Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cover Art by: Nebulapaws

Betas: Acaiis, Gpow

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𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚘𝚠𝚗

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    𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚘, 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑; 𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚂 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝙾𝙽𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂

    𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜.

    𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎,  𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜.

    𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚕.

    𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛...

    𝙻𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗.

✰✦✰

    Autumn had finally fully rolled around in Hometown; swaths of orange, gold and crumbling brown leaves swirled along with bellies full of maple syrup breezes. Each house in Hometown was decorated with all sorts of fall-esque decorations--pumpkins, hay bales, pots of fiery red mums and lovingly-crafted scarecrows. Already, fall’s soft blanket of frost blanketed the quaint town, a gentle reminder of the harsh season to follow.

    With the sun dipping just below the tree-lined horizon, splashing hometown in pleasant swaths of pumpkin sunlight.

    A soft, smooth jazz floated around the cinnamony-warm diner. Kris tapped their fingers on the rich oak table along to the tune, eyes closed despite the beautiful view, swaying to the bellied brass.

    “How I long to her face now,

    The starry moonlit gaze now,

    I know she’s never late, still anxiously I wait,

    Patient is the night."

    Kris’s thoughts were promptly interrupted by a bang! in front of them. 

    “I told you! I don’t have a tail!” Susie snarled indignantly, eyes narrowed with all but a single splash of malice. She rubbed her snout with one hand, the other tapping on the table next to her pumpkin spice latte. 

    “Sure you don’t,” Noelle giggled, her voice shining with mirth. She cupped her mug of marshmallow-dotted hot chocolate, tapping the mug idly. Susie snapped her jaws in annoyance, something that made a noise akin to a pumpkin falling on the street.

    After a moment Susie leaned over Noelle’s shoulder, her snout a little too close to the steaming mug of hot chocolate. A sly grin slithered across her maw, bearing snaggly yellow teeth. “Can I have a sip?”

    Noelle squeaked breathlessly--Kris didn’t point out that her nose was glowing as bright as the setting sun. With her ears pinned to her skull she nodded silently, sliding the warm mug to the grinning crocodile, who grabbed the mug with a cheshire’s grin. 

    Kris rolled their eyes fondly at the two’s shenanigans. They tapped the table a bit more insistantly to gain the two monsters’ attention. They pointed to Mt. Ebott, a large mountain that towered a few miles off town--so large it blotted out the setting sun.

    “Y’know, legends say that people who hike that mountain never return,” they started, signing a little bit slower than usual just so Susie could keep up. They grinned at the beginnings of nervousness already starting to creep into Noelle’s face. “So I was thinking we should hike it.”

    The dread only seemed to multiply for Noelle, especially when she turned to Susie only to see the crocodile grinning maniacally--Kris stifled a chuckle at the whipped cream dotting her snout. 

    “Oh FUCK yeah!! I’m all in!” Susie slammed her claws on the table, looking a bit too happy to go on the hike. She grabbed her pumpkin spice latte and downed the whole thing, licking away the whipped cream on her snout with a swipe of her forked tongue. 

    Noelle let out a relenting sigh with a fond eye roll. “Alright, fine, I’ll go with you too--eek!”

    Susie swooped Noelle up in a one-armed hug, displaying a grin with more teeth than her head seemed to reasonably hold, and pumped the air with her other fist--just narrowly missing the table. “Hell-fuckin-yeah!! Let's go!”

    Susie didn’t really seem to notice that Noelle’s nose glowed brighter--nor that her hugging Noelle was in any way related to that. 

    “We can go after lunch, then. “ Kris signed with finality. They snagged a fry from Noelle’s plate and popped it in their mouth,  leaning nonchalantly on the table and  allowing themselves to once more get lost in the jazz and the sounds of their friends’ banter.

✰✦✰

    The only way to Mt. Ebott was off the beaten path, a winding road that’d been abandoned ages ago, hidden in shadowy woods. The trail itself was ripped apart by stubborn grass and slimy rain-slicked fallen leaves scattered about. Kris, Susie and Noelle padded across the dirt-gravel ground, highlighted by the long-set sun. 

    They’d walked in relative silence the whole way through, the occasional conversion worming its way in their comfortable quiet. The night was full of naught but the swaying of wind-bellied leaves, creaking roots and the lamenting song of the crickets. If Kris strained their ears they swore they heard a calm strum of a guitar rumbling like a purr deep in the woods.

    They could make out the faint song drifting with the wind like driftwood cast in a stream, just barely making out the lyrics.

    “ There’s an old black train a-comin’

    Scrapin’ ‘long the iron

    You don’t need no ticket, boys

    It’ll take you when it's time.”

    “How much do you want to bet there’s literally nothing fucking there,” Susie snickered, a sly grin curled across her snout showing off pointy yellowing teeth. Her claws were tapping her thigh along with the distant rhythm--it probably sounded closer to her.

    “Oh, no doubt honestly,” Kris signed back, gazing at Noelle with a sly grin of their own. She tried to match it but it ended up looking more questioning than anything. 

    They lapsed into another comforting silence, interrupted by not even the faintest whisper carried softly by the wind. It felt...too quiet.

    They never heeded nature’s quiet signs. 

    (Does anybody?)

✰✦✰

    Susie panted loudly, snarling under her breath as she went. The distant sounds of the song had all but faded to relative silence.

 “Titan, that was the worst fucking hike I’ve ever had.”

    “Just hours ago you said it was the most pleasant hike you’ve ever had,” Noelle pointed out kindly, patting Susie’s shoulder lightly. Susie’s whisker twitched just as her lips drew back in a small smile--or whatever counted as a small smile for Susie.

    “That’s before I had to climb this shit mountain--only to find fuck all,” Susie kicked a rock down the slope. She sat down heavily on the grass with a grunt. “I need to sit the fuck down for a moment before we hike back down.”

    Kris plopped down at Susie’s side, Noelle following suit at Susie’s free side. They had to admit, the view from the mountain was nice; Hometown spread out on the ground almost as though they were looking through an old coffee-stained map. Each building was lit up like lanterns being let loose in the night sky, with the occasional car lighting up the dark streets. Kris could have sworn they heard a dull thud thud thud from their left.

    But what really drew Kris’s attention away was the faint chill that crept up their spine. 

    The kind that felt like a silvery tongue of ice licking your bare skin in the midst of a weary winter night. The kind that whispered of evil, like the blood that painted the occasional full moon. The faint slivers of the just barely awake moonlight disappeared behind cotton clouds.

    They tugged on Susie’s faded flannel lightly, trying to get her attention. She turned to them, bright yellow eyes narrowed--but to be fair, they were always like that. “Yeah?”

    They thought for a long moment about what they should say--or how they should word it. Possibly the first time in quite a bit they really put thought into their words--or rather, their hand motions. But they got the feeling that the slithering, coaxing, pleading shadowy tendrils that slithered along their bare skin was an all too familiar feeling. 

    Like a dark world.

    “Maybe what we’re looking for isn’t here. Maybe it’s in a cave of some sorts,” they decided. Noelle’s brows knitted together in confusion, whilst Susie merely tipped her head in thought. 

    “Well, I did see a cave some ways west from here,” Susie rasped quietly. She’d always had that problem with whispering--her voice would go all raspy as though it’d been put through the paper shredder. With an exhausted huff, she pushed herself into a standing position and stretched lazily with a loud and pronounced yawn.

    She snapped her jaw with a resounding pop! , the kind you’d hear if you burst a bubble-gum bubble. She dusted her claws off. “Well, get the fuck up, we’ve got a myth to bust.”

    Kris liked her confidence, but they had this sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy.

    Not anymore, anyways.

    Noelle and Kris followed her lead, both being startled by Susie snagging both their hands roughly. “Y’all’re takin’ too long, Titan, do I have to drag you there?”

    Without waiting for a response she dragged the two along, cackling like a hyena as she went. She dragged them to a large cave, stopping just shy of the gaping maw. She finally let go of their hands, gesturing to the endless black.

    “You know, it actually wasn’t this dark-looking when I first saw it,” Susie mumbled quietly with a claw idly rubbing the keeled scales on the top of her jaw. After a moment she shrugged with a “whatever” being thrown into the wind.

    There was nothing much to look at with this cave; persistent shadows that slithered along cracks and drifted with hanging roots from the ceiling covered most of what was to see. Kris could see the faint outlines of crumbling bleach-white columns and weathered debris scattered around what looked to be a hole--if the deeper darkness was any indicator.

    With a vague picture of what the cave might look like in mind, they took a careful step forward.

    “I-I don’t think this is a good idea, actually, i-its really dark and--” Noelle swallowed and took a deep steadying breath. Kris looked back to see a violent tremor running through the deer and her fur bristled like a pinecone. She took several more breaths before calming down. “No no, I--we can do this--”

    Susie grinned and enveloped the girl in a side hug. “That’s the spirit! It won’t be too bad, it's just a dingy wet ass cave!”

    Noelle threw her hooves to her nose just in time to cover the blaring red light emanating from it. Her eyes were blown as wide as dinner plates. “Y-y-yeah!” 

    After a few moments of just staring at the cave opening, Susie finally piped up again--her voice achingly loud after the silence that followed Noelle’s voice. “Well, it's nice and all staring at a dank ass hole in the wall, how about we go inside ?”

    Kris nodded idly making their way to the mouth of the cave, suppressing the shivers that crawled up goosebump ridden skin. They stood at the very edge of the bottomless pit, a hole of all encompassing darkness, staring downwards blankly.

    “It’s just a hole.” They signed glumly. 

    Despite that...they got the feeling it was... more than that.

    They turned to Susie--said gator’s brows were drawn together questioningly, completely oblivious to the relieved looks Noelle was sending Kris from behind her. She rolled her neck--letting loose a few pops and clicks--and grumbled under her breath. “Welp, this fucks.”

    After a few moments of silence, a shark-like grin spread across her face and she plodded next to Kris. She shoved Kris playfully, letting out a thunderous laugh “welp! We survived that lousy ass Lege--”

    crrrRACK!

    The ground rasped under Kris’s feet, shifting and churning like boiling water. The darkness pooling inside the hole seemed to boil over accompanied by a resounding thundering BOOM as the earth around it seemed to cave inward. 

    Kris let out an audible gasp as gravity tugged them downwards with hungry hands, heard the tail end of a near-muffled surprised roar from Susie as she lurched to try and catch them, but that only served to make the ground slip away faster, soon she was falling with them. 

    Noelle screamed something lost to the roaring wind blaring in Kris’s ear and the thudding adrenaline coursing through their veins. They felt something slide over them as though they had dove into water. Their brain felt like it was being stuffed with cotton, their vision going fuzzy as it got swallowed whole by starving shadows--

    Then,

    nothingness.

✰✦✰

    A heavy weight slamming into their body drove their awareness back into them like a hot stake plunging into freshly toiled dirt. Their eyes snapped open, fingers scraping at something wet and smooth in a vain attempt to push themselves up to face whatever had just crushed them.

    A rumbling snarl like wood being unceremoniously shoved in a woodchip sounded from above Kris, the weight on their back shifting ever so slightly. “What the fuck! Why did the g--wait. K-Kris?”

    Kris was promptly smacked in the face by Susie’s snout. They let out a pained wheeze. The lizard immediately sprung upwards, landing on slippery dust-layered ground with a light thud. “Holy shit, are you good du--Noelle??”

    Noelle had seemingly fallen with the duo, just a few inches away from where Susie had fallen. With a start, Kris realized that Noelle wasn’t wearing her parka anymore--instead, she bore minty pearl white robes and a fluffy light blue cover, pinned together with a glittering sapphire. Her hair was brilliant green and her fur a minty-brown, dotted with snow white freckles. 

    Kris turned to Susie to see she got the same treatment--the Dark World treatment--and found that she, too, had transformed. Instead of her dull lilac scales, she was a bright magenta, her hair spiked cascades of sangria. She dusted off her puffy boysenberry pants and adjusted her spiked wristbands carelessly. 

    Noelle broke the silence first, her voice like creeping frostbite. “A-Are we in--is this a Dark World?”

    Knew it.

    Susie’s slitted amber eyes flitted from condensation-slimed wall to weathered cliff and then down to her spike-tipped boots. She grimaced, smoke curling in thin wires from her nose. “Yeah, I’d guess so.”

    “B-but that’s impossible! Didn’t Ralsei say the dark wells are contained to Hometown?” Noelle squeaked out with a nervous twitch of her tail. She let out a hoof to help Kris up then patted away her fluffed up mane. 

    Susie brushed the dust off her whiskers--just about as far as she’d get from cleaning herself after such a fall as she could get--then threw her gaze back up to the ceiling. She squinted at the tendrils of moonlight that grasped weakly at the buttercup dotted ground. Little particles of dust floated idly in the milky light, like scattered lost stars.

    Kris found their gaze drawn to the buttercups--the flower bed that had seemingly broken their fall.

    A small tune--like windchimes drifting along in a nonexistent wind--fluttered to the three lighteners, all but putting a stop on their conversation. Kris dusted off the stray petals clinging stubbornly to their cape and armour, adjusting their vambraces and brushing their bangs in their face. 

    They felt their SOUL glow with DETERMINATION, a faint slithering whisper telling them to go forward , soft and tentative. 

    They let out a steadying breath, shaking away the pins and needles that clung to their fingertips and raised their hands. ‘Follow me’. 

    Susie grinned toothily, shadowboxing the air as though they were an innocent darkener she’d love to thrash and snagged Noelle’s hand, dragging the flustered doe along. “Fuck yeah! Another adventure!”

    Noelle pulled up her fluffy fleece hood shyly and allowed Susie to pull her along, her hooves clopping on slick age-worn stone. 

    The three lighteners proceeded with HOPE, completely unaware of the stirring within the buttercup bed, slithering like a snake without a head.

✰✦✰

𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜,

𝚆𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎’𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚗?

𝙷𝚘𝚠’𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚝?

‘𝙲𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚒𝚗’𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚍

𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗’𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

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𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙱𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍.

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✰✦✰

    With nowhere to go but forward, the party trudged through the canyon room in silence. Hoofsteps, muffled by the generous splattering of lemony buttercups growing in slithering cracks on the floor like weeds, echoed throughout the winding halls. 

    The group came to a halt at a dilapidated stone archway. Susie leaned against the archway with her arms crossed protectively over her chest, puffing a small cloud of wispy smoke that faded into the silent air. She didn’t seem to mind that the walls were as damp as crocodile scales, possibly because she, herself, was a crocodile.

    Noelle tipped her head to the side in tentative concern, a hand hovering in the air as though she wished to reach out to Susie. She busied the hand with adjusting her fur-lined cowl awkwardly instead. “Is everything alright Susie?” 

    Susie dug her claws under the keeled scales lining her bare arms in that worried way Kris caught her doing quite frequently. After a few moments, she seemed to find an apt response, replying with a voice as rough as chipped wood. “‘M waitin’ for Ralsei. We’re in a dark world, right? He has to come.” 

    Noelle sent a questioning look to Kris. She was still rather new to the prophecy thing, not fully understanding the grandiose roles that her friends played in the prophecy. She also didn’t quite know who Ralsei was. Nevertheless, she gave Susie a smile as patient as Odyesus's Penelope.

    Hesitantly, she put a hoof on Susie’s shoulder, confidence blooming her expression like lilacs when Susie didn’t immediately shove her hand off. “Maybe we could proceed a little, and wait for Ralsei to catch up?” 

    Susie stared off into the inky eyes of the black cave walls, her hair shadowing her eyes like curtains. She tapped her foot in thought. Finally, she uncrossed her arms and pushed herself off the pillar with a huff, a puff of silvery smoke. Her mouth drew into a sinister-looking shark-tooth smile.“Sure, why the hell not. He caught up in Cyberworld, toothpaste boy can get his fluffy ass to us.” 

    Kris tried to ignore this nagging feeling that, perhaps, Ralsei wasn’t actually going to come. They disregarded the strange convicted whisper tickling the back of their mind; the voice that told them Ralsei wouldn’t be needed here. That he won’t be with them--not in that kind of way.

    (That’s not how you think about your friends, after all.)

    Without waiting for her companions, Susie swung her head under the crumbling archway, practically barreling into the next room with renewed vigour. She dashed to the dead centre of the room, standing proudly upon the strangely-placed patch of buttercups, her lips still split in a menacing grin. 

    The room she entered was large, as big as an auditorium, with towering damp black walls, swallowed whole by a pitch-black ceiling. The pale, dusty floor was webbed with intricate cracks that were dappled with golden buttercups, swaying to a nonexistent willowy lament. 

    The air was silent, smelling of salty dampness.

    Susie demanded Kris’s attention with a guttural huff, twirling her whiskers in her fingers absentmindedly. She struck a heroic pose over the flowers, stomping on the buttercups with a thunderous boom! that bounced off the black walls. Dust trickled down the ceiling in tiny rivulets. 

    “Watchit ya idiot!” snarled the ground, its tone as sharp as thorns. 

    Susie’s eyes snapped open wide, surprise written on her as clear as the cloudless sky. She lifted her boot off the crushed bed of buttercups, damp petals clinging to the bottom like it was a lifeline, and stomped her foot down again experimentally, her expression disturbed.

    A small yellow flower sprouted out from under Susie’s boot, like a bone from a break. Its face--oh goodness it had a face --was twisted in a glower darker than roaring storm clouds. Anger radiated from the flower like tidal waves in a tsunami, bearing needle-rotted teeth.  

    “Are you trying to kill me you--” the flower’s gaze zipped around the room, until it landed on Kris. It trailed off from the beginnings of its rage-filled rant, the glower all but melting away into the sunniest smile Kris had ever seen, Susie completely forgotten. 

    “Oh!! A human!!” the flower cheered gleefully. It sank into the ground and popped up some ten metres away, looking as spry as a daisy. Susie made a confused noise from behind the flower. It didn’t acknowledge her. “You’re new to the underground, aren’tcha?” 

    Kris looked to Noelle before nodding in affirmation. The golden flower’s smile seemed to grow like the grinch’s heart, like a lion finding its prey. The smile melted away into something sickly sweet, like sour candy. 

    “Well! Howdy! My name’s Flowey! Flowey the Flower! Allow me t’help ya!” Flowey jumped in place gleefully, buzzing like a bee spotting freshly bloomed bee balm. Behind the joyful buttercup, Susie seemed to be attempting to gather her bearings. 

    Kris fixed Susie with a worried look, the concern only growing when they saw her struggles to get up again. Flowey swayed to the side, idly, blocking their view of her. 

    With a flash of glittering ruby, Kris’s soul lit up like a star in the night sky, zipping readily out of their chest with a phantom pull. Instinct sunk hungry fangs into Kris’s mind, forcing them to draw the Spookysword from its leather scabbard.

    From the corner of their eyes they saw Noelle tug at her legs fruitlessly, panic settling in her expression like a spider finding a new web. She couldn’t seem to pry herself free of her position a few metres behind Kris. They cast their gaze to Susie, who seemed to be in similar straights.

    They couldn’t help but notice the vines that seemed to slither out from the cracks in the floor like ravenous serpents.

    They were all alone. A tiny voice in the back of their mind tried to ease their worries.

    They ignored it.

    No sense lying to themself.

    “See that? That’s your soul! Right now it’s weak, but it can grow stronger as you gain more LV!” Flowey prattled on, swaying back and forth joyfully like a cat that caught the cream. “What’s LV stand for? Why Love of course!” 

    Flowey winked brilliantly, a few petals tearing themselves gingerly off the lifeless buttercups surrounding him. They swirled like leafs with bellies full of frost-tipped gusts around Flowey’s head, all angled straight for Kris’s soul. “You want some love don’tcha? Down here, love is shared through little…..white….’friendliness pellets’”

    He said those words with the most minute of eyerolls, as though he couldn’t believe Kris was actually falling for this. 

    Kris looked down at their feet, cringing at the vines clutching tightly on the silvery steel of their sabaton. 

    “Why don’tcha try and catch a few?” Flowey smiled coyly, as though he were making a joke that only he understood. 

    Kris directed the soul away from the pellets on instinct, flitting away from the sluggish pellets as they descended upon them like predatory turtles. They splattered on the ground with a dull plap. 

    Flowey’s smile flickered, for a moment looking extremely deadpan. “Hey, buddy. Ya missed ‘em.” 

    Susie shot Kris a supportive thumbs up from her prone position on the crushed bed of buttercups. She gave them her best jagged-toothed grin, something that melted into something softer as it drifted away from Kris. Worry seemed to draw lines across her cheeks and face. 

    Flowey plastered on a smile as strained as a thread pulled too thin. Five more pellets drifted above Flowey’s head, dancing along teasingly like whorls of snow. Without hesitance, the petals short towards the soul like heat-seeking missiles. 

    Kris made a sweeping motion with their finger, the soul shooting along the invisible path like Orion’s arrow. 

    The pellets splattered onto the ground with a more dignified plop. 

    Flowey’s smile slipped away again, his face twisting into a deep frown. “Is this a joke ? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS ‘friendliness pellets.’”

    Kris didn’t miss how the world snapped back into place like the snap of a whip. 

    Nor did they miss the lack of reactions by either Noelle or Susie. 

    They held up their shield ready for the hail of frosty pellets, this time aimed straight for them. The bullets bounced off the smooth surface of the shield harmlessly with a depressed poof. 

    Flowey stared at the place where the pellets splattered on the ground harmlessly. The three remaining pellets trembling as though overtaken by frosted claws. Flowey’s gaze snapped to Kris in an instant, his face twisted in a  grotesque snarl that seemed to redefine the term monster.

    “ You know what’s going on here, don’t you?” The flower snarled savagely, a snarl that made Susie’s seem like a cat’s meow. The ground trembled in fear at the flower’s outburst. “ You just wanted to see me suffer. ”

    The glasgow snarl grew more sinister as the vines tethering Kris’s feet to the ground seemed to pulse with rage. Kris shook their head, pulling on the vines that rooted them in place in an attempt to put distance between them and the enraged flower.

    Behind Flowey, they saw Susie desperately trying to pull herself into a standing position, only to once more earn a face full of buttercup petals. She let out a surprisingly tumultuous roar. 

    Kris looked at Noelle just as the wind began to pick up, startling the lazy buttercups into a hasty dance. She seemed to be desperately trying to pry her hooves free of the slithering vines that grabbed at her with starving hands, looking panic stricken. 

    A flurry of snow white bullets tore themselves off of dying buttercups, joining the storm in a hypnotizing war dance. Stray petals clawed at Kris’s exposed skin like gnawing mosquito bites and ensnaring their soul in a beartrap made up of yellow-white petals.

    “ DIE. ” 

    Flowey burst into toe-curling, boisterous laughter, as though he’d told the funniest joke in the whole world. His laughter only grew in volume as he watched Kris squirm in an attempt to break free of the vines. 

    As the bullets crept ever closer, a voice stirred in Kris’s head. Like a dream, it sounded familiar and unfamiliar all at once. 

    Wait .

    Kris soon found out exactly what those whispered words meant, as a faint glow flickered to life like a newly lit candle by Flowey’s side. The small yellow flower was too busy laughing to see the flames increase in vibrance, until they were as bright as the summer sun. The flame reeled back and slammed into Flowey with a dull fwump! knocking the pathetic flower away like a cat batting away a glass.

    The brilliant flames illuminated the face of the pyromancer who’d saved them--the painfully familiar face of their saviour. 

    Toriel. 

    “What a vile pathetic creature, torturing such innocent souls,” Toriel tsked with a click of her tongue. She flashed the party with a reassuring smile, as warm as a freshly baked pie. “Greetings, children, I am Toriel, Caretaker of the Ruins.” 

✰✦✰

    After being fretted over for a few minutes, Toriel sent the party a grin laced with happiness that seemed as old as the hills and sky. Kris knew better. “You’re the first human who’s fallen down here in quite some time, young one.” 

    She turned to Noelle and Susie, both monsters still seeming as though they were attempting to shake off their shock like sticky dew drops. She tipped her head in hesitant curiosity. “I’ve never seen either of you two girls before, who might you be? And where’d you come from?” 

    Noelle was quick to answer, as though she were being asked a question by a teacher. “My name’s Noelle, This is Susie and Kris, Ms--” 

    She stopped herself, trailing off with a helpless look at Kris. Susie tapped her thigh restlessly, seeming ansty to add a quick “we’re friends with, uh, the human ma’am. We don’t really have a place to stay and--”

    “Oh say no more!” Toriel interrupted with a gasp. She tapped her paws together in thought. “Please, follow me, I’ll guide you through the ruins.” 

    She turned around and left the trio, occasionally looking back as though to make sure they didn’t disappear. Kris got a feeling the ruins were pretty lonely. 

    As soon as Toriel left, Noelle let out a sigh of discomfort. She shifted from hoof to hoof as though her robes were on fire, her words quiet and shy. “That was weird, wasn’t it?” 

    Susie sniffed, though Kris hadn’t failed to notice the discomfort leaking through the cracks in her mask. “What, the whole attack of the killer flower thing?” 

    Noelle must have noticed the look too, because she twiddled her hooves together, eyes fixed on the decimated buttercups below her feet. They hardly looked recognisable. “You know what I mean, Susie.” 

    Susie looked like a wet sock puppet, downcast and miserable. Her voice seemed to tear at her throat when she spoke, rough and grainy. “Oh yeah, that’s right. The vines.” 

    Noelle turned to Kris and offered them an apologetic upturn of her lips. She played absently with the fringes of her cowl. “I’m really sorry we couldn’t help. We..just couldn’t move…” 

    Kris nodded and sent them both a reassuring thumbs up that they hoped soothed their worries for the moment. They signed a slow “I understand” for good measure. 

    They did understand.

    Perfectly, in fact.

    Their gaze lingered on the withering vines resting on their sollerets. 

✰✦✰

    The archway at the end of the room lead to a much smaller room with crumbling purple brick walls. Cobwebs swayed in stagnant musty air, spots of mould climbed between dangerously web-crackled walls. 

    At the end of the room were two diverging weathered staircases. In between those once marvellous-looking stairs was a flickering yellow star resting on a bed of slick red leaves. 

    Toriel stood at the top of the staircase near a door rotted so badly it hung on its hinges as though contemplating a jump. As soon as she spotted the party, she wrenched the door open, swinging it open with a sob of protest. 

    Susie shrugged at Kris before snagging Noelle by the hand and dragging her along dust layered ground.

    Kris, meanwhile, made a beeline for the glittering, lemon-coloured star nestled comfortably in the leaf pile. They rested their open palm on it, sighing peacefully as magic blanketed their muscles and pulled pearls of pain from their tired bones. 

    A new feeling wove itself alone their veins with red threads, a feeling Kris was both familiar with and yet not at all.

    Determination. 

✰✦✰

    The rotted door lead into an even smaller room with an assortment of buttons arranged in a uniform square, two buttons cast-off to the north and south. A lever rested on the wall behind the pressure plates, the wooden stick looking termite eaten. The lever seemed to be connected to a set of grand purple double doors that looked like they’d been replaced recently. 

    Toriel stood next to the pressure plate puzzle with a smile as patient as a summer breeze in the leaves. She held her paws together closely to her chest. “The Ruins are full of puzzles, ancient fusions between diversions and door keys.” 

    She stepped across the plates organized in the uniform square and strode to the lever. Delicately, she pushed it down, eliciting a satisfying kuchunk! As the stone double doors cracked open with a trembling groan. 

    She turned to face the party, probably to gauge their reactions--to see understanding light up in their eyes like city lights.

    All she got was a bright smile, a faraway stare and a deadpan expression. 

    She seemed to think of something, before electing to graciously ignore their apparent lack of perception. She swept her paw in a “follow me” motion and made her way out of the room.

    Susie looked to Kris. “I hope there’s spikes, I wanna walk over a few--just for funsies.” 

    Noelle sent Susie a concerned look, then her gaze turned to Kris with increasing worry. Kris sent a thumbs up and continued onward as though Susie wanting to walk on spikes was absolutely normal. To be fair, it absolutely was. 

    The next puzzle Toriel showed them was set up in a long hallway divided into three equal parts by bubbling algae-covered streams. At the end of the hall was a set of spikes as sharp as the tip of a dirk. Vines crept across the walls, looming over each pair of levers--which seemed to be labelled by painted bright yellow arrows. 

    Kris sniggered at the fist pump and the “yes!” Susie let out. Noelle sent Susie another worried look. 

    Toriel padded forwards with her paws behind her back. “To make progress in this room, you must trigger several switches. For your convenience, I’ve labelled them.” 

    She lead the trio through the winding hallway, blocking off the musty bridges connecting each section of the hallway until one of them triggered their respective lever. Kris pulled the final lever, subconsciously grinning with satisfaction when they heard a familiar click!

    Susie leaned down next to their ear. “I wish she could have just let me walk past this puzzle.” 

    Kris held back bubbling laughter, shoving Susie’s snout away with a grin. She shoved them forward in retaliation, laughing when they nearly fell face-first into the slippery water.

    ‘Very well done! I’m excited to show you my next lesson!’ Toriel exclaimed, clapping gleefully. Her amber eyes glowed with pride, something that made Kris scuff the dust on the ground shyly. Toriel turned around with a flourished sweep of her lilac robes, exiting the room with the air of a teacher getting to show their newest lesson. 

    The party followed with less enthusiasm.

    The first thing Kris spotted was the misshapen dummy placed haphazardly in the middle of the room. Fluff poked out from various ageing stitches and mould clung to the damp slightly rotted felt of the dummy. It looked like any moment it’d tip over. 

    “As a human living in the Underground, Monsters may attack you, but never fear! I can give you a quick tutorial on how to handle these situations!” Toriel padded over to the dummy, adjusting it so it didn’t topple over. It looked like the slightest breeze would tip it over. “Simply distract them until I come to resolve the situation.” 

    Kris unsheathed their sword, falling into a comfortable rhythm at the familiar hum of magic as Susie materialized the devilsknife in her claws and Noelle clapped her hooves together, spell ready. 

    The soul thrummed to life and zipped out of their chest, slamming to a halt dead centre in the field. 

    They lifted their hands and, like a conductor, directed Susie and Noelle to defend while they talked with the dummy. They got ready to sign the most classic conversation starter ever; “How’s the weather?” 

    The dummy drifted upwards aimlessly with a hauty air. It phased through the ceiling as though it couldn’t bear to have its immortal soul tainted with such foul words. 

    Toriel stared after the dummy with a smile, not seeming to really process what she’d just witnessed. The smile faded away as she lifted an eyebrow, searching the room--possibly for answers that didn’t seem to actually exist. 

    Then the confusion melted away as she turned away and walked out of the room without a further comment. 

    Susie burst into laughter as deep as the roots of a tree. She held her stomach as though any moment she might fall apart, trembling like a leaf on water. She wiped away a tear from her eyes. “Holy fucking shit that was goddamn golden--” 

    She gripped the handle of the devilsknife, dematerializing it in a flurry of green and blue ribbons. Noelle giggled silently as she brushed her hooves off. She padded to Susie’s side and whispered something in Susie’s ear, who only seemed to laugh harder. 

✰✦✰

    As soon as the three caught up with Toriel, she sent them a fond smile bright like Phœbus in the midmorning sky. She stared off at the next room’s puzzle--a small island entirely made up of needle-sharp spikes. Sapphire waters licked at the spikey island hungrily. Worried tugged at Toriel’s lips. “The puzzle is here….but…” 

    Kris heard Susie cheer from behind them. They stifled a grin. 

    Toriel tapped her chin thoughtfully before offering her hand out to Kris. “Here, take my hand for a moment, will you? You two follow closely behind.” 

    Kris grabbed Toriel’s hand with hesitance, holding her paws with a sense of familiarity. They cast their gaze over their shoulder to see Susie sweep Noelle into a fireman's carry--they tried to hold back their teasing smile as Noelle’s nose seemed to glow as red as a firetruck--grinning like a man on fire. 

    Toriel carefully led Kris across the spikes, each spike platform falling away into a harmless floor. Kris followed as closely as they could to Toriel’s side, trying to shake the embarrassment that clung to them like dew drops. Desperate for a distraction, they turned their gaze back to Susie, catching the magenta gator practically dashing across the spikes with abandon, cackling like a maniac as she went. 

    As soon as Toriel got to the other side, she let Kris’s hand go with hesitance, coaxing them to follow her into the next room. They made to follow, but got elbowed in the ribs by Susie, who’d carefully set down a flustered Noelle with a sheepish grin. 

    “Not used to not having your hands held, huh?” Susie snickered. Kris felt their face heat up, socking Susie in the stomach fruitlessly.  Their face still hot, they followed Toriel out of the room, much to Susie’s amusement. 

✰✦✰

    “You’ve done well thus far, children,” Toriel praised warmly, fixing each one of them with her gaze as she fiddled with her paws nervously. A shadow passed over her expression like a storm covering the refreshing autumn sun. “Forgive me for this.” 

    “Wh--” 

    Toriel whipped around tearing away without much explanation, each footfall breaking the Ruin’s looming silence like snapping pistol fire. 

    The lighteners sat in silence as Toriel’s footsteps faded away, the weight of the Herculean task Toriel had dropped on them like a boulder. 

    At Susie’s stricken expression, panic practically tearing through her like a thunderous ravine, Noelle and Kris exchanged determined looks and solemn nods. 

    Without preamble, Kris snagged the rooted crocodile by the hand, running full tilt after their mother with the single-mindedness of a worker bee to a flower. 

    Noelle chased after the two, the wild clip-clop of her hooves mixed with the thunderous pounding of Susie’s iron-spiked boots. 

    They skidded to a screeching halt at the side of a crumbling pillar, nearly overbalancing as Susie’s weight increased on their back for a split second. The dust settled as they controlled their wild breathing. 

    Susie made a confused noise, as though the entire situation seemed to elude her understanding, quickly cut off by a triumphant yell as she spotted a familiar snow-white goat monster crouched behind the vine-covered pillar. 

    She leapt out with a cheeky grin as bright as the mid-morning sun, laughing like a bell chime singing. “Very well done! Believe it or not, but this was a test, to see your independence!” 

    The smile melted away into a serious frown, as though she was cooking up a battle plan for grocery shopping. “Unfortunately, I must leave you here for the moment. There are a few...errands that I must attend to before you can visit. I’m asking you three to wait patiently here.” 

    She fished through a carefully sewn-in pocket on her robes and drew out an ancient-looking cellphone. It looked like it belonged to someone else at some point. She handed it off to Kris gingerly. 

    “Take this. That way, if you need anything at all, you may call me,” Toriel sent them once last bright smile, laced with a sombre longing. She looked like she had more on her mind as she turned away and padded quietly out of the room. 

    Susie let out a relieved sigh. 

    No one mentioned it. 

    The silence of the Ruins hung over the three, looming like clouds blotting out the full moon. Vines slithered up crumbling musty walls, hugging them in a fatal embrace. Spiders crawled along cracked walls that seemed to shift as though they were breathing. 

    The one thing Kris could draw from the silence, 

    was a swelling sense of Determination. 

✰✦✰

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛,

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍,

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍,

𝙱𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝙹𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚎,

𝙸𝚝’𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍,

𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜,

𝙱𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗,

𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐,

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖,

𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎,

𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎’𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

----------------------

𝚁𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚜

----------------------

✰✦✰

    “So like, we’re not really going to wait here that long, are we?” Susie grumbled through the silence. She leaned against the stone pillar that Toriel had been behind, her arms crossed and her expression strangely guarded. She tapped the knob of the devilsknife on the floor impatiently.

    It’d only been a few minutes since Toriel left, and Kris was already beginning to feel the familiar buzz of needing to move . Silence loomed in the damp mouldy air with only the distant cracks and groans of the aging stone walls to balance it out.  Kris shook off the need to polish their iron boots, which were caked with dust and chipped off cobble.

    “But Toriel trusted us to stay put!” Noelle exclaimed with surprise, as though the mere suggestion of disobeying an adult was downright scandalous to her. She patted away the dirt that clung to her fur cowl and sent Susie her best pleading look, apparently not familiar with just how the magenta crocodile operated. 

    True to form, Susie did not relent, merely rolling her pin-prick amber eyes exaggeratedly. She pushed herself off the pillar with a huff, fists tightening on the bandaged handle of the devilsknife until it vanished in a flurry of blue and green ribbons. She patted down her jacket and grumbled with a voice that creaked like the gallows. “Yeah, and Toriel mi--”

    Before Susie could say what Toriel might have done, a cheery jingle cut through her words. 

    Susie stuffed her claws in her pockets, digging around until she fished out the phone Toriel had given them. It vibrated incessantly, demanding to be heard, quite like a chiwawa trying to get a bit of sandwich. She sent Kris a questioning look, before all but ignoring anything Kris might have said and picking it up. She fumbled to switch the phone to speaker.

    Toriel’s voice rang out from the receiver, as grainy as a wheat mill. “Hullo, this is Toriel. You haven’t left the room, have you?” 

    Susie rolled her eyes, though Toriel couldn’t see it. “No, we haven’t left the room.” 

    Kris could practically hear the smile in Toriel’s voice. They definitely heard her clap. “Very good! There’s a few puzzles up ahead that I have yet to explain, they’d be rather dangerous if you three did it on your own.” 

    Susie looked to Kris helplessly, apparently not really used to anyone worrying about her like this. She offered the phone to them, which they took with hesitant trembling hands. Noelle tried to shoot them a reassuring smile.

    (It didn’t feel very reassuring.)

    “I’ll be back soon, I must do some housekeeping. Stay safe, alright? Goodbye for now, children.”

    Despite her confident goodbye, Toriel didn’t hang up until she was assured the three of them understood.

    Susie stuffed the phone in her pocket with an annoyed sigh--though, Kris didn’t fail to notice the faint smile drawn on her lips--and whipped around. “Welp, let’s do exactly the opposite of what she says, huh? I’m ready to stretch my legs--and see those dangerous “unexplained puzzles” Toriel was referring to.” 

    Noelle’s eyes widened. “Susie!!”

    “What? I’m not stickin’ ‘round here, there’s a whole Ruins to explore without someone breathing down my neck! I’m goin’' Without waiting for much of a reply, Susie grabbed both Noelle and Kris’s hands and dragged them to the next room--another L shaped hallway with various piles of leaves scattered about. A vaguely familiar frog monster stood idly to the side, ribbiting something about not wanting to fight and being too lazy to anyways.

    The hallway split off into two different doorways--one to the north and another to the south. Susie made a beeline to the northern doorway with a large mischievous grin, scattering ruby red leaves as she went. Noelle sent Kris a helpless look and followed, looking extremely guilty as she went.

    Kris found out immediately why Susie made a beeline for the room. Inside of it was a small stone island with a pillar in the dead centre. Resting on top of the pillar was a bowl of candies. Susie stalked towards the bowl like a cat about to pounce, eyes practically black with how much her pupils widened. She snagged the bowl, candies flying everywhere like burrs scattering in the wind, bumping into Kris as she ran.

    Kris burst out into raucous laughter, grabbing a handful of the candies. They laughed harder at Susie’s indignant hey! , dancing out of the way when she attempted to take back her stolen sweets.

    Noelle stared after the two as though they’d just committed treason.

✰✦✰

    After gorging themselves sick on the stolen candy, the trio made their way out of the room with smiles as bright as the sun and spirits as high as the silver clouds. Kris listened with fondness as Noelle and Susie bantered easily back and forth amongst each other as they made their way to the south end of the hallway. 

    Their mind was gently drawn away by a wispy voice that whispered of familiarity in the back of their mind. Damn, you guys took the whole thing? And didn’t give me any? That’s evil.

    Kris stopped dead in their tracks, catching Susie and Noelle’s attention almost immediately. Susie raised an eyebrow in concern at Kris. “you okay?” 

    ‘I’m fine. I just thought I heard something.’ Kris signed after a few moments of deliberation. Susie nodded, the worried look still lingering on her face. Hesitantly, she and Noelle went back to their banter and Kris tried their best to shrug off the voice when--

    Damn fuckin’ right you heard something, hi!! Hullo!! I was the person who saved your neck back with Toriel!! You're welcome!! 

    Who are you? Kris demanded. They didn’t expect the voice to actually hear them, but they had to shoot their shot anyway.

    That’s for me to know, and for you to wonder, buddy. For now, let’s just say...I’m a friend. I’ll be your guide down here.

    Kris shoved away the suspicion that crawled up from their stomach and into their throat like spiders. The last time they heard that, they nearly got murked. They didn’t say-- think? --that though. Clearly sensing that doubt, the voice shifted back into their mind. Here, watch. A Froggit’s about to jump out of bumfuck nowhere and fight you. 

    True to the voice’s words, a battle-ready ribbit! sounded before a frog as white as a sheet leapt out from seemingly nowhere. Kris’s SOUL flashed crimson and tore itself from their chest readily, settling with familiarity in between the Froggit and Kris.

    Susie and Noelle drifted into position at Kris’s side; Susie brandishing the Devilsknife with a malicious twist of her lips and Noelle clapping her hooves together in a silent prayer, on standby incase either of them needed a heal.

    You have no idea how long it’s been--Froggit hopped close! 

    As the froggit swayed idly to a nonexistent tune, Kris elbowed Susie lightly in the ribs, trying to draw her attention. They signed quickly--signs they knew Susie knew very well. “Compliment the frog, Susie.”

    Susie’s eyes widened and her lips pulled back in a strange fusion of a snarl and a cringe. “Really? Again? Why can’t Noelle do it?”

    “Why can’t you?” 

    Susie rolled her eyes and groaned lightly, turning to Froggit with her best friendly smile. It ended up looking like a twisted snarl. She seemed to think for a moment before saying. “‘You are not a dick’”

    Froggit blushed deeply, letting out a flattered croak, like a door being opened by the wind. Despite how flattered it might have felt, a swarm of flies shot out from behind it, hurtling at the soul like throwing knives. Kris directed the SOUL to dance gracefully around each fly, until the last one splat against the ground pathetically.

    Susie sent Kris a deadpan look. She mouthed, “ Flies? Really? ”

    When it came to their turn, they spared the froggit without another thought. The soul zipped back into their chest with a breezy thwip!

    See? Told you. It always happens, for some reason . Kris could practically feel the grin in the voice’s tone, as smug as April.

    Thank you, but how’d you--

    Hey buddy, your friends? Yeah, they’re leaving you.

    Kris shook their head, trying to shake off the thoughts that clung to their head like burrs they couldn’t quite reach. It didn’t really work. They saw the tail end of Susie stepping just over flimsy looking ground. Oh no no don’t say anything this’ll be funny .

    The moment her boot touched the hollow ground, it folded like paper.With her foot caught in the debris, she fell as hard as a rock, landing on the ground with a resounding BOOM! that drifted through the long crumbling halls. Susie let out a frustrated roar, while the voice in the back of their mind burst into laughter.

    “A-Are you okay?” Noelle asked worriedly, leaning over the large hole that Susie had created. Kris stepped up at Noelle’s side, trying their best to assess the damage. 

    Susie was lying down in a pile of golden-red leaves, twigs poking out of her ratty hair like branches in an autumn tree. Puffs of black smoke slithered out of her nostrils--something that often happened when she was really angry--and her claws dug into the foliage down to the stone, grinding against the loose gravel with a sandpaper screeeee.

    “I’m fine ,” she snarled tensely. She shoved herself up with a growl and stomped forwards until she vanished from sight. When she returned, she was on the other side of the hollow gravel path. 

    When she noticed this, she grinned evilly. “Well, what’re you losers waitin’ for? The fall ain’t that bad when you get used to it.”

    Admittedly, this part is less funny. For you, I mean.

✰✦✰

    They passed a few puzzle rooms with relative ease--one room was split in half by a wall of spikes as sharp as porcupine quills. Susie merely stepped over the spikes--making no comment as the spikes seemed to pierce her boots--and switched the lever on the other side of the room with a deadpan stare. 

    Their progress was promptly stopped by a familiar cheery chime. Susie fished out the phone and once again turned on speaker--with less fumbling this time. 

    “Hullo children. I must ask you three a question--for no reason in particular. Which do you prefer? Cinnamon? Or butterscotch?” 

    Kris felt their stomach twist and bile rise up to their throat. Susie and Noelle didn’t seem to  notice. 

    Susie’s maw seemed to split apart in a large grin, baring two sets of snaggled thorn-sharp teeth. She practically snarled her response, her ravenous growl lilted with glee. “ Butterscotch-- ”

    “I like cinnamon,” Noelle added in a much more polite tone. Her ears flattened with embarrassment and she grinned sheepishly. “But butterscotch is fine, too.” 

    “Splendid! Thank you!” The warmth in her voice like splashes of sunlight melted into sound.. After a few moments, she added with worry “and none of you have any allergies, do you not?”

    “Oh! I’m allergic to ginger!” Noelle replied without hesitance. She clapped her hooves together as though she were remembering something important.  “Oh, and peanut butter.”

    Kris didn’t fail to notice the look that Susie had, as though she were making mental notes. When she saw Kris looking she narrowed her eyes dangerously at them, all bluster and hot air. She turned to the phone, practically putting her snout against the receiver. “Why’re you asking though?”

    “Oh! Why am I asking? No reason. No reason at all,” Toriel laughed lightly, like the chime of a winter bell. “Goodbye for now, children.” 

   Click.

    Susie gingerly put the phone back in her jacket pocket with a small smile, the rare kind of smile you hardly see on Susie’s face. After a few moments, she threw an arm around Noelle and grinned toothily. “Didn’t know you were allergic to ginger, Jingles.” 

    Noelle’s nose glowed red like christmas lights on a moonless night. She floundered for a moment, looking like a fish out of water, until she settled on something truly intelligent: “Uh fuhaha duh.” 

    Kris burst out into boisterous laughter, sniggering like a hyena given marrow. Susie smacked them on the back of the head lightly, something that only made them laugh harder. Their laughter died off as they saw the content of the next room. 

    The entire floor was made up of the same crumbling gravel as a few rooms before. This is either going to be fucking hilarious for the both of us, or literally only funny for me .

    It was only funny for that little voice in the back of their head.

✰✦✰

    The trio entered a straightforward hallway, aches clinging to their bones like the leaves dotting their hair. Nothing filled the crumbling hallway except a small dining room table with a block of mouldy cheese and a glittering butter yellow star at its side. A mouse hole sat just a metre away from the table, looking more like a large crack than anything else.

    Noelle stared at the block of cheese on the innocuous table blankly. Her gaze slowly roved over to Kris, eyes narrowed in suspicion and creeping dread. “You aren’t going to... touch that cheese, are you?”

    They weren’t, actually. Up until Noelle said that, of course.

    Kris grinned and made their way to the cheese. They rubbed the cheese like a beloved pet, their grin growing larger and larger    at the growing horror on Noelle’s face. They tried to pick up the cheese.

    The table came with the cheese.

    “Kris!!!!!! That cheese is old!!” Noelle shrieked. She dashed behind Susie as though the crocodile would be able to protect her from Kris’s horrible cheese-touching habits. Once more, the poor deer seemed to display a lack of understanding of who the true cheese-toucher was.

    “Yeah, and it's uneaten too…” Susie ventured, twirling one of her whiskers with her fingers with a slowly growing grin. Noelle backed away from Susie in growing horror. “Kris. Kris. you know what we gotta do, right?”

    “Oh. no no no no nonononono absolutely not !! Susie!! It’s old!! ” Noelle protested fruitlessly, the smallest of fond smiles betraying her feelings. Her protests fell on deaf ears, however, because almost immediately after Noelle spoke, Susie ripped off a piece of cheese and popped it into her mouth.

    She cringed. “It tastes like fuckin’ shit Kris, absolutely do not recommend.”

    Kris put their own bit of cheese on the table dejectedly. They made an absent beeline for the glowing yellow star to the left of the table, tapping it with one finger. They closed their eyes against the magic that caressed their skin, sliding down their back like cold water. 

    Once more, their soul tethered itself to the star. They felt a staggering burst of determination settle in their bones like a healing salve. 

   After a few moments, they shook off the feeling and stepped over a vine that had seemingly just appeared out of nowhere. 

✰✦✰

    A stilled silence hung in the crumbling Ruins. The air was as damp and musty as the morning after a thunderstorm, and the floor was speckled with mould and crumbling debris. Cracks webbed the purple brick walls, vines creeping up the stone that weren’t quite as weathered, slouching dew-dotted cobwebs haunted the corners and ceilings of the ruins, so old they practically fell apart at the seams. 

    Kris chatted idly with the little whispering voice in the back of their head, attempting to fill the looming silence. All the while, they tried to listen to Susie and Noelle’s banter--something they found rather hard with this voice in their head.

   Your friends feel familiar, somehow. The voice mused. Kris could feel them rubbing their chin, deep in thought. I can’t really place it. 

    Before Kris could reply, a strange tune drifted in the musty air. Something that sounded brassy, yet somehow still spooky. They stopped dead in their tracks, stumbling forward as Susie bumped into them. 

    Susie’s snarl died in her throat. Noelle’s ears perked up, her voice was soft and quiet when she spoke, as though if she spoke any louder she might lose the trail of that noise. “You must have heard that too, huh Kris?” 

    Susie tipped her head in confusion, flicking her tongue absently. “Hear what?” 

    Quiet reigned over the party for a few heartbeats, the silence only being broken by a floaty and ghastly brass beat.

    “Oh.” Susie stated meekly. Her expression contorted into confusion. Her slitted pupils went round. “Where’s it coming from?”

    “That’s what we want to find out,” Kris signed in reply to the purple crocodile. Without much further adieu, they followed the haunting song, until they reached a narrow pathway. The music was at its loudest here, haunting the stilled air with lingering warmth. 

    Kris looked down and saw a very familiar ghost lying down in an inconspicuous pile of crinkling brown leaves. 

    Napstablook.

    And they were in their way. 

✰✦✰

𝙰𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛,

𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 ‘𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛

𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎’𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖, 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚜

𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠

𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚣𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠

𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝

𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.

𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝

𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

-----------------------------

𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚜

-----------------------------

✰✦✰

    Kris stared down at the ghost lying on the decaying brown leaves, a frown tugging at their lips. Before they could think of any orders to give to Susie and Noelle, that childish voice whispered in the back of Kris’s mind, as bright as the sunlight reflecting off a bejeweled lake in autumn. 

    Napstablook’s in our way. We should fight them! Or,,, er,, confront them, I guess.

    The ghost’s snores carried like the golden song of a trumpet, trembling as though any second they might burst into tears in their sleep. It reminded Kris of Susie’s snores--though, hers sounded more like a tuba being played with a lawnmower.

    One of Napstablook’s eyes peeped open, their voice low, quiet and vulnerable like the impression of a shadow. “ Are they gone yet…….”

    Their voice trailed off weakly when they spotted the three Lighteners staring blankly at them. Their eye snapped shut and their snores renewed with a trembling vigour. Susie snarled, deep and low in her throat like a newly revved up chainsaw. She turned to Kris, determination glittering in amber eyes.

    “They ain’ movin’, so I say we move ‘em,” Susie growled with a voice dripping with a sly grin she seemed to be trying to hold back, completely oblivious to her redundant suggestion. She clenched her claws, the chitin of her talons digging into her leather gloves with a crunch. Noelle looked between Kris and Susie, seemingly resigned to her fate.

    Kris nodded, unsheathing their sword with the dullest of shunks! as the metal slid against its leather scabbard. Their soul lighting up a familiar glowing ruby and prising itself away from their chest with a thwip!  

    Napstablook lazily opened their eyes and drifted upwards, miserably positioning themself for the fight. If Kris didn’t know any better they would have thought the spirit would have actually been asleep. 

    Here comes Napstablook. 

    Kris turned to Noelle, trying to hold back a smile when they saw that they’d already had her rapt  attention. “Maybe if we cheer them up, they’d move out of the way,” 

    Just so you’re aware, you can’t kill them...so like. You don’t have much of a choice here.

    Noelle smiled brightly, spinning on her hoof with an embellished twirl of her snow-white robes. She gave Napstablook a smile as patient the winter snow, nothing too big to overwhelm the ghost. Kris signaled for Susie to defend. 

    Napstablook returned the smile with a small huff Kris presumed was a laugh. Then, promptly, proceeded to cry, large, fat white tears that crashed down on the soul like inpissated droplets of acid. With an all-encompassing swipe of their finger, they tried to maneuver the soul away from the acidic tears, only to crash headlong into a few stray droplets. An ache rooted itself in their chest like weeds at the contact.

    Despite the ache rooted in their chest, they felt a fresh wave of determination roll in their chest like cresending waves. The resolution seemed to unfurl in front of them like blooming almond flowers. They shoved their blade in the ground with a huff and whipped around to face Susie, eyebrows drawn together with conviction. “Tell a joke.” 

    “Tell a joke? Do I fuckin’ look like a comedian?” Susie repeated incredulously. Her lips twisted in thought, tapping her boots on the ground with growing frustration. A frustration that seemed to boil in her the more she thought, as though she expected the thought to come to her instantly.

    Noelle seemed to notice Susie’s impatience and leaned close to her, whispering something in her ear with a cheeky smile. Susie sniggered like a rat, before whispering her thanks in return. Noelle smiled stupidly, probably at having made Susie laugh. 

    “So, uh, Noelle, what kind of clothes does a pirate wear for Hallowe’en?” Susie started with a suppressed grin turning to Noelle but still side-eyeing Napstablook as though any second they might cry on Kris’s Soul again. 

    Noelle stifled her giggles in her hooves, her free hoof gripped her cowl hard enough to rip it off. “A--fahahaha-- har-vest ”

    Noelle burst into twinkling laughter, the kind that sounded like jingling winter bells. Susie hesitantly joined in, as though she didn’t want to interrupt Noelle, a genuine smile pulling at her lips. This time, Napstablook let out a little laugh, smiling softly.

    A few moments passed, and Napstablook quietly said, “Sorry…..I don’t really feel like it right now…..” 

    Before Kris could sign out more orders for Susie and Noelle, Napstablook cleared their throat with a quiet cough. They drifted towards the three meekly. Napstablook wants to show you something.

    Napstablook’s eyes welled up with snowy tears. Instead of the tears cascading down on the soul like icy daggers, they drifted idly upwards until they congealed together to form a small dapper-looking white tophat.

    “Do...do you like it?” Their trembling meek voice was laced with vulnerability. They eagerly awaited Kris’s reply.

    Kris sent them a large grin and put a finger to their lips and pushed it towards Napstablook. Absolutely sure. 

    Napstablook seemed pleased by Kris’s response, their expression melting into something of peaceful content. “........thanks….” 

    Kris’s soul drifted in their chest silently and they sheathed their sword with a shunk . In the corner of their eye, they watched Susie stow the Devilsknife away and brush the dust from her hands with a relieved grunt. Noelle smoothed the wrinkles from her cowl and brushed the grime from the fluff of her hood. 

    “I usually come to the ruins because no one lives here……” Napstablook explained with a trembling voice. They slowly got up, the softest of smiles of content on their face. “.....but I met someone today…….I’m glad I did…”

    They fixed the trio with a stare, “But I’m rambling…….I’ll get out of your hair…..” 

    They sank through the leaves, rustling them as gently as though a light breeze had tickled them.

    The three sat in silence for all of a few seconds, before Susie grinned slyly. “You know, actually, that top hat? Fuckin’ killer.” 

    The room to the north is the path forward, but I think you should go west for a moment. 

    Why should I? 

    I promise, it’ll be important later. Maybe. Depends. 

    Kris padded through the leaves, looking back just in time to see Susie kick up the leaves with a large lop-sided grin. 

    They padded into an empty side room, about as big as a supply closet, two cobwebs stretched across the corners. Two signs at the sides of the webs were stabbed into the cracked gravel floor, with the words: SPIDER BAKESALE hastily scrawled across them. 

    On the sign to the left, under the title, were the words; SPIDER DOUGHNUT: 15 DARK DOLLARS. The other sign seemed to just be for donations. 

    “Shit! Fifteen for a doughnut? That’s a fuckin’ steal!” Susie grinned and stuffed her claws in her pocket, scrounging up five stray bills and tossing it carelessly onto the web. A small black spider descended from a delicate silvery web, snagging the money and disappearing into a hole in the wall. It scittered back out of the hole with a glazed doughnut that seemed to have cricket legs sticking out from it. 

    Susie snagged the doughnut like a chameleon snagging a fly from the sky and shoved it in her mouth. She gaze Kris a thumbs up, and through a full mouth said “Holy fffffuckin’ shif fis is delicious!” 

    Noelle stared at Susie like she’d seen a ghost. Most likely because the girl just ate a bug doughnut. 

    “Shit, sorry, did you want some? I’ve got cash.” Susie mumbled apologetically at Noelle’s stare, incorrectly assuming that Noelle wanted a bite. The doe shook her head and whispered a disturbed ‘no thanks’. 

    You might actually want to get another one of those. The croissants are better, that voice commented idly. But, you know, they’re both good. 

    Why do you want us to buy doughnuts from random spiders in the ruins of a city? Kris found themselves asking. They felt silly for talking to a voice in their head.

    You’ll see; just don’t let Suzy eat them...if you find a box, that’ll do. 

    Kris padded over to Susie and rifled through her pockets, pulling out neatly flattened bills and a few coins. They left it on the larger web, a spider descending from the web and gratefully giving them a croissant. This one seemed to have mantis arms in it.

    “Shit Kris, this for me?” The purple crocodile asked with a hopeful smile. 

    Kris shook their head. “It’s for later. We might need it.” 

    Susie didn’t comment on the fact that they’d previously stolen a bunch of candy from that bowl, something this voice seems to think of as the highest crime against monsters ever. “You know, I heard someone say ‘je cronge le femboy croissant’ once. It was wack.” 

    “,,they,,,,a,,,,a,,,f,,,femboy,,,,croissant?” Noelle whispered incredulously, her eyes as wide as saucers. Kris snickered under their breath, handing off the croissant to Noelle for safekeeping. They didn’t have pockets. 

    Susie nodded solemnly. “Yeah. Femboy croissants, huh.” 

    After a few beats of silence, Noelle walked numbly out of the room. 

    Susie and Kris burst into raucous laughter. 

✰✦✰

    “So like, you ever think about how this place is like...falling apart? Looks shittier than my--” Susie snapped her jaw shut. After a few moments, she spoke again, looking rather downtrodden. “Looks like shit down here. And it’s wet. Why’s it so wet?” 

    Kris shrugged, fiddling with their scarf uncomfortably. A spider skittered across the damp walls into a particularly large crack in the wall. Susie swiped away a hanging cobweb, growling when it got snagged in her hair. “Toriel did say this place was old.” 

    Before Susie could comment further, she was interrupted by a buzz and a click. Without warning, Kris’s soul launched itself from their chest and snapped to a stop several feet away. A small goblin-looking monster stepped closer. It had a gigantic eye in the centre of it’s face and small stubby horns. 

    Loox drew near!

    Susie snapped her axe on the ground with a resounding crack! that rung through Kris’s ears. Noelle simply repositioned at Kris’s side, looking nervous. 

    “This guy looks like he’d be easy to bully,” Susie whispered in Kris’s ears. They sent her a glare, a frown tugging their lips. She grinned sheepishly, her finger brushing against the bandages on the handle of the Devilsknife idly. 

    You should totally make her not pick on the dude. I think she’d love that.

    Finally, something they could do without question. 

    They prodded Susie in the ribs to make absolutely sure that they had her fullest attention--and totally not just to rib her--signing their orders. They asked Noelle to defend to stock up TP if needed. 

    They tried their best to stifle their grin at Susie’s loud groan. She threw her axe on her back and dusted off her hands. She fixed Loox with a deadpan stare, pointing at it with a flourish. “Consider yourself lucky, I’m feelin’ kinda nice today. If you piss off, I won’t--”

    Noelle gave Susie a critical look. The purple monster rolled her eyes and switched gears, her voice about as flat as the ground beneath her feet. “...if you kindly leave, I won’t pound you into a pulp.” 

    Loox seemed pleased by that, it mumbled a happy “finally, someone gets it.” and padded off, disappearing at the turn of the hallway. Susie elbowed Kris lightly as their soul slipped back into their chest. 

    Kris raised their hands, about to sign out a teasing remark to the purple crocodile. They were quickly silenced with a warning snarl. They cackled gleefully. Noelle patted Susie on the shoulder, glowing with pride like a Christmas tree topper.

    “That was good! I think you might need to work on the threatening part though..” Noelle praised, causing the crocodile to blush a little. She scratched the back of her head self consciously, mumbling something Kris was sure only Noelle could hear under her breath. 

✰✦✰

    The trio passed through long and confounding puzzles with growing ease. Kris was slowly getting used to how the puzzles were composed, finding that they could easily solve them within a few minutes. 

    You really like puzzles, huh? Never met a human who fell here who actually enjoyed those things. 

    Kris shrugged, switching a level idly. It’s relaxing, I guess. Since there’s usually only one way to do things, it rips the control from everyone involved. It knocks down the ones controlling you a peg. It feels good. 

    The voice in their head was quiet for a moment, pensively turning the idea as though examining every grove in Kris’s mentality could help them figure it out better. Wack. Usually, that’s the problem. 

    That’s because people actually have free will. 

    Kris ran their fingers across the damp Ruin walls, fingers catching along the cracks and snags of the bricks, occasionally snapping through thorn-lined vines. They stared blankly at the room ahead of them, their free hand idly twisting through their scarf. 

    ... yeah. 

    It’s strange, having an awkward silence hang in your mind, just as it’s strange to be speaking to a voice in your head. Kris prodded Noelle in the side, itching for a way to break the silence in their mind. They couldn’t figure out anything to say. 

    Susie saved them that grief, however. The purple monster grinned. “Hey Kris, when Ralsei gets here, can we give him the croissant? Think he should try good food, like bugs ‘n shit.” 

    In normal circumstances, I’d encourage her. Maybe when you get the chance you can come back and get another, just for him. 

    Kris shook their head. “No, we might need it for something important.”

    “Something important? Like what? Stopping me from biting some person’s head off?” Susie snorted, stuffing her claws in her jacket.

    “That does seem rather important,” Noelle put in shyly. She recoiled at the half-hearted glare Susie levelled her, Kris spotted a faint blush dusting her cheeks. She busied herself with adjusting her cowl until it was perfectly centre on her shoulders.

    They fell into a comfortable silence as they treaded through the long, damp hallway. As they reached a strangely flat thicket bush blocking off their exit, the voice cut through the silence booming like charging oxen, Stop. Don’t head north just yet. I need you to head straight ahead. I promise, it’s important. 

    Kris drew their sword from its scabbard with a haggard shhhhing! and slashed through the thickets plainly. The cutaway bushes revealed two passageways; one to the north that lead into a large room Kris couldn’t necessarily fully see yet, and one straight ahead that seemed to be a thinner hallway out to a balcony of some sort. 

    They walked across the thin hallway, ignoring the noises of confusion from their comrades. As they stepped into the balcony, they spotted a small toy knife wrapped with a faded ribbon overlooking a ruined and crumbling city. Kris leaned down to pick it up, taking care to wrap the ribbon around the blade of the knife. They turned around and handed it off to Susie without a word.

    We need that. It’s more important than the croissant. 

    Susie took the knife with confusion, clicking the switch with large, fumbling fingers before stuffing it in her pocket. She opened her mouth to say something, but Kris brushed past her without a word. They heard her turn to Noelle. “Why’d they come here to get a knife?”

    “Perhaps there’s a good reason for it. I doubt Kris is actually going to hurt anyone with it,” Noelle replied confidently. Kris head fabric fumbling, and Susie let out a noise between a grunt and a grumble. There was a smile curving Noelle’s voice when she spoke. “Maybe you should try on the ribbon, it might--”

    “Oh fuck no not this again! I said no !! How many times do I have to say it?” Susie snarled good-naturedly. Kris snickered as they turned the corner. 

    The room to the north was expansive, with looming, cracked walls that seemed to reach for the skies. A gnarled black tree sat on a bed of orange and red leaves, with twisted needle-point arms that grasped fruitlessly at the moss-covered walls of the Ruins. On a knot near where the branches split out into snake-tongue forks was a sturdily tied rope/string, an old broken birdhouse swinging lifelessly from side to side.

    Despite all the age that clung to the room like dew drops on leaves, the room spoke whispers of warmth and cleanliness. The walls had recently been dusted, and stray leaves were swept into a nook between stairs that reached a house carved in the walls. 

    Warm light from the windows splashed onto newly-swept stone floors, one open window allowing smooth 90s swing to drift through the warm air and fill the room. Kris felt their throat tighten painfully. The tune reminded them of Asriel’s favourite song, if not a bit skewed. Like looking through a mirror.

    The smell of freshly baked cinnamon and butterscotch wafted through the air, as warm and cosy as resting near the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate. Two torches stood tall and welcoming, lit by a flickering white flame.

    Toriel stood at the closed window, diligently wiping away the clinging dust and grime from the window, humming a vaguely familiar tune as she went. 

    Susie leaned down until she was at Kris’s level, her voice coarse. “Damn, this place looks nice as hell.”

    Toriel jumped, dropping a dusty-looking rag to the floor with an audible gasp. She turned around to see the worn-out trio. Her concentration slipped into something more welcoming. “Oh! I didn’t expect you to come here so soon--why--I hardly have everything sorted out just yet!” 

    Despite her words, her tone sounded warm and chipper, like an old woman greeting her grandchildren after a year of not seeing them. Kris scuffed their boot on the floor, trying to hide the guilt that knitted through their bones. 

    “In anycase, come in, come in! I have a surprise for you three, if you’ll be inclined to wait a few minutes,” Toriel continued, her paws drawn together over her chest. She unlocked the front door of her home, swinging it open with the tiniest of squeaks. It seemed like this door was newly replaced. 

    Kris heard a sigh in the back of their head. When the voice spoke, their tone was quiet and forlorn. Home.

✰✦✰

𝚁𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎

𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚠𝚗 ‘𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚠𝚗

𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗’ 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕

𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚗’ 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕

𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚢𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝

𝙼𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢

𝚃𝚑𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚢𝚖𝚊𝚗, 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝

𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎,

𝙾𝚑, 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚢𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝

𝚆𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚢

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚐𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚢𝚖𝚊𝚗

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

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𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚠𝚗, 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚞𝚜𝚔.

-------------------------------

    Howling winds twisted and twirled through gnarled winter-withered trees that scraped and clawed desperately at Kris’s cold-clung window, as though yearning to be inside with the warmth of their home. Snow cascaded from clouds fat with water, blanketing Hometown in a glittery sheet of frosted crystals. 

    Kris stared at the ceiling of their bedroom, wide awake despite the cool crinkly blanket of night covering the world. The bed normally always occupied by their side was as empty as a frosted-over tundra and just as cold. Kris, at just the age of seven years old, fiddled nervously with their cold fingertips, chewing the inside of their lips and trying their hardest to stop the floodgates from bursting. 

    They twisted their bedsheets in their fingers when picking at their nails didn’t seem distracting enough. Asriel had left for the night to go on a sleepover with his friends, leaving his sibling to fend for themself. 

    Kris kicked off their blanket restlessly, the sudden urge to get up and slithering into their bones like a chill on a cold winter night. They slipped on a pair of fuzzy socks, their first ever Christmas gift in the Dreemurr’s home, and padded across the dark room and pushed their door open as quietly as possible. 

    A soft chill hung in the dark hallway, dust drifting along fronts of chill like leaves drifting in the wind. Static clung to the fuzz on Kris’s socks, only breaking away as they lifted their feet. They stopped at their parent’s door, twiddling their fingers together nervously, a sudden shyness falling into their gut like a rock. 

    Before they could wrap the door, it creaked open with the softest of whispers. Toriel stood in the doorway, noticing Kris’s messy mop of brown hair and crouching down to meet their eyes. “Is everything alright, my child?” 

    They rubbed their hands together, trying their best to grasp at words that seemed to eschew their mind. They settled for shaking their head and looking to the shag carpet with sudden rapt interest. 

    Toriel seemed to realize something, as understanding dawned on her like the sun closing a harsh winter night. She offered a warm paw out for Kris to take. “Is it Asriel, child?”

    Kris nodded wordlessly.

    Toriel sent Kris a smile as soft as the warm blankets on their bed, guiding them back to their room without making a creak in the old floorboards. She pulled the fluffy cotton comforter over Kris and shut off the bedside lamp with a click!

    “I’m going to guess you couldn’t sleep?” Toriel asked kindly, shifting her feet on the ground. Kris nodded, feeling guilt gnaw at their chest. They didn’t really want to bother their mother like this. Seeming to sense their worries, she shook her head. “Be not worried, my child, I promise your sleep is more important than mine.”

    After a few moments of nothing but the howling winds outside, Toriel finally spoke, her voice hardly carrying over the winter winds. “Want to hear a song my mother used to sing to me when I had trouble sleeping?”

    She didn’t wait for them to answer, which was fine by Kris. They had no idea how to respond to that, their own parents never sang them anything. 

    “ One is a bird, 

    Two are the trees,

    Three is the wind in the leaves,

    Four are the stars,

    Five with the moon,

    Smiling down upon thee,”

    Each word that left Toriel’s lips was bottled heaven; soft and sweet, dripping with liquid warmth that seemed to fill the room and ward off the cold. As she continued to sing, the notes blurred together like the frosted condensation on a window, melting into soft soothing static. 

    Kris felt their eyelids slip close as sleep pulled them into its gentle embrace.

✧✦✧

    Toriel’s home was a faint simulacrum of Kris’s own home.  The inside felt cooler somehow; as though the walls once knew of warmth, only to have it ripped away. The walls were painted with a cool tan, as clear as a whiteboard save for the rare blank picture frame waiting for a new photo to accompany it. The aching birch floor seemed clinically polished; shining like wet wood. 

    At the very entrance was a gargantuan spiral staircase, railed off with a small banister that seemed only fit to block a small child from falling down. Gleaming square spots on the birch wood floor made Kris believe there once was a carpet in the centre of the mudroom. In the corner sat a well taken care of houseplant with wilting orange leaves.

    Susie gazed around before her eyes fell onto the long winding hall to the side, with bright green painted wallpaper and a long patterned shag carpet. Kris could just faintly hear the swing music emanating from it. 

    The gator gazed down at Kris, her eyes squinted thoughtfully. “Do you think she has a phonograph? You, uh, think I can, uh, change the music or, uhm, something?”

    She’s going to eat one of the fucking vinyls.

    Susie didn’t wait for an answer, instead running off to the second door in the hallway, nearly tripping over the dark green carpet as she went. Kris could see a flash of a yellowy cheeky grin on her face. 

    “Gosh, I should probably follow her and make sure she doesn’t eat the vinyls fahaha!” Noelle chuckled nervously, following Susie at a much calmer pace, leaving Kris alone to their thoughts, and the little voice in the back of their mind. 

    Why don’t you have a look around? Might be good to get me out of your head. The voice replied snarkily, the air of a child crossing their arms and sticking their tongue out at them. Kris rolled their eyes and padded into the living room. 

    Toriel’s living room, just like the rest of her house, was quite barren. 

    A brown puffy leather chair rested on a knitted carpet by a cosy smouldering hearth. Just across the chair was a neatly-organized bookshelf. Kris drew their fingers across the moleskin bound spines, scanning each title as though they held some kind of hidden secret. Snails do not have tails….Princess Bride….how to take care of humans--

    They pulled themselves away from the last book, instead forcing themself to scan the rest of the room. Next to one of the few windows in the house was a small dining room table fit for four; a pot of lilies resting in the centre of the dining room table, as white as willows. 

    The music drifting calmly through the air shifted to jazz as smooth as molasses, followed shortly after by a triumphant shout. Kris spotted their mother walking towards the bookshelf, probably to do her midmorning reading that she loved so much.

    She stopped when she saw Kris, greeting them with a wave and a warm upturn of her lips. “Hullo my child! How are you adjusting?” 

    Kris tapped their thigh for a few moments, a tick they’d gained when they needed to think of what to say. After a few moments, they settled on a very weak; “Alright.” 

    Toriel smiled with the patience of a saint. Before she could continue, a dinging from what Kris presumed was the kitchen interrupted her.  She let out a surprised “oh!” and clapped her paws together. “That’d be the pie! Be a dear and tell your--friends, will you?” 

    Kris didn’t miss the way she’d cut herself off. Nevertheless, they gave her a mock salute and padded to the room they’d seen the two monsters disappear in last. They were greeted with the sight of Susie with a vinyl record up to her maw, Noelle buzzing around her side like a bee trying to snatch it from her.

    Fuckin’ told you she’d eat that vinyl record. 

    “No!! Susie!! That’s Toriel’s!! Don’t eat that!” Noelle squealed like a balloon being deflated. She squeezed her eyes tight, fur bristling,  and leapt up in an attempt to slap the vinyl record out of Susie’s claws. The gator merely held it up higher, letting out a laugh like a chainsaw being shoved in a drain. 

    “What if it tastes good? I’ll never find out otherwise! Shit’s expensive back home--” She starts, only to get cut off when Noelle successfully pinched it between her hooves and yanked it from her grip. Susie crossed her arms and pouted. “Ah, you’re no fun.”

    “I may be no fun, but neither is property damage!” Noelle protested, attempting to dust off the record and slip it back in it’s sleeve. Susie raised an eyebrow at her.

    “That’s what you think. It’s one of my favourite pastimes,” Susie stated plainly, her expression flat. Noelle’s eyes widened. She shot the girl a look, like she expected Susie to backpedal or tell her it was just a prank. She did not.

    “Ok.” Noelle finally decided on. 

    I gotta say, I agree with Suzy there. Property damage is the second best thing to do in the afterlife.

    What’s the best?

    It’s a secret. A spooky one.

    Susie leaned to the side, her eyes locking with Kris. She smirked slyly. “Hey Kris.”

    Noelle jumped with a gasp. She spun around so fast Kris was surprised she didn’t get whiplash. She smiled sheepishly at Kris, her nose glowing as red as crimson wine. “h.” 

    “Toriel says dinner’s ready.” Kris signed, making sure to slow down as much as they reasonably could so Susie could understand. The crocodile grinned toothily and clapped them on the back. Her claws hit their armour with a resounding DING! like a gong.

    It’s like slapping a bald person, haha. 

    Their voice was lilted with mirth, like any second they might burst into a mixture of laughter and tears.

    Kris elected to ignore them.

    “Fuck YEAH your mum’s cookin’ is so good, I bet this Toriel’s no different!” She zipped off before anyone could say anything, sniggering like she’d done something wrong the entire way. Noelle smiled apologetically at them, before following at a much tamer pace. 

    ...I wanted to say something, but I forgot…..forgor...even.

    Kris sighed dramatically and left the room, shutting the door quietly as they went.

✧✦✧

    Dinner was a quiet affair, Toriel and Susie ending up talking up most of the conversation. Kris allowed themself to zone out to the sounds of the smooth jazz floating through the halls, and the warm remnants of fire magic lingering in the air. 

    They tapped their fingers on the tablecloth, trying their best not to worry the fabric between their fingers. So why do you wear armour like that? You look like you’re about to get your shit beat.

    How do you know it isn’t the opposite?

    Because I have a feeling you’re a total wimp, but go off, I guess.

    Self projecting on people isn’t always the way to go, but okay.

    Self project--why--you--I’ll--

    Kris hid their grin by stuffing a forkful of butterscotch cinnamon pie in their mouth. They ended up choking on it when a rogue snicker bubbled up in their throat.

    HAHA! Karma!! Sucks, don’t it?

    Karma for being right? Seems legit. 

    The voice did not reply to them, they got the feeling that perhaps it was pouting. That only served to make them grin more. Laugh it up, fruity knight. 

    Sure thing!

    They were snapped out of their conversation when they felt a claw hesitantly tap on the fabric between their armour. They jumped in place, dropping their fork. Susie stared at them for a moment before quirking a brow. “Not gonna ask. But, uh, Toriel says it’s time for, uh, bed.”

    She fidgeted with her talons nervously, as though she’d never personally had a bedtime imposed on her, but she was too afraid to protest. Knowing their mum, that was probably smart. Kris nodded hastily, stacking their dishes on instinct. 

    Toriel waved them off, carefully taking the dishes from Kris’s arms. “Nonsense, I’ve got them for today. Get some rest, it’s been a long day, you poor children must be exhausted.” 

    Susie shifted on her boots, leaning down to whisper in Kris’s ear. “Can...can we take a break? Or should we, uh, keep going?” 

    I’d recommend it. You’ll need it for the journey to come. 

    Kris thought for a moment, trying to fight back that unreasonable urge to say no just because it’d been suggested to them. Instead, they nodded minutely. They waited until Toriel’s back disappeared into the kitchen, and signed the quickest “we leave in the morning” they could manage.

    They couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right.

    Susie let out a snarled cheer, shouldering her coat and tugging her boots off, haphazardly tossing them on the coat rack and the cubby respectively. Before she bolted in the spare room, she rifled through the jacket’s pockets and took out some of the candy they stole early. 

    Absolutely disgusting, that. I can’t believe you guys did that. 

    Noelle unclipped her cowl and gently set it atop Susie’s jacket, looking sheepish. She put her right hoof to her lips and moved it down in Kris’s general direction. Thank you. She turned around, her hooves clopping on the polished wood floor, and padded into the spare room with a lot less gusto than Susie did. 

    Kris stood blankly in place for a moment, as still as a statue. Their mind wandered for a little bit, wondering idly if they should take off their armour or leave it on in a fit of laziness. Slowly, their gaze fell to the metal plates on their shin. The voice snickered in the back of their mind, mimicking a very familiar voice. Who’re you kidding? Your knees are gonna kill after this.

    Yeah. They should probably take their armour off, first.

✧✦✧

    Kris sat in bed for an hour, before they decided to tire themself. 

    They tossed their pink and blue scarf on Susie’s face, climbing into the too small bed. They faced the stucco beige ceiling, letting their mind roam in the hopes that maybe their eyes would slip closed naturally. Between the thunderous snores coming from Susie, and the quiet tinkling of the old mobile hanging from the ceiling, it seemed like that’d be rather impossible. 

    With aching bones that yearned for a sleep just out of reach, they hopped off the bed. Their bones popped in protest, but they ignored the sound, electing to figure out how to best distract themself. 

    Maybe read a book? Shit’s sometimes so fuckin’ borin’ it puts me right to sleep.

    But I like reading. 

    Maybe read snails don’t have tails? That one’s kinda boring. 

    Kris didn’t ask how they knew about that book, already used to not asking about things they were told. Instead, they nodded quietly and tiptoed across clinically clean floorboards, cringing at any grumble of protest the floorboards let out. 

    The halls were cast in a lonely shadow, silence from the Ruins creeping in Toriel’s home like mist, a silence fanned away by the soft twinkling tune of a music box, playing a painfully nostalgic song. Kris fisted the fabric in their tights, in a vain effort to try to stifle the sudden burning at the rims of their eyes.

    They forcefully corralled their mind elsewhere, instead focusing on the quiet in the house once more. Toriel must already be asleep. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw a lemony yellow light filling the living room like lukewarm water.

    Then they heard the singing, low and sweet like a nightingale’s autumn serenade.

    They poked their head just past the hallway to see Toriel sitting in her chair by the fireside, a thin children’s book clutched between her paws. She rocked back in fourth to a phantom melody, tapping a claw on the hardcover of the book as though to create her own. 

    Their heart seemed to lose sight of its function, stopping to listen to the gentle, floaty sound of Toriel’s voice, as she quietly sang a hauntingly familiar tune. Each word that fell from her lips was as warm as freshly baked bread, crackling like sun baked autumn leaves.

    “ One is a bird, 

    Two are the trees,

    Three is the wind in the leaves,

    Four are the stars,

    Five with the moon,

    Smiling down upon thee,”

    She trailed off with a smile that yearned for a night sky to wish upon. Toriel’s eyes slipped closed as she mouthed a prayer Kris could just barely read. A prayer of thanks. Kris felt their heart twist painfully in their chest as they backed up, hands reaching blindly for the spare bedroom’s door.

    When they found it they grasped the cold metal like they’d grip the handle of their sword, shakingly pulling the door open. They slipped between the crack of the door and numbly hopped into bed, between Susie and Noelle. 

    Are you okay?

    They ignored the voice, breathing in deeply through their nose, before exhaling through their mouth tumultuously. They shook off their hands and patted their cheeks, anything they could to try and stop the icy claws running down their spine.

    Was this a joke ? 

    A fucked up joke to mock them even more than it already had? 

    They finally had some semblance of control, that was great , but here they were; thrown into a world that seemed to rip away a deeper control from them. They bit their lips, hard enough to taste liquid copper. 

    Deep breath in. Deep breath out. In. out. In. out. 

    They repeated the mantra until their heart slowed, until the trembles seemed to all but cower. They repeated the mantra until only those familiar words filled their bloated brain. They repeated the manta until exhaustion clung to their mind, fogging their brain and blocking their thoughts like a protective shield. 

    They repeated it until sleep claimed them like the Grim Reaper.

✧✦✧

    Exhaustion clung stubbornly to their mind, even as they woke up, feeling like they were at death’s doorstep. They felt a cool hoof prod their cheek, they slapped it away with a groggy groan. Muddled voices fluttered above their head, their brain too exhausted to make heads or tails of them. 

    Up until they felt something sharp slowly dig into their side. Their eyes snapped open, light shoving twisted daggers in their eyes ruthlessly. They fumbled for the sword that, they realized with a shock, wasn’t there. 

    “The zombie awakes! Finally, it’s been like. Uh. an hour, I think, since we woke up. We tried to wake you up for twenty minutes,” They saw a purple blur scratch its head. It shifted a little before continuing. “We gotta go. We had breakfast earlier, but you looked like you needed sleep, so I saved you some slices of butterscotch cinnamon pie. I hope you don’t mind.” 

    Susie tossed their scarf at their face with a disgruntled grumble. “Also I know you put this on my face purposefully, asshole. I nearly fell off the bed thanks to this thing. Now get up, don’t make me carry your ass outta here.” 

    Kris waved her off, mumbling incoherently under their breath with a voice flaked with rust. They pushed themself into a sitting position, kicking their legs off the bed and rubbing away the blurriness from their eyelids. 

    “Are you guys ready?” They signed without much thought. 

    “Uh. we’ve been ready, genius. You need to get that fruity armour on, loser. Then we can bounce.” Susie squinted at them, her gaze flitting towards Noelle’s snowy white cowl and her gold-tipped boots.

    Their gaze fell onto their midnight black jumpsuit, suddenly feeling naked. They mumbled a silent ‘oh’ under their breath, padding silently out of the room to fetch their armour. 

✧✦✧

    Kris threw the baldric of their sword sheath over their shoulder with a huff, cringing at the metallic squeak of the buckles. They slipped on their sollerets with a grumble, staring at the shin guards for a moment before clipping those on too. Better than your knees killin’ right?

    They stood still for a moment, before nodding in affirmation. 

    They regrouped with their friends after adjusting their breastplate and wrapping their pink-and-blue scarf around their neck snugly. The two seemed to be deep in conversation, a serious one by the sounds of it. They stopped upon noticing the human standing in the doorway. Susie gave Kris a sawtooth grin while Noelle looked away guiltily. 

    Susie pushed herself off the bed with a groan, folding her arms behind her head and leaning her weight on her heels. “Finally, we get to haul ass. I’ve got things to do.”

    “Like?” Noelle prompted, leaning on the bed a little, eliciting a squeak from the tired bedsprings. 

    “Property damage.” Susie said, her tone dripping with seriousness. Noelle’s expression immediately twisted into something between flustered and affronted. 

    “No!!!!” Noelle gasped, pushing herself off the bed and shoving Susie lightly. The magenta lizard didn’t budge from her spot, bearing yellow teeth in what Kris presumed was a grin. 

    “Alright, let’s head out, yeah? Should we, uh, ask Toriel where the exit is though?” Susie twirled her whiskers thoughtfully, blowing a thin sliver of smoke from her nose. “Because I didn’t see a way out when we got here.” 

    Kris got the feeling that that probably wouldn’t work out very well, but nevertheless they nodded agreeably. 

    “Great, lead the way then, Kris!” Noelle cheered, clapping her hooves together. 

    Susie snickered, adding a quiet “yeah, lead the way, fruit.”

    I’m glad she agrees your armour makes you look fruity. 

    Kris suppressed the urge to roll their eyes, instead pushing the old bedroom door open with a compliant creak. Their boots clanked against the hardwood floor, the sound stark against the morning quiet that filled Toriel’s house. 

    They spotted her easily, sitting in her plush chair by the smouldering household hearth, a well worn book with yellow-edged pages cracked open on her lap. She picked her head up when she noticed them, waving to them pleasantly. 

    “Did you want to get breakfast, dear? There should be leftovers in the fridge,” Toriel asked as Kris approached her. They shook their head in reply, signing an instinctual thank you. Toriel nodded, closing the book and setting it aside on the arm of her chair. 

    “I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. I have so many old books I want to share, I want to show you my favourite bug hunting spots and I’ve also prepared a curriculum for your education, too. This may come as a surprise to you but I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.” Toriel rambled, her expression kindly. Her reading glasses seemed to be falling down her nose. 

    At their expressions, she smiled abashedly. “Okay, maybe it’s not that surprising but…. still .” 

    “I’m glad to have you living here,” She murmured softly. She didn’t seem to notice the guilty looks that Noelle was making, or the fact that Susie seemed to be looking everywhere but Toriel, as though she’d done something wrong. “Oh! Did you want something? Forgive me, I rambled again.” 

    Kris stuffed down the urge to say nothing, shifting in place to psyche themself up. “When can we go home?” 

    “Go home? Why would you want to do that?” Toriel replied nervously. She twiddled her paws together, as though she had a sudden thought and she was itching for the conversation to end.

    “We have to leave.” Kris signed, holding back the cringe on their face and the sudden roiling self hatred that curdled in their stomach like spoilt milk. Kris jumped when they felt Noelle rest her hand on their shoulder. They sent her a weak grateful smile. 

    Toriel pushed herself up, the worn book resting in her lap falling to the ground with a clatter that ripped through the silence in the room. Kris felt Susie flinch from behind them, her knee ending up knocking them in the sword sheath. 

    “Excuse me for a moment, I must take care of something,” Toriel said suddenly. She pushed past Kris and headed out of the living room and down the large spiral stairs without another word or glance back. The party exchanged a look.

    “I, uh. Got a bad feeling…” Susie mumbled, tapping her claws together nervously and puffing an agitated plume of black smoke from her nose. Beside her, Noelle scuffed her hoof on the hardwood, her fingers tracing the lace fringes of her cowl. 

    Follow her.

    Kris turned around just as suddenly as Toriel had. They walked towards the grand staircase with feet weighed by anvils, each footfall feeling as loud as the snap of a crocodile’s jaws. They ignored the questions that their friends gave them as they followed that voice’s order, silent like a soldier. 

    The stairway lead into an arrow straight hallway, seemingly in worse shape than the rest of the Ruins. Cracks flit across the crumbling purple brick walls, a thin layer of dust blanketed the lavender gravel, stains from unknown substances dotting the rocks. Vines hung, swaying in a stale frost-tipped breeze, slithering into the cracks and burrowing into the ground like roots. Ivy leaves withered at their tips, nibbled by frost.

    In the close distance, Kris spotted Toriel, standing in the middle of the hallway. She didn’t turn back, but Kris got the creeping sense that she knew they’d followed her. Their suspicions were confirmed when, without turning to look at them, she spoke. Her voice was void of emotion, as cold as the chill that’d settled in the halls. “You want to leave so badly? This hall leads to the door to exit the Ruins.”

    A solemness crept into her voice, like frostbite creeping into the autumn leaves. Feasting upon the already deceased. “I’m going to destroy it.”

    She always does.

    Kris felt Susie shift from behind them, as though she were reaching for her axe but stopping herself at the very last second. She let out a snarl as low as the worms in the ground. Before she could say something she might regret, Noelle interrupted her. “Why would you shut the door?”

    Toriel treaded forward without much of a word, her head hung in sad defeat. She stopped a few feet ahead. “If I let you forward, the human will die and you two will die for associating with them. I’m doing this for your own good. Now go back to your room.”

    Susie stepped forward, almost pushing Kris out of the way roughly. Her coarse hair curtained her slitted eyes, but Kris didn’t need to see them to know they’d gone as thin as pinpricks. The snarl that tore from her throat seemed just as painful as she felt. “You can’t fucking keep us here!”

    Toriel didn’t spare the monster a look, but the way her shoulders knitted together gave Kris the distinct idea that she felt guilty about what she was doing. She continued forward, as though she was pressing through a whiteout snow storm. She stopped in front of a grand embellished double door, the deltarune symbol emblazoned in the centre. 

    Toriel stared up at the door, before turning around slowly. “If you want to leave the ruins so badly, prove to me that you can.”

    Susie’s lips twisted into a savage snarling grin, as though she’d been waiting for those words. Her fingers gripped on an invisible object, before the Devilsknife appeared in her claws. The chain she’d attached to it clanging against her chitin scales. 

    Heat blossomed at Kris’s back, sweltering like the heat radiating from a bonfire. Ivory flames crackled and sizzled like a funeral pyre, licking at the crumbling ceiling wildly with guttural roars of hunger. Panic rosse in their throat, burning like acid. They whipped around in order to take stock of their friends, only to find the wall of pearlescent flames separating them from their friends.

    Toriel’s expression didn’t change, just as deadpan as it was before. “I am perfectly aware of how capable you are with your friends, but are you capable by yourself?”

    Kris’s soul brightened like a flame, glowing a brilliant scarlet, like viscous blood. It tore itself from Kris’s chestplate, shooting like a bullet and screeching to a halt between the two, waiting idly for it’s next command. Kris tore their sword from its scabbard, holding it aloft at their side hesitantly. 

    ...Toriel blocks the way.

    They unhooked their shield and pulled it off their back, slipping their hands through the leather straps and brandishing it protectively in front of their face and neck. They’d almost feel heroic, if it weren’t for the fact that they were fighting their own mother. 

    Toriel raised a paw skywards, white hot flames flickering to life like a supernova, with a grand swipe of her paw, a wave of brilliant pearlescent flames descended upon the soul. Kris directed the soul away from the blazing pyres, grazing flickering flames only to run headlong into a fireball. 

    Kris braced themself for an impact that never came, a white hot pain that’d normally shoot up a randomly selected limb. Only to feel nothing. 

    ...Why didn’t you take any damage?

    ...K--Human? 

    Kris stood in place, shock paralyzing their bones. But that’s not right...it’s just me--

    Realization shocked them like a lightning strike, snapping them out of their thoughts like a snake bite. They turned to face the roaring flames at their back, barely managing to disguise the horror twisting their expression. They’re getting hurt, too. 

    We’ll just have to not get hit then. You’re gonna haveta learn those attacks, pal. 

    “I don’t want to hurt you,” Kris signed sloppily, the weight of their shield hindering their signals, held down by the hand like death.

    Toriel didn’t reply, didn’t even acknowledge their words. She seemed to be separating herself away from the situation; almost as though convincing herself this was all a nightmare. The temperature in the room increased, cool sweat running down their neck. 

    With a deft snap of her fingers, spiraling towers of fire careened from the ceiling, stray fireballs flickering around Kris like gnats. Their armour felt as though it was sticking to their skin, the metal practically molten to the touch. With trembling fingers and pain rocketing up their wrist where it touched the shield, they managed to move the soul away from the licking flames. 

    “Please don’t make me hurt you,” Kris signed desperately, their signs becoming even more sloppy and frantic. Mx. Fruit, this clearly isn’t working. You have to try something else.

    What do you want me to do? Hurt her? Because I’m not going to.

    No!! Absolutely not! I was actually thinking about something else.

    What was that? 

    ...You knew that song that Toriel was singing earlier, didn’t you? Do you know the rest of it? 

    ...I don’t think I can do that. 

    With trembling hands, they raise their shield in front of themselves once more, in a meek attempt to defend. Kris tried to send her a pleading look, finding it fruitless but trying nonetheless. They notice a shift in her gaze. 

    “Stop looking at me that way,” Toriel pleaded, she extended both her hands, hungry flames bursting out from her palms like waterspouts. They careened away from the soul, to Kris’s surprise, and slammed into the shield with the force of a butter sock. 

    Kris cringed at the pain that lanced up their arm. Their shield melted like an icicle, the straps of the shield making it impossible for them to properly take it off at the moment. Underneath the pain swelling under their skin, was the barest inklings of relief, relief that their friends were left unharmed, at least for the moment. 

    Uh, Fruity Knight, your arm…

    Kris peered down at their arm, noticing for the first time that the agony throbbing in their arm was due to the shield now glued to their wrist. The leather of their aegis fused with molten metal. We don’t have time to focus on that right now. 

    You’re right. Toriel’s preparing another magic attack. You have to try something.

    With no shield to protect them, they had no choice. 

    They took a deep breath of the dry sweltering air, their lungs burning as though they were on fire. They probably were. They pulled each lyric of the lullaby Toriel used to sing them from the deepest recesses of their mind, each syllable dragged from their lips like acid on their tongue. 

    “S-six...are..the fish..”

    Toriel stopped her next attack, staring at them in confusion. Her expression was unreadable, like looking through stained glass. The flames in the room seemed to weaken, somewhat, as though stopping to listen to Kris’s raspy voice in shock. 

    “Seven….a-are the reeds…”

    They tried their best to remember the words, but each word felt like lava, tearing through their throat and burning their mouth. Perhaps that was the hot air. 

    You’re doing good so far, keep it up!

    Emboldened by their encouragement, they continued, the trembling in each hesitant word lessened somewhat. 

    “brushing….the...soft-bellied  b-breeze ” 

    A self-loathing smile played at Toriel’s lips, her gaze distant, as though she were lost in thought, reminiscing on an idea she couldn’t quite reach. The flames licking the ceiling and burning the walls calmed down, until they were nothing but smoking ashes on the scarred purple gravel. 

    They could see their friends behind them. They had no idea why, but they felt the need to continue the song, emboldened more by the presence of their friends. 

    “Eight are the r-roots,”

    They start to close the distance between them and their mother, their voice vibrating in their throat like the strum of a bass guitar, thrumming like the wings of a hummingbird. Toriel takes an unconscious step back, until her back is pressed against the stone door she was protecting.

    “ Firm in the ground… ”

    Toriel relaxed, the barest of smiles breaking through her stormy expression. She took Kris’s smaller hands in her own, finishing their song with a voice as sweet as bottled heaven. 

    “ As deep as my love is, for thee. “ 

    Toriel is sparing you. 

    The battle ended, their soul slinking back into their chest with the quietest of pops! The chill seeped back into the hallway, as though it never left.

    Susie and Noelle drop all pretenses, rushing to Kris’s side. Noelle grabs their arm worriedly, only to startle when they flinched back with a hiss of pain. She gasped. “Are you alright? I can heal you!” 

    Susie stared at their shield arm hanging limply to their side, her expression unreadable. She drew her lips in a mix of a grimace and an attempt at a smile. “You look like shit, Kris. It looks like Malius has to hit you a few times and fix that crappy fruit armour of yours.” 

    Kris saw through her attempt at humour, but they didn’t dare comment on it. 

    They wheezed and leaned against Noelle, taking a few moments to draw their breath. They held up a finger to signal the two of them to give them a second. After a few moments, they pulled away from Noelle and patted the dust off their armour. 

    “I’m fine, thank you.” Kris responded politely. Feeling the response rather lame, they drew the two monsters in a tight hug, burying their face in Susie’s warm sweater. She made a noise between affront and a disgruntled growl. 

    Toriel wants to talk to you.

    Toriel’s expression was drawn in guilt and endless sadness, resigned to a fate Kris couldn’t really understand, not now. “Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child.” 

    She let out a self depreciating huff, the barest of smiles on her face. It looked forced. “If you truly wish to leave the Ruins, I will not stop you.” 

    Susie tilted her head, her gaze falling on Kris questioningly. They did not answer. 

    “I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are quite small when you get used to them.” She gazed downwards, suddenly interested in a crack travelling along the seared floor. The thinnest of vines snaked out from it. “It would not be right for you three to grow up in a place like this.” 

    Kris lifted their head up to face Toriel, finally taking the brunt of her expression--guilt, love, resignation and exhaustion. They swallowed their guilt, tasting salty bile. She gave the three of them the tenderest and saddest of smiles, as though she’d wished and wished upon a star, only to learn that wishes on stars are lies. 

    “My expectations….my loneliness….my fear…    For you..I will put them aside…” Toriel’s smile seemed to grow sadder. She wiped her face, brushing aside...something. 

    “However, when you leave. Please do not come back, walk away and never look back, if you must.” Toriel pulled the three of them in the warmest and bitterest of hugs. Kris didn’t shy away this time, instead they leaned into her embrace. Their throat burned. It wasn’t from the singing or the heat.

    In the corner of their eyes, they saw Susie glaring harshly at a vine shifting across the floor. Noelle seemed to be a mix between flustered at being so close to Susie and sad. 

    Kris didn’t know how they felt. 

    They chose to ignore it, anyway. 

    They’ll find out on another day. 

    They were shocked out of their head when Toriel pressed the lightest of kisses to their forehead, doing the same for both Susie and Noelle. They didn’t fail to notice the way Susie’s eyes were glistening, something she covered up quickly with a translucent eyelid. 

    “Be good, children.” She pulled away and pushed herself into a standing position, with the saddest of smiles she stepped towards the entrance to her house. “Be safe out there.”

    She walked away, disappearing into the darkness of the winding hall. 

    Kris turned to Susie and Noelle, a numbness creeping up their limbs like feather-tailed frost. Susie scratched the keeled scales on her arm, playing with her wristband idly. She stored her axe away in whatever nebulous pocket she put it in, and faced Kris with a solemn expression.

    “I, uh. Wanna, uhm..” She trailed off for a moment, as though considering whether or not she should actually say what she wanted to say. She shook her head. “Nevermind. Whenever you’re ready.”

    She nodded to the grand door, the exit to the Ruins.

    They weren’t ready.

    They pushed the doors open,the stone groaning loudly as though they were finally waking up after a long slumber.

✧✦✧

    The door opened to a small pitch black room, barren save for a tiny patch of grass illuminated by a cool lemony sunlight. This room seemed to have been the source of the frost that carried into the hallway, the temperature having dropped a few degrees.

    At the very north of the room was an archway similar to the ones at the beginning of the ruins. This one seemed to be in a state of worse disrepair than the last one, the wings of the Deltarune sigil at the top of the arch having been clipped off. 

    The dirt in the grass patch shifted a little, bubbling like the top of a cauldron. The soil burst away, a small golden flower popping out of the dirt with a gleefully sinister smile curling it’s lips. It’s sunflower black eyes peered around the room until it fixed on Kris diligently.

    The flower bobbed its head up and down, it’s golden petals bouncing around hypnotically. Something slithered in the shadows behind the shadow, Kris could just barely see the faint outline of vines crawling across the walls, recessing into the stone like punished snakes.

    The flower fixed Kris with a smug grin. His voice dripped with sarcasm, his eyes half lidded and expression deadpan, save for that infuriating smile. “Clever. Verrrrrrry clever. You think you’re really smart, don’tcha?” 

    “The fuck does that mean?” Susie snarled gutterally, her lips curling back to reveal a set of yellowing dagger-point fangs. Her claws brushed her belt, inches away from pulling out the Devilsknife. “Tread fucking carefully, else I’ll go fucking weeding, bud. I’m not in the goddamn mood .”

    Flowey let out a humourless laugh, his deadpan expression unchanged, despite having his life threatened by Susie. “In this world, it’s kill or be killed, go ahead! I won’t stop you!”

    Susie seemed taken aback by Flowey’s words, her arm falling uselessly back at her side. She looked away, her hair hiding her expression and her shoulders hunched. Flowey turned to Kris with a self satisfied smile. 

    “So, you were able to play by your own rules, this time. You spared the life of a single person. I bet you feel really great.” 

    They didn’t. But they’re sure they’d feel worse if they’d killed her.

    “You didn’t kill anybody, not this time,” Flowey’s smile twisted into a grinch-like snarl. He continued swaying gleefully, laughing as though he’d already won. Perhaps, in some way, he has. “But what happens when you meet a ruthless killer, what then? You and your friends will die and die and die and die--until you snap .” 

    The flower seemed to take sadistic pleasure in imagining all the situations where Kris would ever take another person’s life. In the corner of Kris’s eyes, they saw Susie and Noelle give them a questioning look. They didn’t return it. 

    “And when you get tired, what will you do then? Will you kill them out of self defense? Self preservation? Or will you kill them out of LOVE ?” Flowey laughed hysterically, as though he’d made the funniest joke, his lips pulled in a twisted grin that seemed to split his face in half. He dropped into the dirt before anyone could do anything, laughing with malicious glee the whole way.

    Susie sent Kris a poorly disguised disturbed look. “What was he talking about?”

    Kris didn’t reply. They treaded forward without much of a word, until they were at the crumbling arc. They brushed their fingers against the damp cracked stone, turning to face their friends with a blank look. Their throat burnt, their hands were shaking--they attributed that to the frost creeping up their skin, barren from the burnt away fabric. “Coming?” 

    Susie and Noelle exchanged quietly worried looks, but followed them nevertheless. 

✧✦✧

    The grand door behind the arc opened with a thunderous snap as the ice sealing the doors shut snapped. Bitter winds blasted the trio, throwing icy winds at them like chilled throwing knives. 

    Outside the Ruins was a thick forest of towering black snow topped trees, jutting out from sleeping frost like spears stabbed in the concrete. Powdery snow like powdered sugar drifted along the quiet wind, peppering the long frosted over snow. Fresh footprints dotted the snow, treading away from the Ruins door, and into the shadowy woods.

    The trio walked out of the Ruins in uncomfortable silence. Kris’s mouth felt dry, as though they’d swallowed dust, their chest was as tight as a freshly tempered coil. Their gaze drifted to Susie, who’s bangs still covered her face like blinds. Kris could feel the angry glare she leveled at the glittering snow ahead of her, a gaze so heated it could melt the snow as she walked on it.

    Noelle leaned forward a little, her hoof hovering in the air as though she wanted to comfort the crocodile, but wasn’t quite too sure how. She sent a pleading look Kris’s way. The human looked away, trying to hide their guilt under a blank stare.

    They forced themselves not to look back--they couldn’t--fearing that if they did, they might come running back.

    Kris could feel shivers wracking Susie’s body from their side. They couldn’t tell if it was from the sudden cold, or something else. For her sake, they chose to see it as the cold.

    But for now, they had to power on. If they weren’t strong enough to leave their mother, then they weren’t strong enough for what’s to come.

    (It’s what Toriel would have wanted).

    This is only the beginning, you know. Don’t worry, you’ll find a friend here.

    They heard a song drift along the cold wind, soft and sombre, a eulogy to a world of which they could not reach. Kris didn’t dare to look at Noelle. 

    “ One is a bird… ”

✧✦✧

𝚂𝚒𝚡 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑
𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜
𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝-𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚎
𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜
𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍
𝙳𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚜, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚎.

✧✦✧

Chapter Text

---------------------

Ｓａｎｓ.

---------------------

✰✦✰

    The sugary draft hung ominously like a pack of ravenous wolves, bitter flurries of cold white snow whorled through claw-curled breezes. Sleek verglast crawled up the edges of Kris’s newly misshapen armour with spider’s legs. Kris’s flushed cheeks burned with the bitter frost, their hair powdered with splotches of white. Each of the party’s tired footsteps crunched in the freshly packed snow as they marched solemnly along the fresh winding path through this mysterious new area.

    Despite the welcome embrace of the snowfront, Kris still felt the fresh blisters trailing down their arm, where the melted shield still hung like a hand dragging them down. Their arm throbbed painfully, as though demanding them to be heard. 

    ...you should get that checked. 

    I should but I got nowhere to do it right now. 

    Sometimes, they forgot that niggling voice in the back of their mind was nothing more than just a voice, a whisper tickling the back of their brain. 

    They got a short ways away from the Ruins before anyone tried to break the looming silence. Noelle gently took Kris’s arm, taking care to take the vambrace of their armour, and not the shield-heavy arm. They winced as dull pain throbbed up their arm, making her pull back immediately. “S-sorry! I-I just wanted to help with your arm!”

    Magic swirled around her hoof like glittering snowflakes, twirling in an independent breeze idly. With a touch as soft as snow, she trailed the magic down their scarred and bruised arm, letting syrupy sweet magic seep over their skin. They stifled the sigh of relief threatening to slip from their lips.

    Noelle turned to Susie with a minty self satisfied smile curling her lips, her hands on her hips smugly. She stopped in place when she looked at Susie, slouched and exhausted looking, with snow dusting her hair like powered snow and eyes as cloudy as the snow below her feet. “A-are you alright Susie?”

    The gator turned to her sluggishly, as though wading through slush. The exhaustion weighing down her posture melted away when she stretched, popping her joints and snapping her jaws lazily. “Yeah?” 

    “C-can you help me get the shield off Kris’s arm?” Noelle asked, worry colouring her words. She fingered the gemstone clip of her cowl nervously, 

    Susie nodded sleepily, her amber eyes still glassy and distant. She softly took Kris’s arm, turning it around in her palm with uncharacteristic gentleness. She shimmied her claw under the straps, snapping it with ease. She tossed the misshapen shield aside in the snow lazily, smoke curling in snaking slivers from the imprint.

    She leant down to pick it up with a grimace. “That thing is fucked . You won’t be able to use it ‘til ya get ‘er fixed.”

    Ah. so we’re defenseless now.

    She snagged the misshapen shield from the snow, shivering violently when her fingers brushed the powdered snow, and hooked it on her back lazily. “I’ll keep this piece of junk on me for now.”

    They came to a stop at an old rickety bridge over a frosty ravine. Gargantuan bars divided the bridge in half vertically. The bars were spread far enough apart for Kris and Noelle to slide through, but low enough for Susie to simply climb over. This gate would literally only stop a white dog. 

    Suddenly, Susie perked up, shaking off the languid exhaustion that seemed to cling to her like the snow dusting her mane. The leather of her gloves creaked as she clenched her claws into trembling fists, her whiskers twitching agitatedly and the strange cloudy lens of her eyes slipped away. The faintest of papyrus yellow glints peaked out from grimacing lips, a lithe black tongue peeping out to taste icy air.

    To Kris’s surprise, the purple monster lifted her trembling hands, forming signs, unsure and sloppied from the frigid air. “You hear that?”

    Noelle, with ears perked and eyes wide and glinting with a mix of fear and alertness, nodded minutely. Her nose twitched, as though she was trying to sniff the air. Susie beat her to the punch, however, grimacing and signing shakily; “smells like calcium.”

    The doe shot her a confused and concerned look, her eyes wide. She whispered incredulously,“C-calcium? How do you know what that tastes like” 

    Susie rolled her eyes, as though the answer was painfully obvious. “Duh, I’ve eaten bones before.”

    “Oh.”

    The echoing crack of a branch snapped their conversation short.

    It was a testament to how long they’d been adventuring together, after the crack Kris yanked their sword from their back and brandished it with one bold swipe, Susie tore the Devilsknife from her magic storage and clumsily swung it until it slammed in snow, Noelle bristled before immediately clapping her hooves together, the lingering slivers of healing magic going as cold as the frigid snow by their feet.

     A figure stood rooted between two gnarled and listing black trees, stout and stocky looking. Kris could just barely make out the faint outline of fur lining it’s neck, white dots where it’s pupils should be. Otherwise, it was cloaked in shadows as dark as the shades splashing across the snowbound forest.

    The shadow advanced forwards languidly, old aching creaks and groans accompanying each movement like an old friend, something familiar. Susie snarled fiercely, yanking the Devilsknife from its place imprinted in the snow sluggishly and brandishing it at the figure with her lips curled in a sinister smile. “Back the fuck up bud, I ain’t in the mood.”

    In reply, it inched ever closer, each step crunching through the snow and snapping through the silence like the branch. Kris raised the tip of their sword, tension seeping into their shoulder blades. 

    The figure stopped just shy of the light fluttering between the trees. Despite it being so close, Kris could only make out the faint outline of a gigantic, ever-present, grin and glowing white pupils fixed upon them as though the Party were a precious gemstone.

    “c o m e  o n,  t h a t ’ s  n o  w a y   t o   g r e e t   a   n e w   f r i e n d,” The voice that creaked from the figure sounded like oak trees shifting, the smell of cilantro drifting on each word like driftwood in water. Kris cringed, suppressing the urge to drop their blade and pinch their nose.

    The figure stretched a fat fingerless gloved hand, the yellowed skeletal fingertips leading Kris to believe that they were dealing with a skeleton. “S h a k e  m y  h a n d.”

    I think you should get Susie to shake it’s hand. 

    Why?

    Just do it, it’s for the best.

    The ominous lilt to the voice made Kris’s hands move on their own, prodding Susie gently on her scaled wrist. She looked down at them, her expression softening. They pointed to the outstretched hand and shook their own hands.

    Susie raised an eyebrow. “You… want me to shake it’s hand?”

    Kris nodded.

    The crocodile groaned lightly, taking the hand firmly within her large claws.

    Pffffffffffffffffffffffrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttttt pft. 

    Susie stared at their intertwined hands, her expression blank, as though she couldn’t process the noise that’d cut through the silent snow. She didn’t even blink, staying like that for a minute.

    “What.”

    Kris jumped when laughter suddenly burst out from the back of their mind, bellied and full of mirth, occasionally interrupted by snorts and gasps. Holy fucking SHIT that was so good do you see her face ?? I don’t even think she processed it yet! Haha!

    She’s gonna wring my neck!!

    Step number one, bud. Don’t listen to everything you’re told; think things through. Though, admit it! This is fucking gold.

    ….

    Oh yeah, and have you taken a good look at her? She could barely lift her legs, let alone lift you up.

    What?

    You’ll see. 

    The figure drew its hand back, pulling off the fingerless glove to reveal yellow-tinted bones held together by magic and flaking cartilage. Kris nearly adopted an expression similar to Susie’s when they realized just who was standing in front of them.

    Sans. The Store Guy.

    I call him bitch guy, but sure.

    He didn’t look much different here, Kris noted. He still donned that electric blue parka, grey gym shorts with a white stripe down each side and fuzzy pink slippers. The only difference seemed to be that instead of pearl white bones, he seemed to have yellowing bones, barely perceptible tissue flaking off somewhat. As though he didn’t quite have that much calcium intake.

    “ah, the ol’ whoopie cushion in the hand trick, it’s ALWAYS funny.” Sans grinned, his eye sockets seemingly grinning as well. He stuffed the flat whoopie cushion and fingerless gloves in his pocket. He turned to Kris, an air of self satisfaction about him.

    "anyways, you're a human right? I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. nice to meetcha," Sans held out his hand again, this time it was gloveless. When Kris deemed it safe, they shook it, finding his grip cold and uncomfortable. 

    Susie seemed to snap out of her reverie, her expression twisted into a grimace. Noelle burst into twinkling giggles, that seemed to staff Susie's rising annoyance for the moment. Either that or she was too tired.

    Kris introduced themselves, Noelle and Susie, taking care to word everything well. Never know when this skeleton might use your words to form some horrid eldritch pun.

    Sans folded his arms behind his head lazily, his ever-there grin somehow growing larger. "well, funny story; i'm actually suppos'ta be on watch for a human. but, yanno, i don't really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, Papyrus, on the other hand, he's obsessed with it."

    That was the second thing Kris has ever heard about Sans' fabelled brother, however contradicting it was. 

    Sans fixed the three with a curious gaze, for a moment the flickered to something else, so fast Kris could hardly process it. Kris brushed it off as just an illusion. They just barely heard the scoff that followed their conclusion.

    Sans tapped a bony finger on his chin, listing to the side to look over Kris's shoulder. His carved grin seemed to grow larger."aye, actually, that's my brotha' over there."

    Sans pointed over Kris’s shoulder to a small clearing just past the creaking bridge to an unusually tall skeleton.

    He always looks like he’s trying to cosplay The Flash, but I bet he has no idea who that is.

    The skeleton wore a crudely made white chestplate emblazoned with a terribly drawn on Deltarune symbol, blue-- ...underpants? with shiny crimson boots, gloves and a scarf wrapped snugly around his neck. He wore a black body suit that covered what would have been his exposed bones.

    I never understood why he had painted gold armbands, they aren’t actually that expensive.

    “can you do me a favour? i can pay you back, too. here, go through this gate. yeah, my bro made it too wide to actually stop anyone.” Sans casually walked under the gate, brushing his hands against the frost-boned metal of the bar, causing a teeth grinding screech.

    The Party exchanged unsure looks, before Susie shoved Kris forward through the bars and butt first into the cold snow with a devilish grin, exhausted but clearly not tired of being a piece of shit. 

    I thought that was funny, but ok.

    Susie laughed loudly, like a chainsaw being thrown into a pipe, and grabbed the top of the gate, throwing herself over the fence and landing gracelessly on the other side. She laid in the snow for a moment before pushing herself up, her bones popping as she went. Noelle effortlessly walked through the gate, ducking her head to avoid knocking her antlers on the rail.

    Sans walked up to the clearing the moment his brother left, turning around to face the party with that ever-present grin carved into his face. He shoved his hands in his pocket and leaned back on the balls of his feet. He nodded his head towards a conveniently kris-shaped lamp. “quick, human, hide behind that human-sized lamp. you two could hide behind those convenient rocks.”

    When Susie doesn’t immediately react, Noelle gently takes her wrist and drags her behind the rocks, her nose bright red. She covered it with her free hand, her eyes wide and pleading. Kris stood in place for a few beats, stone faced, before walking quietly behind the lamp. It wasn’t quite their size--they had to crouch a little bit.

    Papyrus burst into the clearing loudly, bones rattling and jangling like beads in a maraca. Sans’ grin grew. “‘sup, bro?” 

    “You know what’s ‘sup’ brother!” Papyrus shouted, tapping his foot in the snow, the backs of his wrists resting on his hips. His voice was high-pitched and loud, like the screech of naked bones against bones. “It’s been eight days and you still haven’t. Recalibrated. Your. puzzles!!”

    The way he said it made it sound like Sans had committed high treason. 

    “What’re you even doing here anyways?” Sans’ brother quirked a curious eyebrow. 

    “staring at this lamp. it’s really cool. did’ja you wanna take a look?” Sans offered, his voice coloured with a barely held back laugh. 

    Papyrus stomped his foot in the snow with an annoyed shout. “No!!! I don’t have time!!What if a human comes through here, Sans!? What then!? I want to be ready!!”

    The tall skeleton didn’t give Sans much time to reply, continuing after shooting Sans with a heorically determined look. “I want to be ready!! I will be the one!! I must be the one!! I will be the one who captures a human!!”

    He stopped stomping and put a hand on his chest, his scarf blowing in the light breeze and his face pulled in the largest and brightest of smiles ever. “Then I, The Great Papyrus, will get all the things I utterly desire!! Respect...Recognition….I’ll finally be able to join the Royal Guard!! People will ask to be...my ‘friend’!!”

    Little sad that people don’t already, to be honest.

    “I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning,” Papyrus ended wistfully, opening an eye to look at Sans expectantly, as though he expected his brother to clap at such a Shakespearean monologue.

    “hmm...maybe this lamp will help you,” Sans grinned, his gaze falling just behind the lamp, to Kris, who was trying their absolute damndest not to shift, despite the ache that rattled their knees.

    “You are NOT helping Sans, you lazy bones!!"  Papyrus cried out with frustration. He turned away, looking to the greater distance. He stomped his foot in the snow once more, his brows knit together frustratedly.

    “hey hey, take it easy, i’ve worked a ton today…” Sans placated, he trailed off with mirth growing in his grin like cold water overflowing from a bucket. “a skele- ton.”

    Sans turned to Kris with smiling eyes, shrugging and closing his eyes, huffing to himself as though he made the funniest joke in the whole world. He did not. 

    Papyrus’ eyes practically bulged out of their sockets, annoyance radiating from him in droves. He let out a noise between a strangled squeak and an affronted gasp. “Did you just make a pun?” 

    “yup.” Sans replied, popping the ‘p’. He winked at Kris and turned back to Papyrus. “what, you got a bone to pick with me?”

    Papyrus stared blankly at Sans, as though the rage inflicted by his brother’s pun knocked the words out of his nonexistent lungs like a ruthless gut punch. 

    Finally, Papyrus seemed to gain his bearings, his response measured. “Why. must a wonderful and amazing person like myself, be stuck with such a clown ?” 

    Sans didn’t really seem perturbed by Papyrus’s words, in fact he seemed rather encouraged by them, grinning like a chuckling hyena. “you’re smiling.”

    “I know and I hate it!!” Papyrus shouted, stomping his foot in the snow. “What does it take for I, The Great Papyrus, to get some recognition?” 

    Sans shrugged, “perhaps workin’ yourself down to ‘tha bone would help. or this lamp could light up your way, guess it depends on your flavour of help you prefer.”

    Papyrus measured Sans with an unimpressed look, critically tapping his foot in the snow as though he were about to judge the quality of Sans’s puns, but quickly decided against it, remembering the reputation he has to uphold. He had one to begin with? 

    “Bah!” Papyrus waved Sans off with a fake scowl, before turning away and looking forlornly in the distance. He turned back at Sans, fixing him with a critical look. “I’m going to go check my puzzles, something you also should be doing!! If you see a human come to me IMMEDIATELY got it?”

    “yessir,” Sans’s voice was coloured with a cheeky grin, lazily saluting his brother. The other skeleton rolled his eyes fondly.

    He stomped off through the deep snow, his shoulders tense and expression knit in  begrudgingly fond exasperation, the crunching of snow fading as he got further and further.

    Well. that was enlightening. 

    Silence reigned in the clearing after that, a soft breeze drifting through the cold still air smelling of sugar and a distant promise of cinnamon. Shadows of small birds flitted between endlessly tall trees, cast upon the stuffing-soft snow. The breeze picked up Kris’s dark blue hair, making it whip them in the face. They grimaced and walked out from behind the convenient blue lamp, exhausted and annoyed.

    “isn’t my brother just the greatest?” Sans  said after a few moments. He turned to the rocks Noelle and Susie were hidden behind. “by the way, here’s my advice; your friend? she’s cold-blooded. ya might wanna get her to somewhere warm or--”

    The stocky skeleton was interrupted by a snore as loud as a brass horn, slow and steady like the earth taking a deep breath. Noelle popped out from behind the rock, looking panicked and afraid, Susie’s clawed arm clutched between her hooves--one of her fingers pressed on her carpal where her pulse point was---with worrying ease. “S-Susie’s--”

    She ducked down behind the snow capped rocks, hooking one of her arms under Susie’s chest, and the other arm throwing Susie’s limp arm behind her shoulders. With a grunt of exertion she stood up with the gator, Kris was surprised to see she wasn’t actually that flustered. She seemed terrified. 

    Noelle’s ears were pinned to her skull, her expression sullen and her eyes locked on Susie’s snoring snout poking out from her unruly mane. “S-she j-just fell asleep--I think she’s asleep, she h-has a p-pulse, she’s just...j-just...cold…” 

    Kris rushed to their side, immediately going to examine their sleeping friend, worriedly checking her over to make sure she was alright. Her long forked tongue lolled out from her open mouth, occasionally she’d choke on a loud snort, causing her to jolt. Otherwise, she was the sleeping dead; completely unaware of everything happening around her.

    Kris turned around, a question ready in their hands, only to find the skeleton had left. There were no foot tracks in the snow. They stopped themself from grinding their teeth, directing their anger into taking Susie’s other side and helping Noelle haul her out from behind the rocks. They couldn’t afford to be angry, not right now. 

    Probably obvious, but you guys should stop here and start a fire. She should warm up.

    But how would we keep her warm? 

    I’m sure Deer Girl would know a way, human.

    Without really meaning to, they nodded at the voice’s reply. Thankfully, Noelle seemed too busy fretting over Susie to really pay them any mind. She shifted her grip on Susie, allowing herself to channel healing magic in her hands. She pressed her palm into Susie’s chest, the magic seeping into her skin like sunlight on an autumn evening. 

    A few beats passed.

    Susie did not wake up.

    Noelle’s face scrunched up, as though she were trying her hardest to hold back tears. She stifled it by rubbing her face with her cloak roughly, before wrapping her arm around Susie’s chest again. She turned to Kris, determination lighting her face up like a star atop a christmas tree.

    “I know how to start a fire, we just gotta find a place to camp out for the time being, and we could set up a fire and warm her up.” She ducked under Susie’s body, using her weight to suspend the monster as she unclipped her fur cloak and bunched it up in her hands. “I can give her my cloak in the time being, it’s kept me warm so far, it might help her!”

    Kris didn’t have the heart to point out that she had her ginger fur coat. 

✰✦✰

    The two found a cave not far from the clearing, an overhang capped with a thick layer of gemstone snow, shadowed over by groaning trees and the ever-there powdering of soft snow. Goose skin creeped along Kris’s exposed flesh, cold nipping at their cheeks like starved dogs. Their back ached from carrying Susie all this way, her claws were digging between her shoulder blades, her nose stuffed in their hair. 

    Noelle’s gentle voice broke through the eerie stilled silence with various candied stories of her childhood, voice fond as she recalled all the times she adventured with Asriel, Kris and Dess, or the times she’d played with her dad or gone on outings with her family. None of the stories seemed directed at Kris, as they were there for most of them, it seemed to be for Susie’s benefit. Her confidence grew with each gentle word, like she was progressively realizing that Susie wouldn’t be able to hear. 

    Noelle gently set Susie down on a rock in the middle of the cave. She looked pleadingly to Kris, her coal black eyes shining with worry. “Can you collect sticks and branches? I would...but..”

    Kris nodded without hesitation, itching to be of use to their friends and seeing it as the perfect opportunity to talk with that voice in their mind.

    They walked out of the cave with an idle wave behind their back, wandering through the woods, taking care to memorize each monument so they could find their way back.

    So… are you actually real? 

    ...did...did you never figure that out this entire time...or…

    My bad, next time I’ll believe the voice in the back of my head is real, just for you.

    That voice didn’t reply, seeming to measure their response. Finally, they said; Shut the fuck up knight of the fruity clown table. 

    Don’t tell yourself to shut up like that!!

    Jokes on you there were more than one knights at the clown table. 

    Kris laughed breathlessly, grabbing a large stick from the snow and snapping it in half on their knee. You’re the head. King Aurthur of the clown table. 

    I have no idea who King Aurthur is, but okay. 

    You know what, I’ll tell you about that guy someday, it’s an interesting story. Kris broke the last stick from a low-hanging branch, snow falling on top of them like fat drops of rain. They shook it off and wrapped their scarf tighter around their neck in an attempt to fend off the shivers wracking their body. 

    They returned to the cave, tossing the sticks in a haphazard pile at Noelle’s feet with a small smile. In the time that they’d been gone, she’d found herself flint, and took out Susie’s axe. Her cowl was tossed on Susie like a blanket. She returned their smile patiently, she seemed to be struggling to hold the axe up. “I had to make do, the toy knife you collected--”

    DON’T LET HER USE THAT AS A FUCKING STRIKER.

    “--wasn’t actually metal? So like, I couldn’t strike it against the flint, so I managed to get Susie’s axe instead. She just uses a glamour in the form of the wraps around her wrists...so it was kinda easy to take out actually. “ Noelle continued as though she’d never heard the voice--which, to be fair, she didn’t. 

    You can’t let anyone ruin that knife--or the ribbon. Could you hold it instead of Suzy? 

    Why do you care so much?

    Their question was met with silence, awkward and stretched long. Noelle nervously tapped her hooves together before she set the flint down next to the bundle of sticks, angling the axe so she could strike the flint. When the voice spoke, Kris got the impression that their tone was very measured, faux calm. 

    I don’t. It’s useless, but trust me, it’ll come into importance later. The good ending. 

    ...okay. I can take it when they’re both asleep...I think.

    Their thoughts were cut off by a resounding tang of metal as Susie’s axe crashed down onto the flint, embers exploding from the contact as powdery as the snow sprinkling the quiet forest. Embers landed on the dry lumber, smouldering across the grain, boldened by a new food source. 

    Noelle’s smile masked her worry like moth-eaten curtains, the fidgeting of her hooves and tip-taping of her feet on the frost-slicked stone floor, the pull. Kris could read her like a book,they knew she was stressed. “You got extra kindling, right?”

    Kris nodded, settling themself down on Susie’s other side. A thaw settled in her frosty scales, making them slightly warmer than they were before. “I can stay and take watch, you get some rest. You look exhausted.”

    Their excuse was masked well; under Noelle’s eyes were dark pits, her lips drawn down into a barely there frown and her back slumped. Kris had to admit, carrying Susie was no easy task, their arms were sore and their shoulders ached with tension, but insomnia was a powerful drug. They weren’t going to be able to sleep. 

    Noelle looked unsure for a moment, her ears drooping and her gaze falling to the ground. She mumbled something Kris couldn’t quite catch over the pop-crackling flames. The tension seeped from her shoulder as she quietly relented, nodding and leaning against Susie. “You have promise to wake me up in..an hour so you could get rest.”

    They both knew that the nod Kris gave her was touched with an empty promise, but Noelle didn’t address it. 

    Kris sat in silence as they waited until Noelle’s soft twinkling snores joined Susie’s thunderous ones, until they finally allowed themself to unknit their shoulders and exhale. 

    So.. knight of the fruity clown table, what do we do now?

✰✦✰

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎
𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗,
𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎
𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚢

𝙲𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚖𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍
𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗? (𝙴𝚛𝚛!)
𝚁𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗?
𝙼𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎?
𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝙸 𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛
𝙽𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

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𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢

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✩✦✩

    Kris woke up to claws digging uncomfortably in their side, dull as the hilt of a knife. The sound of deep, booming snores layered over a faint, reverberating, drumbeat-like purr masked the weakly crackling hearth, lit with a dying crystalline white flame. Kris didn't remember the flame looking like that.

    They pulled themselves into a sitting position, stretching away the sleepy aches that had settled in their bones during their slumber. They cringed as their bones popped and crackled. Kris scratched the back of their head, exhaustion still clinging them like dewdrops to a spiderweb.

    Dewy ozone-smelling wind drifted in the damp cave walls, startling hanging vines and roots from the trees on top of the outcropping. 

    Good morning, Fruity Knight. Or uh, it’s night, actually.

    You can tell?

    Call it a good internal clock, I guess.

    The events of last night--morning?--caused Kris’s exhaustion-bleary gaze to snap to Susie. The snoring crocodile seemed to still be sleeping soundly. She’d trapped Noelle in a pseudo bear-hug, her snout pressed in the doe’s chest and her tongue lulling between parted jaws. It didn’t, however, escape Kris’s notice that the doe’s cowl was now clipped messily on, looking like a safety blanket on Susie’s larger frame.

    We should probably get going soon. It's already late.

    Kris’s gaze lingered on Susie for a few moments, doubt gnawing like termites on wood.

    Word will spread fast that there’s a human in the underground. You may not realize it yet, but that’s pretty bad, actually. Suzy’s tough anyways, the next town over and she’ll be good as new. Come to think of it, actually, who put that cowl on her? Noelle’s been asleep all night, we never woke her up.

    Their eyebrows knitted together at confusion, Their gaze fell down to the cowl, still messily clipped on her neck. It couldn’t have been Noelle’s work, Noelle knew very well how to put one on; she would have known that it was put on wrong, anyways.

    Their gaze fell on the crackling pyre.  

    It should have died out during the night. 

    Huh. This actually works out in our favour. 

    Kris leaned over to Susie and shook her shoulders roughly, enough that she nearly fell off the rock she was laying on. They’d almost feel bad, but then they remembered her pushing them in the snow butt first. Nah this was pretty funny.

   Didn’t know you were so petty, human.

    Susie woke up with a start, her snores cutting off with a strangled gasp. She bared serrated yellowing fangs at Kris in the beginnings of a snarl, only for it to die away before starting. She squinted her yellow eyes at Kris in confusion. She flashed them an apologetic smile, scratching the back of her neck abashedly. “G’morn’n Kris.” 

    Kris pulled Susie into a tight hug, burying their face in her chest and trying to suppress the tears prickling at their eyes. She was as stiff as a board; if they could see her face they imagined it’d be overwritten with shock and hesitance. Eventually, she folded, wrapping her arms uncertainty around them. “Uh...I uh...miss you too… I guess..”

    Their voice dragged against their throat like knives, barely audible over the crackling “I...we..were worried..” 

   Kris could feel Susie's sandpaper-lined voice rumbling against their ear like the silken purrs of a cat, followed by an awkward pat on their back. "I should have told you...but, uhm. uh..thank..you?"

   She sounded unsure, like she wasn't quite sure she was doing it right, and trailed off with a weak huff. The ragged fringes of her bands curtained over her sharp eyes, her rare display of emotions seemingly overwhelming her.

    They understood how she felt, they supposed.

    Kris shook their head against her chest, they opened their mouth, intent on telling her that she wasn’t at fault at all--but nothing came out. Susie fidgeted uncomfortably, making them draw away. 

    She tapped her thigh nervously, her gaze lingering on the crystalline flames of the campfire. She picked up a skinny stick, and prodded the firewood to get the flames started again. The two settled in delicate silence, until Susie decided to break it again. “...So...you’re prob'ly wondering ‘bout the flames, huh?” 

    Kris nodded. 

    Her eyes shined with mirth as a smug grin curled her lips. She crossed her arms and legs, leaning back against the ice-slicked cave walls.. “I made it myself.” 

    Her grin grew bigger at the confusion on their face, as though she was hoping for that reaction. She leaned over Noelle and pulled out something from the party’s shared leather bag. Noelle had taken it off of Susie when the lizard had her surprise hibernation episode. She slid out a dusty leather-bound book with steel clips keeping the book shut. In the centre of the cover were three gems; purple, icy blue and sapphire, the purple one being in the middle. “I found this book in the Ruins in uhm...the library, and I saw that she had a few ice spells in it, I thought Noelle would like it,”

    She unclipped the rusted steel locks and tossed the book open, flipping past well-worn papyrus pages until she landed on a section captioned “FIRE MAGIC.” 

   "I, uh, was reading through it to bookmark the, uh, parts I thought..." She trailed off, her cheeks flushed as she looked anywhere but Kris. She growled frustratedly under her breath, and quickly added "w-well, you don't need to know that! I was jus' lookin' through it 'til I saw this page 'bout fire magic, an' I got kin'na curious, yanno?"

    She pointed a clawed finger to a diagram of eight flames, each shaded with differing colours; cyan, orange, blue, purple, green, red and white. Neatly written notes scattered about the page, all in painfully familiar handwriting. Susie brought the book up on her knee to get a better look.

    “‘ Fire magic is a reflection of the fire inside a given soul; each colour represents a different dominant virtue. Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justise, LOVE and Innocence, respectively ’” Susie quoted, her words steady and practiced, as though she’d already memorized the lines. Her gaze lingered on the crackling white flames, her expression carefully unreadable.

    “Thought it’d be good to know, right? ’m a bit tired of being a burden ‘ere. We dunno how long we’ll be in this place--if we even get outta here, at all. I don’ wanna be a setback,” Susie tore her gaze away from the flames, fixing Kris with a grin. “Besides, be kinda cool to show Ralsei right? Learnt somethin’ without his help.”

    Kris nodded softly in understanding, earning the faintest of genuine smiles from their monster friend. The two lapsed into another comfortable silence, Susie tending the dying fire and Kris gathering all the supplies they’d laid out last night.

    Susie broke the silence again after a few beats, her voice soft and barely there. “I, uhm. I wish I could show you, but…”

    She gazed at her fingers as she trailed off, snapping them idly. A flurry of glowing white sparks burst from where her claws connected, drifting down and fizzling out in the cold breeze before they could touch the cave floor. She didn’t need to continue, Kris already understood.

    No one spoke after that.

✩✦✩

    Noelle woke up not long after they lapsed into an awkward silence, quickly trapping Susie in a warm relieved embrace. The gator looked just as distressed as she did when Kris hugged her, save for the light blush that dusted her cheeks. Kris also thought they heard a faint rumbling sound. 

    It’s time to go. We’ve wasted enough time. 

    Kris nodded subtly to themself, hoisting the party’s bag over their shoulder, just in case, and fixed their bracers so they shielded their exposed flesh rather than their already covered wrist. They wrapped their scarf tighter around their neck. They knocked on the cave wall to gain their friend’s attention. “Let's head out.”

    Noelle tipped her head in confusion, worry colouring her expression. She tapped her hooves together. “Gosh, are you sure? What if Susie passes out again?”

    Susie waved her concern off with a flippant wave of her hand. “Nah, don’t worry ‘bout me, I’ll be fine. This, uh, cloak you gave me is very warm.”

    She turned away, scratching the back of her neck nervously. She mumbled something that Kris couldn’t quite catch, something that Noelle absolutely did catch if that blush dusting her cheeks was anything to go by. 

    Noelle raced to Kris’s side, her smile wide and gleeful. “C’mon then lets go! Fahaha!”

    The party trudged through crunchy snow, where the gnarled black trees slowly turned into snow-capped pines, closely huddled together as though they were grasping for warmth. The thick rancid smell of ozone hung in the air like smoke, every once and awhile growing stronger when Susie blew into her open hands. 

    Despite her slouched walk, and clear lack of attention--occasionally, a stray low-hanigng branch would wack her in the face before she had a moment to process it was there--she seemed good enough to walk on her own, only leaning on Noelle a few times.

    They didn’t speak much, content on revelling in the peaceful quiet of the forest, until--

    Stop everything.

    Why?

    Left. 

    Instinct grabbed hold of them with a vice grip, they turned left without a single thought as to what they were doing. They broke through the thick treeline, breaking onto a path that seemed to come from the place they’d met Papyrus at. It led to a fork in the road, one pathway going sharply up north, and another one curving down to the west. 

    Resting in the snow under a gnarled and twisted pine tree was a small golden chest, locked with glittering gold buckles. A brilliant aurelien gleam drew their attention to a small star nestled in the snow just twenty metres off of the chest.

    There’s something inside that chest, something very useful. Oh, and storage. But you have that, don’t you?

    Yes.

    Kris padded over to the chest, first, hooking their fingers under the clips and throwing the chest open. The chest was filled with intricate spider webs, thick layers of dust and…

    A small pair of orange boxing gloves.

    Susie peered over their shoulder. “‘S’hat boxing gloves? Heh.”

    “What’s so funny about boxing g- oh. Oh, gosh, fahaha,”

    Kris ignored the two, leaning over the lip of the chest and sticking their hand through the spiderwebs and grabbing the gloves. They cringed at the feeling of skinny spider legs crawling up their bare arm, gently flicking them off and back into the box. They shook off the gloves, trying to shake off the last stubbornly clinging strands of silk.

    There’s supposed to be something else with those gloves. That..that can’t be it.

    That is it though. I didn’t see anything in there aside from the gloves.

    They folded the gloves together and slid them into the leather satchel, clipping it shut. 

    No no you don’t understand, there is supposed to be-- The voice stopped itself, as though it was taking a deep, steadying breath, it let out a huff of dead laughter. When it spoke again, it sounded close to frustrated tears. That’s...not important now, I guess. We should...keep going.

    Kris tried their best not to let their sympathy show on their face, in an attempt not to worry their friends. Don’t worry, haha. It’s.. it’s fine. We can adapt. We can adjust. I--we can.

    They stopped in front of the yellow star, sparkling through the snow. Without any hesitation, they tapped the star, magic sliding across their skin like cool water and kneading the tension from their bones, drawing the exhaustion from their weary muscles and soothing the burns like a cold salve. 

    Determination crashed into them like a strong steady wave.

    Proceed west. That’s where we have to go.

    They found themself mouthing their words quietly, repeating it when they got questioning looks from their other party members. “Ready to continue?”

    The two nodded, and the party prepared to head west, diving back into a phantasmagoria of familiar sights.

✩✦✩

𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗
𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎
𝙸𝚝 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜

𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎
𝙲𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎
𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎
𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎

✩✦✩

Chapter Text

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𝚂𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚢 𝚙𝚝.𝟷

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✰✦✰

    ...Sorry about earlier. I..I just.. This is….important. 

    It seemed as though the voice had wanted to add something, but it refrained from doing so. Kris let out a sigh as snow crunched under their metal boots. Their gaze fell to Susie and Noelle. Some strange part of them wondered if they’d react the same as that strange, niggling voice had-- but they couldn’t explain why they felt that way.

    But...we have another option..we can scrounge this. The voice grew steady as confidence filled it like drum-song. A strange feeling of determination washed over the human as they treaded through the snow. They brushed off a light dusting of snow from their dark blue hair.

    We… we have to.

✰✦✰

    The Party walked around the well worn path in stoney silence. Not even the voice broke the quiet in Kris’s mind. It seemed to be thinking of something, and Kris felt too bad to interrupt them. Kris jumped when they felt a scaled hand clap their back.

    “Aye, what’cha thinkin’ about, freak?” Susie asked, her lips curved in a slight grimace at a particularly cold breeze that carded through them. She clutched Noelle’s cloak tighter to her chest, oblivious to the blush that darkened the deer’s cheeks and lit up her nose.

    Kris pondered their words for a moment, tuning into the distant sound of bundles of snow plopping into the snow that caked the ground. Despite their thought, they still found themself hesitating. “I’m...thinkin’.”

    "You do that?" Susie blurted with a grin twistimg her maw. It melted away like icicles at the dawn of spring. Kris noticed that her voice had an odd undertone; something familiar yet childish, pitched higher than Susie could ever hope for.

    Then they realized who else spoke.

    Shut the fuck up. They responded playfully back to the voice.

    Nah~~

    "Shit.. uh.. I mean...Yeah, uhm, I'm thinkin' too, I guess," Susie fiddled with her talons guilty, drawing them lightly against the grooves in her palms. She curled her fingers into fists and snapped them cleanly.

    The smallest wheeze of embers burst out from between her joined claws.

    She let out a grumble and shifted closer to Noelle instead. The faun patted Susie’s arm comfortingly, whispering words of encouragement that didn’t reach Kris’s ears.

    Before Kris could muster a retort to Susie’s blurted insult, her face lit up like stars in the night sky. She dashed forward, pushing past Kris carefully--still hard enough to nearly knock them in the snow again--and skidded to a halt in front of a lonely, rickety outpost.

    Resting on the counter of the empty post was a stone ashtray full of...smoked dog treats. 

    “Fuckin’ score !! Hell yeah!” She snagged the ashtray and gobbled down the dog treats with gusto, shoving the ashtray in her mouth and crunching it to bits easily with her large jaws. Noelle sent Kris a concerned-yet-horrified look, her eyes as wide as saucers. Kris shrugged, unphased.

    “Oi!! O’s there?! I ‘hought I saw som’movement!” A voice raspier than Susie’s barked out suspiciously. Slowly, a scrappy-looking white dog peaked out from behind the counter. It’s milky white eyes scanned the dense woods unseeingly, black nose twitching every once and awhile as though he’d tried to sniff the air, only to scowl in disgust. He wore a tacky-looking pink button-up stained with ash, donning a black ski-mask that covered his whole face.

    Gross.

    The dog slammed a paw on the rotting counter, gaze vaguely cast in Susie’s direction. His black lips pulled back in a deep and strained snarl, spittle frothing between yellow-grey fangs. “I can on’y see movin’ things! So if yer out ‘ere presen’ yerself!” 

    Susie stayed stock still, her jaw suspended in an open position. By the looks of it, she was struggling to keep it open. Her slitted eyes found Kris, an all-too-familiar gleam shining in the deep amber pits.

    The dog reached for it’s belt, pulling out polished ivory bowie knives--sharpened and honed until they gleamed like crocodile teeth--long enough to easily serve as a parting gift between Kris’s head and their neck, if it found the right chink.

    I’ve always wanted a Mammoth knife, they look sick as hell. 

    Mum got me a Mammoth hook knife. When we used to go fishing with Dad.

    Kickass.

    The dog leapt clear over the counter, landing into the snow with a graceless stumble. Kris felt... something looking upon the rest of the dog’s ‘look”. Puffy cheetah-print pants, held up by a buckle with a very familiar insignia--one they recognised from the Ruins; the Deltarune--puffed at the cuffs by thick-pleather combat boots that looked rather similar to Susie’s, minus the spikes. 

    Here I thought it couldn’t get worse!

    He grinned with sharp, yellowing teeth, saliva running down his black lips and matting the white fur along his jaw. “If someone were movin’--fa’ example, a human --’an I’d make sure it never moved again!”

    Their soul flashed wine red, snapping forward and settling protectively between the dog and Susie, as though it could sense the danger she was in. 

    Kris’s hand rested on the hilt of their blade, not yet tearing it from their scabbard. When they caught Susie’s eyes, they mouthed “don’t move.”

    She scowled and rolled her eyes, as though that was the most obvious thing in the world.

    Noelle, who’d been behind Susie, quietly drew her hooves together, but snapped to a stop when the dog’s milky white eyes snapped to her and he barked incoherently. 

    Doggo barks near!

    Kris’s eyes slipped closed, battle options laid across their mind like a war map. They found they could only really think of two.

    >Check

    >Pet.

    Kris figured it would be best to check who their enemy was, and how much of a threat they were, before the fight. They selected >Check and ordered for Susie and Noelle to defend, so they could stockpile TP.

    Your thoughts are amusing. I’ve never seen “TP” before. Unless you mean toilet paper. In which case, hehe I know that--

    TP stands for Tension Points, they’re a necessary commodity if you want to cast spells--like Susie’s Rude Buster, or Noelle’s Heal Prayer, among other things.

    Ohhhh I see. In any case--

    Doggo - ATCK 13 DEF 7.

    Easily excited by movement.

    Hobbies include; Squirrels. 

    Doggo twirled his knives in his hand, the glinting ivory blades starting to glow a bright cyan, like neon lights. As quick as a lightning strike, he lunged forward and slashed the soul with both blades--forward enough that the tips of the blades grazed Susie’s chipped scales--

    Only for the blade to slide right through the soul, like a hot knife through butter. Kris braced themself for the agony that was sure to follow such a devastating blow, but found that nothing came.

    Won’t lie. I totally forgot about blue attacks.

    Doggo drew the knives close to his mouth, his black nose twitching as he sniffed it. He scowled, but the suspicion that’d been etched on his face seemed to have vanished, somewhat.

    Enough for Kris to…

    >Pet

    >x-Pet

    While Doggo seemed distracted questioning himself, Kris leaned forward as quietly as they could. They tapped Susie’s shoulder, not stopping until she glanced back at them. “Pet the doggo.”

    Susie was no stranger to commands that she didn’t like. Back when they’d first started their adventure, even the mere thought of acting disturbed her, often eschewing it by just straight abandoning the group. By the end of the adventure, Kris had managed the nebulous achievement of; making Susie compliment someone. 

    The expression her face twisted into was reminiscent of the Susie of the past, something mixed between disgust at the audacity of Kris’s command and a very sad attempt at masking that with a faux humorous smile. Kris continued. “Pet the doggo if you’re not a coward.”

    Susie’s pupil’s thinned until they were pinpricks. 

    Damn, you played Suzy like a guitar. That’s rough buddy. 

    Rough it might’ve been, but if she didn’t want to die she would have listened anyway.

    Resolutely, she leaned forward with a hand outstretched, her face a mix of determination and discomfort. She pet the doggo. 

    Dogg’s eyes practically bulged out of his skull with shock and surprise, his tail wagging uncontrollably behind him despite how disturbed his expression seemed. He leapt away with a startled yelp, like a cat spotting a pickle, stumbling back behind the post and trembling.

    “S-s-s-someth-thin’ t-that wa’n’t m-m-m-movin’ p-p-pet me…” The disturbed doggo whispered brusquely to himself. He trembled still, his white fur fluffed out and milky eyes staring into an infinite abyss. Not much of a change there, Kris supposed. “I-It ‘a-a-ad sharp claws…”

    As the dog began to sink behind the counter, the group hurried to the other side. Not before Kris spotted a silvery service bell resting on the corner of the post. They rung it a few times, cackling madly, dashing off before the dog could actually catch them in the act. 

    When they caught up with the group again, Susie levelled them with an unimpressed look. “Ya done?”

    “Absolutely,” they signed back mischievously. They knew Susie too well to believe she was actually disappointed in them, though. Susie shoved their back fondly. 

    “C’mon stupid. Let’s take a powder ‘n get outta here,” Susie grunted with finality. Kris’s gaze fell on a few smoked dog biscuits resting in the snow. Against their better judgement, they plucked it from the snow and brandished it at Susie. She snatched it without comment, shoving it in her mouth greedily.

    “Nevermind we can ignore everythin’ that happened, I Do Not See It,” Susie added playfully.

    Noelle merely stared at the two, aghast yet intrigued.

✰✦✰

    They found Sans leaning against a tangled pine, twirling a red pen idly between flaxen bone fingers. The moment the short skeleton spotted the group, however, he pocketed the pen and gestured for them to come over.

    “aye, nice to see your friend okay.” Sans started casually. He folded his arms behind the back of his head, crossing his legs and flopping his pink slippers against the ball of his foot idly. The picture of laziness.  “guess that means the campin’ trip turned out alright?”

    How’d he--

    The voice that responded to Kris’s question was deadpan and tired. You’d be surprised.

    It seemed like Susie and Noelle didn’t question how the skeleton had knew about their small camp out, instead Susie huffed gruffly and crossed her arms. She mumbled something under her breath, baring yellowed fangs, something that Noelle giggled at. 

    “She’s trying to say thank you,” Noelle translated with a tinkling laugh. Susie shot the doe a glare, possibly to tell off the doe for her light jab. It had the opposite effect, if the light blush that dusted her cheeks was any indication of that.

    Sans waved them off. “hey it’s chill, your friend looked like she needed the help.”

    Sans opened an eye, still leaned lazily against the tree. “oh by the way, i should tell ya. you saw that dog’s attacks, right? those were blue attacks. you gotta stop movin’ for those; think about it like, you know how when ya see a stop sign? imagine a blue stop sign.”

    Noelle’s brows knit together in thought, the kind of expression she often adopted when she was taking detailed mental notes. Susie idly twirled her whiskers between her fingers, looking anywhere but Noelle, the lightest of blushes on her cheeks. 

    Sans didn’t give the group a chance to reply, instead he pushed himself off the tree and shrugged. “welp, you should prolly get goin’. you’re near snowdin now. just follow the path.”

    He turned away and padded off, disappearing into the deeply carved shadows of the forest. 

    “Didn’t he legit just say “follow the path”” Susie pointed out with a scowl. 

    “He must not be headed to Snowdin!” Noelle defended.

    Kris had this strange feeling that Sans was headed to Snowdin. They shook the thought from their head and pressed onward.

✰✦✰

    This place turned out to be much larger than the Ruins could ever hope to be. The vast icy swaths of snow that glittered like Angel wings dappled with a myriad of capped pines. The smell of nutmeg, pine and firs clung to the snow with spider’s legs. Kris swore if they ever see another pine scented-candle they might go insane.

    The only one who seemed to be enjoying the verglas glades was Noelle, who’d had a smile that never seemed to fully fall away. She’d long shed her lace bracers, fiddling with them between her hooves like she’d itched to give them away. Every once and awhile, she’d gaze back at Susie, her eyes falling down to the cowl she’d lent the crocodile. She’d always flush and quickly turn away.

    They stopped in their tracks when they heard two voices in the distance.

    “Sans!!! What do you mean there’s a human around here?! Is this a prank?!” the familiar voice of Papyrus shouted incredulously, the distant sounds of bones rattling followed his exclamation. 

    The voices must have been pretty far, because Kris didn’t quite hear what Sans had actually replied with, before Papyrus’s voice once again broke the quiet of the snowdrift. His voice shone with wonderful, exclaiming gleefully “Is this just a way to get out of my perplexing puzzles??”

    ...well, you’re gonna have to go that way anyways. Plus it’ll be funny I prommy.

    Please...never say prommy.

    ….I can’t make no prommys. 

    Kris suppressed a groan of irritation, wrapping their scarf tighter around their neck to distract from those horrible words, succeeding only in nearly stumbling forward. They tried to play it off with a scoff and a huff.

    Judging by the stifled snickers both behind them and in their head, they accomplished absolutely nothing. 

✰✦✰

    The moment they entered the clearing, Sans’s eyes were locked on Kris. It was as though Kris was a walking diamond to this guy; he was always looking directly at the human.

    Creepy, right? 

    Something like that.

    Sans pointed at them with a boney finger. “hey look, that’s the human I was talking about.”

    Papyrus turned on the balls of his feet, snapping to face the human with concerning speed. Despite that, his gaze seemed to fall past them; in fact, it seemed a bit too...low.

    “Sans!! Is that the human?!?!?!?” Papyrus asked shyly, pointing beyond Kris at their chest level. Kris never felt more short and ignored. 

    “uh. no i think that’s a rock, actually,” Sans answered, causing Papyrus to deflate in disappointment.

    A.

    A rock ?

    “maybe that person in front of it is a human,” Sans added casually, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Papyrus almost immediately brightened back up, eyes shining like the coals of a hearth.

    “(is that a human?)” Papyrus whispered to Sans, leaning over towards his brother precariously.

“(yes.)”

    Papyrus’s eyes went wide, his grin somehow growing. “Sans!! I finally did it!! Undy--I will--I’ll be so--”

    He seemed completely unable to form a coherent sentence, eyes shining like the sun. It hurt to look at, too, just like the sun. He stomped his foot in the snow for emphasis, flapping his hands excitedly. “POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!! ”

    Kris heard Susie utter a “yeesh” under her breath, which earned a light clap on the arm from Noelle. The gator didn’t even seem to notice she’d done anything.

    Papyrus cleared his throat, puffing out his chestplate and stood taller. “HUMAN!! You may not pass this area!!”

    “I, the Great Papyrus, will stop you!” Papyrus put a hand on his chest, right under the poorly drawn Deltarune symbol, his cape flapping heroically in the wind. “I will then capture you! You will be delivered to the Capitol. Then!!! Then!!!” 

    He paused. 

    His expression knit together in thought, as though he was trying to remember something fairly important.

    “I don’t actually know what happens next,” he admitted, looking to the side. “In any case!! Continue….only if you dare!!”

    His bones jangled like keys as he ‘Nyeh heh heh’’d smugly, dashing off into the woods gleefully. The moment his laughter faded away from earshot, Sans turned back to the party. 

    “well, that went well. don’t sweat it kids, papyrus can’t hurt a fly.” Sans turned away, waving them off with the back of his hands. “but if it helps any, i’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya.”

    He padded off into the woods, disappearing in the underbrush and shadows with not but a rustle. The frosted glares once again fell into silence, silence glazed with a groaning breeze.

    Noelle clapped her hooves together, looking positively unbothered by Papyrus’s threat--

    To be fair, anyone would be. He looks like he’d break if he tried to throw you. And that’s saying a lot.

    Thanks.

    No problem. 

    “Well, there’s nowhere to go but forward! If we--”

    “Stick together, we can do anything, yeah yeah,” Susie waved her off lightly. Slowly, a grin curled her lips, all points and angles. “ I think if he tries to capture us I got new people to thrash. That’s incentive enough for me.”

    “Oh no.”

    Susie plodded onwards, the same grin never leaving her face. It’d almost be concerning if Kris didn’t know her well by now. Noelle elbowed their side, yelping when her elbow hit the cold metal of Kris’s chestplate.

    “We should make sure she, uh, doesn’t actually get to thrash innocent people doing their jobs, fahaha!” Noelle smiled softly, rubbing her elbow. She followed Susie. Kris paused for a moment, standing in the cold snow that dusted their hair like powdered sugar.

    You gonna move?

    Huh? Yeah I’m just thinking. 

    Your friends are leavin’, fruity knight. You can think on the road. 

    ...yeah. I can.

    After a moment's hesitation, they followed their friends into the beginnings of the wintry storm.  They couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that crept up their throat.

✰✦✰

𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘

𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚜?

𝙿𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗’ 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚣

𝙳𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚝, 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚜

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚊𝚝, 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜

𝙿𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗’ 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚣.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

-------------------------

𝚂𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚢 𝚙𝚝.𝟸

-------------------------

✰✦✰

    Snow dusted Kris’s midnight hair, frost nipped hungrily at their fingertips and their cheeks prickled and stung. They weren’t able to tell if it were the knife-tipped chill, or the bitter sting of tears. Their fingers were numb, icy, and their muscles ached and complained with every step. 

    They clenched their fingers into a fist, the movement feeling stiff and mechanical.

    Frighteningly familiar.

    They took a deep breath of the frigid air, letting the sharp tang seep over their tongue and stab their lungs.

    You okay?

    They considered the question. The cold had fingers clenched around their brain, they felt numb. They felt exhausted. They wondered if being exhausted from the chill was just a cold-blood thing. 

    I’m…fine.

    They couldn’t help themselves, couldn’t help the bitter memories that flooded through their mind like water breaking through a fragile dam. Hungry for freedom, hungry to destroy everything that foolishly got in its way. Feathered edges of memories they wished they could stuff down, muddling and stuffing their brain full of fuzzy cotton. 

    Warm winter mornings sitting by the crackling fire with--

    Drinking hot cocoa and blowing air on the windows of QC’s diner, painting crude pictures in the condensations with--

    Their only best friend.

    Their only best friend--

    Their legs moved mechanically, their brain and body detached from one another, like frayed puppet strings attached to a defective doll.

    You absolutely sure you’re okay?

    ...human?

    Kr--!!

    Ivory claws snagged their icy pauldron, yanking them back with enough force to pop their neck. The crack of their neck snapped them away from their muddled memories and back to the present. They stumbled into a solid chest, familiar warm fur pressed against the back of their neck and cool breath tickling their hair. They turned around to see Susie, the tip of her nose practically shoved in their face as she squinted down at them.

    “Watch where you’re goin’ next time, airhead, ya near’y walked right off th’ cliff,” She growled lowly, an undercoat of worry belied that lion-like growl. Kris leaned into her impromptu embrace, taking comfort in the vibrations of her trench-deep voice.

    They didn’t bother to sign, their fingers were numb and their ears burned. 

    She seemed to understand.

    “You okay?”

    No.

    They nodded their head.

    Wind as icy as an old gravestone filled their scarf, making it slap Susie lightly in the face. The gator let out a grumble and pushed it away with clumsy claws, shoving Kris away from her as she went with an equally grumbly grunt. The human mourned the loss of the comforting contact, as cold as it was. 

    “Hey! Check this out!” Noelle exclaimed gleefully. She’d padded off ahead while Susie and Kris had stayed behind, standing excitedly next to a pole about the same height as herself stabbed cleanly in the snow in front of a small hole. “Who knew this place would have golf?”

    Susie padded over to Noelle, gazing at the pole, then down at the hole. She looked at Kris with an amber grin splitting her maw, the cheeky kind she usually got before she suggested something fairly stupid. “Kris you should lick the pole.”

    “Kris you should not like that pole!” Noelle shouted in protest. She lightly shoved Susie--something the larger girl didn’t even budge from. 

    You absolutely should, it’d be funny.

    Kris stuck their tongue out, entirely intent on licking the pole.

    Noelle slapped them away before they could, stifling a nervous laugh behind her hooves. “Gosh, you two are unbearable!”

    “Naw naw she’s right Kris, this thing prob’ly has tetanus or something.” Susie shrugged lightly. She looked down at the hole again, before looking back up to Noelle. “Why do you think this is here, anyway?”

    “It’s for golf, Susie,” Noelle explained with a patient smile. Her fingers went to toy with the cowl that wasn’t there. Her eyes found the cowl hastily pinned around Susie’s shoulders. She looked away quickly, busying herself with clumping snow into a tight ball. “We could use the snow as a ball!”

    “Why exactly are we playing the ball game?” Susie asked grumpily, crossing her arms. She picked at a stray strand of fur lining the edges of Noelle’s cowl, scowling at it like she was trying to will it on fire. “Shouldn’t we uh...continue?”

    Actually, this ball game might be good for us. 

    Why?

    You’ll see. I wanna see what you guys get. 

    Kris shook their head, shaking their hands to get blood flowing through their fingertips again. Their signs were sloppy and crude, but they’re pretty sure both girls got the general gist of what they were trying to say. “We can take a small break here, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

    Susie grumbled, pulling the cotton bandages from her wrist and tossing away the glamour. In seconds, the skull-emblazoned Devilsknife stood proudly in the snow next to the gator. It was nearly as tall as she was--just about 7 feet tall. 

    She mumbled something quietly to the scythe, before turning to Noelle with a raised brow. “We need a put’er, right?”

    “M-maybe we s-shouldn’t use that--” Noelle started nervously. She looked around for something that might replace the scythe--something a little safer--but couldn’t find anything. Kris remembered when they’d tried to offer Noelle the Devilsknife, only for her to turn it away with the claim that it’d been smiling at her. Her expression deflated, the fight melting away like snow at the break of dawn. “Alright.. If you say so..”

    Susie twirled the knife in her claws, the blade slashing through the snow in a flurry of cloudy snow. She grinned nastily, the beginnings of a chuckle burning in her throat. Kris could faintly hear familiar laughter layered after her own. “Where do we start? I’mma beat this fucker 7 seconds flat .”

    Noelle let a hesitant smile grace her lips, rolling the snowball until it was about forty metres away from the hole. When she was done the snowball grew up to about her waist. Susie scowled thoughtfully at it. 

    “The ball’s too big for the hole,” she stated plainly. She tapped her chin with her talons, before donning a large grin, with jagged teeth that looked too big for her skull to hold. “Nevermind this is fucking perfect .”

    She mumbled something to the Devilsknife, before reeling the blade backward somewhat. Her gaze darted between the hole and the snowball. She looked like she was calculating the distance the ball would go depending on the force of her swing, but her yellow eyes were distant and clouded. 

    You had me worried for a sec there. I don’t actually think Suzy knows maths.

    She does! Just not That kind of maths.

    With a grunt and a winning grin, she reeled the blade backwards and slammed it into the snowball. The metal easily sliced through the snowball, cutting it in half like the crack of a whip. In a quick motion, she slammed the heel of her blade into the smaller of the halves, launching it into the hole. The other half collapsed pathetically in the snow. 

    Confetti burst cheerily from the hole, dotted yellow and blushing orange.

    Something else burst from the hole too; yellow threads of magic slithered up the icy pole, weaving up it like vines growing on a wall. Slowly, like weaving milky sunlight, the strands of magic knitted itself in a small triangular flag.

    A note slipped from the flag, drifting to the snow like the last leaf of fall.

    Noelle plucked it from the snow, her ears drawn back in confusion. She held it up to her eyes, the weak sunlight making the paper translucent. 

    “ Your sure-fire accuracy put an end to the Mayhem of ‘ball’. ” Noelle read aloud, her voice monotonous, much like a student reading a passage from a historical article. 

    Interesting. That’s fairly interesting. 

    What is?

    Oh...uh. piss flag.

    Kris got an ice cold feeling that’s not at all what the voice in their head found interesting. 

    They kept it to themselves.

    They knew perfectly well it understood they knew. 

    As they left, they spotted Susie trying to stuff the yellow flag in her maw, only to get immediately caught by Noelle and being admonished. Reluctantly, the gator stuffed the fabric in her pocket with a dramatic roll of her eyes, and Kris quickly forgot about thier headmate's words.

✰✦✰

    After their golfing detour, they made their way over a decaying suspension bridge and over to another snow-topped plateau--Kris distantly wondered just how many of these there were. They decided it's best not to think about it. 

    This is the largest area of the Underground if I’m not mistaken. It used to have a lotta winter vacation homes, too.

    They looked over at the vast expanse of rolling tundras below the plateaus, dotted with old log cabins, little slithers of smoke rising from quaint smokestacks. Trees dotted winding paths that seemed worn by many feet, hooves or otherwise. Kris could just barely see figures they could hardly make out traipsing through the snow with glee.

    Did you go here a lot?

    They were met with silence.

    Instead, they were met with a shout that shocked them out of their thoughts. “HUMAN!! And assorted monsters!”

    Kris turned around to see a familiar tall skeleton pointing an accusatory finger at them, his permanent grin seemingly much larger than before. He had his free hand on his hip, in an attempt at a heroic pose. He held a black orb, resembling a polished onyx spear you’d see at a pagan store.

    “Stop right there, Human!!” Papyrus proclaimed with a flourish. He snapped his fingers as though he were admonishing a dog. “You can proceed no further!”

    Sans was standing at Papyrus’s side, his position lax and lazy, a grin like a sloth’s peeled over his face. He pulled his hands out of his pockets, still twirling that red pen he had before. He winked at the three of them, before stuffing the pen back in his pocket.

    “Why not? I don’t see nothin’ stoppin’ me from walkin’ anyways.” Susie growled, her lips curling back to reveal yellowed fangs. Papyrus didn’t seem phased at all; in fact, he seemed even happier that Susie had made such a proclamation. 

    “Oh but that’s where you’re wrong !” Papyrus wagged his fingers, each word coming out as though he were throwing an ace down in a game of Yu-Gi-Oh. He held up the black sphere skyward, the black stone catching the sunlight like a net catches a bee. “The field before you is an invisible maze! If you bump into its walls, you’ll get electrocuted! Nyeh heh heh!!” 

    Papyrus’s bones rattled along with his laugh, a cacophony of absolute tomfoolery.

    Susie patted Kris roughly on the shoulder, sending them a grin. “Good luck pal, you’re the puzzle guy.”

    Kris rolled their eyes, shrugging her hand off playfully. They cracked their knuckles and stepped forward, trying their best to take stock of the maze.

    They couldn’t glean anything from it.

    Papyrus grinned triumphantly. “Lost?? Frightened?? afraid?? GOOD! Nyeh heh heh!”

    Kris took an experimental step forward, as slow as treading through slush, tensing their muscles and shutting their eyes as tightly as they could to prepare for a shock.

    Their eyes snapped open in surprise when they heard a loud shout of pain to their right. When they turned around, they just barely managed to catch the tail ends of sizzling arcs of electricity branching out from the black orb. 

    Papyrus stared down at the orb, his eyes wide and expression thoughtful.

    Kris turned to Susie and Noelle, not at all surprised to see their companions holding back snorting laughter. Susie grabbed at her stomach as though she had a great pain, leaning on Noelle for support. That quickly stopped the faun’s laughter.

    “i think you need to give the orb to the human, papyrus,” Sans stated plainly. Papyrus stomped his foot in the snow, snapping his fingers as though he had a eureka moment. 

    “You’re right!! How forgetful!!! He trudged through the snow, leaving tracks in the snow the whole time, in a path too strange to be normal. Then Kris realized, just as the skeleton placed the orb on their head and scuttled back to the other side the same way he came.

    With a tired deadpan expression, they treaded along the uniform line of Papyrus’s footprints, until they reached the other side. They dropped the electric orb in the snow.

    The skeleton’s eyes went wide. He leaned down and snatched the orb from the snow, stashing it safely under his humorous. “Incredible!!! You slippery snail!! You solved it... easily ..”

    He scratched his chin with a suspicious squint. He leaned into Kris’s face, seemingly searching the human for any sign that the human had played him like a fool. “... too easily…”

    Susie padded up behind Kris, bearing aged yellow teeth in a smug grin. She clapped Kris on the back, letting out a cheerful grunt. Papyrus quickly drew away from the human when she came over. “Hell yeah, Kris! That’s a record...I think.”

    After a few seconds of thought, they shook their head dismissively. “Rules Card.”

    Who the hell is Rules Card?

    Rouxles Kaard is a weird ye olde English guy who thought he stumped us with his puzzles.

    Susie snapped her fingers, her grin growing bigger. “OH yeah! I forgot about that loser.” 

    Noelle made a noise, like she wanted to ask but at the last minute decided against it. That was probably for the best. 

    “Well!! You may proceed-- for now --Human!! But let it be known, this is just one bump IN THE MOUNTAINOUS JOURNEY you shall be facing, to get through this area!!’ Papyrus valiantly claimed, a finger pointed skyward. “Nyeh heh heh!!!”

    He scuttled off, like an excited puppy making a beeline for a teething toy. Sans stayed behind for a moment, sending the three of them another wink. 

    “i think that went well.” Sans said after a few moments. He made to pad off into the woods, hands in pockets and his gait lazy, before he stopped abruptly, as though remembering something important. He placed his small red pen into Kris’s hands, eyes curved someone into a cheeky-like expression. “‘ere you might need this, actually.”

    He walked off into the frosted glades, in the opposite direction of where Papyrus had left.

    “Anyone else find it kinda weird that he keeps going in the opposite direction that we’re going, but still somehow ends up ahead of us?” Susie announced to the whistling winds. Noelle’s ears flicked, as she tipped her head, but she didn’t speak.

    Good that someone noticed, I guess. 

✰✦✰

    Since the invisible maze, the path to Snowdin had become.. slightly more treacherous than usual. Instead of an abandoned path, dusted with ice-cold snow and tickling hail, where the hardest trial was holding back the dam of memories that threatened to befall Kris, instead there were actual enemies to fight. 

    Well. 

    “Enemies”.

    The “enemies” here seemed to be skewed reflections of monsters that lived in Hometown, like the mirrors at carnivals. Similar...but different , somehow, in a way Kris couldn’t quite place. Just like she had been. Like Sans had been, too.

    At first, Kris hadn’t noticed. The first monster they’d encountered had reminded Kris of Frosty the Snowman, except if he were just a head with a smaller body and tiny legs, with a pointy nose and tired looking eyes with a stunning hat that seemed to give it form. Except, instead of a stunning top hat; it had a miniature ice cap that glittered beautifully like icy gold.

    >Check                       >Steal      

    >Ignore

    Ice Cap. ATCK 11 DEF 4

    The teen wonders why it isn't named "ice hot."

    ... Typical .

    But after tearing their eyes from it’s stunning ice cap--it seemed to capture the milky sunlight like cascading waterfalls, glimmering like handsome gemstone’s on a Monarch’s crown--and sparing the bedazzled monster, they’d soon encountered another monster.

    A very familiar monster.

    “S-Snowy--?” Noelle blurted out. She clapped her hooves over her mouth, blushing with embarrassment. The monster that’d leapt from the treeline to attack the Party had been none other than Snowy, the Snowdrake.

    Except...he looked different.

    He was larger, possibly much older, with darker blue feathers--the colour of a winter sundown--with deep plum purple contours that ran down the tips of his wings. His beak seemed to be full of dagger-sharp teeth, that ground against one another controllably, like an active chainsaw. Instead of doey brown eyes; the bird monster had frosty blue eyes.

    >Check                        >Laugh

    >Heckle                        >Joke

    Snowdrake. ATCK 12 DEF 7

    this teen comedian fights to keep a captive audience.

    But Kris would recognize his voice anywhere, high-pitched and southern-drawled, lilted with a cheeky grin that never seemed to fade away. “Snowy’s th’ name, an’ bein’ the best comedian in Snow’in is my game! It’s ice to ‘eetcha!” 

    Susie leaned over to whisper in Kris’s ear. “Is.. is he funny here? This really is the worst timeline.” 

    Kris stifled laughter by slapping their mouth with a hand. Snowy noticed this, and grinned happily. The bird monster seemed oddly flattered, ruffling his fluffy white plumage proudly.

    He totally thought that you laughed at his joke. 

    We can pretend, I guess.

    > X Spare.

    As Snowdrake hopped away happily--yelling something about sticking it to his dad to the wind--the Party exchanged confused looks. After a few beats of silence, Susie finally broke the silence, her voice as rough as iron chains, and just as loud. “Okay, now ‘his’s startin’ to get super fuckin’ weird. Toriel was one thin’--Sans? fuckin’ fine! but now Snowy? Are you fucking serious?”

    She kicked the snow, spraying it all over Kris’s knees. She didn’t seem to notice. She leaned onto a scaled pine tree, rubbing her muzzle with one hand, the other tugging at her whiskers lightly. She opened a slitted eye, daring her companions to comment on her dramatics.

    They didn’t. 

    Probably for the best. 

    “It is kinda weird, isn’t it? This doesn’t even feel like a dark world. It’s all...normal.” Noelle added with hesitance. Her gaze fell on the snow, where Susie had kicked it away. Under the pile of snow was patchy spring-green grass. 

    Kris didn’t want to point out the things that weren’t normal. The dreary sunlight seemed fake, synthesized somehow. Everything was dusty, the horrible stench of ozone clinging to everything like a cobweb to a wall. There was no actual sun and a sense of hopelessness hung in the air, like a tempo to a song. 

    “Maybe we can talk about this more when we get to Snowdin?” Kris signed placatingly, making to keep moving. Their head hurt--pounding like electric drumbeats--and their muscles ached and complained. A ravenous pain settled in their bones, deep enough to cut to marrow.

    They needed rest .

    They must’ve looked as awful as they felt, because the moment they finished signing, Susie pushed herself off the pine. The gator dusted off her hands and pulled Noelle’s cloak tightly to her chest, as though it couldn’t be close enough. She let out a grunt. “C’mon then, let’s go.”

✰✦✰

    At some point, the party passed a frosted-over table with a lone microwave and plate of spaghetti resting on top. The old plate of spaghetti seemed to be frozen stuck to the table, and the microwave seemed crudely made. Every button on it was labelled “SPAGETTI” with the zero button being replaced with “NODLES.”

    Next to the table was a small yellow star in the snow, glittering like polished topaz. Kris touched it lightly, feeling the aches and pains unravel from their bones, and the pearls of pains from battles past all but fade away like dew in the wind.

    With it, they felt the determination to press onward.

✰✦✰

    With less aches and pains throwing wrenches into their pace, the Party moved much faster, each obstacle that Papyrus seemed to throw at them blending together like paint. Kris regretted their words; this skeleton seemed to blow Rouxles and all his silly puzzles out of the water. He could totally be the new duke skeleton of puzzles. 

    At one point, Sans had taken over puzzle duty. Instead of a complex contraption that--in theory--would have been near impossible to solve, yet still had some majourly exploitable chink in it’s design, a simple crossword puzzle lay in the snow.

    Sans winked. “rememba’ the pen i gave ya? yeah, it’ll come in handy now.”

    Papyrus stared down at the crossword in utter shock, as though he couldn’t believe Sans could ever throw such a challenge at the heroes. After a few moments of shocked silence--neither party moving from their places--he finally spoke. “Sans, this is the easiest puzzle in the world!!! You’re practically letting them into Snowdin!!!”

    Sans shrugged uncaringly, looking off into the rolling tundras below the mountain tops. “i dunno, i think it’s hard,” 

    “It’s not!!!!” Papyrus shrieked, stomping into the snow. He crossed his arms, leaning back a little. It seemed everything he did was as exaggerated as a cartoon. “Now the junior jumble on the other hand, now THAT’S difficult! Why didn’t you give THAT to the human??” 

    “because it’s easy,” Sans replied simply, with a shrug. 

    “No it's not! You just need to fill in all the lines, right?? I fill them all with Zs, because it’s boring and puts me to sleep!!” Papyrus claimed proudly. Susie choked back a snort, which caused Papyrus’s attention to snap back to the party. He pointed at them. “You three!! Settle this debate!! Which one is harder? The jumble or the crossword?? (hint; there is a Right Answer.)”

    “Uh, the jumble-- duh ,” Susie answered, as though the answer were obvious. She crossed her arms against her chest, standing a little taller. Noelle tapped her chin thoughtfully.

    “Actually, I find the crossword to be much harder,” Noelle stated meekly. With her ears pinned to her skull, and her gaze fixed on her hooves that she scuffed in the snow, she looked quite small. 

    “Hmph. well. Maybe the crossword is hard sometimes ,” Susie conceded with a harumph. She puffed out the barest of clouds of smoke from her nose and looked anywhere but Noelle. Kris could still see the girl’s blush, despite that. 

    Crossword all the way. That thing’s awful ! 

    Their hands seemed to move on their own, the cold and frost making their movements jerky and robotic. “ Crossword. ”

    They stared at their open palms, as though they were on fire. They felt numb, save for the pricking needles nibbling at the tips of their fingers.

    That was...normal.

    It happened all the time.

    Their hands fell to their sides, and they took another breath of the sharp air. 

    Noelle fixed them with a worried look, doey brown eyes shining with something akin to pity. They tried to stifle the disgust that rolled through their chest at the mere sight of it; not at her, never at her, at themself . 

    They had no idea why they felt that way. 

 “Are you alright, Kris?”

    No.

    They nodded.

    Noelle didn’t seem convinced, if the draw in her brow was any indicator of that, but before she could breach the topic, Papyrus let out an indignant squawk. 

    “You’re all just as bad as Sans!! Except purple girl right there, she’s valid,” Papyrus added the last part in as a second thought. Then he pointed to Kris again, his expression determined yet annoyed. “Human!! I respect your horrible opinion, but know this! You get a free pass because this puzzle is too easy! “

    He laughed smugly to himself, mumbling something under his breath about becoming the most popular monster in the underground, before dashing off. Sans shrugged, this time he followed his brother. 

    Susie sent Kris a worried look, a look that was quickly hidden behind feathery bangs. She snatched the crossword from the snow and stuffed it in her mouth without a single thought to it. She paid no mind to the horrified look Noelle sent her.

    You shoulda asked her if she planned on sharing. 

✰✦✰

    After a few more puzzles and monster encounters--Lesser Dog, Dogaressa, Dogamy, and a few others--and relegating Susie to petting duty once more--Kris found that the exhaustion that’d been drawn away from their bones with the magic of the save had all but returned with a vengeance. Taking stock of their teammates, they found that their friends were in the same boat; Susie dragged her feet with each hulking footstep, hunched over and using Noelle as a crutch, while the faun, despite being in her element, seemed like any moment she was about to keel over in the snow. 

    Even though Papyrus didn’t pose much of a threat--Kris was absolutely sure that in a fight, they alone could beat the poor skeleton--he did pose a horrible obstacle. They’d give him credit for that, they supposed.

    Well, at the very least; they could tease that odd voice in the back of their head. 

    The perfect opportunity came in the form of the final road to Snowdin, dotted with a myriad of differently shaped snow poffs. 

    They found that opportunity, when they stepped next to the first snow poff and crouched down in front of it curiously. They’d never really seen snow pile up like this; in little hills that looked like sleeping white dogs. Without thinking, they asked; what is it.

    It’s a snow poff.

    The voice sounded slightly annoyed, like that fact was the most obvious one in the entire world. Kris felt a grin grow on their face when an idea suddenly blossomed in their mind. They pushed themself off the ground and padded to the very next snow poff. What’s this, then?

    And this! Is a snow poff.

    Kris padded over to the next poff, crouching down and pointing at it. They heard Susie’s mouth snap shut, as though she’d meant to speak but stopped herself.

    And this, however, is a snow poff.

    They felt their Cheshire's grin grow, crouching down at the next snow poff and repeating. They could hear the sarcasm dripping from the voice, despite the fact that they seemed to be humouring their headmate’s shenanigans.

    Surprisingly,  it’s a snow poff.

    Kris wondered what Susie and Noelle must think right now, especially when they saw the infinitely confused looks on their faces in the corner of their eyes. That only seemed to make their grin grow. They went to the next snow poff, knowing full well it is, in fact, a snow poff.

    A sigh.

    Snow poff….

    The amusement bubbling in Kris’s chest like water in a pot seemed to grow at the defeat in their voice. The voice replied before they could get to the next snow poff, probably intent on ending their torture.

    Is it really a snow poff? 

    They started to sound annoyed now, something that normally meant Kris’s plan was working .

    Behold! A snow poff!

    If the voice had hands, it would have presented the snow poff like a car salesmen trying to sell a car. Faux cheerful tone and enthusiasm and all. 

    Eh? There’s 30 dark dollars in this...what madness…

    They stopped for a moment and looked down at the snow poff. True to their words there was, in fact, a 30 dollar note resting on the top of the snow poff. They plucked it from the snow, shook off the flakes, and stuffed it in the party’s shared bag. They shrugged, nothing being able to ruin the mood they were in; not even the growing concern on their friend’s faces. If anything, it made it funnier.

    They tried their best to hold back their snickers, lest they get more questions than they’re probably already going to get from their companions. They stopped at the last snow poff, crouching down and pointing at it. 

    Oh wow! It’s a--

    The voice trailed off as something burst from the snow--surprising the party badly enough for Susie to let out a surprised grunt and Noelle to shriek and jump behind the larger girl--only to reveal the head of a little white dog, with a little pink nose and beady black eyes.

    Noelle softened, peeking out from behind Susie. “Aw--”

    Then, a large ironclad hand burst from the snow, burning itself in the ground and pushing upwards. The dog grew in height, soon surpassing Susie greatly in height--Kris would estimate the dog was around eight feet tall--donning polished silver-plated armour and a large glowing spear that appeared to have a dog face on it.

    So… it wasn’t a snow poff, right--

✰✦✰

    “Look! I think we’re here!” Noelle shouted suddenly, startling her companions. The beginnings of a relieved smile curved her lips. Kris followed her finger, to the distant imprint of a town off in the distance, glowing like a campfire in the dead of a cold autumn night.

    The houses were quaint and warm looking, wood lodges like the ones you’d see at the lakeside, with well worn smoke stacks that puffed fluffy plumes of whorling smoke. Each house was closely knit together, the furthest building from the town seemed to be an ice mill next to the gurgling river the town was situated next to, that disappeared through a gargantuan wall of midnight black stone, dappled with magenta and blue crystals. 

    As the group gazed at the town in awe, travelers who’ve finally reached the fabled fairy fountains, the voice spoke up. Their tone was small, quiet and wistful like grasping at the wisps of a memory they couldn’t quite catch.

    Snowdin Town.

✰✦✰

𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚗𝚒𝚍𝚎

𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍

𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚣𝚣𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜

𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝

𝙰𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢

𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

---------------------------

𝚂𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚍𝚒𝚗

---------------------------

✰✦✰

      Snowdin was a quaint little town, with the sounds of instruments tuning floating through the town like the wind that wove through the snow painted forest. Each log cabin was lit up like lanterns, topped with powdery snow like the gingerbread houses Kris used to make with Noelle when they were kids. The teacly smell of cinnamon and nutmeg overpowered the ozone 

      Little orange, yellow and red streamers decorated the cabins, pumpkins sat next to each door, carefully carved with images of skeletons, bats and what vaguely represented humans. A Christmas tree stood in the town square, standing taller than any cabin in the town, sitting atop a skirt decorated with what seemed to be bass green bats and little pumpkins. The garland wrapped around the tree seemed fall themed, little knitted leaves and acorns.

      The Party made a beeline for the hotel, exhaustion had clung to them with stubborn hands and when Noelle suggested a break, Kris and Susie agreed immediately. But just as Kris stepped up to the registration desk, 500 dark dollars clenched between numb fingers, that little niggling voice in the back of their mind finally spoke up.

     Wait. Stop. Stop for a second.

     Why?

     The shop. There’s a shop connected to this inn, go there. Hand off the money to Noelle if you have to, but this is much more important.

     Why is it important though? What’re you talking about?

     Trust me.

     Hesitantly, they handed off the paper notes to Noelle, making sure to tell her that they had to run an errand and to not wait up for them.  She seemed unsure, but nodded her assent anyways. The moment she turned to inform Susie of Kris’s departure, they turned around and left. 

     So where’s the shop?

     There’s a sign, human.

     True to their words, an old swing sign hung on rusting chains with ”SHOP” elegantly written in white cursive script across the fading wood. Kris made for the shop, pushing open the old door with an aging creak and the merry chime of a silver bell.

     “Welcome to my shop!” came a soft voice from the mahogany counter, where two plum purple bunny ears poked out. Kris let their fingers brush against the smooth wood of the shelves, browsing the colourful assortment of baubles, clothes, snacks and artisanally crafted oil lamps. 

     Without the shopkeep looking, Kris found they couldn’t properly communicate, so they allowed themself to look through the store a little more. It looked rustic--like houses that originated from the colonial era--with intricate metal chandeliers with candle sticks instead of lightbulbs. The orange dust-lined light filled the room, as fluid as water.

     You can’t just ring the bell to get her attention? This’ll take too long, she’s obviously cleaning.

     Once more, true to their words they heard the tell tale sound of a spritz bottle, followed by a rag squeaking across a clean wet surface. They sighed, but tapped the silver bell by the rusty register anyways.

     A vaguely familiar-looking purple bunny lady hopped up from behind the counter. She was stocky, well built for a rabbit-type monster. She wore a cream button up shirt with a homely green apron that's pockets were full of jangling paper clips, an orange rag and loose change. Her eyes were a doughy brown, with reading glasses hanging at her chest on a teal and white beaded chain. Despite her slightly intimidating appearance, a kind smile spread across her cheeks, revealing buck teeth and curling up straight white whiskers.

     “Hullo, my dear, is something the matter?’ She asked kindly, a motherly lilt colouring her voice and making Kris feel oddly homesick. 

     So..uh...what’s here that you’re looking for?

     Ask for a manly-looking bandana. 

     ...a what?

     A manly-looking bandana. 

     They let out a sigh, the noise grazing their throat like thorns dragging across their bare skin. They thought carefully for a moment, trying to figure out how they could possibly word this. 

     “May I have a manly bandana?” They signed after a few moments. The shopkeep looked confused for a few heartbeats, her ears twitching along with her whiskers. Then recognition lit up across her face, like a shooting star across the night sky. 

     “Oh! Yes! That thing!” She grabbed the orange rag from her apron pocket and set it down on the table, sliding it towards Kris so they could inspect it. “I found it in the woods one night while taking my son for a walk, I’ve heard rumours that it was from a human who fell down here some few years ago, but I just think it’s a cleaning rag.”

     Please don’t tell me she’s been using that to clean her tables.

     It was a good thing that the shopkeeper couldn’t hear the voice; their tone dripped of rage, the kind of fire that tore through forests like Susie would tear through her food. She tapped her paws together, humming thoughtfully. “But, if it is owned previously by a human, I don’t wanna risk it, you know? It’d feel really horrible if I did.” 

     ...that’s better, I guess.

     After thinking for a moment, they added a few of what the shopkeeper called “Cinnamon Bunnies” to the table, rifling through their pockets to get out the appropriate cash. Absently, they signed, “How much?” 

     “All together? That’d be about...hm..” The shopkeeper counted on her fingers for a moment, before snapping them. “Oh! 253 dark dollars!” 

     Kris dug the cash from their pocket, placing it on the table as politely as they could. She took the money, counted it, then sorted it neatly in the rusty register. She smiled gratefully at them. “Thank you, traveller!” 

     There was something else on Kris’s mind, something they really couldn’t help but be a bit curious about. They felt some lingering sense of restlessness, a feeling they didn’t quite know why they were feeling. They stuffed it down, grabbing the bandana and wrapping it neatly around their wrist. “How’s life?”     

     She pondered that question, tapping her chin in thought, with a mindless twitch of her ears. When she spoke, her southern-drawled voice came out oddly resigned. “Life...well it’s the same as usual. A little claustrophobic...but.. We all know deep down freedom is comin’, don’t we? As long as we got that hope, we can grit our teeth and face the same struggles...day after day… that’s life though, ain’t it?”

     What?

     I’ll tell you about it later.

     “What is this town?” Kris asked in lieu of a reply. Her face lit up with curiosity and confusion. 

     “Not from aroun’ here I take it? Well, think back to your history class; a long time ago, monsters lived in the Ruins back there in the forest. Lon’ story short, we all decided to leave the Ruins and head for the end of the caverns. Along the way, some fuzzy folk decided they liked the cold and set up camp in Snowdin,” She explained patiently, adopting a sort of teacher-voice that Kris was intimately familiar with. She seemed to remember something and snapped her fingers again, adding. “Oh, and don’t think ‘bout explorin’ the Ruins, either. It’s been locked for ages yanno. ‘Less you’re a ghost or can burrow, you ain’ gon’ get far.” 

     Just wait until she finds out, I guess. If she ever does.

     Kris nodded, signing a quick thank you and taking their bought goods. They played with the bandana wrapped around their wrist thoughtfully. What did she mean?

     I’ll tell you later.

     ✰✦✰

     Despite what their headmate had assured them, they still wondered what the shopkeeper had meant as they entered the inn again. They went to the front desk and assured the lady at the front--who looked very similar to the shopkeep in the shop next door--that they were with Susie and Noelle and left for their room. Second door on the right, second door on the right, second door..

     Voices drifted down the small hallway, one rusted and pointed, the other so soft they could barely make out the words.

     “I’m worried, Susie…” Noelle’s voice spoke worriedly. It didn’t take much for Kris to imagine her tapping her hooves together, leaning to the side like she yearned to lean into Susie.

     “I’m sure they’ll be fine,” the gator’s rough voice replied confidently. There was a pause, and for a moment Kris assumed their conversation had ended. When Susie spoke again. “Yeah? Got it? They’re tough as nails, Jingles, don’t worry about them, alright?”

     Kris could just faintly hear a hum in reply. Susie once again spoke, her voice much quieter than it was before. “Oh..that..uhm.. They’ll tell us when they’re ready, yeah? They wouldn’t lie to us, Jingles.”

     “..if you say so,” her voice was laced with doubt, like cyanide tea. Kris’s stomach turned with guilt, something they quickly stuffed away, clenching their fingers and relishing in the bite of their nails on their palm. The pain was grounding.

     I think they’re just--

     Kris’s face darkened somewhat, and their headmate trailed off unsurely. They didn’t even realize they’d made the expression, that only served to increase the guilt rolling like spoiled milk in their gut. They clenched their fingers harder. Their hands felt wet.

     They wrapped their knuckles on the door, snapping their friends out of their hushed conversation. Noelle peeked through the opening door, sending them a soft smile. She opened the door wider and greeted them inside with a hushed “welcome back.”

     Their room was quite small; it seemed only suitable for one monster to live in. In the centre of the room was a queen sized bed with a freshly pressed green comforter thrown delicately over the mattress. On the nightstand was a quietly crackling oil lamp, puffing a thin wisp of smoke. The room also seemed to double as a kitchen; right across from the bed were polished granite counter tops, dark mahogany cabinets and drawers with rustic black metal chains as the handles. Next to the icebox was a woodburning stove, with a bent pipe that touched the ceiling. 

     The green curtains were drawn, yet dust laden beams of light slithered past the cracks and splashed across the black wood floor. Strewn across the ceiling was a knitted black thread, with little bottles that seemed to carry little balls of fire that acted as fairy lights. The room was homey, small and quiet. It smelled of dust and freshly baked snail pie.

     “This place looks nice.” Kris signed awkwardly. Their hands fell uselessly to their sides and their stomach still felt tight. Maybe they needed to take a nap.

     Susie nodded and fell on the bed, making it groan in exhaust. “Right? Ain’t bet’er than--”

     She seemed to catch herself doing something, because she snapped her jaws shut and mumbled something under her breath. After a few moments, she rerouted her approach; “this is tha’ cheapest room, too.”

     “To be fair, they didn’t deviate too much in prices,” Noelle chipped in rather quickly. “None of the rooms seemed to be able to house more than two people though...sorry..”

     Kris shook her apology off, trying their best at a reassuring smile. It didn’t feel like it worked. 

     “Oh!! I almost forgot! Me and Susie are going to go out to the town to get her some winter clothes, if you’d like to come--” Noelle started, each word coming out quicker than the last. She was interrupted when Susie grabbed her hand roughly. 

     “Hey!! Kris always gets’ta choose what they wan’na do!! Well I get to chose! C’mon you’re comin’ with me--” Susie yanked Noelle forward with her, pulling the door open and dashing out--just barely slamming the door shut with her foot.

     Kris was left alone to the silence of the room, and the guilt that ate at their stomach.

     They collapsed on the bed, hitting the mattress with a strangled “omf!”. The sheets were as soft as satin, mattress fluffy like fairy floss. Their head sank into the plush pillows. The moment they hit the bed, exhaustion finally caught up to them, pouncing on them like a ravenous tiger. They decided it’d be best to rest their eyes a little, too afraid to go to sleep at the moment.

✰✦✰

     They must’ve fallen asleep, because when their eyes opened, the tiny flame flickering in the oil lamp had all but fizzled out. Aside from the makeshift fairy lights, the room was splashed in a faint whisper of darkness, outside’s frost slipping in through the slightly-cracked open window. 

     Kris groaned and pushed themself off the bed, scratching the back of their head and stretching lazily. They heard their bones pop audibly, clicking their knuckles and cracking their neck. When they were satisfied, they padded up to the cabinets, leaning on their tip-toes to reach the kettle. 

     What’re you doing?

     We need to talk.

     They turned the knob of the sink, letting the tap water flow into the kettle. They tapped the handle idly, closing their eyes against the sounds of freshly melted water cascading into the empty pot.

     Talk about what? We have nothing to talk about.

     They ignored their headmate, instead busying themself with lighting the stove and setting up the spit to set the kettle on. They unhooked the poker from the rack, prodding the flames until the flames rose with a quiet, creaky groan, like it’d just woken up from a long nap. They set the kettle over the fire and went to sort through the cabinets.

     ...what are you doing? I thought you wanted to talk to me.

     Dad always had serious talks like this over a cup of freshly brewed tea. They explained patiently. They pulled an ornate looking teabox out from the top shelf. It was decorated with little gold flowers. While we waited for the tea to brew, we’d talk about...anything, really.

     They stared at the lapping flames blankly, watching the tendrils of orange grasp the wood it sat upon, chewing hungrily at the lumber and letting out yips of satisfaction. 

     Why not talk without tea? I never got that.

     Dad said that tea soothed you better than words could. It could take away aches that assurances just couldn’t reach. Plus talking as the tea brewed helped you prepare yourself, get ready for the much tougher conversation to come. Kris tore their eyes away from the glowing gold flames, smoothing out the wrinkles of the comforter instead. When they were done it looked as though no one ever slept there. He made the best tea.

     The kettle whistled welcomely.

     Kris placed a tea cup from the cabinets on the granite counter, pouring the steaming water until it just barely reached the top. They set the kettle down on a wooden cutting board, as to not damage the smooth granite. They opened the tea box and took out one of the bags--golden flower tea, it was their dad’s favourite--and set it in the water.

     You can see through my eyes, can’t you?

     ...yeah.

     Does that mean you can taste through me, too?

     When a deep golden-brown filled the cup, they pulled the tea bag out from the cup and set it in the trash. They rifled through the cabinets once more, until they located the tea supplies. A jar of honey with a carefully carved wand leaning on it, a jar of sugar cubes and a few small disposable cups of creamer.

     I can do everything ‘cept for moving through you.

     Good. 

     They set the honey jar, sugar and creamer next to the tea cup. 

     What do you like in your tea? 

     ..why do you care?

     Kris didn’t answer, instead they padded away from the counter and sorted through their travel bag. They took out a cinnamon bunny. It was a small pastry, similar to cinnamon buns, except the cinnamony dough had been swirled into the shape of a bunny. Hot goey frosting dribbled down from the top, dusted with powdered sugar.

     ...sugar. And honey.

     Kris nodded. After they set the cinnamon bunny on a porcelain plate next to the teacup, they drizzled honey into the tea. How many cubes?

     ...two.

     They nodded and dropped the cubes in, stirring with the small wooden sugar spoon. They moved the cinnamon bunny and tea to a table next to the kitchen, pulling out a cushioned chair for themself and sitting down. 

     I want you to be honest with me. They began with a deep, heavy breath. Dread gnawed their stomach, as heavy as a grizzly bear and just as fierce. They had no idea how their father ever started these talks with such a friendly smile and a bright glow in his blue eyes. When they thought about talking with their headmate, their stomach twisted into a gordian knot.

     ...okay.

     They took a long sip of their tea, mulling over their questions. They knew that their headmate could probably hear what they’re thinking; they always seemed to guess what they were thinking anyways. 

     After a while, they finally spoke. Where are we? Really? 

     Their headmate seemed to mull over that a bit, not out of critical thought but out of confusion. I’ve already told you, we’re in the Underground. 

     Yeah but..where’s the darkeners? There’s only monsters here. 

     They took a quiet sip of the tea, letting the floral taste seep over their tongue.

     What...what’s a darkener? If you mean humans, that’s because humans locked all the monsters underground. Forever.

     The teacup stopped just shy of Kris’s lips, the warmth radiating from the cup seemed to turn scalding, burning their lips and searing their throat. The smooth smell of buttercups seemed to all but fade into dust.

     Their throat felt tight.

     What?

     How’d you not know that? I know humans can suck bad , but did they really lock away monsters and erase them?

     Disgust replaced the guilt in their stomach, a rage bursting into their stomach like a ravenous wildfire. They clenched their fingers subconsciously, wetness seeping under their fingernails and dripping down their wrist. They didn’t pay it any mind. 

     I don’t understand why the monsters deserved anything they got.

     A different feeling flickered to life in Kris’s gut, small sparks like the tiny embers that Susie produced when she attempted fire magic. Hot for a moment, gone in a flash. Hatred.

     We’ll help them. We’ll help the good humans too. We’ll...we’ll save everyone. Everyone who deserves it. We can fix this.

     What? 

     They seemed to stop dead in their rant, realizing something that Kris didn’t quite catch. Kris’s fingers twitched. When they looked down, they absently realized that they were covered in blood. Blue, clotted and dripping onto the table like syrup.

     They put down their teacup, using their napkin to wipe away the blood.

     You’re probably wondering why we’ve been collecting that stuff--the ribbon, the knife, the bandana--I can’t tell you yet, I don’t think I’m ready for that but..I can tell you this.

     Kris drank the rest of their tea, ripping off a piece of the cinnamon bunny and stuffing it in their mouth. 

     There were six humans before you. Each one of them met their fate here. It’s…

     They trailed off with the tiniest of choked noises. They did not speak again. 

     Kris took another bite from the cinnamon bunny, trying to ignore the sudden tightness in their throat.

     The rage, the disgust, the tiniest sparks of hatred all seemed to fade away. The guilt seemed to flood back, doubly strong. The cinnamon bunny tasted like dirt in their mouth.

     I’m...sorry. I’m sorry I.. they trailed off, unsure and nervous.

     Kris shakily got up and poured themself another cup of tea. They steeped the tea bag, and dropped two cubes of sugar into the tea. They chugged the entire cup.

     ...your dad was right. The tea...helps.. 

     Quiet followed their words. Kris occupied themself with pouring themself another cup of tea. 

     You uh. Probably shouldn’t keep drinking that much tea, yeah?

     They placed the cup down against the table with a clink. It’d be a waste of tea.

     It’s water. Just reheat it.

     They didn’t reply. They put the teacup in the sink, running their injured hand under clean water and wrapping it up with spare bandages until Noelle could get back and heal them. When they were satisfied they closed the tap and sat down on the bed again.

     Are you gonna be okay?

     Yeah. soon. 

     and...I’ll tell you when I’m ready. To, uh. Talk. 

     Kris wiped down the table, making sure to clean under the doily. They put out the fire in the stove--not before using it to light the oil lamp again--placing the poker neatly back at the side of the stove.

     Their headmate’s voice is quiet, timid and barely audible. Thank you.

✰✦✰

     Noelle and Susie didn’t come back for another hour, by that time the pain from their bitten palms all but died out. Susie came back clad in a dark purple parka, as puffy as a marshmallow, and lined with fur as white as a dove’s breast feathers. She wore snow pants of a similar colour to her old pants, and black snow-boots with a golden heel and lined with snowy white fur. 

     Noelle had her cowl clipped back on her shoulders, and little jingle bells tied to her velvety antlers. She clutched a recyclable cup holder with three steaming travel coffee cups. That’s when Kris noticed Susie holding a brown paper bag between her talons.

     “Sorry we took so long!” Noelle fretted. She put the cups on the granite counter, Susie followed suit with the paper bag, her whiskers twitching in the barest of smiles. She shrugged off the jacket and threw it onto the coat hanger.

     “I hate the winter so much,” Susie grumbled. She kicked off her boots and sat down heavily on the bed with a sigh of relief. “We took so long trying to find a jacket that actually produced heat because..uhm..I actually forgot why.”

     “Because jackets only regulate your heat, they don’t produce it,” Noelle explained with a smile. She took the cups and set them down on the table, one at each chair. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

     “Oh shit yeah!! Noelle said you liked chocolate, right? We got hot chocolate and brownies,” Susie proudly stated, pushing herself off the bed and collapsing onto the chair. “It was my idea.”

     A fond, knowing smile quirked Noelle’s lips upwards. Her ear twitched in amusement as she rolled her eyes fondly. When she spoke, her voice carried a canary lilt; a little joyful giggle. “Yeah, I do remember you saying--”

     Susie got up immediately and lightly shoved Noelle away. Speaking over whatever Noelle had said with an embarrassed growl. “ Nevermind it was entirely Noelle’s idea gosh I would never -- ”

     Noelle burst out in laughter, laughter that only made Susie blush harder. She busied herself with popping off the lid and chugging the entire cup.

     Kris cupped their hot chocolate in their hands, closing their eyes at the achingly familiar smell of chocolate that filled their lungs. Closing their eyes against the sudden surge of memories. When they took a hesitant sip, their throat closed.

     It tasted exactly like the hot chocolate back at home.

     With..with..

     They set the cup down, ignoring their headmate’s protests-- I swear FRUIT drink more!!! Chocolate is amazing!! Drink drink drink drink drink-- trying to stifle the burning in the corner of their eyes. They hoped their friends didn’t notice, they truly hoped that they’d be too busy joking around with each other--

     Noelle noticed.

     She gasped, grabbing Kris’s injured hand with a feather light touch. “A-are you alright? gosh, let me heal that for you--”

     As healing magic surged through their fingers, knitting the damaged skin together and soothing the throbbing pain that’d settled into the background of their mind, they held back the urge to scowl.

     No.

     They nodded.

     Noelle looked doubtful, but stifled it with a sip of her own hot chocolate and a quiet hum. They looked to Susie, only to see her quickly look away and tap at the table. “Did’ja see all the fall decorations aroun’ town? Heard they havin’ a festival soon.”

     I don’t feel like it. They wanted to say.

     “Did you guys wanna go?” they signed instead. A large grin split Susie’s maw and she nodded enthusiastically, tossing the brownie square in her mouth without a second thought.

     “Fuck yeah!! They said they was sellin’ pumpkin guts!!” She said the words ‘pumpkin guts’ as though it were some divine ambrosia they should be lucky even existed here. Kris could faintly hear her tail wagging. Wisely, they decided it was best not to comment.

     “P-pumpkin guts?” Noelle asked in polite confusion. 

     Their voices trailed off after that. 

     Kris couldn’t shake the guilt that roiled in their stomach. Despite the memories that churned like sour butter in their mind, they drank their hot chocolate--earning cheerful ho-rahs from their headmate in the process.

     It tasted like dust.

     Their throat felt tight.

✰✦✰

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏,

𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝙸 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘?

𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

(𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛

𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍

𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛)

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

-------------------------

𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜

-------------------------

✰✦✰

    The streets of Snowdin were lit up with brilliantly shining Christmas lights, splashing the snow-covered streets in verdant emeralds and candy-cane reds. Fall decoration lined the houses as monsters bustled around town, putting down carefully carved pumpkins and faux fall leaves--like the ones from the Ruins, except knitted with red threads. The faint sound of instruments tuning floated through the frost-tipped air, the deep nasally thrums of bassoons and bellied brass from trombones mixed cordially with the trilling laments of a cello. 

    The party tried their best to weave through the busy crowd. Kris tried to ignore the boisterous laughter and passing conversations that assaulted their ears. They whipped around when they felt a hand tug at their scarf, their hand brushing against the sheathed hilt of their blade on instinct, only to fall away when they saw who tugged at their scarf; Noelle. They bunched their scarf together in their hands, trying to ignore the guilt that rolled up their throat. They’d been feeling like that a lot recently.

    She tapped her hooves together nervously, unperturbed by their startled reaction. If anything, she looked like she completely understood, and that only served to make Kris feel worse. Her blue eyes kept flitting to the side anxiously, Kris followed her gaze to a rather quaint building with a large sign that read LIBRARBY hanging on rusted silver chains.

    Suddenly, they could see why Noelle would be so uncomfortable.

    Susie didn’t seem to notice; she seemed a lot more interested in looking over most of the monsters that fluttered past, trying to figure out what they might be preparing for. When she noticed the group stopped moving, she let out an annoyed grunt.

    “Well? What’s wrong? Why ain’t we movin’?” Susie griped, crossing her arms and trying her best to hide the fact that she was craning her head over the sea of monsters. She looked down at her companions with a raised eyebrow. 

    “W-well S-Susie, did you notice the Library’s name?” Noelle hinted. The dragoness took a look at the large sign and shrugged. Seeing that she has to clarify a little more, Noelle continued. “It’s the same as the one back home! Isn’t that strange?”

    “Honestly? That ain’t tha’ oddest thing I’ve seen in’tha Dark World, so far. I’ve been holdin’ out to when Ralsei gets here, he could prob’ly explain this place bet’er ‘han I can.” She stuffed her claws in her pockets, kicking the snow away. Noelle and Kris exchanged looks while the purple monster wasn’t looking. 

    “Maybe we should go in and check it out. We can learn more about this place.” Kris found themselves signing, anxious to change the subject before they could truly explore it. Besides, they were curious about this place; it didn’t feel like a normal dark world. It had too many...familiar faces.

    Learning a bit more about this place might always help, a wise person once said to me. I mean. They died, but still.

    Susie rolled her eyes petulantly, but Kris found it a win when she didn’t immediately protest. Instead, she shouldered past both her companions, pushing open the glass door with a cheery chime and holding it open for them.

    Despite sharing the same name and exterior, the interior of the library was nothing like the one at home. The wood floor was a snowy cream, polished until you could see your reflection in the wood like a mirror. A table sat in the far corner of the room, resting on an expertly knitted rug. The table was littered with various books, papers and pencils, where familiar-looking monsters seemed to be sitting and doodling bats and pumpkins into the paper.

    This place feels way too clean. I guess they have nothing better to do.

    And their headmate wasn’t exactly wrong either. The librarian, a green lizard wearing worn overalls, pushed a trolley around, organizing the recently returned books alphabetically by colour. Stuffed in his pockets were a spray bottle and a clean rag, as though he intended on spraying down the library once more. 

    Kris made a beeline for the shelves, browsing the titles inscribed on the spines of the books--in runes they couldn’t understand, but their headmate seemed to be able to recite perfectly--until they stumbled upon a rather interesting title; Of Monster Souls and Human Souls.

    I’ve never seen this one before, actually. Must be new.

    The title of the book felt familiar; it reminded them of a book they’d read back in Hometown to try to learn more about their soul. Curious, they tugged the book from the book shelf and collapsed on the floor. They cracked the book open, the spine letting out a groan in protest, as though stretching its bones for the first time in a long time. 

    They felt Susie collapse at their side with a tired grumble. She eyed the book that they’d chosen and rolled her eyes fondly and punched them on the shoulder lightly. “O’course you picked a book that fast, always knew you were a nerd.”

    She snickered at her own joke, resting an arm over her brought-up knee. 

    They let a soft smile curl their lips as they turned their attention to the worn pages of the book they’d picked. “ Love, Hope, Compassion… People say that’s what Monster Souls are made out of.  But the absolute nature of a “soul” is unknown. After all, humans have proven that their souls don’t need these things to exist.”

    Without meaning to, they slammed the book shut, ignoring the shiver that ran down the spine--or the strange twang of agreement that ran through their gut like a plucked guitar string.

    Susie tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in confusion. She tapped her boot on the hardwood floor idly, something Kris learnt she often did when she wished to distract herself. “What happened there?”

    “Nothing.” Kris signed with finality. Susie let out a sigh, something between annoyed and bothered, but Kris chose to ignore it. Instead, they pushed themself off the floor and snagged the next book they could see. The title read; A Monster’s Guide. 

    A strange sense of agitation gnawed at their fingertips, something vaguely pushing at them to put the book down. They ignored it. 

    The book was in a state of disrepair; the leather bindings of the book were weathered and chipped, creaking in submission as Kris ran their fingers along faded designs on the front. It looked well worn, too, yellowed pages seeming disorderly and chaotic thanks to countless monsters dog earring the pages. It was clipped shut with a leather strap and rusty buckle, recently sewed on with red threads.

    They threw back the buckle, opening the book with a creak that seemed more aged than the last book. Little flakes of leather dusted Kris’s stretch pants. They read the first words on the worn page, the ink seemed slightly faded. 

“Because they are made of magic, Monster’s bodies are attuned to their souls. If a monster doesn’t want to fight, it’s defenses weaken. The cruller the intentions of our enemies,  the more their attacks will hurt us. Therefore, if a being with a powerful soul, struck with the desire to kill, entered the Underground--”

    Kris once again slammed the book shut, this time with an audible clink as the leather book strap slapped their vambrace. They felt cold, an icy sickness that seemed to prickle at their skin as though spiders were crawling up their arms. Nothing of what they just did was of their own volition. 

    Uh. Let's end this chapter here.

    Their voice was assertive. 

It wasn’t a suggestion. 

    Susie’s eyebrows seemed to ascend higher, until they disappeared in her hairline. Kris looked down at the hardwood floor, unable to meet the intensity of her gaze. She snatched the book from Kris’s grip, cracking it open to the page she saw Kris on. After a few moments, she let out a crackly wince.

    “ Sheesh , this thing is brutal,” Susie said with a breathy laugh, closing the book with a lot more care than Kris did. She stowed the book away, out of Kris’s sight and brought her knees up to her chest. They noticed her shoulders were much more tense than before. “Well, yanno, if it helps any. There ain’t many humans down here, so…”

    ...can...can we drop this?

    They nodded mutely, unable to form a reply. Probably for the best, because the dragoness looked like she was at a loss herself. After a few moments spent in awkward silence, Susie finally pushed herself off the ground with a grunt. 

    “Well, this was about as unproductive as it gets,” She dusted her hands off and stuffed them in her pockets. The fringes of her ragged plum hair fell over her eyes, startled a little when she breathed out a tiny puff of smoke. 

    Noelle came up to her with a stack of what seemed to be history books, looking rather flustered. “S-sorry, I know it was kinda stupid to ask to go here, but...you know, if there’s a library there’s history books! So..”

    Susie grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. “Well, uh, you know. M-maybe it wasn’t that wasteful, yeah? But, uh, let’s dip.”

    Noelle nodded, turning to Kris with a questioning look. They looked at the hardwood floor instead, unable to look the doe in the eyes. They felt...bad and they couldn’t quite explain why they felt that way. Mixed with the already-there guilt was a sort of second hand guilt that they couldn’t quite explain.

    … 

    Nevertheless, afterd checking out the books, the Party made for the exit, caught in the threads of a rather tense silence.

✰✦✰

    As they left the library, Kris ran into a sturdy figure, a muffled rattle escaping its body. They groaned in pain, as something particularly boney jabbed them in the side. Rubbing their sides, they peeled an eye open. Standing in front of them was none other than Sans, grinning back at them with a cheeky air.

    GOOD ANGEL HE’S EVERYWHERE.

    Kris flinched at the sound of their headmate’s shout; dripping with annoyance and agitation. They were absolutely sure if this voice had a corporal body, they’d be yanking at their hair, curled up into a ball as they screamed dramatically at the ground. They nearly snickered at the thought.

    “you shoul’ watch where ya’re goin’ next time,” Sans said with a grin lilting his voice. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned backwards in place a little. “ya’re lucky it was me; i was goin’ta get some puzzle books for papyrus.”

    “Why puzzle books?” Noelle asked. 

    “oh shoulda clarified. it's not jumbles or nothin’, he’s trying to learn advanced puzzle making skills to stop humans... like you,” His head turned to Kris at the last few words. His tone was still underlined with waggish glee. “but you know, i also came to observe the preparations.”

    “Preparations?” Susie repeated. She craned her head over the crowd, eyes gazing over the decorated streets and lit pumpkins. “For what?”

    Isn’t it obvious?

    ….A little They thought back relentingly. Susie was bright in her own right; perspective and very quick to notice when her friends were down. Observant? Depends if she’s interested.  She clearly was not very interested here.

    There was a nod in their headmate’s reply. That’s fair. One time, I didn’t notice when my brother had managed to pull a prank on me, because he literally does not have the heart to, even though it was like. Super fuckin’ obvious

    Sans’s voice broke Kris away from their conversation, and they cringed, hoping they didn’t miss anything. Apparently, they didn’t miss anything at all.

    “ev’ry, uh, year or so we have a fall festival--its to honour and celebrate our ancestors, but nowadays i think we just like to have something to distract ourselves.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully, his expression faraway. Kris didn’t know why; but they really wanted to point out that it seemed like the skeleton was hiding something.

    After a few moment’s silence, in which Sans seemed to be considering his next words carefully, he snapped his boney fingers together with a growing grin--if that were possible.  “you should come see it. it’s gon’ be later this evenin’, maybe in like an hour or so. it won’t take too long and it’s got good music.”

    He trailed off with a careless shrug, stuffing his hands back into his pockets.

    I think you should go. Who knows, we might have some fun. 

    Kris pondered over their headmate’s offer for a moment. They thought back to how much they’ve been worrying their friends thus far. Another moment passed before they nodded their agreement.

    Yeah. It'll be fun.

    Hopefully. 

✰✦✰

𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸’𝚖 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘

𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝, 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚏

𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎

𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞

𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎

𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞

𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚘, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

------------------------------

𝙷ö𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜 K𝚞𝚗𝚐

------------------------------

✰✦✰

    The festival started not long after Sans had left, disappearing mysteriously in a crowd of oddly armoured Froggits that seemed to like doing magic tricks. The plaza floated with all kinds of noise, music and voices alike. The deep bellied thrum of plucked guitar strings accompanied warmly with syrupy sweet lyrics that flowed like honey, bolstered by quiet-yet-still-present heartbeats of bass drums and choruses with mingling voices of the crowd. 

    “ There’s a girl in town and word’s gone around that she’s just fine,

    So I don’t worry my head ‘cause I know her heart is tied to mine,

    The life we live and the love that I give to her

    Each day it grows more and more I’m sure it shows

    Well--”

    The party meandered around the crowd, no destination in mind. They chatted idly about everything and nothing--their plans once they got home, gaming with Berdly, cauldron cooking with Ralsei, or how tasty Toriel’s pies were. The square, once aglow with glimmering Christmas lights, now was adorned with expertly strung up fairy lights, yellow and orange streamers and knitted leaves. Lanterns hung from metal posts, lit with magical flickering red flames, something that Susie’s eyes lingered on wistfully. Darkeners pushed past them, carrying all sorts of march instruments.

    “Our love; is like a bubblin’ fountain,

    Our love; that flows into the sea,

    Our love; deeper than any ocean

    Our love; for eternity,”

    Suddenly, Noelle’s face lit up with recognition. Her lips turned up with a brilliant smile, something that melted into an abashed and flustered expression as her eyes found Susie. “H-hey I love this song!”

    Kris perked up a bit, trying to hear over the merry spools of conversation from the rest of the crowd, catching tails of swirly jazz music, a deep honey hum, with the energetic buzz of brass that swirled like whorls of chocolate.

    “Ooh, like Sunday I’ll pray our love will always stay pure,

    Ooh, while the world turns around, he holds me down for sure,” 

    By the angel, I can already see where this is going. 

    Noelle’s face flushed, ears turning downward in embarrassment and looking anywhere but the larger dragoness in front of her. Susie seemed all but oblivious, displaying each of her large canines in a sly grin. “Didn’t know you watch Arcane, heh, we gotta watch it together sometime.”

    Noelle’s nose glowed a cherry red. She clapped her hooves over it, looking even more flustered than before. “I-I haven’t a-actually seen it b-but Berdly has been trying to get me to watch it--”

    Susie clapped Noelle on the back lightly, still grinning like she’d gotten into Alphys’ chalk supply again. “Aye! Berdly’s been holdin’ out on me! I didn’t know he had that kind of taste! Aye Kris, do you think we could watch it when we get home?” 

    Kris looked to Noelle, who looked like  she’d combust into a pile of dust at any moment. They gave Susie two thumbs up, sending her a small smile. She pumped her fist in excitement, shouting a too-loud “hell yeah!” that drew some wandering eyes. If she noticed, she didn’t seem to care much.

    Noelle’s ears tipped downwards as she played with her hooves absentmindedly. “W-would you like to d-dance together? We’re at a festival I-I figured we s-should.”

    Susie’s expression shifted somewhat, into blank confusion. “Huh?” 

    “W-well! Fahaha! Kris could join us too!” Noelle added quickly, the crimson glow of her nose only strengthening. She fiddled with the furred fringes of her cowl nervously--something she’d gotten back from Susie after shopping with her. 

    “I, uh, don’t know how to dance, actually,” Susie mumbled nervously, tapping her claws together and looking anywhere but Noelle. She looked embarrassed, something Kris doesn’t often see Susie. 

    “Gosh, that’s fine! I can teach you! I-if you want to, of course,” Noelle said lightly, holding a hand out for Susie to take. The purple monster took it delicately, with nervousness thinly veiled under a curtain of apathy. 

    “S-sure, I wouldn’t mind at all,” Susie mumbled thickly. She sent Kris a questioning look, as though asking them for permission for something. They rolled their eyes fondly and sent her another thumbs up. 

    “How about we meet up back at the tree in an hour from now?” Kris nodded to the large Christmas tree in the town centre. “I’ll try to look around for supplies, you guys just relax.”

    All business still? Relax, fruity knight. I’ve never seen this festival before, and I wanna explore a little.

    We can do both and still gather supplies, they shot back. They had to admit, they were rather curious about the festival themself; it was rather...odd to have a fall festival in a place that seemed so fixated on Christmas. It was as if Noelle one day said she hated holidays. 

    Underneath all their curiosity was this gnawing impatience, like they weren’t progressing fast enough. A feeling fought off relentlessly by uneasiness and talons of dread. Everything here was wrong, unnatural , like it shouldn't be happening at all.

    Susie grinned and punched them lightly on the shoulder. She rubbed her nostrils with a large yellowed grin.“You’re such a fuckin’ dork, loser, aight we won’t be long anyways. We’re gonna stop by Grillby’z for lunch by the way, did ya want some? I saw someone with pumpkin guts and that shit is delicious .”

    Oh hell yeah! That stuff’s so good. 

    The two monsters waved a playful goodbye as they vanished into the crowd, a soft of mousy air following them. Kris was left alone to their thoughts and the sugary syrup air once more, as the sounds of the crowd blended together like paint swatches.

    What’re we doin’ first, fruit soldier? 

    I was thinking about stopping by the market again, actually. I saw a SAVE point that might come in handy, Kris replied after a few beats. They threaded through the crowd. Absently, they thumbed the pommel of their sword, their thoughts drifting somewhat. 

    You seem to know this place pretty well, huh? They started after a few moments. Kris’s thoughts drifted back to their shield, now a phantom weight on their back. Susie had kept it ever since it got mangled and melded in their fight with--and they were already mourning the comforting weight the shield provided. 

    Protection. An option to hide during a battle, no matter what happened.

    You could say that. Their headmate’s voice was coloured with something Kris knew all too well and not at all, veiled thinly by disinterest. The kind one would often display when they’re trying to ignore something pressing. Why? 

    Any reply that Kris could have come up with was cut abruptly short when they bumped into a large figure--a tall, armour clad knight with a long cherry red plume sticking out from the back of a mediaeval helmet like a ponytail. They couldn’t shake the feeling that whoever was under that suit of armour--if there was anyone physical at all--was glaring daggers at them.

    They mumbled a quiet “sorry” under their breath and scurried off to the SAVE they’d spotted mere hours ago before leaving to explore the town a little more. The glittering star had been in front of the Inn and Shop, nestled snugly between the buildings underneath flakey snow and away from prying eyes--even if no one could really see it.

    They hovered their hand inches from the light. Warmth radiating from it like a blacktop during the summer, sighing with relief and a puff of warm air as the familiar hum treacly warm healing magic knitted through their tired bones.

    We should have enough food to last us the whole trip. Dark Worlds usually aren’t very large, Kris thought idly to themself, rifling through their bag just to take stock of what they had. A few cinnabunnies wrapped up in silvery-wrapping paper, three thermoses of Susie Teas, the Toy Knife wrapped up in its ribbon and the Tough Gloves situated in a side pocket inside the bag. Do you think we might need a little more, actually?

    I still don’t understand what you mean by “dark world,” but you sure as hell are gonna need a lot more than three cinnabunnies and three thermoses of tea. 

    ...You’re probably right about that.

✰✦✰

    A half an hour passed of gathering supplies and checking the party out of the inn and Kris made their way through the crowd once more, this time followed too-close by the strangest feelings. Their skin prickled and itched, as though thousands of ants crawled just under their flesh. Their brain was lanced with magma-thick voices of the mingling crowd, and the bright streaks of snow and pretty fall lights that were suddenly too bright speared through their eyes from behind their bangs.

    We still have a half an hour before we have to meet up. I don’t. I don’t want to wait in this crowd anymore. They didn’t know if they were talking to their headmate or themself. Their brain felt as though it was stuffed with wet cotton.

    The song that was playing now was energetic and smooth, like battery acid. Each note stabbed through Kris’s already too-stimulated brain with dulled-needles. Even their bare thumb drifting across the smooth steel of their pommel wasn’t enough, soon even that felt as though they were electrocuting the tips of their thumbs.

    I say, the ol’ North Wind, yes he is

    He’s gonna fight, he’s gonna spin

    He’s gonna pull back and blow a little more,

    Until you can’t tell what you came here for.

    Hey, I got an idea. Follow the pathway. Their headmate said, voice surprisingly quiet. Perhaps it was their brain, muffling all their thoughts and stuffing the empty space with the bleeding noise outside. They nodded, the movement feeling like they were moving through oil, and pushed through the crowd, uncaring of who they shoved aside.

    As they followed the path, they couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes were piercing the back of their head. Nevertheless, they soon came to a clearing just in front of the grand crystal-dappled stone wall. Distantly, waterfalls gurgled and bubbled, like Ralsei’s cooking pot, spilling out into the frost-speckled river that cut through the forest with pointed claws.

    The silence here was nice, though they could still hear the voices from the festival–muffled as they were by the distance and the bubbling falls. Mist drifted over the path, silent and still, thick enough that Kris struggled to see the closest cabins from Snowdin, despite the flickering fall lights. They shut their eyes tight, collapsing by the riverside as jagged river stones dug into their knees. They cupped their hands in the frigid water and splashed it over their face until numbness prickled their cheeks. They let out a sigh of relief.

    Feelin’ a bit better? They were still patiently quiet, almost kindly. Waterfall’s known for being one of the quieter places in the Underground. It’d be my favourite…but…

    It took them a moment to really think about their statement. They shook their head. Despite everything, there was something else in the back of their mind, like a scab they itched to pick.

    Okay, well we have thirty minutes. I’m sure Suzy and Noelle won’t mind you chillin’ over here. They sniggered at their own pun, a noise that just barely covered up what Kris thought to be crunching snow behind them.

    The cheery music from the festival faded away, and Kris could just faintly make out a deep, croaking voice–like a frog. It’s cavernous oaken voice ribbited, “Welcome everyone to the 30th annual Fall Festival!”

    Wow, that long? Crazy. 

    Kris didn’t bother to ask what they meant by that, they knew all too well what the response would be. When it's quieter, I can.

    Better than nothing, they supposed.

    “As y’all probably already know by now, this festival is to honour the fallen soldiers during the Human and Monsters war, and celebrate the life on the surface we had,” The frog-like voice continued with a jovial ribbit, a far-cry from what its words entailed. 

    The fallen soldiers during the Human and Monsters war?

    I’ve never been to this festival before, so it might explain it. 

    It did not.

    “In an hour, we’ll start the lantern ceremony! Until then, make your lanterns the best they can be!” it croaked cheerfully. The distant sound of an applause followed after its announcement, followed quickly by the brassy fall-esq music continuing once more.

    The mist seemed to have grown thicker, enough that Kris couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, or the snow on the ground—

    I hate to say this buddy, but all of that stuff is white. This mist is white.

    They sighed and pushed themself off the ground, dusting off their leggings. The sound of snow crunching pierced the silent air, stopping them in their tracks. Bones ground against each other, like disordenant wooden wind chimes.

    “Human,” a very familiar jangly voice announced from behind. When they turned around to face the voice—expression completely deadpan—they could see Papyrus’s faint outline. To their surprise, his voice was serious. “Allow me to tell you about some complex feelings.

    “Feelings like…the joy of finding another pasta lover, admiration for another’s puzzle solving skills, the desire to have a cool smart person think you’re cool,” the faint outline of Papyrus played with his gloves. “The desire to make friends…quite like you can. These feelings… they must be what you’re feeling right now!”

    He had us in the first half, not gonna lie. Their headmate’s voice was coloured with barely contained mirth. They sounded like they were on the verge of laughter. Kris kept their face a perfect image of nonchalance. 

    “I can hardly imagine what it’s like to feel that way, after all, I am very great,” Papyrus’s words were painted with a goofy grin. But the grin faded away into something more wistful when he continued, his shoulders visibly slumped. “I don’t ever have to wonder what having lots of friends is like. I pity you, lonely human.” 

    Suddenly, he stomped his foot in the snow and raised a finger. “Worry not! You shall be lonely no longer! I, The Great Papyrus, shall be your—”

    He stopped himself, as though snagged by a painful thought, and wheeled around to face the sounds of the gurgling waterfalls. Perhaps he, too, needed them to think. Papyrus clapped his hands against his cheeks, like he was trying to wake himself up from a dream. “No…no this is all wrong! I can’t be your friend! You’re a human—but, even so…you do have two monster frien—no! I must capture you!”

    His shadowy figure in the mist wheeled around, Kris felt like he was pointing at them. “I can fulfil my lifelong dream! Powerful! Popular! Prestigious! That’s Papyrus, right? The newest member of the Royal Guard!”

    Their soul flashed a bright red, the world darkening somewhat, and zipped forward until it rested stiffly between the skeleton and human. The mist seemed to clear somewhat, seemingly pushed away by the soul’s path.

    Papyrus blocks the way.

    Kris thought back to the fight with Toriel, as much as they didn’t wish to. Perhaps Susie and Noelle were far enough that if they got hurt, the two of them would still be safe from taking any damage—similar to how it worked in Cyber World.

    They selected ACT, and checked over their options, finding their options were rather…limited.

    > CHECK                       > FLIRT

    > INSULT

    Is there any, uh, less bad option? 

    …You can try sparing him? That’s always an option. 

    Deciding it was best to check their opponent to see what they’re up against, they chose to check Papyrus, first. 

    Papyrus ATTACK 20 DEF 20

    He likes to say “Nyeh heh heh!” 

    Papyrus pointed heroically to the ceiling, multiple pillars of bone shooting from the snow in a spray of snowflakes. His bones jingled as he gleefully exclaimed “Nyeh heh heh!”

    The bones drifted through the snow like shark fins at a sluggish pace, none of them near tall enough to reach Kris’s soul. They stood in place, their expression going even more deadpan than before. They raised an eyebrow, something that seemed lost on Papyrus.

    …Is… is he gonna continue doing that? Because, like, if so, then..this’ll probably be easier than I thought. They hovered their hand over that imaginary SPARE button.

    Papyrus snapped his fingers, like he anticipated this. “So you don’t wanna fight? Then let’s see if you can handle my fabled Blue Attack!” 

    Kris went to raise their shield, cursing themself when they remembered that Susie had it—and even if they did have it, it wouldn’t have defended them from a flick.

    Multiple blue bone pillars burst from the snow and cut through the snow, tearing through the ground with an oaken groan. They recognised this attack—you had to stay still, lest its unavoidable. 

    True to form, when they didn’t move at all, the bones simply phased right through them. A shiver ran down their spine at the sensation.

    Wait. That never happened—

    Before they could finish that thought, their soul shot into their chest like a bullet, strangely an arctic blue colour. It felt as though gravity suddenly increased and decreased all at the same time. The smallest voice, hardly a whimper to be heard over the howling winds, whispered: jump.

    They didn’t recognise the voice, but it sounded a lot younger than their headmate did.

    A small bone, up to their knees, tore through the snowdrift in a spray of snow, hurtling towards them. They decided to listen to the voice and leap over it—finding that they jumped higher than they usually did. They hit the floor with a shock that ran up their legs like electricity. 

    You’re blue now. 

    “You’re blue now! That’s my attack! Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh!” Papyrus laughed gleefully, snapping his fingers rhythmically to a phantom beat. “Do you like it? This is my stand in for my epic theme, if I had one!” 

    >Spare.

    Kris twirled around the descending bones, with the clumsiness of a baby deer. They felt feather light and too-heavy all at the same time. Each bone that whistled past their ears, that snagged their hair and scarf or clattered against their pauldron disturbed their flow.

    Papyrus is trying hard to play it cool.

    “I can already taste my future popularity! Undyne will be so proud of me!” Papyrus cheered, unaware of the ripple in Kris’s expression. Undyne’s here too? “The king will trim a hedge in the shape of my smile! Sans will—well…he’ll…he’ll be the same.”

    Papyrus sent another volley of bones, each shooting towards Kris at a quicker pace than before. They leapt over the shorter bones, twirled around the taller and more unavoidable bones, and ducked under the strange bones that seemed to come from the ceiling. I think I’m finding my footing a little.

    Man, they really did make it look easy.

    Papyrus remembered a bad joke Sans had made and is frowning.

    >Spare.

    Papyrus shook his head of all his thoughts of glamour, tapping his foot in the snow. “Alright human, don’t make me use my Special Attack!”

    More bones hurtled towards Kris, this time feeling completely ready. They twirled and danced around the bones like lanterns aloft in a cool breeze. Only to hit their head squarely on a bone from the ceiling. 

    >Spare.

    “I’ll have lots of admirers but…will I ever know who sincerely likes me, like your friends like you?” Papyrus asked no one in particular. After hearing such boisterous confidence from the skeleton, the self doubt that dripped from each word felt…oddly heartbreaking. “Someone like you is really rare…and I don’t think they’ll let you go.”

        The bones that shot towards Kris were much slower this time, they even noticed the bones wavering a little bit. All they really had to do was sidestep them. 

    >Spare.

    “Never mind that! Time for my Special Attack !” Papyrus wiped his chin smugly. With a clean snap of his fingers, bones shot out of the ground—too many to possibly count—all large and jagged like fangs and thorns. They tore towards Kris at breakneck speed, barely giving them time to weave and dodge away.

    Just as the overwhelming barrage of  bones seemed to taper off, one final blue bone burst from the ground with a thunderous groan. It was as large as a sequoia, yet slow moving and lazy.

    Kris merely stood in place as the bone swept easily through them.

    To their surprise, the turn didn’t end. 

    Instead, the smallest bone zipped by and slammed into their shins,making them yelp in pain. “FUCK!” 

    HA!

    After that attack, Papyrus seemed exhausted. Instead of standing proudly, he was clutching his knees with laboured breaths. After a moment, he straightened with a self-proud grin. “Well.. it’s clear you can’t defeat me—no no you don’t have to say anything—therefore I, The Great Papyrus, shall grant you Mercy!”

    Papyrus is sparing you.

    Kris sheathed their sword with a ku-shunk! , lowering their defensive stance. Their blue soul bled back into a brilliant crimson, before fading into their chest once more. 

    “Nyoo hoo hoo,” Papyrus said woefully. “I can’t even stop someone as weak as you…Undyne is going to be so disappointed in me…”

    Wow, rude.

    Rude, but true.

    “My friend quantity shall remain…woefully stagnant!” Papyrus seemed genuinely upset by this. Kris stepped towards him, trying their best to put on their kindest smile. 

    “I can be your friend.” They signed. “I bet Susie and Noelle wouldn’t mind being your friends, too.” 

    “Really? You wanna be friends with me?” Papyrus said with growing awe. He looked like he was seconds away from swooping Kris up into a boney hug. They stepped back a little bit. “I guess I can make an allowance for you, Human! Wowie! I have friends! Who knew all I needed to do to make them was give people awful puzzles and fight them?”

    That is the worst possible take away.

    Now I don’t want to say that’s what happened…but.

    “I hereby grant you permission to pass through Snowdin whenever you please! I can give you directions to the surface, too!” Papyrus struck a heroic pose, his cape blowing in the stagnant wind. “Continue forward until you reach the Capitol! Then, you cross the barrier!” 

    Wow, what five star directions. They paused and let out a self deprecating laugh. I guess I’m not better.

    …wanna…talk about it?

    Not particularly.

    Papyrus looked away, taking serious interest in a swaying pine. “That’s the magical seal trapping us all underground—”

    What.

    “Anything can enter it but nothing can exit it! Except beings with a powerful soul—like you!” Papyrus finished with a gleeful lilt to his voice. He seemed all but oblivious to Kris’s crestfallen expression. “That’s why the king wants to acquire a human! He wants to open the barrier with soul power, so then monsters can return to the surface!” 

    Papyrus snapped his fingers like he forgot something important. “To reach the Barrier, you have to pass through the King’s castle! The king of all monsters… he’s…well..”

    Papyrus trailed off grimly.

    “A big fluffy pushover! Everybody loves Asgore!” Papyrus finished with a “nyeh heh heh!” to punctuate. “I’m sure if you just go over to him and say ‘excuse me Mr. Dreemurr, can I please go home?’ he’ll guide you right to the barrier himself!” 

    What.

    Kris stared numbly after Papyrus, their breath punched out of their chest.

    “Well, that’s enough talking! I’ll be at my house—you’ll know it when you see it; it's the coolest house—being the coolest friend ever! Feel free to hang out!” Papyrus started off into the snow, towards the town. He stopped. “Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh heh!” 

    Then he was off, vanishing into the mist.

    Kris stood, rooted in place as they stared at the snow below their feet.

    They don’t know how long they stood there.

    Numb.

✰✦✰

    Logically, they knew Asgore had to be there. With each familiar face, name, or voice, the idea grew more and more into reality. They just didn’t realize this was how it decided to present itself.

    But, then, other pieces began to fall into place. The war, the King, the deaths . Asgore was a boss monster. This was true back at home, and it's probably true here, too. That means he was alive for the war thirty years ago, and probably the same age, too.

    Did. Did he order the war? 

    What happened? They asked the wall.

    Silence.

    Is this another thing you wanna keep from me? How much can’t you tell me up front? It seems like a lot. 

    It… just never ended well.

    The quiet of Waterfall was no longer comforting. It felt like knives driven into their sides, over and over again until it reached bone.

    Kris dragged their feet out from the snow and whipped around on unsteady feet. With a heavy heart, they stomped through the snow, a subconscious snarl pulling at their lips at the cheery fall-esq music in the distance.

✰✦✰

    “At night, when the lake is a mirror…” 

    Slowly, blearily, lanterns drifted along the cold front, soaring high over the mirror lake, dappling it with hundreds-thousands-millions of warm orange firefly flecks. They drifted and danced like lily pads in a whirlpool, thousands of little orange stars adrift in the air, hundreds of souls lost in a snowstorm that they couldn’t possibly understand. 

    Thousands of mo- Darkeners who’d never gotten to see whatever they called the light of day.

    Because of Asgore.

    Because of their father.

    “ And the moon rides the waves to the shore…”

    Kris ripped their gaze from the floating lanterns, away from their mournful, dust-bitten, eulogy. The delicate dirges, passed down from generation to generation, sung through the jagged caverns to deaf lifeless ears. Kris wondered what the songs were like before . Before everything.

    “A single soul sets his voice singing…”

    “K-Kris?? Where have you been? We’ve been waitin—”

    “ A song rises over the lilies…”

    They were concerning their friends, they knew. In every limp, every whimper, every choked back sob that clawed at their carefully constructed walls. They felt numb, hollowed out like a pumpkin. All their mind could process were the words Asgore’s the king over and over again like a broken record.

    “ Sweeps high to clear over the reeds,

    And over the bulrushes’ swaying, 

    To pluck at a pair of heart strings.”

    Snow crunched under their feet, snapping like bones. They could hear their friends struggle to follow their brisk pace as they tore through the crowd, shoving anyone away. Kris could vividly imagine their looks; faces twisted in concern, backlit by the fiery orange lanterns.

    Hundreds-thousands-millions of goodbyes stolen away, gone with a whimper.

    Stolen away by a King’s order.

    “ Two voices, now they are singing,

    Then ten as the melody soars,

    Round the shimmering song, all are joining in song

    As it carries their reverie on.”

    To fight back.

    The King. King Asgore.

    Their father.

    Why did they care so much? Was he even real? 

    The hundred-thousand-million lanterns danced and twirled together carelessly while Kris’s heart thudded painfully in their chest. They had to know—they needed to know. Did…did Dad really..?

    Their headmate was completely silent, and perhaps that was the worst answer of all.

    Kris’s nails dug into their palms hard enough to draw blood to ebb away at their frustration. The runny liquid bled through the fabric of their gloves, painting it with a faded torn-away scarlet. They didn’t feel any better.

    A scaled hand landed on their shoulder, searing and grounding all at once. They stopped dead in their tracks. Their teeth sunk into their lips until they tasted copper stinging their tongue.

    “Hey you, uh, arright there?” Susie asked, voice coloured with rare concern. Kris shrugged her hand off their shoulder roughly. Something in their chest twisted painfully, as though a knife had been driven between their ribs.

    “ Stop. Asking, ” they spat out, their voice raspy, choked and thick. They didn’t bother to spare Susie another glance, even when she tried once more to reach out to them, soldiering through the deep snow until their boots slammed harshly against smooth blackened stone.

    Distantly, they could hear their friends attempting to reach out to them, and they merely quickened their pace in reply. They felt irrational and stupid, like they were throwing a temper tantrum over something so small, so miniscule . It was only a Dark World, right? 

    But they couldn’t help themself, could they? They were on a grim march to where their father was waiting for the—to kill them. Papyrus was naïve, sure, but even he seemed to know that there was no peaceful solution to what lay ahead. They could see it in his face. 

    Their head was silent and screaming all at once.

    This Dark World, whatever it was, didn't feel like a Dark World. It felt like a nightmare.

    But it wasn’t, was it?

    And perhaps, that’s the most terrifying part of it all.

    It was all real.

    They were really going to go and fight their father.

✰✦✰

𝙻𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝, 

𝙱𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗

𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚍

𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚜, 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐,

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘?

𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜,

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

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𝚀𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

-------------------------

✰✦✰

    Water burbled solemnly in the distance, the willowed echoes of crashing waters clawing through the air, carried alongside childish whispers of departed voices like drums to a skeletal band. The air was still and dusty, like an abandoned mine, defiant against the thunderous rumbles of the waterfalls all around them. Dew from the flowing waters clung to the fabric of Kris’s under suit like cobwebs. 

    Strange glowing flowers, a gentle cerulean cast along black waters, dotted the riverbank. Murmured stories and echoed shreds of conversations drifted between them, as though they were talking amongst themselves. A rat skittered across the wet gravel by Kris’s feet, a nibbled flower stalk clutched between buck teeth, completely unaware of the predatory eyes in the shadows.

    The party walked quietly among the caves, trapped in a web of stony silence. All of Kris’ injuries had been healed, thanks to a SAVE they’d found along the way. They brutally shot down any conversation that dared rear its head. After a while, their companions stopped trying.

    What broke the silence, however,  was the quietest of hums, something that sounded gruff and cracked at the edges, like leather. Kris didn’t need to look back to recognize that it was Susie who was humming. The luminescent blue flowers along the walls hummed with her, mirroring the same gruff growling tone, if not a bit tinny around the edges. Soon, Susie was snapping her fingers along to the rhythm she set, the sound echoed across the cave walls like a match being stuck against a matchbox.

    A sissss echoed along the walls, followed by a crackling fwoom! The noise bounced off the cave walls, until it faded into the shadows.

    “Aha! I finally did it! I made fire! Look Noelle!” Susie cackled delightfully. Kris looked over their shoulder to see the purple dragon’s entire left hand engulfed in brilliant white flames. Her face was split in a triumphant grin, revealing all her pointed yellowed fangs. 

    “Aha! I finally did it! I made fire! Look Noelle!” The flowers chittered with cackling mockery. Susie snarled and kicked the stones under her feet, an action that snuffed out the flames licking up her forearm. 

    “Shut the fuck up!” She roared back at the flowers, thunderous and indignant. They echoed her words gleefully, something that only seemed to draw more ire from her. Despite themself, Kris snickered lightly. They did not catch the look she gave them in the corner of her eyes, shining with pride. Guess she never seen an echo flower? 

    No. Noelle and I haven’t seen them, either.

    Echo flowers repeat the last things they hear over and over until they hear a new thing. Congrats! Susie’s arguing with herself! They snickered at the last bit, chuckling like a child on Christmas. After a little while, they quieted down somewhat. You guys have been walking for a little while. Why don’t you have a pit stop? I can tell you something. 

    You feel ready now? 

    Kris didn’t mean for the words to come out so bitterly.

    Yes, I do. And. you know. It’s fair...to be so bitter. I get that. I would be too.

    They didn’t reply.

    By the way, there’s something behind the waterfall you guys are about to pass. I’d get it if I were you. 

    Kris’s foot hit shallow water with a splash, the bellowing gurgle of the waterfall just mere feet fromtheir side suddenly registering in their brain. They gazed at the flowing water, spotting the faint outline of sea grass, swaying in waterless air.

    As they plodded through the shallows, smooth stones crunching and the river splashing under their feet, they dove behind the cascading water--ignoring their friend’s terrified screams. They reached blindly through the steaming waters, pawing at the seagrass behind the water as though it’d herald any kind of answer to what their headmate was referring to. The answer came as their fingers brushed rough textile, which they fisted and yanked out.

    It was a dusty tu-tu.

    You want me to wear a tu-tu.

    Yes.

    Why.

    It’s strong! It gives you three defense! That’s good!

    I get more defence from these shitty manlet glasses I have in our bag. The dealmaker.

    They stepped out from behind the waterfall as they wiped away the sopping wet hair that flopped into their eyes. Against their better judgement, they stepped into the tu-tu and adjusted it to fit their waist.

    Susie and Noelle were staring at them with immeasurable concern. Susie cleared her throat with a cough in her claws. “Uhm...you uh, have some, uh, odd coping mechanisms,”

    Kris didn’t acknowledge her, fixing up the tu-tu until it stayed around their waist. They trekked through the rest of the shallows until they reached the other side, expression entirely deadpan. 

    Kris didn’t acknowledge her, padding miserably across the rest of the shallows until they reached the other side. Happy?

    Very. 

    They made to walk further, before a clawed hand yanked them backwards. They looked up to see the bottom of Susie’s maw. Her long whiskers tickled their cheeks as she looked down to fix them with a dry look. “Hey dumbshit, you’re fuckin’ soaked. I know you wanna leave, but I think you need to dry off first, yeah?”

    They shook their head no, an action that caused droplets of water to splash everywhere.

    “That wasn’t a suggestion,” Susie grumbled with a roll of her eyes. She grabbed Kris’ arm and turned to Noelle with a deadpan expression. “Can you find, like, flammable stuff? If there’s any, I mean.”

    Noelle nodded dutifully with a grin and trotted off along the riverbanks while Susie dragged Kris to a cave beside the waterfalls.

    Actually, this gives us a perfect opportunity to chat.

✰✦✰

    The tunnel had opened up into a grand lake, framed with cattails and weeds. Frogs croaked and chirped, crickets hopped along hidden in grass and played their tittering songs like twangs from broken string instruments. The inky black depths were dappled with wavy reflections of the crystals dotting the ceiling and the flowers that dotted the ground—weathered stone that’d given way to soft black grass.

    Deep shadows wove through the waters hypnotically, hopping out in attempts to nibble at the buzzing blue fireflies that drifted along the river like lanterns on a snow lit night. The same broken conversations from the last room slid across the damp cave walls, and the faintest smell of spring mornings after rain drifted through the air.

    Susie collapsed onto the grass with an exaggerated groan and melted into a sleepy puddle. Her dark, slitted eyes darted up to Kris expectantly, bags under her eyes deepening under the blue light casted from the fireflies and flowers. Kris let out a relenting sigh and collapsed heavily by her side, fisting the grass between their fingers.

    They sat in uncomfortable silence, broken often by the crisp snaps of Susie’s fingers and a crackle like a match being struck. The smell of ozone soon overpowered the tangy spring smell and Kris tried their best not to scrunch their nose at the stench.

    They shivered and unwrapped their scarf from their neck, setting it in a sopping wet pile at their side. Susie’s gaze burnt the back of their neck, scanning them for answers they didn’t feel like they could provide. Once all their armour was stripped off, they set it aside and shifted a little ways away from Susie’s side nervously.

    “You know, I’m so glad that we ain’t in Snowdin no’more,” Susie let out a grand yawn and stretched lazily, until her joints popped loudly. She either didn’t seem to notice Kris’s earlier action, or didn’t wish to comment on it. They didn’t want to explain it, either. “Sure, that charm Jingles got me helped me warm up, or whatever, but man that cold made my bones all stiff’n shit.” 

    “I’m just glad it feels like we’re progressing a little,” Kris signed after a few moments, remembering to slow down  so she could understand. They cringed a little as they realised their unintentional jab. If she noticed, she never commented, merely rolled her eyes and flopped to the grass again with a little grumble.

    “Yeah, that too,” Susie agreed after a while, gaze fixed on the ceiling. “So, Kris, how’d you know that tu-tu was behind the waterfall? Come to think of it, you’ve been finding all this stuff, and I could never tell how you find it.” 

    “I saw them along the way,” Kris signed in lieu of the truth. It’d be kind of strange to say a voice told them where it was, after all. 

    She didn’t seem satisfied with their response, pushing herself off the grass into a sitting position. Susie picked at the bandages around her wrists, her eyes shadowed by the fringes of her bangs. After a little while, she finally spoke. “Kris, don’t play me like an idiot.”

    Kris didn’t look at her. She wasn’t looking at them anyway.

    “I may not know what you’re going with, partly because you ain’t tellin’ me, but..I, uh, get it,” Susie mumbled the last bit under her breath, voice rough and scratchy. “But you, uh, helped me and I uhm..wanna help you.”

    They could feel her gaze piercing their skull.

    “You don’t have to tell me, I understan’ not wantin’ to, I wouldn’t either, but..if you need someone to talk to, or just someone to be there for you, I don’t mind helpin’ yeh out,” Susie picked at her claws. She rifled through their shared bag and pulled out a cinnamon bunny. She split it in half and offered the larger half out to them. “And, you know, If you need a heal, I could heal you with my incredible healing magic—it’s still way better than Ralsei’s.”

    Kris took the cinnamon bunny gratefully. They whispered. “Thank you.”

    “No problem loser, unfortunately you’re my best friend, sooo ,” She said with a yellowed toothy grin and a tone lilted with mirth. There was no venom behind her words. “You know, while I was at the festival I nicked some pumpkin guts! Do you think Ralsei could replicate the recipe?” 

    “What is pumpkin guts?” Kris asked.

    “Huh? Oh it’s the insides of a pumpkin,” Susie elaborated plainly, as though that was obvious. 

    “Then yes, he probably can then,” Kris signed.

    “Fuckin sick , I hope it tastes like Hometown’s pumpkins, I’ve had the farm shit and its delicious ,” Susie groaned, her forked tongue sticking out from between her lips and let out a low growl. “So, how deep do you think that water is, Kris? I can breathe underwater for like, an hour without messin’ with my heartbeat so—”

✰✦✰

    Eventually, Noelle trotted towards them looking pleased with herself, and startled Susie and Kris out of their deep conversation. She dropped a bundle of dried seagrass, wrapped with a thin string of ice proudly in front of Susie, her face flushed. She adjusted her fur lined cowl, brushing away the stray grass and burrs that clung to it. 

    “I have more, too, because brush burns faster than sticks do—I found some sticks, actually—but here’s what we should burn, so we have some left over for later,” Noelle said breathlessly. She pushed two more bundles of dried seagrass into an impressed Susie’s hand. She rummaged through the bag she’d gotten from Susie and pulled out a pair of old-looking shoes. “I also found these in the brush.”

    We need that! Grab it, human!

    Without thinking Kris snagged the pair of ballet shoes from a shocked Noelle, stuffing them in their bag and setting it at their side. Noelle’s ear twitched, her eyes wide and her lips agape. Even Kris was surprised by their action, they never knew they could move that fast. She mouthed a quiet “ok.”

    Susie let out a bellied laugh, clapping Noelle on the back so hard she stumbled a little. A smitten smile curled the doe’s lips as she laughed breathlessly. “Good on you Noelle! Hell yeah! Where’d yeh learn all tha’?”

    “Well, when I was little, I used to be in the girl’s scouts,” Noelle mumbled shyly. Kris tried their best to hold back their snicker at the blush that dusted Susie’s cheeks at that. Noelle tapped her hooves together. “I stayed until I got all the badges, and then mum said I had to focus on my studies.”

    “Girl scouts, huh? I knew you were a nerd, but damn,” Susie said with a cheeky grin. Her voice held no mockery to it, something that Noelle didn’t seem to care about either way if her smitten expression is anything to go by. Susie grabbed the kindling and melted away the icy rope it was bundled with. “So like, I’ve never actually done this before? So uh, you know. I kinda wanna see if I can.”

    She leaned down until she was eye level with the kindling. With a deep inhale and a puff of smoke from her nostrils, she let out the smallest breath of flame at the kindling. The straw smouldered weakly, painting the surrounding area in a brilliant white light. Occasionally, the flames would splutter, spitting yellow embers that fizzled out before they reached the ground. 

    She pumped her fist into the air triumphantly and grinned madly, baring large dagger-sharp canines. “Yeah! I didn’t think that’d work!” 

    Kris thought they heard Noelle whisper something that sounded suspiciously like “hot” under her breath.

    For her sake, they chose to ignore it.

✰✦✰

    “So, what song were you humming earlier, Susie?” Noelle whispered above the crackling flames, as though nervous that Susie might react negatively to her question. Kris didn’t blame her, they supposed, Susie didn’t like being asked personal questions if she could help it.

    “Oh, uhm,” Under the crackling white light of the fire, Susie’s flush of embarrassment was clearer. Over the course of their camp out, they’d all slowly drifted closer together until they were practically touching, finding comfort in each other’s presence. Kris’s clothes had long since dried. “It’s, uh, my favourite song, actually. Eighth Wonder by Lemon Demon.”

    “Ooh! I’ve heard of Lemon Demon!” Noelle said with a gleeful smile. She tossed some straw into the flames, unmoving as the flames hungrily clawed at the straw. “My favourite Lemon Demon song is Touch Tone Telephone!”

    “Shit, that’s my second favourite one, I jus’ love the story of that Geb rat,” Susie rolled over a little bit, crushing Kris’s thigh under her back. They didn’t mind too much. “Kinda love that funky hand rat, I wanna put ‘em in a bucket and throw ‘im in a pear wriggler.”

    “A, uh, what?” Noelle laughed nervously, trying to scan Susie for any sign that she was joking. There was none, the dragoness was completely serious. “A-a p-pear wriggler?”

    “Pear wriggler,” Susie repeated with a solemn nod. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, eyes glowing with something Kris couldn’t pinpoint. “But anyways, when I die, I want that song to play at my funeral—”

    “Why?” Noelle interrupted curiously, her head tipped to the side.

    “Well, it kinda feels like a fuck you to the concept of death. Like, I won’t truly die,” Susie said after a few moments, her words slow and well thought out. She grimaced. “I can’t word it right, but I feel like it’d be fitting.”

    “Anyway, I got a guitar, kin’na, and I’m learnin’ it on guitar,” Susie scratched the back of her head, looking away to the glittering black lake with feigned interest. It didn’t escape Kris’s notice that Noelle looked rather out of breath. She squinted a little. “Hey, uh,  I think I see somethin’ over there.”

    Kris craned their head to follow Susie’s gaze to the opposite bank. The only thing on the other side of the bank was a large dilapidated church, with glowing blue vines growing invasively through the stained windows. Kris levelled a raised eyebrow at Susie, who let out a hiss and crossed her arms with a sliver of black smoke climbing from her lips. “I ain’t fuckin’ lyin’! I know what I saw!”

    “I’m sure it’s nothing, Susie! That church does look like it’s in terrible condition, you probably just saw some ruined pillars or something,” Noelle placated with a nervous smile. Despite her words, her ears twitched and she didn’t stop casting looks at the church.

    Susie didn’t seem convinced, but she didn’t try to argue further. She mumbled something under her breath with a grunt, her claws picking under her keeled scales. Kris patted her shoulder comfortingly. “If we’re staying here for a bit, we’re gonna need someone to keep watch. Did you want to?”

    Slick. 

    Thanks, I try.

    Susie nodded emphatically, already having pulled her bandages off and brushed off the glamour. Soon, the Devilsknife was balanced expertly between two of her claws, blade alit with a mischievous glare. “Hell yeah! If anyone tries to sneak up on us, I’ll tear ‘em ta’ribbons!”

    “Gosh, Susie! Don’t do that! Fahaha!” Noelle said with a flushed face and a twitch of her ears. Kris rolled their eyes fondly.

    “No fuckin’ promises!” Susie growled with a devious grin. 

    They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Susie took post near the riverbank, amongst the reeds. She shucked the cattails idly, looking for rocks under the inky black depths, presumably to sharpen her scythe. After a while, Noelle broke the silence with a hum.

    “So…Susie…do you think, when we get home, you could…show me some of the songs you know on your guitar? Sometime?’” Noelle asked shyly, tapping her hooves together, her gaze not meeting Susie’s. 

    The dragon spluttered, a blush dusted her cheeks as she drew the Devilsknife and skipped a pebble across the river. 

    “U-uh s-sure, whatever,” She said after a while. She didn’t meet Noelle’s gaze, but Kris could see her tail wagging under her jacket.

    “Get a room,” Kris signed teasingly. 

    “ Kris!! ” Both monsters shouted indignantly. They snickered as Susie lobbed hay at their head, dodging with a mischievous grin. 

✰✦✰

    Susie’s snores cut through the still air with a sharpened knife, punctuated by the faraway gurgle of the ever present waterfalls. Their campfire had sputtered out long ago, leaving nothing behind except cold ashes that smelled of charcoal. Kris leaned against Noelle’s back, their gaze fixed fondly at their friends. They balanced the pommel of their sword on their lap, their scarf warm and wrapped snugly around their neck. 

    Kris’s gaze wandered across the bank, to the church cluttered with swarming fireflies. They could hear the faintest dong of funeral bells, but that was probably their imagination. The water was quiet and still, unbothered by the isolated creatures that swam in its depths. For a moment, they thought they could spot movement through the stained glass. They could see the faint outline of what looked like a judgement hall. 

    I think I’m ready. A voice finally spoke, impossibly quiet. If the lake wasn’t so still, they were afraid that Susie’s rumbling snores would have masked their voice. I can’t tell you everything but…I’m not “just a voice” in your head.

    They didn’t reply, too afraid to break their stride.

    I’ve been dead for quite awhile, thirty years or so. I’ve…done some things in life, and something tells me this is all just a punishment from the Angel. They let out a sigh. Maybe a lesson. 

    Fireflies drifted across the surface of the lake and wove through the reeds. The frogs croaked and sung, crickets following along with confidence.

    Every human that falls down here, I’ve been a guide for. Every human that falls here has died, because of me. 

    Why do you say that? Kris blurted. For a moment, they were met with guilty silence.

    I can’t say, part of me doesn’t want to. Each human I’ve lead wrong, or I’ve become too obsessed with… this . Kris didn’t need to see them to understand they were gesturing to the bag, with all the human’s lost belongings in them. I…I know I’m putting you through the same thing, but…I…six humans, Kris. There’s a part of me that believes you can do this, and…If I miss my chance, I’ll never forgive myself.

    Kris drew out the items they’d gathered over the course of this adventure and set it down in front of themself. All those things belonged to them. We still have more to gather, if you get that far, I know where their graves are. I think I do, I have a vague memory of seeing it. Funny, right? We never usually got that far.

    What do you need their graves for?

    …I want to apologise. Apologise for failing them, and letting them die. They were just kids, Kris. They let out a deep sigh. It’s strange, too. With every weapon and armour piece we collect, I feel…I feel like I can do more. I can remember more, I can feel more. I didn’t smell before, now I can, isn’t that strange? 

    Kris nodded in understanding, still unable to reply. They folded their hands in their lap nervously.

    By no means did you ever get the furthest, Kris. Despite that, you have something they never had; friends. Friends who love and support you, who by some nebulous chance…fell..down here? You need to tell me about that, by the way.  They’d die for you, you know. I wish the other humans had that too, perhaps then there’d be less blood on my hands.

    You’ve been doing great as a guide, though. Kris argued. Their gaze once again found the church, to the barely perceptible rotted fabric of the cushions on the pews. They felt like they were in a confession box; trapped in a small space while they bled their problems away for forgiveness.

    No, Kris, I haven’t. Sure, I’ve told you where the human’s stuff are, but that’s not enough, is it? I don’t know why I’m here with you, nor any human. I don’t help them, I’m just stuck by their side, waiting to see the day they’re murdered and their soul is brought to Asgore.

    Their gaze fell down to their twiddling thumbs, nervousness and sadness chewed at their inside with cyanide-laden teeth.

    Kris gently wrapped the toy knife with the ribbon again, unfurling the manly bandana and wrapped it around the gloves and set them both next to the ballet shoes. They stuffed all the items gently back into their leather bag.

    Thanks for listening to me, Kris. I…appreciate it. 

    No problem .

    They fell into a comfortable silence, sat by the riverbank and their friends as they enjoyed the quiet stillness of the lake. The frogs croaked, the crickets sung, the faint sound of church bells rang through the caves. On the opposite side of the bank, in the silently judging church lit by the faint glow of glow worms, a figure hid behind a crumbling pillar.

✰✦✰

    They awoke suddenly to the distant sound of metal slammed against smooth rock in the far distance, company to the lonely church at the far bank. As they pushed themself off the dewy spring grass, their cheeks stained with dirt and reeds, they scanned the lake and the entrance to the grotto with tired half lidded eyes.

    Ice water ran down their tired bones, a shock that quickly dragged them from their exhaustion.

    In front of them was a translucent mirror of their light world form.

    They were a little shorter than them, younger too, probably ten years old. The thing wore a maliciously tight smile and crimson glowing eyes, along with their face. Their hair was shaggy, falling in ragged curls on their green and golden flower yellow sweater.

    Kris could see the ruined church through their chest. 

    “Greetings,” They said with a curious tilt of their head, a thin eyebrow raised with amusement. Their voice sounded oddly familiar.“I’m Chara. Your best friend.” 

✰✦✰

𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚢 “𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍” 𝚝𝚘 𝚄𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍.

𝙹𝚒𝚖, 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘.

𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

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𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐  𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚜.

---------------------------------

✰✦✰

    “I know whatchu’re prolly thinkin’,” Chara started with a Cheshire’s grin. They lounged back on Susie’s side lazily, arms folded over their lap and legs criss crossed. If Susie felt them, she didn’t show it, save for a shiver that ran through her. She continued to snore thunderously, occasionally pawing at her snout. Their eyes traced the glowbugs drifting close to the surface of the lake with wonder.

    “‘Are you real? Are you that voice that was in my head? How are you here right now?’” Their voice took on a higher octave, a pantomime of what they thought Kris sounded like. They studied Kris’ expression, then cringed. “Dang, you’re almost as bad as–”

    They cut themself off.

    Their grin melted away. 

    “--uhm, a-anyway,” The smile didn’t return to their face. They sat straight, patting their thighs nervously. “To answer your burnin’ questions, I am real. I’m the voice–well, was that voice–and no, I-I don’t know how I’m here. It’s been awhile since I was with a human… like this . Usually, I’m…”

    The discomfort in the voice was palpable as they gestured vaguely to Kris’s head. They decided it's best to change the subject. 

    “Can anyone else see you?” Kris signed questioningly. 

    “I thought they could, but…” Chara turned around and tugged at Susie’s leather jacket. Their fingers slipped through the fabric like a whisper of wind. Kris couldn’t gauge their reaction. “I don’t think they could.”

    “Isn’t touch and sight two different things?” Kris found themself signing. Chara turned to face them, expression unreadable.

    “Not for me,” They replied vaguely. As they leaned back against Susie’s side–which elicited another chill from the mauve dragon–their expression twisted in thought. “D-do you hear something?”

    A soft breeze cut through the silence. 

    Kris strained their ears, trying to hear what Chara heard. The only noise that met their ears was the deep throaty hum of the chipped church bells and the jazzy song of the waterfalls, along with a faint whirring sound. They turned to Chara with a raised eyebrow. “No, why?”

    Chara seemed jumpy, tapping their thigh nervously as their red eyes zipped to every darkened corner of the grotto. 

    “I coulda sworn I heard–”

    Time seemed to stumble to a stop.

    Ssssssssssszzzzz .

    The air around Kris heated with energy that crackled and snapped like the lash of a whip, smelling of rancid ozone. What looked like a spear launched over the blackened lake, streaking an electric blue arc straight towards Kris, a solemn eulogy carried across the whistling wind that curled around its head.

    The hair on the back of Kris’ neck stood up as a frosty thrill dripped down their spine like icy water.

    Their fingers tightened on the leather grip of their sword, muscles tense and ready to pull it out–

    Run. Don’t fight.

    A faint voice slithered into Kris’ mind, like a faint whisper that crept up from the bottom of a well.

    Faint, yet it felt like it was spoken directly in their ear. 

    Their blood roared  a pandemonic song of fear in their ears. Their soul glowed a faint crimson and their stomach rolled messily in curls. They backed straight into Noelle’s sleeping form in a panic.

    “W-wh-”

    BANG!    

    The sound was positively explosive, like a thunderclap on a silent spring morning. Noelle jumped with a squeal, a finger pointed at a large cyan spear sticking out from the dirt mere inches from Kris’ feet. “I-i-is that–”

    Kris’ gaze darted to the source of the spear,  the dilapidated church. Their heart pounded like a desperate man in need of an escape. A figure stood tall and proud under crumbled vine-crept pillars, angling another glowing spear straight towards them. They couldn’t make out its face from this distance, but they could feel their attacker’s manic grin like a knife being driven into their throat.

    Susie pushed herself off the ground with a choked off snarl and groggily fixed Kris with a death glare. “Can’t you see some dragons are tryin’na sleep? I mean damn, I–”

    Run, Kris. 

    There was the voice again, quiet and childish as it stole away Kris’ attention. They could hardly hear it over the guttural gurgle of the waterfalls and judgemental chimes of the broken church bells.

    BANG!

    The spear, this time, had been further off, piercing the charred remains of their campfire savagely. Susie’s eyes widened “What the hell is that?” 

    “I-It’s a spear! Someone’s attacking us! We need to go!” The words seemed to have flooded from Noelle’s mouth in a panic. She went to pull Susie off the grass, lifting her up with a surprising lack of effort. 

    Chara looked between the two with an unreadable expression. They quirked an impatient eyebrow. “Maybe, if you tell them where our attacker is, they’d start haulin’ ass like they’s asses supposed to be doin’.”

    They prodded Susie in the side and pointed to the church, where the figure stood readying another attack. Susie’s pupils thinned into pin pricks and a snarling smile swept across her face. Soon she was displaying rows of yellowed shark-like teeth in a mischievous smile. In one fluid and practised movement, she tore off the bandages around her wrist, the glamour fell away and melded into the Devilsknife. The gnarled talon-like blade gleamed evilly.

    As she stabbed the handle of the scythe in the dirt, Noelle gave her an incredulous look. “W-wwhat are you doing ?”

    “Whoever that is, they might still be able to get to us, an’ I ain’t riskin’ my tail on that,” She closed her eyes and breathed a steadying breath. Thin tendrils of darkness slithered up the handle like serpents, curling around the hooked talon blade like ribbons until it was completely covered in a cowl of shadows. 

    “I-I don’t know if that was a good idea—” Noelle started. 

    She didn’t wait for Noelle to finish as she hiked the handle of the Devilsknife until her hands were square centre. With a grand roar, she slashed a strike so powerful it sliced through the air like claws sliding through skin. The shadows wrapped around the silvery blade rolled off the Devilsknife, coiling and curdling like the foam on a cresending wave in a flat arc. The arc of darkness slammed into the dilapidated church, causing the crumbling columns to collapse in on itself and fall onto the figure in a cover of thick dust.

    Silence filled the grotto as the dust began to settle.

    Chara’s shocked expression slowly turned into a delighted smile as they watched the destruction unfold.

    Susie brushed off her claws and slung the Devilsknife on her back casually, using her belt as the strap. She flashed a self assured grin, indirectly directed at Chara. “That’ll teach whoever tha’hell that was to mess with us! Now we can go.”

    “I want to hug you so bad right now, you big stupid genius” Chara cheered gleefully. They crowded near Susie and mimed clapping her on the back. “Why dinnit I think of that?”

    They stepped behind her and prodded the Devilsknife’s curled blade curiously. They opened their mouth to speak, only to find that their finger had connected with the cold metal of the scythe. The scythe drifted aimlessly back and forth, as though startled by a gentle wind, and settled comfortably at Susie’s back.

    Chara stared down at their hands in awe, as though they were red.

    “Well c’mon! We gots’ta go! I didn’ jus’ nearly murk someone for y’alls asses to sit and stare!” Susie clapped Kris hard on the back, hard enough to make them stumble. “If whoever’s attackin’ us can lob a toothpick that damn hard, ‘m sure they can pull themselves from the debris just fine!” 

    Kris rubbed the spot where Susie had clapped them on the back soothingly. They cast their gaze across the calm black waters to the crumbled vine-strangled church. As the dust settled, the church bells died. The church was empty.

    Their attacker was gone. 

    Buried under the church, or otherwise. 

    Dread climbed up their throat, thick and rheumy like acid. 

    Looking at the ruins of the church felt… wrong , though Kris couldn’t place why that was. 

    It felt like an omen.

    They forcefully yanked their gaze away from the church.

    And they ran.

✰✦✰

    They got as far as a long hallway, split into two like the fork on a snake’s tongue. Seagrass as thick as cobwebs in an abandoned home obscured both paths. Luminescent flowers sprung stubbornly from cracks and snaps in the stone, curled like sprigs of ivy. A groan broke the looming silence as Susie skidded to a halt, gasping and doubled over in exhaustion. Kris fell into a trot before stopping at her side and levelling her with an unimpressed thin-lipped smile.

    She looked at them through her thick mane, smoke blowing from her nostrils as her whiskers curled irritably. “Shut tha’fuck up.”

    Kris held back a snicker.

    Noelle, on the other hand, was practically glowing. She smiled brightly and padded over to Susie, patting her lightly on the back as her puffy tail wagged excitedly. “Fahaha! I haven’t ran like that since my last track contest!”

    “Yeah, wheeze , whatever Jingles,” Susie wheezed with an exaggerated huff and a roll of her eyes. Whatever bite she was hoping would be in her words fell away as she fixed Noelle with a look from the corner of her eyes. She quickly looked away. “Speak, wheeze , for yourself, I ain’ runnin’ like tha’ no more. I’d rather, like, fall behind in some epic self-sacrifice shit.”

    Chara cringed.

    “Let’s hope you don’t do that, Suzy,” They muttered under their breath. They cast Kris a Look. “Man, it’s so weird looking at you, like. I had no idea what you looked like, but you look like me if I just didn’t give a shit all the time. Also, why are you blue? I knew I was calling you Fruity Knight or whatever, I just…didn’t think I was that accurate?”

    Somehow, the deadpan expression on Kris’ face grew more deadpan. They raised an eyebrow at Chara. They didn’t seem to look too apologetic about their remark. 

    “Well damn , okay! You try suddenly being able to see with your own eyes for once! It’s crazy !” Chara shot back defensively. There was no bite to their words, but Kris couldn’t help the uncomfortable twitch of their fingers. Chara’s expression melted, seemingly aware of the sting behind their words. It felt as though they were experienced with reading body ticks. “Yikes, uh, right. Nevermind. Sorry.”

    A yellow blur shot across Kris’ vision as fast as a ball being dropped. Whatever it was fell flat on its face in front of Susie. Kris’ eyes widened from under their bangs as Chara tilted their head curiously. “Do you, like, recognise–”

    “Monster Kid?” Noelle unknowingly finished. 

    It was Monster Kid.

    But also. Not.

    He was much too small, for one, a little shorter than Kris was. The modified scales that ran down the top of their head in pale spikes were shorter and stubbier. His tail was a wagging blurr, grey eyes shining with youthful happiness. Overall, they looked much younger than before. They even wore a yellow and brown striped sweater.

    He shot Noelle with a vacantly polite smile yet he still looked rather confused. “I don’t know how you know my name, but you do look like my neighbour! She’s really nice and—and she’s married to someone in the royal guard– THE right hand to Undyne! ”

    Monster Kid took a very deep breath. 

    “Imagine, working for Undyne! Isn’t that awesome ? She’s the best, I’d love to be her right hand, haha!” Monster Kid rambled, their eyes sparkling with admiration. “Did you know there’s a human loose in the underground? They’re here in Waterfall! Gosh, did you know Undyne’s here right now? She—and, like, the rest of the Royal Guard—is trying to find that human! Gosh, if I was that human I’d be wetting the bed every night—”

    He kept prattling on, his smile and excitement growing. They hopped in place until they came to a dead stop as their eyes fixed on the Devilsknife hanging from Susie’s belt.

    “Woah! That’s awesome , what is it?” Monster Kid trotted up to the blade, gasping excitedly at his reflection in the polished silver. “It’s so cool! Not as cool as Undyne’s weapon, of course, but it’s so clean! And sharp. ”

    “Uh…thank you?” Susie said, scratching at the back of her neck. Her eyes widened and she scowled. “Wait, whaddoyou mean, “Not as cool as Undyne’s weapon,” what’s her weapon?”

    “Well, Undyne has spears made of magic ! She never runs out of them, so she’s, like, never unarmed!” Monster Kid’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. He leaned close to Susie, though he wasn’t tall enough to actually whisper in her ear—or whatever was equivalent to her ears. “ I’ve heard that she could throw a spear from the entry post all the way to the doors to the Ruins .”

    He pulled back from a sick-looking Susie, giggling happily. They didn’t seem to notice her expression. “Isn’t that awesome ? Oh-uh, I-I almost forgot! You look like the nice ladies from Snowdin, please don’t tell my parents I’m here, okay? I’m not allowed to go this far without them, they said I can’t defend myself…”

    They scuffed their foot against the gravel, looking self conscious for all of a moment before it’s gone. They hopped in place. “Anyway! I gotta go! Cya later, dudes!” 

    They dashed away before anyone could say anything. Along the way, they fell flat on their face, which didn’t seem to face them too much. They let out a dizzy giggle and pushed themself back up with their knees and continued off as if nothing ever happened.

    Noelle cast Susie a concerned look. 

    “A-Are you alright?” Noelle asked worriedly. She approached Susie apprehensively, who seemed to notice that she wasn’t alone in the room. Susie schooled her expression, brushing the nonexistent dust off her pants and forced a smile.

    “Yeah, don’t worry abouddit,” She threw her arms behind her head and leaned back. “’s nothin’, I promise.”

    Noelle didn’t seem too convinced. Her ears twitched. She sent one last worried frown at Susie but didn’t try to pursue any further discussion. Instead, she pulled at the fur-lined fringes of her cowl and forced a jovial smile. “Well! Which way should we go n—”

    Bang. Bang. Bang.

    The distinct sound of metallic footsteps panged around the empty caves. With each steel-lined impact, gravel trickled down the crystal-lined walls. Susie hooked her claws roughly around the scruffs of both Kris and Noelle’s necks and yanked them into the crisply dry cover of the reeds.

    “W-well Undyne, good news! I know where the human is!” A familiar voice declared cheerfully. Bones jangled and clacked like wooden windchimes, accompanied by the rustle of fabric brushing against metal. In the short time Kris knew him, they’d recognise Papyrus’ voice anywhere. “I actually let them go!”

    It was clear that Papyrus wasn’t alone on the cliffside, he wasn’t heavy enough to be the owner of the thunderclap footsteps, iron boots or no. What confirmed Kris’s suspicions was an indistinct snarling voice that snapped angrily back in response to Papyrus.

    “Well, they, ah, were pretty crafty, actually! So, hah, they actually escaped me, yeah!” Papyrus amended quickly with a small nervous huff. The crack-snap of bones against bones informed Kris that he’d most likely struck a heroic pose. “But never fear! I can find them! You don’t need to worry–”

    A hiss like a spitting serpent, cold and sadistic, interrupted him.

    “O-oh, okay, that’s fine! I think! B-but maybe–” Papyrus cut himself off. Kris heard the sound of a boot scuffed against gravel. “--right, I can help you, I think! Nyeh heh heh!”

    To anyone with half an ear, they could tell that laugh was conspiratorial. 

    Great.

    “You know,” A voice started behind Kris, causing them to startle. Susie shot them a concerned look, which they tried to shrug off. Instead, they shot Chara a dirty look. They put their hands up, fingers phasing through the reeds like a whisper. “Woah woah! Sorry, damn . I was gonna say, I thoughtta somethin’ that I thought was weird.”

    Kris raised a questioning eyebrow at them.

    “How did Undyne get out of the rubble so damn quickly? I knew she was resilient, but hot damn ,” Chara looked impressed, if not a bit too impressed. They noticed Kris’ expression, then scowled. “That’s a valid question to ask! Shut up! Die, even. No wait, don’t do that, that'd suck.”

    “--Thanks, Undyne, I won’t let you down!” Papyrus said dutifully accompanied by a resounding clack. Retreating jangles of bones told Kris that he’d left. Kris chanced a look upwards, to see the tips of Undyne’s sabatons. 

    Panic rose like bile up their throat and they darted back into the dried reeds, feeling something under their foot as they went. They realised with a shock that it was Susie’s whisker and cringed. For her part, she remained stoically silent, even as her grip on their shoulder tightened painfully. 

    They dared not to move. Something small within told them that it was best to stay quiet and still . It was as if they’d been here before, though they couldn’t explain why. 

    After a while, the heavy footsteps receded until they slipped into the quiet waterfalls and croaking frogs. The glowbugs drifted out from the dry reeds as though they were coming out of hiding. Susie let out a deep and annoyed huff, puffs of acidic black smoke tickled Kris’ hair.

    Oh yeah.

    They lifted their foot off her whisker as they sent her an apologetic frown. “Sorry.”

    Susie rubbed her muzzle soothingly, her eyes strangely glassy. She shrugged and cast her gaze away with hunched shoulders. “Whatever, it’s an accident.”

    A sudden weight on their back choked whatever reply they wanted to give her, too light to be Noelle or Susie. A boney elbow jabbed them in the waist and they muffled a curse. Chara’s face appeared in their field of vision, smiling smugly. “Did you know I can climb your back?”

    Their smug grin only seemed to grow in size at their annoyed glare. “It looks like we're more connected than I originally thought—” They cast a longing gaze to Susie. “I wish I could climb her though, she’s tall —uh, anyway, stay still assweed, I’m trying to see if Undyne’s still there.”

    They shoved Kris’s head down roughly in an attempt to support themself better. With a gleeful snigger, they called down to Kris. “Nope! Not there! It’s safe!”

    Well, they were glad someone was having fun. 

    Hesitantly, Kris stepped out of the grass. Maybe they trusted Chara’s words a bit too much. True to their word, however, there was no one there. Kris let out a sigh of relief. 

    “Well, that was a close one!” Noelle sighed. “For a moment, b-but if that was really Undyne—”

    “It was!” A high-pitched voice answered her, grin evident in their voice. Monster Kid bumped straight into Kris, who helped steady them before they could fall on their face again. “Wasn’t that cool ? Man, I feel so bad for that human! You do not want Undyne on your tail, haha!”

    “Yeah, more like Undyne don’t want me on her tail,” Susie snarled deeply, pounding the palm of her hand with her fist. Kris and Noelle shot her a surprised look. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything. “I ain’boutta be hunted, no thanks.”

    Monster Kid tilted his head in confusion. His grey eyes never quite lost that gleam of admiration. “Why would you be hunted? You’re not a human! You’re not friends with them either—Though, I did   hear from the Royal Guard that the human kidnapped two other monsters!”

    Susie’s expression darkened and Noelle butted in before she could speak. “G-good thing we don’t know anyone like that! Fahaha! Shouldn’t you be getting home?”

    “Huh? Me? N-no! I came here to see Undyne!” Monster Kid puffed out their chest proudly. “A-and I’m certainly not scared either!”

    He hopped in place energetically and wheeled around on his stubby foot. He quickly added, “W-well, I’ll seeya later, dudes!”

    He raced away before anyone else could get in a word edgewise, falling on his face in his rush. 

    Susie kicked loose gravel with an aggravated huff. “This is the worst , I hate it here.”

    She looked seconds away from pacing, but stopped herself by digging her claws into her wrist. They slid against her smooth keeled scales with a teeth-grinding screech . Noelle sent Kris a look from over her shoulder, her ears pinned against her head. 

    “Welp, I think the best course of action now is to just continue going forward,” Chara said wisely after a few beats of silence. Their voice felt a lot quieter now, like a droplet of water that made no ripples. “Suzy isn’t goin’ to talk when she ain’t ready, so…”

    They folded their hands behind their back. Kris could see them right through their chest. “In anycase, we can’t focus on Undyne tailing us, either. The more we stay still, the more likely it is that she attacks us first, and we don’t want that. But I’m telling you what you already know, aren’t I?”

    Kris nodded.

    Chara’s expression didn’t change, but there was a twinge of sadness that clung to their tone.

    “Well, I like to think, naively I suppose, that maybe there’s someone else who can hear me.” they smiled fondly, trapped in a distant memory. “Heh, because let me tell you, the person I wish could hear me would have never thought about that.”

    Kris didn’t know how to reply, so they turned around and joined Noelle and Susie’s sides again. They cast a look back at Chara, the pleasant smile had turned bittersweet and sad. They mumbled something ever-so-quietly under their breath, words just barely loud enough that they could hear. “Let’s just…hope you don’t end up the same.”

    The words clung to Kris’ mind like stubborn spider webs, unbreakable in the whirlwind of thoughts that ravaged their brain.

    End up the same?

    What did that mean?

    Vines crept along the walls, dotted with blood-red thorns. 

    A new voice, carried along the whispers of the echo flowers, laughed cheerfully. Whatever it was, its voice was high-pitched and sadistic. Its laughter drowned in the broken conversation of the echo flowers.

    Silence fell over the caverns once more.

✰✦✰

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐’𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢,

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜.

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚝𝚘

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚢

𝚁𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚛𝚞𝚗! 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜.

✰✦✰

Chapter Text

I'm running on a bit of an empty, as far as inspiration goes, so I'll be taking a short break from the fic. This is not to say I'm abandoning this fic, I set out writing it with the full intention to finish, and I'm a man of my word, so I'll finish it. I just need some time to get myself back into the writing mood, and that certainly means I don't trust myself writing *here* to do it, if you're picking up what I'm puttin' down.

That said, I hope y'all have a wonderful evening / night / morning, what have you. I'll try to be back by the end of next month ^^