In this world, it was kill or be killed.

They had learned this from a very young age, when their father came home at night and he was too gone to breathe, let alone take care of a child. They learned this at a very young age when they'd take a single step outside of the house and hear whispers from every direction, hissing in their ears and scorning them, their short height, their practically unheard of bright red eyes, their unnaturally pale skin and unhealthy demeanor. Their father would never deny this and their mother went along with him, because she had to. Their father reminded them of these insults each day, a shaping formation that stuck into their heart and clawed at their throat and their skin and their blood.

In this world, it was kill or be killed -

- unless, then, you killed AND were killed. But that was impossible, they noted in scrutiny. That went against everything, didn't it?

They did not want to go outside. Those who were Of The Village (they never really knew any of them personally) were harsh and cruel, and they had a hard time thinking that those people could've once been anyone else.

Practically everyone was like this, catching their luminous red eyes and hissing demon spawn, giving them dirty looks in the street and all they were was a child who'd never done anything in their life. You'd think that by 201X - a decade where people practically shouted that change was imminent and everyone should be treated equally - this would have stopped. But humans were especially good at making promises and never following through with them. In 201X, they also would have thought that urban legends like the one about how people who travel to that mountain nearby vanish and never return would have stopped, but they hadn't.

It peaked their curiosity, in a sick, demented sense.

Their dad had went out extra early today, their mom left to remain sat in the kitchen with knitting needles. She did not pay attention to them often, and while she was their mother, they craved no attention from her. They craved no attention from any human, for all humans could do was hurt them with the attention given. The steps creaked under their touch, but their mother kept knitting, did not bother. The steps creaked often, and so the cause could be many things other than them. It was easy for them to sneak to the door, easy for them to push open the creaking door, easy for them to peek out and make sure that nobody was waiting to spit demon child, disgusting spawn. When they weren't, they ran, fast, too fast. Through the fields, heavy breathing, up the steep mountain and running and running and running and -

They tripped over a vine.

They tumbled and they fell, the skylight vanishing above them.

Their bones ached and their arms were wet with blood. Scrapes scattered their legs and when they put their hands on the ground to lift themself up -

Pain snapped through their bones, seared and burned. A gasp yanked itself from their lips and they fell, hitting the ground and aching. A cry wrapped itself in their throat, pushed at their mouth. They breathed heavily, clasped their arms, squirming on the ground.

Rustling.

"It sounds like it came from over here..."

Footsteps. They tensed, preparing themselves for sudden pain and suddenly it just being a dream and suddenly -

"Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you..."

They licked their lips, tasting blood, and looked up. Their stomach dropped. What in - what was that?

It was... a strange thing. They were a furry goat-human hybrid thing, covered in soft white fur with long ears. The...monster? Was wearing a green and yellow sweater, like theirs. The monster focused on them and frowned to its...them...himself. "Are you okay?" he - it was a guy, they were pretty sure - asked, which was a very stupid question in their opinion, for they were bleeding. They nodded mutely anyway, and he extended a hand which they clasped. He pulled them to their feet, and almost immediately their legs gave out under them. He put his other arm around their shoulders for support. They slung their arm around his waist, and with much of the pressure lifted off of them, struggled to stand.

"I'm..." The word pulled itself from their mouth before they could think. They were about to tell him their Old Name, but he turned to look at them, and they blurted, "Chara."

It wasn't their Old Name, but it was very nice, so Chara it was.

"Chara, huh?" the goat boy (literally a kid) said, and he smiled. "That's a nice name."

Yes, they agreed silently, it was a very good name. They looked at him, and he continued happily, "My name is Asriel."

They smiled at him; it was strained and pulled at their face muscles uncomfortably, like they hadn't smiled in ages, but it was the best they could've done. Asriel shifted his arm a little, and then said, "I should probably take you back to the house. Mom and Dad could probably help you."

Chara tensed; their mom and dad were not so nice. But then, these people were not humans. Chara had to trust that they'd be nicer.

Chara was sure that they would be. No one was as disgusting as a human.

Chara did not have a hard time fitting in with the Dreemurrs, though they were much different from what Chara had known before. All of them were overly sweet - not in the fake way, but so kind that it hurt. Chara couldn't help feeling like they didn't deserve such kindness. Asriel's parents were the king and queen of monsters, named Toriel and Asgore, who had scared Chara out of their wits when they first met (all they could remember was tall tales of monster kings snatching up human royalty and running off with them) but quickly proved to be the best parents Chara had ever had.

In truth, Chara was a bit of a mom's kid. Toriel calmed them down very easily, plus she made good pies, plus she had this nice way of speaking that sounded very formal but very kind at the same time. Chara tried to emulate her often. Asriel was a bit closer to Asgore than Chara was, but Chara still loved him. He cared for them deeply, and had high hopes for what they'd become in the future. He often gardened with Chara when they had the time. Plus, if they'd liked anything, it was plants. Especially the pretty golden flowers which Chara twined around their fingers.

But, of course, their closest relationship was to Asriel - he made for everything Chara had needed but hadn't gotten. He was playful and fun, and probably the one who made Chara the most comfortable around the Dreemurrs. Even when they were hesitant to talk, which was the first long stretch of their stay with the Dreemurrs, Asriel had tried his best to make Chara comfortable. He had often brought Chara outside into the muddy flower garden, so excitable and chirpy that Chara had a hard time doing anything but succumbing to being nice to him.

And soon the family was closer than ever - Chara was the happiest they'd ever been.

On the date of Asriel's birthday, all three of the other Dreemurrs surprised Chara by celebrating their birthday on the same date. Chara walked into the living room and doubled back when they saw the banner hanging from the ceiling: Happy Birthday, Asriel & Chara!

"My birthday, too?" Chara asked, their red eyes going wide.

"That's right!" Asriel giggled, hurrying to Chara's side. "Haaaappy birthday!" he sang, in sync with Toriel and Asgore.

Chara blinked, their cheeks going pink. "O-Oh... I'm..." Their hands trembled on the box in their hands.

Toriel frowned, moving and setting one hand on their shoulder. "Are you all right, my child?" she questioned.

"Y-Yeah, I..." Chara laughed softly, swallowing down the ball of emotion in their throat. "I'm sorry, that's really silly, isn't it... I'm just not used to being..."

They didn't really want to say it, and they were very thankful when Asriel seemed to catch on to this and instead threw his arms around them. "Well, too bad! Come celebrate with us, Mom made your favorite pie!" Chara immediately brightened at the mention of pie, and Asgore and Toriel chuckled as the two children hurried over to the table.

"Careful, children," Asgore warned, but he laughed deep in his throat and ruined it. "You wouldn't want to drop your gifts."

"Of course not," agreed Chara. "But presents are opened after the pie." Asriel giggled next to them, and Chara smiled and sat their gift down onto the table. Asgore made a noise of agreement. Toriel sighed, shaking her head at their antics, but she, too, was smiling.

By the time the pie was eaten and the kids were full, Asgore pulled himself another piece of pie and Chara and Asriel swapped their gifts. They wanted to open theirs together first, and then they'd open the ones their Mom and Dad had given them.

Asriel opened the box and almost immediately grinned, hands snatching the heart-shaped locket placed inside and bringing it closer to his face to examine. He turned it over, and smiled crookedly at the BFFs engraving on the back. Next to him, Chara made a noise of approval as they looked at the shiny dagger. "Thanks," they said, smiling widely and setting the dagger neatly in front of them.

"I love it!" Asriel said, excited, as he unlatched the locket and struggled to put it on. Chara snickered and Asriel pouted at them as Toriel crossed to his side and fixed the locket on his neck, finishing with a quiet "there".

The goat boy turned to face his sibling. "You should've gotten one for you, too, so we'd match!" Asriel exclaimed.

"Who said I didn't?" they said mischievously, and sure enough, there was another locket inside the box when Asriel looked inside. "Besides. We're best friends anyway, aren't we?" Chara put in, smiling. "Together forever." Asriel echoed these words, and agreed.

Sometimes Chara cried.

This was when Asriel and Chara bonded most, strangely. It happened a lot when they were alone; sometimes at night, sometimes during the day when they were alone. Either way, there were a lot of times when Asriel opened the door to his room and found Chara crying.

At first, they'd been very defensive. Even after they'd let their walls down, they were very defensive about it. "Crying is stupid," they spat, "crying is for babies. I'm not a baby! I should be acting like an adult."

"It's okay to cry, sometimes," Asriel had tried to reason.

"No, it's not," insisted Chara. "It's never okay."

Asriel, for that reason, tried not to cry around Chara. They seemed to have very thin patience for anyone who did it, especially themself. Asriel wondered if it had anything to do with their past, but never brought it up, because their past was one of the few things Chara never told him about, ever.

Chara did, however, tell him about a little about life on the surface.

"It's disgusting," Chara said thickly one day, tears rolling down their face. "Everyone's so mean and so nasty and no one would want to live up there, no matter how much they think that they do."

That was his first clue. No one would want to live up there.

Chara's words about the surface were not kind. They described terrible humans, disgusting things that found dead roadkill on the side of the street and spat on it; the kind of things that would kick a Temmie or be very good friends with a Jerry. They told horrible tales of humans who stabbed and murdered each other just to take what the other owned; creatures of no MERCY and all LOVE. Asriel almost wanted to not believe it, but there was something in the pitiful notes of Chara's crying, broken voice that convinced him otherwise.

Chara's hatred was obvious. They wanted all humans gone.

Asriel disagreed. "There are more people that are kind like you, aren't there?" But Chara never responded. (There are a lot of Floweys out there, he later confided in a friend.)

Other times Chara dissolved into things Asriel didn't know how to classify; thrashing, wailing, too out of control to contain. "It'll be okay," he told them, "you've got nothing to worry about. Take a deep breath." They always ended up calming down, and for a while they would just stay together and Asriel would reassure them.

"I didn't like the surface," Chara told him another time. "It's so much nicer down here... especially having a best friend like you. I couldn't bear living up there."

Asriel averted his eyes.

"I don't -"

"You had an idea, didn't you?" Chara said. "I think you know." Their voice trembled, just a little bit.

"You really wanted to k - to -"

"Yes," Chara said, without hesitation, and Asriel had a sickening feeling they might do it again.

Seems as if everyone is perfectly happy.

Peace and prosperity will rule across the land.

Take a deep breath.

There's nothing left to worry about.

...

See you later... Chara.