Chapter Text
There was a soft ringing through the intense darkness. A girl slowly roused from unconsciousness, a soft groan escaping her lips as a dull pain radiated through her body. Her eyes slowly flickered open, her blurred vision focusing on the surroundings illuminated around her by the soft moonlight. She remembered walking up the fenced off mountain, hearing about the rare flora, there was a shuffle and growl from the woods around her and she had taken off in a sprint... Had she tripped and fallen down a hole? Her eyes skimmed the darkness, the area outside of the shaft of light she was inside was plunged into an intense dark. Unable to see anything her gaze shifted upwards, observing the hole she had indeed fallen through. It had to have been a good twenty or so feet up. How did she survive a fall like that? Especially with no apparent injuries outside of a mild soreness?
Her eyes cast downwards, curious to see if something had broken her fall. All she saw beneath her was a bed of pale golden flowers. They were rather large and lush but seemed to look very desaturated despite the fact that they might be the only thing down here getting regular light. Surely the small flower bed couldn't have saved her, or even have cushioned her fall very much. Especially since the flowers beneath her seemed to be throughly wilted, probably due to her having fallen down hours ago since it was night now. She found herself curiously reaching out to one of the blooms along the edge of the patch, the soft petals wilting nearly immediately to her touch.
"...Howdy." The girl's attention snapped to her side as she heard the first sound inside the darkness. There was one of the golden flowers, but it seemed to have a face, it's eyes hollow and sad.
"What the fuck." The words escaped her in surprise. How was a flower of all things talking? Maybe she really had been injured more then she initially thought.
"Uh.." The flower seemed to shift uncomfortably, its gaze averting from the girl. "You're real unfortunate to have fallen down here..." The gaze snapped back to her abruptly. "N-not that I'm threatening you or anything! Just that... Everyone else down here will be."
Despite the strange situation the prospect of other things being out there in the impenetrable darkness snapped the girl to attention. "There's other things down here? What's down here?"
"Well... monsters. Are they not in the human history books anymore? I thought they were last I heard..."
"Wait so like, that myth shit is true? Well I guess it could be since I'm talking to a fucking flower." The girl let out another groan, hands reaching up to hold her head. This was crazy, she had to have hit her head too hard and she was going to die down here talking to inanimate objects or something.
The flower seemed to shift uncomfortably once again, squirming with the girl's upset tone. "They've lived down here for thousands of years, away from the rest of the world due to their... violence." A sad sigh escaped the plant. "You might very well die down here friend. I just hope it won't be a painful one."
"Ok listen here flower-"
"Flowey."
"Holy shit whatever, you listen to me right now. I am not going to die down here. I am going to go home and it'll be like this head trip never even happened." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone, her face falling as she saw the very broken screen. "You have to be kidding me!" She pressed the power button repeatedly in frustration, anger rising as the phone refused to turn on. "How are you broken?!"
"Any connections to the surface always are."
The color drained from her face at the flower's words. So this had happened before. She really was going to die wasn't she? She took in a deep breath and steeled herself. "Well I'm not going to go down without a fight, that's for sure."
The flower nodded in agreement. "That's probably for the best. I'm just... sorry that you're here. No one deserves to be here." Its head hung sadly. "There's... There's a woman down here in the ruins. She'll try to keep you in her home. If you can get away from her it's just a straight shot if you keep moving forward. There's an exit, if you can survive long enough to get to it..." A soft smile spread across the plant's face. "I wish you luck, friend."
A twig snap caught the girl's attention, causing her to look around in a panic. As she turned to question the flower she found it gone. A flash of fear rolled through her body before she took a deep breath, and clenched her fists. Something was out there and whatever it was it had better not think she was going down easily. It might be some horrifying thing but she could at least throw a punch or two.
"Hello? Oh, look at you, you poor thing." Emerging abruptly into the clearing of light was a womanly figure who seemed to look like a bipedal goat of sorts. She was donned in a modest black robe and bore a surprisingly happy grin that echoed in her yellow eyes. She was unnerving but no where near the horrific monster the girl had been picturing in her mind. "Oh my child, please come here. It's not safe out here!" She punctuated her sentence with a rather genuine gasp, reaching her large furry hand out to the girl in an attempt to help her up. "You fell down here so you must be so frightened. Or possibly hurt! But do not worry, I will keep you safe child."
The girl glanced the woman over hesitantly before taking the outstretched hand, helping herself up into a standing position finally. It was obvious that the woman was not immediately going to hurt her, if she was at all, but the girl would still be on guard. "Um, thank you. Who are you?"
"My name is Toriel." The wide grin crossed her face once more, showing far too many teeth. "But you can call me Mother now, my poor child." Her grin widened, a previously seemingly impossibly task. The girl stiffened, though tried to give a smile back. It was obvious that this woman would not be safe to stay with, though she should play along to avoid upsetting her. The girl prayed that she could get away easily and quickly. "My dearest child," Toriel spoke once more, her voice a bit demanding, "What is your name?"
"Oh. It's October."
+
Toriel lead October through the ruins, teaching her how to get past the dangerous puzzles that seemed to litter the place. However if October showed any sign of difficulty the goat woman would snap at her, demanding that she do better. In an effort to keep peace between them October would apologize and promise to do her best, which seemed to placate the woman nigh on instantly, going back to being encouraging and overly loving. It was tense environment as they progressed, the girl remembering the flower's words that she would have to make it through these ruins first before starting the real trek to getting out of here.
Occasionally they would come across another monster, before October could attempt to ask them anything about the area or a way out Toriel seemed to appear and set the other monsters on fire without hesitation. Berating them for getting close to her "precious child" without her permission. As this continued October found herself more on edge, now seeking a potential way out, somewhere to escape to. However before she found an opportunity to run away she found herself being ushered inside the woman's home.
After briefly seeing the inside of the stairway and living room Toriel ushered the girl into a room, saying it was her room now and to take a nap while the woman went to make something for dinner. As soon as the door opened October found herself searching the room for something to defend herself with. It was obvious that this woman would not let her go easily and she wanted to be prepared in case things turned violent.
The room seemed to be for a small child, perhaps why the woman insisted upon calling October "child" despite her being in her early twenties. Yeah she was short but not that short. Ok maybe she was that short and small since the children's shirts in the closet seemed to be able to fit her, though a bit snug. Who knew how long she would be down here so upon finding a small backpack she shoved a couple of the shirts inside. She continued searching the room, though it seemed to mostly have clothing and children’s toys.
When she reached the bottom of the toy box though she felt her fingers run along something sharp. After the initial startle settled down she pulled out a simple sharpened piece of plastic. There was no way something like this was created by accident and the very thought weighed heavy in October's stomach. She pocketed the make shift blade and swung the bag on to her shoulders. It was unfortunate that none of the pants fit her, leaving her in the shorts the fell down in. Her clothing left a lot of skin open so she would have to be careful if things got physical.
October inched the door open quietly, listening for any protests from the goat woman. When she heard nothing she finally stepped out, shutting the door behind her as she began creeping down the hall. The stairway seemed to be the only room that could lead out, especially after Toriel had gotten upset at the girl for just looking at it. October went to move towards the staircase but hesitated. What if the woman was down there and it was just a basement or something? She'd have to find the goat woman's location before doing any exploring. Hadn't she said something about making food?
She continued creeping through the living room until she could peek into the kitchen. Sure enough there was the large goat, cutting something on the counter. As October went to move back the woman turned slightly. "My child? Why are you sneaking around?"
October's voice caught in her throat. "I'm not sneaking. Just coming to check on you."
"I almost didn't hear you come in child." She set the knife down. "Don't lie to me. Tell me why you are sneaking around."
Despite herself October let out a huff. "You have no proof that I'm lying." As soon as the words left her mouth she mentally kicked herself, the goat woman starting to slowly turn around.
"How dare you speak to me like that after I take you in to my home? You're trying to leave me just like all the others aren't you? I should have known that you'd be a brat like the rest of them." Her yellow eyes locked with October's, darkening to more of an orange red. October moved quickly, grabbing the chair beside her and shoving it up against the door frame, trying to block the woman in the room. "How DARE YOU DISOBEY ME LIKE THIS!" The chair almost instantly caught on fire, the side melting quickly.
"Oh fuck I forgot about that. Shit shit shit-" October panicked, unfamiliar with fighting against magic. She turned quickly and ran out of the room, nearly falling down as she descended the stairs.
"YOU COME BACK HERE! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT LEAVING THIS PLACE!" Toriel's voice was getting closer, the chair proving no obstacle for her. "If you come back I'll forgive you my poor child I'll take care of you while no one else will. They'll eat you alive out there. It's kill or be killed out there child."
A fireball whizzed past October's head from the darkness in the hall behind her. A panicked series of swears excited her as she continued running through the seemingly endless hallway. It had to eventually end right?
As if on que a wall came in to focus through the darkness, the outline of a door in the middle of it. She quickly grasped on to the edges of the door, slowly pulling it open as the footsteps behind her got closer and closer, fire nearly missing her by inches as she struggled. The door opened just enough for her to squeeze through as her back felt overly warm. With a shout October shrugged the bag off, it having burst into flames.
"CHILD THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"
In a burst of adrenaline she forced herself through the small opening she had gotten the door to and drug the door closed behind her. Toriel's frustrated scream echoed through the air before the final thunk of the door settling into place muffled it. As soon as she withdrew her hands October turned around and quickly took in the area.
It was a forrest covered in snow with a small path cutting through the trees. She felt like she was really going to regret her clothing choice now. Before she could observe too much she ducked into the trees, avoiding the obvious path. She sat still behind a huge rock waiting for the woman to pursue but found after a few minutes that she did not. Perhaps she would only stay in the ruins? At least that meant that she wouldn't follow after October but if she was the first thing for the girl to encounter it only made her more fearful of what else lay ahead for her in this new landscape.