Chapter Text
When you purchased a plane ticket to the Bahamas on a whim, you were expecting a nice, quiet flight over the ocean.
Not this.
The screams around you were louder than the rattling engine of the plane you were seated in.
A glance out the window showed the fire engulfing one of the wings, causing the cabin to shudder violently.
This fucking sucks.
That was the only thought running through your head as death approached. You thought you’d be more panicked, but you were strangely… at peace.
Definitely not screaming like the lady to your left was.
You clutch the arm rest tightly, knuckles white. Sure, you were scared, but not at the caliber the rest of passengers were.
A loud sound tore through the air, and you noticed the wing that was on fire was now gone. Due to the uneven distribution of weight on the plane, it began to tilt to the side as it descended downward towards the ocean.
You close your eyes, picturing the way your life turned out as you bask in your final moments.
You grew up fairly happy. Your parents loved you, but after they separated, most of the happy memories became bitter.
You graduated school with good grades, and went to college to become a nurse.
Yet, you hated every aspect of it.
All nursing did was expose you to the true nature of the human race; selfish, vile, cruel.
So, you quit your job and blew your savings on a plane ticket, hoping that a change in your life would maybe improve your mood.
Well… this was definitely a change in your life.
Just not for the better.
You notice the sparkling ocean out the window, and how it gets closer and closer. In any other circumstance, you’d find it pretty.
You close your eyes and brace yourself for the inevitable.
The cabin jerks harshly, windows shatter, and water floods in.
Then there’s darkness.
- - -
Sans is patrolling his territory when a loud, roaring sound shakes the ground he’s walking on.
Sensing danger, he immediately dives into a bush, feeling his magic course through his bones in preparation for a fight.
Instead, he realizes the roaring sound is coming from above him.
His eye lights shift upward, and he notices a large object light up the sky, spiraling downward to the beach.
There’s a crash, then silence.
It’s been a long time since there were any signs of life outside of this island.
The last contraption that Sans remembers floated on water, and that was a long time ago when Papyrus was a pup.
That time, there weren’t any signs of life at the wreckage.
Sans can see the smoke in the distance. Curiously, he makes his way towards the shore, despite knowing the risks of being in the open.
Now at the edge of the woods, he takes in the surroundings. The weird object was jutting out of the water, and pieces of debris were washing up on the sand.
Sans notices an odd figure laying on the beach. Its eyes are closed, almost as if it’s sleeping.
Sans glances to the left, then the right, and with no signs of danger, he carefully emerges from the foliage, making his way down the shore. His moves are cautious and slow, as if the slightest sound will cause the creature to awaken.
It isn’t long until he’s next to the unconscious being. It’s… not a skeleton, but is almost shaped like one? However, instead of bones, there is a weird flesh covering it.
looks soft…
Sans is tempted to touch it, but holds himself back.
He leans down, his nasal ridge close to the fur on the creature’s head, and he sniffs.
Sans can smell the ocean, a tint of lavender, and something else…
Something that seemed distantly familiar… yet foreign…
Sans reels back when he realizes what the smell is.
a female…?
He takes another whiff, confirming his suspicions.
This was definitely a female.
An unclaimed female.
Sans can feel his magic hum pleasantly in his rib cage. In all his time on this island, he’s never come across a female. It was only him, Paps, Blue, Stretch, Red, and Edge.
Along with that other fellow…
Sans shakes his head, willing himself to forget the larger, more threatening creature.
He shifts his eye lights down to the female, watching their chest rise and fall. A wave of calmness floods over him, almost as if his soul was being physically soothed.
this must be what it’s like to find a mate…
With a purr, Sans nuzzles his teeth against the female’s fleshy cheek, marveling in the softness.
mine.
Possessive, animalistic urges begin to rise in his body. He wants to take this female back to his nest; provide for her, protect her, claim her.
A soft groan comes from the unconscious female, and Sans instinctively shortcuts back to the entrance of the woods.
He watches his future mate wake up, processing her surroundings; he wants to pull her close and reassure her, but he must depart and prepare his nest for her arrival.
wait for me, my mate.
With that, he’s gone.
He reappears in “no-man’s land,” a small area that was unclaimed territory, where him and the others would often meet up; the rest of the island was separated; Sans and Paps shared a piece of land, then there was Red and Edge, then Stretch and Blue.
The other guy got his own land, but he never stepped foot in the meeting area.
Everyone preferred it that way.
Sans could already see the others discussing the strange noise that shook the island.
“th’fuck was that noise?” Red looked clearly irritated, he must’ve been asleep until the ruckus woke him up.
“PERHAPS IT WAS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE MACHINES?” Blue glances over at his brother, Stretch, but all he gets is a shrug.
“THE LAST TIME ONE OF THOSE SHOWED UP HERE WAS WHEN I WAS STILL CRAWLING.” Papyrus replies.
“THAT WAS FOREVER AGO.” Edge scowls, rolling his eye lights.
“blue’s right.” Sans states, causing everyone to look at him.
“SANS! YOU’RE BACK FROM PATROL. WHAT DID YOU FIND?” Paps eyes lights are shining, and he’s clearly excited.
“nothing much, but what blue said is correct. was a weird contraption with wings, crashed by the beach.”
“WERE THERE ANY CREATURES?” Blue asks, also appearing excited.
Sans didn’t blame him, it’s been many moons since another life form ended up here.
However, Sans couldn’t tell them about the female. It was too risky. If word got out that there was an unclaimed female on the island…
He shudders, not wanting to think of the outcome.
“nah, afraid not. thing was pretty busted up. nothing could’ve survived that.”
Both Paps and Blue’s smiles fall, and Sans feel bad, but he found the female first - it’s only fair he gets to secure mating rights.
“MAYBE NEXT TIME.” Blue retorts, trying to remain optimistic.
“WHENEVER THAT’LL BE. I’M GOING BACK HOME. ALL OF YOU STAY AWAY FROM OUR TURF.” Edge glares at the others, before motioning Red to follow him as he disappears in the trees.
“comin’, boss…” Red grumbles, following his brother.
Sans fights back the urge to roll his eye lights at Edge’s territorial behavior. However, he guesses that it was a blessing in disguise. Edge always followed the territory outlines, so the chances of him finding the female were slim to none.
“i’m uh, gonna head back and take a nap. paps, will you be ok?”
“OF COURSE, BROTHER. I LIKE HAVING MY OWN CAVE, BUT I KNOW WHERE TO FIND YOU IF I NEED TO.”
Sans smiled; while it worried him that Papyrus settled down in a separate cave from him, he wanted to respect his brother’s independence.
It seems that independence would come in handy with keeping his mate hidden from the others.
“ok, paps. see ya later.” He waves goodbye to the other pair of brothers and heads back to his cave.
Although he said he’d be taking a nap, there was a lot of work to be done for his mate’s arrival.
- - -
“Ugh…” your head is throbbing, and your muscles ache. Moving is the last thing you want to do.
Does death normally hurt so much?
Wait…
You flex your fingers experimentally, then your toes. You feel the soft grains of sand wedge themselves in between your digits.
A cool liquid brushes against your leg, and you slowly open your eyes.
Warm sand fills your vision, and the heat of the sun penetrates your soaked back. Cool ocean water laps along your legs, and you taste salt on your lips.
With every ounce of strength in your body, you push up onto your knees and into a sitting position.
Where am I?
Your gaze drifts across the beach. The sand is so fine and clean, it almost shines white like snow. It feels soft between your fingers, not as coarse as you were expecting.
This isn’t the Bahamas, but it sure is pretty.
You can see some trees in the distance, and it looks like the beach slowly blends into a forest. The foliage looked thick enough to get lost in.
Best stay put in the open in case a rescue helicopter comes by.
You look out towards the ocean, and are greeted with the tail of the plane jutting out of some sharp rocks near the shore.
Carefully, you stand up, but a sharp pain in your left foot prevents you from putting your weight on it.
You test the pain level as you carefully shift onto the foot. Once it becomes too much, you shift back onto your right foot.
Must be a sprain… doesn’t feel broken.
You sigh, hobbling over towards the tail of the plane. There’s no signs of anyone else in the general vicinity.
“Is there anyone there?” You call out, but the rushing waves are the only answer.
You notice suitcases floating away from the wreckage and onto the shore. You carefully move over to one, unzipping it and pulling it open.
There’s only some business suits, but there is a fresh pair of socks, along with some boxers. They might be big, but you can’t afford to be picky right now. Thankfully, they were dry.
You replace your soggy socks with fresh ones, already feeling a bit more comfortable.
Maybe if you could find a suitcase containing smaller clothes, you’ll be able to wear something warm and dry.
Once the sun sets, so will the temperature, and hypothermia doesn’t sound too pleasant right now.
You shiver involuntarily, the cold water seeping through your clothes and onto your skin.
You pull the suitcase containing dry clothes up the beach, away from the rising tide. Despite the suits being too big, they could still be used for blankets and such.
You spend the next hour or so hunting down luggage, and taking anything useful you could find. Unfortunately, survival gear such as a knife was nowhere to be found.
“Stupid airport security… how am I supposed to survive if no one smuggled a knife on the plane?” You mutter to yourself, pulling out a small first aid kit you found floating near the tail of the plane.
The supplies inside were dry, thank goodness. There were some bandages, gauze, antiseptic, and painkillers. You immediately pop two of the pills and swallow them dry, hoping it’ll diminish the growing ache in your left foot.
Need to find or make some sort of shelter…
Anxiety gnaws at your stomach. The sun would be setting soon, and you had no gear to make a shelter or fire.
Treating wounds was more your thing, not surviving in the wilderness.
You’ve gathered a fair bit of luggage in a small pile at the top of the beach. It looks like that’ll be your “camp” from now on.
Your next priority would be finding something to start a fire. A knife and rock would be ideal to make a spark, but with no knife, you’ll have to look for something else.
Your eyes begin to scan the ground in front of you, looking for any decently sized rocks that could make a spark. Maybe if you had two rocks and rubbed them together that would be enough.
You eventually find what you’re looking for, and give the two sharp stones a test. It appears the rocks were similar to flint, because they create a small spark when you snap them together.
Yes!
As fast as you can muster, you make your way back to the pile of luggage. You carefully set the stones on one of the suitcases, then make your way up towards the trees.
Light was beginning to dim, and the sun was resting over the horizon, creating a soft orange hue over the beach.
As you approached the woods, anxiety ran down your spine. The darkness behind the trees was unnerving, and you wanted to turn and run away from it, but you needed sticks and dry grass for kindling.
Thankfully, you don’t have to enter the woods to find what you’re looking for. A few stray twigs and dried leaves are scattered along the top of the beach. You gather as much as you can carry, and head back to your camp.
You create a small pile with the leaves and sticks you found, before taking the two rocks and snapping them together.
The first few sparks don’t do anything, and you grumble.
“Come on…”
Another snap! and the spark hits the dry leaves just right, causing it to light a small fire.
Your eyes brighten in success, and you carefully blow on it, feeding oxygen to the flame.
It grows, and you’ve soon got yourself a fire.
You’ve gathered some snacks and water bottles from the luggage. You eat until you're comfortably full, then chug a bottle dry.
You lay out some large clothes that are too big for you, almost making a makeshift bed.
Someone else thankfully packed a blanket, so you shred your wet clothes and toss them aside. Only in your underwear, you wrap the blanket around your shivering frame.
Not the vacation I was hoping for… but at least I’m alive.
You lay back, gazing at the stars that were now littering the sky.
Despite running away from your problems at home, you could feel your chest clench in mourning.
I miss home.
The soft crackle of the fire next to you is your only comfort as you are lulled into sleep.