Just sitting on a bench thinking was a tedious method of killing time, but it was safer than wandering around and drawing eyes towards her. Besides, as boring as it was, it was, in a way, productive. The more ideas she could come up with to help her get to New Home, the better, and with each idea came the potential to build off of it and improve any cons, and then to build off that and improve THOSE cons. It was a long, branching process of thinking, but if she could come up with a good enough idea; be it what to do in a specific situation or a physical entity she could make use of, it would save her a lot more time in the long run.
"Yo!"
She barely kept in a startled screech, and it instead came out a convulsing gasp; not a very sophisticated noise. She turned around to face that same young armless monster she'd had a friendly encounter with earlier...Didn't anyone know how to just say "excuse me" around these parts, or did they always greet each other in such a jarring manner?
"What is it, kid?" she responded, trying her best not to sound irked. "I've got a lot on my mind right now."
"I think there's somethin' for you underneath the Gyftmas tree! Check it out!"
Really? Already? How long's it been, an hour?
She found herself wary, not knowing if she should trust something like this happening so quickly. The monster lead her to the tree and pointed down at something with his blunt snout. There, just barely coming out from beneath the lower branches, was a box covered in blue and white snowflake-patterned wrapping, adorned with a yellow bow on top, on which a large, icy blue feather was stuck; it looked like it came from somewhere off of a bird's head. Coming out from the bow was a note, attached by a string, and Ginger read the messy handwriting curiously.
"TO: Someone with a great sense of humor whose name I don't really know"
"FROM: Snowdrake"
"If it turns out you're reading this, lemme tell ya; your little piece of
comedic advice really took off with my squad. They love the bird puns.
Couldn't help but remember you had nothin' but that shabby sweater,
so I figured this'd come in handy. And it double-functions as a disguise
if you jerk the hood up high enough, so people 'round here might not
jump you as much, you know what I'm sayin'? Plus, doesn't it just
look AWESOME!? Owl be seein' ya! (See what I did there?)"
Okay, so it's probably perfectly safe, she figured, though she had yet to know what the aspiring feathered comedian was actually talking about.
"Come on, come on, open it! I wanna see your reaction!" the striped lizard exclaimed eagerly, bouncing up and down where he stood.
She removed the puffy yellow bow with the feather stuck to it, then tore at the wrapping paper; surprisingly easy, considering the sorry excuses for claws on her hands. The removing of the paper revealed a loosely shut cardboard box, and she pulled apart the single piece of clear tape holding the flaps together and lifted them open before pulling the item out of the gift box to see just what it was. The fabric object unfurled as she hoisted it into the air to examine it.
It was a cloak. The length of it extended down just past her calves, and while the fabric was lightweight, it was extremely durable. There was a large hood attached to the top of the garment, and the entirety of it was a dark shade of teal.
She was speechless; this was incredible. A perfect way to conceal herself from monsterkind during her journey, given to her by a monster himself. And she thought she'd gotten lucky finding her messenger bag back in the Ruins. This was that luck times ten.
"Dang...You must be really psyched," the young monster noted, seeing the ecstatic grin spread across her face.
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Told ya somethin' good was gonna come out of it, didn't I!? Heh heh heh heh!"
He ran off, amused by his success-faceplanting into the snow and brushing it off as nothing, just like before. Ginger picked up the mess she'd created opening the wrapped box and stored it in the box she'd previously passed, planning to dispose of it as soon as she got the chance. The one thing she didn't put in the box was the feather Snowdrake had attached to the bow; when she saw him again, she'd give him a hearty thanks-probably in the form of more puns, and maybe keep the molted feather as a reminder of his kind act. She carefully slid the feather into one of the side pockets of her messenger bag then snuck over behind the restaurant to avoid being seen by potential enemies, slipping the cloak over her shoulders and securing the hood. Instantly, most of the cold air was blocked out; it not only made her feel warm and safe, but also, to her delight, dark and intimidating. Perfect for the environment she was travelling through.
"nice cape."
Her normal surprise at hearing the voice was replaced with a smirk, and she turned to face the short-statured skeleton.
"Shouldn't you be at home helping your brother?" she inquired.
"he said it himself; i'm too lazy...so where'd you get the new duds?"
"Let's just say a little bird came along and gave me his blessing."
"i'll buy that. now since we're both here, you wanna head inside 'n' grab some grub with me instead of hanging around the corner like a gangster? you won't regret it. trust me."
"Beats the former."
So the human followed him inside. There was the chatter of several different monsters filling the atmosphere with noise, some of which she recognized as the dog monsters that had attacked her earlier, and the appetizing smell of cooked meat wafted through the facility. It didn't smell like vole or rat. It smelled more...savory. She wondered what it was.
"What're the dogs all doing here?" she whispered to him, hoping they wouldn't recognize her and attack again...though she wasn't sure how likely the latter was.
"oh. they must be on break, too. they make up a specific branch of the royal guard called the canine unit. it's called that because...well...duh."
"The Canine Unit, huh?"
"they're exclusive to snowdin, since they handle the weather around here so well. normally they do their job pretty well, but sometimes they can get, uh...kinda distracted."
"I know what you mean," she whispered back, quietly enough so that the dogs' acute ears wouldn't pick up their speech.
They did notice Sans, however, and soon enough, everyone in the building was adding to a stream of "'Sup"s, and "Heya, Sans-y"s, and similar greetings.
"You must be pretty popular here."
"you could say i have a pretty good audience. here. this is the best spot."
They approached the bar, where two empty stools were waiting. There was another monster manning the bar; if she weren't underground with a bunch of monsters already, she would have immediately guessed that the person was a human that had been set alight and was oblivious to the fact he was burning to death, his spectacled eyes trained on a glass he was cleaning. Ginger sat down.
And the sound of someone breaking wind immediately filled her ears.
She looked down where she sat and found something pink and rubbery situated beneath her.
"whoops," Sans remarked, the smile on his face just a big bigger than usual. "watch where you sit down. sometimes weirdos put whoopie cushions on the seats."
She gave him a look.
"guilty as charged. so, whadaya want, kid? burger or fries?"
"Think I'll have the burger."
"awesome. yo, grillby. double order o' burg."
The flaming creature gave a nod and retreated to the kitchen.
"so, tell me. what do you think of my brother."
"I don't think I'll ever get tired of him. In a way, you were right; he is pretty cool."
"of course he's cool. you'd be cool too if you wore that outfit everyday. he'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to."
"Never?"
"nope. try as i might i can't convince him to wear anything else. oh well. at least he washes it...and by that i mean he wears it in the shower."
Ginger snorted.
"I guess that's one way of doing it, huh?"
"you could say that...oh. here comes the grub."
Grillby returned with two steaming entrées on platters and placed them before the waiting customers. Ginger's eyes widened at the sight of her meal; a juicy meat slab cooked to perfection and sandwiched between two toasted buns, complemented with the inclusion of several different vegetables and melty cheese.
A fine-looking piece of human cuisine if she ever saw one. And it smelled even better.
"want some ketchup?" the skeleton offered, showing off a bottle of the condiment.
"No, I...think this is satisfactory enough," she replied, taking it in her hands, mouth watering.
"okay. more for me."
And Ginger watched, quite surprised, yet also somewhat impressed, as he proceeded to chug the entire ketchup bottle in one sitting.
"...How do you do that?"
"i use my mouth."
"No, I mean...No offense, but I didn't think skeletons had stomachs."
"the process is complicated. you wouldn't understand it, prob'ly. just know it's possible."
"Well...okay, then."
"anyway, cool or not, you gotta admit papyrus tries real hard."
"No doubt about that," the human answered, following up by finally sinking her teeth into the burger. Some of the juice from the tender meat trickled down her chin, and she wiped it away with her arm as she savored the bite she'd taken.
"yeah. like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. get this; one day, he went to undyne's house...we've talked about her before, right?"
"Captain of the Royal Guard that wants me dead?" she confirmed, swallowing the burger piece.
"that's the one. so anyway, papyrus went to her house and begged her to let him join. of course, she slammed the door in his face because it was midnight."
"What gave him-" Her speech was interrupted by her absent-minded eating of the incredible sandwich.
"-Gerve em de idea to dr it at dert hour?" she finished with a full mouth.
"he doesn't really...sleep that often, he's got so much in him. so as i was saying, when she woke up the next morning, she found him still standing there. seeing just how dedicated he was, she went ahead and started giving him warrior training."
"I assume it's coming along well, from what I've seen?"
And she bit into the burger again.
"it's, uh...still a work in progress, to say the least."
"Mmph..." she acknowledged, her mouth too stuffed to emit a coherent sentence. When she finally swallowed, she gave her word.
"Well, there's definitely progress. If Papyrus is considered weak, I'm scared to see what the captain's capable of."
"just stay on your toes and you should be fine...oh, yeah. i just remembered. i wanted to ask you something."
"Sure, man, what is it?"
She took another bite out of the meal descended from glamora, ready for whatever question Sans had to ask her.
Or so she thought.
"have you ever heard of a talking flower?"
She stopped chewing, then slowly turned her head towards him, eyes wide with horror. She swallowed, forgetting all about how good the food tasted. Sans...He knew about...
"...Yes," she almost breathed. "...I have."
"so you know all about it...the echo flower."
"Wait...the what?"
"echo flowers. they're all over waterfall. say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over again until they hear something new. how 'bout that?"
"...Yeah."
Echo Flowers? This wasn't what she'd expected him to talk about. It sounded like Echo Flowers were a collective species that just repeated noise. She'd expected some more knowledge about-
"well, papyrus told me something interesting the other day."
"What'd he tell you?"
"he said that sometimes, when no-one else is around...a flower appears and whispers things to him. flattery, advice, encouragement...predictions."
Predictions. No ordinary flower could do that.
...But HE could.
"weird, huh? someone must be using an echo flower to pull some sort of prank on him."
Ginger didn't say anything. She just stared at him, looking badly haunted.
"...just keep an eye out and tell me if you see anything like that, alright, kid?"
She gave a barely discernible nod.
"thanks."
Sans got up from his seat; Ginger was too stunned to notice that he hadn't even touched his burger.
"welp, that was a long break," he commented. "i can't believe i let you pull me away from work for that long."
The human just sat there, reflecting on the conversation the two had just had, and pairing it with her own memories.
"oh, uh, by the way...i'm flat broke. mind footing the bill? it's just 10000G."
"Huh, what?"
She snapped back up, not sure if she heard him right.
"S-sorry...It sounded like you asked me to pay ten th-"
"i'm just messin' with ya. hey grillby. put it on my tab."
And she watched as he headed towards the exit.
"...by the way," he added, pausing for a bit before continuing. "...i was gonna say something, but i forgot what it was. whatever. maybe i'll remember later."
And he left out the door. Ginger reflected back on what he'd said; was it true? Was Flowey still up to no good? The last thing he said to her went through her mind.
"I'll be watching. Every move you make, every step you take...I'll be watching you. Ehee hee...hee hee...ha ha..."
...Was he watching her...right now?
She shuddered, then pushed everything negative out of her mind; she was stronger than Flowey, evident by how she'd nearly killed him in cold blood before he could provide information on her knew time-travelling and world-altering abilities...Why was Flowey so terrible? She couldn't find any clear motivation for his actions; he was just a flower who hated everybody, it seemed. Maybe if they met again, she could talk him onto a different path? Granted he didn't try to hurt anyone...especially the carefree skeleton that he'd supposedly been paying private visits to. If he tried that, then, knowing he was a real threat, THAT would be good enough reason to kill him, other than her hatred of the maniacal weed.
She got off her own bar stool; the whoopie cushion was still sitting there, she noted. Typical Sans...It was strange. Despite having only known the brothers for a handful of hours, it seemed like they were all close friends already. She trusted them, and they could put their trust in her, as well; if anything-or anyONE ever threatened to hurt them, she'd gladly make sure they never walked again.
...Okay, maybe she wouldn't take it THAT far, but at least enough to deal a nasty bruise.
She finished off the last of the burger on her plate, gave Grillby a thankful nod, then went on her way, turning east. Next stop: the house.
Curiously, she peeked inside Papyrus's mailbox before heading in the door to see if anything had arrived for him; it might be a nice gesture to fetch him his mail. But there was nothing inside. Sans's box, on the other hand, was crammed full; it looked like it would burst any minute. The lazybones probably never checked it.
She rapped her knuckles against the wooden door, removing her hood and pushing the cloak off her shoulders as she awaited an answer, letting it flow behind her like a cape; she figured she'd given the chap enough time to fix the place up if what he said about it being fairly clean to begin with was true.
Sure enough, the door as answered mere seconds after the knock. And sure enough, it was just who she'd expected.
"AH, THE HUMAN ARRIVES!" he exclaimed. "MAKE YOURSELF AT-"
He paused, then seemed to sniff...and then look down at the human with a disapproving look on his face.
"HUMAN...MY BROTHER DIDN'T HAPPEN TO TAKE YOU TO GRILLBY'S, DID HE?"
"How could you tell?" she asked with a shrug, entering the household.
"OH, THAT BONEHEAD! NEXT TIME I SEE HIM, YOU CAN BET HE AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A GOOD LONG TALK! HE IS SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE."
"What's wrong with Grillby's? That place is awesome."
"TWO THINGS, HUMAN: GREASE AND GRIT. THAT PLACE HAS NO CLASS, AND MY HATRED OF GREASE RUNS DEEP LIKE A RIVER. THE FIRST TIME I WENT THERE-WHICH WAS ALSO THE LAST, MIGHT I ADD-I ENDED UP WITH THE MELTED LARD ALL OVER MYSELF, AND THE ENTIRE CANINE UNIT NEARLY CHASED ME ALL THE WAY TO NEW HOME! APPARENTLY, UNLESS YOU'RE SANS, IT'S A BAD IDEA FOR SOMEONE MADE OF BONES TO SMELL OF GREASE AROUND A PACK OF HUNGRY DOGS."
"Yeesh. If I were you, I'd have had a bone to pick with them."
"WELL, I'M CERTAINLY GLAD YOU...WAIT...WAS THAT A-"
"Perhaps," she snickered.
The skeleton fell to his knees and let out a scream of anguish.
"I HAVE GOT TO KEEP MY BROTHER AWAY FROM YOU! HE'S RUBBING OFF ON YOU LIKE POLISH ON ARMOR."
He sighed, then got back onto his feet to try and regain his dignity.
"FORGET ABOUT THAT GRASEBALL OF A RESTAURANT! I HAVE SOMETHING MUCH BETTER THAN ANYTHING THAT THEY COULD TRY SERVING UP!"
"Uh, maybe later; I'll be able to enjoy it more with an empty stomach."
"HMM...FAIR POINT. GRILLBY'S CAN BE QUITE FILLING, AND ONCE AGAIN I BLAME THE GREASE FOR THAT! VERY WELL! I SHALL HOLD OFF ON MY CULINARY MASTERPIECE FOR THE TIME BEING! AS OF NOW, CARE FOR ME TO GIVE YOU THE GRAND TOUR?"
"Don't mind if I do."
"LET'S START OUT IN MY FAVORITE PART OF THE HOUSE; THE KITCHEN!"
She followed him into the room on the far right, and her eyes were immediately drawn up towards the lower cabinet of the sink; it stretched taller than Papyrus himself, and by a good couple of feet.
"IMPRESSED? I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF THE SINK SO I COULD FIT MORE BONES UNDERNEATH IT! IT'S WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL OF THE ATTACKS THAT MISS...THANKS TO THE BATTLE WITH YOU, I HAVE A WHOLE NEW STOCK TO PUT IN THERE! GO ON AND HAVE A LOOKSEE!"
She opened the cabinet, hoping that the bones wouldn't umble out all over her, seeing how many could fit inside it. But to her surprise, the cabinet was completely empty, except for...
"WHAT!?"
It was that same little white dog that'd sabotaged his special attack earlier, having made good work of Papyrus' collection. It jumped back onto its feet and made a beeline for the door, running right under the skeleton's legs and through a small doggy flap.
"CURSES!"
*WAH-WAH-WAAAAHHHH*
The two of them looked up the stairs just in time to see Sans retreat back into his room with a trombone in hand.
"SANS!" his younger brother screamed. "STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!"
Ginger did nothing but look on at the scene in amusement.
"...He's not bad."
"HE'D PROBABLY BE BETTER AT IT IF THAT WASN'T THE ONLY THING HE EVER PLAYED. OH, WELL..."
"Say, ah, whadaya call this big doohickey here, huh?" she inquired, scanning over the giant black rectangular screen positioned on a cabinet against the wall.
"WHAT DO WE CALL IT? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING YOUR WHOLE LIFE? UNDER A ROCK?"
"How'd you guess?"
It wasn't exactly a lie; the Pure One palace was essentially a giant, hollowed out rock formation, and it was big enough to house the good two thousand owls that resided in it, which had included Ginger. And even with that number on a steady incline, the monarchs claimed that the base could easily hold another thousand.
"HM...ROCKS MUST NOT BE AS TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AS MOUNTAINS, I ASSUME...ANYWAYS, WE CALL THIS A TELEVISION; IT PROVIDES INSTANTANEOUS ENTERTAINMENT FOR WE MOUNTAIN FOLK!"
"...How so?"
"ALLOW ME TO DEMONSTRATE!"
He picked something up off the side table beside the couch next to a book, then pointed it at the T.V., flicking it on.
"OOH, MY FAVORITE SHOW IS ON!"
He flung himself onto the couch, his mitted fists clenched eagerly. Ginger positioned himself beside him, curious as to what kind of taste he had.
On the screen there were two figures; one was blocky and rectangular, and he actually appeared to be made entirely of metal, his tube-like arms ending in white gloves. The only thing holding him up was a tiny wheel on a rod.
"I'LL BE THE ONE WHO DECIDES WHEN IT'S OVER!" it drawled, holding the second figure in his arms; it turned out to be a stuffed version of himself. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME NOW! I'LL BE SO ALONE! WHY MUST YOU LEAVE ME!? WHY!?"
"..."
"OH, WHY MUST YOU GIVE ME THE SILENT TREATMENT? CAN YOU NOT SEE I'M GIVING IT MY ALL?!"
"..."
"OH, NO...I'VE BROKEN YOUR HEART ONE TOO MANY TIMES, HAVEN'T I...!? YOU'RE...FALLING! NO! DON'T FALL DOWN ON ME! PLEASE DON'T! I NEED YOU!"
"I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS EPISODE...IT LOOKS LIKE I'VE MISSED SOME OF IT, HOWEVER. WHAT DO YOU THINK, HUMAN?"
"This is confusing...Who is that guy and why is he being so dramatic about a stuffed dummy?"
"MY GOODNESS, YOU REALLY HAVE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK YOUR WHOLE LIFE! THAT'S METTATON! THE GREATEST STAR IN THE ENTIRE UNDERGROUND! HE RUNS ALL OF THE BEST T.V. SHOWS...BECAUSE HE RUNS ALL OF THEM! EVERY SINGLE ONE! HE'S MADE LIFE DOWN HERE THAT MUCH MORE INTERESTING WITH HIS CREATIVE INGENUITY, YOU KNOW?"
"...His acting partner is just himself. How is that creative?"
"IT'S A DIVERSION OF EXPECTATIONS! ANYWAY, IF YOU THINK THIS IS A BORE, I COULD ALWAYS JUST PULL ONE OF THE DVDS OUT OF THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER!"
"The whats?"
"HOLD THAT THOUGHT, HUMAN."
He flicked the television back off and made his way to the small set of cabinets holding it off the floor; inside was a collection of small, thin boxes, barely thick enough to house a small snake. The skeleton pulled out four or five in one hand and displayed them for the human to scan over.
"Mettaton Soap Opera: Season 1"
"Mettaton Soap Opera: Season 2"
"Cooking with Mettaton: The Best Entrees"
"The Great Mettaton Standup Collection"
Every last one of the DVD cases featured the rectangular celebrity, making a different pose and doing a different action on each of them. Papyrus opened one of the cases and pulled out something round and flat; when the light reflected off of it at a certain angle, Ginger could see several different colors reflecting off of it like a prism.
"SEE, IT'S REALLY QUITE SIMPLE; YOU SLIDE THE DVD INTO THE PLAYER, WAIT FOR THE MENU TO COME UP, MAKE A SELECTION AND IT DOES THE REST! AND ALL COMMERCIAL FREE!"
"Wow...Technology nowadays sure is something."
"AND THIS IS ONLY A HANDFUL COMPARED TO MY VAST COLLECTION! YOUR THOUGHTS?"
"I, uh...Can't say it's my thing."
"REALLY?"
"He seems...weird. Dunno why; just does."
"CURIOUS...THOUGH I CAN'T SAY THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SOMEONE'S TURNED HIM DOWN."
"Oh, really? Who was the first?"
"NONE OTHER THAN UNDYNE HERSELF! ACTUALLY, I BELIEVE SHE TOLD ME SHE'S MET HIM IN PERSON BEFORE...SHE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE MEETUP, SO I'M NOT SURE OF THE DETAILS...IT'S A SHAME, REALLY; YOU REMIND ME SOMETHING OF THE CAPTAIN; I FEEL LIKE IF YOU WEREN'T A HUMAN, YOU TWO WOULD GET ALONG QUITE WELL!"
"I dunno about that, Papyrus..."
"AH, IT WAS NOT TO BE, IT SEEMS...SHE'S EVEN MORE VEHEMENT ABOUT CAPTURING YOU THAN I WAS."
"I've been told...So, I'm guessing your room is the one across from his?"
"THAT'D BE CORRECT! CARE TO TAKE A PEEK?"
"Way ahead of you, pal."
She was already peering up the stairs. The skeleton passed her, skipping several steps with those long legs of his, making it to the top in just five steps.
"OH, REALLY?"
"I see whatcha did there..."
"NYEH! NOW I'M THE ONE WHO'S WAY AHEAD!"
He opened the door to his personal chamber and let himself in. The human was quick to follow.
"Huh...Not bad."
"IMPRESSIVE, ISN'T IT? A PERSON AS GREAT AS MYSELF DOES NEED AS GREAT A PLACE TO MAKE HIMSELF AT HOME, AFTER ALL!"
Ginger's eyes were drawn to what looked like another television...but this one was smaller, and had other devices attached that the T.V. lacked. The monitor was on, and on the top of the screen was the word "UNDERNET". Below looked like a series of written conversations.
"AH, THE INTERNET! I'M QUITE POPULAR THERE, YOU KNOW. I'M ONLY A DOZEN AWAY FROM A DOUBLE DIGIT FOLLOWER ACCOUNT!"
"Oh, really? That's...wait..."
A double digit follower account...but if he's a dozen away from...Wouldn't that make it a negative...Somethin' don't add up.
"ALAS; WITH GREAT FAME COME THOSE WHO WISH TO TAKE IT FOR THEMSELVES. MY ONLINE PERSONA HAS, UNFORTUNATELY, BEEN SABOTAGED BY A JEALOUS TROLL. ALL HE DOES, WHOEVER HE IS, IS MAKE BAD JOKES ON MY FRONT PAGE USING A WACKY-LOOKING TEXT FONT! IT DRIVES ME INSANE!"
She took a look at some of the text written on the lower part of the screen.
"is your refrigerator running?"
"WHY, YES! WHY DO YOU ASK?"
"you better go catch it, then."
"Bad jokes, huh? Ghee, I wonder who could be behind all that...?"
Papyrus didn't catch the hint, however, and merely shrugged, closing out of the tab he had opened.
"ANYWAY, ENOUGH TALK ABOUT MISFORTUNE! WE'VE A ROOM TO TOUR!"
He explained all of the standard things; the closet, the collection of action figures on his side table, his flashy racecar bed, the box of bones he'd used in the battle with her earlier(which, fortunately, the troublesome dog had failed to reach) and he finished off by showing her something pinned up on the far wall.
It was a black flag, sporting a skull, not unlike his own, and crossbones.
"NOW THIS IS ONE OF MY PRIZED POSSESSIONS!" he explained. "UNDYNE AND I FOUND IT AT THE GARBAGE DUMP DURING A TRAINING SESSION!"
"The garbage dump?"
"WHY, YES! THAT'S ONE OF OUR ONLY CONNECTIONS TO THE WORLD ABOVE! THINGS THE HUMANS THROW AWAY FLOW DOWN HERE FROM THE SURFACE! A LOT OF IT IS JUST JUNK, BUT EVERY SO OFTEN, YOU FIND A REAL DIAMOND IN THAT ROUGH! I'M SURPRISED AT SOME OF THE THINGS YOU HUMANS THROW AWAY!"
"Like, uh...What kinds of diamonds in the rough have you found?"
"WELL, THERE'S OF COURSE, THIS COOL FLAG! BUT A LOT OF OLD SCRAP METAL COMES DOWN HERE, AS WELL, AND OCCASIONALLY SOME DVDS AND OLD WORN CLOTHING, STICKS, PIPES...WELL, THE STICKS AND PIPES AREN'T ALL THAT USEFUL ON THEIR OWN, BUT THEY COULD PROBABLY BE MADE INTO SOMETHING."
"Say...I might consider paying a visit there," Ginger replied, intrigued by the idea of useful things to scavenge. "Where's this place at?"
"IT'S A WAYS INTO WATERFALL! YOU'LL KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT! JUST KEEP AN EYE OUT IF YOU PLAN ON GOING THERE IF YOU'RE NOT KEEN ON BEING CAPTURED; UNDYNE PATROLS THE AREA ON A REGULAR BASIS, AND SHE'S QUITE FOND OF THAT PLACE, AS WELL."
"I'll keep that in mind. In fact, that place just might be my saving grace in the event we do run into each other. You said scrap metal fell through to here sometimes?"
"QUITE A LOT OF IT, ACTUALLY!"
"Hmm...That's something I could use...Is that shed to the east of here yours?"
"IT IS! IT'S WHAT I LIKE TO CALL 'THE CAPTURE ZONE!' I PLANNED ON USING IT TO CONTAIN YOU IN THE CASE YOU LOST THE BATTLE AGAINST ME...BUT SINCE WE'RE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS, NOW, I DON'T SEE THE NEED TO DO SO."
"Actually, I might take it up willingly if nobody else it using it; gives me a place to work and plan things out."
"THAT CAN BE ARRANGED! MEET ME OUTSIDE, HUMAN! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
He bolted out of the room and back down the stairs, Ginger trying to keep up with his impressively swift gait. When she finally stepped outside where Papyrus was waiting, the cold air hit her bare legs and cut through the worn sweater, so she wrapped the cloak around herself again and pulled the hood up. The skeleton unlocked the shed, and they stepped inside; there was a light on, but it had no heating system like the house. Even so, it was still warmer than it was out in the open. There was nothing inside except for a dog bed, a food bowl, a water dish, and another set of..."bars" the skeleton had crafted to imprison humans within the building. Just like the ones above the bridge past the Ruins, they were too wide to keep anything contained.
"MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE, HUMAN! OH, AND DON'T MIND THE FOOD IN THE DISH. FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, I NOW DOUBT THAT HUMANS EAT THAT STUFF."
She peered over into the bowl to find that it was full of dry dog food. Yeah, he was right; maybe that little white dog would come back and eat it at some point.
"IF YOU NEED ME, HUMAN, I'LL BE IN THE HOUSE CATCHING UP ON MY PROGRAMMING! JUST NOTIFY EITHER ME OR MY BROTHER IF YOU DECIDE TO PAY A VISIT TO THE GARBAGE DUMP! I'LL RETURN IN AN HOUR TO SEE HOW THINGS ARE GOING IF YOU HAVEN'T LEFT YET! NYEH! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
And he left Ginger to her own accords.
"Okay, let's see..." she mumbled to herself, slipping the messenger bag off from inside the cloak and putting it in the far corner. She unzipped it and peered inside; she still had 29G; a decent enough chunk of dough. And...
She still had that slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie.
The human sighed, wondering if Toriel would answer if she tried calling her again. She pulled the cellphone out of her pocket, flipped it open and pressed the green button; same as usual. It rang once...twice...thrice...
*Nobody picked up.
Same luck as last time. Why wouldn't she answer? Ginger shut the bag again; she wasn't so sure she wanted to eat it. Just looking at it made her think of when she-
"HUMAN!"
"Gyah!"
Papyrus barged back into the shed without warning.
"I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT NEED THESE IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE MAKING PLANS! SO YOU DON'T FORGET ANYTHING!"
He dropped a few items at her feet; a sturdy book, several sheets of blank paper, a couple of pencils and a sharpener.
"This'll come in handy! Thanks, man!"
"NOTHING THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN'T HANDLE! FAREWELL FOR NOW, HUMAN! OH, AND BY THE WAY, I DIDN'T NOTICE THAT IMPRESSIVE-LOOKING CLOAK ON YOU BEFORE. WHERE DID YOU GET IT FROM?"
"Your brother asked me the same thing. I just told him a little bird came along and gave me his blessing."
"OH, AN ANNONYMOUS GOOD DEED DOER, EH? WELL, THAT MAKES IT ALL THE MORE INTERESTING! CARRY ON!"
He left once more, leaving the human well-supplied. Ginger straightened the pieces of paper, then examined one of the pencils. Usually, owls used molted feathers dipped in ink to write with, and humans had once done the same. Ginger thought the old way made one look more sophisticated while writing, but she had to admit, the wood-encased graphite was less messy. And it could be erased by the rubber on the other side of the writing utensil in the event of a mistake.
And that was when she felt her stomach growl again.
Hadn't she just eaten a huge-tail burger? Why was she still hungry? It felt like she'd eaten nothing more than a single cricket.
"Ugh...I guess I'll ask him about that spaghetti."
"burger not enough for ya?"
"Hi, Sans."
Now she was growing to expect him to appear at random times.
"Apparently not," she admitted, turning to face him. "At this rate, I'm going to be out of shape by the time I get out of here if I keep eating every hour."
"don't count on it. i think i have an explanation for you."
"And what would that be?"
"monster food is different from human food. it's made with magic, so instead of passing through the entire system, it just stays in your stomach for a bit, then immediately spreads to the rest of your system, providing nourishment and healing any wounds you might have to a certain extent. might not interact with humans the same way it does with us. from what i've read, human food passes through the entire system, and whatever the body doesn't use is, uh...gotten rid of, is that right?"
"Oh, yeah. I know what you're talking about."
"heh...so, you're thinkin' about visiting the trash zone? i guess that place is pretty cool, but my brother likes it there more than me. it's so quiet ii usually just end up conkin' out on a pile o' junk whenever i go there."
"What does Papyrus think of that?"
"not very highly."
"I didn't think so," she chortled. "I'm gonna go see about that spaghetti he's been talking about. You?"
"have fun. i'll make sure to attend your funeral."
"Come on, Sans, it's spaghetti. How bad can it be?"
"well, i warned you. monster food might not spoil on its own, but it can come into the world that way. oh, and by the way, that dog's back."
Ginger turned around to see the white dog eating away at the kibble in the bowl; must have been hungry itself. And then it proceeded to come up to Ginger, lick one of her legs with its wet little doggy tongue, then escape through the flap in the shed door. And as expected, Sans was gone when she turned to face him again.
She shrugged, then left the shed herself, knowing Papyrus wouldn't mind her coming this soon to ask about his pasta. She re-entered the cabin; the television was on, and Papyrus was sitting there watching Mettaton on the screen, an unnatural look of concern in his eye sockets. She paid closer attention to the screen to see just what was worrying him. It didn't look like a drama show being broadcasted, rather it looked like...
News.
"THE CAPTAIN SAYS SHE WAS TIPPED OFF BY SNOWDIN LOCAL JERRY, WHO SAYS TO HAVE GOTTEN THE INFORMATION FROM AN ECSTATIC, ARMLESS MINOR!" the robot announced. "ACCORDING TO WHAT WAS HEARD, THE HUMAN IS STILL IN SNOWDIN! CAPTAIN UNDYNE! YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION?"
Ginger froze. There on the screen was a dark, humanoid figure clad in armor from head to toe, and it flung an arm out blocked out the camera pointed at it. THAT was her.
"I'M NO MIND READER, BUT I TAKE THAT AS AN 'I DON'T WANT TO BE FILMED ON PUBLIC TELEVISION, BUT YOU CAN BET I'M GOING TO FREAKING MURDER THAT HUMAN IF I EVER SEE THEM'! BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES! IF A HUMAN IS INDEED WANDERING THE UNDERGROUND, THEN FREEDOM MAY BE CLOSER THAN WE COULD HAVE EVER DREAMED!"
"Uh-oh..."
A/N: Oh, boy. I guess Monster Kid wasn't as careful as we hoped he'd be. We're finishing up in Snowdin and we're gonna move on to Waterfall here in the next chapter. I've been waiting for that part for a while; I think it's gonna be REALLY fun to write out encounters with the Waterfall monsters...especially Aaron and the Temmies...Actually, I don't know if the Temmies are going to appear in the next chapter or a few after that; the number of words per chapter is usually somewhere between six and seven thousand and I don't want to make a chapter that's too long. But even if it does take more than one, you can bet it's going to be amusing!
Thanks for reading, fellas! Oh, and a quick shout-out to user artfully for leaving...hold on, let me count...four reviews! Glad you're enjoying this as much as I am! :D
I had this skeleton-involved chapter finished just in time, didn't I? Happy Spooktober!