Risks for Frisk: Chapter 1
It was supposed to be a simple hike up Mount Ebott. The Species Delegation-core offered a nice bonus for a quick survey, but never did I expect to find so much chalk in one place that it made the bonus obsolete.
It was Frisk that had found the first piece, with their eagle-eyes and keen sense of treasure-hunting.
I couldn't have been prouder when Frisk picked up a speck of chalk among the dirt.
"Mom look! A monster tooth, old too." Said Frisk.
It was a great piece. The Delegation would have been happy with it alone...but...
Not long after Frisk showed me the spot, I uprooted a monster skull.
It was a hirisine with horns not even budded. It was small and not too impressive, but the tooth fit and Frisk begged me to keep it.
Of course I let them. Then, we should have left …but...
Frisk kept picking up chalk and I kept digging up bigger and bigger pieces. My own skull rattled in excitement as I looked over so many monster skulls-species even, long extinct.
Already my wallet was fat with chalk in the first few hours. I charted out a proper dig-site for Mount Ebott and the Delegation-core was delighted. They sent out their best teams.
Archeologists I've only read about in books suddenly wanted to shake my hand. I was congratulated and my name was to be listed among them.
It was like a dream...but, it was a bit too good a deal.
I had to lose somehow.
Now I'm staring at a big fat hole. My kid fell down it.
I knew because one of my fingers was down there. Frisk had it tied around in a necklace, so we'd always be together.
My missing stub twitched. Frisk was down deep in the earth. Feeling the faint pulse from Frisk's neck told me they were still alive.
"Damn it!" I punched the ground and gravel fell into the hole
Frisk never would have found it after deciding to go cave spelunking if we had just gone...home.
Of course, hindsight is twenty, twenty.
Suddenly I was bitter about all the chalk at my feet and in my pockets.
The Delegation ordered dozens and dozens of drill-drudgers on site.
The activity made the earth weak and dug up caves pocketed with holes such as this.
I...I shouldn't have brought Frisk. We should have gone home.
I figured Frisk knew better than to walk where the drills had gone over or to pay any mind to the caves.
Of course, Frisk had treasure-hunting sense. One needed "risk" to spell "Frisk."
I should have seen it coming.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
My knuckles smacked my cranium as regret ate me up. It wasn't the first time I'd lost some crew, but it was the first time I lost a kid.
Frisk was both.
I called up the rest of the crew, told them to sit tight for a month and enjoy the cut of chalk they'd all gotten.
I got praises and audible kisses over the phone. It would have been nice to hear any other day…
The crew didn't need me. Neither the ship.
They didn't need a captain. They only needed chalk.
I walked deeper in the cave Frisk had been. I examined the hole, finding it remained pitch-black as a flashlight cast down into it.
It was huge and I couldn't exactly fault my kid for stumbling into it.
The same could have happened to me if I wasn't looking for it.
I sighed as I hear the drills work overhead. The danger of a cave-in became more real the longer I lingered.
I considered calling my crew, or calling off the drills but chalk was the authority not me.
I leaned over the hole, considering the risk. The days of folks helping another was gone.
Only chalk motivated others to perform services and getting a rescue team down here while chalk literally paved the walls wouldn't accomplish anything.
I felt like crying. Chalk was a precious thing, but now that it was all around me…
It couldn't save Frisk.
I clenched my teeth. If I'd a stomach It'd be all over the ground.
The drills were growing louder. The walls wailed, reminiscent of feral sirens at sea.
I didn't have much choice.
I stepped down into the hole and let myself be pulled under.
Chalk be damned.
My leather jacket spared my bones from being scrapped against the rocks which blurred by.
The drop was long and twisted, reminiscent of an amusement park ride rather than a straight dead-drop.
A few streaks of light shone into the cave, giving glimpses of my surroundings.
But I couldn't do much with the information.
I was falling.
When I saw the bottom I curled up into a ball, braced for impact.
*Breeeeaick!
My skull catapulted off my spine and my metal jaw produced sparks as it skittered into the darkness.
The feeling was worse than death. There was no numbness or loss of consciousness.
No, instead I was keenly aware of every bone out of place. My teeth chattered, sounding like a metal locker being rammed repeatedly as it echoed off the walls.
My ribcage and peg-leg were the only things that remained on the ground, both being plated with metal. My spine was higher up. My pelvis and arms even farther apart.
Each had been at the mercy of momentum.
By chalk was I glad I was already dead.
It wasn't my first time being torn apart, but it sure was an inconvenience.
Things became a guessing game as I moved things blindly The toes of my foot gathered together, as did the carpals of my hands.
The vertebrae of my spine found the correct order agonizingly slow. I hoped none were cracked, else the pain would grow to be unbearable.
I didn't think much while this happened. The job went quicker without distractions.
But.
Then I felt Frisk. My finger twitched against their neck. I felt the burning sensation of fire.
"What?!" My scream echoed.
Did Frisk fall down into Hell? Was the hole deep enough to reach lava?!
It was an absurd thought, as did I feel absurd pain.
I grew sick as my finger twitched against a stiff neck. No pulse. Frisk was dead...
"No!"
Frisk had close encounters with death before, but never had I been so far away.
My finger trembled in phantom pain...perhaps...perhaps it would be enough.
I had to try.
It wasn't right for kids to die.
Determination, I called upon it. My sockets pooled up with thick red magic.
I channeled it all into my finger. The burning sensation rivaled whatever fire had killed Frisk.
My finger must have looked like a red-hot iron and it melted into Frisk then.
The magic exploded into Frisk's body and the ancient spell twisted to reverse death.
Then I awoke, not realizing I had fallen asleep. My finger twitched and I felt a pulse, abnormal and fearful.
Death was reversed and I gave a grim smile.
My finger rattled and turned inward, "tickling" Frisk. I felt Frisk's neck vibrate in laughter and they picked up my finger. They kissed it and I smiled. They knew I was coming.
I had to again gather my toes and carpals. Use of determination reversed my own bones as well. Hopefully Frisk wouldn't die again.
Eventually, I pulled myself together with a click and snap of my metal jaw and peg-leg.
The ribcage was most important to me. I looked down into it and out popped Cracks.
I rolled the lights in my sockets as he glared at me. Falling don't appeal to him either.
"Hissssssss!"
The bird had the guts to snap at me, despite being just as dead.
He was a beautiful macaw once; his feathers vermilion, gold, and a sapphire blue.
Now he was an ugly bastard. His thin bones meant for flying were as good as glass. Everyday was a miracle when he stayed intact.
He chewed a piece of chalk. I would've snapped it away from him, if, my ribcage wasn't already filled to the brim with the stuff.
Nevermind all that. Cracks was quick to leave me, hunkering back down into my ribs and his hoard of chalk. He would be as useless as always.
I stood up, shaky like greenhorns fresh from port.
I was surprised to find grass underfoot.
Grabbing a handful I sniffed. It was real?
I grabbed more handfuls, pausing as I examined golden flowers which also grew.
Then I crushed everything I picked, sucking every bit of magic and life from the plants.
It was the best start I could've hoped for, considering circumstances.
I again reexamined the grass and found a distinctive imprint.
Frisk had fallen here. Pink and blue wool residue was pressed into the patch. I hesitantly touched it.
Blood? I rubbed my claws together. No, just moisture from the grass.
Frisk was alive...or so I hoped. All the bleeding could've been internal.
"Auack." I choked. Perhaps Frisk had broken bones...
There was no time to lose!
My peg-leg stabbed angrily into the cavern floor and my other foot struggled to keep up.
The cave was dark, darker than the hole had been.
Fortunately I was dead. I didn't need the light.
My sockets glowed red-rubies, almost as nice as chalk.
As I walked, I noticed my hands nervously play with the chalk in my pockets.
Most had been reduced to sugar and puffed out behind me. But, I didn't mind. There was endless chalk to be found.
There was only one Frisk.