SeasonTale - Chapter 7
TW: Slavery, sickness, abuse I'm not sure how much of this I'll continue. I don't think it'll be as good as my other writing, but I do hope to get all the lore out to you guys sometime. This is not me rejoining the UnderTale fandom. Masterpost
~o0o~
Papyrus was barely alive.
Undye took it upon herself to protect his dying soul from dusting. The time that passed that week was all a blur to Spring, and his anger that he once felt quickly sunk into a deep despair as he could do nothing about the situation.
The managers beat them ruthlessly, using their whips and fists to double their workload. The fire from the unhealthy habits of the factory only worsened the air quality. Each day, someone got sick, and they were beat for it.
It didn’t make any sense to Spring!Sans. Why would they hurt someone for being sick? As far as he could tell, he couldn’t control when he felt unwell.
Which was all the time, now.
Spring held a small piece of bread in his hands as he stared at Spring!Papyrus, laying on a bed as his skull was half-dusted. Spring!Alphys held his soul together for hours. Spring thought he heard her and Undye conversing about the workload, with Undye doing twice as much so Alphys could keep Papyrus alive.
His brother wasn’t breathing. He sat there, his bone slowly reforming and dusting as his chest barely moved. His soul didn’t beat, either. The white heart was clasped in another monster’s hands. Had Alphys let go, he would be nothing but a pile of dust.
Spring glanced at the bread in his hands before he rested it in one of Papyrus’ hands. “You need it more than me,” he sighed, tears streaming down his face. “Please be okay, brother…”
There was no reply. Spring!Alphys glanced at him with worry. “Kid, you need to eat that.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion,” Sp!Alphys insisted. “Eat it.”
There was another whip crack outside the room. Spring shook his head and gently crawled out of the space, trying not to be spotted by the whippers as he returned to his post, fiddling with the wires.
Cries of pain and hopelessness echoed through the air, but they were often broken by the crack of whips. They were more prominent than usual, as if their work hours were not enough, they increased them, allowing little time for rest and food. More and more of the workers got sick. Spring had attended to most of them; Papyrus had taught him a thing or two about keeping people healthy, and no one was in these conditions.
Slavery never allowed for such luxuries as health.
Spring couldn’t help the tears that fell down his face as he thought of his brother. They fell onto the wires, quenching their sparks. It’s my fault... I’m the reason he’s almost dead...
He listened closely to Spring!Temmie and Spring!Mettaton’s conversation. They talked about how the ‘big boss’ was coming today. They became hushed about the topic when Spring drew closer to listen in more. The only thing he caught was the big boss being a Gaster of sorts.
Could it be the same one who sold him for a piece of bread?
Perhaps the pressure of said inspection is what caused the whippers to be more hostile and picky with the work that was being done by their slaves. It was almost unreasonable and insane to expect better work in worse conditions, but there was no consideration of such a fact.
Spring gently taped the wires together on the outside of another machine as he coughed the smoke out of his lungs. His hands and feet were hurting again. He was covered in black tar and ash. It burned his skin worse than the flames themselves. There was no time to clean up, however. He had spent his free time checking up on his brother, and he had to face said consequences.
This can’t be all there is... Spring wiped his face, feeling his stomach getting nauseous. He knew he was about to hurl. He stepped away from the wires and walked over to the edge of the platforms, resting his head over the edge as he vomited into the fire. For a solid minute, his stomach desperately tried to search for any nutrients, and when it found none, it shot the acid out of his mouth.
Spring’s cries of pain were disturbing. He could hear some of his fellow slaves approaching him, but they were pushed aside as the familiar, horrifying steps of a whipper came along. “Get back to work, kid!” The monster grabbed Spring by the scruff and lifted him up, turning him to face him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
Spring covered his mouth, trying to withhold another puke. No, please, not now—he couldn’t. His body gagged, and his vomit covered the whipper’s face as Spring coughed, tears streaming down his eyes. He looked at the whipper in horror as the goo ran down his face. What have I done? “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I—”
“You imbecile!” The whipper threw Spring onto the hard pavement, scraping his face. He hurriedly tried to wipe the acid off his face in disgust, cracking his whip. “How dare you defile me?!”
The whip cracked against Spring’s skull. He cried out in pain as he curled up on the floor, trying to block the whips. Instead of his face, the whips struck his hand, ripping the bones apart as the whipper continued. Blood poured out from them, and Spring whimpered, unable to put his pain into words or a cry for help.
The whippings suddenly stopped as a loud thud could be heard. Spring hesitantly looked up through the water building up in his skull.
Spring!Muffet had just punched the whipper in the face.
She looked at her hands as if she couldn’t believe what she had just done, but that didn’t stop her words from snapping at the abuser. “Pick on someone your own size!” She dared to say. “You’re pathetic for picking on a helpless child! Be a man and choose someone stronger than he!”
Spring’s eyes widened in fear as he reached out to her. “Muffet, no—”
The whipper clearly did not find her challenge amusing. He stood up, grunting as rage fumed in his eyes. He cracked his whip to the side. “Own size, eh? Someone like you, then? You know what happens to challengers like you, right?”
Spring!Muffet’s eyes widened as she raised her hands into fists, all six of them. “To fight for a kid’s life, yes.”
The whipper raised his whip. It was as if time had gone in slow motion as he slowly brought it down on the monster that saved Spring—
BOOM!
A bright flash of light filled the air. There was a strong gust of wind, sending the whipper flying into the lava below, screaming all the way down. Muffet was also blasted back, barely catching onto one of the railings. Spring was pushed into the wire system, grunting as he tried to stand up, but his hands hurt too much.
Before him, in the direction that caused a blast, was a bright, white fire. It burned the wood nearby as if it were the sun itself. Who walked out of the fire was someone Spring had never seen. It was too difficult to see, but she looked like Toriel, a similar, shorter type of goat. Her gaze was flat, and she walked with grace. Everything about her glowed like starlight, something Spring had only heard about until now.
The shouts of the whippers were blurred. They yelled about the hole in the factory before charging at the intruder. “It’s her!” one of the muffled shouts rang through Spring’s ears. “Kill her!”
One by one, the goat slayed every person that dared to come her way. Despite being hit with some of the whips, they disintegrated on touch. Her hands were surrounded by a white fire, and when she fired at the whippers, they turned into ash immediately. Dozens of them swarmed her, but they were no match for her skills.
Behind her came a large dragon. It was white, with long eyes, and its head shaped like a gaster blaster. It munched on any whipper or opposer that approached the goat. It was as if it was made from starlight itself. Its gaze turned toward everyone else, turning around to reveal someone on his back.
Spring’s eyes widened as he observed the little skeleton on the back of the dragon. He… He looks like me.
The battle waged on, but it was something Spring was in too much pain to notice. He glanced up one more time to find the slaves cheering at some proclamation the white goat gave. She gently approached Spring as everyone rushed out of the factory.
“Little one,” her voice was more soothing than a thousand ice packs. “Come with me; let me nourish you back to health.”
Spring weakly looked up at her, his body trembling in pain. He couldn’t form words as the white fire that burned the factory blinded his sight. He reached out his hand, trembling. “B-Brother…”
“Spring!Papyrus, will be alright. Come with me; you are being rescued and set free.”
Spring felt her hands wrap around him as she hoisted him up over her shoulder. He didn’t resist as he watched more whippers being reduced to ash. Something about the sight eased his mind, as if they were getting what they deserved.
The goat climbed up onto the large dragon, saddling it as if she rode it. She held Spring in front next to the other little guy. “Hold on,” she commanded before taking the reigns and flying off.
Spring watched as the factory went out of sight, getting smaller and smaller as the dragon ascended into the sky he had never seen. His eyes widened in wonder, resting on the beauty of the world before him. The sun greeted him willingly, and suddenly, his soul felt lighter and more at ease.
Spring had felt hope.
His hands trembled as he held onto a lower part of the reigns. It took a moment for him to process what was happening, but the cool air felt so good against his skin, he never wanted to leave it. He turned his gaze to the other small skeleton in front of him. The little guy had bruises and thin, snowflake eyes. He was staring right back at Spring the entire time the dragon flew off into the air under the cover of the clouds. He nodded slowly. “Greetings.”
Spring stared back at him in awe, as if he were looking at himself in a mirror, but a different version of him. Everything was so new, he didn’t know how to process anything that was going on.
But that didn’t stop him from being polite. His hand trembled as he lifted it in greeting.
“H-Hello…”