Such a long way

We had to walk

To reach what we idealize

It's been tough

But we won't give up

Cause still, there's a new day to rise

-Frisk Dreemurr

(Radix Undertale Ost: 087 - Hopes and Dreams)

". . .But I Would Save Them"

Chapter 4: The Secret Ingredient

". . .with all the ingredients gathered, all that remained was to unite them. . ."


Nearly the entire population of Wellspring Glades were gathered gother in Veral's Soup Kitchen. The gourmet gopher himself stood next to the big cauldron, cooking spoon in paw and with a determined look on his face.

"Alright, everyone," Veral said in a loud voice, "This is it. This will be the most important creation of my life for sure. Far greater than even that rare marshclam soup the Spirit helped me prepare. . ."

Veral paused and looked off to the side, saying in amazement, "Well. . .it seems even now he is helping me cook. . ."

Veral then snapped back out of his thoughts and said, "Anyway. . .we had best do this right and precisely." He held his right forepaw out and said, "Recipe, please."

Gumo came over and held out the list of ingredients transcribed as the Spirit Tree had relayed it to them. Veral took the parchment and read it over once.

"Okay then," Veral said, "*Ahem!* One cauldron of the purest water, sourced from where the Strength of the Forest fell in the Luma Pools!"

Gumo knocked the side of the cauldron three times with his big wooden spoon and nodded.

"100 petals from the Spring Blossom tree of Baur's Reach!"

Tuley walked over with a wooden basket with a lid on it.

Veral peered at Tuley and said, "You counted those, didn't you? Exactly?"

"Yes," Tuley said solemnly, "Gumo and I took turns counting them over and over. There are 100 petals in here, exactly."

Veral nodded back as he accepted the basket from Tuley, carefully took off the lid, and then tilted the bucket over the cauldron, dumping the petals into the water. Veral looked carefully into the basket to make sure not a single petal had gotten stuck. Once the two gophers were certain all 100 petals were in, Veral looked back at the ingredient list and said, "10 energy mushrooms from Mouldwood Depths!"

Mokk the Brave scampered over to the cauldron, holding the basket of mushrooms in his paws. Veral grabbed him by the tail as he ran by, keeping him from approaching the cauldron.

"No, I'm in charge of this kitchen," Veral said authoritatively, "I'll put the ingredients in."

Mokk pouted indignantly and said, "Well! If you knew what I had to go through to get these-."

"MOKK!" Ku shouted out irately.

"Shutting up now," Mokk said as he handed over the glowing blue mushrooms.

Veral dropped the ten mushrooms into the cauldron one by one.

"An ingot of the cure for Crystal Fever!" Veral read aloud.

Grom and Grol approached together, and Grol held out the chunk of powdery yellow rock to the gopher.

"Hmm. . .fascinating," Veral said as he took the rock in his paw, studying it briefly before dropping it into the cauldron, "And now. . .for the secret ingredient!"

Everyone made way for Naru, as she slowly and carefully stepped forward as she carried a bucket securely in her arms. The contents of the bucket were glowing with golden light. Naru looked down at what lay within as she thought about what had to be done to acquire this final ingredient. . .


Naru stood before the Spirit Tree, with Gumo and Ku on either side of her. Gumo held a sturdy metal bucket, while Ku stood by to watch with concern.

Gumo held a mallet in one hand, and a metal spile in the other. She also had a look of uncertainty on her face, not quite on board with the plan.

"Do not be afraid. . . What I have, I am willing to give. . ."

Naru looked up at the Spirit Tree's canopy, the Light of Seir nestled in its branches. She then stepped closer to its trunk, looking unhappily at the tools she was holding.

"Even if pain was not an old friend of mine already. . . I do understand that the most important things do hurt. . . Growing up. . .Making sacrifices. . . Generosity itself. . . Freely tap my trunk with my blessing. . ."

With trembling fingers, Naru placed the sharp tip against the bark. She took a deep breath, raised the mallet in her opposite hand, and then gave spile a quick solid whack with it, sending it into the trunk.

Ku and Gumo both visibly winced at the whack, and then Gumo stepped forward to hang the bucket under the spile. Immediately, golden sap infused with Light began to drip into the bucket.

". . . Ever since the day Kuro gave her life. . . to fix the mistakes made by her and the Spirit Tree. . . I had a desire to help others and spare them from further suffering. . ."

Glowing sap continued to drip into the metal bucket.

Tick. . . Tick. . .Tick. . .

". . . It hurt to see Ku unable to fly. . . And even more so when Shriek stuck her down. . ."

Drip. . .Drip. . .Drip. . .

". . . And even as I went on my quest to reunite the Wisps to heal her. . . I found myself unable to say no to any creature who requested my help. . . A Gorlek in need of ore to regain his purpose. . . A cold and hungry Moki in need of soup. . . A worshiper of Kwolok who wished to leave an amulet on an altar. . . A father who just wanted to give his family a safe home. . ."

Plop. . . Plop. . . Plop. . .

". . .When I found the petrified bodies of the mother and child. . . The memory of when Mother would not wake up returned to me. . . The father moki moved so fast. . . Even with teleportation. . .I could not catch up to him. . .And seeing him stone with the two others. . . Reminded me of the three lives the Spirit Tree of Nibel had taken. . ."

As sap flowed into the bucket like tears, the Spirit Tree's voice seemed to crack and waver.

"I just wanted everyone to have hope. . .But I could not lie to him. . . He. . . Kuro. . .They just wished to live their lives. . .They were doing nothing wrong!"

Quick as a flash, the family quickly rallied around the tree. Naru and Gumo rested their palms against the tree, while Ku attempted to hug the trunk with her wings. The meaning was obvious. They did not need to speak it.

"It's not your fault."

". . . My beloved family. . . Please. . . Take my sap. . .And free the poor souls held captive by the Decay. . ."


Veral nodded reverently and said, "One sap bucket filled from the Spirit Tree's golden sap."

The gopher allowed Naru to approach the cauldron with the bucket of sap. He stepped back as Naru carefully poured the glowing sap into the mixture.

Veral nodded and said as he glanced at the recipe the Spirit Tree had dictated, "Now. . . I am to treat this as I would a pot of tea, steeping the ingredients in shimmering water until it looks like liquid Spirit Light, then let it cool. It should be done by the time Opher and Lupo get back here. . .with them. . ."