PATCHWORK SOUL

The Start Chapter 1

It was a beautiful day outside on the slopes of the towering Mount Ebott. The sun was shining down warmly, making Frisk's skin tingle. It was warm enough, finally, to wear short sleeves, but, hardheaded in his absolute reluctance to change anything, the short skeleton with a fixed grin accompanying her on her climb was still in his blue winter jacket with the fuzzy hood. Wasn't like temperature affected him much either way, though.

"Kiddo," he said, "you know, uh, this is pretty unrealistic."

"Duh," she said.

He looked down at the dirt and stone under his slippered feet and then turned his eyes up to her as she did her best to stay upright, walking up the steep incline. He raised his brows.

"Aw, c'mon, Sans," she said with a laugh. "I'm a little kid and I did it on my own before! And this isn't even real."

He looked up at the peak skeptically. It seemed to stretch forever up into the clouds. "Yeah, but in your dreams you, uh, make it even taller."

"Sorry," she said with a bashful smile. "I guess it was pretty scary at the time."

She had to use her hands to grasp the rock and pull herself up, but a sudden flurry of bird sounds caught her attention. She turned and couldn't help but gawk as Sans floated by her, hands in his pockets, looking almost as if he were asleep as songbirds carried him effortlessly up the slope.

"Oh my god, what?!" she yelped.

"Eh. It's my dream, too," he said.

Frisk pouted. "Bro, you're cheating!"

"What else is new?" he replied.

She quickly found her soul snared in a blue glow and was whisked up to join him.

When they reached a small, solid outcrop, the birds vanished and the two of them plopped down to the stone. Frisk pulled out a blanket and flapped it out to straighten it before laying it down.

"Hey, Sans, what do you-?" Her thought cut short as she noticed the skeleton was standing at the end of the rocky precipice, staring out at the sky. "Sans?" She walked over to meet him and poked him in the arm.

"Heh. Sorry, kid," he said. "Sometimes it just puts me right back." He ruffled her hair.

"Thanks for coming with me tonight," she said.

"No problem, buddy," he said. "Couldda done it in my sleep."

She snorted. He grinned.

They spent some time hanging around, eating conjured ice cream, and enjoying the sunlight that permeated the dream. It was a nice contrast to what awaited them in the real world. After a little while, Frisk began to feel a little strange, though— started to feel a weird itch in the back of her head.

"Hey, kiddo," Sans said. "So. What's the deal? The regulars gettin' to be a bit too much?"

Frisk grimaced. She nodded. Couldn't hide a thing from him, could she? "I still feel tired after this, but at least I'm not scared outta my pants." She shot him a sideways look. "You too?"

"Don't worry about me," he said.

She gently elbowed him in the ribs. He grinned and mussed up her hair again. She couldn't help a laugh and nestled against his side.