Facing the door leading out, the child gave a glance to the side. Tugging on the cuff of her shirt, she let out an annoyed breath. It was miserably hot in this place, though it left her curious about something.
Her attention had fallen on one of the strange pipes, that was broken open near the door. In her memory, she felt aware of the fact they produced heat. But, she wanted to make certain.
It appeared as though it was once linked to another, and had simply fallen apart. Chara stepped over to it. Briefly placing her hand near. It was...sweltering.
She was...semi glad to be correct in her assessment that the pipes were moving heat. Consequently, she wasn't sure why they'd be doing so, or where it was coming from. Further, nobody seemed to be maintaining them, which was peculiar to her. At least, she assumed this to be a wider truth in the region she was in, judging by how stinking hot it was, anyways.
She moved away, and turned back to the door. Recalling some of the layout from her time with Clara. However limited that was, given that she only really remembered this area, and the hallway. But she knew it had three paths, three destinations.
As she stepped up to open the door, however, it suddenly burst open. The force causing her to stumble back, and slam against the ground with a thud. The sensation was surprising, and unwelcome. The girl, presently attempting to process what the hell just hit her, glanced up and found the her eyes meeting a strangers.
A woman stood in the doorway, and filled the girl with a sense of...familiarity. Despite struggling to place said individual. She scanned the stranger over.
The woman before her had a set of robes that went to just above her knees. With a bandolier of some kind wrapped around her chest, doubling as a sheath on her back. A large shiny spear occupied the slot on her back. She had yellow-ish eyes, and appeared to be scaled. With oddly sharp teeth. Like a piranha.
She opted not to vocalize that, as it would no doubt be considered rude.
The monster muttered something. "Tera?"
The girl, for her part, missed that. She had became a bit lost in the long crimson hair the woman had. Blinking, when she noted the stranger as having said something. Her attention returning, she felt nervous. She hadn't been paying any attention, and now was at a loss for how to respond.
"Uhh...what?" Chara asked.
"It's nothing. I was just noting that...hey, hang on a second, you're a human, right?" The woman asked.
"Yes?" The girl half-asked.
"Damn, okay, hey, sorry about that. Are you alright?" The woman asked.
The girl felt confused still. "Sure, I uh...greetings?"
The two remained awkwardly there for a moment, before the oddly familiar woman offered her a hand. Out of some unknown instinct, the girl took it without hesitation. The result being that she was promptly yanked to her feet with a surprising amount of force. It actually made her arm a little sore, but the woman didn't to have intended to do so.
Said woman took a second to brush some dust and dirt from the childs sleeves. Giving a brief glance at her eyes, looking...bothered by something. Before sighing, and taking a step back.
"Heh, you know what's funny-" The woman began. "I come around here now and then. Just to check and see if someone locked themselves in this room on accident."
Was that funny? The child imagined a scenario where someone locked themselves in here. She then recalled a time her brother had gotten himself locked in the bedroom. And, she had to agree, that was a funny moment.
"Does...that happen often?" Chara inquired.
"Less than you can imagine, but more than you'd think." The woman admitted. "I tend to be surrounded by idiots. My idiots, but idiots all the same." She took a step back, and looked Chara over. "Ya know, it's...strange, you actually look a little familiar."
"Oh, well I'm-" Chara began to say.
"Whatever, probably nothing." The woman reasoned. "Anywho. I'm Undyne. I guess you could call me the Caretaker of the Ruins. Given I'm not really part of the guard anymore." She snickered. "But that's fine, they were a bunch of nerds anyways."
The girl examined this strange woman before her. She seemed a little off somehow, and had dark rings under her eyes, like she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep. Her base instinct was to be a bit cautious, but Undyne felt...familiar. She wondered if she had heard that name before. It bothered her her, but she couldn't quite recall.
"Are you alright?" The girl asked. "You...look a little tired?"
The woman raised a brow. "Heh...tired?" She smirked. "Not even. I'm fine. Everything is fine." The girl gave her a doubtful look. "Alright so...a few troublemakers exist here and there, sure. Annnd maybe a couple people are a little depressed. But-" She shook it off. "doesn't mean we have to be. That's what I tell Mu-" She trailed off. "er, I'm sorry, I'm losing my train of thought. Anyways, tell you what human...you're probably lost, hungry and all that right?"
Chara couldn't help but feel like neither of them were handling this first interaction very well. They lacked proper composition. It was like two different songs playing at the same time, trying to...well she didn't remember the word for harmonize, but she knew she meant that at least.
"Well, yeah, I guess I am lost." The girl admitted. "But-"
"Okay, great. Then just follow along, and I'll do my best to guide you through the uh..." Undyne trailed. "Man there's a word I'm not rememberin...starts with a c." The woman seemed stuck, clearly trying to figure out the wording. "Ugh, whatever it's-"
Chara took a guess. "Catacombs?"
"That's the word." Undyne laughed some. "Dude, you have no idea how long I was stuck trying to figure that out. It's been days." She sighed, smiling a little. "Thanks nerd."
One one hand, the girl noted that her tone, and mannerisms seemed to relax for the first time since they'd started talking. An indication she was trying to put on an act of some variety earlier, maybe just being friendlier than she was used to. But seeing her laugh, and get that half-smile, felt good in its own way.
The child snuck a glance over her shoulder briefly, noting the absence of the Temmie body. There was signs of dust moving, implying it had been dragged off. Perhaps by the other. She would have to worry about that later.
For now, in this moment, the girl felt she'd been issued a challenge. A compulsion to defend her honor rose to the surface. And, like any self-respecting cool person, she responded to the accusations levied against her with conviction, valor, and a catch phrase from a game she played a looong time ago.
"Objection!" Chara replied, catching the woman off guard. "I'm not a nerd." She said. "I'm like, super cool."
"Oh yeah?" Undyne asked. "Hey, man I can see it. I'm sure you are."
The girl gave a slight pout, as she heard the doubt. "I am, seriously." She noted. "I'm very cool, very strong. Like, a demon."
"A demon?" The woman placed a hand on her hip. "Well you aren't scared of monsters, which is neat." The woman noted, adding. "Question is, oh all strong and powerful, can you suplex a boulder?"
"What?" The girl huffed, at the ludicrous proposal. "No, that'd be silly. Nobody can."
Undyne gave a smirk of raw confidence. It reminded the girl of several characters she'd seen in anime. The pose, the smug sense that they knew something you didn't. The really cool boots, and flowing hair.
"Okay." The woman replied, while stepping down the staircase.
"O-okay what?" The girl asked, curiously watching her.
Undynes dark combat boots tapped as she went, the heat vents providing a sound like wind when accompanying it. The woman came to a point in the room, and turned to face the girl. Taking a deep breath, she stomped hard. A section of loose stone falling apart. Crashing down, and slamming in front of the caretaker.
The woman now had the humans complete attention. As she stepped over, let out a mighty roar, and grabbed the sides of the boulder. With one mighty move, it was suplexed, and destroyed. Breaking it apart into dozens of smaller boulders, or pieces of rocks. Just because, she could.
Chara didn't know how to process this new reality. The Caretaker, although sweating a little in the heat, didn't appear to have broken one (a sweat) doing that. Standing up while dusting off her hands, the womans expression retaining that smirk all the while.
"See...easy." Undyne remarked, moving her hair back. "Easier, if my hair-tie hadn't broken but-"
"How did you do that!?" Chara asked, running over. "Wait...is it a trick boulder?"
"Trick boulder? Pffft." The woman chuckled. "Give it a check for yourself."
The purple-eyed girl did exactly that.
Rather, she tried to. The boulder had evolved itself, from its primal state. Becoming...a couple smaller boulders and a whole lot of rocks. An amazing metamorphosis, in her opinion.
Checking the rocks, they appeared to be very rock...ish. Coming to one of the remaining chunks of boulder, she tried to lift it. It was very heavy however, and she couldn't even get her arms around it. So she went to one that was more her size, and began to lift it, albeit it with some effort.
"S-see...I can...totally do that." Chara attempted the suplex, but found it too heavy, dropping the rock instead. "I uh...just don't want to."
She had no sooner set it down, before being pulled closer by the woman. An arm wrapped around her neck to keep her steady. Following this, was something unexpected.
Undyne instinctively gave her a little noogie. "Hey, look at you go dork!" She grinned some. "Really showed that rock who's boss didn't ya?"
"H-hey, don't noogie the human!" The girl managed to pull away. "Ow."
"Eh-heh. Yeah, you're not the first kid to get one from me. It's a right of passage." The woman assured, still smiling. "Honestly, I figured you'd go for some puny little rock. But look at you-" The rock she'd picked up was half-her size. "You're...pretty fricken strong."
"Thanks." Chara smiled a little. "I mean, you're way stronger though. If uh, if we're being honest."
"Don't feel bad punk. I'm sorta the strongest person in the ruins." Undyne remarked with a shrug. "W-which uh, I'm not bragging, just-"
"Yes you are." Chara stated.
"I totally am." Undyne replied.
The two began to laugh a little at the exchange. Neither specifically knowing why. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
The child couldn't help but notice how badly the caretaker seemed to need a laugh. The woman looked tired, even when she was running at high energy. The womans expression softening some, from the more forced one she had compelled herself to wear. It was a far more reassuring look, in the girls opinion.
The girl asked. "So, you were saying something about food and stuff?"
"I was?" The woman remembered. "Ahh, right that. I mean...these things can wait, sometimes." She said it in a weird tone. "Hey, ya know, it's odd, you definitely don't seem lost, kid." She noted. "Or, maybe you're just that confident?"
"I'm trying to be." The girl admitted, with a nervous chuckle.
"Hey, aren't we all." The woman replied knowingly. "Alright. No sense in uh, delaying things. Let's mosey on. See about getting you some grub or something."
"So, am I oh-fish-ally following you now?" Chara punned.
"I guess so. It should take..." Undyne registered the pun. "Wow, that...heh, that pun."
The pair began to walk towards the door. Chara could see she was trying not to smile at the dumb pun. This only encouraged the girl to continue her...brand of humor.
"I bet you're wondering-" The girl began, as the woman glanced back. "cod it be any funnier?"
"Heh." The woman let out a brief chuckle. "I dunno, cod it?"
"I think so." The girl suggested. "I may have to fish around for some more jokes though."
"Sounds like puns my mom'd make." The woman replied.
"I learned from mine the opti-mom way to tell a pun." The girl smiled some. "She was a Mom-umental comedian."
The woman stifled her laugh, as they wandered back up the stairs. It seemed to be working. And, seeing her being amused, definitely inspired the child to persevere with this routine.
"Okay, punk, I'll give it to you, those were funny." The woman paused at the top. "What else you got, eh?"
"Well, if I move over here-" The girl stepped to where one of the broken pipes was behind her. "this becomes a tail pipe." The caretaker shook her head. "Glad to see you didn't get heated about it." The woman face-palmed. "Ya know, seeing you smash up that boulder got me thinking. Geology is pretty cool. But Geography, now that's where it's at."
The woman struggled not to laugh, or smile. "That's so dumb. Wow."
"W-wait, I've got another joke for you." The girl offered.
"Alright...I'll bite, tell me your joke." The woman waited.
"So, one day, I forgot my shoes at home. Not even an hour later, I came across a monster who asked me why I was wandering around in my bare feet." Chara said. "Naturally, I had no idea what he was talking about. I've only ever had human ones."
Undyne shook her head, unable to hide the smile anymore. "A human falls into the underground, and they're a dork. Impressive, punk."
"I do my best." Chara assured, as they wandered past the door. "What about you, do you like jokes, or, tell em?"
"I've never been all that funny." Undyne replied. "My uh, well the folks who took me were silly. Then, I guess, there was this guy I was friends with. Him and his brother were, like, total dweebs." She glanced. "I bet you'd get along great."
"I'd love to meet them." Chara said warmly. "If they're anything like you, I bet they're awesome."
Undyne twitched at the suggestion. "Yeah...sure kid."
The hallway was much as it was before, and they definitely would have gotten to the end of it quicker if they hadn't stopped to talk. Then again, it was nice to have a silly conversation now and then. Especially when it meant cheering someone up some.
The hall did however have some new additions, in the form of a couple signs. She felt an odd desire, and wandered closer to check them out. However, they had been scratched out.
Seeing this made the girl feel the strangest urge, to murder whoever was responsible. She shook it off, not properly understanding why it had made her so...very angry.
The path lead to the fork, though, even without the signs being unreadable, she knew where they went. Or, at least knew the words that should be there. Before someone decided to scratch them out.
The one to the left went Old Home. Otherwise known as the former capital of monsterkind. Some part of her recalled Toriel as having been there at some point, when Mychal went through. She wondered if she was still there?
Interestingly, Chara didn't remember this set of ruins being attached to it though. Perhaps it was merely a section she hadn't explored before? Or, maybe a different set of ruins she'd never known about? She couldn't be sure yet.
The central one led to the Market, if memory served correctly. Which was a boiling pot last time. She imagined that...probably hadn't improved given the condition of everything else.
And the path to the right led to the exit. Or, at least the rest of the ruins she was in. These hot, awful ruins. Full of sad, dead flowers that had withered from the heat.
Undyne examined the signs, and huffed a little.
"Seriously?" The woman seemed irritated. "I swear, when I figure out who keeps scratching out my fuc-" she paused, glancing back at Chara. "tional...signs. I'm gonna beat em up."
"No, no, I get it." The girl assured. "I was...heh, kinda thinkin the same thing."
"Honestly, it's super annoying." The woman added, huffing. "Worst part is, I think I know who's doing it. But I don't know who's doing it. Ugh...whatever."
Undyne was wearing a very strained expression. It was a little intense. But it was cool that she was trying to censor herself. Well, at least to Chara. She was proud of the caretaker for trying.
"Does that normally happen?" The girl asked.
"I think it's just a sign-" The woman began, as the girl snickered. "eh why-oh, heh...pun not intended, but...ya know it's just something people do to be jerks."
"I'm sorry someone damaged your signs." The girl apologized.
The woman appeared surprised by that. "It's...alright. No reason for you to apologize. It's not your fault."
"I know. It just sucks when you work on something, and someone ruins it." The child noted.
"Yeah. Yeah it does." The woman sighed. "Okay, right, focusing. So, this direction-" She pointed to their left. "that path goes to The Arena. Well, it used to go to somewhere else, but those uh...paths, well they crumbled over time." She explained. "So, now it's just a place for people to uh...'talk' out their problems, or brawl for a bit."
"An Arena?" Chara inquired. "Like, where warriors fight and stuff?" It sounded pretty neat to her. "That sounds awesome."
"Honestly, it can be pretty freakin cool. Especially when someone you care about is doing well." Undyne admitted. "But uh, I don't know if you're really ready for that kinda thing yet." She then hesitated, and turned. "S-so uh, the other ways are-"
"Well, we could...go watch it right?" Chara asked. "Just like, one fight?"
"Listen, it's...pretty intense sometimes." The woman noted. "Not to mention dangerous for someone like you."
"But I'd have you there, right?" The girl asked. "And you're the strongest monster here, right?" The woman hesitated. "So...I'd be okay...right?"
"Do you really wanna go watch people beat the snot out of each other for fun?" The woman asked.
"Do you?" The girl asked back.
The caretaker developed a sheepish smile, while considering the idea. The child could tell this was something she found fun to do, even if she was hesitant to do it. While she definitely needed to get home, she also knew she probably wasn't gonna be back anytime soon. Especially given she didn't know where she was.
It made sense then, to be friendly with her only real guide to this place. Besides, she still couldn't place why the woman was so familiar to her. So, why not watch a match, and try to figure these things out?
"Yeah, yeah, ya know what?" Undyne managed a smile. "We can check out a fight. It probably won't take too long anyways." She glanced at the path to the exit. "We've got time to watch some nerds clobber each other for our entertainment."
"Heck yeah!" Chara exclaimed. "Gonna go watch some epic clash, of powerful warriors!"
"Honestly, there's really only one 'powerful' warrior among the group. And I doubt anyone's dumb enough to fight her." Undyne noted, with a smile. "But, ya know what?" She grinned. "it doesn't even matter. The fury, the passion, the spectacle. That's what it's all about." She said, with her hair blowing in the wind coming from a vent. "Alright punk, you wanna go watch a fight in the arena, while we eat cheap non-filling food that's desperately overpriced!?"
Undyne voice had grown in power, in spirit. It was an intensity, a spark, that had been lacking before. Some life surging back into the womans tired eyes. The girl was getting a little excited.
"Probably?" Chara half-asked, noticing her raise a brow. "N-no, I mean...yeah."
"That's the right answer, but-" The woman flashed an epic grin, with renewed enthusiasm in her voice. "that's not enough. Say it with conviction!"
"I-I'm ready!" The girl stated.
"LOUDER!" The woman boomed, while striking an epic pose. "We can't proceed until our hearts are beating as one! Striking out in unison! Empowered by random monsters beating the snot out of each other!" She said. "Once more!"
"YEAH!" The girl shouted out, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
"That's the spirit human!" The woman laughed, stepped towards the arena path. "C'mon kid. These fights ain't gonna watch themselves."
"O-oh, right, heh." The girl hurrying to catch up with her.
She had never seen an arena fight. Well, she'd seen things like them in anime, but she doubted in some fashion it was exactly the same. Her imagination starting to flare up. Hoping it would be cool. Her excitement drummed up by the warrior woman's enthusiasm.
The duo heading off, to check out The Arena.