You shuffled your feet through the crinkling leaves as you meandered through the ruins. After a slightly strained discussion with Toriel at breakfast she allowed you to roam the ruins on your own, so long as you always kept your phone with you, fully charged and called her if absolutely anything went wrong. It was an improvement, having a little more free reign in your life, but you were still a little dissapointed that you did not get to see Snowdin, or Waterfall, or any of the other cool places that lay beyond the door. Maybe if you ran into Napstablook he could tell you what it was like there. With that thought you went bounding down the hall to the nearest monster, a whimsum, who was frightened by your sudden approach and flew away immediately. You guessed not everyone was used to you being around yet. Next you tried again with a froggit and asked if had seen a mopey ghost as shy as a whimsum. The froggit knew who you were talking about, but most other monsters would steer clear of him because he liked to be left alone. Last time the froggit tried to speak to him he just pretended he was sleeping by snoring loudly. That sounded familiar. The froggit had no idea where he was now.
You kicked up the leaves in disappointment when a thought occurred to you. The first time you went through the ruins you ran into Napstablook he was blocking your path by lying on a pile of leaves, then you found him in the puzzle where you had to fall into the caverns below to find the one with the single switch where he was also lying in the leaves and again when you were bug hunting yesterday. Leaves. Knowing his preferences on where he would like to hang out could narrow down the search and make it easier to find him... on second thought maybe not. A lot of the rooms in the ruins had piles of leaves in them and while traversing the hallways to check each one of them as they were scattered across the ruins, you would probably end up searching every inch of the ruins anyway. Although, it still would not hurt to check the room with the most leaves first. And that would be below the puzzle with the cracked ground where you were supposed to walk the path that was not over the leaves.
Swiftly you ran, so fast that you didn't realize how close you were getting and fell through the puzzle floor and onto the pile of leaves below. It was really convenient that you always had these piles to cushion your fall with every weak floor puzzle. Or was it by design? The only tree you had seen that these leaves could have come from was right outside of Toriel's house. Did she gather piles around to prevent anyone from getting seriously hurt? Yeah, that seems like something she would do. You to be looked around, Napstablook was nowhere to be found. Well he liked to be alone, so next guess would be anywhere secluded enough. Maybe you should go back to the single switch puzzle, those were pretty secluded. Although you might be assuming a lot thinking that he is even here for sure. He doesn't live in the ruins, (if you could say he lived anywhere at all, being a ghost and whatnot) so there was no guarantee that he was going to be down here everyday.
The tone of your phone ringing pulled you out of your thoughts. It had to be Toriel. You were a bit surprised she managed to go this long without calling you, even more so when you saw the time on the phone. You were late for dinner. Maybe she was trying too hard not to smother you after yesterday. You answered the call and she asked where you were and when you were coming back and you said you were going to hurry back right away, although your quick jog back home slowed down to a meandering stroll when you remembered tonite's dinner was snail pie. It wasn't your favorite but you would never complain with how happy Toriel looked when you ate her cooking.
"Welcome home, my child." Toriel greeted warmly,"dinner is already on the table. Did you enjoy your outing." You told her that you were looking for a ghost but could not find him. "Ah, yes. I believe I have seen him around occasionally. Such a lonely fellow. I try to be friendly towards him, but he is always so timid he usually leaves before a conversation can last very long." she sighed, "He once said something about his cousin leaving to get a body and he has been showing up more frequently ever since, so perhaps you will be successful tomorrow." You sigh slightly as Toriel hands you a slice of snail pie. You still did not really know where to look for him, but you did not want to ask Toriel about him any more, afraid that she may be upset if she found out why you wanted to talk to him so bad. Well, she probably would not be upset about you simply being curious about the Underground, but bringing it up so soon might be a bad idea.
The night progressed normally; after dinner Toriel cleaned up then the two of you sat together on her armchair as she read stories from one of her few children's books before sending you of to bed. You were restless. While the atmosphere of the household felt as though it had returned to a calm nature once again, the events of the past two days still buzzed in your mind. Last night was easier from the exhaustion that came from staying up late and the emotional strain, but not tonight. Sleep did not come easily to you and you did not stay asleep long either. This is why you woke up unusually early the next morning. You were even up before Toriel when you rose from your bed, which you realized when you walked through the living room to the kitchen and found she was not in either.
When you heard thumping coming from behind you, you thought it might be her getting out of bed and walked over to give her a good morning, but as you drew closer you realized that the sound was not coming from the hallway but down the staircase. You glanced down the empty hallway and back down the stairs. Curiosity compelling you to investigate. Maybe you could take a quick peek and come back without Toriel noticing, unless the thumping noise was Toriel working down there, then you would run right int her. You heard the thumping again. You quickly slid down the banister, curiosity getting the better of you, and landed in the hallway. Although the light filtering from the room above had it more visibility than before, it was still rather dim. You took this to mean Toriel was not down here as she could have illuminated the entire place with her magic.
The entire hall was empty. As you walked along you could not even find a mouse that would be causing any noise. You finally reached the end. You looked up at the door in wonder. Was something on the other side making that noise? Was something trying to get in? You pressed your ear against the door and strained to listen for a moment and where surprised when a loud thump struck the door, leaving your ear ringing a little. You jerked your head back and stuck your finger in your ear as if you could somehow get the ringing to stop that way. The ringing in your ears had not yet faded when you heard her voice behind you.
"My child, we talked about this." Toriel sighed, she sounded more melancholy than angry. You waved your hands in front of you and shook your head wildly while trying to convey that it was not what she thought it was. You reached behind you and knocked then cupped your hand behind your ear, into much of a fuss to form words to explain yourself.
"Who's there?" a deep voice sounded from the other side of the door. You jumped slightly and instinctively looked over your shoulder, not that it helped you understand what was going on any better as you could not see through solid doors.
"Oh, my child!" Toriel said in realization.
"Oh, my child who?" The voice responded.
"Oh, uh- that wasn't a joke." Toriel, "my child, was knocking on the door."
"Huh, I didn't know you had a kid. Hey if they ever give you a hard time you can have me come over to help with the PUN-ishment."
"Ha...ha." Toriel laughed weakly. She leaned down and scooped you up, holding you close as the voice on the other side rattled off more jokes.
"Kid you'd be so grounded that coffee wouldn't envy you. I'll give you a PUN-alty you'll never forget." The voice paused expectantly only to have silence grace them. "Are you feeling alright?"
"...Do you remember that promise I asked of you?" Toriel hugged you more closely as she spoke those words.
"Yes... is something wrong? Do you need help?" The voice on the other side seemed worried. Toriel shook her head with a soft smile on her lips, although whoever was on the other side would not be able to see the gesture.
"Nothing is the matter, I was just making sure." Toriel almost whispered. "It is a bit early though."
"Should I come back later?
"That would be nice."
After that you went to have breakfast. A bit of an awkward silence passed before you finally asked about the voice from the door. He seemed friendly enough, yet Toriel looked a little saddened.
"Ah, yes he is a friend. One of the few I have had before you showed up." She sighed. "I believe he is a sentry, but I'm afraid I do not know his name though, or what he looks like. I have confined myself to the ruins for so long that I am no longer familiar with all of those who work for the king. I don't even know if the captain of the royal guard has changed since I left." you ask why she insists on staying here. "I am guardian of the ruins, I must prepare those who have fallen down for their time in the underground... I just want to keep everyone safe." She sacrificed a lot just to be able to help some strangers, even if she did not always succeed. You asked her why she seemed so sad if she was talking to a friend. "I was just reminded of a darker time is all. He promised to help prevent that from happening again, but still I worry. It is hard not to with all that is has happened down here." You grimaced, the books made you well aware that being in the underground was no picnic, even if Toriel managed to give you a fairly comfortable life, it was now clear that she had been sheltering you from this place's dark history and the aftermath it had wrought.
You cleared the breakfast table and helped Toriel with the dishes and continued as per your usual morning routine. Today you went over algebra, then having been inspired by the encounter that morning Toriel went digging around until she found an old joke book, explaining how she met her friend and for the longest time the only thing that brightened her day in the ruins was cracking jokes back and forth through the walls. There were a lot of cards stuck in the book from Toriel adding her own additions before finally getting a new notebook to write them down in. You noticed a lot of them were bone and skeleton based.
"Oh, here's one I had not used yet." Toriel said as she adjusted her glasses to read better, "It goes: Knock, knock. Whose there? Pizza. Pizza who? Pizza really great guy." She read the entire joke out loud and chuckled loudly."What musical instrument is found in the bathroom?" You shrug. "A Tuba toothpaste." Toriel laughed again. "Try this one my child: knock, knock," She said, this time waiting for you to ask whose there, to which she responded, "Could you," and the joke continued, "Could you let me in I'm freezing out here." You giggled a little, more so because of Toriel's cheerfulness rather than the joke itself. The mood in the room seemed the best it had been all week. You were finally able to relax and enjoy your regular routine. That night sleep came easier to you.
...
You held Toriel's had as you walked through the market. For the first time she was allowing you to come with and meet all the monsters that ran the place (which were mostly vegetoids). You got a few weird looks and one glare, but as long as you were with Toriel nobody bothered you. Toriel said she was going to try a special new recipe tonight and needed more ingredients than usual.
"Onions, carrots, turmeric, fennel, cumin and eggplant." Toriel listed off the things in her bag. "all we need now are the tomatoes. Then we can head back." They approached the nearest Vegetoid vendor and looked at there selection of tomatoes. "What do you think is best for curried eggs, roman or heirloom tomatoes?" Vegetoids tend to talk even less than you did so it did not offer up it's opinion. You knew almost nothing about cooking aside from that lesson on butterscotch pies Toriel gave you so you just pointed to the biggest. "you want heirloom? Okay, I don't think we'll need as many since these are so large. We'll take two." Toriel put down some gold on the table and put the tomatoes in her bag before heading home.
Upon arriving home Toriel was off to the kitchen eagerly preparing the new meal only to realize she had made a mistake. When she opened the carton taken from the fridge she realized she did not have enough for curried eggs. She walked into the living room where you were on the floor drawing with some crayons.
"My child, I must return to the market. I forgot a single ingredient." Toriel said as she got her bag. You got up to go with her, but she waved you off, "It should be but a short trip, I do not think we would be in the market long enough for you to find something that interests you. I will be right back." She assured you before heading out the door. You went back to your drawing for a few minutes. Then your stomach grumbled. You were getting pretty hungry, and with dinner being delayed by Toriel's last minute shopping trip you thought it be best to get a small snack to tide you over until dinner was ready. And by small snack you meant a heaping slice of the leftover cinnamon butterscotch pie still in the fridge.
For a moment you just stood in front of the open fridge. The giant pie was almost intimidating in size even with a third of it missing. You pondered whether or not you should take a slice, as it would likely spoil your appetite for Toriel's cooking later tonight. Such thoughts were abandoned when your cell phone rang.
"Hello my child. I am afraid I will be taking a little longer than expected. There is an end of the market sale and I thought I would pick up a few things, but I will try to be as quick as possible." with the end of that call you tossed your phone on the counter recklessly and eagerly reached for the sweet delight in front of you.
You got out the pie and the plate and set them on the dining room table. Toriel's pies were usually so big that you would not have enough room for both it and the plates and knives, or a nice glass of milk for that matter. You cut yourself a slice and pour a glass of milk before settling back on the floor with your drawing, taking a few bites from it as you colored in a sunset you had not seen in a while. After a few minutes you heard thumping. You looked over to the staircase where it seemed to be coming from. It sounded like Toriel's friend was back. You hopped down the stairs and to the door as you heard the thumping again. You knocked on the door in return.
"Who is it?" The same deep voice from before answered. You thought for a moment and decided to tell him the pizza knock knock joke from before. "Ha, good one. Your the lady's kid, right? Is she around?" He asked noting that your voice was not the one he was expecting. You tell him that she was out running errands, "Ah, well, at least you got her sense of humor. Tell me have you heard this one about the guy who invented the knock, knock joke? He one a no-bell prize." You giggled a little and returned with the freezing knock, knock joke. "I'd love to kid, but it's probably even colder out here. So much ice piles up in front of my house that we're Snowdin almost every day." He chuckled. Oh, right.
You forgot Snowdin was the first settlement out of the ruins, and he was a sentry so that would mean he would be outside all day. You asked him if he was okay out their with it being so cold. "Yeah, the cold never bothered me much." It still did not feel right leaving him out in the cold. Maybe you could invite him in so he could warm up, he could even have a slice of pie since there was plenty to share. He was a friend of Toriels and she trusted him so he probably was not with the ones that would hurt you. You asked him if he wanted anything, like tea or pie, and made it clear that you had plenty of pie. "no, that's alright kid-," he started a little too late as you were already pushing the door open with all your might. "Kid?"" he sounded surprised when the door started moving. With a weezey breath, you stepped around the door once there was enough room for you to do so and found yourself looking at the owner mysterious voice behind the door for the first time.
He was a skeleton. A short one. He was still taller than you by a few inches, but with a voice that deep you kind of expected a giant. He was dressed in a blue hoodie jacket and black shorts and as you looked up to his face you saw a grin plastered on that did not seem to fit the surprise in his wide eye sockets. There was a stretch of silence before the skeleton coughed. "So you're a human, right? That's hilarious." You were about to respond to him when you heard a slam behind you. You spun around with wide eyes to see the door had fallen shut.