Chapter Text
Frisk slowed down their running, once they were far from Doggo’s shack, and sat down on a nearby rock to breathe. They put Flowey’s waterbottle in between their thighs so they could hold them while they ate the granola bar they pulled out of their jacket’s pocket. As they ate, they pulled out the other waterbottle from their bag and poured a small amount into Flowey’s bottle. They smiled, thanking Frisk, and Frisk nodded in response.
“So,” Flowey started, “I think I have an idea for our plan of attack.” Frisk cringed at the word “attack”. Flowey noticed and waved their leaves frantically.
“N-Not an actual attack!” Flowey assured. “T-That’s just a figure of speech! What I meant is that I think I know what we should do next.” Frisk relaxed and nodded for Flowey to continue. “Well, I don’t know if you realized this, but it’s getting to be nightfall around here.” At Flowey’s statement, Frisk noticed how increasingly dim the area around them was getting. They didn’t exactly know if the Underground could get a night time, figuring there’s no sun or moon down here, but Frisk assumed it was probably getting to be later in the evening, based on the time they left their house at earlier that day.
“So we really need to zoom through these paths if we want to get to Snowdin before nightfall. Trust me, you don’t want to be hanging around in these woods when it gets dark. The scenes are often times...graphic.” Frisk shuddered at the thought as they crumpled up their granola bar wrapper and stuffed it in their jacket pocket. They stood and shuddered, the sky growing darker above them.
The wind began to howl and whip as Frisk hurried down the path, not even bothering to check their surroundings. Had they had been as cautious as they previously had been, they would have noticed the red light darting past them. But, it was too late for poor Frisk, and they fell hopelessly into a certain skeleton’s trap.
“Human! Cease your movements, lest you wish to face a brutal death!” Frisk immediately stopped walking at the sound of Papyrus’ voice. They looked at Papyrus, who was standing farther down the path with Sans. Petrified, Frisk gripped Flowey’s container tightly.
“F-Frisk, don’t move.” Flowey whispered, not breaking eye contact with the skeletons, “I have no idea what either of them have planned. Papyrus is one of the Underground’s most skilled puzzle makers, so I’ve heard through the vine. Apparently his are the most brutal, but also the most flawed.” Flowey smiled and let out a nervous laugh. “Seems kind of counterproductive, if you ask me. Having a flawed puzzle system, but somehow still having the best-”
“Hey pothead! Zip ya lip!” Sans shouted, shutting Flowey up real quick.
“Better. Thank you, brother,” Papyrus said, giving Sans a curt nod. “Now, as you can see, I have you placed in front of one of my most infamous puzzles; The Electric Slide!” He paused, gesturing to the vast emptiness in front of him. “And, for your information, I did not come up with the name. That was Sans’ idea.” Sans snickered from his place besides Papyrus.
“Come on, bro, you gotta admit that ‘Electric Slide’ is a pretty good name for a puzzle involving-” He was cut off by a low growl coming from Papyrus, signaling he wanted silence. Sans didn’t argue this and let his brother continue.
“This puzzle may seem like nothing from where you are standing, human,” Papyrus started as he walked back and forth. “But, under this thick snow are thousands of electrical circuits that can spark up enough voltage to fry a being as large as Undyne until she was well-done!”
“That’d make for a pretty good dinner, bro. Hey Paps, maybe we should just try this damn thing on her, instead of you having to go through all this trouble with the hu-” Sans was cut off, this time, by a clenched fist being raised. Papyrus’ patience was growing thin, as it would seem. Sans shut up again.
“Now, I have these circuits set up in a way that makes a sort of path, with there being only one way to get through. How you would know where that path is, though, is something I doubt you would ever figure out.” Papyrus concluded, letting out a boisterous, cackling laugh afterwards. Then, he dramatically gestured with his cape. “Goodbye, human! I will come back later to harvest your soul from your fried corpse!” He turned and began to walk away.
“Hey, bro, wouldn’t it be better if we sat here and waited for the human to die?” Sans asked, looking back to Frisk. “‘Cause like, what if they make it through? Or figure out how to shortcircuit the thing-”
“Sans, I don’t have time for this! I have to prepare my speech for when I finally take Undyne’s position and rip her still-beating heart from her cold chest! Let’s go!” Papyrus yelled, continuing to walk away. Sans sighed, pointing back in the direction of Papyrus and shrugging.
“Ain’t my brother just the biggest asshole you ever met?” Sans asked, but Frisk figured that wasn’t meant to be answered. Sans laughed, digging one bony hand into his right pocket and rummaging through it. Then, he took out some orb, which he tossed to Frisk. Frisk panicked, dropping Flowey to catch the orb, who fell to the ground with a “Hmph!” Frisk inspected the orb, then they looked quizzically to Sans.
“That there is your one-way ticket to surviving this deathtrap,” Sans said, as if he sensed Frisk’s question. “It will glow when you are near a circuit. I set the damn trap up, no thanks to my lil bro, so I decided to set up an easy way to beat it. So, take this as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. And don’t think I’m doin’ this ‘cause I like you or anything. I mean, you seem like a nice human, but,” He winked, “let’s face it; seeing Papyrus this excited about anything is hilarious. He tries so damn hard to hide his enthusiasm behind that big ‘mean tough-guy’ facade that I think he even thinks he doesn’t care. So, I wanna keep you around, for his sake.” With that, he turned and sauntered down the path, muttering some form of luck. Then, in a flash, he was out of sight.
Leaving poor petrified Frisk all by themselves.
“Hey! Pick me up already, the snow is making me all cold and wet!!” With Flowey, of course.
Frisk stood in front of the invisible barrier, both the orb and Flowey in their hands. They extended the orb out in front of them. It didn’t light up, so Frisk took one step forward. They held it out, bringing their arm around in a half-circle to survey the area. It flashed in all directions but straight, so Frisk walked straight. And, as they came to realize halfway through the puzzle, the only way to go in this puzzle was straight.
“Huh, I guess this is why Sans shouldn’t make puzzles,” Flowey commented once they had cleared the puzzle and took a few stress-relieving gasps for air. Frisk nodded, looking pale, as they walked slowly on. “I mean, it was awful nice of him to give us that orb. Good thing Papyrus is so entertained with the thought of killing you, Frisk, or else we really would have-” Upon seeing Frisk’s pale, absolutely petrified face, Flowey decided it would be best to shut up for a while.
Frisk didn’t even want to think of the reasons why they were even still alive right now. Even back to the beginning of this journey, Frisk has been a victim of life-saving circumstance. For instance, say Frisk hadn’t taken such a long walk earlier that day. Say Frisk hadn’t taken the time to think about the situation with their mother and simply walked home. Their mother’s boyfriend could have been there. He could have kidnapped Frisk to keep them from talking, or worse, killed them .
Or, for another instance, say that patch of flowers wasn’t there to break Frisk’s fall. They would have instantly died on impact. Surrounding that patch was just nothing but cold, hard dirt, and Frisk would have broken their skull open on it. Say Frisk hadn’t figured out just what to do when Toriel was fighting them. She would have killed Frisk, there’s no doubt about it. She would have killed them and only felt remorse after the fact. But, thanks to all these perfect moments and perfect instances, Frisk has been spared from these harsh deaths.
Maybe this was their life from now on; just narrowly avoiding death at every corner. Doomed to a life of wondering, “When?” and, “How?” as they dart down every shortcut and pay attention to every detail around them. Or maybe some sort of outside force was pushing this all along, pushing Frisk along to their life instead of harsh deaths. Frisk considered Flowey being that force, but then Frisk thought about it. Flowey can’t do much more than talk in most situations, so they’re most likely not the reason. Maybe Frisk had already done this all before, in some sort of past life, which is why they were able to avoid all the death.
That idea made Frisk shudder. Their mother believed in the possibility of past lives and alternate universes, but Frisk certainly did not. To think that there was more than one Frisk, living their life almost identically like Frisk, not only scared them, but also made them feel bad. Frisk thinks that even the worst of people don’t deserve to live the life they’ve lived so far.
And that is an absolutely dreadful thing to hear from a child. A child, who has experienced so little of what their life could be, has already condemned themselves a lost cause. An empty life. A meaningless number on a census.
Truly, that is tragic.
Frisk continued to walk, feeling utterly miserable, until they heard a dejected sigh to their left. They looked up, searching for the source of the noise, and saw a blue bunny monster leaning against a sort of...ice cream cart?
An ice cream man, in a snowy place like this? Now, that had to the strangest thing Frisk has seen all day. And that’s really saying something. The bunny sighed again, opening the little cart’s hatch and pulling out a popsicle and turning it in their fingers.
“Ugh, I hate this weather,” The bunny sighed. “No one wants to buy any Nice Cream in the freezing cold! Not to mention, I’ve lost basically all of my clientele in Hotland, thanks to that nutty Royal Scientist.” Frisk smiled and took a few steps toward the bunny, grabbing their attention. They looked at Frisk and beamed, then fixed their posture.
“Hi!” The bunny greeted, their kind smile and enthusiasm an honest comfort to Frisk, “Would you like to buy some Nice Cream? It’s really cheap, only five gold!”
Frisk’s smile dropped; they hadn’t a penny on them. Last time they had money, the bullies at their school took it from them. That was their lunch money, so they couldn’t eat that day. The bunny saw Frisk frowning a panicked, rummaging through their ice cream cart. They popped back up with what looked to be a fudgesicle and handed it to Frisk.
“H-Here! Have this one on the house, since you gave me such a nice smile before!” The bunny said. Frisk looked at the fudgesicle and smiled, giving it a nice lick. It tasted sweet, chocolatey, and rich; Frisk could barely keep themself from eating the whole thing all at once. But, they managed to savor the little treat, even offering a lick to Flowey, who hesitantly took the offer. The vendor gave Frisk a big grin in response and waved goodbye as Frisk walked away.
With their belly filled and confidence boosted, Frisk made their way through the snow and, thanks to Flowey’s guidance, headed for Snowdin. But, they were, once again, halted by two very persistent monsters.
“Human! Walk no further! Your existence on this world is at its end!!” Frisk didn’t know whether to be shocked or to be expecting this, so they just settled on feeling an odd mix of both of them. There was Papyrus and Sans, once again, with a large gap of pathway between them. Frisk dreaded what kind of deadly boobytrap lay beneath the soft pillows of snow.
“See, bro? I told ya we should’ve just waited,” Sans said, “They got free and made it all the way here. Now, imagine I didn’t tell us to stop and set up another trap, then they could’ve made it all the way to Snow-”
“Brother, I have no time for your useless chatter!” Papyrus cut Sans off, making Sans the slightest bit irritated. “Now, human, how you managed to make it past my first puzzle is well beyond my knowledge. But, my obedient brother has set up a new puzzle that I’m sure will stop your existence dead in its tracks!” Sans snorted at the accidental pun Papyrus made, but Papyrus did not seem to notice this. Or he just didn’t care; it’s very hard to tell with a guy like him.
“Behold! My idiot brother’s puzzle!” Papyrus announced, jestering to the space in front of him. Frisk half-expected some giant machine to pop out of the ground and swallow them whole. But, much to Frisk’s and Papyrus’ surprise, nothing happened.
A beat. Then Papyrus turned to Sans.
“Sans, where is your puzzle?” Papyrus asked, his voice hushed like he did not want Frisk to hear this. Sans pointed to the ground in front of him.
“It’s right there, bro,” Sans stated. Frisk took a step closer and, upon closer examination of the ground, discovered a piece of paper lying there. Frisk walked to the paper and set Flowey down, grabbing the lone paper from the ground to inspect.
The paper had nothing on it but a small note:
Hey, I was too lazy to make something for ya. So, just stare at this paper and pretend something important is on it.
-sans
P.S. Look at this drawing I did of Papyrus. He’s got an ass for a face. Quite fitting, don’t you think?
P.P.S. Don’t answer that.
There was also a crudely drawn picture of Papyrus with his face replaced with a butt on it, and Frisk stifled a giggle because of it. But, they did as they were told and stared at the paper.
“Don’t worry, bro, I think they’re pretty trapped with this one.” Sans said, stifling his own chuckle. Papyrus let out an exasperated sigh and threw his arms into the air.
“I didn’t need a puzzle to trap them!! I needed a puzzle that would kill them!!” Papyrus shouted. “Why are you so incompetent?!?” Sans smirked and shrugged.
“What, you don’t wanna kill the little fucker on your own? You too wuss to do it? I mean, they’re right there . Nothing’s gonna stop you from killing them right now.” Sans replied. Papyrus’ expression dropped to something that was an uneven blend between conflicted and guilty. This made Sans laugh. “Ya see? You’re a wuss. You don’t even wanna kill this fucker, do ya? You just want their soul to mysteriously end up in your possession.”
“T-That’s not true, you imbecile!” Papyrus retaliated, suddenly looking very defensive.
Frisk peeked up from their paper to inspect Papyrus’ face. He seemed almost in denial about something; like all of these events were just him hindering what he perceives to be the inevitable. Maybe he didn’t actually want to kill Frisk? Maybe he was like Toriel; a monster lost in their desire for freedom but unable to actually commit to their spoken promises of ill-will to Frisk. Though this idea would have seemed improbable at Frisk’s first meeting with Papyrus, now it is becoming a more plausible idea. He just looked so guilty and nervous in these moments, it was hard for Frisk to judge how Papyrus actually felt about them.
Well, they didn’t have long to think about this, because Papyrus dragged Sans away shortly after he defended himself and left Frisk all alone again. Frisk looked back to the paper and smiled, folding it neatly and placing it into their shorts pocket. They picked Flowey up off the ground, who complained of being too cold from the snow, and continued down the path Papyrus and Sans had just walked.
Not too terribly far in front of them, Frisk noticed a pair of figures walking toward them. They were on a new path, and this one seemed to be long, but the two figures in black were just close enough for Frisk to make out. They seemed to both be carrying an object with a slight curve, which Frisk could eventually make out to be axes that curved toward each other to make a heart shape. Frisk took a step back, preparing to run, until they got a closer look at the figures’s faces.
“Oh look, more dogs.” Flowey whispered. “Maybe these are those dogs Doggo was talking about. What were there names again? Doga..Dog...Something with ‘dog’ in it.”
“Hey, Dogaressa, do you smell that?” One of the dogs asked, turning to smell the air. Frisk noticed both dogs had glossy eyes and assumed, much like Doggo, they were blind. Though, these dogs were naturally blind, unlike Doggo.
“Yes, Dogamy, I do smell that.” The other dog, presumably Dogaressa, replied. Frisk dared not to move, for they knew that the dogs would have heightened senses of smell and hearing, thanks to their lack of eyesight. They stood stiffly as the dog pair came directly in front of them, nostrils flared as they sniffed every inch of the area. Once their noses reached Frisk, Flowey decided to step in.
“H-Hello,” They stuttered out, causing the dogs to jump back surprise. They seemed surprised, but they didn’t react. They just sort of...smelled and waited. So, Flowey continued. “My name is Frisk, and I’m just trying to get away from Papyrus. Uh, I met another dog farther back, who said that there would be monsters ahead who would be friendly. His name was Doggo, if I remember correctly?” Of course, Flowey had remembered correctly, but to play the part of an innocent child, one needs to learn to properly express the naivety of a child. The dogs, being blind, bought Flowey’s voice to be Frisk’s and approached Frisk once more. This time, they both simultaneously reached out and gently placed one of their paws atop Frisk’s head.
“We’re very sorry you’ve had to go through that.” The dog that first spoke, presumably Dogamy, said.
“We understand how it feels to be frightened and alone in these woods,” Dogaressa continued. “That’s how we met, after all.” Even though the dogs could not see each other, they still managed to share loving gazes between one another after Dogaressa had said that. They nuzzled noses, while Flowey pretended to gag. Frisk thought it was cute.
After the dogs were done canoodling, they informed Frisk that they could walk them only so far, for if they strayed too far from their posts they would most likely suffer some brutal mutilation, like Doggo had. Frisk understood that and walked quietly with the two dogs, as Flowey kept up friendly conversation. Sadly, they could only walk them a short distance, but Frisk was grateful for the company either way. The dog couple wished Frisk good luck and then walked back to their station.
There were a few more traps placed, undoubtedly, by Papyrus, as well as a bowl of very cold ravioli, which utterly confused both Flowey and Frisk, but eventually the pair made it to a very precarious-looking bridge.
Frisk stood in front of the rickety bridge, looking past it to see the total length it stretched on to. Of course, this precarious, rickety bridge had only rope supports and was dangling over what could be considered a canyon. One little misstep could shatter one of the old planks and send Frisk falling to their death. So, naturally, Frisk was a little bit terrified to cross.
“Come on, Frisk, it’s not that much farther now!” Flowey encouraged. “Just past this bridge is the entrance to Snowdin, and we’ll be able to make it before sundown!” Though they knew this wouldn’t aid the frightened child holding them, Flowey hoped their words got through to the logical side of Frisk’s brain. Frisk looked at Flowey nervously, but nodded and took a small step forward onto the bridge. With slow, careful movements, Frisk inched across the bridge. The view on either side was both beautiful and frightening. The snow glistened in the remaining light of day, the trees in the distance looking like little snow-capped triangles from this altitude. Frisk admired the beauty of this wintery wonderland before returning their attention back to walking.
About three quarters of the way across the bridge, Frisk noticed the silhouette of two figures in the distance. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who those figures were.
“Halt, human! You shall not take another step!!” Papyrus called out, though it was difficult to see what sort of dramatic, evil-esque pose he was making from how far Frisk was standing.
“Hey kiddo, how’d ya like the ravioli?” Sans asked. Frisk gave a thumbs up in reply, despite not even touching the nearly-frozen pasta dish, causing Sans to let out a laugh. “Ya see, bro? I told ya they wouldn’t be hindered by your cooking. They actually ate the shit….they are much stronger than I could ever be.” This comment was rewarded with a slap to the back of the skull, which Frisk could see and hear from where they were at, but Sans didn’t seem to care about that.
“So, human, you see to have managed to escape every single puzzle, trap, or jape I have left in your way.” Papyrus said. “It baffles me how such a small, pitiful creature such as yourself was able to do such an impossible feat, but I guess I have underestimated the strength of the human race. Therefore, I shall hold nothing back now! This will surely stop you!! Then I, the Great Papyrus, shall take your soul and obtain all I have ever wanted and deserved!!” With that, Papyrus clapped his hand together and the trap lowered in front of Frisk’s very eyes.
Axes, flamethrowers, anvils, two laser guns, and a dog hanging on a rope were what was left hovering down the remaining bridge. Frisk couldn’t help but gasp at the sheer amount of danger just dangling above them. If they took another step, their body could be split, shot, burned, or crushed. Flowey shivered and prayed that there was a way around this.
“All of these weapons could end your existence in a mere moment! The possibility of you surviving this is quite small, so once I activate the trap it will be goodbye to you, human!!” Papyrus announced, cackling afterwards. Frisk trembled and shut their eyes, awaiting the horrors in front of them to start moving. Papyrus’s cackling died off and then there was silence. Frisk was a little confused because they had assumed the machinery would make some sort of noise when activated, but when they opened their eyes to check they noticed that nothing was moving. It was difficult to make out Papyrus’s face, but he appeared to just be standing with a switch in his hand. He said nothing, neither did Sans.
With all the remaining courage Frisk had left, Frisk walked closer. With every step, they waited for the trap to be activated and kill them in an instant. But, even when Frisk was about three feet away from Papyrus, he still did not activate the trap. He seemed to be staring at the box in a way that he wasn’t really focusing on anything. He seemed lost, confused and...sad? Why would he be sad? He was getting what he wanted, after all.
“Uh, bro?” Sans said, in an attempt to grab Papyrus’s attention, “The kid is, like, right there.” This seemed to break Papyrus from his trance, and he yelped in surprise at the close proximity Frisk was to him.
“H-How did you?!-I can’t believe it! I thought it was-This was supposed to be-” Papyrus said, baffled. Sans did what Frisk could only assume was the skeleton-version of an eyeroll and gestured to the machinery above.
“Bro, you never turned the damn thing on.” Sans noted. “You just stared off into space and let the kid walk over here.” Papyrus tensed, looking to the machinery and then to Frisk. He coughed into his hand, though the gesture was basically useless since he doesn’t have lungs, and then laughed nervously.
“Yes!! That was intended!!” Papyrus announced, looking away. “You see, I, uh, I saw that it was getting dark and decided that now would not be the best time to activate this trap!! It might take the human hours to die, and the locals will be returning home soon and will need to cross this bridge!! Yes, that’s exactly why I didn’t activate it!!” He looked to Frisk, his scowl turning more pathetic by the second. “Human, consider this an opportunity!! I suggest you kill yourself in the remaining hours of night you have and leave your soul at my doorstep, or else I will end your life tomorrow!!”
After that announcement, Papyrus promptly dropped the switch and ran as quickly as possible away from the bridge. Sans and Frisk watched Papyrus go, Sans letting out a laugh.
“Well, guess I’ll see ya tomorrow, kiddo.” Sans said. “Rest up, okay?” With that, he walked away. There was a beat, once both skeletons were gone, before Frisk let out a sigh of relief. Flowey smiled and patted Frisk’s hand with their leaf.
“Alright, Frisk, let’s get a move on. There’s an inn in Snowdin that offers free first nights to newcomers.” Flowey explained, guiding Frisk into town and to the inn. Though it was getting kind of dark, Frisk could make out the dismal little town, with it’s broken welcome sign and partially dilapidated homes. The inn seemed to be fairly intact, though, and the bunny woman running the inn was rather nice, after she stopped cowering behind the counter. She gave Frisk their room key and wished them a goodnight as Frisk walked up the steps to their room.
Once inside, they kicked off their shoes and placed them by the door, hoping they would dry off by the morning. They placed Flowey on the nightstand and shed off their jacket before climbing under the covers of the bed. The bed was warm and very soft, the exact opposite of the rock-hard mattress they had back at home. Fatigue quickly washed over Frisk, once they were inside in the comforts of the bed, and they looked to Flowey and smiled sleepily. Flowey looked back at Frisk and smiled just the same way.
“Goodnight, Frisk.” Flowey whispered as Frisk went to shut the lamp off that was on the nightstand, behind Flowey. Frisk patted Flowey’s head in response before curling up completely under the covers and falling fast asleep. It took Flowey a couple minutes to sleep, but after accepting that this was their situation at this current moment and taking a minute to assess what tomorrow may hold for them and their human companion, they fell asleep as well.
Now, sleep can reveal a lot about a person. How much or in what way a person sleeps can suggest a person’s personality, prior history, or even profession, if you pay close enough attention. But, if you are somehow able to tap into a person’s dreams, in the hours where they are in the middle of deep sleep, you can find out the most about a person.
Well, it’s about time we learned more about our two little friends, isn’t it? So let’s take a delve into their dreams and see what they’re really thinking.