AN: CAUSE I'M FREEEE!
A small rest later, and Frisk was walking in front of Toriel and Sans, hopping along and seeming to have forgotten her worries. Until a blue spear struck the ground in front of her and caused her to squeal, running to hide behind Toriel.
Sans' eye was already glowing a bright, swirling blue before he blinked at seeing it was Undyne, who seemed just as startled to see them, instead of just Frisk. Undyne took in the sight of the three before she really looked at Toriel. The moment she did, she was dropping into a kneel, her head bowed. "Your Majesty."
"So, what was that about not remembering?" Sans muttered quietly, eye still blue as he shifted more to hide Frisk, rapidly flicking through the few memories he had of what this event would entail. Undyne was completely loyal to Asgore, and with the six souls they had... Ugh, he was so upset that his first thought was that they'd have to kill him before they got to the small child behind him.
"You must be bringing the human to Asgore," Undyne said, standing. "Would you like an escort-" There was a sudden snap from Sans in that language Frisk didn't know, eyes swirling between blue and other colors, looking even more defensive. Toriel was covering Frisk's ears, looking completely disapproving. Unable to hear, Frisk only stared up at Undyne. If it hadn't been for Sans and Toriel, she might have...
Frisk broke away from them, running across the docks, and towards the tall grass up ahead. There were calls of her name, and the sound of people running after her, the tall grass moving and shifting with someone walking through it. She stayed completely still, trying to hide as the rustling seemed to get closer, and sound incredibly like metal boots. Just when she thought she was about to be picked up, it was someone else instead.
Above her, there was a long few moments of silence, something being put down beside her, and the vague noise of Sans sighing and grumbling about her possibly doubling back. She remained where she was for a long moment before she left the grass on the other side, trying to catch her breath. It was only a moment before the monster kid was tumbling out after her, looking awed. "Yo...did you see that?! Undyne just...touched me! I'm never washing my face ever again!"
"Heheh... Yeah. You're really lucky." Frisk rubbed at her arm, fidgeting with the tutu a moment later.
"Yeah I am! But man, are you unlucky! If you were standing just a little bit to the left it woulda been you instead! Yo, don't worry, though! I'm sure we'll see her again!" The monster was laughing and already running off, tripping before getting his feet under him and bouncing back.
Seeing a dull shine, Frisk brushed her fingers against it and sat down beside the Save point, trying to collect herself. Hearing a rustling, Frisk looked up. Her eyes widened at seeing Toriel and Sans, Undyne with them. In a moment of panic, Frisk was reaching out to Load, and then taking off in the opposite direction a moment later. Just like getting a head start.
In the not too far distance, she vaguely heard Sans yelling a word that was probably not meant for her age-range. It was when she got to a cave and her Soul appeared in front of her that she finally stopped. She paused, hearing a quiet song from the monster in front of her. Frisk glanced around before quietly humming the tune back. There was a moment of pause, the monster turning to her a bit more before giving a small smile, returning the tune in a bit stronger of a voice, little musical notes wafting throughout the air.
Watching the notes carefully, Frisk guided her Soul away from them, dodging them. She repeated the tune, giving an encouraging smile. The monster - who seemed like the type to have a name like Shyren - gave a wider smile, singing quietly in the peaceful silence of Waterfall, notes once again leaving her. The process repeated like that for a bit, Frisk looking to finally calm down. It was a little while before the fight was ending, the song still in the girl's head as Shyren quickly vanished, a small pile of gold left behind. Frisk collected the gold before curling up in the corner in a small, hopefully unnoticeable ball.
It was a few minutes spent like that before there were clear footsteps, a somewhat frantic and frazzled Sans finding her before immediately drawing her into a hug with a sigh of relief. "Jeez, kid, you had me terrified." Not seeing Undyne with him, Frisk hugged him back, and maybe clinging a bit.
"Are you alright, my child?" Toriel looked just as frazzled, bending down to check the child over and sigh in relief at seeing she was relatively unharmed. "I wish you had not run off before we had the chance to explain to Undyne..."
"To be fair, I woulda ran too," Sans snorted, tucking the girl closer to him.
"But- But she... She was gonna..." Frisk hid her face in Sans' shirt, shaking just the slightest bit.
"Ssh, it's alright, kid, it's fine." Sans was scooping her up and hugging her close, heading towards the little cave to get a bit more silence. "We wouldn't have let her even lay a fin on you. Skeleton's honor, and all that." Frisk clung to Sans, relaxing and leaning against him.
"So, it's okay, right? You won't let her hurt me?"
"'Course not. I did make a promise to a certain someone to protect ya, after all," Sans grinned, shifting the girl and blinking at the piano. "...Why is there a piano in here?"
Frisk only shrugged, looking around the room. "I dunno. There was that monster girl who really liked to sing. Maybe it's hers." Sans hummed, glancing at the piano again and looking a touch curious.
"Did she sing a certain song, or anything?"
"I dunno." Sans only tilted his head and studied the small carvings above the piano, lightly humming under his breath before he was running a hand over the keys of the piano, playing the exact song Shyren had sung note for note. "Woah..." Frisk looked at him with amazement, and maybe just a little adoration.
"...Wha...what? What'd I do?"
"You can play piano."
"...Yeeeees." Sans was looking a bit confused, head tilting again as he shifted - an absent motion he had been doing more and more since he started carrying Frisk. "Is that a thing that other people don't do, or something?"
"It's so cool." If one looked closely, it was almost like there were stars in her eyes.
"I mean, it's kinda common, so it's not that cool," Sans waved away, glancing to Toriel. "Right? Piano playing is common, yeah?"
"Perhaps, though not to that level." Toriel smiled, giving a nod. "I think it's nice. You play rather well. Come on. Let's see what secret it unlocked."
The secret that was 'unlocked' ended up being an encounter with a rather Annoying Dog, an irate Sans who was near used as a chew toy, and a couple of bone attacks that had the dog scampering away. "I hate. Those. Dogs."
Frisk was only giggling quietly, looking amused. "He's funny." Sans only rolled his eyes, picking the girl back up and blowing a puff of air at her face.
"Yeah, but you don't have to worry about becoming a chew toy. I guess dogs see me and all they think is 'bone appetite'." That only seemed to cause the child to laugh more, squirming just the tiniest bit. Sans hid a chuckle himself, poking at the girl's side again. "Really, if they keep chewing on me like that, they're gonna mess up their canine teeth." Grinning widely, laughter was spilling out of Frisk as she wiggled and squirmed in his hold.
"Quit it! I'm gonna crack a rib!" That had Sans giving a startled laugh, looking very amused as he cuddled the girl closer, because, yes, his tiny human.
"Aw, come on, kid, who needs ribs when you got backbone." Toriel was trying to hold back her laughter, instead holding an umbrella out to them.
"Wouldn't want either of you to get sick, again."
"Excuse you, we skeletons don't get sick," Sans mock huffed, accepting the umbrella anyways and setting Frisk down for a moment so he could get it open. "We just sulk and complain." Once the umbrella was opening, Frisk was snatching it out of Sans' hands and doubling back to the statue she'd seen. Humming quietly, she situated the umbrella so it would cover the statue from the rain.
A few moments later and a beautiful set of notes were emerging from the statue, sounding like it was coming from an aged and worn music box. The rhythmatic drips of rain on top of the umbrella added to the sweet song, making it even more peaceful. Smiling brightly, Frisk ran back to where Toriel and Sans were waiting for her. Without even a moment's thought, she was holding her arms out to Sans. It seemed that Sans was the same, since he was easily picking the girl back up, another umbrella open around them so they wouldn't get soaked by the rain.
It was a minute or two of walking before there was a familiar voice calling out to them. "Yo! You got an umbrella? Awesome!" The monster kid from before was running over to Toriel's side to hide under her umbrella, looking as cheery as could be. "Yo!"
Frisk giggled, waving at him. "Yo." She was rewarded with a brighter smile.
"So, are you guys off to see Undyne? Man, she is sooo cool! She beats up bad guys and never loses!" At the mention of Undyne, Frisk was scrunching down, as though to hide.
"Eh, she hasn't won every battle she's fought," Sans hummed, tucking Frisk a bit closer. "She was a kid just like you, at one point. She had to train and work really hard to get where she was, and even now, she's not perfect."
"But she's still really good," Frisk muttered, letting Sans curl around her.
"Yeah! Even if she's not, like, totally perfect, she still never loses a fight anymore! She's Captain of the Royal Guard and the best fighter in the Underground!" Sans only looked at the kid with some amusement, a wicked spark of amusement in his eyes.
"Oh? I don't know if I'd call her the best fighter, but she's pretty tough when she wants to be, I guess."
That seemed to catch Frisk's attention as she looked up at Sans. "Who's the best?"
"Hm...? In my humble and ever so right opinion, I'd have to say Papyrus. Even if he's not the most brutal of fighters, he never gives up once he starts. That and he's always in total control of his powers, and knows when his opponent has had too much."
Frisk nodded, looking to be considering something. "Yeah, but he's not the coolest."
"Aw, what? Pap is totally the coolest." Sans paused to shift, making sure the umbrella was still over them. "Alright then, kid, if you don't think Pap is the coolest monster, who do you think is the coolest monster?"
"I never said monster," Frisk said, looking at Sans as though he were being silly. "My brother."
"See, now that is a completely acceptable answer. Because brothers are the coolest," Sans grinned, tugging at the girl's sweater where it was slightly slipping around her shoulders. The monster kid beside them was looking a touch confused as he looked up to Toriel.
"Wait, doesn't that still count if her brother is a monster? Cause she's a monster, so wait... Aw, well, whatever. So, okay, who's the second coolest then. Cause my first, second, and third is Undyne, of course!"
"Okay, okay, okay," Frisk looked excited as she listed off. "Okay, so, first is Josh, cause, duh. Second is Pap-Pap and Sans, cause they're equally cool, and when you put them together they're super cool but still not as cool as Josh, and then is Tori cause all by herself, she's really cool."
"...Tori this kid is killing me," Sans whined, looking pathetic. "Tooorrriiiii."
"Really," she said, raising an eyebrow to him. "No 'Your Majesty?'"
"To be fair, how was I supposed to know that?" Sans shot back, and right, right. Timelines, he had to- And all of Frisk's Saving and Loading today hadn't helped matters in his head.
"Just that you've been acting as though we haven't just met in person a few days ago."
"What can I say, I'm a friendly guy," Sans shrugged, hiding his nervousness remarkably well. The kids, he noticed, were in a debate of ranking monsters by 'coolness', so that at least distracted them.
"Who was ready to terrify a child."
"Whaaat. I wasn't going to terrify her, just...say hi. I mean, you're the one who suggested that the only person coming through the Ruins door would be a human. And I do have a sentry station there. What else was I supposed to do?" A quiet mumble under his breath. "'Sides, she was supposed to be ten, not five."
"What was that, Sans?"
"What was what?"
"Mhm. Don't think I'm going to let this slide, skeleton."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Tori," Sans sighed, looking rather worn and pathetic. Never in this moment had he hated Resets so much, truly, and... "Huh. I don't remember this ledge being here..."
"Still! Sans and Pap-Pap are the coolest monsters ever!"
"Nuh-uh! Undyne is the coolest monster ever!"
"Nuh-uh! She's gross and mean!"
"What?! You take that back!"
"Make me!"
"Children." The two kids immediately fell silent, Sans hiding a snicker. "Hm...I suppose we can just push them up onto the ledge and find another way around ourselves."
"Better than just sittin' here talking about it," Sans agreed, setting Frisk down and putting the umbrellas up in the bin next to them.
Frisk frowned at hearing that, looking up to them. "You're not coming with?"
"Eh, we can't all get up there, just a bit too tall for us," Sans shrugged, Toriel already picking up the monster kid and helping him up. "It won't take long to circle back around. Not even half an hour, maybe less."
"Should we wait, then?" She looked a bit nervous at not having the two with her, already looking around for any signs of danger.
"Nah, you two can go on ahead, we'll find you easily enough," Sans smiled, easily picking the girl up and reaching her up to Toriel. "'Sides, there's not much danger here in Waterfall."
As Toriel set her on the ledge, Frisk crouched down and stuck her pinkie out to Sans. "Promise?" Sans really was weak if he was making another promise.
"Promise." It was a bit of a stretch to get his hand up, but he did so anyways, shooting the girl a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry about it, I'll find you if something bad happens. 'Sides, you're clever enough to get out of real danger if you need to." Frisk smiled, nodding as she stood and looked to the other child.
"Come on. Let's see if we can find a way for them to get through."
"Cool! We'll be just like Undyne and save the day!" The kid was grinning as he ran off, only tripping once before he was back on his feet and running again. Sans only watched them worriedly for a moment, looking a bit uneasy...he had a bad feeling about this... Frisk ran after him with a laugh, barely even glancing back.
"...You're worried." Toriel was looking at Sans, tilting her head a bit.
"And you're using contractions," Sans shot back, still looking at the ledge uneasily before shooting her a smile. "Eh, just a bit concerned. I mean, really, those two just seem like the type to find trouble anywhere."
"She found you, did she not?"
"Ha, ha. C'mon, better find a way around to them."
What was this feeling...this feeling that something very, very bad was about to happen...
He felt his sins crawling on his back.
::
"Ah, small human child! Have you seen Queen Toriel and Sans? Alphys- Hey, wait!" The moment Frisk saw Undyne, she was taking off the other way at a full run, not stopping for a moment. Undyne wanted to kill humans, she was human, Undyne wanted to kill her. Sans said she could get out of danger. She'd be fine. It'd be okay. Just keep running.
"Yo! Hey, kid, it's fine, it's just Undyne!" Undyne and the monster kid were both chasing after her, trying to reason with her to slow down and that she really shouldn't be running on the docks. "Seriously! These things are dangerous!" As proven when the kid, trying to reassure her, almost slipped off the edge. Luckily Undyne had much faster reflexes than he did. "See! Danger!" Frisk only continued running, her hands over her ears as she tried to find her way across the docks. When she found herself at a dead end, her eyes widened and she took a step backwards.
"Whoa, hey, kid, take it easy. This part is unstable, and falling is the last thing we want right now. We still have to get you to Asgore and all." The docks - at least the part Frisk was on - were creaking horrendously, boards cracking in a few places from the weight now on top of them. Both at the voice and the name, Frisk gave a quiet squeak, stepping closer to the end of the dock as she turned around to face Undyne. The girl shook, looking up at the...fish woman in front of her.
Before anyone could say anything else, an ominous crack was snapping throughout the air, sounding much more serious than a few breaking boards. Suddenly, the part of the bridge Frisk was on was collapsing from the rest, the rushing waters pulling it away before Undyne could make a grab for the child. As she fell, Frisk screamed, and it was the last thing she remembered.
AN: Free faaallin'