Undertale - A New Home [ENG]

Chapter 6 - Frosty greeting

A fresh wind blew in my face and I still pressed my arm in front of my eyes to protect myself from the glare. It was terribly cold and I could feel snowflakes landing on my hands. It was like a blizzard was roaring out here, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, after I left the ruins. Winter had always been my favorite season, I thought after I took my arm off my eyes again. I caught sight of the thick blanket of snow on the ground, reflecting light from afar. Somewhere deep in the forest, I was now standing and looking around, while meter-high trees rose from the ground, completely leafless and unprotected from the snow. Suddenly I began to freeze and shiver, as I couldn't withstand the cold either. My dark green mesh sweater was covered in white flakes and my collar caught the cold snow. As soon as I took a few steps, my faux fur-lined ankle boots were no longer light, but dark brown and soaked. As my gaze wandered upwards, I realized that the ground stretched countless kilometers upwards. There was no end in sight and the tall trees obscured my field of vision. Deep imprints of my shoes were visible in the snow behind me, but were quickly blown away by the strong storm. The gate to the ruins was locked and could no longer be opened. What didn't make the situation any more appropriate was that it was terribly dark and, apart from the initial glare, only an ominous blue glow filled the forest I was in. There was a lantern near the large gate with a small flame burning inside. It was balmy warm, so it must have been part of Toriel's magic. I picked up the lantern and quickly began to feel less cold. I kept walking straight ahead in one direction, disoriented, through the blue forest, suffering under the terribly cold snow. The glimmer of Toriel's flame cast a warm light on the ground and made me feel safer. I trudged on hopefully through the snow, sinking deep into the white blanket with every step. I was beginning to feel tired and weakened from the fight with Toriel. Somewhere in this forest there had to be a path that would lead me to a place of peace. Hope did not leave me. With half-opened eyes, I walked on through the chaos of trees and found only more snow. I walked helplessly through the wilderness and began to stumble. I landed face first in the cold blanket of snow and Toriel's flame in the lantern went out. Fortunately, nothing hurt and I was able to get up without worrying. Completely soaked and dejected, I slowly got up and in the meantime snowflakes rained down on my back. As I stood up straight, however, I immediately realized that something was wrong. The blue glow of the forest cast a shadow on the snow and a creature slowly approached me. Without moving an inch, I froze in place, snow-covered and irritated, watching the creature walking towards me. It strolled almost hesitantly, stretching its arms in the air, cracking its bones and putting its hands in its pockets. The closer it came, the clearer its silhouette became. A human skeleton walked towards me with a wide grin and two small white pupils lit up in the sockets of its eyes. Hands in the pockets of the blue hoodie it was wearing, it smiled at me and didn't seem to show much interest in me. It walked past me and bent down to tie his shoelaces, its black sweatpants flapping in the wind. I turned to it and bent down with interest too."ha. you fell for it. i don't have any laces, i'm wearing slippers," the skeleton chortled as it pointed to its pink slippers. Now it straightened up again and looked down at me from above."what's the matter, little one? standing up comes from a loose pelvic tilt, try it," it pressed. I didn't find that a bit funny, but stood up straight anyway."next time you can't rely on your old bones," it said, expecting applause. I just looked at it quizzically."oh, i've got no backbone. my name is sans. sans like 'without', just minus the 'without'. don't ask me where that came from, the joke is bone dry," he chuckled this time, seeming proud of his puns. He offered me his hand, in which a whoopee cushion was hidden, which then made a wet sound."Thank you, nice to know. I'm Robert," I introduced myself and sneezed loudly.
"nice and slow, otherwise you'll break your ribs. that's happened to me many times, but the doc always claimes I'm too hollow to take his advice," Sans joked. This time he poked me in the ribs with his elbow and was still grinning as stupidly as before. You could also hear in his deep, husky voice that he didn't have much in his head. Sans was shorter and wider than me, but his grin still didn't vanish. I was a little wary of this weird skeleton guy, but somehow he seemed harmless."don't worry, my friend. as long as you stand up for your actions, i won't hurt you. a crooked posture is bad for the spine, you must know! oh, and one more thing," sans began, but suddenly he had disappeared before my eyes. Startled, I turned my head in all directions and searched the forest for him. I could see my breath condensing. I called out his name, but he didn't appear."never stand with your back to your opponent," Sans spoke in his hollow, deep voice. He was standing right behind me and his words sounded soulless, and even the gleam in his eyes had momentarily disappeared altogether. He frightened me. Suddenly, he strode forward wordlessly and wandered again in that ambling motion. He turned to me and raised his shoulders and palms."what is it, are you going to stand here and root?" asked Sans, expecting an answer."I'm looking for a way home. Can you tell me how I can leave the Underground?" I asked Sans. His shoulders shrugged slightly and he raised his arms loosely to the back of his head. He closed one of his eyes, but his grin seemed to last until his bones crumbled. Thinking about it more, it made sense that he kept smiling... that was the way the human skeleton was built. I wondered what kind of creature he was. There was nothing 'monster-like' about him."come and follow me, I know a shortcut to a place where you can warm up," Sans replied. He walked slowly forward, trudging through the snow. The storm seemed to be getting stronger and stronger and thousands of white flakes rained down on my upper body. Two teens of my age approached me as I followed Sans' silhouette, which was slowly being swallowed up by the shadows."Hey, you there!" shouted a strange dragon-like creature with sunglasses on its face. Its head was shaped like a snowflake and its bird-like legs were clawed into the ground. The beak on its face snapped snarkily."Chilldrake and I are just hangin' around here, but I wouldn't blame you if you got carried away with my cap. Everyone here in the Underground absolutely worships it and you should too, my friend!" blared a small half-meter tall snowman with a pointed, orange and rotating icicle nose. His hat was of considerable size and was made entirely frozen. It was shaped like a small iceberg and tapered sharply at the sides. Chilldrake, the little snow dragon, was covered in blue snakeskin and began to rasp again."Ice Cap and I were chillin' out here and then you come out of nowhere, how dare you man? That is so NOT cool" Chilldrake moved jerkily towards me. Suddenly my soul began to light up and a green glow filled the forest. My shield instinctively spread out on my left arm."Holy Froggit, that's a cool shield!" shouted Chilldrake in my direction. His sunglasses tipped onto his beak, which stood wide open."Not as cool as my ice hat!" shouted Ice Cap. Pointed icicles protruded from the ground and shot upwards."Hey, you two! Let me defend myself. I'm not looking for a fight. Would you please get out of the way and chill for a second, I'm following someone," I said to them. The icicles crashed down on my soul and sank into the ground again. It wasn't particularly difficult to avoid them, but Chilldrake sent terribly swift scythes raining down on my soul. They emitted icy cold wind and cut my skin with frosty edges. This frost burn was unbearable."Hey, man. Back off a bit, we don't want to hunt anyone down here. Humans have no business around here, so leave!" shouted Ice Cap."Just cut it and step aside, please. I have no intention of hurting you," I replied weakly. The two of them began to whisper amongst themselves."Yo, Chilldrake, is it possible that this human doesn't care a smidge about my hat?"
"No idea, man. But I can see it in his face, he brushes his teeth twice a day, and he can't stand loud music any more than he can violate rules. He's far too nerdy. Let's hit'em with an UNCLEAN thrashing session!" I could hear quietly in the snowstorm. I guess Chilldrake wasn't a fan of customs. I took advantage of that."Hey, you there, Chilldrake, right? Do you always make sure you go through the traffic lights when they're green?" I asked him shrewdly."AH! I have no idea what a traffic light is, but it hurts! These rules... My poor ears!" screeched Chilldrake. This strategy seemed to be working."Hellooo? Fam, haven't you noticed something special about me?" asked Ice Cap provocatively. He pointed to his ice cap with his deep-set, wide eyes. I knew exactly how to react."Oh, what am I supposed to be looking at? You're just a normal boy. I didn't notice anything special about you," I replied. He was completely flabbergasted. His mouth was hanging open and he stared at me dejectedly."That guy is SO uncool. Come on, let's get out of here, Ice Cap," Chilldrake mumbled. Proud of my victory, I smiled at them and was pleased that I could now move on."Oh yeah, hey, buddy..." Chilldrake began, looking me in the eye with his sunglasses down. I stopped and gave him a friendly smile."Have you seen my friend Snowdrake by any chance? He looks just like me, only less cool. Oh, what am I talking about, he's at least as cool as me. Anyway... If you've seen him, would you kindly let me know?" he asked. If he was making an effort, he was being polite."Of course! No problem. Where can I find you?" I replied with a smile."Thanks, man! Um, well, you can meet me in Snowdin town. That's where you'll find pretty much everyone who lives here. Anyway, I'll be on my way, see ya!" he said goodbye and ran off. His tail feathers dangled back and forth as he rushed ahead. Now I was looking to catch up with Sans so I could get back home."Hey, Ice Cap, he wasn't so bad after all!" I heard from the forest, getting quieter. I was glad that the creatures down here no longer feared me as a human when I met them. So I walked on for a while in the direction where I suspected Sans was. As I let my gaze wander along the trees, I felt a chill run down my spine when I noticed another silhouette behind one of the bare trees. As I walked past it, it disappeared again. But when I came back, I saw the same shadow. This creature was really scary, whatever it was. It approached me and when I recognized the gait, I knew it was none other than Sans."Please don't ever scare me like that again," I begged the little skeleton man."listen, I have other things to do," he said."Oh yes, and that would be?" I asked a little irritably, because I really hoped that he could help me out of this terribly cold forest. He hesitated a little, but didn't seem at a loss for an answer."i just had to tie my shoelaces," he replied with a twinkle in his eye. Somehow he always had to have the last word."i also helped an ol' bud of mine because he was looking for a friend," Sans replied hollowly. A giggling Chilldrake without sunglasses came out from behind Sans' back."Man, Sans is really a funny guy, huh? He really makes me laugh every time," chuckled the little dragonbird."Hey, you must be Snowdrake, right?" I asked him. He looked at me a little skeptically, but nodded enthusiastically."Right. A friend of my ol' bud is also my friend! I'll follow you both if it's no trouble," Snowdrake said happily. Sans and I agreed that he could follow us and so two more bird legs plodded through the snow behind us."Hey, hey guys, have you ever had spaghetti bologn'ice, hmmm? Hahaha, wasn't that funny? Hey, guys! I've got another one!" laughed Snowdrake. This would be a long walk, I thought and looked in Sans' direction, who just closed his eyes in disbelief and shook his head.