Frisk noticed an odd looking box with a sign next to it and elected to examine that before picking a road. The sign said,
"This is a box. You can put an item inside or take an item out. The same box will appear later, so don't worry about coming back. Sincerely, a box lover." "Okay, a few things. First, to get the sarcasm out of the way, Yes, this is, in fact, a box. Thank you for that valuable information." Chara lightly chuckled at this before Frisk continued.
"Next, what could it mean by it 'coming back?'"
"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say it's magical, considering we're underground and things are magic here."
"Cool. Let's go North first." Frisk walked up and saw a river. They noticed a fishing pole stuck in the ground with a line in the river.
"Huh, no one's watching the line. That's a terrible way to catch fish."
"Boring. Let's keep going."
Upon walking back to the crossroad, they saw a large monster that looked like a snowflake and a bird combined.
"Hey, you! How'd you like to see a show?"
"Uh, ok."
"Great, here we go, pay attention now." As the Snowdrake prepared to start, Frisk felt the urge to yawn, they couldn't stop it, and the Snowdrake noticed.
"Hey! I said, PAY ATTENTION!" Snowdrake threw several razor sharp, crescent shapes made of frozen ice at Frisk, which they nimbly dodged.
"Oh, good. Now that I have your undivided attention," He said with an edge of annoyance, "You better not, 'snowflake,' out." Snowdrake looked expectantly at the child.
"Uh, Frisk, I think it's best if we laugh. He might leave us alone then."
"Gotcha."
Frisk laughed to the best of their ability and Snowdrake seemed very pleased. "See!? Laughs! Dad was wrong!" Frisk waved goodbye and walked towards the East, while Snowdrake bounced back and forth happily.
Frisk walked the other way and saw Sans and Papyrus up ahead. They hadn't noticed them yet, and Chara groaned before saying,
"Oh God, please anything but these guys."
"Alright, let's just give them a chance. You heard Sans, we should be fine."
"Speaking of Sans, how did he get here? Remember, he went the other way."
"Oh yeah. probably just looped around somewhere."
Suddenly, Papyrus said in his loud and carrying voice,
"SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE," Papyrus seemed to see them out of the corner of his eyes and turned to face them. So many emotions showed on his skeletal face, somehow. He seemed confused, excited, afraid, and so much more at once. Sans followed his brother's gaze and turned to see the human. He flashed them a smile before turning back to his brother. In comedic fashion, Papyrus kept looking from the child to Sans and back, getting faster and faster. Sans followed along and did the same. Frisk struggled to keep their neutral expression, while Chara said nothing but was clearly ill-at-ease. Sometimes, when Chara felt very strongly about something, Frisk could feel it, like a cloud, hanging around in a part of their mind they didn't want to venture into. Right now, he sensed extreme annoyance.
Eventually, the tops stopped spinning, facing the other way and Papyrus spoke in a whispered tone, but still loud enough to be heard. He said,
"SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT... A HUMAN!?" Both brothers turned around quickly, then turned back. Frisk waited patiently for them to comprehend what was in front of them. Or rather, behind them. Now, they turned around to face Frisk and Sans said at normal volume.
"Actually, I think that's a rock.
"OH."
"Hey, what's that in front of the rock?" Frisk smiled and did a gentle wave.
"OH MY GOD!" Papyrus leaned a little closer to his brother and loudly whispered,
"IS… IS THAT A HUMAN?" Sans leaned in equally close and whispered,
"Yes." Papyrus turned fully to face them before yelling,
"OH MY GOD!"
Chara said, "Oh please, come up with something new to say, Papyrus."
"Oh, I think that's the first time you've actually called him by name."
"Did I? Whoops, I meant to call him 'stupid skeleton.' Oh well, I guess I'll just make sure I do it from now on."
Frisk smiled inside and out, as the tall skeleton continued.
"SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL…" He seemed so filled with excitement that he wasn't able to get his thoughts straight; he seemed ready to burst. "I'M GONNA… I'LL BE SO! POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!"
Frisk felt bad for the skeleton. He seemed to only want attention, to be loved, to have friends. Frisk became determined to show him that he didn't need to capture a human to make friends, and decided they would soon get to work on becoming his friend. As they thought this, Papyrus cleared his non-existent throat and continued his speech.
"HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN! UH, THEN…" His voice trailed off and the finger he used to be raising so high fell a little bit before coming to his chin.
"I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE, ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH heh heh heh..." His laughter became quieter as he moved further away, before eventually falling away and stopping altogether. Frisk giggled a little at the goofiness of the skeleton.
Sans looked to them and said, "Well, that went well." Considering they were still free, Frisk agreed. "Don't sweat it kiddo, I'll keep an eye socket out for ya."
Sans walked away after his brother and Frisk figured they should follow. First, however, they found a structure made of cardboard, that looked like a small sentry-station. As they walked closer, they saw a lot of writing on it, in all caps. It read, "YOU OBSERVED THE WELL-CRAFTED SENTRY STATION. WHO COULD HAVE BUILT THIS, YOU PONDER. I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN! (NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN.)
"I swear he's a lunatic, but you're more of one if you want to be his friend."
"Mind your own business, Chara. I can have all the friends I want." Chara gave a small "Humph!" sound and didn't seem in the mood for talking after that. They walked for a bit, and it didn't take long for Frisk to start again.
"Look, I'm sorry for what I said. You and I, we're stuck together, for whatever reason. And as long as we are, I want to be your- I want to keep being your friend. It's just… A lot has been happening recently. I feel like I fell down and now I don't even know which way is up. All I know is that since we left Toriel, I've been aching for a friendly face and this is my best shot at getting some new friends that I can actually see the faces of. We alright?"
Chara sighed then said, "Yeah, we're alright, partner." They seemed to smile on the inside and that cloud of emotion they felt lost it's tension.
Frisk smiled and was so preoccupied that they didn't realize they had walked past a sign and now stood in front of a sentry station. They realized this when a voice that sounded like a dog if it could talk said, "Did something move?"
Frisk stopped in their tracks and saw that a dog had slowly risen from behind the station, looking around with shifty eyes. "Was it my imagination?" The dog raised two knives into view, but Frisk realized that the dog seemed to only see movement. They elected to stay still until it was safe to try something else, though they didn't know what. This theory was confirmed when the dog said,
"I can only see moving things." This statement seemed a bit odd, considering the dog surely knew this information and wouldn't have to tell itself this, and Frisk almost shrugged their shoulders before remembering not to move. The dog continued menacingly,
"If something WAS moving, for example, a human… I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!" Chara noted,
"Nice knives. They look sharp, make sure you avoid them."
"Well, you know, I was planning to get stabbed, good buddy, but I think with your stellar advice, I'll change my plans."
"And you say I'm the jerky one."
Before Frisk could come up with a response, the dog, which they later elected to call Doggo, started prodding the air behind Frisk, where it last saw movement. Frisk didn't move, and Doggo seemed confused. Frisk waited and after several jabs, quickly petted the monster. The dog started freaking out, it's limbs flailing with reckless abandon, stabbing in all the wrong spots, as it yelled, "I'VE BEEN PET!" It then started yelling random things that rhymed with pet as it fell further into hysteria. After this, it calmed down and shivered as it said, "S-S-S-Something pet me. Something that isn't m-m-moving. I'm gonna need some dog treats for this!" The dog sunk behind their desk and Frisk shrugged as they claimed victory and walked away.
"Hey, Frisk."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry too. For being a bit irritable. I've… been thinking. About stuff. Stuff I hadn't thought about in a long time. Maybe I'll tell you some other time, but right now let's just focus on getting out of here." Frisk could barely hold their excitement, knowing they just took a huge step in the direction of knowing what Chara knew, but kept that out of their voice as they said,
"That sounds like a good plan to me."
Frisk walked a bit and nearly jumped out of their skin, when they suddenly noticed Sans standing in front of them and slightly to the left. They were trying not to step on cracks on the ground, a fun way to pass the time while walking, when they heard a noise. They assumed it was another Ice cap that wanted to show off, or that snowflake comedian; they didn't mind either of them. Instead, it was their good buddy Sans shifting his weight to face them. Frisk smiled at him and Sans began to talk.
"Hey, here's something important to remember. My brother has a very special attack."
"Oh what is it, a hug and a kiss?" Said Chara.
"If you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you. Here's an easy way to keep it in mind. Imagine a stop sign. When you see a stop sign, you stop, right? Stop signs are red, so imagine a blue stop sign instead. Simple, right? When fighting, think about blue stop signs."
Chara inhaled deeply before saying, "Okay that was literally the stupidest thing I have ever heard."
"Well, how would you describe it to a small kid? I challenge you to come up with something better."
"Well, I don't know, something other than a blue stop sign. Maybe, like ice. Ice has a blue tint to it, and you could say something like, when you think of ice, it's frozen, so when you see blue, you freeze." Chara waited for a while before inquisitively saying,
"Frisk?"
"I, uh, didn't expect you to come up with something better. Hold on, now I have to either admit defeat or find something better than that, and I never admit defeat." Chara had an edge of superiority when they said,
"Oh, so I guess it's your turn to hush up for a while, hunh?" Chara waited and then heard sobbing. They freaked out and frantically said,
"Hey, hey, whoa, I was just kidding, Frisk, take it easy." The crying turned to laughter and Frisk said,
"I was kidding too. Gotcha! But no, seriously, I have nothing better. I submit."
"You okay, kiddo?" Both children gasped sharply and realized they had probably been standing there looking stupid for at least 20 seconds. Sans put a hand on their shoulder and stooped to their level. Frisk flashed him a smile and a thumbs-up before quickly scurrying north on another path. Sans called after them, "See ya around!" Frisk and Chara were panicking and rambled to each other in a symphony of confusion and fear that no one could ever hope to follow. Most of Frisk's fears revolved around looking like a total dweeb, while Chara's were about Sans becoming super suspicious about them and finding something he didn't like. The experience itself wasn't so harrowing, but there was something creepy about Sans' atmosphere, like he knew something about you that you didn't even know. And in that moment, they both felt like Sans could've told them a lot about themselves they didn't know and didn't want to know. Unbeknownst to them, Sans stood a moment, in the snow, hands in his pockets. "Hmm," he muttered before walking away.
The children caught their breath and tried to calm themselves. They felt like their heart was going 300 beats per minute, they sweated despite the cold, and they felt like it would never stop. Their chest hurt and they felt dizzy. If they had been a bit wiser or older, they might've called it a panic attack. They took a few moments, and when they had recovered, kept walking north. They found a nice looking snowman, alone in the center of a dead end. He spoke to them, in a surprisingly deep voice. "Hello, I am a snowman. I want to see the world, but I cannot move. If you would be so kind, traveller, please, take a piece of me and bring it very far away. Frisk nodded, and the snowman gratefully said, "Thank you," before allowing a piece of his middle portion to fall into Frisk's outstretched hands. They put it away and waved before turning back.
"Do you think he's still there?"
"I don't think so, let's check." Frisk slowly creeped around the corner and looked, not seeing Sans where he was before. "I think we're good."
The children walked East and found Sans and Papyrus again.
"Okay, Frisk, before you say anything. I thought about what you said earlier, about giving them a chance. I've decided to do that. Starting right now." "Hey, I'm proud of you, buddy. We'll all be good friends soon, you'll see." They stepped forward and heard Papyrus say, "YOU'RE SO LAZY!" YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!" "I think that's called, 'sleeping.'" "EXCUSES, EXCUSES!"
As Papyrus noticed the human and turned to face them, Chara said, "I take it back, I SO take it back." But it was too late. They promised to give them a chance and they would have to. Over the next hour or so, their abilities, and patience, would be tested to the breaking point. At least they had Frisk to help.