Quick A/N: Sorry to the... one reader who read this chapter; FFN did a weird glitch and messed everything up. It should be fixed now though. If not, let me know!

I was still waiting when the sound of the rushing water changed only slightly, making me jump a little. It was like something was in the water. Then, as I was squinting at it in an attempt to see what I was hearing, a voice entered my ears. "... la…" They sounded far away, making it so that I could barely hear them, but from what little I could make out, their gender sounded… undecided; almost like two voices, one male and one female, were talking in unison. "... la la..." It almost sounded like they were humming, but that was impossible; it was far too loud to be a hum. "...la la la…" One thing was for sure. They were singing.

"Tra la la." The voice was close enough now that I knew what direction it was coming from. I poked my head out and looked to the right, almost falling off the edge when I saw it. A hooded figure stood on some sort of boat, their face completely covered with shadows. They sang a simple tune. "Tra la la." Over and over again. The boat they were on looked like a semi-normal one, but something was just off with it. The boat barely floated above the water, only a few more inches and it would be hovering, and there were no paddles despite how fast it was moving. I was unsure if the hooded figure had seen me when, just before they would've passed me, they came to a sudden halt. I jumped back from the surprise, them not even seeming to care. They sang one more little "Tra la la" before speaking. "I am the river man," the masculine part of their voice said, not even looking at me. "Or the river woman?" The feminine half said as they looked to the right. Their head went right back to looking straight ahead. "It doesn't really matter," both parts said in unison. Their boat slowly floated over to the edge I was standing on, they themselves never moving a muscle. "I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?"

I looked at… the thing with a stare; it still refused to meet my gaze. "Why…" My voice trailed off from the confusion I was experiencing, but I tried my hardest to bring it back. "...why would I do that?"

A small chuckle came from them. "Why, I'll bring you anywhere you ask!" They had gained a sing-song voice. "Hot, cold, wet, it doesn't really matter. As long as there's a stream, you'll be there!"

I was still skeptical to hop on their boat after suck a creepy entrance. It felt almost like going into a stranger's van after being offered candy; that is to say, very stupid. "What's the catch?" I asked, taking a few steps back just to be sure.

"No catch! No payment! As long as I can hear the rushing water, you'll be there!" They stayed silent for a moment before looking to the right once again. "Unless, you want to stay here that is."

I was a little torn; they seemed to be my only ticket out of this place, and I knew that for a fact, but I wasn't sure if I could trust them. Unsure of what to do, I closed my eyes and focused on the locket I was wearing; I needed to ask her. After quickly imagining her coming out, I opened my eyes and there stood Chara, staring at me with heavy eyes. Her body was still transparent. She yawned before adjusting her posture. "What?"

I nodded over at the… river person. Should I trust that thing? I asked through my thoughts; wouldn't want the thing thinking I was talking to it.

She glanced over at it before facing me. "Are you talking about them?" I sightly nodded. "Of course, dumbass! What else would you have been waiting on?" I felt like facepalming. I should have known that thing was what Chara had brought me over there for.

My finger went up like I had some bold explanation to tell. I… But I didn't. I sighed, trying not to let her see my lack of reasoning; if I had just thought things through more, I would've not been as scared as I was. Nevermind. I turned to the river person. "Umm." I put one foot on their boat, Chara still watching from a distance. "I guess I'll hop on."

Once I put my other foot on there, they went back to looking straight forward. "Where will we be heading today?" The masculine half asked.

Chara joined me on the boat despite the fact that she could've just hovered next to me. "Say Gerson's shop."

I gave her a weird stare, not entirely sure how to pronounce that name, but decided to attempt anyway. I faced the river person. "I guess I'll go to… Garysons shop?" Chara fully facepalmed as I finished.

There was a moment of silence from them. "Gerson's shop?" I nodded, realizing how wrong I said it. Somehow, without even looking at me, they knew I had nodded. "Then we're off!" Both voices said in unison as the boat began flowing down the river. Even if the hooded figure wasn't threatening, they were still very weird.

Chara sat down and hanged her feet over the edge of the boat; I'd do the same, but I felt I'd probably fall off. She shook her head. "How do you miss pronounce Gerson?" She said, more to herself than me.

Look, I thought to her. I'm tired and in an unfamiliar place, wondering if my friend is dead, so I really couldn't care less about saying a name right. As I finished, I realized just how tired I was. My legs felt weak and I struggled to keep my eyes open; how long had it been since I had slept?

She crossed her arms before sighing. "Whatever." Her sour attitude was getting to me, but I tried to push it away. Why was she being so rude to me?

I looked away from her and focused on the sounds around me. The rushing water flooded my ears, making my eyes just a little more heavy than they already were. It truly was relaxing. Maybe if I had Frisk near, I'd allow myself to fall asleep, but, obviously, that wasn't the case. It was only ten hours ago that Gaster was beating me to a bloody pulp, so it made perfect sense why I felt like I would pass out; I was honestly surprised it didn't happen sooner. Still, I had to keep myself awake. At the very least, I needed to find Frisk before collapsing

While I was still in thought, River Person's voice cut through my mind. "Tra la la," they sang. "The waters are wild today." There was a brief pause. "That's bad luck."

I gave them a strange stare as they acted like nothing was said. "Okay… what does that mean?"

I began to feel bumps go through the bottom of the boat; I guess the wild waters wanted to make themselves apparent. "You'll see soon enough!" They said in that sing-song voice of theirs.

I was too distracted by trying to keep myself from falling off the boat to decypher their cryptic message. It almost surprised me how quickly waves had appeared. That was one way to keep myself awake, I guess. I would've been panicking, but Chara's blank face told me I would be perfectly fine. Being stuck with a rude ghost made me realize how much I missed Frisk. The small conversations we had or the times where we'd take a break and she'd tell me about the previous timelines, maybe encounter a monster or two. Then again, it was strange how much I missed her. I hadn't even known her for that long; almost three days, and I didn't even know the name of her parents, but I missed her almost as much as Comet, or mom and dad. Just, something about her had drawn me in; she seemed to have that effect on people. Sans, Papyrus, Toriel, and all the random monsters along the way seemed to feel really close to her after only a conversation or two. Me on the other hand, not so much. Toriel was really the only one who cared for me. Sans seemed to tolerate me only because I was with Frisk, he was actually quite stern with me when we first met; Papyrus was only interested in me because of my species, and all the other monster's enjoyed Frisk's company far better. It kinda felt like I was Robin, and Frisk was Batman; her getting the bulk of attention while I got a few gazes here and there. Why was that? What about that girl drew people in like moths to a lamp? And, why was I starting to feel weird-

"We're here!" My thoughts were cut short by that strange voice. I looked around at my surroundings. We had reached another one of those edges, this time the floor resemble the blue stone from earlier. I gave the robed figure a short stare before stepping off their boat. "Come again some time, tra la la," they finished as my other foot made contact with the floor. I expected them to zoom off down the stream, but no. They just gently floated there, quietly singing their song.

I decided it was best to leave them be and spun around. A small hallway was carved out, leading to a doorway of sorts. Crystals hanging off the roof lit the way. Chara appeared next to me before walking down the hall. "Frisk should be close to reaching this place. We just gotta look around for her."

I felt a small smile creep on my face when she said that; no more silence or being ratted off for saying a word wrong. I quickly followed after the ghost. "Let's get looking then!"

Chara led us down the hall only to find out that there were two other paths. I could see one of those white blobs, or as Chara had told me, save points down to the left, while the right resembled the surroundings I just came from. Without any choice in the matter, she turned down the path with the blob. I kept up with her pace and, eventually, the blob stood right in front of me. It felt like ages since I touched one. I quickly shoved my hand in it and felt myself get rejuvenated in the process, along with that familiar feeling flooding my brain. I still wasn't entirely sure what they did, but I knew it made me feel a lot better; it even got rid of most of my tiredness.

I took a quick glance around my surroundings. The savepoint was floating just above a normal pod, three more paths in front of it. Behind me, there was a path leading to some sort of dumpster; I could make out trash piles taller than me. Surroundings almost identical to what I had left stood on my left, a duck looking monster dancing to nothing on the path. One of those gaps were in the path, leading to the familiar blue liquid. Chara looked around before leaning against a wall. "She should be here in maybe an hour. She might be slower though because of the entire 'she thinks your dead' thing."

"Yeah..." I went over and sat in front of the pond, the water was too shallow to dangle my feet over. "Hope that didn't mess her up too much."

Chara swiped at the air like she was pushing away such a thought. "She's fought literal eldritch gods. I'm pretty sure she's fine."

I was close to asking her about the "eldritch gods" part, but decided to pass; I didn't really want to know. After a few seconds of staring at her, I turned to the pond. My reflection stared back at me. It had been a while since I got a good look at myself. To cut it short, I looked like a train wreck. My face was covered in small little cuts and dirt, the big eyebags not helping either. My clothing was almost in tatters and the once light gray jacket I wore now resembled more of a black. I sighed before cupping some of the water in the pond and splashing my face with it. The eyebags were still there, but at least the dirt was gone. Plus, it gave me a quick jolt of energy. Looking at how disgusting I was made me curious what Frisk would look like; was she going to have ruined clothing as well, or look as perfect as she did before? Perfect... I thought to myself. Is that really the best way to describe her? Heat rose to my cheeks as images of her flashed through my head. Yeah... Yeah, it is.

While I was still in the process of doing… whatever it is I was… I heard a thud echo through my surroundings. My head instinctively jolted up and I glanced around, hoping to find the source; Chara seemed to be in the same boat, except she was frantically running around the room like the world was ending. A few more thuds went in my ear before they began going in a rhythmic pattern, almost like someone's footsteps. At that moment, Chara's eyes lit up. "Quick, Jack!" she yelled as she rushed over to me. "Cover all of your skin and zip up your jacket!" When I just gave her a blank stare, her eyes got a little wider. "Quickly! You might die if you don't!"

She had said it all so fast that it took me a few moments to process. Thankfully, my brain quickly got it and I followed her directions as fast as possible; zipping up my jacket, throwing on my hood, and shoving my hands in my pockets. I began to not only hear the thuds, but also feel them as I looked over to Chara. "Why?" I said under my breath, worried that whatever was causing the thuds would hear me.

She glanced around, then got really close to me. "Okay," she also said as a whisper even though I doubted anyone could hear her. "Don't freak out when I say this, but I think that might be Un-

She couldn't finish before a loud sigh echoed from behind me. I knew the voice. A few more thuds rumbled through me, stronger than ever, before suddenly stopping. "Oh..." A feminine voice trailed off. I heard her hair be scratched, most likely by herself, before she continued. "Wasn't expecting to see you here." Does she recognize me? I asked Chara through my thoughts for... obvious reasons.

She kept constantly looking at me, then her, speeding up with each glance. "I don't fucking know! Hopefully not!"

Silence filled the room for a few moments before a few more thuds told me she was moving closer. I held my breath begging for her not to know me and... "Don't think I've ever seen you around here before. What's your name, little dude?"

Chara let out a wave of air while I tried to process everything that happened. "U-umm..." I contemplated whether to be honest, then decided it didn't matter. "Jack. I-I'm Jack." I was having a surprising amount of difficulty not looking at her.

"Jack, huh?" She paused for a moment. "You probably already know me, but just in case, I'm Undyne." The thuds started up again, this time ending only a few feet to the left of me. A loud metal "CLANK" made me almost jump, my eyes darting over at it. It was the last face I saw before falling into the abyss, its eyes missing. Her helmet "You know, Jack." Undyne's body suddenly sat down, forcing me to look straight forward. Thankfully, she seemed taller than me, so she wasn't able to make out my face. "I was expecting today to feel a lot better."

I felt incredibly nervous mixed in with a bit of fright, but I had to say something. "W-why's that?"

Her feet, still covered in thick armor, went into the pond. "I did the thing I was trained to do since I was a little girl... kill a human."

A frown instantly went across my face; she couldn't be talking about... Frisk... right? I felt a little water in my eyes as they darted around the floor. "... oh no..." was all I could say.

"Yep. That was my same reaction. I was expecting to feel happy, but no." Her armor creaked as she looked up at the ceiling. "Just felt like I killed a kid." My sadness would've been replaced by anger, but they didn't give me a chance as they continued. "What sucks even worse is that I can't get their soul, making their death pointless. "

My sorrow was cut short as I processed what she said. "What? How?"

Another loud sigh came from her. "They had some sort of magic and when they used it, it kinda startled me, so I let them go; I've been told humans have no magic." She looked to the side. "They fell into The Abyss, and I'm afraid I won't be coming out if I jump down there."

I felt like crying tears of joy; she was talking about me! Despite that, I tried my best to keep my cool as I sightly faced her, not enough for her to see me though. "That sucks."

"I know, died for no reason." It stayed silent for a moment. "They had this girl with them, and it looked like he really cared for her; nearly lost an arm trying to block my spears from hitting her!" I heard her get up and watched her helmet be picked up. "I promised him I'd keep her alive if he died, but..." The thuds started up again, this time heading away from me. "We still need a soul."

There were a few more thuds before one loud one echoed through the surroundings, then it grew silent. Chara glanced at where she had walked before looking back at me. "Thank god," she said as she released a big breath of air. "She's gone."

I looked around before jumping up, brushing off my jacket. "That might have been the scariest thing that I've ever experienced."

"It should be! Your soul would've been ripped out in the blink of an eye if she knew who she was talking to."

I took off my hood. "Oh, believe me. I was perfectly aware of that." Silence filled the area as I adjusted my body; hope I don't run into her again. As I unzipped my jacket, I looked to Chara. "So, when's Frisk gonna-" My sentence was cut short as I felt a buzzing in my pocket; it was the phone Toriel had given me. The last time it had rang was when Toriel had called me in the Ruins. Shocked to hear it go off at all, I pulled it out, flipped it open, and put it to my ear. "H-hello?"

"Human!" A familiar voice shouted, making my ear ring from their volume. I quickly brought it away from my ear so I wouldn't go death. "This Is Papyrus Speaking!" His voice was still incredibly loud.

I rubbed my ear. "Yeah, I could tell." I gave it a few moments so that it could stop ringing, then continued. "How'd you get this number?"

"Well, It Was Simple! I Dialed Every Possible Number Combination Until I Heard Your Voice!"

"Really?" Papyrus's dedication to… well, everything, was surprising. "You know you could have asked Toriel for my number, right?"

I heard his bones rattle as he shuffled around. "Yes, But! She Was In Snowdin, And I Had To Quickly Call You! Walking All The Way Back To My House Would Have Taken Far Too Long."

"Well, how long did it take you to call me through your method?"

"Exactly Seven Hours!"

I squinted at the phone. "How does that…" My voice trailed off. "You know what? Nevermind." I took a deep breath in an attempt to push away my confusion. "Why did you call me?"

"I Just Wanted To Let You Know That a Friend Of Mine Is Currently Searching For You, And Their Intentions Are Quite… Murdery, If They Find You. But, Fear Not! I Am Currently On My Way To You!" There was a brief pause. "Where Exactly Are You?

I sighed as I looked around my surroundings. "Just outside of Gerson's shop," I said, making sure to say the name correctly.

"Perfect! I Will Be There In Five Minutes!" And with that, a loud ringing came from the phone, telling me he had hung up.

I slowly put the phone up as Chara sighed. "Guess we're dealing with that bone head now.":

My eyes darted over to her. "What? Do you not like Papyrus?"

She shook her head. "It's not that I don't like him, he can just be…" She looked to the side. "Frustrating." I couldn't get a word out before I heard stomping coming from behind me. Turning around greeted me with Papyrus full on sprinting towards me. "That sure as hell wasn't five minutes," Chara let out as she plopped down on the ground.

He kept running until he got a few feet in front of me, coming to a sudden halt. "Worry Not, Jack!" he shouted, not even showing any signs of exhaustion; then again, he didn't have lungs. Part of me really missed that voice. He looked to the side and gained his classic heroic pose, his red scarf blowing in the wind. "I, The Great Papyrus, Both Your Friend And Mentor, Am Here to Save You!"

I smiled as I looked up at the skeleton. "When did you become my mentor?"

He gained a flabbergasted expression, shocked that I'd even ask such a question. "Why, I Have Been From the Start, Slowly Introducing You to Monsterkind!"

Chara shrugged. "I mean, he's not wrong."

Before the conversation continued, another pair of stomping feet, albeit far smaller, came from behind Papyrus. Because of his height, I couldn't see what was approaching. "Papyrus!" A familiar voice shouted, making my jaw drop. The footsteps kept getting closer before stopping right next to Papyrus, revealing who they were. It was Frisk. Her clothing had some tears and looked a bit dirtier, but overall, she was just as perfect as before. She looked up at the skeleton, not even noticing me. "Where the hell are you-" she suddenly stopped when she glanced over at me. Her eyes got wide as she took a few steps back. "... J-Jack?"

A/N

What's up? Nice little chapter here with a cliffhanger ending. Life is making it a bit harder to write, but I've been able to push through it so far. Just know that if there isn't any updates for a long period of time, its not because I abandoned the fic. I haven't had a lot to say these past few A/Ns, and this one is no exception. So, I guess until next time, have a great day!