A/N: It's a really cold day outside. Wind is blowing, trees are waving. On days like these, trains like you... Should be burning in HELL.

Hello my readers. That is a quote directly from the mouth of me. I was at Golden Gardens park this afternoon. (Update: A long time ago) There was a coal train going by and I got pissed, so naturally I sweared a lot at the train, told it it would have a bad time, and said that. We laughed really hard.

But anyway!

Disclaimer: I'm uh... not Annoying Dog. I don't own Undertale. Sueing is unconstitutional on the website of FanFiction. If you sue me, you'll get a Frisk face. -_-

Howdy! I'm Candy. Candy the FanFiction author. This is my first {real} Undertale FF. Yay! Get some salad, and lettuce begin.

But before we do! I don't know how they spoke back in 1336 and onwards, so my characters will be using colloquial diction. Hope that doesn't bother y'all.

And... um... uh... welp, this actually takes place BEFORE the time of Papyrus and Sans... sooo... they won't be characters in here for a while. Just thought I'd throw that out there... I know how many Sans and Papyrus fans there are in the world.

(Raven: What? NUUUUUUUU-)

Edit: I've done way too much research to find out if my headcanon is correct, and it turns out that nobody actually knows anything. So I'm gonna roll with it. Except for one thing. I'm actually gonna make Sans and Papyrus characters in here from the very beginning. (Raven: YAAAAAAAAAY!) People think that they are teens or something, and while I kinda agree, people assume that Sans was probably there while all the humans were going through. I don't know what to do here. But I really like the font siblings, so I'm gonna put them in here.

I'd also like to mention, (sorry the A/N is so long, I'm really wordy) the chapter titles will be quotes from things with the quality that the SOUL values. So chapter one, bravery, is a quote from Divergent. Chapter two, justice, will be from Death Note. The third, kindness, will be a Mark Twain quote. Etc. It doesn't speak much for the personalities of the characters, for example, Skye isn't selfish and Amelia doesn't know any blind or deaf people, but I just thought it would be fun to do. Let me know in a review if there are any quotes you'd like to see for patience, integrity, perseverance, and determination.

One last thing. For real this time.

So... I know a lot of you probably think or know that Napstablook has always been a ghost, but I really don't think that's possible, as he forgets that ghosts can fly, implying that he hasn't been a ghost forever. Napstablook was a key character in creating Skye, so I really don't think that I'll be able to change it. Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

Chapter one: I am selfish. I am brave. Part one

Year 1336

"They're really dead, then?" Skye couldn't bear to listen to how choked with emotion Malcolm's voice sounded. She stared at their graves, her own eyes blurred with tears. She blinked them back. She had to stay strong for her little brother.

"I'm sorry." She said. She didn't know if she was saying it to Malcolm or to them. Maybe both. Who did she mean it more for? Malcolm grabbed her hand and squeezed.

"I wish..." he trailed off. Skye knew how he felt. She didn't know whether to wish that they were different, that she was different, or that circumstances were different. She didn't care. They protested against the fact that the mosters were kept underground. Called it unfair. They were admired by many. But hated by even more. It wasn't really a matter of why, or how, but more of a matter of who, and when. Skye didn't care. Not about the who, or the when, or even the how. She cared about her brother's safety. That was it.

"I know." It seemed like so little compared at what it was that she knew. But it was enough. Because she did.

Her parents were dead. That wasn't changing. That was what she knew.

"Mom used to say that she'd climb Mt. Ebott someday and liberate the monsters." Malcolm reminded Skye as they entered their house. It was small. It probably wouldn't be theirs for much longer. Which meant that Skye would have to cut her hair, pretend to be a guy, and work. Girls her age were married already. Their family was disgraced, as they supposedly "turned their back on the will of God", and wanted the monsters to come above ground, so Syke hadn't been expected to marry yet. She figured it was only a matter of time.

"I remember that. Dad said he'd go with her." Skye remembered. She remembered saying that she'd go with them too, and them saying that she needs to stay and take care of Malcolm. She must protect Malcolm. She couldn't agree more.

"I always thought they were kidding. I mean, that was crazy, it still is crazy. Even for them." Skye agreed. It pained her to think it, much less say it out loud, so she said nothing, just nodded, and walked over to the kitchen.

"Do you want some tea?" She asked.

"No. I want to go climb Mt. Ebott." Said Malcolm. Skye turned around and stared at him. There was a fierce look in his eyes. "The way... that the monsters were imprisoned... that's not justice. It's not fair to them." Skye looked him up and down. She knew him better than she knew herself. 8 years old, messed up brown hair, green eyes that sparkled when he spoke about justice. She could see him falling off that mountain.

And yet... there was an urge in her gut that agreed with him. That said that they should save the monsters. To preserve her parent's memory. A strong one.

One that was so strong, in fact, that it lead her to be climbing Mt. Ebott to see if it was safe to climb before letting him.

Now, Skye was quite strong. She reached the top of the mountain and looked around. The view was breathtaking. Oh, she'd have loved to see this all with Malcolm!

But strength can't help you in terms of agility. She started to climb back down, and when she reached about halfway, she missed with her foot and found herself falling...

Skye wasn't an expert on falling, but she knew that if she didn't catch herself soon, she'd be a pancake. But her mind decided to shut down on her as she fell.

As darkness surrounded her, Skye hoped that Malcolm would be okay on his own. Sorry mom, she thought. I guess I should never make promises.

When Skye woke up, it was dark, yet she could see. The first thing she was aware of was warmth against her chest. She felt a necklace, held there by a chain. She pulled the necklace out of her shirt and stared at it. It was an orange heart with a supernatural glow. Words appeared in front of the heart, surprising her. "This is your SOUL." She stared at it.

She stood up, dusting herself off and looking around. Behind her was where she fell, a wall and some yellow flowers. "Some yellow flowers." something read. "They must have cushioned your fall." Skye blinked, and turned around to look at her surroundings. There was a dark hallway. She shrugged, and walked down in. No way to go except forward, I guess, she thought.

She reached a doorway and went through.

Skye saw nothing through the doorway except a figure.

This figure was questionably male. He was facing away from her, his head hunched. He was wearing headphones. Skye stared at him for a moment. Hmm... a figure in the underground who appears to be listening to music and not want to be disturbed... I'll ask him for directions! Brave and motivated as Skye may be, intelligence was never one of her strong suits. Which is probably why she was here in the first place.

"Excuse me?" She asked the figure. He didn't respond. His music was probably too loud. "Excuse me? Excuse me!" He turned around. His eyes were round, and pitch black. His face looked human, factoring in the fact that his skin was gray. He seemed to be incredibly sad about something.

Skye's necklace burned against her chest. It was so hot, her chest should have seared with pain. But all she felt was fear. And DETERMINATION. (A/N: Haha, sorry, I had to.) "You are in combat." Those words again. "Napstablook blocks your path!" Skye was faced with four options. One, was "Fight". Next to it was "Act". Next to that, was "Item". Finally, there was "Mercy". She nodded, subtly, towards act. She saw multiple options. "Cheer." "Threaten." "Check." "Plead."

Skye wasn't going anywhere. She looked down at her hands, frowning. She must have lost one of her gloves in the fall. She chose threaten.

"Where am I?" She snarled. "Tell me, or I'll kill you." Napstablook sighed, reaching up and pushing his headphones to his neck.

"I-I'm sorry to be in your path." He said. He started crying. His tears floated towards her and hit her SOUL.

Ouch, she thought. He must be sad... She chose cheer.

"Sorry, I must have been confused." Skye hoped she sounded sincere. "You give Napstablook a patient smile."

"Wh-why are you cheering me up?" He asked. He continued to cry. His tears continued to hit her.

Will it not work? She wondered. Skye felt a surge of fear. She glanced at "Fight", then looked at Napstablook. No... no fighting. He's not... not a bad person... "Plead".

"Please... I need to get out of here and save my brother..." Skye said. She saw a bar labelled "HP". 02/20

Napstablook stared at her for a short time. "Napstablook understands your pain." His name turned yellow. "When an opponent's name turns yellow, that means you can spare them." Skye chose "Mercy".

She saw two options. "Spare", and "Flee". She looked again at Napstablook, who wasn't crying anymore. He wasn't smiling, but he was watching her sympathetically. "Spare".

"Oh... you want to know where you are?" Napstablook was dressed strangely, Skye noticed. He was wearing black pants and a shirt, but no shoes. She could see the disadvantages of dressing like he was, especially in the winter. Then again, flowers bloomed here in the winter. The underground was a strange place.

"Yeah, I mean, if it's not too much trouble for you to tell me." Skye said. "I'd like to get back above ground."

"Well, right now you're in The Ruins." Said Napstablook. "If you want to get through here, the caretaker of The Ruins, Toriel, has a doorway to Snowdin. I think she'd be glad to help you." Skye still felt like she needed to do something before she met Toriel.

"What are you listening to?" She asked. Napstablook shrugged.

"Uh... it's just something I made... if you want to listen to it, that's fine. But if you don't, that's okay." He seemed to expect her to say no. Skye smiled.

"I'd love to." He pulled off his headphones and handed them to her. She put them on. A catchy tune played in her ears. "Does it have a name?"

"Oh, yeah." It didn't seem like Napstablook could be excited by anything. "It's called 'Spooktune'. Did you... do you like it?"

"It's really good!" Said Skye. She gave him back the headphones. "Thank you for the advice, Napstablook."

"N...no problem." He said. "Maybe, someday, if you want... we could hang out."

"I'd like that." Skye gave him the same patient smile she did when she was in combat with him, and turned to leave. She took two steps, then turned around, remembering to say goodbye.

But Napstablook was already gone.

"What is a human doing down here?" Toriel was a tall woman with the face of a goat. And... hands of a goat. She was wearing a long purple dress with a white symbol on it. She had a kind smile.

"Are you Toriel?" Skye thought that the safest was to go was to avoid her question. She felt as if she explained to Toriel her situation, she might break down completely.

"Yes I am, my child." Toriel said kindly. Toriel seemed like a mother. Not Skye's mother. Skye's mother was... different. But she definitely gave off a motherly vibe. Skye decided that she liked Toriel. "Is there something you need?"

"Um..." Skye didn't know how to word it.

"Oh dear, you're wounded. Please, come inside and rest." Skye didn't really want to rest until she could get above ground and make sure her brother was safe. She could be wasting time right now.

And yet... Skye was so tired. Her body ached. She was hungry, and wanted to be safe. Toriel was kind.

Perhaps... just for a while. She followed Toriel inside.

When Skye woke up, she snuck outside for a moment. There, to her surprise, was a golden diamond shape in the leaves of a tree out in Toriel's yard.

She walked up to it and reached out, gathering it in her hands. It was warm, and Skye could almost feel a pulse from it. It matched with her own heartbeat. "The prospect of going through the entire underground sounds dangerous. It doesn't scare you one bit. The thought of your own BRAVERY fills you with DETERMINATION." Skye saw two options. "Save", and "Reset".

She chose save. She didn't know what would happen if she reseted.

When Skye returned inside, she walked down the hallway that the room she slept in was in. She saw a mirror on the wall. "It's you." She stared into the mirror. Green eyes, long brown hair pulled back with her father's old bandana, and pale skin with freckles across her nose. She was wearing a glove on her right hand. Her shirt was too big, and a pale, ugly orange with dirt stains and rips. Her pants were beige shorts with rips on the knees. She was wearing plain gray boots. She looked terrible, her hair was a mess. She took off the bandana and ran her hand through it, giving up a second later and returning the bandana to her hair with a sigh. One fight against one monster, and she was already almost dead. How would she get out of this alive? And if she was dying down here, how on earth was Malcolm alive on the surface, without her?

She walked out to the living room where Toriel was sitting on an armchair. Skye cleared her throat. "Um... Toriel? I'm sorry, but I got directions to you from a person called 'Napstablook'. He said that you know a way out of The Ruins..." Toriel frowned, then sighed.

"Yes, I do. My child, let me give you something before I show you out, if it is okay." Toriel looked like she doubted doing this for a reason that Skye could not guess.

"Of course..." Skye trailed off as Toriel handed her a piece of pie.

"It will heal you, child. Try to stay safe on the way back to the surface." Skye looked at the pie, and as if guessing what she wanted, it seemed to vanish, yet she knew it was with her.

"Thanks you." Skye found herself at a loss for words. Already, after the few hours that Skye had been here, she felt a rush of affection and gratitude for this woman. She silently thanked Napstablook for telling her about her.

"Come." Toriel took Skye's hand and led her down some stairs that Skye had seen on her way into this room.

They walked down a long hallway. The walls and the floor were purple. Skye glanced around nervously. Was the hallway made this long on purpose? All she could hear was the sound of their footsteps and the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. There was also an annoying ringing sound. She pressed closer to Toriel. When would the hallway end? They continued on walking in silence. It sounded like there was a river rushing next to her ears. Her heart was pounding so hard against her chest that it kinda hurt. She hoped it wasn't actually happening. They walked on.

Finally, at the end of the hallway, they reached a door. Toriel turned to Skye. "This is it, my child." She said. "Please, stay safe." Skye wanted to say so many things in that moment.

"Toriel..." Skye said. "I will try to free the monsters from the underground." Was it a foolish promise?

Toriel smiled kindly. "I will trust you. I wish you the best of luck." She let go of Skye's hand and watched as Skye walked through the heavy door.

Skye was hit with a rush of cold. She shivered, rubbing her arms. This must be why it's called "Snowdin"... the underground is so strange. It was perfectly warm in The Ruins. She wished her short sleeved shirt had long sleeved. Nothing left to do, she walked forward. She saw another yellow diamond. What would she call it?

"A save point." The words seem to be whispered in Skye's ear. She didn't turn around, didn't feel any fear, didn't even move or think. She didn't dare. "Oh, don't be so surprised. Somewhere, you probably know that I've been here the whole time." Who was talking to her?

Skye turned around, and saw the ghost of a girl. She had shoulder length brown hair and pitch black eyes. Her cheeks were extraordinarily red and she was dressed in beige pants and a long sleeved green sweater with a pale yellow stripe across the stomach. She was smirking. "Heehee... you didn't hear me, did you? It's that bravery of yours; as long as your SOUL cherishes BRAVERY over DETERMINATION, I can't touch you." She spat the last part of her sentence with hatred. "I have to wait. I can't share a body with anybody who falls in here who isn't DETERMINED. Well, that's not true. You are DETERMINED. You can SAVE. You must have enough DETERMINATION. Heh, should have seen that coming. I can't wait for you to die."

"Who are you?" Skye finally asked. The ghost laughed.

"I'm Chara. I am the human who fell here before you. My SOUL cherishes DETERMINATION. Yours cherishes BRAVERY. Do you know why I know, Skye? It's orange. Mine," Chara glows red, her eyes being replaced with black splotches on her face. "Is red. But recently... it's been turning black. Heehee, I never learned what black means, but I think it's HATRED. I have lots of it. You've been helping me there, Skye."

"I will not help you with anything." Said Skye boldly. "I will not help anybody who hates so much."

"Even when faced with a murderous ghost, your BRAVERY shines through. Very well. Good luck getting to Asgore. He'll kill you and take your SOUL. Then you'll be stuck with me! Heehee!" Chara disappeared.

Skye stared at what Chara had called a "Save Point". She took it in her hands, cherishing the warmth for a moment, and then pressed "save".

Skye walked forward. She didn't really want to, after talking to Chara. She didn't like the idea of a person who would kill her. Her feet made soft noises as they hit the ground. Snow fell around her. How did the snow fall? Did God make it happen underground? Skye almost laughed aloud. God. There was no choice but to believe in him, above ground, but down here, she didn't have to worry about him.

She shrugged, and walked on. But some instinct pulled her back, toward a nearby bush. She inspected the branches, and found a hidden black box. Skye didn't know what it was, but it seemed to be watching her. "Well, that's not creepy at all..." She murmured to herself. She left the bush alone, and continued walking. Soon she found herself at a bridge over a small gap that just barely could be called a hole. When Skye looked over the edge, however, she found she couldn't see the bottom. She backed away quickly, and looked back up at the bridge.

It didn't look like a very sturdy bridge, but it was all she had. Gingerly, she inched forward. She put one foot in front of the other and began to walk. As she took her third step onto the bridge however, her necklace seared hot against her chest.

Syke's heart was pounding. "Sans approaches!" "Sans" was a small skeleton who was a few inches shorter than Skye. It wasn't saying much, as she was tall for her age. He was wearing a lab coat over what looked like shorts and slippers. Skye knew she shouldn't judge, giving some thought to what she herself was wearing. Sans' mouth was pulled back into a toothy grin. Skye observed him.

He looked friendly, to be completely honest. And... based on the monsters Skye had met thus far, she couldn't make any assumptions about him wanting to hurt her. His eyes (Skye didn't know if they were eyes or lights; women weren't allowed education back on the surface, but she was fairly certain that eyes weren't bones) were dark with small white circles at the center.

"heya." The skeleton spoke quietly. His voice was deep, yet young. Skye thought he reminded her a but of her father. "you're a human, right?" He didn't seem to want to fight.

Skye glanced at "Act". She saw the words "Talk", "Check", "Flirt", and "Threaten". She'd made Napstablook cry by threatening... she chose "Talk".

Skye spread her hands, smiling what she hoped was a slightly cocky smile. "Yep." She thought for a moment, then added, "I'm kinda lost. If you could help me out, that would be great."

"heh. i guess nobody's tried to kill ya yet." Said Sans. "king asgore ordered that all humans who fall down here be killed." Skye stared at the skeleton, to see if he was kidding. He didn't seem to be. "guess we're inna predicament, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Skye asked uncertainly.

"welp, i'm technically bound by king asgore's orders too, ya know. i've kinda gotta kill ya." She didn't like the sound of death.

"..." Skye didn't know how to answer. She looked at "Check". "Sans. Atk: 1. Def: 1. He doesn't look like he'd do well in a natural disaster." She held back a snicker.

"sorry, kid. i gotta do what i'm about to do." Skye was surprised to see a bone- a solitary bone, might I add- flying at her. She scoffed and dodged it. Sans seemed amused by something.

"oh. heh. you haven't hurt anybody, have ya? i can't technically hurt you. guess i'm boned." Skye... wasn't sure what he meant.

She didn't even want to know what would happen if she flirted. She decided to talk again. "What do you mean? Surely you can hurt me if..." she didn't know how exactly to say it. "If... if you want to." Sans shrugged.

"that's not how my attacks work, pal." He replied. Skye continued listening. "uh... ya see, i deal damage based on carmic retribution. it's... uh... basically saying the more LOVE ya've got, the more i can hurt ya."

"What... is LOVE?" Skye asked.

"stands for "level of violence". i dunno that much 'bout it. if you want to learn, ya should really consider talking to gaster. then again, you're human, aren'tcha? if ya met him, i dunno if he'd be that eager to be pals." Sans didn't seem like a bad monster. Skye was beginning to believe her parents' words about the monsters being kind.

And yet... if this king Asgore ordered that she be killed... well, Skye wasn't that big on facts, but she knew people. And she knew that they killed what they didn't understand. But humans also killed what they'd had bad history with. Suddenly, she remembered something.

"That's right." Chara whispered. Skye glanced to the side and saw her. She wore a demonic grin. Skye frowned slightly."Me. I led King Asgore's son-oh, his beloved son-to his death. I wanted to save the monsters, save them from humanity. I gave his son-Asriel-my SOUL, and he went to the surface." She laughed bitterly. "But he failed. The humans thought he killed me-as if he would have been able. And they killed him. Asgore blamed me. So killing you? Will be revenge. You can fight them, I can help you."

Skye believed what Chara was saying-but something in her heart... she glanced at Sans, who was looking at her with something resembling a quizzical expression. She had told Toriel that she wanted to save the monsters. And here was Chara telling her to kill them.

No. Chara seemed to know what the answer was and shrugged. "Suit yourself." She crossed her arms and watched to see what Skye would say or do.

It's my turn. Skye realized. She looked at "Mercy", then "Spare", which was yellow. She sighed. "If you're not going to fight me... I don't want to fight you."

"honestly? same here. also, i kind suck at fighting. undyne said it's because i focus too much on my intelligence." The skeleton shrugged.

"Who's Undyne?" Skye asked.

"somebody you do not want to meet. she'll definitely kill ya right away." She didn't know what to think about this. "uh... you've been looking over there a bit." Sans pointed directly at Chara, who smirked.

"Um-I mean-yeah, I have-" he laughed.

"i can see a ghost standing there, if that's who ya've been looking at." Skye felt surprised.

"Really?" She exclaimed.

"yep. hey, it's kinda odd talking out here in the middle of nowhere. wanna go somewhere else to talk? maybe eat something?" Skye wasn't used to kind offers of help from strangers-especially not skeletons. But she was growing accustomed to the fact that monster were different from humans.

"Sure."

A/N: So I honestly won't be able to fit everything in this one chapter. I've gotten used to the fact that Skye is going to be the longest chapter next to Rachel and Cecelia. (Y'all don't know who I'm talking about-that's cool. You will.)

I wanted to make one chapter per character, maybe an epilogue and have this thing have 8 chapters most, but Skye is too hardy. She's gonna be here for a while and I can't fit that all in one chapter. This is by far the longest chapter I have ever written in my life, and she's only just met Sans. There's so much more to look forward to so I'm publishing it here!

Like it? Don't? Feel free to drop a review, but don't be pressured to do so! Reviews make my day, but if you don't want to, that is totally cool!

You guys rock, see you later!

-Candy