Work Text:
"Kris, don't let go of my hand. Keep walking."
Noelle tightened her grip.
The water had reached her chest now. Every step sent a chill through her body, the cold lake pressing against her clothes as they walked farther from shore.
The festival existed faintly behind them as the water rose more and more.
It was up to her shoulders, then neck.
The water slipped over her mouth.
Then her nose.
The cold darkness closed around her face.
And they kept walking…
***
“PERFECT TIME TO GO FOR A WALK!
Papyrus threw open the front door into the afternoon sun and soon realised that he had missed his grand parade.
He had noticed the decorations appearing throughout town over the past week and naturally assumed everyone was preparing some sort of surprise celebration in his honor. As the newest and most magnificent resident in town, it was the only logical conclusion.
Unfortunately, he had been busy. In this particular case, he had spent the last five days attempting to perfect a new pasta recipe.
The original recipe had been perfectly acceptable. Then Papyrus had improved it. Then he improved it again. By the third day, the ingredient list had somehow expanded to twelve pages. By the fourth, he was no longer entirely certain what some of the ingredients were. By the fifth, he had decided what personalities the ingredients had.
Papyrus sighed. The result was that whatever surprise celebration the town had prepared for him had already happened while he was still arguing with a saucepan. Admittedly, that was a little disappointing. He would have liked to thank everyone for their efforts.
"PERHAPS THEY WILL TRY AGAIN AT A BETTER TIME."
"THOUGH, NOW WOULD BE THE PERFECT TIME FOR A STROLL TO THE LAKE."
With his destination decided, Papyrus stepped outside and began confidently marching toward the street. He made it exactly three steps before turning his head to the right and stopping.
"...SANS?"
His brother was asleep behind the ice cream stand. It could only be described as the least effective hiding place imaginable, as it concealed him perfectly from customers and absolutely nobody else.
One of sans’ eyes cracked open.
“oh, hey paps.”
"SANS! WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING ON THE JOB "
"well, you know, business has been pretty... cold."
Although sans was still on the ground, Papyrus could clearly see his signature shrug and a wink.
“...”
“SANS!!!!! WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE A PUN???”
"ice to see you caught on."
Papyrus sighed, deciding that further conversation would only result in additional ice cream-related wordplay.
"VERY WELL. I AM GOING FOR A STROLL TO THE LAKE.”
sans grinned. “heh, hope your stroll goes swimmingly”
Papyrus’ face contorted into a frown before he continued on his way.
The streets were almost empty now that his welcome event had ended. Without the usual crowds, the town felt strangely peaceful, the only sounds accompanying his march being the steady rhythm of his own footsteps and the occasional breeze rustling through the trees. He continued north, then east, following the familiar path until the lake finally came into view. The water was perfectly still, the breeze was comfortable. It was exactly the sort of place Papyrus liked to visit after a particularly heated debate with his saucepan.
Then something caught his attention, there was a small movement across the surface.
Papyrus tilted his head, assuming it was just a strange reflection at first. But then he noticed it again. There were two figures out in the lake.
"...HUH?"
Papyrus squinted, trying to see what was happening. The figures were far away, but something about the way they moved felt strange…
“HUMANS... DOING SWIMMING TRYOUTS? AND WITHOUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THERE TO JUDGE?”
“NYEH... WHAT TERRIBLE FORM. THEY ARE NOT EVEN TRYING TO STAY AFLOAT, LET ME SHOW THEM HOW IT'S DONE.”
With a skele-ton of confidence, Papyrus charged toward the lake at incredible speeds. His legs moved with such tremendous force that he briefly surpassed the limits of ordinary walking, creating a powerful gust of wind that caused several nearby leaves to spin in circles despite the fact that he was moving at a completely reasonable speed.
As he reached the edge of the lake, Papyrus sped up even more. He continued forward onto the water - his foot landed against the surface, creating a devastating ripple that echoed about two inches beneath him. His footsteps resonated dramatically across the surface of the lake, each step carrying the unstoppable presence of a skeleton who had decided that the laws of physics were mere suggestions.
“NYHEHEHE, MY PERFECT FORM IS UNMATCHED.”
Papyrus continued marching onward. It was only after several more steps that he remembered that, um... He had never learnt how to swim. (If that could be called swimming at all)
Papyrus looked down at his feet, then he looked back toward the shore. It seemed like his unyielding confidence could only defy physics for so long.
The Great Papyrus began to sink.
“OH, OH NO, WONT SOMEONE PLEASE HELP POOR ME."
Papyrus's descent into the lake was unnecessarily long. The water swallowed him dramatically as if he was descending into quicksand. He flailed his arms, kicking against the water as he attempted to fight his way back to the surface. His movements were filled with determination, courage, and the power of a calcium deficient skeleton.
Papyrus sank lower, his voice becoming slightly more muffled as the water surrounded him.
“THIS IS TERRIBLE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE LOST FOREVER AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS LAKE!”
“…”
“HMMM, WELL, I SUPPOSE THIS IS NOT THE WORST PLACE TO END UP.”
“PERHAPS I WILL BECOME A GREAT PIECE OF DECORATION!”
“YES. AFTER MANY YEARS, FISHES WILL SWIM PAST AND SAY, ‘WHAT A STRANGE AND HANDSOME PIECE OF CORAL.’”
“AND I WILL REMAIN HERE FOREVER, BRINGING BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE TO THIS LAKE.”
Before he could finish his coral transformation speech to the non-existent fishes, he feels a shadow passing over the lake floor. A large net suddenly descended through the water and wrapped around him.
“WAI-”
The net began pulling him upward. Before he could even realise what was happening, he found himself lying on the deck of some sort of a ship. Papyrus stared at the monochrome wooden planks beneath him as he heard a child’s voice.
“Uuuu, captain, I caught another one! It's a skeleton! So much fun! So much fun!”
Papyrus slowly got up and spoke as he raised his head.
“I SHALL THANK YOU FOR SAVING ME, BU-”
Standing at the front of the ship was someone who immediately demanded attention.
A tall figure stood silently against the edge of the deck, wearing a large pirate hat and a dark, flowing cloak that moved dramatically in the sea wind. The fabric billowed behind him, creating the perfect image of a mysterious man.
The waves crashed against the ship, the endless sky stretching out behind him as the cloak flowed dramatically in the sea breeze. For a moment, it looked like the perfect entrance of a legendary figure, as if the entire world had paused just to witness his arrival.
Except, slightly to the side, there was a very obvious fan pointed directly at his cloak. It had been placed in full view on the deck, angled with precision so that every gust struck the cloak at exactly the right angle. The machine rattled loudly as it worked, its blades spinning fast enough to keep the dark fabric in a constant dramatic wave while the actual sea breeze contributed very little to the effect.
“Papyrus,”
The figure turned toward him and Papyrus immediately regretted possessing functioning eye sockets. The stranger's skin was a catastrophically radioactive green, glowing with an unreasonable intensity that would probably blind someone.
"YE STAND BEFORE WING GASTER, ROYAL PIRATE O' THE SEVEN SEAS!"
Papyrus blinked rapidly. “WHAT MAKES A PIRATE ROYAL?”
“ARR.”
"BUT THAT BE NOT IMPORTANT. WHAT MATTERS BE THAT YE, PAPYRUS, HAVE PROVEN YERSELF WORTHY."
“WORTHY OF WHAT?”
Gaster stepped forward, his cloak sweeping behind him.
“OF BECOMIN' A KNIGHT O' ME CREW. A TITLE RESERVED FER THOSE WHAT HAVE PROVEN THEIR COURAGE UPON THE OPEN SEAS.”
“AN' NOW, YE SHALL RECEIVE THE EQUIPMENT BEFITTIN' SUCH A WARRIOR.”
Gaster clapped his hands.
A few seconds passed.
…
He clapped again.
…
“AQUA!.”
This time, a section of the floor slowly opened with a loud mechanical creak. A small platform rose from below, carrying a wooden chest covered in unnecessary amounts of gold trim. It opened to reveal a set of knight's armor, a visor, and a sword.
“THIS IS INCREDIBLE”
Papyrus immediately began putting on the armor, adjusting the pieces with far more excitement than necessary.
“I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE EVEN MORE HANDSOME THAN I ALREADY AM.”
“...ALTHOUGH”
Papyrus looked up. “YES?”
“THERE BE... ONE TINY DETAIL ABOUT BECOMIN’ ME KNIGHT.”
“THIS ARMOR BE NOT MERELY FOR SHOW. IT HOLDS A GREATER PURPOSE THAN EVEN THE MOST LEGENDARY OF TREASURES.”
“AND NOW, I SHALL REVEAL YER DUTY. IT BEGINS WITH—”
He gestured toward the enormous machine sitting on the ship.
“ME WINGING DING TIME MACHINE”
"FIVE DAYS AGO, A JOLLY OPPORTUNITY BEEN LOST. A GRAND VOYAGE O’ADVENTURE, LED BY A DEPRESSED TEENAGER AND THEIR CREW O’COMPANIONS. IT BEEN CUT SHORT BEFORE THEY ‘AD ANY REAL FUN."
“AS ME CREW KNIGHT, YE SHALL OPEN DARK FOUNTAINS SO THAT THE YOUNG ONES MAY EMBARK UPON GLORIOUS ADVENTURES. YE SHALL ALSO GUIDE THE ADULTS TO THE SJELTER FOR A MAGNIFICENT CELEBRATION. THIS TOWN NEEDS TO VALUE SOME FUN”
Papyrus nodded. “I UNDERSTAND IT NOW. THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL SAVE HOMETOWN AS THE-”
“SORRY, WHAT SHOULD MY TITLE BE?”
Gaster thought for a moment.
“WELL, YE TEND TO ALWAYS SCREAM IN UPPER-CASE LETTERS.”
“SO I RECKON YE BEST BE CALLED”
“THE ROARIN- KNIGHT”