And a single breath tore life back into Frisk's core.

They doubled over, falling to the ground and gasping for air as their arms wrapped around their gut. Their eyes opened wide, staring without sight as memory repeated the moment where Undyne plunged her spear into their torso. As they filled their lungs, they pushed and prodded at their gut, desperately trying to find the gaping wound that should be there - but there was nothing, only a slightly icy sweater and whole flesh, and a dull reminder of a throb from their arms.

Shakily they stood, and immediately realized they were also missing the bloody gash on their thigh. Finally, finally, they took in their surroundings - at their feet was the fallen star, and they stood on the path once more.

"Getting tired at last, human?"

Frisk froze, again. Slowly, they looked up, and again towered Undyne's terror of a shadow high in a tree.

"I'm getting tired, too. Tired of your crappy pace."

Frisk's mouth hung open, and they just stared at Undyne. Her face caught the soft reflection of light from the surrounding snow, and the same menacing grin spread across her face.

Now, Frisk pointed. It was Undyne's turn to freeze, confusion and surprise flashing across her face. A moment passed before Frisk raised her hands to sign a question, before they remembered that she couldn't understand sign language. Frustration flashed across their face - did Undyne realize this had already happened...?

Undyne laughed then, wild and fierce. "What, are you challenging me? Very well, then, human! What's your name?"

With an annoyed huff, Frisk signed, [You don't understand me, right?]

Undyne looked quizzically at them, then smashed their fist in the other open palm in realization. The sound echoed through the forest, knocking free snow from spindly branches. Frisk just squinted through it, frowning, and mind working quickly as they took stock of their surroundings.

"You speak in hands, huh? Just like that doctor?"

She doesn't remember a thing, Frisk thought, widening their stance, only glancing at her now for a moment. What happened? Did I just... see into the future?

"That's a damn shame, I guess - I don't do hand speak. Anyways - my name's Undyne. Thought I should tell you... since I'm about to kill you."

Without waiting this time, Frisk spun sharply and sprinted down the path back towards the ruins. Behind them they heard Undyne swear, and the crackle of magic. They let their body slip into autopilot as their magic sense warned them to evade, and they jumped to avoid being speared. Meanwhile, their mind worked furiously.

I didn't see the future, because things aren't going the same. Plus, I've never had that gift anyways - doubt it'd start now. What was it then? Magic, definitely magic… I was-

"You're DEAD, human!" Undyne roared behind them. Frisk groaned silently, and strained to pump their legs harder. Their pack slapped against their back painfully, so they looped their thumbs through the straps to pull it snug against their body - like hell it was going to slow them down. They ducked and twisted, evading another barrage of spears.

How long would they have to run, though? They had left the ruins hours ago, and Toriel herself said that the doors would be locked.

With a skid and a bit of a fumble, Frisk turned back around. In one fluid movement, they slipped their pack off their shoulders and deposited it in the middle of the path before charging forward - straight towards Undyne.

I'm either going to live or test out one hell of a theory, Frisk thought furiously as they reached for the spark at their core. They used it to rope in magic - they hadn't noticed before just how unruly it felt here, how it shied away from their reach. Furiously, now, hands dashing signs into the air, they heaved, and wrenched the magic into their palms. Undyne was approaching quickly, slight confusion twisting her expression. Frisk had to spin to avoid the next spear as Undyne was getting too close.

Only one chance-

With a painful slam, Frisk dropped as a spear slashed through the air, connecting their palm with the ground. Energy blasted outwards, and Frisk felt all their wounds reopen; suddenly, the trunk of a tree next to them snapped, crashing downward forcefully as Undyne raised another spear. Undyne leaped backwards, slamming her spear into the ground at her feet to propel her - and she did a flip in the air, just because she could.

Frisk's arms gave out, pain lancing through them as they felt the spark in their core flicker and nearly go out. They felt blood soaking the bandages beneath their sweater, and struggled to push themselves over, to look up. With a snarl, Undyne summoned another spear and came charging towards them as they managed to come to their knees. She leaped over the fallen tree as if it were nothing for than a puddle, and threw the spear straight through Frisk's torso.

***000***

Frisk crashed to the ground, vision flashing white as they gasped for air. Their arms caught their fall, preventing yet another faceful of snow. Sweat beaded at their brow, and they struggled to orient themself as the world spun beneath their freezing palms.

Their bandages felt clean again, and Frisk drew in a shaky breath in relief. The fallen star lay by their side, twinkling softly. They stared at the apparition, wonder and frustration warring in their heart.

"Getting tired at last, human?"

Frisk's fists clenched in the snow. Exhaustion pulled at their center, and they tried to reach for their spark as they managed to pull themselves to their feet.

In horror, they found their spark still dim, weak and barely even there.

"I'm getting tired, too. Tired of your crappy pace."

Frisk wasn't paying attention. Raising their hands, they twisted their palms upward and stared at the deep, worn lines on them, shaking and sore. Concentrating, they tried to pull at the strange magic that laid beneath Mt. Ebott. It slipped away from them, as if they weren't grasping for it in the right way, and their current power was far too low to wrangle it regardless.

Undyne cleared her throat. Frisk looked upwards at last, meeting the gaze of the warrior monster. Their head swam as they did so, the path twisting under their feet.

[We can't talk, still,] Frisk signed weakly.

Undyne slammed one fist into the other open palm in realization. Snow was knocked from the surrounding trees by the resounding shockwave. "Oh, you speak in hands, huh? Like that doctor?"

White crept in at the edges of Frisk's vision. They swayed where the stood, straining to stay upright. The light reflecting in the forest had caught Undyne's face again, but instead of a terror-inducing fierceness, her face reflected an expression of concerned confusion.

"Human, you might want to look sharp, since I'm about to-"

And with nothing more than a silent "oh," Frisk lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

***000***

The air wavered in front of the younger Frisk as their mom scooped them up. Smoke and heat distorted their vision, and their eyes watered as smoke crept into their lungs. Cradled against her chest, they tried to block everything out by closing their eyes and burying their face in her neck. Vibrations running by their cheek as their mom cried out tickled, however, so they glanced up, looking where their mom was looking, at their other mother by the window. Horrible pulsing vines had forced their way in and were wrapping themselves around the room as Frisk felt their mom take a shuddering step back. Quickly then, with a choked sob, she ran - but not before Frisk saw the blood pooling at their other mother's feet.

Frisk's eyes opened to a crackling campfire.

"No, I don't know what I'm going to do with them-"

Their arms were bound to their side, and they seemed to be tied to a tree. A brief tug proved fruitless; whoever had put them there knew what they were doing.

"Well, you can tell him that we'll figure it out!"

The clearing had a small handful of small tents, backed up against the bottom of an enormous cliff. The campfire was close by, but there didn't appear to be anybody walking around the campsite.

"He's gotta stall, then!"

Finally Frisk's eyes caught the shadow at the edge of the treeline. It was Undyne - it must have been, with the tattered winter trench coat and the towering stature. Her back was turned, and her posture was tense - she flung one arm out in frustration then, gesturing angrily.

"Why do you gotta ask so many questions?" she growled.

"I mean, I - I think he's just trying to help," said a second voice, growing from a whisper. Frisk tried to lean over to see the source.

"But why do you gotta be so damn cryptic, then? Huh, doc?"

"H-he's kind of stuck that way, I mean - w-wait, what was that, sir?"

Undyne crossed her arms, grunting as she waited for something. Just at the edge of the shadows, Frisk could see a hunched over shape, sporting a worn red winter coat that bulged where a tail exited the bottom. Both were facing a spot deeper within the shadows, where the darkness twisted and pulled. Frisk's eyes wanted to slip over the spot, and their head started to ache as they tried to focus on it.

"He's saying that stalling only works so well when the king demands results," the smaller monster said, looking up at Undyne.

"We're all trying to get results," Undyne grumbled. Frisk's head throbbed from the effort of trying to look at the twisted shadow, and finally looked away as their eyes began to water. Out of their peripheral vision then, just at the edge of sight, they saw a tall, faded being in the darkness. His hands and face were bright white, and the rest of him appeared to be a black darker than the color itself should be able to be. His hands flowed and shifted, strange after-images following as they formed signs in the air.

"H-he says that if we're not going to take the human's soul, that we better come up with another plan, and quick."

Undyne shifted her hands to her hips and looked away. "I'd figured that much out."

A shiver wracked through Frisk's body as their nerves finally caught up with how cold it was. They drew a deep stuttering breath, trying to suppress a sneeze - and sneezed all the louder, knocking their head back against the tree. Undyne twisted around, and the darkness righted itself behind her, fading back into shadows that could be looked at without difficulty.

She strode over, waving a hand behind her in beckoning. The smaller monster followed after her quickly, and as the two strode into the light of the campfire Frisk could at last see that the new monster was some kind of yellow lizard, or dinosaur, bundled up in her wintercoat with a pair of circular glasses settled on her snout.

"Welcome back from snooze-land, human!" Undyne said with a harsh grin. "I've got a few questions for you," she added as she came to a stop a few feet away. Frisk tried to look up, but couldn't turn their head up far enough. The smaller monster cleared their throat and Undyne paused, then crouched down.

A frown settled on Frisk's face. They stared at Undyne, one eyebrow pulling down as the other went upward. To punctuate their silent reminder, they tugged at the ropes binding their hands to their side.

Undyne grinned again. "Yeah, yeah, Ms. Handspeak. That's where Alphy is gonna come in," and she gestured for the new monster to come closer.

"H-hello, human - my name's Alphys," she began, scooching closer. "You c-can understand us, right?"

Frisk nodded. Alphys sighed in relief, and a nervous smile pulled at her mouth. She looked at Undyne then, peering out from behind her glasses expectantly. With a forceful sigh, Undyne reached into her coat and snapped a knife out from a belt at her waist. Carefully, without cutting the ties that kept Frisk bound to the tree, she freed Frisk's hands and most of their arms from their bindings. With a relieved huff, Frisk stretched their hands, working the blood flow back into them.

"Now, who are you?" Undyne asked impatiently, knife returned to its sheath.

Frisk sighed. [My name is Frisk, and I'm not a 'she', I'm a 'they'.]

Alphys spoke then, while still watching Frisk. "Their name is Frisk, and they're asking that you not call them 'she,' but 'they,'" she said. Frisk raised a brow at her for the slight liberties in her translation, but Alphys shrugged minutely with a sympathetic smile and looked at Undyne.

Undyne nodded. "Okay, then, Frisk. What are you doing here?"

[I've been looking for answers about Mount Ebott for a long time, for personal reasons. I didn't find them, so I took matters into my own hands.] They paused while Alphys translated. [The vines, they're not only down here. They took over the mountain outside, and the nearby old capital. They don't respond to any modern human magic, and a lot of old magic. I managed to work my way inside, but I had become exhausted near the top and had to run for it as the vines closed. I fell into the mountain when I ran into a cave.]

Undyne stared at Frisk as Alphys continued to translate, and stayed quiet for several moments following. Alphys glanced between Undyne and Frisk.

"Okay, that seems to be the truth. Then what are your plans down here?"

[So far, I've been trying to survive,] Frisk signed. [But I'm still trying to figure out what happened - particularly when the vines came. But now that I'm here, I'm only finding myself with more questions. Things don't seem to be right down here.]

As Alphys finished translating, Undyne scowled. "Well, you're right about that last part, at least. So six months ago, the vines took over, and you've been researching or whatever since then?"

Frisk paused, glancing to the side. Hesitation pulled at their expression as they debated whether to tell them that six months wasn't exactly the right timeframe.

Undyne's eyes narrowed. "Don't hide anything. I'll know, so just spit it out."

Slowly, Frisk signed, [Not six months ago.]

"W-what?" Alphys asked, leaning forward. Undyne looked between her and Frisk now, left in the dark.

"What? What did they say?" she demanded.

"They say that- that it's been 15 years," Alphys said, still staring at Frisk. Frisk nodded, grimacing.

"Since what?"

"Since the vines came."

Undyne whipped her head back to Frisk.

[It's true - I met someone in the ruins, Toriel, who thought that it had been six months too, but-] they were interrupted as Undyne slammed a fist to their chest. She knocked the air out of Frisk and then smashed her forehead against their's. Stars burst behind Frisk's eyes as Undyne balled her fists in their sweater.

"I swear, if you're lying-"

Frisk shook their head vigorously, stars shooting through their head painfully. Blearily, they met Undyne's wild gaze, and began to sign shakily. Alphys peered around Undyne's arms to catch their words.

[15 years, I swear it. I was seven when they first came, and it's a night I'll never forget - I was in the capital with my parents. They killed my…] Frisk swallowed painfully as Alphys translated. Undyne slackened her hold on Frisk's sweater, just a little. [Anyways. It's been 15 years. Apparently, you only remember it as being six months.]

Undyne searched their face, her own forehead dangerously close to touching Frisk's sore one once again. At last, "Okay then. Let's say you're right - and I'm not convinced yet - but let's say you are. Why the hell do we only remember it having been six months ago?"

[Have you ever heard of Save and Reset?]

Alphys clapped her hands to her mouth. Undyne groaned. "What is it now?"

"W-well… you know that research that I had been doing about a year ago? About- about Save and Reset?"

"Yeah, but it ended up being a bust. The amount of determination you had to have…" Undyne trailed off. Slowly she released her hold on Frisk, and sat back on her heels. "Oh hell. You're not saying… you think that the king…"

Alphys nodded her head. "I- I mean, it would… it would explain a lot. The nightmares, how they're always one, two steps ahead-"

"Usually more," Undyne added. "And how everyone has this feeling…"

"That we've done this before," Alphys finished. She held her head in her hands, eyes sightlessly scanning the ground as she thought aloud. "So maybe then… that's what he meant when he said that we can't think like ourselves, that we can't react on a whim…"

"That old doctor's too smart for where he's stuck," Undyne said under her breath.

Frisk waved to get their attention. As if they had forgotten Frisk was there, Undyne and Alphys looked at them in surprise.

[I'm glad you do, but… why are you so ready to believe me? About Save and Reset?]

Alphys and Undyne looked at each other. Weariness had settled deep into Alphys' scales, and Undyne's were etched with frustration and exhaustion.

"We knew that something was up," Undyne began. She pulled the fluffy hood of her coat up closer around her neck, better covering a set of gills Frisk hadn't noticed earlier. "The nightmares… our nightmares… they were nearly identical, or at least they lined up. Nightmares about things that happened in the Underground, to ourselves and to our friends."

"T-the doctor, a former one, also hinted at it. He said, he said that we needed to be creative and not think like ourselves, because they've seen it all before, and they'd be ages ahead of us," Alphys said.

Undyne scoffed. "Yeah, 'cuz it's so easy to think like someone other than yourself." She jammed a thumb at her chest, her other hand on her hip. "I'm amazing! I think great thoughts! Why wouldn't I wanna think like me?"

Alphys chuckled, and Frisk couldn't help the smile that tugged at their own mouth. Grumbling under her breath, Undyne looked away. There might have been a slightly deeper blue flush to her cheeks.

"Y-you are great, but he wouldn't have warned us without a reason," Alphys replied, her own cheeks flushing slightly. She turned to Frisk after a moment, looking at them thoughtfully. "F-Frisk, what were you planning to do from here on out?"

[Well, outside of the more immediate goal of 'becoming untied,' I wanted to help, actually. I mean, I know you don't know me, and I still definitely want my own answers, but I can't help but wanna help - and take out the source of those vines myself,] Frisk signed. Their motions became sharp and hard as they finished, and Undyne noticed it as Alphys translated. She regarded Frisk seriously. Then, with a sudden movement, she pulled her knife back out and cut the knot that bound the ropes to Frisk.

As they fell slack, Undyne slid her knife back into place at her hip and stood. She extended a hand down to Frisk; only a split moment passed before Frisk grabbed it and was hauled to their feet. They stumbled for a moment, blood rushing back to their legs as it felt like tiny needles pricked at every nerve. Frisk rubbed them briskly, then looked back at Undyne.

Her face was serious as she considered Frisk. Then, it split into a wide, sharp-toothed grin. "We could use a little something unexpected on our side, I'm thinking," she said. "And I do mean little - you're short as hell, Frisk!" She laughed, roughly mussing the top of Frisk's head, turning the loose dark curls wild. They grimaced and tried to right their hair, but gave up after a moment. Alphys was smiling at them too, now.

"W-we're not a very large team - we've lost some people, and others are too scared to do anything," Alphys admitted as the smile faded some. "But, we're ready to do what it takes. I'm guessing you don't know a lot about what's been going on, at least not yet?"

"They don't gotta worry about that, we'll fill 'em in!" Undyne slapped Frisk on the shoulder, sending them straight back down to the ground. "Woops," she laughed, pulling them up once more - this time, a little more gently. Frisk grimaced, rolling their shoulders as their arms ached in protest. Still, they glanced between the two monsters, and smiled back at them.

"Alright, well we've got most the camp out doing some recon or some prep work, so you'll have to wait on the introductions," Undyne said, looking towards the camp. "But we can give you a quick tour before getting down to business. How are you at fighting? I feel like you'd put up a good one," she added thoughtfully, looking down at Frisk.

Frisk smiled in return, patting one bicep before signing, [I know a thing or two.]