Change of View

by Swish42

Summary:

The search for the pieces of WingDings Gasters soul continues. This time the six year old is in a world where monsters can transform into large beasts at will. All monsters that is except WingDings who is treated like the baby bones he is. Upset and embarrassed WingDings has to learn to live with these changes if he ever wants to get back home.

Chapter 1: A Lost Pup

Notes:

As with all the other stories in this series, you do not need to read the other entries to read this one. All you need to know is that WingDings Gaster is a child with his broken soul scattered through space and time. He travels to other worlds in hopes of having a complete soul someday.

Warnings: This story will have a few warnings unlike the others, but I still tried to make it a light read. Warnings in this chapter is body transformation.

There has rarely been a time WingDings could say he’s ever felt hot, but the young child can feel the tickle of the sweltering heat drip off his bones and fill his unseen lungs like a flood. Above him he catches a glimpse of the suns golden light as it glimmers past flickering leaves, rays of light sparkling with the tiny droplets of humidity wafting through the air. It is a heat WingDings has never experienced in his short life and he doesn’t care for it. The most pleasant thing about his surroundings is the bright colors and exotic sounds of birds voicing a crescendo of beautiful notes around him.

Yet, the sticky wetness clutching his bones isn’t the only thing he feels. His head is heavy and he can’t seem to find his footing as he attempts to stand. All he knows is that one minute he is in class trying to get the one and only true red crayon from Sarahi when he finds himself stumbling into a leafy bush. Feeling extremely dirty as he crawls through the mud and out of the plant, WingDings manages to sit up, only to bolt upright and onto his face when he sits on something hard and bony.

Quickly turning about he sees a long bone tail stretched out behind him. In his alarm WingDings releases a series of beeps as he tries to escape his tail, a silly notion really, but in his defense he has never had a tail like this before. As he scrambles to move he slams his face in the mud again, spitting out dirt. At least he attempts to do so.

In his endeavor to clean out his mouth a high pitched whine vibrates his teeth before a short burst of energy blasts out past his jaws. Screaming, WingDings scrambles back, tangling himself in his tail and plopping into a muddy puddle. He is caked in the filth, causing WingDings nearly as much distress as his tail and the blast of magic from his mouth. Why can’t he stand? It’s like his legs are too short and his head is too large.

And he’s filthy! He hates filth.

Shaking in his bones WingDings stares up at the tree’s canopy stretched out several stories above him and goes numb for a few seconds. His thoughts only return again when a roar like call echoes past the trees in answer to his scream.

That sounds worse than filth.

Not at all interested is seeing what kind of animal the roar belongs to WingDings twists around and crawls towards a thick tree, unable to stand no matter what he does. Digging his phalanges into the dark bark, the child is again given a surprise by how easily his fingers grip and break the trees skin. When he removes one hand to begin his assent he notices how sharp his digits are. It is as if he has claws, instead of phalanges.

As soon as he reaches the first branch he clambers onto it, clutching it for dear life when he realizes just how high he is. If it’s not one thing it’s another.

Clamping his eyes shut, he comes to grip with how stupid this idea of climbing is as his fear of heights catches up with him, vertigo spinning around him like a tea cup ride of browns, greens, and colorful flora. He tries to speak, wishing to call out but the only thing that passes his teeth is a sharp yelp that sounds like it belongs to a young scared feline.

He shuts his mouth, confused and horrified at the cute sound that he can create. Beeps and buzzing sounds are one thing, but never has he made a sound like that!

Just when he thinks it can’t get any worse a large skeletal beast bursts through the underbrush, sliding to a stop beneath his tree and scanning the thick plants. With wide eyes, WingDings watches the animal with the face of a Skeletal Blaster as it moves the plants aside with its snout, its long tail swishing back and forth methodically. He can hear the creatures heavy breath as it searches, sniffing the plants and trying to pick up a scent. When it does, the blaster emits a soft gurgling sound, cooing in concern as it searches.

Confused, but mostly terrified, WingDings continues to clutch his branch noticing that the animal isn’t completely a beast. It is wearing short pants, with a large shawl wrapped around its shoulders, and a small pack is strapped to a belt latched around his hip bones. The child’s vibrating bones is what inevitably betrays him, causing the blaster’s head to shoot up and look directly at him. Orange thin eye lights zero in on WingDings before growing large and round in concern.

The blaster emits a soft trill up to WingDings, attempting to sooth what it believes is a baby blaster beast. Coming up to the trunk, the blaster stands upright, stretching out along the tree until his head easily reaches WingDings branch. It is only then that the child realizes just how enormous the blaster is.

With a sharp yelp, WingDings flinches in his fear and loses his grip on the branch. He doesn’t even have the chance to feel weightless before he is easily caught in the blasters large maw and gently lowered to the ground. Bones vibrating in a panic WingDings attempts to tell the blaster beast to ‘spare him’ and ‘not to eat him,’ but again only high noted chirps come from his mouth. He backpedals, his strange paw like feet and hands sinking into the mud, his tail dragging uselessly.

WingDings thought the last world he went to was bad, but this one sure is trying it’s hardest to prove him wrong.

The adult blaster cocks his head to the side, cooing again and reaching a paw forward to keep WingDings from getting any further away. Eyes glowing red, WingDings yelps accidentally releasing a tiny burst of energy from his mouth. The small ball of magic bounces harmlessly off the other blaster’s skull, who blinks in surprise before lowering his head to sniff at the child.

Unexpectedly a large orange tongue comes out gliding over WingDings small body, removing some of the mud caking him. Completely unprepared for this WingDings freezes up, not even fighting as the blaster shifts him around to continue cleaning the rest of him. When the blaster is satisfied it makes a guttural sound before spitting out all the mud and dirt it collected.

With its task complete the blaster scoops the jittery pup into gigantic jaws and proceeds to gallop through the rain forest at full speed, weaving and leaping through the dense foliage with ease. By now WingDings is aware that the blaster beast is not going to hurt him and is treating him like its pup. Huddling in on himself the child watches the world blur by through the small opening slits in the mouth he’s riding inside. There is plenty of light, keeping the young skeleton from panicking in the dark.

Eventually the beast slows, trotting through an unknown place. WingDings can hear the murmur of voices and many calling to the one carrying him. They call him ‘Papyrus’ making WingDings gawk in disbelief. There is no way this giant beast can be his brother?! Sure his Papyrus is his ‘big’ brother but not this big!

When he comes to a stop, the blaster identified as Papyrus lowers his head and gently releases WingDings onto a woven rug. Before the child can tell which way is up or down a distinct cracking sound is heard as the blasters bones shift and orange magic spills from his eyes. In wonder WingDings watches from his back as Papyrus shifts into a more familiar form, a humanoid skeleton standing firmly on two legs.

Papyrus, reaches down to his belt undoing it and wrapping the thick leather around twice so it fits his now narrow hips. “Brother!” Papyrus calls. “I have found a great treasure while on patrol that requires your immediate attention!”

Blinking once, WingDings eyes wander around the room. It is extremely large, plenty big to house a giant blaster beast. The building is made completely of stone, but unlike bricks these stones are more natural, fitted together as if they are puzzle pieces. It’s a work of art and that’s just the walls, the rug he’s on is a work of art as well. Woven tight with a beautiful pattern of bright colors.

“What did you find?” Sans asks, walking into the room. He is holding a large clay bowl in one arm and stirring its unknown contents. The skeleton is wearing a large oversized poncho, with a skirt wrapped tightened around his thick hips. Most everything else is the same to WingDings brothers back home except they both appear taller and have tails and small horns adorning their heads.

As soon as Sans sees the tiny bundle of bones on the carpet he practically drops the bowl, rushing forward and kneeling beside WingDings.

Startled a little from Sans rush WingDings attempts to scamper away, trying to say things like ‘Is something wrong? What’s going on?’

Carefully picking WingDings up, Sans proceeds to look him over. Like a doctor would, the big boned skeleton looks into the young blasters eye sockets, opens his mouth, runs his hands over his bones, checking his joints and sniffing him. “You gave him a bath,” Sans snorts, turning WingDings over to inspect his ribs and torso around his torn clothing.

“Of course I did, he was absolutely filthy!” Papyrus says, as if insulted. “He still is filthy, but I wanted to bring him to you right away.”

“And there wasn’t anyone else around?” Sans asks, lifting WingDings shirt to inspect his ribs and the soul residing there.

“Just the pup,” Papyrus answers more solemnly.

Irritated with Sans prodding, WingDings tries to pull away, successfully turning his shirt inside out over his head. And that’s where it stays, stuck over his larger skull because the neck line of his shirt is too small. Growling, the child tries to remove the shirt over his face only then realizing he now has a muzzle. He tumbles from Sans lap and proceeds to pad his hard paws over his body realizing just how different it is.

As is his habit when WingDings is overrun with confusion and fear his determination kicks in and he lets it out on the shirt that is imprisoning his head. The clothing rips, but at least he can see now. Looking down at his striped shirt WingDings feels a little guilty since the shirt was a gift and Papyrus just washed it.

“Be calm, pup,” Sans reaches forward cautiously, waiting a moment to see that WingDings won’t run before picking him up again. “You’ve been through a lot.” His throat vibrates in a low tone, releasing a purr like sound as he inspects the condition of the child’s soul more carefully.

The sound Sans produces is soothing, much like Papyrus’s earlier trill, and it calms WingDings down as the brother holds him. What a strange sensation? “He’s missing pieces of his soul,” Sans tells Papyrus. “Tell the Alpha what has happened, I’m going to try and find out more about the pup.”

“Right away brother!” Papyrus nods, but hesitates before leaving. “You don’t think he’ll be thrown out?”

“I’m sure the Alpha will make an exception for a child,” Sans says and takes WingDings into another room as Papyrus passes through the heavy cloth that acts as a door to their home.

“Welcome to our home pup,” Sans says, taking a seat on a large cushion in a circular dug out portion of the floor. WingDings assumes this area is a kitchen with a large clay oven built into the wall and the numerous pots and urns filled with food. Everything is fairly clean, but well worn from years of use. The child is so distracted by the new room that he doesn’t realize Sans is talking to him.

WingDings peers up at Sans who is staring at him with half lidded eyes.

Embarrassed, WingDings glows red and attempts to apologize, but only a bleep like chirp is heard. Undeterred and expecting this, he lifts his hands in an attempt to sign but his hands are strange, resembling paws instead of hands.

“Heh, you might be older than I thought if you’re attempting to communicate with me,” Sans rumbles, his eyes glowing blue as he gathers what he needs from the kitchen. He gently turns WingDings soul blue which the child doesn’t fight, but it does cut him off from his magic and his weak attempts to summon his magic hands.

The child growls a little in discomfort, but other than that doesn’t complain.

Picking up a rolled up rough piece of papyrus, Sans scratches something out in a style WingDings has never seen before. Its pictures like his font, but this doesn’t seem to be a font so much as a language. WingDings chirps in question, wondering what Sans is drawing.

“It’s your name and stats,” Sans tells him, earning a wide eyed look from WingDings. “Heh, that’s right WingDings I can understand you. Both my brother and I can since you’re a Blaster Pup.”

For a moment Sans stops speaking, concentrating on writing down what he can about the pup. “Looks like your just a little over six years old . . . mentally, physically you’re only one or two,” Sans says. “That’s very young for a blaster pup to be out on their own. You’re still a baby.”

Scrunching up his claws, WingDings glares lightly at Sans, indignant at being called a baby bones. Just because he’s tiny and stuck in a form he cannot communicate in does not mean he’s a baby! He’s a smart big boy. If he wasn’t stuck in the body of an animal he could show Sans that. He pipes up, beeping and yipping at Sans, hoping the skeleton will understand him since he can’t even understand himself very well.

“Argue with me all you like WingDings, your still a baby blaster,” Sans informs him, taking none of WingDings complaints. “You won’t be considered a child or ‘big boy’ until you’re at least eight when you get your canine teeth in. All you can do now is grind food. It’s also when you are big enough to shift forms on your own power.”

Shift forms? Well, WingDings is ready to prove that he can ‘shift forms’, that he isn’t just some baby bones that can’t take care of himself! Filled with determination to prove himself to his alternate brother the child’s limbs crack with red, his soul glowing bright even with Sans hold of blue.

“What are you . . .” Sans refocuses on WingDings, scrunching his brows in confusion. When he realizes what the child is attempting to do, he drops his reed stylist and clamps down on his blue magic. “Stop it; you’re going to hurt yourself!”

WingDings refuses to listen and breaks Sans hold on his soul so he can take on his familiar two legged form. His bones shift, crack and pop, the boy huddling in on himself as red magic pours from his eyes. When his transformation is complete WingDings feels numb. He is exhausted and cannot move.

With worry blazing in his sockets Sans picks the tiny child up and pulls out WingDings soul from behind his ribs. He pours magic into the flickering soul, rushing over to one of the jars, practically tearing it off the shelf. Dipping his hand into the jar he removes a tad of red powder and rubs it onto WingDings soul. Almost immediately WingDings feels rejuvenated, but a look at his stats reveals the truth of the matter.

His points are hovering just above zero.

When his points start to climb back up, Sans visibly relaxes before his eyes burn a cross between yellow and blue. “Never do that again!” Sans admonishes the child. A child he doesn’t know, but nonetheless cares about. “You could have killed yourself!”

Startled WingDings twitches once, the lights of his eyes shrinking to the point of nearly vanishing. “I’m sorry,” WingDings buzzes, his words a slur of animalistic and electronic sounds.

“Promise me WingDings,” Sans eyes continue to glow. “You need that determination to keep your soul together don’t use it to force your body to shift. Your body is made nearly completely of magic, you can’t waste it.”

“But I have plenty,” WingDings sniffs sadly, doing his best not to cry. There are only a few things in his life that can make him cry and feeling his brothers disappointment is one of those things. Doesn’t matter that this Sans isn’t his Sans, it’s still Sans.

“No you don’t! You’ve obviously never done it before,” Sans lectures him harshly, something that is so unexpected that WingDings can’t stop the tears. Sans can be stern back home, but he isn’t typically this loud. It’s rare to see Sans angry. “Promise me. You won’t shift without Papyrus or me helping you.”

“I promise,” WingDings says between beeping hiccups.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Sans slouches in the cushions resting WingDings against his bony chest while he continues to rub the red stuff on the child’s soul. “Good,” Sans breathes out. “That’s good.” It isn’t long before Sans is fast asleep, releasing WingDings soul and allowing it to nestle back in his ribs.

At first WingDings doesn’t move, feeling a little tired himself, but he eventually slides down Sans body and onto another cushion. Looks like this is his new home now, he might as well make the most of it. Determined to act like the smart skeleton he is, WingDings sets his mind to other things, like exploring.

As soon as he is free of Sans he stands and nearly losses his pants, which are suddenly too large. Shifting his pants on his hips he tightens the belt, allowing his new tail to stretch out unimpeded. With that done, he next reaches into one of his pockets and removes his phone, immediately clicking the dimensional box option. After his experience on his sixth birthday Sans and Papyrus made him promise to take his phone and special inventory with him from that day forward.

Inside the dimensional box are basic survival items, food, water, monster candy, an extra pair of clothing, paper with a pencil, and a blanket. Glancing around WingDings doesn’t see any form of electricity or a magic converter box so he empties the inventory onto the floor. When the battery life of his phone runs out he won’t be able to access these items so it’s best he takes them out now while in a safe environment, something Sans was sure to grill into him after his last birthday.

Setting everything aside, WingDings takes the new shirt out, lifting it over his head and covering his exposed ribs. He opens one of the water bottles and sips at it while opening his small spiral notebook and jotting down a sloppy note about not ‘shifting’ as Sans called it, because that seems like an important enough thing to put in the unused notebook. Next he goes over to the scroll Sans was drawing on and tries to figure it out. He learns the numbering system first, which are little dots in increments of thirteen, and is well into figuring out the rest when a familiar voice booms in the house.

“Our Alpha, Chief Toriel has arrived brother,” Papyrus calls from the main room.

Immediately Sans is awake, picking himself up and looking around for WingDings. “Let’s go introduce you to the Alpha of the clan,” Sans tells the child. His eye lights glance over the various items WingDings has procured out of nowhere, but the older Skeleton doesn’t comment on it.

Since Sans isn’t concerned neither is WingDings. Nodding his head, WingDings obediently takes Sans hand and follows him from the room to meet this worlds Toriel, an Alpha. Whatever that means.

                                                                                

Notes:

Annnddddd I’m back. This time with a world inspired by . . . well it was supposed to be Mesoamerica, but really it’s just loosely based on it. I’m sure my Chicano professors would by outraged with the liberties I’m taking so I’ll merely say it was a big inspiration. So enjoy seeing Undertale characters shape shift into beast like forms and all the shenanigans I make WingDings endure because of that. Also don’t be confused with the use of the word ‘Alpha’ in this story. There are no beta’s or omega’s or any of that in this story. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2: A New Family

Notes:

Warning: Pre-chewed food happens in this chapter.

In the entryway stands Toriel. A larger and more intimidating version of Toriel. She is wearing a knee high skirt, a huipil top and is adorned in a variety of bangles and bracelets. There is a woven band around her head acting as a crown and large earrings in her floppy ears.

Curious, WingDings inspects his brothers again and finds that they too are wearing bangles and bracelets, although not as many as Toriel and they are different colors. They represent something, but WingDings doesn’t know what that might be.

“What is your name pup?” Toriel asks in an odd balance of firm and gentle.

While he doesn’t much appreciate being called a pup, especially while appearing normal, the child answers simply. “WingDings,” he answers as best he can, using his hands this time to be sure he is understood. He also omits his last name per his brother’s instructions. After his last world hopping adventure his brothers have started laying down a lot more rules for him in hopes of protecting him from afar.

Papyrus’s brows arch up in surprise to hear WingDings attempt to speak, but smiles proudly at the revelation.

Toriel nods her head, before turning to Sans. “He’s quite young,” the Alpha remarks, easily recognizing the pups age simply by his size and voice. “And you said his kin were nowhere to be found.”

“That is correct Alpha!” Papyrus answers firmly. “I was thorough in my search and his scent was the only one aside from local plants and animal life.”

“Much too young to be abandoned and on his own,” Toriel sighs, actually showing a bit more emotion as she dips her head. When she looks up again, she studies WingDings with bright eyes. It makes WingDings feel like she’s looking at his soul even though he’s wearing a shirt now to cover it. “His teeth are underdeveloped and his soul is outrageously weak, it is doubtful he’ll make it to adulthood.”

Papyrus and Sans don’t move but their eyes drop to the floor, saddened by this news. “He is also an Alpha,” Toriel adds.

In response Papyrus frowns, confused by this as he looks at the pup, while Sans’ hold on WingDings hand tightens, his body stiffening as he watches Toriel like a hawk.

Is he afraid?

“Do not worry Sans, he is not a threat to me or my heir,” she answers. “Seeing as your species of Skeletal Dragons is close to extinction it will be good if he can reach adulthood. Perhaps with your remedies and magic he can. You have my permission to claim him as your own Sans. He can’t be what you lost, but he needs your care.”

“Thank you Alpha,” Sans says as he lowers his head. When WingDings see’s Papyrus do the same he follows their example showing Toriel respect.

“Papyrus you may have the remainder of the day off so you can prepare for your pup,” Toriel tells him. “I will inform the clan of our new arrival. Be sure to feed him, he’s famished, nothing but bones.” With a swift turn she leaves the home.

Looking after her Papyrus has a glare on his features, a glare he tries to hide, but is clear as day to WingDings. They don’t say anything, not until they are both sure Toriel is out of ear shot. “But he is only bones,” Papyrus tells his brother dryly.

“I’m sure she was only trying to hit your funny bone,” Sans shrugs his shoulders. It’s surprising to WingDings that Sans didn’t burst out laughing when Toriel made the joke, but this Sans isn’t his brother.

“It wasn’t funny,” Papyrus states matter-of-factly, grimacing at Sans weak attempt. “I will now go to the market and look into finding WingDings some proper clothing. While I’m gone I expect you to feed WingDings something to ebb his appetite until I can give him a proper meal once I’ve returned.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sans says with a casual nod.

Before Papyrus leaves, the tall skeleton comes forward and kneels in front of WingDings, looking him up and down and committing his form to memory. When he is done, the skeleton pats WingDings head and licks his cheek bone before standing. “Be good WingDings,” Papyrus says. “Don’t cause your father undue stress.”

As Papyrus leaves WingDings stares after him in bewilderment. He doesn’t think about being licked. No, he is too busy thinking about the word Papyrus used. Father? He looks up at Sans who is smiling down at him with lazy contentment. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat,” he says.

Unable to wrap his mind around Sans being his father, WingDings asks a simple question. “What are we going to eat?”

“The best thing for a young blaster pup,” Sans answers. Releasing WingDings hand so he can sit on the cushion while he continues towards a shelf and opens a jar. “Magic and meat.”

“Meat?” WingDings asks. While it is true that he is knowledgeable of many things, the proper diet of a young blaster is not one of the things he knows. Rigging a door to drop a cup of water, easy. Reprogramming the family remote, child’s play. Switching the contents of Papyrus’s skull shine into different bottles, fun, but not a smart choice when he gets caught. Despite being in the dark about Blaster food, WingDings is more than willing to learn and waits patiently for an explanation.

“Did your mother feed you meat?” Sans asks in surprise.

“I don’t have a mother,” WingDings answers. “I have two older brothers who take care of me.”

“And they didn’t feed you meat?”

“Well sometimes, but they insist I also eat vegetables and dairy,” he answers. “Milk is essential for healthy bones.”

“Well, that’s true,” Sans says seasoning a small piece of dried meat on a plate. Using his magic he opens another jar and dips a small clay cup into it, revealing a white substance. “This can hold you over till I’m done with the meat.” The cup floats over to him and WingDings takes it cautiously. Apparently Sans can levitate anything in this world, even things that don’t have souls.

Cool!

Inspecting the cup, he sniffs it and almost immediately his eyes water. It smells like milk but it is very strong. Either the milk is a different kind or his sense of smell has changed. Or both. There is a moment’s pause before he takes a small sip recalling Papyrus’s instruction to graciously accept food given to him and not be picky or complain. To WingDings surprise, the milk tastes delicious. A tongue forms without his realizing it and he eagerly gulps the drink down.

With a squint to his eyes Sans watches in amusement before returning to his task. When the meat is to his liking he forms his tongue and puts the meat into his mouth, chewing the tough morsel thoroughly.

Behind him he hears WingDings begin to choke and cough on the last of the milk. Concerned Sans turns towards him again, but the child is fine, merely pointing at him in utter disbelief. “I thought that was mine, why are you eating it?” WingDings cries in outrage.

“It is yours,” Sans says around the food without concern. What a strange child. Summoning his magic, Sans lathers the meat in his magic before spitting out.

“Ewww! Gross! Oh my gosh! Get is away!” WingDings scrambles to his feet in alarm, bewildered by the sight and in an over the top matter does a dance of disgust. “That’s disgusting!” So much for keeping his promise to Papyrus, but there is no way he’s eating something that came out of another person’s mouth. Even if it is Sans. “I refuse to eat that, just cut it like a normal person. I have teeth.” WingDings smiles broadly showing Sans his teeth.

“Teeth that small can’t chew meat this tough,” Sans chuckles finding the kids over dramatic response humorous. “Besides, you need my magic or Papyrus’s if you want to shift forms safely and grow strong.”

“I’m never shifting again, no way,” WingDings says, confidently placing his hands across his chest.

“You can’t retain this form for long,” Sans explains patiently. “Our natural form is blaster.”

“I don’t want . . .” WingDings hesitates to continue, the red of his eyes flickering. Truth is he doesn’t want to turn back into what he thinks is an animal and they keep calling him a pup. He isn’t a dog!

Growing pensive, Sans smile dips a tad as he watches WingDings internal struggle. Coming to some conclusion, he takes a seat. “Were you born a Blaster?” Sans asks putting the plate down and motioning for the child to sit.

“I . . . wasn’t,” WingDings answers remembering the advice of his brothers. Only tell the truth about his origins if he can trust the ones he’s in the care of. Looking down, the child studies Sans soul. It is a good soul and bright with magic.

He takes a seat.

“That explains a lot, but first,” he plops the clay dish of meat in WingDings lap. “Eat up.”

Scrunching his nasal cavity, WingDings leans away from it, trying not to even look at it, as if the sight of it will blind him. “I’ll wait for Papyrus to get home.”

“He’s just going to do the same thing,” Sans chuckles. “I promise it won’t kill you and it will taste good.”

“How do you expect me to eat this?” WingDings asks.

“By putting it in your mouth,” Sans answers smartly.

“I’m not eating this like an animal,” WingDings beeps indignantly.

Sans lifts a brow, one eye closing lazily. “I don’t expect you to, just use your hands.”

“O-oh,” WingDings is not expecting that. What would his brothers say if he was eating something with his hands? Never mind the bigger issue of eating something that came from someone else’s mouth. Turning a shade of green, the child just can’t think of it and looks away. “I can’t . . .”

Rolling his eye lights, Sans reaches down, takes some of it and places it in WingDings mouth as soon as the boy says the word ‘can’t’.

Completely caught off guard, WingDings swallows the meat whole, his eyes wide. For a second he doesn’t react or say anything, just staring at Sans in silent horror.

“Well?” Sans asks.

Placing the clay plate on the floor, WingDings squirms, stomping his legs and waving his arms close to his side. Honestly it tastes fine but the idea of eating it is enough to make WingDings bones tremble. The very idea!

“Oh come on, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Sans says, stabbing a pointed finger into a piece of meat and eating it for himself. “MMmmm, that’s good stuff.”

“But it was already in your mouth!” WingDings cries. He looks down at the dish and nearly sobs at the sight. He’s really hungry and his bones are telling him he’s hungry. His brother said not to be picky, but is this what he meant!?! Picking up a piece he chews it with his mouth open trying not to think about it before swallowing.

Bite after bite WingDings eats the meat, finding it easier the more he simply does the dirty deed. Is he going to eat all his meals like this?

When he is finished WingDings sags into the rugs and pillows. “I did it.”

“I’m sure your brothers would be impressed,” Sans replies.

WingDings head rolls to the side. “They’re going to be horrified,” he mumbles to himself, not appreciating Sans patronizing tone.

“They’ll be glad I fed you,” Sans says confidently.

Turning over WingDings lifts a brow at the skeleton. Considering this is another version of Sans saying it he’s probably right. “So . . .” WingDings sits up again. “I guess you . . . deserve the truth.”

Sans raises a hand and shakes his head. “I know enough,” he answers. How odd.

“You do?” WingDings is shocked. Most everyone he’s met in the past wants the truth from him, as if having a child lie to them is the greatest offense. Maybe it is, but WingDings thinks there are worst things.

“Sure,” he shrugs. “Besides, it might be best I don’t know.”

WingDings finds the claim extremely strange but Sans is the adult and he’s been taught to treat his elders with respect. But when he isn’t with his brother and is in a new place he finds this rule to be difficult to follow. “Why?” WingDings asks seriously.

“Because if the Alpha asked me about it I’d be obligated to answer her,” Sans replies.

WingDings nods, perhaps he should be cautious as to what he tells Toriel as well if Sans doesn’t want to tell her.

“But I guess there is one thing I need to know,” Sans says.

“What’s that?” WingDings asks.

“Your soul, it shouldn’t be like that.”

“Oh, yeah I’m looking for a piece of my soul, I should do that,” WingDings takes a breath and focuses on his soul, trying to feel where the other piece might be. It is close by, just one piece, from what WingDings can tell, but it’s higher than he is. Interesting. “It’s close. If I can get it then I don’t have to eat pre-chewed food anymore.” He looks at Sans filled with hope while receiving a dead pan expression from the skeleton in response.

“Well when you’ve adjusted, we can have a look around for it,” Sans tells him standing to his feet and picking up the clean dish.

WingDings tries to stand up and follow but he stumbles into the cushions instead. His bones feel a little fuzzy, as if the magic circulation is bad. Noticing WingDings stumble, Sans first puts the dish in a large open basin before coming back to the boys side. “Take a breath,” Sans says putting a hand on WingDings back.

Following his instructions the boy takes a breath and before he breathes out a pulse of magic holds his soul. His eyes glow blue and his body cracks, shifting into his blaster form. Groaning in disappointment, WingDings head slumps his large head into a pillow, clawing at it in irritation.

“You’ll get used to it,” Sans pats him on the head and licks his skull. “Go ahead and pick up your things, you can put them in here.” The skeleton uses his tail to lift the top of a wicker basket.

WingDings grumbles and wanders around a bit, but eventually he does as he is told. He tries to summon his hands, but nothing happens. Whining, WingDings tries to use his paws but again he fails. Finally he is forced to use his mouth, picking up his clothes first and attempting to walk to the wicker basket. He stumbles a little, not used to walking on all fours or having such a large snout. Eventually his task is complete and he sags into the cushions instantly falling asleep.

When he wakes up he is snuggled against Sans who is now a large Blaster Beast wrapped securely around him. His breathing is steady and he can just make out the glow of Sans soul from under the poncho. Smiling, WingDings settles down, yawning wide and content to go back to sleep until a shout is heard in the home.

“I have returned from my quest to the market!” Papyrus announces, before walking into the kitchen and living area. Planting his hands on his hips the tall skeleton tries to frown at them in disapproval, but his tail flipping back and forth behind him betrays his actual amusement. “Come WingDings, see what I found for you.”

Wiggling out of Sans limbs, WingDings scampers over and sits in front of Papyrus as the skeleton opens his bag. He pulls out a skirt, a poncho and a small shawl. “These will work much better than the pants you have now and they won’t rip when you shift forms.” Reaching forward Papyrus attempts to remove WingDings shirt but can’t because of the narrow collar.

Frowning thoughtfully, Papyrus cups his jaw and concludes that he won’t be able to remove it without changing WingDings back into his more human form, but one look at his stats tells Papyrus that it won’t be happening for today. Instead he simply changes WingDings out of his pants and helps the child remove his tattered shoes.

After the boy is comfortably wearing his skirt Papyrus proceeds to make the family some dinner. This is when WingDings realizes that the meat he’s eating is pretty much raw. Neither brother cooks it on the hot stone long, mostly using the clay oven for baking flat bread instead and maize tortillas. When dinner is ready WingDings isn’t surprised that the bread is burnt, but he’s used to Papyrus burning things. The thing he dislikes the most though is that both of the elder skeletons lather there magic onto the food before giving it to him.

Doing his best not to think about it, WingDings eats his food and after dinner explores the rest of the house, also using this opportunity to practice walking. It’s easier to walk on the rugs then the clay tiles in the nice home. Aside from the kitchen and main room there is only one other room and it is full of scrolls. When he asks what the room is for, Papyrus explains that Sans is the clans doctor, but he uses a different word for it that WingDings doesn’t recognize. The room is a record of all the medicine, diseases and cures that the clan has ever had.

Apparently Sans is a big deal, his knowledge and learning valued by the Alpha. That is why they have their own oven and such nice things. Papyrus provides them with clothing and food most of the time, but it’s Sans position that gets them the high quality rugs, pillows, and clay jars. Before settling down to sleep, WingDings asks Sans for a quick lesson on how their written language works

He learns that names are put in a frame and that each page of papyrus tells a story. The pictures are the language which is fascinating for WingDings and easy to understand. When they are ready for bed they all gather in the kitchen together and cuddle up where the cushions are gathered. Papyrus calls it a nest and while a little unconventional for a bed, WingDings finds it comfortable.

Before falling asleep Papyrus licks WingDings head, Sans doing the same. WingDings tries to rub the slobber off, but to his dismay Sans simply licks him again, chuckling deep in his ribs at the pups silly antics.

Notes:

Not much to say for now. The chapters will get longer later on. Hope you enjoyed!

Chapter 3: How to Say Hello

Notes:

A day with Sans and we meet a friend?

Warnings: More Pre-chewed food and licking for a bath at the start of the chapter.

In the morning Papyrus is the first to wake, preparing breakfast for everyone. As soon as WingDings wakes up, he feeds the pup and it is during breakfast that the child first becomes aware of his tongue. While eating WingDings accidentally bites his new tongue, a sensation and pain he has never experienced before in his young life.

With a yelp, WingDings whimper and lets his tongue loll over his teeth and out of his mouth. Crossing his eyes, he catches a glimpse of the gooey red appendage and feels his soul nearly jump out of his invisible throat. Alarmed by WingDings fretful clanking bones Papyrus comforts the child, affirming that the thing in his mouth is a tongue and it is completely normal.

After their adventure with breakfast Papyrus turns WingDings into his humanoid form so he can remove his shirt and replace it with the new poncho. The boy isn’t sure how he feels about not having a shirt, but at least the clothing is loose and comfortable.

“And now it is time for a bath,” Papyrus says loosening his clothing before shifting into his blaster form. With a gentle nudge the large skeletal dragon shifts WingDings next, gently picking the pup up in his jaws and lying down.

WingDings paws scamper uselessly on the clay tile, still flailing even as he is lifted and placed between Papyrus’s forelegs. Expertly, Papyrus removes WingDings poncho and skirt with his sharp thumbs before going ahead and licking the pup with his large tongue.

Horrified, WingDings tries to get away more than once, yelping and making enough noise to actually wake the slumbering Sans.

It doesn’t matter how much WingDings complains though Papyrus doesn’t stop until the blaster pup is thoroughly cleaned. As soon as he is released, the child scampers away and shakes his body as hard as he can, trying to remove all of the orange saliva. Chuckling, Sans in his bipedal form swoops down with a cloth and proceeds to dry WingDings off before clothing him again.

Meanwhile, Papyrus is taking the time to clean himself, licking his bones and even licking his brother when he passes by close enough. Sans playfully brushes the tongue away saying he needs to eat first.

Leaving the two, WingDings patters into the main entry room still shaking his body in disgust. As far as he’s concerned he is now filthy. Getting licked like a cat or dog does not qualify as a bath. He hopes it won’t be a daily event. Eating pre-chewed food is bad enough!

As he waits WingDings entertains himself by pulling out one of the scrolls from the other room and rolling it out. He attempts to read it and actually recognizes Sans names a few times and the dates. This world uses a lunar calendar with a thirteen month cycle, something WingDings finds intriguing. In school they sing the months of the year every morning, along with the days of the week.

Come to think of it, will he have to go to school while he’s here? WingDings actually likes school, but perhaps if they go into town today he can get the piece of his soul. He could be back home by the end of the day! Humming happily to himself, the child rolls up the scroll with his muzzle. It takes a little more effort to return the scroll to where he found it but by using his tail he manages to put it back.

“Papyrus, day light is burning!” a female calls from outside the house.

As soon as WingDings hears her, he retreats into the scroll room and peeks around the corner.

“Of course day light is burning, I’d be more worried if it wasn’t! I’ll be right there Undyne,” Papyrus answers from the other room. “Please come in, I want you to meet our new pup.”

“Really! Don’t mind if I do,” Undyne bellows, flipping back the heavy cloth and waltzing in as if she belongs there.

WingDings quickly hides behind the door frame debating on whether or not he should approach her. This will be the third Undyne he’s met and the last one was a bit intimidating and overpowering and well . . . mean. This version is obviously not a ruling empress, but he doesn’t want to take any chances.

“So where is the little scamp!” Undyne says, WingDings can hear her stomping around the main room moving cushions and large clay urns to try and find him. “The whole clan has been talking about him nonstop since the Alpha made the announcement last night. Now there’s talk of even having a ceremony welcoming him into the clan, but I’ll be the judge of that.”

A what!? WingDings has no idea why they’d bother with a ceremony. Ceremonies were for people who did something and he hasn’t done anything except eat chewed food and get bathed like an animal. On second thought maybe he should be rewarded for all the horror he’s endured.

“Hah! Found you pup,” Undyne’s head pops in above him and in the next second he’s plucked up into her arms. “By the god’s what a scrawny little thing. How is he still alive!?” There is a slight pause. “He’s perfect!!!Fuhuhuhu!”

Threatened and more than a little irritated by her judgment of him, WingDings glares, his eyes burning red. He growls at her and has a strange desire to snap, but he’s never nipped at anyone before.

“Wow! He’s adorable too!” Undyne says, walking back into the main room where it is brighter. “Alpha Toriel didn’t mention that. Guess I’ll keep it to myself.” Holding him up high she gets a good look at him while he wiggles in her hands. Before he can get a good look at her she swiftly plants his skull flat against her face so she can look him in the eye socket. “That almost makes me want to fight him.”

WingDings eye lights shrink and he scrunches all his limbs, including his tail up to his chest.

“Undyne you can’t fight a pup, where would the challenge be in that?” Papyrus tells her as he steps into the room. He easily saves WingDings from the warriors grip and holds him to his ribs. “But woowie a celebration just for WingDings, he could meet the entire clan!”

“And we can feast on a boar!” Undyne choruses.

“And have battles to show him the clans strength,” Papyrus exclaims.

“And feast on two boars!” Undyne declares with just as much enthusiasm as before.

Thinking that the woman is playing a joke on him, Papyrus deflates and gives her an unamused glare. “I hope we’d be eating more than just two boars Undyne,” he says before grinning and shouting. “It would at least have to be more than ten.”

“Yeah!” Undyne butts heads with Papyrus, their horns clanking as they give each other their fiercest glares. When they break apart both are laughing and WingDings is convinced this version on Undyne isn’t much different from the one he knows.

Since he’s in Papyrus’s arms, he gets a good look at her and sees that she is wearing very little, only an off white short skirt, bandeau top, and a cloak. The only other thing she has is a round shield on her back and cuffs on her wrists and ankles. She also has a long fish tail with her red hair braided down her back. “This is going to happen!” the woman promises eagerly.

“Nyeh-heh!” Papyrus agrees. He gives WingDings skull a lick before setting the pup down onto the floor. “Be good WingDings, Sans has some patients to visit so be sure you don’t leave his side.” They both stomp towards the exit but just before Papyrus is about to leave he turns around. “And make sure Sans leaves the house.”

WingDings gives him a thumbs up, a hand sign Papyrus has clearly never seen before. The older skeleton tilts his head, but smiles and copies the motion as he leaves the home. Overcome with curiosity WingDings cautiously moves for the door, lowering his face to the floor. Slowly, carefully, he prods his muzzle forward nearing the edge of the canvas and poking his head through.

He catches sight of Papyrus and Undyne quickly making their way down a street that is lined with homes made of stone, clay, or mud, with thatch roofs. The home he happens to be in is elevated, with steps leading up to it, so he can look down on the other houses. Monsters of every shape and size roam the streets, leaving their homes, kissing loved ones goodbye as they go their separate ways. Some are standing upright and yet others are large animalistic beasts. All around them the dense forest persists, catching most of the sun’s rays before they can filter down onto the homes.

Eyes wide, the pup’s tail wags in wonder as he looks around. He sees some children, usually in their four legged form, riding on the backs of their parents or chasing each other. In the distance he hears a high pitched horn and the people seem to rush even faster, the streets clearing within a minute or two. Thinking its best they get moving too, WingDings prances into the kitchen/nest room and finds Sans half asleep over a clay bowl of his finished breakfast.

Coming up beside the skeleton, WingDings knocks his head gently against Sans shoulder and gurgles at him, trying to ask if they’ll be leaving soon.

“Uh huh, just gotta . . . move,” Sans chuckles. When he doesn’t move WingDings clinks his head against Sans skull again. “I’m up, I’m up.” Taking hold of the bowl he heaves himself up acting as if gravity will take him down again and waddles to the large basin. He lifts a jug of water and cleans off the dishes before setting them aside to dry.

As he does these chores WingDings patiently waits reminded of the simple life he lived with the skeleton family long ago. No running water and no electricity. While he prefers modern conveniences it isn’t so bad when you have someone taking care of you. Besides he is still convinced he won’t be staying long despite his track record.

When the chores are done, Sans methodically starts picking up small jars and carefully places them in a satchel. Loosening his belt Sans shifts into his blaster form, putting his head through the straps of the satchel before moving for WingDings. He lowers himself beside the pup and looks at him, emitting a growl like grunt that sounds as if he is speaking without words.

Not completely understanding what Sans wants he moves closer. He looks to Sans back, wondering if the skeletal blaster wants him to ride on his back like he saw some of the other children doing. Bracing himself on his haunches, WingDings balances as best he can and jumps onto Sans poncho attempting to pull himself up using his claws.

With a snuff, Sans gently shakes WingDings off and wraps his magic around the pup, lifting him and settling him inside his rib cage. Finding this placement to be a bit unconventional, WingDings folds his limbs beneath him in an attempt to keep his limbs from accidentally passing through the ivory bars of Sans ribs. The large poncho covers most of his view, but he can see through the neck and bottom portion. In order to keep the front part of his poncho from hanging down in his blaster form Sans has part of it tied to his sternum. Once WingDings is comfortable, Sans walks from the home and into the city.

Careful to keep his distance from Sans soul, WingDings maneuvers himself so he can more easily see out the side of Sans ribs. He is able to see more of the numerous large stone houses with thatched roofs, although some are made completely of thatch or have clay like walls. They actually soon stop at one of the smaller huts, Sans lowering himself and giving WingDings a curt grunt. Deciding this means that he’s suppose to get out, the pup scrambles out of his rib cage as Sans shifts into his bipedal form.

“Stay at my side,” Sans tells him pointing to his right. When WingDings complies Sans lifts his head and announces his presence at the door. “It’s Sans, may I come in.”

“You may,” a small voice answer from inside.

They walk in and WingDings see’s a little mouse like monster huddled in a blanket nibbling on a tortilla.

“You shouldn’t be in your small form,” Sans lightly reprimands, sitting in front of her as he takes out a jar from his satchel.

“But it’s easier to eat this way,” she tells him, nibbling her meal to emphasize her point.

“It puts more stress on your soul though,” he tells her. “Have there been any changes?”

“Hmph, only the clans unease with Asgore’s ilk,” she says bitterly. “Everyone is worried he’ll be sending his warriors upon us any day now.”

“Those are just rumors, Sasha,” Sans sighs. Closing his eyes the skeleton settles in for another long house visit. “And that isn’t what I meant. I wanted to know how you are feeling.”

“No changes, still can’t rid myself of this headache, but my fever is gone,” Sasha answers. “So what is the clan going to do about this threat? You’re an elder, what’s the news.” WingDings remains silent but is starting to wonder if she needs help or if she just wants someone to talk to.

“If you were supposed to know, Alpha would have said something,” Sans assures her patiently. “Your fever is gone so you’re on the mend. I’ll leave this with you just in case it flares up again, but you should be up and kicking again in a day or two.”

“Thank you so much Doctor Sans,” she says accepting the jar and handing him another. “I’ll return this when I can.”

“I know you will,” he says and puts the jar in another segment of his satchel. “Have a good day Sasha.” He stands up and motions to WingDings but a squeak from the mouse stops them.

“OH!” Sasha brightens. “Is this your new pup!”

“Yes, this is WingDings,” Sans says. “He’ll be making the rounds with me today.”

“It’s wonderful to see you WingDings,” Sasha says brightly. “We needed good news, it brightened my day.” She is being sincere, but WingDings still finds it a little hard to believe since she was mostly complaining the entire time he’s been here.

He tries to say that but again, all that comes out is gurgling buzzing sounds.

“I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch that,” Sasha giggles.

Sans shoots WingDings a warning glance. “He’s happy too,” Sans interprets for him and the pup merely nods in agreement, not about to fight his caretaker on the issue. Now if his caretaker were someone say like Mettaton he’d correct him, but that’s harder to do with his caretaker being Sans this time around.

And of course that promise he made to his brothers.

After saying goodbye, Sans shifts again and WingDings takes a ride. This time they pass through an actual clearing where they are growing crops. There are canals for irrigation and aqueducts cutting through the various pastures, some of which are rice and corn. WingDings wants to know how it works, but he is unable to understand anything Sans might try to tell him, even if he does ask.

On the way to the next home they are stopped by a large golden dinosaur like monster. When both shift the dinosaur is revealed to Alphys.

“It’s good to see you Sans,” the woman says softly, adjusting the sash wrapped around her and not quite making eye contact. It’s strange seeing the monster without her glasses, her eyes appear much smaller than usual. “Have you seen my mate yet?”

“I was just on my way there,” Sans tells her. “How is he?”

“He’s improved I think, but his eyes are still very red,” she replies before glancing down at WingDings. “Hello, you must be Sans new pup.”

WingDings yips a yes in response, doing his best to appear mature by sitting tall and erect.

“His name is WingDings,” Sans tells her, patting his head lightly.

Not appreciating being treated like a pet, WingDings growls under his breath and lowers his head. A blush of red peppers his cheeks and he nearly looks away in embarrassment.

“It’s very nice to meet you WingDings, I’m su-sure my daughter would love to meet you,” she says. Caught off guard, WingDings looks up at her repeating what she said in his head. For one thing she finally stuttered, which is typically a constant for her and two she actually has a kid. The Alphys he knows doesn’t have any kids. “She’s staying with Chu today, maybe you can play with her. Sh-she’s just about your age.”

“Great idea Alphys,” Sans says, shifting his satchel around his shoulder. “It will be good for him to socialize.”

“Glad to hear it,” Alphys chimes, pressing her hands together in front of her chest. “Oh, and I needed to tell you that Alpha Toriel wants the elders to meet tonight at sundown.”

Sans frowns but nods his head in understanding. “Papyrus should be back by then,” Sans says.

“If-if not your child can stay with Chu,” Alphys offers. After a few parting words they go on their way and reach a very nice stone structure overlooking the aqueducts and pastures. “Alphys is an engineer,” Sans explains as they walk up the steps to the home. “She designs the stone structures and aqueducts. Her mate Chu is a scribe and helps diagram and explain her designs to the builders. They make a great team.”

When they reach the entrance which has stone pillars out front, Sans announces his arrival and walks right in. The home is much nicer and bigger than any he’s seen so far, with large woven tapestries and painted clay jars in the entryway. WingDings realizes that it has something to do with status and Alphys appears to be held in high regard.

They enter the more homely space where a nest much like Sans and Papyrus’s is set up. A large yellow/green dinosaur monster is lying down, scribbling something down on a scroll with the use of his tail. Close by a smaller yellow dinosaur is prancing around, chasing after a ball and gnawing on it.

“Maybe the reason your eyes are still red is because you can’t stop working,” Sans chuckles earning a snuff from Chu.

The large monster comments in a series of clicks, but WingDings can’t really understand him. Either way he gets the impression that there is very little that would stop Chu from writing in his precious scrolls. After what appears to WingDings to be a one sided conversation, the juvenile dinosaur is called for and hops up to her father’s side.

“WingDings this is Amber,” Sans tells him. “She’s five years old and she wants to play chase. Stay in the house and don’t break anything.”

Cocking an eyebrow WingDings is about to say that he doesn’t much feel like playing chase when Amber goes ahead and pounces on him. In surprise, a sharp yip squeaks out of him before he squirms away from her a puff of harmless magic exiting his maw. He backs up, keeping his head high as he tries to understand what is going on. In the end he doesn’t have the chance to figure it out when she happily squeals and runs towards him, attempting to pounce again.

His bony feet slip on the floor, despite the woven rug, and he scampers away. Delighted with her new friend, Amber gives chase and quickly proves to be the superior runner when she easily catches up to him and pounces on top of him. With a rattling grunt, WingDings is flattened and Amber licks the crest of his head before scrambling away. When he doesn’t immediately give chase she scoots a little closer, goading him on before jumping back and yipping at him playfully.

Watching her tactful approach and retreat WingDings decides to stay exactly where he is, pretending to move his upper torso forward just a bit to keep her interested. Never does he actually move from the spot though, merely positioning his hind legs more tactfully. Patiently he continues this strategy with Amber coming closer and closer as she begins to think him afraid he’ll fail to catch her.

He has no worry of failing.

He’s played enough tag in the school yard to the point where the other children hesitate and the monitors forbade him to play.

When she is in motion to come closer WingDings pounces, landing on her back and sending her flat on the carpet. The child squeals in alarm, chittering up at him in irritation, before screaming at him.

Alarmed by her response and only understanding that he’s made her very upset, he scrambles off and bolts away as fast as he can. As soon as Amber can get up she is on him, screaming at him as she gives chase. WingDings is a little frightened, but not enough to pull on his determination. It isn’t long before she catches him, pounding him onto the ground, but instead of getting off she nips at one of the horn like nubs on his head.

Scrambling, WingDings bony claws, slide uselessly against the ground. Her teeth are not sharp and pass harmlessly over his skull but it sounds horrible, that scrapping sound. After he yips in complaint and distress WingDings manages to maneuver his tail around her torso and pull her off. Without her planted on top of him he manages to get up and race away.

Refusing to look back, WingDings runs through the courtyard, taking a wild guess that Amber isn’t expecting to be chased anymore. He can hear her cries of outrage as he runs and it isn’t long before he’s flatted to the ground, this time she bites lightly at his neck as if trying to pin him. Since he’s nothing but bone it doesn’t really do much, but it feels very uncomfortable.

WingDings rolls onto his back, dislodging her and the race is on again. For the next ten minutes Amber chases him relentlessly. Pouncing, scratching, screaming and biting at him until finally he’s had enough of the abuse. He turns on her, eyes glowing red and tells her to stop.

Now of course the only thing that comes out of his jaws is a high pitched roar, but it is enough to get Amber to sense the change. She hesitates, but seeing as he is stopped she takes the opportunity to attack him again. Rather than run he meets her head on and spins around, whipping her in the face with his tail. It isn’t enough to mark her, but it does sting her snout.

Shocked, Amber jumps back, rubbing her snout lightly, dazed and not comprehending what just happened. When she realizes she feels a slight pain, Amber races to the room with her father, crying all the way.

WingDings soul gives a light start and he wonders what he should do. Should he run? Should he chase her? Steadily the adrenalin from his determination falls from his bones and when he feels something sting, he glances down at himself noticing some light scratching on his bones with a little blood. He stares at it blankly a moment, before realizing that it does indeed hurt.

When the determination was coursing through him he didn’t feel any pain, but now he does. Sniffling, WingDings stays where he’s at having a strange thought to lick his wounds, but he doesn’t respond to the instinct. Seconds later Sans is beside him.

“Did you hurt Amber?” he asks, but before he can ask more the skeleton stops and lowers to his knees. Growling deep in his chest at the sight, Sans eye lights go out and he shifts his belt and satchel off. He turns to his blaster form, his large tongue rolling from his maw before he proceeds to lather WingDings.

As he cleans his pup, WingDings sniffles, but doesn’t respond in any other way. Sans talks to him, a low trill asking the pup how he feels. The sound is comforting and WingDings feels just a bit better. He wasn’t expecting to get hurt playing a game.

And then he remembers that Sans is licking his open wounds and he freaks out a little. As his distress mounts, WingDings barks sharply, whining and fretting at Sans. Disease is a real thing and if Sans is licking his blood he’s bound to get some kind of deadly sickness. Fearing for his guardian’s well being and himself, WingDings tries to get away, but Sans isn’t having any of it and holds him down so he can continue.

When Chu and Amber enter the room Sans growls lightly at them, bringing his pup closer and hunching over him protectively. A few grunts and growls are passed between the adults before Sans relaxes allowing them to approach. WingDings immediately looks at Amber wondering if he’ll be expected to apologize for slapping her.

Instead she has tears in her eyes, wide with worry and concern. She whimpers, humming and sniffling as she lowers her head to him. When she lifts her head she lightly licks his muzzle and lowers her head again, waiting pensively for his response.

Not fully understanding what she wants he looks at Sans before turning back to her and asking if she was okay, hoping that his intent comes through.

She looks surprised and quickly nods her head, new tears springing to her eyes.

When Sans is done licking his pup, he shifts back and reaches into his satchel for something. “She wants to know if you forgive her,” he explains to WingDings as he holds up a piece of monster candy to his muzzle. One of the very pieces he brought with him in his inventory. The sight of it surprises the pup, but even he knows how clever Sans is.

Turning to look at Amber, WingDings nods firmly telling her there is nothing to forgive, they were just playing.

No one says anything and when WingDings begins to think he might have said something wrong Chu leans down and licks his head, bowing his head to the pup. It is all very confusing to WingDings.

After that San shifts and places WingDings in his chest cavity, close to his soul. Wishing them a good day in a series of low grunts Sans leaves and heads home so they can eat.

Chapter 4: How to Fight

Notes:

Sans shows WingDings the city. No warnings needed this time, I think.

Once home Sans puts a dish of meat in front of WingDings who finds himself hoping his guardian will shift him into his child form so he won’t be forced to eat like a dog. Sadly the older skeleton doesn’t accommodate him, saying he needs to rest. After eating, WingDings does fall asleep and when he wakes finds himself resting in Sans ribs as he walks through the city.

This time Sans rarely turns into his bipedal form, conducting his business in his blaster body so he doesn’t have to move his pup. WingDings is bandaged in the places the scratches didn’t immediately heal and honestly he feels just fine. His stats are close to normal, but his soul is aching, vibrating eagerly as they come closer to the stray piece of his soul.

Eagerly, WingDings peeks his head out from Sans ribs, looking at the world upside down. They appear to be in a market, with stalls supported against firm stone walls. They are selling everything from clay pots to fabrics, from foods to fine jewelry. Directly in front of them though is something WingDings can only think is a palace. It is a pyramid passing high above the tree line, its gold cap shining in the afternoon sun.

That highest peak also happens to persistently tug at his soul.

In excitement, WingDings yips at Sans, hoping to get his attention and let him know his piece is very close. His guardian rumbles deeply in acknowledgment, but continues on with his slow steady pace. He passes out jars of medicine to his clients, getting paid in various ways, sometimes with strange metal beads, sometimes in gold and other times in jars.

Grumbling impatiently, WingDings clinks his head against the ribs. He’s becoming restless and wants to move around instead of lounging in Sans rib cage.

When Sans lowers himself and gives a quick grunt WingDings knows he can get out again. As he does so Sans shifts and bends down, placing a hand to the back of WingDings chest. “Take a breath,” Sans tells him.

This time he knows what to except and gladly does as he’s told when Sans helps him shift into a child. Beaming with excitement, WingDings jumps up and down and hugs Sans leg before eagerly racing off in the direction of the steep pyramid. Before he can get too far, Sans snags the child around the shoulders with the use of his tail and lifts him off the ground. “Not so fast,” Sans tells him. “You need to be on your best behavior when we see the Alpha.”

“Yes, I understand,” WingDings nods, still running despite being lifted in the air.

Sans sighs. “Having a pup is leaving me bone tired.”

Hearing Sans finally say a joke makes WingDings stop. The child was starting to think that this version of him wasn’t a jokester but maybe he’s been holding back.

“That’s because we’re having a skele-ton of fun,” WingDings says on cue.

The response is not what the child expects.

Instead of laughing immediately Sans eye lights go completely out, black pits staring forward. WingDings is beginning to think something is seriously wrong when a low snort, cuts through Sans nasal cavity. Then that snort becomes a chuckle and finally an all out laugh that has Sans falling on his rump in the middle of the stone walkway.

“So you find that humorous?” WingDings asks innocently, eliciting another howl of laughter from Sans. “Did I tickle your funny bone?”

“Kid, are you ribbing me?” San chokes on his laughter.

“Yeah, I’m bad to the bone,” WingDings admits proudly.

Although Sans doesn’t completely get that last one he’s laughing his soul out. A second later Sans is dropping the child from his tail, unable to hold him any longer. WingDings doesn’t run, coming up beside his guardian and patting his hand.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Sans catches his breath and licks the side of WingDings skull. “I needed that,” he tells the boy. “Been a little stressed recently.”

“Really? How come,” WingDings asks.

“Worried about you of course,” Sans winks at him. As WingDings tries to figure out why Sans would be worried about him, the skeleton stands and offers the boy his hand which he gladly takes.

They walk past two female guards into a large courtyard. There are several nice stone buildings with the pyramid directly in front of them. Instead of going to the pyramid, they turn to the left and go up several steps into another building.

This building is full of scrolls with several monsters sitting on cushions writing in them. There is also a small group of younger monsters who appear to be learning from an elder scribe. WingDings gravitates towards them, but Sans uses his tail to steer the child towards another room. In this new room sits Alpha Toriel who is beside a smaller monster that nearly looks just like her, only she has fluffy golden hair outlining her ears and the top of her head.

“Thank you for coming Doctor Sans,” Toriel greets him.

Sans bows his head, kneeling in front of her and WingDings silently follows his example. “What did you want to talk about?” Sans asks her.

“I merely wished to tell you in person that the council will be meeting one hour after sun down,” she tells him. “I also wanted my daughter, to meet your new pup.” As her sharp eyes turn their attention onto WingDings they focus on his bandaged limbs and tail, along with the obvious teeth marks on his tiny horns.

Her eyes narrow and her voice grows cold “Did something happen?”

The shift is so dark it makes WingDings shrink inwardly and he looks down. He hasn’t done anything wrong but he feels like he’s in trouble. Logically this doesn’t make sense so he fights the desire, his eyes glowing a tad red, but he keeps his head down to hide this.

“He had a scuffle with Amber this morning,” Sans answers calmly.

“Is Amber injured?” Toriel asks.

“No, not a mark on her,” Sans replies. He remains kneeling, showing respect to Toriel as she prods him for information.

“I see,” Toriel’s shoulders relax a little as she remains seated on her cushion, but her brows remain tight. “You may sit more comfortably.”

Permitted to loosen up Sans sits, leaning back on his arms. WingDings merely sits cross legged, folding his hands loosely in his lap. He glances around the smaller room noting that scrolls are everywhere, along with a short table Toriel is working at with her daughter. Said daughter is adopting a contemplative look much like her mother, but it is directed at WingDings.

“WingDings,” Toriel says, causing the child to look at the Alpha. “Are you comfortable with your new home?”

“Yes. . . Alpha,” WingDings adds the Alpha thinking it is more appropriate then Ma’am or Miss.

“Why didn’t you defend yourself against young Amber?” Toriel asks, she briefly looks away and motions towards one of the servants close by. The servant leaves the room and Toriel focuses fully on WingDings again.

“Should I have?” WingDings asks instead. When you want to avoid answering a question you ask another question, most every child knows this. At least the clever ones.

“Yes,” Toriel states lifting a brow at the oddity of his question. “To do otherwise is to invite trouble and possibly death. You must learn to protect yourself or you will be unable to survive to adulthood.”

“I was always taught to work through my problems without fighting,” WingDings replies. “Violence is frowned upon.”

The daughter snuffs at him, looking away and leaning casually on her arms. “What kind of thinking is that?” she says with a mockingly sideways glance. “No wonder you’re all that’s left of your family.”

“Ariel,” Toriel lightly warns her daughter. “A good leader must be willing to listen to new ideas and not immediately disregard what others have to say. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, but you can still learn something.”

Pressing her lips firmly, Ariel nods her head and returns to looking more professional with a firm back and high head. Despite Toriel’s sage advice it is obvious to him that her daughter does not take her words to heart. Most likely she has already heard it before and her judgmental gaze doesn’t leave WingDings.

It bothers the child a little, which is expected from someone who enjoys receiving others approval and acceptance.

Not that he necessarily wants Ariel’s approval.

A servant walks in serving them some dates and other finger foods as they converse. The Alpha offers the food to the blasters and they graciously accept her invitation. WingDings is still getting use to eating everything with his hands, but at least he isn’t in his animal form this time and is allowed to eat it without Sans first chewing it.

“Will there be anyone looking for you?” Toriel continues, this time addressing WingDings.

“No Alpha, I am all there is,” WingDings answers.

“I’m sorry for your loss, but am glad that we will have no enemies at our doorstep,” Toriel says calmly. She really doesn’t pull her punches does she? If he really had lost his brother’s that is not what he’d want to hear!

“You don’t need to worry about me,” WingDings assures her in a clipped tone.

“It seems so,” Toriel agrees. “You have your work cut out for you Sans. Not only is his soul damaged, but he is a pacifist.” The Alpha appears sorrowful to admitting this out loud, leaving WingDings feeling confused and a tad insulted.

“There are a few things I wish to discuss with you Sans without the children if you don’t mind, it won’t take long,” Toriel says.

Sans peeks one eye open at WingDings, his eye glowing slightly blue with magic. “Yeah he should be fine for a bit longer,” Sans says.

“Ariel, look after him,” Toriel instructs her daughter. “Show him around the royal courtyard.”

“Yes mother,” Ariel says cordially and gets to her feet. She only looks at WingDings briefly as a sign to leave with her as she exits the room.

Following her example WingDings stands and scrambles after the girl. They don’t stop until they have exited the scribes library and are in the flowering and green courtyard. The young skeleton looks back at the library, wishing they could have stayed a little longer. He is curious about the scrolls.

“As the heir of Alpha Toriel it is my duty to help you Pup WingDings,” Ariel says proudly, lacing her arms over her chest and planting her legs slightly apart.

Quickly shutting his eyes, WingDings presses his lips and clasps his hands behind his back. Being referred to as a pup over and over is really grating on his nerves and having another child act so much better than him is also irritating. Through it all WingDings small smile never wavers, as if it is a permanent fixture on his face. “You are so generous heiress of the Alpha,” WingDings replies smoothly.

As he says this Ariel appears to stand straighter, her fluffy hair puffing out happily. “That’s right,” she agrees. “So I’m going to show you how to defend yourself so you don’t get hurt again. Since you’re injured I’ll just show you.”

And there right before his very eyes, Ariel shifts into a goat like dragon monster, with sharp claws, horns, and jagged teeth. She isn’t extremely large, nowhere near the size of his brothers, but she is about four times larger than he is in his blaster form. When her transformation is complete she speaks to him, ignorant of the fact that he can’t understand much of what she’s saying.

He can pick up bits and pieces, using his soul to guess her intentions and also taking a hint from her tone. Given her light quick growls and grunts he knows she is happy and confident in her directions and advice. From what he can tell hearing and watching her she suggests he always makes the first move, darting in and out and not always attacking to keep the opponent guessing. Weak points are the neck and eyes, wounding a monster their can prove fatal.

Unless you’re a skeletal blaster she adds. She grunts this part sourly, as if it’s a cheat against her perfect strategy.

WingDings doesn’t read into it since he’s well aware she is a spoiled and confident child.

When she is finished with her presentation and shifts back, he praises her and thanks her for her demonstration. As is expected she is pleased with his gratitude and tells him that he can come to her any time for advice. She even offers to spar with him when his wounds have healed.

Honestly WingDings could care less, because there is something much more important directly behind her.

Glancing at the pyramid, WingDings feels his desire to find the piece of his soul rekindled. The pull isn’t as persistent now, which is normal when he isn’t reunited with a piece right away. He can tell where it is, but the constant pull in his chest subsides and disappears if he remains in close proximity to it. The same thing happened with Mettaton after a week of living with him.

Honestly he’s grateful the pieces don’t constantly pull and pulse at him, otherwise it would become uncomfortable.

“Heiress Ariel?” WingDings asks, still looking at the pyramid.

“Yes, what is it pup?” she asks, still standing straight and tall. Her performance didn’t last all that long, a quarter of an hour tops but WingDings feels like it was longer than that.

“What’s up there?” he asks, pointing at the top of the pyramid.

“Oh that?” she says, halfheartedly glancing back before directing her attention forward again. “That’s where I live with the Alpha. We can see the entire settlement from up there.”

Summoning every sweet drop of his childlike charm, WingDings widens the glow of his eye lights and pulls his arm close to his chest, leaning forward as if impressed. “Really? That’s amazing.”

“It is,” she preens. “It was originally built to honor the old gods, but we re-purposed it to be a watch tower and home. That way we can protect everyone better by watching over them.”

“How far can you see?” WingDings asks.

Without hesitation she offers him her fuzzy white hand. “I’ll show you,” she says.

As soon as he clasps her hand she sets off for her home, walking boldly towards the most important structure in the city. Bending his head forward WingDings manages to hide his crafty smirk from her as they move up the stairs. He notices a guard following them at a distance, but doesn’t pay her much mind. No doubt she is one of Toriel’s personal guards charged to babysit them.

When they reach the steps WingDings is surprised at how steep and close together they are. An adult’s foot wouldn’t be able to fit flat on them, but the children don’t have much trouble keeping their footing. As they walk up, they stop every now and again to look back on the city, which is growing darker as the afternoon sun dips lower in the sky, unable to pass through the dense forest.

About half way up WingDings is forced to stop when he feels a light pang in his soul. He feels tired and not a second later he feels Sans eyes on him. Glancing behind him, WingDings eye lights meet Sans briefly, who is nothing but a spec in the distance. Quickly turning back around WingDings continues with Ariel up the steps, the familiar burn of determination pushing him forward.

Reaching the very top, WingDings and Ariel turn around to see the tops of the trees and the city spread out before them. It’s so much bigger than WingDings expected, with little lanterns lighting one by one and monsters the size of ants finishing up their work in the fields. WingDings would watch longer if not for his soul pounding against his ribs. Turning around the child releases Ariel’s hand and walks towards her home, as if pulled along by a string, guiding his shaky steps.

He’s so close, just a few more steps and he stops, looking to his left and seeing an enormous clay urn inlaid with precious stones.

“Hey! You can’t be in here,” Ariel tells him, stomping in front of him and blocking his view. She looks at him sternly down her short snout, placing her hands on her hips in disappointment. “It’s forbidden to enter the inner chambers of the Alpha unless invited.”

At first he doesn’t see her, staring forward at what he knows is just a few feet away, but when his eyes meet hers she steps back in surprise. His eyes are blazing red. “You’re a . . . you’re an Alpha,” she whispers. Her shock swiftly becomes defensive as she realizes just what this might mean for her.

Knowing that he is not welcomed, he darts around her and stumbles to the ground, but he’s close enough now. With an outstretched hand he reaches his magic for the piece and it shines in response. A light ping and sound of something like glass breaking is heard as a tiny shard of light shoots towards his hand.

When Ariel sees the light she backs away, having seen the glowing gem all her young life and never knowing what it really was.

WingDings doesn’t notice her, focused only on the piece of his soul, but his strength runs out. He tries to bring his soul out but he realizes he’s run out of time. Falling completely onto the woven carpet, the piece drops with him and is less than an inch away. It’s so close. So agonizingly close.

“WingDings!” Sans shouts huffing and puffing at the entrance. “I’m coming in Ariel.” Without wasting any more time, the guardian reaches for WingDings soul and shifts him into his blaster form.

Something painful shoots through WingDings, something he has never felt before and time stops.

Everything stops.

Even the pain stops.

Notes:

Oh look there’s plot and it’s only chapter four. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it seemed like the best place to end this chapter.

Chapter 5: Speaking the Language

Notes:

WingDings learns a lesson.

Warnings: Snot?

WingDings pries his eyes open and is confused to see two words in front of him, blazing clearly in yellow magic. One reads ‘Continue’ while the other says ‘Load’. Scared and confused, WingDings red eyes dart between the two words, filled with dread. Beside him he watches Sans hand move achingly slow, as if it is moving through water.

With magic burning his limbs WingDings watches as Sans snatches the word that reads ‘Load’ and all at once the child is thrown back in time, stumbling up the steps of the pyramid all over again. This time, when he feels the burn of determination drive him forward, he falls and is shaking fearfully at what has just transpired.

Was that a dream?

Did he just imagine reaching his soul?

“WingDings? What’s wrong?” Ariel stoops down, still holding his hand and wondering where his eager excitement has disappeared to. “Are you okay?”

Slowly he shakes his head, his bones rattling violently.

Filled with concern Ariel pulls him up into her arms so he doesn’t accidentally slide down the steep steps.

Seconds later Sans is there shifting the child into a Blaster pup and this time the child transforms without any complications. As soon as he’s a pup again, WingDings curls up, covering his skull with his forearms and trying to disappear.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Ariel says gently releasing WingDings into Sans arms. “He was so excited to see the pyramid.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sans consoles her, picking WingDings up and holding him against his ribs. “You can show him another time.”

“I will,” Ariel promises. “I hope you feel better soon WingDings.”

Still rattling in his bones WingDings manages to look at her and nods his head, showing that he’s heard her at least somewhat. He’s mostly just thinking, trying to wrap his mind around what just happened.

Just thinking.

“Thank you,” Sans dips his head respectfully before turning and heading down the steps. He passes Toriel on his way across the courtyard, but their interaction is brief as Sans apologizes for leaving so soon and explains he needs to care for WingDings. She is understanding and wishes them both well, commenting that they will merely discuss details during their meeting later that evening.

On the way back home, neither Sans nor WingDings say anything to each other, a complicated silence stretching the short distance between them. Sans gives WingDings some monster candy to eat which helps calm the child a little, but his mind is still wound up tight and spinning.

When they reach the house, Sans wraps WingDings up in a woven blanket and gets to making the child something to eat. Watching the older skeleton work makes WingDings antsy and the snug blanket confining him doesn’t help. Unable to stand it any longer, WingDings attempts to speak to Sans, trying to say sorry. It comes out as a pathetic whimper that makes the child flinch.

“I’m sure you are sorry,” Sans says, snapping the bone of the meat he’s working with. The sound makes WingDings jump and drop his head. Looking back at the child Sans sighs and loses any anger he had moments before. “No sense punishing you. Not after experiencing that.”

WingDings would agree except he still doesn’t know what happened.

Ever the perceptive one, Sans watches WingDings carefully and takes a guess. “You don’t know what happened do you?” he asks.

Ashamed, WingDings eyes flick from side to side before he gives a short nod, admitting the truth.

“You have a powerful magic that allows you to go back in time,” Sans explains. “It’s Red magic.”

The term ‘Red magic’ is new to WingDings, but he assumes Sans is referring to his determination. It is the magic that gives him a soul and keeps the parts of his soul together as he finds the missing pieces. At any rate this means he has the ability to time travel. It’s really cool, but even so he doesn’t want to do it again.

It was a terrifying experience.

It’s as if . . . as if he were dying.

“Your body was ready to shift, but instead of coming to me you ran putting unnecessary stress on your soul,” Sans continues. “I’m tempted never to shift you again.”

WingDings eyes widen in horror as he looks up at Sans. Anything but that! He doesn’t want to be stuck like a dog, completely useless and unable to speak. It’s so frustrating to be an animal.

“Why are you so against being a blaster?” Sans asks him. “You’re just walking on four legs instead of two. You even get to eat without using your hands.” As he says this he puts WingDings meal in his mouth and starts chewing.

Still finding the sight disgusting WingDings looks away, sighing and staring gloomily at one of the woven pillows. This Sans wouldn’t understand.

When Sans is finished chewing he puts the plate in front of WingDings. “Eat your dinner,” he tells the pup before going back to fix his own meal.

Loosening the tightness of the blanket WingDings leans over his plate and becomes contemplative, gazing at it sullenly. The meal doesn’t look all that appetizing even though it does smell good and his stomach is telling him it wants it. He lowers his muzzle and licks at it, moving the meat around his plate and more or less picking at it. Eating it very slowly and spreading it around.

Sans is finished eating long before WingDings is, the child still mourning the loss of the piece of his soul and his ability to speak. He doesn’t know it, but he is depressed.

“Papyrus sure is out late,” Sans comments while watching WingDings out of the corner of one eye. “Always working himself to the bone.”

As first WingDings doesn’t really hear him, but the word bone wakes him up and he finds himself looking up at Sans.

Casually, the skeleton leans back, lacing his arms behind his head. “Tibia honest, he could learn to take it easy every now again,” Sans continues. “But he’s marrow minded.”

WingDings lips tip upward without his realizing it. This isn’t the first time he’s heard these skeleton puns before, but the familiarity makes him happy.

“Doesn’t eat enough either, nothing but bones,” Sans says. “Or he just doesn’t have the stomach for it.”

As the child listens he eats a little more, distracted by Sans and whatever pun will come out of his mouth next.

“Either that or he just doesn’t have any guts,” Sans smirks.

The joke elicits a small giggle from WingDings, but otherwise he keeps eating, watching Sans contently.

“Come on kid throw me a bone, these are the good jokes,” Sans tells him. “I’m a bonafide pun master.”

Now this is a joke WingDings has never heard before and he actually snorts on his meal and laughs. It is a somewhat grating sound in his blaster form, but nonetheless it brings a wide grin to Sans face.

“There you go, knew you had it in you,” Sans encourages him, nuzzling the side of his child’s head. “Couldn’t have you skulking around when Papyrus got back. He has a tendon-cy to worry.”

Knocking his head into the cushions and tightly shutting his eyes, WingDings laughs so hard his bones clink and wiggle with his amusement. When he settles down he is able to finish his meal and Sans takes the time to give him a bath. By the time he’d done licking WingDings to death the child’s bones are buzzing with magic, a strange feeling he usually associates with determination coursing through him, but this is different.

Sans also cleans himself a bit, but keeps an eye out the window. When Papyrus is nowhere to be seen, Sans picks WingDings up and puts him in his rib cage. He tells WingDings through a series of growls that he’ll be staying with Chu and Amber so he can meet with Toriel. When WingDings asks what the meetings about, Sans merely says he’ll tell him later.

When WingDings arrives at the large home Alphys has already left so Chu takes the blaster child into the living quarters where his daughter is looking at some scrolls her father has just finished transcribing. WingDings joins her and she happily chatters on about what it says. He asks her to slow down so he can understand her better and she complies.

What starts as her jabbering on about her father’s work turns into a learning opportunity for WingDings as she attempts to communicate with him. By using her tail to make simple drawings she speaks with him, teaching him to understand her words, more or less.

‘I like red,’ she tells him, yawning widely. They’ve been practicing for hours now and it is only by WingDings determined insistence that they are still at it.

Jumping up WingDings yips in excitement. ‘Red?’ he reaffirms.

‘Yes, red!” she says happily, waking up a bit when she realizes he finally got it right. Both of their tails are wagging and she licks his face in congratulations.

Briefly WingDings eye lights go out when she licks him, but they’re back in less than a second with his joy overflowing. He finally understands her simple phrase without the help of pictures!

‘Bedtime,’ Chu tells them, picking up the scrolls with his tail while nudging the children into the nest with his muzzle. ‘Well past -- time hatchlings -- in bed.’ WingDings doesn’t catch all the words, but the meaning is clear. They are up well past their proper bedtime.

‘I’m no hatchling!’ Amber pouts as she plops into the cushioned nest right before WingDings topples in after her.

‘Still young,’ he rumbles. After situating them close together, Chu lowers himself and wraps his body around the children, keeping them warm and lulling them to sleep with his steady deep breaths.

When WingDings wakes in the morning he is curled up against Sans and Papyrus, the latter of which is awake and licking Sans skull clean. Realizing that he’s possibly about to get yet another bath, the child shakes his head awake and scrambles to his feet. He doesn’t get far though as Papyrus’s long tail wraps around him and lightly drops the pup between his arms.

The child chirps in complaint, trying to get away. ‘I don’t need another bath,’ he insists, pushing his paws lightly against Papyrus’s muzzle. ‘Sans cleaned me last night!’

‘Is that so?’ Papyrus replies, continuing on with his task. He is completely capable of speaking in grunts and growls even with his tongue in use. ‘Being clean -- to -- strong and healthy.’

‘This can’t be healthy!’ WingDings practically screams. It sounds like a high pitched whistle sound.

‘It is healthy! Our magic will help you grow big and strong,’ Papyrus insists, making a point of lathering up WingDings even more. ‘Will tell everyone you belong to us.’ This last statement puzzles WingDings, but he can’t figure out a way to voice his question as he is.

By the time Papyrus is finished WingDings feels no better than a wet cat, walking away stiffly, with his head and tail lowered in humiliation. He’s also hungry. Wiping as much of the liquid magic from him as he can, he returns to the kitchen where Papyrus is preparing breakfast. WingDings settles beside Sans large dragon like skull and studies it closely.

The child pokes at it, opening his lid and looking into his large eye sockets, his nasal cavity, his horns and his knife like teeth. Everything about it looks like the Gaster Blasters that his brothers can summon. He’s never been able to since that ‘one time’ but it was so long ago he can’t even remember if it really happened. Through the entirety of the child’s investigation Sans remains asleep even when WingDings sticks his hand in his large nose. When WingDings pulls out his hand it’s covered in blue magic snot.

Well, that’s different.

“WingDings!” Papyrus shouts, aghast.

Quickly hiding his paw behind his back WingDings looks at Papyrus with wide eyes, before innocently smiling and cocking his head to the side, a sight that is sure to be adorable now that he is a blaster pup.

But Papyrus is not so easily swayed. His eyes narrow and he stomps over with a rag in his hand. Taking WingDings arm he cleans it, making a face of disgust. “Nyehggg, WingDings that was disgusting!” he tells the pup. “We don’t go sticking our arms in other monsters noses!”

‘I was curious,’ WingDings replies, gurgling in a way that is perhaps too chipper.

“While curiosity is good for learning, it is horrible for manners,” Papyrus informs him, grumbling. “Nyeh, I’ll have to clean you again.”

‘No!’ WingDings swiftly pleads, leaping to his legs in preparation to run. ‘Besides your tongue and his snot are practically the same things.’

“They are not!” Papyrus argues vehemently, catching WingDings a little off guard. “Snot is goop, licking his sanitary magic!”

‘ . . .’ WingDings doesn’t believe Papyrus, but since the skeleton feels so strongly about it he is less inclined to argue with him.

Sensing that the pup doesn’t believe him Papyrus’s gaze narrows suspiciously, planting a hand on his hip as he stands fully upright. “I don’t know where you came from, but these are the basics. It’s a wonder you’ve survived as long as you have! Only two days having you and we’ve almost lost you twice.” Admitting this is enough to put a slump in Papyrus’s shoulders as he walks back towards the breakfast he is preparing.

WingDings also lowers his head, realizing that Sans must have told Papyrus what happened yesterday.

It isn’t long before breakfast is prepared and Papyrus sets the dish in front of the pup. “Please try to be better behaved today WingDings,” the tall skeleton says. “You’re lucky Sans is merciful. As your acting father he could have punished you.”

‘What did he say?’ WingDings asks, slowly eating his meal.

Papyrus sighs. “Very little, but enough,” he reaches down and pets WingDings skull, scratching between his nubby horns.

At first WingDings is offended, but he relaxes and focuses on his meal. Papyrus’s gesture is kind and his touch feels good, loath he is to admit it. When WingDings is about to fall asleep and face plant into his empty dish, a loud sound wakes him from the entrance.

“Everybody awake?!” Undyne yells as she barges into the house. Apparently yesterday was a formality on WingDings part since she doesn’t bother asking if she can come in. “Hey Sans, you dead?” The large female laughs giving the slumbering skeleton a hearty slap on the rump.

The large blaster growls deep in his ribs, his eyes flashing blue and yellow before calming into white. Stretching his limbs and whipping his tail around, Sans yawns wide shaking with the effort of waking before finally just giving up and plopping back down on the cushions.

Undyne laughs at him before simply leaning down and picking WingDings up. “So you survived your first day! That’s great!” She gives him a hard scratch at the back of his skull and boy does it feel good. “Sorry I kept Papyrus out so late, I’ll try to bring him back earlier tonight.”

Without thinking WingDings tongue comes out of his mouth, but he quickly stops himself before he licks her. Where has his brain gone, you don’t just lick people’s hands! Sure you don’t put your hands up monster noses either, but that was then and this is now.

“Do you think my kids will be this cute!” Undyne asks, putting WingDings up to her face and grinning ear to ear.

“Of course they will!” Papyrus declares. “They will be the most powerful and adorable offspring in the pack.”

“HA! Damn right!” Undyne thumps her chest with one arm as WingDings looks at her in horror.

She just cursed.

He freezes up and stares at her with pin prick eyes. Honestly he doesn’t know what’s so bad about cursing, but Papyrus always makes people who swear put money in the swear jar. Undyne typically puts the most money in.

“Hey, what’s wrong pup?” Undyne asks, holding him out and putting him nearly to her nose.

‘You cursed,’ he nearly whispers, a vibrating tone rolling off his bones.

“Damn right I did!” Undyne says and sets WingDings down. “You’re a funny pup.”

And she did it again!

“Was cursing looked down upon in your previous pack?” Papyrus asks.

When WingDings nods in answer, the skeleton raises a hand to his chin and considers this.

“Hey Papyrus, what gives?” Undyne asks nervously. “I curse all the time, what’s wrong with that?”

“While it is completely acceptable for someone as amazing as you to curse I can see why it wouldn’t be fitting for a baby bones to hear it,” Papyrus reasons with a firm nod of his head. “Besides you don’t need to curse to be amazing Undyne, you already are!”

His declaration is said with such conviction and enthusiasm that Undyne is put in a difficult position. Her large sharp smile twitches, the scar of her left eye twitching with it as she scrambles for something to say. “Dam . . . Darn right!” Undyne laughs before grabbing her partner around his neck. “Let’s get going, days a wasting!” In a flash they’re gone with Papyrus shouting last minute instructions about staying safe and being good.

When the dust figuratively settles, WingDings turns to Sans who is burrowed half way down into the cushions. ‘Sa . . . Father?’ the word sounds strange to him, but Papyrus made it clear that Sans is his dad in this world. It’s a word that shows respect and Sans deserves a little of that after yesterday.

As if his head is on a spring Sans head pops up out of the pillows. He looks at WingDings intently and the soft beginnings of a purr rumbles in his bones. Before it grows louder though, Sans casually stands up and stretches his body again. ‘Call me Sans if you want,’ he rumbles. ‘Don’t have to call me dad.’

Tilting his head, WingDings looks after Sans and decides he would much rather call Sans by his name. He isn’t comfortable referring to anyone as his father, if anything the title of brother comes much easier given the circumstances. Although, this version of him is somehow more mature. He comes across as older.

But Sans sure seemed happy to be called by that title.

As Sans prepares for the day, WingDings busies himself with trying to summon his magic bones. It feels different, but eventually he manages to make a few small femur bones pop out of the ground. Unlike the bones back home though, these bones don’t immediately disappear and they damage the ground when they pop up.

Slightly irritated with the damaged clay floor, Sans plops WingDings outside the door of the home telling him to continue practicing without damaging anything. Grumbling to himself, WingDings does as he’s told and continues to summon tiny bones from the ground. When he has about twelve of various sizes he tries building things with them, something he’s never had the opportunity to do before since they don’t stick around long enough.

By the time Sans comes trotting out WingDings has made a little duplicate of the house only made entirely of bones. ‘Good job,’ Sans praises casually, picking the pup up with his teeth and bringing him back inside.

Not expecting to be held in Sans mouth, WingDings squirms a bit, curling his limbs automatically as he dangles. When he is put down Sans shifts and reapplies some of the bandages to WingDings scratches most of which have healed already. “You heal fast,” Sans comments, not bothering to wrap up his limbs, just his tail and ribs. “Try to avoid any fights.”

‘I won’t fight,’ WingDings says confidently as Sans finishes up and clothes him again.

“If you get into a fight, defend yourself,” Sans tells him. “Just like Alpha Toriel and Ariel taught you.” The skeleton doctor shifts into his large blaster form and places WingDings inside his rib cage, picking up his things before leaving the house for another day of home visits.

‘But I don’t want to fight,’ WingDings answers, settling down and curling around himself as comfortably as he can.

‘You must or they’ll never stop,’ Sans’ soul pulses with his words.

WingDings doesn’t say anything, instead he watches Sans soul and pictures fighting Ariel and some of the kids he doesn’t like back home. It makes him uncomfortable imagining it and by the time they reach the first patient of the day WingDings has decided he will avoid fights at all cost.

Notes:

So now WingDings has the ability to ‘load’ kinda like Frisk, but not quite. He’s always had the ability, but in the worlds prior to this one he’s never put himself in serious danger like this. Well there is one time but he was a baby at the time and doesn’t remember. A story for another time.

Also I love Undyne, she gets to be a good guy in this story.

Chapter 6: Assuming the Worst

Notes:

No warnings in this chapter. If there is something please let me know.

The first home they come to belongs to a Froggit and Sans is there to treat one of its young. Unlike the Froggit’s WingDings has met this one is enormous, nearly the size of the entry way of his home. Instead of an actual home the Froggit family of about twenty lives under a large reed canopy that protects them from the worst of the elements.

This Froggit happens to be surrounded by his offspring, a pod of nearly six baby froggits are swimming in a small pond beside the home, with the other older offspring hopping in and out of the water and all over their father. They are darker in color and their forms are not as distinct as an adult. One of the froggits is nestled snugly against the father’s chest, blinking and sniffling miserably.

‘How you feeling today Tara?’ Sans greets her as he lowers himself to her level and WingDings crawls out of his ribs.

As Sans does his thing, WingDings watches quietly. The doctor checks the small monsters temperature and soul. It’s curious to WingDings that Sans does normal doctor like things despite living in such an ancient place. He admires Sans patience with the child and his knowledge.

He’s so focused on Sans that WingDings fails to notice when he is head butted by one of Tara’s older siblings. The froggit is shorter than WingDings, but doesn’t seem to notice as he pulls back and hops into the blaster pups side, knocking his horns into his ribs. Growling at the eager froggit WingDings snaps at him in warning.

In response the froggit stares at WingDings not understanding.

Rolling his eyes, WingDings turns to the froggit and starts talking to it, knowing he will not be understood.

He is right, the froggit barely understands him, but the act of talking pacifies the young monster.

By the time Sans is finishing up with Tara, WingDings is surrounded by various young froggits who are hopping all over him and telling him about their wonderful pond. WingDings doesn’t much appreciate the slime, but he is determined not to show it, listening to them thoughtfully and engaging them when prompted. When it is time to go, WingDings wishes them well and climbs into Sans.

The froggits were very kind, but he wouldn’t mind a bath.

The next home is coincidentally a family of Woshua. They meet with a mother who is surrounded by about five children. Sans looks over the young son, who’s water is grimy instead of clean. WingDings waits patiently, watching as Sans gives the child a checkup.

WingDings wonders why it is he only sees families stay home when they are sick. What are the healthy families doing? Do the children go to school or do they work the fields. For both today and yesterday WingDings has mostly seen fathers home with their children too and he ponders whether or not this is significant. It’s such a curious culture and as always WingDings curious mind loves to wander.

A shame he won’t be staying long enough to learn more.

As he considers these things, the other four Woshua children decide in accord that WingDings smells funny and must be cleaned. At first WingDings assumes they are attacking him with the amount of water they are dumping and splashing at him, but he soon realizes that they are simply obsessed with cleaning him. Unlike Woshua’s from back home these monsters are much larger and have claws on their paws and spikes on their springy tails. These new attributes are enough to intimidate WingDings, but his worry is unfounded.

Just like back home, all they care about is being clean.

Before they leave WingDings feels the cleanest he’s ever felt since arriving to this place. Is this really only the second day? Feels like longer, but he recalls having similar thoughts when he was in Shryen and Mettaton’s care.

Looking WingDings over Sans sighs, licking his pups head before placing him inside his ribs again. ‘You smell like a Woshua,’ Sans grunts.

‘Yeah, it’s great!’ WingDings chimes and instantly regrets it when Sans jostles him, snorting in offence.

WingDings keeps his mouth shut for a while when Sans helps the next family of Eyewalker’s. The young brood of four immediately wants to take WingDings on nearly as soon as Sans sets him down, but a quick snap of his tail near their toes keeps them from getting too close. They find it a little strange that WingDings doesn’t want to fight, but since the blaster child isn’t picking on them they remain passive.

Although WingDings doesn’t know it, Sans has been watching his pups encounters carefully, noting how WingDings avoids fighting and talks his way out of encounters. It is a very odd trait to see in a child. Typically his kind gets to know each other by having a friendly bout, but WingDings is having none of it. Since WingDings comes across as older than he is the children so far automatically adhere to his decisions.

A common trait of a leader, an Alpha, as well.

What a strange pup.

By the time Sans is finished with the Eyewalker family it is time for lunch. While Sans is preparing lunch back at home WingDings looks at Sans scrolls and asks his caretaker questions. ‘Why does each family have so many children?’ he asks first.

“It’s common for monsters to have at least three to five in a litter,” Sans explains. “It’s rare for children to survive to adulthood so having more is better.” Once he finishes his answer he chews on WingDings meal as the pup asks another question.

‘So will Tara not survive?’ WingDings asks, thinking of the young weak Froggit from their first visit that day.

“She’ll be fine,” Sans assures his pup. “I’ve only lost two patients since becoming a member of Toriel’s clan. . .” The large skeleton trails off, remember those he couldn’t save, but shakes his head to dash such sharp grief away.

Humming softly, WingDings shoulders relax as he smiles in relief, knowing that Tara will be alright. ‘You’re a very good doctor,’ he compliments Sans.

“Thanks WingDings, I learned from my father, who learned from his father and so on and so forth,” Sans says with a sad smile, setting the plate in front of WingDings before sitting down with his own. “If you want I can teach you what I know,” he adds with a glimmer of hope. Maybe he can gain a piece of what he’s lost.

WingDings eye lights glow bright and he looks up at Sans with obvious intrigue, but then his features fall. ‘I won’t be staying long,’ the child reveals to Sans.

“What do you mean?” Sans asks. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.” He narrows one eye at WingDings while closing the other showing that he means it. He’s already lost one family he will not lose this one.

“When I get the piece of my soul I’ll vanish,” WingDings explains.

“. . . I see,” Sans doesn’t say anything more and chooses to eat.

The silence makes WingDings uncomfortable, but he follows Sans example and eats his meal. Even though he has so many questions buzzing in his head WingDings stays silent, easily forgetting some of his questions as his thoughts tumble along.

For the remainder of the afternoon they visit homes with similar outcomes as the morning. If there are children around they vie for WingDings attention, teasing him and trying to get him to play. They fail every time with WingDings talking his way out of the confrontations or using simple threats that cause no harm to anyone. At the end of the day Sans goes to the scribes library to get some parchment.

As soon as Ariel sees Sans she scrambles down the steps of the library. “Is WingDings with you doctor?” she asks eagerly.

‘He is,’ Sans answers in a pleasant rumble. He is very cordial with the girl and WingDings assumes it is because she is the heiress of the clan.

“Can I share some more wisdom with him?” she requests, standing firm with her hands at her sides.

Sans doesn’t respond right away, but eventually he nods and lowers his body to the ground so WingDings can come out.

When he does Ariel thanks Sans before kneeling in front of WingDings. “How are you feeling?” she asks.

‘I’m good, thank you,’ WingDings replies. ‘Most of my wounds have healed.’

“Already? That’s great,” she says. Standing to her feet she goes down the stairs with her servant close behind. “I thought of some good moves to show you and if you can move around you can practice them.”

‘Sure,’ WingDings says, scampering after her. He still doesn’t want to fight, but he also wants to stay on Ariel’s good side so he can get the piece of his soul. In the end reuniting with his missing piece is more important than remaining passive.

Perhaps, someday, he won’t have any choice but to fight.

When they reach the courtyard Ariel shifts and crouches low. ‘Do as I do,’ she tells him and he does. She hops side to side and WingDings copies her. Pleased she next hops backwards and WingDings attempts to do so but, trips on his back legs and winds up landing on his back. Embarrassed, WingDings snaps back up and tries again.

She goes through several of these fancy footwork moves with him and it is obvious WingDings is not as coordinated as she is. ‘No wonder Amber caught you easily,’ Ariel remarks as she watches him trip over his tail for the third time.

Rather than remain discouraged WingDings is quickly on his feet again, practicing the dodging move until he gets it right. Sans is lounging close by, lazily watching the youngsters and encouraging WingDings when he gets something right. It fills WingDings with hope and keeps his spirits up despite his many mistakes.

When the sun is getting low Ariel decides to have a little fun with WingDings and takes a snap at him. It isn’t anything malicious, just a playful trick to see if he’s learned anything. Caught off guard, WingDings instinctively jumps back and to his credit he does not trip on his own tail as he does so.

Sans opens one eye as she does this but relaxes when Ariel compliments WingDings and shifts into an upright position. “You did great WingDings,” she says. “You can do it without thinking.”

‘You scared me,’ WingDings huffs, not much appreciating the fright she gave him, but he has to admit it worked. ‘You taught me well.’

Preening at the compliment Ariel stands tall with her shoulders back and arms firm at her sides. “I certainly did,” she says. “Thank you for letting him practice with me Doctor.”

“Thank you for teaching him heiress,” Sans replies before shifting onto four legs.

“By the way he smells funny,” she tells him as he goes. “Might want to take care of that.”

‘I will,’ Sans assures her before grunting.

‘I don’t smell funny,’ WingDings claims as they continue on their way.

‘If heiress says you smell funny, you smell funny,’ Sans tells him, encouraging a grumble from the pup.

When they arrive at the house Papyrus is preparing dinner so Sans takes up the duty of cleaning WingDings this time. The little pup tries to get away, but the elder skeleton cheats, using blue magic to drag him back. All the hard work of the Woshua is undone and WingDings is left smelling like . . . well Sans this time.

What will his brothers think when he gets back home?

He misses them.

After dinner they go to sleep, but unlike the other nights where he slept fitfully, WingDings has a dream. In his dream he is with Ariel, practicing slashing and dodging moves with her. The dream is rather repetitive, going through the same moves he learned over and over again until he becomes sluggish in the dream and no matter what he does his limbs seem to drag. In a last effort to show Ariel he has learned something, he snaps at her.

Instead of harmlessly snapping at her paw he sees a skeletal arm coming from his short muzzle. His eyes pop up and come face to face with his brother Papyrus who looks horrified and in pain.

“WingDings?” he says in a near croak.

Startled WingDings releases his brother’s hand, backing up quickly. He tries to apologize but the only sound that comes out is yips and murmurs.

“Stay back,” Sans appears, taking hold of Papyrus and guiding him backwards.

He’s not sure who says it, since neither Papyrus or Sans’ mouths are moving, but he hears a voice say something he fears.

“He’s an animal.”

Taking in a hard breath, WingDings wakes, eye lights sputtering as he gazes around the nest. There is nothing to be seen except heavy shadows, the only light flickering softly from the clay and stone oven. Before he can stop himself he is whimpering, in fact he doesn’t even notice that sound is coming from him until Papyrus stirs.

The large skeletal blaster lifts his head and reaches over Sans to sniff at WingDings. Smelling his distress, Papyrus hums in response, licking the pups head to let the child know he’s there. ‘What’s wrong pup, nightmare?’ he asks gently, his voice is miraculously as soft as the crackle of flames dying in the hearth.

‘Yes,’ WingDings replies. He is so quiet he can barely hear himself.

Nodding his head, Papyrus gets up, letting Sans slide deeper into the nest undisturbed. The big boned doctor doesn’t stir, remaining dead to the world as he slumbers peacefully.

Papyrus goes over to the milk jar, lifting the lid carefully with his paw while using his tail to scoop a bowl into the liquid. When he comes back he sits down and maneuvers WingDings between his legs protectively and offers the milk to the child.

Tentatively licking the milk WingDings grows more lax as he laps up the warm milk. Behind him, Papyrus is purring, licking WingDings head every once in a while. The gesture reminds WingDings of the nights he’d go to his brother’s after a nightmare. Papyrus would get him a glass of milk, sit him in his lap and just hold him.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Papyrus asks in a vibrating tone.

Another thing his Papyrus would sometimes do. He almost wishes they were nothing alike which would help him think of this Papyrus as someone different. ‘I was practicing with Ariel, but then I accidentally bit . . . your hand,’ WingDings describes simply. He doesn’t know how to explain to Papyrus that it was a different Papyrus in the dream. That it wasn’t actually him, but his brother who is nearly like him.

‘That is scary,’ Papyrus acknowledges. ‘But you could never harm me, even if you did bite my hand.’

‘But I was acting like an animal,’ WingDings says, feeling that the large blaster beast couldn’t understand being what he is.

‘You are NOT an animal,’ Papyrus assures him. ‘You may walk on four legs, but blasters are an intelligent race. We never willfully harm our kin.’

‘We wouldn’t?’ WingDings asks. He doesn’t necessarily believe Papyrus, but he really wants to. He doesn’t want to be an animal.

‘I never lie,’ Papyrus states confidently. ‘Now let’s get back to sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow.’

WingDings nods, but doesn’t immediately move from his place. ‘Can you brighten the fire, darkness scares me,’ WingDings admits to Papyrus.

‘I can,’ Papyrus picks himself up and stokes the flames before returning to the nest.

Feeling much better WingDings curls up against Sans ribs as Papyrus slides in behind his brother.

In the morning WingDings is the first to wake so he occupies his time by playing with bones out in front of the house. He manages to summon three dozen and uses them to work out some numbers and words since he can’t very well write with paws. It is possible for him to write and draw with his tail, but he isn’t very good at it. Not like Amber.

WingDings is in the middle of working out a multiplication problem when he hears a rough short roar of worry from Papyrus. The sound holds a lot of meaning which WingDings interprets as ‘WingDings, No, My Pup, and Where are you,’ all at once.

‘I’m here!’ WingDings immediately shouts to him, leaving his bones and scrambling inside.

What he finds upon entering is a skeletal blaster freaking out by lifting every basket and jar in sight. Moreover Sans is actually awake, although he looks utterly confused with his blue and yellow eyes flashing brightly.

‘WingDings!’ Papyrus drops the basket he has in his snout and rushes up to the child. ‘Where were you? I was worried!’

‘I was practicing bones out front,’ WingDings replies.

‘Oh, oh I see,’ Papyrus’s cheeks glow orange with his magic as he straightens stiffly. ‘That’s all right then.’ He quickly turns and puts the kitchen back in order before busying himself with breakfast.

‘Were you worried about me?’ WingDings asks finding the skeletons response curious.

‘I, the vigilant Papyrus, never worry about such simple things,’ he assures the pup. ‘After all you are an intelligent boy, completely capable of playing outdoors.’

‘It’s okay if you were worried, that means you care,’ WingDings says knowingly.

At first Papyrus doesn’t say anything but eventually he stops being a busy body and answers. ‘I was a little worried, because I do care.’

‘Thank you Papyrus,’ WingDings feels his soul swell with affection.

‘In case it was ever a question . . .’ Sans breaks in, blinking slowly. ‘I care too.’

‘You worried too?!’ Papyrus sounds shocked.

‘No, but I still care,’ Sans yawns. ‘In fact I don’t want to say goodbye to the little guy. I’m not sure what it will do to me.’

‘Sans, he isn’t going anywhere, he’s just a baby bones,’ Papyrus rolls his eyes and gets back to work.

‘Yeah,’ Sans eye lights slide towards WingDings and give the child a potent stare.

This time WingDings doesn’t tell them that he doesn’t plan on staying very long, he feels bad about leaving.

Notes:

I enjoy how WingDings just talks his way pretty much out of every fight, like Toriel teaches the player in the game, and Sans finds this so strange. See you next week.

Chapter 7: Why Bother Explaining?

Notes:

Only warning I can think of is an unhappy puppy getting licked to death.

After eating WingDings receives another bath from Papyrus which he tries to escape more than once. He doesn’t understand why they have to bathe him so often! He likes being clean, insisting on showering or bathing every other day, but getting licked clean twice a day is ridiculous!

‘Hold still!’ Papyrus snaps as WingDings again tries to jump away.

‘I’m clean, you got every bone!’ WingDings cries as the larger skeleton loops his tail around the youngling.

‘I missed your vertebra, clavicle and scapula,’ Papyrus informs him as WingDings plasters himself against a vase, hugging it for dear life.

‘And you’ll have to use a spatula to get me off this pot to get to my scapula!’ WingDings informs him stubbornly.

Sans sputters, choking on a laugh before abruptly stopping. ‘What’s a spatula?’

Papyrus’s gaze narrows at the pup and WingDings smiles up at him sheepishly, a lot of his spunk leaves him when he realizes that Sans really doesn’t know what a spatula is. Such a waste of great word play.

Admitting defeat, Papyrus easily removes WingDings and gives him an extra good cleaning, claiming that the pot he hugged so tightly is filthy. WingDings is still in the middle of his bath when Undyne walks in declaring the day to be better by her mere presence.

“HA, someone looks like they woke up on the wrong side of the nest,” Undyne laughs heartily. She is referring to the look of utter disgust on WingDings face, his eye lights are completely out and he’s hunched forward like a vulture.

‘I woke up just fine,’ WingDings barks. ‘What you see is Papyrus’s doing.’

This only makes Undyne laugh harder as she walks fully into the room. “Come on I think he’ll be smelling like you all day,” she assures Papyrus. “We best get going anyway.” When the blaster lowers his head to think on this Undyne gives WingDings a wink.

Smiling brightly WingDings picks up on how Undyne is assisting him in his petty plight, but as soon as Papyrus catches wind of the child’s smile the skeleton drops his grin, feigning ignorance.

It feels like longer than a few seconds to WingDings, but eventually Papyrus answers. ‘Hmm, very well,’ Papyrus nods his head and releases WingDings.

WingDings has to clamp his paws over his mouth to keep himself from saying something that betrays his utmost joy at being free from his bath.

Wishing them well, the pair of warriors disappears leaving WingDings to celebrate by racing around the room with pent up energy. When he eventually stops Sans takes the opportunity to surprise him by letting his large tongue loll out of his mouth and give WingDings a slobbery lick up his spine and the back of his skull.

A high pitched and electric scream pierces the air as WingDings jumps up and runs for his life from the room. Sans winces, but is laughing less than a second later. ‘Don’t go far,’ Sans chuckles.

When Sans has gather his things and WingDings is calm they set off into town making house calls to a new slew of faces. Like the previous day the four families Sans meets with before lunch are taking care of the young while their spouses are out and about. The last large Froggit family they meet is only a little different in that the father and children are working in the fields, checking the corn and picking what is ripe.

For every visit, WingDings is challenged and every time he manages to avoid a confrontation. After lunch instead of making more house visits San goes into the market and does some shopping, buying food and new jars to replace what he has used. They also go out behind the house where Sans has a personal garden. He is growing herbs, roots, and other specific plants.

Ever the curious skeleton, WingDings asks about what the plants do and Sans gladly answers. He also helps Sans pick some of the plants and mark down the number he’s collected on a piece of papyrus. In the late afternoon when most everyone is heading indoors because of the heat, Sans takes WingDings to the royal courtyard where Ariel is waiting.

“You’re all better?!” Ariel asks in amazement, moving around WingDings and getting a good look at him.

‘Yep,’ WingDings chimes.

“That’s amazing!” Ariel says. “You really do heal fast!”

“Papyrus and I have also been cleaning him a lot,” Sans chuckles from the steps of the scribes’ library. He is in his humanoid form, stretched out fully in the shade created by the large nearby trees.

‘Is that why you keep cleaning me!?’ WingDings shouts indignantly.

“One of the reasons,” Sans tells him. “Not going to stop us from cleaning you even if you are fully healed.”

“Uhhhrrrrr,” WingDings grumbles, lifting his head up to the sky and letting it fall back in an exaggerated show of displeasure.

“Don’t like getting clean huh?” Ariel laughs at him, earning an unamused glare from WingDings.

‘I do, I just don’t think getting licked to death is sanitary!’ WingDings states, pounding one paw into the ground.

The blaster pup is dead serious, but Ariel just thinks it a joke and continues to laugh at him. WingDings is insulted, but a knowing blue eyed look from Sans placates him. If Sans wasn’t there he would have snapped at her, he knows that with certainty.

“Well, now that you’re well we can actually practice for real,” she tells him and shifts onto all fours.

WingDings readies himself, pushing his stance low and holding his tail still. He wants to appear serious even if he really isn’t.

Pleased with his stance, since it’s becoming of a baby bones, she takes a high stance, keeping her head high and shoulders back to show that she is superior. She makes the first move, darting forward then hopping back. When she scurries forward again WingDings chooses to fall flat on his chest his limbs sprawled outward uselessly.

Caught off guard Ariel digs her heels in and stops before getting too close to WingDings. Slowly she moves closer, her gaze narrow and guarded as she nears him, wondering if he is capable of tricks. The only one who has seen his ‘tricks’ is Amber and WingDings rather doubts they see each other on a regular basis. Waiting till she’s nearly on top of him, WingDings lifts his head and licks the side of her muzzle.

Immediately her face blushes red and WingDings knows that he has implemented his plan perfectly. If Frisk were here, the ultimate flirt master, they would be proud.

Darting backwards, Ariel sputters and wipes her cheek trying to understand just what WingDings did. When she looks back at him, WingDings gives her his ‘large eye light puppy look’. Like magic she’s blushing even harder while yelling at him about how he isn’t playing by the rules.

Meanwhile, Sans is laughing, hiding his face partially as he tries to hold it in. Apparently his pup hates fighting so strongly he’ll use just about any trick in the book to get out of it, even playing a little dirty. He’s secretly impressed.

“That isn’t how it’s done!” Ariel shouts as she shifts upright, pulling her arms up close to her chest as she glares down at the pup.

WingDings hopes he hasn’t just destroyed his chances of getting up the pyramid again, but he has a feeling her anger is momentary.

‘I just wanted to thank you,’ WingDings says innocently.

Ariel is stiff, her head facing away while her eyes study him askance. Patiently, WingDings keeps looking at her with large eyes and eventually she caves. “Well you could have just told me,” she says shuffling a foot in the ground.

‘But I wanted to show you,’ WingDings answers.

“You can show me by doing what I taught you,” Ariel says, holding her head high and repeating the mantra as if she is reassuring herself of it’s validity.

Before WingDings can offer a comeback the blare of a horn rumbles through the air. WingDings stops and looks around as the forest is hushed into silence. Normally the horn only blows in the morning, telling everyone to man the fields, but this is different.

From atop the pyramid, Toriel bounds into action, shifting part way down into an enormous beast. She is much larger than Papyrus and is covered in a thick white fur and mane. ‘Watch over the children and the doctor,’ she roars at her guard as she races passed. The guard she is referring to shifts into her beast form motioning for the children to join Sans as he moves inside the scribes library.

WingDings doesn’t question it, feeling more than a little confused and worried as Sans pulls the pup into his lap. Looking around, the scribes are all huddled together, no longer pouring over their scrolls and tables. Ariel sits beside her guard near the entrance of the building, but remains out of sight. The uncomfortable atmosphere doesn’t last long when the horn blasts again, only this time in two short bursts.

“It is safe now,” Ariel tells everyone.

The scribes sigh in relief, murmuring their thankfulness before getting back to work. Sans shifts and places WingDings into his ribs, telling the heiress and guard that he will be returning home for the evening. They let him go asking that he still remain vigilant as he travels.

As they near their home Papyrus, Undyne, and Toriel pass them all in their large beast forms. In Toriel’s mouth dangles an injured warrior, a cat like beast with bright orange fur. WingDings finds it strange that none of them acknowledged Sans as they pass, the most they get is a sad nod from Papyrus. Sans doesn’t even offer to heal the badly injured monster in Toriel’s mouth, instead the doctor merely moves off the main road and keeps his head low as they pass, only moving again when she is out of sight.

‘Why not go with her?’ WingDings chirps when he can keep silent no longer. ‘Can’t you help him?’

‘He is her enemy,’ Sans reveals solemnly. ‘I cannot help unless she asks for it.’

‘Her enemy?’ WingDings asks.

‘He’s from Asgore’s clan,’ he says as they enter the house. The first thing Sans does is gently deposit WingDings in the nest before preparing a meal for them.

‘Are Asgore and Toriel not friends?’ WingDings asks finding the notion strange and unlike them.

“They are mates, but often have disagreements,” Sans explains now in his bipedal form. “Over a decade ago they had a litter of pups but when Asgore attempted to kill the weak pups, as is the custom with Alpha’s, Toriel stopped him. Unwilling to see him kill their pups she left with Ariel, the strongest of the brood, and started up a clan of her own. Most of the females in his clan ended up leaving Asgore including Undyne and Muffet. Alphys would join years later. With their power and influence they built a matriarchal clan which is where you are today.’

WingDings listens intently, wondering partially at the absurdity of killing your own young. It’s horrible and barbaric. It also isn’t logical, since he knows the young typically don’t live to adulthood in their society. ‘So . . . were you a part of Asgore’s clan too?’ WingDings asks.

Whether its poor timing or intentional Sans cannot answer since he is busy chewing WingDings meal. When he is finished chewing, he gives WingDings his food and doesn’t bother answering the question.

Taking note of this WingDings stubbornly asks again. ‘Did you come from Asgore’s clan?’

“Yeah,” Sans answers lazily, making himself up a plate of food.

‘Why did you leave?’ WingDings presses.

“Killing young is wrong,” Sans answers.

‘Is that the only reason?’

“No.”

WingDings is growing frustrated with Sans short and straightforward answers. ‘What were the other reasons?’ he asks, his eyes sparking momentarily with red.

“Look, pup, you aren’t going to be here very long, so there is no point telling ya,” Sans tells him.

Hurt and angry, WingDings stands and leaves the room. Sans is right of course, which is why it bothers the child so much that he would say it like that. Without looking back, WingDings steps outside the door of the home, but doesn’t go any further, just waiting and staring at the damp earth.

He doesn’t know how long he stays outside sulking, but it’s long enough for the sun to disappear and Papyrus to return. Looking down at the child, Papyrus nuzzles him, licking the side of his face. When WingDings only responds with a lack luster smile, Papyrus picks him up with his mouth and carries him inside.

When the child is lowered into the nest his meal isn’t there, having been moved near the oven to keep it warm. Sans returns the plate to WingDings, but the child doesn’t look up to see the worry and concern there. “I’m sorry son, I shouldn’t have said that,” Sans tells him reaching forward but stopping just before he can touch his skull.

‘You’re right though,’ WingDings meows, a different kind of sound from him that shows his distress. ‘I shouldn’t have asked.’

“You have every right too,” Sans closes the gap and lightly rubs WingDings skull. “I shouldn’t have been so secretive.”

‘What did he ask?’ Papyrus asks, laying down to enjoy the meal Sans has prepared for him.

“Why we left Asgore’s Clan,” Sans says.

‘Ah!’ Papyrus nods in understanding. ‘You must forgive your father WingDings, that part of our lives isn’t the brightest time, very tragic. I was forced to work the fields even though I wanted to be a guard and Sans was Asgore’s Judge even though he wanted to be a doctor. We lost a lot on the journey to get here.’

‘Oh,’ WingDings answers, blinking a few times. He doesn’t understand why Sans would want to be so secretive about that. There must be something he isn’t understanding. ‘But Papyrus you make a great guard and weren’t you supposed to be a doctor Sans? You said you’re . . . our family is doctors.’

‘That I am!’ Papyrus answers before Sans can say anything, if he was planning on elaborating at all. ‘But we are the last of our kind and Asgore didn’t want us all to be in danger. It’s dangerous traveling . . . it’s understandable.’

“As for myself, I have a special . . . magic and Asgore found me more useful as his executioner than a doctor,” Sans elaborates.

‘Executioner,’ WingDings eyes widen. An executioner kills people, that’s the complete opposite of what a doctor wants to do. ‘I can see why you left.’

“Glad you agree,” Sans drops his hand from WingDings skull and sits more comfortably in the nest, enjoying his meal with his family. When they are finishing up, Sans says something that only WingDings will fully understand. “Even if you aren’t with us long, I’ll still think of you as mine, if that’s all right with you.”

He waits for WingDings response and although Papyrus looks bewildered he doesn’t interrupt or ask.

‘I am . . . Father,’ WingDings smiles and then looks at Papyrus. ‘Uncle.’

Sans grin grows even wider and Papyrus is brought to tears upon being referred to as an uncle for the first time. Unable to contain himself, Papyrus begins licking WingDings all over earning a squeal from the child as he attempts to escape again.

Notes:

Short chapter, but this portion ended on the note I wanted it to.

Chapter 8: One Step Back

Notes:

Warnings are momentary death and tickles. Both of which I toned down when I edited this.

The next day is much like the first although everyone is a bit guarded and quiet during Sans doctor visits. At least the adults are, the children are even more apt to try play fighting with WingDings which makes his job a bit harder than the last three days.

One of the homes they visit is the mouse monster Sasha.

“Did you hear the news about yesterday?” she tells them as soon as they come inside her hut.

“What did I tell you about staying in your small form?” Sans sighs as he takes a seat in front of her.

“Oh I’m all better doctor,” to prove it she shifts into her large form which is so big she has to hunch over as to not hit her own roof. Proving her point she turns small again. “Thank you so much for helping me. Your medicine really is the work of the gods.” Reaching forward she not only returns his jars but pays him in gold. “I will miss our chats though,” she giggles.

Sans smiles at her, accepting her pay and putting it in his satchel. “Let me know if you start feeling sick again and don’t push yourself too hard,” Sans instructs her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll pace myself,” she pats his hand with her paw. “But before you go, do you know anything more about the spy the guards found last night. I heard he was found by your brother.”

“Yes, he and Undyne found a warrior in our territory,” Sans replies easily, causing WingDings to look up at him in surprise. He didn’t think Sans would be so forth coming with information to a gossiper like Sasha. “Papyrus asked him to leave, but when he didn’t and attacked, Toriel sounded the alarm. She brought him in for questioning last night and Papyrus doesn’t know what happened after that.”

“How awful,” Sasha pats her whiskered cheek. “I do hope Asgore isn’t trying to take us all back.”

“Nah, he respects Toriel,” Sans assures her. “I’m sure it’s some other reason.”

“But this monster isn’t the first from his clan to trespass recently,” Sasha reminds him. “Something needs to be done.”

“The Alpha and Elders have it under control,” Sans assures her.

Sasha smiles honestly and nods her head. “I know you do, I just worry easily.”

Sans gives her a wink before shifting and carrying WingDings outside to continue on with their day. In the late afternoon Sans brings WingDings back to the royal courtyard where Ariel is waiting.

While they spar, Sans waits in the shade again, relaxing and barely watching with his eyes closed. This time around WingDings is forced to move around a bit more, but he does use the trick of faking clumsiness to keep her guessing, often times sending her sailing over his head, tripping on him and face planting in the mud. As can be expected she doesn’t appreciate getting muddy, but she gets her revenge when she defeats him by licking at him, sending the poor boy to his knees and elbows, begging her to stop.

“I can play dirty too,” she tells him, wiping herself off and picking him up onto his four feet. “But you did good, you actually tried this time. As your reward let’s go to the top of the pyramid!” She quickly looks to Sans. “If that’s all right with you.”

Sans doesn’t answer immediately, gazing at WingDings with low brows and the closest to a frown he can get. As he watches the skeleton, WingDings wonders momentarily if Sans will keep him from going. Impede him from getting his soul and trap him here, just like Mettaton did.

In the end Sans lets out a gentle sigh and nods his head remorsefully. “Sure, you can take him,” Sans finally says.

Filled with an emotion WingDings can’t put a single word to, he bounds up to Sans and leaps onto his chest, snuggling his muzzle against the skeletons ribs. Sans laughs and pets the child’s skull. “It wasn’t long but I’ll miss you,” Sans tells him softly so Ariel can’t hear.

When he hears that WingDings is filled with an emotion he doesn’t understand. For the first time he considers the idea of returning to a place, wanting to come back and at least visit. Sure he hates living in a muggy hot forest, but he does care about Sans and Papyrus, even Ariel and Undyne. He wants to see them again someday.

Saying goodbye isn’t good enough.

He’ll find a way to come back.

He’s determined to find a way back.

‘I’ll miss you too, father,’ WingDings says figuring it might be the last time he ever gets to use the title.

“You okay?” Ariel asks, not understand what she is witnessing.

‘Yeah let’s go,’ WingDings says and bounces up alongside her until he decides to make a race of it and passes her.

“Hey, no fair!” Ariel yells, shifting and chasing after him.

In the end she proves to be the faster runner and makes it to the top first. When they reach it, WingDings looks out over the forest with her, watching the monsters and studying the unique structure of the aqueducts. It really is a beautiful view and it isn’t a bad way to leave a world. He even got to say goodbye to Sans. The surrogate father is just a few steps beneath them, enjoying the view with them but still sporting that sad almost mournful smile.

Taking a deep breath, WingDings scans the horizon with the fading sun one last time before turning and walking into the house.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!” Ariel says, scampering after him.

“Ariel can I come in?” Sans asks, distracting Ariel momentarily as she considers his proposition.

“Uh, well, only Mom can give you permission . . . WingDings don’t go any further!” Ariel scrambles after him, but WingDings is already in front of the lavish pot.

Ignoring her and focusing his magic, WingDings calls to the piece of his soul and brings it forward out of the pot. Sans, Ariel and the guard who has also followed after them all watch in wonder as the white piece floats towards WingDings exposed and broken soul.

For a second he has a strange thought, considering the things he’s leaving behind like his cell phone, but he is eager to return, surely his brother will understand. ‘Goodbye,’ WingDings says and with that he accepts the broken piece.

A cold blackness surrounds him and WingDings does his best not to be afraid, but this is the first time he’s crossed over without someone there to help him. He can see a light in the distance and reaches for it, but then something heavy hits his body and he falls to an unseen floor. With a grinding crack that echoes painfully in his skull, WingDings soul weighs him down like an anchor.

Seeing his plight, Frisk appears in the shadow between time and space, reaching out to him and trying to bring him back, but Frisk can’t. He doesn’t look right, like some kind of skeleton dog, a Gaster Blaster with a body, but Frisk knows it’s him despite the change.

“WingDings!” Frisk shout his name as he tries to lift his head. He smiles at them but it is a grin that hides his fear and pain. Frisk reaches over to his soul and check his stats.

Their gut clenches at the sight. Nearly everything is in the single digits, but aside from his dropping HP the most alarming thing is his magic points, usually an unknown stat, which rest at a bleak one. “WingDings you don’t have enough magic to cross,” Frisk tells him. “You have to go back.”

WingDings tries to speak to Frisk but they can’t understand him, it sounds like something between a beeping phone and a crying cat.

“Please, you need more magic,” Frisk shoves at him with tears in their eyes. “Go . . .”

At that moment something like glass shatters and the pieces of his soul scatter, connected only by thin red strings.

“NO!” Frisk screams and time stops. In front of WingDings Frisk can see two words glow in yellow and they gasp at the familiarity of them.

Load and Continue.

A skeletal hand that doesn’t belong to WingDings appears out of the darkness and presses the load option. Instantly Frisk is released from the darkness and WingDings is sent back in time to the very moment he was in Sans arms determined to return to him.

In a way his wish has been granted.

“You okay?” a young female voice asks.

WingDings head snaps back and he sees Ariel standing there, looking at Sans and him in confusion. “We don’t have to climb the pyramid if you don’t want to?”

‘Uh, no no, I do want to climb it,’ WingDings scrambles, growing pale even as he says it. ‘I really . . .’ he lowers his head and trembles despite himself. His determination quickly leaves him along with whatever else it is he wanted to say.

Pulling him closer, Sans hugs the child tighter, lifting the corner of WingDings poncho to glance at the child’s soul. As expected he is in distress, he’ll have to treat the pup again tonight, preferably when he’s fallen asleep. WingDings doesn’t know it but Sans had to give his soul some medicine after the first reload. The pup’s soul isn’t in any immediate danger, but having a piece reunited only to be ripped out again does put stress on his soul and body.

“Another time,” Sans tells Ariel, rubbing WingDings back. “He just worked too hard.”

Ariel’s eyes widen and she looks down to her feet in guilt. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed him,” she doesn’t bow her head to Sans, but she does tip her head showing just how much she wishes to make amends. “I failed him again.”

“No Ariel, I’m the one who failed him again,” Sans tells her. Peeking at Ariel’s guard Sans lifts a hand towards the young girl and puts a hand on her head. “You have done nothing wrong,” he assures her one eye glowing. “Don’t carry any shame on this matter.”

Lifting her head Ariel’s eyes widen in understanding and she nods her head. “Thank you Doctor,” she tells him, folding her hands up against her chest.

“Thank you for looking out for WingDings,” he tells her with a wink, removing his hand from her head.

“I will continue to do so,” she assures him. “I’ll see you tomorrow WingDings.”

‘Okay,’ he says with a smile that doesn’t reach very far. ‘Thank you for today.’

“You’re very welcome,” Ariel says. “Feel better soon.”

‘I will,’ he says and they part ways.

Back at the house Papyrus is there waiting and senses the melancholy as soon as the two walk in. The honorary uncle doesn’t ask questions but bundles WingDings up, gives him a dish of food and settles close behind him, humming a simple tune that rumbles against the child’s spine. After finishing his meal WingDings is extremely drowsy, accepting a bath without complaint and falling asleep sometime in the middle of it.

When he wakes Papyrus and Sans are moving around the kitchen, although Sans is completing his tasks at a much slower pace than his brother. This includes the meal he is attempting to chew.

Standing to his feet, WingDings trots up to Sans and sits on his foot. This simple act wakes the skeleton and he chews a little faster. As soon as he’s finished he sets the plate down for WingDings to enjoy. The child uses his tongue to eat it, wondering if he’ll ever get to eat normally again. Sans has made a point of not shifting him which is saddening to the pup.

At least now he doesn’t feel as debilitated in this form or as animalistic.

“Hey! Who’s ready to go out and find some wimpy wanna be warriors!” Undyne burst into the room, jumping onto Papyrus’s back and hanging onto him.

Arms spinning out like miniature propellers and twisting back on one leg Papyrus manages to regain his balance and pulls himself upright. “Undyne, must you do that?” he complains, continuing to clean the kitchen space with the fish woman plastered against his back.

“Yes!” Undyne shouts, reaching over him and eating a scrape of meat left behind. “You guys really are the best at preparing meat! How do you do it?”

“With passion!” Papyrus says.

“And good seasoning,” Sans adds.

“Yes that too, sometimes too much passion makes it mushy,” Papyrus admits.

Turning around to look at WingDings, Undyne points a finger down at the monster she’s hitching a ride on. “I ask them that a lot and they always tell me the same thing!” she tells the pup. “I keep burning down my house when I try to cook anything. Every time I get really into it! It’s so much fun and I’m so good at it everything ends up on fire.”

“That’s why she’s the only one who lives outside the walls,” Sans tells WingDings. If WingDings didn’t know how passionate and scary Undyne could be he might question the safety of living outside the city.

“But that’s okay,” Papyrus assures WingDings needlessly. “She’s the strongest warrior here! She can take care of herself.”

‘Not if she keeps burning down her own house,’ WingDings giggles.

“Say something pup?!” Undyne’s grin becomes intense, stiff with her sharp teeth.

‘There is no one as amazing as you,’ WingDings amends sweetly.

“And I won’t let you forget it,” Undyne says.

WingDings smile becomes crafty. ‘So how did you burn down your house again?’

“I told you it was with my amazing passion for cooking,” Undyne replies.

‘But you said you wouldn’t let me forget it, so I thought I’d give you the opportunity to tell me again.’

“And I don’t like repeating myself.”

‘But you repeat yourself all the time,’ WingDings tail is wagging now. ‘You just said you’ve asked Papyrus and Sans how they cook more than once. So that means your repeat yourself all the time.”

“Do I now,” Undyne unlatches herself from Papyrus’s back and leans over the pup. The pup is a little nervous but stubbornly refuses to show it, smiling up at her with innocent glee. “Well seeing you fills me with passion . . . to tickle you to death.”

WingDings smile drops. Crud she really is like the Undyne he knows. Pushing his legs up WingDings scrambles to run, but he’s already in her arms getting his ribs tickled.

She doesn’t hurt him, careful to hold him properly, even when he is inevitably upside down she tickles him safely and effectively. By the time she’s done with him he is burning red and unable to breathe, a fit of giggles and jittering bones in the nest.

“Bye Sans, bye WingDings, be good!” Papyrus calls.

“Like I’d ever be bad,” Sans chuckles.

‘Bad to the bone,’ WingDings adds, it’s shame that saying isn’t a thing in this time period.

“You know what I meant,” Papyrus stomps out with Undyne calling back over her shoulder.

“Just you wait WingDings there is more of that to come!” Undyne shouts.

Her threat sends WingDings up in a jolt and scurrying up into one of the wicker baskets, hiding from view.

After collecting his things and giving WingDings a bath, Sans goes about his business as a doctor which ends when they meet Ariel in the royal courtyard. When they are finished sparing Ariel takes WingDings to the top of the pyramid and this time the child doesn’t even look at the house behind him. Its odd seeing the stunning view a third time with all the monsters strolling the streets and fields with rays of light sprinkled through the dense trees. Despite how his previous trips to the top of the pyramid ended, he still loves the view.

He thanks Ariel for taking him to the top to which she gleefully says that it is her pleasure and that she hopes they can do it daily.

When they return home and are in the middle of eating dinner the horn sounds and a guard is placed outside their door until Papyrus returns home. Another spy is found and the city wakes in a nervous silence the follow day. For the next three days, the small family goes on like this with the rival clans appearance becoming more frequent. Not only is Asgore’s clan sending spies, but another clan as well. Grillby.

Marking the eleventh day of his arrival WingDings is once more left in Chu’s care, spending the night with Amber while the elders meet because of the spies. Papyrus would be watching him except he was invited to attend the meeting as well, which is odd.

‘What are they meeting about?’ WingDings asks Chu as he offers the children a snack of tortilla’s.

‘Don’t you know?’ Amber says. ‘They’re worried about rival clansman trespassing. There have been seven now.’

‘First warrior aside, they have been docile for the most part,’ Chu adds, munching on a tortilla along with them. ‘At least those from Asgore’s clan.’

‘Do the elders know what they want?’ WingDings asks. The truth is that WingDings is well aware of what they are meeting about, but he wants to know if Chu or Amber knows anything else. Sasha’s gossip is interesting, but that doesn’t make it accurate.

‘Asgore wants to form an alliance of some kind,’ Chu replies. ‘But Toriel is always wary of alliances made with her first mate.’

‘An alliance for what reason?’ WingDings wants details. He wants to know how this will affect his new life and if it will come in between him and his access to the pyramid where the piece of his soul still waits.

‘Hmm, if I had to take a guess . . .’ Chu’s gaze goes to a daughter who looks up at him blissfully unaware of the dilemma battling itself out between her father’s eyes. ‘It’s sickness.’

‘Sickness?’ WingDings ask, hoping that the large scaly monster will elaborate.

‘Yes, that’s the reason my mate and I left,’ Chu reaches forward and glides a clawed hand gently over his daughters head. ‘We didn’t join Toriel’s clan until five years ago when our family was hit with illness.’

WingDings contemplates this and looks at Amber with new eyes. Most families in this world have large families which makes it odd that Alphys and Chu only have one daughter. Moreover Sans made it clear that he didn’t lose most, if any, patients who were sick. This meant that Alphys only came to the tribe after she’d lost her hatchlings.

Save for Amber.

Watching the pieces come together on WingDings face Chu smiles at the boy. ‘You are a perceptive child,’ Chu remarks bringing Amber closer to his side as she continues to munch on her snack.

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ WingDings says bowing his head and licking Chu’s hand in a sign of comfort.

‘It was a long time ago and we still have Amber, the bright gem of our live. . . we weren’t the only ones to lose our families, like Sans,’ Chu licks both WingDings and Ambers faces and doesn’t elaborate. ‘Now who here wants to learn how to write?’

The rest of the evening is spent learning new words and writing which WingDings enjoys much more than Amber. At some point they fall asleep and WingDings wakes snuggled against Sans ribs.

Yawing wide WingDings patters up beside Papyrus who reaches down to pet his head before putting a bowl of milk down for him to drink while he waits from the rest of his meal. “It’s going to get busy around here,” Papyrus tells him before putting some food in his mouth and chewing it for WingDings.

The child patiently waits for Papyrus to continue explaining once his meal is finished.

When he sets WingDings food down Papyrus picks up another plate for himself. “I’ll start with the good news!” his uncle says. “The Alpha has decided to hold a celebration welcoming you as an official part of the clan. We’ll have some friendly bouts and lots of food.”

“Like a boar?” WingDings asks, remember what Undyne said last week.

‘Well, we’d hate the party to end up a bore,’ Sans chimes in, waking just enough to barely see the white glow of his eye.

“You couldn’t just let that pass could you Sans?” Papyrus huffs.

‘Nope,’ Sans yawns, showing off his jagged teeth and clacking his jaw as he bites down again. WingDings likes the sound of bones clicking but obviously Papyrus doesn’t agree and he flinches at the sound.

“Honestly Sans, we have a lot to do today,” Papyrus throws Sans breakfast onto a platter and sets it onto the floor, not bothering to bring it over to him.

Rather than walk over properly, Sans drags himself over, sliding his head and upper body towards his breakfast as his hind legs propel him forward. WingDings giggles at the sight, licking up his meal.

“We’ll get you some fancy clothes, oh and a matching bracelet like Sans and I,” Papyrus bobs up and down joyfully at the thought.

‘Was this party what Toriel wanted to talk about last night?’ WingDings asks.

‘Yes and no,’ Sans mumbles through his food.

“Sans, don’t talk with your mouth full, we can hardly tell what you’re saying,” Papyrus scolds him but it lacks any bite. “The party is just a happy conclusion to what was settled on by the elders.”

‘Yeah, apparently a bad pestilence is affecting Asgore’s clan,’ Sans explains, this time without food in his mouth. ‘He wants me to go back for a short time to heal everyone.’

‘Is it safe?’ WingDings asks before remembering what this could mean about his soul. He lifts his head fully and literally jumps at Sans side, pawing at him in concern. ‘I can’t leave my soul piece!’

“Don’t worry pup we’ll get the wayward piece of your soul before we leave,” Papyrus assure him. Apparently Sans has told Papyrus everything that is going on which kind of surprises the child. Sans is known for keeping things to himself, but apparently this Sans is a little different.

‘But . . . I’ll have to go with you,’ WingDings tells them, focusing on the aftermath such a choice will have on him.

“Don’t worry WingDings, we’ll be safe,” Papyrus continues while Sans licks the pups head good-naturedly. “Sans has an antidote for us so we won’t get sick and Undyne will be coming with us. She’s on good terms with Asgore so it’s unlikely he’ll do anything rash.”

‘He would be stupid to do anything after we agreed to help him out of the goodness of our souls,’ Sans points out, nuzzling WingDings towards his breakfast and encouraging him to keep eating.

‘When do we leave,’ WingDings asks before lowering his head into his food.

“The day after your initiation into the clan,” Papyrus says. “Which is the day after tomorrow. That is in three days time. We have a lot to do!”

“Hey where’s the newest member of the clan!” Undyne shouts. “Aunty Undyne is here to offer you more awesome tickles!”

‘I’m eating,’ WingDings sputters with his mouth full, huddling over his meal possessively.

“Oh fine, you can eat in peace,” Undyne says flipping her arms up and sagging into their nest in an exaggerate fall. “Don’t say I didn’t do nothing for ya.”

“Can I count on you to get everything packed Sans?” Papyrus asks his brother.

‘No problem,’ Sans shrugs which only encourages a suspicious glance from the tall blaster.

Before leaving Papyrus writes out a list of things for Sans to prepare telling his brother not to bother with new clothing yet since he wants to help with that when he gets back. “He’s such a responsible monster, isn’t he?” Sans says clearly impressed with his younger brother.

‘So are you,’ WingDings tells him.

“Heh, I try to be son,” Sans says and gets ready for their day.

Notes:

Longer chapter to make up for last week. So WingDings can’t go home yet because his magic is out of whack in this world. Also partially because he didn’t want to leave. This will be a major plot device in later stories so I wanted to establish the rules about it early on. At the moment this series has about twenty-six stories in all, just to give you an idea of how . . . massive this project is.

See you next week, thanks for reading.

Chapter 9: Here to Stay

Notes:

Beware the long chapter. Warning for pre-chewed food and putting unrealistic pressure on a six year old.

Their day is incredibly busy, Sans rushes through his home visits before getting a quick bite to eat and going to the market. While buying some unique roots, WingDings waits by Sans feet munching on a tortilla Miss Muffet gave to him. As he waits, Papyrus shows up and they go to find him some nice clothes for his big night. WingDings isn’t thrilled with shopping for clothes, but he remembers his manners and puts up with the hour long dress up session with as much grace as is possible for a six year old.

The best part of his day is when they take him to the royal court to hang out with Ariel. “I heard the good news, you’ll be joining our clan!” she hugs and licks his head.

‘It sounds like fun,’ WingDings says as happily as he can manage. He doesn’t really know what to expect from the party other than lots of food, some mock fights, and musical entertainment. There is also the journey to Asgore to consider after that but he doesn’t know how many people know about it. Most everyone they’ve met today has only mentioned the party.

“Show a little more excitement!” Ariel bats his head lightly. “We’ll be celebrating you after all.”

WingDings isn’t sure how he feels about that. It’s awkward thinking that they’re making such a big deal over him.

“Don’t worry WingDings, I’ll be right beside you,” she tells him proudly. “And your family.”

Despite still feeling nervous he smiles his perfect little grin and closes his eyes in a way he knows looks cute. ‘Thank you heiress,’ he says.

“You’re quite welcome!” she puffs up like she always does when praised. “Let’s have a practice fight, it will help your nerves.”

While WingDings rather doubts fighting will help him, he knows better than to contradict the girl.

For the remainder of the day WingDings play fights with Ariel while Sans and Papyrus continue to get ready. When they pick him up they look very tired, but they go through the motions of feeding and cleaning him before starting the same thing over again the following day. This time he stays with Chu and Amber. While Chu works copying scrolls on new parchment Amber and WingDings works on writing and basic arithmetic. WingDings is used to doing harder algebra, but he doesn’t want Amber to dislike him.

It’s well into the afternoon when Ariel shows up at the home announcing that she is there to retrieve WingDings for their afternoon practice fight. Chu respectfully allows WingDings to go with Amber pouting at the loss of her fellow scholar. Doing math is a lot easier with him around.

WingDings doesn’t put up much of a fight, distracted by the change in his schedule and what tomorrow might look like.

“WingDings heads up!” Ariel shouts just in time for a blaze of fire to soar straight at the small blasters skull.

Reflexively, WingDings yelps in fear and fires a burst of magic from his maw forcing the fire to branch out around him harmlessly. Breathing heavily, WingDings rattles and blinks in shock, before snapping at Ariel. ‘Hey, that was mean!’ he growls.

She laughs at him and gives him a smile. “That was great! You didn’t even have to think about it,” Ariel nods her head as if she’d been the one to teach him that. WingDings rolls his eyes and since her eyes are closed she misses it. “Now you’ll be ready to face my brothers and sisters.”

“Your brothers and sisters?” WingDings asks.

The normally brazen young goat beast takes the time to look around cautiously and be sure there is no one within ear shot aside from her guard. “Mom told me you’ll be going to my father’s clan with the Doctor. That’s why we’re doing your initiation into the clan in such a rush.”

WingDings can only nod, remembering the story his Father Sans told him about Asgore and Toriel’s circumstances.

“You’re his guests so don’t let him scare you,” she tells him sagely. “He’ll be on his best behavior, but he’s still an Alpha so you have to show him respect.”

“Is he still bad?” WingDings asks, specifically thinking of how he at one time considered killing her siblings.

“He’s just doing what he thinks is best,” she answers calmly, a rare solemn expression on her face showing she is genuinely concerned. It’s one of the only times her ego takes a back seat. “He’s changed over my lifetime though, he’s less stubborn.”

She hesitates to say more, but WingDings is patient and she adds almost guiltily.

“But he’s desperate.”

It sounds like a warning and it does nothing to ease WingDings worries.

Noticing his crestfallen slump despite his plastered grin Ariel rushes to fix it. “But you’ll be with Undyne and Papyrus, the strongest warriors in the clan,” she tells him. “They’ll take good care of you.”

WingDings hastily gives her a larger grin and sits straighter. ‘You’re right,’ he gurgles.

After Ariel looks torn as to what to say she finally just rushes forward and hugs him. “I’m going to miss you,” she says. “Before I met you Mom wouldn’t let me train anyone, saying I wasn’t responsible enough yet. But you changed that.”

Always up for a hug, WingDings lifts one paw around her to return the gesture. ‘I’ll miss you too,’ he says.

Breaking away Ariel licks his cheek and brings him up the pyramid to enjoy the sunset. When Papyrus and Sans send word that they’ll be late, Toriel invites WingDings into their home to enjoy dinner together. Needless to say WingDings is a little uncomfortable sitting on his small woven chair at a low table with the piece of his soul pestering him just one room away.

‘Thank you for having me,’ WingDings says politely. He is sitting next to the guard who is the most relaxed he’s ever seen her since he met her all those weeks ago.

“It’s our pleasure,” Toriel says, taking a seat as they are attended by servants.

They place a plate of pre-chewed food in front of WingDings and the child feels himself grow pale. He . . . isn’t expected to eat this right? It’s bad enough eating something from his father’s and uncle’s mouth but the mouth of some stranger!?!

“Go ahead and eat,” Ariel encourages him taking a big bite of her own meal. “It’s okay to eat in our presence.”

If WingDings wasn’t expecting such an egotistical response he might have called her out on it, but luckily for him Toriel is the one who speaks up and lightly reprimands her daughter. Still, it doesn’t help with his current predicament. He’s never eaten with royalty before and doesn’t know the rules, but with the way everyone is looking at him he’s feeling extremely pressured.

Even the servants are staring and they normally never make eye contact with anyone.

Leaning forward WingDings tentatively reaches towards the food with his tongue. When the very tip of it touches the food, he flicks his tongue back into his mouth and smiles at them. ‘That was delicious, I’m full,’ he grins.

Everyone continues to stare at him which clues him in that he isn’t fooling anyone, which is fair since he couldn’t even fool himself with that display. Beside him the guard is trying to keep a straight face, but her face is glowing red as she holds her breath back with her laughter.

“Your father informed me you need more magic than the average pup,” Toriel tells him with a stern look, not bothering to lower her chin to look down at him. “You need to eat.”

‘But it was in someone’s mouth!’ WingDings yelps, blurting it out like the average distraught six-year-old would.

Everyone in the room holds their breath collectively and WingDings feels his fear of Toriel battle it out with his determination to chuck the food out the door and watch it roll down the narrow pyramid steps. Nervously Ariel and the servant’s eyes slide over to look at Toriel who is clutching her fists together under the table.

“. . . Apparently your father has neglected to teach you manners,” Toriel answers instantly making WingDings feel shame. Bringing his Father Sans into this is different. He doesn’t care if he gets punished, but if Sans does because of something he did, that hurts. “Which gives us the perfect opportunity right now. You’ll need to know this for tomorrow night. Zelten.”

The guard beside him, smothers her giggles and sits straighter. “Help him shift,” Toriel tells the guard.

Before WingDings can think about what is happening the guard nods and puts a hand to WingDings back. He takes a hasty breath and feels her magic gently push him, but nothing happens. Confused, the guard tries again, but when WingDings only begins to shake she removes her hand. “I’m sorry Chief, I am unable to do so safely,” she bows her head.

“Hmm, then we’ll forego that portion till tomorrow,” Toriel replies, not overtly concerned. “You see WingDings you’ll be expected to be in your bipedal form while you eat. I’ll remind your father of this tomorrow.”

‘I-I’m sorry,’ WingDings manages to say bowing his head nervously.

“Now you’re sorry?” Toriel lifts a brow, but doesn’t comment on it further as she continues with her instructions. “You will be expected to eat everything that is put in front of you. All of the food has a ceremonial purpose that I don’t expect you to understand, but it will be prepared by my servants, not your family.”

WingDings swallows his magical saliva and stares at his food in growing terror. Do they have these rules just to torture him? Well, he reminds himself for the hundredth time that his brothers did tell him to eat the food offered to him. Slowly, with agonizing force, WingDings tongue reaches once more for the food and he actually gets some of the meat onto his magic muscle. Slurping it into his mouth, WingDings shuts his eyes and swallows hard.

Convulsing with shivers, WingDings chuffs through his nasal cavity and wipes his mouth with his bony paw. It doesn’t taste bad, in fact it taste delicious, but the idea once again disgusts him. And he’s made such progress with Sans and Papyrus, this feels like a step backward.

“And never show that expression while eating,” Toriel snaps, her eyes blazing red momentarily. She is losing her patience with him and WingDings is at the end of his disgust tolerance.

‘I’m sorry,’ he manages to croak. They’re going to kick him out for sure. They’ll take away his party, they’ll punish Sans, and all because he can’t stand the idea of eating pre-chewed food.

“I don’t want an apology I want you to eat it,” Toriel says, pointing at his dish firmly. “That will tell me how sorry you are.”

This is a new concept for WingDings. Typically a heartfelt apology is enough to appease his recipients. He’s rarely been expected to show remorse through his actions.

Taking a breath, WingDings shuts his eyes and eats the food. He is determined to fix this and if his eyes were open everyone would see that they were glowing red.

His attempt while valiant isn’t perfect. When he eats fast she calls him out on it, making him slow down. When he licks his muzzle she calls him out on that too making him use a cloth napkin. When he doesn’t open his eyes the entire time, she doesn’t call attention to it, for which he is grateful. Eventually the food is gone and when everyone is done eating he is excused.

Moodily, WingDings shuffles into the entryway next to the pot with his soul and leans against it. His soul reaches for him, but he doesn’t call for it and so it glows brightly in its place.

“Are you okay?” Ariel asks as she sits beside him.

‘I’m fine,’ he says.

“Why didn’t you want to eat it?” Ariel asks, she shifts into her beast form, sitting comfortably with her legs firmly in front of her.

‘You wouldn’t understand,’ WingDings shakes his head.

Insulted, Ariel lowers her brows much in the same way her mother does and WingDings remembers belatedly that he isn’t suppose to be so candid with her. When he looks down and tries to figure out a polite way to say ‘no’ Ariel notices and softens her expression. ‘Try me,’ she licks the crown of his head.

‘I don’t know how to explain,’ he answers, shifting his head a bit when she licks him.

‘You said something about it being in their mouth,’ she encourages. Maneuvering herself over him she continues to groom his head.

‘I’m not used to having my food chewed for me,’ he says, shutting one eye when she gets close to it with her tongue.

‘Doesn’t the Doctor and Guardian do that for you?’ she grunts, placing a paw on his head to keep him from moving.

‘Yeah, but before that I didn’t,’ he says, grumbling a little when she continues to bathe him. He gets the feeling she’s trying to be nice, but he doesn’t want to be licked right now.

‘You’ll get used to it,’ she tells him and when she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, WingDings lifts a paw and gently moves her snout away.

‘Thank you for helping, I feel better now,’ he lies.

She stops and smiles at him. ‘You’re welcome,’ she nuzzles his head affectionately and stands to her legs. ‘Want to see my room? We don’t have guests younger than me very often.’

‘Sure,’ he follows after her and for the rest of the early evening hours he hangs out in her room. She shows him her toys and tells him about what to expect for the initiation into the clan. At the end of the party he’ll be expected to bow and give Toriel a gift. When he shares concern for having nothing prepared she tells him that when it’s a child they’re suppose to give her something they’ve made. The bones he can summon would mean the most.

He wishes that Sans and Papyrus were the ones explaining these things to him, but apparently it’s the job of the chief to do so. Toriel is entrusting her daughter to do it for her since she is still a little annoyed with his behavior at dinner.

‘Is she really going to accept me into the clan?’ WingDings asks, hiding his head under his paws in embarrassment.

‘She’ll get over it, she wants you to be a part of the clan,’ Ariel assures WingDings.

Around this time, Sans and Papyrus arrive. They don’t come to Ariel’s room though since Toriel has quite a bit to say to them about the evening and her expectations. WingDings wants to hide in a corner when he hears her reprimand them for not teaching him basic manners.

Ariel is confused by his behavior. One minute he’s stubbornly refusing her gracious show of sympathy and the next he’s trying to hide himself in one of her baskets. When she is called for, Ariel picks WingDings up out of his hiding place and carries him gently by the back of his skull, carrying him like a cat would her kitten.

WingDings is glaring at the world at large, but manages to keep his complaints locked behind his force smile.

“Thank you for having him tonight,” Sans says with a bow to Toriel, picking WingDings up and holding him in his arms.

“He is in good hands,” Papyrus bows as well.

“I want what is best for him,” Toriel replies, accepting their respect.

Pulling WingDings up on his chest, Sans puts a hand to the blaster pups back and tells him to take a breath. WingDings does as he is asked and shifts a second later into his humanoid form. It’s been several weeks since he’s walked on two legs and he nearly stumbles when he’s set down in front of Toriel.

“Thank you for your generosity and guidance Alpha Toriel,” WingDings says bowing his head.

Pleased, Toriel reaches down and rubs his skull. “I was hard on you because I care,” she tells him. Indignantly, WingDings head flies up and his eyes blaze with light.

“What does that. . .” he’s cut off by Sans who places a heavy hand on his sons shoulder.

“Let’s end this night on a good note,” he tells WingDings and it is enough to quiet the child. In the end he doesn’t want to get Sans and Papyrus in trouble.

Toriel raises a brow, but nods her head agreeing with Sans. “You mentioned you needed my help with something before you left?” she asks.

Closing his eyes lazily, Sans nods his head gently before speaking. “There is something only you can give me Alpha,” he begins. To his son and brothers surprise Sans lowers to his knees and bows again to Toriel. Swiftly Papyrus follows his brother’s example with WingDings doing the same.

“Sans this is unnecessary,” Tories says gently. “Ask anything and you shall receive it.”

Bewildered Papyrus and WingDings glance over at Sans, wondering what has gotten into the blaster skeleton’s skull. What could he possibly need from Toriel to encourage this behavior? Everything is finally going well tonight and Papyrus doesn’t want to ruin that.

“I want that pot,” Sans says, pointing at the vase with the piece of WingDings soul in it.

Taken aback, Toriel looks from Sans to the pot and back again. Her mouth parts to speak, but she closes it before trying again. “That pot has been here for centuries,” Toriel tells him.

“I’m sorry Alpha,” Sans says into the floor. “I need that pot to help in my work.”

Clearly torn, Toriel studies the pot with its glowing gem and clenches her hands behind her back. Releasing a sigh, she finally nods her head. “It is yours Sans,” she says. “You have as much right to it as I do. Now lift your heads.”

“Thank you Alpha,” Sans replies, groaning a bit in complaint as he stands.

WingDings flies to his feet and flings himself into Toriel’s leg, hugging her furry leg as tight as he can. “Thank you,” he says into her muffled fur, his tail wagging behind him as if it were a flag.

Shocked, Toriel manages to stay put and eventually relaxes. She pats his head again. “You’re welcome, you stubborn child,” she sighs.

With his thanks acknowledged he next flings himself at Sans, hopping up and down in place as he hugs his surrogate father. That took a lot of guts to do and never once did WingDings ever consider asking for the pot. It’s mind blowing to the child, used to having to take the pieces of his soul by force.

After many thanks and goodbye’s are given Papyrus picks up the large pot and they head home. When they are safe in the house, Sans removes the piece of WingDings soul as the child sits stiffly in his lap. He doesn’t want to go through that pain and fear again and for the first time he’s nervous about taking a piece back.

“All right WingDings,” Sans says calmly. “You’re going to take this back, but this time you’re going to focus on staying here in my lap instead of going back to your world.”

WingDings nods his head, staring at the tiny light levitating in his father’s hand. Without any encouragement on his part his soul emerges from his chest.

“When was the last time you felt determined?” Sans asks, watching WingDings soul carefully.

Unprepared for the question WingDings mind momentarily goes blank before he can focus on an answer. “When Toriel patted my head,” he says.

“Young WingDings, I believe that was anger not determination,” Papyrus replies, sitting just across from the others. “You’re eyes were not glowing red.”

“Then it was at dinner when I forced myself to eat the food,” WingDings says.

“Worst case scenario you’ll be back at the dinner table,” Sans tells him. “Will you be okay?”

“I think I’ll freak out,” WingDings says honestly. “Toriel was really scary.”

“Then we better do this right,” Sans smiles and takes careful hold of WingDings soul with his blue magic. Before WingDings can panic he allows the piece to gently slip into the sea of red making up the child’s substitute soul.

When the piece is reconnected WingDings eyes flash completely white and he squirms in Sans arms as a strong desire to go home hits him. Sans keeps WingDings soul from disappearing using his blue magic, hugging his child close as their eyes and body becomes cracked with red. Papyrus takes the child’s hand and talks to him, drawing in WingDings attention and keeping him focused on what is around him.

It’s a tense minute, but eventually the burst of magic that came with returning WingDings soul calms down and settles. WingDings is understandably uptight and Papyrus takes the time to bundle him up and carry him around. In the back of WingDings mind he feels a bit babyish for feeling this scared, but it is such a comfort to be held in the arms of someone who cares that it banishes such thoughts.

In the morning WingDings wakes in his pup form, lying inside Sans large rib cage. Yawning wide, the pup carefully crawls out and patters up to Papyrus’s leg, making a point to sit on his foot in a silent request for food.

“Good morning Nephew, do you feel better?” Papyrus asks, lowering his hand and feeding WingDings a bready treat.

WingDings nods his head, tail wagging behind him. Being referred to as Nephew makes him happy.

“You’ll be spending the day with Toriel and Ariel,” Papyrus tells the pup.

WingDings deflates a little, but nods his head. Glancing around the room, the child realizes just how sparse the space is. They must have been really busy yesterday.

“I have a small pack for you,” Papyrus tells him, stopping his cooking long enough to walk with WingDings hitching a ride over to the basket with his things. “Only pack what is absolutely necessary. I would recommend those Monster Candy’s.”

Taking the bag, WingDings removes himself from his uncles foot and packs only what is necessary. This includes the water, monster candy, first aid kit, and his favorite puzzle ball. When he is finished Papyrus feeds him breakfast before the large skeleton attempts to wake his lounging brother.

As WingDings eats everything is going fine until he chews something hard, making his soft teeth throb. Yelping in alarm, WingDings spits the food back out onto his plate. Glancing over Papyrus is about to reprimand the pup and remind him of the manners he learned yesterday until they both see a small white tooth nestled on top of the mushy goop.

Using his tongue WingDings locates a gap between two of his molar teeth. He looks from the tooth up to Papyrus and asks, ‘Is that suppose to happen?’

“Yes, this is completely normal,” Papyrus drops Sans from where he was trying to lift him up and rushes over to his pup. Daintily retrieving the tooth from the food, Papyrus pats WingDings head beaming with pride. “Congratulations WingDings, your first baby tooth.”

Papyrus licks WingDings cheek earning a giggling yip from the pup.

“Did I hear that someone lost their baby tooth!” Undyne yells as she practically flies into the room.

‘I did,’ WingDings grins, showing the side of his head with the gap.

“That’s awesome, one step closer to adulthood,” Undyne picks WingDings up and tickles his bones before he can protest.

It is his giddy yelp that wakes Sans from his sleep. The lazy father glances over to the little party and figures out what’s happening. He smiles fondly before stretching like a cat and retrieving WingDings from Undyne’s arms with his blue magic. At first the fish beast protests, but she lets Sans have his way as she helps Papyrus tidy up.

Setting the laughing child between his paws, Sans gives the pup a quick bath before dressing him for the day. While the adults finish packing up the house, the guard Zelten comes and picks WingDings up, bringing him to the royal court. Once there WingDings is placed in front of one of the scribes, a bird like serpent monster, who proceeds to tell the pup the history of the world . . . according to him.

It sounds nothing like the stories his brothers have told him. Twin god’s creating sentient creatures on the world to keep the days? They used corn to create humans and bones to create noble beasts apparently. They fought wars creating the stars in the sky with the limbs of their foes and other things that as far as WingDings is concerned belong in fairy tales. He tries to correct his teacher several times, but is rewarded with a slap to his paw every time he interrupts.

Irritated with this method of teaching WingDings goes out of his way to annoy the scribe by asking hundreds of questions he can’t answer and popping bones under the monsters tail feathers when he isn’t looking. By the end of three hours the scribe is practically kicking the child out of the building when Ariel arrives. After politely listening to the scribes complaints Ariel assures the scribe that she’ll take care of everything else before leaving with the pup.

At first WingDings is worried she’ll punish him or tell her mother, but Ariel only congratulates her friend on managing to ruffle the old scribes feathers. Apparently she isn’t a fan of his teaching methods either, but she does make WingDings promise to be on his best behavior that evening.

As the sun dips lower in the sky WingDings and Ariel sit at the top of the pyramid watching the sun glide along the tops of the trees. Below them the royal courtyard has been transformed, with tables, torches, food, music and colorful vases full of flowers.

‘I’m nervous,’ WingDings whines uneasily as he looks down at the scene.

“Why? It’s your party?” Ariel tells him, waving a hand forward to display all the clan has to offer.

‘I don’t do well with crowds,’ WingDings lowers his head onto his paws and watches the specks of monsters working busily.

“You’ll be sitting over there on the raised platform,” she points to the rock slab with steps. There is a long low table set up with a bright cloth and feathered fans framing it. WingDings always wondered why that particular space didn’t have a building on it, now he knows.

‘That’s a good thing?’ WingDings asks.

At first it appears that Ariel will be insulted, but she lightens up and laughs at him instead before their attention is brought to bear on the figure making his way slowly towards them. It’s Sans and he is taking his sweet time reaching them.

“Had to sit all the way up here didn’t ya?” Sans huffs with that lazy grin plastered on his pale face.

‘We have a bird’s eye view from here,’ WingDings grins, sitting up and showing no signs of unease.

“And it’s out of the way,” Ariel says, referring to the busyness and not wishing to get underfoot.

“You’re telling me,” Sans puts his hands on his back and stretches backwards, before loosening up. “Could have done me a favor and stayed grounded.”

‘Were you worried we’d take flight?’ WingDings lowers his head sticking his rear in the air and wagging his tail.

Utterly confused, Ariel scrunches her brow and looks down at WingDings wondering what has gotten into him and why he’s saying something so nonsensical.

“Worried you were up to your old tricks,” Sans laughs. “Birds of a feather, flock together.”

WingDings laughs, rolling onto his side leaving Ariel staring in bewilderment. As far as she’s knows nothing Sans said was all that funny, so why is WingDings in stitches?

Laughing lazily, Sans bends down and picks WingDings up. “Can I use the house to get WingDings dressed Heiress?”

“Sure thing, Mom’s already given her permission,” Ariel assures him.

“Thank you,” he dips his head, walking inside with WingDings doing a poor job at trying to quell his giggles. Sans knows that WingDings laughter is especially hardy because of stress, but at least this way some of the blaster pups anxiety will be relieved.

Notes:

We’re nearing the second half of this story arch so the chapters will be getting longer. Like the last chapter this one establishes a lot of the rules I use from this point on regarding WingDings ability to turn back time and how he returns home. Also I’ve said this before but I really like Undyne. Best Aunt award goes to her.

Chapter 10: A Farewell Fight

Notes:

Warning for some violence, Toriel and Undyne have a ‘friendly’ bout.

Wearing a colorful new poncho, skirt, bangles and head band WingDings emerges from the home standing upright, decked out, and ready for his initiation into the tribe. Ariel walks him down the steps, making sure he doesn’t trip on his wobbly legs and escorts him to his seat. Normally the chief would do this, but Ariel asked if she could instead. Since Toriel is pleased with Ariel actually taking a more active role in the tribes culture she gladly accepts.

The night begins with the story teller, weaving the tale of creation for her spectators and ending with how Toriel formed the tribe. WingDings listens attentively, finding that he prefers this woman’s version over the stuffy one the scribe gave him earlier. The portion telling of Toriel’s bravery is a little over the top, but WingDings knows that every story sounds better when it is embellished a little or so he’s been told.

When the story teller is finished weaving their tale, the warrior’s come out and have their mock fights, challenging each other for fun or to prove how strong they are. No one except Papyrus takes on Undyne and WingDings gets the distinct impression that they are playing more than fighting. WingDings appreciates their more playful spin on it, not really enjoying the sight of monsters fighting each other for sport. It makes him uncomfortable despite the cheers of excitement bellowing around him. When it looks like this portion of the night is winding down, everyone clears the fighting field.

Everyone that is except Undyne.

Fully expecting the fish monster to follow him Papyrus turns to his left to compliment her technique again when he realizes there is no one standing beside him. Spinning around he sees what everyone else does. Undyne is standing firmly in the center of the ring pointing up at Toriel. Her finger and stance are firm and strong, heavy with the strength of her claim. Everything about it says more than words. As the exclamation point to this silent statement there is a sharp grin slicing her face, bearing her jagged teeth like a brandished weapon.

“I challenge our esteemed Alpha Toriel to a battle,” Undyne bellows, her good eye blazing red with her blind one sparking with barely contained magic. She is filled with determination, something WingDings recognizes well. The court is completely silent, no one daring to breathe as Undyne awaits a response, undaunted by the silence.

Stiffly, Toriel stands from her place at the center of the table and nods her head. “I accept,” she says. Lifting her right arm she summons a red spear as tall as she is before lowering her stance and jumping over the table and all the way down the steps at the front of the raised dais.

Shrinking in his seat, WingDings peeks over at Ariel who is leaning forward grinning ear to ear. She is ready for this fight and the audience seems to lean forward with her in eager excitement.

“Why-why are they fighting?” WingDings asks her.

Ariel doesn’t take her eyes off the two combatants as she answers. “They always fight,” she answers. “Undyne likes to challenge herself and being an Alpha she wants to humble the ruling Alpha. At least that’s what she claims. Keep her from becoming complacent.”

“Oh,” WingDings bites his lower lip and doesn’t like how serious they look. This isn’t a game.

Sighing heavily, Sans scoots his seat back and reaches under the table revealing his satchel of medical supplies. Now WingDings is really nervous and buzzes internally.

“Prove to me you can protect them,” Toriel calls so all can hear her.

“Prove to me your worthy of your illustrious title,” Undyne echoes and summons her own red spear.

As soon as her claim and spear are summoned, Toriel launches forward, taking a high leap as balls of fire encircle her. Laughing gaily, Undyne back flips out of the way before spinning around to clash her spear against the reigning Alpha’s weapon. As Toriel sends her flames at Undyne, the fish monsters disperses them by summoning smaller spears, all while dancing around the arena with Toriel. Undyne is the faster of the two, but Toriel’s strength and defense are impenetrable.

Everyone is cheering in excitement, standing to their feet and taking bets on who will win. WingDings curls his knees up and watches with wide eyes. He can’t take his eyes off it, even though he wants to. This isn’t like a movie or a video game, this is real.

With a hiss Toriel is forced to spin away when two of Undyne’s spears graze her arm. She sends an enormous ball of fire in retaliation and Undyne is forced to throw herself upward into the air with her own spear to avoid the heat of the flame. Papyrus erects a wall of bones to keep the flame from spreading into the crowd while the two females continue to fight.

WingDings has shrunk into his seat. He cannot hear anything, only the heavy breath of an overheating Undyne and the tense grunts of the injured Toriel. So intent is his focused on the fight that he doesn’t notice Sans come up behind him and reach forward to cover his eyes.

WingDings yelps a dial tone before relaxing when he realizes it’s only Sans. “You don’t have to watch son,” Sans tells him.

“F-friends shouldn’t fight like that,” WingDings whispers, trembling in the chair.

“They aren’t necessarily friends,” Sans tells WingDings.

“They aren’t? But they’re part of the same clan?” WingDings says. “The clan looks out for one another.”

“It’s complicated,” Sans shrugs. “Undyne admires Toriel to an extent, but she doesn’t like some of the choices she makes. She and Asgore were really close and she blames Toriel for not handling the situation as well as she could have. She only joined the clan to fight her again and keep an eye on Papyrus.”

“I don’t understand,” WingDings mumbles, he is no longer shaking, focused on this new tidbit of information he’s gained about Undyne.

“Heh, told you it was complicated,” Sans says.

When Toriel cries out a deafening roar, Papyrus stands to his feet and summons a wall of bones between the two combatants. Sans lowers his hands and teleports down to the field with his satchel leaving WingDings to stare in horror at the bloody field in front of him. He feels sick and looks away right at Ariel.

The young girl does not look away, even as she clenches her hands beneath the table and tears prick the corner of her eyes. Immediately, WingDings reaches forward and takes her hands, looking up at her face when she spins to look at him. “Sans will take care of her,” he assures her.

“Undyne wins,” Sans calls, breaking the silence that has befallen the crowd. “She has the right to declare herself chief if she so chooses and if the council approves.”

“Naw, no need for that,” Undyne says, cutting off the scattered cheers before they can build momentum. “I just wanted to knock her down a few steps. I’ve got a job to do protecting your lazy bones.”

Sans doesn’t appear to be all that impressed with her claim, but shrugs without a care. He doesn’t challenge her statement and simply focuses on healing the wounded Toriel.

Up at the table, Ariel has calmed down, thankful for WingDings simple support. His eyes are glowing green which she finds odd, but it also fascinates her as a feeling of calm settles over her soul. “She . . . she fought well,” Ariel finally tells WingDings, facing forward again. “It was an honorable battle.”

WingDings keeps looking at Ariel, feeling that the bloody sight isn’t where his focus should be directed. “Are you going to be okay,” he asks.

“Y-yeah,” Ariel nods solemnly. “But . . . why didn’t you watch?”

“It brought back some bad memories,” he answers. It brought back the sounds of men dying as a wall of bones was thrust inches from his nose. It reminded him of the cries of monster protesters as they were brutally brought into submission by guards sworn to protect them. He tries to forget these events, sometimes he can convince himself that they were dreams, but they were real. As real as today.

“Is that why you’re a pacifist?” Ariel asks.

“No, it isn’t,” WingDings says with a soft smile. “I’m a pacifist because my hero is.” He is of course referring to Frisk and if time weren’t stopped where they are they’d sneeze or their ears would burn.

Ten minutes later the field is cleaned and Toriel is returned to the dais with Undyne invited to join them at the table of honor. Any awkwardness this situation might have created is easily smashed and ground into dust by Undyne’s chill confidence. She is sure to thank Toriel and compliment the boss monster on their awesome battle, but is lighthearted enough to keep it lively at the table too. A nice blend of her normal brash personality with dutiful respect.

After that the dinner portion of the night begins. While everyone is fed, dancers and musicians perform for everyone’s enjoyment. WingDings is careful to never look at Toriel and not make any faces at the mush that is placed in front of him. He pretends that the magic is from his father and uncle, but it is apparent to him by the third course that he’s taking in as many different kinds of flavors of magic as there are different kinds of food. From rice to flat bread to corn and tamales.

It all tastes so delicious, but he’s close to racing away in protest after finishing the sixth platter of food. He’s stuffed and is convinced he’ll get sick if he eats any more. He’s also very tired. Noticing his fatigue, Toriel stands and motions for WingDings and Sans to do the same. They walk in front of the table and stand facing one another.

“You have lived among us, visited our homes, and eaten with us,” Toriel says in a strong voice, standing tall despite her bandaged left leg. “And while it hasn’t been long you have left a strong impression on those you’ve met. As of tonight you will be a member of our family. We will protect you and watch you grow until it is time for you to take your place in the clan.”

When she is finished, Sans bows to his knees and WingDings follows his example. “Thank you for your hospitality and the great honor you have given my son tonight,” Sans says in a voice that somehow reverberates through the wet air despite his gravely tone. “As a token of his appreciation and dedication to his family WingDings will give his Alpha a bone.”

Sans smiles and nods to WingDings who is feeling extremely nervous. Foreseeing this, he’d summoned a bone before the party began, but he still wants to try and call one up for her nonetheless. He closes his eyes and lifts a hand. He really doesn’t want to mess this up, not with so many people looking at him and after what happened at the pyramid last night.

A fiery red burns beneath his eye lids, barely seen outlining the crease of his sockets. Finally he feels his magic and pushes it into a form. Unfortunately he can’t manage to summon a bone through the layers of stone he is kneeling on and simply tries to make it appear in front of him. Instead he hears a small sniff from Toriel as she holds her breath and Sans puts a hand on his shoulder.

WingDings opens his eyes and is surprised to see a familiar ghostly skeleton hand in front of them. It immediately falls to the rough cold stones and clatters uselessly for a second before he manages to make it float again. He brings the bony appendage up to where her paws are, hoping she’ll take it despite it not being what he was suppose to give her. Every second she doesn’t move, feels like loud buzzing minutes in WingDings skull.

Finally she accepts it and the child slumps forward. He doesn’t know why this is so hard, but he hates all the people looking at him. He hates that he is scared. He hates that he couldn’t summon a simple bone.

“This is a wonderful gift,” Toriel says her voice loud enough to be heard but gentle enough to show honesty. “Thank you WingDings.”

Unable to speak, WingDings only nods his head and this is more than enough. The people cheer and clap causing the child to jump and scramble towards the table. Sans manages to catch his tail and pulls him into his chest. “Breath,” Sans tells him.

Automatically WingDings does as he is asked and with a gentle push he shifts into his blaster form.

“Let it be known throughout all the land that Sans WingDings is a member of our tribe,” Toriel bellows earning a cheer and blast of the horn for all to hear. As everyone cheers Sans brings WingDings around the table and sets him down in his seat. Rather than leave him the doctor stands beside him, waiting for the child to calm down.

Raising her hand Toriel quiets the crowd earning everyone’s full attention. “Tomorrow the Sans’ family and Undyne will be leaving on a journey to help our brother tribe Asgore,” several begin to murmur in the crowd, but Toriel continues to speak over them. “As you know they have been ravished by a deadly plague that only our doctor can cure. That is why tonight is so important. We will celebrate our beloved family and wish for their swift return.”

Everyone cheers and stands to their feet, shouting their encouragement and well wishes to the family. Sans and Papyrus receive it well, Sans simply nodding while Papyrus and Undyne shout back their replies to the clan.

The remainder of the night is spent munching on treats and receiving well wishes from people who have the guts to climb up to the dais. WingDings is happy to see Amber and her family. His new friend wishes them well and demands he returns as soon as possible. He also receives some fighting pointers from the Eyewalker’s and a quick bath from the Woshua children. Papyrus is of course horrified that WingDings is so willing to be washed by a Woshua, but his uncle manages to keep his displeasure hidden, knowing it would be rude to stop them.

By the time they get to their home it is well past three in the morning and WingDings is already asleep. He has no idea that Sans gives him a dose of medicine in his soul, the antidote to the illness they’ll be traveling into from Asgore’s tribe.

In the morning WingDings is the first to wake and occupies his time sitting out front since most of their things have been packed away. The entire house feels bare and it catches WingDings off guard. As he waits for his family to wake he plays with his bones and summons his magic hands. He can’t move the hands very well at first, but with a little practice he manages to pick his summoned bones up and builds a tiny house.

“Good morning little bones! Ready for a new adventure!” Undyne calls as she races up the path at full speed. Looking up WingDings sees the fish lady barreling towards him at the corner of his street. One blink later and she’s hoisting him up into her arms and stomping inside. “Are those two still asleep! On a day like this! COME ON, WAKE UP YOU LAZY BONES!”

Placing WingDings on her head, Undyne roars and somehow manages to roll the enormous blaster Sans and Papyrus out of bed. “WAKE UP, WAKE UP, YOU GOT A KID TO FEED AND PLACES TO GO!” she shouts.

WingDings laughs and giggles as Papyrus wobbles to his feet actually trying to get up, only managing to walk on his hinds legs while his front paws wobble to and fro, steering him directly into one of the jars. “Nyeh!” he grunts in complaint, trying again seconds later.

Sans doesn’t move, still asleep and completely dead to the world. Heaving herself under the large skeleton dragon, Undyne grabs his ribs and sternum and with hardly any effort manages to hoist his body into the air. He is so large that his tail and limbs drags onto the ground, but this doesn’t hinder Undyne at all as she proceeds to lift him up and down while chanting “Wake up, Wake up.”

WingDings joins her cry laughing when Sans wakes up and starts chanting with her ‘Wake up, Wake up,’ in a lazy groggy growl.

Dropping him to the floor, Sans complains that he was just starting to get really into it, earning a light kick from Undyne. “We have places to go Doctor,” she grins. “I shouldn’t be wasting all my strength on waking your sorry ass.”

“Language Undyne,” Papyrus reminds her.

“Aw come on ass isn’t a bad word,” she complains before looking up at WingDings. “Is it bad word?”

WingDings nods his head.

“What!? You’re just saying that!”

A giggling chirp is his response as he laughs at her and continues to shake his head.

“Well blast it, if I knew kids were this high maintenance I might have thought twice before joining you bone bros’,” Undyne lifts WingDings off her head and licks his cheek.

“Breakfast is ready, have a seat,” Papyrus announces.

As everyone eats the adults go over last minute plans discussing who will carry what and how far they want to travel that day. They decide that Sans will only carry his essential medical supplies and WingDings, while Undyne and Papyrus carry the rest of their supplies. This includes food, clothing, medicine, water, weapons and other necessities. WingDings bag that he packed will be carried with the other supplies, but he is allowed to have a small pouch around his neck to keep his small puzzles in.

Before they set out for their journey Sans sits everyone down and proceeds to administer their immunizations. He only gives them a small dosage since they will be traveling, but by the time they reach Asgore’s tribe in four days they’ll be as safe as they can be from contracting the disease. WingDings doesn’t like the way the medicine makes him feel and while he prefers the method of rubbing his soul in the white power over a shot, it still feels uncomfortable.

After everyone has taken their medicine, the adults shift into their beast forms and put on their packs while WingDings crawls into Sans ribs cage. As they leave the house they are met with crowds of monsters lining the streets, all cheering and wishing them well as they make their way to the East gate. Toriel and Ariel are the last two monsters they meet.

“Sans, if Asgore puts any pressure on you or pushes you to do something you cannot do, you will leave at once,” Toriel tells him stoically. “You are our Doctor and it’s thanks to you that we have grown as strong as we are.”

‘I will, thank you Alpha Toriel,’ Sans bows his head.

“Undyne, the Sans Blasters are your family, I know you will protect them with your life,” she says, tightening her paws in front of her stomach as she gazes up at Undyne. “Do I have your word that you will put their needs before Asgore’s, no matter how bad it is?”

Undyne doesn’t answer immediately, but she gives an awkward smile. ‘I will chief,’ Undyne answers.

Toriel’s request of Undyne is mysterious to WingDings. The young blaster wonders if she cares at all about Asgore and his clan. Shouldn’t she care at least a little since they’re family? He doesn’t understand.

“Papyrus, make sure they all take care of themselves. If something doesn’t feel right and you are put in danger you are to leave at once,” she orders him. “I cannot risk losing any of you.”

‘It will be done Alpha Toriel,’ Papyrus nods his head, poised and confident.

This makes Toriel smile and she next turns to Sans again, but looks a little lower to where she knows WingDings is listening intently. “Listen to your elders WingDings,” she tells him. “I know you are responsible and that your father will not have to worry about your well being . . . but if something is wrong you tell them right away.”

‘Yes Alpha,’ WingDings answers.

“Very good child,” Toriel nods her approval.

“Don’t forget what I taught you WingDings, you are small but very strong,” Ariel pipes up.

‘I will, thank you,’ WingDings answers politely, earning a beaming grin of pride from the goat child.

“Best you get started before it gets too hot,” Toriel says. “Be well and make our clan proud.”

‘We will,’ the three say in unison and the clan cheers and roars their approval. They can hear the cheers and the horn of the clan for several miles as they bound away, moving quickly through the lush and colorful trees with effortless ease.

Notes:

Undyne challenging those with power is very in character I think and something that happens a lot. On to part two, where we meet Asgore’s clan. See ya next week.

Chapter 11: Are We There Yet?

Notes:

The traveling chapter, with more action than is probably believable.

Warning: Vomiting (mild), Plague (might be an issue given the times we live it), and of course pre-chewed food at the end.

In the dense parts of the forest they leap through the canopy to avoid the mud and darkness of the forest floor. WingDings is a little surprised at first by how fast they are moving, Sans is deceptively fit and shows no signs of fatigue even after an hour of running.

Out of all of them the first to show signs of discomfort is actually WingDings who is not used to sitting on ribs while Sans is vigorously running, leaping, and jumping. The pup can’t even play with his puzzles since he would risk losing the pieces while being jostled around.

After having enough of the jostling, WingDings reaches his paws up and laces his arms and legs through Sans’ ribs and wraps them around his father’s spine so he’s hanging upside-down. He’ll call this traveling ‘sloth style’. This works quite well for a little while, but his arms and legs eventually get tired and he is forced to let go. Frustrated, WingDings lets out a whine and he flops over on Sans ribs in complaint.

Grunting, Sans stops moving motioning at the others that they need to stop. They climb down a tree to the forest floor where they wait in relative safety. ‘What’s wrong son?’ Sans asks, his chest heaving after running for so long, it isn’t a painful sound just shows how much work he’s been putting in.

Embarrassed, WingDings asks if he can be let out and Sans complies.

‘Something wrong bitty bones?” Undyne asks, lowering her muzzle to sniff at him.

‘Just sore,’ WingDings answers with a light violet blush on his cheeks. They sure are giving him a lot of attention.

‘Ah ha, I remember what it was like,’ Papyrus nods his head and lowers one of his packs from his ribs. Sticking his nose under the flap, he removes a small blanket. ‘This should help.’ The uncle moves over to WingDings and wraps the small blaster up. When he is snug, Papyrus places him inside Sans and they make ready to leave again.

This time the traveling isn’t quite as painful and WingDings dozes off as he is efficiently rocked to sleep. The only thing that ruins his comfort is when the heat and humidity of the day bears down on them. As the heat becomes thicker the adults slow down and WingDings wakes feeling sick. It’s like a sauna inside Sans and being wrapped up snug in the blanket, once a bless, is now a curse.

When they reach a stream in a dense part of the forest, they stop and prepare a meal. Undyne goes out and hunts a wild boar, bringing it back for the others to eat. WingDings can’t watch, now feeling sick for other easons. He tries to wander closer to the stream, but Sans pulls him back with his tail telling him he can’t wander far.

Hiding his snout in the crook of Sans hind leg, WingDings tries to ignore the smell and heat beating down on him. When it becomes too much his bones begin to tremble as chills pulse along his body. He can’t focus and his throat burns. Before he knows what’s happening, WingDings regurgitates a magic mess from his maw, making the child panic.

The pup tries to run, but can’t as his body heaves again. Reaching around, Sans holds WingDings in place and rubs his spine, easing the tremors clutching the little ones bones.

When WingDings body calms a minute later Sans drools onto a cloth and begins cleaning the pup off. ‘Didn’t know you felt that bad,’ Sans says softly. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I don’t think I’ve ever thrown up before,’ WingDings observes dully, completely spent and a little confused. Now he has a headache, but at least the chills and nausea are gone.

‘. . . You’ve never felt that before?’ Sans restates in mild surprise.

‘MmmMmm,’ WingDings tips his head back and forth, lacking the energy to do more than that.

Leaning down, Sans removes WingDings clothes and bathes the pup, effectively cooling him down and healing his aches, explaining to the pup that skeletons can in fact experience heat and motion sickness. After that they encourage WingDings to eat something, knowing that the pup will only feel sicker without magic and food in his bones. For the remainder of the afternoon they stay by the stream, sleeping and cooling off during the hottest hours of the day. It’s strange to WingDings that they are sleeping in the afternoon, but he can understand the logic behind this practice and it is fairly dark down on the forest floor.

As the adults rest, WingDings occupies himself with his bones and puzzles. Splashing in the water from time to time when he feels like it. Since he’s used to being an only child he knows how to entertain himself even with limited resources. He doesn’t wander far from the adults, keeping within the ring they’ve created with their large bodies. When he hears the forest go silent, he instinctively senses danger and races towards the closest adult, Papyrus.

In a flash a large eagle swoops down, talons poised as it aims for WingDings who just narrowly dodges. He yips in alarm, waking the others in a second. As WingDings scampers inside the protection of Papyrus’s rib cage, Undyne is on her feet. In one impressive leap she snatches the enormous eagle out of the sky and breaks its spine between her jaws.

‘Hell yeah, we’ve got dinner!’ Undyne gurgles almost unintelligibly behind the bird in her maw.

WingDings is shaking like a leaf, his whole life, at least what he remembers of it, flashing before his eyes. He’s never seen an eagle that large before and he never thought he had any reason to be afraid of them either! He likes animals, but now he’s having second thoughts.

‘WingDings are you all right?’ Papyrus asks, stretching his neck around so he can get a glimpse of the startled pup. The pup was never in any real danger, but WingDings has never experienced something like this before. He doesn’t even remember the time he faced down a robot guard.

Feeling the pups fear, Papyrus purrs causing his bones to vibrate like a warm massage table. This does the trick and WingDings peers out of his hiding place.

Only to see a giant dead bird in Undyne’s dorky grinning mouth.

Forcefully smiling at the female, WingDings averts his gaze to the top of her head. ‘Thank you Undyne,’ he squeaks, clearing his throat.

‘I should be thanking you,’ Undyne drops the bird on the ground allowing Sans to come over and start plucking the beastly thing. ‘Hey, we should do that tomorrow!’

The pup is as pale as his skull will allow, but even still he retains that smile. ‘I’d rather not,’ WingDings grumbles.

‘Naw, a little practice and you’ll be the perfect weapon,’ Undyne assures him. ‘I’ll train you myself, now let me see your most innocent defenseless eyes.’

Rolling his head, WingDings groans and lowers his skull. Did she really want him to do this? After he’s come so close to being someone’s dinner? Well, he always did enjoy messing with people and he likes showing off his adorable skills as every six year old does. Slowly raising his head he gives Undyne the biggest puppy eyes look he can, enlarging his eye lights to the perfect width while making them wobble ever so slightly.

Undyne’s crooked smile slowly fades as she stares at the sight. When he becomes too much for her she roars at the sky and looks away. ‘He’s mastered it already!’ Undyne cries. ‘BUT!’ she flips back around hoping to catch him off guard, but he doesn’t flinch, ready with those big soft eyes and tiny smile. ‘GAH!’ She flops backwards pretending to be mortally wounded. ‘The cuteness!’

WingDings bounds up to her and lays down beside her good eye, resting his chin in his paws and tucking his tail between his legs.

Perfection.

‘More passion WingDings!’ Undyne turns over, lowering her face so it’s resting directly in front of his. ‘I want to feel your disarming innocence,’ Undyne demands.

Clenching his claws, the pup scrunches his body in, making himself as tiny as possible before sniffing pitifully from his nasal cavity.

‘YES!’ Undyne jumps in excitement before picking him up by his ribs with her teeth. ‘He is now my pup, I won’t let you have him!’ She tosses him and catches him easily with her tail, before putting him on the ground and licking his ribs, tickling him and sending him into a fit of giggles.

“I don’t think you’re quite ready for kids,” Sans chimes in. He’s in his bipedal form, finding it easier to pluck feathers with fingers rather than giant claws. Papyrus is sitting beside his brother, helping him remove the feathers.

‘I could totally have kids,’ Undyne states proudly, blowing onto WingDings torso and earning another wave of giggles. ‘See how good I am with WingDings.’

“He’s a single pup,” Sans reminds her. “And he’s high maintenance.”

‘He is?’ Undyne looks down at WingDings who automatically answers with that naive grin of his. ‘Only because he has no self preservation skills, I can teach him that.’

“Says the one who was defeated with the puppy eyed look,” Sans chuckles.

‘Oh and you think you could do that?’ Undyne challenges him.

Accepting the challenge both his father and uncle look up at Undyne simultaneously with the most innocent large eyes they can and despite not being in their blaster forms the charm isn’t lost. Not expecting them both to do it at the same time, she takes a half step back, her eyes snapping back and forth between the two. Her eyes inevitably linger on Papyrus and she blushes a glowing green. ‘You still got it Papyrus,’ she admits.

“I had a good teacher, Nyeh Heh,” Papyrus beams with pride.

After a good laugh, they enjoy their eagle dinner before setting off again. This time WingDings lies on top of the blanket, keeping himself a little cooler. As dusk turns into night though he becomes colder and huddles into the blanket, falling asleep soon after.

In the morning WingDings wakes to the smell of breakfast, which is thankfully cooked this time with another dose of medicine. The day progresses much like the last, only this time they are more aware of keeping WingDings cool to prevent heat sickness. In the afternoon the adults take a siesta while WingDings chases after small rodents and grasshoppers. Nothing attacks him this time around much to Undyne’s disappointment, but she manages to catch a brocket deer for dinner instead.

The third day is the same routine, breakfast, a quick bath, a dose of medicine and they’re off. Sans is moving a little slower so they don’t run quite as quickly as they have been the last two days. As they travel WingDings catches whiff of a strange smell. It smells like sweat and leather, a rather unappetizing combination in his young opinion.

He isn’t the only one who smells it and the adults slow down and stop. ‘Humans,’ Undyne huffs.

‘Should we fight?’ Papyrus asks.

Undyne looks back to Sans and doesn’t respond right away. ‘Can you run?’

‘For a short sprint yes,’ Sans answers.

Undyne sighs and lowers her packs. ‘We’ll try to reason with them, but if not we’ll fight,’ Undyne shifts into her humanoid form with Papyrus and Sans following her example.

Sans holds WingDings in his arms and helps the pup shift into his bipedal form. The child finds this decision strange, but doesn’t say anything. The adults appear relaxed, but WingDings can tell by the twitch in Undyne’s fan like ears and the scan of his family’s eye lights that they are on high alert. There is a rustle in the thick underbrush and Sans holds him tighter when a group of a half dozen men emerge.

They are armed with spears, bows and arrows, and knives, but they aren’t wearing any armor or carrying shields. One of the men with dark hair and impressive earrings, steps forward. Undyne does the same, making sure not to smile as to not scare him away. Taking note of this, WingDings gives the human a mild version of his puppy eye look, leaning into Sans rib cage. He might be six years old but he knows how to milk his babyish appearance.

The man looks from WingDings to Undyne before nodding at her and lifting a hand in a show of good will. “Don’t see travelers from Toriel’s clan much,” he says in a heavy accent.

“We’re on our way to Asgore’s clan,” Undyne answers still cautious, but WingDings doesn’t see any ill intent in the man’s soul. He knows he’s won the man over. When WingDings relaxes Sans takes note of this and relaxes as well.

“You best turn back, that place is cursed with plague,” the man tells her with concern. “No place for a child.” He motions to the child with his chin.

“We have the cure,” Undyne replies. “We know the risks hunter of Zelpania.”

Cupping his chin, the man nods before lowering his arms comfortably. “I’m Crisk of the Zelpania tribe. I have furs, skins, and meat to trade for some of this medicine.”

Undyne relaxes completely. “I am Undyne of the Toriel tribe,” she replies and looks back at Sans who nods his head. “We’d be willing to trade some medicine for quality meat.”

“Excellent. Telkan!” Crisk beckons to his companion. “Bring our best.”

They spend the remainder of the hot hours with the small band of humans. They share a cooked meal, swap news of the other tribes and trade some of their wares. After learning that this plague has reached some of the other settlements Sans asks for a list of the tribes hoping to learn just how far it has spread and where it is originating. Crisk also warns them that certain tribes and clans are taking advantage of the plague, seeking to destroy them while they are weak. Taking this warning to heart, they thank the Zelpania tribe for their company.

Waiting till the sun is lower in the sky they part ways and make their way for Asgore’s clan once again.

‘They were nice,’ WingDings comments, comfortably nestled in his father’s ribcage.

‘Thanks to you, that was quite the innocent look you gave Crisk,’ Sans comments.

‘Is that what happened!?’ Undyne laughs. ‘Should have known when he said that Asgore’s clan was no place for a kid.’

‘I’m just glad we didn’t have to fight,’ WingDings replies.

‘Heh, well maybe talking is sometimes best,’ Undyne huffs. ‘But I could have taken them. In fact we could have taken. . .’

‘No one is doubting your abilities Undyne,’ Papyrus interrupts. ‘Everyone knows you are the most accomplished warrior in the land, I’m sure he was just afraid of you and showing you his respect by not fighting.’

‘Ha! You make a great point Papyrus,’ Undyne laughs.

The following day they try to make up for lost time, pushing Sans a little faster than he appreciates. By nightfall they are outside Asgore’s territory, but they don’t travel any further. They rest that evening and in the morning take their time to clean each other and put on their best clothing.

‘Undyne we’ll need to stay outside the city,’ Sans says as WingDings clamors into his ribs.

‘Hey I’m not going to burn down a house, I’ll be on my best behavior,’ Undyne informs him, lightly slapping him with her tail.

‘I know, but until the plague is contained it will be safer for us,’ Sans tells her. ‘So even if Asgore begs us to stay in the palace, we have to refuse.’

Listening carefully, Undyne nods her head. ‘That makes sense, you got it Doctor,’ she leads the small group towards the city. ‘Do you want us to stay out of the city today?’

‘That would be safest,’ Sans answers. ‘So no matter how insistent Asgore is we’ll need to postpone any hospitality he wants to offer us until the sickness is curbed.’

Papyrus perks up and signals Undyne with a flick of his tail, hitting the ground three times. Not two seconds later a group of bestial monsters come forward, bowing their heads low to the ground respectfully. ‘So you guys made it back,’ Undyne grins. These monsters are the spies Toriel released after Sans healed them. They were sent back to let Asgore know of their arrival and keep him from sending anyone else.

‘All thanks to you and your Doctor,’ a Woshua says, lifting his head to speak with them more comfortably. ‘My name is KanSak from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for coming.’

‘Has it improved at all?’ Sans asks stepping forward.

‘We’ve followed your instructions distributing what medicine we can, cleaning the homes and separating the sick,’ KanSak answers. ‘They are recovering, but the sickness is still spreading faster than we can keep up with and the sick are not recovering fast enough. Some had already fallen before we arrived.’

‘You can give me more information once we’ve settled,’ Sans says.

‘Is there a place outside of the city we could stay?’ Undyne asks when it’s clear Sans has all the information he requires at the moment.

Upon hearing this the Woshua and other monsters hesitate. ‘Alpha was hoping to house you in the palace,’ KanSak answers.

‘We don’t want to risk infecting the Doctor and his family,’ Undyne answers with a straight back and head lifted high, showing just where they stands on this issue. ‘If Asgore insists I will speak with him myself.’

Lowering his head the Woshua shows his acceptance and turns towards the city. ‘It is a little run down, but we have a place you cab use,’ KanSak answers.

As they push through the trees WingDings maneuvers himself forward in Sans torso so he can look out along his cervical vertebrae. When they get through the dense part of the forest he see’s a sharp incline, which they climb up towards a large walled city. It has three steep pyramids reaching up to the sky, easily seen past the jigsaw wall where all the rocks appear to be fit together like a puzzle. The plateau is surrounded by farm land and aqueducts, only one clear wide road leading towards the entrance of the main city. Three sides of the city is a cliff face, making it strategic to defend but also impossible to expand.

The Woshua takes them about six miles outside of the city wall, to an abandoned hut with barren farmland attached. ‘The previous owner and his family fell down when a distant tribe attacked,’ he explains sadly. ‘He would want you to have it.’

‘Thank you,’ Undyne tells the Woshua and looks to Sans.

‘Destroy it,’ he says.

Before WingDings can feel the full remorse for living in the home of a dead family, Papyrus opens his jaws where a pitched whine gains momentum. When he’s gathered enough power he lets it out on the hut and in a burst of light it is cleanly blasted from the ground, any pieces evaporating from the heat of his attack.

‘Looks like we’ve got a lot of work to do,’ Undyne says maneuvering the sacks from her shoulders.

A horn is heard blasting from the city and everyone looks to the top of the plateau. At the gate WingDings can barely make out an enormous white monster racing towards them on all fours followed closely by his personal guard, a large group of dog like beasts. As the royal entourage gets closer the three survivors escorting them cower, positioning themselves behind Undyne as their Alpha careens towards them.

Looking up at the sky, Papyrus notes the hour and looks back at the Alpha. ‘Allow me to take WingDings brother,’ he says logically. It’s the look he gets when figuring out a puzzle and arriving at the obvious answer. ‘I can watch the pup and gather supplies for our new home while you smooth things over with Chief Asgore.’

‘Good idea Brother,’ Sans lowers his body as does Papyrus. As WingDings scurries out to Papyrus he sees the look of surprise on their three guides faces.

‘You . . . you have a pup?!’ the Woshua says in alarm. ‘You found a new mate?’ KanSak, along with his companions look at Undyne in shock.

‘Hey! I don’t know what you’re thinking but the answer is no!’ she shouts at them easily scaring those look off their faces.

No sooner is WingDings safely hidden then Asgore comes up to them. He’s panting hard and tries to speak, but nothing comes out. The large goat like monster is a head larger than his mate Toriel and unlike her has four large curled horns instead of two. He has a mane of gold and is wearing a skirt that is long in the back and short in the front to keep it from dragging.

Sighing in relief, Asgore bows his head to them, which surprises everyone present. The pain and humility is easily seen as he trembles in front of them, holding back tears of relief. ‘Thank you for coming’ he says in a quivering growl that is nearly a roar. ‘You are a god send. Please, I have only the best accommodations prepared for you.’ The Alpha shoots a look at his subjects who cower under the scathing glare that flashes so fast WingDings wonders where it came from.

Sans and Undyne glance at each other, but Sans steps back allowing Undyne to do the talking. ‘That’s most hospitable and we’d love to take you up on the offer, but only after the plague has been contained,’ Undyne tells him. ‘We need to stay healthy if we’re going to be any good to you and the clan.’

‘But it’s dangerous out here,’ Asgore tells her, appalled to hear her disagree with him. ‘We’ve been attacked several times by tribes who wish to take advantage of us! This very family was a victim of those circumstances.’ He turns to his clan members. ‘You should not have brought them here.’

‘Alpha Asgore, I ordered them to take us here,’ Undyne says, diverting any blame onto herself. ‘And I am more than capable of protecting my family from cowards, but I can’t fight a disease.’

‘Please, Undyne, you can’t expect me to sleep calmly knowing you’re out here,’ Asgore is starting to sound more desperate cuing Papyrus to leave. The skeleton blaster easily walks away, leaving his sacks behind and making his way to the line of trees.

Sniffing the air and listening carefully Papyrus checks to be sure the area is safe. Aside from the smell of moist earth, the cries of monkeys, and the warring noise of distant macaws the area is relatively vacant. He begins by collecting large stones, cutting branches from the tree’s and collecting thatch from the unused and weed filled fields. In the distance WingDings can hear Asgore and Undyne yelling at one another, continuing an argument that makes the pup squirm with unease.

‘Do not worry Nephew, Undyne will get through to him,’ Papyrus assures the child, using his tail to whack down more branches.

‘Hmm,’ WingDings hums before turning his attention to what Papyrus is doing. ‘Have you done this before?’

‘I’ve helped Undyne rebuild her home several times,’ Papyrus informs him with a bound in his step. ‘I’ve become quite proficient in the skill of building a modest home.’

‘What kind of house is it,’ WingDings asks, peeking through his bones at the materials he’s already gathered.

‘A thatched house,’ Papyrus replies. ‘It won’t be as nice as our home with our Clan, but it will be large and efficient.’

As the sun gets hotter WingDings is tempted to jump out of Papyrus’s rib cage, but KanSak and the two other monsters show up offering their assistance keeping WingDings pinned. Papyrus is happy for the help and it’s thanks to them that they are able to construct the large outer walls of the hut before nightfall. They won’t have a roof, but they can sleep at least one night under the stars. As Papyrus prepares a meal Asgore finally relents and leaves his guests for the evening.

‘Gah! He’s so stubborn! Almost as bad as Toriel, except she can’t be reasoned with,’ Undyne laughs heartily as she collapses onto the makeshift nest they’ve created.

It isn’t until Asgore is gone that WingDings is allowed some freedom. He runs around the space, feeling antsy after being stuck in Papyrus’s uncomfortable ribs for so long. ‘Finally!’ he roars, summoning a hand to chase and pounce on.

‘Sorry son,’ Sans sags into the nest. ‘I didn’t even do anything and I’m spent.’

“That’s right, Undyne did all the work!” Papyrus rolls his eye lights and sets a plate of medium rare meat in front of Sans. “At least feed your son you lazy bones.”

‘You know Asgore’s going to find out about WingDings before tomorrow right?’ Undyne tells him. ‘KanSak and the others aren’t going to keep that to themselves. And I’m sure his guards could smell him. They can smell a pup a mile away.’

‘We’ll tackle that problem tomorrow,’ Sans says with his mouth full of food. He spits out WingDings portion and scoots it to the side.

Without complaint WingDings eagerly eats his meal, scooting the plate along the rug eagerly as he does so. He’s famished and when he finishes it, he puts his plate beside Sans in a silent request for more, his tail wagging behind him. Sadly Sans is asleep so he brings his plate over to Papyrus, but Undyne beats him to it.

Walking up to WingDings plate, she spits a portion of her meal onto the pup’s plate. ‘You’re welcome,’ she beams and returns to her place in the nest.

WingDings stares at the food and looks back at Undyne who has no idea that she’s done something disgusting. He’s suddenly lost his appetite and discretely moves the offending mush away from him.

‘Hey, I made that for you,’ Undyne says indignantly, spinning around. ‘Well!? Eat it.’

“Undyne is right, she was gracious enough to give you a portion of her meal,” Papyrus says. “Do her the honor of eating it.”

Stomping his paws and moving in a tight circle WingDings growls and whines before facing his formidable foe, the platter of food Undyne spit out for him. In an attempt to make this easier on himself, the child digs his claws into the rug and shuts his eyes. As he expects it tastes perfectly fine, it’s all just in his head. It will only be a matter of time before he gets used to this like he has with Sans and Papyrus.

‘Thank you Undyne,’ WingDings says after he’s engulfed the food.

‘Anything for you pup!’ Undyne proceeds to shift into something more comfortable before shoving Sans a little to get comfortable in the nest behind him.

Instead of going straight to bed WingDings stays up helping Papyrus unpack some of their things. When it is quite late Papyrus douses the flames of their hearth and settles beside Undyne, placing WingDings close to Sans. WingDings doesn’t like how dark it is, but he summons a glowing hand and keeps it close to his head, gazing up at the bright twinkling stars and wondering if they’d always been that bright.

Notes:

So much to say for once. First off, I wrote this two years ago so Covid was not on my radar. This story doesn’t read too stale, but I have to wonder what my past self would say if I told them about Covid now. Moreover KanSak is the only character with an accurate name in this entire story. That being said I cannot remember what it means because it’s been so long and I didn’t bother writing it down anywhere.

I think that’s everything, see you next week.

Chapter 12: Two Battles, One War

Notes:

Another long chapter. Let’s make a house!

Warnings: Plague (goes into a bit more detail in this one).

In the morning WingDings wakes with Undyne giving him a bath. He doesn’t complain, knowing that the less he moves the sooner she’ll be finished. After that WingDings wanders over to the sacks they still need to unpack while Papyrus and Undyne get cleaned up. They even wake Sans and to WingDings surprise he actually gets up, setting his medicine’s aside and preparing for the day.

“Be good for Papyrus,” Sans tells WingDings pulling his satchel over his shoulder. “We’ll be back by nightfall.”

“You’ll be gone that long?” Papyrus asks in concern, stopping long enough from cleaning to look at Undyne and Sans.

“From what we were told it’s serious,” Sans tells him. “If I need you I’ll call for you.”

‘Call you?’ WingDings asks. Last he checked they didn’t have phones.

“Yes, like when I found you,” Papyrus explains.

‘. . . You mean roar?’ and scare me senseless, WingDings adds in his thoughts.

“Yes,” Papyrus nods. “Take care of him Undyne.”

“You know I will,” she assures him, patting him heartily on the back.

Once they leave Papyrus shifts into his blaster form and has WingDings climb inside. To start the day off Papyrus collects thatch for the roof, clawing out binding pieces and collecting large wooden poles to support the roof. As he’s securing some of the pieces, two of Asgore’s canine guards arrive, offering to assist him.

Since the canine monsters are not in their large beastly forms they almost appear friendly, not nearly as intimidating. “We come to offer our assistance to the bone dogs,” Dogamy calls to Papyrus, who is busy on the roof.

“We will also help guard you and bone pup,” Dogaressa tags onto his statement, as if it is a part of the same thought.

Papyrus glares down at the two and growls under his breath. The two dog monsters stand erect, recognizing and acknowledging Papyrus’s displeasure with them. ‘While your assistance in the construction of my home is welcomed, I can assure you I do not need a guard,’ Papyrus barks at them, causing the couples tails to stand erect and their floppy ears to lift attentively. ‘I am no longer a pup myself, it’s been twelve years.’

“I don’t think you want our help,” Dogamy observes.

“Doesn’t matter we have our orders,” Dogaressa answers.

“We will help with the roof,” Dogamy continues.

“It would be ruff to do on your own,” Dogaressa grins.

WingDings snickers and Papyrus clenches his claws into the roof. ‘I won’t stop you,’ Papyrus manages to growl out. Thanks to the Dogi couple, they manage to not only finish the roof, but construct a small wall around the house and repair some of the aqueducts to the fields surrounding them.

‘Can we see pup?’ Dogamy asks.

‘We have pups too,’ Dogaressa informs them.

Papyrus hesitates, but considering all the work they helped him with that day he can’t deny their request. ‘Please be careful with him,’ Papyrus tells them as he lowers his body for WingDings to climb out.

As soon as WingDings trots up to them, they have their noses in his face and along his body, sniffing him curiously. ‘Smells like bones,’ Dogamy replies.

‘Smells like dog bones,’ Dogaressa adds.

Immediately Papyrus wraps a tail around WingDings and drags him away from their noses. ‘He is not a dog bone,’ Papyrus warns them.

‘Sorry, he smells wonderful,’ Dogamy assures Papyrus.

‘Smells like my second favorite thing,’ Dogaressa smiles. She reaches over and licks her husband’s cheek.

‘Me too,” Dogamy licks her back.

Seeing the puppy love so blatantly cues a look of disgust from WingDings. Yes, the sight is endearing and he expects it from the two, but he’s been trained by other children his age that scrunching your nose and sticking your tongue out in disgust is the proper response. And now he has a tongue to actually stick out for the first time in his life.

‘We shall visit tomorrow and help with the fields,’ Dogamy stands and licks the side of Papyrus’s head followed closely by his wife.

‘You’ve grown into a fine young blaster bone,’ Dogaressa praises him. After that the Dogi couple leave, returning to the city.

Papyrus does not appreciate their slobbery kisses but he doesn’t stop them and turns back to their finished home with WingDings.

While Papyrus prepares dinner, WingDings chases a lizard around their new hut, careful to stay out of his uncle’s way. Everything is going fine until he accidentally kills the tiny reptile after batting it around too much. Filled with regret, WingDings slumps over it and sniffs, trying not to cry, but his nose drips anyway since he’s not used to having magic liquid sloshing around in his skull.

“Is something wrong Nephew?” Papyrus asks, nearly finished with their meal for the evening.

‘It died,’ WingDings meows softly. ‘It was an accident.’

“I’m sorry Nephew,” Papyrus tells him, bending down to lick his child’s skull. Normally he would praise a pup for making their first kill and let them eat it, but he knows WingDings is not like a normal blaster child. “Do you want to bury it?”

Looking up at his uncle WingDings searches his elders eyes for any sign that he isn’t serious or is joking. When he sees nothing but sincerity, the pup wipes his face and shakes his head. ‘Thank you,’ WingDings snuffles. ‘That isn’t necessary; some other animal can eat it.’

“Good idea,” Papyrus picks up the dead lizard and disposes of it. When he’s heading back inside, he sees Sans and Undyne trudging down the path. They look exhausted and dreary. As soon as they see Papyrus though they put on strained smiles and greet him.

WingDings hears them and comes to the door. ‘You’re back,’ he says tail wagging, but as soon as he sees their forced smiles his tail droops and his smile becomes small with concern. ‘It’s good to see you again,’ he says softly, sniffing them curiously. They smell strange, like a Woshua.

“You too, son,” Sans and Undyne pet his head as they walk into the hut. “House looks great Papyrus, roomy.”

“Thank you Brother, the Dogi were of great assistance today,” Papyrus says conversationally. He sets large platters of food in front of his family and they eat their dinner without saying a word. Papyrus fills the silence with a report of their day to which his companions respond with simple answers, enough to show they care. They’re just worn down.

After cleaning WingDings they put him to sleep, laying beside Papyrus since the other two are busy getting things ready for the following day. WingDings pretends to fall asleep and is rewarded when Undyne finally speaks.

“It was really bad Papyrus,” she sighs. “So many dead. The people are losing hope, seeing so many fall ill and never get back up. They are covered in hives, burning with fevers and are going blind.” She sighs heavily, trying not to picture it. No one says anything, lost in their thoughts until the loud slap of Undyne’s tail breaks it, nearly startling WingDings into blowing his cover. “Why did he have to wait so long before asking for help!? Didn’t he know we would help him!”

“He’s a proud guy,” Sans says. “But . . . there might be more to it than that.”

‘What do you mean brother?’ Papyrus asks, lowering his head and sniffing WingDings. He licks the pup, a soft warbled tone hitting the back of his throat.

“The clans members who made it to us made it sound like their were others, but they never made it to us,” Sans replies.

“They might have fallen down before they could reach us,” Undyne points out.

“That may be so,” Sans agrees. “Or there is something to what the Zelpania tribe told us. Some are taking advantage of this epidemic and attacking those afflicted by it.”

Papyrus growls, ‘That’s horrible.’

“Hopefully I’m wrong,” there is a rustle of movement as Sans stands and shifts his form. ‘But if I’m right we might have some unwelcome guests in the near future, be careful brother.’

‘I’ll be alert,’ Papyrus assures his brother, lowering his head and maneuvering WingDings in his rib cage while Undyne and Sans get settled around him. When the fire is partially put out WingDings opens his eyes and watches the gentle pulse of a summoned magic hand.

He is anxious from what he’s learned tonight, but any danger he might be in feels far away. Surrounded by such strength fills him with comfort, he really has nothing to fear.

It isn’t long before he hears the loud snores of Undyne and Sans fill the room like an off key symphony. Typically they don’t snore this loudly, but they are exhausted and don’t even wake up from the loud noise they are producing. WingDings and Papyrus don’t get much sleep that night, but neither complains in the morning.

After Undyne and Sans leave, Papyrus gives WingDings a bath and the two set out to repair the aqueducts. Papyrus is well versed in farming, having grown up learning the trade when he was a pup. The Dogi join them later and assist Papyrus with the repairs. WingDings passes the time by picking the good corn in the fields and napping when his fatigue gets the best of him.

When the sun sets Dogamy and Dogaressa leave them, promising to return the following day to assist them in the fields. Before they leave though they pick out two goats from one of the farms and give them to Papyrus. Since the farmers aren’t using the goats its best they don’t go to waste. Besides the milk is necessary to keep the precious pup healthy.

‘Where are all the farmers?’ WingDings asks as they leave, already suspecting he knows the answer.

Papyrus ties up the goats to a post outside the hut, making it look easy despite only having paws and a tail. ‘I imagine they are ill or are afraid to come out of the city,’ Papyrus replies.

‘Wouldn’t it be better if they weren’t in the city?’ WingDings says. ‘Being close to those who are ill can make you sick.’

‘You are very smart Nephew, and yes you are right,’ Papyrus agrees. As soon as they’re in the hut, his uncle lets WingDings out of his ribcage. The large blaster shifts forms and yawns loudly, stretching his back and walking to the sacks of food. “Did Sans teach you how to milk goats?”

‘He did,’ WingDings says, wagging his tail with the prospect of doing something useful. ‘Can I help?’

“Let’s see if I can shift you,” Papyrus sits on the ground and motions for WingDings to come to him. “Sans has more magic then I do, so I might not be strong enough.”

When WingDings is comfortable, Papyrus instructs him to breathe in and pushes his magic into the pup. It is very uncomfortable, but with a little determination on his part, he shifts forms so he’s a skeleton boy.

“Did I hurt you?” Papyrus asks in concern.

“No, I’m all right,” WingDings stands to his feet and hugs his uncle. “Thank you.”

“If you start feeling sick let me know right away,” Papyrus instructs him.

“I will!” WingDings and Papyrus move outdoors. Instead of cooking inside, Papyrus cooks the meal outside, wishing to keep his pup within his sight. He will not take any risks despite it being an uneventful day.

After milking the goats, WingDings enjoys some of it as he waits for Papyrus to finish the main meal. They find themselves eating dinner without Undyne and Sans, which is worrisome, but Papyrus reminds them both that if Sans needed them he’d call for them. After bathing each other, they settle down and go to bed.

WingDings is woken by the harsh roar of Undyne and the cries of monsters in battle. Opening his eyes the child scrambles in fright, his feet falling between Papyrus’s ribs. He is surrounded by walls of flame, and Papyrus is doing his best to keep them away. Instantly choked with fear, WingDings feels his chest constrict and his soul flares painfully.

Time stops.

The world around him is no longer bright with red flames, but becomes drowned in a dirty sepia color that smells not like smoke, but ash. The only real color is the two yellow glowing words in front of him. ‘Continue’ and ‘Load’. Looking past Papyrus’s ribs, WingDings lifts his hand towards the word ‘Load,’ even as Papyrus slowly moves around in bewilderment.

They travel back in time to the moment WingDings last felt determined.

In a flash, WingDings is in the middle of taking a hasty breath with magic pouring through his bones into his soul. Yelping in alarm, he opens his eyes as his bones shift and Papyrus releases him. “WingDings! Are you all right? Did I hurt you?” Papyrus picks him up and holds him close to his chest. “I should have just waited for Sans.” He frets, looking WingDings up and down and searching for any sign of injury or pain.

“. . . I’m alright,” WingDings says belatedly. Quickly glancing around, he can see that they are no longer surrounded by flames. Did he just dream that up? No, that was just like the time he’d tried going home, only this time he wasn’t trying to get anywhere as far as he knew. “Did . . . Do you remember that?”

Papyrus’s round brows lower in concern and confusion as he searches WingDings face with glowing orange eye lights. “Remember what?” he asks.

“The fire,” he says.

“A . . . fire?” Papyrus trails off and tries to picture it. A second later he’s holding his head and squeezing his eyes shut. When he opens them his eyes are still glowing and flare with magic. “By the gods WingDings, we were trapped in a fire!”

“You remember?” WingDings is shocked.

“Is that what Sans told me about? Your power over time,” Papyrus looks around and verifies that the hut is not burning.

“I . . . Yes, it was,” WingDings says. “Why was the hut on fire?”

“Someone attacked while we were sleeping,” Papyrus stands to his feet and paces the room. “I should have been more attentive, but I was so tired. NYEH! No, what’s done is done. Either we evacuate and leave everything behind or I call for Sans and we fight these miserable cowards. While it will put you in danger we must at least try the second option since Sans has most of his medical supplies stored here. The clan needs this medicine . . . WingDings,” he stops pacing and looks down at his pup. “No matter what happens you must stay in my ribcage do you understand?”

“I do,” WingDings says.

“But first we must eat,” Papyrus says. “We’ll act like nothing is wrong as to not alert the enemy. I must be at full strength for this encounter.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I’ll be fine, I’ve gone without sleep for much longer,” Papyrus assures him. “I am the great warrior Papyrus, second only to Alpha Undyne. I can fight perfectly well even when I’m sleep deprived.”

“Alpha Undyne?” WingDings asks.

“That is her true title as far as I’m concerned,” Papyrus grins. “Now milk those goats, you must be at full strength as well, especially after turning back time.”

The two exit the hut and pretend like nothing is different. They both wonder why Sans didn’t come running after they went back in time, but apparently since he wasn’t there with WingDings he doesn’t remember it happened. When they are finished eating they reenter the hut, bringing the goats with them and securing them to one of the poles with a short leash. After that they shift into their blaster forms.

‘Remember what I said,’ Papyrus tells the pup as he scampers into his rib cage. ‘Do not be afraid, you are with your uncle and he won’t let anything happen to you.’

‘Yes Uncle,’ WingDings chirps, but he is still a little nervous.

Directly in front of him WingDings watches as Papyrus’s soul glows a brilliant orange and blue, flashing between the two colors in a dizzy pattern. The ground shakes beneath them and Papyrus leans back before belting out an earsplitting roar. WingDings jams his paws over his ear holes. The roar carries several different meanings as it shakes his trembling bones. It’s as if Papyrus is screaming Sans name, telling him that there is danger and that he is ready for it.

WingDings wonders what the roar he heard the day Papyrus found him meant?

When Papyrus’s roar peters out there is not a sound to be heard only the whistle of wind passing through their door. There are no crickets, no howling monkeys, no chattering bats, not even the goats make one bleep of sound. Nothing.

But then there is a rumbling wave, a noise so chaotic it sounds more like the roar of a rock slide then the cry of voices. That’s when the goats start bleating frantically.

Papyrus has shut his eyes and WingDings remains silent as the blaster beast focuses on the cries hitting the wall of bones he has erected outside their home. Using only the sound of their voices he summons his bone attacks, pounding them into invaders threatening the life of him and his pup.

Before long the familiar cry of Undyne is heard as she joins the fight, followed closely by Sans. Since he doesn’t want to accidentally hurt his family Papyrus stops attacking, focusing on the wall of bones protecting their hut. The goats have passed out by this time, frightened so badly they’re stiff on the floor.

As the fight continues he hears orders passed between several other monsters. Some are definitely the enemy, calling for reinforcements while another rough voice calls out orders of defense to his warriors and guards. He also hears a lot of unintelligible barking. WingDings figures out that Undyne and Sans are not alone, Asgore and his canine warriors are fighting too.

During the entire battle, Papyrus never peeks out their door, focusing on keeping the bone wall intact and keeping the goats from hurting themselves. Papyrus doesn’t lower the wall of bones until he hears Sans give the all clear. As soon as the bones lower Sans and Undyne come rushing in sniffing Papyrus.

‘Thank the stars you’re both safe,’ Sans sighs, lifting Papyrus’s shawl with his muzzle so he can get a sniff of WingDings.

WingDings buzzes back, showing that he is more than all right. Mentally he’s shaken up, but physically he’s fine, his soul never feeling the need to summon the ‘load’ and ‘continue’ words.

‘Is everyone all right?’ Asgore asks as he comes into the hut.

‘Yes, yes everyone is fine!’ Undyne pushes the nosy Alpha out of her hut, assuring him that everyone is safe and thanking him profusely for defending them.

‘I knew we should have come home sooner,’ Sans groans, shaking his head as he removes his snout from Papyrus’s rib cage.

‘Wouldn’t have made any difference,’ Papyrus tells him softly. ‘You were here the first time, but everything still burned since we were caught off guard.’

‘. . . first time?’ Sans asks, eyes growing narrow until his eyes lights go completely out. ‘WingDings? Were you hurt?’

‘No, I just got really scared,’ WingDings says. ‘When I saw the options I chose ‘Load’. I figured it would be best.’

‘But that takes magic to do,’ Sans says sternly, he reaches a paw towards WingDings but stops himself. ‘I need to clean myself before touching you.’ He leaves the room calling for KanSak and requesting his assistance.

‘What is he worried about? I’m feeling fine,’ WingDings pipes up as Papyrus lowers himself to the ground so the pup can climb out.

‘The last two times you went back in time your soul was hurting,’ Papyrus explains. ‘Remember how tired you were afterward. He would treat you when you’d fallen asleep.’

‘Oh,’ WingDings takes a seat and lifts up the flap of his poncho. His soul doesn’t look any different to him, still glowing red with pieces of white floating inside, but he is a little tired. ‘I’ve never gone back in time before coming here, so I don’t know what it does to my soul.’

‘Eating helps,’ Papyrus tells him. He shifts and prepares some more food for WingDings. Now that the fight is over he can focus solely on helping his pup recover.

“All right, all clean,” Sans says walking in on two legs.

WingDings sniffs the air and notes the soapy clean smell seeping off his father’s bones. ‘I thought you didn’t like getting bathed by Woshua?’

‘I don’t, but this will keep my family healthy,’ Sans answers. Somewhere outside WingDings hears a loud splash and Undyne letting out a roar like squeal as she takes her turn. ‘Now let’s have a look at your soul.’

Kneeling down, Sans takes a quick peek before standing and searching through his satchel for what he’ll need.

“All right, All right, I’m clean, Thank you, let me go!” Undyne cries as she stumbles into the room dripping wet. “UGH! I smell horrible.”

“Thanks Undyne,” Sans says without looking at her. He is carefully removing WingDings poncho over his head and horns. “Good job protecting your family from the intrusive Alpha by the way.” The father chuckles, opening one of the jars full of a red powder.

“Fluffy butt is easy to handle,” Undyne waves a hand at Sans and slumps to the ground. “I mean I appreciate him helping us out, but this is my house, I didn’t invite him inside. This is basic etiquette.”

“He was just worried,” Sans reminds her.

“Doesn’t matter, he could give us some privacy,” Undyne huffs.

“Being an Alpha is a big responsibility,” Papyrus says, putting some meat into his mouth and chewing it. “You’re doing an exceptional job, I had nothing to worry about.”

“Heh, thanks Papyrus, you weren’t bad yourself, protecting the house without even being able to see them,” Undyne leans back on her arms and takes a calming breath. “That was pretty cool.” She says mostly to herself.

Hearing this causes Papyrus to blush with pride, “Thank you Alpha Undyne, you taught me well.”

“Hey enough with the titles already you know you can just call me Undyne,” she closes her eyes and rolls her neck.

The tall skeleton’s tail waves lazily back and forth as he stares down at the plate, a smile rounding his teeth. Then he remembers he has food in his mouth and spits it out. WingDings is watching this entire encounter with such interest he doesn’t notice Sans maneuver his soul until it’s out of his chest.

“What the he. . .”

“Undyne language,” Papyrus cuts her off before setting WingDings meal beside him.

“Who cares about my language?! Is WingDings okay?!” Undyne scrambles forward on her hands and knees, coming up just a few inches short of his soul.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, WingDings stiffens, and looks from Undyne to Sans.

“He’s fine, give him some space,” Sans sighs, tiredly dropping a hand into the powder and lifting it to the pups soul.

“Sans I’m no Doctor but I know he is not fine!” Undyne tells him, gritting her teeth. “And why didn’t you tell me he was an Alpha, that’s amazing!”

Carefully rubbing the powder on WingDings soul, the pup squirms and does something he’s never done before. Instinctively he reaches forward with his mouth and lightly bites Sans wrists as he squirms, digging his heels in and trying to tug his father’s hands away from his soul. The medicine is helping, but the circumstances are uncomfortable.

Instead of being upset, Sans simply turns WingDings soul blue and maneuvers the pup into his lap so he can hold him comfortably and continue to work on the cracked soul, helping WingDings relax. WingDings whines, kicking his legs awkwardly until the added magic fills him up. He feels better and isn’t as tired anymore. Checking his stats he sees that his HP and Magic have fully recovered.

Watching in fascination Undyne has been silent, letting the doctor work, but as soon as Sans returns WingDings soul she has his poncho gripped in one hand. “Is he okay,” Undyne asks stuffly. “No half truths.”

“He has a fractured soul,” Sans explains calmly, releasing the pup so he can eat the food Papyrus set aside for him. “He’s not as weak as he looks, but his magic is unstable.”

“Fractured souls don’t exist,” Undyne huffs, releasing Sans when Papyrus hands her a healthy portion of food.

“He’s the exception,” Sans says.

“Does Toriel know about this?” Undyne asks next with her mouth full of food. When Sans chooses to eat instead, she turns to look at Papyrus.

“If Toriel knew she would have never let him come with us,” Papyrus explains.

Undyne freezes mid motion between lifting her plate and taking another bite. She thinks long and hard over what she wants to say. Sans doesn’t appear too nervous, glancing at the fish woman with one eye but Papyrus is nervously holding his hands in front of his torso. “You know what,” she finally says. “I don’t care whether you tell her or not, but why didn’t you tell me!”

“We did,” Sans says. “I didn’t have to show you his soul while you were in the hut. I could have waited till you were both asleep.”

As WingDings listens to them talk about his soul he becomes extremely self conscious. He buries his muzzle in his food, wishing he understood his own feelings. All he knows is he’s unhappy with Sans doing that in front of Undyne. With each world he visits it becomes more obvious that his soul is . . . broken and he doesn’t like how people treat him because of it. He’s startled from his thoughts when a sharp pain rushes through him and he yelps in surprise.

Then a tooth falls out.

“Oh another tooth,” Papyrus jumps upon the chance to help WingDings and escape Undyne’s disappointment. Picking it up, Papyrus wanders to one of the sacks and pulls out a small pouch, dropping the tooth inside. “Now you have two.”

‘You’re collecting them?’ WingDings asks.

“Of course, baby teeth are special,” Papyrus says.

‘. . . Do I get money for each one I lose?’ he asks his tail wagging behind him. Back home Papyrus sneaks a quarter under his pillow for each baby tooth that falls out. Papyrus claims it’s the tooth fairy, but WingDings knows it’s him.

To his credit Papyrus considers the child’s suggestion. “Are you in need of money Nephew?” he asks.

WingDings tail drops instantly. He doesn’t even have to think about it. He has no use for any money in this world since Sans and Papyrus provide him with everything he needs. They give him food, not conventional food, but still food. They give him shelter, it’s no better than a shack, but he feels at home. They give him clothing and while sparse, it covers his soul which is the most important detail for him. They give him love, it’s awkward at times, but it’s obvious they treat him as if he were their own. The only thing perhaps lacking is safety, but he’s able to go back in time so he’s never been in any real danger and his new family is very powerful.

Honestly, he has no use for money with all these things given to him.

‘I guess not,’ WingDings admits.

“WingDings,” Undyne says gaining the pups attention.

‘Yes?’ he asks.

“I’m sorry for staring, I was just worried is all,” Undyne tells him. “I’d hate to see you in pain pup.” She reaches a hand towards him in a show of honest remorse in hopes that he’ll come forward of his own will. WingDings knows she’s always meant well and walks towards her, allowing the monster to scratch behind one of his horns. It feels really good, evident by the thumping of his tail.

“Okay, next order of business, are we letting the goats sleep in here or are we moving them outside?” Undyne asks.

“What? You goat something against our furry new guests?” Sans grins.

“Sans,” Undyne gives the skeleton a humorless glare.

‘She’ll never let them stay, she’s too e-goat-istical,’ WingDings beams.

“Oo, nice one,” Sans reaches over and pats his sons head. “Don’t think I’ve herd that one before.”

“Don’t you mean herbivore?” WingDings buzzes giddily.

Undyne is about to pull out her hair.

“This is udder-ly ridiculous,” Papyrus groans.

“Not you too!” Undyne shouts, she jumps to her feet and pounces onto the skeleton who is too tired to try and hold her up

“Nyeh! It was an accident, I didn’t mean to goat you on,” Papyrus groans. “NYEH! I can’t stop!”

Laughing at their antics, WingDings discomfort trickles away leaving him in a better place for the evening. After putting the goats outside, things wind down for the evening and everyone goes to bed.

Notes:

Looking back on this chapter it feels rather rushed to me, but it also hits all the beats I wanted it to. I like seeing Papyrus interact with the Dogi and WingDings. He’s taking the role of caretaker with Sans gone which I enjoy. Also, again, I wrote this years ago, when Covid wasn’t a thing.

Thanks for reading, till next week.

Chapter 13: Growing Plains and Pains

Notes:

A day in the fields and quality time with Papyrus

Trigger Warnings: Growing pains, tickling, there’s still food being chewed and bathing. I’m not even sure I should be warning for those last two things anymore.

As soon as the light of dawn tints the edge of their door, Undyne and Sans leave their home, trudging along slowly, still tired from evenings skirmish. It isn’t until Papyrus takes WingDings outside that they see the damage. A lot of the fields have been trampled and the ground is full of holes from the bones Papyrus summoned during the fight. The aqueducts appear to be in one piece, but even with the Dogi’s help, it’s going to take a long time to prepare the fields again for planting.

WingDings learns what he can, wishing to be helpful and not underfoot. When he’s bored back home he tends to do things that his brothers refer to as . . . destructive. They’re just harmless pranks. Not like anyone gets seriously injured . . . most of the time.

Eventually as WingDings finds less to do in the fields, he is inevitability left with some free time and he sets his glowing sights on Dogamy and Dogaressa.

Smiling to himself, WingDings waits until Papyrus is busy to summon a bone and tosses it into the air.

‘Bone!’ Dogamy immediately barks.

‘Flying Bone?!’ Dogaressa echoes.

In unison the couple gives chase after the small bone, but just as they are about to reach it, WingDings summons a hand and tosses the bone again.

‘A flying bone!’ Dogamy calls in excitement, head up as he follows the bone with his snout.

‘Bones don’t fly,’ Dogaressa astutely points out, but it doesn’t matter because she still gives chase. The Dogi rip across the field yelping and barking happily as the bone keeps falling to the ground and then propelling itself up into the air again.

Taking notice, Papyrus, lifts his head from the trench he’s digging and watches the strange sight.

Dogamy and Dogaressa’s heads pop up out of the corn fields every now and again as the bone flies into the air. Confused, Papyrus lowers his hands and watches, squinting to figure out just what it is they’re so intent on catching.

Discreetly, WingDings notices Papyrus watching and throws the bone without restraint. It sails up into the sky past the tree line and out of sight.

Saddened by the loss of the delicious smelling magic bone the Dogi’s noses remain trained on their prize as they watch it vanish from their sights.

‘Such a good bone,’ Dogamy tells his wife, mourning the loss of such an interesting bone.

‘The pups would have loved it,’ Dogaressa comments with a mirrored solemn tilt of her head.

They both sit on the ground side by side and take a moment to nuzzle each other before making their way back towards Papyrus.

‘That was odd,’ Papyrus observes. ‘Normally they’re better behaved.’ His uncle rubs his chin and looks down at WingDings suspiciously.

The pup merely shrugs his shoulders at his elder, his small smile betraying nothing.

‘Hmmm,’ Papyrus watches as the Dogi couple return and after some serious thought, gets back to work.

For the remainder of the day WingDings refrains from throwing bones for the Dogi, but he does throw a bone for himself to chase to overcome his boredom. The game might be a bit animalistic, but it’s also good fun and no one there is going to judge him.

In the evening Sans and Undyne return in time for dinner smelling like Woshua. WingDings likes the smell, but Papyrus makes a point of cleaning a bit of them before allowing them to lie down and sleep in the nest. For the entire night WingDings wonders why it bothers the adults so much smelling like Woshua and asks about it the following day after Sans and Undyne have left.

‘We do it to stay clean and to scent each other,” Papyrus explains, making a point of licking WingDings and cleaning his bones.

‘Scent each other?’ WingDings asks, hoping his uncle will elaborate.

‘Yes, it shows other monsters that we are a family,’ Papyrus says, stopping WingDings bath only long enough to be sure he is heard clearly. ‘In Undyne’s case, she marks us to warn other monsters.’

‘Warn them not to mess with us?’ WingDings smiles as Papyrus gently turns him over.

‘You could put it that way,’ Papyrus lowers his head allowing WingDings to clean his large face. The pup doesn’t find the bathing practice strange anymore. It’s natural and is a way for him to show he cares about his uncle. ‘Undyne wants other monsters to know that she is our protector and won’t see us hurt. It’s a common trait with Alpha monsters.’

‘Sounds like something animals do . . .’ WingDings isn’t sure how he feels about that.

‘I’ve told you once already WingDings we are not animals,’ Papyrus reminds his pup with stern patience. ‘We have instincts yes, but that doesn’t make us incapable of reason. I thought you’d realized that.’ The large skeleton lowers his muzzle and rubs WingDings head gently.

‘It’s just . . . different,’ WingDings says thinking of home.

‘But different doesn’t mean bad,’ Papyrus says. He gives WingDings one last lick before standing and helping the pup get dressed. ‘Like my great-great-grandfather used to say. ‘Do not judge others harshly just because they’re different. Learn from them and when you understand them, only then can you decide whether it’s right or wrong’. Nyeh, it was a dangerous idea, but Sans and I secretly live by it.’

WingDings doesn’t completely understand what Papyrus has said, but it sounds very familiar. It’s similar to something the hero has told him before and is one of the reasons he doesn’t like to fight. ‘Toriel said something similar to Ariel when I met her,’ WingDings recalls.

‘Toriel does her best to be a forward thinker,’ Papyrus lowers his body and looks WingDings in the eye. ‘But . . . the past is sometimes hard to forget.’

As the child gazes at Papyrus’s face so full of compassion and hope, WingDings wonders just what his uncle is trying to tell him. He won’t remember Papyrus’s exact words, but he’ll remember what he felt like in this moment and the look on his uncle’s face.

After that, they head out into the fields again where some new monsters are waiting for them along with Dogamy and Dogaressa. The clan feels safer and those who are well enough are starting to get back to work in the orchards. WingDings has the opportunity meets Dogamy and Dogaressa’s pups, three in all, and they are all eager to prove themselves to the newbie.

WingDings doesn’t have any of it, easily avoiding a confrontation by tossing bones into the air to distract them. He wins their approval faster than the Froggit’s back at his tribe. It is a little strange thinking of the Froggit’s as being ‘his tribe’ but he doesn’t dwell on it.

As soon as he gets the chance, WingDings does his bone trick with Dogamy and Dogaressa who eagerly chase the magic bone again much to the young skeletons delight. WingDings has a good time playing with the adults, but is careful to stop as soon as any of the other adults question the odd sight. He doesn’t want to spook them or get caught.

For the next four days, this becomes WingDings comfortable routine, following Papyrus into the fields and helping where he can. He also makes a point of playing his bone prank on the Dogi family every day. WingDings has been in Asgore’s clan for a little over a week now and although he has not seen the city at all, he can tell their situation is improving. More monsters are coming out to tend the fields, the horn is being blown in the morning and evenings, and Undyne and Sans are smiling genuinely.

WingDings hasn’t seen Asgore at all, not since the night of the attack. He doesn’t know why this is, but he imagines he’ll be seeing him at some point. There also hasn’t been any worry of attack since that night. The guards have returned to their routes and the people have been taking the time to bury their dead. Apparently in this world Monsters don’t become dust, they leave bones behind.

If this has any significance, WingDings wouldn’t know and doesn’t particularly care.

As for more personal achievements WingDings has lost another tooth and is eating more heartily. After living in this world for over a month he is finally comfortable with the food. He’ll even eat the food Undyne chews for him, a sign of real progress.

The afternoon sun is quickly dropping behind the tree line as WingDings lazily tosses a hand on top of an unsuspecting deer monster’s head. She screams, claiming there is a spider on her head, but of course nothing is there when her friend takes a look. Chuckling under his breath as WingDings watches the scene he is caught unprepared when one of the Dogi pups pounces on him.

‘Gotcha!’ the pup howls in laughter, nipping WingDings horn playfully. The pup named Dogio is two times larger than WingDings but mindfully avoids stepping directly on any of the skeleton blasters thin bones.

‘Get off,’ WingDings groans, trying to push himself up, but only becoming dirtier for his efforts. The ground is moist since it is fertile farm land and while this is a very good sign for future crops, WingDings can only feel disgust for being stuck in it.

‘Agree to fight me,’ Dogio barks lifting his head high. ‘Then I get off.’

WingDings summons a bone.

‘Nah uh, I’m not falling for that . . .

WingDings tosses the bone.

‘I got it!’ Dogio scampers off WingDings, caking the poor skeleton pup in more dirt as Dogio chases after the bone. It isn’t long before the Dogi brothers and parents do the same, chasing the flying piece of marrow as WingDings lets his aggression out on the bone.

Looking down at himself, WingDings buzzes and beeps in annoyance and does his best to wipe the mud of his clothing. Dirt is not his friend, especially mud! What’s worse is there is no such thing as a real bath in a place like this. He mourns the loss of ever being truly clean again. Not like Sans is going to let KanSak give him a bath unless it is absolutely necessary.

As he lifts his hand to pick at the mud sticking to his poncho a fleeting ping of pain pinches his shoulder blade. Shaking his arm, WingDings glances at his paw curiously before continuing to pick at the mud. The quick snap of pain returns, disappearing as quickly as it came, only this time it’s in his spine. Moving to stand on his four legs, WingDings shakes his body, but the pain returns, this time causing his ribs to spasm when he tries to take a breath.

He takes a quick breath and slowly drops back to the ground, when a numbing pain throbs over his limbs and back. Taking in quick breaths, WingDings curls in on himself, becoming a tiny ball. In the distance his magic hand with the bone vanishes, dropping the bone from about thirty feet up before vanishing as well.

Unprepared, and with no ideas as to what is wrong with him, WingDings whimpers quietly, pressing his skull uncaring into the muck.

“WingDings!” The pup doesn’t know how, but Papyrus is there above him, kneeling down and reaching forward in concern. “Nephew, what’s wrong?”

‘H-hurts’ WingDings whispers, barely heard past his growing whimpers. Seeing Papyrus so worried, makes the pup even more aware of how much pain he’s in.

“Where? Your soul?” Papyrus gently takes hold of the pup. A few monsters have stepped closer realizing that something is wrong.

‘No, my bones,’ WingDings manages to say, gasping when Papyrus lifts him. Tears flow freely from his eye sockets and he tries to curl in on himself even tighter then he already is. He is so tiny in Papyrus’s large hands, reminding the monster just how fragile his pup is. It’s easy to forget with a personality as bold as his.

Carefully, Papyrus maneuvers WingDings against his shawl and ribs which the pup eagerly clutches for dear life.

“Should we get the doctor,” one of the monsters asks as Papyrus makes his way towards their hut.

“Please, but do inform him that it is not an emergency,” Papyrus tells the monster solemnly. “I’m fairly positive the pup is experiencing growing pains.”

Growing pains? WingDings has never heard of that before. How can something painful like this be natural?

As they walk away from the farmers, Papyrus rubs the sniffling pups back, telling him that everything will be all right and that he’ll try to help. When they get back to the hut, Papyrus turns his sash into a sling so WingDings can continue to clutch him while he searches their things for a large bowl and a jar from San’s special satchel of remedies.

WingDings paws at Papyrus’s shirt, whimpering softly as he shifts in the sling.

“You’re going to be all right Nephew, just hang in there,” Papyrus stokes the fire, unaware of his word play, and puts jars of water close to it, heating them. As he waits for the water to heat he rubs WingDings back removing his clothing. When the water is warm he puts WingDings into the large shallow bowl he found and dumps the water into it.

The heated water feels good on WingDings throbbing bones, but only offers momentary relief. Next Papyrus puts his hand in the small medicine jar he found from Sans satchel and adds some water to it. The powder becomes a paste which he applies to WingDings bones.

“Where does it hurt most?” His uncle asks, starting to apply the paste to the pups’ spine.

‘My vertebra, humerus, and femur bones mostly,’ WingDings softly sputters.

Papyrus nods and starts rubbing the goop in those places, spreading it to cover all the bones of his limbs and spine. The entire episode lasts about twenty minutes, around the time the water is starting to feel lukewarm. When the pain ebbs away, Papyrus wipes the creamy substance off with the water and proceeds to give him a bath.

After cleaning up WingDings hesitatingly walks around a bit, surprised that he feels no pain at all. It’s as if it never happened. The soreness is completely gone and he can move around without any sharp pains.

“Feeling better?” Papyrus asks.

‘Yes, thank you uncle!’ WingDings goes up to Papyrus’s leg and rubs against it affectionately. ‘I’ve never had pain like that before.’

“I’m not surprised, you are quite small for a blaster pup of six years old,” Papyrus remarks. “You’re nearly the size of a new born.”

‘Oh,’ WingDings studies the carpet before cramming his head back to look up at the skeleton. ‘So how big should I be?’

“The size of Amber at least and she’s fairly small for being five,” Papyrus answers.

‘Oh . . . so I’m going to have more growing pains?’ WingDings asks.

“Hopefully not as bad but yes, you will be growing a lot over the next couple of years,” Papyrus glances outside and, noting the angle of the sun, decides that he might as well get started on dinner. “That’s why it is very important you eat your food and replenish your magic!”

‘But I need that magic to return home, not to grow!?’ WingDings states logically. ‘Is there a way to tell my body and soul to put my magic towards that instead?’

“Nephew, I do not believe such a thing exists,” Papyrus answers. “After all no one has sought to return to another world before you showed up.”

Groaning, WingDings flops over and glares out their door.

“Hmm,” Papyrus gently pushes WingDings out of the way with his foot so he can get to the salted meat they have stored. “Have you been to other worlds before?”

‘Lots of times,’ WingDings replies, perking up at the prospect of talking about himself and his adventures.

“How did you get home during your previous . . . world trips,” Papyrus doesn’t know what word to use but the idea comes across clearly enough to the pup.

‘Usually the hero is with me and can guide me back,’ WingDings answers. ‘They have a lot of determination. Although there was one time another version of me sent me back, but he was powerful too.’

“Another version of you?” Papyrus asks, furrowing his brows in confusion before brightening and becoming excited about it. “Wowie, meeting another version of yourself would be a lot of fun. Meeting another me would be amazing!”

WingDings snorts, earning a light glare from his uncle. Normally his uncle doesn’t talk up how awesome he is, unlike most versions of Papyrus, but apparently if he’s talking about another ‘him’ that’s somehow different.

“What’s so funny Nephew?”

‘Another Papyrus from another world said something very similar,’ he supplies.

“Really? That is very encouraging, I would love it if I could meet him someday,” Papyrus pulls out a piece of corn from a sack. “Want to help shuck some corn?”

‘Sure,’ WingDings replies. Papyrus shifts the pup and with a little determination he makes the transition smoothly. About forty-five minutes later Sans and Undyne come back with the former walking straight up to WingDings and kneeling beside him.

“Looks like you grew a little,” Sans says, rubbing WingDings skull fondly. “Sorry I wasn’t here son, but I knew Papyrus had it covered.”

“So how much did you grow WingDings, let’s have a look at ya,” Undyne swoops him up and stands him on his feet. The boy puts his hands firmly behind his back and lifts his chin, trying to appear taller. “Hmmm, naw.” She picks him up and attacks him with tickling fingers and he begins to laugh before she’s even touched him. “Still a baby bones.”

“Stop it! Save me! Can’t breathe!” WingDings screams in laughter.

Sans chuckles at the sight and takes some of the food from Papyrus, chewing it for the pup. As they eat WingDings tells Father Sans and Aunty Undyne about his day, excluding the parts where he pranks the other monsters with his bones. After cleaning up and settling down for the evening Sans tells Papyrus and WingDings that they will soon be able to visit Asgore at the palace. This news makes WingDings a little nervous having only seen the Alpha Chief on two occasions, but with his new family around he knows he shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Sadly it’s one thing to know something and another to feel it.

Notes:

I think Papyrus and Undyne are my favorite characters in this story. At least that’s how I feel after reading this chapter, I might change my mind in the next chapter. The Dogi also crack me up. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 14: Changing Perceptions

Notes:

Beware, there is bullying . . . kind of. And we finally meet Asgore for real.

So far this new day is proving to be an enjoyable one. WingDings is having a grand time dropping hands on unsuspecting farmers heads when Dogio makes his inevitable appearance trying to tackle him. He leaps off the rim of one of the stone aqueducts and pushes WingDings to the ground licking the blaster pups face with glee. “Got you again,” he says with his snout thrust high before lowering it again to lick WingDings skull.

“Yeah, yeah, get off,” WingDings tries to squirm out from under him, but Dogio’s two brothers appear out of nowhere and start licking his face too.

“Now we all got you!” Dodge laughs.

“Best bones ever!” DogDog proclaims.

As the monster puppies tongues continue to lather him with sticky saliva and kisses, WingDings disgust and horror sky rocket. Before long the blaster pup can’t take it any longer and with a burst of determination jumps to his feet, sending all three pups flying off him. Without thinking it through WingDings dashes away, which is understandable, but not the wisest choice considering just what he is running from.

Thinking it’s a wonderful game the three puppies howl in unison before launching after WingDings and giving chase.

Close by, the adults watch the monster children and smile at what they think is an adorable sight. From WingDings perspective it’s anything but a game. He’s running for dear life as DogDog, Dodge, and Dogio go as fast as their four paws will take them. Inevitably they catch WingDings several times, lathering him with dog kisses, but they can never keep him pinned long when his determination flares.

Around the time when WingDings is feeling fearful of his bones getting nipped, he turns on them and lets out a pathetic roar. At least it sounds pathetic to him, but it does release a small burst of magic from his maw. The cry and magic burst causes the chasing pups to falter, skidding to a stop with their lively wagging tails dropping between their legs.

Hearing his fearful roar for what it is Papyrus appears a second later, looking between the pups and WingDings in concern. “Is everything all right pups?” he asks, lacing his arms across his chest and looking pointedly down at the dog monster pups.

WingDings looks up at Papyrus as if his uncle is a guardian angel come to save him, which he might as well be.

‘Yes sir,’ Dogio says, with a shake of his head.

‘We were just chasing bone child,’ DogDog gladly informs him.

This description displeases Papyrus and his gaze narrows harshly. “He is not a bone,” Papyrus informs them. “WingDings,” he turns to his nephew. “Don’t let them chase you, tell them no and defend yourself next time.”

WingDings isn’t expecting to be reprimanded, although the demand to defend himself doesn’t surprise him. The blaster pup lowers his head, growling softly in displeasure. He’s managed to avoid fighting the Dogi pups all week and he’d like it to stay that way. “Yes Uncle,” he says instead, avoiding a confrontation.

“Very good WingDings,” Papyrus nods in approval.

The next day the same thing happens. It starts innocent enough, a playful game of sneaking up on WingDings while he’s busy playing pranks on the adults. But when they begin pouncing and licking him WingDings tells them to stop. Sneaking up on him is fine, but as soon as they start licking him he dislikes it.

For the next two days this tactic appears to work. At first they listen to him but by the fourth day they’ve forgotten as children do and WingDings is forced to run away again when they make chase, declaring how much they love him. The good news is that fighting is the furthest thing from the Dogi boys minds, making a confrontation impossible from their end, but WingDings is not feeling loved at all.

‘Get off! Stop it!’ WingDings cries, but it is in vain.

The larger pups are too busy playing to hear.

Furious, WingDings eyes flash red and he summons his hands yanking them off of him and slapping all three of their snouts.

‘Hey, what’s the big idea?’ DogDog complains lowering his head in alarm.

‘We were just licking you,’ Dodge says, ears lifted. He is alert and ready for a fight.

‘And I don’t want to be licked by you, it makes me uncomfortable,’ WingDings complains. ‘So I’m asking you to stop.’

‘We aren’t doing anything wrong,’ Dogio snaps.

‘Yes you are,’ WingDings barks. ‘I asked you to stop.’

‘You can’t boss us around,’ DogDog yells.

‘And you’re ganging up on me,’ WingDings rebounds, snapping his teeth at them.

‘Ganging up, Ha! You haven’t seen ganging up!’ Dogio declares and the confrontation begins.

Immediately it’s obvious that WingDings is at a disadvantage, three against one. He also doesn’t want to hurt them, but they’re determined to lick and nip at him as much as they like until he gives in. Using what Ariel taught him WingDings takes them down one by one, depending on his determination to outlast them.

Unknown to him Papyrus, along with Dogamy and Dogaressa, are watching the fight. The Dogi parents want to immediately punish their children for fighting unfairly, but it becomes clear that WingDings isn’t fighting fair either, using his hands to fling mud at the pups, confuse them with flying bones, and pit them against each other. In the end WingDings defeats them when he has them pinned with a large bone across their backs.

‘Do you surrender!’ WingDings demands, eyes burning red and daring them to challenge him again.

‘. . . You win WingDings,” Dogio mumbles. His two brother echo his statement, lowering their heads and acknowledging his dominance. It is the first time they’ve called him by his name instead of ‘bone child’ or ‘bone dog’ or just ‘bone’.

“Pups are in trouble,” Dogamy barks at them alerting the children that they’ve been watched all along.

“Big trouble, have been very rude to guest,” Dogaressa finishes. The parents scoop up their children, apologizing to WingDings and Papyrus before taking their leave.

‘You were watching?’ WingDings lower his head in shame.

Confused by WingDings shame Papyrus kneels down carefully as too avoid most of the mud. “Yes, you fought well,” Papyrus assure him, suspecting that this isn’t the problem.

‘But I fought them,’ WingDings complains, slamming one paw into the mud, disappointed with himself.

“Not all conflicts can be resolved with words,” Papyrus tells him, scooping him up. “Sometimes you must fight.”

‘But I don’t want to solve my problems by fighting,’ WingDings mumbles, he wants to be like Frisk.

Instead of answering right away Papyrus considers WingDings philosophy and his past actions. “You didn’t hurt them,” he reminds his nephew. “That is what you strive for.”

‘. . . It is,’ WingDings agrees.

“Then you didn’t fail,” Papyrus assures him. “You obeyed my command while remaining a pacifist. I still do not fully understand why this is so important to you, but I do understand that it ‘is’ important to you. Do not be so hard on yourself nephew, I believe in you so believe in yourself a little more.”

WingDings listens to every word and although he’s heard similar things from his brother before, hearing it from a different Papyrus, whose life revolves around confrontation and showing dominance, means a lot to him. Papyrus accepts him, despite being the only blaster on the face of the planet who wants to be a pacifist. Lifting himself up to Papyrus’s chest, the pup licks his uncle’s face, letting him know how much that means to him.

“Enough of that, you’re filthy!” Papyrus lightly reprimands him and they make their way for the house. On the way home the horn is blown and several guards leave the walled city, making their way out into the dense forest.

‘What does that mean?’ WingDings asks. The sun is nowhere near going down yet so it can’t be the signal to leave the fields and typically the guards don’t leave the city unless they’re changing shifts.

“Most likely they are investigating someone trespassing on their land,” Papyrus says, quickly entering the house. “Change your clothes and clean yourself up a little.” The skeleton moves to the door scanning the perimeter of trees, on high alert.

‘Is something wrong?’ WingDings asks, as he drags his poncho over his head, careful not to tear it on his horns. He uses it to wipe off his bones, dabbing a cloth in one of their jars of water to get the large blotches of mud off.

Papyrus doesn’t immediately answer, waiting until he sees the guards returning to the city. “Looks like they found a spy,” he says, nodding his head and coming inside. He shifts forms and proceeds to give WingDings a bath. After that Papyrus is just about to get dinner ready when Undyne and Sans walk in.

“You’re here early?” Papyrus comments as they step in. He turns his head to the door, noting that there are several other monsters outside.

“We’re packing up,” Undyne tells him seriously. “They’re here to help us move.”

“Is it safe?” WingDings asks. He’s in his child form, milking one of the goats.

“The epidemic has been contained and the city has been thoroughly cleaned,” Sans assures him. “Pack up your things son.”

WingDings nods and does as he is asked as several guards come in to help them pack everything up. He finds it a little odd they are moving so quickly and without much warning. At a glance the child can tell that Papyrus isn’t thrilled either, but neither question it, recognizing the concern on Undyne and Sans faces.

By the time they have everything packed up, even the goats, the sun is low in the sky. WingDings travels inside Sans ribs, who isn’t carrying anything else and is surrounded by guards all around. It’s confusing and he can feel the shifty eyes of the guard dogs as they travel. It’s only after they’ve entered the city walls that they visibly relax. They are led up a broad cobbled stone street, past tightly packed houses of stone and mud. As they go higher the quality of the houses improves.

They only stop when they pass another wall where the pyramid, a palace and several other large building are located. WingDings doesn’t get a good look at them, due to the coming darkness and Sans poncho, but he’s fairly confident he’ll be able to see it in the morning. After climbing a few steps they are brought to a nice house that reminds WingDings a little of Alphy’s home.

As soon as Sans lowers himself, WingDings scampers out looking around the large space and doing his best to stay out of the way of the guards as they bring in their things. While Papyrus tells them where to put everything, Sans concentrates on arranging his medical herbs and jars as Undyne moves some of the cushions and bedding to make a proper nest. When they are finished, Sans shifts WingDings back into a child and they walk a short distance to the palace just across the way.

It’s only then that WingDings realizes they’ll be visiting Chief Asgore and he can’t say he’s prepared. He can’t tell if it’s his nerves or his hunger that is making his bones jittery. It might be both.

At the entryway Asgore meets them with his three sons, one daughter and one human child, all of which are standing tall to respectfully receive them. WingDings looks along the row of them, his eyes stopping on the smallest. The small goat child smiles at WingDings, sneaking a wave at him, before looking forward like his other siblings.

“Thank you for coming, since you’ve just moved I thought it only right to share dinner with you,” Asgore tells them. He is wearing similar clothing to his estranged wife, with lots of gold bangles, earrings, and a skirt. Unlike his Toriel he also has a cloth wrapped around his shoulders with the excess flowing behind him like a cape. Asgore is also much bigger than Toriel. In fact he’s got to be the tallest Asgore WingDings has ever seen. Granted he hasn’t seen many version of Asgore yet, but it’s still large enough to seer itself easily in the child’s mind.

“Our pleasure,” Undyne says genuinely, she comes forward and stops just in front of Asgore. The two stare at each other, Asgore fiddling his fingers a bit with concern, until Undyne releases a hardy laugh and hugs the fluffy monster. In turn Asgore’s unease disappears and he releases a bellowing laugh full of warmth and relief. Next to WingDings Sans and Papyrus relax, their stiff stances easing and their smiles lightening into something more genuine.

“So how are my favorite royal little goats doing!” Undyne bellows, causing said kids to jump on her all at once, including the human who is apparently an honorary goat.

“We’re not as little now,” the human tells her gladly.

“I’ve grown two inches since last you saw me,” says another goat child.

“HA HA, now now, we have introduction to make,” Asgore reminds Undyne, patting her shoulder and encouraging his children off with a light wave of his hand. “Sans and Papyrus I wish it was under better circumstances that we met again, but I’m truly proud to see the kind of Monsters you have become.”

“You’ve changed too Alpha,” Sans tells him, relaxing his broad shoulders. “It’s a good change.”

“Yes well, kids do that to you,” Asgore admits sheepishly, looking to say something but deciding against it and saying something safer. “And speaking of children, who might this young skeleton pup be?”

“This is Sans WingDings, I’ve adopted him as my son,” Sans explains.

“It is good to meet you WingDings, these are my children, I’ve adopted one as well, I’m sure you can’t tell which one,” Asgore steps aside introducing the children in the order they happen to be standing in. “This is Chara, I found him abandoned when he was a toddler. This is Asriel,” he motions to the one who is the shortest and who waved at him earlier. “Togore,” another son. “Astariel,” and wow that’s a tongue twister. “And Leirsa,” the only girl among them and the tallest.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” WingDings dips his head politely and all five royals do the same for him. This sets them apart from their eldest sister. Really, so far, the impression they’re giving him now is nothing like the impression Ariel painted for him. Looks can be deceiving so he’ll just have to wait and see.

“The pleasure is ours,” Astariel answer for his siblings. He isn’t the tallest of them, but WingDings gets the impression that he’s used to speaking for the others. “It’s funny you don’t strike me as a six year old.”

“Haha, I was actually thinking the same thing,” Asgore agrees with his son. “You come across as much older.”

“Thank you, I’m glad to hear it,” WingDings stands a little straighter, feeling some pride at their observation.

“Father can we show him around while we wait for dinner?” Asriel asks, looking up at him expectantly. Beside him the four others look up as well, ten beautiful eyes looking at the chief expectantly.

“You may, but remember he is our guest, be on your best behavior and absolutely no fighting,” Asgore commands them, a hint of warning in his tone.

“Yes father!” they shout and rush WingDings all at once making the poor skeleton take a step back defensively. Chara is the first to notice his unease and puts a hand out to stop the others just before reaching him. Evidently he is very perceptive of WingDings body language and his siblings recognize this, stopping at his command. Yet another thing that separates them from their sister.

“You okay?” Asriel asks lifting his paw forward to the small skeleton.

WingDings looks from Sans to Papyrus and finally to Undyne. All of them are smiling calmly, finding the sight endearing. Next WingDings checks their souls. Like most children souls they aren’t fully developed but from what he can see they are kind, wrought with hardships and a little mischievous.

He’s okay with that.

Offering them a smile, WingDings takes Asriel’s hand and they eagerly lead him through the entry way, through the eating room and into their living quarters.

“So you’re adopted huh? That’s neat,” Chara says as Asriel sits WingDings down on one of their cushions from their nest.

“Sans is a great dad, almost as good as ours,” Leirsa comments as she goes to a basket and begins searching for something.

“How is Ariel doing?” Asriel asks. Almost immediately his four siblings groan.

“Who cares how she’s doing,” Togore complains.

“Well she is our sister,’ Asriel reminds them.

“Heh, yeah our older sister,” Torgore grumbles.

“And she’ll never let us forget it,” Astariel sighs before turning to WingDings. “She always has something to prove when she visits. Very defensive and always wanting to fight.”

“Actually I’m older than her, but she doesn’t care,” Chara rolls his eyes in annoyance.

“She beats us every time we fight,” Leirsa confesses, pulling out a large roll of woven straw. “Can you get the corn and pieces Astariel, I can’t remember where they are.”

Astariel gets up to do just that which impresses WingDings. Normally siblings aren’t so . . . nice to one another. He’d expect a brother to say ‘get it yourself’ before saying ‘sure, I can do that.’

“She does seem to like fighting,” WingDings agrees.

“She fought you too?” Asriel leans forward in surprise before leaning back. “I thought maybe she’d go easier on you since you’re so small, no offense.” He quickly raises his paw and waves it. “I’m small too for my age so I understand what it’s like.”

“It’s all right,” WingDings tells him. Leirsa begins setting up a type of board game in front of him, only it isn’t a board so much as a woven straw mat that’s been painted on. It has eleven black lines painted on it with two rectangles at each end. “What’s this?”

“Its bul,” Leirsa tells him, sitting beside him. “Have you never played it before?”

“No, I didn’t realize there were games for children,” WingDings confesses.

“That’s sad, what do you do with your time?” Togore asks, sitting next to Asriel on the other side of the gaming mat.

“Mostly learn things and watch Sans work,” WingDings answers as Astariel takes a seat next to Asriel and sets out six stones. Three on one side of the board and three on the other.

“Watching the doctor work would be very interesting,” Chara agrees sitting with the other boys. “Will you become a doctor like him?”

“Maybe, I don’t know yet,” WingDings shrugs, but the idea pleases him.

“So the point of the game is to capture the other players by landing on them and bringing them back to your side of the board,” Leirsa explains. “Hey wait, the teams are uneven!”

“Who cares, you win almost every time, you’ll be fine,” Togore grins.

“Just fine,” Chara echoes him waving a hand at her lazily.

“That’s not true, it’s unfair,” Leirsa complains.

“Fine, fine, if you insist,” Chara stands and moves to sit next to WingDings, smiling down at the skeleton. “We’ll win for sure.”

“Oh no Chara,” Astariel warns him. “We aren’t betting anything this time, WingDings is a beginner.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Chara jokes.

“Chara, Dad would kill us if we did something like that,” Togore says in alarm.

Hearing the phrase ‘kill us’ isn’t comforting to WingDings. He doesn’t think they should throw that word around too lightly all things considered.

“Or make us climb the pyramid ten times without stopping,” Astariel jokes. All the siblings laugh heartily, giving the impression that they’ve done this as punishment plenty of times.

“How do you move the pieces?” WingDings asks.

“We use this corn,” Asriel explains. “There are four pieces and one side on each is painted black. You go one space forward for every black side you toss . . .”

“Unless you get all yellow, then you get to go five spaces,” Leirsa finishes in excitement. “Since you’re the youngest you get to go first.”

“Hey that isn’t fair,” Asriel complains.

“Well he is the youngest,” Astariel says.

“How does it feel not being the youngest anymore?” Chara asks as Togore gives Asriel a playful noogie.

Asriel tries to escape, complaining loudly, but is smiling nonetheless, no doubt enjoying the attention to some degree.

When Astariel hands WingDings the corn, the skeleton tries his best to hold onto the small pieces but they inevitably fall through the hole in his hand. Blushing, WingDings picks up the tiny pieces, careful not to drop them again.

“Do you need some help?” Chara asks in concern.

“No thank you I’ve got this,” WingDings insists his eyes sparking red for a second before he tosses the dried corn onto the mat. He gets two black and moves his piece forward two lines.

The game is very simple and it doesn’t take long to complete since they only have six players. Apparently you can play with up to ten people and with a larger field, but for their fun simplest is best. By the time they finish the second round, dinner is ready and WingDings is starving.

He doesn’t even care that someone else has possibly chewed his food, but come to find out Sans chewed it, wishing to avoid spreading germs to the child, just in case. The evening is filled with many stories and laughter. Once or twice Asgore and the kids comment on how rough it’s been with the plague, but they are hopeful and thankful, never lingering long on the bad. This is nothing like the meal he shared with Toriel and Ariel, this one feels more like a family.

What a welcomed surprise.

Notes:

Guess my first note might be misleading, but Asgore is actually a wonderful dad and his kids are harmless. Here I was leading up to making Asgore evil and turns out he’s a reformed man, woo! See ya next week.

Chapter 15: Hide and Seek

Notes:

In which we see WingDings hang out with the Dreemurr children.

WingDings doesn’t want to leave Asgore’s that evening but when he starts nodding off, they take their leave and go to the new place they’ll be staying for the foreseeable future. At the crack of dawn WingDings is awake, eager to go back and visit the Dreemurr family. Papyrus is the next one up, cleaning the pup and feeding him as Undyne and Sans slowly wake and prepare for the day.

‘How long will we be staying?’ WingDings asks, playfully weaving between Undyne’s legs as she fills her satchel with medicine.

“Oh so now you want to stay?” she asks him as she carefully nestles the clay jars into place. “I thought you didn’t like it here.”

‘That was before I met Astariel, Leirsa, Asriel, Togore, and Chara,’ he says. ‘I’d like to spend more time with them.’ They sure beat the company the Dogi children provided. No more dog licks!

“Really? That’s great to hear!” Undyne picks WingDings up, tickling him briefly before setting him down. “I was hoping you’d hit it off. As for your question we’ll leave when the plague is completely gone and Sans has trained a new doctor,” she tells him. “Also when the danger passes.”

‘Danger?’ he asks.

“Yeah, you saw that spy right, apparently there are quite a few tribes looking for Sans,” Undyne says. “They heard that he has the cure to the sickness and want to find him.”

“But some of those tribes are not our friends,” Sans explains. “So we might be here a while.”

‘I understand,’ WingDings is a little sad, but since he’s made new friends who are not going to lick him like a puppy he’s hopeful.

“WingDings can you go milk the goats, we might have forgotten the milk at the old place,” Papyrus says.

‘Sure,’ WingDings holds still long enough for Sans to shift him before heading out with a clay bowl. He grabs a goat and leads it as close to the house as he can so he can overhear what the adults are discussing.

“. . . sickness is that bad?” Papyrus asks.

“It must be,” Sans answers. “We might have to produce that antidote here somehow.”

“You want to help those scoundrels?!” Undyne barks.

“The best way to get rid of them is to give them what they want,” Sans explains. “Isn’t ideal to grow what I need here, but the land Asgore gave us should work well. Just have to be sure to keep the goats out of the garden.”

“I’ll construct a sturdy fence,” Papyrus offers. “Do . . . Do you think WingDings will be fine staying with Asgore. The Alpha really seems to have changed.”

“I told you he wasn’t that bad anymore,” Undyne states proudly. “He was just too eager at the beginning to get you to like him again, he felt really bad about it.”

“He did apologize,” Papyrus comments, mostly to himself. “The decision is yours brother; after all he is your son. I don’t mind having him around. . . I’m sure I can put him to work.”

“. . . I can tell the chiefs changed, I can see his soul remember,” Sans chuckles. It isn’t a joyful chuckle, a little dark hiding a long history of knowledge and sarcasm. “He’ll be fine. Better off than spending time with the Dogi brats.”

“Honestly I have half a mind to throw a bone at them . . . although I suspect that WingDings has been secretly doing that for the past two weeks,” Papyrus admits.

“No way really?” Undyne asks.

“I’ve heard stories of flying bones for a while now, circulating through the city,” Sans reveals making WingDings blush with pride at his accomplishment.

“It must be him since it wasn’t I,” Papyrus states. “But I could never catch him in the act.”

“What a stinker,” Undyne howls with laughter.

“Proud of the pup,” Sans laughs. “And he should probably start milking that goat if he wants to go visit the Dreemurr family.”

Caught, WingDings blushes and starts milking again.

After WingDings has collected enough milk he is escorted by Papyrus to the palace. Asgore greets them and tells them that the children are busy with their studies, but that WingDings is welcome to join them. Saying goodbye to Papyrus, WingDings eagerly follows after Asgore to another room where the royal family are doing their best not to fall asleep in front of their tutor.

WingDings giggles at the sight and takes a seat next to Leirsa who has mastered the ability of sitting on her cushion without falling over while asleep. A crafty smile pinches WingDings lips as he gets an idea. Double checking to be sure she is asleep, WingDings summons a hand and drags a finger up her furry spine.

Jumping to her feet, Leirsa screams reaching behind her head in search of the thing that touched her. As she spins around her brothers chuckle under their breath, well except Togore he’s laughing so hard he falls backwards. WingDings chuckles as well, but does his best to remain unnoticed as Leirsa starts accusing her brothers of foul play.

“Miss Leirsa, please sit down,” their tutor sighs. “And do try to stay awake this time otherwise I’ll have our new student do that little trick of his again.”

Disappointed at the premature reveal of the prankster true identity, WingDings lightly glares at the observant tutor as Leirsa bends over and glares angrily at him. “That was uncalled for WingDings,” Leirsa huffs as she plops down next to him.

‘I’m sorry,’ WingDings grins showing full well he isn’t sorry. ‘I couldn’t resist.’

“Do it to Togore next time, he deserves it,” Leirsa claims, folding her arms.

WingDings sets his sights on Togore and before the young man can complain the tutor calls for their attention, ending their fun for the time being.

As they study WingDings does his best to follow along, finding the math portion boring, but the history and memorization of names is cumbersome, especially when trying to pronounce said names. If he were in his child form he’d struggle even more since he’d have to say the distinct syllables and sounds correctly instead of just growling and mewing.

After lunch they are free from their studies, but Asgore gives his children instructions to take care of WingDings, claiming that the pup’s well being is their responsibility. They take this duty very seriously and it’s here that WingDings sees the similarity between them and Ariel. When given a responsibility, such as taking care of WingDings, they see it through.

Sadly this means WingDings begins to feel something he hasn’t ever felt from older children and that’s the feeling of being smothered.

“What do you want to do WingDings?” Asriel asks with good-natured intent.

“Do you want to play marbles?” Leirsa offers.

“We could play Bul again?” Astariel suggests.

“Or practice using a bow and arrow,” Togore includes enthusiastically.

Chara glances at his goat brother with an amused tick of his brow. “He doesn’t have hands the way he is now,” the human reminds him.

“Oh right,” Togore sheepishly scratches the back of his head.

They all look at WingDings expectantly, waiting patiently for him to decide what they should do. WingDings doesn’t like it. He really doesn’t care what they do, as long as he isn’t play fighting with the Dogi brothers he’s happy.

‘I want to . . . those all sound like great ideas,’ WingDings finally answers. ‘How about you choose something.’

“But you’re our guest,” Togore tells him. “You should choose.”

‘. . .’ WingDings doesn’t know what to say.

“We can also play tag, or climb the pyramid, have a race, visit the gardens, play hide and seek, play hoops and balls, sticks, jumping. . .” Asriel rattles off and WingDings wonders if he’ll ever run out of idea.

‘Marbles!’ WingDings blurts a little louder than he expects. He just wants Asriel to stop talking.

“Marbles it is,” Leirsa grins and the group jump to their feet and get a game of marbles going.

It’s only after WingDings has the smooth round orb in his paw that he realizes what a mistake this was. He can’t use the marbles correctly in his claws, unable to shoot them right let alone hold them. When he switches to using his magic hands it is little improvement since the marbles slip from his slick bones or fall through the holes in his hands.

“Maybe we should play something else,” Chara suggests after seeing WingDings struggle and his determination flare several times.

“What would you like to do?” Astariel asks WingDings.

Bothered by the simple question WingDings just names the first thing that comes to mind. ‘Racing?’

“Yeah, let’s have a race,” Togore celebrates. “First one to the steps of the pyramid wins!”

They don’t even say ‘go’ and the Dreemurr siblings are off running out of the palace courtyard and leaping down the narrow steps. Scrambling to his feet WingDings tries to catch up, but he is much too small. For a brief second he considers using a short cut, but thinks better of it. He needs his magic to grow and get home, he can’t be wasting it on a simple games.

After declaring Leirsa the winner, they again ask WingDings what he wants to do.

Again he blurts, ‘sticks’ he says, which is a variant of a ‘pickup sticks.’ He proves to be inept at this game too and when asked what he wants to do next he says Bow’s n’ Arrows, which again is a silly thing to suggest. He can use his magic hands to hold the bow, but he doesn’t have the skill to aim it right and after nearly shooting a servant by mistake they again ask what he wants to play.

Put out by the annoying question WingDings suggests Hide n’ Seek. Astariel agrees to be ‘it’ and they all race to find a hiding place on the royal grounds. WingDings takes his time, knowing it will take Astariel a while to count to two hundred and twenty six. He returns to the palace and finds the servants in the kitchen. They are a little surprised to see him, but give him a snack of tortillas to munch on.

WingDings enjoys the calm and decides to take a quick nap on one of the cushions.

He is awoken when he hears Asriel calling for him, the twelve year old goats tone bleating just a little with his concern and worry. “WingDings! We give up! WingDings!” he calls into the palace.

Picking himself up he looks at the nervous servants to where Asriel’s voice is calling for him.

“We didn’t want to wake you,” the servant explains apologetically.

“You looked tired,” the other says.

WingDings nods. ‘It’s okay,’ he tells them simply and trots out of the kitchen. ‘I’m here!’ he calls calmly coming towards the goat child.

“WingDings! You’re okay,” Asriel says elated at the bone pup’s seemingly miraculous appearance. “HEY GUY’S HE’S AT THE PALACE!”

It really surprises WingDings just how loud the goat can yell, but he doesn’t comment on it. He doesn’t have the chance really as Asriel slides forward and picks WingDings up into a hug. “We couldn’t find you . . . we thought we messed up,” Asriel explains.

“Where were you, we were worried sick,” Leirsa is the next to appear. She is upset, but not angry at him so much as irritated with herself.

“But I checked this area,” Chara complains.

“This game was a bad idea,” Astariel says plopping down on the floor.

“WingDings hands down is the best at this game,” Togore declares with a huff.

“Where were you?!” Leirsa demands again.

‘I was in the kitchen,’ WingDings explains calmly not bothering to try and get out of Asriel’s hug. He has the distinct impression that hugging is comforting the twelve year old more than it’s comforting him, but he loves hugs anyway. ‘Then I fell asleep.’

They all look at the pup with blank expressions, as if it really couldn’t be that simple.

Realizing the simple mistake they’ve made Chara laughs. It is a short laugh, showing his disappointment in himself as he shakes his head.

‘I wanted to go somewhere quiet,’ WingDings tells them, thinking that Chara wants more of an explanation.

“It . . .” Leirsa starts again. “Was I too pushy?”

“I knew we were going to mess this up,” Togore scoffs as he digs his foot into the floor.

‘Mess up?’ WingDings asks. ‘Why do you think you messed up? Mess up what?’

“You liking it here,” Chara states simply. “Spending time with us.”

“We figured Ariel probably said some awful stuff about us and we wanted to make sure we proved her wrong,” Leirsa explains.

‘She actually didn’t say much about you,’ WingDings reveals to them.

“She didn’t?” Astariel asks clearly just as confused as the rest of his family.

‘She just said I should be prepared,’ WingDings shrugs, relaxing the hold Asriel has on him. ‘You’ve been a little . . . overbearing, but really I don’t think that’s what she had in mind.’

The Dreemurr siblings look at one another, each gauging what they might say based on the expression their companions have.

‘You don’t have to prove anything to me,’ WingDings assures them thinking that the first impression they gave him last night is much better than the one Ariel gave him when he first met that spoiled heiress. ‘I already like you.’

“Really . . . huh?” Astariel cups his chin, twirling the bit of elongated hair sprouting there.

“Guess we didn’t have anything to worry about,” Togore chuckles.

Asriel leans forward and licks the side of WingDings skull. “Thanks WingDings, we needed to hear that.”

“So what do you want to do now?” Astariel asks WingDings knowingly.

‘STOP!’ WingDings jumps up and clamps his paws over the goats muzzle. ‘I don’t want to hear that question ever again!’

“Ever?” Chara questions.

“Well, for the rest of the day then,” WingDings amends.

“Is everyone all right in here?” Asgore steps into the room. “I heard you screaming for WingDings.”

“It’s all right Father,” Chara assures him. “We were just playing a really intense game of Hide and Seek.”

“Well it’s too hot to be playing intense games, take a break,” Asgore smiles and leaves the house, on his way back to the Pyramid so he can watch over the city.

The rest of the day is calm and relaxed. They spend time in the nesting room where they recite stories they’ve learned and ask WingDings to share some of his own stories. The pup wisely disguises his adventures as myths and fables, impressing them with his story of an ancient wanderer who traveled to different worlds and the adventures he had.

Gathered around like this, telling stories, it makes WingDings happy. A simple but welcomed feeling. This is the first time he’s felt like this since arriving when not with his family, being able to talk about himself and be the center of attention without worry or fear of revealing too much.

“Hey WingDings time to go,” Undyne sticks her head into the room where the family is playing another game bul. “Papyrus and Sans have dinner ready.”

‘But I don’t want to go,’ WingDings complains, taking his turn and landing on Chara’s piece. ‘Can we finish the game?’

Grinning ear to ear, Undyne steps in and looks at their progress, it’s obvious they just started, so it will be a good twenty minutes before they end this round. “Sorry Pup, you can come back tomorrow,” she reaches down and plucks him up into her arms.

‘No!’ he protests reaching for the game even as he is pulled away. ‘Please, I want to beat them this time.’

The others chuckle and wish him well, as he fights against Undyne’s grip on him all the way home. The warrior laughs at his antics, not at all offended even as his tail whacks her in the face. “You really had a good time didn’t you,” she hoots. She gives Asgore a nod as they pass and even WingDings has enough sense to stop long enough to thank the chief for his hospitality.

‘Thank you Alpha for having me,’ he dips his head. ‘Tell her I can stay longer.’

At first Asgore is speechless before he bellows with laughter. “I’ll see you tomorrow pup, sleep well,” Asgore calls to them as Undyne jogs down the steps. She makes it look easy to do even with large feet.

‘Undyyyynnnnne!’ WingDings whines, only giving up when they walk into their own home.

“Is everything all right?” Papyrus asks, not expecting to see WingDings in such a state as whining and begging to go back.

“Yeah yeah, he had a good day,” Undyne sets the pup down. When he attempts to sneak for the exit she wraps her slick tail around him and pulls him back.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this before,” Papyrus remarks setting WingDings plate down on the ground. Seeing the food in front of him catches the pups attention and is enough to keep him from wanting to leave, so says his hunger. Scratching his chin Papyrus tries to recall such behavior on previous occasions. “Last time he tried to run was to avoid something, not to return somewhere.”

“You weren’t there when he first tried to get that piece,” Sans hums, putting away his things and preparing for tomorrow.

“Piece?” Undyne asks.

Sans and Papyrus freeze while WingDings, unaware of what they have accidentally revealed, finishes his meal and trots over to Papyrus. The pup sits on his uncle’s foot and sets the plate down, looking up at his uncle in a silent request for more food.

“Uh, well,” Sans rubs the back of his skull and turns to WingDings. “Son, can we tell Undyne about the piece of your soul.”

This gets WingDings attention and he looks at Undyne. He already knows she has a good soul so he nods his head. She’s more than proven herself, although WingDings is glad that Sans actually asked for his permission this time. He didn’t realize how important that was until the other night when Sans brought his soul out in front of Undyne.

As Sans explains the truth to their female companion, Papyrus gives the pup some more food. Before WingDings can take another bite though Undyne has him in her arms, hugging him and licking him possessively. “But I don’t want him to go!” Undyne declares. “Why can’t he stay!”

“Looks like the two have switched places,” Sans comments, as if to himself.

Hearing his brother, but not quite understanding what he means Papyrus furrows his brows and studies his Nephew and favorite Companion. “How so brother, Undyne is still very much herself.”

“Guess you’re right bro,” Sans shrugs before coming forward and rescuing his pup from Undyne’s sudden attention. “It’s just the way it is Undyne. This isn’t his home.”

“But he’s like my own nephew,” Undyne pleads.

“Do you want me to call you Aunty Undyne?” WingDings asks.

“. . . YES!” Undyne is about to take him again, but one look from Sans stops her.

“Don’t worry Undyne he’ll be with us for a while,” he assures her. “It will be hard to say goodbye . . .” he sets WingDings down in front of his dinner, but the pup is losing his appetite with all this talk of saying goodbye. “But I want what’s best for him.”

Large glowing eyes pierce Sans soul as WingDings looks up at him. Sans understands and WingDings is starting to understand just what kind of life he’s going to live. It will be a while yet before the pup realizes just how difficult his life truly is, but he does know that saying goodbye is a difficult thing to do.

“Well you could always find another special someone and . . . have pups again,” Undyne encourages him cautiously.

“Nah, I couldn’t do that,” Sans answers softly and takes his dinner from Papyrus, the rest joining him soon after.

While the adults sit conversing softly with one another WingDings eats his meal slowly, thinking about the word ‘goodbye’ and just what it means. He doesn’t think it’s fair, but if he wants to live and see his brothers again . . . he can’t stay here forever. When he’s finished eating, he settles quietly in Sans paws, not giving a fuss about being cleaned.

Notes:

Just a lot of slice of life and a few hints of what’s to come. See you next week.

Chapter 16: A Cure Has a Price

Notes:

Warning: Sans is in mild momentary peril at the end of this chapter.

WingDings is dropped off with the Dreemurr family again in the morning and this time the family doesn’t pester him about what he wants to do. Instead they go about their usual routines, sometimes separating to do chores or study, leaving the pup to chose who he wants to spend time with.

Each day brings something new depending on who he is with. Chara enjoys pranks and strategy games, Togore likes making pots and urns, Astariel enjoys cooking and studying, Asriel likes doing everything as long as he’s doing it with someone, and Leirsa can usually be found painting or exercising. WingDings enjoys his time with them and wonders what Ariel likes to do in her spare time. Every time he was with her she wanted to fight, but that can’t be the only thing she is interested in.

During the hottest parts of the day they sometimes rejoin as a group, telling stories and playing bul. WingDings practices his story telling receiving a lot of good advice from the older children. After staying on the Royal Grounds for two weeks the city is finally deemed clean and the plague exterminated. Talks between the adults begin, discussing how to get Sans and his family safely home. This saddens WingDings. After all he’s been living among Asgore’s clan for just as long as he was with Toriel’s and they’ve become good friends.

“Don’t worry WingDings we’ll be seeing each other again,” Leirsa assures him as she teaches him how to weave a basket. Since he has magic hands the task is a lot easier, making Leirsa playfully envious of his ability.

“Yeah, maybe you can come with Ariel next time,” Astariel suggests. “She seems to have taken a liking to you.”

“Just make sure she doesn’t find out you’re an Alpha, then she’ll want to fight you all the time,” Chara councils him.

Head up in a whirl, WingDings points his nose at Chara clenching his claws in the basket, ‘You don’t know that,’ WingDings protests quickly.

“And now I know for sure,” Chara leans back on his arms, gifting the youngster a smug grin. “Here’s some advice, if you got a secret like that don’t be defensive. It’s a dead giveaway when you deny it.”

‘I know that,’ WingDings says hastily, returning his attention to the basket. ‘I just let my guard down because you’re my friend.’

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Togore says. “You made friends with a six year old.” Trying to use this as a way to pick on his older brother.

‘I think of you as all my friends,’ WingDings clarifies, taking the wind out from under Togore’s sails.

And since he likes the little guy and doesn’t want to hurt his feelings he doesn’t deny it. “You’re right,” he agrees, not noticing the smirk on WingDings face. Leirsa and Asriel see it but don’t comment, wondering if this kid really is six years old.

As they watch him for a second longer thinking about this they notice WingDings wince and pull his paws to his middle. He’s still smiling, something they’ve noticed about the child since they met him. He’s always smiling, even when he’s annoyed or half asleep. Not when he’s angry though, his smile becomes scary at that point.

“You okay WingDings?” Asriel asks, leaning towards the pup.

Recognizing this feeling, WingDings lets out a quick loud yelp that ends up cut off when his ribs spasm. The goats ears lift up at the cry for ‘pain’ while Chara comes over and starts rubbing WingDings back gently.

“Why is he in pain?” Togore asks, becoming rigid when he considers that they’ve done something wrong.

“Don’t you guy’s remember?” Chara asks them. “I think he’s having a sever growth spurt.”

“I don’t really remember those,” Asriel admits.

“You were very little,” Chara says.

Before the teen can say more they hear pounding footsteps from outside the house and the clatter of bones as they skid down the hall. Seconds later Papyrus’s head is peeking through the door, his eyes quickly scanning the children till he finds the one that belongs to him. ‘WingDings is it another growth spurt,’ Papyrus asks, carefully walking forward and sniffing the pup.

‘It’s not as bad,’ WingDings claims, smiling with beads of moisture in his sockets.

A trill of concern rings through Papyrus as he carefully picks WingDings up and puts him in his mouth. ‘Thank you Dreemurrs, he’ll be back later,’ Papyrus gurgles and leaves the palace.

It just takes a couple leaps to get to the place they call home and this time Sans is already there preparing for WingDings arrival. The water is prepared and the ointment retrieved, leaving Papyrus to dump the pup in the large dish. Soothed almost immediately WingDings waits miserably for the growth to end.

As he lays there, with Sans rubbing his sore bones, WingDings wonders how many more growth spurts he’s going to be forced to endure in the coming months. He feels miserable, but not nearly as bad as he did without intervention. When he is no longer in pain, WingDings perks up and realizes just how hungry he is.

None of the adults are all that surprised, but they only give him a snack, making him wait till dinner that evening with Asgore’s family. While eating together Asgore announces to his children that the doctor and his family will be leaving them in a few days. This is even news to WingDings and although they are all expecting the goodbye the prospect easily reminds the child of the new significance of ‘goodbyes’ which brings confusing feelings with it.

“While they pack, we’ll watch over WingDings,” Asgore tells his children who all appear rather disappointed, but don’t verbally complain.

“Any chance we can go with them?” Togore suggests, ears perking up at what he thinks is a ingenious idea.

“That is a wonderful idea, but not until we’ve solidified our territory once more and replanted the crops,” Asgore says. “The plague has been vanquished, but there is still a lot of work to be done and I want all of you to play a bigger part in that.”

“We will!” Leirsa promises with her other siblings nodding in agreement.

“Better work hard, I don’t want to wait too long,” WingDings tells them, earning a jolly laugh from Asgore.

“It’s a deal WingDings,” Chara promises. “Try and knock Ariel down a few pegs before we visit.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” WingDings grins, not as scared at the prospect of saying goodbye knowing he’ll see them again. Having a goal to reach for in the meantime also helps.

While the adults pack up their things WingDings spends his days with the Dreemurr family and really it isn’t much different than how he’s spent the last two weeks.

The only change comes on the final night of their staying when Asgore holds a celebration, with all the clan gathered to wish Sans and his family well, thanking them for coming and wishing them safe travels. There is a lot of food, stories, and a few battles among the guards, but they are not intense. In fact the hardest thing WingDings has to deal with is eating food prepared by some else and considering he’s eating food from servants several times this past week he isn’t too traumatized.

Before the sun is fully up, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne and WingDings say goodbye to Asgore’s clan and leave with several of his guards to be sure their journey is safe. Their guards just so happen to be Dogaressa and Dogamy, but the giant dog guards only travel the first day with them once they are safely out of the territory. After getting several goodbye licks from the dutiful pair, they return towards the clan as WingDings family continues on their way.

“Hey I was thinking,” Undyne speaks up while they’re lazing about during the hot hours. It’s the second day of traveling and WingDings is already tired of riding around in Sans ribs. “When we get back, what you say we start training the pup?”

“Ariel’s already been doing that,” Sans says slowly. One would think he is asleep except for the fact he’s talking.

“Yeah, but we’re his family, it’s our responsibility,” Undyne declares. “Not saying what Ariel’s doing should stop, but a Blaster pup should learn from his kin too.”

“There are a few things only we can teach him,” Papyrus agrees.

“But I don’t like fighting,” WingDings reminds them, grunting to show his displeasure as if it weren’t obvious enough. Glaring down at a wayward twig he pats at it with his claw, as if it can distract him from this conversation.

“You should still learn,” Undyne slaps her tail to the ground as if she were a judge with a mallet declaring her verdict. “And who knows, with all your world traveling, you might need it someday.”

“That’s right WingDings,” Papyrus encourages him. “Even if you don’t want to fight, you can learn to defend yourself and with enough practice you may become good enough to win without hurting them badly.”

“Well, my family back home have me in Karate,” WingDings says and when he’s met with confusion he clarifies. “It’s a special way of fighting.”

“There ya see!” Undyne perks up, ear fins up in excitement, feeling her suggestion has been approved of. “Well Sans, he’s your son you make the call.”

“I think it would be good for him,” Sans answers without pause, quickly obliterating any pleading attempts WingDings might make to dissuade him. He opens one eye and look over at Papyrus. “Bro, would you be willing to teach him?”

“I’d be honored brother, as long as Undyne gives me time to do so,” Papyrus says turning towards the female.

“Don’t even have to ask,” Undyne promises. “Hattie and Bridgette can help me with checking the perimeter in the morning.”

“Then it’s decided,” Sans slaps his tail and closes both his eyes, ready to continue on with his nap. “WingDings will learn to fight like a Blaster when we get back.”

“Thanks Father,” WingDings grumbles, lowering his head between his paws and glaring at the large parental blaster.

“You’re welcome son,” Sans chuckles, imagining the glare on WingDings skull without needing to cram his eyes open and see for himself.

After a quick nap, quick meaning several hours, they pick themselves up and continue traveling. They travel at night, avoiding the heat of the day despite the darkness. The adults have better night vision than WingDings does as a pup and easily race through the tree’s as if they were lemurs, but when the branches become more fragile they are forced to travel on the forest floor.

WingDings is comfortably nestled in Sans ribs, lulled to sleep by the consistent rocking as Dad Sans carries him towards home. He doesn’t remember ever being rocked to sleep, but he feels as if he’s being held by his brothers, a comfort he clings to even in his sleep.

Such peace is ripped away when Sans is knocked unexpectedly into a large pool of water, the cold water quickly waking WingDings from his deep rest. As WingDings unsuccessfully attempts to wiggle out of his blanket, he sees Sans soul emerge and turn blue as he is flung violently to the right. Terrified by the unknown, WingDings whimpers and calls out a cry that voices his fear and concern.

Sans rumbles softly in reassurance even as he is picked up with blue mode and tossed again. This is the first time WingDings has seen this type of magic used in this world and it is frightening. The only thing keeping him calm is the heroic roars of Undyne and Papyrus as they fend off the attackers. Bones and spears fly through the air, but WingDings cannot see them from where he’s at.

‘Stay hidden,’ Sans grunts lowly so only he can hear.

WingDings does as he’s told even as Sans is pushed down into the moist earth by the magical weight binding him. His large rib cage steadily sinks into the mud, pressing in around the pup as he sinks with it. Trying to squirm free of the blanket, WingDings struggles as the thing that was once keeping him safe and warm becomes wet and soggy, making it even harder to escape it’s restrictive nature even as the space around him shrinks.

Struggling to stay calm, WingDings summons several hands to rip the blanket off, keeping his muzzle near Sans spine so he can continue to breath. He hates how slimy he is, he hates mud! But his fear of what is happening around him is far more pressing. As red pulses through his bones, WingDings hears a deafening sucking sound as Sans is yanked up by strong hands. Beyond the poncho covering him, WingDings sees an intense orange glow, as if there were a fire surrounding them.

It smells of smoked meat with a hint of spice and WingDings can’t help but feel like he’s smelled it before, a long time ago.

“Change form Sans,” a soft crackling voice orders from the burning flame. “Change form or I’ll be forced to break your limbs.”

“No can do Grillby,” Sans grinds, twisting his head to snap at someone with his teeth when they reach towards him. “You’re going to have to wait for an antidote like everyone else.”

Grillby? That’s who attacked them? No wonder WingDings recognizes his scent. It was one of the most comforting smells he knew when he was wandering in that war ridden world at four years old. Although this time he really shouldn’t be finding comfort in the smell.

“I’ve been patient long enough, I’m here for you,” Grillby’s flames burn a little brighter and Sans is flung to the ground again, this time on his back, as the burn of flames hovers above him. “Papyrus and Undyne will return with reinforcement soon and we won’t be here when they do.”

“You could have just asked for help?” Sans suggests, sucking in a breath when a burning clawed limb pushes down on his sternum.

“You’re a hard man to get a hold of,” Grillby’s claws bite through the cloth and WingDings clamps both of his claws around his snout to keep silent. He doesn’t know if it’s instinct or common sense, but he knows that someone his size doesn’t stand a chance against these adults and will only be used to hurt Sans more.

If only Sans soul wasn’t captured then he could just teleport away.

“Why are you being so difficult?” Grillby complains, lurching forward and clamping his jaws around San skeletal neck.

Sans eyes flare as WingDings cuts off a breath. Grillby removes his claws from Sans chest and proceeds to drag Sans. The fire elemental dragon beast is larger than Asgore, easily picking Sans up from his maw as if he were an overgrown kitten, his tail and hind quarters dragging in the mud.

In the distance WingDings hears Papyrus call for them. He has reinforcements but is having trouble finding them. Sans tries to answer, but Grillby tightens his jaws, using his magic to cut his dad off from making any sort of noise. When Papyrus calls again, WingDings takes a chance and with a burst of red magic makes the loudest roar he can. Granted it sounds as powerful as a cheetah’s mew but it is plenty loud for his protective uncle to hear.

As soon as Grillby and the other monsters around them hear it they realize their mistake. Dropping Sans like the pile of bones he’s become, Grillby rips away the remnants of the poncho, his flames revealing the pup that has been nestled there silently this entire time. He tries to reach for WingDings, but his claws are much to big and apparently no one else there has the ability to activate blue mode on his soul.

In response to his destroyed poncho, Sans grows menacingly promising death to anyone and everyone who dares to threaten his child. Sans will die for this pup and Grillby needs the healer alive, leaving him in a precarious situation. The sounds of his clans roars draw nearer, forcing the enormous flame to make a hasty decision.

Ignoring the child for now Grillby picks Sans up again and runs through the damp forest, his flames sizzling every time he steps in something wet. Now that Sans poncho has been destroyed WingDings can see a little better. They are surrounded by monsters, warriors, racing away from his clan who are valiantly chasing after them.

“Grillby just let me go,” Sans wheezes as Grillby breaks away from the rest of his clan, leaping up into a tree with ease. WingDings has to grab onto Sans ribs to keep from falling out which are acting as his only protection. “We can get you the medicine your clan needs.”

“Or I take you, a guaranteed cure,” Grillby growls past his massive burning jaws.

“Please don’t do this,” Sans begs him. “I can’t live my life being tossed around between the clans, just give me time.”

In true Grillby fashion he doesn’t say anything, continuing through the trees with ease. The fire monster is fairly light since his body is mostly made up of flames, but Sans is heavier and it is cumbersome to carry him in his jaws even with the blue magic around his soul.

WingDings can hear the fighting, but it’s getting further and further away as Grillby races away with uncanny speed. Should he fight? He really doesn’t want to do anything, but he isn’t helpless. Sure he’s six, but what does age have to do with it?

And he could always turn back time . . . what does he have to lose?

With red flaring through his bones, WingDings looks through the ribs and gauges where Grillby’s path is. Eyeing the next branch Grillby is aiming for WingDings summons a bundle of bones and weakens the branch just before Grillby lands on it. As expected, the branch gives under their weight dropping them before Grillby can attempt jumping to another tree.

The giant fire monster flings his tail into a nearby trunk slowing their decent.

This does little for WingDings who in his haste to cleverly stop Grillby has forgotten how much he hates falling. Filled with terror as they plummet to the ground two familiar words flicker in front of all of them.

Even Grillby.

Before Grillby can do anything, WingDings summons a hand a presses the load function flinging them into the past.

Notes:

We’re nearing the end and yes Grillby is the bad guy they’ve been worried about all along, not that WingDings knew. It’s fun making him the villain here when he was the hero in the first story in this series. Till next week, bye.

Chapter 17: Rescued

Notes:

A miracle

When time rights itself WingDings just so happens to still be asleep.

But he isn’t asleep long as Sans stumbles and haphazardly makes his way from the tree’s canopy to the forest floor, jostled and confused by the alarming shift in his surroundings. One minute he’s fighting for his life and the next he’s . . . where exactly?

“Sans? What gives?” Undyne calls as she back travels and lands close by. Papyrus follows soon after, glancing around with piercing glowing eyes, searching for anything amiss.

“WingDings, he turned back time,” Sans heaves, trying to catch his breath and not collapse. “By the gods.”

Swaddled in clothes, WingDings whines loudly, struggling to free himself from this warm prison. He needs to breath! He has to get out of this cloth! He has to get out now! Sans lowers himself allowing WingDings to roll out of him and more easily escape the cloth.

“He turned back time . . . why!?” Undyne is now on high alert.

“Grillby ambushed us and he was with us when WingDings turned back time,” Sans quickly explains, his eye lights scan the ground as if he’s riffling through hundreds of options only to realize he has very few choices.

Undyne curses, moving around Sans to cover his flank while Papyrus covers his front. “What do we do?” Undyne asks, trusting Sans to come to the best decision having experienced one possible future already.

“I’ll jump to the clan and warn them,” Sans says. When he says jump, he means teleport, an ability he’s only used once since WingDings has met him.

“But we’re still hours away, can you make it that far?” Papyrus asks, he can smell something strange on the wind and even WingDings recognizes the smoky spice of Grillby’s distinct scent. The fire monster isn’t worried about being sensed, he already knows he’s lost his element of surprise.

“I can make it, but I won’t be able to take you all with me,” Sans looks at WingDings, with guilt and fear quivering in his eyes. “WingDings you cannot turn back time again, your soul is still weak. Promise me.”

Eye’s wandering aimlessly, WingDings hesitates, afraid this is a promise he cannot make. He barely understands the ability, how can he keep himself from freaking out enough not to activate it. There is a roar close by and Sans is forced to act without WingDings verbal promise.

“Stay with Papyrus,” he quickly nudges the pup to his brother, who lowers himself and allows WingDings to crawl inside his ribs.

“I’ll be back, I won’t lose you too, I swear,” Sans vanishes, signaling Papyrus and Undyne to run their hardest.

“They aren’t after us, they’ll kill us,” Undyne shouts at Papyrus.

“No, he’ll use us as leverage to get Sans,” Papyrus shouts back. “Then he’ll kill us.”

WingDings can’t believe it. How can they say these things about Grillby? Grillby of all people!? The Grillby he knows is kind and soft spoken. He listens and is the epitome of patience.

But they’re right. This Grillby isn’t like the one he knows. Quiet yes, but incredibly powerful and cunning.

A terrifying beast.

It isn’t long before a bullet of fire glances past Undyne’s tail, nearly setting it aflame. She manages to extinguish the flame by beating the long limb against the moist ground, summoning a fence of magically floating spears to shield them from behind. WingDings can barely see anything, clutching Papyrus’s ribs and doing his best not to be jostled as the duo run as if hell itself were at their heels.

A warm red blooms around them as trees burst into flames, forcing Papyrus and Undyne to swerve and change their direction. Grillby is trying to cut them off, but Papyrus and Undyne pick out the weakest places in his attack and barrel through the flames.

Frightened, there is a moment WingDings soul brings up the ‘Load’ and ‘Continue’ options, freezing the world around them in a dark mist. With a shaky paw he presses ‘continue’ and their desperate run continues.

For a moment the glow of red and orange fades, disappearing at their back as they race through the dark. A frail hope blooms in WingDings, thinking they have escaped, until a large flame blazes like a shooting star above them and lands directly in their path, revealing the ragging dragon like form of Grillby.

Undyne goes on the attack allowing Papyrus to slip past.

‘Undyne!’ WingDings screams her name, wishing to stop and help, but she knows her duty and Papyrus knows his. Looking out the back of Papyrus’s rib cage, WingDings watches as Undyne takes on the enormous Grillby, looking like a dark raindrop drowning in a pool of flames.

She can’t die! She’s amazing, but WingDings isn’t thinking of that. He wants to save her. Gathering his magic WingDings does something he hasn’t done since he blew up the garage back home by mistake and summons a Gaster Blaster.

At least this is WingDings intent, but instead a dark mist spills out of the earth and a gleaming skull rises from the mud, pulling a skeletal body behind it. The sudden appearance of this beast and the wave of black magic sends Papyrus tumbling, as if hit by a sudden wave of the ocean. WingDings and Papyrus roll through the mud and into a plant, a buzzing whine and a frightening roar hitting them as Papyrus fights off his shock.

‘What happened?’ Papyrus asks fearfully as he painfully attempts to rise. Shaking like broken rocks tumbling off a cliff, Papyrus fights to his feet and heaves painfully as he locks his legs in place. Papyrus is mustering his strength, prepared to run again when he hesitates, both WingDings and Papyrus gazing up to see a large Blaster Beast as large as Toriel gazing down at them.

Before anyone can ask what is happening and who this mysterious blaster is they hear Undyne’s battle cry.

Without thinking WingDings begs the mysterious Gaster Blaster with a body for help. ‘Help her! I can’t lose Undyne!’ WingDings begs them, even as his soul burns and sputters painfully from his heavy use of magic at summoning this blaster beast seemingly out of nothing. ‘Please!’

‘Very well pup,’ the large beast rumbles. ‘Papyrus take my young.’

Wait what?

Papyrus makes a strange strangled noises of confusion and alarm as the large blaster lowers themselves and lets three baby bones out of their chest cavity.

‘You are close to the settlement, go!’ the beast turns tail and races towards the flames, the baby bones crawling towards Papyrus and whining up at him.

‘Uncle Papyrus! We missed you,’ the baby bones call up to him.

‘Candara? Char? Glyph?’ Papyrus says in wonder, lowering his body carefully and allowing the little ones to climb into his rib cage.

WingDings doesn’t know what to do with his suddenly crowded accommodations as the three baby bones crawl alongside him and nestle beside him. When a distant roar orders them to leave, Papyrus is woken from his stupor and painfully starts running again.

‘Papyrus, you’re hurt,’ WingDings frets, even as one of his new blaster companions licks his cheek, their way of saying hello and saying how nice it is to meet him.

‘I’m fine, remain quiet,’ Papyrus huffs at him and the others who obediently do as he asks.

The other pups each take a turn licking WingDings cheek and despite having little desire to return the favor WingDings answers them in kind. Sans taught him proper etiquette and perhaps even running for their lives isn’t a good enough reason to forget these lessons.

As Papyrus runs, it is difficult to see anything and incredibly uncomfortable, but WingDings takes it upon himself to look over his small companions. It’s the only thing he can do to ignore the guilt of sending their parent off to fight a enraged fire beast.

When they get close to their clan, Papyrus calls out to them, alerting Toriel of his presence. Several guards appear and escort them into the city, with Papyrus reporting what has happened and encouraging them to assist Undyne and his brother Aster.

Aster.

Is that Blaster Beast another uncle!?

The guards are shocked, but when Papyrus screams at them to get moving they do as he commands. Papyrus races into their house, quickly lying in the pit that is their sparse nest and allowing the little ones to clamber out of him.

As WingDings rolls out he feels his throbbing determination wane, a heavy weight of sleep clouding his vision. Defiantly fighting his weariness, WingDings takes a seat, shaking his skull as if he can will his sockets to stay open.

‘Wait here, I need to find Sans and assist the others,’ Papyrus tells them.

‘But you’re injured,’ one of the pups says, licking at a scrape on Papyrus forearm.

‘I will not lose my brother again,’ Papyrus tells them. ‘I need you to look after each other, try to rest.’ With his orders given Papyrus makes his way out of the dark home, not giving any of them the chance to whine or try dragging him back with their tiny cute eye lights.

‘I’m Candara, what is your name?’ the small pup with a short snout asks.

‘WingDings,’ he answers, looking at the three. They are all smaller than he is, with shorter muzzles much like Sans, but large eye sockets like himself.

‘I’m Charlemagne, or just Char,’ says another.

‘I’m Glyph,’ says the last. ‘You don’t look good.’

‘I’m just tired,’ WingDings admits, glancing around the kitchen. They cleared out the space when they left a month ago so there isn’t anything to eat and he could really use some food. Not to mention his soul hurts now that he thinks about it.

Did he do the right thing?

He summoned Aster to this world, somehow? But was it worth it?

What if Undyne dies anyway? What if Aster dies too and leaves his kids without a father.

He didn’t think this through, he was just determined to save his Aunty Undyne.

What if he made it worst? Sans said his soul is weak, what if he broke it for good?

All of these big thoughts and emotions crash through WingDings small body, frozen painfully and unaware of the other children’s concern and fear at just seeing him in this state.

‘I’m sorry, I just asked your dad to fight a powerful beast, I didn’t even think about it,’ WingDings voice warbles and the pain in his soul increases, forcing him to lower himself onto a dust pillow.

‘Don’t worry, Mother is strong,’ Glyph tries to assure him, lying down beside him and nuzzling his face.

‘He’s beaten worst things,’ Candara agrees, nodding her head as if it has the power to make WingDings feel better. ‘Mom and Dad are the strongest ever.’

‘Dad?’ WingDings asks, curiosity momentarily flicking away his guilt.

‘Sans,’ Char supplies the name with a happy pipping tone.

WingDings thoughts come to a stuttering halt even as the beast they are speaking about races into the house, as if summoned by his very name.

‘Father!’ they cry in joy.

Since Sans is in his beast form he practically lies on the floor in the entryway as his children swarm around his muzzle, licking his skull playfully. Sans is instantly in tears, licking them and trilling with a bubbled and warbled tone of pure joy.

Lifting his skull just a little, WingDings watches the heartfelt reunion blissfully, until he can’t hold his head up any longer. Instead he listens to Sans as he says each of their names and the baby bones comment on how much older he looks. An odd statement, but WingDings doesn’t have the energy to investigate it.

‘WingDings?’ Sans prods into the room with the three pups hanging on his limbs.

‘I’m glad your okay,’ WingDings replies in a lazy grunt, as Sans nuzzles him carefully.

‘You used your magic,’ Sans observes in rapidly growing concern. ‘Please sleep, I’ll get something to help.’

‘What’s wrong with him?’ Char asks naively.

‘His magic tastes funny,’ Glyph observes as he licks close to WingDings eye socket. ‘Tastes familiar.’

‘That’s enough questions, your brother needs rest,’ Sans tells him as he shifts into his humanoid form.

As WingDings drifts in and out of sleep he catches glimpses of his extended family. He hears Papyrus’s humming purr as he’s cleaned, see’s a flash of red and blue as Undyne is treated by Sans, and feels an electric buzz of Aster as he helps heal his new pup.

When WingDings wakes he’s met with a pile up of happy brothers and a sister who eagerly announce his wakeful state to their mother and the entire neighborhood.

“Good morning son,” Aster greets him, setting a plate of food in front of him. “Although good afternoon would be more appropriate.” The skeletal man chuckles, violet tinting the magic of his bones as he lightly pets WingDings head.

WingDings doesn’t stop the man, gazing up at Aster with curiosity. Unlike Papyrus and Sans, Aster’s horns are broken and he has cracks in his skull, one crack going up from his left socket, with another crack dragging down like a tear from his right.

The monster also has two familiar circles in his palms.

‘You’re like me,’ WingDings says, recognizing the form of his older alternate self. ‘Does this mean I can go home?’ It’s such an easy assumption on his part, after all the last two times he was trapped in another world the Gaster of that world ushered his return home.

“So eager to go home are you?” Aster smiles fondly down at him and nudges WingDings skull to his plate, knowing that the young pup must be famished. “I’m afraid not young one, your magic and mine, while connected, is not enough to get you home.”

‘Oh,’ WingDings sighs and shrugs. Oh well, he was prepared to wait for his magic to strengthen so he could return home anyway. He can wait. With his immediate concern addressed WingDings eats his meal as the other pups play close beside him.

“I must thank you for saving my family and I,” Aster tells him, taking a seat in front of WingDings and setting his magic hands to work making more food. WingDings is making quick work of his first plate and Aster wants to be ready with another plate when he is finished.

‘What happened?’ WingDings asks. The events of their flight are fuzzy at best, but he knows it must have all turned out all right since he saw everyone briefly as he rested.

“You summoned my family and I from the space in-between,” Aster explains stoically, his motions slow and precise as he places another plate down for him. “Quite a long time ago when my family was escaping Asgore’s clan we were attacked by another tribe and I attempted to use my magic to bring my family through the space in-between closer to Toriel’s clan. In my rush my children and I were lost in this space of nothing for eight years.”

WingDings chokes and cough up part of his meal in shock. Eight years? Why does that sound so familiar? And why do his Gaster counterparts have such bad luck, getting lost and forgotten?

When WingDings coughs Aster rubs his spine, trying to relieve the annoying reflex out of the skeleton. “In your wish to save Undyne, you summoned me like a magic bone, but in so doing you depleted what magic you gained. I’m afraid you’ll be living with us for quite some time yet before you are able to return to your own time and place.”

‘Sans told you?’ WingDings asks, not at all upset about it honestly, but at this rate it feels like everyone is going to know his secrets.

“He had to tell me the truth, how else was he to explain his new ‘son’ to his mate?” Aster laughs and WingDings doesn’t know what’s so funny about that, but it sure would be extremely rude to keep secrets from a loved one. “If you’ll allow me, I’d like to call you son as well. At least for the time being.”

‘Sure, I’m getting used to it,’ WingDings shrugs, rolling his eyes lights and getting another laugh out of Aster.

“You truly are an unusual child,” Aster says in delight and prepares yet another plate of food for WingDings.

WingDings doesn’t know how long he’ll be in this world, but he is confident that he’ll be well taken care of and able to face whatever challenges dare attempt to scare him.

Notes:

Huzzah, the other Gaster appears! I always will try to get WingDings counterparts in these stories and I think Gaster’s appearance in this story is rather dramatic. The last chapter will be really short because it wraps up everything in a skim.

Chapter 18: Epilogue

For two years WingDings waits until his magic is at the level it needs to be. During these years WingDings grows and develops an interest in healing, much like his surrogate father and mother. Not so much the medicine aspect, but the treating of injuries and the study of illness. Sickness, unfortunately, becomes rather common place as outsiders from distant countries across the sea move inland.

With the world becoming a more dangerous place Sans, Aster, and Papyrus make preparations for WingDings to return home. It is difficult to say goodbye, but WingDings wants to see his brothers again, missing them terribly.

“Remember not to abuse your power,” Sans tells him as he fills a sack for WingDings full of the things he brought with him and some extra treats to help remember them by. The doctor also includes instructions on how to make the medicine he uses for WingDings soul sickness, something he suspects WingDings will have to live for the rest of his young life. At least until his soul is no longer broken.

“I’ll try not to forget you Father,” WingDings tells him, clutching the special bag to his chest.

“We’re going to miss you!” Glyph hugs him at the side, while his other siblings come along on all his other sides to snuggle WingDings to death. They are all in their humanoid forms giving WingDings the full effect of a wonderful boney hug.

“I’ll miss you to,” WingDings tells them. Sure they were annoying more often than not, but he still had to live with them for two years. After two years you have to learn to love your family in WingDings young opinion.

“And don’t forget about your Aunty Undyne!” Undyne reaches down and picks them all up in her bulging arms, lifting them up and down and spinning to a chorus of laughter and playful screams.

“I don’t think I could,” WingDings laughs as she gives him a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“Be sure to tell your brothers hello for us,” Papyrus plucks WingDings out of the mass of children and hugs him.

“I’m going to tell my brothers how great you all are,” WingDings says proudly, even as tears glisten the corners of his sockets.

“Nyeh heh! We are a family of greats!” Papyrus declares, tears glistening his own sockets.

By the time Papyrus sets him down they are all crying, except Undyne who is merely sweating through her eyes. After giving them all one last look Aster steps forward and kneels in front of him. “I pray you keep fighting for what matters,” Aster says, knowing full well that WingDings probably won’t remember what he says.

“I’m a pacifist,” WingDings swiftly reminds Aster, a playful smile dipping his sockets and making the tears gathered there fall even faster.

“Not all fights are physical,” Aster says and helps WingDings pull out his soul. “Now think of home.”

Taking a breath, WingDings blinks his eyes trying to look at everyone around him one last time past the blur in his sockets. Finally he shuts his eyes and thinks of home. There is a warm comforting burn in his soul that chases away the cold of darkness that surrounds him as he is whisked through space and time to his fixed existence and dimension.

And then there is a voice.

“You don’t have to cry,” a young girl says, encouraging WingDings to open his eyes. There sitting next to him at a round table is a young girl pouting as she practically flings a crayon at him. “You can have red.”

Blinking away his tears WingDings gazes down in bafflement at the red crayon as it rolls to his arm. Why is he sitting at this table? Why is this girl giving him a red crayon. He doesn’t remember this girls name, although he feels like he should. When was the last time he actually saw a crayon!

Realize he’s back in the first grade WingDings hand shoots up, nearly knocking his knuckles again the table in his alarm.

“Yes WingDings?” the one adult in the room of twenty-eight children asks.

He can’t even remember the name of his teacher!?!

“I need to . . . go,” WingDings says, clutching his bag with his free hand.

The teacher notices the tears in his eyes and walks over to him, kneeling close to him. “Go to the office?” she asks quietly.

WingDings nods vehemently, thoughts in a jumbled twirl of apprehension and awkwardness. He did not think this through. He should have thought of this, but all he was thinking about was seeing his brothers. He forgot there was one little step he had to take before he could see them.

“You need a reason to go to the office WingDings, I can’t send you just because your feelings were hurt,” she says, glancing at the little girl who looks about ready to fight for her honor over a red crayon.

“My chest hurts bad,” WingDings lies, hoping the woman will believe him.

The woman looks at him a long time, as if she can see his very soul and WingDings nearly caves as he waits for her answer. Before she can answer the intercom sparks to life above their heads, making WingDings jump.

“Miss Smith?” the voice asks.

For a second there WingDings almost forgot intercoms were a thing. As an added bonus he now knows the name of his teacher.

“Yes?” Miss Smith replies.

“Please have WingDings come to the office, he’s going home early today,” the intercom says and clicks off as Smith replies that she’s heard.

Smith is barely on her feet when WingDings is racing for the door. “WingDings don’t forget your backpack,” Smith calls after him. It takes a second for WingDings to remember that his backpack is the one with the solar system on it. Plopping his sack from the other world inside the backpack, WingDings races racing out the door again with his teacher reminding him to walk in the hall.

When he skids into the office, nearly racing past the door by mistake the first time, WingDings bowls into Sans’ legs as he chats amiably with the secretary. “Sans!” he shouts before hastily burying his head in his brothers shorts.

“Wow, hey, you’d think it’d been years since we last saw each other,” he tries to joke as the secretary crones at the cute sight.

“It’s been two years!” WingDings yells into the cloth his brothers shorts.

That gets the lights in Sans eyes to extinguish real fast.

Notes:

Woot! Another installment finished and only another twenty more to go . . . unless I inevitably write more. Originally I did plan on having a segment with WingDings learning to fight and slice of life moments with the new siblings, but I felt I’d already done that in this story and didn’t feel like repeating myself. With Gaster back from the dead I figured it was a good place to end. This story got a lot of foot traffic as I posted it compared to the others, so thank you for reading, I appreciate everything.

The next installment isn’t near done unfortunately, so the next story I’m posting is a filler that doesn’t fit neatly in the time line I’ve constructed. Just a fluffy slice of life story with mild drama. That being said, thank you for reading and see you next time.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of Shattered Soul Series