Book 1: The First Fallen Human

Stars Shine

Outer sat with the human quietly. "This is the ledge I like to sit at sometimes... It's where I write my pen pal." He explained, smiling. The human blinked in surprise, tipping their head. "Yeah, yeah! A dusty old bones like me has a pen pal! Funny, right?" He said, giving a cheeky grin. The human giggled. His Frisk was a sweet human. Very kind, quiet and respectful.

Outer blinked as the human tugged his shirt. He blinked and turned to them. "What's up?" The human seemed curious about his pen pal. Outer blinked. "Oh! Well... I don't think I'm allowed to tell you about her..." At the mention that it was a female, the human's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Outer blushed bright purple. "No, no, no! We're friends! We've only met once!"

The human seemed incredibly curious now, their eyes shining. Outer blinked. All of a sudden, there was a soft fwoosh and Outer turned his head. The red dust from below has spiraled up. "Oh! It's her!" The human blinked and poked their head over the edge, trying to see where the dust was coming from, but it was no use. The dust spiraled into a message.

OUTER? ARE YOU THERE?

The human tipped their head and Outer smiled. "They call me Outer, not Sans." He explained, seeming to confuse them. Outer shrugged. "Well, maybe they know a lot of Sans?" He grinned to himself. Outer watched as the dust faded and to the human's amazement, pulled the stardust to him to send out his own replying message.

I'M HERE. THE HUMAN IS WITH ME.

The message stayed in the air before dissipating and the human frowned, wondering how in the world the pen pal was supposed to read these messages. When they brought the issue up, Outer smiled. "She can always see them." He assured the worried human. He watched as more dust floated up.

HOW ARE THEY?

The message scattered into red particles and the human sat on the edge of the world, watching in amazement. They blinked and looked over at Outer with a raised eyebrow. Outer chuckled. "What? Afraid I'm gonna make you look bad?" He teased. The human protested before huffing and crossing their arms sternly. Outer smiled again before conjuring the stardust into another message.

A KID. PRETTY NICE KID TOO. TOTAL PACIFIST WHICH GETS THEM HURT A LOT CUZ YOU KNOW HOW MONSTERS REACT TO HUMANS.

At the word Pacifist, Outer saw the kid freeze before relaxing. They were probably questioning if he knew about the RESETS, but from the way they acted, they didn't seem to think he did. He sent the message and it glimmered out in the ebony sky. The human blushed and Outer grinned. It took a few minutes for Scooter to reply. The human perked up as they saw her dust rising from below.

I WISH I COULD SEE THEM BUT I THINK I MAY BE LEAVING SOON.

At that, Outer paused. What? He shook for a moment. What did that mean? He was wide-eyed. The human seemed concerned and he assured them he was okay. He sent out another message.

DID SOMETHING HAPPEN?

He watched nervously and blinked as he felt the human hug his arm, no doubt trying to be reassuring. It comforted him a bit, but his worry only grew as there was no immediate reply. Finally, a small bit of red dust came fluttering up.

THERE MAY BE A WAY.

Outer froze. No way. He was shaking. Outer turned back to the human and knelt down. "Hey, go play with Paps for a bit, okay?" He asked softly. The human seemed to understand and nodded, waving goodbye. Outer returned it and waited for them to disappear before he began shaking violently.

It hurt. He was so conflicted inside, it hurt. She was saying there was finally a way for her to die? That was good. She would no longer suffer. She would no longer be in pain! But... he looked down. He would be alone. The thought itself was obviously selfish, but he couldn't help but have it in his head. Scooter had been there when no one else had been. What was he going to do?

He jumped as he realized he hadn't responded and quickly pulled together some stardust to send out a shaky message.

THAT'S SUCH GOOD NEWS!! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! ARE YOU NERVOUS?

He sent the message down with a flick of his hand and slowly sank to the ground. It hurt. It really did. It hurt that he couldn't be happy for her. She could potentially have the one thing she always wanted and he just... He felt tears welling up in his eyesockets, but quickly shook them away. He waited. He paused at the amount of small dust and froze as it formed.

ARE YOU?

Outer stared at it before he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. He broke down quietly, holding the sides of his skull as glowing tears ran down his face. He wasn't nervous. He was scared. He was sad. He didn't want to be left alone. But... he couldn't be so selfish. His pain would be nothing compared to what Scooter has endured. He managed to control himself after a few moments. He hiccuped as he sent out another shaky message.

NO, NO! I'M REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU!!

He allowed it to glimmer in the air before disappearing. He continued to shake and had sat himself down into a ball. He held his knees shakily. He blinked and looked up through teary eyes as the red dust came back up. He froze.

THEN WHY ARE YOU CRYING?

Outer stared at the words and continued to stare even after they'd disappeared. What?? How did she know?? He quickly began to pull together stardust to tell her he wasn't when arms reached out from behind him to gently grab his shaky hands. He froze and stared at the pale, freckled hands gently gripping his own. He trembled before breaking down and sobbing, hugging Scooter's hands to him as she quietly hugged him from behind. He held her arms to him.

Finally, after a few minutes, he seemed to calm down. Scooter didn't let him go. "I-I'll be okay..." He whispered quietly. Scooter didn't answer. "Really... I really will..." After a moment, Scooter released him and moved to kneel in front of him. Her eyes held a dull light. A bit of green. She continued to stare at him as he weakly tried to convince her. "I-I'll... I'll..." He trailed off, knowing that he couldn't lie to her.

Outer was shaking as he rubbed his eyesockets. After a moment, Scooter reached out and gently squeezed his bony shoulder. Outer shook his head. "I'm sorry... I know I should be happy for you... but..." He jumped in surprise as he felt Scooter reach into his pocket and she pulled out the lighter he kept there. She flicked it open and pressed the button, lighting up the area with that small, fiery tree. She held it out in front of them. Outer watched it and seemed to relax.

Outer sighed shakily as Scooter shut it and gently slipped it back into his pocket. He looked down, inhaling to speak when he felt her forehead against his.

"I'll miss you too."

Her words were quiet, but they pulled at his soul and he nodded. Outer trembled. "I know this is what's best." He said, gulping and nodding. Scooter took his skeletal hands in her own before squeezing them gently. He squeezed her hands back. He looked up and for a moment, he was completely shaken. She smiled at him, her eyes green and full of understanding. Even her skin wasn't as pale. He nodded and looked back down. Finally, after a few moments, he heard her speak.

"A possible goodbye, Outer."

The words shook his core as he nodded and she released his hands. She stood up and moved past him. He turned to watch her as she opened the hole to the Multiverse. He shakily raised a hand. "A possible goodbye, Scooter."

Without even looking back, she raised a hand too before slipping back into the Multiverse. The hole stitched itself up and Outer was left by himself.

Outer sighed and tipped his head back, before finally flopping against the ground, staring up at the stars. He closed his eyes. He just wanted to have peace and quiet. A little nap at the edge of the world.