#tanistale

The transition from warm, autumn-y hallways and dim lighting to blinding white snow and a rush of cold is almost enough to make Nic stagger back a few steps. He stands and shivers for a second as the door to the Ruins slams shut behind him with a complete and utter finality. This is it. There's no going back. And he's only just realized that the striped shirt he had borrowed from Amalia probably isn't enough to keep him from getting frostbite.

There's a long path stretching out in front of him, lined on both sides by tall pine trees that stretch up into the mist. He has to take a moment to remind himself that, yes, he's still somehow underground (although he can't for the life of him work out why or how there's actual snow down here), and then he forces himself to start walking even though every horror-film-taught inch of him is screaming at him that this is a bad idea. In a movie, this would be the point where he, the unnamed, oblivious bit character, would get mauled by the ten-story high monster made of shadows and poison. And Nic Silver may be many things, but he is not the victim of a plot device.

A few minutes of walking later, nothing has happened and he's almost begun to relax- and then a twig behind him snaps.

He pauses; glances quickly back, notes that there's nobody there.

"Great," he mutters, and starts walking faster, trying to reach the gate he can see in the distance.

Snap. Nic speeds up again, practically running. He reaches the gate and realised that it's locked, and is just about ready to bang his head against it in frustration when a tall shadow falls over him.

Nic stares at the wood of the gate, completely frozen in fear. Oh god. Oh god. Nothing friendly would ever lurk in the shadows of the forest and menacingly snap branches and cast ominous shadows over random strangers, it's going to eat him. What if it eats him? He's going to die. He's going to-

"Boo."

Nic screams at the top of his lungs, and spins around, flailing wildly.

"Whoa," says the guy standing in front of him, stepping back. "Are you-"

"Oh, thank god, I thought you were some kind of monster for a second," Nic babbles for a second "-wait, were you stalking me?"

"Dude." The guy's staring at him. "I am a monster. We all are, down here."

"We all-" Nic stops, trying to catch his breath, and remembers what Amalia had said just before he left the Ruins. Just because this guy doesn't look like he's about to immediately kill Nic on sight doesn't mean he can't be dangerous. And if he's a monster- then what sort of monster is he?  "Right. Of course. Sorry. Forgot for a moment."

"It's cool." The guy's still studying Nic. "You came from the Ruins?"

"I- yes."

A curious sort of half-smile curves over the guy's face, and Nic instantly feels guilty for lying to him. "Huh. Never met anyone from the Ruins before. You going anywhere?"

"Yes," Nic blurts, and a moment passes where the two of them just sort of stare at each other, both waiting for the other to speak.

"That's cool," the guys says slowly, with a quirked eyebrow. He doesn’t look like he’s about to kill Nic, but then again- appearances can be deceiving. "Want to tell me where?"

"Uh- yes. Tanis. I'm going to Tanis." Nic twists his fingers together, hoping he doesn't look too out of place. "You wouldn't know where it is? What direction, I mean."

"Yeah, I know Tanis. It's a while away," the guy says. "But I can show you the way to the nearest town. You'll probably be able to find some information there."

"Great!" Nic grins in relief, and sticks out his hand. "I'm Nic. Nic Silver."

The man shakes it- his grip is firm and strong. "Geoff Van Sant. Nice to meet ya. Come right on through the gate- I know it looks like it's locked, it's not."

"Oh," says Nic, and then proceeds to follow Geoff- his new friend? - through the gate and further down the path. He glances back and notices that their footprints in the snow have all but disappeared already despite there being a distinct lack of snowfall in the general area.

"You're going to have to be careful, if you're looking for Tanis," Geoff warns him after a couple of metres of walking.

"Careful?" Nic hurries to keep up with the taller man, sneakers crunching awkwardly through the frost. His feet are soaked and frozen, but he's warm inside with the thrill of a mystery to solve and the possibility that he might actually solve it.

"Yeah, some people are really… well, touchy, I guess is the word. You know. Conspiracy nuts." Geoff makes a gesture towards that Nic takes to mean you know the sort. "After Tanis was discovered, the incident with the fallen humans happened, and it was blocked off to the general public, a lot of people got very obsessed with it. Seemed to be convinced that there was something behind it all."

Nic wants to ask about the 'incident', but is afraid that showing his lack of knowledge might expose him. "Really? What sort of people?"

"You don't know?… oh," Geoff scratches his head. "Right, you're from the Ruins. Well, I don't really keep track. I think some sort of cult was formed in Waterfall, and the Royal Scientist hasn't been the same since… well, you know. And," here a scowl develops on his face, "well. There's my brother."

"Your-" Nic's innate curiosity is bubbling up inside of him, and he's about to ask the obvious question when he sees the look on Geoff's face. It's dark and cold and almost filled to the brim with sadness.

"...okay," he says instead, with a lack of anything else to mention. "That's very interesting, thank you."

"Is it?" The new look that Geoff shoots him is almost surprised. "That sort of thing's normal around here."

Nic feels a sudden surge of something he can't pin down, and suddenly can't contain himself any longer. "...normal? Geoff, this place is extraordinary. The people here are amazingly kind and the most unique of any that I've met, and this place!" He gestures around himself; at the snow and the roof that he knows is there but can't see. "It's… it's magical. Everything is so new and excellent and I don't know how I ever saw anything as wonderful before it! How can you say it's normal?"

Geoff has stopped in his tracks and is now staring at Nic, who is feeling increasingly uncomfortable and a little hot around the ears after that outburst.

"...compared to the Ruins, I mean," he says lamely, backtracking, and blinks in surprise as he sees Geoff- well, there's no real word for it but flicker, he kind of sort of… becomes transparent for a second? He isn't sure if he really saw it or if it was just a trick of the light, but it causes him to stop and stare back at Geoff, resulting in an awkward few seconds when they're both just standing there, looking into each other's eyes.

"You've only been out of the Ruins a few minutes, dude," laughs Geoff, breaking the silence and averting his eyes quickly. "Maybe save the dramatic speeches for after you've met somebody other than me?"

Nic laughs too, grateful that attention is now being drawn away from his slip-up. "Yeah. Maybe. Sorry."

"No prob. I always enjoy being told that I'm amazingly kind and unique." Geoff winks at him, actually properly winks, and starts off again, leaving Nic standing, startled in the snow for a few seconds before he catches hold of his senses long enough to scurry after him. "Not too far now 'till we get to my sentry post."

"Sentry post?" Nic's now scrambling for information. Information's good, and more importantly, distracting. "You're a sentry?"

"Sure am." Geoff sticks his hands in his pockets, looking casually proud of himself. "Semi-official basis. I'm supposed to be looking out for any humans that wander around here."

"Humans?" Nic manages to force out after a short moment of panic, hoping it doesn't show in his voice.

"Yep. Ridiculous, isn't it? Like any human would be stupid enough to wander right down the main path and get caught by me." He shrugs. "But then again, the King comes up with the craziest shit."

"Yeah. Sure is crazy. Hahaha." Nic hopes he sounds casual, but he never was much good at acting. He wants to ask about the King, but now would actually be a really awful time to do that.

"I don't think I'd recognize a human if it walked straight up to me and introduced itself." Geoff tips Nic another wink, and he's just standing there in shock because either he's much better at pretending to be a monster than he thought, or Geoff is just really, really oblivious.

(Or faking it. It wouldn't be the first time that somebody had messed with him and he hadn't got the hint.)

And then Geoff does the flickering thing again, and this time Nic's sure he didn't just imagine it because for a brief second, he could see the clear outline of a skeleton underneath Geoff's skin, like he had suddenly gone completely translucent all over. The effect fades quickly, leaving Geoff looking quite embarrassed and Nic just staring again.

"Sorry," he says. "That… doesn't usually happen around strangers.” He scratches the back of his neck, looking- incredibly- embarrassed. “Magic’s annoying sometimes, huh?"

Nic has more important things on his mind. "Holyshityou'reaskeleton."

"Nic," says Geoff with utmost patience. "I'm pretty sure everyone is a skeleton. You know. Deep down."

"But-" And oh great, his hands are doing the flappy thing that he thought he had grown out of in high school. "-skeleton?!"

"You're acting like you've never seen one before." It's Geoff's turn to stare now. Nic, under the layers of immense freak-out extraordinaire that he's currently feeling, takes the time to note that he's acting remarkably blasé about it before he realizes, oh yeah, he's probably been a skeleton monster his whole life. (Life? Death? )

"I haven't!" Nic says, and then commences upon doing the most unconvincing backtracking he's ever done in his life. "-there's no monsters like you in the Ruins, I mean! They're all, um, different sorts of monsters. No, uh... skeletons."

"Uh huh." Geoff's face is blank, so very blank. "So, uh, what sort of monster are you, then?"

"What?"

"Fire magic. Secretly seven hundred spiders in a stripy shirt. You know."

"Um, right." Mentally, Nic berates himself for not seeing this coming, and casts around quickly for a decent explanation. "I'm a, um… I'm a Dalek."

"A Dalek?"

"Yeah." Do they have Doctor Who down here? Is that a thing? "When I get mad, an eyestalk bursts out of my head and my voice starts to grate menacingly."

"Whoa." Geoff's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Does that happen a lot?"

"Not really." Okay, cool, he's buying it. "I'm pretty calm most of the time. But when I'm not, you should see me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm all like, exterminate and you will be assimilated-" oh shit, wrong TV show. Maybe he's getting into this a bit too much. "-well, anyway. I look pretty normal otherwise. Like you."

"That's good." They're walking again now, side by side along a snowy path. Nic's eyes occasionally dart in the direction of the forest around them, where he swears he can see weird shadowy figures moving around in the darkness. He tries his hardest to ignore them, and focus on Geoff, who's just as- if not more- interesting.

"Good?" he wonders aloud. "Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing really," Geoff says, and shrugs slightly, the movement tired. "But until you told me about your species, I almost thought you might be a human."

Nic tries his best to laugh this off. "What, me?"

"Yeah, like I said, nothing. Doesn't matter now, right? But if you were a human, there might be trouble."

"Trouble?" Nic really doesn't like how ominous that sounds.

"Yep. My brother's around here. Probably up ahead at the station, waiting for me."

Nic tries to rewind and remember what Geoff had said about his brother before. He remembers the reference as being very vague, almost in passing. "Um…"

"My brother's a fanatic, " the monster informs him, slightly too cheerfully.

Nic pauses, trying to gauge Geoff properly. "...a human-hunting fanatic?" he offers after a second.

Geoff laughs sourly. "Nah, just a fanatic."

A few seconds pass as Nic attempts to configure a response to this, and then there's a bend in the path up ahead and they're standing in a clearing, and-

"Geoff!" yells a voice- loud, clearly used to yelling- from next to the sentry post that's been constructed at the edge of the entrance to the next part of the paths. Nic jumps on the spot, but Geoff only lets out a small, defeated sigh that serves only to make him seem much smaller than he actually is.

"Hi, bro," he says, tiredly.

A bundle of rage and anger in a red cape comes storming up to them both, and Nic takes a defensive, instinctive step back. "Don't hi, bro me! It's been at least five days, and you still haven't checked the recordings!"

"I didn't need to, Karl," Geoff says. "I've been here the whole time."

"That doesn't matter!"

The newcomer- who Nic assumes, based on the evidence, is Geoff's brother- is shorter than his sibling, with glaring, suspicious eyes and what seems to be a permanent twitch in his right hand. The family resemblance, however, is hard to ignore- especially the flickering. Karl Van Sant seems to switch between being humanoid and literally being a skeleton every five seconds, and appears to almost vibrate with anger at the same time. The effect, overall, is startling, especially when compared to Geoff- who seems much more sedate.

"If we don't check the recordings," Karl is continuing, seemingly ignoring Nic's presence completely, "we might miss something important! Do you know what's in the forest, Geoff? Do you?"

"Tanis?" offers Geoff, without enthusiasm, and Nic barely suppresses a slight twitch. So Geoff does know more than he's letting on.

"We won't know!" shrills Karl- and yes, that's the only word for it, he's practically screaming by now. "Not unless we look!"

"I've been watching the forest for days, bro. Not a twitch," Geoff says. "Just the Grackles. You know. Like usual."

"They're involved, I've told you before!" Karl snaps, clearly exasperated. Nic feels like he's intruding on some sort of private moment, but can't quite bring himself to tear himself away. "There's something going on, Geoff, you can't deny it!"

"I can't," Geoff admits, and adds so softly that Nic only barely hears it, "not to you."

Karl glares, and flickers to skeleton, and glares some more, this time with empty eyesockets where his eyes should be, and then swings around, finally noticing Nic. "What's that?"

"It could be a rock?" Geoff suggests, with such a lack of emotion in his voice that it takes Nic a second to realize it's a joke.

"That's not a rock!" Karl screams. "It's a human!"

"That's not a human, bro," Geoff says. "I'm pretty sure it's a rock."

Or maybe it's not.

Karl swings furiously between Nic and Geoff for a few moments, during which Nic tries to make himself look as unobtrusive and rock-like as possible.

Karl finally gives up. "You're right," he says, utter sincerity in his voice. "It's a rock!"

Geoff nods. He looks sad. "Yep."

"I'll be up ahead!" Karl says, swinging around. His red cape flutters. It looks torn and jagged, and like it hasn't been washed for months. Humanoid, then skeleton, and back again. "And check those recordings!"

"I will," Geoff says, and he and Nic watch as Karl storms and stumbles off and out of sight. They keep on watching until there's nothing left to see.

"Is he…" Nic starts, unsure.

"No," says Geoff, and he looks tired, really tired. "Not, he's not. I- I don't know what to-"

Flicker. Quickly skeletal, and then back again. His mood changes at the speed of light, or maybe he just buries his emotions beneath some finely-constructed layer of faux-cheerfulness. "I hope you don't mind. You look a lot like a human, and… well. I wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea."

Nic, for once in his life, senses that pushing this topic would be a bad idea, and instead just nods.

"Okay, so," says Geoff. "The town's about a kilometre from here."

"Town?"

"Yeah, I'm assuming you want to get to Snowdin?" When Nic makes a small noise of unsure assent, he nods. "There's an inn, and a bar, and a library up there, it's a bit warmer than out here in the snow. I can't freeze to death, but you sure look like you might."

"Yeah, that… does sound good," Nic admits. "Do I just follow the path?"

"Straight through the forest," Geoff confirms. "If you see the Grackles, jut ignore them."

Nic nods, not daring to ask what 'the Grackles' are, and he takes one step forward before pausing. "-you're staying here?"

"Well, yeah," says Geoff. "Sentry duty, you know." He grins, flickers into skeleton and back quicker than Nic can process. "But I'll definitely see you around."

"Yeah?"

"Hell yeah. We can meet in town- or I'll bump into you later."

"Yeah?" Nic repeats, now grinning. He likes Geoff. Geoff has that sort of irresistible personality that just draws in- he seems easygoing and just sort of- cool. Easy to be around.

"'Course."

Geoff waves him off with a slight flicker of his outline and when Nic glances back a few metres later, he's disappeared without any sign that he had ever left- no footprints in the snow leading away.

Nic finds himself looking forward to seeing Geoff later, and he grins to himself again, bundling his sweater tighter around himself.