If there was one thing Frisk never expected to happen in her life, it was falling down a deep dark abyss into a world of monsters. Like something straight out of a Lewis Carroll novel the young woman had fallen down, down, down the rabbit hole, only to wake up on a bed of golden flowers with nothing but the light slipping in from the chasm up above to guide her.

On shaky hands she'd lifted herself up from the patch of buttercups, absently admiring the way they seemed to persist under her weight and only appear to be slight smashed from where she'd made impact.

Then, on trembling legs she had forced herself to move. As much as her body protested, it would do her no good to stay; she had to find a way out.

Following the only exist in the cave she had landed in, the human had slowly but steadily made her way into the next room. This one, much like the first was barren save for an illuminated patch of grass where a single golden flower resided.

"Howdy! I'm FLOWEY! FLOWEY the FLOWER!"

That altercation had been… several kinds of disturbing.

By god, never in her wildest dreams did Frisk think it possible that a flower could scare the ever-loving crap out of her.

From the moment the little satanic posy spoke of gaining "love" through these "friendliness pellets" he (at least she assumed they were a he, maybe if she hadn't been so freaked out she would have asked what pronoun they preferred) expected her to catch.

They'd come slowly at first, enough that even in her battered state she was able to sidestep out of the way. Thankfully the crimson heart that was her soul dutifully followed. He hadn't looked to thrilled by that. Then he shot them a second time, this one faster than Frisk could keep up with, resulting in a few pellets nipping her right shoulder.

The pain was instantaneous, searing in every sense of the word.

It was too much for her to handle and with a pained scream the human sank to her knees. The little yellow bar with strange numbers had been reduced to one. Flowey had mocked her for her impudence, surrounding her with his seed-like bullets; frozen the young woman could only watch as the circle of death came closer.

And just as she was sure it was the end for her…

Something happened…

Like breathing in the warmth after spending hours in the freezing cold, the girl felt her aches fade away as the yellow bar was maxed out and the pellets vanished. Then without warning, a large bone flew from the darkness, nailing Flowey between the eyes and sent him flying.

Where he landed, Frisk didn't know but once he was gone she turned to face her savior. After that display one couldn't be too careful.

"Sorry about that, been meaning to fix that weed problem," said a voice from the shadows. It sounded male.

With lazy steps the figure came forward, dressed in a black and blue tunic with a hood that covered their head. Whoever this person was, they continued to walk until they stood before her and offered their hand.

She just stared at it instead; one reason being that she didn't know if she could trust this man and the other was that she was trying to accept the fact that his hand was entirely made of bone.

What the fu—

"Ah come on kiddo, no need to be afraid."

Her eyes shot toward his face, finally visible to her now that he stood in the light. Frisk really didn't know what else she was expecting after seeing that, nevertheless it still stunned her as to meet the eye or should she say, eye socket of her rescuer.

"Oh I get it," he told her with mischievous half lidded sockets as he withdrew his hand and put both arms behind his back. It was honestly fascinating how bone could do that. It shouldn't be able to do that, but it was! "Never seen a talking skeleton before have you?"

Taking her silence as confirmation he continued, closing his sockets and giving her a casual shrug. "Yeah I should have figured, you human types tend to get a bit unsettled when ya meet a monster that looks a whole lot like your friends on the inside."

"But don't worry I'm not gunna hurt ya," opening his right socket to look at her. "Despite this mug of mine I'm as soft as a skelly-bear," he ended as he brought his hands up, palms out in a show of peace.

Wait did he just…?

That prompted a snort to escape her.

"There's the smile. Ya know for a second there ya had me worried kiddo, thought that seeing what I look like might have scared you out of your skin."

Which turned into a laugh.

This cannot be real.

"Then again," his tone playful as he held his chin between his left index finger and thumb in mock contemplation. "You were probably still reeling from such a seedy situation."

The sounds that had come out of her then and there had to have been some of the most unladylike anyone had ever heard, yet there was no mistaking that pleased grin the skeleton's resting smile had morphed into.

He let her sit there, doubled over in laugher for a full minute before he offered his hand again, this time she accepted.

"You're a little big for a kiddo, arentcha kiddo," he said somewhat surprised to find that she was just an inch shorter than him.

"I guess that's because I'm not," the human teased. "I'm 19."

"So an adult human then, that's new," he stated thoughtfully. "Anyway I'm Sans, Sans the Skeleton and caretaker of the Ruins."

"I'm Frisk the uh… human," her introduction a tad awkward as she shook his hand. It was surprising pleasant.

"I pass through here everyday to see if anybody has fallen, you're the first in a long time. Follow me and I'll guide you through he catacombs."

Sans headed toward the doorway, only to stop when he noticed Frisk wasn't following. He didn't speak, opting to instead raise a single boney brow in question of her hesitation.

"The rest of the Ruins, will there be other monsters like…" the girl trailed off, looking in the general direction where Flowey had disappeared.

"Like him? No. They'll still try to fight you, but unlike that little creep it's more out of curiosity. Aside from the rare human we don't get many new people here."

Seeing that she was still nervous about proceeding the skeleton went to her side once more, his smile gentle as he turned her chin to look at him.

"I know you only just got here and all this is a lot to take in, but if you let me, I can show you what you need to know to stay safe. Which, if I'm being honest here, is pretty easy since most resident here relatively harmless."

"What about Flowey?"

"You let me worry about him. And take it from me bud, that's pest's bark is way worse than his bite."

The young woman chuckled at the puns, her nerves steadied.

"Lead the way then."

~}{~

Together they had explored the Ruins.

With the help of a training dummy, Sans had instructed her on how to engage with the monsters that confronted her, as well as how to solve the numerous puzzles scattered around each room.

They'd encountered a few monsters, but like Sans had said, they we easily pacified. The couple here and there that proved more difficult to handle were scared off by a stern look from the skeleton, their fear and respect for him stronger than their urge to mess with her.

When he deemed her ready, he had allowed her to wander on her own, it was at that point Frisk discovered that her guide was a but of a lazy bones. (Ha, bet he'd love that one!) Eventually she had made her way to the near end of the Ruins, where the girl had found him asleep, nestled among the roots of a dead tree.

Apparently he had been waiting so long for her to arrive that he couldn't stop himself from falling asleep. Which begged the question, 'why the hell did he come looking for her?'

Either way she was fine, but seeing as his explanation wasn't getting him much sympathy he decided a peace offering was in order.

~}{~

"How about I get ya something to eat? You're probably hungry right?"

"Yes, but…"

"What's wrong?"

"I really don't want to sound rude, especially after you've done so much to help me."

"But?"

"Have you ever even used a kitchen before?"