W. D. Gaster - An Undertale Story

Chapter Thirty

   Gaster walked down the paths of Snowdin, rubbing his eyes, grumbling curse words tiredly. When he was younger, he swore that he'd never majorly believe in people who could "tell the future" and such. But at this moment, he was believing all of it. He was determined to find out if these visions could truly mean something, considering they all included something similar. A void, Gaster not being with his sons, nor remembered, and humans in striped shirts. It was the entire reason he was on his way to speak with the River Person.
   Gaster pulled his black coat in closer to himself. He had decided to wear all black, considering that dark clothing could be a small source of heat, along with the layers of clothes he wore. He was at the edge of Snowdin, at the start of the Waterfalls. The area became darker, and Gaster truly had no problem with it. Darkness was fascinating to him. It always was.
   He was a bit less cold in the Waterfalls. The temperature in that area was much more moderate, average. He stopped gripping his coat and began to enjoy the view of Waterfalls, despite how unbelievably tired he was. He smiled a bit as he neared a small patch of echo flowers. Echo flowers echoed anything that was said near one, and later on, it would echo whatever it said, hence the names. He walked towards one to hear the last thing that the echo flowers had sensed, or in simple terms, "heard".
   "SANS! SANS, CAN WE GET NICE CREAM?", the flower echoed. Gaster's face lit up at the sound of Papyrus's voice. It seemed that the last conversation sensed by the echo flowers was a talk between his two sons, who were very dear to him.
   "Lil' bro, I'd love to get some nice cream, but I don't want to take too long to get home. You know how worried Dad can get.", Sans's voice said like a recording through the flower. Gaster quite agreed by what Sans had said. He always did get a bit too worried about his sons if they weren't home by 4:00 after school.
   "SO I TAKE THAT AS A 'NO'?", Papyrus asked, the two brothers' voices sounding as if they came from a radio. Sans laughed a bit through the flower's static.
   "I'm sorry, bro. But when we get home, we could ask Dad to take us out for nice cream, if you'd like that.", Sans conversed. Gaster tilted his head and smiled softly in adoration of how good of a brother Sans was.
   "ALRIGHT!", Papyrus said, then the echoed conversation ended. Gaster stood up from the flowers, but he knew that Sans and Papyrus walked by the echo flowers every day, so he figured that he would leave them a message, specifically in "Wingdings", or as other monsters referred to it as, "Hands".
   "I love you, my sons.", Gaster said in his own language. The echo flowers repeated it, clear as day. So now, if Sans and Papyrus were near the echo flowers, or if anyone at all were near them, they would hear his scrambled sounds of Wingdings.
   Gaster walked away from the flowers, nearing the river. He walked to it's edge, waiting for the River Person to come down the stream. Gaster looked down, staring at the water in front of him. The water wasn't rushing, but more so calm. Quiet. Quiet water. It was calming to him. He felt as if he would've fallen asleep on the spot, but he couldn't unless he wanted to drown.
   Suddenly, there was a dark, unnamed voice that spoke.
   "Hello.", the voice said. Gaster snapped his attention up to the figure who was on the boat in the river. The River Person. It was standing on its boat, oar in hand, cloak covering any trace of who it was or what it might be. No one even knew what the creature's gender was. It was impossible to tell by its voice.
   Gaster yelped in surprise. "I'm sorry, Riverman! I was surprised by your sudden vocalization!", he said, slightly embarrassed. The River Boat Person shrugged and stepped aside.
   "Do you need a ride?", they asked. They tapped lightly on their oar patiently.
   Gaster shook his hands quickly. "Oh no, no, no.", he said, turning down the creature's offer. "No, I need to talk to you. Y'know, about your 'future telling' and 'vision' abilities." The River Person perked their head up, seeming that their attention was caught.
   "But, I thought that you didn't believe in all of it.", they said, tilting their head to the side. Gaster was sure that if he could see the River Person's face, it would be a confused facial expression.
   Gaster chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I thought the same thing until recently.", he said, shaking his head a bit. Even though the River Person's face wasn't visible, they seemed very confused. They tapped their foot twice on the area behind them on the boat.
   "Come on.", they said, showing Gaster to step on the boat. Gaster did so, being careful not to fall into the water. He stepped on the boat, trying not to knock it upside-down. The River Person stood in a position that would keep the boat from flipping. Once the boat was balanced normally, the River Person rowed the boat down the river, Gaster unsure of where they were going.
   "Where are you taking us?", he asked, looking up at the reaper-boatman-on-the-river-styx kind of creature. The creature looked back down at the skeleton, face still not visible. It seemed that the creature had no face, but it was impossible for it not to have one.
   "To my house.", the River Person responded. Gaster perked his head up in confusion.
   "You have a house?", he asked. The River Person stood silently as it rowed the boat. Gaster could feel the judgement. "Oh my goodness, that sounded so rude. I assure you, I didn't mean it like that!"
   Gaster's apology was cut off by the slightly demonic-sounding laughter of the River Person. Gaster realized at this moment that everyone truly underestimated the River Boat Person when they said Gaster's laugh was creepy. The River Boat Person's laugh was absolutely terrifying.
   "Oh dear friend, you're alright! I know what you meant.", the River Person said, waving their hand a bit. Its hand looked like a dark shadow, just like their open hood. Gaster chuckled slightly. "Nobody thinks that I have a house. But the truth is, my house is deep in the cliffs of Snowdin."
   "Oh! That house that always has the lights on?", Gaster asked. The River Person nodded in confirmation.
   "Yeah. How did you know?", it asked. Gaster began to chuckle, almost laugh a bit.
   "Because it's the only house in the cliffs in Snowdin?", he said with a sarcastic questioning tone, continuing to chuckle. The River Person did so as well. "Why are the lights always on, if you don't mind me asking?"
   The River Person perked its head up. "Oh. Well... I just always feel like it would keep the house warm. And sometimes, I take breaks from being the boat person. I like to go home sometimes, no matter how lonely it is.", they explained. Gaster had his eyesockets slightly widened.
   "That's a lot to carry.", he said. The River Person shrugged.
   "Well, we're not here to talk about me.", it said, a sharp upbeat tone in their voice. Gaster looked around.
   "Here?", he asked, but he needed no answer.
   They were here.
   The area was beautiful. The river had been going downhill for a while when the two creatures were talking. They had found themselves down at the Snowdin rivers, but this was no area Gaster had seen before. The river had run through a dark forest, which the two had just finished going through. The snow was halfway melted, but the part that was melted was just dark wood or dirt. The area was completely surrounded by trees, and if anyone looked up from where Gaster and the River Person were, they would see the cliffs off of Snowdin. The house was a wooden cabin nearby, which the lights were of course, as they always were, still on.
   The River Person stepped off of the boat. Gaster followed, being held up by the River Person for help. The two walked up the the cabin, River Person turning the knob. It opened the door.
   "Welcome to my humble abode!", the River Person said as it opened the door wide. Gaster looked around at the scenery of the small house. The floors were dark brown hardwood floors. The walls were a light tan-like color. There were pictures hanging on the walls of several monsters, including the River Person themself. There was a dark red couch in the center of the room. Beside that was a small circular table. In front of the couch was a black coffee table, which held amounts of items on it. There was a small box television that was sitting in front of the coffee table. Around the room was a multitude of items. There were important things, such as a First-Aid-Kit, but there were also not-as-important things, such as small stuffed animals. Behind the room that Gaster and the River Person were in, which Gaster assumed was the living room, there was a small kitchen, and beside that room, an even smaller laundry room.
   "It's nice!", Gaster complimented. "Although, not as dark and creepy as I thought would be." The River Person chuckled at the remark.
   "No one ever thinks it would be this quaint.", it said, explaining that he wasn't the only one to think it. Gaster gave a small laugh in response.
   The River Person sat down on the blood-red couch, patting a hand on the cushion beside it. "Sit.", it said. Gaster nodded and made his way to the cushion on the couch. He sat down as he was instructed to do, lightly tapping a foot.
   The River Person reached into one of the four small shelves that were built into the coffee table. They pulled out a glass orb, setting it down lightly on the table.
   "What's that?", Gaster asked, curiosity appearing on his face. The River Person turned its head to Gaster.
   "Well, it will help me see what you need to see.", the creature responded with a tilt of the head. "Now, what is it you need to see? Something about yourself? A friend? Sans and Papyrus? Your dead wife?"
   Gaster flinched at the mention of his wife. He hadn't given her a though since she passed away, with the exception of the few months after her passing when he cried non-stop. But a flinch was his only reaction, so he decided to change the subject to what he was here for.
   "No, actually. My sons have been having these... nightmares?", Gaster said, a questioning tone in his voice.
   "You sound unsure of yourself.", the River Person said, catching the tone.
   "Well, I don't think that these are nightmares. I believe that they may be visions.", Gaster said, attempting to get his point across and not sound like a storyteller. The River Person nodded in understanding.
   "And why do you think that? What are these nightmares, or perhaps visions, about?", it asked. Gaster shrugged, taking in a deep breath.
   "Alright, let me explain. From the beginning.", Gaster said.
   Gaster continued to truly explain everything to the River Person, everything. He mentioned the nightmares Sans had about Gaster and him fighting, although Sans was actually some kind of human with a green-and-yellow striped shirt. He explained Sans's soul cracking, his HP staying at 1. HP could stand for two things, Health Points or HOPE, and if either of Sans's were at 1, it was bad. He talked about the "nightmare", more likely vision, that Alphys had of Gaster attacking her, yet he was much different. He explained how in one of Sans's nightmares, before Gaster's face had gotten the cracks and halfway-melted eye, he saw it. He spoke of the dream Papyrus had just had that caused some of his HP, presumably HOPE, to go down.
   "I'm scared.", Gaster said finally. The River Person seemed to have been intrigued by all of it.
   "I understand.", it said. It raised its shadow-like hands over the glass orb, magic beginning to surround it and fill it. The magic from the inside seemed to look like a galaxy. A purple and blue aura was glowing dimly around it.
   "So, are you absolutely sure that you want to see this future? This dark path?", the River Person asked, tones of caution in its voice. Gaster nodded.
   "I do want to. I need to do this. I want to stop it.", he responded. The River Person shook its head a bit.
   "I don't want that. If you try to stop it, that will only increase the chances of it happening, Doctor.", it said. Gaster wore a facial expression of confusion.
   "How would you-", Gaster started, but the River Person finished for him.
   "Know? I've watched many people make the mistake.", it said. "If you just want to stop this from happening, which is impossible, then you shouldn't be here. I can't watch another monster hurt themself."
   Gaster sighed deeply. "Can you just show me?", he asked. The River Person shrugged.
   "I don't know, will you try to stop it?", it asked. Gaster sent a sort of glare at them.
   "You know what? I'll just go.", he said, standing up. "If you won't help me, then there is no sense in me being here." The River Person sighed a bit, frustrated in a bit.
   "You'll be this petty?", it asked, crossing its arms. Gaster froze in place then looked back at the River Person.
   "Hey, don't get on my bad side.", Gaster said, shooting a glare. "It's not a place you want to be." He gripped a fist and walked out of the room. Out of the cabin.
   He walked into the boat and rowed himself back to Snowdin. He had no idea how the River Person would get back, and with his frustration, he didn't seem to care. He wasn't trying to be selfish. He wasn't trying to be petty. He just didn't want Sans and Papyrus to be left alone in life. The idea scared him.
   So Gaster walked home, went to his room, and for the first time in days, he slept.