From Kind to Cold

Chapter 6

Papyrus continued to train. Whenever Sans left for work Papyrus would read books to prepare. He really had his goals set. Sans was happy to see his brother so determined to do something with his life, but deep down, he was worried. He knew that Papyrus would likely never be able to join the Royal Guard. Most of the Guardsmen down here were even meaner and edgier than the rest of the monsters in the underground, and Papyrus was the kindest soul ever.

Since Papyrus had been getting stronger, Sans decided to give his bro more freedom. Papyrus was allowed to go wherever he pleased as long as he didn't go looking for trouble. Sans warned him to stay away from other monsters. About a year passed. Papyrus was now 12, and Sans was 17. Papyrus was still just barely shorter than his older brother. 

Papyrus really felt ready. He had been training, and had gotten pretty good at magical attacks.

One night when Sans was working a night shift, Papyrus decided to go find Undyne, Captain of the Guard. He felt ready. He made his way out of Snowdin and through Waterfall.

He didn't really go to Waterfall often, but that didn't matter. It wasn't hard to find your way in the underground since it's so small. Eventually he came up on the Captain's house. He knocked on the door. A tall, intimating, scary fish woman opened the door. She gazed down at him. "GREETINGS! I AM PAPYRUS!" Suddenly the door slammed in his face. He smiled. "OH, ARE YOU GOING INSIDE TO GET SOMETHING? WORRY NOT. I'LL WAIT HERE!"

Papyrus stood there, waiting at the door all night. Suddenly the door opened again. "You're still here? What do you want kid?" The tall scary fish woman said. Papyrus responded. "I AM PAPYRUS, AND I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!" Captain Undyne rolled her eyes. "Listen, I can't let any kid who comes knocking on my door into the guard." Papyrus beamed. "OH, DON'T WORRY CAPTAIN! I AM TRAINED AND EVERYTHING! WATCH!" Papyrus turned to a training dummy which was located outside of Undyne's house and fired a bunch of bones at it. "I CAN ALSO DO THIS!" Papyrus turned to Undyne and turned her soul blue. Suddenly, she felt like she had gotten 50 times heavier. "Whoa, kid, that's enough." Papyrus looked a little embarrassed. "OH, SORRY." Undyne smiled when he stopped the blue. 

"Not gonna lie kid, you're pretty tough when it comes to magic, but do you have what it takes?" Papyrus beamed. "YES! I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES!" Then Undyne stepped closer to him. "Someone as strong as you could someday have a really important position in the guard, which guarantees many enemies. Do you know how to handle monsters who don't know how to respect you? What would you do if someone attacked you?" Papyrus looked like he was thinking. "WELL, I WOULD ASK THEM WHY THEY ARE ATTACKING ME, THEN I WOULD TRY TO WORK IT OUT SO WE COULD BECOME FRIENDS!" Undyne looked a little confused. "What? No. Kid, no one here want to be friends. Here, it's kill or be killed. How will you handle a human if one were to fall down here?" Papyrus looked excited. "WELL, I'VE BEEN READING A LOT OF BOOKS ON PUZZLES, SO IF A HUMAN WERE TO FALL, I WOULD GIVE THEM A BUNCH OF PUZZLES!" Undyne smirked. "Yeah, that seems smart, but what will you do when you are caught in battle with one?" Papyrus looked like he was thinking. "WELL, I WOULD SHOW THEM SOME OF MY SUPER COOL BONE ATTACKS. I'VE BEEN WORKING ON SOME REALLY TRICKY PATTERNS. THEN I WOULD TURN THEM BLUE!" Undyne looked satisfied. "Good, good. Then what?" 

Papyrus smiled. "THEN I WOULD ASK THE HUMAN HOW MY ATTACKS WERE. GET SOME INPUT!" Undyne again, looked confused, then annoyed. "Look, punk. The world isn't some happy fairytale. You don't ask the enemy to rate your attacks. I'm sorry, you're really strong and everything, but I can't let you in the guard kid. Maybe someday if you have a change of heart, but the guard is for people who aren't afraid to get violent." 

Papyrus looked down. "OH, OKAY, WELL THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME CAPTAIN." Undyne pushed forward, thinking little of it. "He was strong, but he didn't have the heart for it." She told herself.