But summer has to come to an end sometime

[sansational]

Ever since S-4 talked Sans into sharing a room with him and Sans-Serif, sleep really has come a little easier. Not much - he still has bad dreams, they all do. But every little bit helps, especially when help is within arm's reach instead of on the other side of a door. Ever since hearing from Tauriel that the two babybones are also still suffering from bad dreams, Sans has been trying to find ways to help. But it's a problem that's stymied him for years to the point of giving up, so privately, he doesn't hold out too much hope.

It's been a relatively ordinary night - he read them both their story, tucked them in, and then curled up on the other side of S-4 from where Sans-Serif lay. Sleep came as quickly as it ever did. But whatever dreams Sans had, they were chased immediately from his head by the agony that awoke him, accompanied by the sharp crack of bone.

The pain jolts him upright, his hands scrabbling all over himself, searching for signs of damage. They finally come to rest on his own skull, and realize that it hasn't broken. It's just...shifted.

"no..."

More cracks like breaking twigs and shattered branches echo throughout the room. His fingers start to sharpen, he can feel his ribs expanding, each one accompanied by a gasp and a cry of pain from the skeleton. His marrow is on fire and burning him up from the inside out and no no no he has to get out of here...

Eventually, Sans makes it into the woods. But all that really does is ensure that he has enough room to finish transforming. By rights, it probably only takes a few hours, just like last time. But it's painful enough to feel as though it takes a lifetime. All he can do is lay on the ground and whimper and twitch, or else drag himself along in a futile attempt to escape the pain. All he can do is wait for it to finish happening.

Useless regrets and pointless despair chase themselves around his increasingly malformed skull. it's not fair, everything was supposed to be okay now, i was trying to be better, i promise i was...

Until even that level of thought is beyond him and he's reduced to begging senselessly. make it stop, please make it stop, i don't want to do this anymore, i made a mistake, please, Gaster...

At one point, he hears a voice in his head - a delusion, or a memory. it sounds like Frisk's voice, except not like their voice at all. Too late. Too late.


The forest has a new inhabitant, the next morning. The giant monster is something like a bear and something like a horse with a skull that more closely resembles that of a wolf. It's too big to go that deep into the trees, but it creeps around the edges of things. It keeps its distance from the castle, it treads carefully around any flowerbeds, but it's big enough to be easily noticed from a distance. Mostly, it can be found curled up in an apparent attempt to sleep, wherever the ground is clear enough for it to find room. Though whenever anyone approaches, one eyesocket opens to reveal a glowing blue orb of light within, and the creature lets out a wary growl. 

Otherwise, it can mostly be found trying to eat. The fruit trees in particular will find themselves frequently raided, with some of them picked entirely clean. Hopefully no one was in the mood for lemons this week. The creature barely has to stretch its neck to gobble fruit whole off the branches. 

This puts it somewhat at odds with the local birds, but even the most ornery peacock will beat a retreat whenever the beast parts its jaws just enough to let blue light bloom between its fangs. 

Comments

[lightofthestars]

Tauriel often spends the deepest part of the night keeping watch by Chara's tower door. Tonight is not an exception--not for this, at the least. The cries of pain that echo through the halls, the cracks that go with them: those are not usual at all.

At once, she is running down the tower stairs, seeking the one in such dreadful pain. What could be causing this? What are those sounds? They are as tree branches breaking under heavy feet, or--

Ai Belain, no.

"Sans!" she shouts as she runs ever nearer.

[sansational]

Even over the pops and cracks of his bones morphing, Sans hears that cry echoing through the hallways. It makes him cringe away, bringing both clawed hands up in a desperate and senseless attempt to cover his eyesockets. As though if he can't see who else is tormenting themselves or putting themselves in danger, it can't really be happening.

So when Tauriel finally arrives, she'll find him curled up in a shadowy nook between a suit or armor and a wall, though that amount of space won't be nearly enough to hide or even fit in very soon. Despite the vain attempt to hide from her site, Sans is looking up at her as she draws into view. Tears of fear and pain and despair are visible in the bright blue glow in each eyesocket.

Somehow, as tremors and twitches run all up his spine and through every limb, he can only think of one thing to say.

"I'm sorry..."

[lightofthestars]

There is no one trying to kill Sans, as she had feared. No other person save his own body, cracking and twisting itself into horrible shapes. She wants to recoil from the awful sight, but Sans' eye-lights meet her gaze and she rushes forward instead to draw him into her arms.

"Hush, ai hush, Sans," she tells him, shaking with him. "What is happening? Can you tell me?"

[sansational]

He tries to flinch away as she moves to embrace him. He ducks his head and brings up his hands between them, as though to ward her off, and also to make sure she can't miss what's happening to him. Already, his fingers have curved into sharp claws, and he doesn't want to hurt herCertainly not know while he can keep that thought in his head. The thought of hurting her, of hurting S-4 or Sans-Serif or Frisk, is almost worse than the pain of the transformation.

Can he tell her? Sans genuinely isn't sure. He tries to breathe around a mouthful of fangs and a half-broken ribcage. IT's a painful effort, but he finally manages to grit out the words. "My fault...my mistake..."

"...the lab." He stares up at her desperately, hoping that this will be enough to jog her memory. Of the lab in the tower, the writing on the wall, the concoctions bubbling away. He did this to himself, there's nothing she can apologize for, she tried to warn him and he was so stupid and now he's so sorry...

ALL ABOARD THE TAG TRAIN I'm so terribly sorry for this

[systematicsupport]

Sleep has come a lot easier for S-4 as well, now that things have fallen into some sort of routine. He has his story and blankets pulled up to his chin and a brother curled up on either side, and they're both safe. How could he not sleep when he's surrounded by that?

Of course, there are some changes to his schedule that aren't always good. Since the week of bizarre nightmares, S-4 has been a little more in tune with when his siblings are distressed, especially considering the fact that Sans taught them how to channel their soul's energy into a beacon. At this point, Sans doesn't even need to make that effort for S-4 to pick up on something odd happening, and it rouses him from sleep just enough for him to hear that pained cry. Immediately, he snaps back into wakefulness, turning towards the door just fast enough to see Sans rushing away.

"Sans? W-Wait!"

He struggles to untangle himself from Sans-Serif's side, praying that he doesn't wake his other brother, before rushing down the hallway after him.

NEVER BE SORRY and never stop

[sansational]

Unfortunately, Sans' distress coupled with S-4's sudden departure is enough to rouse Sans-Serif quite quickly. The smaller skeleton struggles to push himself upright, reaching out reflexively for his brother. His eyesockets widen to see the unfamiliar silhouette fleeing from the room, but once he notices S-4 racing after him, it's not hard to figure out that something is wrong with his other self. "brother!" he calls out in terror, not sure which one he's calling for, and hastens out of bed after S-4.

Sans, meanwhile, hears both of them awake and scared. He tries to hurry onwards, even if it's more as a stumbling stagger. He wants to teleport, he needs to take a shortcut away from here, but he can't focus. He's being pulled apart and pulled to pieces and so how can he be expected to put himself in one place and one time when he's not any one thing anymore?

He manages to hold on to the hope that S-4 will slow down enough to attend to Sans-Serif instead. Then his foot pops and twists the wrong way, and Sans collapses heavily to his hands and knees with a yowl. Claws scrape against the stone floor as he struggles to rise again.

His mouth is full of fangs and his jaw feels broken, but Sans still manages to force his voice to return. "Stay back!" he calls out, knowing that it's futile.

can't stop won't stop... crying

[systematicsupport]

Of course it was too much to hope that Sans-Serif would sleep peacefully through all of this. S-4 can hear his smaller brother crying out for him, his footsteps just behind his, and as much as S-4 needs to keep an eye on Sans, make sure he doesn't get too far away, make sure he doesn't get lost and leave the two of them alone again... he can't just let his brother keep crying like that.

So he does turn to attend to Sans-Serif, but Sans may be disappointed to find that it doesn't take S-4 very long. Keeping his brothers both safe and taken care of is something he is constantly working to perfect, and he has hugging and holding Sans-Serif down to an art, at this point. S-4 spins on his heel, reaching out with the same movement, scooping his brother up, and hugging him against his ribcage.

"Shh, it's okay. I've got you."

He only stills for a second before he's back on his way to Sans' side, just in time to see him stumble to the ground. S-4 shivers at the sound of sharp bone against stone, but approaches anyways.

"Sans, please. I'm here... What's going on?" He has to know. He has to, or he won't be able to help...

[lostinmyway]

Even though the stars have been in the sky for a long time, Grune isn't sleepy. There are just so many beautiful things to see in the night sky! She can go to bed in a little while.

She's spent a lot of the night lost in thought, but even she can't miss the noises that are coming closer. They don't sound good at all. And...she thinks she might know the person making them.

"Hello?"

Where is he?

[sansational]

No one calls back to her in reply, but a somewhat louder crash becomes audible, shortly followed by the sound of wood being violently splintered. Or maybe that's another couple of bones breaking. Or perhaps it's both. Either way, a louder growl sounds from whatever's deeper in the woods, and the sound of advancement stops. But the noise should be enough for Grune to investigate, should she choose.

[lostinmyway]

And she does choose. The last of her daydreams fly from her; she runs on light feet towards the sounds.

When she reaches him, she pauses only for a moment in surprise before she hurries forward. She isn't sure anymore--she had thought she had known who had been making those sounds, but this person looks so different from her friend.

"...Sans? Are you all right?"

I can at least make this easier on you by throwing two of my dorks together

[dr_awesome]

Insomnia is a bitch.

Watts has been pretty insistent on that fact. He was a night owl ever since his early years and his love affair with caffeine, and adding on the recent string of nightmares plus his withdrawal symptoms, even though he's been bedridden there hasn't been a lot of actually going to bed.

Thankfully, it looks like a good half the castle put together a schedule to keep an eye on him. Kind of annoying, but it's helpful, since it means he has someone to talk to on sleepless nights. Tonight it's been some weird kid named Ryoji keeping him company. Kind of gullible and naive, but friendly enough, and a pretty good conversation partner, especially when he found out the kid frequented an arcade in his world.

The two of them have been going on about their favourite video games when the commotion gets their attention. Cracking, sickening crunches, and then that scream and Watts is out of bed in a second.

"Sans? Hey, Sans! That you?"

He'll be right out the door, but with his condition, he won't get to the woods for a few minutes.

[notsogrimreaper]

And Ryoji, of course, is right behind him, trying his best to grab Watts' arm and support him, even if the doctor keeps shoving him away. Eventually, they get separated in the darkness of the forest, and Ryoji can only blindly stumble through the trees, calling out with increasing worry.

"Watts-san, please! You're going to hurt something and-"

He's cut off when he bumps into something, and he's relieved to discover it's Watts, but as he looks over the man's shoulder, that relief quickly disappears. Something is out here. A... monster. Something not unlike the thing he was when he first got here. He shivers and pushes in front of Watts, taking a protective stance. He can't afford to let someone get attacked by this thing, but he's still hesitant. At least he hasn't transformed yet.

"Hello...? Can you hear me?"

[sansational]

The creature has come to a stop just a couple of yards away from Watts. It's hard to get a good look at what shape it's in, mostly because the shape it's in appears to be shifting, morphing. It's standing unsteadily on two clawed feet, one hand braced against the tree, one digging and scratching at its shifting skull. The tattered, shredded remnants of what might be clothes hang off of it.

When Ryoji calls out to it, the monster lifts its head sharply to regard the two of them with two bright blue eyelights in narrowed eyesockets. It makes as though to move towards them, but a crack from somewhere in its spine makes it arch instead, letting out a howl of fresh pain. By that point, the creature has grown noticeably bigger than Sans. Even hunched over as it is, it's about as tall as Watts. If it could stand up, it would be even taller, but it seems to be in too much agony to manage that much.

But when the fresh wave of pain starts to fade, other details filter in. There's a human here, and something...almost human. Kill, it has to kill, it's the human's fault this happened, it's the human's fault he's like this...

It staggers a few steps towards Watts, looking straight through Ryoji to the scientist. One clawed hand - or maybe it's a paw at this point - swipes shakily through the air, but doesn't even come close to connecting with the human.

[mediadarling]

The next morning, when Mettaton emerges from his room from his beauty rest, almost right away, he can tell that something is...off. He doesn't know what it is, exactly, but there's tension in the air. And as an entertainer, if people are feeling on edge, then he's not doing his job properly, is he?

Still, even more importantly than that, he has his duties as a caring uncle, and that means making sure Frisk has a healthy breakfast. It took him a few tries to figure that one out, but now he feels reasonably confident that he knows how to help them start the day off right. It's hard to go wrong with an orange picked right off the tree, for example.

...Or it would be, if there were any oranges to pick. This morning, the tree is completely bare. The culprit isn't hard to find, either, given they're in the process of gulping down whole lemons.

"Excuse me, darling," he says to the monster with a hand on his hip. "You might be new here, but I would think the idea of sharing isn't only limited to my world."

[sansational]

Lemons are disgusting. Squishy, sour, awful. There's a question in its head, why do you even grow these things? He has the sense that if he just keeps eating them, he'll remember. blergh. But for now, the burst of sour in his jaws, the bite of the juice against his aching bones, does a good job of keeping him here, of keeping the fog out of his skull.

At least until the voice speaks up. The creature flinches visibly with shock - it hadn't heard the (stranger?) other monster approach at all. Its head whips round to glower at Mettaton, teeth bared, eyelights blazing...and then it hesitates.

It knows that face. It knows that voice. Except...you might be new here?

...it supposes that it is. The monster's expression breaks into something like a canine sort of grin, and it lets out several huffs of breath that are the closest it came come to a laugh.

Then, very deliberately, keeping its bright blue eyelights fixed on Mettaton the entire time, the creature leans its head up, takes a lemon carefully between its teeth, and bites down hard enough to send juice spraying.

"I'm hungry."

[mediadarling]

As he's sprayed with lemon juice, Mettaton's nose wrinkles. Rude.

"Yes, well, so are a lot of other people around here, my nibling included," he informs the monster. "So if you wouldn't mind not stripping the trees completely bare, I'd appreciate it."

Is there anything edible left around? Surely this monster can't have eaten everything.

[lostlegacy]

...Wait a minute. What's that over there?

Sophie had just stepped outside to start her training when something really big and white and bony had caught her eye. Is that another skeleton? A really big one? Or...a bear skeleton? Do they have bear skeletons where Sans is from?

Or maybe it's not a good guy, and it's just waiting to attack when no one's paying attention. Either way, she'd better check it out.

Once she's close enough, she'll let out a "Hey!", just to see what the monster will do.

[sansational]

The creature flinches hard enough to make its ribs rattle, as Sophie calls out. It opens one eyesocket and focuses a bright blue eyelight on her, intent and thoughtful. It doesn't look terribly hostile, right at that moment. It's curled up on its side, its skull resting on its front paws.

After a moment of staring, it opens its mouth just a little and grows faintly in warning. go away.

[lostlegacy]

Sophie does stop when the bear skeleton growls, but she doesn't run away. Those eyes are really cool and she wants to see more of them.

"Who're you?" she asks in a more normal tone. Maybe it has really good ears. ...Does it have ears?

[dustless]

Despite not being too far from the woods, Frisk is unaware of the night's disaster. Just far enough not to hear his sounds of pain, deep in their own dreams (maybe).

So the first time they notice anything is in the morning, after they've decided to work on their tree-climbing skills. Their meeting with the newer Chara made them realize how little they ever really tried doing that.

The beast made of bones might spot them staring down at him in surprise, perched fairly high in a mango tree.

[sansational]

The beast noses a little through the tree, searching out any more apples. It lets out a faint whine upon realizing that there are none to be had, but it has the sense that the food will be back. Later.

It's still hungry, though, and moves on to the next tree, only to find itself almost eye to eye with...

With...

we still friends?

Its eyelights flicker, and then the creature twists away, letting out a startled yelp. It settles back on all four paws a few feet away from the trees. Its legs are braced, claws digging into the dirt, tail lashing behind it. The spines on its back almost seem to bristle in agitation, as a growl rumbles deep within its ribcage. Part of it wants to kill, it's a human, we kill humans and part of it wants to run away and never stop i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry, and in the end, it doesn't move at all, just grows in displeasure at being so startled.

[dustless]

Frisk straightens up with a sharp inhale through their teeth. They're a big bone-beast. But not attacking. Possibly yet, because it sounds pretty angry, but Frisk isn't sure about why. Also, they need to bite back their own answering growl, for some reason. Both a weird and probably bad idea to actually get into a snarling contest with the giant monster. Probably. Solutions to monster situations can be unusual, after all.

For a bit, they just keep watching, mouth pressed into a flat line. But they saw it messing with other trees, so...maybe looking for more food.

Frisk reaches to grab a fruit-laden branch above them and jerks it. They don't know if it's normal with these kinds of fruits (they don't know what a mango actually is), but several of these ones fall off without too much effort.

A few days in - OPEN w/ mun permission

[dustless]

Sans hasn't been around.

Sure, Frisk sometimes loses track of him--it's a big castle, they wander a lot, and he can take shortcuts. But usually they at least get a glimpse of him somewhere.

A part of them hopes he's just sleeping a lot. A bigger part of them has a gnawing worry that...someone something happened.

So fellow residents of the castle might catch sight of a concerned Frisk walking around the castle at a speedy pace, starting from near Sans' room to see if they were right to everywhere else.

[lightofthestars]

Though Tauriel has much to occupy her now as she cares for her children, Neil, and Sans, as well as taking her turn keeping watch at Chara's tower, she is not so busy that she does not see Frisk's distress. If there is some way in which she can help, then that is what she will do.

"Greetings, Frisk," she hails them. "Is all well?"

[dustless]

They skid to a stop. "Tauriel. Hi." They have enough presence of mind to give a little wave, even as they semi-anxiously bounce on their feet.

Frisk glances around again, to see if Sans might round a corner just in time. But he doesn't. So they go on: "Have--have you seen Sans anywhere?"