Chapter 2

We both looked up and over at the goat thing coming towards us. She was beautiful, if I do say so myself.

*And I do. I say she is was an incredible woman. Her dress was dark purple like the sun setting back home. And her fur was white, like the clouds.

*Corny.

She approached us carefully, eyes glancing at Amber's drawn knife. "You do now need that, my child, put it away. Please?"

*Bite me.

"Amber, a knife isn't going to be useful against a fire throwing being anyways. You might as well put it away." (*You never know!) Amber looked over at me thoughtfully then finally closed the knife and stuck it in her pocket. I took a step from behind Amber and towards the monster, only to trip and fall on my face. Amber couldn't stop laughing as the monster helped me up.

*What did I even trip over?

A large tree branch stood in the middle of the walkway. How did that even get in here? There aren't any trees around! I picked it up, it was almost as tall as I was. I looked over at Amber with large puppy-dog eyes.

"Can I keep it?" I ignored her raised eyebrow and continued following the goat monster. I looked up at her. "What's your name?"

"I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I come down here every day to see if any humans have fallen to the Underground."

*I particularly like Toriel. She is by far my favorite female character out of the monsters. I like her puns, her motherly love, and her dress. She reminds me of my own mother, now that I think of it.

Us two girls followed Toriel through a few corridors. Amber was hesitant on trusting Toriel, and she followed from a few steps behind. I, on the other hand, felt Toriel was kind and trusting. As we walked, I slipped my hand into her's as we spoke. I was hoping she wouldn't notice, but she didn't.

"Uh, sorry."

"No, no. It's perfectly fine." She held onto my hand as we walked along.

*I find this part hilarious. I actually do this, you know? When me and Amber walk to her house to hang out, I used to try to hold on to her hand as we walked. I don't know why, I think it's just out of habit. I just grip onto her sweatshirt sleeve now.

*I still don't like it.

*Haha.

Eventually we came across the exit of the corridor. It was blocked by spikes in the floor. I stared at it.

"Over there is a lever, I've even labeled it for you."

I looked over at Amber. She smirked. I glared at her, but she didn't even budge.

"You're closer."

"You landed on me."

"You-you." I sighed and walked past Amber to the lever. I reached to the labeled one, signs and arrows pointed to it. 'Pull this one!' But I didn't pull it. I reached over and pulled the wrong one.

"Wrong one, my child, pull the other one."

*Haha! Who ever said I was a good kid? Before I obey, I will satisfy my curiosity. I may have pulled the correct lever the second time, but I do not do as strangers say.

*Oh, but you'll hold there hand? How does that make any sense?

*Yeah. I, um, hit my head in the fall. Yeah. that's my excuse.

We continued along with Toriel. She smiled at me a few times, and I grinned back. As we walked along, I twirled my walking stick in the air. I asked a few questions as we walked. "How long have you been down here?"

"The humans trapped us down here many centuries ago."

"Why would we have done that? You seem so nice! Is it because we fear what we do not understand?"
*Yes, yes it is.

She chuckled and smiled back at me. Then she stopped. Then we came across a corridor with a few signs. I went up to one, 'stay on the path' it said.

*And yet i had to wonder off the path to read it.

We continued on. Suddenly, Toriel stopped, causing Amber to run into me. Amber had to grab hold of my collar to stop me from falling into the spikes that were protruding from the floor.

"My apologies," Toriel said, alarmed.

"It's fine."

*Yeah you're welcome.

"You must take a certain route with this puzzle, both of you stay close." I followed close behind her, keeping hold of her hand. I grabbed onto Amber's collar and pulled her along after me. I chuckled at Amber's silent protesting.. Amber ran into me, having to pull me backwards by the shirt so that i wouldn't fall into the spikes.

Toriel took a step against the spikes, which retracted immediately. We followed carefully behind her, tracing her steps as best we could. I clipped my arm on one of them, though, despite my attempts at being careful. A drop of blood hit the purple floor when we were past the trap. I just gripped my stick tighter and continued on with Toriel as my guide. We walked on, following Toriel until she led us up to a practice dummy. I stared at it, confused, while Amber poked it with her finger

"As humans living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not, this process is simple!" she looked mostly at me as she spoke. "When you encounter a monster, you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time, then I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy."

"Seriously? You want us to talk to something trying to kill us?"

"Come on, Amber, it's not to bad."

"Maybe for you! And I sure as hell ain't going to talk to a damn dummy!"

"Fine, I'll do it!" i walked up to the dummy, trying to think of something to say. I smiled at myself. Haha, I'm talking to a dummy!

"Hello, you're looking nice today. Amber doesn't understand this exercise."

"Very good my child, perhaps Amber should try?" Amber groaned as I pulled her in front of the dummy.

"Stupid dummy." Amber pulled out her knife and began hacking it's head off. Before I could stop her, she had succeeded, pocketing the knife again and kicking the head like a soccer ball. Me and Toriel just stared at her for a moment.

As soon as we left, a frogitt attacked me.

"You look very nice."

"Frogitt probably doesn't understand you, but I think it's flattered anyways." Amber whispered in my ear. About that time, Toriel appeared, glaring at the frogitt. It cowered and ran away. I chuckled.

*Great job, J, you won! But you got absolutely nothing for your troubles.

*Shut up.

We continued along. A few more traps, I tripped again, and Amber was covered in the dummy stuffing, which looked like grey wool to be honest. We came to a long corridor, no traps or puzzles as far as i could see.

"I am sincerely sorry. You two have done wonderfully thus far, but I must ask you two to continue on by yourselves." With that, Toriel turned and ran down the corridor. She blurred from my vision before she had even reached the end. I turned to Amber, who was trying not to laugh.

"Where'd she go?" I asked, curious. I squinted my eyes, but everything was to blurry to see still.

"She's just hiding behind a pillar near the end," Amber began laughing as she spoke. She attempted to hide the laughing behind her hand, but she was failing miserably.

So we walked down the corridor, silence nearly driving me mad. The only noise were our heavy footsteps and my stick banging against the floor.

*I think I'll carve a figure head out of the top later on. Maybe sand it down a bit. Does that sound good?

I looked over at my friend again as we neared the column Toriel was said to be behind. Out from behind it, she suddenly jumped out, startling me.

"Greetings, my children. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me. However, was an important reason for this exercise… to test your independance. I must attend to some business, you must stay here for a while."
"Where are you going?"

"It all will be revealed in due time. Now, please remain here until I come to retrieve you. It's dangerous to explore by yourself. I have an idea, I will give you a CELL PHONE. If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, you two, alright? Look after each other." Toriel handed me the cellphone.

*What happened to our phones?
 *They don't work down here, I tried it while you were holding the stranger's hand.

*Oh.

"Alright, miss Toriel. See ya later."

As soon as she was gone, I plopped myself down again the pillar, my walking stick in my lap as I shuffled through my bag. I found my notebook, which was full of drawings and short stories I had written in my free time. I began to draw a picture of Toriel when Amber nudged my foot.
"What are you doing?" she asked me.

"I'm drawing Toriel while we wait."
"Why would we wait for her? We should just continue on."

"Um…"

"Come on." Amber knelt and began putting all my stuff back into my bag. I watched her do so, then took her hand so she could pull me back up onto my feet. I gripped my hiking stick tighter as she began pulling me along. I knew I couldn't stop her, so I might as well go with her. Keep her out of trouble and all.

Amber and I seem like opposites, don't you think? I have a feeling she wouldn't actually kill any monsters unless they pose a threat to our lives, though. And I don't know how far she would go to ensure that I was safe.