Nightingale's Run
The sun was setting over the city filled with monsters and humans alike. A year had passed since the barrier had shattered and the monsters came out from the Underground to feel the sun for the first time in their lives, led by the child ambassador, Frisk Dreamuur, and settled down in the once quiet town of Starling City.
Most of its citizens were kind towards the newcomers, people finding opportunities to expand their businesses and becoming monster-friendly, building shiny new buildings, malls, and supermarkets. But amongst these good people are the monster-hate groups. They scoff and look down on the gentle folk, and deny them their natural rights.
With the sudden rapid growth of the city, the old buildings were pushed towards the heart of the large town. People had found ways to live in the abandoned buildings, and it was soon divided into eight factions, or clans, with their own mascot animal. Ice Fox; Water Cubs; Wind Hawks; Spirit Coyotes; Fire Serpents; Earth Panthers; and the rivals, the Shadow Wolfs and Timber Lions.
But none of the “outsiders” seemed to catch any of the Alphas’ attention, until the Wolfs’ leader found trespassers on her territory, cornering and harassing a tall skeleton monster, while threatening to dust him. She stood of in the shadows, watching silently, and deeming if she should or not step in. She was about to leave, but stopped when she caught sight of a knife in one of the three men's hands.
She launched forward, and kicked the knife out of the way, before standing protectively in front of the tall skeleton.
She wasn't much to look at, nineteen years old at a height of 5’ 3. Straight dark brown hair, neatly groomed in a high ponytail that reached her lower back as it settled into place once more. Brown, almost black, eyes with a gold ring around the pupil and outer edge, and fair skin that glowed against the black clothes, hoodie, and fingerless gloves she always wore with a pare of steel-toed combat boots.
The men snickered. “Oh, is this your girlfriend,” one of the men taunted, “another monster fucking slut? How much didja pay her to stay with ya, Mr. Skeleton?” The female’s left eye twitch with annoyance, and a fearsome snarl erupted from her throat when she lunged at the man who spoke.
A shriek of shear terror ripped through his lungs, which was cut off with a hgnn when he landed on his back with a hollow thud. A foot was brought down on his chest, and he looked up with fear. The sky was a vibrant crimson-gold border to the dark shadows of the woman, the contrast horrifying in the eyes of the man beneath her. A sickening smile was painted across her face, and her eyes flashed gold.
“I would watch my language if I were you, pal,” she said, her voice dark, alluring, and commanding attention with a icy tone. She reached down, removing her foot of of the man’s chest, and grabbed his shirt collar. He was a good foot taller than her, but the female’s strength was terrifying. “You never know if there is children near by~!”
She grunted with stran, and flung the man into a wall, and ducked underneath a flying kick the the head, and jumped away from a leg sweep. Flipping back, her hands landed on one of the other two mens’ shoulders, and twisted to send him spinning. She pushed off, sending him down, and windmill kicked (kicking to the face while spinning midair) the last man, making sure to use full blows with the steel-toe. He fell to the ground, and spit out three of his teeth.
The first man she attacked was unconscious, and the sky above was now gray. With a victorious smirk, she stared down at the trembling men. “You are pathetic,” she hissed out. “Grown men picking on people because they are different,” she let out a humorless chuckle. “Heh… And you call them the monsters and freaks.” The smile was quickly replaced with a frightening glare, and she was instantly in their face. “If I ever find out that either of you three are tormenting any monsters or monster supporters, I swear on the stars and moons above, I will hunt you down and personally give you a time you will never forget.”
She pushed them back to the ground, stepped away, and watched with gleeful eyes as they stumbled away with their unconscious friend. When they were out of sight, she turned towards the monster, who had stars in their eye… sockets. He rushed at her, and engulfed the female in a bone crushing hug (Hahah… Bone crushing… No? Sorry).
“HUMAN!” He yelled, “I MUST THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME! NO HUMAN HAS EVER BEEN SO KIND TO I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” The skeleton (Papyrus?) set the girl down, before extending his hand. “MAY I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ASK FOR YOUR NAME, HUMAN?”
She hesitantly grabbed his hand, and Pupyrus surprisingly was gentle when he shook her hand. “Well, Papyrus,” she started, “I go by many names. Alpha, Boss, Shadow… Lunar Wolf, I don't really care what you call me.” Papyrus seemed to think, before letting out a loud laugh. “NEH HEH HEH! I HAVE A WONDERFUL IDEA! WHY DON'T YOU COME WITH ME TO MEET ALL MY FRIENDS? THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP FIND THE PERFECT NAME!”
She smiled softly at the skeleton. “It would be my pleasure, oh kind sir,” she said with a flourish, and Papyrus’ grin grew. “NEH HEH HEH! WE WILL HAVE SO MUCH MORE FUN WHEN YOU MEET MY FRIEND UNDYNE! YOU WILL GET ALONG GREAT! I CAN… FEEL IT IN MY BONES! NEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus picked up the girl tossed her over his shoulder, and raced down the street towards Millionaire Ave. … Fifteen miles away from the leader’s Clan.
~*~
“—AND THAT IS HOW THE DATE WITH THE HUMAN FRISK WENT!” Papyrus said to the girl as she merrily bounce along on his shoulder. He thankfully stopped running awhile ago… Who knew that skeletons needed to breathe. (Do they actually have hidden lungs? Are they invisible? Or do they keep them in a closet? Anyway, back to the story!) The girl and Papyrus chatted happy the rest of the way to the destination, and when he walked up to a large mansion, her eyes widened with surprise.
Without knocking on the front door, Papurus gently set her down before shouting out his presence. “EVERYONE! I HAVE RETURNED! BUT THIS TIME, WITH A SPECIAL GUEST WITH ME!” She could feel the footfalls and hear them before she could see who was coming. She prepared her stance to move at a moments notice, and quickly leaped out of the way of a charging fish lady with flame red hair. The door was still open when she leaped at her, which had her flying through and face planting into the neatly trimmed grass.
“hey Undyne,” a deep voice rumbled, “maybe try growing a pair of wings if ya wanna be a flien’ fish.” The girl started laughing as Undyne grumbled and brushed off grass clippings from her black tank top. A small gasp, and a flash of yellow had her reeling back in surprise as a small dinozard (dinosaur lizard) with bright yellow scales ran past her towards the blue lady.
“H-honey, are y-you ok?” She stuttered, pulling out a clump of grass from Undyne’s red hair. The Wolf watched with mild interest, before she caught sight of a small child with short cropped brown hair and chestnut eyes with a blue and purple striped sweatshirt that seemed to be a size too big. In their hands was a flower pot with a buttercup with a face. Behind them was a beautiful goat lady and large goat man with a long golden mane.
She jumped, through, when a shorter skeleton stepped in front of her, his left eye flashing a bright blue and electric yellow.
“paps, you know this human?” He asked, and she realized that he was the one who made that joke. “WHY, YES, BROTHER!” Papyrus said. “SHE HELPED ME OUT WHEN SOME VERY NASTY HUMANS THREATENED TO DUST ME.. but she was there to scare them off…” Papyrus started blushing a light hue of orange, and his brother’s eye went out, white pupils replacing the once empty sockets.
“heh… as long as she helped ya and kept ya safe i’m happy.” The girl just stared at the skeleton, him being about two inches taller, and vaguely remembered him saying his name was Sans. He wore a unzipped light blue jacket with white fur lining the hood. Basketball shorts with a single white line on the sides, and slightly stained tee-shirt under the hoodie. But what caught the girl’s attention was his eye sockets.
They were unlike any sockets a skeleton should have, and she watched with fascination as he blinked in a slow, lazy manor, before revealing the tiny floating lights that made up his pupils. She just couldn't tear her eyes away. Sans extended a hand, wanting the girl to shake it, but stiffened with surprise and shock when her hand darted into his eye.
He couldn't say it hurt, more like an uncomfortable pinch in his skull, but couldn't help twinging as her digits explored inside his head. A slight scraping sound was heard when her sharpened nails scratched the inside of his bones, and Sans heard her hum.
“Softer than the humans’ bones,” she said. “But tougher than their skin.” Her fingers retracted from the inside of his head, and started pulling on his cheekbones and watched with renewed fascination as it moved with her gentle probs. “Moveable bone structure, too…” She said, as her fingers ghosted over the pronounced bags under his eyes. “The pups will adore you and your younger brother, Sans,” the girl declared, before stepping away from a lightly blushing skeleton and facing the rest of the group… to be knocked down by the brunette child.
The flower hissed at her, before the child flicked them in the head. ‘Be nice to our guest, Flowey,’ they signed. Flowey sighed before putting on a false smile and saying in a fake happy voice, “Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower! You must think you're so~ smart, saving the smiling trash bag’s brother, don'tcha? Now you must think they owe you a favor, don'tcha?” His face started to deform into a dark smirk, trying to scare the girl, but only got a blank stare instead. “You must think—!”
She flicked the flower’s petals, earning another hiss. “They said to be nice, Flowey,” the young woman said, and the child brightened up. ‘You know sign language?’ They asked, and she smiled. “Some of my pups are mute and can't hear, so I took it upon myself to learn the language and teach them. Most of my pack can speak it so they can tend to the little ones’ needs.” Her attention turned to the flower. “Now you, on the other hand, I don't trust. You're rude, disrespectful, and can harm my pups, and I will not allow it.”
“HUMAN!” Papyrus yelled, wringing his hands nervously. Undyne and the dinozard came back inside and were sitting on a dark brown love seat watching her with slight amusement. She turned to Papyrus. “Yes, Papy?” She asked, picking up the child. “WOULD IT BE ALRIGHT IF I INTRODUCED YOU TO EVERYONE?”
“Of course!” She exclaimed. “I must seem very rude for making such lovely people wait. Who is the Alpha for this wonderful pack?”
The two goats stepped forward. The lady spoke first. “That would be us, my child. I am Toriel, former queen of the Underground, but please, call me Tori. And this is my mate, Asgore. The child you are holding is mine. Her name is Frisk, and seems to like you a lot.”
Nodding her head towards the two, she placed Frisk on her shoulders and stepped back just as Undyne tried to tackle her again… This time flying through an open window. Sweat dropping, her attention turned towards the small dinozard monster who’s scales were a bright orange-red color as she blushed. “U-umm… H-h-hi-i-i…” She said, and the Wolf smiled softly towards her in understanding. The little monster smiled back and took a deep breath. “I-I-I’m-m-m A-a-Alphy-s-s-s. F-f-f-for-rm-m-e-r-r R-Royal-l-l S-scientist-t—!” Alphys squeaked is suprise when Undyne came back into the house and picked her up, cutting her off with a kiss.
“And this is my girlfriend, PUNK!” Undyne shouted, tossing Alphys in the air and catching her. “Name’s Undyne, former leader of the Royal Gaurd. What's your name, nerd?” The room fell into an awkward silence, and Papyrus stepped forward. “THAT IS ACTUALLY WHY I BROUGHT HER!” He said, orange blush dusting his cheekbones. “SENCE SHE HELPED ME, I THOUGHT THAT WE COULD PICK A NAME FOR HER BECAUSE SHE HAS SO MANY…” he trailed off.
Tori walked up to her, placed Frisk and Flowey back on the ground, and kneeled down to her hight. “Child… What does your mother call you?” The girl’s face went slack, her eyes blank, and her voice monotone when she spoke. “What mother?” She asked, and Toriel reared back. “I created my pack from homeless children who were left behind in the big move when I was seven. We lived in alleyways, stealing food from the other clans and taught ourselves how to fight. When you all came out of the mountain, we tore down the abandoned buildings in the center of our territory and scavenged through the other buildings and found shelter, warmth, and a place to store our food. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have the security system we have, the hunters, and wet nurses today…” She took a deep breath. “I've been living like this for thirteen years. I have no mother, but the pups have one that I never had.”
Tears glimmers in Toriel’s violet eyes, before she engulfed the girl in a hug. She stiffened at the contact, but relaxed and hugged her back anyways. She started to whisper out the names the others gave her. “They call me Alpha, Boss, Shadow, Lunar Wolf, Nightingale, and Deity. It's all up to all of you to choose.”
Pulling back, Toriel gave her a gental smile. “I like Nightingale Deity,” she whispered, and she finally let her tears fall.