Amethystale//Vessel of the Heart

CHAPTER 4//Part 1

Uncertainty Burns

Getting through the thick of the snow was the only issue Susan seemed to be having, having to carry her leg and the metal crutches through the fresh snow, eventually getting to the more flattened walking paths that other residents created. The struggle ended, but keeping balance on slick ground was still a bit daunting.

Walking forward, many monsters seemed to notice the new face in town. Not all the looks she got were friendly, besides the younger monsters who cared less about them and more on their games. Susan shivered, not just from the cold, but the fact that she could feel thousands of eyes stabbing at her existence. The murmur of whispers as Susan and Sans past.

A flying snowball whizzing past Susan's face was enough to distract her nerves and worry, a monster kid hadn't noticed her and threw the ball, they were surprised she dodged it, "Sorry miss! Didn't see ya there, we were aiming for someone else!" Susan glanced a look over to Sans; snow falling off his face and an already formed ball in his hands. 'Oh god' Susan thought as Sans stepped towards the monster kids, throwing his own snowballs at them. 

Not able to do much but stand and watch the display, Susan chuckled at the play-fight. Occasionally Sans would get hit in the back of his head, and try to referee before blasting his own shot when the kids got annoyed at his distractions.

Letting one of her crutches land in the snow, Susan tried picking up a clump of snow to form her own ball. It didn't hold shape very well, looked more like a snow oval. She couldn't throw if her live depended on it, so instead gathering more snow and made odd shapes as she watched them all play. The more she watched, the more it reminded her of the surface. How all the kids she knew and looked after loved to get into the same snow-fights, when the weather provided it.

It didn't take too long before Sans called quits, racking snow clumps out of the fur from his sweater. The kids wined, they enjoyed the game and the challenge, but Sans pointed over to the now very focused Susan on her tiny snow sculpture. Making her way over, the monster kids never seemed to stop smiling, maybe they didn't know what she was, like the adults did. She leaned down to one of the kids, handing over the small sculpture that resembled one of them. 

The monster kids became ecstatic with the small sculpture, giving a tiny bow before running off with the others to show it off. Susan smiled warmly, at least they didn't judge her, that's what she loved about kids, they saw her as normal while the rest of the world shunned.

The only thing that seemed to pick up the whispers more was the fact that her eye began to glow. The same bright green as before, the image of the shield appearing in-front of her now. It looked more solid this time, in the center it displayed the symbol that Toriel had on her dress, to what Susan could remember. 

Reaching out a hand to touch the large object, very cold and hard to the touch, like reinforced metal. In awe of the massive object she created, unaware that Sans had teleported behind her. He too looked at the more properly built shield, she seemed to be improving, whether that was good or bad, he still had to ask. "What are you thinking of?" He asked calmly, moving closer to admire her creation.

"I...I'm happy. The kids liked my sculpture and they didn't question the way I looked." Her head turned, gaze sweeping to the rumoring monsters; some were in awe, and some looked concerned and worried. Sans moved to her side now, focused on her as he noticed the other monsters talking in a hush.

Drawing his hand up, placing two fingers to Susan's chin, he guided her eyes back to the shield that seemed to fizz and stutter. It grew back to it's solid state when her gaze returned. "Don't focus on them. You made this, you get to enjoy it."  They both looked at it, when Sans got an idea.

"Try something with it, see if you can use it." He stepped back to give her space, "Think about the kids again, try to focus when you do it." Her hand still on the back of the shield as she breathed in and out, she imaged the monster kid in her mind. They smiled in her head, and gave something to her in return as she tried to add to the happiness. With the image in her mind, she drew her hand back, the shield giving a loud metal groan before moving in the direction of her hand. Her hand now glowing the same color too, it whipped slightly, like a tiny flame on her fingers.

Moving the large object was hard, but not impossible. Taking careful steps with the aid of her crutches, the shield moved with her slowly. Sans watched as Susan tried to get the Shield to go up and down, with some struggle. 'At least we know how she can summon it.' he thought, his gaze going back to the monsters who all seemed to gather closer. The ones concerned earlier were now curious and marveling at the beauty that the shield possessed, mostly at the symbol it bore. At least they weren't glaring at her anymore.

What distracted Susan next was the loud rumble in her gut, for a bit all she was focused on was the large creation, completely forgetting that her and Sans were on their way to some place called 'Grillby's Dinner'. The shield withered away slowly, the green flame still trickled and licked around her fingers. Looking back to the smiling Sans, "Weren't we getting something to eat?"