Book 1: The First Fallen Human

Sound of Silence

Crunch... crunch... crunch... The skeleton twitched as he made his way through the dim, snowy forest. "Brother." He stopped and lifted his head as another skeleton seemed to materialize in front of him. Only a head, scarf and hands. He twitched again before speaking.

"Yeah, Paps?" His breath came out in a billowing cloud. He didn't care how loud he was. The dust on his hands ensured there wasn't anyone around for miles. He was on his way to the Ruins once again. The human was going to be there soon. He stopped in his tracks. The grey hood on his hoodie was pulled up, but did nothing to deter the purple and red magic that drifted out from one of his eyes. Dust... all he could smell was dust... well... That was what they called him.

Dust twitched again. His slippers were starting to slip into the snow. He shook the snow off with an annoyed growl and blinked up at Papyrus, who drifted around him. "Someone is nearby, Brother." At that, Dust stiffened. That was impossible. He'd killed everyone. There should've been no one, but him, the human and Papyrus in the entire Underground. And the human hadn't made it out of the Ruins yet.

"Did I miss someone?" He wondered out loud. Papyrus blinked at him with glowing red eyes. He gave him no answer. Dust froze and listened as wind howled through the trees. No... he could sense it too. Someone was definitely nearby. He turned, a needle-ended bone appearing in his hand like a spear.

"Find them, brother." Dust nodded slowly as Papyrus instructed him softly over his shoulder. He started back, towards Snowdin, the human no longer as important. He could always kill them later. He emerged from the woods, his footsteps crunching in the snow. Snowdin was empty, given for the piles of dust and empty buildings. He stopped. A twitch shook his left hand, making his bones rattle. Someone was here.

"Hey there." He said, his voice raspy and dangerous. He approached the figure standing in front of the tree in the middle of town. "Don't you know how to greet a new pal?" He stopped behind them and twitched. This shape... This was... human... But, it didn't seem like... THE human... Was this a different one?? How had he missed them...? He held out his hand, his bones making a soft rattling noise. The other was behind his back with the needle-ended bone. He kept a huge grin on his face. He watched as the figure turned.

They were taller. A pale, freckled hand reached up, revealing itself. The figure was hidden under a fluffy, yellow hood coming from a red hoodie underneath a black leather coat. A rope was tied around their neck. It seemed a bit too tight to be comfortable. Grey hair laid down the front of it, tipped with orange. They wore grey pants and combat boots. Dust was momentarily thrown off when parts of the human seemed to glitch out of existence for a moment. He blinked as the hand met his. He froze. Normally, he would yank them forward and impale them. But... he could feel how cold their hand was.

Their hand wasn't red or showing signs of frostbite. He was a skeleton. He shouldn't have been able to even FEEL temperature. But... he did. He pulled back, leaving the human with their hand out as he took a step back. He twitched again. "Chilled to the bone, aren't we?" He gave a smile. Not even a reaction. He tensed as the human reached up and pulled back their hood. Female. Pale, freckled skin. Unnaturally grey eyes.

Dust was more put off by the eyes themselves. They were dead. Not rotting, but more the eyes he would see on a monster in that single moment before they turned to dust. He stared at her. She stared back at him. "I don't like her, brother." Papyrus floated over his shoulder once again. Dust nodded quietly in agreement and blinked as the human took a deep breath. He became aware that she had no clouds billowing from her mouth or nose until right then. She hadn't even been breathing. He could smell blood on her.

"I apologize that... you feel that way..."

The human seemed to have difficulty speaking, like she hadn't done it for a while. Then, it hit Dust. She was speaking to Papyrus. Normally, when he spoke to Papyrus, people would give him strange looks. Even Nightmare and the others would tell him there was nothing there. He blinked, the bone dissipating as he straightened up.

"You can see him??" He asked in that raspy voice. The girl tipped her head, provoking a soft cracking noise that sent a chill up Dust's spine. She nodded, her face unchanging. Dust felt a shiver of excitement. Then, he stopped as she spoke again.

"Can... I ask a favor...?"

Dust giggled and put up his hands, closing one of his eyes in that signature wink. "Whatever you want, darling." He said, twitching. He'd never met another person who could easily talk to Papyrus like he could. The girl blinked and turned before reaching out to the tree. He watched as she scooped some dust off of it and he spasmed a bit. Who had that been?? Oh... that was Monster Kid.

"I... see that this isn't difficult for you..."

He didn't know what she meant. Dust tipped his head, seeing Papyrus float forward and drift around the girl. She tilted her hand, allowing the dust to fall to the ground, some of it being picked up by the wind. The human seemed unbothered by the ghostly skull floating around her as she lifted her head and locked eyes with it. Papyrus stared back at her.

"I need you... to kill me..."

Dust blinked. He broke into a grin. "Okay!" He said cheerfully. He paused as the girl lifted her hand. "May I ask your name?" His eyes was flaring up again. A willing victim?? The last time he'd had one of THOSE was- He stopped, his eyes drifting over to the ghostly form of Papyrus. He froze, his eye sockets going dark as a twisted feeling choked him for a moment. It was gone and he blinked. What had they been talking about?? Oh! She wanted him to kill her!!

"Scooter..."

The human spoke quietly, her voice monotonous. Dust tipped his head. An odd name, but who was he to judge? Oh. He giggled at his own joke. "I am the Judge." He said, completing his joke. Both him and Papyrus giggled. Scooter seemed unfazed. She moved out to the center of a clearing and stood across from him.

Dust watched as her chest lit up and her soul appeared. He stopped. Why did it look like that?? It was shattered into a heart formation, each piece black and red. He twitched his head to the side, momentarily shocked by its appearance. He blinked as she sighed and lowered her hands, signaling Mercy. He grinned.

Several tries later, the snow was covered in maroon blood and the town was partially destroyed. Dust was panting. He'd done everything he could think of. Gaster blasters, bone attacks. Even throwing her around. He'd impaled her and broken her bones. He'd torn off parts of her body and even attacked her soul directly. She would always glitch back into the same form, soul untouched. Finally, he dropped to his knees and Scooter sighed. She closed her eyes and her fist, sucking her soul back in.

"As I thought."

The way she said it told Dust she'd expected the outcome to be this way. He huffed, his breath coming out in red and purple clouds. She blinked at him before starting over. He watched as she stopped in front of him and held out a hand. Dust was hesitant for a moment. "What if she's trying to attack you?? Don't trust her." Papyrus' hushed voice sounded over his shoulder.

"I will not attack you."

The statement was monotonous, but Dust could hear truth in it. He reached up and took her hand. She pulled him up and her hands fell limply at her sides once again.

"Thank you... for your efforts..."

Dust stared at her. What was she?? To resist attacks that were equal to every monster in the Underground attacking at once??? She hadn't taken a single hit of damage. He stared at her and she sighed, lifting her hands. All of a sudden, Dust froze as Papyrus spoke. "Brother. Our human is here." Dust could hear the stone door of the Ruins scraping open. He twitched. He watched Scooter lift her hood back up to cover her face. He blinked as she turned and reached out, seeming to rip a hole into the air, revealing the Omega Timeline.

"Goodbye... Dust..."

He jumped. How did she know him?? There was no time to ask before she was gone and the hole seemed to stitch itself back up. He stared after her, dumbfounded. All of a sudden, his mind seemed to glitch itself and he turned towards the woods. Oh yes.

He had something much more important to take care of.