Chapter Text
Pigeon often found himself between a rock and a hard place. It was the way his life went more often than not. However, that wasn’t today thankfully.
Sans and Papyrus had dragged him out of his room on a nice day, Papyrus was grilling and Sans and Pigeon were chatting away. Talking about something science related.
“I would’ve never guessed that,” Sans said with a chuckle, tilting his skull to the side.
“I know. It’s freaky how some people will just… Lose their minds if they dive too deep under water,” Pigeon exclaimed, waving his hands up above his head.
“What are you two talking about?” Papyrus asked, looking up from the grill.
“well bro… we started with something called the Byford Dolphin incident… and now Pigeon is on about weird underwater anomalies. like how some people will act really odd when they go beyond a certain depth underwater,” Sans replied, looking over at his brother with a lazy grin.
“Wow! I never knew that. Has Pigeon told you about our trip to the museum yet?” Papyrus asked, glancing back at the grill before meeting the older skeleton’s gaze again.
“he told me the other day actually. sounds like you two had fun at the museum. Pigeon showed me tons of pictures,” Sans chuckled, stretching his arms up before tucking them behind his head.
Pigeon beamed slightly at the mention of the museum, his face gaining a pinkish tint to it as he stifled a boyish grin. Though as Sans and Papyrus continued to talk he shifted his focus to the yard just off the porch. Since the skeletons were busy talking he wanted to look around the yard since he didn’t really come back here that often.
Getting up from the seat, he trotted down the stairs and started walking around the yard. It was a pretty large yard all things considered. Spacious and stuff. Maybe they could ask the others if they could do something fun in the yard sometime. Maybe during a long weekend? Like a pool party or something. They weren’t sure yet.
“What are you doing?” Papyrus called out, leaning against the railing of the patio.
“Looking around the yard! I haven’t really come back here often so I wanna see what’s all back here!” Pigeon replied, glancing over their shoulder to look back at the lanky skeleton. They shoved their hands in their pockets, leaning back on their heels for a moment.
Papyrus nodded, turning his attention back to the grill, leaving Pigeon to their own devices. They continued trotting around the yard, peering out into the woods, from here they could see a path far into the wounds. Maybe they could walk down that sometime. They’d probably ask Mutt to walk with them the first time to make sure the trail was safe.
As they stood there, they couldn’t help but notice a slight tingling sensation they could feel. It was faint, barely noticeable, but it was still there. They could still feel it. Glancing around, Pigeon was confused, trying to figure out what was, where that tingling was coming from. It felt like the few times they had sat on their leg weird or slept on their arm, but not as intense as that felt most of the time. It was weird.
That tingling sensation grew stronger and more noticeable when they moved in a certain direction, closer toward the center of the yard. So, moving toward the center of the yard, Pigeon looked around, eyes narrowed as they tried to find whatever it was that was causing the tingling. The sensation shifted into an audible buzz, not like an insect, but more like… Static? That was the closest thing they could compare it to.
It sounded familiar in some way. They just couldn’t place it. Flexing their hands, they crouched down, searching the ground for some kind of explanation like an insect or something. They weren’t sure what they were looking for, but they still looked. Though they probably wouldn’t find anything there.
“FOUND YOU.”
Pigeon let out a startled yelp, looking around to try and figure out where the voice came from. His gaze fell upon a crackling white portal tearing open right above them. In it he could see a black skeleton peeking through, red eyes, yellow teeth, with an almost manic grin on their face.
Before he could react, he felt an arm around him pulling him away from the portal. Papyrus had grabbed him and was holding him tightly. Bones shot up from the ground acting like a sort of barrier between Papyrus and the strange skeleton.
The strange skeleton lowered out of the portal on blue strings, sitting in them much like a swing, staring at Papyrus with a bored expression, “Excuse me? Could you just… Hand the kid over? I’d rather not have to deal with this right now?”
Sans was next to Papyrus in an instant, one of his sockets engulfed in a blue glow that flickered yellow. His posture was tense, his demeanor hostile in a way Pigeon had never seen before.
“the kid ain’t yours to take,” Sans replied, keeping his tone calm and collected despite the change in his demeanor.
“Move aside. I’m just here for the kid.” The skeleton insisted, snapping his fingers. A dragon skull suddenly appeared above him, its maw filled with a white almost blinding glow. It’s jaw gaped open, preparing to attack if the stranger deemed it necessary.
Papyrus tightened his hold on Pigeon, shifting his stance in preparation to leave the scene. He wanted to fight, but it was more important to get Pigeon to safety right now. He would come back and join his brother once Pigeon was safe.
“We’re not going to let you take Pigeon,” Papyrus said matter-of-factly, taking a small step backward, glancing back to ensure the coast was clear.
Before Papyrus could even turn to run, he felt a searing pain in his back, a red bone shooting out of the ground into his spine. With a yelp, he dropped Pigeon, stumbling backward. His sockets widened in horror as blue strings shot out, slicing through the wall of bones he had created, ensnaring Pigeon and tugging him away so fast he didn’t have any time to react.
At the same time, the dragon skull blasted at Sans, to which the smaller skeleton disappeared just before the blinding blast scorched the Earth where he was standing moments before, ensuring neither of them could retaliate.
And before either of the skeletons could make a move, Pigeon and the strange skeleton were gone, disappearing through the portal that closed right after.
He was gone. And they didn’t even get a chance to try and fight for him. What kind of caretakers were they if they couldn’t protect him? Oh stars. What were they gonna do?
All the skeletons that were home were in a panic, Pigeon had been kidnapped, Papyrus was hurt, and there wasn’t anything anyone could really do right now. Everyone was panicking and yelling, trying to figure out what to do.
Papyrus was sitting down in the kitchen, sipping on some monster tea to ease the pain in his spine. Sans sat beside him, ensuring that he was alright all things considered. The shorter skeleton, while more composed than the others, seemed on edge.
“Sans… What are we going to do? Pigeon is gone,” Papyrus asked, looking over at his brother for some kind of advice, some kind of reassurance that things would be okay. He didn’t want to think about the possibility that they wouldn’t be able to get Pigeon back.
Sans didn’t answer immediately, reaching out to take his brother’s hand in his own, giving it a comforting squeeze. His gaze drifted to the cup of tea, staring at it intently. He didn’t know what to say, if there was anything he could say that would assure Papyrus that things would be fine. He had no way of knowing what would happen, if they’d be able to get Pigeon back or make things right… He hadn’t even told you yet because he was so rattled with the entire experience.
“i… i don’t know what to do, Paps. there isn’t any way we can go get Pigeon. he might… he might be gone,” Sans answered, rubbing his face with his free hand, his eye lights going out.
“NO! We’ll find Pigeon. We’ll get him back… I promised to protect him. I-i have to save him, I have to… Sans, what kind of friend would I be if I broke my promise?” Papyrus snapped, startling the older skeleton. He blinked for a moment, realizing his actions and quickly added, “I-... I’m sorry I didn’t mean to yell.”
“it’s alright, Paps. i’m just as worried as you right now… we… we’ll figure this out,” It was flimsy at best, but he didn’t have anything else he could say. He couldn’t assure Papyrus that they’d find Pigeon, there was no way for them to go after the kid.
Rustle suddenly stumbled into the kitchen, he looked angry, understandably so. He was protective of Pigeon, more protective of the kid than they had ever seen him be of anyone else. He slammed his hands down on the table, his eye lights fizzling with anger, “what did that bastard look like?! the one that took Pigeon?!”
Sans startled, not used to seeing Rustle act in such a way. He raised a hand in a placating gesture before motioning for Rustle to take a seat so he could properly explain. Raising his gaze once more, he spotted Edge in the doorway, hoping for an explanation much like his brother.
“it was another skeleton. looked like us,” Sans explained, gesturing between himself and Rustle before he continued, “he had black bones, yellow teeth, and red eyes.”
Rustle didn’t speak for a long moment, as if just taking in the information he was being given. His hands curled into fists, his eye lights burning brightly, teeth gritting as if holding back the urge to lash out in anger or despair. Instead, he buried his face into his hands, trembling as he struggled to keep himself in check.
Edge stepped forward, placing a hand on Rustle’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, “Well… MC is still at the hospital with their friend Jacklyn. They don’t know Pigeon is gone yet unless one of you messaged them.”
Both Papyrus and Sans shook their heads, glancing between each other.
“No one has messaged MC yet… We… I wanted to try and get Pigeon back before anything. With MC already concerned about their friend I didn’t want to worry them further,” Papyrus admitted hesitantly, lacing his fingers together, tears brimming in his eye sockets. It felt selfish, but he wanted so badly to be the one to save Pigeon and bring them back that he hadn’t really thought about if you wanted to know what was going on.
“i think it’s best we tell ‘em,” Rustle finally spoke up again, already pulling out his phone, “any objections?”
No one objected and so, he opened his phone and scrolled through his contacts looking for yours. As the phone started ringing, he put it on speaker and set it down on the table. He hoped that they’d be able to figure things out, but he didn’t have his hopes up.
A few rings later, you answered, there was some shuffling on the other side of line before a voice answered, “Yeah Rustle? Want to check up on Jacklyn or something?”
With a shaky breath, Rustle glanced between the other skeletons in the room, none of them seemed prepared to explain so he cleared his nonexistent throat, prepared to tell you what happened only for Sans to speak up.
“MC… this is really important for you to hear.”
“Sans? Did something happen to Rustle? Why are you calling from his phone?” You asked, voice taking on a worried tone. He could practically hear you frowning over the phone.
“no, no… Rustle is fine. it’s something else that’s going on…” Sans replied, rubbing his nasal ridge, trying to figure out the best way to explain this.
“Is Pigeon alright? What’s going on?”
“he…” Sans hesitated, “Pigeon was taken by a skeleton none of us recognize. me and Papyrus were out in the yard with him when this portal opened up and a black glitchy skeleton came out and… he took Pigeon.”
There was silence on the other end on the line for several seconds, Sans feared that maybe you hadn’t heard him correctly so he clear his throat to repeat himself and-
“I’m coming to the lodge.” Was all you said before abruptly hanging up.
A wave of dread washed over everyone in the room. They had never heard you talk in a tone like that, or sound that calm in a situation like this before.
“Sans…” Papyrus murmured, looking over at his brother.
Sans didn’t respond, his face buried in his hands, his entire frame trembling. And before anyone could say anything, a sob escaped his throat. Tears brimming in his sockets, running down his face before he had the chance to stop them. He was so overwhelmed and conflicted. He had been so sure that things would be good now, that everything would be fine and that he wouldn’t have to deal with stuff like this again. But now that Pigeon had been taken, the poor kid ripped away without any of them being able to protect him… That sinking feeling of hopelessness was returning again.
Pigeon felt really nauseous when he came too. He had been knocked out? Stars above he didn’t remember. His head was spinning, he felt really ill, like he was really hot? But it felt cool here so he wasn’t sure what was going on. Though, when he opened his eyes, he found himself upside down, the area around him a blinding white, making him have to squint to really try and gauge where he was. He could feel his stomach churning, his head hurt from being hung upside down.
Looking… down? Up? Looking at himself, he found his body wrapped up in blue cables, restraining his arms against his sides. With the blood rushing to his head, it made sense why he felt hot and uncomfortable.
He let out a slight wheeze when the cables tightened around him, he found himself being lowered down, his mind was still fuzzy. He couldn’t quite remember what had happened, how he had ended up here, but he’d probably figure that out soon enough.
“You look better. Put up a fight for once. Glad to see you’re feeling better,” A buzzing voice permeated the air, Pigeon winced at the sound, it was grating.
Finally, Pigeon was met with the face of a black skeleton, red eye sockets stared back at him, filled with pulsing eye lights that gleamed with an almost manic light. It was hard to really describe it the way the skeleton was looking at him.
“Wh… Who?” Pigeon asked, his voice trailing off as another wave of nausea washed over him, making him scrunch up his face in discomfort.
The skeleton noticed and righted Pigeon so he was no longer upside down, though he was still kept suspended in the air. He could get a better look at the skeleton now. Black bones, red eye sockets, yellow teeth, and these blue streaks going down his face. He felt a new wave wash over him, this time it was dread.
He could feel his heart racing in his chest, memories of what happened flooding his mind. This skeleton had kidnapped him, snatched him out of Papyrus’ arms after attacking both Papyrus and Sans. His breath came in short ragged breaths, the dread replaced by panic.
“Kid? Do you not remember me?” The skeleton asked, his voice sounding confused. To which Pigeon got confused as well, swallowing thickly as his brow furrowed in confusion.
The skeleton stepped away, putting a hand to his chin as he paced back and forth, murmuring to himself, “It had been a while since I last seen ‘em. And typically when we hung out they were on some kind of medication that made them disoriented… Did they think they were just hallucinating the hangouts?... Probably.”
Pigeon watched him for a while, gears turning in his head. He thought back to the weird occurrences he had lately. Those fever dreamish times when he was recovering from… And the video he took of the weird stranger in the bathroom with that buzzing sound. And the other night when there was that odd note. His eyes widened in realization. Had he made friends with this odd glitchy skeleton while high on pain medication?!
“I… I-. I’m sorry. I don’t really remember you… Are we friends?” Pigeon asked hesitantly, tilting his head to the side.
The skeleton looked over at him, seemingly startled out of his pacing. He glitched a bit more violently, before his posture softened. With a wave of his hand, Pigeon was set on the ground and the skeleton turned to face him fully, “Yes, we are. Though it seems you don’t remember me. That’s alright,” He chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Pigeon sat down, his legs a bit wobbly, he didn’t trust himself to stay upright. The skeleton copied him, sitting down with his legs crossed, leaning back against a blue bean bag that Pigeon hadn’t noticed before.
“We met while you were in the hospital or whatever it was that you were in at the time. First time we met you were way off. And I felt compelled to snag you out of the room you were staying in. You were feeling side effects of some kind of pain medication so I doubt you were very aware of what was going on,” He explained, shrugging his shoulders as he slumped back against the beanbag, staring up at the empty void.
Pigeon nodded, brows furrowed in confusion. He didn’t fully understand quite yet, but he was getting there at least to an extent. He was still frightened and nervous, at least he now knew that this skeleton didn’t mean him any harm. That’s what he hoped he was getting anyways.
“What’s your name?” Pigeon asked hesitantly, his hands curling into fists. He shifted in place, trying to ease the ache in his back that he was feeling.
“Call me Error. Ring a name now, Pigeon?” He replied, a playful lilt in his voice.
They didn’t answer at first, letting the name resonate for a long moment as memories began to bubble up. Memories that they had been so convinced they were just figments of their imaginations, acting up while they were in the hospital and still really unwell.
They remembered watching the stars in a place of floating islands high up in the sky, or another time when he had spent hours curled up in a hammock crafted from the blue strings that Error had been used to restrain them earlier. Those had actually been real things that happened and not hallucinations.
“Were you the one who left that weird note in my room the other day asking if I wanted to hang out?” Pigeon asked, wanting clarification.
“Duh. I didn’t want to just snatch you out of nowhere without any warning,” Error answered with a chuckle, tilting his head to the side. He paused for a moment, his expression shifting to confusion, “If you didn’t remember me… Why did you answer the note?”
“I thought maybe Edge had written the note,” Error looked confused at that, so, Pigeon clarified, “The tall angry looking skeleton with the scar over one eye.”
While on the topic of the other skeletons, they quickly added, “Speaking of the skeletons. They’re all pretty worried about me considering you basically kidnapped me. Maybe you could take me back and get things sorted out? So fights won’t happen anytime you want to come get me to hang out?”
Error stared at them for a long moment, blinking slowly, looking at them as if they had suddenly grown horns. They were about to say nevermind when Error said, “I would rather not deal with them right now. How about we just hang out for a few hours and then I’ll take you back and get this sorted out?”
Pigeon hesitated, chewing the inside of their cheek, unsure what to say. Then with a reluctant sigh, they nodded, leaning back on their hands, “What do you want to do then if you want to hang out for a while? I’m kind of hungry right now… So maybe we could go get something to eat?”
“Sure. I could eat,” Error agreed, getting to his feet in one swift motion.
A thick blue cable coiled around Pigeon’s arm, tugging them to their feet, it didn’t let go, just remaining loosely wrapped around their wrist. They watched as Error opened the portal to what looked like the interior of a convenience store. Not where they thought he’d take them, but it was better than nothing.
Following the glitching skeleton through the portal, Pigeon found himself surprised by just how large this convenience store was. The ceiling went far up, there were many aisles with a variety of options to choose from, looking down one, he could see what looked like an indoor playground on the other side of the store.
Pigeon felt a flutter of excitement in his chest at the thought of being able to climb and explore it. It had been so long since he had gotten to play in one of those, and most he was too big for. That one looked big enough for adults to comfortably move through, no less a 14 year old.
“Get whatever you want. I get free food here. The owner’s a friend.” Error said, the cable releasing their wrist, allowing them to free reign. He then turned and headed off down one of the aisles without another word, leaving Pigeon to their own devices.
Pigeon wasn’t sure where to start or where to look, so he headed to where he thought was the front of the store where hopefully a worker could ask about where some stuff was. The individual at the front behind the cash register looked like a dog monster. He hadn’t seen many of them around so this was a pleasant surprise.
“Uh hello?” Pigeon called as he approached the cash register.
The canine yelped in surprise, startled from the reading they had been doing moments before looking over at Pigeon with a curious expression, “Oh! Hello! Uh I didn’t hear you come in. I’m Eddie, the clerk of this here store. How may I help you?”
Pigeon froze for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Clearing their throat, they answered, “I uh… Error brought me here? He said he’s a friend of yours. I was wondering what kind of foods ya have here…”
“There’s pizza over at the far end, the drinks are over there too, there’s some other things too, but I’m not too sure what you’d like. So feel free to explore and take whatever you want,” Eddie answered, offering what they could only gauge as a smile. A dog’s face wasn’t the same as a person’s so it was difficult to read their expressions.
“Alright, thank you!” Pigeon chirped, turning and trotting down the hall through the store toward Eddie had pointed and said the pizza was.
They could hear the faint buzzing they quickly came to associate with Error coming from one of the aisles and shrugged, eyes settling on the pizza display immediately. All of it looked so appetizing along with being incredibly fresh. And the smell was incredible too. It wasn’t just pizza here, but an entire food bar.
They grabbed a plate they found nearby and put what they wanted on it. A slice of pizza, mozzarella sticks, grilled potatoes, some rice. The sheer variety made them want to squeal in excitement. There was some fruit too that Pigeon knew they had to get if they were still hungry. They were looking forward to trying it if they could. If they’d be here for a while, they’d probably get hungry enough again in order to do so.
He set his place down over at a table before going back over to the food bar for a moment to get a drink, sweet tea, his usual. He then promptly settled down and dug in. He was ravenous, he hadn’t eaten since last night and so he was HUNGRY.
Pigeon glanced around as they ate, taking in their surroundings with careful consideration. This… convenience store looked way too big for a normal one. Perhaps it had been renovated from some other kind of store? They weren't sure, maybe they would ask Eddie about it. They were curious about the history of this place for once. Usually they didn’t really bother learning about stores and their history. This one however, they desperately wanted to know more.
Aside from this odd store, Pigeon had many other things on his mind. Like how they would explain what had happened to the skeletons when Error brought them back. And how could they possibly get the skeletons to be cool with Error after he just snatched them before their eyes after attacking both Sans and Papyrus.
This seemed tricky, but Error was nice enough from the past 30-ish minutes and what he could remember from back in the hospital. He’d get it figured out hopefully. The thought of the conflict that would most likely occur when Error brought him back made him grimace internally. It wouldn’t be fun at all.
Speaking of the skeletons, they were curious as to how they were doing right now especially with what happened. They hoped Papyrus was okay. And Sans. Their mind still felt fuzzy and scattered from their earlier panic that they hadn’t really thought about how they were doing until now.
“How’s the food?” Error asked, startling Pigeon out of their thoughts.
They were so focused on eating that they hadn’t noticed he sat across from them. He had a chocolate bar in his hand, along with a bottle of a drink they didn’t recognize.
“It’s good. I like it. I wanna go get some fruit after I finish this plate if I’m still hungry afterwards. I met Eddie, he seems nice,” Pigeon hummed, picking at their food before taking another bite with a contented hum.
“That’s good. Glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Error nodded, his expression softening to an endeared smile. His eye lights flickered over in the direction of the cash register, his expression becoming unreadable for a long moment.
Pigeon’s brows furrowed, doubt creeping into their mind at what Error told them. Was he and Eddie really friends or was he just saying that so that they wouldn’t question why they were getting free food from here? They shook their head, not wanting to think about it right now.
“How have you been doing, kid? It’s been a few months. I wanna know what you’ve been doing.” Error questioned, skull tilting to the side, his gaze returning to Pigeon.
“Oh! I’ve been uh. Well I haven’t been doing too bad lately. I- i started my sophomore year of high school. I’m getting good grades. I’m taking an astronomy class too! So that’s pretty fun,” Pigeon paused, thinking about what else they should talk about. Patting their pockets, they found their phone. Good! They could show him their art and photos they’ve been taking lately.
“I’ve also been doing a lot of art now. And uh… Papyrus, the tall skeleton that was holding me when you… Nabbed me… He took me to a museum not too long ago,” Pigeon added, opening their art gallery in their phone before sliding it across the table to Error.
Error pulled out a pair of round glasses from his pocket, sliding them on before picking up the phone. He leaned back in the chair, scrolling through the art in the gallery. He didn’t say anything for a long moment making Pigeon think he didn’t like their art.
“This is nice, kid. Proud of you,” Error nodded, handing the phone back over with a grin, “Noticed you were drawing a lot of skeletons. Get inspired by ‘em?”
They nodded, clasping their hands together. A toothy smile spread across their face as they preened under the praise, “Yeah! They’ve all been really nice to me and well… I needed more practice with anatomy in my art. And what better way than to start at the bare bones?”
Error snorted at the pun, covering his face with a hand, “That was horrible. I think Classic is rubbing off on you.”
Pigeon chuckled in response, tucking their phone back into their pocket. Leaning back in their chair as a wave of contentment washed over them. Despite their initial reservations and worries, Error was quite nice. Perhaps this newfound friendship would be incredible despite the poor first impression.