*Hey look! There's something in this box, Cry.*

The brunet walked over and peered inside.

"What is it?"

Frisk reached in and pulled out a pink glove; Cry was reading a sign next to the box.

The brunet hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, to make it short, we can put our stuff in here and get it back in other boxes we find later on. We can use it as a storage."

Frisk nodded in understanding and placed the glove back into the box.

*Oh? There's a bag in here.*

"Hm? Cool! We could probably use it to put our stuff in."

Frisk reached in and picked the slightly dusty bag up; Cry then took it from her, slinging it onto his back.

He winked at Frisk.

"I'll be a gentleman and carry the heavy stuff, alright?"

Frisk huffed before smiling.

*Thanks.*

~~

The two ran into a few more monster--different from the one they met in the RUINS.

The main ones they met so far were Snowdrakes, who were pretty okay as long as you laughed at their jokes.

Cry and Frisk managed to get through all of the fights unscathed; their SOULs were safe and sound, glowing softly by their chests.

They would slide around on the ice; Cry would help Frisk with her balancing.

All in all, the two had fun.

Cry and Frisk then found a path leading to a small cliff area.

There was snowman there.

"Ah. Hello there."

Frisk quickly hid behind Cry out of reflex; the brunet gamer merely grinned widely and waved.

"Hey! What up?"

The Snowman's expression didn't change--since it was a mass of snow and it's mouth and eyes were pieces of coal.

"Can you two...do me a favor? I...want to see the world. Please take a piece of me with you."

Cry nudged at Frisk encouragingly; she fidgeted before shuffling over to the Snowman, taking only a small fistfull of the friendly monster.

The Snowman's smile seemed to brighten some how.

"Thank you. Have a safe journey."

Frisk looked worriedly at the snow she had cupped in her hands; she looked over at Cry.

*This won't melt, will it?*

Cry grinned, unzipping his bag as they both started to walk away from the Snowman.

"I'm sure it's magical snow! So it probably won't melt."

Frisk placed the snow in the backpack; Cry zipped the bag up and continued their trek.

Something shining caught Cry's eye.

"Hey, what's that?"

Frisk perked up.

*It's um.....a SAVE point!*

She touched the light and a black box popped up; it showed both of their stats.

She saved their file.

*Ok! Let's go.*

When they trudged on the pathway, they heard voices.

"SO ABOUT UNDYNE...."

Cry spotted Papyrus and Sans.

The two skeletons noticed the two humans that were there.

They looked at them before looking in the opposite direction; they did this for a while before spinning in a few circles.

Cry and Frisk sweatdropped at the skeletons' antics.

The two brothers finally stopped spinning, facing away from them; they spoke in hushed tones.

"OH MY GOSH, SANS! ARE THOSE....HUMANS!?"

They looked over at them, but Cry could see that they were looking at the....rocks behind Frisk and himself.

Sans' grin widened.

"I think those are rocks."

Papyrus drooped.

"OH."

Sans then pointed at Cry and Frisk.

"But, hey. What's that in front of those rocks?"

Papyrus let out a silent shriek, turning to look at Sans.

"ARE THOSE....HUMANS?"

"Yep."

"WOWIE!"

Papyrus and Sans turned to face the humans completely; the taller skeleton cleared his throat.

"AHEM! HUMANS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS OF THE ROYAL GUARD--ALTHOUGH ACTUALLY NOT YET ONE OF THEM--SHALL CAPTURE YOU TWO AND TAKE YOU TO THE CAPITAL! AND THEN! AND THEN....I'M NOT SURE. ANYWAYS, PREPARE YOURSELVES HUMANS FOR PUZZLES, DANGER, AND JAPES! COME FORTH IF YOU DARE, NYEHEHEHEHEHEH!"

Papyrus dashed out of the scene.

Cry couldn't keep a smile off his face.

"Hahahaha, oh geez! He's really awesome."

Sans brightened up, winking at the brunet.

"Heh, thanks kid. Anyways, I'll see you up ahead--Paps'll give you his first puzzle."

"Bye!"

The two looked back at Frisk.

"You ready to go?"

Frisk nodded.

*The thought of facing one of Papyrus' puzzles fills them with DETERMINATION.

~~

"ALRIGHT, HUMANS! PREPARE YOURSELF! FOR YOU SHALL FIND THIS PUZZLE....QUITE SHOCKING."

Papyrus grinned at the two children across a square-shaped patch of snow.

"THERE ARE INVISIBLE WALLS THAT WILL PRODUCE A GREAT SHOCK OF ELECTRICITY. NOW.....GO ON AHEAD!"

Frisk looked at Cry nervously; the gamer merely grinned and squeezed her hand encouragingly.

He took a step forward.

BZZZAAAP!

Papyrus jolted, burned to a black crisp.

The tall skeleton huffed, and stomped his foot.

"SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO!? WHY WAS I SHOCKED!?"

Sans chuckled.

"Uh, bro? I think they need to hold the orb that you have."

Papyrus blinked owlishly.

"OH."

The exuberant skull's grin returned as he quickly walked across the puzzle to the humans without getting shocked.

Frisk noted that Papyrus was leaving a trail for them; she glanced up at Cry with a slightly agape mouth.

Cry grinned and winked at her.

Papyrus handed them the shocking orb and quickly darted back to where he once was.

"ALRIGHT! TRY AGAIN!"

Cry looked over at Frisk.

*Okay~let's at least look like we're having some trouble when wer're going through the puzzle.*

Frisk nodded, giggling softly.

*Okay!*

The two children acted as if they didn't know what to do; they cautiously felt around.

Sans looked a little happy that those two were acting instead of trudging straight through the puzzle; Papyrus was awed by how the humans were getting through his puzzle.

Cry and Frisk made it to the other side; they waved exuberantly at the two skeletons.

Papyrus' jaw dropped slightly.

"YOU SLIPPERY SNAILS! HOW DID YOU TWO MANAGE TO GET THROUGH IT SO EASILY!? NYEH, NO MATTER, THERE WILL BE MORE PUZZLES TO COME--NYEHEHEHEHEHEH!"

Papyrus ran out of the scene; Cry and Frisk then walked up to Sans.

The shorter skeleton gave a lazy wink to the two.

"Heh, thanks you guys. Looks like my brother's having fun. Say...."

Sans was gazing at Cry.

".....Have we....ever met before?"

Cry sweated slightly.

".......Uh........"

Sans gazed at Cry unblinkingly before shaking his head, keeping his grin up.

"Nah, that would be crazy, right? I'll see you guys later."

The short skeleton walked away.

Cry sighed.

'What would he say if I saw him before?'

~~

Through the snowy land, the two humans got some Nice Cream, met Doggo, Dogamy and Dogaressa, Icecap, Gyftrot, Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, and.....who was it again? (Jerry).

They then met Papyrus and Sans with a word search game.

The two solved it for fun in the end.

They also played a tile-puzzle, which didn't work at all.

So....the two went through a few more switch-like puzzles before coming upon the last one.

A giant bridge.

Papyrus and Sans were on the very end.

"NYEHEHEHEHEH! THIS IS THE FINAL PUZZLE! AXES WILL SWING, GAUNTLETS WILL SMASH, FLAMETHROWERS WILL BURN, AND DOGS SHALL BE UNLEASHED! FOR. I AM. ABOUT TO. DO IT!"

Frisk trembled, and Cry prepared himself just in case the trap might actually activate.

Nothing happened; Sans snorted softly.

"Uh, that doesn't, um, look very activated..."

Papyrus flushed slightly, stomping his foot.

"I'M REALLY GONNA DO IT......"

Nothing happened.

".........URGH.....NO! THIS IS TOO DIRECT! I PUT MY BACKBONE INTO MY OTHER PUZZLES, BUT THIS ONE...THIS ONE HAS NO CLASS! AWAY WITH IT!"

The traps were sent away and Frisk sagged with relief; Cry grinned.

Papyrus turned away from them.

"PHEW....."

He then turned to look at the humans.

"NYEH, DON'T THINK THAT YOU'VE WON! THIS IS JUST ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NYEHEHEHEHEHEH!"

Papyrus went away once more.

Cry chuckled before freezing; he let go of Frisk's hand and brushed his fingertips on one of his tattoos.

....There was a flower...poking his head out of the snow near one of the edges of the bridge; Cry's eyes glowed slightly.

'Flowey...!'

The flower grinned menacingly before popping his head back into the snow.

Cry felt a tug on his jacket; Frisk was looking at him worriedly.

*Cry? What is it? Did you see something?*

The brunet gave a quick glance to Sans, who was gazing at Cry with empty black sockets for a millisecond.

The tiny lights in Sans' eyes returned once Cry blinked.

The brunet sighed softly, ruffling Frisk's hair.

"Eh, it's nothing."

The two walked across the bridge to see Sans.

Sans grinned brightly.

"Welp! This is the most fun Paps has had in a while. Thanks for the help--oh, and remember to watch out for blue attacks."

Sans walked away; Cry sweated a bit.

'Oooh...I think I might have to tell him the truth sometime soon so he doesn't kill me...'

~~

The two traveled through SNOWDIN, met monsters here and there and bought a few Cinnamon Bunnies and Bisicles.

And they finally came upon a much more snowy part of the town.

Frisk looked around nervously; it was getting harder to see.

And then the two spotted a tall figure standing in front of them.

"HUMANS. YOU TWO HAVE WENT THROUGH MY PUZZLES, REFUSED TO EAT MY SPAGHETTI BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO EAT IT WITH ME, AND YOU HAVE BEEN SO....NICE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WISHES TO MAKE YOU TWO HIS FRIE--!"

The voice paused.

"NO....NO THIS IS WRONG! I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND! I MUST CAPTURE YOU AND BRING YOU TWO TO THE CAPITAL! PREPARE YOURSELVES, HUMANS!"

The surrounding area became a familiar black and white; Frisk trembled behind Cry.

The brunet sighed.

"Paps....we really don't want to FIGHT you."

Papyrus widened his eyes.

"N-NYEH! N-NICKNAMES! TH-THAT MEANS....FRIENDSHIP! WE-WELL WE MIGHT BE FRIENDS LATER AFTER I CAPTURE YOU TWO!"

Bones started to poke out of the ground; Cry and Frisk lifted their SOULs out of the way.

Cry huffed before turning to Frisk, nodding his head.

"Frisk! Use your special weapon!"

Papyrus watched curiously as she puffed herself up a bit; sparkles of DETERMINATION appeared around her.

She raised a hand to her lips and.....blew a kiss at Papyrus.

"NYEEEEEEEEEH!?"

Cry gave her a thumbs up.

Frisk smiled and wiggled her hips; Papyrus sweated.

"N-NYEH! FL-FL-FLIRTING!? I-I'LL DA-DATE YOU LATER HUMAN, BUT NOW I MUST C-CAPTURE YOU AND YOUR FRIEND FIRST."

Papyrus dabbed bone-cologne behind his 'ears' as more bones were sent in their direction.

Cry huffed.

"Alright, next mov--!"

Bing!

Cry and Frisk face-planted in the snow; the brunet lifted his head first, seeing that both his and Frisk's SOULs were a deep blue.

Papyrus grinned triumphantly.

"NYEHEH! YOU'RE BLUE NOW....THAT'S MY ATTACK."

Cry pouted and dusted the snow off of his face, helping Frisk to her feet.

"Looks like we have to jump now..."

Frisk nodded her head; she had an air of...DETERMINATION.

Papyrus sent bones at them; a few blue ones were added to the mix.

Cry narrowed his gaze and grabbed Frisk's hand.

With a grunt, they both jumped over a row of bones and jumped once more when the attack was reversed.

Frisk tried to FLIRT again, but Papyrus was now too busy in attacking the two.

"I'LL USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK SOON!"

Blue bones came at them.

"Don't move, Frisk!"

They paused where they stood; the blue bones passed them.

Papyrus huffed.

"I....AM...GOING TO USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"

Frisk furrowed her brow worriedly.

Cry simply readied himself.

....A dog was there.....chewing on Papyrus'....SPECIAL ATTACK.

The tall skeleton fumed.

"HEY YOU, YOU STUPID DOG! UNHAND THAT BONE--THAT'S MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"

The dog merely dragged it away from the trio.

"WH-WHY YOU--! GRRR......SIGH...WELL...I GUESS HERE GOES A NORMAL ATTACK."

Cry smiled wearily.

'Heh, I wouldn't call it 'normal', Paps.'

Bones came from left and right; Frisk was starting to get worn out from all of the jumping.

Cry narrowed his gaze and sweatdropped when an impossible amount of bones came at them.

'What the f***, Paps.'

The brunet furrowed his brow and looked at Frisk.

"Alright, climb onto my back."

Frisk quickly did as she was told.

"Hold on tight, Frisk."

Cry's eyes glowed green a bit as the wind started to kick up around them.

The gamer grinned as he took a running start before taking the impossible-looking leap.

The wind pushed him off high above the ground and above the 'forest' of bones.

Cry sweated slightly as he pushed his magic to the limit to rise over the last, gigantic bone.

The brunet managed to lower them to the ground slowly after the large jump; Frisk slid off his back.

Cry coughed and tugged at his jacket, getting a glimpse of his neck.

'Sh**, it's starting to spread again.'

The straight, sea-green veins were edging up once more.

Frisk tugged on Cry's sleeve, snapping the brunet out of his thoughts.

Papyrus stood there, panting.

"IT...HUFF...LOOKS LIKE...HUFF...YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME. NYEHEH....THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL SPARE YOU!"

Frisk brightened up considerably; she looked back at Cry who nodded.

She quickly reached out for the MERCY button.

They SPAREd Papyrus.

The black setting disappeared and the color returned; Papyrus turned away from them.

"...NYOHOOHOOHOO......EVEN YOU CAN'T BEAT ME! I....CAN'T CAPTURE YOU TWO.....YOU BOTH ARE....MEETING ALL OF MY STANDARDS!"

Papyrus turned back to face them, sniffling.

Cry grinned tiredly, struggling to his feet.

"I'm flattered, buddy. And, hey, how about we become friends?"

Papyrus widened his eyes.

"R-REALLY!? AHEM, I MEAN--I SUPPOSE I COULD LET YOU BECOME FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE AS GREAT AS I, NYEHEHEHEH! I ACCEPT YOU IN MY FRIENDSHIP-ZONE!"

Frisk giggled softly.

Thump!

The two jumped at the sudden noise.

Frisk whipped her head around and opened her eyes slightly in shock; caramel-brown eyes looked at what the source of the noise was.

Cry was unconscious, cheek resting on the cool snow; Papyrus rushed over, lifting the brunet up into a more comfortable position.

"HUMAN!? HUMAN!? OH DEAR, I MUST'VE BEEN SO STRONG THAT HE BECAME EXHAUSTED IN THE END! DON'T DIE, HUMAN!"

Papyrus activated his healing magic.

Bing!

Suddenly, Cry's SOUL appeared before the two; they gasped.

Papyrus' hand shook as he looked at the brunet's SOUL.

"WH.....WHY ARE THERE....CRACKS...FORMING....ON HIS SOUL?"