Guardtale - Chapter 3

The sun was going behind the horizon, but it’s rays still shone over the capital city. People were going home, emptying the streets but still some lingered while trying to make the last preparations for the day. As the sunlight slowly disappeared, light on the street were lightened. Two monsters stood out from the rest of the villagers.

“Come on, Brother! We cannot miss this GREAT opportunity!” A tall skeleton said as he strode towards the castle in the middle of the city. He wore an armor that was probably more fancy than practical, and he had a sword resting on his hip. Around his neck were a red scarf, over his shoulders hung a backpack and a small, blue shield with a skull were hanging from it. Under his arm hung a short skeleton with a blue jacket and black shorts, who rested his chin in his hand.

“Well, we aren’t going to miss it with this speed you have.” He said before dropping his hand down and letting it hang there. He looked around from his place and saw that most of the humans and monsters that were still out were staring at them.

“Hey, Pap. We probably need to check in to an inn. The audition are tomorrow, right?” He said and looked up at the walking skeleton.

“Why?”

“Well, they are probably not going to let us into the castle until tomorrow.”

“Hmpf! We’ll go there tonight and that will show them how determined we are for this job! We’ll not be outshined by amateurs!”

The short skeleton let out a chuckle and closed his left eye.

“That’s a bright idea, bro.” He said and continued to chuckle to himself. The tall skeleton abruptly stopped and lifted the other skeleton in front of him. He squinted his eyes at his grinning brother.

“Sans. It is not time for puns!” He said before putting Sans back under his arm and start walking again. Sans merely shrugged and continued to hang there. He smiled and waved to some children that were staring at them and giggling.

After some more walking, they reached the gates to the big castle. Sans yawned big as he was carried over to the two human guards that were standing outside.

“Greetings, Humans! I am the Great Papyrus, and this is my brother, Sans!” The tall skeleton said as he held Sans in front of him.

“‘Sup.” Sans said with a lazy wave. The two guards looked at each others before the looked at the skeleton brothers.

“What is your business with the castle?” One of guards said as they stepped forward. Papyrus put down Sans on the ground before straightening out his back and hit his chest with one of his fists.

“We heard that there would be an audition tomorrow for a guarding job! And we are here to apply to it!” He said with a big grin. The guard shook their head.

“You have to come back tomorrow for that. We are not letting in anyone in the castle this time at the day.” They said and Papyrus’ shoulders sagged a little before he straightened up again.

“Very well then! If that is the case, we will wait right here until it is time for you to open the gates!” He said before he promptly sat down on the ground. He reached over his shoulders and took the backpack off them. He started to rummage through it in search for something to eat. The two guards just stared at him.

“Sir. You can’t sit here. We ask of you to remove yourself from the gate.” The other guard said as he motioned towards the gate. The first guard nodded. Sans just shrugged.

“Come on, bro. Let’s sit down by the wall. Will be easier to sleep there.” He said and walked some way away before sitting down on the grass by the stonewall.

“Okay! Coming!” Papyrus said before quickly raising up and hurrying over to his brother. The two guards just looked at each other before shrugging off the two strange monsters.

As Papyrus sat down again, he picked up two apples. He handed one to Sans who looked at it for a bit.

“This is what we got, huh?” He said and Papyrus nodded.

“Yes! Well, we do got a few more, but they’ll do for tonight!” He said and took a big bite of his apple.

“Man… We really need to get that job tomorrow… We’re running out of money.” Sans said with a sigh before taking a bite of his own apple.

“Don’t worry, Brother! It will turn out great! Well, as long as you decide not to be lazy…” Papyrus said and gave Sans a stern glance. Sans simply chuckled. After that both of them were silent during the rest of their meal. When they were finished, Sans yawned big and leaned backwards onto the wall.

“Welp, I’m a nighter. See ya tomorrow, bro.” He said and closed his eyes. Before Papyrus had the chance to say anything, Sans was gone into the dreamworld. Papyrus sighed a little before patting Sans on the head.

“Goodnight, Brother.” He said before he made himself comfortable and started to check through their items and weapons, so they weren’t damaged. After some time, he too fell asleep.

Sans woke up as he heard a quiet rustle of grass, but he didn’t move. He listened carefully to the light steps as they came closer and stopped in front of them.

“Ya know, if you want to sneak up onto two mercenaries, you gotta to be quieter.” He said as he raised his head to stare at the sneaker. It was darker than before but that didn’t hinder Sans. A small human child squeaked in fright as they stumbled backwards and landed on their butt. Sans blinked a little bit in surprise that it was a child that tried to sneak up on them. Beside the child was a big lump of cloth. The child themselves, had brown hair and their eyes shut. They wore a dark green medieval hood over a lighter blue shirt with matching trousers. And they had no shoes on them. Sans frowned slightly at that.

“Oh? Are you hurt, human?” Papyrus said, he had been awaken at the same time as Sans. The child lifted their head and looked at the two skeletons.

“A-ah! S-sorry! I didn’t mean to wake you up!” The child hurriedly said before realizing how wrong that sounded. Papyrus rose up from his seat and moved towards the child while Sans continued to sit at his place.

“I-I mean..!” They begun but spluttered in surprise as Papyrus picked them up. Papyrus gave them a bright smile.

“It is rather okay! We get awoken by thieves all the time!” He said happily and the human squeaked both at the implication of what Papyrus had said and that Papyrus had started to turn them around and examine them.

“Hmm... It seems like you haven’t gotten hurt! That’s great!” He said when he was finished with his examination and put down the kid on the ground. He patted their head before straightening out his back. The child almost fell back to their butt again because of the dizzyness they felt. Sans was trying really hard not to laugh at the scene.

“Sans? What are you laughing about?” Papyrus said as he turned towards his brother and Sans knew he had failed. He took a few deep breath to calm down, but still a chuckle came out.

“It seems like you just have shaken the kid’s world.” He snickered out and Papyrus gave him a stern glare. A giggle behind Papyrus made both pause and look at the child before Sans grinned bigger.

“Human! Don’t encourage him!” Papyrus said but it just made the human giggle more.

“Come on, bro. You’re smiling.” Sans said and his grin became bigger as Papyrus gave a defeated sigh.

“Yes, I am.” He said before looking down at the human again. They calmed down quick enough.

“What was it that you wanted, human?” He said and the child looked up at him before seeming to remember something. Sans and Papyrus curiously looked at them as they went over to the forgotten cloth on the ground. They picked it up before turning towards Papyrus and Sans.

“Well… It’s kind of cold out tonight and I thought that you were freezing without a blanket, so…” They said and held up the cloth to Papyrus. Papyrus picked it up and it was revealed it was a big and comfy looking blanket.

“I thought that I would give you two this. You two were already asleep when I came here, so I was thinking of just putting it on you and then leave.” They said and looked down into the ground a bit embarrassed. They squeaked a little in surprise when they once again was picked up by Papyrus and held in front of him.

“Wowie! Sans, this kind human gave us a blanket!” He said before he hugged the human closely.

“Thank you for your consideration! Though, I do regret to inform you that we doesn’t freeze since we have no skin! So we are not in need of a blanket!” He said as he looked at the human in his arms.

“Besides, don’t you need it more yourself?” Sans said as he got up and walked over to Papyrus and the human. Despite the fact that the child basically hung from Papyrus arms, they didn’t seem uncomfortable.

“No, not really. I live close by and we got enough blankets at home. It’s better to share them, right?” They said and Papyrus eyes sparkled a little.

“This human is so adorable!!! Sans, can we keep them?” He said as he looked down to his brother.

“They aren’t a pet, bro.” Sans said with a chuckle before addressing the child.

“You sure? I don’t wanna be rude, but aren’t you… More on the poor side?” He said carefully and the human stared at him before frowning.

“Why do you think that?” They asked and swung their legs a little, still not seeming to mind being in Papyrus arms. Sans looked at their feet and they moved their toes a little in order to keep some warmth in them. The child bent over the arms to look at their feet too.

“I don’t think they are that poor, Sans! Their clothes are clean and smells really nice!” Papyrus said with a tilt of his head.

“One can still be poor even if they have clean clothes, Paps.” Sans said and frowned a little when the human giggled.

“You think I’m poor because I have no shoes?” They asked with a smile and winked with their toes. Sans nodded in confirmation and the human giggled even more.

“You are silly!” They said and continued to giggle.

“And why’s that?” Sans asked and looked on as the child looked up at Papyrus and tugged at his scarf and pointing to the ground. Papyrus carefully set them down on the ground and they smiled brightly at Sans.

“You don’t have to worry! I got some shoes back at home. I just don’t wear them because I don’t like shoes.” They said and Sans looked at them before shaking his head and ruffled their hair.

“Heh. If you say so, kid. You sure you’re not getting cold?” He said and got a nod as an answer. Then the kid looked up at the dark sky and frowned a little.

“I better get going. Mom’s going to worry if she doesn’t see me in bed.” They said and Papyrus looked a bit disappointed.

“Well… I guess you have someone who worries about you! I, the GREAT Papyrus, will follow you home to make sure you are safe!” Papyrus said and Sans grinned.

“O-oh! That’s no need to! I’ll manage, it’s not that far!” The human said as they shook their head while waving their hands in a negative manner.

“Well, you brought us a blanket, the least we can do is to make sure you get home safely.” Sans said, but once again the human shook their head.

“It’s not really that far… And I really got to go now. Bye!” They said and before Papyrus and Sans could protest, the child was running away along the castle wall. The human suddenly stopped and turned around.

“You two are really cool! Sans, Papyrus! I hope we see each other again!” They yelled and waved with their arms to the two skeletons. And, despite the fact the monsters couldn’t quite see it, the human wore the biggest smile they had ever had on their face. Sans and Papyrus raised one hand each and waved back and just like that, the human had gone off running again and disappeared around a corner.

“That was an interesting meeting.” Sans said as he lowered his hand and smiled.

“GAH! Sans! I forgot to ask what the human’s name was!” Papyrus suddenly yelled, making Sans jump. Sans looked up to see tears in Papyrus eyes before sighing.

“Come on, bro. Let’s get back to sleep. We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” He said as he returned to the wall.

“Shouldn’t I follow the human to make sure they are okay?” Papyrus asked as he continued to look after the child.

“Nah. They seemed intent on not letting us see where they live. Can’t blame them. Give them the benefit of trust.” Sans said as he settled down against the wall and made himself comfortable. Papyrus stood there a while before he looked down at the blanket he still held in one of his hands. He looked at his brother before walking over and sitting down beside him, putting the blanket around them.