Look at the bottom of the page for an exciting announcement!

how long is this walk? Sans thought, growing increasingly frustrated.

The journey to the Ruins from Snowdin was a short distance; possibly only a ten-minute walk. Normally, that distance was either a blink of an eye or a short conversation for Sans, depending on how he was traveling. However, this time it felt like aeons were passing with each step. Snow fell around them lightly, covering their tracks as they walked.

To his right, Papyrus was summarizing what he'd done yesterday. Just like everything else thus far, that was the same too.

"-THEN UNDYNE SAID THAT NEXT WEEK WE COULD GO AND LOOK AROUND WATERFALL FOR SOME NEW SPICES TO ADD TO THE SAUCE. I, FOR ONE, THINK IT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA! I MUST START EXPANDING MY REPERTOIRE OUT OF DRIED ECHO FLOWER LEAVES! NOT THAT THEY'RE BAD OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT!"

Sans grunted in affirmation, barely half-listening to Papyrus.

This time, it wasn't just déjà vu that diverted his attention. As they walked through the snowy woodland that lead to the entrance of the Ruins, Sans scrolled his head slowly from left to right, carefully examining every dark corner, peeking behind every tree. Anywhere that a small kid could hide. It was likely that Chara was still near the entrance of the Ruins. However, considering that both Sans and Papyrus had been later leaving than last time, and that Chara may not be restricted by the same rules Sans seemed to be, it paid to be careful.

The task was even more frustrating as Sans knew he had to keep his actions and thoughts covert so that Papyrus didn't notice and get worried again, or worse, tell Sans to go back while he went on alone. Sans strained his eyes, glaring at every shadow as he and Papyrus continued walking. He shrugged his shoulders, trying to relax their tenseness. It helped a little, though his bones set again shortly after.

Sans closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.

it's going to be fine, no-one can get near him with-

"Hey, Skelebros!"

"nahah!" Sans yelped, his eyes snapping open. Knives were the first things he saw. His pupils contracted, his left eye sparking into blue flame. He instinctively jumped towards Papyrus. "you! where did yo-"

Papyrus shouted, interrupting Sans. "SANS! YOU'RE BEING RUDE TO DOGGO!"

Sans paused. "dog…go?" Sans ripped his focus away from the knives the figure was holding to see that it was indeed Doggo, the almost-blind guardsdog. Sans's left eye glowed a bit brighter and he blushed slightly in embarrassment. Was he really that jumpy? "oh…yeah…sorry doggo."

Doggo smiled, wagging his tail and looking at Sans with squinted eyes. "Not a problem! Meant I got a good look at you."

Papyrus sighed. "I'M SORRY ABOUT MY BROTHER. HE FELL OFF THE BED THIS MORNING AND HASN'T BEEN HIMSELF SINCE. ARE YOU GOING TO YOUR GUARD-POST?"

Doggo turned his head to Papyrus, looking straight past him.

"As always! Just going to get some dog-treats first though. That big dumb dog ate the last of them without telling me!"

"IS THAT SO? WELL, I HOPE YOU SUCCEED IN YOUR QUEST! ME AND SANS ARE GOING TO PATROL FOR HUMANS NOW."

"Same old, same old then. Well," Doggo began walking towards Snowdin, careful not to run into any trees or trip on any hidden rocks, "I'll see you bros later!" As Doggo stalked off, Papyrus turned to Sans, the corners of his mouth downturned in a frown. He stared at Sans, keeping silent.

"…"

Sans shivered, his left eye dimming before going out entirely. He hated it when Papyrus got quiet.

"sorry. i thought he was…" Sans dropped off.

"WAS WHAT?" Papyrus knitted his brow.

"i thought he was… a bit beastly." Sans shrugged, tilting his head and putting on a smile. A moment passed. Then another. Sans started sweating. great, is he suspicious now?

Suddenly, Papyrus groaned, face-palming himself. "SANS, THAT WAS DREADFUL!"

Sans smiled wider. "sorry bro, i know that pun was pawful. to tail you the truth, i think they're getting worse, dog."

"UGH! SANS! STOP, PLEASE. WE HAVE SERIOUS MATTERS TO ATTEND TO!" Papyrus turned away from Sans, walking towards the Ruins again. Sans grinned, following closely behind. The Ruins were close now; maybe only a minute or so away. Snow continued to fall, getting slightly heavier now.

As they finally approached the Ruins, Sans shivered, bringing his arms around his body. He didn't know if he was doing it for warmth or for comfort.

it's okay… it's okay… no need to be… scared.

Sans's thoughts did nothing to comfort him, but he forced himself to continue forward, keeping up with Papyrus. He looked around. Still no Chara.

Papyrus stopped, turning to Sans and grinning. "SO, BROTHER. WHICH OF MY BRILLIANT, UNSOLVABLE PUZZLES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FIRST?"

Sans put on a smile, shrugging his shoulders, trying to look as carefree as normal.

"don't mind, bro."

"THAT WAS NOT HELPFUL IN THE LEAST." Papyrus spun on his heel, turning towards the entrance of the Ruins. "OH WELL, I GUESS I'LL SHOW YOU HOW I'VE DRASTICALLY IMPROVED SOME OF MY OLD-…?" Papyrus suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech, something which rarely ever happened, looking over at the Ruins entrance.

Sans felt a cold sweat run down his spine and followed Papyrus' line of sight to see a small, indistinct figure in the distance. Sans's soul started beating erratically and suddenly he felt like running away as far as his teleport could take him.

Chara...

i have to get him out of here. now! Sans though as he began to panic, looking desperately for a way to get Papyrus away from what he knew, all too well, was imminent danger. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"hey, bro, what you looking at? you know that's just a rock right?"

"HMM… I'M NOT SO SURE. I KNOW THAT 99.9% OF THE TIME I SEE A SHAPE IN THE DISTANCE IT TURNS OUT TO BE A ROCK OR A CONVENIENTLY-SHAPED LAMP… BU-"

Sans interrupted him, his tone more frantic now. "aw, come on pap! we ain't got time to waste, right? you wanted to show me your puzzles, right?" Sans winced at himself. Now Papyrus was bound to know something was up. There was a silence between them, Papyrus squinting his eyes to try and see the figure better. After a few moments, he shook his skull.

"YEAH, I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT."

Sans cheered loudly in his head. He stopped when Papyrus spoke again. "WAIT… IT'S WAVING! SANS, THE SHAPE IS WAVING! I'VE NEVER SEEN A ROCK WAVE BEFORE!" Before Sans could respond, Papyrus broke into a run, running straight towards the distant figure.

shit!

Sans ran after Papyrus, though with a combination of his height and lack of exercise, he easily fell behind him. Sans kept running, praying to whatever god would listen as his feet pounded the freshly-fallen snow.

please let him be okay, please, please, please, please!

"papyrus! can you hear me!?"

The snows started falling even more heavily now, making everything around Sans muddled and unclear. Sans realized with a jolt that he couldn't see anything more than a couple of metres away from him.

"SANS? WHERE ARE YOU? I'M RIGHT HERE! FOLLOW MY VOICE!"

Sans complied, straining his hearing to follow the direction Papyrus's voice was coming from. Sans's breathing came thin and fast. He could barely feel his lungs anymore but he didn't care. Chara wasn't going to hurt his brother. He couldn't let that happen! Suddenly, in front of Sans, a shape that looked distinctly like a skeleton appeared.

"papyrus! papyrus! you there, bro!?" There was an unnerving pause. And then a call back.

"SANS? I'M HERE, YES! AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" Sans sighed in relief, slowly walking towards Papyrus' silhouette. He huffed loudly, trying desperately to get his breath back.

"wha… hff… what is it… hff plh… bro?"

Sans looked up, expecting to see Papyrus' bony features looking down at him. However, the grin he was met with was entirely made of snow. Sans's pupils contracted.

no…

"I FOUND… a complete and utter idiot!"

Sans felt as if he had been frozen to the spot as he heard Papyrus' loud, energetic voice morph into an unnervingly cheery one. The ground in front of the Papyrus snowman shifted, a hole appearing. From the hole, a yellow flower popped out its head, a wide smile slapped on its centre.

"Hi! We haven't been formally introduced! My name is Flowey, Flowey the Flower. You're Sans, right? Chara was just telling me all about you."

Sans' left eye flickered, flames lighting up the area slightly. Flowey smiled wider. It caused shivers to run through Sans' entire body.

"So you remember them, huh? That makes this easier then. Your reaction is hilarious by the way."

"what are you?" Sans asked, gritting his teeth and balling his bony hands into fists. The flower's lop-sided smile became even more crooked.

"I'm so, so, so glad you asked that question! Also, didn't anyone ever tell you not to refer to someone as if they were an object? So rude!"

"shut up! how do you know who i am? how do you know about them!?"

"Them? Oh, you mean Chara?" Flowey tilted his head in mock confusion. "Well, that's easy. We're partners! In fact, I knew them even before you did! Back when they were an idiot like you guys. They told me about you all, though I already knew bits and pieces about you anyway." Flowey chuckled, the awful sound reverberating in Sans' skull. "But you don't care about that, right? What you care about is why you're talking to little, old me instead of YOUR LOUD IDIOT OF A BROTHER."

Sans growled as Flowey began mimicking Papyrus' voice again. His eye glowed brighter, flames starting to lick the top of his skull.

"Oh, getting angry now, are we? Don't bother, it's not like you can hurt me anyway."

"and what makes you think i can't?" Sans growled back, his voice low. Talking this flower was making him angrier than he'd ever remembered being.

"Because you're just a dumb, weak idiot! Chara said just as much. You couldn't even do anything when they stabbed you before. You just laid there like a lump and turned to dust! You're weak and useless. I bet you can't even do a basic magic attack, right? Heh, just proves how lazy you really are. Did you just expect your friends to come and always bail you out?"

"i said shut up! where's papyrus!?" Sans demanded as he began to panic again. The longer he talked to this flower, the more likely it became that Chara would do something horrible to his brother.

papyrus. i can't let you die.

"Ah, now there's a question! Well, he's with my partner right now. They wanted to keep you out of the picture for a while so they'd have a chance to talk to your brother. I thought it wouldn't work, me distracting you, but lo and behold you fell right for it! Right now, they should be near that hick town you call home." Flowey chuckled again. "Chara'll be waiting for you, I'm sure!" With that, Flowey ducked himself back down the hole he'd appeared from, leaving Sans alone.

The pain from earlier stabbed Sans' skull again, reminding him of its existence. Sans groaned, rubbing his forehead. He didn't have time to be nursing a headache.

i have to get there…

Sans mentally reached inside himself, feeling his limited magic reserves. He imagined the place Flowey had described to him. He'd probably been talking about the small bit of woodland just in front of Snowdin. He kept the image of that place in mind and activated his magic, closing his eyes.

When San opened them again, he was back at the entrance to Snowdin, behind a row of trees. Immediately, Sans set off, searching for Papyrus and Chara. The snowstorm was much weaker this close to Snowdin and now Sans could see clearly in all directions, for what good it did him.

As he ran, his head continued to pound and his left eye stayed bright, fueling his dread. Eventually, he started hearing voices.

"HUMAN. I AM SURPRISED AND IMPRESSED YOU WERE ABLE TO SURPASS MY PUZZLES SO EASILY! YOU MUST BE A TRUE PUZZLE-MASTER! BUT YOUR JOURNEY SHALL END HERE, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CAPTURE YOU AND BRING YOU TO UNDYNE!"

papyrus! you're still alive! thank god.

Sans dashed toward the source of his brother's voice, ignoring the agonizing pain in his lungs and head as he ran along the row of trees. As he neared, he saw Chara and Papyrus, fighting. Bones spun through the air around them, throwing themselves at Chara with a faint blue aura around them. Papyrus had always been more talented than Sans with magic, with levitation and object manipulation being his particular forte. Sans knew from watching Papyrus train that his attacks were numerous, incredibly fast and certainly weren't lacking in strength or control.

However, Chara dodged all Papyrus' attacks like they were nothing, dodging left and right with an inhuman speed. It was like they knew where the bones were going to hit before they even appeared. Sans felt his soul drop into his stomach. Papyrus was a great fighter, but he couldn't keep up his effort forever. And when he slowed down…

Sans called out instinctively.

"papyr-"As he shouted, Chara turned their eyes to meet Sans'. He smiled wolfishly, like they had when they'd killed Sans and suddenly the words clogged in Sans' throat. He felt his bones turn cold and stiffen. His eye flickered out immediately and suddenly Sans was rendered both mute and paralyzed. Was it some kind of magic? No, he couldn't feel anything. Just an abyss of terror. He was literally being intimidated into submission.

Papyrus, unaware of what was happening, continued his attacks, growing visibly more tired by the second. His shoulders drooped and sweat began to bead onto his skull. Chara turned back to him and Sans could clearly hear them as he spoke. They sounded completely unfazed as they continued to dodge.

"Well, Pappy, it's been fun going over old memories with you. But now that the guest of honour has arrived, I think we should start the real show!"

the 'real show'. please don't tell me he wanted me to- oh please, please no. But Sans was unable to turn his head away or shut his eyes.

Chara continued, gradually closing the gap between them and Papyrus. Papyrus, increasingly desperate, increased the pacing of his attacks, tiring himself further. "Hope you don't lose your head!"

As Chara finished, they slipped his knife out from under their jumper sleeve. They ran straight at Papyrus, making a single clean swipe at his neck. The knife connected and easily sliced through. Papyrus' eyes contracted, his mouth opening and closing without sound, trying to speak.

'S…ANS' he mouthed.

papyrus!

Papyrus's body quickly began to turn to dust, leaving his, scarf, armor and skull alone on the ground beneath Chara's feet. He continued to mouth at Chara, looking up at them with pleading eyes.

'BUT.. ST-STILL, I BELIEVE IN YOU. YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER. EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO. I… I PROMISE.'

After he finished, Chara raised their foot and, with a final smile, stomped on Papyrus' skull, causing it to explode into fine dust.

noooooooooo!

Sans felt something in his soul die. Tears freely rolled down his skull, falling onto the snow below him.

papyrus, you weren't meant to die!

Chara turned back to Sans, still smiling. They chuckled.

"That's a good expression, Sans. But don't think it's over just yet! After all, I have a whole Underground to destroy!"

Sans could barely hear them. Panic, terror, grief and anger whirled like a tornado in Sans's mind, allowing his instinct to take over. He closed his eyes, his magic flaring and teleporting him away instantly.

Chara continued to smile, whistling happily to themselves as they continued on into Snowdin.

Hello everybody! I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 3 of Sanstale! Chapter 4 should be around shortly, so stay tuned in and continue to be awesome with your rating and feedback! Anyway, onto the announcement, well more of an advertisement really:

As some of you may know, this story has a duplicate copy over on AO3. Lately, I have been thinking of adding features to the story that will enhance the experience for those who wish to use them. The first is recommended listening, which will still happen, to an extent, in this version. The second is that I would love if I could put images in the story. Nothing big or complicated, just still images to represent key moments in each chapter and break up the text a bit. I have been looking around and since no-one has been able to help me yet, I have decided to go public and request an artist to help me out. I sadly cannot pay you if you apply, but I like to think this experience would be good for those who wish to work in an artistic market (or already do) or those who simply want to try their hand with some fanart. If you wish to apply, send me a PM and I will endeavour to message you back as soon as possible. We can talk from there. Anyway, that's my speel, I hope I get some interest!

Thank you guys for being awesome.

~ Caz.