It's easy to pack light when you don't have much to start with. The pockets of his hoodie were full enough; a small carving of a frog he'd bought in the merchant district, some official documents from home he hadn't gotten around to getting rid of, a sandwich nicked from the kitchen. Those few belongings, alongside the bracelet that hung heavy against his carpals, were all he had to his name in this place. Everything a man might need on trip into the unknown.

A strange melancholy flickered in his soul as he looked out over the dusty old room that had been his makeshift home for the last month. He knew, as much as anyone could know, he wouldn't be seeing it again. It felt like an ending of something. Or maybe, more frighteningly, the beginning of something else.

The others must be starting their rescue operation any second now. Successful or unsuccessful, Sans' preferred avenues of escape would be closed once the palace learned of their heaven-sent warriors' shifting allegiances. He'd put things off as long as he possible could. It was now or never.

With an unnecessary breath, Sans shuts the door and promptly disappears.

2.0 | i'll meet you in the pit (closed to eddie kaspbrak)
[ Sans reappears beyond the north-most wall of the outer ring, not far from where he first met So-Yeon. He holds up his wrist, finally allowing himself to be led by the mysterious force within it. It wasn't clear where it would lead him, but Sans had gambled on much more for much less.

But hey, it wouldn't be a tense moment of personal growth without the distant sound of profanity interrupting him.

Sans considers ignoring it. Were it two weeks ago, he almost certainly would have. Unfortunately for him, a few of the more... pointed rebukes from the team were still rattling around in his skull.Setting aside the tug of the bracelet, Sans follows voice instead. ]

Hello? [ Following the sounds, the voice sounds more and more like someone in trouble. It was also starting to sound familiar. He raises his voice a little to try and be heard. ] My name's Sans. I wanna help ya out, but you gotta help me find you first.

4.0 | i bet i've got a knock knock joke you haven't heard before (ota)
[ With a wounded man in tow, Sans arrives in Yuryeong a day later than he planned. And in his eagerness to get Eddie to a doctor, their arrival isn't the only thing Sans feels himself wanting to delay. The circumstances of where they were, the wear and tear of each ramshackle house, the magic thrum of the barrier... it evoked a sense of dark, creeping nostalgia that was more aching than pleasant. Focusing on it felt too big, too strange. Determined to do anything else, Sans busies himself with the mundane task of making the best of this temporary home.

Distracted and a little out of step with those who had a full day to adjust and get to work on their mission, Sans wanders down the row of available housing indicated to him by one of the monsters. He picks one that looks even more abandoned than the others, pushing the door open without much thought.

Of course, as luck would have it, the home is already occupied by someone. Someone who (presumably) isn't expecting a surprise privacy violation from a skeleton man. ]

5.1 | what's the harm in one more cook in this kitchen? (ota)
[ Back home, in the aftermath of the fallen human's journey through the Underground and his brother's ascension to the throne, the task of feeding the surviving citizenry was a complex one. The challenges that came with limited resources were one Sans understood well. The plan he and his brother came up with wasn't perfect. No one ever truly felt full, but no one went hungry either.

Granted, in the Underground it was his brother doing the cooking while Sans reviewed rationing policies until his eyelights blurred. Here in Yuryeong, the chef's toque was gonna have to be on the other skull. ]

Hey! Yeah, you. [ Standing at the border of the Yuryeong clearing, Sans waves down the first person he sees passing. Hooked under his arm is a small basket, laden with flour, an egg, and... snails. So many snails. ] Wanna help me out?

[ If you approach, Sans gestures up at a nearby tree. Sure enough, there was a small crop of mushrooms clinging to the bark of the tree halfway up the trunk of the tree. The tree wasn't terribly difficult to climb and a tall individual could probably grab them by hand without too much difficulty. ]

Think you could get that down for me?

5.2 | what is a star? can you eat it? can you kill it? (ota)
[ In all his life, Sans had never seen a graveyard. His people had funerals, yes, but his people didn't dig holes or burn remains. He knew about them, sure, but as an abstract concept. Something humans did, not monsters.

Walking around this place, clearly that rule didn't apply everywhere. Here, monsters and humans were buried side by side. Sans even caught a few glimpses of their spirits moving between gravestones, only to disappear in a shimmer of magic if he stared too long.

Sans comes out here most nights, picking different spots to sit and stare up at the sky. The trees were open to the sky here, providing a view of the stars that was nothing short of spectacular. Whether you come across him on the first night he spends here or his last, he greets the chance intrusion of another alive person with quick smile. ]

Oh, uh, hey. [ He doesn't stand, but does straighten up a little. Impropriety wasn't really something Sans concerned himself with, but far be it from him to show flagrant disrespect for the dead. ] I wasn't expecting to see anyone else out here.

[ To anyone who's spoken him before, his demeanor is notably strange. If it's the first time they've crossed paths, Sans appears to simply be a man with a lot on his mind. ]

13.0 | don't forget to take your calcium supplements (ota)
[ The march from Yuryeong to the city was a grim one, plagued by set backs and unpleasant surprises. What started with lowlevel uneasiness in the pit of his metaphorical stomach quickly grew to outright dread with each new set back and violent clash of palace guards and monsters.

People were going to get hurt. People were dying. And for all Sans wishes he could find somewhere safe to hide and wait out the melee like the last time, a few persistent, nagging voices (ones that sounded remarkably like the people he'd met here) wouldn't let him.

And so here he was (shudder) participating. He doesn't stay in any one place too long, all too aware that a single shot from those magic disrupting arrows would explode his body into dust on contact, opting instead to disappear and reappear around the battlefield. Outcroppings of bones jutted out of loose earth, aiming to trip rather than skewer. Every now and then an attacking might fall suddenly to their knees, movements slowed by a push of some external force. They weren't the strongest attacks -- more annoyances than anything -- but it was a sustainable pace. With how long the battle had raged so far, sustainable was all he could shoot for.

Disappear, reappear, turn a soul blue, toss some bones around. It worked. He was making it work. And it might've kept working, if not for what he comes face to face with on his next disappear, reappear.

One of his teammates -- be it someone he knows from afair, one who he's frustrated to no end, or someone he's begun to consider a friend -- beaten back and cornered. The specifics of this teammates circumstances may be varied, but the consequences of Sans not acting are very singular. He's sure of it.

So much for sustainable

Whoever is about to meet their end first hears the shout of their own name (or, if Sans does not know their name, a simple shouted reassurance of hold on), followed immediately by a strange sound. Overbright blue light fills your vision, followed immediately by the screams of the guard about to land their killing blow. When the light fades, the silhouette of a large animal skull can be seen suspended in mid air for a scant few moments before disappearing along with the last of the light. ]

C'mon! [ Directly underneath where the ghostly skull disappears is Sans, motioning for you to get up. The attacking guard is badly hurt but not dead, already rallying to finish what Sans interrupted. ] Move.

(( ooc: please let me know if you would like a custom starter!! i can be reached over DM and at safelybeds!! ))