Here we are, chapter 2! It only took me a couple of days to write this, but I've been busy and resting a lot, so it still took awhile! Sorry about that. Jaspertale's not really all that relevant now with all these new episodes coming up focusing on everyone else, but that's fine. I don't have any plans to stop!

Here's one of many monsters besides the Dreemurrs that Jasper will be meeting! I'm sure you can imagine who most of them will be, though. Enjoy!

Jasper found herself waking up on the Dreemurr family's couch. Had she done that...'resting' thing again? She definitely hadn't meant to. She'd just sat down on the couch, trying to figure out some way she could get out of here, after Asriel, Asgore, and Toriel had gone to rest themselves. After that, it must've just...happened. No other reasonable explanation came to mind.

Fighting against Lazuli for control of that abomination must've tired her out more than she'd thought.

Now that she was conscious again, however, it was time for more thinking. She'd done enough sitting around, doing nothing, for a lifetime since she got here. And that was just one day. Staying here for too long would drive her crazy. Action needed to be taken. Something needed to be done. Jasper wasn't someone who'd wait for her own freedom. She'd seize it for herself.

Trouble was, Asriel said she'd at least need a human soul to be able to leave. Of course, that was only if he was telling the truth, but even if it was a lie, she could beat the truth out of him. She couldn't think of any reason not to trust him, though. It'd be hard for the Crystal Gems to work with these creatures when they were stuck all the way down here, and Asriel didn't seem like the type to do something like that, anyway. He was soft, weak. The whole family practically wore their hearts on their sleeves, never hesitating to help or to tell her anything. As sickeningly pathetic as they all were, she was pretty sure she could trust all three of them.

Believing them brought up some different issues, though. Going through that barrier required different numbers of human and monster souls, depending on whether you wanted to break it or just pass through. Breaking it take way too long, so that left the other option. At least a human soul or a monster soul was needed. But she was a gem; she wasn't either. Would her...'soul', or whatever, count as one or the other? Or as neither? Would she need to find both souls to escape? When it came down to it, one of the Dreemurrs, maybe Asriel, would probably help, but that left the other soul.

The human soul.

In order to leave, she'd need a human's help. That was obvious from her attempt the day before; Asriel had been with her, so if she only needed a monster's soul, they would've gone through. A human was needed. Of course, there weren't any down here. They were all on the surface, busy being coddled by those Crystal Gems. But even if a human was down here, being helped by them disgusted her. Actually asking them for their help was an even worse thought. She hated the thought of stooping that low.

She hated the thought that she might have to even more.

Now she found herself running in circles. She was back at the beginning: she needed a human soul if she wanted to leave. It didn't look like she was going to figure out an alternative right this second, not with her limited knowledge. That was the advantage of staying with this family, though. She was sure to learn more, and they were happy to give her that knowledge. They lived so close to the barrier, so no one could know more. She could probably even attempt to leave whenever she wanted, try out any ideas. Heh, that'd been a brilliant idea on her part.

She had to admit, staying at this house had a lot of perks. The kid said he'd help her find a way to escape, too. If there was another way, they'd definitely find it. ...Though, speaking of him, where was he, anyway? She pulled herself out of her thoughts as she looked around the room.

The Dreemurr family had all already been awake when she woke up. Toriel wasn't here, so she was probably making food or cleaning or whatever it was Earth mothers do. She could hear a door close, so it sounded like Asgore had just gone outside. Asriel, however, was in the room with her. He was sitting on the floor, rubbing colored sticks against a piece of paper. How long had he been here, doing that? She needed to be observant, even when she was lost in her thoughts.

Or maybe, she conceded, this was more evidence she was still exhausted from fighting for control of Malachite. As much as she didn't like the idea, she should probably keep resting today, too.

"What're you doing, kid?" Jasper asked him, deciding to strike up conversation. If she was going to rest, then there was nothing better to do. Plus, the weird activity with the colored sticks did strike her as odd.

"'m coloring," he responded absently. He looked engrossed with whatever 'coloring' was supposed to be, he didn't even look up.

"'Coloring'?" she repeated. "What weird Earth activity is that?" Curious as she was about coloring, Jasper had already decided it was stupid, worthless. There'd been nothing like this on Homeworld, after all.

"It's fun! I've got my crayons-" Asriel paused to hold up his crayons so she could see. "-and I can use them to draw pictures of whatever I want! Like this!" He put down the crayons and picked up the piece of paper for her to see.

She squinted at it, trying to make it out. "What's this orange blob supposed to be?"

"It's you!" He grinned at her, moving one of his hands to point at different parts of the picture. "You're orange. The yellow thing's your nose. The gray stuff's your hair. I wasn't sure what color your clothes should be, so I picked red."

"Huh..." Jasper frowned. She still couldn't see it. "If you say so. I still don't see the point of this."

"It's fun," Asriel reiterated. "You should try it! I bet you'd like it, too. Everyone likes coloring."

She snorted. "Thanks, but I'll pass, kid. That's not really my idea of fun."

"Then what do you like to do?" he asked. He sat down the picture, smiling at her. "We can do that instead!"

"Me?" Jasper blinked, mulling it over. Of course, she quickly knew there was really only one answer. "Fighting. It's what I was made for, it's all I ever done. So if I'm facing against a good enough opponent, someone who really is a challenge... Nothing's more fun than that."

Now it was Asriel's turn to frown. "That's it? But you haven't even thought about fighting anyone that's down here, as far as I know..."

"I need time to rest before that, kid," she shrugged. "But I wouldn't even if I didn't. You're nice or whatever, but the three of you are soft. Not even close to a challenge. It'd be a waste of my time, honestly, so I wouldn't bother."

"Hmm..." Asriel scratched his cheek. "Maybe watching a fight would be good enough, then. Not many monsters really fight down here, but there's the Royal Guard!"

"Royal Guard, huh?" Jasper could guess what that was.

"Uh-huh! They protect the kingdom, and they used to fight in the war. They're all really good at fighting. The captain comes over all the time to train with Dad!"

She grinned. "The captain, huh? I'm in. When's the next time they train?"

Asriel jumped up, motioning for her to get up and follow him. "I think they're training later today, actually! We should ask Dad if we can watch, but I don't think he'll mind."

Jasper nodded as she stood up. She followed Asriel to the front of the house, where he opened the door to go outside. Asgore stood in the middle of it, holding a rectangle with a tail to his ear. He laughed into it as they approached, before saying something she didn't catch, pushing a button, and putting it away. Perhaps it was some sort of Earth communication device. She really wasn't impressed.

Though, while she was out here, she supposed she should take the time to see what it looked like and enjoy the change of scenery. Since she'd woken up, she stuck to the house and hadn't really one outside. Out here, it was...really gray. It looked like Asgore was keeping some plotted plants here and there to make the place look nicer, but otherwise it was lifeless out here. Just city, buildings, and walls as far as she could see.

She could almost feel it, too. As part of Malachite, with access to Lazuli's power over water, she had been able to feel the pull of water living beings on this planet seemed to contain. It had been everywhere; overwhelming her during the brief time at that city, shocking them at the bottom of the ocean, even coming from all sides at the island full of Stevens. Of course, she couldn't feel it now, but she remembered the waterless and lifeless feel of structures like the ones in front of her now. There certainly wasn't much life here, besides the monsters.

Asriel asked Asgore if they could watch his training session, breaking her out of her thoughts for good. She was honestly glad for that. Dwelling over the other Gems on the planet wasn't good for her, especially while she was stuck.

"If you both want to, of course!" Asgore was chuckling. "I don't mind, and Undyne usually loves an audience. Just make sure to stay safe and out of the way, you two. No training for you until you're older, Asriel. And Jasper should rest until she's had some time to recover. I'm sure the fall and anything before was awful for her."

She looked down at the kid. He was practically beaming up at his father. She couldn't help but smile at that. Excitement's contagious, especially with a fight looming in the air.

They had all moved out behind the house. Asgore stood still, prepared to start at any moment. Asriel and Jasper sat far off to the side, ready to watch but not interfere. The training session had not yet started; the captain had only just arrived, and needed to prepare. Asgore waited patiently. Asriel was wiggling his feet and making weird sounds in his throat, somethin he knew as humming but Jasper didn't recognize. She herself tapped her fingers against the ground impatiently. The whole needed to start already.

"So," she started after a long silence, turning to look at Asriel. "Why does the captain train with Asgore, anyway? No offense, but there's got to be someone better."

"Huh?" He blinked, looking back at her. "Well, Undyne's always the one who asks to train with Dad. He's one of the best fighters in the kingdom. She's never beaten him at his full strength, so she keeps training and trying until she can."

Jasper honestly found that hard to believe. "Well, if he's so good, why isn't he the captain of the Royal Guard? Why her?"

Asriel shrugged. "He picked her to be the captain. They're the only two that can pick anyone to join the Royal Guard. Dad joining the Royal Guard would be weird, anyway. They're supposed to protect the king, so letting the king join wouldn't make sense."

"Wait, you're telling me..." She turned her head to look over at Asgore, then looked back at Asriel again. "He's the KING of the Underground?"

"Uh-huh!" He grinned at her. "And Mom's the queen! So that makes me the prince, I guess."

"Wow, I had no idea you guys were in charge. You certainly don't act like it," she mumbled, focusing her attention back on the imminent fight.

Asriel starting make strange noises from his mouth, this time something he knew as whistling. Jasper was silent again, though still restless. Asgore was still unmoving, still waiting.

This went on for another few minutes. But it didn't last long, since Jasper was getting more tired of waiting by the second.

"Why'd he pick her, then? They had to meet somehow, right?"

He giggled. "You haven't heard the story?"

"Kid, I just got down here." She rolled her eyes. "I haven't even met anyone else. How am I supposed to know?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he conceded. In the background, the captain had just walked out of the house, ready for battle, but neither observer noticed. "Alright, so here's how it goes...

"Before I was born, and when she was younger, she used to try to fight everyone she met. She wanted to be the best, way before she joined the Royal Guard. But everyone says she had a habit of never picking the right opponents. Anyone she challenged was either way stronger than her, or way weaker. But it never stopped her.

"Then one day, she met Dad. She knew who he was, of course. Everyone did. But it didn't bother her. She challenged him anyway, and he accepted. He didn't throw a single attack at her, and he dodged everything she threw at him. She was exhausted after awhile, and he won. So she started to challenge him as often as possible, determined to get a hit in on him. And she kept at it. Once she had hit him once, she bumped up her goals and kept challenging him."

A spear appeared in the captain's hands. Asgore raised his trident. Still, neither member of the conversation noticed. Jasper was wrapped up in the story, and Asriel was wrapped up in telling it.

"Dad was impressed every time," Asriel continued. "And she improved with each fight. So eventually, he made her the captain of the Royal Guard. But that didn't stop her. She kept at it. She's still determined that one of these days, she can beat him." He glanced towards Asgore at the end of the story, and gasped. "They're about to start!"

Grinning, Jasper turned away and put her full attention towards the training session they were about to watch.

In the small second before things got chaotic, she took a chance to get a good look at the captain. She was fully dressed up strong armor. It probably wasn't necessary for a training session, but Jasper had no doubt that stuff was heavy. She probably wore it to practice moving around and fighting in it more than anything. If her size was anything to go by, it probably took awhile to get used to. The only part of the captain Jasper could see was red hair stuck in a long ponytail, flowing out from the helmet. Probably to keep it out of the way. It was a good idea; Jasper figured she should probably try it sometime.

"Ready, Asgore?" the captain asked.

"Whenever you are," Asgore responded with a smile.

From there, it was an all-out battle. Blue spears began appearing all over the area and flew all over the place, attempting to hit Asgore at least once. (Of course, the captain was careful to make sure the spears didn't get anywhere near Asriel or Jasper). Asgore dodged each of them with ease, coming out without a scratch when the spears stopped. When he found an opening, he waved his hand. A wall of fireballs closed in on the captain, who dodged the attack without difficulty as well.

This was better than Jasper had thought. These two weren't bad at all, and the whole thing was very entertaining.

Asgore told her not to hold back, to give him everything she had. She told him to do the same.

Something green appeared in front of Asgore, and he was stuck in place. He held out his trident like some sort of shield and used it to block the spears she began throwing at him again. They came at him in all sorts of crazy patterns, going faster and faster, but he didn't fail to block a single one. And to her credit, the captain wasn't frustrated by this. She seemed to be expecting it, in fact, and she probably was if Asriel's story was anything to go by. Asgore was better than he looked.

The green thing disappeared. Asgore ran up to her and held up his trident, which was glowing with magic. He swung it at her several times as it displayed different colors of magic, and the captain came out of it completely unscathed. He, too, seemed to be expecting this.

As the battle wore on, though, it was clear Asgore had the advantage. Was it because he had more experience? Or was he pacing himself out more, not using all his best attacks at once? Jasper couldn't really say for sure. But it was clear from her viewpoint that the captain was wearing out. She moved slower, attacked less, and while she still dodged Asgore's attacks, they were closer to hitting her each time. She was barely keeping up, while Asgore didn't seem to be having much trouble at all. By the time they finished the training session, the captain had taken at least one hit, and had been too close to taking many more. She could've been hurt badly if it continued. But she wouldn't admit it, and Asgore didn't mention it at all.

"I can't believe I let myself get hit," she muttered as she took off all her armor. "I still have a long ways to go, but I know what I need to do to get there. Thanks, Asgore."

"It's no trouble at all," he assured her. "It's always a pleasure to see how far you've come already. I know the safety of the kingdom is in good hands with you."

"Right. You always say that, don't you? But it's always good to hear," she agreed as she pulled off her helmet. All the armor was off now; apparently Asgore kept it stored somewhere in the house for her. Walking all the way here through Hotland was supposedly a challenge. (If Hotland was anything like it sounded, though, Jasper couldn't blame her.)

As he picked up all the armor to take back inside, Asgore kept the conversation going. "Oh! We have a guest here, too. She fell from the surface, but she's not a human or anything. She wanted to see the training session for herself. Apparently she has quite the interest in fighting herself, so I'm sure you'd get along. She's sitting over there, her name is Jasper." His hands were full, so he nodded in the direction Jasper was sitting in.

The captain turned to look at her. Jasper now was engrossed in something Asriel was telling her, but looked up when she saw her looking. The captain smiled and walked over.

"Hey. Jasper, right? The name's Undyne," she introduced herself. "Asgore says you seem to enjoy battling. We'll have to train together sometime."

"I couldn't agree more. You were pretty impressive out there," Jasper said. "I'll have to wait on it, though. I hate to admit it, but...I'm not really at my best right now. Training with you like this would be an insult to your skills. I'd rather wait until I can give it my all."

Undyne nodded. "That's fine. It's probably best for you to wait until then, anyway. You don't want to overdo it. But feel free to drop by when you're up for it." She flashed a toothy grin at her. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Jasper grinned back. "So will I."

I thought I was going to need to add more to this, but this was good enough on its own, so that's fine! I don't mind at all.

There's a couple of things that can happen next, but I'm not sure what to do first, so it might be a bit before I continue. They're both important to the story so both events will happen, and depending on how things go they might even happen in the same chapter. We'll see. I know just about everything that will happen, but not necessarily how and in what order, and I have the strongest sense of how the ending will be more than anything. But it'll still be fun! We'll get there!