Author's Note:
I'm not planning on this being anything more than a one-shot, but I do set up some stuff here that ties into a much bigger story concept which I'm planning on using in the future. If I end up liking this setup, I may use this as a starting point for that story, though it's unlikely, given that there's a lot of info that would be best explained if the story started in the Underground.
I'm more than open to constructive criticism. In fact, I'm going to ask for it! I want to improve my writing skills.
Enjoy!
Sunlight...
It seems kind of mundane to the average human, but to monsters, it's astounding. While bits of sunlight would trickle down into the Underground here or there, majority of monsters had never been able to pinpoint its source... let alone see it high in the sky.
As such, once the monsters arrived on the surface, a new tradition arose: Every morning, a group would trek up the mountain a fair way to watch the sun rise. Who was in this group depended on who was free that day, but every monster participated in it at least once, and there were quite a few who refused to miss even one trip.
Inspired by this tradition, a few even started their own treks: One to see the sunset, and one to view the stars. The sunset trip was obviously the more popular of the two given its convenient time, but it gained even more popularity since the first steps onto the surface were at such a time. Eventually, this gathering became more about celebrating the breaking of the Barrier than viewing the sunset, but it was fun nonetheless. Food, drink, and music, followed by stories and a quiet view of the sun's decent; it was certainly a favorite of the Dreemurr family.
"Hurry up!" Frisk called back to her pseudo-Mom.
Said goat monster was huffing and puffing her way up the hillside, arms full of goodies.
"My child... *huff* why are you so excited for this? Surely you saw the sun all the time before your fall."
The human paused for a moment before grinning, "Well, yeah, but now I can see it with you!"
Toriel gave a gentle smile, but it quickly fell to frustration, "We'd arrive much faster if you helped carry the food."
"It's fine! I like the view!"
Slightly annoyed that Frisk missed the entire point of her statement, Toriel continued. She was too out of breath to respond again anyway.
The trees waved and creaked under the fall wind, allowing pieces of sunlight to land on the pair as they made their way up the trail.
In the distance, a bit farther up the mountain, a large clearing came into view. If one squinted, they could see tables, chairs, and a makeshift stage, with bodies big and small sprinkled in-between.
Toriel was triple-checking her supplies as she walked when a small group of monster children rushed past. Their laughs and excited chatter acted as an appetizer to the jovial mood to come.
Frisk recognized one of the kids as the one who accompanied her through Waterfall, and was about to join the group when a furry hand grabbed her sweater.
"That's enough, Frisk. Help me with the food, or you won't get any."
Frisk flinched. Even ignoring her scolding tone, Toriel never called Frisk by her actual name unless she was serious.
Before the human could even respond, a snail casserole was plopped into her arms. She pouted and looked over her shoulder to see the children were long gone. With a sigh, she accepted some cinnamon buns as well.
Finally content, Toriel smiled and patted Frisk on the head. Though the human enjoyed the praise, it didn't stop her from pouting.
Several minutes later, the two made it to the field. The ground slanted quite a bit to the left, but the monsters were determined (not literally) to make it work. There was no doubt that next time, a proper floor would be made.
After checking in at the front desk, (they were always nervous someone would run off on their way here), the two made their way to the opposite side of the field.
Chairs and decorations were still being put up as Toriel and Frisk set their food down on the buffet table.
"I see you made quick work of that recipe!"
The two turned to see a purple, bunny-like monster walking towards them from the far side of the table.
"Oh, yes!" Toriel responded, "They're harder to make than they seem. Thank you once again; it's been so long since I've baked something new."
"If you want, I can share a few more with you."
"Oh, that'd be splendid!"
Uninterested in their small talk, Frisk tuned the rest of the conversation out. She decided instead to take this chance to find those kids. They had to be around here somewhere, right? Maybe she could ask around...
"Pst!"
Turns out she didn't have to do much searching at all, as right behind her, hidden in the bushes, were the kids.
"Come on! We found something really cool!"
Frisk grinned, always up for an adventure, but quickly paused, looking in all directions. Sure enough, there was a guard nearby.
A knot formed in Frisk's stomach...
"Hey, you coming, or what?" The leader of the kids whispered impatiently.
"Yeah, but there's a guard over there. I'll find a way out, just gimme a bit!"
Poking his head out just far enough to see the guard in question, he immediately understood.
He nodded and gestured to his right, pointing out a boulder just big enough to hide her from the guard's view. Thankfully, the guard's focus was on the adults, but the kids were still in ear-shot, so Frisk made her way to the rock as quietly as possible. With some careful, yet casual maneuvering, Frisk made it into the woods unnoticed by security. (And Toriel, for that matter)
After running a fair way into the forest, the lead kid announced, "Alright! Now we can get started!"
"Where're we headed?" Frisk inquired.
"You'll see," he said, winking.
Leaning over to the kid from Waterfall, Frisk muttered, "Do you have any clue what he's talking about?"
"No, no one knows what it is but Tilly. Isn't it cool?!"
Slightly nervous now, Frisk followed the leader, apparently named Tilly, deeper into the forest.
"Tilly, I'm sorry I ever doubted you..." a female member of the group muttered. Before the kids lay a massive stretch of dirt, long and smooth enough to slide down like, well, a slide. In fact, it was wide enough that all of them could race!
"Neat, right? I'm pretty sure it's natural. Not sure how, but it's in the middle of nowhere, so..."
"How'd you find this?" a random kid asked.
"I got lost!" Tilly responded, sounding oddly proud, as if getting lost was some kind of achievement.
"What should we do first?" Monster Kid (tm) asked.
Tilly gave a sly smirk, before darting up the cliff, "Race you to the top!"
"Hey! No fair!"
Frisk just giggled as Tilly, despite his head-start, lost to a kid with wings. They spent a while debating whether flying was cheating or not, before deciding that the game had been started on false pretenses anyway.
"Whatever," Tilly pouted, "you'll never beat me DOWN the hill though! Line up!"
"Pft- what are you, a drill sergeant?" One of the kids asked.
Tilly, already impatient, sighed, "Just do it already!"
The kids laughed a bit, but complied.
"Alright. Three... two... one... go!" Tilly announced, signaling the kids to fling themselves down the hillside. The next few minutes or so were spent trying to beat each other at the simple game. Even though it was just the same thing over and over, the excitement was infectious. Eventually, everyone had joined in. Except one.
He looked like a mouse, only with a stegosaurus tail and some weird-colored fur on his chest. Frisk had noticed he wasn't playing at first, but figured he'd join in eventually.
...needless to say he didn't.
She was about to run up the hill again when she got kind of worried. He wasn't even watching, just poking at the dirt and staring out into the forest.
"Hey, you okay?" Frisk asked, startling the boy.
"O-oh... yeah."
"You sure? We could play something else if you want."
"...as long as it's quiet."
Frisk froze.
Tilly, who had just finished his most recent slide, walked up, "What, you a big baby or somethin'?"
The mouse kid didn't respond.
"No, he's right. We should be doing something more quiet," Frisk defended.
"Pft- out here?! Who's gonna hear us out here?"
Another monster piped in, "Actually, I was getting pretty tired of that game anyway."
Several of the other kids nodded and murmured in agreement.
"Oh, come on! You're not just agreeing with Frisk, are you?"
A few of the kids took offense to that, and assured him that they were really just getting tired of the game. Meanwhile, the mouse boy had gone back to nervously eyeing the woods.
"Okay, okay! We'll play something else," Tilly agreed begrudgingly.
They still hadn't decided what they were going to play, but the general consensus was that it should be at the top of the hill, as there was more space up there.
They raced each other to the top, this time with a proper start. Trying out a path she had noticed earlier, Frisk started farther to the left than the other kids. This side wasn't good to slide down since there were tons of roots everywhere, but using them as handlebars might give her an advantage. Halfway up the hill, she looked back to see if the shy kid was coming too.
That was when she saw... something... buried in the dirt under one of the roots. She hadn't seen it before because of the angle, but it looked like it was made of...metal?
"SHH!"
The sound made all the kids stop in their tracks. Turns out it came from the mouse kid, who had stopped near the bottom of the hill.
"What is it this ti-" Tilly started, annoyed.
"SHHH! Listen!"
He was dead serious, so they all stood still.
crunch crunch*
The sound was quiet, but definitely there. And getting louder. Crap.
With a quick glance at each other, they all scattered. While the other kids struggled to find cover on the dirt hill, Frisk simply needed to duck to stay hidden.
At the base of the incline, five figures came into view: two guards, and three very concerned (and very angry) mothers. Of course, this included Toriel.
"I heard them over here. I know I did," said one of the mothers, whose mouse-like ears made it obvious which child she owned.
"Sure," one of the guards responded sarcastically, "Look, we'll continue the search, but you three aren't supposed to be out here."
The mothers bickered with the guards for a bit, but ultimately agreed to head back to the clearing. Fortunately, it seems the mothers weren't supposed to stay unguarded, so the guards walked back with them.
Once the sound of the adults' footsteps faded away, all of the kids let out a collective sigh of relief. There was no need for talking. Everyone silently agreed they had pushed it a bit too far, and needed to get back as soon as possible. Preferably, without being noticed.
Words that should not be repeated flew from Toriel's mouth as she scolded Frisk. The human could do nothing more than stare at the ground and take it.
"-DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE WHAT COULD HAVE..." Toriel trailed off.
Taking a deep breath, gaining her composure once again, she continued, "...the party's been cancelled, we're going home."
"W-wait, they cancelled it!?"
"Of course."
Frisk felt horrible... she hadn't meant for this to happen, she just wanted to play... Despite her best efforts, she started to tear up a bit.
Toriel's gaze softened.
"My child, I know you didn't mean for anything bad to happen, but you should know better than to run off like that. You really scared us."
Feeling just a little bit better, Frisk asked, "The... the sunset party isn't cancelled for good, right?"
"No, of course not, my child," Toriel comforted, "It's just for today while they sort things out. There will probably be more guards next time, though."
Frisk wasn't that relieved. What would even be the point if there were more guards? The entire reason the gatherings were so fun is that... they could pretend things were normal.
Still, there was nothing they could do about it now, so Frisk wiped her tears away and helped pack up their things.
The walk home was miserable, as they were surrounded by disappointed and frustrated faces. Frisk couldn't help but feel like it was her fault.
As they approached town, some of the monsters had calmed down and were ready to return to their normal schedule. Some were even talking about approvements that could be made next time. How the monsters could be so... complacent... was beyond Frisk. After all, as the monsters were cheerily chatting with one another, all Frisk could see was the shadow of the giant wall and guard towers looming over her.
They still don't know what freedom is, but... at least they have sunlight.