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Riverglow is a place to relax in, to enjoy a relaxing day in whether it was just going outside to fish or something else, it sure felt nice to get your mind off important things.
The atmosphere was filled with a gentle warm breeze that sometimes gives hope to those who find no meaning in life. And a sense of hope to those who are still ongoing.
Sometimes, Riverglow speaks in its own language. telling those who stayed that..
Maybe, another day in this life wouldn't be so bad.
Blue sat down upon a rock, his mind focused on tomorrow's schedule. He had just gotten off patrol earlier when Alphys told him to take the day off because the new recruit wanted to take over the job.
his empty eye sockets slowly narrowed down as his non-existent gaze fell upon the flowing water.
It was a sunday afternoon, everyone seemed to be busy with their lives.. Almost carefree and oblivious to what may happen in the future.
Blue was deep in his thoughts, in his own little world, then a voice called out to him, a whisper that completely interrupted his moment of thinking over life decisions.
“ psst, blue!. "It sounded so far away, like the person was calling out to him below a well.
At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him, he ignored it pretending like it didn't exist.
Then again, the voice called out his name.. It sounded clearer, now above a whisper. Once again, he ignored it.
And then, another time, clearer no longer a whisper, it sounded familiar just like-
“ Ink? “
He looked back, the protector of aus was right behind him, while he had a hand on his shoulder that.. He didn’t know was there before.
“ Oh finally knocked some sense into you! “ Ink said, then chuckled.
That mischievous smile and smug tone.. Yup, it really was his good friend, ink.
Ink was the type of guy who’d tried to scare you, or prank you whenever you weren't paying attention.
But this was an odd approach. Instead of lunging at him with a hug and scaring the crap out of him, ink was calling out to him on top of his shoulder.
“ Did something happen?. “
Blue found himself automatically on-guard unsure why ink is here out of all people.
Ink shook his head, but then checked his scarf, a habit he couldn't discard whenever he talked about something.
“ No, not at all! “ he paused, then looked around his eyelights shaped into a green triangle and a purple circle. “ I have good news, not bad news! “
Blue glanced at ink, lost in thought for a moment then, he sighed.
“ Sit down, buddy.. “ he patted the space beside him.
Ink plopped down onto the space almost immediately, then he spoke
“ I wanted to invite you to join the fated stars. “
Silence.
And for a moment..
Everything.
Just.
Stopped
Blue’s eyelights that were dimmed before immediately grew brighter, revealing his star shaped eyelights.
He was surprised, not sure what to do, what to say.
That offer was his dream, ever since ink had told him about the fated stars in the past.
To be a hero, a guardian, someone important
A protector.
He was filled with excitement, fear and…
Confusion.?
Out of all the aus, all the entities, humans, monsters, everyone.
“ Why me?. “
With so many humans.. Monsters, creatures in other aus that are powerful, kind..
Those who also fit the requirements to be in the fated stars.
Then, the guardian spoke “ You're unique, blue. “
the smug suddenly plastered on his face again.
“ Do you wanna be a part of the team, or not? "His voice was teasing and playful, as he extended his hand.
blue felt uneasy, somehow.
But this was his chance! To fulfill his dream and finally experience something new, after being curious for so long.
“ Yes, absolutely. “ he took ink’s hand, and shook it gently
He felt like the luckiest monster alive, there wasn’t anything that could be better than this.
As he shook ink’s hand, he still couldn't shake away that uneasy feeling despite his excitement.
“ So, what happens now? “
Suddenly, ink grabbed his brush while still holding onto Blue’s hand, he then exclaimed.
“ Hold on tight! “as he splashed the floor with a pile of ink
Blue let out a squeak, as both of them seemed to squeeze into the puddle with ease.
To blue felt like trying to jump into a small lake.
But to ink, this was nothing new at all
Then the puddle of black liquid disappeared, the scenery of riverglow stayed the same. soothing to all, letting time itself rest.
Meanwhile.. the Doodlesphere
Some sees islands filled with the things the fits the environment of the alternative universe
A select few see instruments they hear sounds, a song, sung in a specific way.
And for most people.. They see papers, filled with writing, drawings, paintings..
All different and unique in a way.
This is doodlesphere, the museum of this Multiverse.
The guardian of positivity floated amongst the museum as he took the royal guard’s hand.
Jumped from island to island, phasing through the papers that displayed works and albums that sounded almost intriguing.
Until they found a small isle in the middle of all of this, with a colourful thick liquid dripping from above, that was when they finally stopped.
Dream was standing there waiting for something to happen.
Swap was intrigued, he wasn't sure what they were waiting for.
As a few moments pass by, he opens his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by the puddle that was forming on the floor.
It was a puddle of ink, it seemed out of place at first.. Until two figures got out of the puddle.
He recognized the first person, ink. His friend.. But the other one was not his friend yet.. there’s something familiar about this monster?
“ Hey! meet the new member~ “ ink said, in a teasing tone. “ It took me a LOT of consideration to get this guy in the team. “
Blue felt his shoulders behind grabbed by ink, he nearly jumped from the sudden touch but it wasn't anything weird.
“ I am blueberry, uhh.. Blue is fine.. “ he paused, his eyes darting to dream “ I don't prefer berry.. “
he then looked at swap, his eyes widened.
Silence, Absolute silence
Confusion filled both of their heads, they both stayed frozen staring at each other, why does ALL of this feel so familiar?
“ Right.. Usually I would say I am the magnificent sans, but just call me swap! “ he held out his hand, trying to brush off the awkward tension but then.. He continued.
“ Have we.. Met before? “
That question hung dead in the air, the time stretched out endlessly before the answer came.
“ I don't think we have, heheh. “ Blue took Swap's hand and shook it, a soft grin plastered over his nervous face. “ It's nice that now we know eachother! “
After both of their hands pulled apart, Dream seemed to have noticed the tension between them and spoke up.
“ Well, i am dream. It's a pleasure to meet you, blue. “ he raised his hand up slightly waving at blue.
Swap then realized that Dream was trying to clear up the tension. So he quickly added “ Yeah, anyways.. Welcome to the team! “
ink was beaming with excitement, he finally took his hands off blue’s shoulders. Taking a step forward.
“ Alright, Now that you're in the team! “ his eyelights were a heart and a star “ There are a lot of things you still HAVE to learn about, such as- “
He was interrupted by a sound that sounded like an off-tuned piano, his eyelights darted over quickly losing focus.
“ You know what? That would be the perfect way to teach you how to do your job. “
he smirked, his eyes still searching all around the Doodlesphere for that single fault.
“ Since, it's your first day here.. “
he pointed to an oddly weirdly looking paper that seemed out of place.
“ You're going with swap, on your first mission.. I am sure he can teach you a thing or two about restoring aus. “
He then pointed to himself proudly.
“ Me and dream, will come in for back-up just give a shout when you need us! “
Blue didn’t fully register what ink meant by ‘ ‘ restoring aus ‘ ‘ but he went along with it anyway.
After all, this is his first day. He would need to learn something first before getting straight to the point.
Without warning a portal opened, and ink practically shoved both swap and blue into it.
“ oh, one more thing! “ ink added, “ When you're done, i’ll know. And I'll getcha out!” then closed the portal on them.
As the portal closed, blue's eyelights dimmed. A hint of nervousness in his expression.
What did ink mean by that? ‘I’ll know’ ?.
But he decided that for now he would not question it.
“ Blue, You alright there buddy? "Swap gently, put a hand on his shoulder.
Blue stiffed,
“ I was thinking about what.. Ink said. “
he managed to get that out despite being frozen like a deer in headlights.
“ Don't worry too much about it, buddy.. “ he pulled his hand away. “ He did that to me too, when I first joined the team. “
Blue still felt uneasy.. Of course even if that was reassuring he's definitely not the type to trust others so easily..
“ right.. “ he said, as he turned to face the place behind them.
A lonely snowy town, everything seemed quiet. Almost TOO quiet.
The snow was heavy covering every surface, the houses and trees everything seemed to be engulfed in the cold and un-forgiving flakes.
Is this really snowdin? Or just another town that got eaten alive by the snow-storm?
Swap walked forward, his footprints sinking deep into the snow.
“ Something must’ve happened here.. This was a pacifist timeline. “ he said.
Blue followed behind him, taking a look around his surroundings.
The snow was piling up the town in a sea of flakes, this doesn't feel right. At all.
“ Why.. Is it snowing so much? "Curious, he spoke up.
Swap glanced at him, then smiled. “ That's why we have to look for the source. “
The source.. Huh.
What could've possibly caused a snow-storm to snowdin. And not to mention this is the underground..
“ But how? “ he shot back.
Swap paused for a moment and seemed to be thoughtful before he responded.
“ Be observant. see anything out of place other than the snow? “
Out of place..observant.. Right that.. Kind of helps?
He didn’t even know what snowdin was like. He always lived in riverglow. The closest he had to a ‘ snowdin ‘ was the Icecliff but that was alphys place.
He wandered around the town, trying to look for something and anything that seemed… out of place.
The town was quiet, eerie and peaceful at the same time. It seemed like it was abandoned.
“ Found anything? “ swap exclaimed, Seeing blue wander off deeper.
Blue narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on his job but couldn't help but shout back.
“ No, not yet! “ he shouted back.
He wonders if the monsters are even alive, seeing the buildings being blocked by snow.
He couldn't help but feel worry and concern, wanting to dig away the snow.
‘Dig’.. The snow?
That's.. A good idea actually.
He paused in his tracks, summoning a blaster to help scoop out the snow away from the pathways.
Swap noticed the method and chuckled slightly.
“ Mwehehe- Scooping out snow with that thing? “ he said, intrigued.
Blue nodded. “ Might help with finding the cause? “
“ Well.. good luck! “ Swap went back to searching as usual.
He hoped it worked. Why didn’t he think of this before?
As the snow kept clearing, the place seemed more cozier.
Then he spotted something buried underneath the cold. He stepped closer, but not putting his gaster blaster aside just yet.
“ Swap? “ he called out. “ I found something! “
Swap turned his attention to blue. “ Holdon, I’m coming over. “
Swap hurried over. His steps trailed in the snow, leaving deep prints despite the snow having just been cleared out earlier.
Blue cleared the snow out from the strange object buried under it.
It was a.. Clock?
Blue stared at it, for a long time.
before he glanced at swap.
Swap smiled, and he actually started laughing out loud.
“ Why exactly are you laughing? “ blue spoke, confused.
“ I didn't expect you to find it this early! “ he finally stops laughing, as he smirked.
He knew.. ALL along!
‘ And didn’t tell me????.. ‘ Was what blue thought in his head, at least.
“ And you didn’t tell me you KNEW??? “ Blue was shocked, not hurt though.
Swap nodded. “ I wanted to see how well you are at observing.. “ then he added “ It seems that you're clever too. “
Blue froze, not used to being praised by anyone. Not to mention that it's by someone who was in the fated stars.
“ uh.. Thanks. “ he muttered, his eyelights focused on the object. “ What.. Now though? “
Swap shrugged. “ Maybe we can call ink, see what we can do.. “
He then quickly added “ It's glitching. so it's a part of the timeline. We shouldn't touch it yet. “
Blue nodded. “ How do we do that again? “ he tilted his head.
“ Oh it's easy. “ he then paused for a moment.
What was he going to do-
“ INKKK!! “ he yelled, making blue jump.
Blue froze, then he spoke. “ Wait- does that actually work? “
Weirdly enough a black spot growed beneath the snow pile beside swap, before ink jumped out from the snow.
“ Yeah? Did you guys find it?! “ He sounds awfully suspicious, especially with that excited tone.
He eagerly waited for the answer.
“ Yup, Blue did. “ he gestured to the glitchy clock
Ink beamed, before picking it up from the snow, it was still glitching in his hand.
“ I’ll take care of this! “ he said enthusiastically. “ In the meantime, I can send you guys back to the base! “
Blue nodded. “ Rightt.. Wait, did you plan this? “
Ink paused, still holding the clock. “ How’d ya know? “
“ You seem awfully excited for someone that wants to help. “ Blue tilted his head.
Ink chuckled. “ Yeah, I did! Congrats on figuring it out. “ He checked his brush and looked at the sticky notes. “ Oh-right. Blue you can open your own portals! “
“ I can.. But.. What do you mean? “
Confusion.
“ To other aus.. And stuff? “ ink mischievous smirk appeared again, seeing his confusion. “ You seriously never knew that?. “
WHO WOULD'VE FIGURED THAT OUT???
“ I guess, I can try?.. “ he snapped his fingers, like what he usually does to go back to riverglow, but this time with different intentions.
The other end of the portal was not riverglow.
Swap stared at him in disbelief, but also amazed. “ Blue.. You can do that? “
“ I DIDN'T know I could DO that! “ he corrected. and gestured to the portal
“ Well I KNEW you could! “ ink chuckled again. “ Anyways, you guys should head back to the base now that blue figured it out, right? “
He gently shoved both swap and blue through the portal.
“ I’ll be there soon! “ he winked.
Blue closed the portal, before he looked back at the base.
“ What a comfy place you guys have. “ he said.
Swap walked over and sat on the couch ” This is also your place now too. “
There was a moment of silence For as blue took in his surroundings.
A cozy place filled with life, paintings with different art styles but signed by ink but also mixed with some that were made by dream and photos of memories.
Flowers bloomed and a scent of floral quietly seeped in the air as the sun was shining outside, not too hot but just warm.
“ Welcome home, blueberry. “ swap simply said.
Blue already knew that he had to get used to this.