AUTHOR'S NOTE
Not a requested story, just one that I've been toying around with while I was writing Shadows of the Past. This'll I guess be the next 'big project' of mine. Shout-out to my good friend who helped me brainstorm for nearly two hours even though it was late in the evening. I also feel like it is very important to mention that there will be scenes in this overall story that may be triggering or very difficult emotionally for some readers. If such a scene comes up, I will give fair warning in a note like this one at the start.
The insistent pounding of blood dragged Chara's eyes open. She felt soft ground beneath her, and when she pried her eyes open further, she could see golden flowers beneath her. She groaned as she put a hand tenderly to her head, turning and looking up at the long fall she had taken. Suddenly a voice drew her attention. She forced herself to lay her head back down, already growing sore everywhere.
"…Sounds like it came from over…Oh!" She heard small footsteps running over to her. "You've fallen down haven't you…are you okay?" She felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder. Something felt odd about it though. She looked up again to find what seemed to be a goat, wearing a light green striped sweater and brownish pants staring down, looking worried.
Her pain was instantly forgotten as she sat upright, grabbing a small pocket knife she had concealed in her back pocket and holding it up as she scrambled away, yelling.
"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK!" The goat looked startled and jumped back.
"Hey! What are you—"
"I SAID STAY BACK! I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!" The strange creature looked somewhat hurt. Chara kept the shaky tip of the blade pointed at the monster's chest as she tried to stand. However, her legs wobbled and the pain exploded in her head. Groaning in agony she dropped the knife, clutching her head as she collapsed back onto the flowers. She heard the monster approaching her, much more cautiously than last time.
"You're hurt…aren't you…here, let me help you." She heard him kneel beside her, helping her to sit up again in the flowers. She looked up and met the monster's eyes. It seemed friendly enough, with a warm smile. It sounded young too.
"What's your name?" Chara rubbed her head as she looked away.
"C…Chara…" The monster found the knife and tucked it away, just in case Chara decided to go for it again.
"Chara huh? That's a nice name. My name's Asriel." Chara looked back to Asriel's friendly smile. He continued to speak.
"Can I take you to my Mom? She can help you feel better…" Chara felt dazed as she nodded numbly. She tried to stand again, but started to falter. This time though, Asriel put one of her arms over the back of his shoulders, helping her to stand and letting her lean on him. He guided her slowly out of the flower bed towards an open door. Chara asked curiously, trying not to focus on the pain.
"What is this place…" Asriel seemed cheery to be able to talk more openly.
"This place is the ruins. My family is visiting for the day, and it's really cool! Not a lot of people come here apparently." Chara nodded as they limped along. Suddenly, the pain began pounding against her skull, and her legs felt like they turned to Jello. She greatly weighed down on Asriel who nearly slipped himself as he tried to support her. He soon waved his hand frantically at something. Chara couldn't focus properly as she heard two more pairs of footsteps heading their way as Asriel broke into frantic speech.
"Mom, look! She fell down. Her name's Chara, and I think she's hurt really bad!" She heard what sounded like a woman's voice speaking.
"Oh my goodness! Come child, let me look at you." Asriel helped Chara forward and she felt two more furry hands take her arms as the other monster looked her over. The monster brushed some of Chara's hair aside and tenderly felt a lump on her head, causing Chara to flinch.
"That looks like a nasty bruise…might have left a concussion." Chara suddenly felt the hand get comfortably warm, then something tickling her head before the pain receded, then ceased to exist altogether. She then spoke again.
"Poor child, you must be exhausted…Asriel, be a dear and help Chara home? We have been here long enough anyway." Asriel nodded.
"Sure thing, Mom!" She felt something being draped over her, almost as if it was a cloak with a hood. Asriel's mother spoke again.
"You can use this to warm yourself." Still stunned by the kindness these creatures were showing her, Chara tucked herself in. The monsters took back trails back to Asriel's home in a larger city, almost taking care to make sure they weren't spotted. Chara found it strange, but was too tired to question it. Once inside, Toriel took her hand and guided her to one of the smaller rooms in the home.
"This is the guest bedroom, you can rest here as long as you'd like." Chara managed to barely croak out a "thank you" before entering the room, closing the door. She walked to the bed and flopped down, covering her face with her hands, trying to comprehend all that had just happened. Monsters were real? At least goat monsters were. The generosity of Asriel still shocked her, especially since she had threatened to kill him. Before she had time to think of this, she found herself drifting off to sleep.
HOURS LATER…
The pain that had greeted her last time had vanished as Chara brought herself back to the waking world. She rolled over in bed and nearly had a heart attack when she saw Asriel sitting in a chair close by. When he saw her awake, he jumped up.
"You're awake! MOM!" He called out to the hall. "Chara's awake!" A few seconds later, Asriel's mother walked in, a concerned smile on her face.
"Well good morning little one…how are you feeling?" Chara sighed.
"I'm feeling fine…thanks…I guess…" The monster sat on the bed, looking into Chara's eyes while Asriel stood close by.
"You are very lucky you know…surviving such a big fall is not something most people would be able to accomplish. Thank goodness Asriel found you when he did." Chara was still confused.
"I guess…if I may ask…who exactly are you people?" The mother suddenly realized.
"Oh! Excuse me, I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Toriel, I am Asriel's mother. The other monster living here is named Asgore, he is Asriel's father." Chara nodded.
"Oh…well…thanks Toriel…Asriel…" Toriel chuckled softly.
"No thanks are necessary. I will go make you some breakfast and bring it to you shortly, hmm?" As she stood, Chara couldn't help but crack a small smile as Toriel left the room. Chara lay in silence before turning her head to look at Asriel.
"Hey, how come your mom wore that crown? Is she like a queen or something?" Asriel nodded.
"Yep! And my Dad's the king. He's the greatest king there ever was!" Chara seemed thoughtful.
"Then…that makes you a prince? ...That I nearly tried to kill?" Asriel scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Yeeeah…but don't worry about it, I didn't tell Mom or Dad about it. Besides, you seem nice!" Chara gave the smallest of chuckles before looking back up to the ceiling. The awkward silence seemed to stretch further on as time went on, with Toriel returning with a tray containing pancakes with bacon. She sat up again and accepted the tray.
"Thank you, uh, your majesty…" Toriel laughed.
"Oh, no need to call me your majesty or anything, just call me Toriel. Now, Asriel, why don't we let Chara get some more rest hmm?" Asriel jumped down from the chair, casting one almost reluctant look at Chara before leaving with Toriel. Outside, Asriel followed Toriel to the kitchen.
"Hey Mom, you know somethings funny about her." Toriel gave Asriel as stern look.
"Asriel, it is not nice to talk about people like that, especially behind their backs." Asriel quickly corrected himself.
"No, it's not bad just…well she never asked how to leave or anything, especially since she fell from the surface, I just found it funny. Like wouldn't she want to go back to her family?" Toriel rolled up her sleeves, starting to wash the dishes from preparing breakfast.
"Asriel, you must keep in mind that she may be still trying to comprehend on what she's seen. It has been a very long time since we were trapped here, humans could even have forgotten about us by now. She might also have no family she can return to. Do you understand?" Asriel looked down to his feet.
"Yeah, I guess. Just sounds like she's kind of lonely. Could she be a part of our family?" Toriel couldn't help but smile broadly at her sons compassion for the human.
"Tell you what, I will think about it. Keep in mind though that Chara needs to want to be a part of our family as well. You can ask her if you would like when she's feeling a bit more rested." Asriel brightened up.
"Okay, thanks Mom!" With that he ran off back to his own room. Toriel went back to her work, but not before casting one more glance at the closed door where Chara laid.
