Chapter Text
Running back up the slope and turning right, Steven would gasp. He had entered a land of entirely nothing but snowpoffs!!!
And one dog house, with a sign next to it.
Steven let out a small aww as he approached the doghouse and its sign, reading the text on it...
Woof.
He would cover his mouth before another giggle fit would come. "Pffft." It's really cute how silly all of these little stations for the dogs are. He'd push himself back up and eye the very long bridge, noticing the skeleton brothers chat on the complete other side of it. As he approached the bridge, he'd approach the snowpoff, about to step over it, when--
"Bark bark!"
Steven put his foot back down as he involuntarily covered his mouth and gasped at the pup with its small face and snout that poked its head out from the snow poff. "Ohhhh, you're so cute!!" Kneeling down to get to the soft pup's level, he took a hand and gently moved it towards its head. Softly scritching the side of its face, the tail that stuck out of the other side of the poff wagged a little. Steven held in a squeal as it seemingly smiled with its tongue out, when suddenly...
Armour rose from the snow mound, carrying the dog with it. As the powder fell from its shoulders and body, it revealed that this dog held a spear with its face on it and its outfit was much like the one with the long neck in terms of armor, except it looked way more ripped due to its body shape. Somehow.
What.
Steven could only stare up at the giant armored dog, who eagerly stared down at him. Is this one going to stretch its neck, too??? A little nervous due to the sheer size, he backed up to give them both space. The dog didn't understand what personal space was, and got down on its knees and hands, face leveled with Steven's.
"U-um..." Steven stammered as he lifted his hand gently towards the dog. "Do you just want to be pet, too?" He softly started to rub and scritch behind its ears, leaning into his hand. The over sized dog adjusted his position and curled up in the snow, eyes sparkling in Steven's direction.
"Awwww!!! You do!!" His hands instantly reached for the stomach area to rub, only to realize the canine is still armored. He began to instead squish and pet its face affectionately, making the dog stick out its tongue slightly in the process. "Gosh, you're so cute...!!"
Suddenly, the armored canine rolled back over onto its four limbs, tiny tail wagging from the bottom of its armor. Kneeling down with expecting, playful eyes, it would stare at Steven pawing at the ground.
"Oh...? Do you want to play??" Steven patted around in his pockets, stopping mere seconds later realizing he only had his phone on hand. He'd glance around at the snow, crouching down and scooping up a small ball of snow. He'd turn around and toss it back towards the X-O puzzle, but angled it up more towards the sky. "Catch!"
The canine dashed ahead of Steven and pounced, catching the snowball in its mouth and splitting apart the snow. It landed on the ground, giving it a shake and partially throwing off the boy's balance. As he regained his balance within seconds, his eyes shrunk as he saw the dog launch itself at Steven, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him into the snow.
"Oof--!" Steven squirmed, trying to free himself from being pinned down. He would try to push himself out away from the dog, who held him down by the arms. The dog let go, only to lay its upper torso and head on Steven's, imploring him to stay and not get up.
He would sigh. "I guess I'm staying here for now, huh?" Arms free once again, he'd idly pet its fuzzy head, staring up at the seemingly endless ceiling of the Underground. The mind would wander to all of the dogs he had faced so far, just within the snowy forest. Even though it was only just three, it felt like a lot. How many dogs are down here...??? Did they also fall underground?
...Is it bad I kind of want a dog now?
A slobbery lick interrupted his very small and short thoughts, making Steven reflexively turn away and raise his hands towards himself. He appreciated the show of affection though, smiling and laughing quietly. The armored canine would push itself up and raise to its knees, looking down at the human boy on the ground with snow particles scattered throughout his hair. He would only curiously stare up, partially intimidated by its size.
Suddenly, the dog hopped out of the armor, revealing itself to be a large, non-humanoid, fluffy white dog. It yipped happily at Steven, and licked his face one more as if it were a goodbye kiss. Touched by its love, he grinned and pulled the dog close, reveling in its soft, fuzzy fur and giggling happily to himself.
"You were just a normal dog the whole time??? Oh my gosh!" Steven scratched behind its ear one more time before letting it make an impressive leap back into its armor, with its tail sticking out of the armor's neck. The armor would somehow function as normal and walk past the boy, onto the bridge and into the town ahead. Steven couldn't help but snicker, just seeing how silly it all was. He shook his head, remembering he too had to march forward and progress.
...
That dog is really really cute though!!!
Taking one long giddy sigh to get it out of his system, he breathed and relaxed. The funny times were over for now. Steven would then peer ahead, studying the long, long bridge. He looked down to the land below, seeing the long fall. Jee, that's... a long way down. Despite having floating powers and just getting done with petting a kind dog, this put a small dent in his anxiety. Nonetheless, he tightly gripped onto one of the bridge's rope and trudged forward.
--Hey, the bridge isn't waving back and forth! He took note of the solid ground he stood on. No, this bridge wasn't made of traditional wood... yet, it looked like that's what it was composed of. He continued to traverse the contraption, partially excited for whatever the brothers had in store.
Steven halted several feet away from the brothers, once the taller one took notice. "HUMAN!" Papyrus called to him. "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE!" He cleared his thoat before saying, "BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!!"
Following the introduction, a giant spike ball attached to a chain, followed by two large spears, a cannon, an intensely heated fire coming from a flamethrower of sorts, and a dog attached to a rope immediately surrounded Steven from all angles. How some of these were attached, nobody but its creator will know. "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!!! CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE!" As Steven intently studied the weapons surrounding him on the bridge nervously, Papyrus excitingly resumed. "EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!!"
J-jeez, I thought he wasn't dangerous! Steven reached for his gem and nervously gripped his shirt near where it was located. Weren't we having fun earlier?? Safe, but puzzling fun??
"ARE YOU READY!?"
Not really!
"BECAUSE!"
Wait--
"I! AM!"
WaIT---
"ABOUT!"
C-Can't we talk about this????
"TO DO IT!"
Despite his inner plees, Steven remained silent, waiting for everything to swing at him. Awaiting what would be impending doom, hurt by what was a friendly face with fun puzzles and a funny brother. And yet, despite what Papyrus had said and what he promised...
Nothing happened. Everything stood still, timeless.
Sans turned to his brother, who now was looking everywhere but at his target. "well? what's the holdup?"
"HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP!? I'M..." Papyrus struggled to find his words for a moment. "I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!" He looked back at Steven, who now no longer wore the face of confusion and fear but rather an expression of normal confusion and mixed concern. Unable to hold this glance, he immediately broke eye contact.
As if Sans noted Papyrus' uncertainty, he reactivated the conversation. "that, uh, doesn't look very activated."
"WELL!!! THIS CHALLENGE!!! IT SEEMS... MAYBE..." He hesitated. "... TOO EASY TO DEFEAT HIM WITH." Settled with his 'answer,' he folded his arms confidently. "YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE!!! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS!!! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED, BUT THIS IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL!" Papyrus waved his hand, dismissing the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror. "AWAY IT GOES!" The trap picked itself up and wandered off screen from where it came from. Where off screen is, nobody knows but Papyrus.
The younger skeleton released a sigh of relief, imposing that this last-minute decision's reason wasn't perhaps truthful. Steven took this as a chance to approach, stepping forward with his grip on the rope loosened. Papyrus snapped back around to face him, remembering his existence. "--HOLD IT!" Steven froze, tense from the surprise. "DON'T GO THINKING YOU'VE WON-- THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!!
"NYEH!!
"HEH!!
"HEH???"
Papyrus dashed into the town ahead, ending the confrontation. Steven stood for a moment, taking in everything. ...Does Papyrus not want to capture me or something? He wondered more as he finished traversing the bridge, looking at the snow he would step in. Wonder if that flower talked to him at all...
"hey, you ok, kid?"
Steven looked up and looked toward the source. "Oh, you're still here!" He laughed to himself. "Huhuh, yeah. I was just wondering why he seemed so hesitant to uh, use that 'gauntlet' on me."
Sans recalled the first conversation he ever had with Steven. "well, you're the first human he's ever seen. and, he's having a great time with you, right?"
"Yeeaah." Steven thought back to his interactions with the younger skeleton. "Maybe... maybe he wants to be friends, instead of 'capturing' me?"
"it's possible." He took a small breath. "you can try to talk to him about it up ahead. he's probably gonna want to fight you first."
"...I'll see what I can do." Steven nodded confidently before entering the town a few steps ahead of him. "Thanks, Sans!"
"hey, no problem."