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“Sire, there, um – excuse me – ”
The rabbit was positively shaking as he stood behind the kneeling figure of the statuesque king; the others had warned him on his first day that the servants were never to interrupt gardening time, but unfortunately, circumstances demanded otherwise.
“Yes?” The deep voice rumbled, but with a lilt of warmth to it; the rabbit took a deep breath and felt weak knees relax. King Asgore did not turn his head, eyes wholly fixated on his golden flowers, but he was listening.
“There, um… I’m not entirely sure how to say this, I’m sorry - there is a small child in the great hall, screaming for you?”
He expected irritation from the royal, not a light chuckle.
“Is it the young fish girl?” Asgore began brushing the dirt off of his golden gloves heartily, rocking backwards up onto his toes. For all of his intimidating mass, he was surprisingly agile.
“Um, yes, sir – how did you know?” The monster timidly stuttered, watching Asgore gently peel the gloves off and toss them to the side.
Another deep laugh; Asgore’s fangs glinted in the light filtering in from the roof as he turned and clapped the rabbit on the back. “Ah, it’s the second time this week she’s managed to sneak in here! A crafty one, the little dear. Reminds me of my own youth. What has she managed to get into this time?”
“Well, um,” Rabbit stared pointedly at his own fingers, acutely aware of the heavy eyes on him. “Well, upon questioning, she, uh, b-broke some of the dishes being set up for tea time and now she is, uh, causing commotion?" He stumbled quickly through the words, reflexively cringing and praying that the King wouldn't have expected them to have the issue solved already. He bowed, just in case. "Would you like us to remove her from the castle or bring her to the dungeons?”
Asgore’s eyebrows flicked up in surprise, and his arm dropped to his side. “No, no! Of course not. I will go to her.” He quickly checked himself, trying in vain to dust off any remaining dirt staining his shirt. “And no need to bow to me, friend, I am only a fellow monster. Where is she now?”
“Still in the great hall, sire.” The rabbit bowed deeply again, despite the noise of protest from the King. “I can escort you to her at once.”
Opening the heavy doors with a light shove, Asgore swept into the great hall to observe the chaos of the scene before him. Nearly all present gasped and inclined their heads at his arrival, backing away with sheepish expressions. The place, normally so lovely decorated for afternoon tea, had been frightfully overturned. This could only be the handiwork of the young child that the castle staff was becoming very familiar with. Propriety mattered little to the blue faced mischief-maker, who was in middle of the room, screaming loudly.
He winced at the angry sound; a certain pitch, a certain rhythm to it matched the drum of his heartbeat. For a brief moment, memories from the war flashed before his eyes - he shook the thoughts away. But he couldn't deny, however, that he had heard many a impassioned and hateful cry, and hearing one now, from this innocent - it screamed to a much deeper hurt within him.
“I WANT TO FIGHT THE KING!” The small fish monster was shrieking, brandishing a butter knife snatched from the nearby, upended table. “I’m going to fight him and you can't – get away from me!” She whirled around to make a slash towards two other monsters who had attempted to sneak up on her.
They leapt away in alarm and the child let out a wild laugh, stretching a webbed hand over her stomach and proudly lifting her weapon into the air. “That’s right! All of you should be afraid! Now, tell me where King Asgore is or I’m - I'm - I'm going to stomp on all the precious dishes and make him soooooo mad!”
Crouching low, the girl then twisted almost gracefully to survey the area for enemies. Narrowed eyes finally identified Asgore's approach.
“You!” She shouted with a loud huff, pointing.
Asgore fought back a smile at the passionate display. My, this is new! Asriel would have never... “You’re back, little one," He said calmly, leaving the thought unfinished. "It’s good to see you. Would you like a cup of tea?”
Blue lips stretched backwards into a pout, and hands gripped tighter around her weapon. “I don’t wanna talk right now!"
"Is that so?"
"No, I don't!" She continued to bark, ignoring him. "It’s for you to stop hiding like a big weenie and fight me, Mr. Dreemurr!”
And with that, she straightened up with a smug smile, challenge delivered.
The silence and implication was thick in the room, and every eye was on the King. He took a step forward.
And another.
“Of course. I accept your challenge.” With a sweep of his cape, Asgore bowed low to the little knight. Her mouth dropped open in surprise, fierce stance faltering. “Would someone please take this cape for me?” He called out loudly, unbuckling it and holding it out with a flourish. “This child and I are going to the training grounds.”
A bear-like monster approached to take the cape and then retreated quickly. Asgore turned his face towards the outer exit. The young fish girl was now staring hesitantly towards him; it was clear that she hadn’t thought he was going to accept.
However, after a moment, she strode towards him and put her hands on her hips. She had to tilt her head so far back to look at him that it slightly mitigated the deathly glare she was sending upwards. "No, no.” She protested. “The arena. The arena! We’re not pretend fighting, we’re real fighting!”
“Ah, yes, the arena.” He nodded his head again, doing his best to stay stern, and beckoned her to the outside door.
He outstretched his hand for the little girl to take, but she made a surprised grunt of disapproval and firmly crossed her arms instead. Asgore couldn’t help but smile at her antics as she lifted her nose in the air and let out a haughty huff as she began toddling beside him out the door. The other monsters watched them silently go, withholding comment until the young one had left the room; ony two members of the Royal Guard followed.
The dazzling light eagerly claimed their faces in a burst as they emerged from the castle door. The arena was not far away, Asgore thought in relief as his eyes rolled towards the child. Dear Tori had never liked to walk very much, and she often requested to retire early…
The unlikely pair walked in silence down the stony path; the young one kept her eyes strictly forward, the picture of utter seriousness. However, he would catch her sneaking wary glances at him from the corner of her eyes, assessing his every motion, pondering why he challenge might have been so easily accepted.
Finally, he felt something tap insistently at his legs.
“And – And – you can’t have none of that fancy armor or weapons, Mr. Dreemurr." She It’s gotta be a fair fight.”
“Fair fight it is, little one.” He nodded, doing his best to keep his voice grave. “Can I have the honor of knowing the name of the mighty warrior I will be fighting today?”
She perked up at that, sneering again and showing off her pointy teeth.
“My name is Undyne!” She declared with all of the confidence of a Royal Guard member– he was surprised she didn’t strike a pose. “No, no - the Great Undyne! That's what everyone will be calling me soon.”
“Of course." He smiled gently. "To defeat a king, you do have to be pretty great.”
Her smile grew even wider and she hopped her next few steps in excitement. “Yeah, and I am great!”
“You are.”
That, she ignored. “I’m the strongest kid in allll ‘a Waterfall." She declared contently. "Being the strongest is awesome! And they’re all just a bunch of wussies for not wanting to be friends with me, right, Mr. Dreemurr?”
“And who is 'they', my child?”
“Ah.” Undyne scratched at her scales in embarrassment. “You know – the other kids at Waterfall. They all say I’m too mean to play with them cuz I always end up fighting.” She frowned at that, looking away. “B-But they’re just jealous! Yeah, they’re just jealous of how strong I am!”
“Very, very strong, no doubt.” He looked down at her again, and felt a lump rise in his throat. It had been such a long while since anyone had spoken so plainly to him, and as brash as littly Undyne was, she was a breath of fresh air in a life that had lost so much.
Undyne grew more impatient as they approached the gate, speeding up and doing her best to match his stride.
“Are you getting tired of walking, little one?”
“No!” She asserted loudly, doing another little skip. “I could walk for thousands of miles and never get tired. If your legs weren’t so long, Mr. Dreemurr, I could beat you in a race, too. It’s not fair that I’m so little.”
He laughed at that. "You’ll get taller, child. You'll get taller."
“Alright, then.” He took a deep breath and swung open the gate, gesturing for the little one to go through to the lit circle in the center of the arena. “Are you ready?”
“It’s so awesome, even better than I remembered!” Undyne ran ahead, stars in her eyes, head whipping around to take in the view of the risen seats. The walls were golden brown in the reflected light, colors faded; it had been a long time since anyone had visited here, let alone carried out a celebration of olden days. However, it glazed them both in a shimmering glow, channelling the splendor of those old, great battles.
“I remember when we took a trip with my class here...." Undyne was continuing, as Agore realized he had lost himself in thought. "It was the best day ever. I gave two boys a black eye!" She smirked at the thought. "Worth it. Even if I got in big trouble.”
“Did you now?” He winced slightly at that; he vaguely remembered some reports coming in from that area, years ago; he had asked Tori to take care of them…
“Yep! I told them I was going to be fighting here one day, and look at me now!” She nearly danced to a spot in the open field, grinding and twirling her toes in the dirt and outstretching her arms. The light glinted off of her scales and warmed her fins, and she let out another wild laugh of joy. “Alright. I'm ready! I’m gonna give you my all, Mr. Dreemurr!”
“And I am prepared, oh Great Undyne.” He took an almost playful defensive stance; he obviously had no intention of fighting her, but perhaps it would do her good to see that she had a long way to go. Motivate her, give her a goal to put that voracious energy towards.
Seeing him prepared, she sunk into a battle stance, claws in fists. She was smiling confidently, the massive difference in size mattering little to her. There was a pure kind of energy to her, nearly glowing white hot with her excitement. And then there she were – speeding towards him, nearly a blur of speed. Even a Royal Guard member would have been stunned, but Asgore learned long ago never to judge power from size.
She swung hard, and he sidestepped it easily, turning and lightly nudging at the side she had left exposed. She toppled over from the lack of balance, hitting the dirt ground hard with quiet exhale of pain. He dropped his hands, eyes wary, searching for any sign that she would need to stop.
But instead, her mouth only stretched into lopsided grin again, and a growling sound ripped in her throat. She rolled, she pounced, and he slid to the side – she landed facefirst on the ground. Without missing a beat, she turned to kick, and he bounded backwards.
Undyne’s smile faded. “You keep…” She muttered to herself. But she didn't let the thought slow her down as she curled upwards, turning the motion into another swing. He blocked her motion sweeping up with his forearm - she punched at him with her other hand, only to find him already on her other side. The attempt to swivel and face him ended up causing her to topple backwards, straight back on to the ground.
She shook her head, letting out what sounded like a stream of curses, and jumped back up to her feet. “You won’t even hit me!” Undyne screeched, eyebrows furrowing together as she pointed an accusing finger at the king. “You – you promised a fair fight and you aren’t even trying!”
At no reply to him, she took a deep breath, composed herself, and then let out a mighty cry. Her swings became fiercer, swifter, wilder, self-taught technique slipping in the way of frustration. Asgore dodged every one silently, years of ease on his side as he stepped, jumped, and redirected. Undyne was trying all of her tricks, everything she had learned from fighting the kids at Waterfall; jumping, kicking, rolling; but she had a long way to go before she could hope to hold her own.
Finally, Undyne stopped, and put both arms down. Her chest was heaving as she simply stared at him, the sweat pouring down her forehead.
And then she sunk to her knees, and covered her face with her hands.
Asgore was instantly at her side, bending down, sweeping her up, and cradling her gently. “I’m sorry.” He said regretfully to the head buried into the fur at his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. Allow me to fix things.”
He turned to the Royal members who had been waiting near the gates. “Could I get a chair out here for the little one?” He called out. “And send someone for two cups of that tea as well, please, thank you.”
A hurried rabbit came to place the chair before them, and he placed Undyne very gently within it. Undyne pulled her dangling legs up to her chest, hiding her face in her knees. Her face was flushed; she might have been crying. Another monster swept in with two flowery teacups, handing both to Asgore, who settled down onto the ground next to her.
“Here you go, dear one.” He whispered quietly, and simply held the cup near her hands. After a pause, and looking pointedly in the other direction, her shaking fingers took it from his hands.
The silence stretched between them as she glowered into the swirling depths of the cup and warmed her hands against it.
“This is my favorite kind of tea, you know.” Asgore finally murmured, to break the silence. “I find it very calming. Do you enjoy it?”
Without glancing in his direction, Undyne took a small sip, and then another. He took that as a response, as he gazed at her, searching for signs of hurt other than to one's pride. After a moment, he became acutely aware of her hands. Thick scars and scratches, standing out as bright red against her blue skin, ran up and down her knuckles.
“What has happened to your hands?” He asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.
She paused for a moment, straightening out her fingers to observe the damage. “Punching.” She mumbled, voice hoarse.
“Punching what?”
Another quiet one word answer. “Rocks.”
“And why have you been punching rocks, child?”
She exhaled slowly. “It helps me feel better.”
“Better from what?”
Undyne kept her eyes fixated on the teacup and didn’t answer. He noted this for later.
A minute ticked by.
“Also,” She said evasively, voice a little stronger. “Punching rocks means you don’t get in trouble for punching the mailman.” She tossed back her head to take another sip and muttered something into her cup that sounded suspiciously like, “Or Suzie.”
He tilted his head, feeling genuine warmth bubble in the form of a laugh. “You must be a strong puncher, Great Undyne.”
Her eyes glinted excitedly and her head jerked up. “You wanna see?” She asked, a lopsided grin stretching across her face as she glanced in his direction.
With a slight nod of affirmation from the king, Undyne shot out of her chair and approached one of the boulders in the arena, practically bounding from side to side in her fierce energy. Without hesitation, she drew her fist back and struck the boulder with a powerful crunch. It violently quaked under her hand; Asgore wondered for a moment if it would split in half (one of his own favorite pastimes at that age), but it didn’t.
A pause. Undyne’s fists fell to her side.
“But what does it matter being a good puncher if the people I’m tryin’ to hit are so good at dodging punches?” She mused, frowning. “I’m gonna have to go back to Waterfall and tell all the other kids I lost.” She shoved her hands into her pockets and stared at the ground, head hanging as the shame rose to flush her face again.
One feeling dominated all; the wish to make this small, amazing, passionate child have a smile again; and in that moment, the path ahead for Asgore was clear.
The king cleared his throat and gently set his teacup to the side.
“Excuse me,” He murmured softly. “Would you like to know how to beat me?”
Little Undyne whirled around, a cautious interest in her eyes.
“Yes.” She said slowly, thoughtfully.
“Well, I’ll show you.” He eased himself to his feet, finally beaming and feeling genuine delight rise in him for the first in a long time. “And that is what you may tell the other kids at Waterfall; that the very King himself was so impressed by your skills that he begged you to stay and be under his tutelage.”
Undyne punched the air forcefully. “Ah, yeah, cool! Just, uh… one question. Mr Dreemurr.” She then added sheepishly, as an afterthought. “What’s a ‘tutelage’?”
“It means,” Asgore placed both large hands on those tiny shoulders, and he steered her to look back at the arena, glowing in the light and reflecting hope and promise off of the tanned walls. Her face crinkled up into a smile again just on seeing it. “That I’ll teach in the ways of fighting, little one.”
“Really?”
The gravity of the situation hit her, and she first tried to look up at him; after making a noise at the near injury to her neck, she simply tilted her head to gently rest on Asgore’s hands. “You’d do that for me?”
“Yes.”
“But… why are ya being so nice to me, Mr. Dreemurr?” She twisted out of his grip to turn and face him, crossing her arms, eyebrows furrowed together. “I tried to hurt you.”
Another sad smile. Another pat on the shoulder. “Maybe lonely spirits can recognize one another.” Was all he found himself able to say.
Undyne blinked.
“You talk funny, Mr. Dreemurr.” She said, shrugging and turning sharp on her heel to patter towards the door. Her face may have been disapproving, but the bounce in her step gave away her excitement.
“You’ll have to get used to it!” He smiled and followed, feeling happier than he had in years. “You’ll have to get used to it.”