NOTES:

There was a lot of ideas from this chapter that got cut for the next one. Kinda sucks, because I can't share a lot of the awesome ideas I thought of yet, but, at the same time, I got a lot of awesome stuff for the next couple of chapters, so there's that!

I've also gone through and updated every previous chapter (except 6), but that's mostly been for minor fixes.

But I know that this is a little late - and it's kinda funny because my last chapter got a lot less views because it was uploaded on April Fools lol. I don't like the fanfics that go 'oh its canceled!' and then go 'haha nope!', so it was a legit chapter upload. I struggled toward the end (and I was feeling very pressed for time with everything that's been happening these couple months), but I've gotten it up in time!

I am really looking forward to the next couple chapters, and you should to! So, if you like this fic so far, please follow the story. I can promise that the next couple of chapters are about to get very... very... interesting.

-0-

DISCLAIMER:

Spike traps are dangerous. In fact, just don't set traps that could kill other people. In many countries, including the United States and Canada, it is illegal to set traps that could maim or kill home invaders - which means Kevin from Home Alone is in a LOT of trouble, eh?

Also, don't talk shit about other people where they might be listening. That's just rude.

-0-0-0-

"You been lyin' here a while now, out cold. If I wanted you dead, why wait till now? I could've just made sure you never woke up. No fuss at all. But I didn't, did I? So yeah, I'm thinkin' you can afford to show me a little trust."

— Somah, Fallout 3, Mothership Zeta DLC

-0-0-0-

After their shower, and with a much brighter outfit on, Frisk looked slightly different than they had before. With the grime washed off their face, Rin could see that they had an unhealthy paleness to their dark skin (though the contrast from the bright green/yellow sweater they were wearing probably effected her Perception of that quite a bit). They also didn't look quite as gaunt or dehydrated they had before though, so there was at least some positive that came out of them falling into this cave system.

"How was your shower?" Rin smiled as they shrugged. "So it wasn't too cold, then?"

Looking confused, Frisk shook their head.

"As a modern people, we do have hot water." Toriel stated blandly, sounding remarkably unimpressed and even slightly offended as she crossed her arms.

"Wait, you actually have hot water?!" A wide-eyed Rin swung her head around to look at Toriel. It was highly unusual for any place to have access to a hot water heater now-a-days, mostly because they were dangerous if they weren't properly maintained. Since there were very few people with both the expertise in mechanics, and with the parts from scavenged water heaters were often repurposed for other (more violent) means, there were very few places that had the parts to spare for heated water - especially since people were focused more on filtration and purification rather than heating.

(Would that change now that Project Purity was active? Would it mean that towns like Megaton could focus their attention to improving their situation? Or would they struggle with the raiders getting easier access to resources?

... I hope they're doing well...
̶I̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶̶̶n̶̶̶e̶̶̶v̶̶̶e̶̶̶r̶̶̶ ̶̶̶g̶̶̶o̶̶̶ ̶̶̶b̶̶̶a̶̶̶c̶̶̶k̶̶̶ ̶̶̶t̶̶̶h̶̶̶e̶̶̶r̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶n̶̶̶y̶̶̶w̶̶̶a̶̶̶y̶̶̶,̶ ̶̶̶s̶̶̶o̶̶̶ ̶̶̶I̶ ̶̶̶s̶̶̶h̶̶̶o̶̶̶u̶̶̶l̶̶̶d̶̶̶n̶̶̶'̶̶̶t̶̶̶ ̶̶̶t̶̶̶h̶̶̶i̶̶̶n̶̶̶k̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶b̶̶̶o̶̶̶u̶̶̶t̶̶̶-̶̶̶)

Hell, she hadn't actually had a decent hot shower since leaving Vault 101. Not even the Brotherhood of Steel bothered with hot water beyond boiling water to sanitize medical equipment and during a step to make water potable.

Toriel tilted her head. "Yes, of course I do," she said slowly, sounding almost disbelieving. "In fact, the entire UNDERGROUND is fed heated water from the HOTLANDS beyond the RUINS."

"Jeeze." Rin leaned back in her chair, idly rubbing Dogmeat's ear as he put his head on her lap. "To have an entire area dedicated to just heating water..."

It sounded like something out of a wastelander's chem-induced pre-war fantasy. This 'hot land' must have been - or IS - some kind of technological haven for it to be able to supply an entire city... I wonder how they do their purification... (1)

Toriel coughed. "I-it's not... HOTLAND isn't... ah..." she shook her head. "Perhaps I could explain it another time. For now, I believe it is time to head out on our walk."

Rin abruptly sat up. "Yes!" She blushed as both Frisk and Toriel jerked in surprise, and quickly added on a quieter (and much less enthusiastic): "Uh, yeah sure. Let's do it."

"Ah... well, while I certainly appreciate your... enthusiasm... there is just one more thing we need to discuss before we depart-"

There's always something else, isn't there? Rin thought bitterly as she slumped into the armchair.

"As I have yet to give either of you a proper TWO-Toriel of the catacombs..." Toriel grinned at her joke - it was one she had never been able to give, since two humans had never fallen down at the same time, and yet saying it somehow felt strangely satisfying and new."I do not want to RUIN-s the surprise for either of you while you are still learning what the UNDERGROUND has to offer... so..."

She reached into her bag and pulled out two strips of purple cloth. "Ta-da! You can tie these over your eyes, and then I will then guide both of you to the beginning!"

Rin's eyes were wide in surprise and confusion by the end of her speech, though she still took the blindfold Toriel was offering. "I... I don't understand." She said as she stared down at the purple cloth dangling from her fingertips.

As Frisk took their blindfold, Toriel looked at the older human and tilted her head. "Would you like me to help you tie it, dear?"

"Why do we have to backtrack? And what about Frisk? Didn't they see it when they were with you?"

"I believe that we were much too busy trying to..." Toriel trailed off. "Well, we were far too... preoccupied," she stressed as gave Rin an significant look, "to truly be able to take in the sights as they were intended."

"Then how are either of us supposed to follow you if neither of us can see?" Rin crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow.

Toriel told them.

Rin was, to put it mildly, less than impressed at her solution.

"Ma'am, please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't feel... comfortable holding your hand." Rin said slowly, mentally counting to ten as she carefully kept her tone from sounding as if she was talking to a small child - because, apparently, that's what Toriel thought she was.

Apparently, she couldn't quite keep it out of her voice, because Toriel frowned crossed her arms across her chest defensively. "I do not know how else I am supposed to safely guide you through the catacombs, as you will be unable to see."

Rin grit her teeth. Personally, she didn't see the big deal: if you've seen one crumbling ruin, then you've seen them all (2). There wasn't much point in keeping it a secret just so that they could take the scenic route.

(And Rin refused to hold the strange woman's hand. She wasn't a child.)

But being lead into an unfamiliar place -blindfolded- had 'potentially deadly trap' written all over it. She'd be a fool to go into it blind (literally, figuratively, and technologically due to the lack of Pip-Boy), especially without any of her equipment.

Hmm... Without any of her equipment.

"When we fell down here," Rin started slowly, as if to not loose the idea she had just thought up. "My dog had some armor with a handle on the back. You can lead, and he will follow and guide me along."

Toriel furrowed her brow, but nodded. "I believe I know what you are talking about... but I... I don't..."

Rin was afraid that she had pushed the goat woman too hard as seconds ticked by without a response. Then, the goat woman sighed.

"One moment." Toriel stood and turned to the hallway. Rin silently cheered as she leaned forward in her seat to watch where she went - it was probably with rest of her kit. If she knew where this was being stored, then she could search the room and find the rest.

The goat woman disappeared into her own room, and re-emerged holding the handle of a familiar piece of armor.

Eager, Rin leapt out of the chair and met the woman halfway. "That's it, alright."

Taking the armor, she gripped the front and back curves and rotated it slowly to look at it (3). The metal handle that straddled a gap between two worn, rust-flecked rectangles of metal was crumpled at the right-most side, and it looked like something large and flat (probably the invisible barrier's wall) slammed into it. The front and back of the panels each had a strip of leather secured by two finger-length screw rods that jutted out, but both of the rods on the right hand side were missing - sheered off right above the nut.

Even though she didn't have her Pip-Boy to determine its exact durability, she could tell that it would be a complete bitch to repair - it might even be better to scrap it and find another one entirely (even though it would be hard to find more). However...

"Hey, boy," she said as she turned away from the goat woman (who was watching her silently, her mouth a thin line) and towards her faithful companion. Dogmeat woofed as he trotted over and, as soon as he took note of what his master was holding, started wagging his tail eagerly. Crouching down next to him, Rin placed it on his back and strapped it down.

... it seemed like that could wait - because, even though it was horribly dented and was probably on its last legs, the armor was still equip-able, and, for the moment, was absolutely good enough for her current purpose.

"Whose the good boy who let me put on his armor, huh?" She scratched his neck and smiled as Dogmeat woofed in agreement, his entire body wiggling with the force of his tail as it frantically wagged hard enough to probably be considered a dangerous weapon (4).

"... I do not think that will work, dear." Toriel, who was silently watching her equip her companion with her mouth set in a thin line, stated softly.

Rin briefly glanced up at Toriel before looking back down at her dog. "I don't see why not," she said while she adjusted Dogmeat's blue paisley bandana, keeping her voice light as if she were still talking to him and not the other animal in the room (5). "After all, my handsome boy is also a very smart boy - oh yes he is - who can follow you, and thus lead me wherever we need to go."

"My concern is that the handle seems much too low for you to hold it comfortably for an extended period of time. After all, we have quite a ways to go until we are at the beginning, so perhaps you shouldn't-"

"NO- ah, I-I mean no. Thanks. I get it though. But I can make it work!" Rin stumbled over herself as she tried to fend off the woman's concerns (and didn't she sound desperate? Rin knew that she didn't have the best Charisma, but she was usually better than this! (6)).

But, thankfully, even though it didn't look like she'd succeeded in convincing her, Toriel didn't call her out immediately. Instead, she held her hands out in a placating gesture. "I know that this seemed like a good idea at the time," the goat woman said soothingly, "but perhaps we should put this away and then go on our walk, hmm? Would that be acceptable?"

Rin grit her teeth and glanced at Dogmeat's armor. She didn't like the way the other woman's fingers twitched, as if she was eager to take another piece of her equipment away from her. Rin had to find a way go make it work, if only to keep the other woman from trying to take it again. The problem was that, even if she managed to make this work, Rin knew that the second they were done, the goat woman would definitely make an attempt to take it. But these were her things, they belonged to her, so she would keep them.

"Ah! Got it. Be right back!" Rin's bare feet slapped against the hardwood floors as she rushed down the hallway, sliding to a stop in front of the last door in the hall.

Opening the door, she strode over to the bed and reached her hand underneath the frame. C'mon, where is - ah ha! She grinned as she pulled out her (borrowed) fire poker.

Emerging out into the living room, Rin didn't bother glancing at either Toriel or Frisk while she approached Dogmeat, sliding the hook of the poker under the non-crushed side of the handle on his armor and twisted it so that the hook was straight up. The hook caught underneath and, as long as she pulled it slightly, it would stay there. Plus, since the tip of it was thoroughly blunted by Toriel herself, the it would ensure that Dogmeat was protected from being stabbed or harmed.

"Tada! Temporary leash" Rin declared proudly, pulling Dogmeat back to accentuate its effectiveness, blatantly grinning at Toriel while she narrowed her eyes at the sight of the poker. After all, she needed to give Toriel something to focus on to take first, something that Rin wouldn't mind loosing, and something that was easily replaceable when she got her equipment back.

"Are you sure you wish to bring... that with you?" Toriel asked warily, as if she had forgotten until that moment that Rin still possessed the poker.

Instead of responding, Rin commanded Dogmeat to go to the other side of the room, and she let him pull her along. "Well, it works, doesn't it?"

While she still didn't look convinced, Toriel reluctantly agreed. "Alright, but please be responsible with it. After all..." Toriel stared Rin in the eye, who unconsciously straightened when she noticed just how solem and serious the other woman was. "We do not want to hurt anybody, do we...?"

Though she had no way of knowing for sure, Rin felt as if this were an especially important question (7). This was a test of some kind, and Toriel was judging her on how she would respond.

"No, ma'am." It was only the poker's steady pressure in her hand that kept her from clasping her hands behind her back. "Not unless I'm fighting back."

Toriel's mouth thinned into a line of disapproval, but, just as Rin thought that the goat woman would disagree (and perhaps try to confiscate both poker and armor), she turned away, focusing her attention towards Frisk and immediately beginning to fret over how they had their blindfold tied.

(Though Rin definitely noticed that Toriel made every effort to not have her back to her)

-0-0-0-

Of course, they had hardly been on their way (by Rin's internal map, they had gone down a single set of stairs, through a room, and then they took a right turn) before there was yet another... complication.

"Ah! One moment! It appears that this trap has not been reset!"

Rin turned her head to face where she could hear Toriel speaking. "Wait, what tra-"

*CLANG!*

The sharp metallic sound of metal crashing against metal sounded from behind them.

Rin tensed at the noise and ripped the blindfold off her face to look. Behind her, there was now a shin-high wall of spikes protruding from some square plates on the floor, and the sharp, needle-like points glinted as they caught the light.

She stumbled away from them. "What the actual fu-"

"Ah-ah-ah! No peeking!" A wall of white suddenly covered Rin's vision as Toriel covered her eyes (and face) with her weird furry hands. The goat woman leaned forward and whispered a harsh "Watch your language!" in her ear.

"Wait." Rin pushed away the other woman's hand and took a couple steps sideways to get out of reach - and Dogmeat, attached by a short, rigid leash, easily stepped sideways to match his master's steps. "You said 'this trap'. That implies more of them. Are you telling me that this entire place is booby-trapped?!"

Toriel's eyes widened, and she flushed pink (but she was furry... how?). "I'm sorry?"

"Set-up, trapped, 'impedes progress', whatever! Are you telling me that this place is rigged?!" Rin demanded as she crossed her arms, poker held in her right hand.

"Of course not!" Toriel exclaimed in an offended tone. "While the RUINS are full of puzzles, they are not truly dangerous to those who are adjusted to the sight of them-"

Rin uncrossed her arms and gestured at the floor spikes with the poker. "I'd say spikes are inherently dangerous." She hesitated for a moment after she finshed and added a quick "And I'm already pretty well-adjusted to the sight of death traps, thank you." (8)

Frisk hurridly lifted their blindfold to peek out, but Toriel quickly noticed and gently brushed their hand away while she pulled the fabric back down again.

"These puzzles," the goat woman stressed the word (as if changing the term affected their purpose - it was like calling a flashbang a firecracker), "are simply ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. They cannot injure you - either of you - or cause harm, that I promise."

Even though their eyes were covered with their blindfold, like a sunflower towards the sun, Frisk was happily looking up towards Toriel (or at least, they turned to face her as if they could see her) with a smile on their face as they nodded enthusiastically.

Rin, however, remained unconvinced.

"Isn't the entire point of spike traps to be dangerous, though?" She asked, crouching slightly to get a better look at the spikes. Toriel made a weird snrk noise in the back of her throat and coughed, though when Rin glanced over at her, the 'monster' woman seemed alright.

"Yes, I suppose that the spikes do have a point." The goat woman seemed to be fighting back a grin as she spoke. "I know there must be a lot of pressure on your plate, so I will endeavor to help you avoid any pit-falls that may come your way."

"Thanks for that, I guess." Rin said slowly as she looked at the other woman (who was just outright grinning now and not trying to hide it anymore). Why does she keep looking so pleased with herself? (9) "But you also said something about doorkeys. These spikes go across the entire hallway, and there's no other way around..." Her voice took on a tone of growing realization. "Wait, do we have to solve puzzles to unblock the way out!?"

Toriel glanced off to the side and wouldn't meet her eye. "I, ahem, wouldn't put it... quite like that-"

"Isn't that dangerous though? What happens if there is an emergency like a tunnel collapse and you have to evacuate?" Rin pressed worriedly.

To someone who had grown up with consistent area-evacuation drills (mostly for sudden tunnel collapses, though the insect infestation drills had been increasingly commonplace in the months before she left the Vault (10)), the idea that you needed to solve a puzzle to keep moving was ridiculous. It wasted precious seconds that could be better spent running for your life.

Hell, the very first lesson drilled into their skulls in the Vault was the importance of keeping an area clear of boxes and junk that could hinder you, and to keep the paths all well-maintained (for example, making sure the doors all seal correctly) to ensure you could cordon off an area to contain with whatever issue on hand safely (11).

(These people lived underground, just like she had- shouldn't they already understand that?)

Toriel's eyes widened as she made a soft 'oh!', and she gave Rin a sympathetic look. "My dear, I know that this is not an... ideal situation, but you must remember that the RUINS are a safe place." The goat woman stepped forward and gently clasped her on the shoulder. "It may be difficult to get used to at first, but now that you are here in the UNDERGROUND, you don't have to worry. I will do my best to keep you - both of you - safe."

(... no, it looked like she really didn't.)

Looking away from the woman's resolute - and yet, strangely comforting and warm - gaze, Rin shrugged. "... alright." she said simply.

(If she didn't understand a simple concept like 'keep your routes clear' when spelled out, then fine - she wasn't this Vault's inspector.
It wasn't her job to tell these people they could die.)

"Alright." Toriel smiled gently. "Now if you could...?" Toriel gestured with her free hand towards her face - more specifically, her eyes.

Rin looked down at the blindfold and gave a resigned sighed.

(At least now it would be easier to pretend that was true)

-0-0-0-

NOTES:

1- You can take the protagonist out of the original plot, but can't take the plot points out of the protagonist hahaHA.

Also, you cannot tell me that the Monster scientists wouldn't have figured out geothermal water pumps. I mean, they've literally got a source of water (of questionable quality, might I add – just remember the dump!), and an ACTIVE LAVA area.

2- The 3-D Fallout games are really empty and boring to go through because every location kinda looks the same (aside from the unique locations like in the DLC areas, because those are especially designed by the Fallout creators to be different from the main games). It's one of my biggest turn-offs with the games, because it makes it hard to play.
That being said, I gotta say that Fallout 4 is my favorite game in terms of locations and gameplay – because I really liked the Power Armor and workshop features. Both 4, 3, and New Vegas' storylines are also great, but (with all the research I've been doing), I'd say that 3 has my favorite plot.

3- The 'Dog Armor' part of the Fallout wiki is so bare and empty – only the heavy armor has any actual article, and there are no proper pictures of Dogmeat's armor anywhere else. That sucks. I might've mentioned Dogmeat's armor in an earlier chapter (and I'm making adjustments to the chapter now that I've noticed it), but it is hard to find.

4- When I was a young child, pretty much a toddler, my grandparents' dog knocked me down with the pure force of her tail wagging.

5- I used to talk to my dog like this, and I actually lost my dog one year ago in July.

6- A slight change to my canon is that Rin doesn't have options to respond like a protagonist would in Fallout games – because this is a more grounded world. But, I still believe she'd be rather smooth when she responds (because damn some of those dialogue responses are snappy!), which I've been trying to mimic here.

7- *Persuasion check failed successfully!*

8- I may be thinking more of Fallout 4, but Fallout 3 still had plenty of traps you have to turn off – landmines, tripwires, and shotgun traps included. A little spike trap might seem fine (especially how the monsters use them), but it could definitely still kill you if you were especially unlucky.

9- Toriel hits player with multi-pun combo! ... It's not effective!
Seriously, though, I have to try REALLY HARD to get puns into Toriel's dialogue sometimes, and the author herself is also rather pleased with it.

10- The drill thing is a bit of a head-canon, but there was evidence that there was a lot more bugs breaking into Vault 101 before the protagonist leaves. And it seems like the type of place where you'd really want to have some kind of protocol in place just in case of a particularly large infestation.

11- I haven't really gone over it yet, so this is a minor spoiler, but, as someone on the engineer track in the Vault, Rin would have had to learn about maintenance in things like this – if something were to happen to one of the engineers, especially in such a small society, someone would have to know what to do. So my head-canon is that any engineer in Vault 101 would have had to have a general education in Vault maintenance just so that they'd be able to both have a back-up, and so that there could be multiple people working on systems at once in case of a mass failure.

-0-0-0-

A.N.

So, I will admit a large portion of this section is set-up relying on the fact that, well... monsters set up traps for any humans who fell down into the RUINS. The traps along the route are meant to be solved one way - there is no other way to solve them. It might play a larger role later, but you gotta admit that ALL the traps are one-way.

On the same topic, do you think that humans could enter the barrier through the throne room?

Anyways, at the time of uploading this, the author has both a migraine and large guilt over this not being uploaded and being late. So woo!

-0-0-0-

OMAKE

If Dogmeat worked like how he did in the Fallout series.

"Ok, Dogmeat." Rin pointed at Toriel. "I need you to-"

Without any hesitation, Dogmeat lept forward and sunk his teeth into Toriel's leg. Toriel stumbled back screaming, and the other humans in the room joined her.

-0-0-0-

A frog by any other name is still just as disturbing as literally every other frog; or, the Author might have a phobia of frogs.

"Croak!"

Rin jumped at the noise. "What was that?" A text box dutifully appeared before her.

* That was the sound a toad makes, so, presumably its a toad.

"And what's a toad?"

* Well, its basically a type of frog-

"What's a frog?!"

* Ehm... well, a frog has big eyes that protrude out of its body, slimy, green skin... Ring any bells?

" . . . "

* ... Has webbed feet? Uh... big, long back legs and can hop really far... Oh, and it has a sticky tongue which can shoot flies out of the air!

"... Flies?"

* Yep!
*(You get the distinct impression of someone making a small, satisfied popping noise with the p)

"... I... I think I'm afraid of frogs now."

* Oh, don't worry you big baby! Besides, that was a TOAD, not a FROG.

"... And... what is a toad?"

* . . .
* ... Uh... It's... not as slimy as a frog?

" . . . "

* ... But it's basically a frog.

"... I... I think I'm afr-"

* Yeah, yeah. I get it.
* Sheesh, if I woulda known you were this much of a coward, I woulda just stuck with the kid...
* (You get the distinct impression you weren't supposed to hear that last part...)

"A bloatfly can grow to the size of a large kickball and have stingers which can shoot their larvae as projectiles, who then inject you with a neurotoxin which can knock you out all so that they could both feed on your body. If there's anything that can spear one of those out of the air I can rightfully fear it."

* . . .
* THEY FUCKING WHAT!?

DELETED SCENE

EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS W/ SANS: So this scene was originally from the previous chapter - it would have been how Rin weaseled her way around Toriel from the stairwell. I decided on something else (something that I think works much better), so I moved it here to potentially reuse it. I ultimately decided that there probably won't be a scene like this in the story, so here were are! And, if I ever do such a scene later, it probably wouldn't be with malicious intent like this.

As Toriel turned and narrowed her eyes, Rin tried to bluff her way out of being chewed out by using a tactic that could get people to drop a subject like a hot coal: embarrassing questions.

"He sounded nice. So how long have you been seeing each other?" Rin wiggled her eyebrows.

At that, Toriel blinked rapidly and flushed red (even though she was furry... how was that possible?) "W-wh-! U-um, w-we've never a-actually met each other in person before."

"Oh?" Smirking, Rin raised an eyebrow and purposefully looked the older woman up and down. "I guess some people do like a little mystery to, ah, spice up their private lives?" She shrugged as she casually made her way past a very flustered Toriel and made her way into the living room.

"I-I-It's not like t-that!" The goat woman nervously rubbed her hands together. "Sans and I are merely-"

"Ah, so his name is Sans." Rin dragged the name out teasingly.

"We are friends," Toriel stressed firmly, "who exchange jokes through the door. We aren't t-together."

"Well of course not." She tried to keep the smugness out of her voice as she tried to innocently tilt her head. "You guys are just friends

Completely red-faced, Toriel hid her hands behind her face.