Your Perspective

"So... where exactly are we going, again?" you ask your sister.

After a hurried breakfast with Toriel, she'd insisted on bringing you down into your adoptive mother's basement. The both of you are now standing in front of a towering doorway, which is, rather predictably, made of purple stone.

"To see Dunkle and Spaghetti Man," she signs.

If anything, her explanation just makes you more confused. You're not even sure you read her message correctly—she made the first nickname with a mashup of the signs 'dunk' (as in basketball) and 'uncle,' and you're not entirely sure you even want to know what a spaghetti man is.

"'Dunkle and Spaghetti Man?'" you echo uncertainly. Frisk beams at you. Apparently, you understood her nicknames correctly. "...Okay then. What are their real names?"

"S-a-n-s and P-a-p-y-r-u-s," she signs.

Why does everyone down here have such weird names?

"And... uh... what are they?" you ask. You feel it'd be best to prepare yourself now, so you don't embarrass yourself by screaming when you meet this 'spaghetti man.' ...Whatever that is.

"You'll see."

With a smile that makes you even more uneasy, Frisk turns and starts furiously pushing at the door. It must be heavy, because it barely moves an inch.

"Here, allow me," says a familiarly soft voice. Toriel enters the room and, after Frisk bounces out of the way, easily pushes the door open.

"Thank you," Frisk signs. You translate for her.

"You are very welcome, my child," Toriel says. "Be good, alright? And be sure to get home before nightfall."

As much as night can fall when you're underground, you add to yourself.

Frisk smiles up at Toriel and nods vigorously, before rushing out through the doors with enough energy for the both of you.

"That child always seems to be running somewhere," Toriel sighs. "Maybe that is what keeps her from getting cold out there."

Cold...?

"Anyway, you two take care of yourselves," she says. "And should you need to contact me, Frisk has my number on her phone."

"Her phone?" you ask. "How did she get a phone?"

"Oh, I gave it to her. It is dangerous for a child to travel without one, is it not?"

So much for Frisk's birthday present.

Before you can feel too guilty about your obvious shortcomings as a big sister, Frisk runs back into the room and pulls insistently at your arm.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," you say, gently ruffling her hair. "See you later, Toriel."

"Goodbye my children. Have fun!" she calls.

***

You're having a hard time comprehending the world outside the ruins. Your footsteps crunch in what appears to be freshly fallen snow, and the densely packed forest to your left works to deafen all other sounds, giving this snowy world an air of tranquility. However, seeing as snow can't fall without a sky, and trees need sunlight to grow, neither thing has any place underground. But, seeing as you'd been living on top of an entire civilization of monsters your whole live without even knowing such things existed... you try not to question the logic of this place too much.

"Sis, hurry up!" Frisk signs. She's all over the place, obviously excited for you to meet her two friends.

"I'm c-coming," you stutter. It's freezing out here. Unfortunately for you, it was early summer back home, and so you're decked out in a T-shirt and shorts. Not exactly winter wear, to say the least. You hug yourself to try and stay warm, and you're being extra careful where you place your feet—the last thing you want is to get snow in your shoes.

"You're so slow," Frisk signs. She doubles back and takes your hand, leading you along at a brisk pace. Despite the cold, you find yourself smiling. It's so good to have your sister back.

Soon, you start to notice that you're not the only ones traveling in this snow-covered world. Though there's not very many of them, you occasionally see monsters traversing the area. It's sometimes hard for you to pick them out—a lot of them look as though they're made out of the snow itself, and blend into the white of your surroundings.

You're initially unnerved by them, but you eventually start to relax. Watching them go about their daily business, you can almost see them as ordinary people. Children are playing together, grown monsters are stopping to talk to one another... a few even stop to wave at Frisk as you pass. If it weren't for their appearances, they wouldn't be out of place in the human world. As if reading your thoughts, Frisk turns to look back at you, a grin lighting up her face.

"Pretty cool, huh?" she says, letting go of your hand to sign at you.

"Yeah," you breathe. "It really is."

Frisk smiles again and continues on, occasionally walking backwards as she shares bits and pieces of her adventures with you. You can't help but laugh as she talks about Papyrus's fascination with puzzles, or his brother's bad puns. Listening to her talk about them, you start to realize just how much you owe to the two of them. Especially this 'Sans' character. The way she puts it, it seems as if he'd been keeping an especially close eye on her.

I'll have to thank him when I meet him.

"So, what exactly are they?" you ask again. That's one detail that Frisk seems to be intentionally keeping out of her explanations. A mischievous smile finds its way to her face, and she puts a finger to a lips.

"I'm not telling."

"Oh, come on sis," you protest. "Can't you at least give me a hint?"

"Sure," she signs, grin growing ever wider. "I'd be happy to throw you a bone."

She looks at you expectantly. You return her look with one of confusion.

"I'd be happy to throw you a... bone," she repeats, putting stress on the sign for 'bone.'

"'Bone?'" you repeat. "Was that supposed to be the hint?"

Frisk sighs, giving in. She knows how bad you are with riddles.

"Sis, Spaghetti Man and Dunkle are—"

"HUMAN!" a voice booms from behind you. "THERE YOU ARE!"

Before you can so much as turn around, a pair of gloved hands have lifted you off of your feet and into the air.

"I HAVE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!" The speaker turns you around to face them. "I AM HOPING YOU CAN HELP ME WITH SOMETHING. YOU SEE..."

The speaker trails off, but the fact that he's stopped speaking barely registers with you. You're too busy trying to contain the scream that you can feel building up in your lungs. A skeleton. You're being held up by a... a living skeleton.

"WOWIE, HUMAN," it says, eye sockets looking you up and down. "YOU SURE DO GROW FAST."

You open your mouth to speak, but your lungs seem to have stopped working completely.

This is too much.

If you hadn't been caught so off guard, you would probably find the monster almost comical. Its outfit wouldn't look out of place at a costume party, too-small armor barely fitting over its ribcage, and something akin to a Speedo taking the place of pants. That, coupled with his too-large boots and bright red scarf (or is it a cape?) makes him quite the spectacle. However, it doesn't do much to help you get over the fact that he's almost seven feet tall, or that he lifted you—a full grown woman—as if you were a child.

You make no attempt to free yourself. You're so dumbfounded that it's all that you can manage to hold the skeleton's empty gaze. Luckily, your little sister comes to your rescue.

"Mmmm!" she calls. The skeleton moves you to one side to get a better look at your sister.

"OH, HELLO HUMAN!" he exclaims. "AS I WAS JUST SAYING, I WAS HOPING YOU COULD..."

The skeleton glances at your sister, then at you, and back again.

"HUMAN... THERE ARE TWO OF YOU," he observes. "DID YOU LEARN HOW TO CLONE YOURSELF FROM ASGORE?"

"MmmMmm," Frisk says, shaking her head.

"NO? THEN WHO IS THIS?" he asks, holding you a little bit higher.

"U-uh," you stammer. "I-I'm, I-I'm..."

You take a deep breath and try again. You need to start getting used to this kind of thing—it will probably be happening often.

"I-I'm Frisk's sister," you manage to say.

"FRISK'S SISTER? AND WHO IS THIS FRISK PERSON YOU SPEAK OF?"

Frisk waves.

"That's Frisk," you clarify, pointing.

"HUMAN, YOU HAD A NAME ALL THIS TIME? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL THE GREAT PAPYRUS?!" You can't help but wince as the skeleton raises his voice. He's loud enough when he's speaking normally.

"She couldn't," you explain, trying your best to ignore the ringing in your ears. "She can't speak."

"OH..."

An awkward silence ensues that not even your sister knows how to abate. After being given adequate time to properly digest the situation, you can feel your cheeks start to flush at the fact that you're still being held like some kind of rag doll.

"Hey, uh... would you mind putting me down?" you ask. "I'm starting to lose feeling in my arms."

"OF COURSE I WOULDN'T MIND, FRISK'S SISTER."

The skeleton gently sets you down. He continues to look at the two of you, his eyes narrowing as he studies you.

"YOU TWO REALLY DO LOOK A LOT ALIKE," he says finally. "YOU ARE BOTH VERY... HUMAN LOOKING. AND YOU HAVE A LOT OF SKIN."

You can't help but smile at the comment. The skeleton is definitely quirky, but it's a lovable kind of quirky. In fact, even though you've only known him for a few minutes, you're already starting to trust him.

"IT SEEMS INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER. I, FRISK'S SISTER, AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD, MAKER OF PUZZLES, AND MASTER CHEF OF SPAGHETTI!" he exclaims, puffing out his chest.

Master chef of spaghetti?

"Oh!" you exclaim. "This is Spaghetti Man?"

"Yep," Frisk signs, beaming.

"Y-YOU'VE HEARD OF ME?" Papyrus asks, his eye sockets somehow widening. "COULD IT BE? THAT I... I HAVE A FAN?!"

"Well, uh..." There's just something about that look on his face that makes it impossible to correct him. "Yeah, I guess so. Frisk's told me a lot about you."

"WOWIE! MY FIRST FAN!" he exclaims, a sparkle entering his previously empty eye sockets. "WHAT IS YOUR NAME, OH FAN OF MINE?"

"(Y/N)," you say. "Player of piano and, uh... online college student."

"And awesome big sister!" Frisk exclaims.

You can't help but smile as you look down at your little sister. Even after everything she's accomplished in the last two days, she's still looking up to you. After willingly letting your sister walk into danger like that, you're not entirely sure that you deserve such a title. But, seeing as she's the one that gave it to you...

"And awesome big sister," you concede.

"WELL, IT IS VERY NICE TO MEET YOU, (Y/N)."

"Is he always this loud?" you ask Frisk in signs.

"Always," Frisk confirms.

"FRISK THE HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaims. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR HANDS?"

"Sign language," she signs.

"Sign language," you say for her. "It's how she communicates."

"SO... SHE SPEAKS IN HANDS?" Papyrus asks slowly. "WE USED TO KNOW SOMEONE THAT SPEAKS IN HANDS."

For some reason, the temperature of the surrounding air seems to drop a few degrees when he says that, and a shiver runs unbidden down your spine. Papyrus turns away, raising a thoughtful gloved hand to his skeletal chin.

"OR, I... I THINK WE DID. DID WE? FUNNY, I CAN'T REMEMBER."

You're not sure why, but you get the strangest feeling that someone's watching you. You turn away from Papyrus to scan your surroundings. However, no matter how hard you look... there's no one there. Then the moment passes. You feel the strange presence leave, the air regaining the precious few degrees that it had temporarily lost.

"ANYWAY. AS I WAS SAYING, HUMA—FRISK," Papyrus says. "I WAS HOPING THAT YOU CAN HELP ME WITH SOMETHING. IT'S ABOUT MY BROTHER."

Frisk cocks her head to one side.

"YOU SEE, I CAN TELL THAT SANS HAS BEEN DOWN LATELY, BUT FOR THE LIFE OF ME, I CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY," he continues. "NOT EVEN THE REPEATED QUESTIONING OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD GET IT OUT OF HIM."

Frisk nods her understanding.

"SO, INSTEAD, I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD TRY TO CHEER HIM UP. AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO CHEER SOMEONE UP... THAN WITH A VISIT FROM A FRIEND?"

Frisk looks thoughtful for a moment, and then shakes her head.

"WHAT? YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA, FRISK?"

"MmmHmm," she says. She gestures to you with a flamboyant wave, as if she's unveiling a masterpiece of a sculpture.

"FRISK, THAT'S BRILLIANT!" he gasps, clasping his cheekbones. "WHAT BETTER WAY TO CHEER SOMEONE UP... THAN BY INTRODUCING THEM TO A NEW FRIEND?! IF THAT WORKED TO MAKE THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAPPY, THEN IT MUST WORK FOR SANS TOO!"

You gasp as Papyrus scoops you and Frisk up, effortlessly stowing the two of you under his arms.

"W-wait a minute—"

"SANS, HERE WE COME!"