"So, just to make sure I have everything down," the monster inquired from in the kitchen. "Your, erm...organization is hidden from the rest of society on an island far away, and you've come here on business?"
"That's about right."
"And you came by yourself to explore the mountain after hearing rumors of...our existence?"
"Yep. Never thought some old folk tale would really have any solid backing; just wanted to look around, see if there was anything of interest besides that. Once I get out of here, though, you don't need to worry about me tootin' my horn about it; if anybody found out about what was really down here, they'd be all over this place."
Toriel seemed to tense up for a moment.
"That begs the question," the human continued. "What's outside the house here? You said that you were, what was it...'Keeper of the Ruins?'"
"Outside...? Oh, yes; the Ruins. They have been around for a very long time."
"You mind if I head out there and take looksee?"
"...A-alone? My child, I am not sure if it would be safe for-"
"Don't worry about me; I've had a lot of training, and I can handle danger pretty well."
What Ginger was saying wasn't entirely true; as a human, she would have to readapt to the battlefield. But even without claws and wings, she could manage a scuffle or two, as long as she always kept her guard up...right?
"But...still..."
"Hey, you don't need to worry about me; do you know how many times I've sunk-"
"I have an idea," the goat monster interrupted. "What if I gave you a CELL PHONE?"
"A...a what?"
"Y-you don't know what that is?"
"Wait-Oh, yeah! Yeah, one of those. No, I know what you're talkin' about."
She'd heard of them before; humans used them for instant long-distance communication, and it was supposedly much more efficient than writing letters or sending telegrams, according to the books written about human civilization in the Tytonic Library.
Apparently, monsters had access to such technology as well.
"Though, I've never used one...or, uh...seen one, even. You could say that my organization is a bit...primeval."
"Oh...Well, allow me to explain it to you. Wait here."
The human heard some rummaging in the kitchen, then the monster returned with something small and black in her furry white hand. She flipped it open, revealing a device with perhaps a dozen or more buttons, most of which were labeled with numbers and odd symbols.
"Now I'll keep it simple; if you want to call me, just press the green button on the left right here. You don't need to dial any numbers."
Ginger sighed with relief; it seemed simple enough. The monster shut the contraption and handed it to the human, and she stuck it in the pocket of her brown pants.
"I have one just like it. Just remember to shut it when you're done."
"Right...Got it."
Ginger eyed the doorway.
"So, uh...Mind if I-"
"Oh, yes. Right. About that...I hope you don't mind, but I feel it wise for me to accompany you a part of the way...just in case something goes awry. Several monsters inhabit the Ruins, and if you were somehow-"
Ginger let out her best attempt at a sigh through her nostrils; she didn't want her frustration to be made perfectly clear. But if there really were hostile monsters out there...
"I...guess it wouldn't hurt if you tagged a long some of the way."
"Oh, wonderful. I'll make sure to explain anything that need be explained if you need it," the monster replied, escorting her to the door.
"Uh-huh...Right. Then, let's head out, 'kay?"
Ghee wiz...Clingy, much?
The front door opened, revealing a large, enclosed space, and a large, bare tree stuck out in the middle if it; the ground beneath it was covered in scarlet leaves that looked like they had only recently fallen off.
"What kind of tree is that?"
"Oh, that old tree? I am not quite sure, dear; it is very old, and whenever it tries to grow new leaves, they always fall off within an hour. It's...a sad sight."
"It's always like that?"
"It is."
"All year?"
"All year."
"Wow...and I thought it was just because it was autumn..."
The two of them approached the corridor past the tree, and Ginger stopped to inspect one of the fallen leaves.
"I think I know what kind of tree this is."
"Oh, you do?"
"It's a red maple tree; we have a few of these growing in one of the forests where I'm from, except they don't shed their leaves as often."
"Ah...Thank you for that. I have always wondered what it might be...Anyway, shall we continue?"
"Let's do that."
She followed the monster into the next room; more leaves were spread across the floor, and up ahead the path split two ways. Toriel lead the human to the right.
"This way; the other path leads to a dead end."
"How big is this place?"
"Oh, it is fairly spacious; there are not too many monsters living here. And once you familiarize yourself with the puzzles, these old catacombs are not hard to navigate."
"I see...and where do they begin?"
"Well, they 'begin' quite a ways from here, but one must solve them in a certain order in order to properly get around. I hope it isn't much trouble, but I believe it wise to start from the very beginning, just so it makes more sense. I would have done so when I first found you, but..."
"I blacked out, is that correct?"
"Yes. That is what happened. Now, watch your footing, dear. The floor is loose in some places here, and the last thing I would want is for you to end up falling."
Ginger was about to answer that she didn't have to worry about her falling, but then she remembered, once again, that she had lost her ability to fly, so she said nothing.
It was quite a ways away to the other end of the Ruins, so Ginger took the advantage to analyze some of what she saw on the way there; it might prove useful later. The first room had several pillars, another had what looked like a metal bridge(which had several evenly-placed holes in its sections for some reason) and some more had very worn floors. Finally, they reached the end of the final room, which was actually technically the first room. It had nothing more than a few pillars and switches on the walls.
"Now, the puzzles reset whenever someone treks through a room for the second time, so one must solve them. This first one should be easy for you, Ginger. All you need to do is flip the switches on the walls in order from this end to the next. I even have them labeled so you know which ones to flip."
"Did you, uh...do that while I was out?"
"Oh, no, my dear. The writing has actually been on the walls for a long time. You are not the first human to have fallen down here, you know; a few of your predecessors found this one somewhat difficult, so I was inclined to label the ones they need flip."
"Oh...okay, then."
"I'll wait at the other end for you to finish," the caprine creature said to her, and she made her way to the end of the room from which they first came from.
Toriel wasn't kidding about how easy it would be. The writing was white on the royal purple walls, making it extremely obvious, and there were only two that had the writing next to them. And the switches didn't stick or anything like the sort, so that was good.
"Splendid!" the monster praised. "I am very proud."
"Question," Ginger said to her, pointing at the one lever that wasn't labeled. "What happens when you flip this one?"
"Oh, that one doesn't even work, I think. It's, well...a decoy. Part of the puzzle."
Ginger tried to pull down on it to test this; she was right. It wouldn't budge.
"I see what you mean."
"You did quite well. Now, on to the next room. This next part isn't exactly a puzzle, but it is still very important for you to learn."
She followed the monster into the next room. There were no obvious puzzles, rather what looked like...
An old, tattered training dummy sitting at the far wall.
"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you," Toriel told her, the thought of it alone making her seem nervous. "You will need to be prepared for this situation."
"Oh, I get it; is this, like, a training session?"
"Why, yes! You could say that."
"Alright, let me at this thing."
Ginger approached the dummy and sparred, imagining it doing the same.
"Time to see what these fists can do," she growled, readying a hook.
"Ah, no, no, no, no, no!"
The goat monster put herself in between her and the dummy before Ginger could deal a solid blow.
"The dummy is for talking to, not for fighting!" she said. "We...we wouldn't want to hurt anybody, now, would we, dear?"
"Toriel, you should see what I do. I train like this almost every single day."
"Maybe, but...A-allow me to explain. Monsters aren't as...physically strong as humans are. If you engage in such a fight, you might accidentally...you might hurt them more than you intended."
Ugh...
A training dummy that she couldn't beat to a pulp; how pointless.
"How am I supposed to defend myself, then?"
"Worry not, dear Ginger; the process is simple. In the event that you happen upon a monster, try to strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time, and I will come to resolve the conflict."
Talk to the training dummy? Is that what she wanted her to do?
Well...might as well get it over with.
She lowered her fists, looking the dummy in its button eyes.
"Nice, uh...patchwork," she said to it. There wasn't much else to say.
Toriel urged her to continue.
"You're a dummy, huh? How, uh...befitting for someone like you. Got anything up in there besides cotton?"
It didn't seem much for conversation, that was for sure.
Fortunately, Toriel seemed amused by the results.
"Oh, my..." she giggled. "You must not think very highly of the dummy, do you?"
"I mean, it's a dummy. It's not like it's gonna get mad."
"Well, no. But when you encounter a real monster, try to say something just a bit nicer. Who knows? You just might make someone's day."
Ginger gave the monster a barely discernible nod; she didn't care much for what the mounters down here thought of her; all she wanted was to navigate the Ruins and find an escape route.
"Now, on to the next room. Follow me."
They headed out the north doorway, then started down a long corridor leading east. She dragged somewhat behind Toriel; her new human form was beginning to feel heavy on her.
It made sense, though; without thicker bones and a larger build, she figured that she would begin to feel clumsy eventually.
Her thoughts were cut off by a croak, and something big and white hopped in front of her.
It looked like some sort of giant frog, with curious, peering eyes and darker markings on its front.
Was this a monster?
"I, uh..." she said to it, remembering what Toriel had said. "I like your...spots?"
It's pale face developed a mild pink hue...which promptly disappeared.
The human looked up to see the goat monster peering down at it with a stern look in her eye, and the frog shrank back away from them before hopping away.
"Those Froggits," she fussed. "Always showing up at the least convenient times. Are you quite alright, dear?"
"I guess so," she replied. "It didn't exactly look...threatening."
"You'd be surprised at what they can manage. But for the time being, I am pleased by your progress. It looked like you made that monster quite happy, if just for a moment."
"I, ah...guess I did, eh?"
"Now come along. The next puzzle is just up here."
She followed the monster into the room on the other side of the winding corridor.
"Oh...I remember this one."
Toriel had instructed her to take her hand while she navigated across the spikes in a particular manner. The minute it looked as though she'd step on one of them, they would retreat back into the holes they came in and out of. Ginger discerned that one must step on the spiky floor in a certain way in order to safely cross it.
"I...don't suppose you remember exactly how to do this one?"
"Eh...no."
Ginger peered down, somewhat humiliated that she couldn't remember the path they'd taken, at the shallow, rippling water below the bridge that the puzzle was situated on. She wasn't inclined to holding Toriel's hand as they crossed the bridge again; it made her feel silly after she'd been easily taking care of herself for so long. Not very professional.
She had thoughts of crossing through the water, but she didn't think that would paint a very flattering image of her, either. And while humans were supposedly better in the water than owls were, she had no idea how to properly swim. So for the time being, she figured it would be best to pick the lesser of two humiliations.
"I'll tell you what; I'll explain it as we go along. Just be careful, alright?"
"Eh...Okay."
"Very good."
Toriel took the human's hand before explaining how the bridge puzzle was divided into 56 square segments, and she noted the path as they traversed it.
Ginger jotted down all of the steps in her head as Toriel stated them:
Four across.
Two up.
Three across.
Two down.
Five across.
Two up.
And then they made the rest of the way across, which was only two segments.
Four, two up, three, two down, five, two up, then straight, she repeated to herself. Now all she had to do was keep repeating it until she found something to jot it down on other than her brain.
"You've done excellent thus far, my child," Toriel praised as they made heir way into the next room. "However..."
"Hm? What?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear; were you thinking of something?"
"Just trying to keep the puzzle directions from going out the other ear."
"Ah, I see. Very smart decision. But, anyway...I hope you don't mind, but I have...a difficult request to ask of you."
"Uh...What would that be?"
"I...would like you to walk to the other end of the room by yourself."
"...Is that it?"
"You wouldn't mind that?"
"No. No, not at all."
"A-alright, then. Meet me on the other side."
The monster walked at a brisk paced towards the other end of the long hallway, obviously not wanting Ginger to follow directly behind. The human didn't bother starting right away; she was busy still repeating the directions to that bridge puzzle in her head.
And she found herself doing it when she finally did decide to trek to the other end, her eyes focused on her footsteps. Every so often, she would look up, just to make sure she wasn't going to run into a wall or something of the like. The hallway was very long, and at the end of it on her left side was a pillar.
She didn't see Toriel there, though; maybe she was waiting beyond the door just ahead?
Finally, she reached the end, and passed by the pillar, barely acknowledging it, before sticking her head through the doorway to the next room. But the monster was nowhere to be seen inside.
"Uh...Toriel?"
"I'm right here, young one."
And she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Ginger whizzed around to face the white goat.
"Where'd you go?"
"Do not worry; I was merely behind that pillar the whole time."
"Oh..."
"I hope I didn't alarm you with my disappearance, did I?"
"Eh...Not really. I mean, you would've said something if you were going to leave, right? I figured you couldn't have been far."
"Yes, that is correct. Thank you for trusting me."
Toriel's eyes glimmered with happiness, and Ginger could see just the faintest hint of recollection flash in them, as though she'd done this all once before.
"However, there was an important reason for this exercise."
"What's the reason?"
"Well...to test your independence. I...must attend to some business, and I'm afraid you must stay alone for a while."
"Oh, that's it? Well, you don't need to worry about me; I can take care of myself just fine."
"Are you quite sure you'll be alright by yourself?"
"It's not a problem."
"Well...Alright. Please remain here, though; this is one of the only places where no monsters come around, simply because I pass through here so often; I feel as though, sometimes, that I scare them half to death."
"Well, that Froggit served a fine example of that, that's for sure."
"Yes...Yes, he did."
There was a twinge of loneliness on the monster's voice.
"Anyway...Just in case something goes wrong, you remember how to call me on that cell phone, do you not?"
"It's all in here," Ginger replied, pointing at her head.
"Wonderful. Be good, alright?"
And, saying these things, the monster turned and left through the next room. Ginger sat down on the purple stone floor; what kind of stone was this? She imagined that it had to have been painted or dyed purple, as she knew of no stone or mineral that developed the color naturally. The bricks making up the walls were purple as well; dye, it had to be dye.
But she was surprised at how bright the colors were. Despite their brilliant color, the walls looked very old; there were several cracks in some parts of them, and long, twirling vines grew out from holes on either side of the pillar Toriel had hidden herself behind, so she was surprised that such colors had not faded over the years. She thought about them...
And very quickly grew bored of thinking.
She had to get up and DO something, not just sit here like an imbecile. It was a waste of time. Besides, who knew how long it would take for the monster to come back, so even if there wasn't much else to do, she couldn't just be expected to sit in one place for several hours.
Ginger eyed the doorway to the next room; she had been instructed to remain in the hallway, where no monsters would emerge to challenge her, but she didn't rightly care.
She was UP for a challenge. The challenge of adapting to her new and strange surroundings. And in order to properly adapt, she would have to see what kind of creatures she would encounter, and how to deal with them properly.
Besides, if Toriel was so worried about her, wouldn't she be pleased to find that she could navigate the Ruins without assistance?
And she'd left, so she wouldn't know what she was doing, right?
Ginger practically jumped back onto her feet and made her way into the next room. And as soon as she stepped inside...
The cell phone the human had slipped into her pocket vibrated, and made somewhat of a ringing sound. Ginger quickly fished it out and flipped it open, putting it up to her head.
The unmistakable voice of the monster came from the other end, albeit slightly muffled.
"Hello? This is Toriel."
"Ah...Hi? How's it going? Sorry, I've never used one of these things, so I-"
"Not an issue, dear. Erm...I'm just checking up to see if everything is alright. You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain, and it would be dangerous to try and solve them yourself."
"Uh..."
"Just be good, alright?"
"Yeah, I-"
She heard a beeping sound coming from the other end, and she pulled the phone away to inspect it.
*call ended,* it read on the small screen.
"Oh...she's gone."
"*ribbit*...Excuse me, human..."
The unfamiliar voice made her jump, and she jerked her head around to see who had addressed her. It was...a Froggit. The same one from before, it looked like.
But it didn't seem inclined to battle her.
"Um...Hello?" she answered it, the possibility of a surprise attack floating around the back of her mind. "Were you talking to me?"
"Yes...*ribbit*...I have some advice for you about battling monsters."
"...You do, huh?"
"If you ACT a certain way, or FIGHT until you've almost defeated them...they might not want to battle you anymore.
"Really?"
"Yes. If a monster does not want to fight you, then please...Use some MERCY, human...*ribbit.*"
Before she could ask anything else, the Froggit hopped away.
Use some MERCY...
The Froggit's words echoed in her mind as Ginger turned her attention back to the room she was in. There were a few leaf piles; maybe Toriel had deposited them there to give the room some more color. And on top of one of them was...
What is that?
It looked almost like...a tiny, shimmering star, floating just above the pile of red leaves. She bent down to further inspect it; it glowed a warm shade of yellow.
Barely realizing what she was doing, she reached her hand out towards it. What would happen if she...
*Ruins-Leaf Pile
*File Saved
"Huh? What?"
The words flashed just above the star. "File Saved?" What was that supposed to mean?
"Alright, Toriel, I'm gonna need a good explanation for this one when I see you again."
At least the tiny entity hadn't harmed her in any way...at least, not to her knowledge.
She turned away from the star to continue south-
And was immediately lumped by another Froggit!
This one was different from the first one; slightly bigger, bulkier, and not quite as...mild, it seemed. Maybe it had realized that Toriel was gone, and took advantage of the situation.
"Oh, you wanna piece of me, huh?"
The Froggit croaked, seemingly nervous, and then, out of nowhere, it summoned an array of tiny, white buzzing projectiles, almost like flies.
Something that caught the human completely off guard.
"Hey! What is this!? Get these things away from me!" she cried out, dodging them as best she could. She swatted at one, but the moment it touched her arm, it dissipated, causing a burst of pain in the location that made the human cry out. After the assault ceased, she gave the monster a piercing glare, then swung her good arm at it, fist clenched.
"This'll teach ya good!" she spat, sending the blow right across the Froggit's face. The impact nearly sent it flying across the room, and once it got back onto its feet, it crouched, cowering in the corner, looking very remorseful.
Toriel had been right when she said that monsters were physically weaker than humans in terms of defense. But the same didn't go for offense.
"Augh..." Ginger grumbled, rubbing the tender spot on her arm. "You're pretty strong for a frog, you know..."
The monster's white face turned red, and she saw what looked like a small smile of its face...Did...did it take that as a compliment?
"Ah...You know what? Lemme ask you something. What's the point of attacking me?"
"It's nothing personal, human," he croaked. "We just need your SOUL, is all."
"WHAT!?"
The frog sent another series of flies at her, which, now knowing what would happen if she touched them, she maneuvered around quite hastily.
"You cant have my SOUL! It's...it's me! I can't live without it!"
"We know, but it's the only way we can break the Barrier."
"Wha-I...Get out of here, or I'll punch you again! And tell your friends the same thing! I'm not going to have some freaky frog monsters trying to steal my SOUL!"
The Froggit stood its ground, but it seemed very reluctant to fight her, fearing it may be struck again if it sent another attack her way.
Ginger sighed.
"Look. Just...Can't you find another way to break the Barrier?"
"We know of no other way."
"Well...Maybe there's one out there. You just have to keep looking. Just don't do that anymore, alright? I've already got enough on my plate to deal with."
"Thank you, human, for being so merciful."
The monster hopped out of her way, back towards another, smaller room up north, trying to shake what the Froggit had said about the monsters' intentions from her mind. Ginger continued down the path, passing by one more pile of leaves. It made her think about that strange star, and what read above it. "File Saved...What did that mean?
Her thoughts were cut off when something buzzed into her face, and then immediately hovered a good distance away. It appeared to be another monster...but it looked far different from a Froggit.
It looked more like a moth, sporting small, powdery wings, and long antennae on its head, and it wore a very meek expression. It looked absolutely pathetic; amusingly so, even.
"Um...Are you gonna try and fight me, I assume?"
"I-I-I'm going to try!" it stuttered, clearly not up for the challenge.
"Are you sure you wanna do that?" she questioned. "It's not gonna be easy."
"I...I-I-I..."
The moth brought its hands to its face and buzzed off.
That had certainly been easy.
Ginger continued. The next room was small, but the cracked spot in the floor, separating one half from the other, made her wary. She remembered that when they had passed through this way, Toriel had taken a staircase that lead to a room beneath the cracks beneath the cracks, which allowed them to proceed, so she could do the same on her own.
But she was inclined to try something else.
The cracked space was around five feet across; about as long as she was tall. She wasn't sure what the limitations of a human body were as compared to owls, but she decided that, if she were a human, she'd see what they could do
Particularly, how well their legs worked.
Ginger backed away from the cracks, almost all the way back to the door she'd come in from, then sprinted at them, pushing up with her foot right before she stepped on them.
For a brief moment, she felt like she was flying again.
She stretched her legs out as they touched the solid floor on the other side; her heels pressed against the cracks, and the sound of the floor caving in beneath them made her promptly step farther away.
She'd done it.
Just barely, but she'd cleared the jump.
She swelled with pride; perhaps humans were capable of more than she'd first assumed.
Don't get cocky, she reminded herself, wondering what else the Ruins had in store for her.
Ginger had just barely exited the room when she was jumped by yet another Froggit.
Typical...
"You know," she said to it, hoping she could coax this one out of a battle as well with a compliment. "I never realized it until now, but you would make a great...uh...You could be a..."
Her mind went blank.
"You could be a professional...frog?"
That was stupid...Stupid, stupid, stupid...
But the enemy thought quite otherwise.
"You think I really could be a professional frog? *ribbit*"
"Um...Yeah! S-sure you can!" she continued. "Just...All you gotta do is put your mind to it!"
"I think I'll go start practicing now. Thank you, human."
And the monster hopped away, an eager smile on its face. Ginger was somewhat confused by this, but at least she hadn't been battered with an assault of flies again.
Maybe what that first Froggit had told her about MERCY would get her somewhere anyway.
And the same went for Toriel and her advice on speaking to the monsters to coax them out of fighting her instead of right-on retaliation.
Ginger entered the next room; there was another row of spiked directly ahead of her, and a fairly large rock in between them and her. She stepped forward.
And the phone rang again.
The human picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hello? This is Toriel," the monster said to her.
"What's up?"
"For no reason in particular...which do you prefer? Cinnamon or Butterscotch?"
...What?
She knew what cinnamon was; it was essentially the dried inner bark of cinnamon trees, and supposedly had a strong, sweet odor. Some owls used the substance for healing, particularly the Glauxian Monks in the Northern Kingdoms, but she had read once that it was edible as well, albeit not very pleasant by itself. She knew very well what cinnamon was. But...
"Uh...Question?"
"Yes, dear?"
"What exactly is butterscotch?"
"You don't know, child?"
"No, I...can't say I do."
"Well, I'll tell you one thing, it's very good. To put it simply, it's butter that has been cooked almost to the point of burning, but not quite, which is then mixed with brown sugar."
"Oh, so, it's like a dessert-type thing?"
"Why yes. Same with cinnamon, in case you were unaware."
"I...I guess butterscotch sounds more appealing, to answer your question."
"Oh, I see. Thank you very much."
There was a snapping sound, and she was gone. Ginger turned her gaze to one wall, noting a sign on it that read:
"3 out of every 4 rocks recommend that you push them."
Whatever that means...
She continued towards the rock itself...
And the phone rang again.
Already?
Maybe she'd forgotten to say something, so she picked up again.
"Is that you?" the human clarified.
"Yes, Ginger, dear. "Erm...You do not DISLIKE cinnamon, do you? I know what your preference is, but...Would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?"
"Well...on its own, I might. I've read that the stuff is pretty bitter on its own."
"Oh. Well, what if, say it were mixed in with butterscotch?"
"Sounds a lot more appetizing."
"Oh, does it? Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for being patient, by the way."
And Toriel was gone again.
Ginger made her way over to the rock. Just beyond it was a pressure plate, and the floor connecting the rock and the plate looked particularly smooth and slippery.
The human pushed against the boulder; the floor allowed it to move surprisingly easily, and the minute the rock pressed down on the pressure plate, something somewhere in the walls made a clicking sound, and the spikes retreated back into the floor. She had just passed them when another one of the small mothlike creature approached her again.
She wasn't particularly intimidated by them; they didn't seem like they could harm a fly. As a matter of fact, she almost sympathized them for their meekness.
But then again, the Froggits hadn't appeared to be very strong at first, so she thought it wise to still be cautious.
"Um...Hey there, little fella," she greeted. The creature turned pink with embarrassment.
"I-I'm not that little!" he stammered.
"Dude, you're no bigger than my hand."
"I...I-I..."
The monster fluttered backwards against the far wall. It looked like a moth being pawed at by a rowdy bobcat kitten.
"P-please...Please don't hurt me."
"I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just passing through."
"Oh..."
It fluttered aside for the human to pass through the door.
"So, what's your name, huh?"
"M-me? It-I-I'm a Whimsun. Why?"
"Really? Never heard of those before. Just for future reference; I ran into one of your buddies a while back and I wasn't sure what he was."
"O-oh. Okay, ah...Bye, human!"
He flew off in a hurry, obviously wanting to get the confrontation over with. Were all Whimsun that timid? It certainly made it hard to hold a conversation with them.
Ah, well...It's not the end of the world.
Ginger kept going, and just when she entered the next room...
The phone.
What now, Toriel?
She picked up, hoping that she wouldn't sound annoyed at the monster, but this seemed a bit excessive; she'd called three times already within a two-minute period, asking for almost suspiciously specific information.
"Hello?"
"Hello, dear. I'm just making sure, but...You do not have any allergies, do you?"
Ginger made somewhat of a face.
"Uh...No? Why are you asking me this?"
"Huh? Why am I asking? Oh, no reason. No reason at all."
She was about to state that she thought the monster was up to something, but she was gone before the human could say anything else.
Allergies...What does that have to do with anything...?
Ginger went farther down the next room, and the puzzle was...
"Ah...Aw, racdrops," she swore.
The entire floor was cracked. No way she could maneuver any easy way around this one. Of course, NOW would have been the time to call Toriel, wouldn't it?
At least there was a stairway leading to the lower floor she could use instead.
She climbed down...and realized that, among the piles of leaves, there was no entryway to the other side of the room in sight. Great...
But she did note that the leaves appeared to be positioned in a very specific manner, forming a bare path beneath where the cracks in the ceiling seemed to be just a bit smaller. Perhaps this counted as another puzzle?
If the leaves were positioned over the more cracked areas, perhaps it meant that the bare path was the one she should take on the floor above so that she not fall through. The path was somewhat difficult to memorize, but the good news was that, if she did end up falling through the floor, she would end up on a pile of leaves, which would cushion the fall, which was only eight feet to begin with; not overwhelmingly high.
She been far higher off the ground before, anyway, but, then again, that was when she had wings.
Surprisingly, it only took her two tries, and her first attempt, she didn't get very far before failing-and falling-anyway, so it wasn't a huge waste of her time.
Glad that's finished with...
She was just about to leave the room when a third Whimsun jumped her, nearly causing her to fall backward onto the cracked floor.
"AH!"
"I...I did it. I-I scared a human!" the creature exclaimed, apparently happy with itself for the accomplishment.
Ginger, on the other hand, never thought she'd be irked by one of these timid beings, but she found this to have proven itself false.
"Oh, yeah?" she sneered, a devilish look on her face.
"H-hey. What's with that look? Oh no...No, no no no no no, don't hurt meeeee!"
The monster fluttered across the cracked floor in a panic; hopefully, that would serve a good lesson for scaring her.
When she finally stepped into the next room, Ginger sat back down; she needed a bit of a break after everything that had just happened, and she hoped to Glaux that the last thing to occur would be a monster going after her while she rested. Individually, the monsters down here weren't very strong, but the number of them was getting to be overwhelming.
She just hoped that it wouldn't be long before she reached the house again.
But she promised herself that she would get through all of this and find a way back to the surface.
And she was filled with DETERMINATION.
A/N:
Me: This story is probably not going to be very good and I'm only doing it for fun.
Story: *gets two follows, two favorites and a positive review within the first 2 days of publishing it*
Me:
*surprised Pikachu face*
I'm really enjoying this. Hope you guys are too!