The mage wasn't sure what she would find outside of the ruins, but as a cold, crisp breeze slammed the door behind her. The ground before her was heavily laid with snow, with a path cutting through the mounds of snow. Surrounding her, were trees taller than she could ever hope to see the tops of, shrouded in darkness. She suddenly understood the depth of the situation ahead of her. She sighed, a puff of steam escaping past her lips, and began to trudge forward. The forest was quiet, eerily so. The only sound around were her quiet breaths and the crunching of snow beneath her feet. Despite wearing thick robes, every rogue breeze seemed to tear right through her.
After about a half a mile (a little under a kilometer) of walking, she heard the crunching of snow coming from somewhere in the dense forest. She stilled. The sound had vanished. Perhaps it was her imagination. She continued down the path, albeit faster than before. The sound of her own footsteps was drowned out by the beating in her ears. She pulled at her cloak, trying to hide her face in her hood. It was cold, far too cold, and the further in she went, it only seemed to get colder, the breeze only becoming more unbearable. Another quarter mile (less than half a kilometer) later a shadow caught her eye from the forest. She stilled once more. All motion in the forest seemed to stop.
Perhaps she wasn't as alone as she thought.
The tips of her fingers stung, the beginnings of frostbite setting in. She curled and uncurled her fingers slowly, waiting for even the slightest hint of movement. Her eyes darted around anxiously, waiting. Despite the ever-cold wind, she began to sweat.
Suddenly, the sound of a snapping branch echoed in the cavern. She ran. She ran off the path and into the thick brush of the forest. Branches tugged and scratched at her, her feet sunk into the snow but she ran still. She ran until she saw, just ahead of her on the path she was once on, two tall, regal looking monsters. She stopped dead in her tracks and hid herself behind a giant pine tree. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe. She watched as they slowly made their way toward her, never seeming to notice her.
One was a tall bird-like monster with ocean blues feathers and a prominent beak. He wore what she assumed was the uniform of the Royal Monster Army, polished silver armor with the Monster Kingdom's insignia, the Deltarune, engraved into it, and a dark blue cape that fluttered behind him. In his wing, he held a scimitar, a weapon made of a long wooden pole and a curved blade at the end. As he walked, he stabbed the scimitar into the shallow snow with each step, using his weapon as a another would use a walking stick.
His companion was a tall, slender, skeleton monster. He didn't wear any military uniform that she could see; instead, he wore a beige turtleneck and dress pants, with a black peacoat over it. He had no weapons, but held a long white coat and clipboard. Despite not seeming intimidating upon first glance, the skeleton was far more frightening the longer she observed him. He was a head taller than the bird monster and far more imposing, walking as if he were born in the military. His skull was perfectly smooth, lacking any sort of definition a human skull would have. His mouth opened without any sort of jaw and stretched and moved as if his bone were skin. One of his eye sockets was permanently half closed in a crescent shape and both held a void-like darkness within them with a single pinprick of light in each. As he approached, she noticed two cracks in his skull: one running from his eye down to his mouth, the other running from his half-closed eye up and over the top of his skull.
Only a human could make such a thorough cut into bone. The mage thought. She could only imagine the pain he must have went through.
The skeleton reached into his coat pocket and searched for a while, before taking out a pack of cigarettes. As he brought the pack up to take one into his mouth, she noticed a perfectly circular hole in the middle of his palm, showing a flash of the cigarette brand through his hand. He flipped the pack open and took a cigarette into his mouth. He stowed the box back in his pocket and searched for a bit, not seeming to find what he was looking for. He sighed, the cigarette still clenched between what could only be described of as teeth. The bird monster chuckled when he heard his companion's discontent.
"Need a light, doc?" He asked. His voice took on a playful tone, but still held an air of authority. He had a calming mid-western twinge to it with a slight harshness to it, similar to a parrot squawking. As he spoke, the two slowly halted in their tracks.
"Would you mind?" The skeleton replied, taking the cigarette between his fingers. A natural baritone, his voice was much softer and smoother compared to his companion but had a similar air of authority. He had a noticeable accent, similar to Gaelic, but had a lilt of something that the mage couldn't quite put her finger on. It wasn't like any human language she had heard.
"I seem to have misplaced my matches," the doctor continued. "And the stars know I'm absolute shite at fire magic."
"Careful," the bird flicked out his wing as a small, contained flame appeared in front of the doctor. "Your father would have a cow if he heard you swear on the job."
"If he saw me smoking, he'd have the whole barn." The doctor stuck the tip of the cigarette into the flame until it began to smolder. He inspected the lit cigarette for a moment before taking a long drag. He began walking again, slower than before and was quickly followed by his companion.
The soldier laughed as he waved the flame away, "I'm guessing your father doesn't know you smoke."
"Unlike you, I don't need to tell my father everything, Riciven. What he doesn't know won't kill him."
"Might kill you though."
"Lung cancer is easily avoidable when you lack lungs."
"Then why even smoke?" Riciven asked, partially confused, partially amused.
"I simply enjoy the scent and the calming sensation it comes with. Not to mention, anyway I can rebel against my father's wishes is good enough for me."
"Stars, Gaster... You still act like a teenager late into adulthood. One can only hope your children won't end up the same way."
"I disagree, I wouldn't have it any other way."
Their banter continued as they slowly made their way toward and passed her. Occasionally, Dr. Gaster would say something to cause Riciven to laugh heartily, but the doctor didn't seem as willing to fully engage in the conversation. It seemed as if his mind were elsewhere, far from this point in time and space. He was looking around a fair bit, as Riciven rattled off. His eyes would linger on something and study it for a moment, before moving on.
Just as the two were passing right in front of the mage, the doctor's gaze turned to his left, to the tree she was hiding behind. For a single, terrifying moment, it seemed as if the two-pinprick imbedded in his skull focused solely on her. She didn't move a single muscle, her breathing slowed to a halt, and her eyes met his head on, thought she could only imagine the expression of fear she wore. Then, as quickly as his gaze focused, it moved past her, seemingly not having seen her.
The mage finally exhaled once they were a fair distance away and watched as their back grew smaller as they made their wat through the cavern. Once she could no longer see them, she continued down the path. Seeing as monsters, like humans and mages, were pack creatures, the two monsters must have come from some kind of civilization. Making sure she stayed out of sight of any other royal guardsmen that could roam by, she trudged forward.
She soon found herself in a different part of the forest. The trees shifted from the endlessly tall birch to smaller pine trees. Still tall, to be sure, but she recognized these trees as similar to the evergreens of the surface. The path seemed to diverge in multiple places, she got turned around a few times until she found a sign. After having a bit of trouble on a lake of ice, the sign pointed her east to a place called Snowdin Town (and ice). Once she found herself on the east side of the lake, she continued her journey to, presumably Snowdin Town. She wasn't sure what to expect once she reached Snowdin Town. She knew monsters were civilized enough that they wouldn't chase her out of towns once she got there (unlike humans). So, if anything, she was hoping a moment of brevity and maybe some information on how she could get out of here.
As she made her way there, she somehow managed to evade the rest of the royal guard that was on patrol. By sundown, or what she assumed was sundown, she had made it a fair distance from the ruins. She settled at the base of a tree, leaning against it. After a full day of travelling, fatigue was finally catching up to her. She closed her eyes for a moment, but kept her ears open, not wanting to be caught by any guards making the rounds.
Just as she felt herself drifting off, she heard the crunching of snow. It was lighter and faster than the footsteps of the royal guard. Her eyes snapped open and she looked for the source of the noise. Her sight was still a bit fuzzy as she tried to blink the sleep from her eyes.
"C'mon! Papa will be looking for us!" A small voice said a worried twinge in his high voice.
An older voice laughed at the younger's worry, "We've only gone for ten minutes, he probably doesn't even realize that we're gone."
She sees two tiny skeletons make their way through the forest, toward town. One is an older skeleton, around eight human years old in a blue coat and pants. The other is about three completely covered in red and tan snow gear. The younger one is pulling the other along, trying to urge him to go faster.
"But daddy is gonna get back soon, and we already got in trouble for sneaking out this week!" The younger's voice was much more nasally with the telltale lisp and stutter of youth. He spoke fast, though all things are fast when you're that young.
"I'm going. I'm going, Pap." The older skeleton had a noticeably low voice for his age, and spoke considerably slower than his brother.
Just as they were about to pass, the younger skeleton turned his head and locked eyes with the mage. He stopped and stared at her for much longer than the scientist did, confirming that he did, in fact, see her. The older skeleton seemed confused as to why he stopped and opened and closed his mouth in unheard questions. The mage gave a small wave and smile to the skeleton child, not finding it in her heart to ignore him. The child smiled and waved his arm over his head back.
"Hi!" He yelled to the mage. "Hold on! I'll be right there!"
The older skeleton finally looked over and spotted the mage and tried to pull the smaller on away, but he ignored him and made his way toward the mage. As he stomped in the snow, the taller tried the best to coax him away, but he remained determined.
"Are you lost?" The smaller skeleton asked.
"Yes, I suppose I am," the mage replied. "Would you mind helping me, small one?"
The taller skeleton finally caught up and pulled on the other's coat. "C'mon, Pap! We're not supposed to talk to strangers!" Upon closer look, it was clear that the older was scared of the mage.
It was only wise to be, the mage thought. I look identical to any human after all.
"But she says she needs help!" He said as he resisted the older's tugs. "C'mon Sans! We have to help!"
Sans looked at his brother then back at the mage until finally relenting to his brother's wishes.
"Fine. But hurry up. Pops'll be looking for us." Sans said letting go of his coat.
"He's not looking for us! We've only been gone for ten minutes." He replied with a giggle, much to his brother's dismay. His attention went back to the mage, "My name is Papyrus! And this is my big brother, Sans! What's your name?"
"My name is (Name). Nice to meet you, Papyrus and 'big brother Sans.'" the mage replied. "Now, what are you two doing all by yourselves in the middle of the woods?"
"Sans wanted to follow daddy while he did work, but he walks too fast for us to keep up," Papyrus explained.
"Rambunctious, aren't ya?" The mage said with a laugh. "Now, do you where the nearest town is so I can make my way over there?"
Before Papyrus opened his mouth, Sans replied, "Why? What do you need in town?" His voice shook a little. He was still scared, but keeping a brave face for him and his brother.
She gave Sans a calming smile, "I just need a place to rest. I've been walking for hours, and I'd rather not get sick lying in the cold. Do you know if there's an inn or church I could take refuge in nearby?"
"I don't know what a church is, but there's an inn in Snowdin town you could stay in!" Papyrus said, excitedly. "We could take you there if you want, Miss (Name)!"
"I would very much like that," the mage said, finally standing up. She was taller than them, but not by too much. "If that's okay with both of you."
Papyrus nodded his head happily and looked to his brother who refused to meet either of their gazes.
"Sans?" The mage prodded gently. "Could you take me to the inn please?"
After a long moment of silence and Papyrus pulling on his sleeve, Sans responded, "Fine. We can take you." Sans looked up at the mage, fiercely, "But I'll be watching you, human!"
The mage smiled, not wanting the to explain the difference at the moment, "I wouldn't have it any other way."