Chapter 21: Lost
(A/N: Shrimp are hitting the fan in this chapter, a warning: may cause slight uncomfortableness?)
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Chara hissed as Frisk closed the front door with a squeak. "I know you feel like you need the relic but can't you get it in the morning?" The taller child squinted their eyes as they looked up; the lighting wasn't much different but the air was cooler and Toriel had put out the fire in the hearth allowing for the shadows all around them to grow longer.
"Maybe we should go back" They hissed louder "Toriel will be worried if she finds you gone!"
The human turned around to make a shushing motion before pulling out their tattered notebook. Hmmm… it was full.
"Here" Chara sighed holding out their palm, they would need to find their ward a new notebook.
((It can't wait, I can't believe I lost it! It could be anywhere! Mrs. S- … My teacher would be so disappointed! It was her treasure! I hav-))
"Slow down" Chara tapped the smaller child on the shoulder "I can barely understand you, but it's fine. No monster is going to take something that isn't theirs… it's… not like on the surface. It'll be easier to see in the day time-"
Frisk gave them a withering look that resonated: Well I can't see so that won't be a problem will it?
And spinning around they ran into the ruins leaving their guide standing alone in the dim light; cursing, Chara followed.
~O*O~
The cold night air stung their lungs as they ran and the hard earth felt moist beneath their feet.
They had to find it, they had to find the music disc. Where was it?
Footsteps echoed distantly behind them, someone was calling their name; they didn't stop. Their throat hurt, the air scraped against it as they breathed heavily; it was probably a bad idea to be running but they didn't care.
Thoughts fragmented as they gasped for air; they were going too fast, this was stupid, they should've listened. Feet slapped against cold bricks slowly growing numb.
Crash! The foliage slapped their face as they hit the floor with a dull thud. Stunned, they barely had time to catch their breath before they felt the sudden tug of battle mode.
"Vegetoid came out of the earth!" a deep voice cackled with a slight Russian accent "Serving size is one monster-not monitored by the USDA."
Frisk backed away slowly trying to catch their breath; the smell of steamed carrots and peas made their stomach growl causing them to regret only nibbling on the slice of snail pie that Toriel had baked for dinner.
"Oh my" The monster murmured sympathetically after hearing the sounds of a hungry child "here, eat your greens."
A couple warm vegetables landed in their outstretched hands. After enduring the bland orphanage cuisine, and questionable pies, the aroma of cooked vegetables smelled heavenly. Shrugging off the little voice in their head warning them about strangers, they leaned forward to take a bite of vegetable. The carrot was amazing; the signature tangy flavor of warm vegetable complemented by bursts of pepper warmed their tummy.
As they turned around to thank the vegetable giving monster, a shrill voice cut through the air.
"Get away from my child!" smoke filled the room and Frisk heard a pained grunt.
Someone slapped the remaining vegetables out of their hands before turning toward them.
"What were you thinking?! Sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night to eat some stranger's food and get attacked by monsters? Do you know how worried I was? You could've gotten hurt, or worse, killed!"
They barely heard a word Toriel said; the smoke crawled into their mouth and nose, acrid tendrils reached down their throat making them gag. The food turned into a cold lump in their stomach; the smoke seeped in—they could taste the ashes.
Turning around they heaved—throwing up all of the things they had eaten earlier—until their stomach was empty.
The colors dulled into an endless landscape of black, then they no longer heard the frantic shouts.
~O*O~
Chara sighed finally allowing themself a moment to breathe; Toriel was baking, she always baked when something was wrong—at least she had gotten better at it.
The human's skin was pale and sweat glistened on their brow and they slept; a pained expression flitted across their face every now and then.
They needed to do something.
Pulling a notebook out of a drawer and procuring a pair of scissors from Toriel's room, they sat down to cut smaller notebooks from the larger one.
~O*O~
Blinking, Chara hissed as light seeped into their eye, when had they fallen asleep?
On the floor sat a small stack of notebooks along with a messy pile of paper scraps. At least they had finished that job. A quick glance at the sleeping lump—good, Frisk wasn't awake yet.
Rolling their head to dispel the neck cramp obtained by sleeping on the rug they walked down the hallway. Reaching out Chara opened the front door slowly as not to disturb Toriel. Perhaps they could find some of Azzie's old mint plants, the smell of mint made them alert, maybe it worked on humans too?
*Crack* Looking down their eyes widened.
"How….?"
Tossing the broken stick into the leaf pile by the house, Chara scooped up the no-longer-lost relic and examined it. They turned the knob a few times and was pleasantly surprised when the tune began to play. It wasn't broken!
Looking around they saw no one, shrugging Chara walked back inside to set the object back upon the nightstand where it could be easily returned when the human woke up. Now for the mint.
Placing a hand on the hilt of the plastic knife, they turned toward the door not noticing the fluttering of a small petal from where it was wedged firmly between two metal pieces of the arcane* relic. But Frisk would.
~O*O~
"Ouch" Vegetoid winced as the Whimsun wrapped his singed leaves in a thin cotton bandage "Careful now."
"What happened to you?!" the smaller monster asked curiously as she began wrapping more carefully
"It was the queen" He sighed "I should've known better than to interact with the human."
"Are you stupid?!" Whimsun hissed as she finished up "Didn't your parents teach you not to mess with the humans? You know how the queen is, they say she never got over the first one."
"Yeah, yeah" Vegetoid groaned as they got up "The human just looked so worried and food always helps so I thought… You're right, it won't happen again. Hehe, thanks for fixing me up kid."
"No problem" Whimsun smiled packing up her first aid kit "Stay safe Chef!"
(notes)
We are getting deep in the plot now :D
Don't hate goat mom until you read her p.o.v. which should be in the next couple chapters :)
Lol, vegetoid is russian in my head? I tried out several different accents but I liked Russian the best :p
*Definition- Arcane- understood by few, mysterious, secret (the real definition, lol)
So that's what we were forgetting :0
When you choose dinner is Vegetoid feeding you itself? O-O;
My computer got the black screen of death thing and I haven't been able to use it for a couple days now so I typed this chapter on a different computer :(
*Takes deep breath* Okay, I need to start working on Sans O-O
SU spoilers- have you guys seen gem harvest? When Rebecca feels the need to tell us to chill, that episode was great and despite what people say, she isn't taking sides :D
Eat your greens!
~PhysikLily UwU