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Something caught Chara’s foot as she stepped away from the edge.
Distracted, startled, and off balance, she frantically tried to backpedal. In the process, her other foot landed on a rock that quickly shifted and rolled under her shoe.
She slipped over the edge.
Her arms shot out in an attempt to scramble onto the vines.
She missed.
She began to fall, down and down and down.
The ground was rapidly racing up to meet her, far too quickly to process any form of plan. Not that even the most airtight plan could help her now.
Isn’t this what she wanted? Release? Escape? Freedom?
Now that she had it, it seemed much less appealing.
CRACK
Chara quickly ran through the situation as she knew it.
- She had fallen. Presumably through that hole in the cave, although her memory wasn’t working especially well right now.
- She hadn't died somehow.
- It hurt to breathe or to think about breathing or to exist at all.
- It REALLY hurt to move.
- Someone was screaming.
- That someone was probably her.
Good, good. Now that's out of the way, let's get back to the matter at hand.
Screaming, that is.
Chara was no coward; she had felt pain before. But pain like this? That punctured her entire body? That burned to her very core?
That was mostly new.
So then. Let get to it.
Asriel spun around as a horrific, unnatural scream echoed through The Ruins' dusty hallways.
Fear struck him. He recalled ancient legends of cave beasts and Human hunting parties. After all, that couldn't have been a normal Monster. Not just because of the sound itself, but the context. No one was left in that direction, they had all left days ago for New Home, his dad included. It was just him, his mom, and the few Monsters that had decided to stay.
He had gone this way in order to look for any Monsters who had been left behind and to tell them that the queen was leaving. He was meant to be back after half an hour or so, but when that great booming sound shook the entire cavern he decided to head back. His mother would be worried after all, and he didn't look forward to being trapped by a cave-in. After that scream though, how could he just walk away? What if someone was hurt? It didn't sound like any kind of Monster he knew, but could he really risk it?
The scream echoed again and Asriel listened more closely this time. The twisting corridors and endless halls transformed the wail into a beastly roar, but at heart, it sounded pained. If someone was trapped and dying under a pile of rocks, he had to help. Time could be of the essence. Besides, he wasn't a kid anymore, he could protect himself (he graciously ignored the fact that he had so far failed to conjure anything more concrete than a fist full of embers).
He trotted down the hall, fear and excitement brewing inside him. The scream sounded again, quieter and more strained this time.
"It sounds like it came from over here." He spoke out loud, trying to both steel his nerves and give the possible victim hope.
He picked up the pace, speeding down the stairs and around a corner to find himself in the cavernous pit that the Monsters were first banished to.
The first thing he noticed was the light. This room was never exactly “dark”, but now it was almost too bright to bear. Before now, it was cast in a dirty, unnatural, chilling filter because of the barrier above. Enough for plants to grow well, but not comfortable to live in. Now, the room was filled with shining, unfiltered sunlight from above. Not magical or artificial light, real, honest to gods sunlight. Was the barrier… gone? No, no, now isn’t the time for this. He’d deal with that mystery later.
His eyes drifted downwards to a much more shocking revelation. Amidst the bits of rock and debris, there was a figure. They were lying limp on the ground, silent except for a barely audible groaning. They were wearing what one once probably a fairly bright shirt, but had been faded and stained by dirt, dust, and a kind of red liqui-
Oh.
It was a Human. An actual, real-life Human.
A Human was in the underground. This should have concerned Asriel, but they looked so innocent like this. His parents had always taught him to forgive his enemies. Surely Humans were included in that?
Besides, they were in REALLY bad shape. He was pretty sure Human feet weren't supposed to twist like that, after all.
He inched forward before jumping back when the Human began to shift.
"It sounds like it came from over here."
Chara decided that she could officially add sore throat to her list of injuries. She had fallen silent a bit ago and was trying to muster up the strength to stand when she heard the voice. Logically, she should wait until they got here so that they could help.
But Chara wasn't a fan of waiting on others, and she certainly wasn't going to show weakness. She didn't need someone to carry her through life, she could handle her- Ouch. Movement isn't fun, forgot about that.
She concentrated and began to lift herself off the ground. Her right arm refused to cooperate, simply hanging limply, unresponsive to her commands and searing with pain. There's another one for the list.
It was going well enough (if very painfully) until she put weight on her right foot. The pain burned up her leg and turned her vision white as she staggered forward a few quick steps before finally falling. Her blurred and fuzzy eyes didn't even notice the person in front of her until she was in their arms.
"Oh! You've f-fallen down, haven't you?" Chara could tell he was trying to sound calmer than he was. He clearly hadn't seen an injury of this level before.
"Are you okay?" In more pleasant circumstances, Chara would have made a joke revolving around Admiral Obvious and the time he skipped basic medicine and biology, but now wasn't the time.
A simple head shake seemed to suffice.
"Here, get up." He put Chara's arm around his neck and pulled her to her feet. Well, to one of them anyway.
"What's your name?" He was probably trying to distract her from the pain. She was happy to go along with it for now. She was too rattled to be cold and guarded anyway.
"Ch-" Her words were disrupted by a pained cough.
"Chara."
"Chara, huh? That's a nice name."
"My name is Asriel." That's an odd name. Although she supposed she wasn't one to talk.
"C'mon Chara, let's go. I know you can do it, help isn't far." She mentally rolled her eyes. Oh good, he's a glass half full kinda guy. In hindsight, she should have tried to land on her head.
After awkwardly and painfully climbing a set of stairs, Asriel reassured her and gave them a destination.
"My mom is near here. She can help. She can heal anyone." A doctor? Awfully convenient. Still, Chara was in no shape is disagree. They set off, passing fuzzy shapes and vague walls as they went. Chara's eyes were still blurry from tears and head damage, but she didn't recognize any of this.
Wait... hadn't she fallen into the mountain?
"Asriel... where are we?"
Silence.
"...it's... We're not far now."
"Asriel."
"It's hard to explain. I... I can tell you when we get there, but we need to help you first."
That didn't inspire confidence, but her only option was to keep limping along with him.
After another painstaking minute of limping, Chara began to grow confused. Her vision was still fuzzy, which wasn't very surprising, but it seemed like the world was fuzzy too. At first, she thought it was just pins and needles from blood loss, but as bad as the fall was, she didn't think she had lost THAT much blood.
"Asriel?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you wearing a fur coat or something?"
"No..."
"Oh... I think blood loss is setting in then."
"It, uh... it might just be me."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it for now."
Chara tried to muster a response, but she felt the strength leaving her body. It may have just been shock, but Asriel's response didn't make any sense.
Chara started to wobble and stagger, her body far too sore to deal with her mind's conundrums. She was surprised she made it this far, to be honest.
"Chara? You ok?"
"Guess not... I hope you're stronger than you sound..."
"What? Chara? Chara are you ok?"
Chara just groaned in response, her head spinning like a carnival ride and her legs feeling jelly. She went limp in his arms. Everything went black.
"Just a bit further Chara! I can see the house!"
Almost on cue, a shape emerged from the door. It was his mom.
"My child! I was wondering if-", She stopped mid-sentence as she saw the Human, "Oh my, Asriel is that...?"
"Yes, but we have to help them! We can't just-" Toriel cut him off before he could finish.
"No no, I understand. Here, help me carry them inside."
Together they hauled the Human through the doorway and into Asriel's bedroom.
"Here, that'll work."
They gently set her down on the bed and set to work.
"What's wrong with them?" Asriel asked anxiously.
"My Human anatomy is a little rusty, but I think they've twisted their ankle. Their shoulder seems to be dislocated as well. A great many cuts and bruises too. My my my, what happened to you little one."
"I think they fell down. Y'know the cave at the beginning of The Ruins? There was a hole at the top like there used to be."
"A hole? Does that mean we could... no. Now is not the time."
"Would healing magic work on them?"
"Unless Humans have changed greatly over the years, yes. I have to set the wound first so it heals right though. Unlike us, they aren't made of magic, they're-"
"Made of bones and muscle, I know."
"Hah, it's good to see you paid attention in class."
Toriel's hands began to glow with energy as the healing spell began.
"Asriel, I need you to hold them, they might move, and I need the leg to be stable."
Asriel took hold of the leg and closed his eyes, trying to block out the deeply uncomfortable noises. When he opened them, she had set to work with her healing magic.
"Ok, now for the arm."
Asriel looked away, but that didn't stop him from hearing the crunchy crack that emitted from her shoulder.
"Alright, that should do it for now. They'll need a more thorough treatment later though."
"Chara."
"Hmm?"
"Her name is Chara."
"Chara. That's a nice name."
"That's what I said!"
Toriel chuckled before leaning down to hug her son.
"You did good Asriel, I'm proud of you."
"Thanks." He sheepishly replied.
"Go on, I'll call Asgore and then I can get you cleaned up."
Asriel looked down, only then realizing how dirty he was.
"Ok, I guess. And mom?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think she'll be ok?"
"Physically, yes. But this is a whole new world for her. We haven't seen anything in the garbage dumb to imply that Humans still remember us, so I can only imagine her surprise."
"Do you think... do you think she can stay with us?"
Toriel chuckled lovingly "If she wants to, then yes. She can stay with us. She could even be like family."
"Thanks, mom. I'd like that."