The day Toriel left Asgore is a day that Toriel will never forget. She had come to see each monster of the underground as one of her own, and while the two joked a lot, they put far more effort into the Underground then anyone had ever asked the pair of them to do. Every speck of dirt, every home, every monster, Toriel knew it all. And of course the feelings she had developed for Asgore were so great that she could never completely dispose of them. He was the one! The one person who Toriel not only felt comfortable spending the rest of her life with, but one that would finally no longer hurt her. Thats why it was so frustrating to see Asgore fall apart like he had. When she had thoughts about that man and what he was doing, she found the only way to get rid of those thoughts was to get up and walk around. Travel endlessly in this labyrinth she now called her home. And what better way to do that, then in a canoe?
When she had left the kingdom, she expected great resistance. While Asgore was technically the king everyone knew that it was Toriel that did the ruling, and to lose her would be to lose the kingdom itself. But she would not chain herself to someone that would only drag her down.
Never Again.
So when Toriel left, she did not choose to go by the road, or even by the bird that carries you over a disproportionately small gap. Instead, she donned a heavy cloak and adorned the new persona as the Riverwoman. Silent to everyone she met she created an intimidating personality that would keep any passing monsters from asking questions. And those that did, she would draw one of Asgore's old spears to show she was ready to take a life. Luckily, she never actually had to swing the thing. She drowned her feelings and did everything she could to keep from falling apart during her journey away from the king and fell into the darkness to keep her appearance up until she arrived somewhere far away that no one could find her.
Toriel often wondered if it would be better to just become the riverwoman altogether, to just let this deafening silence take hold of her and cease to be. But that changed when she floated by a certain skeleton.
Sans had been on duty that day though it appeared that he was sleeping at his post. Typical for that lazy bones, Toriel decided to simply keep floating past him to keep from waking him. But suddenly, Sans awoke in an instant and said:
*Oh, hey Toriel.
Toriel remained silent but she couldn't help but look over at the skeleton that was now walking next to her as her boat continued to drift down the river-his footsteps echoing in the snow. How could he have seen through her disguise? It was perfect! Everything about this persona was different from her old self!
*hehehehe. I'm just foolin' ya.
*You see, Toriel, the queen, has gone missing. And no one has been able to find her.
*And I figured, instead of running around looking for her, I'd just call everyone Toriel until Toriel answered to it.
*Anyone who doesn't want to be found, won't be found, and anyone who does, will be pretty easy to spot.
*Which works for me because I'm not really built for running, you could say I barely have legs to stand on!
Toriel looked down at his legs and then at the water. As stupid and corny as the skeleton joke was was, the pun was like a ray of sunshine underneath this dark cowl, but she had to keep herself from chuckling at the joke. Toriel had to get rid of this skeleton before he found out that he really WAS talking to the queen. So she steered her boat to the side of the riverbank, extending its legs to keep it from drifting off without her and then stepped onto the land. Sans was quietly chuckling to himself the whole time, as Toriel slowly made her approach over to him, her spear dragging in the snow.
*Look buddy, just because you're bigger than me doesn't mean I'm afraid of you.
*After all it would take a lot...to get under my skin!
Toriel raised the spear up high and began to swing it down. It was all she could do to keep from laughing, she couldn't afford to be found. She would never go back to that monster. Sans, still smiling at his own comic genius hadn't moved an inch.
*Hey whats the matter?
*Don't you find my jokes humerus!?
The spear hit the corner of San's shoulder pinning him to a tree by the sleeve of his jacket. Toriel quickly turned around after this and a small sound resonated from her lips.
*hum...humhumhmmmhmmm...
It seemed that the only way for the Riverwoman's character to laugh and remain in character was to let out small hums. Sans, satisfied that he got the stoic river lady to laugh simply gave her a playful wink and remained where he was as Toriel got back on the boat and sailed away. However, just as she was almost out of earshot, Sans spoke to the riverwoman.
*Don't worry...Your secret is safe with me, If you don't want to be found then its none of my business to intrude but listen...
*If you can...please tell us when you're ready to be found. We're all gonna miss you...Toriel.
Flashback_2
