What Is This?

We walked out into the freezing cold the kid instantly started shivering. I got chills but for some reason, I was more impervious to the cold than them. The kid huddled closer to me, grabbing onto the end of my jeans stuffing their face into my side.

I put one of my hands behind their head to help nudge them along. The place we entered was a large snowy forest, it had tall pine trees covered in snow, snow covered the ground. It was even currently snowing. I nudge the kid forward and they shuffle beside me and I watch out carefully. Waiting for any sign that could potentially mean danger or death. In my careful search, I wasn't looking at the ground and stumbled over a tree branch that looked very heavy and too large to break. I tripped with my bad leg, making me wince slightly in pain. Something warm trickled down my ankle and off my shoe to the white untouched snowy ground.

I shrug it off, the kid shivered harder. Turning more blue and cold by the second. Growing worried I swung the book bag around and took out the first thing which happened to be a red sweatshirt, it seemed too big for the kid, I nudged them slightly. They noticed the movements and slowly backed up to put the sweatshirt on over their head. It definitely was too big for them but helped in warming them up, at least a little bit. Their pants were soaked up to the knee in melted snow and I bet that their shoes were soaked through as well. I picked them up and balanced them on my hip. Taking off their shoes and socks and grabbing the extra things in the bag to warm up their feet as well. All I could find were the other pair of shoes. I swung the bag onto my back again careful of the other confinements inside. The kid's wet shoes and socks were now residing in there. I held the kid with both arms, having them huddled against my chest. Their head under my chin and their still cold feet, against their chest inside the too large sweatshirt. I pulled the hood of the sweatshirt over their head as the winds picked up. I hope that we find a town soon, the kid needs to be somewhere warmer.

Over the strong winds, however, I heard a crack of a branch breaking. I turn around quickly, both hoping and fearing that maybe someone was there.

"H-Hello?" I call out, my voice gets whipped away, chills bit at my nose and cheeks. My ears were too numb to feel. I just shake my head and felt maybe I just thought I heard something.

I continue on and the feeling of being followed grows, I start getting worried that someone might be out to get us. I tighten my grip on the kid, fully prepared to protect them if or when the time comes. I come across a bridge type thing, but what really got me confused is that over the bridge was a like a fence, but the bars were too far apart, so perhaps they were beams? But if so, for what? Maybe its still under construction but it can never get done because of the weather... Yeah, that's my guess.

The crunching of snowy footsteps behind me brought me out of my thoughts. I let out a chilly breath and hunched over the kid slightly. My leg throbbed and my nose was probably running, but I really hope this kid is doing better than before, I can feel their cold snowy pants legs soak through the sweatshirt. I rub their back reassuringly.

The figure behind me took a breath as if they were gonna say something but paused when I turned to look at them slightly. My hair obscured the vision, however, but I could still see the dark figure. He or she or perhaps it, was taller than me, by a couple inches. Broad shouldered. I couldn't make out the details still worrying me.

he/she/it Started again but I interrupted them.

"Is this supposed to be a fence or something?" I ask, still curious. They looked surprised and was just kind of confused.

"uh..." A deep male voice resonated. It vibrated the air around my ears along with my rib cage. I felt the kid shiver and I looked at them, my hair whipping snapping the mysterious figure out of his thoughts. He looked at me to see the kid huddled against my chest then back to me. "it's a border my bro made, but the bars are too wide. are they okay?"

I look up and turn to him slowly facing him fully, he was a freaking skeleton. My eyes widened but I ignored my shock, although I'm not entirely surprised. What made me confused however was this particular skeleton was wearing a blue fluffy jacket that looked worn and old and basketball shorts, he also had pink slippers on as well. He wasn't looking at me anymore, instead, at the tiny bundle of a child on my chest.

I turn to the kid and pat their back slightly. They nodded and I looked at the skeleton. "Yeah, they just need warmth and a change of clothes." He looked back at me and I noticed he had little white pinprick pupils. They looked like the friendliness pellets from that devil flower Flowey, my ankle throbbed slightly, I'll never trust flowers as long as I live. I inwardly flinched looking into his eyes and abruptly looked away. I couldn't tell if he noticed or not.

"just go right through, i have a booth nearby." he waved us through, I went across the rickety bridge and saw a lamp that was about as big as the kid, up to my knees, however. Next to it was a type of booth, it a wooden table and skirt around it. It had a roof, keeping snow getting inside it.

A gust of cold wind blew a chill right through me and the kid. He walked to the back of it where a stool showed as well as bottles labeled ketchup, mustard, and relish laid inside. The wind dropped and the snow blew around the stand. The kids shivering slowed but didn't stop, only coming in spasms every other second.

"oh, here comes my bro now." the skeleton observed. I set the kid down on the wooden boards, they were oddly warm and the kid looked out of the red hood to look at me, they gave me a soft smile. I patted their head and smiled back.

"SANS!" a higher pitched yet still resonating voice shouted. "WHY AREN'T YOU AT YOur... you're at your station..." a taller skeleton, like about Toriel tall, his shout dipped mid-sentence. He had a fancy chest plate and shoulder pads, as well as a long red cape scarf. He also had blue jeans that covered his pelvis, long red boots and matching long red gloves.

"yep."

"OKAY." and he turned and swantered away, before pausing and looking back, He saw me crouched behind Sans'(?) station. Then back to Sans then left without another word.

I blink then looked back to the kid, they stopped shivering all together and seemed to be getting better. I whisper to them. "Are you okay?" they nodded and smiled again larger this time.

I stand up and look at Sans but not in the eyes. "So, that was your brother?" I asked.

He faked a gasp, "how'd you know, was it the eyebrows? It was the eyebrows wasn't it."

I stifle a giggle and shook my head looking at him strangely. "No..." I rolled my eyes and looked to the place his brother disappeared.

He chuckles under his breath and looks where I was looking too, "yeah, that's my amazing bro. Papyrus. He's very great."

My eyes glaze over and a memory surfaces.

'I don't know what you're talking about ****** I can be great too!' a childish voice rings in my ears, a blurry face shows up and I'm looking out of my own eyes. It lasts half a second before instant pain pierces my mind. I double over and hold my head in my hands. I let out a small groan and rest my head against the cool wooden counter. Sans looks at me before hovering his hands over me.

"hey, you okay?" he sounded worried. I felt bad and waved him off, I lifted my head off the counter and dizziness overwhelmed me. I stood straight and looked at the middle Sans before continuing.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine. 100% whoo." I say, as fast as it came, the pain went away. I look at the kid and see them eyeing me with a worried glance, I force a smile at them to say everything is a-okay. They didn't buy it but went along with it.

"you sure? i didn't think that was a normal human thing to do."

I shrug, not letting on that I had no idea if other humans had this problem or not but I'm fairly certain it was just me. I inwardly gasp and sharply look at the kid. 'What if they can't remember either. here I am thinking only of myself. They could be having memory loss as well. And their head, it's in worse shape. The cold is probably not good for their injury... Now that I mentioned it, where are their bandages? They weren't there when I went to comfort them with their nightmare... they look completely healed.'

The kid reaches up to me with their too long sleeves. I reach down and pick the poor child up and place them on my hip, their pants seemed drier. The weird warmth of Sans booth seemed to dry them off, I set the child onto the counter and I think I heard Sans mutter something along the lines of 'butt on the counter, i eat offa there.' I roll my eyes and swing the bag off my back and next to the kid and pulled out the extra pair of shoes for them. They were nice and dry and should keep the kid's feet warm. the more I think about it I realize it wouldn't do much good without socks. And the only dry ones were on my feet.

I started tugging off my boots and setting them on the counter and I swear I heard Sans groan, I was about to turn around and tell him if he wasn't gonna help he could go somewhere else. But I didn't, this was his booth and the kid and I was the ones intruding. I take off my sock off my left foot first and put it onto one of the kid's feet, tickling them in the process, they giggled profusely kicking my hand softly away. I smile at them and moved to the other foot, wincing when the tugging pulled on the skin too close to the now bleeding wound. I pull off that sock as well and slip it onto their other foot, They eyed me suspiciously as if I could attack their feet at any moment.

I pick up the shoes and saw how they were boots and matched the kids purple and blue striped sweater. I remark this to them and they gasp and clapped their hands together, kicking their feet with excitement. I hear Sans say something that made the kid giggle. A joke maybe?

I pulled the boots onto the correct feet, tucking their now dry pants into them and tying them off into a nice bow, I repeated the same action to the other foot and looked into the bag again. I pulled a small coat I saw earlier. It was blue with two purple stripes down the middle, it was large and poofy, fluffy on the inside I helped the kid take off the red sweatshirt that I quickly folded and put back into the bag, the kid instantly started shivering slightly and I quickly helped the kid into the jacket, In the pockets were some purple mittens that also fit them. Even the coat seemed too big on them, not nearly as big as the sweatshirt however but still big.

"Okay, think you'll be good walking on your own?" I ask them, helping them down from the counter to the ground. They nodded, their face set with determination. I smile at them and pulled the boots onto my bare feet. Then slipped the bag back onto my back.

They ran out of the station and ran around it into the snow, They kicked up snow and started messing around with it. I smiled and felt someone watching me I turn to see Sans, I had a moment of surprise. 'Oh yeah...'

"So..." I start, Sans looks back to me. "Your bro? Must admit, pretty cool."

His eyes sparkle and I look away again, not as abruptly. I look at his slippers instead. "he's cooler than cool. he's cold."

I instinctively snort and look at him weirdly before starting to walk forward, the skeleton stops me and looks at me dead in the eyes, I try to look away but he holds my stare.

"listen, my bro wouldn't harm a fly. and he's never seen a human before so if you could keep pretending to be one. that'd be great." I blink confused at him, I was about to ask him what he meant, I thought I was human. But when I opened my eyes again, he was gone. I just turned around and went forward, following the kid from behind.

I kept thinking about what he meant, I wasn't paying any attention to the monsters I came across, The interactions were small and brief. There was a small snowy bird that told terrible snow related jokes, A little snowman thing with a strange looking hat. There was a couple more that I didn't pay any attention to, they just passed by.

At one point, the kid was challenged by Papyrus to a puzzle. I watched close by and Sans walked up behind me, I didn't really notice nor did I care. I was too entranced by the kiddo and Papyrus, The kid was doing some sort of button puzzle and Papyrus was hopping around them shouting words of encouragement. So when Sans started speaking I jumped in surprise not paying attention to what he said, it was probably words of encouragement to his bro.

He just gave me a look, as if he knew my sins. But that's ridiculous, I don't even know them. I open my mouth to say something to him, to ask him why he said that about me earlier but my attention snaps to the kid when they sneeze. I noticed their attire, they were less energetic, moving more slumpily, their cheeks were flushed and nose runny. I ignored the question nagging my and hurried over the kid, the book bag bumbling on my back. They look up at me and smile as if to say they were fine. But my mouth purses in a straight line and I shake my head. I notice that we must have missed lunch. They finished the puzzle while I swung the bag around and scrambled around to find the food they packed. I went after them and gave them the container when they tried to give me some I just shook my head and they instantly scarfed it down. I looked at them with a soft smile. They yawned and I nudged them forward.

"Come on kiddo, you got more puzzles to solve with the great Papyrus."

"NYEH HEH HEH That's Right!" Papyrus chimed in. I smiled at him but looked away when I noticed Sans suspicious stare.

'Whats with him...' I shrug it off and continue on with the kid holding my hand, stumbling every now and then. Papyrus whisked Sans off to start on another puzzle so it was just me and the kid. There was a change in pathways, one that goes to the left. The kid insisted that we go there so I shrugged and agreed. The snow crunched softly under our feet and we approached a snowman, it looked like a normal snowman. Oh boy was I wrong.

We walked up and the snowman started calling us to him. "Hey, Hey you two, Yeah You! Come here!" I gave it a cautious look before following the kid.

"I won't be able to go around the underground and see the world above ground. But you two look like you might. Would you mind taking a piece of me above ground?" he asks us, I start thinking about how in the balls, a SNOWMAN was talking to us, just....... what? This place keeps getting weirder and weirder.

I noticed the silence and looked around, the snowman was still waiting for an answer, I looked at the kid and they were staring up at me with wide pleading eyes. I almost shake my head, the snow would melt in the bag and that wouldn't be good for anything in there.

"I don't know, wouldn't you melt?" I ask. "I don't have any way of carrying y-" I stop and remembered the Tupperware. I quickly swung my bag around and unzipped it. I'm fairly certain my arm was getting rug burns or something. I pulled out an empty container and waved it victoriously at them. The kid hopped up and down jittery with excitement and happiness, the snowman smiled.

"AHA!" I shout before taking a piece of the guy and tucking it safely into the container. closing it tightly and securing it into the bag. I smiled brightly at them and waved at the snowman as we turned to leave.

"Goodbye, and THANK YOU!" he shouted to us, a bit of sadness crept into the words. I was sad that we couldn't bring all of him above ground. Questions flittered in my mind.
'Whats keeping them here? They need humans but why? They are really friendly but they live underground, why? Whats with the hate against the humans, Why is there so much hype about killing humans and freeing the monsters. I fell into the underground, I don't remember why. There must be another opening, why don't they just go through it and be free, How are they trapped here? Why isn't anybody answering these questions? WHY DOES MY HEAD FEEL LIKE ITS SPLITTING APART EVERY TIME I TRY AND REMEMBER SOMETHING? Who am I?'

I decide to lay off the useless mind questions and watch the kid carefully. They seemed super tired out. I hope we come across a town or something with an Inn, so we can stay there for the night.

The kid seemed to know where to go, which to be honest kind of creeped me out. But I didn't question it, maybe it had to do with something that I couldn't remember.

Along a pathway, we had just finished another puzzle and a dog couple came across us. They were very entranced in each other that it wasn't hard to slip away, but they looked so adorable and in love I couldn't help but pet them, They started freaking out. Something about dogs petting other dogs. I just shrugged and awkwardly took the kid and sneak away. We ran into more dogs, One was very enthusiastic and LOVED being pet. The kid and I were very enthusiastic about petting him. Another tried to attack us, I once again, protected the kid with my own body. I couldn't and wouldn't let this child get harmed, not if I had something to say about it. I got hit several times by a sword like thing. Bruises formed on my sides where I was hit, but I didn't mind. I eventually got close enough to the adorable pup to pet him. He looked surprised and stormed off, extremely distressed about something. We ran into one last dog before coming across papyrus, This dog was HUGE, yet utterly adorable. This pup was all over the place, his saliva was flinging everywhere, and he couldn't get enough pets. I found a stick under the snow and threw it, playing fetch. tiring out the dogger.

He wasn't the only one that was tired. The kid was absolutely exhausted. They slumped around and looked like they could just lay in the snow and just pass out there. I figured that was a BAD idea, so I picked the kid up and held them in my arms, they wrapped their poofy coat arms around my neck and their legs around my torso, They laid their head on my shoulder and within seconds, they were snoring softly. I smiled to myself and kept walking the way they were guiding. I ran into the skelebros again, Papyrus seemed surprised to see the child asleep on my shoulder, at first he started shouting, challenging us. I had to shush him because the kid started stirring slightly. Papyrus looked at us with a soft look. His smile got bigger and he disabled the puzzle saying something about 'It not being fair to me, for it was the child he was challenging. And he cant challenge a sleeping opponent.'

I smile at him in relief, Sans still stared at me, this look was different. And I couldn't place it, but it made chills go down my back. I just ignored him and went through the now disabled puzzle.

I walked over to them and whispered as softly as I could and still have them hear me.

"Do you guys know where the nearest town is? or somewhere where we can stay? gotta get the kiddo a bed." I rubbed the kids back in a circular motion then looked back to papyrus.

Papyrus seemed hesitant to say something but I nodded to encourage him to speak. "TH- There's a town, just up ahead. It it the town that houses the GREAT, er *great* *papyrus and his not as great brother Sans*" I smile at him and promised that when the kid was 100% they'll do puzzles with him. This made papyrus more confidant and happy. Papyrus whispered something about getting puzzles ready for the 'littler humans japing' and zoomed off in the direction that I was about to start heading when I noticed that Sans hasn't moved or gone with his brother, he just stood there, still staring. I looked at him and raised and eyebrow, he looked at the ground and I shook my head with a small sigh. I stepped forward, the snow crunching under my worn boots, my feet getting colder the more I thought about it. But as I took that step Sans said something.

"i don't know what game you're playing, acting nice. i know what you're capable of." his words got to me. My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to piece together what he just said, I stared at the ground in front of my outstretched foot. I squeezed my eyes shut as a piercing pain shot through it. I looked up at him with hurt and confused eyes. My mind still filled with my fuzzy memories that cause me pain at every moment.

"Why cant I remember?" I whispered, I didn't realize the words escaped my lips or if he even heard me, the second I blinked. He was gone. I just walked forward with a melancholy look on my face. The only sound was the whispers in the wind and the crunching

I finally made it to the town, I scanned over the welcome sign. 'Snowdin.' Heh, funny. I ignored the whispers as the towns people were talking among-st each other, the stares directed towards us. I made my way to the Inn, and entered. Warmth engulfing me and the kid. I patted the kids back and looked at the Inn keeper, It was a rabbit much to my surprise. I looked at the pay. '80 gold' I pulled out my wallet and counted out 80 gold, almost emptying my wallet. Welp, I guess we're only going to be here 1 night. We can worry about the details later.

She gave me a room key and directed me to a staircase, I walked up them, found the room and shifted the kid to one hip, making them stur slightly. I opened the room after struggling with the key for a bit. I don't remember taking off my bag and shoes, I remember helping the sleepy head kid out of their shoes and coat, having them snuggle under the large covers.

As soon as I hit the pillow, I was asleep. But not for long, nightmares seemed to be a consistent thing I suppose.

I was running, in the woods. But not underground. No this was on the surface, I could see the stars. No, I couldn't. I saw clouds. And rain. My vision was blurred and my feet slid as I ran through the mud. The rain stuck my hair to my neck and jacket. My jacket shirt and pants were soaked to my body. But I continued to run.

I don't know why I was running. I didn't seem to be going anywhere, till I heard someone call out. "******~" Their voice was static-y. I couldn't tell what they said, It sounded like a name. I could feel my heart thudding against my chest, the stings of the branches whipping across my flesh. I was carrying something, or someone in a bundle against my chest. I made twists and turns, slowing down, losing breath. I was panicking. I felt weak, fear was flooding my veins My eyes widened, it was getting darker and darker, I couldn't see my hands in front of my face.

I could feel something crawling on my back.

The person was getting closer, they grabbed on to the collar of my shirt yanking me back towards them. I could see their face, It was a man, they had a maniacal smile but darkness in his eyes. He had a ruggish beard and dark eyes that held a glint of red. His breath tickled against my neck making me shrivel. He smelt of alcohol and something else. I twisted in his grasp, trying to escape. He wasn't liking this and he gripped my shoulder now, getting tighter and tighter, eventually I twisted enough to kick him and fall back wards but caught myself in time. I whipped around and sprinted towards a large lump of darkness that towered over me. But that didn't matter, I needed to get away.

It kept raining, it was cold and made me slip in the mud. The voice calls out again more angry and in pain this time.
"******~!"

I tried getting farther but I couldn't tell where I was going, It was dark. too dark. I lurched forward and fell.

I woke up in cold sweat on the floor, the thud was what startled me awake. I look and see the blanket in a tangled mess around my legs. I see the kid shifting in their sleep grasping for the blanket but couldn't find it. I untangled it and wrapped it around the kiddo and just sat on the edge of the bed. Every time I closed my eyes I saw that face and the smile of evil intent, and the sweat wasn't helping, it felt like the rain from the dream. I couldn't sleep.

I got out the red sweatshirt from the bag and put it on, along with my boots. I figured I needed a walk.

A walk sounded really good, I went downstairs and saw the lobby empty. It must be late.

I went outside into the chilly air and mentally patted myself on the back about the sweatshirt. I pulled up the hood and tucked my hands into my pockets and started walking to my left, I came across a tree decorated in lights, and under it was a bunch of presents. No one was up, I mean seriously. Who would be up at this time? What was the time?

I continued walking and came across a bar, its open sign still flashed and I decided to take a peak inside. Only a few people were in here, there was the dog that attacked me, smoking a .. bone? and a bunny like thing on a table. I went up to the bar and sat down in one of the seats off to the side. My hood was still up and I just stared at the worn wood counter. Till a light was glaring off it. I look up and see a fire like being, Completely made of fire. Except for his glasses, white cuff link button up shirt and black vest, bow-tie, apron and slacks. He looked at me, with his head cocked to the side. He had one hand cleaning out a glass. I shrugged and shook my head.

He gave me a strange look as if asking why I was in his bar so late at night. I shook my head and said one word without meaning to. "nightmare."
He nodded as if knowingly. He looked at me for a second and I suddenly felt bad, "I can leave if I'm intruding." the fire man shook his head and left. I realized that I didn't read the sign of this place. Where was I? The man came back with a glass of something and I looked at him with wide eyes when he set it down right in front of me. I shook my head, "Oh no, I don't have any money." He shook his head and gestured towards the drink and left ignoring my refusals. I sighed, defeated and took a sip.

It made me feel a warmth spread through my body and made my mind bubbly, I looked at the glass and saw it was clear. It looked like water.

I tentatively took another sip, then another, then another. Until finally, I drank the whole glass clean. I smiled at the guy and said thank you. He nodded as if to say 'My pleasure.'

I checked the time and decided I should be getting back. But before I did, A figure sat at the bar close to me and waved the bartender down.

"hey grillbz, give me the usual." a familiar voice called to him.

I decided I should leave, He'll probably just threaten me again. The bartender set down a cup in front of Sans, the drink looked exactly like the one he gave me then turned to me. I scooted the empty glass to him and apologized for not having anything to pay with. He shook his head again, took the glass and started wiping it down.

I stood up and apologized again, I could feel eyes staring at me. I started moving towards the door, and I saw Sans looking at me with confusion and suspicion. Once I left the building I swore I hear Sans ask the bartender about me. But I could be mistaken. I walked away from the door and saw the sign.

'Grillbys.' huh, so 'grillbz' is the owner of the place? I blink and just made my way back to the room and sat down on the bed. I took off the jacket and pulled off my boots, I closed my eyes and the only thing I could see and feel was the shining warmth of the bartender, and the comforting smell of smoke and wood. I laid down, but a thought kept me awake for a bit.

'What was Sans doing in Grillbys, so late, and why did he have the same drink as me?' I pegged those as just coincidence and fell asleep to the soft warm bed and the smell of smoke and wood.