Yeah bitches, I wrote it.
First of all, i started writing this with the draft version of this post (best friend privileges, suck it.) so i didnt really consider an option to run unless like an afterthought, very different than what UJ wrote here.
To start, I'm getting rid of the more plausible scenarios and/or taking away some powers that they would be able to get out of there or get help quickly due to that being +* boring +
Sans would be out with Papyrus, following the energy packed skeleton. Papyrus would find a cave, and be rash and wish to go in and explore. Sans would be hesitant and try to coax him into waiting until Gaster or Asriel was following them, but he eventually gives in after Papyrus promises not to leave his sight. Papyrus hops in, and Sans watches him. Papyrus seems to be having fun, finding moss and little critters. After he's done searching everywhere, he climbs out.
A rock crumbles beneath him, and he falls, breaking his leg.
Sans panics and is kicked into protective big brother mode. He holds Papyrus as to not put pressure on anything that was cracked, and tries to help him.
He would stay with Papyrus for a long time, holding him close like if he lets go he'll disappear. Sans has some snacks in his pockets, so he stays longer.
Eventually, he'll see a search team not far by, and teleport to alert them. Once they run away and tell Gaster, Azzy and Gaster show up REAL QUICK.
And then death part which I don’t ref at all:
Azzu would try his hardest to heal Papyrus but he's just out of reach it affects the group a lot ofc but Sans is fucking devastated he wont leave his side even if anyone is looking at him. Gaster tries to get him to take a bath or go to school or something but you'd have to make him dust on his baby bro before he would let go
I think Sans would be hit the hardest and blame himself the most
Gaster and Asriel feel guilty, especially died, because they should've been moi watchful but I think Sans would just give up HoPe and fall down, right next to his bro
That doesn't happen, though. Eventually they get the cave opening wider without any risk of rocks collapsing
Gaster would hire a team of bodyguards if they went outside as well as Asriel
Sans was always a bit protective and coddling
but he wouldn't get over it for a long time he'll keep Papyrus on a very short leash for a long time metaphorically, of course
Again, I was just putting my own spin on this whole thing, so let’s get started!
Papyrus laughs a little, spinning round and round, kicking whatever poor rock scuffles by his foot.
Papyrus can feel Sans’s sockets on him, so Papyrus turns to send Sans a blinding smile.
They continue walking through the muddy paths of Waterfall.
“SANS! SANS!! LOOK IT IS A NEW CAVE!!”
Sans and Papyrus peer into the cavern, Papyrus more excited that Sans.
“I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN MADE FROM THAT CAVE-IN A FEW WEEKS AGO!!”
Papyrus subconsciously takes a step towards it, only to stop at Sans’ hand.
Papyrus pouts, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NO?! I DID NOT EVEN SAY ANYTHING, BROTHER!!”
Sans rolls his eyelights, turning and grabbing Papyrus’s cervical vertebra, bringing it down to headbutt Papyrus’ skull to Sans’ own.
Looking into Papyrus’s slightly petulant eyesockets, Sans replies, “‘could jus’ tell wha’ yah was ‘bout ta ask, bro. so, i repeat, no.”
Sans let’s his brother go, and Papyrus takes the newly found space to cross his arms, “BUT… WATERFALL RARELY GETS ANY NEW CAVES…”
Copying Papyrus’s stance, Sans argues back, “which ‘s why we sh’ stay away, paps, ‘s unstable.”
Papyrus’ frown only deepens, tears welling up in his sockets, “B-BUT…!”
Looking at Papyrus’ teary eyes, Sans almost breaks, “whadabout we jus’ wait fer mister ta come back? or even th’ king…”
Papyrus clasps Sans’s hands within his own, peering in closely, “SANS, I PROMISE, IF YOU WOULD LET ME IN THERE, I WILL NOT LEAVE YOUR SIGHT! I WILL BE SUPER DUPER SAFE, AND YOU WOULD BE THERE TO MAKE SURE I AM!!! PLEASE…!”
Papyrus breaks eye contact to put his head down for a moment, and Sans internally winces as he knows what’s coming next.
Sure enough, when Papyrus puts his head back up, he’s wearing the dreaded “puppy-dog eyes.”
Sans can only concede defeat as he sighs, “…fine…”
Sans levitates a bigger stick to a rock that seemed too loose for his liking, making sure to keep an extra eye socket out for his brother, who “OOH”s and “AHH”s over everything he finds.
Propping the rock up, Sans chuckles as he walks deeper into the cave with him.
“OOH, SANS, LOOK AT THIS PRETTY ROCK!!!”
Papyrus points to the roof, and Sans admittedly can’t see what Papyrus is pointing at, despite only being five feet away from where Papyrus is standing, but Sans thinks he sees something shiny.
Sans swears he looks away for a second.
He feels something crawling on his leg, so he looks down to swat it away. His head snaps up at a crack, not unlike a thunderclap from back on the surface.
Everything slows down, his SOUL jumping into his throat.
Because the only thing he sees is his baby brother falling, rocks and boulders crashing around him.
Sans runs to his brother, tackling him out of the way of a rock that was about to hit him.
Papyrus screams as the exit caved in, everything suddenly settling into unnerving quiet around them.
Papyrus groans, pain erupting from all over his body, but especially his head.
A high pitch sound reverberates around his skull, leading Papyrus to clutch his head as he tries to sit up.
Something catches around his chest, and Papyrus tries his very best to fuzz his eye lights into existence to see what.
Half-succeeding, Papyrus blearily catches view of his brother, crying and muttering words the ringing won’t allow him to understand.
At the sight of his brother, Papyrus calms, not realizing that until he saw him that he was worried to see if he was okay.
The ringing lets up, and Papyrus continues to struggle to keep his one eyelight up, despite how fuzzy it is.
At his words, Sans seems to look at Papyrus for the first time, saying something Papyrus can’t hear.
He panics, thrashing and looking around wildly.
“I-I Can’t..! Brother, I Can’t-“
Papyrus mumbles words he doesn’t put any effort into enunciating, quickly loosing energy to fight.
Something taps at his mouth.
Monster candy, already unwrapped, is shoved into Papyrus’s mouth, to which Papyrus instinctively swallows.
*You ate the Monster Candy…
“Ugh, I hate The Taste Of Licorice…”
Papyrus groans, and Sans softly shushes him, whispering sweet nothings.
Papyrus’s eyelight snaps into shape with resounding clarity.
Papyrus grins, despite Sans’ confused look. Sans murmurs, “you, ah… couldn’t before…?”
Papyrus shakes his head, trying to make Sans dispel the (admittedly true) idea.
Papyrus decides to sit up.
Pain wraps around him like an old friend, clutching Papyrus with a vengeance, and rendering him unable to sit up much farther without Sans’s help.
Luckily, Sans realized what he needed, and helped Papyrus ease into a sitting position against the cave wall.
By now, the memories of what happened before had mostly returned, so Papyrus winces as he shifts into a more comfortable position.
Papyrus looks around to the dust that has long since settled, “How Long Has It Been…?”
Sans frowns, “i’ve been up fer maybe an’ hour or so.”
Papyrus nods, taking stock of his state.
His ribs hurt awfully, the pain almost all encompassing. It’s continues, never wavering in intensity or consistency. Papyrus chooses to ignore it. His arms seem fine, there’s a few scratches that make dust flake off it, which is bad because pure magic usually drips from his wounds. And if he doesn’t have any magic left for that, how long does Papyrus have left? Papyrus doesn’t know what it means if it’s just all dust.
He looks at his leg. Or, more specifically, what he could see of his leg. The pocket of space they’re in is small, and Papyrus’s right tibia seems to not have made it into the safe space.
Papyrus shifts it a little, realizing it was a bad idea and quickly vowing to leave it alone.
Papyrus looks at his brother, relieved to find mainly minor scrapes with most of the serious cuts having already been clotted with dry blood.
Hugging his older brother tight, Papyrus is hit with the sudden realization that they’re trapped.
Groaning, Papyrus leans his head on his brother’s shoulder, “What Are We Going To Do Now?”
He looks over to see Sans grimace, “dunno, bro. wait, ‘m guessing.”
Papyrus chooses not to comment on how it’s been over an hour already.
Papyrus reaches his mangled phalanges and weaves it into Sans’s gloved ones. Looking down again, Papyrus suddenly feels very tired. So Papyrus closes his eyesockets, only to be roused by Sans.
Trying to put as much magic as he could spare into his fizzing eyelight, Papyrus turns to Sans and asks, “Why?”
Sans looks… worried, to say the least.
Eventually, he settles on, “…just… don’t.”
Swallowing, Papyrus fights against his sudden drowsiness as— unknown to him— most of the adrenaline wears off.
After a long exhausting battle, his flickering eyelight looses the battle of sight, and fizzes out, leaving Papyrus blind.
Sans shifts, and silence permeates about. Papyrus thinks he should say something about their predicament, or apologize for putting them in this situation, but the chance to do any of that is taken away as Sans says,
“y’know… if ya wan’ see ‘gain then i can sho’ ya differen’ way ta see… takes less m’gic.”
Papyrus tilts his head as he thinks over Sans’s offer. The darkness is unnerving him a bit…
Suddenly, Papyrus feels a hand over his eyesockets, and another hand bringing his own to Sans’s face.
“jus’ copy mah m’gic, an’ i’ll guide yers correctly.”
Papyrus feels a sudden concentrate of magic underneath Sans’ eyesockets, not a lot, just enough to be noticed. It’s also a now enough concentrate that Papyrus can comfortably copy it with some of his drained magic reserves.
Papyrus can feel Sans pushing intent through the hand over Papyrus’ sockets, allowing Papyrus to shape his magic.
The hand over his eyesockets lets up, and Papyrus opens his sockets to a seemingly darker cave, a wider worldview, and Sans wearing the creepy eyes.
“You Can See While You Are Doing That?!”
Papyrus barely restrains himself from yelling the question, but his brother only chuckles, answering, “yeah, bro, i can.”
Sans blinks, and his eye lights are back, bright and round as always.
Some dirt falls from the roof, and Papyrus is suddenly reminded where he is.
Papyrus winces, looking down to where their hands are interlinked, wondering if he’ll ever have the chance to do that again.
He doesn’t realize he’s said it until feels Sans tense, though he ignores that as his brother responds, “not tha’ ion’t love ya too, but… where’s this comin’ ‘rom?”
Papyrus bends down to lean his forehead on Sans’s shoulder, hoping that and the dirt will hide his tears.
“Sans… What If Help Doesn’t Come In Time? What About Mr. Asriel? Or Father? What If We Never See Them Again?” Papyrus swallows, whimpering out,
Sans’s arms encircled around Papyrus’s body, pulling him so close like the world would fall apart if he didn’t. Papyrus is afraid he will be the one to fall first.
“it’s not bro, it’s not…”
Papyrus shakes his head, “I Was The One Who Begged You To Come Here!” He sobs, trying to push away but Sans holds steadfast, “You Knew—“ His breath hitches, “Brother, You Knew,” He digs his carpal bones into Sans’ shoulders, “But You— It’s My Fault, It’s All My Fucking Fault.”
His breathing comes in labored, and Papyrus knows he’s spiraling. Maybe he deserves it. He’s the reason why they’re stuck here. Why he and Sans will die a very slow, painful death. His bones will dust and crumble away, engrave into the dirt and leave no trace, not a single trace, he’ll dust and he’ll be the one who led himself to that path, led his brother down that path.
Come on, how could he bring Sans into this? The hope of all monsters? Smartest person he knows? That Sans? How could he?
He dips his head into Sans’s chest, wondering if he’ll ever be able to make it up to his big brother.
Sans rubs his teeth onto Papyrus’s skull, shushing him.
“bro, no…” He practically whispers, “it ain’t—“
“You Can’t Tell Me That.” He cries, “You Can’t, Brother, You Can’t.”
Sans doesn’t try to say anything else.
(Why would he? It’s true.)
Sans’s grip gets impossibly tighter, and if Papyrus wasn’t already on death’s doorstep, he’s sure he’d be there by now.
“you… ain’t at fault, ‘rus…” Sans’s fingers glide down his skull to the nape of his neck, only to find it’s way back up again.
Papyrus feels undeserving of it.
“it‘s ‘n accident.” Sans words seem so confident, so self-assured, “we’ll get outta this, an’ we’ll be ‘k, bro. promise.” Papyrus tries with all his might to find any trace of lies, but he doesn’t find a single one.
So, Papyrus shuts his eyes tight, trying to imagine he’s somewhere else.
He falls asleep that way.
Only when Sans knows Papyrus is asleep does Sans let his tears drip.
He would never admit this to his baby bro, but Sans is scared.
Scared of the dust that spills from Papyrus’s wounds like tiny gray speckles of sand, pooling around their feet like a murky puddle of water on the side of the road.
Sans is scared of the silence around them, the crumbling walls, the encompassing loneliness that comes with the possibility that they might never be saved.
Sans is terrified of the possibility that the monsters may only find detached bones and dust by the time they even think to look for them.
Sans fears the end. Not only for himself, but for Papyrus as well.
He curls his fingers tighter into the hug he holds Papyrus in.
He wishes he could turn back time and prevent this. Go back to make sure this never happens. But he can’t. So he’ll make sure they’ll get out of this.
He wipes his tears, before realizing that only made more replace them, so he takes a deep breath in and takes stock of what’s around him.
The walls are about arms length and two feet extra in length, five and a half feet in height— give or take— and Sans can put his arm out in front of him and touch the wall for the width. The ‘walls’ cough dirt from the cracks occasionally, but Sans is almost positive that the air pocket will be able to stand until help comes.
Sans himself was able to get off with minimal damage. His body feels oddly tingly, especially in his left arm, but it’s fine. No, wait, the lack of pain is probably bad. Really bad. Lack of pain means that he’s in shock, meaning the injuries might be bad enough to kick in that immune response— numbing any extreme pain he should be feeling, he means— leaving him unable to process how bad his injuries are, which is probably really bad if he doesn’t want to push himself past what his already pushed limits. But… then again, those are very far-fetched hypotheticals and is, most likely, Sans’s anxiety speaking so he’ll be moving on.
Papyrus is hurt. Badly. Solid 7/10 in supposed agony. His baby bro must be in so much pain right now… Anyways, his leg is probably the worse. Sans was able to worm the left one from under the rocks before Papyrus woke up, and thankfully that one was fine, but Sans worries the right leg might be infected from all the dirt and germs at this point. Sans feels Papyrus’ forehead. No fever, but honestly Monsters are different and weird and symptoms of an infection could probably pop up differently.
The close second to Papyrus’s worst injury would be his head. Papyrus probably got a real bad concussion, considering how long it took for him to wake up. He’s not sure how it is for monsters, but Sans read somewhere that if it takes more than a few minutes for someone to wake up from a head wound, then it’s bad. Who knows how long it took either of them to wake up. Sans hopes for once that his internal clock is off and it hasn’t been that long since Papyrus was knocked out, but who knows.
Sans is actually worried about Papyrus sleeping right now. Concerning head injuries, Sans once had this neighbor who accidentally hit a stop sign while riding his electric bike full-speed. Besides the fact that he was bleeding a ridiculous amount— probably from practically cracking his head open on the sidewalk— he stayed awake for the initial few minutes. His mom rushed over quick, and they quickly got in the car to drive to the hospital. Story is, he decided to lay his head down and take a nap in the car, and he just… never woke up. Just like that. Doctors said it wasn’t from the blood-loss, but the severe concussion the kid sported. That’s why it was scary to die like that. You wouldn’t even know. You would just be closing your eyes for a nap, and then you’d be breathing your last breath.
Sans doesn’t want that to happen to Papyrus.
It’s why he softly runs his finger over Papyrus’s skull, making sure his brother in everything but blood is still breathing, is still okay.
Because he has to be. Sans don’t know what he’d do without Papyrus. How’d he go on without the coolest little brother in the history of the world. The little brother who crinkles his (admittedly, non-existent) nose at licorice and bakes cookies for his classmates on a whim (despite the fact them usually turn out burnt). His little bro who’s susceptible to breaking out into song at any moment, who makes way too elaborate stories for his action figures, who puts the utmost effort and attention into everything he does, his brother.
How could he live without Papyrus?
Tears renewed, Sans buries his head into Papyrus’s skull and hopes he and Papyrus will be rescued soon.
Asriel is not having a good day.
He was good before, actually. It was a pretty damn good day. He and Gaster had little work to do that morning, and were done by eleven. Gaster decided he was going to stay back to make sure they didn’t miss anything, so Asriel took his new-found free time to pack his stuff and head over to Hotland to have brunch with his mom.
Better yet, Asriel came just as Chara was making their rounds in Hotland, so Asriel was able to corral them into joining them for brunch, but they said they’d come only under the condition Dad came too. They thought Mom wouldn’t allow it, but jokes on them, Mom would gladly have Dad over if it means she could spend time with the both of them.
Dad was there by the time Mom was serving the food.
Sitting there, all of them together, Asriel could almost act like they were a family again. It was short lived.
Chara left early saying they had to get back to work (not that he could blame them, the tension between Mom and Dad was suffocating.) After Chara left, Mom all-but kicked Dad out. Asriel could only stay for about half an hour before it got too awkward between the two of them and he ultimately left too(not before helping with the dishes though, he’s not a heathen.)
He took his time coming back, helping this lava monster calm down, these two friends drag some crap to their shop, and chatting with a guard on sentry duty. Eventually though, he drags his body through the doors of his room in the castle.
He was fully prepared for a nice afternoon full of relaxation, but then—
He turns to see a guard standing in the doorway.
He snaps back, annoyed, “Could you please knock before—“
“Prince Papyrus and Prince Sans are missing!”
So yeah, Asriel is not having a good day.
“Do You Think They Are Looking For Us Yet?”
It’s who know how long of dozing, chatting, and various conversations before Papyrus decides to ask the question.
He hopes someone is looking for them. He doesn’t know how much longer he can fight off sleep.
Papyrus feels Sans shift a little, “uh, yeah, bro, i think so. why’ya askin’?”
Papyrus cracks a wry smile, trying to ignore the dust that creeps in the back of his throat(despite the fact he doesn’t has one.)
Waterfall is the best place in the entire Underground, in your opinion.
It’s not too hot, like hotland, but it’s not too cold either, like Snowdin.
And, it has muddy puddles! They’re just the best to hop around in. It also has the twinkling stars that shimmer in the ceiling. And that old guy with yummy milkshakes.
You hop in a puddle, spraying water all over you and Friend’s kneees.
You look towards to your friend. He don’t doesn’t have a name, not really. He said his mum just… never chose one. Maybe he’ll chose a new one when he’s an adult!
For now, like your papa told you to, you call your friend, Friend, because he’s your friend!
Hehe, you said ‘friend’ a lot.
Friend’s Mum whistles and calls your name really loudly, gathering you and Friend’s attention.
“Hurry up and grab Son already! We’re going to be late!”
You laugh again, turning to Friend, “You heard her! Race you!”
You take off in a sprint, Friend’s pounding feet behind you.
And then there’s a really loud crash. And a scream.
All three of you stop. Friend’s Mum making a really odd face.
Then, she yells, much louder and with more fear in her voice than you’ve ever heard in it;
Papyrus is jostled from where he dosed off on Sans’ shoulder once more. It’s been really hard to stay up recently… he’s been getting more sleepy…
“jus… stay ‘wake fer ‘bit longer, ‘k?”
He just mumbles out an agreement, trying again to clear the fog from his mind. Even with the low amount of magic Papyrus is using, occasionally his sight flickers out until he focuses on it again.
“someon’s gotta b’ lookin’ fer us, ‘m sure.”
Papyrus can’t even feel his leg anymore, and his blinks are becoming longer and longer between each of them. The only thing he recognizes now is his brother and himself, and he can’t even see him anymore…
If this is death, then it is very, very lonely.
The response is immediate, “yeah, bro?”
The world is sluggish, like it slowed down just for him.
Papyrus had quite a good life. He loved, and was loved. He had a bunch of cool friends, his brother, and Mr. Asriel, and Father, too. He had a lot and he hoped they missed them, because he’ll miss them…
He hears hears Sans frantically whisper his name, probably not capable of anything else.
If Papyrus had to speak of any regrets, it probably would be that he won’t be the only one dying today. It would be that he’s dragged Sans into this.
“bro, c’mon say s’mthin…!”
And he says it with such desperation, Papyrus wishes a miracle would happen, wished that he’d be better, or wouldn’t be there in the first place.
“papyrus, please… be okay….”
And Papyrus puts his most into the next words, hoping Sans would hear them,
Sans never felt more useless than he did now.
Papyrus isn’t doing any better, and Sans can’t do anything to help. Papyrus is too tired to digest the candy he has on hand, no shortcut just happens to be nearby so he could leave and get help, and he’s too fucking useless to know how to heal to even help Papyrus.
He leans over Papyrus’s limp body, passed out and just barely breathing, not even bothering to wipe the tears that flow down his face.
How Sans wishes someone would find them already…
And then a miracle happens.
Asriel’s day has just turned from bad to worse.
Papyrus and Sans have just gone missing without a trace, with not even a general area of where they can be because Gaster couldn’t bother to get his head out of his ass for two fucking seconds to listen onto where his sons were frolicking off to.
Not only that, but now he has to deal with a Cave-in with a possible civilian who’s already been trapped there for hours. Hours!
Asriel is in awful mood by the time he sees his mom, in her lab coat with her equipment, for the second time that day. There’s few more powerful than him and his mom with raw healing magic, so he follows her down the winding paths in Waterfall, meeting with the Monster family that reported the cave-in.
He begins with the interviews of what they heard, while Mom carefully maneuvers around the rocks while making sure they won’t suddenly crumble. Other telekinetic-inclined monsters— few, but called in especially for this time sensitive matter— levitate the “okay”-ed rocks out of the way to open the entrance wider.
Feeling his headache grow with the lack of questions answered, Asriel decides to ask one more question.
“Do you have any clue on to where the two Princes are?”
He sees the woman tilt her head, almost as if in thought. Asriel tries to find some home she’ll at least know something.
Eventually though, she clicks her teeth and shakes her head, “Not one, darling.”
Asriel sighs, thanking the woman for her time.
He writes a few notes down, deciding it wouldn’t be bad to search the area for any clues.
What he finds amusing is he doesn’t get two steps away from sight until he’s stopped from a yell.
What he finds so fucking amusing is, when he lays down next to the bodies to administer first aid?
He finds it’s his two missing children.
Papyrus wakes up slowly, to the harsh, white lights of what he quickly recognizes as a hospital room. He had a horrible headache, and an awful itch from the bandages that seem to wrap around his entire body. Breathing is a struggle, it feels like sawdust is traveling through his ribs.
He pries his eyes open with much difficulty.
“…papyrus?” He looks over to his brother, bandaged but alive.
He shoots up in his excitement, only getting halfway before he practically folds back in half from pain.
“uh, wai’ das bad, don’— jus’— lemme call ‘n doct’r real’ quick…” Papyrus laughs a bit at the sound of Sans’ panicked voice. He’s never heard him sound so out of his element before…
Before he knows it, he’s sitting up and back on his hospital bed, a doctor listing his injuries.
It… admittedly, sounds bad.
A concussion, magic loss, fractures, broken bones, something called an “in-fek-sion” and a few other injuries he couldn’t remember.
Sans was better off, the only bad break being his arm, which was well on his way to healing.
He… doesn’t really like to think about what they told him, him practically turning to dust when they fished him out on-scene. They said it was a miracle he was alive.
Papyrus is just glad Sans didn’t get hurt.
After, far after Mr. Asriel came to kick Sans out to bed rest, and far after Sans came back after being told not to, Papyrus squeezes Sans’ hand, thankful he’ll be able to do it as many times he wants in the foreseeable future.
Sans pulls him into a hug, and just for a moment, Papyrus ignores the cast on his leg, the crutches on his bedside, and even the inhaler on the table. Just for a moment, Papyrus digs his carpals into Sam’s shirt, and smiles.
the only real plans I had for Papyrus and Sans’s injuries was that I knew I wanted papyrus to use a leg brace for a few months after the accident to help him walk, and that I wanted Sans’s arm to be in a cast (bc it’s broken). Don’t ask how breathing problems work for paps despite the fact he doesn’t have lungs, idk how and idc.
Also I had this like half done so I really turned this other half out fast so if the endings poorly done that’s why
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