The second star to the right

[mypartnerintime]

Who: Max, OPEN, and Chloe
Where: All over Neverland
When: Up to about halfway through the event
Rating: Idk PG-13?
Summary: Max explores the island, intent on finding Chloe- and actually succeeds.
The Story:

[A. She woke up on the beach | OPEN]

This is too much like another vision.

Max wakes up on the beach, cheek pressed against the wet sand, warm water lapping at her shoes. Adrenaline fills her the moment her eyes flutter open, and very quickly she's on her feet, wiping sand from her face. She still has her bag: camera, device, Oregon phone, journal, some snacks, pepper spray... good enough. This is another event, of course. They'd all been expecting one.

A nearby forest looms over her and she stares at it with trepidation, biting her lip. All of her reasoning tells her she can't stay on the beach. She needs to find other people, or water and food, or shelter. But the trees seem so dark, the spaces between them like black veils hiding unknown and unknowable things...

She tries to use the device multiple times but Chloe never responds. She's not even sure the calls are connecting on Chloe's end. Her gaze switches back and forth between the forest and the sea, which seems to stretch on forever into a dark and starless horizon. There's only one place to go.

She makes her way toward the forest, clutching nervously at her Oregon phone, the built-in flashlight shining meekly into the foliage. Finally, with one last deep breath, she calls out loudly.

"Hello?"

And determined, she pushes past the border and into the woods, flashlight swinging left and right as she warily scans her surroundings. She has to find her best friend, after all.


[B. Don't you forget about me | CLOSED to Chloe]

It's been days. She's met people here and there, and she's taken to regularly checking the network, too. But none of those strange kids ever seem to reply to anyone- and she's pretty sure by now that Chloe's in the same sort of state.

But after all this time, Max still feels no closer to finding her best friend- her girlfriend. And who knows what sort of terrible things might be happening...

But at some point, her flashlight crosses over a break in the trees, and she spots a girl. She quickly covers the light, crouching down to hide herself, hands shaking slightly. It looked like Chloe- that brownish blonde hair, so reminiscent of their childhood days.

Could Max have possibly found her, by sheer luck and tenacity? And is Chloe still safe?

Max closes her eyes for a moment and begs herself to be brave. Then she calls out in the dark, a low whisper in the otherwise quiet woods.

"Chloe?"

[Will match any format!]

Comments

[punful]

[She calls out his name and he takes a few steps back, eyesockets going wide. He doesn't know her; she's a complete stranger.]

[He's definitely not the Sans she knows normally. He's a whole foot shorter and much younger. He's wearing a ratty, threadbare, too-big jacket that might have once been blue but is now more gray and brown than anything.]

h-how do you know my name?

[mypartnerintime]

[This is the second time she's been asked that question. She looks over his clothes, his size (smaller than the already small Sans), his wide-eyed, unrecognizing expression. She lowers her light so as not to blind him, but she appears disappointed.]

You don't remember me, Sans. We're friends.

[Friends. She pauses, unsure.]

Do you know someone named Chloe?

[punful]

[He doesn't remember her? That...that makes no sense. His memory is one of the good things about him. Pretty good, at least. She's not from the Underground. There's no way she was in the Underground.]

[He takes another step back.]

...i don't know you...

[It's a trick of some kind. Maybe she's...maybe she's just an illusion. A hallucination. They happen all the time.]

[The name is familiar. He's pretty sure there's a Lost One here with that name, though he doesn't know her well. She's older, and tough.]

never heard of her. anyway, i don't hafta tell you anything.

[mypartnerintime]

You do know me. I swear. You have a brother named Pa-... [God, why does she have to be so bad at names? Come on, it's a font right?] ... Papyrus.

[She takes a step forward, instantly regrets it. Sans is so small and she can't scare him away... he's one of the few leads she has. Otherwise she might spend the whole event wandering through the forest, starved and tired.]

And I have a partner. Her name is Chloe, and I need to find her, so please... I promised that I wouldn't leave her, Sans.

WELP

[punful]

[The effect of his brother's name is instantaneous. He scrambles back, inhaling sharply, eyesockets widening, his eyelights flickering out. No one, no one but him has said that name in years. The name tears the whole world apart around and he clutches both hands against his chest, breathing fast.]

no.

[It comes out choked, gasping.]

no, no. y-y-you can't--! n-no one knows that n-name! you can't know it, you can't, you can't!

[You have a brother named Papyrus. He feels sick. Like he's Falling Down.]

nnggg no no no, this isn't real...it's the echos. it's just echos, you're not real, it's not real...

[His eyelights flicker back on, but they're tiny, like distant stars.]

That sure was a mistake!!!

[mypartnerintime]

[Max's voice softens and falls away as Sans reacts, her words getting lost and finally trailing into nothing. She watches him with mild panic, stepping forward several times to try and get to him, find out what's wrong, something-]

S-sans? [She shakes her head.] It's okay, I'm- I'm sorry. I just... don't know what to do. Please calm down... everything's okay.

[Man, she really did screw this up pretty badly.]

yikessssss

[punful]

[She's coming toward him, she's coming toward him. He scrambles backward so fast he ends up backing into a tree, hard enough that he stumbles. He's watching her in sheer terror.]

go away, go away, leave me alone, you're not real, you can't be real. you can't, you can't.

[He covers his eyesockets with both hands so he doesn't have to look at her.]

it's okay, it's okay. calm down. it's not real. it's not real. it's okay. don't think about it, don't think about it. it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. ggghhh.

[He slides down the tree, trying to steady his breathing. His head hurts. Don't think about it. Don't look at it. The echos get stronger if you pay attention to them. It's not real. He tries to breathe, in and out.]

ten. [Breathe.] nine. [Breathe.] eight. [Breathe.]

[mypartnerintime]

[He's... breaking down or something. He slides down that tree like his legs don't even work and- and he won't look at her, he won't stop babbling. Then he starts counting like a computer rebooting, like it's going to rewind reset restart and everything will be okay.

She wants to leave, for his sake. She wants him to get to "one" and look up and see nothing but the forest in the perpetual dark.

But she has to find Chloe.

It makes her feel like a complete bitch, but she stands there, watching him, giving him time to level himself and calm down.

I'm so sorry, Sans, she thinks. But you'll understand in a few days.]

[punful]

[When he gets to one, she'll be gone. Or she'll at least be less real, easier to deal with. Easier to ignore. He can get up and walk away and wait for her to fade completely. It'll be fine. He just needs to calm down first.]

[He counts slowly, his breathing evening out, calming himself. He gets to one. He pauses for a second, takes another breath, then uncovers his face and opens his eyesockets.]

[She's still there.]

[She's no less real.]

ggk...

[He crushes himself back against the tree, even though there's nowhere to go. She's real, and she knows his brother's name and he has--he has no idea what's happening anymore. It doesn't make sense.]

[He's scared out of his mind.]

please, no. please, please, please.

[mypartnerintime]

I'm not going to hurt you, okay? [She holds up her hands placatingly, and even takes two steps back, putting some distance between them.] I don't want to. I've never wanted to. But I need to know where Chloe is. Please. Then I'll go away, I swear.

[She feels terrible, looking at him huddled at the base of the tree, so obviously terrified of her. But- Sans will forgive her after the event, right? He'll understand. He knows how important it is to find that partner... Papyrus in his case.]

[punful]

[He tries to make himself smaller, but he can't, short of actually sinking into the dirt. Which would be preferable to all of this.]

[She's not going away. She's still there, still solid. Still talking. She says she won't hurt him, but she already has. She's trying to break his mind. She's worse than one of the shadows. So much worse.]

i don't know. i don't know her, i don't know where she is. i don't know.

[He's not lying. He doesn't know her personally. But she probably won't believe him. If he gives her something, even a lie, it'll at least make her go away.]

probably at the camp. it's inland.

[He would gladly throw Chloe under the bus if he knew where he might be, but he won't tell this...stranger exactly where the camps are. If she heads inland, she'll find more Lost Ones anyway.]

[They'll probably kill her. And then he won't have to think about any of this ever again.]

...how'd you know his name? no one knows his name.

[mypartnerintime]

[Inland. At least she's been heading in the right direction. She turns to look deeper into the forest, flashlight scanning over the dark trees. She wonders how much longer her food will last her. The event will only be a few days at the worst, right...?

She also wonders how useful pepper spray would be in defending herself. But she can't leave Chloe with all these dangerous kids.

She almost takes a step forward when he asks his question, stopping her in her tracks. The look she gives him is concerned and curious.]

We're friends. Like I said. You told me about him.

[She sighs, frustrated.] I know you don't remember. Wherever your brother is, I'm sure he's looking for you right now. He wouldn't leave you.

[punful]

shut up.

[There's no heat in his voice. There's nothing whatsoever.]

[She's not making sense. None of what she's saying is making sense. You can't be friends with someone you've never met. And if he didn't even tell Alphys or Napstablook that name, he wouldn't have told...whoever this person is.]

[And his brother wouldn't leave him. And he wouldn't be searching for him.]

he's not looking for me. he's dead. if...if y-you're not gonna tell me...fine. f-fine. you g-got what you wanted, so just leave. leave me alone.

[There's still nothing in his voice. He just sounds hollow.]

[mypartnerintime]

Sans... [And with that little revelation, Max has even more sympathy for the skeleton.

And at the same time, if Papyrus isn't a Lost One, then Max is pretty darn sure he's looking for Sans. If at some point, during the event, he ever finds his brother... Max wonders how Sans would react. She's hopeful, but honestly isn't sure how much she can really expect.

But what can she even do that won't make everything worse?]

I'm sorry I brought him up. But for once I think I know more about him than you do. [Not that he'd believe her- how do you go about proving that someone isn't dead, to their own brother? She doesn't have a single picture of the adult Papyrus.] Do you really want me to go?

[punful]

just go. please just go.

[He folds even further on himself, pulling up his hood so he can pretend she isn't there.]

[mypartnerintime]

[You got it, Sans. With a heavy and discouraged sigh, she turns and leaves.]