let it snow, here we go! [age event: begin]

[dustless]

//Everyone seemed down for it! Any thoughts or questions can go here~

The air sharpens and chills, frost crawling from the top of the tallest towers and branches to creep along the castle grounds. The trees with leaves quickly fall bare; the sky bubbles with clouds not long before they start sprinkling snowflakes over it all. Winter has finally settled in.

It's not all iciness and faded colors--in fact, it's quite the opposite. While outside is snowy, sparkling winter, inside changed to match. Most of the rooms alone can't keep out the cold, but fireplace after fireplace spring up to crackle merrily and invitingly. Someone (or something) set a mood for celebration, decking the halls with evergreen branches and baubles, glimmering ribbons and candles, color and cheer! And the kitchens have feasts to match, any sort of roast and pie one could hope for, paired with mashed potatoes and puddings and cookies and drinks.

Even the halls ring with celebration. In the distance, voices are caroling their hearts out. It's a pity they always seem to be moving too far away to meet.

All this will greet the castle denizens when they wake up in the morning...as well as changes to themselves.

Not that they'll always know. The child who will one day be Frisk certainly doesn't.

All they know is that it's cold, and Mama--who just cut their hair for reasons they don't understand--is nowhere to be seen.



...There's doorways inside, but they make themselves heard long before they get all the way to the big walls. They've got a toy firetruck in their hands with tons of buttons, and they slam their fingers on them to make the siren go off.

WEE-OO WEE-OO WEEE-OOO! Mama's gonna hear that no matter where she is, and they don't even need to open their mouth.
 

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I don't really have icons for this. HAVE A FRIEND ANYWAY.

[silvermists]

What's that sound?!?!

It's like nothing he has ever heard before in his (short) life and it draws him in like a moth to a flame. What kind of freakish monster makes a noise like that instead of a perfectly good roar?

There's a boy down the hall peeking around the corner in case the weird monster charges, as they tend to do. It'll buy him enough time to throw spells its way. He looks about eight, or perhaps a smallish ten or eleven. (In truth, he's less than six months old, living in a place where the light never dims and keeping track of time is hard. He doesn't have a clue.)

No monster. Just a small, unfamiliar person?? All the genomes look alike, except for him, and that's obviously not Garland. The person doesn't have a furry tail either, like all the fleshy people who don't look like Garland do. How bizarre.

So. He's in a strange new building, he has no memory of being brought here, and there's a new experiment down the hall wailing at him... what is going on?

:>!

[dustless]

By the time they're inside, they've progressed to holding the firetruck above their head. Maybe if it's more towards Mama's height, she'll be able to hear it better. And see it, 'cause one of the lights on top is working and flashing bright when they remember to push that button, too.

There's so much to look at. They keep stopping every few steps, staring up at candles and ribbons that're hanging on the walls just out of their reach.

--And they notice kinda late there's somebody moving to peek at them. They don't know who that is. Someone short. Someone...old? They don't know any non-old people with white hair (yet). Cop? Hospital person? Frisk takes a few steps further away from that corner through the hallway and starts moving quicker, just gonna walk past.

oh wait I have one??

[silvermists]

Too bad for them that he scampers out right into their path. Have to know what that thing they're carrying is. It's weird and fascinating, and there hasn't been much of that in his life.

He has a fuzzy fluffy silver monkey's tail that matches his hair perfectly, swishing behind him and long enough to brush the floor. If it's fake, it's sure moving in a very realistic way.

"...you have a noise machine."

th youth

[dustless]

Settling the toy right on top of their hair, Frisk gives him a filthy look. It's not a noise machine, it's a firetruck, stupid.

Then their eyes slide down and land on the tail, and they...do stop one more time, staring, just like they did at everything on the walls.

They stop pushing the buttons, and they make a noise from their mouth. Something like--Hmuh?

[havesomefun]

One such change to one particular denizen is that he's back in the castle at all.

...well, that's not so bad. At least now he knows it's not forever. And a quick fly around the place has shown him that there's more kids that need looking after than ever. Like this one! Jack's first reflexive thought from twenty feet off the ground as he hears the sirens go off is alarm, because he's lived long enough to come to associate sirens with alarming things. Then he catches himself - last time he checked, the castle didn't really have anything capable in and of itself of making that kind of noise.

Then he floats down enough to see what the ruckus is about and smiles to himself. Ah. And then he's mildly ashamed of himself that he, Guardian of Fun, couldn't recognize an obnoxiously noisy toy when he heard one.

"Nice truck," he says, floating down to the kid in a languid sort of sitting position.

[dustless]

Jack Frost isn't a name they know, but they still believe in some kinds of magic, and maybe fairies count close enough to the Castle; or it's just how things are and should always have been--but Frisk sees him immediately and stops dead.

They barely even hold the truck close to themselves when he notices it. It is a nice truck. Big enough for their tiny arms to find it awkward to hold and missing the rubber from one of the wheels, but it still works and has lots of shiny plastic.

"...Mm-hmm," the kid agrees.

[havesomefun]

Jack offers them a cheerful wave, smiling a bit broader. He's still not used to the rush he gets whenever kids look directly at him - especially when they look at him as intently as that. Maybe he never will, and maybe that's not a bad thing.

He leans a bit closer, tilting his head to examine the toy, and subconsciously nods his approval. It's a nice truck, big and shiny and loud. He catches himself thinking that North would be proud of this truck - even the missing rubber is a sign that it's been played with, after all.

"Where'd you get it? Late Christmas present?"

[dustless]

They rock on their feet, a bubble of something nice in their chest. It's not every day you meet a magic fairy person...even if he's too big to be a real one, and doesn't have wings--maybe, maybe! He's a wizard instead!

A lopsided grin grows. They shake their head, though, and say "Nuh-uh," 'cause it wasn't, it's just been something they've had for as long as they remember.

They point at his staff in turn. Not meaning the same question back, only--what is it? Is it his wand?

[oldmantiger]

A year has passed since the last time the castle took on this particular festive mood, and so that means that this child appears a year older than he did last year. A lot can happen in a year, and so he's...calmer than he was. Less fragile. Stuff has happened. He has hope that he didn't before.

So even if he's scared to have suddenly found himself here in this strange castle, even if he's obviously been kidnapped by villains, this child refuses to give up and cower! He runs instead from hallway to hallway, chasing carolers and checking on people.

So when he hears the sirens, he makes a sprinting beeline for them, thinking that they must be a real firetruck come to find them. Needless to say, he's a little disappointed when he comes upon a littler kid standing and holding a whirring, screaming toy.

"...oh."

[dustless]

They're getting mad now. Mama was right there and now she's walked off someplace, and Frisk wasn't even trying to look at the pretty stuff like that time at the mall and those times in the park and that time they scared mama and papa by hiding in a trash can behind the building. It's not their fault. They just wanna go home!

When somebody comes running and it turns out not to be Mama either, their eyes spring with tears and they glare anyways. You're not who they want.

[oldmantiger]

Well, this escalated...a little quickly. Kotetsu has just enough time to take in the fact that he's looking at a little kid, and then that little kid is crying and glaring at him and this older boy looks panicked because oh god what did he do.

"I-I'm sorry!" he stammers, looking down at his feet, shifting from foot to foot a bit in case he accidentally stepped on something like another of their toys. Seeing nothing, not even after he's checked the bottoms of his shoes, he risks looking up at them again. "Um...I didn't mean to scare you." It's a wild stab in the dark at what might have upset them, but it seems the safest bet at the moment.

[dustless]

Their lips pull down harder. He'd better be sorry, having the gall to not be who they want!

But he's not scary. Sometimes big strangers can be when they're extra lost, kids are usually okay, just loud. Frisk's the loud kid right now, and maybe they're scary, and they're perfectly fine with that!

They fold their arms around their truck (which takes some effort and looks incredibly silly) and turn away. Hmph, they say. Scary kid is busy.

[sansational]

Sans does not technically have ears. Or eardrums. That doesn't mean he appreciates this racket. He supposes he'd probably appreciate it even less were he a tiny babybones, and so is glad that this particulr stunt seems to have passed him over this year.

Of course, being Sans, he set to work seeking out others of his friends who might have been affected. Frisk was about at the top of the list of priorities, so it's not too long into the morning of the first day when he finds them. The sound of the little truck's sirens are the first thing to hit his earholes as he materializes behind them out of a shortcut - Sans claps his hands over them.

"yeow! what the heck, kid?"

[dustless]

Those big almost-empty eyesockets and teeth are not a reassuring sight once the kid whirls to address another stranger. They have a lot of fast growing up to do (in ways a child shouldn't need to) before they can turn their determination into near-fearlessness--

So their entirely graceless response is a hoarse shriek and launching the truck at the scary thing's face.

[sansational]

It's a very, very good thing that Sans ability to teleport is not entirely a conscious thing. Introducing himself to Frisk's younger self by turning to dust on the spot would not be a terribly good thing to do, even by Sans' standards of making friends. As long as he's aware of danger coming at him - like a big red truck thrown at his face - the instinct can trump simple emotions like shock or nerves.

Unfortunately, unconscious teleportation has a bit of creepiness built into it, making sure he never appears where anyone can see him if at all possible. It's a good defense mechanism, in terms of making sure he's away from whatever danger necessitated the hop in the first place.

But it does mean that, while the child might feel a moment of relief as the scary thing disappears, that will probably only make it even worse when the skeleton speaks up from right behind them again.

"o-kay, then. let me start over. my name is sans. as you can see, i am in fact a skeleton."

[dustless]

No! Things shouldn't just disappear like that--it must be some sort of freaky ghost thing, and ghosts can just be invisible--!

Or maybe it went through them 'cause it's behind them now. Frisk sort of hears the words, and they don't sound mad or spooky, but they still don't like it!

They let out a tiny shriek and sprint forward, away!

Except then they need to duck down to scoop their truck up so the ghost doesn't get it, and they're not always good on their feet at the best of times.

They trip and land right on top of the truck instead.

And now they're just crying. It's not even that quiet.

[mettaton_rex]

Sorry, Frisk, but here's another spooky stranger.

He's also been looking for family, or friends, or anyone who can explain where he is and how he got here. He was just at the dump, hoping to find something new for the next fanclub meeting, and now he's - wherever this is. The decorations look familiar, but it can't be Snowdin, there aren't any buildings this big in Snowdin, and it's not the right time of year for anyone else to -

- what the heck is that noise?

He heads toward the sound, passing through the nearest doorway and not the wall so his - companion, he guesses, the little blue boxy machine that's been hovering after him since he got here - can follow. He doesn't know why it's following him, but it seems harmless enough, and he wonders whether it's one of Alphys' inventions. If she's here too... well, that would really only raise more questions, but at least he'd have a friend to ask them with.

And then he sees where the shrieking is coming from, and freezes in mid-air, eyes going wide.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod IS THAT -?

Traditionally, ghosts are supposed to go 'ooooooooo...'

Frisk might be surprised to find that this particular ghost goes 'eeeeeeeee!' instead.

[dustless]

It's a ghost! A real one!

...Not as scary as the skeleton monster thing, as it turns out. Just a big sorta-white blob like the ones they cut out on Halloween.

Still, he's a lot bigger than them right now. And making freaky noises, not too far from some of their truck's settings. They don't try to fling it, and they don't quite run, but they definitely back away a few steps.

[mettaton_rex]

It's a human! A real one! And they're tiny!

...oh, and - backing away nervously. Oops. He might have come on a little strong.

He stays where he is, giving them a warm, hopefully reassuring smile. "Hi there, sweetie! Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you!"

[6littlesouls]

Sound.

Discordant sound, which isn’t the blue SOUL’s preference, but it’s enough to grab its attention. A deep blue glow lights up in one corner of the hall, then another, following Frisk, following the sound. Or sounds, rather- the rhythm of the siren seems to change a little depending on the button being pressed.

The blue SOUL slides forward, ahead of Frisk and their fire truck and then, when one of the sirens starts blaring:

Glinglinglinglinglinglinglingling!

A blue glow diffuses across garlands strung on the ceiling overhead, ringing the little bells decorated throughout in answer to the siren.

[dustless]

They've been wandering for a while.

This place is...super duper big. Too big. Lots bigger than home, lots bigger than the mall, lots bigger than any place they've been in before. Their feet are aching, and they keep changing the noises faster and faster just 'cause it's something for their hands to do.

Right now they're lost, not just Mama. They're a lost kid. They don't wanna be lost, they wanna be on the couch at home watching fun stuff on TV with Mama doing it too.

They're on the verge of crying more when they hear a bell. And when they stop, another one, and another.

It takes them a minute to look up and see the light. It's different from the candles and stuff, but still out of reach.

Frisk stops the sirens to hear the bells better. A second later, they unceremoniously drop down on their butt. Resting under something pretty is as good a place as any.

ballet intensifies

[6littlesouls]

The blue SOUL has their attention! If it had feet, it'd shuffle them expectantly. As it is, it doesn't even have a pair of ballet shoes left, just something a bit to the left of determination that glows a little brighter in front of an audience.

After a hesitant moment the blue SOUL rings one bell, then another. It takes a bit of time to start chiming out a recognizable tune, however. Music and sound is one thing, playing it is another.

[boogerman]

In all his long, long life, he's never heard a bird that screamed like that. What the devil--

There's a tall grey-skinned man down the hallway with a drink in one hand and a black staff in the other, blinking golden eyes at the kid... making that noise? How? It hardly even sounds like a living thing's voice.

...oh, it's the bizarre toy they have. Strange that something so colorful makes a hideous creepy noise. Whoever made must have a fascinating mind.

"I love it."

[dustless]

The first adult they've seen by now.

Not the strangest sight they've found so far, of course, and the greyness barely registers; what's more is that he's a grownup. A big grownup. And they're small and not prepared for any big person but their mama (who is actually far smaller than Pitch is, which doesn't help). Frisk's awash with nervousness, about him, about where mama is.

...They wrap their arms around the truck like a teddy bear, trying to be comforted even with the sirens going off right in their face. Grownups usually don't like playing with stuff, what's he want?

[boogerman]

Om nom, a little bite sized snack. He grins at them, and his sharpish teeth are sure to only make it worse, right? Well, it can't be helped, he is what he is. He's making some sort of attempt, even crouching down so he's not quite so tall.

"I bet your mother loves it too." It's awful. Imagine that noise in the middle of the night! "Don't worry, I'm not going to take it."