Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A child walked along the path in the snowy woods, cold seeping through their clothes as they jumped over a thick branch. The right sleeve of their purple and green stripped sweater bounced lightly, vacant of an arm. An orange scarf hid half of their face, leaving only their round grey eyes visible which were rarely bothered by their messy brown and curly locks.

Silently from between the trees, stood a monsters waiting for his cue with pinprick eyelights following after the figure of a kid. The child stopped when a snap echoed across the woods. Turning around they saw the large branch snapped to pieces as if it was nothing, after giving it a blank eyed stare they resumed their walking forward without looking back at the figure slowly looming towards them.

Stopping at the beginning of a bridge a voice came from behind them “h u m a n” Turning on their feet, grey eyes stared upwards at what looked like a menacing skeleton monster.

“d o n ‘ t y o u k n o w…huh?” The skeleton stopped short and blinked, confused by the child’s stare and appearance. This wasn’t the same kid, he thought as his eyelights went from the child’s eyes to the lost arm. What was happening? Why was this one timeline so different from the others? What happened on the last timeline? Is this another anomaly? Is this kid going to…? Those questions went unanswered as the crunch of heavy boots against snow alerted both beings of another –loud and great– presence.

“SANS!”

Neither jumped at the yelling but Sans’s smile became strained as he squeezed lightly on the whoope cushion on his hand “name’s Sans the skeleton, walk right through, my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone” He said with a rush breath, sweat appearing on his skull as he followed behind the human child across the bridge.

“quick, behind that conven–oh…” The lamp was conveniently shaped for Frisk “just hide”.

Thankfully, the child obeyed without question but tripped over a large bank of snow, falling face first on the snow. This seemed enough to hide their small body as Papyrus finally came into view.

“sup, bro” Sans was trying to keep it together and make everything go as accordingly to the ‘script’ as he could, but it didn’t seem like the universe was going to leave him be at this point.

“YOU KNOW WHAT’S ‘SUP’, BROTHER. IT’S–UH” The tall skeleton interrupted himself midsentence, his gaze falling on the small person that was sitting on the snow holding their nose with some kind of red liquid seeping through their hand and staining the snow down below them “SANS, WHO’S THIS LITTLE PERSON?” They seemed in pain and Papyrus wanted to help as soon as possible.

Sans didn’t even look the kid’s way immediately. He wasn’t liking very much being in the dark after so many resets knowing what to expect “i think that’s a human, bro” And it felt awkward saying it so ‘early’ but he had to improvise.

“WHY ARE THEY… LEAKING?”

This caught the comedian’s attention, making him look at the human who was still standing a couple of steps away from him, sniffling and holding a tiny hand over their nose “oh boy” He approached the kid slowly with a patient grin “let me see what’s got your nose there, kiddo” Ignoring the annoyed groan from his brother, Sans gently helped the child uncover their nose. Blood still fell from their nostrils but they weren’t sporting a crooked nose so the skeleton was sure nothing was broken…

“SANS, ARE THEY HURT?” Papyrus’s voice gained a worried tone as he walked towards the pair and saw the small human trying to hold back tears with half of their face stained with slowly drying blood. It broke the skeleton’s metaphorical heart “they’re fine, bro, but i think a cinnamon bunny will make them feel better” The tallest of the bunch sighed with relief and brightly smiled at the tiny person.

“WORRY NOT, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL RETRIEVE A WARM CINNAMON BUNNY TO HEAL YOUR WOUNDS IN NO TIME!” A magical wind made his scarf dance heroically behind him as he made a pose, this successfully made the child beam through the pain and smile a toothy grin for both skeletons.

“no need to be nose-y about it” An irritated groan came from Papyrus’s before he left with a “DO NOT INFLUENCE THE HUMAN WITH YOUR LAZYWAYS BEFORE I COME BACK, BROTHER” which Sans answered with a skeleton pun that made his brother flee to town before he had to sit through more of his jokes.

Alone again with the human, Sans caught them staring at him. It unnerved him somewhat because he didn’t know anything about this kid or what they were capable of “Is there som–what?” He thought he heard the human say something… And it was weird because Frisk never talked.

“Thank you” The child’s voice was soft and it struck great guilt on the short skeleton for some reason “i didn’t do much, kid” He answered fast, accustomed to acting nonchalant while he wanted nothing more than to question this child even if they know nothing… But it couldn’t just be nothing, right? “Are… Are cinnamon bunny’s made with real bunnys?” The kid paled at the thought and it made Sans snort with concealed laughter because of how out of the blue the question was.

“i bun know, let’s hop not” He walked down the snowed path with his hands in his pockets and a child trailing behind him. Giggling softly at his puns and curiously watching everything, it filled Sans with a warm feeling but something wasn’t right… Or at least something else wasn’t right.

Why was no monster getting in their way?

No Doggo.

No Dogi.

No Lesser nor Greater Dog.

Not even Icecap or Snowdrake.

Why was this timeline so different?

Was it good that Frisk wasn’t in it anymore?

Was it a bad thing?

Is there a reason…?

Is there a way to tell before everything goes wrong?

Chapter Text

When Sans, surprisingly, didn’t encounter any other monsters or puzzles, he started to feel concerned. Why would his brother deactivate all the puzzles to pass through and not let the human try them? Maybe because the kid was hurt and he didn’t want to risk their health? But then again, why would no monster approach them? It was like there were no monsters here at all! Maybe… Maybe Papyrus told them to stay away so the human wouldn’t be attacked while hurt? That did sound like something Papyrus would do, so he convinced himself that that was the reason and this child wasn’t going to do anything they might regret…

He could only hope.

Glancing back at them, he found himself staring at their tiny form. They had a missing arm but their clothes weren’t stained –or dusty, for that matter– so maybe he could relax a little. Their grey eyes held such a bright light and child-like innocence, no malice, no bloodlust; guilt struck his soul again and he was having a bad time figuring out why.

The kid stopped just when they were about to cross the bridge to Snowdin, right where Greater Dog should be hiding as a snowpoff, and stared down at their feet with sad eyes.

“something botherin’ ya, bud?” Sans raised a brow bone, curious “Paps must be waiting for us by the store, it wouldn’t be ice to keep him waitin’” the pun made them laugh weakly, but they didn’t move an inch from their place. Taking a deep breath, the child finally spoke “Am I scary?”.

The question wasn’t expected, but the skeleton wasn’t afflicted by it. He cocked his head and moved his eyelights up and down the form of the human “you’re not exactly horror material, kid, what makes you say that?”.

“Well… When we were walking I saw another monster, they were tiny and smiling” Tiny and smiling? Now that sounded like a bad description “I couldn’t see them because they weren’t close… And it was really blurry, even if I squinted really hard!” The kid had poor eye-sight, dear stars. That was very concerning in a world where a lot of places were extremely hazardous even for a monster child “But they said that ‘I shouldn’t be here now’ and that ‘I will regret my decision”... I think maybe I scared them, because I’m human” They finished with a quiet voice, hand playing with the sleeve of their non-existent right arm.

He could only think of one thing that could fit that description.

That little weed was starting to piss him off.

From what it sounded like, that flower didn’t expect this kid to come in instead of Frisk neither, so at least they weren’t a part of a large scheme to give him more nightmares (yet). But then what about the resets? Determination was the base of those, both Flowey and Frisk were responsible for it because of their determination, but did this kid have it too? He hasn’t seen them do anything suspicious; he doubts they would do anything even if they ran off a couple of steps away from him … Distance that was enough to let that piece of fertilizer threaten them.

He needed to check them.

He needed to make sure.

. . .w̶̜̐ĥ̶͓̱̦̳͝ā̶̤̟̃̓̚t̶̬̩̂̎̈́ ̵̦͙̒̈́t̵̼̩̘̽͌͝͝h̶̩̗̱͊̈́̉e̶͔̍͊̆.̵̧͉̟̽̓͝ͅ.̵̩̎͝.̷͎̖̼?̸͚̚

H̷̹̺̖̯̯͉̫̑͐̂̈́̅̚͜͜͜͠e̸̫̟̼̮͓̥̟̰̖͛̍͒͋̆̂ ̸̨̧̗̬̩̹͕̪͕̬̦̟̠̻͙̣̃̌͠s̸̡͈̗̟̣̻͔̳͔͆͗̓͋̑͊̊̿͜h̵̢̬͎͊ͅo̶̢̧̨̢̨̙͎̺͓̣̯̰̾̊͗̍̅̾̄̅̽̉̎̌u̸̪̟̖͍̻̺̝͙͙͇̖͚̳͓̇ľ̴̛͔̌͌̏̐̐̊̿͝d̸̡̡̢̛̮̞̫̳̜͙̟̭͇̦͚̍̈́̾͊̈́̏͑̃̈̊̀̓͋̋̌n̶̢̙̗̪̯͔̹̻̹̳̅̔̆̋͆͜ͅ'̶̤̗̗̠̪̜̙̳̺̇͛̉ţ̴̨̞̪̳̺͚̙̪̰̞̜̟̤͂ ̷̞̞͊̉̽͗̄̊̉͠ḩ̷̖̠͈̮̠̫̟̦̞̀̍̐̃̃̄͗̎́̃́͋͘̕͠ą̷̡̼͍̼͔̝̻̬͇͖͚̝̫̟̎̿̃̔͜v̵̢͇̯͖͚̼͇̯̯̫̫͖̓́́̌̆̔͋̓͐͘ę̴̺̦͔̙̱̩̋̈́̏́̑̆̓̐͊̌͜͜͝ͅ ̶̨̪̭͕̠̰̙̐̀́͗̓̇͘d̷̺̳̮̠̞̘̬̯̮̝̜͈̉́̓͊̑͜͝ǫ̵̮̦͔̺̰͈̹̹̗̼̺̝͎̾̓̑͒͗̑̈́̈́̾̚͘̚n̵̤͕̮̤͐͐̒̾͊̅͝ë̴̬͔̹̯͍̗͖͔͋̎̄̋̍ ̴̺̣̙̿̅̾͑̒̓͊̐̈́̌̇̚͝t̴̺̪̠̦͎̩̜̜̪̤͔̓̆̌̂͑̍̌̿̏͋̚h̸̨̘͙͙͙̗̠̪̺̊̅̈̀̎̊̇͊̽͛͊̐͑̅̕a̶̙͌̆̈̾͜ṫ̶͖̼̳̭̼̫̱͇̖̬̀̊̔̑̓͘͠͝

“nah, you’re fine, kiddo” He reassured them “if you don’t plan genocide anytime soon, then you’re going to be fine” It was hard to bite his non-existent tongue on that sentence, the words coming out before he could stop himself. Eyelights disappearing from his sockets, he waited for the kid’s reaction with a grimace.

“Wha…What’s genocide?” That was enough to make his pinprick eyelights appear just in time for the child to glance at him, slowly stepping forward and following the skeleton across the long bridge “S’now-thing nice, kid, don’t worry ‘bout it” Sans permanent smile relaxed, his body adapting slowly to the quiet chatter of the kid behind him and the light pitter patter of their steps.

[. . .]

Finally in Snowdin Town, the kid was engulfed in a worried hug from an excitable monster, Papyrus’s gloved hands making them giggle as he picked them up easily and carried them on one arm “HELLO AGAIN, LITTLE HU…PERSON!” The skeleton looked around nervously after almost slipping up on the human’s true identity. The human waved at them with a quiet “Hi”, cheeks rosy from the bite of the cold and grey eyes glowing at the sight of the town from Papyrus’s height.

After Papyrus left Sans and the human alone he took upon himself to not let anything harm them, because with his impeccable observing skills he immediately saw how clumsy and vulnerable this human was. He knew he was supposed to capture them, but he couldn’t take them to Undyne if they were weak and prone to accidents –what if they stumbled before crossing the barrier?! Horrible– so they must be protected until he says it’s okay to proceed.

He was a Royal Guard in training, he knew what he was doing.

He totally didn’t abuse his authority to make monsters stay away from those parts of Snowdin and he didn’t use Jerry as an excuse neither.

Because doing such a thing would be considered awfully manipulative and dishonest.

“I’M VERY SORRY, BUT I WASN’T ABLE TO GET YOU A CINNAMON BUNNY” Papyrus’s said, a disappointed look on his dark eye sockets “BUT I GOT YOU A BISICLE! I’M SURE IT’LL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER” From nowhere, he took out the bisicle and gave it to the child who jumped happily, almost making him fall down if not for Papyrus’s quick Royal Guard in Training reflexes.

The child still held blood under their nose but it didn’t seem to be running anymore. Using his gloved hand, he gently wiped the ugly metallic color from the human’s skin “THERE, NOW YOU’RE GREAT AGAIN” They stared at the skeleton for a couple of seconds, sucking on one side of the bisicle “As great as you?” The compliment rang true “WELL…MAYBE NOT THAT GREAT, BUT YOU’RE STILL THE BEST PERSON I KNOW” Giggling together, both skeleton and human moved from the middle of the entrance and into the rest of Snowdin.

Remembering that his brother escorted the human safely to Snowdin without his mid-brunch nap filled him with pride, he stopped before going too far into town and turned his skull around to look for Sans but he wasn’t there –he wasn’t that surprised–. *sigh* Why must this always happen when he was only trying to be a Great Brother on top of being The Great Papyrus?

… Oh! The Great Brother Papyrus just had a wonderful idea!

“Human” He said quietly, making the child on their arm attentive “I need to ask you something very important” Nodding enthusiastically with their most serious face, they waited patiently “WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME HANG OUT WITH ME AT MY HOUSE?” The kid was a little startled by the sudden volume but they seemed to be starting to get accustomed to it by now.

“Yeah!” This was the correct answer with the correct amount of enthusiasm, as Papyrus squeezed them in another hug and practically pranced across town to get to his house.

“WELL THEN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL GIVE YOU THE PERFECT HANG OUT! YOU WILL BE JAPED BY MY OVERWHELMING FRIENDSHIP SKILLS!” He exaggerated proudly, the magic wind making his scarf dance behind him and getting more giggles out of the small human.

“Yo, who’s that thing you got there?” Monster kid stood in their way, making Papyrus halt his pace before he fell on the other monster “Is it a kid?! Yo, let them play with me! Everyone else already has a playing buddy” Monster kid jumped on their feet lightly, excited.

Papyrus was being confronted by a conundrum. Let the human play with someone else and risk their own valuable hang out time… Or decline the offer and give the human the perfect hang out? He looked conflicted for a couple of seconds before a brilliant idea came to mind.

Aha! Not even life’s small problems were victorious against his greatness at solving puzzles!

“SURE! BUT ONLY IF YOU PLAY INSIDE! YOU SEE, THE COLD CAN MAKE THEM SICK, AND EVEN IF THE COLD CAN PASS RIGHT THROUGH ME, IT CERTAINLY CAN’T PASS THROUGH THE HU–PERSON’S SKIN” Perfect, now they could hang out together with no problem whatsoever.

“Ow… That’s fine; just let me ask my parents real quick, I’ll see you at your house!” Monster kid turned their back to them, running off to their parents only to trip on their own feet. They got up without problem and scattered about on the look for their parents.

Neither human nor skeleton could hold the wince that came with watching the armless monster fall with a squeaky noise.

[. . .]

“come out, fertilizer” The short skeleton stood near the Ruin’s door, glaring at the snow close to him as if it had personally offended him. He was going to find out why this timeline was different; whilst making a last resort to interrogate the kid only because he had a gut feeling it wouldn’t go well… Even if he didn’t have any guts to begin with.

Just like a demon being summoned, the yellow flower popped up from between the snow, frowning at him with obvious displeasure “What do you want? I’m not in the mood for watching your stupid smiley face” Always fast to make him pissed, it was nice to know that at least there were two people in the underground who knew about all the resets.

Well, down to one if he didn’t count himself.

“why didn’t the kid fall?” It was a simple question. His left eyelight flashed between blue and yellow while his right disappeared completely. The flower’s frown turned to a crazed and distorted smile, eyes going black and pupils turning white “And why should I tell you?” Sans wasn’t in the mood neither, so he appeared beside Flowey and simply took him by the stem.

“w h y d i d n ‘ t t h e k i d f a l l?” Flowey gulped (???) and his face distorted into a meek goat face “I don’t know anything! They just fell instead of Frisk!” He tightened his grip on the plant’s stem and tried to not enjoy the small flower’s fear “what else did you tell them while we were walking?”

Flowey’s confusion showed in their black eyes, blinking disbelieving “Wh-what? What are you talking about?! I haven’t spoken to them since the Ruins!” He admitted frantically, feeling his roots slowly be pulled from the ground. The skeleton stared down at the plant with a judgmental glare, debating if they were lying or not.

But then again…

if the weed isn’t lying… then who talked to the human?