As the door thudded shut behind her, Christine sat up, shivering. She was in… Snow?! How was there snow underground?! Damn it, it was cold! Regretting her choice of making the shirt into a crop top, she stood and tried opening the door. Except there weren't any handles. Who would make a door without handles on both sides? Then again, the other side didn't have any handles either. She tried wedging her fingers in the crack of the two doors, trying to pry them open. They didn't budge. Five minutes of hurting her fingers and hands as she tried to get back in, Christine decided it was helpless. Turning, she saw a long path walled by dark, tall trees. If anyone walked through here, their tracks were long covered up.
Lifting her knees above the snow, she made her way forward. Slowly but surely. Somewhat. As she walked, she couldn't help but feel like someone was watching her. That someone was hiding, watching as she made her way down the path. She began to pick up the pace and then suddenly stopped. *Chuff-!* There. That wasn't her. She had stopped before that footstep echoed out. She burst into a sprint. Cold wind whipped her face as she ran forward, terrified. Someone was definitely following her. Up ahead she could see some kind of formation of logs above a small wooden bridge. She could slip through them, but go where? She didn't know where the next place she could rest was, or if there was anyone to even help her like Toriel did.
The world around her flashed into black and white, causing Christine to halt to a stop as something shot out of the ground in front of her. They were white, but not glowing like Flowey's bullets. Were these… bones? Before she could react, more shot out of the ground. She froze. Looking down, blue bones pierced through her arms and legs… Why weren't they hurting? When it came to Flowey's attacks, just touching them burned. She twitched her hand to move and felt a sharp pain as a wound opened. She let out a cry as the realization came to her. These were blue, not white. Moving would hurt. Whoever did this wanted her to be still. "Who's there?!" She asked, trying to keep the waver out of her voice. No answer. "You put me in a FIGHT! I know how these work! Kind of… I can't fight nothing!"
The blue bones disappeared as a voice came from behind her. "Sorry 'bout that." Christine jumped, whirling around and slapping behind her. The figure disappeared and reappeared next to her. It was a skeleton. A round one, about the size of Frisk actually. He wore a blue hoodie with a white hood, sport shorts and pink slippers. "Woah! Calm down there. I come in peace." The skeleton put up his gloved hands in a surrendering gesture.
"Oh- Yeah, BECAUSE YOU MADE THAT CLEAR!" Christine motioned to the bones still in front of her. "AND WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?! YOU CAME LITERALLY OUT OF NOWHERE!"
"Calm down. I admit, I gave off some bad vibes, but I don't got the guts to hurt ya." He winked, chuckling.
"...Did… You just make… a skeleton joke?" Christine asked slowly, confused as to why the recent stalker/stranger/skeleton was joking when he had just attacked her. The sharp pain in her hand reminded her she was actively bleeding.
"Yup. I'm a SANSational comedian." He chuckled more, although Christine didn't get the joke. "Name's Sans by the way. Sans the Skeleton."
Christine ignored him, clutching her hand. Her palm bled profusely, although she couldn't figure out how serious it was. "Yeesh. Sorry, I forgot most humans don't know about BLUE attacks." Sans apologized. He disappeared, and reappeared holding a hotdog. "Here."
Christine looked down at the hotdog, which was concerningly blue and shaped like an actual dog, with confusion. "...What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!" She snapped. She understood it was her fault for moving, but he shouldn't have ambushed her like that in the first place!
"You, uh… Eat it?" He raised, well, what would be his eyebrow.
"Now is not the time for food, I'm bleeding!" She searched through her bag. She could try to make a bandage with her pant leg, but she wasn't sure she could and still not freeze to death. If only she hadn't left behind the shirt scraps!
"Ah, you haven't been told about ITEMs? Items, mainly consumables and bandages, heal you. That way you'll be sans injuries." Sans informed her, somehow still making puns.
"...So if I eat this, it'll heal me?" Christine summarized, confused.
"Yup. Made of magic." He nodded.
Christine hesitantly took a few bites of the hotdog, watching in amazement as her hand healed before her eyes. Finishing it off, her hand was clear of the wound, not even leaving a scar. Even some scars she had before falling had disappeared. "...Thanks. Still mad at you though." She huffed.
"Can I make it up to you by showing you to the next town? Ya look chilled to the bone in that outfit, 'specially in the snow." Sans offed. Christine hesitated. She didn't trust this skeleton. Obviously the whole chasing her, attacking her and suddenly being nice was part of the reason, but there was something… deeper. Something else. He had a certain… feeling about him. Something that felt darker than he portrayed.
"...Alright." Chrstine nodded.
"B'fore we set off, what's your name?" Sans asked.
"...Christine Barr." She introduced herself.
"Nice ta meetchya." Sans extended a hand to her. Christine reached out to shake it when a fart sound rang out from his hand. Christine stared at him as he began to crack up. She had fallen for it. She had fallen for "The 'ol whoopie cushion in the hand trick! It's always funny." Sans laughed, whipping a tear from his eye. "Alright, c'mon. Snowdin's a little far, but you can prolly make it before it gets too late. Keep to this path, and I'll meet ya further down the road."
Before Christine could reply, most likely with a rant of how it wasn't funny and he should be more serious, he disappeared with a CHING! Reasoning from where he had been. Christine sighed, turning to find the bones in her path had disappeared as well. She continued forward, chuffing through the snow.
* * * *
Christine came to a square in the middle of the road, dug out of the snow. She had passed various posts of some kind, however there was no one there. Just a sign saying "ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE" There was a skeleton. Not Sans, thank god. That guy… He gave her the creeps. The skeleton was dressed in some kind of costume, akin to a superhero. He sat with his legs crossed in the snow, fiddling with a small box hidden beneath the snow, connected to the dug out square. He turned something, a wire maybe, and flinched as he was shocked, his clothes's fabric sticking in the air. "Yowch!" He jumped up, shaking his hand.
"You okay?" Christine asked cautiously. She obviously had no idea who this skeleton is (or why an adult would use the word "Yowch" to describe pain). But maybe it was a skeleton's nature to attack on sight? Sans didn't seem as friendly as he tried to be.
The skeleton looked her way, eye sockets widening. "Oh my god! Are you a human?!" He asked excitedly.
"I-Um… Yes?" She answered, confused as to why the skeleton was confused.
"Wowie! Another human! This is the most humans I've seen since…well, ever! You are a lot bigger than the last one… I thought all humans were small." The skeleton cleared his throat (Or lack thereof) and stuck out his chest. "Unusually large human! You shall not pass this area! For I, the Great Papyrus will stop you! With puzzles that will boggle your mind, and challenges that will shake you to your very core! Proceed if you-! Uh… well I suppose you're already here, huh?"
Papyrus scratched his head, looking back at the dug out square. "Large human! If you were to be so kind, please wait here while I recalibrate this puzzle? It's not puzzling if the answer is the same every time."
"O-oh. Sure?" Christine watched as Papyrus sat back down in the snow, chuckling to himself, or at least she assumed that's what his little "Nye-heh-heh"s were. "P-Papyr-rus?"
Papyrus looked up, tilting his head. "Yes, large human?"
"D-do you kn-know where th-the next warm pl-place might be?" Christine asked, her teeth chattering together. Sans said that Snowdin town was far, but something told her she may not make it til then. Christine's everything was cold, she felt like she could barely move as the snow was up to her knees. The only thing between frostbite and her fingers were boxing gloves she had found in a box.
"Snowdin town, yes. But you can't go without trying my puzzles first! After all, if I want to be in the royal guard, I…" Papyrus slowed his sentence as he began to stare at Christine. "Oh dear. You're cold, aren't you? You're a human therefore have skin therefore can feel the cold! I apologize for not realizing further, I can't feel cold. Come along large human, I shall guide you to snowdin town myself! In fact, I can ask my brother to bring you a coat for the walk!"
As Papyrus took out a phone and began dialing, Christine felt something warm in her heart. Of course it didn't help her body temperature, but she felt at ease having met another monster who was nice and helpful. Papyrus began to walk forward, motioning for her to follow. "Of all the times to not answer his phone…" Papyrus huffed as the phone rang and went to an automated message. "Apologies large human, it appears that the coat will have to wait until my brother picks up the phone."
"I-I-it's o-okay. H-hopef-fully w-we g-get to th-the town so-soon." Hopefully felt like never in her mouth. If she made it out alive she never wanted to see snow ever again. That warm feeling she had felt earlier had already faded within 5 seconds, a sinking dread replacing it as the snow bit at her legs and the wind sliced at her arms.
Papyrus seemed to notice her sudden depression, frowning slightly before perking up. "Don't worry human! I have something just as good as a coat!" He unfastened the safety pin holding his cape and draped it around her shoulders. "A cloak!" He declared proudly as he fastened the safety pin intercepting the cape's corner so that it draped over her head. "Well, maybe not AS good, but maybe it can help a little?"
Christine paused to process as the wind hurt less and as the soft fabric loosely hugged her arms. "...Th-thank you Papyrus." Christine smiled, clutching the cape cloak around her. It didn't stop the cold, but she wasn't getting any colder. That, and Papyrus had an infectious smile and hope, lighting up as she thanked him.
"You are welcome large human! That was but one of the many great ideas of the great Papyrus!" He chuckled to himself, proud his idea worked.
"...My n-name i-is Christ-stine, b-by the w-way." Christine introduced herself.
Papyrus hummed. "I like that name! It's fun to say! Christine. CHristINE." He chuckled to himself with an adorable sense of pride.
"Thanks." Christine felt that warm feeling return as they walked down some kind of barren skating rink with a white snowball. Going left, they came to another square in the snow, in the middle a piece of paper. Some kind of word scrabble. Christine picked it up, although struggled to read it due to the shaking.
"Junior Jumble!" Papyrus identified, taking it from her. "The human earlier didn't even look at it! Can you believe that? It was one of the month's hardest too! Some people just aren't up for the challenge. But I guess not everyone is as smart and intelligent as I."
"C-can I tr-try to solve it l-later? I-I'm not the b-best at puzzles b-but I'd l-like to try." Christine asked, trying to cheer him up a bit.
Papyrus beamed. "Of course! I could probably help you with that! Being a master puzzle solver and all."
"A-ha! Here we are, Human Christine!" They arrived in a small section, and she saw there was, indeed, a microwave and spaghetti. That was it. The microwave and a frozen plate of spaghetti were on two different tables, for some reason. The microwave was unplugged, and frost coated the plate along with the fork.
"P-P-Papyrus, I-I don't think this'll work… Th-the microwave i-is unpl-plugged." She pointed out, shivering as another gust of wind came through the cavern.
"I-... You seem to be right. Apologies Human Christine, I swear it worked last time it was used… It just took a long time and I forgot about it. Well no matter! Snowdin town isn't far and-" His phone beeped, interrupting him. Papyrus lifted it to see the screen. "Well, it seems my brother saw my message after all!"
"Sup bro." Christine jumped, stumbling forward as Sans appeared right behind her.