Hello everyone. Sorry for the long hiatus. Life kind of got in the way, but I'm going to try to be more regular on updates now. Here's a bit of a shorter chapter while I get back into it.
"Soooo..." said Chara as I walked down the smaller cave away from Snowdin.
"So what?" I asked, not sure what they were going to say.
"So when are YOU apologizing? I already did, now it's your turn." I stopped in place, confused.
"Apologize for what?" I wasn't sure what I had done that required an apology.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe for yelling at me. Or for giving me the silent treatment when I'm trying to help you. Or, maybe even for telling me to, and I quote, 'shut up.'" The sarcastic tone in their voice was more than obvious. Thinking back on it, I was being kind of a jerk to the only person to actually help me so far.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't have the best life on the surface..."
"That's kind of obvious," Chara said, interrupting me. Still, I continued as if they hadn't.
"... and I wasn't smart enough to make it better. I don't know though. I'm too stupid to really get it." It actually felt good to talk to someone about things that were bothering me and have them actually listen.
"Wait, I'm not allowed to call you stupid, but you can?" I shrugged at their question.
"I guess I'm just tired of other people saying it, even if it is true."
"Well at least you're smart enough to listen to me. Between my intelligence and your still-living body, we should be out of this mountain in no time." I gave a small smile at that, glad to have someone so helpful along with me, knowing I would never have survived without them. With little else to say, I continued walking, coming upon a wider section with what looked like water flowing off the side. Three monsters were there as well: two I did not recognize, and Sans behind a small wooden post. It took a moment for me to realize it was the same kind as in the forest.
I carefully and quickly creeped past the other two monsters, but stopped in my tracks when I thought I heard the fish-looking monster talking. However, when I looked, his mouth wasn't moving at all! Then it dawned on me that the speech was coming from beside him, where a large blue flower was. I wasn't the biggest fan of talking flowers at this point, but I was still curious, so I inched close enough to hear it.
"All that gives my life validation is explaining the Echo Flower..." I cocked my head to the side a bit, furrowing my eyebrows.
"What's va-li-da-tion?" I asked quietly, hoping the monsters around wouldn't hear. I was already surprised that neither of the other monsters had attacked, and was ready to fight if I had to, but so far they both seemed to ignore me.
"Does it matter? We're wasting time, and that smiling trash bag over there is giving me the creeps. He's been side-eyeing you since you came in." I looked over, and thought I saw the white part of Sans' eye move away from the side looking at me to in front, but I wasn't completely sure.
"Considering we were attacked by his brother a moment ago, it's probably best if we avoid him from now on. No telling what he might do." I nodded a little as I set back off. Despite my best effort to stare straight ahead, I took a glance at Sans as I passed him, and saw his eyes following me. Feeling a tingle along my back, I quickened my pace away from there.
A little ways off, I came to a waterfall with large rocks tumbling down. There was also another box, but it didn't have anything new in it. I was worried about how to get across, thinking I'd be swept up in the rapidly flowing water, or bashed by a boulder.
"The water isn't deep. Just walk across and avoid the rocks," Chara told me. Even with that advice, I tread carefully, not wanting to slip and fall or, worse yet, get clobbered. Trying to take my time, I got caught between two of the rocks and barely had time to brace for impact when one smacked against me and pushed me off the edge. My scream of terror as I fell into the void was cut short, however, when I landed on a wooden walkway beneath the main waterfall. After I gave my heart a chance to stop trying to beat out of my chest, I sat up and held my hand out to touch one of the 'rocks,' only for it to bounce off my hand as it fell. It must have been made of rubber or something, since it was still heavy enough to move me but not hurt.
Now knowing I'd be safe even if I fell off, I was a lot more confident that I'd be able to make it across. First, though, I saw an echo flower at the end of the walkway, and got curious about what the last person who saw it said. Making sure to be quiet, I moved in close and put my ear to the petals.
"I swore I saw something... behind that rushing water..."
"Check it out, it could be something we can use." I nodded, not wanting to change what the flower said. Moving to the part of the walkway closest to the falling water, I carefully looked through it. Then, about the middle, I found something that gave off a glint in the right light.
"Huh!? There's a camera behind the waterfall." Chara sounded confused about it as I made my way back to the normal path. "Why would there be a camera here? The only things it would see are water, rocks, and maybe a monster now and then."
"Maybe they're looking for humans?" I suggested while at the edge of the water, watching the odd rocks moving by. Doing my best to time it, I was able to slosh my way across to the other side without getting knocked down again.
"But that doesn't make sense. I was the first one to fall, and that was only because... well, that's not important. Either way, putting a camera here in hopes of finding a human is beyond a long shot. The only way it could work is if they had cameras everywhere and we just haven't seen them, but that would just be preposterous."
As I was thinking about how I would ask them what that last word meant, I was suddenly aware of something so close in front of me that I nearly ran into it. Stopping in my tracks and refocusing on the here and now, I saw a dense patch of grass a little taller than myself. I hadn't seen it at first because this part of the cave was much darker than before, leaving most of the light on my back. Since it was the only way forward, I started off again, pushing the grass blades aside, but froze a little way through. I could hear footsteps nearby, so I decided to wait and hear who it was. The moment it took for the monster to start talking seemed to stretch on forever.
"H... HI, UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT..." The voice was all too familiar, even at such a toned-down level. I heard it plenty not long ago.
"That rotten zombie wannabe! He said he'd head to his house, but I bet he bee-lined straight here. I don't think he knows we're around so stay still and quiet." I nodded, doing my best to not move a muscle, which was easier saying than doing with the grass tickling my face.
"UHHH... REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER..." I thought I heard something coming from near Papyrus' voice, sounding like muffled talking.
"HUH? DID I FIGHT THEM? Y-YES! OF COURSE I DID! I FOUGHT THEM VALIANTLY!" Again, more muted talking, like whoever this Undyne was had something covering their face.
"WHAT? DID I CAPTURE THEM?... W-W-WELL..." I could hear a loud sigh, then a dejected "NO."
"I TRIED VERY HARD, UNDYNE, BUT IN THE END... I FAILED." It was frustrating that, no matter how hard I listened, I couldn't hear Undyne speak, but thankfully Papyrus liked to repeat what she said.
"W-WHAT? YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN'S SOUL YOURSELF?" Okay, so maybe I would have preferred to not know that.
"BUT UNDYNE, YOU DON'T H-HAVE TO DESTROY THEM! YOU SEE..." My stomach did a little flutter, and I held my breath without realizing it. Sure, Chara was the only real friend I'd found so far, but maybe Papyrus was telling the truth. Maybe he would be...
"I UNDERSTAND. I'LL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN." I closed my eyes, brow furrowed and teeth clenched, and breathed out. Of course he'd lied to me. Every monster had, so why would he be any different? Unfortunately, that movement put a blade of grass right against my nose, tickling it, and before I could move it I felt a sneeze coming. My nose scrunched up, head moved back, and...
"Achoo!" It was a sneeze heavy enough to make me take a step, causing all the grass to rustle around me. Thankfully it was only one, but I heard metallic footsteps above me getting closer, then saw a helmet with one glowing eye and a red plume peering over the edge of the cliff. Suddenly, a bright blue spear appeared in their hands, and I swear they were looking right at me. Then, they shook their head, the spear disappeared, and they moved back to where I couldn't see. Heart pounding in my chest, I waited. And waited. After what felt like an hour, and once my knees stopped shaking, I was finally able to take a step, then after hearing nothing, another. It seemed the coast was clear, so I walked forward and quickly found myself outside of the grass. There was a star a bit ahead, so I started walking to it.
"Yo!" A loud call and grass rustling behind me startled me, causing me to shout in surprise and turn around quickly, only to see the little yellow monster from back near San's last outpost. If stuff like this kept happening, I would probably die of fright before reaching the exit. It seemed like the monster either didn't realize what he did to me, or was ignoring it.
"Did you see the way she was staring at you? That... was AWESOME! I'm SOOOO jealous!" Well, that's not what I would've called it.
"What'd you do to get her attention? Ha ha. C'mon! Let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!" Before I could even get a word in, they sprinted past me, only to fall flat on their face next to the star. However, they just popped right back up and took off running.
"Great, we'll have an audience when we have to fight that scary knight. If she's the head of the guard, she'll have to be tough."
"That's not good to hear," I replied, moving to the star. I could feel the dread creeping over my body.
Hey, you got something she doesn't. Well, several things actually, but still. You got me. And as long as you stay determined, we can keep coming back until we win, then never have to endure whatever she throws at us again."
"Yeah, you're right. We'll get past her like all the others," I said, having the star 'save' before we moved on.