~Faye~
Faye was not feeling anymore brave. She wanted to go home and hide from the terrors of the world. But here she was, being dragged through the RUINS with her friends. She patiently went alongside them, but she didn't feel positive about it.
"Can we... call Toriel?" she suggested, gripping her toy knife.
She didn't want to kill or be killed. She distracted herself by looking at the new area. There were piles of fun red leaves and a Froggit near a door. Melody was dancing through a pile of leaves, humming to herself. She was a good singer.
The eighth human was standing around and doing pretty much nothing in the leaves. Then they walked away and stood near Faye.
"THERE'S CANDY IN THIS ROOM!" Brayden yelled cheerfully from that door.
"Don't take all of it, pardner!" Clover snapped back at him, entering the room. It sounded like they were bickering inside.
"Cut it out, you two!" Melody grumbled, storming into the room. She joined in on the arguing.
"If you want." Percy handed Faye the phone.
He took more notes about something. The eighth human and Cody looked interested in calling the goat lady as well. Coincidentally, Toriel actually rung the kids just as they were about to ring her.
"Hello, this is TORIEL," she greeted. "Are you all there?"
"Uh, not all of us," Cody answered, chuckling sheepishly. "I'll go and get the others if you want, Toriel!"
"That would be splendid, my child." Toriel replied.
So Cody left the group and entered the candy room. That left the three silent kids and Toriel.
"Nice day today," Faye commented after an awkward pause. "I love sunny days. Lots of animals are out and about, it makes me so happy."
"The sun is good for your skin," Percy agreed. "However, only in small doses for vitamin D. Any more and you'll get a sunburn, your skin will be internally scarred, and will eventually, if put under enough pressure, get some kind of skin cancer."
"You are all funny children," Toriel laughed. "It is a pleasure to have you all."
"Thanks, I'm classic comedy!" Brayden replied, popping in between Percy and Faye. Percy looked disgusted but Faye didn't mind.
"More like classic catastrophe," Melody retorted, Clover and Cody standing near her. "What did you want to say, Toriel?"
"Ah, you children have not left the room, have you...?" Toriel asked with concern. "There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them by yourselves."
"I'm sure we can handle it, Ms. Toriel." Brayden replied confidently. Faye didn't really agree, but she kept quiet.
"Well... be good, alright?" Toriel replied. She was about to hang up.
"Wait!" Faye squeaked, almost dropping her toy knife again. "Don't go yet! Um... I just wanted to say, uh... hi!"
She almost said Mom. She missed Mom. Her aunt was great and smart and awesome, but she wasn't Mom. Faye probably wouldn't see Mom again. Or Dad, either.
"You only wanted to say hello?" Toriel asked. She chuckled. "Well then, hello, my child."
"Hi," Faye replied. Everyone was looking at her again. "It's a nice day today. I like nice days."
"It is a nice day, my child," Toriel said patiently. "You must be used to the sunshine, the growth of plants and many other wondrous things on the surface."
"Yeah," Faye replied, looking excited. "I like all the plants. There are so many plants and they're all really pretty. And in Spring, all the birdies have their little babies and they feed them all season..."
Faye kept talking to Toriel for ages and ages. She was getting really attached.
"It was nice talking to you, uh, Toriel, but Faye, I think we'd better, um..." Cody pointed to the other kids who were in battle with a Froggit. The eighth human was trying to get everyone to spare it.
"Oh, okay," Faye gazed at the battle. It looked scary. But talking to Goat Momma made her feel better. "Goodbye, Mom - I mean... um... Toriel, can I call you Mom?"
"You wish to call me... 'mother'?" Toriel gasped. She sighed, composing herself. "Well, if that is what you makes you happy... then call me whatever you like." She hung up.
"Maybe she'll let me call her Mom, too," Cody laughed. He sounded sad. "I miss my mom."
Faye nodded in agreement. They walked over to the battle. The kids were now battling a Whimsun.
"BOO!" Brayden yelled, scaring it. It leaned away from him, shivering in fear. It didn't have very much confidence and immediately left the battle. Brayden laughed really hard. Faye stared at it and immediately felt sympathetic. She'd felt like that before.
"Brayden that was so rude," Melody told him. "We're supposed to be nice."
"Aw c'mon, it's fine," Brayden retorted, waving it off. "I only scared it a little!"
"It was a little, uh, mean, Brayden..." Cody spoke up anxiously.
Faye herself agreed. The eighth human as well. Brayden was her best friend and she loved him and etc, but sometimes he could be a little... insensitive.
"Ehhhhh it's fine," Brayden shrugged. "Come on guys, there's more monsters we gotta fight!" He raced off to the next room. "AHHH I'M FALLING!"
"Brayden!" Melody groaned.
"I like that guy, but he's crazy, pardner," Clover told her, eyeing her brother and glaring at any monsters that dared to approach him. "He's always gettin' into trouble."
"But he's brave." Faye spoke up.
Unlike me, she thought sadly.
"And then there's you who's his best friend," Melody commented, giving Faye a stare. "You're so different from him. How does that even work?"
"Human emotions are truly something my mere books cannot understand." Percy added, writing down notes.
"I don't know," Faye replied. "We've been friends for ages. We knew each other before I moved to Ebott. I didn't see him again until he moved to Ebott as well and went to the same school as me."
"Yes, you two went to the same school in Ebott but you didn't even meet each other until we became friends with Clover and Cody, I think." Melody commented.
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING SLOWPOKES!?" Brayden entered the room, the eighth human following him. Faye waved at them. They waved back. "COME ON GUYS! WE'VE GOT THE UNDERGROUND TO FIIIGGGHTTTT!"
Everyone groaned and entered the next room. Faye stalked behind, staring at the purple floor.
"YOU TOO, FAYE!" She looked up at Brayden, who was impatient as usual.
"Okay." she said quietly. She walked up to the eighth human. They didn't say anything. She liked that. There was a lot about them to interpret. They were a walking mystery.
Toriel called the kids while they were pushing a rock onto a button and getting rid of some dumb spikes. She asked if they preferred cinnamon or butterscotch. No one could agree on anything. Toriel said she'd bake a mixed pie, since she was going to do that anyway. Faye was happy about that. She liked pies. She wanted to keep talking to Toriel but no one else looked happy about that, so she refrained.
After that was a maze that had soft patches that you could fall down through. Brayden and the eighth human were already used to them. They led to a maze of red leaves. Avoiding them created a path that the kids had to follow on the soft stuff to complete the maze. Percy drew a diagram and took notes. Melody held Brayden back so he didn't run into everything. Faye followed the eighth human who already solved the puzzle. Cody and Clover followed them as well. They ran into Moldsmal. The eighth human started flirting with it and shaking their hips.
"What in tarnation are they doing...?" Clover asked, confused.
"Something." Faye replied, lying down on the ground next to Moldsmal. It was very peaceful. She liked peaceful things.
"That is unlike any dance I've seen." Melody commented, moving away. Thankfully the kid spared Moldmsal after a bit.
"The heck was that?!" Brayden asked them, making a face.
The gang did another puzzle with a sassy rock, who wouldn't move onto a button to get rid of some spikes. Melody told it off and it did what it was told. The kids fought some Froggits and Moldsmals (the eighth human was deadly serious with the whole mercy thing, Faye noticed) and went to the next room.
The eighth human stopped in there for a moment. It was a small room with a little table holding a plate of cheese. A mouse hole was in the wall. Faye walked up to it and listened to the mouse squeak too many times. The eighth human joined in for a bit.
"Hee hee, I love animals," Faye commented, looking at the eighth human. "I mean, I wanna be an investigator when I grow up... but I also kinda wanna be a vet."
"COME ON SLOWPOKES!" Brayden stormed over and dragged them away.
The next room passed through a hall. On the ground were red leaves, which had a ghost pretending to sleep on them.
"zzzz." they said, looking a little anxious. "(are they gone yet?)"
"We can tell you're not sleeping." Melody told the ghost, folding her arms.
"OUTTA OUR WAY!" Brayden yelled, trying to move the ghost. A battle started with the ghost, whose name was Napstablook.
"Sorry for disturbing you," Faye mumbled quietly. "We just want to pass by."
"No need to fight." Cody agreed, waving his hands.
The eighth human blew a kiss at Napstablook, quite evidently flirting with it.
"oh noo..." Napstablook said, crying.
Their tears flew around the battle arena, hitting everyone's SOULs.
"OW!" Brayden groaned, covered in tear stains. He glared at the ghost. "YOU THINK YOU CAN CRY ON ME?!"
He tried to punch Napstablook but it didn't work because you can't punch ghosts.
"I'm so sorry." Faye told the ghost, giving it a patient smile. Napstablook seemed to appreciate that.
"Heh..." they mumbled, crying some more.
Clover was brushing tears off her cowboy hat.
Napstablook is wishing they weren't here, text on a screen read.
Faye related to them. She wished Toriel were here. The eighth human was giving Napstablook another flirty stare. Brayden didn't look very patient. Melody was holding him back as usual. Cody was staying near his sister. Percy, surprise surprise, was taking notes.
"Um..." Faye had an idea. "Hi, my name is Faye. You know, um... Napstablook, today I'm feeling a little airy. You could say I'm... Faye-ding away."
She winked. Everyone else groaned except the eighth human who gave her a thumbs up.
"heh heh..." Napstablook laughed. Napstablook wants to show you something. "let me try..." A dapper hat appeared on their head. "i call it 'dapper blook'..." They paused. "do you like it..."
Napstablook eagerly awaits your response - er, responses.
"Really suits you." Melody answered. Brayden gave Napstablook a thumbs up.
"It looks really nice, Napstablook!" Cody answered cheerfully. "You look great!"
"Swell, pardner." Clover agreed.
"You look really nice." Faye told Napstablook.
"oh gee..." Napstablook looked away. The battle was over. "i usually come to the RUINS because there's nobody around... but today i met somebody nice..."
They paused, looking at all the impatient children (cough cough, Brayden and probably Clover, cough cough).
"oh, I'm rambling again... i'll get out of your way." They disappeared.
"FINALLY!" Brayden exasperated, punching the air.
"What a nice ghost." Faye said brightly, observing the purple walls again.
She noticed the eighth human was moving right, going into a room. Faye followed them. They were in a tiny room with cobwebs on the wall. Apparently it was a spider bake sale. She watched them drop all their items aside from their stick and bandages and literally throw their money (or GOLD - monster currency) into the spider webs. Spiders crawled down and gave them six donuts. They looked disappointed about something.
"Wow, that's a lot of donuts," Faye told the child, appearing behind them.
They shivered and turned around, their eyes opening for a brief second. They breathed out and the stoic expression resumed.
"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you," Faye told them. "I'm so sorry."
The child shrugged and somehow put the donuts in their pockets.
"Don't mind me asking, but... why did you buy so many donuts?" Faye asked.
The child made some weird movements with their face and hands. Somehow it made sense to Faye.
"For us? Wow... that's so nice!" She frowned. "But there's only six." The child made another movement. "No... I think you deserve a donut! We'll need food to heal, anyway..."
The child shrugged and left the room. Faye followed them.
"Where've you two been?" Clover asked. Cody grinned at them.
"They bought food for everyone," Faye answered, smiling at her new friend. "They're so nice."
The kids went to the next room, which was north.
"There's a spider bakesale," Percy was reading a sign. "Down and to the right. Apparently it's made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders. Cannibalism in its finest expression."
"There's food?!" Brayden asked eagerly. "Who could say no to food?!"
"These two went to the bakesale," Clover spoke up, pointing to the eighth human and Faye. "Accordin' to Faye, the stick kid bought some stuff for everyone."
"YEAH THAT'S THE STUFF!" Brayden cheered, running over to the eighth human. "Can I have it now?!" They shook their head. "Aw, whaaattt?! Why not?!"
The eighth human stepped away.
Brayden pouted. "...for later? The heck?! I don't wanna wait! Gimme it now!"
"Don't pester them, Brayden." Melody scoffed, pulling Brayden away. Then the kids spoke to three froggits about things. Now they knew that monsters with yellow names meant you could spare them. And there were apparently four frogs. Faye wanted to look for the fourth frog, but everyone else wanted to move on, so she stuck with the gang.
The squad arrived at the next room. There were separate holes covered in the soft stuff that led to different places. Spikes blocked the way to the next room. The lever that got rid of them was down one of the holes. The eighth human seemed to know where to go. Faye watched them with interest. Brayden, of course, jumped into some random hole. Melody sighed. He came back up, looking bored.
"There wasn't anything down there." he grumbled. The eighth human popped out of a vent, the spikes now unblocked. Brayden stared at them. "WHOA! THAT KID KNOWS EVERYTHING!"
"Very high intellect." Percy agreed, taking more notes.
The group walked towards the door. Suddenly, they got into a battle with Migosp and Moldsmal - the former didn't look too happy. Cody seemed to have an idea.
"You look sad," he told Migosp. "Do you want a hug?"
He approached it, arms spread. The Migosp didn't look any happier and began throwing insects at Cody. The Moldsmal joined in and threw slime at the poor little cinnamon roll. He was knocked down quite a lot of HP. Everyone was pretty freaked (even Brayden, who was trying to hide it). Cody fell to his knees, laughing nervously. Faye put a bandage on his cheek. Cody ate one of his own cookies, healing himself.
Clover, naturally, was very ticked off. She pulled out her gun and aimed at the monsters, wearing her death-stare. "You'll pay for that, bandits."
The eighth human suddenly looked a lot more concerned about the monsters than Cody. Clover bared her teeth and perfected her aim. She pulled the trigger...
...it hit the eighth human, who leaped in front of the monsters. Their eyes widened in shock, and they fell to their knees. Their SOUL was beating. Blood stained their shirt. The monsters ran away in fright. Faye watched in horror. Her new friend was dying.
"What in tarnation..." Clover almost dropped her pistol. "Kid! Are you alright there?!" She raced over to them. "What were thinkin'!?" The kid didn't respond. They held their chest, their hand getting covered in their own blood.
Clover grabbed their hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would hitcha..."
"What were you doing?!" Brayden yelled at the eighth human, looking like he wanted to beat someone up. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING?! DO YOU WANNA DIE!?"
"Oh no, definitely a fatal hit," Percy spoke up, sounding monotonous (somehow). "It's a no-brainer. I'm sorry." Melody just looked sad. Her blue eyes were watery. Percy, for a moment, sounded hopeful. "But maybe there's something we can do. We can't give up yet."
"D-don't worry, I-I think I've got something!" Cody spoke up. He rummaged through his apron pockets. "There's food here! You can heal...! It's gonna be okay."
Faye was watching the whole thing, too stunned for words. She just watched someone get shot. Of course, she'd seen terrible things before. Her parents when they... she didn't even want to remember. And she didn't want her new friend to die. Not after they just met. But what could she do? She was useless.
The kid had that horrified expression, but they quickly wiped it off. They stood up, clutching their chest.
"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea." Cody spoke up, holding out a cookie. The child ignored him and ran off to the left, faltering every few seconds.
"What are they doin'?!" Clover asked. She sounded angry and upset. Faye knew it wasn't a good time to talk to her. "Kid...! You'll get hurt!"
She chased after them. So did Brayden, who was yelling about everything.
"Hope." Percy monotonously admired, eyeing the eighth human. "It is the thing that shines brightest in the dark, yet cannot be seen. To have it costs you nothing but to be without it costs you everything."
Faye wondered if she'd heard that from somewhere. She and the others followed the eighth human. They were headed somewhere. Brayden and Clover easily kept up with them, but the eighth human didn't seem too interested in stopping. They finally stopped in the room with the mouse and cheese. They stood still for a few moments, looking at something or doing something. Their injuries vanished and they restored their HP.
"What in tarnation...?" Clover asked, staring at them. "How'd you do that, pardner?" They shrugged.
"That's awesome!" Brayden cheered, fist-pumping the air. "Show me how to do that!"
The others saw this as well. Cody gave the eighth human a hug, very relieved. Faye was watching in awe. There was something special about that kid. Something very special indeed.
"Incredible," Percy took more notes. "Some force must give you the power to heal. What is this force in question?"
He stared at the eighth human. They walked off, not feeling like doing a Q&A. Faye watched them. They didn't like answering certain questions. They must be sensitive about certain subjects, then. That was okay. Faye felt the same sometimes.
"That is one strange kid," Melody breathed. She adjusted her bun. "But my goodness, I'm relieved. I didn't want them to die, even though it's really their fault we're down here."
"I like them," Faye spoke up. She really did. "I think they're nice."
"And they've got a head-start!" Brayden exclaimed. He took off, yelling a battle cry for some reason.
"It's all okay now, I think, Clover," Cody said, hugging his sister who still looked a little unsure. "Don't be sad! They're okay! And I'm sure they're not mad at all." Faye eyed them for a bit. She wondered what it was like to have a sibling. The only other only child was Percy, but he currently lived with Melody, so he wasn't really lonely.
Faye lived by herself with her aunt. She liked living with her aunt, even though she could be very busy. She mostly played by herself in the garden, building homes for the ants and finding sticks for the birds to make nests. If not, she explored her aunt's cute little house, building pillow forts and having tea parties with her soft toys. And occasionally going on the internet like all the cool kids. It was fun on her own, but it was better with friends. Or her parents, who weren't getting any better. She missed her parents.
Faye found the crew in another large, spacious room. There were pillars and coloured switches all around. The correct switch unblocked the path to the next room. The eighth human was solving the puzzle. Faye followed them. She followed people quite often. Her parents, her aunt, Brayden, her other friends, a sparrow bouncing along the side path, a stray cat, and now, the eighth human. They already knew what switches to press.
"That was amazing," she told them. "You're amazing. You... you never give up." The kid shrugged and continued solving the puzzle. Everyone was sort of watching them.
"That kid really is somethin' special." Clover observed.
"GO STICK KID!" Brayden cheered them on. "SOLVE THOSE PUZZLES!"
While doing the puzzle, a monster named Loox appeared. Clover wasn't taking any chances and became super over-protective with her bro (even more than before, somehow). Loox didn't want to be picked on, so Faye didn't pick on them. Melody stopped Brayden from trying. Percy took notes. The regular.
The eighth human completed the rest of the puzzle because of their skill. Loox showed up a few times, but there was no real trouble. Not after the whole thing with the eighth human nearly dying. Faye thought they were really cool. Maybe they brought everyone down Mt. Ebott for a reason. They were that cool she wouldn't have been surprised.
The kids reached a room with a path going right and a path going north. The north path had red leaves. The kids went right, where a Froggit told them it saw Toriel with some groceries. There was a doorway that led to a view. The kids checked out the view for a moment, overseeing a purple city. A nice-looking, purple city. Faye wasn't a city girl, but she thought cities were pretty cool.
"I used to live in the city," Melody sighed. "Good times. It wasn't purple, though. I don't think cities are usually purple."
"Never liked cities," Clover commented. "Too many buildings."
"Most cities these days have a higher population density than rural areas," Percy commented, adjusting his glasses. "Surprisingly, not long ago it was vice-versa."
"Can we go now?" Brayden asked irritably.
Faye admired the city a little longer. It was a nice city. She'd never seen a purple city before, so it was pretty cool. The eighth kid was emotionlessly standing there. It looked like nothing had ever happened to them. They were really cool like that.
"Yeah, this is kinda boring." Clover agreed, adjusting her cowboy hat.
Faye wondered if she'd be super-protective with the eighth human now. She probably still felt bad about shooting them. Clover didn't like hurting people for no reason.
The kids left the view. Faye walked near the eighth human again. She definitely trusted them. They'd saved her life, they listened to her, and overall, they were pretty cool. And they wanted to be friends too, which was great!
She kept following them as the kids walked up the red leaves, finding a dead tree on more red leaves. Faye felt sad. She didn't like dead trees very much. She felt better when Toriel walked over. Faye really liked Toriel. She was like a new mom.
"Hey Ms. Toriel!" Brayden greeted. Melody looked unhappy about it, as if it wasn't up to her greeting standards.
"Oh dear, that took longer than expected," Toriel sighed. She walked over to the kids. "How did you get here, my children? Are any of you hurt?"
Faye checked herself out. She had bandages so she was okay. Cody seemed fine (he always had food stored around, so healing was no problem for him). Brayden was a bit hurt, probably from all the running. So was Melody, who was dusting off her tutu. Faye thought Melody's dancing skills were pretty sweet. And she knew a lot about music, too. Percy was okay (he was taking notes as usual). The eighth human was perfectly fine. They were actually a great dodger - the only time they had been hurt was when they saved the monsters.
"There, there, I will heal you," Toriel assured them. "I should not have left you all alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this."
"Surprise?" Brayden asked. He cheered. "I LOVE SURPRISES!" Faye didn't, on the other hand. Surprises could be a little scary.
"Hee hee," Toriel chuckled. "Well, I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. Come, small ones!" She walked over to a purple brick house surrounded by red leaves. There were two small windows and a door. It was a cute house.
"I sure hope she doesn't turn us all into pie." Clover grunted, eyeing the house. She turned to the genderless kid, who was shaking their head. "How d'ya know, pardner?"
"They're very smart," Faye said quietly in their defence. "They know lots of things."
"Oh come on, even Percy's not that smart." Melody retorted. Percy frowned and focused on his books.
"Maybe they're special," Cody replied, smiling at the eighth human. "They saved some monsters! They're amazing!"
The eighth human looked away, cheeks flushed.
"Why did you save 'em, though?" Clover asked the eighth human. "Pardner I nearly... killed you. It was really brave but... why? What's the deal 'ere?" They didn't answer. They faced the house and began walking towards it. "Are you gonna answer my question?"
"Don't worry about it sis, I'm sure they will!" Cody said, patting his sister's shoulder. She sighed.
"SURPRISES!" Brayden yelled, racing towards the house.
Melody looked really done with everything. Faye felt unsure. She really hoped Toriel wouldn't turn them into pie, because that would stink. Regardless, she followed everyone else, admiring the RUINS.
"They really are a strange kid - honestly I'm not sure if we can trust them," Melody commented, humming a tune to herself. She danced through the leaves. "You look scared, Faye."
Faye squeaked.
"Well, aren't we all scared?" Melody walked over to her and linked arms. "I'm not Brayden, but I'm something that will help you I should hope. Let's go in and see what's next."
This was one of those times where Melody was really nice to Faye. Faye was glad to have her. The two went in together, hopes high.