The story of Underdrop ~Complete~

Chapter 1

The five friends stood in a close, whispering cluster while the youngest stood apart from them, on tiptoe for a better look. One was whispering with frequent breaks to glance back at the two sleeping bundles in the crib. The whispering skeleton was telling the story of skeleton reproduction to his enamored fellows. Blue, magical hands floated behind him, repeating his words in sign language. He had long since learned to speak the monster's language, but it was an old habit of his that he hadn't the heart to break. The story had started with Alphys' curious question and went like this.

Gaster: "My wife and I had always desired children. It was... quite lonely in this house. We always dreamt of two little SOULs to light up the rooms. But... then she turned to dust before we ever had the chance. As you know, I found her in the caverns. What I didn't tell you, Alphys, was that she had cut off her hand right before she dusted. Not at the joint, where it would have been easy to reattach, but she cut through the bone itself. She had placed it in a little jar that she gave to me with her last breath, along with the instructions. You see, skeleton reproduction is entirely unique. A bit of dust from either parent, a population control mechanism I assume. In order to make a part of a skeleton dust, you must make an irreversible wound. That is why I have these holes in my hand. I drilled them myself. Once the dust is well mixed, a certain amount must be put nearly immediately into the soil. One can only assume that a babybones grows like a plant from my experience. After a few months, a hole opens up in the earth, exposing the child. The child stays asleep for at least another day as their new body adjusts to the climate. It has already been twenty-four hours since they have left the ground. That's why I called you here. I hoped you would like to see their eye lights open for the first time with me."

The others nodded eagerly and ran over to the crib at the sound of stirring. The larger one was opening his eyes slowly. He blinked up at them, his different color eyes twinkling with a curious light. He yawned then started making babbling noises at them. The noise seemed to wake the smaller one who slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. He only opened one at first which was a light blue. Then he opened his other eye, moving his hand away at the same time, and the other four gasped while Gaster made a choking, warbled sort of noise. His left eye was a blue-green and the shape of a raindrop. It looked exactly like the kingdom flag. Gaster stepped closer and reached a hand to cup his son's face. The child blinked up at him with some sort of silent understanding. Asriel was too busy cooing at the other to notice the look Toriel and Gater shared. Toriel put a hand on Asriel's shoulder and lead him away with Undyne, Alphys, and Grillby following. Gaster sighed and went to pull up a bath for the babybones.

***3 months later***

The children were about to experience their first Rainfall. Thankfully, the king was quite intrigued by the smaller skeleton's abnormal eye and allowed him to grow up with his brother, rather than keep him close for study. Gaster had followed the ancient skeleton tradition and named the brothers after the fonts in which they spoke. The larger brother spoke in a large, bold font and was called "Papyrus" while his brother spoke in mostly lowercase tones and hardly ever made himself heard. His name was "Sans". As all skeletons do, Sans and Papyrus matured quite quickly. They were already walking on their wobbly legs and talking in near sentences. As Gaster had expected, Papyrus was curious about everything and always getting himself into weird and potentially dangerous situations. His brother on the other hand, was very quiet and mostly kept to himself unless there was something he could do to help. Already he had tried to help Gaster with groceries, cleaning, and cooking. He sometimes asked Gaster why he was the only one with a weird eye. One of the only questions Gaster was unable to answer unfortunately. A hush fell over the crowd as the clouds were gathering far overhead. Papyrus and Asriel were holding hands, staring up at the sky in awe. Sans was sitting just outside the flower ring, watching his brother. He was kind of sad that both his brother and father had left him as soon as they had got here. Gaster was discussing work in hushed tones with Alphys and Asgore, while Asriel was telling Papyrus what was about to happen. Sans leaned against the tree and stared upwards as the raindrops started to fall. It was absolutely gorgeous. Rainbows raced back and forth through the downpour, chasing one another. The clearing seemed to be lighting up from the raindrops themselves. Papyrus made a noise of awe and joy while reaching up to catch the drops on his hands and tongue. Asriel laughed and pulled Papyrus into a hug. Barrels and containers were placed on the floor to catch the water and some of the more energetic monsters started up a slow dance through the flowers and the rain. No matter how many times one saw a Rainfall, each was just as special as the last. Some of the older monsters pulled out instruments and played a slow tune in time to the others' dancing. 

Eventually, the tempo increased. Asriel and Papyrus were doing some very weird dance that involved a lot of arm-waving, while Alphys was being twirled around by Undyne. Everyone was laughing and having a great time, even Sans. He was still standing under the tree, but he was bobbing his head in time to the music. Sans slowly walked through the dancing and laughing crowd, carefully avoiding stepping on the flowers as he did so. He glanced at everyone he passed, his skeletal grin growing wider as he saw the pure joy in every eye. He finds himself in the middle of the field and spinning in time to the music. He laughs along with everyone else and twirls faster and faster, his face towards the sky.