Hey, so if you guys are coming from my other stories: sorry I haven't updated in half a year. I'm doing this now. I'm not feeling super inspired to write the other stuff, but once I get my inspiration for that back, I'll start writing it again.
And if you're new? Have fun.
Frisk jumped up, shrieking, and trying to put out the fire that was all over their face. When they had managed that, they took a better look at where they were. It seemed that they were in a deep pit, with golden flowers growing on the patch of grass that was the only area the sun could reach. That explains why their face had been on fire; it was dawn and they had been half-laying on the flower patch. Their mind moved back to the night before, and more depressing things. And why they were in the pit in the first place.
They should have known that it wouldn't work. With their newfound strength and sturdiness, there was no way a simple fall would have done a whole lot of damage. Either way, they were underground now; underground with the monsters where they belonged. Once the first pricks of hunger had begun to poke at their belly and an insatiable thirst had claimed their throat, they realized that they had to leave the surface. Frisk couldn't trust themselves on the surface with this kind of hunger, a hunger that could only be satiated through something Frisk would never be willing to do: harming another person, something that could actually kill.
Frisk could never live a life that depended on the murder and maiming of others, and thus decided that their life had to end. They just didn't realize dying would be so difficult like this. Either way, sitting about would do no good, so Frisk stood. Their hands caught their attention and they looked at how pale they were compared to what they used to be. It would take some getting used to. Dusting themselves off, they headed into the unknown, through foreign halls of an ancient ruin till they reached a door with a riddle inscribed on the wall to its side.
"Only the fearless may proceed. Brave one, foolish ones. Both not walk the middle road." Frisk quickly solved the puzzle and moved forward.
If navigating the rest of the ruins will be like this, the journey will at least be entertaining, they thought.
They entered the next room and looked around. This room had some clear water flowing under some bridges that were on the path. There were also three switches on the wall, two that were on the path and one that wasn't. The spikes by the doorway retracted when both of the ones on the path were flipped. Frisk entered the next room, which was empty other than the dummy standing to the side of the path. Frisk ignored it and moved further on.
The next room had a strange path on the floor, that didn't seem to go anywhere. When Frisk moved over the hallway, they noticed a sign that said "The western room is the eastern room's blueprint." They weren't sure what that meant, but as they moved onward the meaning became clear. They followed the path from the western room in the eastern room, the spikes on the floor retreating before they hurt them if they continued on the correct path.
When Frisk entered the next room, the first thing that they noticed was that it was incredibly long, and that there was barely anything in it other than a pillar right at the end, and vines covering most of the walls.
After what felt like an eternity of walking, Frisk reached the end of the hallway. Just before they exited the room, however, they heard some strange noises coming from behind the pillar. When they turned around they were shocked to see a small bug creature flying out from behind the pillar, and even more shocked when their soul was drawn out into the fight.
That wasn't the most surprising thing, though. The most surprising thing, though it seemed obvious now that Frisk thought about it, was that their soul had a crack running all the way through it. Of course a vampire's soul would be like that; they are technically dead, after all.
Frisk was drawn out of their thoughts when they heard whimpering. The little bug creature that had initiated the fight with them looked like it'd rather be anywhere but here. They tried to console it, but before they could speak a word it burst into tears and ran away, leaving behind a gold coin. Their soul went back into their chest once the battle had ended. Frisk looked at the coin and decided to pick it up before sitting down by the pillar to think things through.
*Several rooms later…*
After stopping to think over their situation for a while, Frisk had moved on through the ruins, solving more puzzles and meeting more monsters. Most of them had been friendly after they got past their initial fear of the "strange human". (That was what most of the monsters had addressed them as.)
Now, they were in a room with a mouse hole and a piece of cheese that was stuck to a table. They tried pulling it off, and after a while of tugging it came free. Frisk broke of a piece and put it in front of the mouse hole, and tried to eat the rest, hoping it would reduce their hunger. Unfortunately, and rather surprisingly, the cheese turned to ash when they bit it. It seemed they couldn't eat anything anymore.
Sighing sadly, Frisk moved on to the next room, stopping short when they sighted a ghost lying on a pile of leaves and blocking the path. They stood there awkwardly while the ghost repeatedly said "z", before trying to move through it. It was a ghost, so they must be able to walk through it, right?
Their brief sense of accomplishment disappeared when the ghost floated up from where it was lying and said "rude. don't you know it's not nice to walk through ghosts…?" in a melancholic voice. Soon after, Frisk felt their soul being drawn out again and entered the battle.
They had become accustomed to their soul's look, but they were used to the monsters they encountered commenting on it. The ghost was no exception. "oh… your soul… it doesn't look good… are you… okay?" It asked.
"Well, not really, but I can't do much about it. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Frisk replied.
"oh… okay then…" The ghost started crying acid tears, which Frisk looked concerned about.
"I think I should be the one asking if you're okay. Why are you crying?" They asked.
"oh… are you… being nice to me…?" The ghost sounded mildly surprised. "thank you… for being nice, i mean…"
"Are people not usually nice to you?" Frisk asked, upset.
"there are people who are… nice… i just… don't get many people asking me about my problems…" The ghost ended the fight and floated back down to lie on the ground. "oh… my name is napstablook… in case you wanted to know…"
"That's a nice name, Napstablook. My name is Frisk." They sat down next to Napstablook. "Would… would you like to talk about your problems…? You don't have to if you don't want to."
"that might… be nice…" Napstablook sighed. "my main problem is… my cousin... even though he's really nice to me… he still decided to become corporeal after telling me he wouldn't… and now he's having lots of fun following his dreams… but… now i'm lonely… and i'd like him to come back… but… i like seeing him having fun, too… i just don't know what to do…"
Frisk gave Napstablook a sympathetic look and said, "That does sound like a problem. How about… I can be your friend and you won't be lonely, but you can still support your cousin?"
"that… sounds really… nice… thank you… strange human…" Napstablook said before disappearing. With a jolt, Frisk realised that they had forgotten what they had become, and the reason they had come down here in the first place. The thought that they would just end up hurting Napstablook when they starved made them feel guilty.
*Several more rooms later…*
After leaving the area that they had encountered Napstablook, Frisk had headed forward, before realising that they were going towards a dead end, and turning back to the correct path. Along the path were a few more puzzles and some new monsters, and at the end of the path they had found an old dead tree, and a neat and tidy house.
Frisk looked up at the arches and ridges of the small home, before heading forward and entering the house. The inside was much like the outside, neat and tidy, but it was clearly abandoned as there wasn't any furniture and everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. Surprisingly, there were no cobwebs.
After looking around and finding nothing of interest, Frisk headed down the stairway in front of the entrance. They found a long hallway which ended by a big door with a symbol on it. They pushed open the door and headed through another long hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was another big door, which was harder to open. Harder being a relative term, since neither of the doors had been too hard to open with their new strength.
Their thoughts were interrupted as cold air rushed past, brushing their hair and chilling them down to the bone. At least they were wearing their favourite sweater, or this trip would be a slightly unpleasant. Not like they could die from the cold, though. They stepped out into the chill and took everything in. There was a cobble road leading through a pine forest, and snow caked the earth and trees. It was a pretty sight to take in, but Frisk didn't feel like enjoying the scenery, and so they continued down the path and into the woods.
Soon, they noticed a branch lying across the path. The sight of it instinctively made them nervous, as, unlike the cold, that could kill them. They stepped over it, noticing how it looked too heavy for anyone to be able to wield it anyway. As they walked, they heard the branch break. They turned, and saw nothing – except the branch, which had been smashed to pieces. A few moments later, there was a footstep. When they turned, no one was there. Although Frisk appreciated a good joke and scare, they were a little nervous that someone had managed to crush the branch as if it were nothing.
Shortly after they came across a bridge with wooden beams across it, but those beams and bars were too far apart to stop anyone from going through, and Frisk had to wonder what the point of them was. Before they could walk through it, however, they heard footsteps behind them.
"you. don't you know how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand." Came an ominous voice from behind them, and Frisk turned, extending their hand to meet another, cold and bony. Standing in front of them was a skeleton, dressed rather casually in shorts and a blue hoodie. When they shook hands, there was a rather awkward farting noise. A whoopee cushion.
"heheh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny. anyways, so you're… something like a human, right? that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the skeleton. haven't seen anything like you since… well, ever. my brother, papyrus, has been hoping to meet a new human. actually, I think that's him over there. come on, i have an idea." The small skeleton said, giving a light shrug before leading Frisk through the gateway and to what seemed like a sentry post, with a rather oddly shaped lamp nearby.
"quick, behind that conveniently shaped lamp." Sans said, pointing to the lamp.
"What? Okay, sure." Frisk mumbled, heading over to the lamp and standing next to it. This was absolutely ridiculous; the other skeleton was going to see them. Although, why that was a bad thing was entirely beyond them, but they figured they were about to see, as the taller skeleton came by in a much more ridiculous outfit. It suited him.
"sup, bro?" Sans says casually, putting his hands in the pouch of his hoodie.
"YOU KNOW WHAT'S 'SUP', BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!" Papyrus shouted.
"staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna look?" Sans replied, once again with a light shrug.
Not that this plan was good to begin with, but he's throwing it off even more by just putting his attention on the lamp that I'm standing next to, Frisk thought to themselves.
"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!" Papyrus replied angrily, stomping the ground. "WHAT IF A NEW HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!? I WANT TO BE READY! IF I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NOTIFY THE KING AND QUEEN ABOUT A NEW HUMAN, THEN THE ENTIRE ROYAL FAMILY WILL WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME! MAYBE EVEN CHARA! I'LL FINALLY BE ABLE TO PROPERLY JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, 'FRIEND'? I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING."
"hmmm. maybe this lamp will help you."
Seriously Sans, you are not helping! Also, why has Papyrus not seen me yet? Frisk was quite confused.
"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"
"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton." Out of nowhere, one of those drum rimshot sounds played, but Frisk didn't bother complaining because it covered up their laughter pretty well.
"SANS!"
"come on. you're smiling."
"I AM AND I HATE IT! *SIGH*… WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME… HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION…"
"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone." The rimshot played again.
"UGH! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE, 'BACKBONE' INTO IT! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! HEH!" Papyrus did his strange laugh while leaving the area.
"ok, you can come out now." Sans said to Frisk. They stepped out from behind the lamp, bewildered as to why Papyrus couldn't see them.
"you oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does…" Sans winked. "…you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."
Frisk half-smiled and headed over to inspect the sentry station. There were bottles of ketchup, mustard and relish sitting inside. Frisk quickly averted their gaze from the bottle of ketchup, as it reminded them of how hungry they were and also of what they needed to consume in order to not be hungry.
Feeling more uncomfortable than before, they started down the path that Papyrus had taken, as it seemed to be the only other direction they could go. Before they left the area, however, they heard Sans calling to them. "actually, hey… hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favour? i was thinking… my brother's been kinda down lately. if you could let him escort you around and keep pretending to be human, it might just make his day." Frisk decided that it'd be nice to make Papyrus feel better, seeing as he didn't seem to have many friends. But before they could reply to Sans, he said, "thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." He then walked in the opposite direction.
What strange skeletons, Frisk thought.