Story 9
*This story contains my Undertale AU Soultale*
Chapter 2
"I Don't Want to Die"
Mount Ebott, February 9, 5:53 AM
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The bus jarred to a stop, hissing as the doors swing out and open. "Mount Ebott Trail," said the driver, a wiry little old man with shadows under his eyes. Frisk stood up from her seat and walked to the front, handing the man a ten dollar bill with a smile, which he returned.
"Thank you," she said, jumping the last step and onto the pavement.
"Are you alone, sweetheart?" asked the man in mild concern, sticking the money into the jar on his dashboard. Frisk smiled again and shrugged.
"Just here on a bet. Some people just don't let up. I'll be alright, Mr. Freeman." The old man grinned again, much wider this time.
"Ain't nobody called me Mr. Freeman in a very long time. Never bothered. Good to know there are still good people out there in the world."
"I make it my business to know what I can," waved Frisk with another shrug. "It's no problem, really."
"Let me know it there's anything I can do for ya, okay kid?" With that, Mr. Freeman closed the doors of the bus and drove off up the mountain road, leaving behind only a whiff of diesel. Frisk stood there for a moment before setting off up the hiking path a little to her left. Her old brown hiking boots had a familiar weight to them. She fingered the gold heart locket around her throat, one of the only possessions she had since before she had come to the orphanage as a two year old girl.
It was small, about the size of a bottle cap, but covered with tiny, intricate designs and set with a small blood-red jewel in the center. The original chain had long since grown too small to fit around her neck and had been given to a little girl several years ago who had been adopted, so the little locket hung on a metal ball chain like what held military dog tags. But the sad thing about this locket was that there were no pictures inside, because Frisk, ever since she had been a tiny girl, had saved its space for when she finally had a family to fill the cold metal heart with. Of course, over fifteen years, that optimism had faded quite a bit, but hey, you never know.
She tugged the sleeves of her blue and maroon striped sweater over her hands and raised them to her lips, breathing on them until she regained feeling in her fingertips. It was very cold at this elevation. Patches of snow from the winter snowstorms were still persevering in the shadows of the trees. The wind that beckoned in spring cut through her sweater and she shivered again, hugging her arms close to her body. It was very annoying, she thought picking up a thin stick about the length of her forearm, forked and holding only a single green leaf, very annoying that the mountain seemed to be the last thing in the valley to thaw.
It took her a few hours to reach the river crossing she had been looking for. The trail crossed over it with a few old tree trunks, but she ignored the path and followed the flow of the river for an uneventful mile until the river disappeared altogether. There was a point that had been impassable to Frisk and she had to take a little detour, but she lost the river. Panic settled in her heart and she looked around wildly. There was no way that the river could just vanish. She could still hear it, so why…
Or maybe… This was where she was supposed to be. She slowed her breathing and started to look around. She was in a huge clearing. Huge, imposing grey rocks jutted out of the earth, casting snowy shadows. She turned around and saw a gaping hole in the side of the mountain, almost dripping with ivy and dead vines.
"Oh gosh, I hope that's not where I'm supposed to be headed…" groaned Frisk, her bravery faltering. But there weren't really any other caves around, so she had no choice but to go into this one. She thought for a second about backing out and just lying to Brandon Fowler that she had gone into the cave, but she prided herself in being a generally honest person. Besides, she was here to explore for herself, too. She jogged briskly to the cave, determined. There weren't any remnants of mining equipment, she noticed as she walked into the mouth of the cave, switching on her flashlight so the wide beam of dim yellow light let her see her surroundings. It was a real cave.
She walked to the wall on her left, tapping the walls with the stick she had picked up a while ago. There were painted carvings there, too old and weather beaten to make out distinctly. She gazed at it for a few more seconds before looking around again. All of the walls were covered in these carvings, all of them too ancient or vegetation covered to make out. The bits that she could see or read seemed to be written in some ancient, archaic language she'd never seen before. Heck, she had trouble with some English words, forget dead languages. She gave up trying to read the walls pretty quick and started walking deeper into the cave, taking care not to trip on the thick vines that covered everything. She suddenly noticed that the deeper into the cave she got, the warmer and wetter the air seemed to get. She was filled with absolute wonder as she looked at all of the carvings. She had heard of old Indian cave paintings and such, but she didn't think these were anything like those. These were much too intricate and beautiful, even in their moldering state.
"I am so confuzzled right now," she said shaking her hand and looking up at the stony roof, using a word of her own invention. "So so confu-" she gasped and flailed wildly, falling. Her foot slipped into a huge hole, over six feet wide and so deep she couldn't see the bottom. She continued to fall until she stopped herself by grabbing onto a vine that was growing into the hole. She was gasping, her heart hammering in her chest. The flashlight had fallen down the hole, the quickly fading light spinning out of control. The only light now was the weak sunlight that permeated the cave entrance a hundred feet away, and before long, that too would fade since the sun was rising away from the mouth.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh…" Her breath was coming in gasps, and she felt tears flowing down her cheeks. I'm gonna die here. Fowler was right! I'm going to fall and I'm going to freakin' die. I don't want to die! I haven't gotten a family! I haven't learned to drive! I don't want to die! No please no… God if you're there, help me…! Don't let me die…!
She hung there for several more seconds, sobbing and screaming that she didn't want to die. She called, sobbed, screamed for help, but nobody came. She fell silent, clutching the spiny vine for a long, long time. A drop of blood ran down her hand before long, soaking into a small, growing dark spot on her sleeve. Her fingers were cramping. She was going to fall before long so… There was nothing to lose. She tried to pull herself up. The adrenaline in her body made the task feel easier than it should be. Hand over hand, her feet scrabbled against the smooth, sheer stone as she pulled herself up. She became eager and convinced she was about to make it and then… Time seemed to freeze for several long moments as she gasped, reaching madly for a vine, a rock, something to hold onto, but there was nothing…
Falling… Falling… Frisk was frozen in midair, watching the shrinking circle of golden light that was the hole with wide, unblinking eyes. Cold wind whistled in her ears, her hair whipping around her face. Aside from the wind, it was silent, save for the screaming echoing back into her ears. She was going to die as a bloody stain in the belly of the Earth. The light was now only a pinprick above her… And she blacked out.
A/N Congratulations! You've discovered the reason why and how Soultale Frisk fell down into the Underground! Well done! Thanks for reading so far. Yes, I know it's crap, but it's a bit of an older idea. Comment, read my other stuff, have fun, and don't die :) Love yourself!
~File_13
