hope that the residents had some other method of getting sustenance, otherwise many monsters in that town were certainly going to die, he knew.

The shame and pain he felt was overwhelming. If only he had been more careful, more competent, then he wouldn’t have to explain to a town full of monsters why they and their friends and family were going to have to starve even more than they were already!

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

RG 1 started to panic internally. His vision started to tunnel and he could feel sweat building underneath his armour.

He felt a hand lay on his shoulder and give a comforting squeeze. He looked up to see RG 2’s concerned expression. For minutes they stood there, with him shaking and trying to catch his breath until they were interrupted.

“Come on, we need to get going,” said the sloth monster from earlier. RG 1 didn’t look up but RG 2 must have given him a dirt look because the other monster continued. “What? You already know that this place is dangerous. Besides, he’ll feel better once we get to walking.”

Everything that the monster said rang true to him, so the guard straightened up and pushed his friend’s hand off his shoulder. 

“They’re right, bro. Let’s go,” RG 1’s tone was dark and flat, a disconcerting change from his usual light hearted tone. The guard started to walk on, keeping every sense of his sharp and focused on his surroundings. He could still feel his companion’s concerned gaze, but he ignored it.

He had a job to do.

Chapter Text

And so the carriage rolled on.

The convoy traversed many different types of terrain. It rolled smoothly over stone smoothed through countless years of running water. It struggled through streams and thick grasses. Echo flowers were trampled over its wheels and got tangled in the spokes.

Eventually, the grass and water gave way to ice and snow. This terrain was easier on the team pulling the caravan, as the snow was hard and packed down by the footsteps of countless monsters. This made for a smooth, albeit bumpy ride.

The icy bits, however, were more difficult. The feet of the monsters struggled to get a good enough grip to pull their load forward. But they did make progress, and after an arduous journey, made it to their final destination.

Snowdin town.

From where they stood, the guards could just make out the shapes of monsters watching out through windows and coming out from their houses. Faintly, they could hear footsteps and the creaks and slams of doors.

The monsters of Snowdin started flooding out and towards the carriage. As they got closer, the guards could see their expressions, even in the dark. They wore expressions of excitement, of hope. Hope for a future where they and their families will be able to survive another month.

Those hopes were about to be dashed.

The relative quiet was suddenly broken by a shout from one of the closest homes.

“Sans! Get up you lazybones! The food is here,” a skeleton monster had shouted into his home from the doorway of his home.

RG 1’s soul sank in his chest. He was not looking forward to the conversation to come.

He blinked and, abruptly, the skeleton (he thought his name was Papyrus. Undyne said something about a skeleton named that once or twice) was right before him. He must have dashed. The show of energy lifted RG 1’s spirits. If some monsters still have such energy then maybe there is still hope for this place, he thought.

“Hello, there! I, the great Papyrus, welcome you to the town of Snowdin. I, also, thank you for your services in bringing us these vital supplies!” The skeleton’s tone was exuberant, but betrayed an exhaustion underneath.

“Err… um…” RG 1 said. Papyrus waited, smiling, as words failed the guard. Moments passed as he continued to stammer out words. “Um, like.. about that..” he trailed off again.

“It’s best that you see for yourself,” RG 2 cut in, saving his crush from embarrassing himself more. Not that it worked, RG 1 simply felt ashamed that he was too scared to gather his words and own up to his errors.

Papyrus followed the other guard towards the back of the vehicle. RG 1 followed the two silently. Other townsfolk followed closely be

RG 2 opened the doors of the carriage, and, without a word, stepped aside, exposing the inside to the civilians crowding around. 

RG 1 watched as the hope in the skeleton’s face turned to shock, or rather, disbelief. The monster started looking around both sides of, on top of, and even underneath the carriage. Presumably, he was looking for the missing supplies. Papyrus turned to look at him.

“Where’s the rest?” Papyrus asked. It was clear that he was trying to keep up a strong front, but he wasn’t a good enough actor to keep the anxiety from shining through.

“That’s all there is, I’m sorry,” RG 1 apologized. A dark look crossed the skeleton’s expression, sadness and pain and dread. RG 1 could sympathize.

“...what happened?” Papyrus asked softly. The quiet tone seemed unnatural on this monster.

“We got raided. The thieves came at us en masse and managed to split us up. This was all we managed to save. I’m sorry,” RG 1 choked out. He noticed that he was staring at the ground and forced himself to look at the other monster’s face. Papyrus’ face was unreadable, or rather, he couldn’t put a name to that expression.

Many other townsfolk had crowded around the open doors. They peeked around Papyrus’ shoulders or under his rib cage to see what the fuss was about. Much like Papyrus, their expressions became one of horror.

Papyrus took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands. After a moment of shuddering breaths he straightened out and sighed.

“Okay. This is okay. We are going to be okay. We’re going to be fine,” Papyrus spoke. It seemed to the people around him that he was speaking mostly to himself.

“No, it’s not. It’s really not,” said a new feminine voice. The monsters turned to look at the newcomer. A female dog monster stood in a gap in the crowd. Her expression… it was beyond description. The look of utter horror and despair that shadowed her face shot straight to the onlookers soul. The uneasy crowd fell silent, until one spoke up.

“Um, don’t worry Dogaressa, I’m sure that your hus-”

“My husband is going to die,” Dogaressa screamed, her voice and visage frantic with grief. She whirled around and stormed towards the guards. “He’s going to die because your too goddamn incompetent to do your job!” She continued to shriek. Her words were having an impact on the crowd, many of the crowd member’s body language had become tense and expressions angry. But not all of them, there was a lizard monster still in stripes that looked ready to cry. But still, most of them were angry to some degree. This could be dangerous, if there was a riot the guards would not come out unscathed. Not with these numbers and their fatigue,

“H-hey,” Papyrus tried to interrupt, holding out his hands towards her in a placating gesture. As soon as his hands got to close she whirled at him.

“Shut up Papyrus!” Dogaressa yelled, practically snapping her jaws at him.

“Hey, what’s going on here,” another unfamiliar voice said calmly. Eyes snapped to another skeleton monster that appeared to appear out of thin air. This one was much shorter and stockier than the other, and a lot more sloppily dressed.

“These bastards let thieves get away with our food! We’re going to die because of this,” Dogaressa snarled.

“Ah,” said the short skeleton. “Welp, there’s nothing that we can do about that now, why don’t we chill out a little, heh,” he continued.

“Fuck off, Sans,” Dogaressa yelled. The grief stricken monster started to stalk forwards towards the short skeleton. It seems that she wasn’t done. “You don’t get to speak! I know what you’ve been doing, that is, jack shit! You don’t get to judge me, you useless trash!” Sans started to walk backwards away from her. In response, she quickened her pace. She reached out a paw, to push, or maybe attack him, but she didn’t get a chance to touch him.

A gloved hand gripped her shoulder tightly in turn. Dogaressa turned to snap at the offending appendage when a stern voice rang out.

“Dogaressa, I know that you are in a lot of pain, but this isn’t the way to deal with it. Attacking my brother will only bring more strife to everyone here,” Papyrus said. His tone was serious and stern, but also compassionate and understanding. This combination seemed to have the desired effect. Dogaressa’s lips relaxed, bringing her face out of the fearsome snarl. She still didn’t look happy, just less homicidal.

“...fine,” she growled. With not another word the dog monster whirled around and stalked off.

With her gone the energy of the crowd lowered from ‘on the verge of a riot’ to ‘upset but in control’, something that the guards were grateful for.

Papyrus sighed audibly.

“You okay there, bro?” the other skeleton, Sans, asked.

“This is tiring,” Papyrus admitted, sagging a little. Sans patted his brother’s side comfortingly, probably because he wasn’t tall enough to pat Papyrus’ shoulder. Straightening up, Papyrus addressed the crowd. “Well, then, I guess it’s time that we handle the supplies we have left. We will find a place to keep the supplies until we find a fair way to distribute it.” Apparently, that seemed reasonable to the crowd, as no objections were raised.

“Now we just have to figure out a place to keep this,” Papyrus mused.

“How about Grillby’s,” Sans suggested. “He does have a lot of storage space for food.” Papyrus brow lowered in concentration.

“That does make sense, brother. So long as he doesn’t cook the food into greasy monstrosities, I’m game!” Papyrus said.

“Cool,” Sans replied

“Does anyone have any objections,” Papyrus suddenly asked the crowd. A few monsters murmured among themselves but nobody spoke up more than a whisper. Papyrus took that as agreement. “Good.”

Then, Papyrus turned back to the guards. “Well, thank you for bringing this to us! I’m sorry you got robbed,” Papyrus said.

RG 1 was dumbfounded. They were the ones who failed. The ones who condemned them to further starvation, and this skeleton monster was thanking them ? Why wasn’t he mad like the others?

“Why… Why are you thanking us? We failed. We’re the reason that half of the food that was rightfully yours is gone,” RG 1 asked in disbelief. The energy in Papyrus’ expression vanished, leaving only a vague sadness.

“Because… what use would it be? You didn’t intend to get stolen from, and you clearly tried to stop them. Getting mad at you won’t make anything better. It will only get more people hurt. At least, that’s what I think!” At the end of his speech Papyrus’ voice regained its usual energy and volume.

RG 1 could only stare. What a kind way of looking at things. This monster was truly admirable. It was hard to see how he could be so forgiving. If only RT 1 could take some of that forgiveness and use it himself, on himself.

“Well, anyways, I have to go see Grillby. I need to tell him to prepare his storage! Goodbye!” The skeleton said, then promptly dashed off, leaving the guard still astonished. RG 1 watched the monster’s retreating back until a voice interrupted him.

“Man, my bro’s cool, isn’t he?” 

RG 1 looked to the side and then down. There was the other skeleton monster. Sans looked relaxed, both his face and posture relaxed.

“Like, I’m just impressed that he can be so forgiving,” RG 1 commented.

“Yeah, that’s Papyrus for you. He’s always forgiving, even when he maybe shouldn’t be,” Sans responded.

RG 1 felt a lump in his through form. Though Papyrus was forgiving, who knows what his brother thought.

“Welp, he’s right though. Guess you can say that it’s food for thought,” Sans continued. RG 1 now stared at Sans. Was that a food pun? Now ? Sans winked at him. That was definitely a pun.

“Anyways, I’m gonna go to Grillbz. Gotta talk to him ‘bout a couple things,'' Sans said. With that, the skeleton walked leisurely away, in the exact opposite direction of where his brother went. Huh, RG 1 thought. I thought that they were going to meet the same person?

It was not long before Papyrus returned to the carriage with a fire elemental in tow. They, with the help of several other civilians, took the boxes of food and left again towards the town center.

Soon enough, there were only a couple of packages left. RG 2 took them in his arms and left to follow the townsfolk to wherever they were going.

“You don’t have to help with this!” Papyrus insisted.

“I want to,” RG 2 replied simply. Papyrus didn’t insist. RG 1 was slightly surprised at his not-boyfriend’s actions. Both of them were exhausted from the hours-long trek through the underground and the scuffle they endured. Personally, RG 1 wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep, but here the other was, going beyond what was expected of him despite his fatigue.

This was probably his way of making amends. Surely, RG 2 was feeling as guilty as he was, even if he doesn’t show it as readily.

Behind his iron helmet RG 1 blushed. His admiration for his crush had grown even stronger.

Maybe… maybe it was time for him to confess his feelings. Life is short, after all, and getting even shorter. God knows what is to come in the wake of this famine. For all he knows if he waits too long he may never get a chance.

RG 1 looked at his crush. He thought about his rare smiles and stoic demeanor. About the toned body hiding underneath… 

Maybe he should wait until tomorrow.

Chapter Text

A cool breeze flew through Snowdin. It came and went quickly, a fleeting phenomenon caused by changes in air pressure from the different ambient temperatures between the zones of the underground.

But it was enough to make Papyrus shiver. While skeleton monsters usually had a high tolerance for the cold, such winds were a different story. It went through their clothes and between their ribs. It was unpleasant, really.

Naturally, that did not stop him!

‘Stop him from doing what?’, you ask.

Well, nothing much of anything.

There had never been much to do in the underground, even during the best of times. Now that there is so little electricity, there is even less to do. Many monsters had come to rely on electronics to entertain themselves over the centuries, Papyrus was no exception.

So there he was, looking for something to do.

Maybe he could help with the tree harvesting? That seemed like a good idea to him.

The forest around Snowdin was the source of the town's main export: wood. It was a very important export too, being a common building material and used to make paper. Without the forest the underground would be stuck living in stone buildings like the ones that were first built in their exile. Books would also be impossible to manufacture.

Snowdin woods was not a natural forest. It was underground, so of course it’s not. Every tree was planted by a monster and grown with care for a purpose. The trees were nurtured by the ceiling lights and fertilized by rich dirt sifted out from the river's current.

Now, in this time of hardship, these trees were being harvested for food. Most of the plants could not be eaten by monsters, but sometime earlier some monster learned that the inner bark of these plants could be scraped off and consumed. It’s said they learned it from a human book. Bark did not taste that good, really, too hard and bland, but it provided much needed nutrients.

Naturally, this was taken advantage of. There was an entire team now dedicated to the task. It was not easy work, placing high physical demands on the body for little reward, but food was food. They can’t afford not to take advantage of what little they had.

As one of the monsters that remained strong despite being malnutrition Papyrus was naturally chosen for the task. It was just boring and tiring. He would rather be working on his puzzles or his attacks. Not that he was going to slack off; he was neither his brother or that selfish to not do the work because he didn’t like it. 

Speaking of Sans, Papyrus wondered what his brother was doing. He hadn’t seen since the morning, when Sans was still curled up in his bed. He had returned to the house after lunch time, but Sans wasn’t there. Knowing his brother, he was probably at Grillby’s even though the fire elemental had stopped serving food weeks ago.

So Papyrus headed off, first leaving his front porch where he had been standing and going out to the streets. That political bear monster was standing idly in front of the general store, staring off into the distance and otherwise looking troubled.

“Hey!” Papyrus called out. “Have you happened to see—,” his sentence cut itself off when the bear monsters shot him a wide eyed glance and rushed away. He must have squeezed through the alley and into the forest because by the time Papyrus reached the place the monster had been standing, he was nowhere in sight.

Papyrus shrugged internally. That was weird, he thought. Maybe the bear remembered that he left the stove on or something? Anyways, while the instance was unusual, it was not immediately concerning, so instead of trying to pursue the other Papyrus simply continued on his way.

Again, in his path was another member of the village. She was one of the bunny ladies, what was her name, Dizzy? Or something like that? Unfortunately, Papyrus was not the best with names.

Papyrus called out again. “Hello there! May I ask if you have seen my brother around? I’ve been looking for him.” At the sound of his voice Dizzy whipped her head up to him. Then, curiously, she looked away and down to the ground. He may be bad with names but Papyrus knew that this monster was naturally confident from what Sans had told him.

“Oh, Sansy? I think, uh, I… I haven’t seen him around, sorry,” Dizzy said. She never once looked up or into his eyes.

“Oh well, thanks anyways!” Papyrus said before continuing his walk again.

Grillby’s was only a minute's walk away, with Snowdin being such a small town, so Papyrus found himself standing at the establishment’s doors before he knew it. The restaurant looked like it always had, except the neon signs that lit up its name and the open sign were not on. There wasn’t enough electricity to waste on business signage.

Despite that, Papyrus knew that there were likely monsters inside the building. It was insulated from the cold, and a favourite hangout for many, god knows why.

Papyrus took the door handle and tugged. The door swung out easily.

The inside of the restaurant was darker than it used to be, as per usual in these times. Lit candles were placed on each table and the bar counter, lighting up the area. The jukebox stayed silent.

There were several monsters in there. From his point, Papyrus could see Greater Dog, Charlie, Jerry, and Toothache. Idle chatter turned into silence as the monsters turned their attention to the newcomer. Normally, Papyrus would be pleased being the center of attention, but something about how they were watching him made him uneasy.

“Erm… you wouldn’t have seen my brother around, have you?” Papyrus asked for the third time that day. Several variations of ‘no’ resounded and the monsters shook their heads.

Papyrus gave a thankful nod then stepped backwards out of the building. He turned his back to the door then sighed. If Sans was not at Grillby’s, then where could he be? Papyrus doubted he was working, he doesn’t have as many shifts as he used to because of how difficult the underground was getting to navigate.

So, where else would Sans be? Papyrus thought back to all his brother’s favourite areas, and one stuck out in particular. Sans had told him about a strange door in the forest, and the lady behind the door, who had as bad a sense of humour as he did. From what he knew Sans had been visiting her often.

Unfortunately, Papyrus did not know exactly where that door was. He knew it was to the west of Snowdin, in the cavern wall, but that was about it. It might be off the beaten path, and there were many possibilities to where it could be.

Still, it was not too great a challenge for the Great Papyrus. He just had to find the western wall, then follow it north and south as far as he could, then he would find it eventually! This strategy was foolproof.

Papyrus was right! He did find the door that Sans so often talked about! It didn’t even take him that long! It was only a minute's walk from the bridge he made. Honestly, it was shocking that he hadn’t seen it before. He guessed that he just didn’t bother seeing what was down that path. He had better things to do.

However, there was nobody there. Footprints in the snow suggested that at least one person had been there recently (he’d recognize his brother’s slipper prints anywhere). Curiously, there were also marks indicating something large had been dragged, and a semi-circular mark where the snow had been pushed aside by the door opening.

That was weird, but still not alarming. At this point, Papyrus was starting to get frustrated.

Well, there was not much point in staying there so Papyrus backtracked to Snowdin.

As he walked past Grillby’s for the second time he saw a shape through a window. This was not one of the front windows, but rather a small window on the side. Presumably, it connected to the kitchen. Papyrus was unsure, as he was unfamiliar with the layout.

Papyrus looked harder. The orange glow coming from inside was too bright to be a candle. It must be from Grillby then.

There was someone else in there, though, just out of view.

The figure moved closer. Now Papyrus could see the top of a white skull.

…dang it Sans! You were here all along!

Fuming, Papyrus marched straight back into the building. He ignored the shocked cries and greetings of the monsters inside and stormed up to the door that led to the back room.

“Wait! Papyrus!” Somebody called out. He ignored them too. Without pausing a single moment, Papyrus forced himself into the kitchen.

The first thing that he noticed was the light. The kitchen was significantly brighter than the outside or the other portion of the restaurant. The light burned his eye-sockets and he squinted hard to see.

Two shapes slowly came into focus. Grillby was still too bright to look at and was also not who he came here for.

Sans stood there staring straight at Papyrus. His eye-sockets were wide and his mouth was hanging open slightly. His brother looked well and truly shocked.

“Sans! So this is where you’ve been! I’ve been looking for you all over! Have you been hiding from me, brother!?” Papyrus called out. At that moment, Sans seemed to get his wits about him, as his expression schooled into its usual laid back style. Sans strolled up to Papyrus with unusual speed.

“Oh, um, hey bro. Nice to see you here. Finally coming around about Grillby’s food, huh?” Sans said.

“Of course not! I just wanted to know where you were! Go figure you’re at Grillby’s again,” Papyrus huffed. In truth he was not actually mad. The bickering was more of a comforting routine than anything.

“Well, I’m here, so why don’t we head out together. Maybe we can work on your traps some more. Never know when another human is going to fall down here,” Sans responded. A brief thrill went through Papyrus at the offer followed immediately by suspicion. Sans was trying to distract him, but why?

Sans shuffled forward. “C’mon, you're in the way, bro,” he said, trying to herd Papyrus back through the doors.

It’s at that moment that Papyrus adjusted to the light to notice something odd. There was something on the countertop behind Sans and Grillby. It was large, long, and the shape was indistinct. For a bizarre moment Papyrus thought that there must be a monster laying down there, but that didn’t make sense, it would be a very uncomfortable place to sleep. Not even Sans would sleep on a counter.

He glanced down at Sans’ face. His brother was nervous. They were hiding something.

Papyrus pushed past his brother.

“P-Papyrus,” Sans called out, raising his voice slightly.

Papyrus walked up to the counter. A cold shock soaked into every portion of his body and soul. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

It was a human on the counter. It’s neck was twisted in an angle that couldn’t be comfortable, or healthy.

“Sans… why is there a human here?” Papyrus asked. Sans was sweating. He picked at his sleeves anxious and refused to look his brother in the face.

“They, uh, fell down like the rest, obviously. But it must have tired them out, cause they passed out right here, heh,” Sans claimed, it was an obvious lie. How gullible did he think Papyrus was?

“They’re dead, aren’t they?” Papyrus said. Sans cringed, knowing that he had been caught in a lie.

“...yeah,” Sans admitted.

The tension in the room started to thicken. They are on the verge of something horrible, Papyrus could feel it. If he continued his line of questioning there would be no going back, he could tell.

Did he want to know the truth? The answer was yes. Surely, there is a reasonable explanation for why there’s a corpse in the kitchen of a restaurant. Something that he wasn’t thinking of.

“Why… why do you have them here,” Papyrus asked

“Well, there’s not many places to put a human, y’know,” came the response.

Papyrus looked around. The human’s hair seemed to have been shoddily cut off, what was left was uneven and choppy. There were masses of hair placed in a garbage can. A large tarp was thrown to the side, on the floor, partially unfolded. Empty buckets were placed on a nearby table. Most damningly, meat cleavers were placed by the human’s head.

A horrible realization started to creep up on him, but he refused to acknowledge it. There has to be a better explanation.

“What exactly are you guys doing?” Papyrus asked slowly.

“We’re just figuring out where to put this thing,” Sans claimed. He was lying, Papyrus could tell.

“Sans…” Papyrus warned. Sans opened his mouth to respond but was quickly cut off by another voice.

“What does it look like we’re doing.” The speaker this time was Grillby. It was the first time today he had heard the quiet monster speak. Sans shot the elemental a displeased look, sockets black, as if threatening him with his gaze alone.

“It looks… it looks like, Oh I can’t even say it!

Tell me it’s not true. Tell me that you’re not planning on cutting up and eating this human Sans!” Papyrus shouted.

Silence fell over the small group. Sans looked away from his brother, his face shrouded in shadow.

“You’re right,” said Grillby.

“What?!” Papyrus was astonished at the blatant confession.

“That is exactly what we are planning to do,” the elemental said plainly.

“You can’t do that!” Papyrus shouted in indignation.

“We can’t?” Grillby raised a brow.

“Nobody is going to be eating humans,” Papyrus declared.

Grillby watched Papyrus for several quiet seconds before he started to chuckle softly. The laughter was joyless and dry.

“With all due respect, you can’t stop us Papyrus,”

“You have no authority. You are not a part of the royal guard. You are not the mayor. You can’t possibly believe that you have the right to try to stop us from doing what it takes to survive,”

Papyrus gaped at the elemental, astounded by his audacity.

“But it’s just not right! Honestly, I expected better of you! And Sans! What do you have to say for yourself!”

“...it’s just like how Grillby said it. I don’t like it either, but we gotta do what we gotta do,” Sans said, not looking into his brother’s eyes.

Papyrus stared, he couldn’t believe that Sans was agreeing with Grillby. He couldn’t believe that his silly, harmless brother was proposing eating what was a sentient being to survive. God, it’s like he doesn’t even know him.

Papyrus couldn’t take it anymore, the death, the hunger, and the questions still unasked hung in the air like spores of mold, choking him despite his lack of any form of airway.

He bolted. Doors slammed into the walls and bounced back into their latched position. Nobody came after him, which he was grateful for.

Papyrus burst back into his house and stormed up the stairs, closing and locking the door to his room behind him. He flung himself onto his bed, curled up into a ball, and began to cry. 

He couldn’t help but to feel utterly betrayed, by his brother, by Grillby, by the entire town. God, that must be why they were acting so suspicious earlier. They knew about the human and didn’t want to tell him. 

It felt like the world he knew was turned upside down and inverted. Nothing made sense to him.

Why were they willing to resort to such evil measures? Why did they get stuck in this horrible famine? Why did Asgore and so many citizens leave and never return? Such were the questions that plagued his mind as he expelled his grief.

The day went by quickly and Papyrus could not bring himself to leave his room, not even when the sound of the front door opening reverberated, coupled with the sound of his brother calling his name.

It was there that Papyrus spent the night. He didn’t get a wink of sleep, kept up by his horror and dread. The morning came too soon, as meaningless as the term was getting to be without a light cycle.

Still, Sans should still be asleep. This gave Papyrus the chance to further avoid him. Thus, the skeleton crept down the stairs. He was only semi successful. Papyrus was not a naturally stealthy monster.

Papyrus didn’t bother making breakfast. They had no food in the pantry anyway and his appetite was gone. What little they could scrounge up from fishing and the trees went to the children, mostly. 

After spending hours inside, the crisp air of Snowdin was refreshing. Papyrus needed to clear his head of the turmoil that kept him up at night.

The skeleton strolled through the town. The rhythmic movement of walking soothed his soul, for now at least.

He took two laps of the town before he noticed another monster. It was Dogaressa, who was leaving that horrid restaurant. She had something in her hands.

It looked to be one of the doggy bags that Grillby’s used to store leftovers temporarily for customers to take home. That was odd, Grillby had no more food to sell, and the supplies that came from the capital were stored in boxes.

The horrible feeling returned as Papyrus realized what must be inside that bag. Helplessness and despair churned violently in his chest.

Before he knew it, Papyrus started to march up to the dog monster. He stopped in his tracks just as quickly.

What could he possibly say to her to make her change her mind? The conversation from yesterday echoed in his mind.

You can’t possibly believe that you have the right to try to stop us from doing what it takes to survive

Dogamy was very sick. He had fallen down a few days ago. Surely, Dogaressa was worried about his dusting.

She just wanted to do whatever it took to keep her husband alive, didn’t she? Was Grillby right? Did Papyrus have the right to tell her to stop if it meant the death of her husband?

His conflicting thoughts paralyzed him. Instead of doing anything to help or hinder the other monster, he simply stood there. Dogaressa didn’t waste time dilly-dallying, she was gone in less than a minute.

With nothing but the cold, Papyrus stood there alone

Chapter Text

The town square was devoid of people. Benches sat empty, the fire pit had long stopped smouldering.

It was depressing to see the town like this. Normally, there would be several monsters hanging out in this area of town, just shooting the breeze, gossiping, or generally socializing.

Now, nobody wanted to talk with each other. The desire to maintain the bonds important for society dwindled slowly as hunger grasped their souls and sucked out their energy.

Papyrus had not thought that things could have gotten worse, but he has been surprised.

There had been a rash of deaths in Snowdin. 

When devoid of hope, sometimes monsters simply collapse and don’t get up again. It’s possible for them to recover, especially in the presence of loved ones to comfort them and give them hope, but that was unfortunately rare enough in the best of times.

Now, with their lack of resources, they simply cannot keep their fallen alive. Getting a comatose person to eat is exactly as hard as it sounds and as such most fallen monsters required specialized liquid magic food.

It had been months since they had run out of that stuff.

Every monster that fell down from that point was doomed to die.

This latest string of deaths had been particularly devastating for the community. Many of the victims had been the people responsible for fishing from the river. The most experienced and knowledgeable was among those.

So now they don’t even have fish to eat. Fantastic. Wonderful. His fridge and stomach was emptier than ever.

The hopelessness from the fishers' falls spread through Snowdin like a plague. Entire families fell and died. There was no one to give the dust to.

Papyrus didn’t know what happened to the dust of the fallen.

These days, Papyrus and Sans haven’t been doing so good. Ever since the ‘incident’ at Grillby’s they hadn’t been speaking to each other much at all.

Every time that Papyrus gets a glimpse of his brother he is brought back to that dark day. He cannot help but to remember Sans’ guilty expression and the corpse lying on the countertop. The once living creature’s face shrouded in darkness, the unnatural curve of their neck.

The reminder revulsion churn in his abdomen and robbed him of his appetite. It was even strong enough to temporarily suppress the constant gnawing hunger that emptied his bones of marrow.

He was also reminded of the question that he couldn’t bring himself to ask that day.

He was worried that Sans had killed the human.

Normally, he would have never entertained the possibility of his brother being a killer. Sans was far too conflict avoidant to be a danger to anyone, never mind that his HP makes any sort of fight a mortal danger.

But he hadn’t thought that Sans would be capable of suggesting eating someone.

As it stood, he didn’t know if he could trust his own brother. It’s like he didn’t know him at all.

He wondered how far Sans would have gone if Papyrus hadn’t forced himself through those doors. A dark moment passed where he wondered if Sans would have fed him that human’s flesh without telling him what it was. He shuddered and locked that thought in a chest in the deepest part of his mind then threw away the key.

Sans never tells him anything.

The cherry on top of this crap was the constant hunger. It’s been a couple months since either of them had a full meal and their temperaments were showing the effects. Sans had started becoming more reclusive and quieter. He doesn’t make as many puns as he used to. Papyrus, on the other hand, had become irritable and quick to snap.

This combination wasn’t very conducive to sorting out interpersonal issues.

But that doesn’t mean that they avoided each other entirely. On occasion, they would return to their old routine. It was nice, a little normalcy in abnormal times. Papyrus though the townsfolk appreciated it too.

So, that brings them where they were today. Papyrus was making his usual rounds west of Snowdin, just looking for something to do, when he was greeted by a familiar sight.

Sans was passed out at his sentry station again, his head lying on his arms, his chest moving with each breath.

“Sans! Sleeping on the job again, I see! Get up, you lazybones!” Papyrus exclaimed.

Normally, this would be when Sans picks up his head and tells Papyrus his excuses along with a pun. Then, Papyrus would tell him not to slack off again although he knows that won’t work.

That’s not how it went today. Sans stayed slumped over in his sentry station. Papyrus’ annoyance rose. Sans must be pretending to be asleep. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Sans! Wake up!” Papyrus called again. Sans continued not to move.

Papyrus rolled his eyes then reached out to shake his brother’s shoulders. 

Sans didn’t move.

Papyrus shook him harder, anxiety welling up in his chest, a twisting and clenching emotion constraining his soul.

Sans still didn’t move.

One more time, Papyrus shook his brother almost viciously. The clatter of bones on wood sounded as Sans’ head fell off his hands and onto the wood.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.

He’s not waking up, something is seriously wrong. Goddammit. Papyrus has to get Sans to the clinic, pronto. Wasting no further time Papyrus darted behind the station and scooped his brother up. Sans was lighter than he used to be, Papyrus noted distantly.

The journey back to Snowdin took too long for Papyrus’ liking. It usually took less than five minutes to get back to town from there, and Papyrus was rushing so hard he nearly slipped on the packed, icy snow, despite many years experience on slippery terrain. With his brother in danger, even a minute's journey was too long.

Papyrus burst through the doors of Snowden’s clinic. The doors slammed violently against the walls and almost struck him again. Past the front counter a rabbit monster startled violently at the sudden entrance, nearly jumping a foot in the air.

“Mr. Jumhare! Please, we need help, Sans won’t wake up,” Papyrus nearly shouted at the receptionist.

“Ok, I see. Follow be, we will take his to the back and I’ll get doctor Magpice to take a look at him, okay?” Jumhare slipped into his professional attitude immediately. The hare monster then led Papyrus through a door in the back. Papyrus rushed through, in doing so he nearly knocked over the hare monster in his haste.

The room following was crowded. Dozens of monsters laid in tightly packed cots. The room was not meant to handle this number of monsters. Papyrus paid the others no mind as he scanned the room for an empty bed. Eventually, he found one, packed in between two others.

The cot was difficult to get to. Papyrus had to shimmy through narrow openings and straight up had to jump over a couple of occupied cots to reach it. Once he did, he set Sans down immediately then looked back for Jumhare.

The other monster was making his way across the room in a much calmer and orderly manner than Papyrus. To Papyrus’ panicked mind this was unacceptable. Couldn’t he see that his brother was grievously ill? An irrational anger made itself known.

On the other side of the room, the rabbit monster spoke briefly to a dark coloured monster standing by one of the patient’s sides. The conversation was brief, with the dark monster quickly jotting something down in a clipboard then making their way through the room.

Now that Papyrus was closer to the other monster he could recognize her face in the darkness.

Doctor Magpice was an avian monster  somewhat similar to a snowdrake. She had elegant black feathers that shone blue and green when the light hit them right. Her tail and flight feathers were made of solid ice. She had a morose expression upon her beaked face.

“So, Papyrus, tell me what happened,” the doctor said. She had the air of someone who had been through this before many times.

“Erm, I found Sans at his sentry station. First I thought he was just asleep but I couldn’t get him to wake up,” Papyrus said, wringing his hands.

“I see,” she stated. The avian monster then started checking Sans over. Papyrus watched as she took vitals and wrote down information on her clipboard. He waited until it seemed that she was finished before he interrupted.

“Well, what’s wrong with him?” Papyrus asked desperately.

“Malnutrition,” the doctor replied simply. “The same thing that brought all of these other monsters down,” she said, gesturing around the cramped room.

“What can we do to help him? I can get anything you need, just say the word and the great Papyrus will be on the job!”

“We can’t do anything,” she said bluntly.

“W-what?” No no no no no, that can’t be it. It can’t be.

“I’m sorry, but the chances are none of these monsters are going to get again, including Sans.”

Anger flowed through Papyrus. “Why not! We can’t just give up!”

“We don’t have enough food to take care of our patients, Papyrus. They’re going to die. Anything that we give them would simply be wasted,”

“You’re just… letting them die?” Oh god that’s horrible. How could she possibly do that? All these monsters have people who love them and the person who is supposed to be taking care of them is just letting them die? Papyrus was disgusted to the core.

“It’s the kinder thing to do,” said Magpice.

“How is letting them starve to death in any way kind!?” Papyrus shouted, outraged. Magpice gave him a blank look like she had heard all this a hundred times before.

“I know it sounds bad, but it’s not really a bad way to go. After a few days without food entirely, a monster ceases to feel hunger completely,” she gave a humourless smile “it’s eating too little that’s agonizing, not going completely without. You’d be surprised how many I’ve seen die from completely rejecting food these past few months. Some are just willing to do anything to escape the pain.”

Papyrus grimaced the best he could without lips.

“I’m sorry, I got on a tangent, but with Sans’ HP, he has little chance of recovering,”

“... is there anyway, hypothetically, that we could save him?”

“Well, maybe, if we manage to get him to consume something highly nutritionally dense, that might give him the boost he needs to get back up, but if we had the means to do so we would have already done it. Besides, few monsters these days are willing to bet that kind of food on a… case like this,” she said, not looking him in the eye.

“What do you mean ‘a case like this’?” Aggression was starting to creep back into Papyrus’ tone.

“With all due respect, Sans has the lowest HP anyone could possibly have. He’s frail. Even if we are able to save him here and now, chances are he won’t survive this famine,” Magpice elaborated.

Papyrus hated it, but as much as he loved and had faith in Sans, he had a hard time denying her words. Ever since the fishers fell he had barely eaten in days, subsiding only on a few scraps of fish and some tree bark.

It was hard. It was painful. It was more difficult than ever to get out of bed in the morning. Papyrus had become weaker. Each movement was harder than the last. His limbs felt like they were made of lead. He put on a show of energy and cheer for the town, god knows they need it, but it was a total lie.

And Papyrus had a particularly powerful soul. He couldn’t imagine what Sans was going through.

To be clear, the strength of one’s soul doesn’t say anything about one’s character. A strong soul doesn’t make a strong person, and a weak soul doesn’t mean a weak person.

A soul’s strength, more accurately, is a measure of the power capacity of a soul. Generally speaking, stronger souls come with higher stats.

Some species of monsters tended to have stronger souls than others (boss monsters come to mind). Members of the same species usually have similar stats. Papyrus and Sans are exceptions, on the opposite sides of the bell curve.

Papyrus had always worried over Sans. While Sans was excellent at taking care of his health Papyrus couldn’t help it. As much as he tried to have faith in his brother, he couldn’t stop the whispers in the back of his mind that it would only take one small accident to kill him.

Papyrus loses 1 HP frequently, whether it be from sparring with Undyne, a puzzle mishap, or even a bad fall, and he always comes out perfectly fine. Every small accident reminds him that Sans doesn’t have that luxury. 

“... ah,” without anything to say, Papyrus could only flounder.

“I’m sorry,” the doctor apologized yet again.

With that, doctor Magpice brusquely left his side. Papyrus watched as she moved to systematically checking on each of her patients. She brought out the devices used to check monsters' vitals.

He could see Jumhare at the other side of the room. Their eyes met. The other monsters frowned and gave Papyrus a sympathetic look.

He didn’t want to stay in this wretched room filled with the scent of suffering any longer than he had to, but he didn’t want to leave Sans’ side either.

Papyrus looked at his unconscious brother. He had shown no signs of stirring during that talk. In his sleep, his brother looked peaceful. Nowadays, during his waking hours, there was always a tightness to his face that betrayed his stress.

Papyrus hoped and prayed that Sans would get back up. He had always been so much stronger than other monsters liked to assume. They just saw his HP and assumed him weak, but Papyrus knew better.

God, he hoped that Sans would get back up. He doesn’t know what he would do without him. All throughout his life Sans had been a continuous presence. When Papyrus was feeling down hewas always ready with a stupid pun to distract him or gentle encouragement.

He couldn’t imagine a life without his brother. Even the thought made his soul contract in his chest with anxiety and despair.

He couldn’t let that happen. There has to be a solution.

As the doctor said; the only way to help Sans now would be to find him something especially nutritious to consume, but what could he possibly find for him?

The tree bark would be no good. It’s too difficult to digest and doesn’t contain a lot of calories. They don’t have the magically charged liquid traditionally used for fallen monsters. Papyrus’ best bet would be some cave fish from the river, but the nets have run dry.

Papyrus wracked his brain, thinking over anything that could be of use.

There was only one thing he could think of, and it was horrific.

He couldn’t believe that he was even considering it.

Couldn’t believe that he was considering feeding his own family human flesh.

It was just the only thing he could think of! If there was any other option, he would take it, but there isn’t.

His feet took him away without his permission. Before he knew it, he was starting before that accursed restaurant.

The door opened as a monster exited. Papyrus caught the door and let himself inside.

Behind the counter Grillby looked at him without an expression. They watched each other for a moment before the fire monster turned and walked straight into the back room, leaving Papyrus behind.

It was less than a minute until the door opened again and Grillby returned.

“...I heard what happened with Sans. I can guess what you’re here for,” the flame monster said, holding out a package.

Silently, Papyrus reached out and took the package silently. He could feel the gazes of the other monsters in the bar boring into his back.

Papyrus didn’t dawdle. Once he had what he came for he turned on his heel and rushed outside, avoiding looking at Grillby’s, or any other monsters’, faces.

He slipped back into the clinic quietly. This time, he didn’t speak to either Jumhare or Magpice although he did see them.

Again, he slipped by his brother’s bedside. He opened the package. The scent of cooked meat hit him. His hunger roared to life at the smell, drool started dripping down his jaw. It looked like a slab of cooked steak.

Papyrus felt disgusted by his reaction. He knew that this was once part of a sentient being, but he was just so hungry .

But this was not for him.

Silently, he trapped a piece of meat between his index finger and his thumb, and pulled. The flesh separated along the grains, leaving him with a small strip of meat in his hand.

With his other hand, Papyrus gently pried Sans’ jaw open. Then, he stuck the meat into his brother’s mouth.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Papyrus’ anxiety reared its ugly head, until he could feel the pull of digestive magic on his phalanges.

Then, the meat disappeared rapidly. Papyrus was relieved. This was a good sign. They were lucky that they’re skeleton monsters. They have no throat to bypass in order to digest their food. That was the major barrier in feeding fallen monsters.

There he stayed, for over fifteen minutes, slowly feeding his unconscious brother pieces of human meat, while the gravity of his actions started to creep up on him.

He wondered what Sans would say to him if he learned that Papyrus had fed him human flesh while he was unconscious and unable to refuse.

Surely he would understand right? Sans was the one who suggested that they eat the human in the first place, so surely he wouldn’t be too averse to it.

Besides, the human was already dead, so it’s not like he’s hurting anyone by doing this. It’s fine if nobody gets hurt. The alternative was so much worse. It’s better for everyone if he does this. The fewer dead monsters, the better.

Sans is important to him. What kind of brother would he be if he let his sibling die? Not a good one, and the Great Papyrus is an excellent sibling.

That’s why he has to do this.

The rest of the feeding went smoothly. Papyrus ended up only feeding Sans about half of what was contained in the package. He was worried that Sans would get sick if he fed him too much all at once. Besides, his phalanges were starting to sting from being exposed to that much digestive magic.

Papyrus caught movement from his peripheral vision as he was putting the flesh away. He jerked his head up just in time to see Sans’ face start to twitch.

It worked. Excitement rushed through his bones as Sans started to stir. Papyrus could barely keep still in his agitation. He felt like he could run laps around the underground and still be boiling over with energy. Alas, he couldn’t move as he wanted. The room was too full.

Black eye sockets opened slowly. Sans blinked, then the white lights blinked into life.

“Hey bro… you’re looking rather bonely ,” Sans said tiredly. Of course the first thing that he said was a bloody pun.

Papyrus cried in relief. It was all worth it.

Chapter Text

A chill pervaded the skeleton brothers’ home. The elder brother huddled under blankets, warding off the cold, while the younger busied himself with chores downstairs.

Eventually, the elder gave up on sleeping and slowly drew himself out of bed. This was a long process constructed of several steps, but it was done.

Sans shambled down the stairs, one hand on the railing to avoid an unfortunate fall. The sound of his footsteps was light, barely audible due to his light weight, but Papyrus noticed.

“Good morning, brother,” Papyrus yelled from the kitchen. From his place at the bottom of the stairs Sans cracked a smile.

“Morning, Paps,” Sans called back, much more softly. Silently, he wondered what Papyrus was doing in the kitchen. They didn’t exactly have breakfast to make, unless he had slept in much longer than he intended. Sans swiveled his head to check the clock before he remembered that power went out, and the clock's battery had died. They had no way of knowing what time it was. Oh well.

“So, uh, whatcha doing in there?”

“Making breakfast!” Papyrus called back.

“For real? Damn, this is a treat.” It was true. They had started forgoing breakfast entirely a while back. Sans peeked into the kitchen to see his brother at the stove. From his view point, all he could see was Papyrus’ back.

“I managed to get a hold of a couple eggs! I’m making omelettes that we can share! Granted, there’s nothing else in them so they’re more like scrambled eggs! But! That’s no matter!” Papyrus turned his back to the stove to speak with his brother, a potentially smoky mistake.

“Nice, I’m sure that breakfast is gonna be egg-cellent,” Sans winked.

“Nyah! It’s too early for this, brother!”

“What? Can’t you take a yolk ?” Sans retorted, causing Papyrus to groan out loud.

“That was even worse! Go sit at the table before you ruin my morning with any more infernal puns!” Papyrus replied, pointing to the table before charging back to the stove.

Sans chuckled softly and did as he was asked. It had been quite some time since they were able to have a breakfast. He wondered where Papyrus had gotten eggs in the first place, as they weren’t part of their rations.

The smell of smoke filled the house. Sans hoped it was only the new stove. Since they had no more power for their electric stove they had to find another way to cook. Luckily, they were able to claim a fire stove from a recently ‘abandoned’ house.

Papyrus, Sans would admit to himself but not to his brother, did not have much skill with that appliance. Several of their pots and pans had gotten ruined, and much of their food was badly burnt.

Sans had always accommodated Papyrus’ less than stellar cooking, but had been feeling more conflicted about it lately. He had so damn little to eat that he wanted to enjoy what he ate, and not fear that it’s nutritional value had been lost to flame. On the other hand, he was always hungry enough that the burnt taste usually didn’t bother him much, and at the times the food truly tasted gross it was enough to temporarily suppress the gnawing hunger.

“Here you go!” Papyrus said as he brought over two plates. He placed the plates on the table with more force than strictly necessary. Sans then got a look at the eggs. Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as he thought it might be. They were burnt, mind you, just not to cinders.

“Thanks bro,” said Sans.

“You’re very welcome,” Papyrus responded. He sounded pleased with himself.

“ Bone appetite,” Sans replied, winking.

“Ugh,” Papyrus complained.

After that exchange the brothers ate their meal in silence. The eggs were overcooked and burnt on the bottom, but that was of little concern. They ate slowly, despite their bodies telling them to wolf it down as fast as they could.  They wanted to enjoy this treat, and besides, eating too fast would make them sick, a lesson that they had learned the hard way.

“So, bro, where, uh, did you get the eggs?” Sans asked, interrupting the clanging of forks on plates.

“Oh! Grillby gave them to me! Said it was a ‘congratulations on getting well’ or something along those lines.”

“I’ll have to thank him when I get the chance,” Sans said, after a pause in which he finished his egg. He put down his fork, sending a sharp noise through the air.

“Speaking of which, how are you feeling today, Sans?” Papyrus asked intently, searching his brother’s face for discomfort, or maybe dishonesty.

“Feeling just fine, Paps,” Sans replied casually, not that that meant much coming from Sans.

“Good!” Papyrus acted like he believed his brother’s words wholeheartedly, but that wasn’t the case. It had only been two days since Sans had gotten back up. Papyrus was still shaken.

The nagging problem of Sans’ health had been at the back of his mind for decades, and now Papyrus couldn’t stop worrying. After all, if Sans collapsed once he could do it again. 

They might not have ‘human food’ the next time.

Papyrus shook that thought out of his head. Literally. Sans gave him a bit of a look. He didn’t want to think about what he did two days ago, and nobody was as good at suppressing unpleasant thoughts as Papyrus!

So, he didn’t think about it. He didn’t tell Sans about it either. Didn’t even consider it.

That set the tone for the rest of the… whenever it was, morning maybe. After they ate, Papyrus washed the dishes by himself. It wasn’t that Sans was unwilling to do chores, he just waited longer to do them. This inevitably led to Papyrus doing them instead, as he couldn’t stand to leave tasks undone.

After Papyrus was finished with the dishes, he went back upstairs to his room to appreciate his action figures. They were difficult to see in the dark, even with the candle, and Papyrus couldn’t find the usual joy he gained from these objects.

He was proud of his collection, and gazing upon them would bring up those feelings, usually.

Just not today. He looked at his figures and felt nothing. The absence of emotion unnerved and worried him. He didn’t want to change, to lose interest in the things that made him happy.

That was what happened to Sans, several years ago. Sans had just… lost interest with his old interests. He sold his science books, started sleeping more, spent more time at Grillby’s, drinking. It worried Papyrus severely, but he was unable to understand why it happened, never mind how to solve it.

It seems that a similar thing may be happening to him.

Faintly, Papyrus could hear noises downstairs. When he left for upstairs Sans had been resting on the couch, gearing up for a good nap. But now it sounds like he may be planning on leaving the house. Papyrus felt nervous at the prospect of Sans leaving on his own with nobody there in case something went wrong.

“Sans!” Papyrus hollered. He rushed down the stairs and stood in front of Sans, staring at him with an eerily intense expression. “How are you doing this afternoon?” He asked with a friendly smile, a complete contrast to the earlier intensity.

“I’m okay, bro. Just like how I was okay an hour ago,” Sans drawled.

“I would just like to know if you’re feeling off, brother.”

“Of course, Paps,” Sans looked at him with a gentle expression. “You don’t gotta worry about me. I barely spend any energy considering how much I sleep and laze about, heh.”

“That is true… while I normally would scold you for your laziness, brother, I suppose I can make an exception in these trying times.”

“Finally seeing the light are you? Heh, we’ll make a napper out of you yet,” Sans teased, reaching up to pat Papyrus on the arm. “Anyways, I’m gonna go out today to Waterfall. Just to catch up with some people.”

“Okay brother! It’s good to have you getting out to places that aren’t Grillby’s! The great Papyrus will escort you!”

“I, uh, appreciate the thought, Paps, but I’d rather go on my own.”

“I insist! It’s only been a few days since…” Papyrus trailed off, both they both knew what he was talking about.

“Again, as I said earlier; I am fine , Papyrus. If you ask again I might have to fine you, heh,” Sans said, a layer of annoyance creeping in.

“Sorry, brother, I’m just worried.” Papyrus started to wring his hands.

“Don’t be.”

“That’s what you said last time, and look how that turned out!” Papyrus snarled suddenly. Sans recoiled at the sudden shout.

“Well, that won’t happen again,” Sans said, starting to get defensive.

“How do you know what? You don’t! You’ll just keep it to yourself until it’s too late and you collapse again!” Papyrus ranted. Sans seemed to deflate some, losing the defensiveness.

“...Paps.”

“You always do this! You pretend that you’re fine but I know that you’re not! I’m not stupid, Sans!”

Sans seemed at a loss for words. For several moments, silence reigned in the household.

“...I know you’re not dumb, Paps. It’s just… I don’t like you worrying about me, y’know?”

“I know, Sans. But I can’t help it! What if you collapse again while you’re gone! I can’t let something happen to you!”

“I get it, Paps, but I really feel just fine today. Honestly, I feel better these past couple of days than I had in months,” Sans claimed. Papyrus searched his face for any sign of dishonesty, and failing to find any, just sighed.

“Okay, fine, I’ll believe you. Just tell me next time you’re feeling bad,”

“Sure, I will, bro.”

Papyrus, for a long moment, wanted to ask Sans to make a promise on that, to ensure that he will follow through. But he won’t, because he knows how much Sans hates promises. Sans would hesitate, and Papyrus would feel lied to, then things would build up and maybe even spiral out of control. 

“Well, then, see you later, brother,” Papyrus said without his usual force and enthusiasm. He was just so tired.

“See ya,” Sans said his goodbyes too, with a little wave as he walked out the front door, which closed with a light thud, leaving Papyrus alone.

The rest of his afternoon? The next few hours were dull. There was nothing to do in the house. There was no TV to be watched because there was no electricity, not even his puzzles needed recalibrating, as he did them just yesterday. Eventually, Papyrus settled himself on doing some of his puzzle books. He managed to find a new one in his latest trip to the dump. It was a book filled with boxes that held smaller boxes. Some of the smaller boxes had numbers in them. Papyrus had yet to figure out the mystery of this book but no challenge was beyond him!

As the hours continued to tick on, Papyrus got bored again. He couldn’t focus on his mysterious book anymore, and his other books weren’t interesting to him at that moment. He would never admit it to anybody, but Papyrus didn’t do much of anything after that. God, he felt like he was turning into his brother!

Papyrus would have left, but he was waiting for Sans to get home. Despite his insistence that he was fine, Papyrus was still worried. He wanted to be there when he got back, if only just to know that his brother was okay.

His patience was rewarded, and he was jolted out of his reveries by the sound of the front door opening.

“Welcome home Sans!” Papyrus greeted, secretly relieved, until he saw the look on Sans’ face. His brother looked… shaken, for a lack of a better term. His eye-sockets were wide and his stance was tense. Papyrus also noticed that Sans was sweating slightly, despite the cold. “Sans? Are you okay?”

Sans jolted at Papyrus’ voice, further cementing his opinion that something was seriously wrong.

“Oh, no, Paps, I’m one hundred percent fine,” Sans said with a fake smile, obviously not totally fine.

Goddamn this secrecy again. They just went over this a couple hours ago!

Silently, Sans walked past Papyrus and pulled out his keys, then unlocked the door to the basement.

“Sans? What are you doing?”

“I got something to do. It will be a while, so don’t bother me.” As Papyrus was processing the abnormally cold tone Sans took, his brother had already passed through the door and into the basement. Papyrus could hear the sound of the lock clicking into place.

“Sans?” Papyrus called out again, feeling hurt, like he had been casually brushed aside. He knocked on the basement door. There was no answer.

That was that all about? What happened to Sans during these past few hours? Papyrus regretted not insisting to come along with his brother. Sans may have been mad, but at least then Papyrus would know what the hell happened.

What was Sans even doing down there? Papyrus hadn’t been in the basement in a long time, years even, but last he remembered there was nothing of note down there, except maybe that strange machine which looked like a fridge.

Maybe it has to do with that strange fridge? Papyrus couldn’t think of how a fridge has to do with anything lately, especially since, you know, no electricity.

The only thing he could think of is that the machine might somehow be the key to reviving the core. But that doesn’t make sense, if it was, then wouldn’t Sans have started on it sooner? The core died completely weeks ago.

Even if it is, that doesn’t explain what had shaken Sans so badly.

It was especially concerning considering how obvious Sans’ stress had been. To see his typically unflappable brother so flapped… Papyrus hadn’t seen him that emotional in many, many years.

Papyrus wanted to break the door down, to force Sans to tell him what happened so he could fix it, but he knew it didn’t work like that. Forcing down that would only cost them a new door, and trying to force Sans to open up to him wouldn’t work. It would only drive him further away.

Papyrus knows that even if Sans told him something, he wouldn’t tell him everything. He never does, and that is the most frustrating experience that Papyrus had ever had.

Something happened a few years ago that changed Sans. Back then, Papyrus asked about it to no avail. Every time he would find himself on a tangent or else the conversation would go nowhere.

Sans was excellent at dodging, in all its best and worst forms.

Papyrus stood in front of the basement door, water sausage in hand. He hoped that the familiar food might draw Sans out of the basement. He knew that this was likely a hopeless venture, but he couldn’t just give up.

“Sans, are you still there? I bring you sustenance!... of a sort,” Papyrus called out. “Sans… won’t you please open the door? Please!?” There was no reply.

“Let’s not make this like last time…”

( “Sans! Would you open this door already!” Papyrus yelled. Sans had been locked in the basement for over a day. This couldn’t go on.

“I mean it! If you don’t open this door on the count of three, then I will be forced to kick it down!”

Against his hopes but not his expectations, nothing happened. This, Papyrus made to follow up on his threat.

The skeleton took one small step back, then lunged forward and landed a powerful kick on the basement door. It shook violently on its hinges, but it held firm. He did put a nice dent in the wood, however.

Papyrus snapped his leg forward for a second kick, but before he could connect the door opened. Then, his foot slammed onto the door and it swung back forcefully, before hitting something with a thunk and bouncing back.

Papyrus heard a surprised yelp as he over-balanced and staggered forward. It didn’t take him long to grab the doorway and steady himself.

Now balanced, he looked up. Between the gap of the wall and the door he could see his brother rubbing his face between his eye sockets. Ashamed, Papyrus realized that he had accidentally slammed the door into his brother.

A chill went through him as he realized the possible consequences of the incident. There was a flight of stairs behind that door, and if Sans was knocked back enough, he could have fallen down the stairs, a possibly lethal accident for a monster with 1 HP.

“Crap, Sans! Are you alright?!” Before he knew it, the door swung shut with a thud then a click as Sans locked it from the other side.

“I’m okay, Paps,” came Sans’ voice. He sounded like crap, but there was no note of pain within those words, which relieved Papyrus.

That relief was quickly followed by anger. Damn it, Sans had taken advantage of his distraction to shut him out again. Why did he open it in the first place if he was just going to close it again? (Did he know that would happen?)

He was also angry at himself. He put his own family in danger, intentionally or not, and that was unacceptable. He still needed to get Sans out of that accursed room, but was no longer willing to knock down the door to do so. He won’t take that risk again. )

Much to his surprise, the door slowly creaked open, revealing his brother’s face. Sans looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eye sockets.

“H-hello brother! It is only a water sausage I found, but I thought you might like it!” Papyrus offered up the sausage in his hand, hopeful.

“No, I’m good,” Sans stated. He stepped back, and Papyrus could tell that he was about to close the door again. He couldn’t allow that, so Papyrus stuck his foot in between the door and the frame. The door bounced off his boot.

“Papyrus…” Sans was displeased

“Wait!! I just need to understand!! What happened in Waterfall? You’ve been down here ever since and it’s-” Papyrus broke himself off as he noticed what was in the room behind Sans. In the dim light, he could see writing on the wall, most of which seemed to be mathematical equations.

“It’s… it’s, uh. It’s starting to scare me.” And now Papyrus was even more scared on Sans’ behalf.

“Later,” Sans ignored his concern and slammed the door shut. Papyrus didn’t recall when he stopped blocking the door from closing. Hurt flowed through him. Hurt at being cut off emotionally. He felt untrusted.

“Fine! So you don’t want me around!? Well, perfect timing! I need to report to the core anyway!” Papyrus snarled as he turned away. Suddenly, the door to the basement swung open almost violently.

“No, don’t go near that place. Paps, I’m begging ya,” Sans pleaded. What on earth!? What is Sans going on about now?

“Oh!? And why not!?” Papyrus questioned angrily, turning back towards Sans.

“Because… b-because… uh… don’t you have food rounds to make? How bout I go instead” That must have been the flimsiest excuse that Papyrus had ever heard. And now Sans wants to go to the core? What the hell.

“Fine,” Papyrus snapped. If Sans doesn’t want to tell him anything, then he’ll just have to deal with his problems on his own, without support.

It only took about an hour for Papyrus to complete his rounds. It was simple, first he picked up the packages at Grillby’s then he walked to one end of town, then went to each door to deliver the food. At first, the amount of packages made it difficult to carry, but that was not much of a problem for the great Papyrus.

If some of what he was delivering was definitely not standard rations, Papyrus didn’t think about it.

There was talk of changing the way the packages were delivered. Some monsters want multiple people doing the route at once to prevent theft. Papyrus felt insulted that people thought that he, or his town mates, might do such a thing.

Besides, it was redundant.

He was always watched while he did his rounds.

This time, he had chosen to start from the east side of Snowdin, by Waterfall, and end at the west. It was a little more complicated because Snowdin was not completely linear, but it worked well enough.

He was just finished when something astonishing happened. Out of nowhere, a bright light shined down from above, concentrated over the forest. The abrupt light pained his eyes but lit up his soul.

Then another light came on. Then, almost simultaneously, dozens of lights turned on at once, illuminating the entirety of Snowdin.

Excitement and joy rushed through Papyrus. All this could only mean one thing.

The core was back online.

All their suffering, all their hunger, was going to be over.

The other residents of Snowdin realized this too. From outside Papyrus could hear dog monsters howling in joy, other monsters screaming in excitement. Many townsfolk rushed out of their homes and to galk at the ceiling. Greater Dog, the big goof, had rushed outside and was now running wild, tail wagging a mile a minute.

Everyone was so happy, for a couple minutes.

As abruptly as it came, the light vanished. This time all at once, plunging the ecstatic monsters into darkness. The screams of joy became shouts of panic as everything went black, save for the spots illuminated by lanterns.

Papyrus couldn’t see anything in front of him. It was dangerous to move. He was forced to wait as his sockets slowly readjusted to the dark. As he did, he contemplated the recent event.

The lights came on, then they turned back off. That must be a good sign. They must have figured out a way to fix the core, they just haven’t quite managed it yet. Ergo, it will be soon that the core will be back up and running! That was a relief.

He can’t wait to share the news with Sans! He will be just as ecstatic once he gets back from… the core. Oh, Papyrus thought. What if Sans has something to do with the core working again? His brother had always been science-y, and it was awfully convenient timing.

With that train of thought finished, and his eyes re-adjusted, Papyrus set off back towards home, passing by the now depressed looking Greater Dog. As the house came into view Papyrus noticed something odd.

There was an odd shape on their porch. Papyrus squinted, was that… Sans? Did he fall asleep on the porch? (Oh god, did he collapse again?)

As Papyrus drew closer, his suspicion increased. It, indeed, was Sans, and he was laying still, facing the front door. He was laying on his left side, facing away from Papyrus.

There was something red spilling out onto the deck, concentrated beneath Sans’ head.

“Sans?” Papyrus called. No response. He gently shook his shoulder, and Sans fell onto his backside.

Absolutely horror shot through Papyrus like a tsunami through a village, overwhelming and crushing everything else in its path, until only it remained, along with the scattered wreckage of fear.

Sans, his only family, the most important person in his life, had a gaping bloody hole in his skull.

Chapter Text

*Tick tock tick tock*

Papyrus sat on a chair in his room.

*Tick tock tick tock*

He stared at Sans, passed out in his bed.

*Tick tock tick tock*

A stream of red started to emerge from part of the gaping wound in his head. Papyrus burst into motion.

The tall skeleton grabbed a clean rag from the pile on the floor beside his chair and leant over Sans. He gently dabbed the red away with the rag, taking care to not aggravate the injury. The rag came back stained with crimson, and Papyrus waited. The injury seemed not to want to leak any further so Papyrus leaned back into his chair and placed the soiled cloth in a bin just to his right. It stayed there with all the other bloody clothes.

Sitting back again, Papyrus sighed. He had been sitting here for hours, watching his brother. Again, he Checked Sans, and got the same bizarre result.

Sans

HP ???

ATK ???

DEF ???

../:$;#@.-: 

It was nonsense, but it gave Papyrus hope. When he first saw that dreadful gaping hole in Sans’ head he was certain that he would turn to dust in his arms.

He had been so, so scared.

But Sans hadn’t.

Despite that injury, Sans had yet to turn to dust.

Papyrus didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sans was alive. That was all that mattered. It was the only thing that mattered.

Papyrus would do anything to keep it that way. Fight back any threat to his brother’s life. That thought brought him back to yesterday, just after he found Sans and brought in a healer to save his life.

“I-I think he was in an accident” Papyrus had spoken as he guided her up the stairs of his home. He didn’t even look back at her, preferring to not waste any time. The skeleton ushered her through a doorway.

As soon as she stepped into the room the doctor stopped in her tracks. There was a massive hole in Sans’ head. Sans, who had lived in Snowdin for years, whom she had easy conversations with at his sentry stand. The monster who was unapologetically lame and cared for his brother more than anything else. The person with only 1 HP.

God, how the fuck was this monster still alive?

“Stars, this is horrible ,” Magpice had said, her eyes wide in horror. In a moment, her composure returns, and she ruffled her dull, limp feathers in embarrassment. “Apologies, that was unprofessional of me.” Papyrus didn’t blame her for the outburst. He had felt much the same.

“Do you have any idea what caused this,” she asked, gazing coolly at him. During the time where she was gawking at the inside of his brother’s head, the skeleton had passed her and was now checking his brother, replacing the red soaked rags on his head.

“No, I just found him on the porch.. l-like this,” Papyrus replied.

Magpice furrowed her brow. It’s odd, in a small town like this, surely someone would have seen something. Perhaps they simply hadn’t reached out to Papyrus, but why?

But she needed to stop being distracted and help this monster. Immediately, she performed a CHECK, and was flabbergasted by the results.

It was nonsense. It was all garbled, corrupted, and nonsensical. The only strand of information that came out accurately was the line with his name. That was abnormal to say the least. She’d never seen something like that before. This wasn’t within her training.

Still, she had a job to do. The doctor moved to check the prone monster’s vitals. They… weren’t good, but judging by these results he wasn’t in the range of imminent Falling.

That done, she took a closer look at the injury. God, it was gnarly. There was brown spongy bone marrow exposed, and red crusting around the edges where it dried. She had no clue how he wasn’t dead. The skull wasn’t like a limb, you couldn’t damage it without severe consequences.

The edges were jagged. Whatever hit him didn’t break the bone cleanly. No, this didn’t happen instantaneously, like what she would see from a rockfall. This would have happened slower.

Sickeningly, Magpice realized that this may not be an accident. What kind of monster would do something like this to a monster as easygoing as Sans? 

“Does he have any enemies?” Magpice asked.

“W-what? Are you suggesting that someone did this intentionally?!” Papyrus nearly shouted, straightening back up in outrage.

“Not necessarily… but if this the result of a fight, any enemies would be good to know about,”

“Oh. Well, no. Sans has always gotten along with everyone. He’s excellent at avoiding conflict!”

“I see,” Magpice wasn’t convinced, but didn’t want to push the issue. Everybody in Snowdin knew that once Papyrus was convinced of something it was near impossible to change his mind.

“My apologies, Papyrus, but there’s nothing I can do for your brother. If times were better I’d use green magic to help heal the wound, but unfortunately, I’ve found myself unable to cast such magic for months,” Magpice explained. It was a true tragedy. One of the first symptoms of malnourishment in monsters was difficulty or inability to perform magic. Magic, especially green magic, requires energy. Energy that nobody has anymore.

“I’m sorry,” the doctor let down her professional facade, head and shoulders drooping, sadness and grief for the future torn away showing on her beaked face. She wished she could do something more for Sans, she really did. Like everyone in Snowdin, she knew him, albeit not well. He was always available for light-hearted conversations and corny jokes, something that had become a rare commodity in a starving society.

His death would be a loss for the entire underground.

Silence returned to the room. Papyrus was looking down, straight at his injured sibling. The sadness and fear in the tall skeleton was heart wrenching. The doctor didn’t envy him. She’d never had her own family, and thus would never know what it’s like to lose them.

“Don’t be.” Papyrus interjected suddenly, causing the doctor to jump in surprise. “Sans is not going to die. I know he only has 1HP, but he’s tougher than people give him credit for. He’s going to be fine.”

“Papyrus… even if Sans survives, a head injury this severe cannot be brushed off. Should he wake up, the overwhelming chances are that he will have some sort of permanent disability, like a severe one to boot.”

“Sans is going to be just fine,” Papyrus said. His face had become a little strained, despite the smile he tried to put on. Again, the denial. The dismissal of anything that might threaten his view.

“Just… be prepared, okay? Things aren’t going to get easier” Magpice cautioned.

“Don’t worry about us!”

With that as the final note, the visit ended. Magpice left, by herself, exiting the house mournful and slightly frustrated.

Now that the doctor was gone, it was left to Papyrus to take care of his dying injured brother.

Observing Sans further, Papyrus noticed that Sans’ skull was dripping with sweat. It was getting gross, so Papyrus took yet another clean towel and gently wiped his face. He could also see that Sans’ shirt collar was dark and damp as well. Papyrus grimaced, that is not a good sign.

Papyrus pulled back the covers to his brother’s waist and frowned again. Sans’ shirt and shorts had been soaked with sweat, even the sheets underneath him seemed darkened with moisture. That, with the residual red that had seeped through his jacket, made Sans’ clothes disgusting.

…He was going to have to deal with that himself, wasn’t he?

Sighing, Papyrus forced himself to deal with the issue. He hoped Sans wouldn’t be upset when he woke up.

Papyrus walked over to the dresser and rifled through the contents. Much of Sans’ clothes were stained or old and threadbare, something that Papyrus had never shied away from complaining about before but now seemed like such a trivial issue.

He pulled out a dark t-shirt and shorts. Hopefully these wouldn’t stain too badly. With the clothes thrown over one arm Papyrus walked back over to his unconscious brother.

There, he hesitated. This whole ordeal was terribly awkward. He was planning on changing his brother’s clothes, while he was unconscious. Neither of the brothers were the type to wander around without clothes on, Sans in particular was always a bit modest. This would probably be crossing some boundaries.

But Papyrus couldn’t let Sans soak in his own fluids. That would be disgusting, not to mention risky with his wound if magic eating parasites catch on his soaked clothes. So yeah, he couldn’t leave it be.

Thinking deeply, Papyrus compromised with himself. He’d change San’s shirt, but not his pants.

Papyrus got onto the job quickly. As he was pulling the gross shirt over Sans head, careful not to touch the wound, Sans’ face twitched.

Papyrus froze, ceasing all movement in favour of staring at Sans. Hope blossomed in his soul, hope that Sans would wake up, be okay.

The moment passed, and Papyrus’ hope deflated like a punctured balloon. Still, this was a good sign!

Papyrus refused to leave Sans’ bedside even when hours passed by and today turned into tomorrow. He stood his vigil, dutifully watching his brother and assuring that he still lived, not leaving to do so much as eat. It’s not like they had food anyways.

Despite his determination, Papyrus was starting to get tired. His sockets were starting to droop. He couldn’t stay up without sleep as long as he used to.

A haze was starting to form around his mind when a sound broke the oppressive silence formed in this lonely room. A knocking sound. It was coming from downstairs. There was somebody at the front door.

Papyrus didn’t want to leave Sans. It was hard enough the first time to get the doctor, but that time he had an urgent need. Whoever is at the door probably isn’t that important.

The knocking came again, louder and more insistent, and again. They weren’t going to stop, weren’t they? Grudgingly, Papyrus lifted himself out from his vigil, and with one last concerned backward glance at his brother, left the room for the first time in over a day.

Papyrus approached the front door, internally ready to scold whoever tore him from his duties with their incessant knocking. They best have a good reason for this interruption. Papyrus opened the front door.

On the other side of the door was Undyne and holy shit. The left side of her head was covered in a ring of loose fabric going from the top of her head to her left cheek. It wasn’t enough to cover what was so obviously wrong.

Papyrus could see that there was a good chunk of her head just blasted out, like an apple with a perfect bite taken out of its side. Her right ear-fin was basically destroyed, only tattered membrane and snapped cartilage remaining. It was nauseating, and Papyrus was horrified and concerned on the behalf of his friend.

What the hell was going on here? Why are the people he cares about most getting their heads caved in? Who the hell is doing this?

“Papyrus…” Undyne said tiredly. She looked exhausted. Her ear-fins drooped and there was a dark circle under her eye.

“Undyne…” Papyrus trailed off, his shocked brain not able to comprehend that this happened twice. Then, it caught up, and he exploded. “What the HECK HAPPENED to YOU!?!” 

“Don’t worry about me, Papyrus. I’m sorry, but I have bad news,” Undyne brushes off his concern, her expression as grave as he’d ever seen. Papyrus stared, his own face drooping. He didn’t want to hear any bad news. God, his past few days had been bad enough. He doesn’t know if he can take any more.

“It’s… it’s Sans” Undyne said, her eye briefly breaking from his to look at the ground, but only for a moment before she was gazing into him looking more determined than ever.

Oh, does she know what happened to him? Papyrus let himself relax. He was about to interject and say he already knew but Undyne beat him to it.

“I’m sorry, but he’s dead.”

Papyrus closed his jaws with an audible clicking sound.

What.

Unless the person upstairs was a zombie he was fairly certain that his brother was still alive. Not in good shape, but alive.

Shaking himself out of his shocked stupor, Papyrus found it on himself to correct her.

“Undyne, Sans isn’t dead.” Papyrus corrected. Undyne purses her lips, deep sadness in her eye.

“Look, Papyrus, I know you don’t want to acknowledge it but it’s the truth.” Undyne insisted.

“He’s not dead,” Papyrus said again. He could tell that Undyne didn’t believe him.

“Papyrus-”

“He’s literally upstairs right now, Undyne! Unless something happened in the past ten minutes I’m pretty sure my brother is alive!”

“...what?”

“Come on,” Papyrus said, beconing her onwards up the stairs with a flourish of the hand, with him leading of course.

He guided her to Sans room, the iron smell of red and bone filling the messy room. He turned back and looked at his friend. Undyne looked shocked beyond description, her mouth hanging open and her remaining eye opened as wide as it could go.

“How… w-what..” She stammered out, unable to convey a clear sentence in the face of her shock.

“As you can see, my brother is very much alive,” Papyrus stated. “Now, care to explain why you thought he was dead?”

He meant that not as an accusation, but as an innocent question. Still, Undyne flinched slightly and looked away, both signs of guilt. Papyrus was getting a bad feeling about this. The fish woman didn’t get a chance to respond before Papyrus caught movement out of the corner of his eye-socket.

“Sans?” Papyrus said hopefully. Said monster was starting to stir again, limbs twitching under the sheets.

Sans’ sockets twitched, squeezing shut hard before gradually opening. He squinted at first, as if adjusting to the light. Then, they opened wider, and a flood of red appeared in his left eye socket, followed by a small black pupil.

What… was that? That red colour wasn’t normal. A skeleton’s eyelights don't just change. They’re supposed to be small and white, not red and wide, and they’re certainly not supposed to have a pupil.

Oh, Sans, Papyrus thought. What happened to you?

Sans looked groggy, confused, just like last time. Expected, yet still alarming. Papyrus does not want another incident. Thus, he rushed over to his brother’s side.

“Sans! Sans! How are you feeling?!” Papyrus questioned, leaning over Sans.

His brother’s confused gaze landed on him. Relievingly, Papyrus could swear that there was recognition in that strange eye.

“...Sans?” Came Undyne's voice from the side. The change in Sans was instantaneous. That calm but disoriented face twisted into one of panic. His red eye constricted, showing a ring of black as he turned his gaze towards her voice.

That was the only warning before a giant canid skull materialized over their heads. The skull swiveled, facing Undyne, then the lower jaws split apart like a snake swallowing its prey. With a roar, a beam of light shot out of the skull, straight towards Undyne.

Caught off guard as she was, Undyne was not the captain of the royal guard for nothing. Within half a second, the captain braved herself and threw her arms out in front of her. The attack landed on her crossed arms, the force of it pushing her back a few inches, her feet sliding on the carpet.

Within moments, the attack ended, and the skull vanished. Thinking quickly, Papyrus decided that it would be best to get Undyne out of the room as fast as he could.

He grabbed her upper arm gently, avoiding the areas exposed to the beam, and pulled her out of the room. Undyne didn’t protest, thankfully apparently not angry about getting blasted by a mysterious dog skull.

After she was out of the room, Papyrus whispered (or what counts as whispering for him) “I’m going to check on Sans. Please do not run away while I am gone.”

He didn’t think Undyne would bolt, that wasn’t her style, but years with an incredibly evasive brother taught him the value of guilting.

That done, he ducked back into Sans’ room. His brother hadn’t moved, still lying limply on the bed, his chest heaving with distressed breaths.

For the second time today, Papyrus sighed. It was hard to see Sans so distressed, knowing that there’s not much that he could do to soothe the pain of a monster so out of it.

He gently placed a hand on the intact side of Sans’ skull and rubbed small circles into it, noting that he was watching Papyrus’ every move.

Slowly, however, Sans’ eye dilated again, then started to droop. His brother’s body relaxed into the sheets and his sockets closed. His shallow, rapid breaths became the deep ones that Papyrus always used to determine whether or not Sans was actually asleep or just faking.

There, that's better. Now, with Sans asleep, and less afraid that he would never wake up again, Papyrus felt free to go downstairs and meet with Undyne. She had some explaining to do.

He walked down the stairs, the lone noise his steps, to find Undyne standing in the living room.

“Hi, Undyne! Mind explaining to me why you thought my brother was dead?”

Undyne turned to him with a serious look. There was little of the boisterous friend he knew in that expression. It was the face of an empress hardened by strife.

“Listen,” Undyne said. “The first thing that I need to say is that I never wanted things to turn out this way. I never meant for things to go so far”

“Und-” Papyrus started.

“Don’t, Papyrus. Just let me speak,”

Papyrus shut up.

“I guess it all started when the core shut down. You know the story, I won’t repeat it, but this is all about the core.”

“So, Alphys was looking for a way to restart the core, and eventually, she found one.”

“She did!?” Papyrus exclaimed. His visage suddenly emanated hope. It wrenched Undyne's soul knowing that she would have to crush it.

“Hold your horses, Papyrus. It didn’t pan out”

“Ah,” Papyrus’ face fell into a depressing crestfallen expression.

“Alphys found a possible solution, but there were problems. You see, a big extraction of magic would be able to jumpstart it, but it couldn’t be regular magic. No, it had to be KARMA.” Undyne looked away, recalling that conversation. She’d gotten her own hopes up then, without understanding what horrible consequences Alphys’ solution implied.

“And that’s the issue. Few monsters have that ability, and fewer still have a lot of it.”

“There used to be one in Hotland, but they fell down when that damned human came through and killed their partner. There was another candidate in New Home, but they died too.” God damn that human. If only that beast hadn’t gone around slaughtering monsters seemingly at random they wouldn’t be in this mess.

“So, now there’s only one candidate left. Sans. Your brother,” Undyne raises her gaze as she elaborated, staring Papyrus in the eyes. He was surprised and it showed, guileless as he was.

“I… I didn’t know he had that ability.”

“I was surprised too. Dunno how Alphys knew, but she did.” Really, how did those two know each other? The underground was small, but they ran in completely different circles. But that question was not important today.

“That’s where… things started getting bad. The magic extraction process is dangerous, especially so because of the volume needed this time. It would threaten the life of a normal monster, and Sans…”

“Only has 1HP.”

“Yeah. This operation would almost certainly kill him.”

“You, you wanted Sans… to sacrifice his life?” Papyrus was aghast. He couldn’t even entertain the thought. Surely, Undyne wouldn’t go through with that. 

“Look, Papyrus. I didn’t like it either, but it was one life against the lives of every monster underground. Everybody has someone that loves them. As Empress, I can put one monster’s life above all other citizens.”

Papyrus refused. He refused to think that way. Nobody has to be sacrificed for anyone else. Undyne was mistaken. Nobody had to die. As he was distracted by his own denial, Undyne continued to speak.

“I told Alphys to ask him about it. If she wants to have someone sacrifice his life she ought to be the one to look him in the face and tell him that.”

“I assume she did do that ‘cause Sans showed up days later and he… he seemed to know what was going on. Not that he actually said it out loud.”

Her tale went on, and Papyrus grew only more horrified. Hearing about the vicious argument his friend and brother got in. Sans’ proposal.

“Wait! There was another option! Why didn’t you try that!” Papyrus interjected. Undyne shook her head, drooping slightly.

“It was too risky, and if it failed it would destroy any chance of getting the core running again,” she explained. Papyrus was not convinced. “I stand by that, but, in hindsight… I shouldn’t have dealt with the situation better.”

“I was mad, and scared, so I decided that if he wasn’t going to volunteer himself, I would have to force him to do it,”

“So I did. I pinned him down with magic and used the tool to pull his magic out of him. He cringed at the last second, looked away, so that was how... his skull got busted up”.

“But it worked. I got the KARMA, and used it to restart the core. It didn’t last.”

“... I don’t know how he did this, but somehow, despite his injury, got back up.

And started to rampage. Caught all of us off guard. Killed some of my guards, almost killed Alphys. 

And then destroyed the core. I… don’t think this was intentional. God knows how disoriented he must’ve been, but he got in an unlucky shot with that skull laser from earlier. Hit one of the platforms, which collapsed, taking more equipment with it, which in turn destroyed even more. Next thing I know the core is fucked beyond belief and Sans is gone. I figured he’d dusted.”

“The core… is destroyed?” Papyrus asked, his voice unnaturally small.

“Beyond repair” Undyne confirmed.

A crushing despair slammed into Papyrus with the force of a tidal wave. The core was gone. For good. The one chance for their nation to end this horrible famine, annihilated in one stupid fight.

For a moment, Papyrus hated. He hated Alphys for coming up with that dumb idea and Undyne for going through with it and Sans for never asking for help but also for not just fleeing like he is so good at. The moment passed, and Papyrus returned to rationality. This was nobody’s fault. Everyone is just trying to do their best. He doesn’t have to go through the strife of considering that his loved ones may not be the best of monsters.

“Well, that’s pretty much the end of it… nothing else to say really, but, I’m sorry.” But what was she apologizing for? For how her plan turned out? Would she even BE sorry if her plan had succeeded?

Choked under the questions he dared not ask, Papyrus despaired.

Chapter Text

Days had passed since Sans had woken up for the first time since his injury and it had only gone uphill.

Sans had started waking up more frequently, and for longer periods of time. That haze of confusion had started to leave his eye sockets. Sans had soon become completely lucid.

He was lucky, truly, absurdly lucky. His poor brother, while in pain, had gotten off extremely lightly for that injury.

There were little visible symptoms of the trauma his body had endured, Aside from that truly ghastly hole in his skull.

God, Papyrus couldn’t stand to look at it. Whenever he got a glimpse and endless horror would seat itself in him. Pain and guilt at having the one he cared about above all else maimed, disfigured. Perhaps having to cope with chronic issues for the rest of his life.

Papyrus recalled an incident shortly after Sans gained enough strength to walk. He’d been downstairs, doing something that he no longer remembered, when a series of thuds and thunks came from the stairwell.

He’d rushed over, finding Sans slumped over on the first floor, unmoving. Papyrus had been terrified, Sans' injury had reopened, leaking red all over again.

Unlike last time, much to Papyrus’ relief, Sans got up, albeit wobbly. He’d clutched his head, red staining his fingers.

That was the point when Papyrus realised his error in not watching Sans closely enough. He was recovering from a major head injury, of course there would be issues.

Sans had been wobbly, walking into doorways and tripping over his own feet. After the stairs accident Papyrus had refused to leave Sans alone around stairs, or sharp objects.

Fortunately, Sans' recovery only continued. He regained his balance and the haze in his eye vanished. It was about a week before Papyrus felt confident leaving Sans alone to handle the stairs.

As happy as Papyrus was with the astonishing recovery Sans achieved, his brother had not been the same since the incident...

Papyrus bustled about to the east of his puzzles. He reached his brother’s sentry stand quickly. Disappointingly, yet not unexpectedly, Sans was lazing around, resting his head on one hand and closing his eyes.

“Sans!” Papyrus shouted, stomping one foot. “Slacking off again, I see! Get back to your work!”

“Oh, get off my ass.” Sans snapped, opening his eyes and twisting his head towards Papyrus, all in order to glare viciously at his brother. Papyrus reeled backwards at the bladed response. He’d never heard that tone from Sans. His brother just wasn’t the type to snap. He had a pool of patience deep enough that very little could drain it. Hell, Papyrus had previously wished that Sans would be easier to rile up because maybe then he could get him out of his inertia.

The deep scowl on Sans’ face transformed him into someone completely unfamiliar. A stranger with a harsh glare, accentuated by the sharpness in his face brought on by loss of mass.

Sans’ unsettling glare persisted for a few more moments before relaxing. The skeleton let out a great sigh and slumped over, laying his head in his arms and hiding his face from view.

“...Sorry,” came the muffled mumble from the pile of Sans.

“It’s.. er, okay brother! I understand that you are not feeling too well!” Papyrus declared. “You can get back to work when you feel better! The great Papyrus will handle it until then.”

“Thanks.” Sans said brusquely. He didn’t raise his head.

It was while Papyrus was doing his daily wandering of the forest, searching for supplies. There never was anything edible in the woods, all food items stripped out of it, but you never know! For all he knows he could find a mushroom! By that’s off topic.

He was wandering when he heard a faint noise, barely loud enough for him to notice. Papyrus stopped, not allowing a single footstep or breath to obscure what he was listening for.

The sound came again. It sounded like… a call for help! That’s not good! Somemonster could be injured or stuck out here! Good thing that the great Papyrus is on the case!

Papyrus took off in the direction of the sound. It seemed to be coming from the west, away from the town. Near to that strange door that Sans told him about.

He broke from the forest and onto the snow-packed path, then skidded to a stop. There, waist deep in blue snow, was a human.

They weren’t wearing a striped shirt like his old friend, so maybe they weren’t a kid? He couldn’t tell their gender either, but they had short hair, shorter than his friend’s, and darker too.

Papyrus saw the exact moment that the human noticed him. They broke off their cry and swivelled their head towards him. Now, he could see black eyes set in white sclera, the opposite of a skeleton’s eyelights.

“Fear not human, for the great Papyrus is here to rescue you!”

Had he been paying attention, he’d notice the human’s face blanching in terror as they saw his skeletal appearance. As it was, he couldn’t miss the scream as he drew close.

“Excited to see me, I see!”

Papyrus kneeled over and snatched the human by the back of the jacket. With one great heave, he yanked the human from out of the blue snow.

“Here you go. All better now!”

They were lucky he came across them, really. They’d been sinking fast, and Papyrus was reasonably sure that humans needed to breathe (like most monsters), which was notoriously difficult when you’re submerged in snow.

The blue snow itself was new, and had caught more than one monster in its icy grip (poor Icecap…). It’s origins were mysterious, having just appeared one day with no warning. The dominant theory was that dust seeped with bad, pain-soaked magic had soaked into the snow, changing its properties.

Papyrus was unsurprised that a human would walk in unawares.

Finally, he dropped the human. They landed hard, dropping from their feet onto their hands and knees.

In his peripheral vision, Sans appeared suddenly, probably using his ‘short-cuts’ as always. His brother was a master of mysteriously appearing and disappearing. It was equally mysterious as to why he’s choosing to appear now. Maybe he’s here to watch the human do Papyrus’ puzzles?

Speaking of puzzles, he has to go set them up before the human gets to them!

Papyrus then belts out his introduction that he’d prepared days in advance. He introduced himself, Sans, and then declared that he’s off to set up his first puzzle.

“You can stay here with Sans while I set up the first puzzle!”

Leaving the duo be, Papyrus marched off to the east. As advanced as they were, his puzzles still needed someone to arm them before the human came, especially since there wasn’t any electricity to automate the puzzle.

He waltzed up to the crank and carefully wound it up. He had to be careful not to wind it too much. This puzzle was not like previous ones.

It had been a week before Sans’ injury. Undyne had made a request of him the last time he’d gone to the core to give her his report.

She’d asked him to change his puzzles, to make them more… forceful. So that any humans coming by would be incapacitated before they could hurt any monsters.

Papyrus agreed that humans had to be captured, but he didn’t like the implication that his pre-existing puzzles weren’t adequate for such a task. Not did he enjoy the overly forceful nature of his new puzzles. There was no grace or skill in brute force!

He turned around and suddenly, Sans was there again. He was lurking around 25m away from Papyrus, leaning against a dead tree. Even further away was the human, slowly staggering towards him, head ducked down, almost cowering.

Papyrus did not miss the wide berth the human gave Sans as they passed by him in his sentry station. Weird. Sans wasn’t the slightest bit scary… well maybe now he’s the slightest bit scary, still.

Did something happen between them while he was gone? Surely it was a misunderstanding. Sans would never menace someone on purpose.

That’s off topic. Papyrus has other things to think about, mostly his puzzles.

“Human!” Papyrus shouted. “I challenge you to conquer three puzzles! This is the first of which!”

“You must traverse this invisible maze! But beware! If you step out of bounds you will be penalised!” There was a trick to it, naturally, but Papyrus couldn’t just tell them that! The snow at the borders of the maze was slightly darker than the regular snow, although it was hard to see if you weren’t looking for it.

Slowly, tentatively, they stepped out into the puzzle. They got lucky the first few steps, having followed the correct path completely by chance. Their fortune wasn’t enough to carry them through the puzzle unfortunately, as they stepped straight across the invisible boundary, missing the turn.

The human made a misstep, their foot came down on the pressure plate hidden underneath a thin layer of snow, depressing and triggering the mechanisms.

Immediately, the trap triggered, sending a massive femoral bone diagonally out of the ground at impressive speed. The humans didn’t have time to move or even cry out before the bone impacted their chest. They were sent flying by the immense impact, at least a few feet high in the air and ten feet horizontally. Caught by the force of gravity, their momentum only increased as the sailed downwards and into the trunk of a tree.

The impact of their small body against the tree was deceptively quiet. There was no air left in the lungs to form a cry, their wind was lost before they left the ground.

For a minute they just laid completely still on the ground. Papyrus grew antsy. Maybe he put a little too much force into that trap. He checked their health. 11/20, not the greatest, yet not too bad. Sans survives on less everyday, they’ll be fine.

Still, they were so still, no movement except shuddering, shallow breaths. Papyrus was struck by just how small they were. The human couldn’t be any taller than Sans, yet had a much slighter frame, increasing how diminutive they seemed.

Finally breaking the stillness of the scene, the human gasped in a great breath, then coughed. Still laying down, they grasped desperately at their chest, almost hugging themselves.

Slowly, they staggered to their knees, and then their feet. The human was wobbly, still clutching their chest. That trap was probably going to bruise.

Despite his resolve, Papyrus no longer wanted the human to go through the rest of his puzzles. The appeal had vanished as if into the depths of the uncharted small caves in Waterfall. Papyrus cared not to ponder on why this happened (it’s not like he wouldn’t like the answer should he bother to think).

“Human! You have done well, so the Great Papyrus will grant you the privilege of skipping the rest of the puzzles. Instead! You will return with me to my favourite place; my house!”

Papyrus marched the child into town, grasping their hand in his, either not noticing or ignoring their frightened body language and the shaking of their hand.

To his left was a rabbit monster. The one that used to sell nice cream. Far from the well groomed businessman the town knew, the monster had become matted and dirty. Bald patches exposed where matts had been crudely shaved off.

The bunny monster gave them an unpleasant look. Papyrus ignored him. It wasn’t his fault that the ice cream monster was having a bad day.

On the other side of the road, Greater Dog raises his snout up, visibly sniffing the air. Something must have caught his attention because his nose started twitching visibly. He turned his head towards the travelling pair and lifted his lips in a snarl.

Papyrus picked up the pace, causing the human to stumble as they struggled to keep up with his long legged stride.

Despite living on the other side of town, Snowdin was small enough that it took only a minute to reach his home. Still with the human in an iron grip, he opened and stepped indoors. The human barely made it through the entrance, just barely keeping on their feet.

“Why don’t you rest on the couch while I make something to eat?” Papyrus asked rhetorically. Without giving them time to respond, he pushed them onto the couch.

Papyrus strode purposefully into the kitchen and considered his options. Normally, he would make his guests his signature spaghetti, but he has no spaghetti now, a real travesty. Papyrus looked in the pantry. There was fish, some spices and, uh…

…

There was nothing else. Fish it was! He snagged the animal from off the shelf and hurried to the counter. With deft movements he tore off the wrapper keeping it fresh and placed it on a cutting board. Admittedly, Papyrus doesn’t know how to prepare fish, Undyne never taught him that and Sans was way too lazy to cook. Growing up with him was always frozen meals and greasy restaurant food. Papyrus had gotten sick of grease a long time ago.

…What he’d give to reject food on petty grounds like that. Younger him was luckier than he’d realized.

Brandishing a small knife, Papyrus clumsily skinned the fish. Revulsion curled up in the back of his throat. The scales and find reminded him of Undyne. With bone and muscle exposed, it was hard to ignore that this was once a living creature. A creature that had its life stolen to feed another.

There was nothing he could do. Papyrus continued to skin the fish, residual blood staining his phalanges and rubbing off on the handle. Eventually, he managed it. Hardly the cleanest job, but secretly Papyrus was grateful for it to be done.

Next was… cutting it up, right? Where to start… The head seemed like the best option. Grasping the body of the fish, Papyrus started crudely cutting through the neck of the fish with the small knife. It was difficult, and became harder when he reached the spine.

There was something uniquely gruesome to him about trying to cut through vertebrae. Some element that wasn’t there before. Maybe it was because he was a skeleton and had no attachment or feeling about flesh. Maybe he just couldn’t help but think about what it would be like to have a blade sawing at his cerebral vertebrae. It was almost too much, but Papyrus was nothing if not earnest. He had a new friend to feed.

Increasing force and effort, he slipped the blade between the vertebrae and severed the bones with one final slice. The severed head flopped on the board, leaving its body behind. That’s one part done, but there was still a lot more to cut up.

Maybe he ought to use a bigger knife. Taking a moment to wash his hands, can’t have blood getting everywhere in the kitchen, Papyrus pulled out a much larger knife previously used for chopping tomatoes. That in hand, he went back to work.

Yeah, this was a lot easier, Papyrus thought as he went down the fish’s body. A piece of neck sloughed off.

He worked his way further down the abdomen when he hit something in the fish. Pink and red fleshy looking things spilled out of the belly. Oh, organs. Papyrus had forgotten about those.

It was gross, but even that didn’t deter the skeleton. He sawed through bones and sinew, stripped flesh from bone. Finally, he was done. Papyrus looked at the crudely prepared lump of meat on the cutting board, considering how he would prepare it…

Soups are always a good option! Less chance to burn anything. Papyrus got out a pot and swept the mess of flesh and bones into the pot. He took a brief trip outside and added a few cups of snow. He wished he could just use regular water, but their pipes were all frozen solid.

Grabbing the matches now perpetually in his inventory, Papyrus ducked slightly to reach the burner. Unfortunately, their stove was electric, and thus, now nonfunctional. He’d come up with a solution, however. With some mechanical engenuity he’d rigged the burner to use wood, very clever if he does say so himself. It was just a shame he couldn’t use his skill for important things, like puzzles.

He lit the match and set the kindling on fire. The small branches lit up easily. The one thing that Snowdin had an abundance of these days was wood, so lighting a fire was easy. The only thing they had to be concerned about was an excess of smoke affecting air quality, although that problem was the last thing on monsters minds.

Slowly, the pot began to boil. Intermittently, Papyrus tended to the fire, prodding it with a stick and adding more fuel. It was a lot more work than using electricity, but Papyrus was always up for a challenge.

The broth started to turn red as residual blood leaked out of chopped up organs. Steam twirled from the pot as the water got close to boiling point.

The smell from the pot was almost unbearable. Scents of spices and fish assailed his mind, waking up his hunger which thrashed and roared in him like a wild beast thirsty for blood.

Gritting his teeth, Papyrus ignored the churning hunger, crushing it down to a small corner of his soul. Taking a peek around the corner, Papyrus tried to distract himself from the burning hunger using his guest.

The human looked paler now compared to earlier. They blinked exhaustedly around the room, appearing almost confused. There was a hazy filter in their eyes.

“Dinner is on the stove!” Papyrus piped in. The human jolted violently at his voice, then cringed in pain and hugged themselves. He could see water dripping out of their eyes, flowing past their cheeks, and dripping onto their damp and dirty shirt.

The cold of Snowdin suddenly penetrated Papyrus to his soul as he realised something vital he’d overlooked.

It was magic food that had healed the last human from their injuries. The soup he’d made, despite being magically delicious, had no magic in it. It wouldn’t heal them.

The human (child) panted, slumped over the couch armrest. Their breaths were too shallow and fast, sweat and tears flowed down their face.

Oh no, this really wasn’t good. The human was in real bad shape, Papyrus could no longer deny. He had to do something, anything to help the kid. Guilt twisted in him, but was suppressed aggressively. This wasn’t his fault.

Still, he had to heal this kid, and if the soup wouldn’t work, green magic would.

Papyrus leaned over the human, reaching out with one hand. Their eyes opened wide and flicked right at him. Then, the pupils dilated, covering the brown of their eyes in black. Seeing his tall form looming over them, the human flinched, cringing away from his hand.

Papyrus faltered, guilt leaking out of the locked box he’d shoved it into.

Inhaling, he poured all he could into an attempt to heal, to fill in the cracks within their soul and body. He called on all the magic within his body.

But nothing came. Not so much as a spark of vivid green danced between his fingers. His magic, his most trusted and honed tool, had failed him.

He could do nothing but watch as the human’s breaths became slower and shallower, before finally they let out one final sigh.

And didn’t inhale again.

That didn’t seem great.

Papyrus Checked the still human. The magic passed through the body like no soul was present. Alarm started to course through him, but maybe he just messed up the check somehow. Even the great Papyrus makes mistakes.

He Checked again. Once more, no information bounced back to him. No name, moniker, stats. Nothing.

That can’t be right. Humans don’t just lose their souls! He just has to try a different method! This time he reached out with blue magic, spending precious energy, to search for the human’s soul.

Nothing.

…Papyrus never knew that humans could hide their souls. The species was so strange, being made out of mostly water and such. Who knew what strange abilities they had.

He shook their shoulder, trying to get a response, just like how he did to Sans when he found him collapsed what felt like an eternity ago.

He must have used too much force because the human leaned forward and tumbled off the couch. Their head twisted up to look at him. Black eyes, dull like that of the dead fish he cut up, pierced straight into his soul, accusing him. Blaming him.

Blaming him for their death.

Papyrus could not deny the truth any longer. He could not lie to himself. The human was dead.

Was it his fault? Did he do something? Was it the puzzle? Humans were mysterious, when a monster was injured their HP would go down immediately, then stop. When sparring, even if you take your opponent down to 1HP, you can be sure that they won’t suddenly die as a result of that fight.

Maybe humans were different. But they were so tough! God knows in the tales he’d heard from Gerson that humans were nigh impossible to kill!

Maybe they were sick? And he just hadn’t noticed? That would make more sense than a strange sudden death causing injury.

…if it’s so, then that means that this death wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t to blame for a stranger dying of disease, especially in these hard times. There was nothing he could have done. It wasn’t his fault.

It wasn’t his fault.

...

Well, now he has a dead human body slumped on his couch. That’s a little gross. He’s going to have to get rid of it.

Papyrus searched his memory for how human bodies were disposed of before. He was coming up with a blank except for one possibility.

Now that they’re dead, of natural causes, it’s not like they’re going to be upset about how their body is used, right? Them monsters had to eat, he couldn’t deny them meat for something silly like feeling grossed out.

(He remembered the terror and pain he felt when Sans collapsed. Papyrus wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy)

Without speaking so much as a word of apology he hefted the limp body in his arms. The human’s head killed limply downwards. There was a foul smelling wet splotch on the couch cushion that the human had been resting on. What on Earth?... whatever, he’d clean it up later.

Papyrus left the house and briskly marched to Grillby’s, once again ignoring the stares he received the moment he walked through the door. This time they were not of thinly veiled desperation, but something more like sadness.

Dogaressa eyed him with an emotion too close to grief as he passed her.

As usual, Grillby was behind the counter, his face warped in pain as he frantically polished a glass. Papyrus ignored the glowing red eye peering at him out of the corner of his vision.

Papyrus placed the human corpse on the bar counter.

“I have something for you, Grillby.”