Two Worlds, Two Souls

Chapter 36: The Captain's Plight

Angel's Point of View:

Words could not describe how incredible the entrance to Waterfall was…

Sans had brought my sister and I there to explore the landscape and to introduce us to the area. It was our first time being out of Snowdin since we'd first left the ruins in October. Sans had casually walked us over to the path to the next town, only about a fifteen minute walk away from the house where he and Papyrus were nearly on the edge of town. The entrance had been some large cavern in a stone wall surrounded by trees and a river that seemed to flow into other areas of the underground.

Upon entering, everything was different.

The dark carver was nothing like the brightly lit snowy region of Snowdin. It was very dim, only lit by the crystals and the flowers that seemed to be in this area. Echo flowers if I remembered right. Sans had given me some booze made of their liquid once.

Which I wouldn't lie, that tasted pretty good…

It was beautiful to look at. Everything held a soft caribbean colored glow to it. The cavern seemed to be quite large for the most part, and to my surprise, I saw more vine-like plants that grew here. Very few trees grew, other than ones in the mist of large glowing ponds of water. Crystals and other precious metals seemed to be peaking out of the walls, glittering as the light and the water hit them, providing a very glittery appearance as we walked the paths to where Sans planned to work a bit that day.

Sans' sentry station wasn't too far into Waterfall. Apparently, he guarded the entrance, just past the large area that appeared like a garden on display. This first area was mostly for people to travel, but some areas were blocked off where I saw researchers constantly going over notes and taking samples, catering to many of the organisms that lived there. Sans had told me that there were many researchers in Waterfall to observe the growth of plants and perhaps discovering any new species. Most of the plants in the underground were filled with magic, due to the influence of the people who lived down there. Much like Snowdin, older greens of certain ages held crystals within their very structure, which I could see was being documented, measured and small samples taken from the younger tissues at the end of the branches.

Soft words were constantly being echoed around; sound never seemed to stop in Waterfall. Sans had explained that the glowing flowers often reflected back the words of others heard in passing. When the flowers had new words to hear that were loud enough to record and play back in memory, it removed the old words. Sans had noted that some people were constantly remembered here due to being in sealed off areas, leaving behind their voices for the more recent generations to hear.

I felt like Sans had more to say about the subject, but he clamed up after his explanation. Any other person could tell it was due to his laziness, but only a few could see the hesitation in his sockets and the sorrow.

There had to be one of either his mother or father's voice around there somewhere…

When Sans finally led us over to where his sentry station was, I was surprised to see that he had a couple of signs attached as well as a map of Waterfall in a pile to the side. One sign to the left of his stand pointed in the direction we came from with a sign for Snowdin as well as the Waterfall Botanical Gardens, West Side. The opposite direction was held for the actual town of Waterfall, a few large farms that used the humid area for growth of crops, and the direction of Hotland from the sentry post.

The underground wasn't too large to get lost in from my experience, but that didn't mean that some people had no sense of direction and needed help.

From the map I pulled into my hands, I saw that Waterfall was actually much bigger than Snowdin. Snowdn mostly consisted of those who wanted a life away from the larger cities and the heavier population. Though more and more people were slowly coming there. I remembered how Sans was telling me of three new houses that were going to be built in Snowdin to accommodate for the new residence that were moving in from the capital.

More people for me to greet as well as befriend, showing that humans weren't a threat.

According to the map I had in hand, we were at the back end of Waterfall, nearly at the edge of that city. A large river ran through the top of it that led between the different areas of Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland and the capital. If Frisk and I were to follow the tunnel, we would be led into Waterfall's main square. It would be surrounded by smaller businesses, very similar to Snowdin's central plaza. It also led up to where the children go to school in Waterfall to the south, surrounded by three farms. Two were crop farms while one was a livestock farm

To the north was actually a lot of living developments for folks that lived in Waterfall or that didn't live above their shops. There was also a snail farm in the north as well. Apparently, they were popular in some areas of Hotland for food…

Now I could see why Tori liked them so much…

Beyond town was a pathway that led deeper into the depths of Waterfall where the Junkyard apparently was, where a lot of broken pieces of human technology came down to and it was how people copied it or utilized the supplies to make all that they had now and improve upon it. It made me quite sad that it was the only way that people got a lot of supplies since they couldn't reach any of the supplies on the surface…

Past the Junkyard was the second research site as well as Waterfall Botanical Gardens, East Side. This was the last area of Waterfall where a few more buildings were set up closer to projects and research material. Sans had noted that a lot of new species of plants were being grown there to see how they would assist our population for surviving, or if there was any type of magical properties that came from them that could assist with the barrier breaking to release everyone.

It truly was amazing to see how much more developed Waterfall was compared to the quietness of Snowdin…

"Welp, here we are." Sans yawned as he plopped in behind the sentry desk. Without even being there for a few moments, his head fell into a hand propped up by the desk for Sans to begin snoozing. My sister giggled at him before I felt her tug on my outfit.

"Can we explore, Sis? This place is so cool!"

"I don't think we should stray too far from Sans." My free hand held her in place while I glanced over at our 'cousin'. "Sans? What do you think?"

"Huh?" His head bounced up as he looked at us. The wear in his eye sockets showed me just how tried he was. Papyrus had been gung-ho this morning to be to work on time and had Sans up at the crack of dawn. He certainly didn't get enough sleep, nor enough coffee to deal with the day. "Uh... what was the question?"

"Can Sis and I explore?" Frisk pulled from me to pat on his head to wake him for a moment longer. His magic swirled in his sockets before they faded and he leaned down on the desk.

"Don't go pass the square…"

"We can check out the shops! Right Sis?" Frisk eagerly began pulling on my arm away from Sans. "He said it was okay!"

"Alright, alright…" I somehow managed to pull my arm from her tight grip. "Just let me leave him a note, okay? I don't think he's all that awake and thinking clearly. I don't want him to panic when he wakes."

Frisk barely gave me a minute's time to leave a note for Sans about our whereabouts before I was being tugged down the hallways or over many ponds and rivers.

The scenery was beyond beautiful…

As we exited another cavern that my sister dragged me down, running a bit more blindly then I would have liked, we soon came upon a large open square where hundreds of little shops and vendors appeared to be selling their wares. I stared in awe at the streets, looking at the white strings of crystals that were hung to provide lights for customers to see. The chasm was actually much higher than I could guess since I saw that in the walls above there were openings where entrances to certain avian people's homes appeared. I could see them flying about in the air, landing in a more exposed area of the square, before blending in with others that were more fish-like, reptilian, hell, even turtle like.

"Hey! Punks!" I jumped slightly at the voice to our side and quickly saw a guard in full armor approach us. "So, ya finally made it to Waterfall, eh?"

"Undyne?" Frisk quickly attempted to approached her while I yanked her back just as fast. My sister looked up at me, worried, before we saw the guard reach for their helmet.

As soon as I saw the head of the royal guard's face, skin just as blue as I remembered it, I relaxed just a bit. She was someone I could at least trust with the safety of Ravie and Sitka.

Just not Angel and Frisk, not yet anyway…

"Sorry for spooking ya. Gotta wear the full armor on patrols." Undyne held her helmet under her arm before kneeling before us. "Hope you guys liked Christmas!"

"Yeah!" Frisk cheered, looking up at me eagerly. "Sis, Sans and Pap bought me a whole bunch of toys that I can play with and I can play with others! It's the best Christmas ever!"

"Cool!" She ruffled the top of Frisk's head, which caused her to squeal. "Hey, you up for having lunch with me? I just got on break."

"Can we Sis? Please?" Frisk begged me eagerly while Undyne also threw a slightly pleading look that she tried to hide behind a grin.

It was better for me to agree. Undyne would trust us more if she got to know us as people, rather than humans in the future. Sans wasn't far in case things went south. He was only a phone call away and then he could teleport. Undyne did seem really eager to get to know us…

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. After we eat, we could always take something back for Sans and Papy. It would be a nice treat to not have to cook tonight for dinner."

My sister cheered, jumping up like an eager little frog. "Yes!"

"So, do me a favor then, Punk." Undyne reached inside of her armor before pulling out some coins, handing my sister some money. "Head right over to that little stand at the edge of the square. The guy's name is Troy. Tell him Undyne sent you over for three specials and he'll help carry it over to my normal table where your sister and I'll be, cool?"

"Okay!" Frisk eagerly took the money in hand before rushing over to the stand. I could see the small owner there from where I stood and it would only be a few people Frisk would have to wait for in order to place her order. She eagerly waved at me while Undyne led me to a table that apparently would be where we'd sit.

Undyne was popular, I could see that easily enough as we sat at the table she'd chosen. It was close enough that she could see everything happening in the area, but far enough away to hold private conversations. Undyne sat her helmet on the bench area beside her while she leaned close to me, narrowing her sharp golden eye at me.

"Alright Ravie, now that I got you alone for a few moments, we gotta talk."

"Talk?" I blinked at her, though she couldn't see it from beyond the dark hood I wore. "What do you mean Undyne? Is something the matter?"

"What Sitka said earlier, about getting to have so many toys this Christmas. She never had those before?"

Oh God no…

Was she going to take Frisk away if I didn't answer her carefully enough?

"Undyne… it's not that I didn't want to gift her those things, but things were tight up until we were reunited with our cousins. I had no money, only what little education our parents had given us until their passing." A shaky breath escaped me as memories of us in running on the surface suddenly flashed in my mind… the hunger, the fear, the anger… "This the first time in five years that we've had anything…"

Undyne backed off slightly, but her eye was still intense as she glanced me over. "You lived on the edge of Snowdin before this, right? Up in the ruins?"

"Yes, that was where our parents raised us until their untimely death."

"Why didn't you come down and stay with Sans and Pap then?"

"There were a lot of reasons…" I tried to keep calm, but my hands were twitching in the desperate need to grab something and fumble with it. Her armored hands interested me, but I restrained myself, knowing she wouldn't like that. "We were scared… I was barely fifteen and Sitka had just turned six and we were without our parents… I didn't know what to… so I turned to him when he came…"

That made Undyne blink in confusion. "Their dad?"

I shook my head. "Our paternal uncle, Dad's brother. Not Mom's side of the family."

"Did he die too?"

My fingers roughly scraped the wooden table. Unease grew in my chest.

"I'd really like not to answer that…"

"Don't give me that roundabout answer, Ravie!" Undyne's fist came down on the table and it had me standing in seconds. "Did you hurt him?"

"Don't you dare assume things you don't even know!" The words left me hissing out at her. I pulled my arms back before my chest in fear that I'd lash out physically if I didn't do as such. "You don't know what happened to us! What I'd gone through!"

"Then tell me." Her voice was still strong, but she held back from shouting. Our voices were more hushed as to keep onlooks from focusing too much on us. Even Undyne was paying some attention to keeping this conversation quiet, even as we struggled with my biggest fears coming alive. "I'm head of the Royal Guard for many reasons. One of them is making sure all citizens are safe, as well as those kids are taken care of by their families like they should be. You've hidden up on that mountain that we hardly have any records of you, except what Sans was able to find hidden away."

I thought my eyes would bulge out of my head. "You think I'm hurting my sister?"

"Hell no! Damn it, I know you're a good sister… but I can't help but be worried after being separated from other monsters for five years." Undyne paused, choosing her words carefully. "Why did you run?"

"She was the only family I had left. I wasn't about to be separated from her." I huffed out, trying to keep my emotions from getting any more heated than they were. "Our uncle… he had friends… who were just like him… I couldn't let them find us."

Undyne paused for a moment as she glanced me over, unsure at that moment what to say. "Did he hurt both of you?"

I hesitated for a moment. "There's a reason we wear these cloaks, Undyne."

She sucked in a breath then. It sounded more like a hiss before her fist hit the table. A few people around us jumped slightly, but mostly ignored us. Everyone around here seemed to understand or know about Undyne's expressive personality.

"…I'm sorry."

I shook my head, turning away from her to glance at Frisk. Thankfully, my sister hadn't noticed much of any of our disagreement during our time apart. She was just waiting on the food that that point. She waved at me briefly, and I waved back to keep up the appearance.

"You didn't know."

That caused her to scowl. She mulled over that thought before turning back with a wide eye. "The guys! Do they-"

"Not Papy." I quickly shot that idea down. "Sans knows only enough, I asked him not to pry. It… hurts to remember… what happened to us…"

An awkward silence came over us as we sat at the table. If anyone saw the look on Undyne's face then, I was worried that someone would question her as to what's wrong.

I had to get her to think of something different… perhaps I could ask her about…

"Undyne, tell me about the painting I sold you." She glanced up at me with a wary eye. "We need to calm down before my sister comes back. Talk to me about something different. I forgive you, you were just looking out for my sister, but I don't want her to remember those times… they weren't good for either of us."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Undyne sat back and crossed her arms, though she sighed and some of her anger seemed to go with it. Her eye quickly glowed in happiness as she eagerly thought about the painting. "It's so cool Ravie! It's like I'm swimming down to the ocean floor whenever I look at it!"

"I'm glad." Some of the awkwardness of the situation left as we shifted topics. I was hoping Undyne would leave it be, but I wasn't sure. "I can always try to paint you another one some time. I have a few others images I'm hoping to paint under the water from some old books I found."

There was a spark to her eye now. It looked like I had successfully removed her from the conversation we had spoken of before. And I hoped it stayed that way.

Granted I was going to have to tell Sans what I told him to make sure the stories were strait…

"Cool! Do you know anything about that blue fish that's swimming in the picture?"

"I believe the humans call it a 'blue tang', for the color of the fish and what it looks like into relation to something from the surface."

"A blue… tang?" Undyne questioned back. "Do you know about any other cool fish like that one?"

"Hm… I remember another one, I think it was orange and white in color and I think it was called a 'clown fish' since it was so brightly colored that it was amusing, or something like that." I watched my words carefully to make to sound like something I would have read from the book, rather than the true vast knowledge of the aboveground from living up there all these years prior.

"Nice! Well, that painting you gave me will be safe from any of my cooking, no matter what happens!"

"Cooking?" I blinked at her, vaguely remembering with a slight horror that Sans told me she used to teach Papyrus how to cook, and it wasn't pretty…

"Yeah! I put all the passion into it and it turns out great!" Undyne laughed loudly for a moment before settling down. "The only downside is that I always seem to make a mess of the house, or light something on fire. So I had the best enchantment magic put on that picture so even if my house blew up, it'd be okay!"

"I'm glad for you…"

"Ah look! Just in time for the little punk to get back with food!" Undyne grinned as my sister came back over with food. I could already imagine she was drooling as she came back.

"Undyne! Sis! I got the food! Mr. Troy even gave us some biscuits to go with them!"

"Heh! He always knows how to treat us!" Undyne beckoned her toward us. "Come here, ya squirt!"

Undyne then carefully pulled the decent sized bowls off of the tray my sister had been given and passed around the food, setting up my sister's food next to mine. I was passed the bread as well as some crackers with a spoon. The creation before us smelled divine, a sea food chowder, thick and loaded to the hilt with shell meat, potatoes and a few other spices to give it some flavor in the creamy broth.

It was almost more like a bisque then a chowder…

"This smells really good!" Once my sister and I had been set up, Undyne had taken the tray and put it to the side of our table for the dirty dishes when done.

"Hell yeah it is! Troy makes the best chowder ever!" The grin was ginormous as Undyne spoke highly of friends in her life. "I ate it so much as a kid that he named it after me once I got into the guard!"

"Cool!" Frisk jumped in her seat next to me and I had to place a hand on her shoulder to try and keep her calm. I could feel her pout from the stare I got through her cloak.

I could only chuckle at her. "You'll spill your food if you're not careful, Sitka."

I could still feel her negative stare, however, she backed off and returned to her meal. I tried to resist rolling my eyes, even if no one could see it.

"Undyne?" Frisk questioned after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah Sitka?"

"What's it like being the royal guard?"

"Huh?" Undyne's eye widened in surprise. "Oh, you want to know about that? It's super cool!"

"Yeah?" I chuckled to the side, slowly eating at my food while Undyne captured my sister's attention. She didn't have any heroes to look up to in life with all we went through. Even if this hero perhaps wouldn't fight for us, I was grateful for these moments for my sister.

To keep up her happiness.

"Mostly I get to patrol for humans or fight against others in the guard to test our strength. Sometimes though, I get to go to schools and talk about more stuff I do, or how I got into the royal guard."

My sister gasped at that. Being 'friends' with Undyne certainly gave us some privileges that other children did not get. "How did you?"

"Lots of hard work! I trained with my father until I was a teen, and then I joined the guard as a watchman."
I blinked. That skipped a few steps based off of what Papyrus had told me before. "But isn't the first stage sentry?"

"Yeah, but my dad pulled a few strings and showed the king how strong I was. That made him make an exception to the rule and I was able to skip that 'non-fighting' step." Undyne seemed to welcome a softer look on her face when she spoke of the king and her father. "They were old friends, you know? When my father was busy, Asgore gave me tips and trained me. He was a like a second father to me while I grew up, and was all I had left when my dad died."

I felt that heavy pit in my stomach begin to grow at the mention of that. "I'm sorry Undyne…"

"Eh, it happens." She shrugged, pushing away the mushy feelings that we were talking about. "Asgore's done a lot for me since, and I worked my way up through the ranks of the guard. Now I head the guard, the only other members that would be stronger than me would be the king, the jury and the judge."

"Would you ever consider trying to join those positions perhaps later in life?"

She waved the thought off. "Nah. Too secretive for me. I don't think I'd do it well."

"What about robberies?" Frisk questioned her softly. "Do you help out with those?"

"Robberies?" Undyne hesitated for a moment. "Not really, only if it gets to be a more serious thing. The watchmen normally handle cases like those. Sometimes the guardians help out in those cases, but not often. Why?"

"Because of those robberies we've had recently." Frisk pressed and I couldn't help but smirk under my cloak. "Papy told me that there had been three and it has everyone on edge since this has never happened. Right?"

Well done, Frisk. Just the information I wanted but didn't know how to ask for after Undyne and my awkward discussion.

"God damn it Papyrus…" Undyne hissed as she clenched her fist around her spoon, crushing it under her fingers. "Ah crap! Troy's gonna kill me for that."

"Undyne?" The older woman looked back at us. "What's going on?"

"Just… those robberies have out stood the watchmen, and their calling in some of the guardians. So, Frisk is right. Some of us will be called in if it escalates anymore."

I hesitated for a moment. "Do you think that will happen?"

"I'm… not sure yet…"

I saw my sister shrink away, leaning her head down. "Do we have to be afraid?"

"Hell no!" Undyne quickly jumped up from the table. My sister quickly squealed in fright and we jumped up as well, away from the table. Thankfully our meals were already completed by this point and only empty bowls and silver where were left behind. "I'll keep you and everyone else in the underground safe from those creeps! Ya hear me!"

And just to prove her strength, Undyne grabbed the table by its sides and suplexed it over her head. The table shattered as soon as it hit the ground, fragile bowls we'd just had lunch in following suit. The silverware clattered against the pieces and Undyne in those moments looked entirely proud of herself, until she heard shouting from the other side of the lot. An avian looking cook jumped into the air and descended right at Undyne in seconds. She flinched back from the screeching of who I could only assume was Troy, the very person she was boasting about just a short while ago.

I felt my sister gasp next to me. "Uh oh…"

"Uh oh is right." Taking my sister's hand in my own, I gave it a tug. "Come on, Sitka. I believe it would be best to perhaps explore and come back once Undyne had taken care of some things. We can see all the little shops and perhaps we could gather some of that delicious bisque for dinner, or gather some orders from the guys. Sans is bound to be hungry after that long nap of his, and I'm sure Papyrus had put in quite the long work day."

"Okay! Can we check out the school while we're here?"

It was difficult to keep the frown off my face, so I was thankful that my sister couldn't see my expression. "If it's not too far past the square, then I suppose we can. Let's check the map."

"Yes, Ravie."

With Frisk's help, she and I looked over the map to see the location of the school in the area. Where MK and Milly we knew were at most likely this day. Perhaps she wished to see them? Perhaps she wanted to truly be a real kid again and go to school? She hadn't been in one since she was six years old… back when we had to hide a few of the bruises she had…

But not then. It was still too dangerous, even if we had proper clothing now. So easily a child could attempt to pull of her hood and make a scene. I couldn't take that risk. Frisk would have to be home schooled until the people of the underground were okay with us being here.

No matter how long that took.

Witch's Note:

Oh, my Lord! Was anyone expecting this to happen? We've had our first true run in with Undyne in a while and she nearly takes Frisk away from Angel! Oh no! But now everything is good right? Who knows? There's still that burglar on the loose that has even Undyne a bit worried that the head of the guard might be called into deal with the situation!

Also, I want to apologize about the last posing everyone, I've been away with family in a location where I didn't have internet so I was unable to post chapters until I got to somewhere I could get home. Sorry about that…

But quickly here, let's get to our reviews!

RoseCentury: Don't worry about it Rose! We'll hear from you when we can! Busy on our side too (in case you can't hear the marching of the armies Mystic Girl has in the background. I literally can't stop that girl…)

Love you all and see you next week! Please don't forget to review! We love to hear from you all and see what you think of the story!

Halloween Witch