Secrets Are Ba(n)d

Chapter 1: Origins

The Snow fell slowly, monsters were cuddled up in their homes, and not a footprint could be seen untill Hotlands. Papyrus loved days like these, days where he didn't have to use his inside voice or always have his scarf wrapped ever so neatly, and he could say anything he'd like without ruining his so called 'reputation'.

He left earlier than usual that day, quietly so his brother could get (even more) rest before his shift. Papyrus had gotten complaints about his most recent puzzle he'd set up, something about it 'being too loud', so he set his alarm for an hour before the usual time to fix his puzzle and avoid getting in trouble with the neighborhood again.

Papyrus had an idea of what the problem could be, as after all, this wasn't the first time he'd gotten these complaints.

As he walked the snowy path he felt something hit the back of his head, the feeling of freezing cold water down his scarf becoming all too apparent. He tried to keep walking with his head down, clenching his fists to avoid any sort of reaction to the ice-cold liguid on his bones.

"Ignoring me wont make me go away, you coward." the faun-like monster called from behind him, throwing another snowball before papyrus could continue walking. As it hit his head he couldn't help but turn around to face her, his frustration barely visible through his ever-so cheery persona. "SORRY FRIEND, BUT I DONT HAVE TIME FOR A SNOWBALL FIGHT TODAY!" He said as he shook the snow from his now soaked scarf, careful not to show how dreadful he found the situation. "Is that so? Well I have tons of time, so I think that you're just gonna have to deal with it." She said as she grabbed another mound of snow, her grin getting bigger and bigger as she prepared the attack. As she stepped closer, however, a flash of green something seemed to move from under her, causing her to tumble down to the icy pathway bellow them with a surprised screech. Papyrus wasted no time in running now, this stroke of supposed luck too good to waste as he held back his laughter untill far enough that he couldnt hear her cussing and promises of doing a violence.

His giggling slowed as he eventually stumbled along his newest patterned tiles puzzle. Some of the lights seemed to fizzle as he got closer, while others remained unlit entirely.

"Of course." He sighed, the situation being all too familiar by now.
One quick look towards the control panel and the 'mystery' was solved, as it was covered in scratches and dents. "When will those monsters learn some respect for others property? This is unbelievable!" He scolded, his talk echoing through the trees surrounding him. He examined the damage for a bit longer before coming to the decision to fix it another day, after his unplanned run he didn't have the energy.

The slow, sneaky walk back seemed colder, as if the snow knew what the morning had been like and wanted to make sure that the usually cheerful skeleton would be miserable for as long as possible. "This could be worse" he grumbled to himself, Re-wrapping his scarf to cover him the best he could with his battle body freezing together. The buzzing of his phone causing him to stumble a bit, he fiddled with the buttons till finally responding, "THE GREAT PAPYRUS SPEAKING!", using the most upbeat tone he could despite the grueling cold hitting his teeth. "heya bro, undyne said you didnt show up to your meeting, what's up?"

Papyrus held back many curse words.
"OH SH-OOT! I MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN, TELL HER ILL BE RIGHT THERE!" Papyrus panicked, his miserable walk turning to yet another run as he sped towards waterfall, recalling his plans for the day. "everything ok bud? Losing your train of thought isn't like you." Papyrus heard a small snicker on the other end, "SAAANS THAT WAS YOUR WORST PUN YET, I SIMPLY RAN INTO SOME PROBLEMS WITH MY RECALIBRATION, IM ABSOLUTELY FINE." He protested rather loudly, sensing the worried tone in his brothers voice.
"whatever you say, just don't spar too rough this time, I don't wanna havta' bleach your battle body again" he laughed as he recalled the hassle. "YOU SAID YOU WOULDNT BRING THAT UP ANYMORE!" The jogging skeleton said through his breaths, "yeah yeah, old habits dye hard" he said as his mischievous laughter finally burst from him.

The two bickering, though seemingly annoying to him, made Papyrus happy. No matter how many times they'd done it

Interrupting his spiral, the call ended, and Papyrus was yet again left alone with his thoughts untill he got to Undyne. She'd wanted to talk to him that day, which wasn't unusual for them of course, she was his mentor after all! But today it seemed different, instead of her usual door smashing open and dragging to the designated sparring ground, she'd texted him to meet her at waterfall, quite vaguely to say the least. He must have thought about what could happen so much that day that he forgot to actually plan to go to it. After all, what if she was finally asking him into the guard? He had to be fully prepared!

Passing the softly whispering echo-flowers and beautiful running water, he saw Undyne standing on a large boulder just up ahead, looking quite proud of the accomplishment of reaching such a height. Before he could say anything, he heard his fishy friend calling from above;

"UP HERE PUNK! LOOK AT THIS SICK-ASS BOULDER I CLIMBED!" She shouted a bit louder than needed, getting some looks from monsters passing by.

"OH MY- LANGUAGE UNDYNE!" the worried skelefriend scolded, preparing for any slips or falls that would most likely occur if she stayed up there. "IS THIS WHY YOU REQUIRED MY PRESENCE SO OMINOUSLY?" He called as he climbed onto a smaller rock just beside him, anxiety only worsening. "YEAH, ITS SICK ISNT IT? THE VIEW IS INSANE DUDE! GET UP HERE" he didn't know what he'd expected her to say, but even if it wasn't his hard work paying off, he hoped it would be something.
"YOURE.. SURE THATS ALL?" He inquired with as little tone as possible, his facade standing strong, unlike him as he attempted to climb up the side of the massive rock. "YOU JUDGING THE ROCK PAPYRUS? THIS IS COOL AS HELL, YOUD KNOW IF YOU HURRIED UP TO SEE THIS" her voice seemed almost offended at the thought of her accomplishment not being up to his expectations, all the while he struggled to find a foothold for his next steps. "NO UNDYNE- YES IM TRYING UNDYNE- ITS- VERY SLIPPERY!" he said as he scrambled to a small ledge, by now he was roughly 10 feet off the ground, the moss and moisture only making his journey to the top all the more terrifying. Finally as he was about to reach the top, undyne reached her hand down with an inpatient groan, "Cmon bonehead grab on, we've totally gotta train on this thing!"

letting go of one arm to try and reach her, the ledge he'd been using to steady himself gave way, leaving him scrambling to get a grip before losing his battle to gravity and starting the long fall down.

AN: boom, first cliffhanger done! (no pun intended)
No songs for this first chapter, but expect one in the next! (Or one after that if I don't get that far along). I welcome all criticism, and recommendations!

1276 words