"'So long as I manage to stay human?'" Sunset gaped at Sans. "What do you mean by that? Am I going to turn into a monster?"
San's eyes reappeared and he shrugged. "i dunno. that's up to you, not me." He took a few steps back. "but what i do know is that being a human in a world full of monsters makes you pretty important. i'd try to keep that in mind if i were you."
Before she could reply, he vanished in the blink of an eye. She didn't move. His words wouldn't let her. They lingered in her mind, replaying over and over again as she stood rooted in the snow. It was just like when she'd encountered Flowey before. Somehow the skeleton knew more than everyone else. But just what was it he knew? And what did it mean?
"Stay human? How can I not stay human? It's what I am." She looked down at herself. Sure, she'd died a couple of times and she had a big red SOUL now. But that didn't make her any less human. The monsters had said so themselves. Sure, her hair was a different color and length now, and she'd brought herself back from dead of a couple of times, and...and she'd started remembering things she hadn't been present for... and...and she'd been able to go back in time and undo Toriel's death. As far as she knew, ordinary humans couldn't do any of that. So what did that make her? Was the Underground changing her? Or was she changing the Underground? And how did Sans and Flowey seemingly know what was happening to her more than everyone else did?
"UUUGH! So many questions! Not enough answers! What am I going to do?"
She took a step forward and walked into the next room. It was all she'd been doing before, and it was still all she could do now. The Ruins had closed behind her, so she couldn't go back to Toriel. And she wasn't ready to face Flowey again. So she kept moving.
The next area held nothing of interest save for a single dog making snow sculptures. Sunset amused herself for a few minutes by petting it and struggled to contain herself when its neck sprouted to the size of a giraffe. The next room held another puzzle like the one Papyrus had shown her before. And just like before, it had already been solved. That was a good thing since sliding across the ice to even get to the end of the puzzle was another puzzle in of itself. For the third time since she'd arrived in the forest, she found herself falling head over heels to land flat on her stomach. Pushing herself forward, she made it to the other side and to the next room. There, ice returned to snow once again, and a series of snowpoffs marked the path in front of her. One of them held thirty G. And inside the last one lay a surprise.
"Aww. What a cute little doggie." She crooned at the face of a dog that poked its head out of the snowpoff. "Are you related to the one I saw before? Aren't you just the cutest little...." Her sentence ground to a halt as the dog emerged fully, revealing that it not only stood a full head and shoulders taller than her, but it was also wearing an enormous suit of armor. "C-c-cutest little...c-cutest little...t-t-thing?"
She had just enough time to let out a gasp before a swipe of a spear nearly ripped her in half. Her knife was in her hands at once, grinding against the spear's backswing before the canine thrust her backward. He swiped again, this time, with a blue spear. But her fight against Doggo before let her remember just what to do. Right before impact, she went still as a statue, causing the spear to pass harmlessly over her body. At that moment, she attacked, slashing her knife across the dog's armor and barely leaving a dent. Sheathing its weapon, the dog changed tactics. Jumping a few feet backward, it opened its mouth and unleashed a loud bark. Or rather, it unleashed the word bark. Two speech bubbles exited from its mouth and sped right towards Sunset. She gaped.
"Great. Something else that doesn't any SENSE!" Bending down at the last word, she managed to duck underneath them and move forward to close the gap, but that only brought forth more spear attacks. Straining knife against spear once again, she landed another slash to his armor with the same result. The dog paid her attack no heed. Drawing both spears at once, it charged, forcing her to stop and go to avoid getting hit. A glancing blow struck her SOUL, adding another gash to her previous injuries and dropping the girl to her knees. Seeing her fall, the dog backed away, waiting for her to rise.
This wasn't working. Whatever its armor was made of, it was a lot stronger than the dog couple's weapons. She looked down at her SOUL. With how much damage she'd already taken, it would likely kill her three times over before she even put a crack in the suit. Fleeing was out of the question. With her injuries, it'd be on her in seconds, and it was too big to simply outmaneuver. She had to survive. But how?
"Come on, stupid brain! You keep giving me memories I shouldn't have, how about giving me some of this guy!"
At hearing her shout, the Greater Dog barked once again, sending Sunset rolling sideways to avoid them. The snow on the ground sopped against her clothes, and a pair of sticks pressed into her back. Crying out from the pain, she lost her grip on the knife, sending it clattering out of hands and spinning across the snow. Dropping down on all fours and baring his teeth, the Greater Dog charged, barreling toward her like a cannonball. Dazed, she felt around for the knife but only managed to wrap her hands around the two sticks. Whipping them in front of her, she squeezed her eyes shut in a futile attempt to protect herself. The Dog's mouth opened and bit down.
CHOMP!
An eternity ticked by in seconds. Then Sunset's eyes snapped open. She wasn't dead. The Greater Dog's maw was inches away from her SOUL. But instead of the glowing heart, his teeth had bitten down firmly on the sticks. Fortunately, her arms were still intact. But even so, she had to act fast. Leaving one in his mouth, she pulled the second one free.
"Hey there, buddy. Y-you like this?"
The dog stared at the stick transfixed, letting his tongue roll out of his mouth. She moved it left and right. His eyes followed it.
"You--You want this?"
He nodded.
"Then FETCH!" She threw it behind her as hard as she could, and he bounded after it. The stick struck the ground and rolled a good distance, but Sunset was already gone in a mad dash past the poff he'd popped out of. The last glimpse she saw of her furry foe was the Greater Dog happily chowing down on the stick.
Once she'd entered the next room and gotten far enough way, Sunset checked herself. Her SOUL was covered in cracks and dents. Each beat of the heart sent a throb of pain through her body, dampening her hearing and straining her vision. Even a sneeze in its direction would shatter it, sending her back to the void once again. Sans had mentioned an inn in Snowdin Town, so she didn't want to waste her inventory before she got there. But she didn't know how close she was. Still, she moved onward from the snow onto a wooden rope bridge. Unlike the Daring Do books that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were always gushing about, this bridge was completely solid if somewhat damp. Sans and Papyrus were waiting for her on the other side and noticed her when she was halfway across.
Papyrus perked up. "HUMAN. THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHALLENGE. BEHOLD, THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!" With a gesture, six deadly weapons appeared on both sides of the bridge. There was a flamethrower, a mace, two spears, a cannon, and a dog on a rope. Sunset didn't even bother asking about that last one.
"That looks dangerous."
"IT IS." He continued. "AND WHEN I SAY THAT WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE. CANNONS WILL FIRE. SPIKES WILL SWING. BLADES WILL SLICE. EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN. ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN. ARE YOU READY?"
Considering his previous attempts to hinder her, she wasn't concerned at all. "Yep."
"BECAUSE. I. AM. ABOUT. TO DO IT!"
But despite his proclamation, the weapons didn't move. Ten seconds passed each one more awkward than the last.
"well?" Sans chimed in. "what's the hold-up?"
"HOLD-UP?" Papyrus shot back. "WHAT HOLD-UP? I AM ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT."
But yet again, nothing happened.
"that, uh, doesn't look very activated."
"WELL...THIS CHALLENGE. IT SEEMS TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMAN WITH. Y-YEAH. WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE. I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS, AND MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR. MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED. BUT THIS IS TOO DIRECT. NO CLASS AT ALL." At those words, the weapons withdrew. Papyrus dashed off into the distance. "I SHALL CAPTURE YOU YET, HUMAN. YOU'LL SEE!"
Once he was gone, Sunset finished crossing the bridge and stood next to the amused Sans. "Heh, what do you think he'd going to do next?"
He shrugged. "your guess is as good as mine. but if i were you, i'd make sure you understand blue attacks." She nodded. Rather than run ahead of her again, Sans walked alongside her as they headed into the next area. "oh, and kid?"
"Yes?"
"welcome to snowdin town."