Skeletons and Robots (Discontinued due to lack of time)

Chapter 8: War Horses

The cold danced along dusty street terrain, slowly creeping through every door crack to haunt the frigid townspeople seeking shelter within their homesteads. They could not hide from it, as the frosty breeze would soon consume all that grew. The wind cackled with menace rich in it's tone, feeling the power sweet victory brought to it. Like a panther it moved, nothing could escape it's frostbitten claws.
Sans fingered the chill, his wet finger struggling to stay upright in the immense wind pressure.
"It is headed west. The enclosure is also in that direction, so I hope you don't mind getting a little windswept." He nodded, shoving his hand back into his pocket. I shrugged as I attempted to control my pinwheel-like hair.
"As long as I keep my heater on I should be fine." I mumbled, tripping over a frozen stone.
"How much further? We have been walking like this for seven-point-three-five kilometers."
"Awe, come on Neo! Don't get all sciencey on me now!"Sans chuckled, shoving himself into my side.
"What do you have against science?" My eyebrow lifted, I suddenly realized how much taller I was then Sans. It had never mattered to me before.
"I never learned it." Sans took a deep breath, his eyes seemed to shift into a gloomy gaze.
"Dad wanted me to- I wanted to-"
He muttered, his shoulders slowly slumped. "-forget it, kid."
I bit my lip. Sans was shutting me out. I had to do something.
Sans continued walking gloomily beside me, inching away ever so slightly. Great, now Neo will think I am dumb, He thought to himself. Something touched his back, Sans shot upright. It seemed to wrap around him, it was awfully warm, like a cozy belt it constricted him.
"Wha-huh?" Sans grunted, swatting his head around in an effort to glimpse his cozy captor. As he pulled his arm up, he saw my friendly face cuddling is side.
"Oh...it's just you, kid." He blushed, weaving his arm around my neck.
"I-I'm sorry. You looked like you needed some reassurance." I mumbled, pulling my arms off of him,
",I don't know what came over me there."
"Awe, it is alright. It isn't that big of a deal." His warm voice pierced the freezing cold. I must have cheered him up.
"Then can you tell me what is wrong?" I offer, biting my lip. Not that there is much to bite, anyway. Sans chuckles, exhaling.
"Alright. So, I don't exactly have a very good education. Not that any of us monsters do. Ya see, monster school is very expensive, since there are very few teachers who can actually teach the way the humans teach. It has been only information passed down from generation to generation that fuels them, and, as you hopefully know, sometimes when the truth is told over and over, it is bent. So only a few teachers have the whole truth and knowledge of real subjects. So, expensive as it is, only Papyrus could go to school." I raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Papyrus? School? They don't add up. And if they did...you are older, why didn't you have elder rights?" I uttered, Sans holding a finger to my lips.
"Tsk, tsk. I was getting to it." Sans said, his smile shining through the eerie cold.
"I am glad to see you so interested. So, around the time Pap was born, my father was at his prime working as the royal scientist. So, you would think I would have enough money to go to school with my dad's job being that, right? That is half right. Money is not the only reason here. So my dad is working, and he starts getting a hunch that once the new queen is crowned, things might take a turn for the bad. He started to get nightmares of a terrible person doing terrible things. It scared me, Neo, to see my father in such a mess. One day, I heard him talking to mom about the terrible person killing me. He had seen it in a dream, he said. Mom...she was afraid. She was scared. She was scared of my father, thought he had gone mad. But she was a mother  to a tot or two, and she couldn't run away if she wished us to live. So she stayed. She never talked to dad or me after that date. She hid behind a cloak, no longer going by her name. She was "it" not "mother". She spent more and more time away from home, until one day, after the queen's coronation, she left us. Many say she left to assist travelers and guide them on their journey, talking with them as if they were old friends. Many say she does what she does in order to ask travelers to protect Pap and I, just in case the traveler is what father feared. Many think she is looking for someone to protect us. But her story is for another day." My eyes widen, Sans winks. "May I continue without your rude staring?" He chuckles. I nod, closing my jaw.
"So, as you can imagine, this corrupted my father. The stress of work, the nightmares, and mother's departure proved too much for him. In the days that followed, when father got back from work he would lock himself in his private lab and work on a project. I hadn't the slightest idea of what he was making, all I knew was to care for my younger brother, whom I had named Papyrus. My mother would have liked that name, if she had ever gotten to name him. Anyway, one day, my father came to me while baby papyrus was napping and said, " Son, do you think I am crazy?" I honestly felt pitiful that he had to ask his own son this, but I knew I had to lie to him. So I told him I did not think he was. In return, he told me that the nightmares were getting worse, and that he felt he needed to protect the world and us from the wrath of a certain being. He led me into his lab, and showed me something I will never forget, even though I try every day. He had test tube after test tube lined up and stacked, hundreds of them. As I stepped closer, I saw that each was a little white soul, some bigger than others. He had created an army of artificial life behind the back of our king. A secret order to protect only us, built up by years of madness and science. He told me that when papyrus was old enough to go to school, he would send him to give us time alone. He told me that he predicted his death would be soon, and he needed me to take care of them. Raise them up. He told me that while Papyrus was at school, he would train me to use my magic. I remember he said that my magic if powerful enough could manipulate souls to do my bidding. It would take time, but he promised me it was for the best. As for Papyrus, my dad told me never to show him magic. Never to unlock his capabilities. Make him think only I could do it. This hurt me to know, but I knew it was for the best. So, as Papyrus grew and went to school almost every day, I trained the beasts. It wasn't easy, and at many times it hurt to try. But I was determined to fight it. I grew strong, and soon, I had a whole army at my command." Sans puffed his chest, his cheeks glowing.
"So....you missed school because of THAT?!" I choked, my arms flying.
  "Oh, sorry, did I get off topic? Here, I will sum it up so your four-year-old brain can comprehend. I. Did. Not. Go. To . School. Because. My . Dad. Did. Not. Want. Me. To." Sans snapped, humor is his facetious voice.
"Sans!" I chuckled. "Seriously, that is one messed up backstory! You have a secret army?!" Sans nods.
   "Yup. And now you get to see them. We are here." I look up, my trudging footfalls sounded no more. Hanging over me were the biggest gate bars I had ever seen, made by the same mother metal that once made me.
"Titanium." I breathed, awestricken by the massive fortress sans owned in the middle of nowhere.
"You like it? Dad built it from spare parts of his core project. Our own training arena." Sans breathed, his hand startled me as it wove it's way into mine. Suddenly, for some reason, I felt afraid. Magic? An army? Artificial determination? What have I gotten myself into? I looked to sans, who waved his hand and wafted the gate open.
                        I gulped.
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