PART ONE: PATIENCE
Stand still. Stay silent.
Four words that have kept me safe.
Stand still. Stay silent. And he won't be able to find me.
I didn't know what made things change, what caused him to yell, to scream. It was a beautiful day outside, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming... The same as every day.
I heard him scream my name. "Stop hiding!" He shouted. "Don't you have anything better to do?!"
My heart thundered, I was on the verge of tears.
His words were red.
My back was pressed against a tree, its rough bark digging through my striped shirt and into my back.
Stand still, stay silent.
I repeated these words in my mind, a mantra of survival, as long as I followed them, I'd be safe.
He'd gone silent, he was listening for me.
I heard my heart thundering in my chest, I tried to keep my breathing quiet.
I could hear footsteps crunching the fallen leaves underfoot.
He was coming.
He was coming...
I called my name out softly, dragging it out, almost singing it. "I'm not going to punish you, just come on out, everything will be fine."
But his words were red.
And he was coming closer.
Closer.
'Please...' I thought. 'Please don't come any closer...'
But he kept coming, I had nowhere to go, the only way to go was uphill, higher up the mountain.
I heard his footsteps to my right.
Closer...
Closer...
"Found you."
I ran.
I ran as fast.
"Get back here, you little snot!"
I tripped and scrambled to get up, but he caught me, grabbed me by the back of my shirt and pulled me up.
I grabbed at the ground, my fist closed around something.
"You're not getting away this time! Once I'm done with you..!"
I'd grabbed a stick, thinking quickly, I swung it.
"Ow!" He screamed, letting me go.
I ran, I ran harder than I'd run in my life.
I looked at my surroundings, I needed a place to hide, somewhere he wouldn't find me.
Then I saw it, a cave, it was almost impossible to notice it unless you were looking hard enough.
I darted for it and ran inside.
I struggled to move over roots that tangled across the ground.
I heard my name, redder than ever before.
He was coming.
He was coming.
I pushed forward, looking for anywhere I could hide, anywhere he couldn't see me.
I heard him scream out words I wasn't allowed to say, "Get back here!"
I stopped.
There was light ahead, but only from the ceiling of the cave.
It shined down on a hole, a deep hole.
"Got you!"
I spun around, his hand was mere inches away from my shirt.
I stepped back and tripped over a root.
Everything was strangely silent, his angry expression changed to one I'd never seen on his face.
I blinked, I heard him scream my name.
It was blue.
I remembered screaming, even as the earth swallowed me whole.
I could hear only the rushing of wind below me, then I struck the ground. Everything went dark...
"Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: Humans and Monsters." Mom was reading to me, her words were a calm light blue. "One day, war broke out between the two races." Her words became a heavier dark blue. "After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell." She turned the page, I could smell her perfume, light as it was, it smelled faintly of lemon. "Many people believe their prison is beneath Mt. Ebott, where people have vanished."
My eyelids drooped, I felt her warm hand against my back. "I guess you're tired too, sweetie." She closed the book and set it on the table beside the bed. "I'm sure they won't mind if you stay with me tonight." I gave a tired nod as she began to hum a lullaby.
The sound of it, the colors it made, and the warmth of her beating heart filled me with determination...
_
Author's Note:
I'll try to keep these short.
You're probably wondering, why the fixation on colors? In the game, some significant dialogue is rendered in colored text. I've always had this idea that Frisk had synesthesia, particularly regarding the feeling of words translating into color. In a world where there are many hidden truths, it's these moments that will stand out for Frisk most of all.
Another thing you'll note is that Frisk's gender will be ambiguous. Just like in the game, and as Toby Fox intended, the gender of the main character is up for player, and in this case, reader interpretation. This does not mean, however, I will write from an overtly ambiguous standpoint. (Though, to keep from influencing you, the reader, I'll use they/them in these notes.)
Finally, much of Frisk's past will be explored in an anachronistic manner. While he definitely isn't a tiny, helpless child, he's still fairly young and to a certain extent, naive.