Sans led Loki to a boat dock, where he was introduced to a cloaked, hooded figure referred to as "the River Person". This person took them in a boat, along with Papyrus, to a place called "Waterfall", before Loki could even take a look around the cute little town of Snowdin. Apparently, this was where there the captain of the royal guard lived. Frankly, Loki was a bit nervous to be meeting her, especially if she was as fierce as Papyrus claimed.

The three of them walked up to the house, Papyrus jabbering excitedly. The building looked like a fat fish sitting half-buried in deep mud, and bright torches were set up on the sides of the doors.

"Don't sweat it, kid." Sans spoke up, patting Loki's shoulder comfortingly. "Undyne comes off pretty… overwhelming, but she's a great person, in theory."

"In theory?" Loki raised his eyebrows.

The small skeleton shook his head in exasperation. "She's not everyone's cup of tea."

There was the soft sound of clunky piano playing as Papyrus confidently (like everything he did) strode up to the door, and knocked sharply. The piano playing stopped shortly, and the door slid open to reveal a blue woman in tank top and black slacks. She seemed to have gills instead of ears, and her red hair was pulled up into a ponytail. Loki blinked in stunned silence, and reminded himself that staring was rude.

"Hi, Papyrus!" She grinned cheerfully, revealing sharp, yellow teeth. "Are you ready for your exclusive, one-on-one training session?"

"ABSOLUTELY!" The skeleton nodded. "AND, I BROUGHT SANS! AND A FRIEND!"

Undyne turned to see Loki standing, fidgeting, next to Sans. "Oh, hello, I don't think we've met!" She smiled, then narrowed her eyes. "Wait… are you the space alien?"

Loki sent a glance at Sans' grinning face, then bowed dramatically. "At your service."

"Gee…" Undyne raised her eyebrows. "Looks like we'll have to postpone that lesson, huh, Paps?"

"WHAT? WHY?" The skeleton gasped.

Undyne gestured at Loki, an enthusiastic grin spreading over her face. "We've got a world to save, duh! We'll have to go straight to the king, and tell him what's going on…"

Loki caught sight of a wispy shape in the corner of his eye, and tuned out Undyne's conversation with Papyrus. Squinting at the corner of the doorway into the room, he could make out a translucent shape, wearing headphones. "Napstablook!" He grinned at his friend.

"Huh?" Undyne looked up. "Wait, you know this guy?" She nodded at the ghost, who ducked behind the wall.

Loki jogged over to where Napstablook had disappeared. "Hey, Napstablook, it's good to see you!"

The ghost startled, then smiled sheepishly. "Heh… really?"

"Absolutely!" Loki nodded. "How have you been?"

"Miserable…" Napstablook sighed, glancing at the ground.

Loki smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay." Napstablook looked up again. "Did I interrupt you guys? It looked like you were having fun…"

Loki waved the issue off. "It's fine. Do you know my friends?"

The ghost suddenly seemed to notice the other three people standing nearby. "Oh! Hi… sorry to… exist…"

"Hi, Nappy!" Sans strolled over, hands in his pockets. "Got any new tunes?"

Napstablook fidgeted nervously. "Not any good ones…"

"Tunes?" Loki raised his eyebrows. "You write music?"

The ghost nodded. "Sometimes, yeah… You wanna come over to my place, and see if you like any? I mean, don't feel obliged, of course… Um… yeah… it's this way… if you're interested…" Napstablook floated off.

Loki turned to the smaller skeleton. "Would you mind?"

"We don't have time." Undyne announced. "We should've already been on the boat to the Hotlands, by now."

"DON'T MIND HER!" Papyrus shook his head. "IF YOU'D LIKE TO SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FRIEND, GO AHEAD! I'LL GO BACK TO SNOWDIN AND EXPLAIN THE SITUATION TO THE CANINE DIVISION, AND START EVACUATING MONSTERS!"

"Good thinking, bro!" Sans nodded. "We'll only be a minute…"

Loki quickly started after Napstablook, hoping to catch up to him. Just through the doorway, he was waiting outside a small house, one side lit up, and the other darkened. "Oh, you actually came!" Napstablook smiled. "Heh.. wasn't expecting that…"

Loki shrugged, Sans strolling up beside him. "What are friends for?"

Napstablook actually smiled at that, and gestured for them to follow him as he entered the darkened half of the house. There was actually very little in the house, only a few record players, and a few necessities. Sans immediately walked over to the fridge, and pulled out a translucent sandwich. "Hey, what's this?"

"Oh, that's ghost food." Napstablook floated over, and took it from the skeleton. "You can't eat it, so… I'll just…" He swallowed the sandwich. "Well… my family has a tradition of lying on the floor, feeling like garbage after meals. Would you like to join me?"

Sans and Loki glanced at each other.

"Undyne will not be pleased…" Loki mused.

Sans shrugged. "Eh, she's got a bone to pick with us, anyway…"

Loki rolled his eyes at the horrible pun, and joined Napstablook on the floor. There was a moment of silence, and Loki pictured himself as a heap of garbage. Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard to do. Odin had never considered him to be worth much more than that, anyway. Thor only brought him along on quests because he was slightly useful, and Frigga had basically begun ignoring him after he'd come of age. Gradually, the room faded away, leaving Loki and Napstablook alone with the abyss of their thoughts. It seemed like the whole universe opened up beneath them, much like staring off the edge of the Bifrost bridge.

"Hey kid, I don't mean to interrupt…" Sans spoke up. Loki turned his head to face the small skeleton. "…but we really ought to be going."

"Ah." Loki climbed to his feet. "Sorry, Napstablook, I have to leave."

"That's okay." The ghost sat up, as well. "Thanks for doing that with me… nobody's ever taken the time, before."

Loki nodded cheerfully.

"Hey, uh…" Napstablook fidgeted slightly. "You wanted to hear the songs, didn't you…? Gee… I'm so rude, I didn't even let you hear them…"

"It's alright." Loki assured his friend. "Perhaps some other time?"

Napstablook brightened slightly. "Hey, I have an idea… How about you borrow my mp3 player? It's got all my music on it, if you want to listen…"

"Oh, no, that's yours!" Loki began, but Napstablook shook his head.

"No, really, I've got plenty… unless you don't want to…" Napstablook looked up with wide eyes, holding out the mp3 and headphones.

Loki gave him a grateful smile, and accepted the gift. "Thanks, Napstablook. I'll get these back to you as soon as I can."

So... Lodyne, anyone? I hope I'm getting her character right, she doesn't seem exactly... "NGAAAAAAAAH" enough to me.

Anyway, yep! Chapter!

TheOnlyHuman