The Search for the Skeleton

[Sans]

Sans felt his limbs separate from each other, swirling around in the violet whirlpool as they floated around. The purple liquid licked his arms, a cold feeling running down his spine. He sight was blurred; all he could see was his arms slowly reconnecting into himself before they exited.

He took a step out of the portal, feeling his breath get kicked completely out of him as he landed in a field. He brought his left hand to his ribs, raising his head before gasping. It was the most beautiful place he had ever seen. It was a thick forest, with trees over twenty feet high and leaves completely green and almost served as the sky. But even all of that did not stop the sun from poking through, shedding light down onto Sans and everything else below him. The grass beneath him was small and delicate, which tickled his legs as they brushed past him with the assistance of the wind. The wind itself passed straight through him, but it felt fantastic. It zipped through the forest, awaking calls of various animals and the orchestra of leaves rustling. No wonder Papyrus dreamed of such a place. If he found him, they were going to LIVE here. Doesn't matter if Omni or whoever kept them there forever.

At least they would have each other.

Wiping away a tear forming on his cheek, he walked forward, entering the forest.

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If there was downside to the place, its that it was awfully dry for such wind. Most of the grass was brownish in color, and some dead plants littered the ground. It seemed the trees above soaked up whatever rain ever seeped through, judging by the lack of vibrant colors over the forest floor. Considering he could easily "make" water out of Omnillium, the complete lack of in the forest wouldn't be too much of an issue.

He continued his hike, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. He was on a dirt path, leading straight through the woods surrounding him. It seemed to go on for miles, but he kept following it. It was bound to lead him somewhere. He wasn't going to accept the possibility he was literally alone in a purgatory.

Just then, to his left, kept the banging of drums.

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Sans fell silent, stopping himself as he glanced to his left. Nothing. The drums rang around the area; its maddening, low-pitched beat causing most of the animals around him to start flying and running in the other direction. However, Sans turned towards its direction, his smile unmoving. Drums meant there WERE others out there. Maybe they would know if Papyrus had gone through here. And with that thought, he sprang through the underbrush at top speed.

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Six minutes later

Light. A glowing light illuminated the single field just as easily as the sun did. Sans saw it at the edge of the forest from behind his tree. A four foot wide, ten foot tall tree with brown bark and multi-colored leaves. He had followed the beats all the way to the location he was standing on, and now he hesitated. All he needed was one look.

The drums were being beaten upon by a large, green, fanged creature more than twice his size. He wore some sort of leather garb that appeared to be made of multiple types of animals; this garb also happened to cover the lower parts of his body. He was slamming two sticks onto a large drum in unison, reverberating its unusual pattern throughout the environment. He wasn't alone, either. Similar looking creatures were also around the camp they had set up.

The camp was made of around five teepees, all made of long sticks and beige leather. They formed a semi-circle around a single campfire, which was being used by about two of the creatures. One was holding a stick that had speared some kind of bird, while the other was haggling him over the share. The drummer was a few feet away from them, roughly next to the leftmost teepee. Another was looking around next to the rightmost teepee, apparently serving as a guard. One final creature was messing around with several black barrels with horns underneath them, complaining about being thirsty. Any other big, fat ugly creatures were either hiding from his sight or were inside their homes.

The skeleton's tree was only a few feet away from them, and he could only assume that their eyesight was good enough to spot him if they looked his way. He gripped the sides of the tree, keeping himself as hidden as possible before slowly leaning to his right, taking one last peek at the camp. The scene had not changed much. Thankful, he snapped his head back. The people here did not look too kindly to visitors, so he decided his best option was to go back the way they came from.

"Oy! Yu dere!" A loud, baritone voice called from the camp.

crap.

[Sans]

"Ya hear me? Oi said cume out!" The orc hollered, raising his drumstick. He had caught a glimpse of a stout, white-fleshed human hiding behind a tree, staring at them with his white eyes. Just the thought of some stupid human spying on them brought shivers down his spine, and subsequently rage. He would not tolerate an intruder snooping around next to his camp, less he wanted Ambrosia to know that they weren't too far away.

The orc, known by the others as Ulak'Tuul, walked from behind the drum, knocking one of his tribesmen behind the head with his stick before moving towards the tree, yelling "Wolk out now, or me and me orc fellas are gonna tear yu apart, human!" With the final sentence, the others looked at each other, realizing the gravity of the situation before standing up, fishing out their own weapons. They moved behind their leader, ready to take care of this new threat.

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Sans kept his back to the tree, hearing footsteps closing in on his position. He didn't want to fight them, but he also knew running away wasn't the smartest option either, as it would probably confirm their suspicions. He took in a deep breath, slowly sliding to the left of the tree before moving himself out into the open where all could see. The orcs stopped moving, murderous looks on their faces that only stopped from coming into fruition by a green paw by Ulak. Their leader walked forward, his large feet crushing some dead grass in front of him as he rested his giant stick on his shoulder.

"Well.. who might yu be?" Ulak'Tuul asked, glaring at him.

"uh.... sans. sans the skeleton. i heard the drums, and uh... wanted to see what was happening. i'll leave now." the skeleton replied, about to turn around. It was fairly clear to him that they did not want him there, and neither did he want to be there. So the situation might as well take care of itself.

"Oh no yu don't." The orc said, followed by him slamming the end of his drumstick onto his other hand, holding it with a threatening smile. As he did this, his lackey's followed suit, growling as they brandished various axes and spears, all sharpened and pointed at Sans. The comedian raised his hands in a surrendering fashion, his eyes becoming small and meek looking.

"Yu ain't goin nowhere, skelling-ton. How do we know yu ain't wit da humans?"

Sans looked around, trying to find an advantage that he desperately needed. He didn't think he could take them all on at once, especially if one of them got lucky an smacked him with a stone weapon of some kind. All they needed was one shot. He needed to buy some time.

"i...uh...." the comedian started, his voice sounding brittle. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something to say.

"Go on." The leader said, taking another step forward, slowly lifting his club into the air. Sweat started to form on the skeleton's forehead before he opened his eyes, an idea planting itself into his mind.

"i've killed over one-hundred humans! back where i came from, anyway..." Sans said, his legs tense and ready to move in case the bluff didn't work.

Evidently, though, the orc leader was easily convinced. He looked towards his lackeys, seeing them nodding and talking to each other in an approving manner. However, he wanted to be sure. "One-hundred humans, huh? Go into detail, please."

"uh... okay.. um.." The monster said, thinking some more. Eventually, his mind wandered towards the demonic being he had fought so many times against in the underground. Their fight was still vivid in his mind. He could still see its glowing red eyes. Its insane smile. Its dust-covered blade. His wound. Everything.

"well.. there was one human. the most powerful human ever. he had killed everyone else but me, but i was able to kill him. in fact, he wasn't even able to attack me. i killed him the very second i saw him. didn't even get to scream."

The orcs remained silent, one of them backing up a few steps. They all started to look at each other, suddenly not so sure about what they were doing. The leader looked confused, squinting at the intruder as the others feebly whispered to each other. A skeleton THAT puny couldn't possibly have killed a human so quickly. But he could tell just from looking at him that he was telling the truth. He wasn't stupid like other orcs. He shushed up his fellow orcs, looking back towards the skeleton, a smile on his face.

"Interesting... well then.. skelling-ton.. welcome. I'm Ulak'Tuul, leader of this Orc tribe inside this realm: The Tangled Green."

the tangled green. so that's what it was called.

"it's, uh... pretty interesting place." Sans replied, sighing in relief as he looked up towards the light blue sky. The creatures, collectively called orcs, apparently believed him. Now all he had to do was ask if they had seen his brother.

"Too bad us orcs can't remain in one place without Ambrosia putting their nose in business it doesn't belong. If they weren't so close to us from the south, I'd be setting up an army to destroy it."

"um..cool. so, uh... i'm looking for another, uh.. skelling-ton. he's my brother. did he pass by here?"

"I don't recall it. He probably went to Ambrosia, like every other non-orc does. It's just along a dirt path a little ways from here."

"oh...cool.. thanks." Sans replied, turning around and heading back the way he came. He hoped that the orc didn't realize he basically just gave away the location to Ambrosia, leaving he possibility that he'll report them to Ambrosia's authorities. But Sans decided not to. Mostly because he just didn't feel like screwing them over, especially after helping him out. He pushed through the large grass, heading back through the forest to find the dirt path.

[Sans]

"holy crap...."

Sans stood at the very end of the orchard field in front of the gate to Ambrosia. He would know, seeing as a large wooden sign with the words "Welcome to Ambrosia!" written in comic sans was hanging in the air, connected by string and swinging back and forth with every gust of wind. To his left and right was a vast number of small, white trees. These trees were pear trees, easy to tell from the delicious aroma coming off of the plants as well as the white leaves that fluttered down onto the green earth he was standing on. About a few yards ahead of him was a solitary wooden gate. A portcullis, to be specific. It was below a stone arch with two guards overlooking the garden, both holding longbows. If they noticed the skeleton, they were paying him little attention. Ambrosia was a place where all creatures were welcome. From the fat to the skinny to the large to the small to the weird to the normal.

However, the one other thing in Ambrosia that struck the comedian was the large, pick palace that resided squarely in the middle of the city. He was too far away to get every detail out of it, but he could easily see a rose-colored dome overlooking the city like a god eyeing its worshipers. must be where their leader resides.

The monster walked forward, taking his time to gaze at the ivory petals as he moved over and past them. He was half tempted to try to take a fruit, but he didn't want to break a possible rule revolving around the "No touching the juicy fruits or you WILL regret it, mister!" He was fairly certain there was an unspoken rule about that here. It was like that in the underground, so why not in the Tangled Green?

The skeleton stopped at the entrance, looking up towards the guards. They were apparently talking. About what was a mystery to Sans, but he didn't bother to inquire. The left guard turned towards him, and upon noticing him, smacking his partner on the side before they both whirled around to face him. They were comprised of light red garbs, specifically the capes on their backs and the sleeves underneath their silver chestplates. They had on metal helmets with some chainmail wrapped around them, which also appeared to sparkle as they leaned forward to look at him.

"Who are you?" The rightmost guard called down from his perch, keeping his bow in his right hand. His face was wrinkled, with a slight grey stubble on his chin. He spoke calmly, or as calmly as his thick accent would allow him to be. As he asked, the left guard pulled out a piece of paper and a quill, ready to jot down the answer. The left one had long, black hair underneath his helmet that caked his forehead with sweat. His face was comparatively young, with mud-brown eyes and a pointed nose. He had a little mustache underneath his sniffer that he scratched every so often.

"sans. sans the skeleton. how you doin'?" He answered, squinting a bit as he noticed the pointed-nosed guard stuff his parchment away in his belt. It was evidently a log of some kind to keep track of people who entered the city.

"Forgive us, Sans, but precautions are needed nowadays, especially with the Princess gone. We were ordered to keep track of primes and secondaries that enter Ambrosia until further notice. Or at least until the orc problem starts to be taken care of post haste."

"it's alright." Sans replied. He decided not to tell the guards about the orcs in the forest. He didn't want to give them away unless they were truly a danger to him or anyone else in the Tangled Green. But from the way they appeared, they looked like nothing more than a ragtag tribe trying to survive.

The accented guardsman nodded to his partner, who leaned down to his left. His hand gripped a small lever, grunting as he jerked it back. As he did this, the sound of wood sliding against stone and the workings of clockwork filled the air as the portcullis slid up into a cut in the architecture, allowing the skeleton to enter.

"You may proceed, citizen. Just don't cause any trouble." The man with the grey stubble said, smacking his gloved hand against the top of the arch before turning to his partner, specifically looking at his hair. He let out a loud sigh, shaking his head as he began to speak to him.

"Will you ever cut that hair? How can you even SEE out of that hair? Don't you know you can get heat stroke with hair like that?"

The black-haired guard frowned, bringing his arms up to his chest and crossing them. "Higgins, we've been on guard duty together for how long? Four weeks? Have I EVER gotten heat stroke in that time?" He replied, his tone slightly accusatory.

Higgins let out an exasperated groan, sliding his left hand down to the fuzz on his chin. "That's not the damn point, Wally. There's a reason why regulations clearly discourage long hair. It's because of the very real possibility of heat stroke! Don't you remember what happened to Stan?"

"Stan wasn't drinking his canteen. Nor did he have cooling powder on his breastplate. I have both." Wally replied, fishing his canteen out as if on cue. He removed the cap, bringing it up to his mouth to take a swig from it. When he finished, he passed it over to Higgins, as if offering it to him. He hesitated for a moment before taking the canteen, grumbling to himself.

Around this time, Sans had stopped just in front of the open gate, his eyes wide open. A thought had occurred in his mind just a moment prior, and he was still processing it. The guards mentioned that they had a log of everyone who entered. Could that mean?

The skeleton ran back, shouting up to the two. "hey! you guys said you had a log of everyone who entered?"

Higgins looked back down, seeing the monster back where he was standing moments prior. He yells back "Yeah. So?" in a way that he hoped didn't sound too annoyed.

"well, i was wondering... do you have a name papyrus somewhere in there?" He replied, a hint of hope and excitement in his voice as he began rapidly standing on his tiptoes, beaming up at the duo.

Higgins began to turn to his left, stopping upon noticing Wally already had the log out. He was swiftly flipping through the pages, shaking his head as he looked towards his partner. The grey-stubbled man repeated this action as he looked down towards the visitor.

Sans' heart sank as the truth was revealed. He brought his hands to his coat pockets, glancing towards the ground in an ashamed manner. "oh... thanks anyway, i guess..." He said, defeated.

"You looking for a guy named Papyrus?" Wally shouted, earning a glare from his partner. He rarely spoke out of turn, as he was his superior after all.

"yeah. been looking for him ever since i got here." The jacketed monster peered up at the two, pain masked by the ironic stationary smile on his face.

"Well, your best bet is to find Princess Guu," the disobedient guard continued, ignoring the angry gesticulations erupting from his right. "She isn't here, but we do know she headed off to Camelot. I think it was because of the Tournament going on over there? Whatever the reason, you best be heading there. She'll probably have a lead or two on where your friend is."

"really?!" the stout skeleton emoted happily.

"Yep. There's a shortcut not far from here. Just head east and go through the Haunted Forest. Past there is the portal to Camelot." Wally answered, smiling in defiance as he gestured towards his right, his finger pointed at a large, dark forest.

"thank you! thank you thank you thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou-" the comedian screamed as he charged off towards the direction given, not even bothering to stay and listen to what else he had to say. He sprang through the orchard fields, whooping all the while. The whooping caused a ranch of chocobos to start squawking like mad, providing plenty of irritating noise for about another hour.

The insolent guard chuckled, feeling rather proud of himself up until Higgins grabbed him by the sleeve, his teeth gnashing as he berated him for sending Sans through to the Haunted Forest.

"Relax, he has about fourty-five minutes or so to get there. He won't get killed unless a VERY large orc patrol happens to be passing by at the time."

"It's the HAUNTED FOREST for a reason, you fucking moron! You just sent him to-"

"He's a prime, sir. He can take care of himself."

"How do you know that?!"

"What secondary skeleton wears a blue jacket and smells of rotten ketchup, Higgins?"