Guiltale

Guiltale Chapter Twenty-One: Fire-Work

It was getting late. I'd fought Papyrus three times on the same day, and I was healed very well each time. It was hard to admit, but I was pooped. As we exited the garage, I was greeted by Sans.

"yo, i- holy crap. uh, you ok?"

I instinctively hid my stomach, sweating. "Er, yeah. Papyrus heals me every time we fight..."

Sans sighed in relief. "oh, good. 'cause I was about to be real disappointed in him, heh heh... but seriously, that looks bad."

"Nah, don't worry. I'm going to Grillby's right now actually... and I may just go to bed for the night, I'm kind of running out of steam." I shrugged. "Papyrus goes pretty hard, you know? I don't know if healing is returning my blood to me..."

Sans' eyes widened. "oh, right, blood. yeah, you should probably get some rest... and ill tell papyrus that you aren't going to fight again today. though..."

I cocked my head. "Though...?"

Sans motioned for me to get closer, so I leaned down and cupped my hand to my ear.

"papyrus cant hold back undyne for much longer. youll probably have to finish the fight tomorrow asap... i don't know how you're gonna do it, but you have to get to waterfall and hide before she sees you. i dont think she'll play nice... she's a, heh, 'fishy' sorta character."

I pursed my lips, trying not to laugh at the joke since it was a serious matter.

"I...I'll try. I don't make any promises though... it's not going super well, I only made it about fourteen turns."

"that's great!"

"Wha-?"

"he only has like 20 planned turns – ones a 'special attack', tho."

I stood straight, surprised. "Twenty? That seems... kind of small?"

"well," Sans grinned, turning away and starting to walk away. "he's never lost that way before. take care of yourself, kid. my chips are on you makin it past him."

And right I front of my eyes, he disappeared. There wasn't any magical glow or sound, he was just there in one moment and gone in the next.

"I knew it... oh, darn."

"What?" Chara asked.

"I forgot to ask him something... guess I'll have to ask Papyrus tomorrow about it."

As I walked through town, I noticed the odd monster coming back from the woods carrying various things – sometimes wood, or a sack full of sparkling snowflake-like fruit, or some with just backpacks full of mining tools.

"I suppose if they mine metals or stone to work with for building things, there isn't any point bringing it home?" I mused, watching a particularly beefy rabbit monster carrying a knapsack with a pick in one hand and a lunchbox in the other pass me by. He stopped, turning to answer my question.

"Yyyep, it goes to the refinery. Though sometimes, if I find somethin' pretty, I bring it home to the missus-" he did a double take. "Whoa, little missy, y'all right? You're lookin' a bit pale, sweetheart."

I shook my head, trying to stay inconspicuous. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Goin' to get dinner actually, that may be why I-"

"Your stats say otherwise... well, if you still need help later, my sweet girl Okami would be quite willin' 'ta fix you up. She's jus' like that, y'know what I mean?"

"Actually, I do." I pointed at my new (though stained) coat, and he nodded.

"Don' be a stranger then. Ah'm sure she'd like you to get cleaned up, especially after losin' that much blood." He winked, smirking, and turned back towards the Inn.