Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth - humans and monsters. One day, war broke out between the two races. Both sides fought bravely, however, after a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. Many years later... At Mount Hyrule, year 201X... A child climbed the mountain, for reasons unknown... Legends say those who climb the mountain never return. This is the story that begins our tale, a tale that will span two timelines, one full of hope, the other, pain. Our main character, the child, name currently unknown... Let's call them Chara for now, had climbed the mountain, as many had before. None of them returned.
Within a cave about halfway between the base and the peak, Chara discovered a deep hole, one he could not see the bottom of. The soft breeze teasing his golden-brown hair beneath his green pointed hat, he crept towards the edge, hoping to catch a glimpse of what lay down there. He inched forwards, testing how far he could get without losing his footing. One foot wrong, and he's as good as dead.
Well, at least, that's what he thinks.
Unbeknownst to Chara, the rocks beneath him were crumbling from the weight piled on top of them. One by one the pieces were tumbling into the darkness below, the vines tangled around them doing nothing to save them from the fall. Chara's foot caught on the roots and stems surrounding the hole, and he tripped, grumbling to himself as he attempted to remove them. Out of nowhere, the stone beneath him crumbled, dropping him down, down, down into the abyss below, the plants tangled around his ankles left torn and hanging helplessly above the darkness as he fell, crying out in fear and disappearing into the void.
Air flew past Chara as he fell, tumbling over and over as he tried to figure out which way was up and which way was down. In the darkness, they were one and the same. He twisted himself in midair, looking up at the ever-shrinking circle of light he knew was the opening of the hole in the cave floor. How long had he been falling? Just how far down did the abyss go? What was at the bottom? The realm of monsters that all the myths and legends had told him? But those were just myths right?
Right?
Terrified, Chara sent a prayer to the three goddesses of the human race, Din, Goddess of Power, Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, and Farore, Goddess of Courage, in the hopes of surviving the fall. Any screams he could have made were ripped from his throat by the wind he made as he plummeted into the unknown.
THUMP
Chara cried out softly as he landed heavily on his back, expecting to hit hard stone, but instead he hit a bed of something soft. Confused, he pushed himself up, scanning his gaze around the cavern until his eyes come to rest upon the bed of oversized golden flowers he had landed on. One hand cupped around one of the flowers, buttercups, and he looked up towards the light shining down on him like a spotlight, wincing from the pain in his spine.
"Ugh... Where am I? How far did I fall?"
Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet, trying to take care to avoid crushing the flowers. Glancing around, curious but nervous, Chara followed one of the walls of the cave, every now and then looking back to the flowers, wondering if he should stay there to let someone find him. Curiosity got the better of him, however, and he explored further and further from the flowerbed, peeking around a stone door, only seeing a small patch of grass up ahead. Another door stood closed at the other side of the grass, and as Chara walked towards it, still looking around with wide eyes, he didn't notice another buttercup spring up, this one much larger than the others, looking more like a small sunflower with her 1.06 metres, or 3 foot 6, of height and more shaped like a human woman with white hair adorned with a ruby, leaves gathered around her waist and wrists, and her toes rooted to the ground.
"Howdy!" She squeaked in a cheerful, high pitched giggle, startling Chara, who almost jumped out of his skin in surprise.
"Ah! Where did you come from?!"
She ignored him, her high voice bordering on earsplitting in pitch, making Chara shuffle his feet nervously, "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower! You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"
Chara nodded hesitantly, not trusting himself enough to not cry for help if he opened his mouth to reply.
"Golly, you must be so confused!" Flowey went on, ignoring his distress, "Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready?"
Chara was certainly not ready, but Flowey didn't wait for him to answer. The area around them darkened, the patch of grass almost disappearing from view as a tiny red heart was pulled from Chara's chest, glowing with scarlet light as it hovered just in front of him. Curious, he poked its surface, sending a shiver down his own spine.
"That heart is your Soul, the very culmination of your being! It starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV!" Flowey giggled, a half formed, upside down, cracked, red and black heart barely visible between the leaves on her chest.
Chara raised an eyebrow, "What's -"
"LV? Why, LOVE, if course!" The humanoid buttercup giggled, interrupting him, "It's represented by how many heart containers you have, but you only have one! You need many more to make your Soul strong! Let me guess, you want some, don't you?"
Dubious, Chara kept his eyes on Flowey, watching her closely, trying to decide whether he should trust her or not, "Umm... no..."
Flowey, once again, ignored the human's fear, "Don't worry! I'll share some with you! Down here, LOVE is spread through... little white... 'friendliness pellets'."
Tiny, seedlike bullets suddenly flew up to hover above the palms of her leafy hands. Chara jumped in surprise again, taking a couple of cautious steps back in the hopes of getting away. Slowly, the 'friendliness pellets' spun their way towards the child, who quaked in his boots.
"Move around! Get as many as you can!"
Chara let out a soft yet determined huff as he focused on the little white dots spinning towards him. There was no trust in his eyes as he stepped to one side, his Soul following his movements. Flowey's face dropped for barely a moment, before she twisted it into a slightly demented... smile? Could he call that a smile?
"Hey buddy, you missed them. Let's try this again, okay?" Flowey spoke through gritted teeth, clearly trying, and failing, to conceal her annoyance. Chara, however, remained unfazed, stepping aside to dodge her 'friendliness pellets' once more. This time, the flower's face dropped, and didn't return to the original grin, no matter how twisted it may have looked.
"Is this a joke? Are you braindead?"
Flowey's high pitched outburst made Chara grit his own teeth, almost mimicking the yellow plant, as his pointed ears twitched in annoyance at her grating voice. The human child winced slightly, glaring at her with an unimpressed expression.
"RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS - I mean friendliness pellets."
Chara sighed at the failed attempt at concealing her true intention, stepping to one side and letting the seeds as Flowey furiously snarled, her previous grin becoming demonic and deranged.
"You know what's going on here, don't you? You just wanted to see me suffer," she growled, her voice dangerously quiet, putting Chara on edge. He tensed up, and rightly so, as seconds later, hundreds of Flowey's bullets surrounded him.
"DIE."
The human cried out in shock as the white seeds spiralled around him, slowly getting closer and closer as Flowey let out a high cackle. He glanced around in terror, trying to find an escape route, but when he found none, he fell to his knees and covered his head with his hands, his breath coming in short, stuttering gasps as he waited for the pain.
Only, it never came.
A whoosh of air rushed by in front of Chara, sending the bullets around him scattering and his golden hair waving in its wake. Hesitantly, he looked between his fingers just in time to see a golden sphere strike Flowey in the petals, sending her flying off into the darkness with a screetch of agony. Confused, he lifted his head, searching for whoever saved his life as his Soul disappeared back into his chest.
"What a miserable creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth."
The melodious voice came from ahead of him, and he watched as a tall woman with golden hair that reached down to almost her knees, two white horns poking between the strands on her skull, wearing a long purple and white robe with some sort of symbol emblazoned upon its chest, slowly approached him, holding a hand out to him.
"Do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down, and you are the first to come down here in a long, long time."
Her emerald eyes sparkled with kindness as Chara reached out and took her hand. Her other palm rested lightly on his cheek, and she pulled him to his feet with very little effort.
"There we are. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs."
Toriel patted the human's shoulder gently, before leading him through a stone doorway and past multiple heaps of scarlet leaves. She released his hand and ascended a flight of steps, not even noticing the glowing golden star at the bottom of the steps. Chara stopped in front of it, curious, and barely touched it with one finger. Immediately, it unfolded into a rectangle in front of him, his name displayed in white against the black, labelled 'File'.
"What is this? Some sort of game?"
Hesitant, Chara pressed the Save option below his name, and all the writing changed from white to yellow. Satisfied that nothing had happened to harm him, he selected Continue, which was beside the Save option, and followed Toriel up the stairs.
"I guess that was some sort of Save File..."
Toriel definitely didn't hear him, "This way, my child."
The taller woman took his hand once again, leading him through the stone archway further into the Underground.
[FILE SAVED]
