Papyrus and Bob had been right about the garbage sump; besides the vast amount of scrap metal lying around, it had some other useful things to offer, ranging from intact objects to unopened, packaged food. She had to rummage a bit amongst the obvious garbage to find some of it, but it was worth the dig, and it was worth the smell.

Working with metal wouldn't be that hard, right? She'd spent a few hours of her time watching Gwyndor work in his hollow, and the commentary he gave as he whipped up sets of battleclaws from the embers made it sound easy enough. Maybe she make her own set of battleclaws, with five fingers, for human hands. She liked that thought...

But then she remembered the spears Undyne used. She threw those spears, she didn't just swing them around like a sword. Against something that, the use of melee weapons would put her at a stark disadvantage. And the trump card that was flight, which would otherwise give battleclaws a more decent perk, had long since left her side, along with the impressive speed and agility that came with it. So what else could she make for herself...?

As she continued to meander around the dump, lost in her thoughts, she felt her foot kick something. She picked it up; it turned out to be a long, thin piece of plastic PVC pipe, and the length made it wobble somewhat in her grasp. It was quite flexible, just like...

...A bow. she thought.

She wished she'd have thought of it sooner; a bow would be perfect! It was long range, light weight, convenient, and on top of everything, adaptable. Besides combat, she could use it for signaling, or hunting. Yes, hunting! As much as she had access to the food made by the monsters themselves, her predatory instincts refused to be quenched. Besides, the food, being made more of magic than of physical properties, didn't fill her up; it just healed her wounds and tasted good. There were several rodents and other small animals inhabiting the Underground, so if she could get some red meat into her system before she faced off against the Head of the Royal Guard, that'd be great. Now all she had to do was find herself some things to make arrows out of, and maybe a quiver if she were lucky enough to find some intact fabric, preferably something like burlap, to attach to her messenger bag somewhere. She remembered one time she and Uklah had found some washed up on black-sanded shore of the Beaks, and they had decided to make use of it.

Ginger sighed, looking down at the flowing water at her feet. She followed the flow to the familiar, mysterious abyss, where the water dropped lazily into the darkness below.

The human approached the dip and sat down on the wooden platform sticking just out of the calm water, not very far from the edge, and stayed there, staring at the crystal clear water as it cascaded into the depths of the earth, even though her weak human eyes could barely see it. Every so often, she would catch sight of a small splash of it up against a smooth river stone in the shallows, and the little burst of white foam was just ever so slightly more visible than the rest of the flow. It was mesmerizing; she almost wanted to sit here forever, lost in her thoughts, letting the water wash away all of her worries. She slipped her cloak off; Waterfall wasn't that cold, and Undyne wasn't around, so she thought she'd give it another break. And she rested her head in her hands, her elbows on her knees, and she wondered what her friends on the surface would think of this place.

And as she sat, she began to dig up some of the memories she'd buried her mind like the treasures they were.

The day she and Uklah had found the burlap sack washed up on the shore was not very pleasant up until that point; her friend had gone off by herself, and when she had not returned by the time dawn drew near, Ginger had offered to look for her. In a stroke of luck, she had found her in the first place she'd searched; by the shore, and she'd never looked more miserable. The conversation that followed played in Ginger's head like a broken record.

"Something's the matter, Uklah; you look like you've just seen into the future and witnessed your own death, and that's not you."

"It's nothing, Ging'. Really, it isn't."

"Don't tell me it isn't. You're one of the most happy-go-lucky owls I've ever met in my life. Something's up and I want to know what it is."

"Do you have to be nary about it?"

"My nares belong here, and so do my earslits."

"Not if I say they don't."

"Well I say they do; and who outranks who?"

"What are you, a poet?"

Despite the clever comeback, that was when Uklah had given up. She explained to Ginger that she had recently developed a sort of depression over the fact that she had no living relatives, despite having known several. Her parents and aunt had all disappeared when she was very young, her sister died of Alba Pox shortly before hand, and there were no other owls in her life that she saw as direct parental figures to fill in the gap.

"I've...only really been starting to feel this way recently, even if it's been so long. I started thinking about it recently, and I've been wondering what...what they might think if they knew where I stood today."

"Huh...I don't think I ever would have guessed. You don't talk about them that often."

"I don't really think about them much, either. I...almost feel guilty putting them in the back of my head so often. I...I..."

"Uklah?"

"Ging...I don't even remember what my mother looked like anymore."

She had seen a desparate, strong sadness in Uklah's sea-green eyes that she had never fathomed seeing.

"Sometimes...I feel like I don't belong here; like I shouldn't have lived a life this long. Or that something will get me one of these days like it did everyone else. Like...like I don't really deserve to be here, like I'm not good enough-"

"Uklah, you stop that crazy talk right now and listen closely. You're one of the most amazing owls I've ever met. You're smart, you're hospitable, you're there for birds; I don't think the Tytonic Union would be the same without you. You live to please, Uklah. And that's not only good for everybody else, but you enjoy it, so it makes you happy. And don't you let anyone, not even yourself, tell you otherwise, because they'd be wrong."

"Ginger, I...You don't really mean all that do you?"

At that point, all of Uklah's sorrow had turned to surprise.

"Would I lie to you about something like this?"

"N-no...you wouldn't."

"Then pull yourself together and keep being happy. Not just for us, but for yourself; you're the one that needs it most."

"It's not that simple, Ginger..."

An awkward silence had followed, and Ginger remembered exactly how she broke the tension.

"Say...What's that floating out there on the seafoam?"

That was when she spotted the burlap sack just barely clinging to the shore, the water was so shallow. After the two had flown over, examined and identified it, Ginger had brought up several suggestions for its potential use to help Uklah forget her woes, and to her delight, it had worked. The two of them went on and on about the endless possibilities it held, and some of their ideas, such as the branch holder and igniter, seemed so good that they decided to share some of their ideas with Gwyndor to see what he would think of them. At that point, Ginger was already leading her fellow soldier home, back to the base. As much as she knew she had done her part well, she had to admit; it was still fun. And she didn't even know that Uklah had realized what she'd done until they were almost there.

"Hey, Ging'..."

"What's up?"

"Thanks for what you did back there."

Ginger had only responded with a reassuring nod, and nothing of the sort had happened since then; she was glad that she'd been able to help. But as much as her plan had worked out, she sometimes wondered what would have happened if she'd handled it differently; Uklah was easy to deal with, her spirits light and liftable, but not all people were like this.

The young Pure One was somewhat aloof, having developed the mindset that displaying limited emotion would make her appear more powerful, and therefore, more qualified for her position of authority among the other young Tytos. It worked quite well, and the longer she'd maintained this mentality, the more it started to work its way inside. She went from hiding her emotions to actually having less; something she was proud of. When the worst came around, she would expect it ahead of time and move on, and when things looked up, she was easily able to keep her composure.

But when she fell into the Underground, that frame of mind began to waver. It started with Toriel; her devoted kindness had struck a chord with her. The caprine monster barely knew Ginger, yet she had treated her like her own daughter from the very beginning. And then the skeleton brothers, who, despite their oddities, were genuinely good souls. Their kindly natures were trying to rub off on Ginger, and to be entirely honest, she wasn't sure whether or not she liked it. Her mind and heart were comfortably and collectively cool and hardy, but she could feel them beginning to warm and soften...It was an odd, fuzzy feeling, like being embraced in the wings of her mother...a feeling she had very mixed opinions of. Yes, tenderness did have its strengths...but it would also mean giving up the ones she'd already mastered.

Another series of splashes interrupted Ginger's thoughts, somewhat louder, and even slightly more rhythmic than most of them had been. Almost like...footsteps?

No, that wasn't very likely...was it? Perhaps a fish was flailing in the shallows, searching for deeper waters, but she wouldn't know; all she could see was darkness and the falls it shrouded. It didn't matter, anyway.

What did matter was that she find her way back to the surface. And despite her initial DETERMINATION, she was beginning to have doubts that she would ever see any of her Tytonic brethren again. She'd been stuck in the Underground for over twelve whole hours now, and with the imposing threats of not only Captain Undyne, but also the king himself, she didn't see herself leaving anytime soon. And the Pure Ones had business to tend to back on the island; they were supposed to leave today, in fact. Odds were, with the A.F.F. still being comparatively close by, they'd be departing soon, so she'd be too late to join them. She was just one more mouth to feed compared to the hundreds and hundreds of other just-as-capable warriors.

She let out a despondent sigh...then paused.

She could have sworn she heard two.

She shook her head, figuring that she was only hearing things in her loneliness.

Now I'm delusional...What's this place doing to me?

She didn't have much to look forward to; she'd have to face the Royal Guard head in battle soon enough, then take on Asgore some time afterward if she won, and even if and when she did get out of the mountain, what would she do then? If she was doomed to be a human for the rest of her life, she couldn't go back to the Tytonic Union like this; they would never believe it was her if she tried to tell them it was her. And even if they did, how would he function as a Pure One? She had no claws, no wings, nothing. And as a human, she required different essentials from owls, so readapting to her former way of life was near impossible.

And THEN there was the matter of getting across the ocean back to the Owl Kingdoms in the first place. She couldn't just go there herself with her own boat at such a distance, and she couldn't just book a cruise ship to the hidden island, or get help from other animals like whales or dolphins; why would some they help a human who claimed to know they could speak over the Pacific Ocean? She figured she might as well just sit here until some other monster came along to put her out of her misery, or even cast herself into the abyss now to save herself from anymore suffering. It was hopeless...

...No.

It wasn't completely hopeless; as long as she had her DETERMINATION, she could accomplish anything. She'd survived her fall into the mountain, befriended nearly every monster in the Ruins, gotten past Papyrus' puzzles, and was now even close friends with him and Sans.

As well as so many other monsters living down here.

To top everything off, they seemed to have some sort of good faith in her; especially the tall skeleton, who had said it himself that getting out of the mountain would be a cinch. She wasn't sure how true this was, but she did know one thing; she wasn't going to live the rest of her life down here in apathy; she was either going to get out of this place or die trying...And even if she did die trying, she could always Load and start from her last Save Point. Yes...She had a chance. She had a good chance.

And she was filled with DETERMINATION.

Eager as ever to complete her quest for freedom, Ginger grabbed hold of her cloak and pipe, stood straight up, bolted into a sprint for a hasty retreat...

And ran right into something!

"Augh!"

There was a yelp, and collision send Ginger falling nearly face first into the shallows, too shocked to emit any noise herself, and another splash followed a moment afterward. She wasn't sure exactly what she'd run into, but she did realize one thing.

The "something" had screamed.

It wasn't a something; it was a some-ONE.

The human scowled as she lifted herself back up, ready to confront whoever had tried to sneak up on her. But the mysterious being opened its mouth before she could.

"Oh, no...Where'd they go!? Oh, no no no no no! Don't tell me they fell down there!"

The voice, high-pitched, nasally, and quite obviously feminine, sounded like it was fumbling through the shallows in search of something; though, what it was, Ginger wasn't sure of, and she shifted her feet, backing away from the barely visible silhouette to give it some space.

And when she moved, she could feel something being pushed up against the bottom of her leg by the flowing water.

She reached her hand into the water and successfully fished out whatever the object was, running her fingers along it in hopes of identifying it. Perhaps this was what the stranger had lost?

It didn't take long to recognize the shape of the item, which turned out to be pair of spectacles. Ginger did note that they seemed unusually large.

"Oh, great," the stranger whined, still trying to locate the missing eyewear. "But...it probably doesn't matter anyway..."

She didn't seem to acknowledge Ginger's presence; perhaps the creature didn't know she was there any more than the human had with her, and she had second thoughts about dragging her over the coals for the failed ambush that was never planned.

"Uh...miss?"

The unidentified monster let out an "eep" of surprise when she spoke.

"I-is someone there?"

"That'd be me."

"Oh my gosh! I-but-th-that was-y-you're a person! Oh, my, I, uh-I mean, I-I'm so sorry! I didn't think that was a person, I-I thought it was a piece of trash! I mean-no! I d-didn't mean that! I mean, like, you're not-I mean, that's what I am, but-I didn't know-"

"Hey."

All Ginger had to do was say the one word, and the stranger's apologetic rambling came to a halt.

"Y-yes?"

"Are these yours?"

She approached the silhouette and held the glasses out in her hand, stooping down ever so slightly to match her inferior height, and the human just barely made out the dark image of another one coming to meet her halfway and take them.

"Oh, yes. Yes, they are. Um...th-thank you...for that."

"Not a problem."

"And I'm-I'm sorry for the trouble."

"Don't be. I'm the one who decided to run out of the dump like it was going to collapse, not you. You were just sitting around minding your own business, probably."

"Heh heh...heh...So...um...Wh-what are you doin' here?"

"I just thought I'd take a peek, see if I could find anything useful that came in from the surface. And now I'm sittin' here, just thinkin' about stuff. You?"

"Me? Oh, um, well...S-same. Y-you never know what you might find."

"I know. Just today I found something that could probably help make my life turn around for the better."

"R-really? Wow, uh...good for you!"

"I know, right?"

"Yeah. But I didn't do m-much rummaging today. I-I thought I'd just, you know...sit down f-for a bit and...listen to the water flow."

"Say, how long do you think we were just hanging around here, completely oblivious to each other?"

"Oh, gosh, I-I don't know. I've only been here for a few minutes. You?"

"Not much longer. But I thought I heard what sounded like someone else a couple of times; I thought it was just my imagination until...well, you know."

"Heh, yeah...But, hey, look at us now! W-we're like...talkin' to each other, a-and stuff, whadaya know? Hee hee..."

"So, let me ask you something; they say that this abyss here is just a bottomless pit, right?"

"Y-yeah? Some people do."

"What do you think's really down at the bottom? Anything besides what they say?"

"Oh, wow, I...I-I'm gettin' a strong sense of déjà vu here, you know? Th-this isn't the f-f-first time someone's c-come along and asked me something like that."

"Really?"

"Y-yeah...Anyways, a-about your question. I have speculated th-the possibilities before, and I-I-I have a c-couple of theories I've come up with."

"Lay 'em on me; I'm curious."

She sat back down on the wooden platform, the stranger doing the same a couple of feet away from her.

"Really? Um, well...Okay, I-if you want...um...Well...Th-the first is that it actually leads to some sort of looping portal o-or wormhole that's been constructed by magic, and that's what gives the abyss its bottomless illusion. It leads to a-another point in the abyss, so everything th-that falls in is s-stuck in an endless loop, sort of. It's origins are still shrouded in mystery, though. If it...even exists."

"Dang...That's pretty complex."

"D-do I need to dumb it down for you?-No! I MEAN-I'm sorry! Oh my G-...I-I didn't mean it that way! I just wanted to make sure I was-I'm not calling you dumb! I'm the dumb one! I mean-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I understand what you said."

"B-but I didn't mean to call-"

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean it that way."

Ginger had never met someone who stuttered quite so much in her life, but at the same time, she took pity on the mysterious monster for her apparent nervousness. And it was strange, but...

Hadn't she heard her voice somewhere before? She felt like she should know, but it was just out of reach.

"Got a second one?"

"Huh? Oh, right. My hypotheses. Yes, I-I do. These theories aren't really b-backed by any hard evidence, so, they're, uh, not...technically theories."

"The scientific method?"

"Yeah, that's right! Y-you know about that?"

"I've read about it before. Friend of mine introduced it to me."

"Oh, wow. Cool! Um, but, regarding what I was saying...My second thesis is that it leads to an alternate dimension; a separate reality, o-or timeline from ours. But nobody really knows what it could be like; things could be c-completely different from here, or they could be...almost, i-if not exactly the same."

Ginger whistled in awe.

"Wow. Do you really think it leads to a parallel dimension?"

"Th-there's really no telling. Honestly, it p-probably just ends somewhere like the base of any other waterfall. But i-it's always fun to think about things like that, isn't it?"

"Yeah...it is..."

"...Do...do you ever wonder what it'd be like? A-an alternate universe? Even the slightest anomaly between the two parallels could make what happens in each of them e-en-entirely different from one another."

"How so?"

"Like, say, just for an example, i-in an alternate reality, you...don't exist?"

As lightly as she'd put it, Ginger could sense the desolation embedded deep within her voice. It was...unnerving.

"It's weird thinking about...wondering what it'd be like if you were never born, huh?"

It didn't seem like the anonymous monster was directing her speech to her anymore, rather herself.

"A world where you never existed...or y-your actions, or your mistakes, or anything. Yet the world still goes on, regardless...Sometimes you wonder; what would it be like if I weren't here? Sometimes, you want to find out for yourself, and...and just..."

It was as though the stranger had temporarily forgotten that there was someone there with her that she was supposed to be talking to.

"S-sorry. I'm taking up too much of your time, aren't I?"

A deep sense of dread came over the human when she figured out what the monster was insinuating. And the fact that they were sitting right in front of the abyss she had been speaking of only made it more obvious.

"...Miss, are...are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I-I'm fine. Just, you know...got a lot on my mind, right now, and...it's k-kinda hard to go on and..."

"You weren't planning on doing something stupid, were you?" she asked firmly.

An eerie silence shrouded the atmosphere.

"...Were you?"

Nothing. She heard no response whatsoever. For a moment, Ginger feared that her remark may have actually made her...go away. But when she looked to her side, she could still just barely see the monster's dark figure, though it seemed a bit more...hunched over.

"I...don't know what's going on with you," the human said to her, hoping she would listen. "But I want to tell you something. A long time ago, one of my friends was going through a rough period; she'd lost most of her family by the time she was five, but when she came to us, her entire life changed for the better. She was one of the happiest ow-...people I've ever known. But one day, she started acting funny. When I came and asked her about it, she said that she felt...in a nutshell, like she wasn't supposed to be alive, since everyone else in her family was gone; like she didn't deserve what was being given to her, and that she wasn't good enough."

The monster turned its vaguely-shaped head slightly in her direction. Ginger's vision had since become slightly more adjusted to the lack of light, and she could make out her eyes; the stranger had brown eyes, very large and very intelligent, further accented by the spectacles she wore and the prominent whites, which gave them an almost bird-like appearance. But they displayed a sadness deeper than any she'd ever seen, even more so than what Uklah had shown that day.

"So I spoke to her about it," she continued. "and I remember telling her all of the things she was capable of; and I knew she was capable of them because I'd seen her do it. I reminded her of who she was that day, and how important she was to everyone, no matter how hard it might have been for her to believe it. She told me it wasn't that simple, but...it is, really. All you need to do is look around and, you know...acknowledge the good things in life. Like, friends to fall back on; that was what mine had that day."

She heard the monster let out another, shaky sigh.

"You...you do have friends, miss...don't you?"

No response.

"...At least one good one?"

It took a few moments, but this time, the human did get an answer.

"I...th-there are a few people I-I've gotten to know, but...I-I've made s-so many mistakes...If they ever f-found out the t-truth about me, th-they would...they would..."

The stranger's voice was growing higher, and was breaking, and Ginger could see the tears welling up in her brown eyes, and the tiny amount of light in the dark place just barely made it light enough to see them fall down her face before she buried it in her hands.

"Listen to me; I don't know who you are or what you're going through, but if I did...I don't think what I would have said would have been any different than what you've heard from me so far."

The monster sniffled, but made no indication that she heard her. The human could hear her uneasy breathing; it was deliberately quiet, as though she didn't want her to know she was crying. But the strategy didn't work on the human; her ears weren't as good as they once were, but they were still trained to detect fainter noises, and for a human, they were above average.

Though Ginger didn't realize that she had inched closer to the creature until she found herself resting a hand on what was certainly a shoulder. A small part of her said that the situation was getting awkward, and that she should let the monster be, but a far larger one feared what might happen if she left, and it told the human that she was indeed doing the right thing.

"It's...it's gonna be okay," she soothed, her voice as reassuring as she could manage; she was no Toriel, but she didn't think it came out half bad. "I know we don't know each other very well, but if there's anything I can do, just say so."

As soon as Ginger had finished, the monster let out a suppressed sob, burying her head deeper into her hands. The human backed away in slight surprise, which quickly softened into sympathy. What terrible things had this poor creature gone through that made her so upset? She could only imagine.

What do I do...?

One thing was for sure, though; she couldn't solve this problem the same way she had with Uklah. She was in far worse shape than what her Barn Owl friend had been that day, so straight-talking her problems into oblivion didn't appear to be the solution to the problem. She didn't even knw what those problems were. And furthermore, Uklah was a close friend, and this was a complete stranger...

...But she had been a stranger once, too.

And it hadn't mattered to Toriel. The doting Boss Monster had done everything she could to help her out from the very beginning, despite having barely known her; her concerns, her tutoring...her tenderness.

Ginger never thought she'd admit it, but she had begun to miss Toriel's warm, protective embrace. She'd only felt it twice, and neither were welcome at the time, but now, with the impending danger of having to face off against the captain, she felt as though she needed it more than ever.

Her thoughts were cut off by another, louder sob. The human sighed, half of pity and half of embarrassment; she knew what she had to do.

I hope nobody sees this...

She moved closer to the creature again and put an arm around her, resting her hand on her far shoulder. She felt her tremble, and she caressed what felt like an arm; it was covered in some sort of smooth fabric, probably cotton or linen, and the sleeve was far longer than her own.

The monster curled herself into somewhat of a ball and sniveled, and the young human pulled her closer, practically squeezing her up against her side.

"I...I-I-I'm sc-scared..." she stammered, burying her face into the human's shoulder and making the sleeve wet with tears.

"You're going to be okay."

"I-I'm a failure."

"You're worth just as much as everyone else."

"N-n-nobody l-likes me..."

"...What if I told you I did?"

The monster's blubbering seemed to slow, and she looked up at the human in disbelief.

"W-wh-what? B-but, I...I mean-"

She was cut off by a series of her own shaky sniffles.

"You...you don't even know me."

"Mind if I tell you something else?"

The troubled stranger rested her head against the young human.

"N-no...go ahead."

"Not such a long time ago, I got myself lost, and it wasn't long before I found myself in a pinch. But someone came to help me. I didn't know her, and she didn't know me, but you know something?"

"What?"

"The very first thing she did was try to help me out. For all she knew, I could have been dangerous, but she still took me in. Wanna know why?"

"W-why?"

"Because she loved me. Right from the beginning; right when she first laid eyes on me. She wanted what was best for me, and for me to be safe. And she did all sorts of other things for me when I was with her, too, and...I honestly regret not doing anything to pay her back for it before I left."

"Hm..." the creature acknowledged, wiping another tear away.

"I guess she rubbed off on me some. I'd always been sort of distant until she came along; even she acknowledged that, which is why she taught me what she did about...stuff like compassion and kindness and...and MERCY. But you know something else?"

"What?"

"I feel like if she saw me now...she'd be proud. She'd know that I was doing what she'd done for me for other people. And not just you, but...it seems like you really needed it more than anyone, so I'm glad I showed up when I did."

The monster looked down, her brown eyes expressing deep thought. But they were still shedding tears. Ginger pulled the Manly Bandanna out of her pocket, straightened it out and put it in the stranger's hand as she brought it up to her face again.

She didn't think she'd ever use it for anything, but now was the time.

"Huh?...Wh-what's this?"

"To wipe your eyes with."

"Oh..."

The stranger dried her eyes and face, then tried to give it back.

"No, no, you go ahead and keep it."

"O-okay..."

She sniffled again, then blew her nose; it was a good thing Ginger hadn't cared much for the bandanna, because now she certainly wouldn't have wanted it back.

"Thank you," she replied, her voice weak. The human continued to rub her hand up and down her arm.

"Feeling better?"

"Y-yeah...I do feel a lot better. Heh heh...heh...Sorry about all that. Sometimes, th-things just really get to me."

"Don't worry about it; I'm just glad I could help you out."

"That...that was awfully nice of you."

The monster let out a deep sigh, finally having calmed down all the way.

"You know...I-I don't think I can really...t-tell anybody the things I've done, I'm th-that bad a screwup. B-but you...really helped me out right now. You actually m-made me feel like I might still b-be able to fix things. I-I guess I should thank you for ramming into me when you did, because I don't think I've e-ever g-gotten this close to...Y-you might not have realized it, b-but you probably just..."

"Saved a life?"

"Yes...I'm sorry if I made you worry...This isn't the first time somebody's c-come along a-a-and stopped me from...It made me think; e-even if a complete stranger r-really cares that much about s-someone like me, then...ma-maybe I can find the courage to keep going."

"If you ever feel like that again, just remember; there are people out there that really care about you, alright?"

"...Okay. I'll remember."

"Atta girl."

Ginger gave the monster a firm pat on the back before standing up off the platform.

"I better head on out, now; gotta put the stuff I found to use and I'm runnin' short on time."

"O-oh. Yeah. I better be heading home myself here soon. Th-thanks for the pep talk. And...um...a-a-and the hug."

"Heh heh...Not a problem."

"So, uh...W-what's your name, huh?"

Ginger was silent for a few moments; this monster was completely oblivious to the fact that she was the human everyone was after, but if by any chance she had heard her name...what would she do if she knew? She didn't want to fight against a monster in a place as dark at this, and especially so close to the abyss.

"I, uh...I think it's best you don't know. You might not know it, but I've been a little on-edge myself lately. Erm..."

She looked down the waterfall again.

"...No pun intended. I just don't want to make it awkward."

"Oh, that's okay. M-maybe it's better you don't know mine, either. Y-you...might know who I am, and...you...you might be one of...one of them, and...I-I'm not-"

"Eh, no big deal. But I gotta go, alright?"

"Okay. I'll, uh...see you around, I guess. Um...I-I think I'll stay here for just a few more minutes; it's nice and quiet."

"You gonna be okay by yourself?"

"Y-yeah. Don't worry, I'm not...thinking about that anymore."

"Alright; good. Take care of yourself, bud."

"I will. Goodbye."

Now Ginger could make her way out of the trash zone, running back towards the light. Once she could see well enough again, she turned and looked back; the silhouette of the monster was still there, though it wasn't quite as hunched over as it'd been before.

She had a feeling she knew why the monster had stayed behind; she probably didn't want to end up running into her again in the light, seeming concerned that she was speaking to someone she might have known, and she was giving Ginger time to leave to prevent this.

Perhaps, though, she could find a few more things to craft with before she left, as long as she was quick about it.

She headed back to the first few piles of junk she'd rummaged through in search of some more reusable items, picking up a few more bits of metal and several stray, white feathers floating around in the water, some of which were stained with what looked like tiny droplets of blood; perhaps a human had skinned a hapless chicken for its dinner, and had thrown away what it couldn't eat.

Makes my job easier, at least.

And when she scanned the piles for more items, a sealed bag of wooden craft sticks jutting out from the top of one of the piles made itself visible; perfect for the arrows she planned to make.

"Who would throw away something like this?" she remarked, somewhat in disbelief. "These are in perfect condition!"

As she dug her hand into the rubble to grab them, she pulled a few other items loose, and two of them ended up tumbling down the pile and landing on a break in the slope the trash formed, right in front of her eyes.

She grew curious about them, and she picked up and analyzed each one.

The first was a small, worn-looking plush toy, whose fleece coat had lost most of its softness with age. The brown and beige fabric joined together to form an odd mammalian creature, with long, pointed ears, stout legs, a tiny black nose, and a big, round tail that tapered to a beige point. It's eyes were embroidered and expressive, as was the small smile below its nose. Ginger wasn't sure if the stuffed animal looked more like a fox or a rabbit...or perhaps it was an odd cross between the two animals that some human had developed in their psyche? She didn't know, and she probably never would.

The second of the two was another unopened DVD case. It didn't look like anything she'd seen Papyrus display, and the design on the cover was much more basic, and actually a lot more scary-looking than anything else of the like she'd seen thus far.

But it had bones on it, so maybe Papyrus would actually like this?

She continued looking over it. The metallic grey cover had what looked like a crocodile skull on a large, non-crocodile body of some sort, lashing out at some imaginary enemy with the unnaturally long, curved claws on its bony hands. The partial skeleton was enclosed inside a circular logo, and just below its arms was the movie title, spelled out in bold capital letters.

"JURASSIC PARK III"

The roman numerals making up the "3" looked more like slash marks than written text, and an ominous, almost falcon-shaped shadow spread diagonally across the box.

She...was actually somewhat inclined to watch this one, just to see what it was about; it seemed more her taste than "Mettaton Soap Opera: Season 2." She only had to see part of the one episode that was being broadcasted while she was in Snowdin to know she didn't like it. This, however, seemed more interesting than some mindless melodrama, and she thought it would help to re-temper her softening spirit; something she would need when she returned to the surface to her fellow Pure Ones.

Even so, in the mean time, it seemed like hardiness wasn't the best answer to the problem's she'd had to face so far. If she'd tried that with the strange monster she'd just spoken to, she might have...

She was afraid to think of what could have went wrong. All she knew was that she hadn't handled it in a rough manner, and it had gone fairly well. But she knew she couldn't hang on to tenderness forever; she would have to toughen up again at some point, and probably sooner than later.

Until then, she would just have to adapt.

A/N: Two chapters in less than a day? Oi vey!

I'm willing to bet a lot of you figured out who that mystery monster was pretty quickly, huh? One thing's for sure, concerning what she looks like, the movie Ginger found in the dump was pretty coincidental, wouldn't you say?

Thanks for reading! This story's getting more and more fun to write! :D