Chapter 6

Frisk and Papyrus must have completed over a dozen word searches – about half of those she completed before Papyrus, but she was sure he was letting her win – and there was still no sign of Sans. Whatever the reason Papyrus and Frisk had to run away was either holding Sans up or Sans was captured. Frisk tasted bile. Sans had to be taking his sweet time meeting up with them. She would much rather believe that than think he had been captured by the king's men.

"The sun is setting," Papyrus noted as he rifled his backpack with no success for another set of word searches. "We should camp here for the night."

Although she didn't want to, Frisk asked, "What are we going to do in the morning if we wake up and Sans still isn't here?"

Hesitating only a moment, Papyrus answered as if in pain, "We will have to continue without him. He would not want us wasting time waiting here for him if he is running late. Besides, he is fully capable of taking care of himself. He will find us soon or later."

Frowning, Frisk didn't respond. She worried for Sans too, and she could see how not being able to do anything was hurting Papyrus. It was hard for her to not feel somewhat guilty.

After they had eaten a light meal and retired for the night, Frisk tossed and turned. Even if it wasn't bone chillingly cold, she wasn't going to be able to sleep with guilt overwhelming her every thought. She whispered curses at herself for entering Ebott Forest in the first place, consequently creating this mess.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Chara, who evidently heard Frisk cursing herself, said. "You had no way of knowing any of this was going to happen."

Not having the energy to even sit up, Frisk muttered, "Knowing or not, I should have never entered this forest."

"Frisk, I can't help but wonder . . . ," Chara slowly began. "Why did you enter a forest when you know those who enter never leave again alive?"

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Frisk replied, "I wanted to run away from everything, and what better place to run to than where nobody ever returns?"

"But why run away? From what were you trying to escape?"

Frisk sighed. "My parents . . . they died about three months ago now."

Silence, and then, "I apologize, Frisk. I should not have asked."

"No, it's okay. It might help me to talk about it." Pushing herself to a sitting position, Frisk continued, "My parents' death was sudden, and neither my mom nor dad had any siblings. I had nobody to take care of me, so I should have ended up like one of those orphans who live on the streets. I used to know one and have an idea what that life is like. Who knows? I might have been a good street rat.

"Then what I initially thought was a blessing happened. I have a friend named Kris, and his parents were ready to take me in. His parents aren't the nicest, but it would have been a roof over my head and food on my plate. Besides, I would get to live with Kris as my brother. We weren't best friends or anything, but we were pretty good friends. It was not the worst situation that could have befallen me as an orphan."

"Then what happened?" Chara asked. "If this situation was acceptable to you, why did you find it necessary to run to Ebott Forest as a means of escape?"

Taking a deep breath, Frisk answered, "You see, there was a catch to this whole Kris's parents adopting me thing. If they were going to raise me as their own, I needed to become their own. I . . . I would be betrothed to Kris."

"And such a circumstance was displeasing to you." There was no need for Chara to phrase it like a question.

"Does that sound bad, to not want to be raised by people who were taking me off the streets because in exchange they wanted me to marry their son?"

"I think you have a right to decide whom you marry, Frisk, if you so choose to marry at all."

Frisk pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I mean, it's not that I don't like Kris or anything, but he's my friend. I can't see myself marrying him. Maybe I could have learned to love him, but . . . for some reason, I decided it was better to run away than to at least try to see Kris as my future husband."

"You may care for him as a friend," Chara said after a moment, "but I do not think you ever would have been happily married to him if running away from this engagement was an option to you."

"I think you're right, but that doesn't mean I made the right decision."

"Does anyone truly know if he made the right decision, not until enough time has passed to see the consequences of that decision?"

"Maybe, but what if I made the wrong decision, and now I'm left waiting for everything to fall apart, and there's nothing I can do to stop it?"

To that, Chara didn't have an answer.

In the distance, a howl pierced through the wintry night. As it echoed in the distance, Frisk felt a chill run down her spine. She never stopped to wonder until now if there were any wolves or other animals in Snowdin Lane.

"You heard that too, right?" Frisk whispered, too scared to speak above a soft whisper lest she be heard by the howling creature who was most likely many miles away.

"Yes, I did," Chara, who had no reason to fear being heard, replied just as quietly.

"I didn't know there were any animals out here."

"Neither did I." Chara was silent, as if contemplating, then he said, "I suggest you try going to sleep, Frisk. You need to be rested for whatever tomorrow may bring."

"But the only time I get to talk to you is at night, when everyone else is asleep."

"Certainly conversing with me is not that entertaining."

"I don't know. . . . Chara, this may surprise you, but I do enjoy speaking with you." When Chara didn't respond, Frisk continued, "I think you're the only real friend I have in this place."

"We only communicate because we are working together to reach our respective goals. I am taking you to the exit, and you are helping me remember who I once was. It is only through this deal that we have any sort of relationship."

Chewing on her lower lip, Frisk muttered, "Regardless how we started traveling together, I still thought we were becoming friends."

Another howl rang through the night. Frisk's blood ran colder than the nighttime winter air surrounding her. Heart racing, Frisk snuggled back into her sleeping bag and listened for any approaching footsteps.

"Go to sleep," Chara said. "I have no need for it, so I will keep watch and wake you if I sense danger coming."

"You don't mind?"

"I have been doing such this whole time, I just never had reason to mention it until now."

Turning onto her side, Frisk closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. However, she only pretended to sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about what she told Chara about her past and what he said about their not being friends. It stung more than Frisk was willing to admit that Chara did not see her as his friend, especially after she told him something so personal about herself, but she decided not to hold it against him. Even if Chara insisted that they were not friends, she was still the closest thing to a friend Chara could have in his state.

Besides, when Frisk paid attention to the things Chara said and the way he spoke, she was certain that through his missing past and status as a ghost, Chara was incredibly lonely.