Bratty and Catty were best friends since the moment they were born - or at least that's what they said. In reality, they just met during their first year of school. While they lived in Hotland, the school wasn't built there yet, so they both attended the one in Waterfall. Their neighbour, Alphys, ended up attending the one in Snowdin. It was further than her home in Hotland, but it had the best library. Even if the sign was misspelled.

It was, admittedly, a shame that Alphys wasn't in their school. Though, she wouldn't be in the same grade, anyways.

Catty and her family had originally lived in Home, like most monsters did. But shortly, it was falling apart and they were forced to move. The structures weren't stable. They decided to try to put fear aside and find somewhere safer to live for the time being.

Luckily, fear of the humans quickly died out when a human fell into the underground.

Adopted into the royal family, the human child Princev Chara Dreemurr. Fear soon died out, and monsters went to explore the rest of the underground. Catty and her family temporarily stayed in Snowdin, but the weather was a bit too cold for them. Her family consisted of a single mother, herself and her younger brother, Leo. Hotland was soon habitable, and her mother found a better job there. Lots of work needed to be done to clean up there. It still wasn't safe in some areas.

Due to this, Catty was often left alone with her brother. Being the eldest, it was her responsibility to make sure the house didn't explode.

She wasn't exactly a good babysitter. But as her mom was almost never home, she almost always had Alphys and Bratty over. Bratty was, arguably, the best cook out of the three of them. Alphys mostly made instant noodles, and Catty herself could only make very basic meals like a sandwich. But they were kids, so they didn't have to.

Bratty could cook a few more meals. Nothing too fancy, although she could make a soup that tasted relatively good. She mostly lived on her own, so she kind of had to. Her aunt worked constantly, and was almost never home. They didn't get along particularly well, either.

Alphys spent a lot of time alone or studying. She spent a lot of time with both Bratty and Catty. Alphys was like a big sister.. Who often took them to the garbage dump.

She often found these weird cartoons. The cartoons had these really cute outfits and characters, though. A lot of food and other neat items flowed down into the garbage dump. It was their primary hang-out spot, for the most part.

Unfortunately, the underground was thrown into chaos when both royal children died in the same day. The young human had fallen ill, and died soon after, while a filled with grief prince absorbed their soul and picked up their lifeless body. He planned to take them to the flowers they wanted to see desperately.. But unfortunately, humans misunderstood and thought he killed the human child. They attacked, but he didn't fight back.

So both royal children were gone, and King Asgore declared war on humanity. Freedom could be within reach. Well, it was a nice thought.

If they lived to see the surface, they'd get to see cooler things than what they found at the dump. All of this stuff was thrown out.. But all of it was incredible. The animations, the drawings, even the food. Alphys was the best at finding garbage. She could make a career out of it, if she wanted to.

"Right here is w-where some REALLY good g-garbage is found," Alphys told them, "I think w-woshua sorts it a-and lots of good s-stuff ends up here."

"That's, like, totally wicked cool!" Catty and Bratty both said in almost perfect sync. They looked at each other and giggled. The two had similar speech patterns, and often ended up talking in sync by accident.

"H-heh. I.. I guess."

Digging through endless garbage was a fun way to spend free time.

"Oh! Look!" Catty exclaimed, pulling out mostly damaged board game, "What's this?"

Before they got the chance to investigate, a phone rang. Bratty pulled her phone out of her pocket and answered it, "Hey?"

An inaudible voice played from the other side. Bratty looked annoyed, "Like, right now?"

Catty and Alphys looked at eachother concerned.

"Um. Okay I guess?" Bratty hung up and placed her phone in her pocket, "I've gotta, like, leave."

"O-oh. See you tomorrow?" Alphys waved.

"Like, see you later then!" Catty said. Although it was a shame that Bratty had to leave. She guessed that her aunt had called her home.

Oh well. They'd see her tomorrow.

Digging through the garbage, Catty found a 'friendship bracelet' making kit, "Oh! Like, what is this?" She turned to Alphys.

"O-oh, um. I think y-you make bracelets f-for a friend," Alphys explained, "A-and give it to them t-to show friendship?"

"That sounds like, totally wicked awesome! We should, like, totally wicked do it!"

"I.. I guess? We can do it tomorrow after school, o-okay?"

Catty nodded, looking at the box happily.

"S-speaking of which, I suppose we should p-probably get home."

"Like, I guess."

The riverperson loved to ride in their boat. They gave free rides to places, and was the main way to transport between places.

Her mom wasn't home when she got there, but that was usual. Her young brother came up running immediately and asked her to make something since he couldn't. Not that Catty really could either, though.

Though there was no clear indication for the differences in day and night, Catty really wished for time to pass quicker. Bratty wasn't picking up her phone, so she assumed that she was having troubles with her aunt or busy.

Whatever the future held, they'd have to figure things out. And probably learn how to cook.

But that was a problem for a different day.