Rescued...
Papyrus’s POV
Leaving the comfort of home all alone without Metty and Boogie was always very difficult. But I made sure to do it during the night time while they were asleep so they wouldn’t notice my absence. I finally entered the darkness, lighting it with my now fiery palm. I didn’t expect to see much. I haven’t for months. But I’d rather be safe than feel guilty if a human fell and I couldn’t help them.
Same old rocks in the same old area. I’ve walked around this place so many times I sometimes notice if pebbles are missing from the rocky walls. Luckily, no one has wandered off into the Ruins and gotten themselves in trouble. But I heard a mysterious noise coming from the entrance to the Underground we call ‘Home’. Yes, its actual name is “Home”. My brother, Sans, is a great ruler, but he’s especially lazy with names. The noise I heard sounded like whimpering. The kind of whimper Metty makes when they feel ill or the sound Sans makes when I try to wake him in the morning.
I became slightly worried, but also very curious as to what this noise could be. Mid-thought, I noticed a human laying right beneath the hole from the Surface leading here. They were wearing a dark pink flannel-looking shirt stained with dirt and their own blood - I assumed. It, along with their jeans, were ripped and torn. Along with their left shoe missing. Their shoulder-length brown hair was knotted and tangled up in a mess. They were making the noise, from what I could tell. Their breaths were very spaced out and heavy, but they were still breathing - thankfully.
I rushed over towards them, the fire disappearing from my palm. The faint amount of light shining down from the Surface being enough for me to see. I crouched in front of their face brushing their hair out of their face gently. Their nose was bleeding and they had scratches and bruises covering their face and body. A few buttons were missing from their shirt and the few that were still attached weren’t buttoned. The brown haired human’s legs were bent in a way that had me convinced that if not just one of their legs were broken then both...
“Oh you poor thing...“, I whispered, struggling to lift them up without hurting them. I was also extremely confused at this moment. When I found Metty, who had tripped and fallen down here, not even they were in the horrible shape this poor child was. I’ve read briefly about humans, the history of them and their behaviors. Though, I still couldn’t pinpoint what had happened. Whether something happened to them right before they landed themself down here or... Regardless of what happened to them, it wasn’t an accident they ended up down here.
“You’re lucky to still be breathing...” I smiled, carefully rolling them onto their back with a smile on my face.
Even their arm was bent backwards. But I wasn’t sure if it was enough to break it. Slowly and carefully, I lifted them up. The groaning noise they had been making grew louder and more pained. Their eyebrows even furrowed. They were knocked unconscious, yes, but they were still in a lot of visible pain. They really were lucky they were still breathing. I held my hand out in front of them as they laid in my arms, lighting the way home with the fire from my palm to guide the way. I moved as quickly as I could, but made sure not to hurt them.
“You’ve been gone for a while.” I heard Sans’ voice from the couch he had fallen asleep on when I left. I closed the door quietly behind me, not responding to him, trying not to wake the injured child. “Yo! Where th-“, he quickly walked towards me when I walked into the room he was in. I kept my gaze on the motionless child in my arms, my face blank. “Oh... I... I’m sorry. What happened?”
“I found them near the entrance. I’m going to heal them. Please retrieve some new clothes for them. Theirs are destroyed...” I whispered to him, turning around and heading towards the empty room I had prepared for the next human I came across. Sans ran past me into mine and Boogie’s room for new clothes and I opened the door to the newly cleaned and furnished room.
I laid them down on the bed, fixing their bangs that were in their face for the second time. Before changing their clothes, I made sure to heal all their wounds. Starting with their arm, moving to the scratches and bruises on their face and hands. Finally, I finished off with both their legs and ankle. I wasn’t completely sure of the exact injuries they suffered, but I was certain Asgore would know. But because I had helped them as much as I could, at the time. I was at peace.
“Hey, Paps... I found this” Sans quietly walked into the room. A plain white shirt, a thick green zip-up hoodie, a pair of jeans and a pair of red boots with Boogie’s socks in his arms. I originally planned to give the boots to Metty, but they complained “it wouldn’t go with their outfit” and “red is not their color”. I shook my head with a kind, happy smile, reaching my hands out and taking the clothes from him. He placed the boots on the ground beside the bed they were laying in.
I have learned it is inappropriate to describe the undressing and redressing process, so I will leave out the details. A few specific things stuck out to me, though; While I was changing their shirt, I noticed they had countless marks all over their body, predominantly on their arms and legs. Too many to heal at once. I healed all of the major ones I knew for a fact were causing them pain. But there were many that no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t heal them. I was completely out of energy at that point, as well. I just left them alone and decided that if when they awoke they complained of them, I would do my best to help. When I took their flannel-style shirt off, I saw a name written on the tag in a black marker; Chara - to which I figured was their name. A very pretty one... The letters looked to be tampered with and faded, but I was able to read it fairly well.
Asgore told me about ‘scars’ a while back. While doing Metty’s hair one morning, I saw a mark a lot like some of Chara’s on their forehead. When I asked them about it, they told me it had been there for a very long time, long before they even fell. Therefore, I asked Asgore about it and he told me they were called scars; Marks with the color of white, pink, or even the color of the human’s skin that had been left behind by a previous injury and seemed to stay forever. He told me that over time, the mark should leave Metty’s head because they’re so young they’ll ‘grow out of it’. Chara had already looked much different... much older than Metty and Boogie, though, so I’m still not sure if they’ll be able to ‘grow out of’ those.
After placing their boots on and tucking them into the bed, I quietly turned the light off. I left the room, closing the door behind me. “What happened to that kid?” Sans asked with a concerned tone of voice, looking back at the room they were fast asleep in.
I sighed, sitting on the chair near the fire, waiting for him to sit himself on the dining room table chair. “I don’t know, brother... All I know is that that wasn’t an accidental fall. Whether someone pushed them or they jumped down, it was intentional...“, I shook my head, laying back in the chair. I desperately struggled to wrap my mind around the situation and restore my powers. “God, Sans. They drained the life out of me. I’ve never even seen anyone down here with injuries so horrible... Most of them must have been there a while. Quite possibly before they even reached the top of the mountain...”
“Really? Never seen ANYONE with worse injuries? Not even the time Toriel tried to get into a fight when she was just a child?” he smirked, trying to lighten the situation as he leaned toward me in the chair.
I chuckled a bit, shaking my head. “As bad as that was, no. Not even that bad. You should have seen them when I first found them. They had tear stains all over their face and everything. Some of them even looked fresh...”
“Now why would they jump down by themself at their own will? Everyone on the surface knows you can die that way. Hell, some of ’em even believe it’s bottomless!” he shouted and I could tell we both started pondering.
“Well that doesn’t matter now, brother. They’re safe and that’s what matters...” I refused to speak about it any longer. As I stated, they’re safe now and that’s all that mattered.
“All right, Paps”, he spoke, standing up and stretching while walking over to me. He patted my head as I glared at him and he yawned. “I’m going to bed. Good night.” And with that, he walked to his room to go back to sleep.
I couldn’t sleep for the first night, though. I checked on Chara countless times to make sure they were okay. I was a little worried about how Metty would react to Chara’s presence. They weren’t very fond of company.
I began recalling the time when we first adopted Boogie and saved Metty from their fall. Boogie had been with us for a long while and he believed I was truly his parent considering the fact that I rescued him from the forest when he was just a new soul. I let him believe what he wanted since it didn’t hurt anybody and it made him happy. Luckily, he doesn’t remember any of what actually happened, so I still don’t know how he got there. But he was safe, and is safe, so it still doesn’t matter all that much. He had always been such a sweetheart. Maybe too sweet. Now that I think about it, maybe he was just naive. But it never got him hurt! Mostly because I was there to protect him, though...
Things around here really started to change after Boogie found Metty. He was lucky I even let him out there that day and we’re all glad I did. Sans was even more involved with the family, I realized I truly am a great caregiver, and Metty always made us happy. I began my brief research on the human species when they came into our lives. I wanted to better understand their behavior and history and I’m glad I do now.
While talking to Asgore and skimming through a book I found in his lab, I learned that if a human feels upset enough or simply doesn’t wish to live any longer, they will take matters into their own hands and end their own life. I don’t even like to think about any creatures who were so upset with their lives that they would want to end it completely. Which explains why I stopped talking about it with Sans before he went off to bed.
Eventually, I checked on Chara one last time to make sure they were all right before finally going to sleep. They hadn’t moved an inch. They were breathing perfectly fine and looked so comfortable, so I just left them alone.
Once in bed, I fell asleep rather quickly. I was absolutely drained... Never once did I stop worrying about Chara, though. ‘I hope they’re okay... Hopefully they wake up soon...’
