:):
I wonder what the Ruins were like before they were ruins.
0o0
"Dapperblook"
xxx
Stepping foot outside the room, the strange object Toriel had given the child rang from her clenched hand. Dropping it like it was on fire, she gasped and jump back into a defensive stance. "What? Why is it doing that?!"
The device rang again. Inching closer, she finally bent down and picked it up once again. The little screen was lit up now and the name Toriel was present in big bold symbols. Curiously, the child touched the glowing surface.
"Hello?" A familiar voice asked from inside the object. "This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you?" How did she know?! The child stressed silently as she pressed the devise to her ear to hear the kind goat lady better. "There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?"
*Click*
"Goat lady?" The child asked. "Where are you?" There was no reply. Looking down at the small rectangular box, the little girl noticed that the screen was now dark again. This must be a magical communication device. It would be useful if she could figure out how to use it.
The child tapped at the object a few times trying to turn it on when again, she almost dropped it, startled.
*Ribbit, ribbit*
Turning around quickly, the child came face to face with another Froggit monster. This one, however, didn't attempt to approach her. It simply sat there patiently waiting for the child's attention. "Excuse me, human."
"A talking frog!" The child exclaimed with far more excitement than fear. Why she was surprised by this was anyone's guess. After all, she had already met a talking flower, evil as it may have been, and a nice talking goat lady. A talking frog was hardly surprising.
*Ribbit...*
"I have some advice for you." The frog began. "If you encounter a monster that wants to attack, try to defuse the situation. See if you can find a way to calm it down, then the monster might not want to fight you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight, please..." It stared at her unblinking, its eyes somewhat imploring. "Show some Mercy, human."
The child tsked in indignation. "If they don't want to fight anymore, then that means I win, right? Mercy should always be shown to the surrendering side. Only dishonorable no good cheaters keep fighting when the battle is already over. I'm better than that! I'm better than him...!" Grumbling, the little human stomped away from the frog. "M'not a cheater..."
*Ribbit...?*
The room off to the side was small. Very small. In the center of a ring of red leaves stood a pedestal with a bowl resting on top. Delicately wrapped candies filled the container and a note on the side read "Take one."
Without much thought at all, the child had already swiped a candy and stuffed it into her mouth. It had a distinct, non-licorice flavor. Instantaneous joy ensued from the super sweet treat. Unconsciously, her amber eyes found their way back to the nearly overflowing bowl. Just one?
Laughing happily with a possible sugar high, the child playfully kicked through the various piles of red leaves, her pockets suspiciously overstuffed. Just for fun, she waved her hand repeatedly through another floating light. The tingling sensation was very mild this time. Maybe it was because there was nothing for the glowing star to heal? Either way, it was still amusing.
The Ruins weren't so scary once you got used to them the little girl thought as she cheerfully wandered through the poorly lit hallways. It was only when the floor beneath her feet gave way, did she realize her misjudgment. The Ruins were still dangerous!
Landing softly in a large pile of conveniently placed red leaves, the child released a small "oof" from the painless impact, leaves crinkling noisily beneath her. Once she had recovered from her initial shock, the child rolled out of the leaves and brushed herself off. Was that some kind of trap? Looking up to the ceiling, the child took note of the weakening rocks supporting the room overhead. Maybe it was a trap or maybe this place was just falling apart. Either way, trying to cross that room again was unwise. There were two sets of stairs leading out of the room she had fallen into. Two choices. Taking the stairs to the right, the little girl found her way back to the room with the crumbling floor but this time she was on the other side. Very convenient.
Entering the next room, the small device in the child's pocket rang again. This time it only startled her a tiny bit. Taking the cell phone out, the child saw "Toriel" again displayed on the small screen. Smiling, she pressed her finger to it expectantly.
"Hello? This is Toriel." The familiar voice said. "For no reason in particular... Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"
Hesitating, the child knit her eyebrows together in slight confusion. "I don't know what either of those are... Is this another test?"
There was a moment of silence from the small device before the kind goat lady's voice returned. "Oh dear... I was not expecting this. My child, have you really never tasted cinnamon or butterscotch?"
"Is it a food?" The child asked quickly, the eagerness in her voice undisguised.
"Why, yes." Toriel replied fondly. "Cinnamon is a spice that gives food a pleasant flavor and Butterscotch has a rich buttery sweetness. Either one is good on their own but togeth-"
"Both!" The child chirped excitedly. "Can I have both?"
The device was silent again for another moment and then a light cheerful laughter was heard. "Yes, my child, you can have both. I shouldn't be much longer. Thank you again for being patient."
*Click*
Looking down at the cell phone's blank screen, the child's stomach grumbled slightly. When was the last time she'd eaten? Sure, she just ate some candy but, before that? This wouldn't have been a problem if she had just remembered to bring her bag. The kind goat lady seemed willing to give her some food though. With that thought alone, the child trudged onward. The promise of yummy food ever-present in her mind.
A trap was waiting in the next room, complete with spiked floors and a weight activated switch. On the wall was another stone tablet that most likely told a riddle. Ignoring the tablet completely, the child walked over to the protruding spikes blocking the way to the next room. Frowning, the little girl's amber eyes scanned the room for the solution to this puzzle. She really hated puzzles! It felt like her brain was going to overheat before she even attempted to put it to use.
A merciful distraction showed up just in time in the form of yet another Froggit. This one, however, wasn't curious and didn't want to give sage advice. Dodging the leaping frog, the child cried out in alarm. "Stop!"
The Froggit didn't appear to be listening as it again jumped towards the small human.
Around and around the room they went. The child avoiding being hit all the while yelling angrily at the offending amphibian. "Quit attacking me!" She demanded. "What the heck do you even want?!" Tripping over yet another uneven tile, the child crashed to the ground, landing heavily on the weight activated mechanism. Pain surged from her knee and brought tiny unshed tears to her eyes. Pulling herself from the floor, the little girl sniffled and took a few steps away, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "I'm telling the goat lady about this..."
The threat went unanswered but the attacks seemed to stop. Looking back to the Froggit, the child noticed that the large frog was sitting on the weighted tile staring at something on the floor. Monster candy! A few pieces must have fallen out of her pocket when she tripped. In a snap, the frog's tongue had whipped out and the candy was gone.
Using the distraction, the child slipped past the lowered spikes safely and made it to the other side of the room. Hearing the spikes reactivate, she flinched and turned back around. The Froggit was now behind the spikes looking at the small child. Its expression seemed a little... Disappointed? Sad? Lonely? It was hard to tell since it was a frog, but even so, the child crept back to the spikes. Now that she was out of danger of being crushed by the large frog, it didn't seem so scary.
*Ribbit, ribbit.*
"More?" The frog asked hopefully.
*Ribbit."
Repressing the urge to yet again acknowledge that this was indeed a talking frog, the child instead dug into her pocket and retrieved a small candy. "You want another piece?" She got a loud croak in response. "Ok." the child nodded. "But just one more. The rest are mine." Tossing it over the spikes, the frog's tongue snagged it out of the air.
"Thank you, human." Said the Froggit. "You are not so bad. I am sorry for trying to eat you."
"You were trying to eat me?!" The small human gasped.
Leaving the candy loving frog behind, the child came upon a room which floor was clearly unstable. Another dangerous trap? Or was this just the poor condition of the crumbling Ruins? There were no other routes this time, so she would have to get to the other side somehow. Deciding to just go for it, the little girl dashed across the cracked tiles as fast as she could. Hearing the floor give out behind her only encouraged her to move faster.
Once safely across, she looked back at the damage that she had undoubtably caused. As expected, half the floor was now gone and the room was now untraversable. Well... oops? She hoped nobody would notice the accidental destruction. Leaving the mess behind, the child left to the next room.
Another puzzle! Why?! These Ruins were taunting her. Spikes. Three more weight activated floor panels. Three mysteriously placed rocks. What could it all mean?! Thankfully this time there wasn't a useless unsolvable riddle hanging on the wall.
Looking at the underground canal which bridge was blockaded with spikes, an idea came to the child and with it, a mischievous grin. She didn't even need to solve this puzzle, The solution was simple; just walk across the water.
Thankfully there was no current but the water was much deeper than she had anticipated. Near the middle, her feet just barely touched the ground. Regardless... she did it! "Ha!" The child gloated as she shook the water from her hair, her clothes were now sopping wet. "I'm way too smart for these puzzles."
Unbeknownst to the child, a Whimsun, a small moth-like monster, had seen the whole thing but it had been too frightened to call the human out on their despicable cheating.
A small table with a wedge of old, nearly petrified cheese waited in the next room. A small mouse hole in the nearby wall, somehow answered the unspoken question as of "Why?" Ignoring the inedible cheese, the child zoomed over to the floating light and flung herself into it. Her knee was throbbing painfully from her fall but upon contact with the glowing star, it began to tingle pleasantly as the skin repaired itself. Was it a smart idea to depend of this mysterious magic to fix all of her cuts and scrapes? She didn't know. But that wouldn't stop her from taking full advantage of it when she could.
Feeling much better, the child left; the cheese on the table once again neglected.
"zzzzzzzzz..."
The sound of fake sleeping noises greeted the small human in the next room. Spotting a pile of red leaves in the middle, she crept closer to investigate. A semi-transparent being was resting in the leaves, pretending to sleep. What was this? Was... was it a...
"Are you a ghost?" The child asked curiously. "Or are you like a ghost monster?"
"zzzzzzzzzzz..." The ghost ignored her and continued their charade of pretend sleeping noises.
"I know you're not really sleeping!" The child pouted "Can you at least move? I need to get past you." She urged, giving the ghost a little poke.
In an instant, her golden heart appeared in front of her once again. She was actually getting used to seeing it now as it shined brilliantly before her. The little girl's attention was drawn back to the ghost, however, when it finally rose above the leaves,
"why did you do that...?" Napstablook asked sadly, tears streaming down their face.
"D-did I hurt you?" The child stressed, feeling instantly regretful. "I'm sorry! H-hey don't cry."
"no..." The ghost frowned sadly. "you can't really hurt me since, you know, i'm a ghost..."
"Then why are you crying?" The small human asked, perplexed. The ghost didn't answer but their tears, if possible, multiplied. They weren't harmless tears either! The child found this out quickly when a drop hit her arm and startled to sizzle a little before disappearing. It stung but it wasn't too painful. Still, there were so many falling from the ghost, that it became obvious that the damage would start adding up in no time. "H-hey, cheer up, you don't have to cry."
For a moment, the ghost cried a little harder but after a minute or two, their tears lessened. They didn't look happy by any means but they did seem a little less sad now.
Relieved, the child grinned up at the ghost. "Thank goodness. If you kept that up we'd both be ghosts." She joked lightheartedly.
"heh heh." Napstablook reluctantly laughed before forcing a frown back into place. "really not feelin' up to it right now. sorry." Even so, their mood seemed a bit better now.
"Yeh... that was a bad joke." The child winced looking slightly apologetic. "I'm sorry."
The ghost hesitated as they watched the small child. The human looked a bit sad. Even with their crippling depression, Napstablook could still feel regret. Maybe, they should try to cheer the human up instead? "hey..." They started in an attempt to gain the child's attention "watch this..."
Curious, the human stared up at the ghost. What would they do?
"let me try..." Concentrating, the ghost began to cry again, but this time, much to the child's relief, the tears floated up instead of dripping down onto them. They concentrated atop Napstablook's head, forming a top hat of sorts. "i call it "dapperblook." The ghost joked, their attempt at humor was deadpan at best. "do you like it...?"
Amber eyes widened almost comically as they observed the ghost in a hat. This ghost was pretty darn cool. "That's awesome!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands happily.
Napstablook, who had been eagerly awaiting the human's response, let their tears fall harmlessly this time as a bashful smile appeared on their face. "oh gee..." they said quietly as they sunk back down into the red leaves.
The child once again approached the ghost but this time she wore a friendly smile.
"i usually come to the Ruins because there's nobody around..." Napstablook began shyly. "but today i met somebody nice..."
"I'm glad you were in the Ruins today." The young human said as she plopped down beside the ghost. "Because I got to meet you. I've never talked to a ghost before."
Despite the lack of logic, the ghost almost looked like they were blushing a little bit. "i'm glad i was able to meet you as well. i feel a little bit better now, so thank you." There was an awkward silence before the ghost flickered nervously. "oh, i'm rambling again. i'll get out of your way."
Before the child could even say goodbye, the strange depressed ghost had vanished into thin air leaving the path now unblocked. Frowning, she took the time to look around for them before giving up. "Goodbye I guess." She said to the empty room. "Maybe we can talk later."
She hoped she could meet the strange ghost again sometime. Maybe they could be friends.
xxx
Napstablook needs a hug or even a nice shoulder to cry on.
Too bad that's not physically possible...
xxx
In the next chapter, the small human gets a balcony view of the old Underground Kingdom.
xxx
Thanks for reading!
If you are enjoying this story, why not take the time to leave me a friendly review?
Sheii Bae~
