"She past the town yet?"
"OH, YES SHE IS!" the skeleton answered. "YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO COME BACK TO SNOWDIN FOR A WHILE AGAIN NOW IF YOU'D LIKE! WHEN SHE TURNS BACK THIS WAY, WE CAN PUT THAT SECRET FIREWOOD COMPARTMENT TO GOOD USE!"
"When do you think she'll start thinkin' the ambush is a lost cause?"
"I DON'T IMAGINE SHE'S GOING TO STAY THERE ALL DAY. SHE AND I STILL HAVE A COOKING LESSON TO PARTAKE IN!"
"Cooking lesson?"
"OH, ABSOLUTELY! EVERY WEEKDAY, WE MEET UP AT HER PLACE AND PUT OUR CULIARY SKILLS TO THE TEST! IT'S REALLY QUITE FUN; SOMETHING ALMOST ALWAYS CATCHES ON FIRE! BUT IT'S EVEN MORE FUN WHEN THINGS EXPLODE!"
"Holy moly..."
Ginger approached the Riverperson's ferry again, motioning to them that she was on the phone. The hooded figure nodded in understanding, then began to paddle westward against the flow.
"SO, HOW DID THINGS GO FOR YOU IN WATERFALL?"
"Not bad. The Tem Shop Keeper is making me a set of armor, so when I finish up at your place, I'll go back to see if it's done."
"ARMOR MADE BY A TEMMIE? THEY SEEM A BIT ON THE...CRAZY SIDE. HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL COME OUT?"
"Hey, if those things can head off to college, complete all of their courses, PASS them all and come back in fifteen minutes flat, then I don't have much doubt in their abilities."
"OH, MY. THOSE TEMMIES SURE ARE A THING OF MYSTERY, AREN'T THEY?"
"A lot of things down here are."
"Tra la la..." the Riverperson sang. "The Angel is coming..."
"Hey, Papyrus. Hold on just a sec'."
"WILL DO!"
"Uh...Riverperson. I just had a thought. What's up with that weird symbol with the winged circle hovering over a bunch o' triangles? I've been seeing it in a few different places, and it's makin' me curious."
"Ah...the Delta Rune...the symbol of our kingdom...We are the triangles...the Angel shall descend...Tra la la..."
Why does this person always speak in riddles?
At least this one was easy to piece together; the image was called the Delta Rune, and it was the symbol of the kingdom. The triangles represented the monsters trapped underground, and the winged circle was the Angel spoken of in the prophecy she'd read on the plaques, who would make the Underground go empty. A winged circle...
She used to have wings, didn't she? And she was the last SOUL needed to break through he Barrier. She hoped the Angel was someone else, because if it wasn't...
"We have arrived. Tra la la..."
She was back in Snowdin.
"I'm really gettin' around today, aren't I?" she commented as she got off the boat. "Do I owe you anything? This is my third trip today. Forth? I lost track, but it's been a few."
"Free of charge. Come again anytime..."
"Well...Alright, then."
She turned and made her way south again; she remembered the way back to the skeleton brothers' house. Sans was standing outside the door.
"been a while. you gettin' tired of running all over the place yet?"
"Yeah, but I gotta keep going back and forth if I know what's best for me. Undyne's at the Ruins waiting to catch me by surprise, right?"
"you've got a few hours to chill out. pap's cooking lesson isn't until this evening, and if she thinks you're gonna show up, she sure as heck won't leave to miss it. it's a lot smarter for her to let you come to her instead of vice-versa...at least, it would be if you didn't already know where she was at. she's pretty mad at the canine unit, though; i was in there, like, half an hour ago, and she came in screechin' at all of us for being lousy slackers. honestly, i don't know if the dogs were playin' dumb, or if you'd duped them all into thinkin' you were, like, another monster or somethin'. but they won't help her. so she's on her own with this."
"Well, that's good news. Found some cool things at the garbage dump. You know where your brother is? He might like to check 'em out."
"watchin' the news. he made some more spaghetti while you were gone...guess what?"
"It was actually edible this time?"
"no. that dog came back and ate it all, so ii never got the chance to try any."
"Well, let me tell you; I've seen MAJOR improvement. His last batch wasn't just edible, it was enjoyable."
"...really?"
He actually seemed somewhat shocked by this.
"I guess you'll have to find out for yourself next time," she told him. "Oh, by the way, your mailbox is crammed full."
Just as she said it, one of the letters sticking loosely out from the lid fell onto the snow. Ginger picked it up to give it to him; she noted that the envelope was taped shut with a red, circular sticker emblazoned with an uncentered cross mark. Strange...
"oh, well. guess i'll have to read this one."
"I guess so."
She went in. Papyrus was on the couch, his head rested on the backs of his folded hands. Mettaton was broadcasting more news on the screen.
"THIS JUST IN, THE TEM SHOP IS BUSIER THAN EVER! LOCAL TEMMIES ARE ITCHING TO GET THEIR HANDS ON A SET OF TEMMIE ARMOR, THE LATEST ADDITION TO THEIR LIST OF PRODUCTS! LET'S SEE WHAT THE SHOP KEEPER HAS TO SAY ABOUT THIS!"
"tEM gon b RICCH! tem finish cool leg and learn MANY THINs bout bizziness! tEM will ROOL DA BANKIN WORULD! fIRST set of tem ARMOR...ALMOSTT DON!"
She showed off an unfinished pile of metal and leather to the camera.
"OH, MY! THAT LOOKS FAR TOO BIG FOR ANY TEMMIE! MIGHT I ASK WHO COMMISSIONED THIS SET?"
"nU! SECRITT!"
"WANT TO KEEP US GUESSING, DARLING? I LOVE IT! MAKES THINGS THAT MUCH MORE INTERESTING! I IMAGINE, THOUGH, THAT WHOEVER IT IS MUST BE GETTING READY FOR HUGE FIGHT! THIS IS MTT NEWS! WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK AFTER THESE SCHEDULED COMMERCIALS!"
Papyrus muted the ads as they played, then turned around to notice the human standing there behind him.
"OH! YOU MADE IT!"
"...He knows, doesn't he?"
"IT CERTAINLY SEEMS THAT WAY. JUST KEEP YOURSELF ON YOUR TOES AND YOU SHOULD BE FINE! IS THAT NOT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME?"
"It is. I came back to finish my business before the big fight. If you want, I can show off my dump collection to you; got some good ideas for the stuff I scavenged."
"OOH, SO YOU VISITED THE TRASH ZONE, DID YOU? THAT'S WHERE I FOUND ONE OF MY FAVORITE COOKBOOKS! IN FACT, I THINK I MAY HAVE SLIPPED IT INTO THE ONES I GAVE YOU IN THE SHED! THE BOOK WAS SOMEWHAT WATER DAMAGED, BUT THE AUTHOR SEEMS VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT COOKING, HENCE THE TITLE!"
"I don't know; he looks like the kind of guy that swears at everything to me, for some reason. Don't know why, but that's my impression of him."
"OH DEAR...WELL, WHAT HAVE YOU TO DISPLAY?"
"Shed. Follow me."
...
"QUITE RESOURCEFUL, HUMAN!"
"I might have to practice target-shooting a while; never used a bow before, but I know how they work. I'll have to find something to make a bowstring out of, though...and arrowheads. And an adhesive."
"FEAR NOT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL FURTHER SUPPLY YOUR NEEDS!"
"Dude, you don't have to do that. You've already-"
"NONSENSE! YOU'RE THE GUEST! I SHOULD BE CORDIAL, SHOULD I NOT?"
"Uh, well...If you say so."
"YOU'RE WELCOME IN ADVANCE!"
"Heh...Dummy's still here, huh?"
"HE'S BEEN THERE A WHILE...I WONDER IF HE'S REALLY SLEEPING OR IF HE'S JUST PRETENDING TO SO HE CAN EAVESDROP. NYEH!"
And as if on queue, one of the dummy's button eyes popped into animation.
"You got me figured out, huh?" he grumbled. "Whatever. What're you gonna do, kid? Shoot at me?"
"No."
"Oh..."
"I'm gonna shoot at you while you're moving around and hurling your cotton balls...As soon as I have this bow put together."
"Oh, ghee whiz. That makes a huge difference, don't it?"
...
"WOWIE! RECORD BROKEN YET AGAIN! YOU WERE AT IT FOR A GOOD HOUR, AND OUT OF FIFTEEN SHOTS, YOU ONLY HAD FOUR MISSES! AND THAT WAS JUST YOUR ARROW ATTACKS! EACH TIME YOU CAME INTO CLOSE COMBAT, YOU ABSOLUTELY DEMOLISHED THAT DUMMY!"
"I think..." she heaved. "I think...I've had enough hand-to-hand practice...But I'll have to keep practicing with the bow...Papyrus...I have an idea."
"YES?"
"How...How good are you at throwing snowballs into the air?"
"EXTREMELY! EVEY YEAR HERE IN SNOWDIN, WE HOST THE ANNUAL SNOW WARS! ALL OF THE PEOPLE COME OUT, BUILD TEAMS, CONSTRUCT SNOW FORTS AND DESTROY EACH OTHER WITH AN ENDLESS BARRAGE OF SNOWBALLS! IT'S THE FUNNEST THING EYER! BUT THAT'S NOT FOR ANOTHER THREE MONTHS...WHAT DID YOU HAVE IN MIND FOR THE TIME BEING?"
"It's simple: all you gotta do is toss the snowballs into the air and I'll see if I can hit them with my arrows."
"OOH, INTERESTING TRAINING METHOD! I LIKE IT!"
He followed the human outside for the training regimen. Out of the first wave of twenty-five snowballs tossed into the air, Ginger hit fifteen. The second wave, she upped her record to nineteen. The third saw regression with eighteen, and that was when she caught a break. She needed sufficient energy in order to perform properly.
"Hey, Papyrus," she said to him while the training was on pause. "You know, stuff for this bow and these arrows isn't the only thing I found at the dump. Also found a couple of uh...keepsakes. Not useful for the battlefield, but I thought they were neat, so I picked 'em up. Wanna see?"
"CERTAINLY!"
She lead him back into the shed, then slid off her bag and pulled the first of the two items out, putting it on the floor. It was the odd-looking, lightly worn stuffed fox...or stuffed rabbit? Whatever it was supposed to be.
"OH, THAT'S ADORABLE! IT LOOKS...ODDLY FAMILIAR...YOU KNOW WHO MIGHT LIKE THIS? DR. ALPHYS."
"Really?"
"OH, YES! THIS LOOKS VERY MUCH LIKE SOMETHING FROM ONE OF THOSE SILLY-LOOKING KIDDIE CARTOONS SHE WATCHES! MOST OF THOSE COME FROM THE SURFACE AS WELL!"
"Wait," the human interrupted, amused by the thought. "She watches kid's shows? Why?"
"SHE'S QUITE ADAMANT THAT THEY ARE NOT JUST FOR CHILDREN, BUT I HAVE YET TO BE COMPLETELY CONVINCED IF THIS...HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE EVEN WATCHES THEM! THE CHARACTERS TALK SO QUICKLY, I SWEAR, IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'RE ALL SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE! STILL, EACH TO THEIR OWN, AM I RIGHT? WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE?"
"Eh...I dunno. Sounds pretty harmless."
"BESIDES! SHE MORE THAN MAKES UP FOR IT BY BEING THE BRIGHTEST BULB IN THE UNDERGROUND! IF WE ONLY BASED OUR VIEWS OF PEOPLE OFF OF THEIR FLAWS, THEN...WELL...HOW WOULD ANYONE EVER MAKE ANY FRIENDS?"
"Heh...Yeah. You know, you make a good point, there."
"OF COURSE I DO! AFTER ALL, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD KNOW MUCH ABOUT MAKING FRIENDS, AS I AM ALMOST ALWAYS IN THE PRESENCE OF AT LEAST ONE! BUT BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SUBJECT MATTER...THAT FOX THING LOOKS TO BE IN FAIRLY DECENT SHAPE. WHY DO YOU THINK ANYONE WOULD HAVE THROWN IT AWAY?"
"Beats me," Ginger answered, putting it back into her pack. "I have the impression that humans are, uh...wasteful creatures. Oh, and here's the other thing."
And she pulled the unopened DVD.
"The plastic's still on it, too, so that means it's never been watched."
"OOH! IT HAS BONES ON IT! IN FACT, THEY LOOK LIKE...DINOSAUR BONES!"
"Dinosaurs?"
She wasn't unfamiliar with them; according to history, the reptilian titans roamed the entire earth many ages ago before dying out. But the subject was irrelevant to what they were all taught in history lectures, so the human only knew a handful by name, those being Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Dimorphodon. She hadn't gotten these facts from Uklah, but rather Finny, a middle-aged Snowy Owl who worked as her younger brother's pit guardian at the Academy for Orphaned Owlets in the canyonlands. She said that he had developed a fascination with dinosaurs as of late, and these were a few of the different kinds that he claimed to know of. Despite knowing their names, she really wasn't sure what any of them looked like.
The only dinosaur she could recognize from a picture was the Tyrannosaurus Rex; one of the most fearsome land predators in history, as tall as a giraffe and three times greater in length, weighing up to nine tons and feasting on anything that dared to cross it. Some said that it may have been an ancestor of some modern birds, given its avian gait and skeletal structure, and some even theorized that it had feathers. But most depictions Ginger had seen had a scaly, gator-like hide.
"IF IT'S NOT BEEN WATCHED YET, THAN LET US BE THE FIRST! IT LOOKS FASCINATING!"
"Thought you might like it. Let's just do one more twenty-five practice shots and then we can do that!"
She did her last wave of snowballs, and surprised herself when she only missed two out of the twenty-five.
"Okay, so that was a hundred in total, then the ones I hit...that's twenty-five, carry the two, and..." Ginger murmured when they'd finished, doing the math in her head. "That's seventy-five altogether. Three out of four; not bad, but I could probably do better...Maybe once more later."
"SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN! IN THE MEAN TIME, LET'S SEE WHAT THIS MOVIE HAS IN STORE FOR US!"
He dashed back outside with the human following close behind, kicking up snow as they ran into the log house. Sans was standing next to the television, a sock covered in sticky notes sitting not far from his feet on the floor, and he was reading the letter Ginger had given to him.
She watched as he shrugged, crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash in the kitchen, Papyrus oblivious to his brother as he set up the DVD player.
"What'd it say?"
"just some invitation. but it's gettin' declined; if they want me that bad, they can go ahead and dress someone up and pretend its me. that's what i'd do."
"You're such a lazybones."
"you do that on purpose?"
"Perhaps..."
"IT'S BOOTING UP!"
"what'chu guys watchin'?"
"We honestly don't know; never seen it before, but it's probably gonne be awesome."
"well, have fun. i'm goin' to grillby's."
"SANS! YOU'LL NEVER GET TO TRY MY SPAGHETTI IF YOU KEEP FILLING YOURSELF WITH GREASE!"
"thanks, but i'd like to see the light of another day."
"UGH! NEVERMIND!"
...
"...Patience. Keep waiting, and it'll show up," she promised herself, her voice barely audible on her own ears.
It'd been almost two hours, and the human still had yet to arrive at the door to the Ruins. Maybe it'd found something to dig underneath the ground with, or to destroy the great stone door so she could get back in. It was safe in there; the doors only opened from the inside, and they were two heavy to manipulate as though they were wooden. If the human got into the Ruins, it would likely never come out, granted there was still food of some sort in there to sustain it, so it was imperative that she prevent that.
But even with sidetracks, and even on foot, it was still taking a while for her to get there.
Undyne flipped her spear impatiently from in the bushes; even if the human's death did mean freedom once and for all, she didn't have the entire day to sit here and wait to catch it by surprise. Had it turned tail, knowing it'd probably be hopeless trying to get into the Ruins? That was one of the only plausible explanations she could think of as to what was taking so damn long. Maybe someone had tipped it off about her plan? Not anyone who knew what was best for them; an act like that was nothing short of treason. Nobody would be dumb enough to help the one thing they were trying to kill, would they?...Except maybe...
...No, he wouldn't...would he...?
Papyrus; when he'd first come and told her about the human, he didn't seem all that eager to put it out of its misery, as was supposed to have been done. He claimed that it-she-whatever it was, she didn't give a crap-was...good. It almost made her sick having to try and put the words "good" and "human" together in a sentence. It was a ruse; a farce used to trick the skeleton. It had to be. The humans hadn't changed. They were just the same as they were a thousand years ago; and this was proven first only a mere decade ago, and then again barely two years ago when the sixth human came down and...
Savages. That was all they were. All they knew was how to steal; the stole their freedom, they stole their future, they stole so many lives and ruined countless more. But they were also smart; smart enough to devise evil plots, to take advantage...to deceive.
"...He's naïve," she muttered. "That thing could convince him into thinking it's the high ruler of the overworld if it wanted to. He's too innocent to think otherwise; thinking there's another way, trying to save it, thinking that they could be..."
She didn't want to say it, but she knew it was true.
"Thinking they could be...'friends'."
She hated the thought, but that human could verily easily pin the skeleton under its fleshy finger. He could be helping it, with the false notion that it was his friend.
It wasn't.
"...That's it."
She pulled her phone out and dialed a number.
"Hey...Yeah, that's me in there...What'd the cam in Waterfall pick up?...Freaked out when it realized it was bein' watched? Heh...Serves it right. But anyway, I've got a bad feeling about it; it's already had a couple run-ins with Papyrus, and I don't want to know what sorts of things it's been feeding him...If you see it, call me RIGHT AWAY, got it?...Thanks; knew I could count on you...Somethin' wrong? You sound a little shakier than normal...You sure you're okay?...Well...Alright; if you say so...Later."
And she emerged from the bushes and began making her way back to the town.
If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself...
...
"What human, in their right mind, would throw away a PERFECTLY GOOD MOVIE?!"
"IT'S LUDICROUS, DISPOSING OF SUCH A HIGH-QUALITY FEATURE FILM, JUST BECAUSE ONE CAN'T REMOVE THE PLASTIC FILM EASILY WITH THEIR HANDS ALONE!"
The young human was baffled by the insane decision to be rid of the film. It was the first movie she'd ever seen, and she'd already determined that it was also her favorite movie of all time.
"Which one of the dinosaurs was your favorite?"
"OH, I LIKED THE BIG SNAPPY ONE! THE T. REX NEVER STOOD A CHANCE AGAINST IT WITH THOSE PUNY LITTLE ARMS! YOU?"
"Oh, the Velociraptors..." she sighed. "They're my spirit animal."
From the dream sequence to the egg exchange, the Velociraptors had captured Ginger's heart with their cunning intellect and canny likeness to birds, from their swift bipedal gait to their round, intelligent, fiery orange eyes to the crests of pinfeathers the males had on their heads. She felt as though she really had a connection with the man-sized pack-hunters, and that struck a chord with her. They really were her spirit animal...considering she wasn't a Barn Owl anymore.
That and the fact that the raptors just looked plain AWESOME, from their jaws full of razor-sharp teeth to their cool racing stripes. Everything in the movie looked so realistic; how did the humans accomplish this?
"What was your favorite part?"
"WAIT. I THINK WE MAY BOTH BE THINKING THE SAME THING. HERE, COUNT DOWN FROM THREE, AND LET'S SEE IF THAT'S TRUE!"
"I wouldn't be surprised!"
"THREE..."
"Two..."
"ONE..."
And they both blurted out their thoughts at the exact same time.
"ALAN."
Both of them fell over, laughing so hard they could barely stand; the dream sequence with the talking raptor was the funniest thing either of them had ever witnessed.
"What if we did that to Sans!?" the human suggested. "He sits down at Grillby's and I sneak up behind him tap his shoulder-'ALAN.'"
"WE SHOULD DO THAT! WE REALLY REALLY SHOULD DO THAT!"
"HA! Ha...Aw, man. That was hilarious."
"guys, wrap it up."
"Well, speak of the devil!" Ginger greeted as the short skeleton entered through the doorway. "What's up?"
"BROTHER, I AM SEEING SWEAT ROLLING DOWN YOUR SKULL! EITHER YOU'VE FINALLY DECIDED TO GET OUT YOUR LAZY SLUM AND DO SOME EXERCISE, OR SOMETHING IS WRONG. AND KNOWING YOU, I HIGHTLY DOUBT THE FORMER TO BE THE CASE!"
"yeah. you're right. kid...she's back. she's searchin' the shops and inn, but I don't know how much time you have to-"
The human didn't say anything; instead she got up off the couch, raced to the door and took a peek outside just in time to see Undyne enter the library.
And that was when she made a mad dash for the shed.
Time to put that secret compartment of yours to good use, Papyrus, she decided, gathering up her bow, arrows, cloak and sweater and shoving them all into her messenger bag in a disorganized fashion. Not a trace of evidence could be left behind. She lifted up the trapdoor, climbed up and hopped inside, squeezing her belongings up against her in her arms; with all the stuff in there with her, she had to admit, it was a lot more crowded than she remembered.
Meanwhile in the house, the skeleton brothers were exchanging a few words.
"where'd she go? is she that stupid?"
"NONSENSE, BROTHER! SURELY, SHE'D HIDDEN HERSELF AWAY IN THE SECRET COMPARTMENT I MADE BENEATH THE FIREWOOD! I BUILD IT FOR THIS EXACT HAPPENING!"
"secret compartment?"
"A TRAPDOOR LEADING TO SMALL SPACE INSIDE OF THE LOG PILE, WELL IHDDEN BY THE LOGS THEMSELVES! NOBODY WOULD SUSPECT A THING! HOW WOULD SOMEONE MANAGE TO HIDE BENEATH A PILE OF HEAVY LOGS WITHOUT BEING SQUISHED BY THEM?"
"my god...pap, that was a stroke of genius, if you ever had one. let's hope it works."
And just then, there was a loud, hard knock at the door.
"it's her," Sans whispered. "act natural, like she was never here."
"OH, I'M GOOD AT THAT," Papyrus rasped before opening the door.
There she was, armor, spear and all.
"HELLO, UNDYNE! WHAT BRINGS YOU TO SNOWDIN ON SUCH A SNOWY DAY?"
"Cut the crap, Papyrus," she snapped as she entered into the house. "You know why I'm here."
"DOES THIS CONCERN THE HUMAN WE ARE TRYING TO CAPTURE?"
"What do you think? Listen, when you first came and told me about it, you seemed to have gotten awfully chummy with that thing. Let me tell you something; that human is nothing but trouble, even if it tries to hide it with its little good deeds. It's nothing compared to the pain and suffering they've inflicted upon us for so long. Humans are the enemy. They aren't things to be harbored down here."
"DID SHE NOT ARRIVE YET AT THE RUINS?"
"That's just it; I don't think she's EVER going to arrive at the Ruins, and I think you two might be up to something," she replied, pointing an accusatory finger at him.
"WHAT? YOU MEAN, HIDING THE HUMAN AWAY IN OUR HOUSE? PREPOSTEROUS!"
"Then you wouldn't mind me...looking around to make sure?"
"SEARCH ALL YOU WANT! NO HUMANS IN HERE!"
So she did; the captain flung open the sink cabinet; nothing there but a little white dog chewing on a bone. Nothing under the couch, or the other furniture, and nothing abnormal in the fridge.
I wouldn't put it past him...
She was about to head upstairs when something on the television caught her attention.
It was the main menu for a movie; one she'd never seen or heard of before...and it didn't look like something Papyrus would typically watch.
"...'Jurassic Park 3,' huh? Where'd you get this, Papyrus?"
"OH, I FOUND IT A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO AT THE DUMP WHILE SEARCHING FOR MORE COOKBOOKS! I THOUGHT I'D TAKE IT BACK AND WATCH IT TODAY; ANY MOVIE WITH BONES ON THE FRONT COVER MUST HAVE BEEN MADE WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS PUT IN PLACE! AND I WAS PROVEN RIGHT!"
"M-hm..."
Plausible enough, she decided, finally making her way upstairs.
Nothing anywhere in Papyrus' room, and even less in Sans'...nothing but the stench of perspiration and dirty socks, and that seemed normal.
"Clean so far," the captain announced. "Last place that needs to be overlooked is the shed."
"OH, YES! MIND IF I ACCOMPANY YOU? THERE ARE A FEW CHANGES I'VE MADE AS OF LATE IN THERE I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLAIN!"
"...Changes, huh?"
"YES! I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING ONCE WE'RE THERE!"
She went out the door first, and Papyrus turned to his brother, who'd been standing idly beside the couch the whole time watching everything unfold. The taller skeleton flashed Sans a wink and a grin.
"hope you know what you're doin," he rasped, tensing up just a bit. Papyrus nodded and followed the guard captain outside.
"Uh...Yeah. No kidding."
"WHAT DO YOU THINK? I'VE DECIDED TO CONVERT THE SHED INTO A GUEST ROOM FOR THE TIME BEING! IF YOU EVER DECIDE TO SPEND THE NIGHT, YOU COULD SLEEP HERE INSTEAD OF ON THE COUCH!"
"What happened to the whole 'human prison' you had going on in here?"
"SANS DROPPED A BOMBSHELL ON ME YESTERDAY. ALAS; THE BARS I MADE WERE TOO WIDE TO CONTAIN HUMANS PROPERLY! SO I TOOK THE BARS DOWN, CHOPPED THE LOGS UP FOR FIREWOOD AND PUT THEM IN A PILE! SEE THERE? PLENTY OF FIREWOOD TO KEEP THE HOUSE NICE AND TOASTY! I KNOW JUST HOW MUCH YOU DESPISE THE EXTREMES."
Undyne followed his pointing finger; there was the pile of logs, stacked neatly in the corner.
"WHY DON'T YOU PULL ONE OF THOSE OFF SO WE CAN USE IT?"
"Papyrus, your house doesn't even have a fireplace, you do know that, right?"
"WELL, NOTHING A LITTLE HOME RENOVATION CAN'T FIX! I'LL HAVE TO DO THAT...IN THE MEAN TIME, WE COULD USE THEM FOR CAMPFIRES!"
"Eh..."
She took one of the logs off the side of the pile and tossed it up in her hand before giving it to the skeleton.
"I'LL JUST KEEP THIS IN SIDE FOR NOW SO I REMEMBER TO FIX THE FIREPLACE ISSUE!"
"Well...I don't-"
A strange banging noise came from...somewhere in the shed, it sounded like. Towards the firewood.
"What was that?"
"AH, HEH...I DON'T KNOW! HEH HEH...S-STARTLED ME A LITTLE THERE, I WILL SAY THAT...MAYBE IT WAS THE WIND PICKING UP AND BLOWING SOMETHING INTO THE WALL FROM OUTSIDE! THERE ARE A FEW TREES BACK THERE, SO MAYBE A BRANCH CAME LOOSE."
"Hm..."
"HEY! I'VE GOT AN IDEA! IF THE HUMAN COMES AROUND, WE CAN USE THIS AS A TRAP! THE HUMAN WILL BE SO DISTRACTED BY THE SHEER AMAZING DESIGN OF THE GUEST ROOM AND ALL OF THE COOL THINGS TO DO, SHE WILL BE COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS TO TIMEFLOW, AND YOU CAN RETURN TO CAPTURE HER! THAT IS...IF SHE DECIDES TO COME BACK...I'M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO HER; I THOUGHT WE HAD THIS WHOLE THING IN TH BAG!"
"You're not the only one; if it's not here, it might be back in Waterfall by now...Dear God, I've been going back and forth all day! When I finally get my hands on that human, I'll make sure it REALLY get's what's comin' to it for making me drag my rear end halfway across the Underground and back. You won't wanna be there when that happens, I can tell you that."
"EH...UNDERSTOOD, UNDYNE."
"Now I'm going to the Waterfall border and I'm staying there. It's bound to show it ugly face eventually. Gonna take the ferry to make sure I get there before it does."
"ARE WE STILL ON FOR TONIGHT?"
"Huh? Oh, right, your training. I, uh...if I have time."
"VERY WELL. GOOD LUCK, UNDYNE!"
She stepped out the door, and right when she shut it...
"Ah-CHOO!"
"OH, DEAR..."
The sneeze came from inside the firewood, and after double-checking to make sure Undyne wasn't coming back, Papyrus lifted up the trapdoor. The human rose up from the inside, wiping her nose.
"Nice save," she sniffed.
"YOU'RE NOT CATCHING COLD, ARE YOU HUMAN? THIS CERTAINLY WOULDN'T BE A GOOD TIME FOR THAT TO HAPPEN...YOU FLESHY FOLK ARE QUITE A BIT MORE SENSETIVE TO THE COLD THAN WE SKELETONS, FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN."
"No, no," she reassured as she climbed out. "It's just kinda dusty in there, is all...saw dust, I think most of it is. Here, let's see..."
When she and her belongings had fully re-emerged, she blew into the tiny space, and sawdust came spiraling up out of it.
"See what I mean?"
"WELL, IF YOU SAY SO! A WHILE BACK, UNDYNE STAYED OVER ON A PARTICULARLY NASTY NIGHT, AND CAUGHT NEAR-PNEUMONIA. THAT WAS A VERY WORRYSOME WEEK...IT'S A GOOD THING YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE SNOWY WEATHER AT LEAST A BIT BETTER! SOMETIMES I WORRY FOR HER, WITH HER BEING THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND ALL. THE LAST TIME A HUMAN CAME DOWN HERE, IT...WASN'T PRETTY."
"You really care about her, huh?"
"WHY OF COURSE! WAIT...HAVEN'T YOU ASKED ME THIS ALREADY?"
"Perhaps. Heh heh heh..."
"THERE'S THAT CHEEKY LAUGH AGAIN...WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU, HUMAN?"
"Oh, nothing. Nothing whatsoever...Hey, let's do that last training session, and then I'll be on my way. And, uh, how about you keep the movie for now? Might need a little extra space in my bag later on."
"YOU KNOW, UNDYNE MIGHT LIKE TO WATCH THAT SOMETIME," he commented as they headed back into the house. "SHE'S DEFINITELY THE TYPE OF PERSON THAT'D LOVE WATCHING COUNTLESS HUMANS GET EATEN!"
"I would think. Hey, wait, wait, watch this..."
She creaked the front door open to check for the other skeleton; he was still standing beside the couch, but he seemed to have dozed off. Ginger quietly came beside him, then tapped his shoulder.
"...huh...what...?"
He turned his head to find the human just a foot away from his face, looking him right in the eye.
"ALAN."
And barely a moment later, the entire house was erupting with the echoes of laughter bouncing off the walls.
...
"Eighty-eight! New high!"
"EXCELLENT WORK, HUMAN! YOU'RE ALMOST AS ADEPT ON THE BATTLEFIELD AS I AM NOW!"
"Yeah...Well...Thanks again for havin' me here," she said to him, gathering her fallen arrows from the snowy ground and shaking them free of snow. "But I gotta head out; that Temmie Armor might be finished by now, so I'll have to pick that up on my way there, too. Next time you catch Sans lazin' around, steal the chance to put on that movie for him."
"WILL DO! WE'LL...STILL KEEP IN TOUCH, RIGHT?"
"Hey, man. What are phones for?"
"OH! RIGHT! WELL, LET'S TALK LATER! YOU'VE GOT A BARRIER TO CROSS!"
"Catch you on the-"
She was interrupted when the skeleton scooped her up in another goodbye hug.
"Oof!...flip side of things...!" she wheezed. "Dude, I can't breathe..."
"NYEH! SORRY, HUMAN...WELL, HAPPY TRAILS! NYEH! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
She turned and headed east again, bound for Waterfall. Before she stepped out of the snow, she looked back one more time. Papyrus was still standing there, waving.
What a cool dude...
Finally, she sped up and made her way through the dark caverns, passing Echo Flowers, hopping bridge gaps, heading ever forward, nobody by her side except her bag and her DETERMINATION. But she was careful not to rush, with the chance she might run into Undyne unprepared.
Finally, she made it back to the mushroom path that lead into Temmie Village, and made her way south, waving to the other Temmies as she passed them by, before entering the shop. The keeper was waiting there, giving the completed set of armor one more polish.
"tEM don! tRY IT ON AN SEEE IF IT FITs!"
She slipped her cloak, messenger bag off and shoes off, then fitted the armor on over her orange and white short-sleeve and brown shorts, slipping the boots on over her socks. She didn't even realize she was wearing socks until now; they were a light orange color, just like the slash marks on her shoes. She wondered how she got them...
Oh, well. Doesn't matter.
The shopkeeper pulled over a mirror, and Ginger took a good, long look at herself.
It was almost a complete set, only lacking a helmet. The chest and back plate, shoulder pieces and gauntlets were all thin metal over light leather, and the arm pieces, leggings, boots and tassets were a combination of metal and thicker leather. The use of extra leather in place of metal lightened the weight of the armor; perfect for energy conservation and mobility, which she would need.
And the armor made her look sharp, too; in fact, she never felt stronger.
The suit was missing just one thing, however...What is was, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
But then it struck her.
"Temmie...Do you happen to have any red paint?"
"yaYa!" she answered, fetching a small tube of it from one of the shop shelves and handing it to the human, along with a small brush. "wHAT 4?"
"Just wanted to add a finishing touch to this...You sure I don't owe you anything? I don't have a ton of gold, but I could probably at least give you, like, ten or something."
"nU! u KEEP UR GOL! tEM INSISTs!"
"If you say so, Temmie...Thanks again for the armor. It's incredible," she bid on her way out. "Maybe I'll see you around again!"
"bOI!"
She exited the shop, then slipped the chest plate off, readying her brush with the scarlet paint. She made one stroke of the brush right down the middle of it, then one across up toward the top, then another across the center line, and it was complete.
This was the Symbol of Bhachtyr, the curved double cross which served as the emblem of the Tytonic Union, presently representing the two talons of Lyze of Kiel as they tore across the High Tyto's face in the Battle of the Ice Claws. The bright red color symbolized the burning passion all Pure Ones carried in their gizzards, and their oath to vanquish all things impure. It had first been seen used for the historic League of the Ice Talons by their leader, General Bhachtyr the Destroyer, whom the High Tyto himself had trained beneath during his prime. After the Snowy Owl perished, young Surtr took several pages from his book as he formed the Pure Ones, including his insignia. The Symbol of Bhachtyr; it was the Delta Rune of the Pure Ones.
And it was exactly what completed the armor.
"Finally going to face off against the cap', huh, kid?"
"Oh, hey there, Bob. Yeah, I'm ready," she replied, putting her cloak back on over her armor. "Big day, huh?"
"I'll say. Just...do us all a favor and don't go over board. A lotta people look up to Undyne around here, and...well...it wouldn't exactly be happy news for the Underground, finding out that their greatest hero kicked the bucket."
"...I'll do what I have to...but I won't overkill."
"Thanks. Rootin' for ya, kid."
The human nodded, then left Temmie Village for perhaps the final time; she didn't know if she'd ever be back. She headed along the mushroom path, trying to find her way through the maze to the northeastern road. She finally made it, and tracked her way back up past the row of Echo Flowers, across the bridge that Kidd nearly fell to his death from, and up to the next turn north.
She could sense that she was getting closer. A nervous pit settled in her stomach...or was that hunger?
Before she approached the north turn, she pulled out some of the spaghetti in the container she had leftover from the first helping Papyrus had ever given her, and she downed some more of it. After having eaten Papyrus's more successful batch, she found her face scrunching up reflexively; he had definitely done better than this since her arrival.
At least the meatballs are good...
Ginger packed it back up in her messenger bag, then slid out her bow, slipping all except one of her arrows into the smaller pouch closest to her back for easy access. The one arrow she still had in hand she set in the bow string, ready to fire it, and then she headed towards the turn, her footsteps quiet and light. The path turned north through a large rock structure, that almost looked like a miniature spire, like those in the Beaks...except it was far more jagged, and would impale anything unfortunate enough to fall onto the rock spikes from above. Another Save Point was just to the right of the turn, and Ginger brushed her foot through it.
*Waterfall-Undyne Arena
*File Saved
Undyne Arena...She had to be close now. The human looked up at the rock structure, and...
At the very top of it stood a familiar armored figure, dark and foreboding. Her back was turned to the human; she seemed oblivious to her presence.
Ginger rose her bow, pointed her arrow, then pulled the string back, aiming right at the captain's right shoulder. Undyne would be in for an unpleasent surprise.
And she fired.
And just before she let go of the string, the monster moved to the side, then shot her arm out as soon as the arrow passed where it would have hit had she not moved.
...She caught it.
She CAUGHT the FLYING ARROW IN HER HAND.
"...You missed," she taunted. Ginger was tempted to flee through the crag right then and there, but cowardice was not an option. So she stood her ground.
"So I did," she answered her.
"...Seven," Undyne continued. "Seven human SOULs, and King Asgore will become a god. Six...That's how many we have collected thus far...Understand, human? Through your seventh and final SOUL, this world will be transformed...First, however, as it customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people...It all started long ago..."
"The War of Humans and Monsters."
The Captain of the Royal Guard turned her head back down towards the human.
"The plaques scattered across Waterfall...I read them all. The battle. The aftermath; the construction of the Barrier and your imprisonment...The prophecy."
She turned her head back forward.
"...So, you know."
"I do."
"Hm...Well...It doesn't matter."
"Doesn't it?"
"No...Wanna know why?"
"Why?"
The beast answered by turning to face her, and she leapt up off the jagged spire and landed before her.
"Because either way, you're about to die!" she bellowed, summoning her spear in a flash of blue light. "Your life is all that stands in between us and our freedom! And I can feel the hearts of every SOUL in the Underground pounding together at this very moment! Everyone has been waiting their whole lives for this day! And when everyone puts their hearts together...we can never lose! Especially against a weakling like you!"
"You underestimate me, Captain," she defended, the last word coming out a nasty growl. "Little do you know, whenever I wasn't outrunning your magic attacks, I was training for this moment. I knew I'd have to face you eventually, and that time has come."
"Fool! I've been training for longer than you've been alive! What makes you think you can defeat me, you coward? And let's not forget your lying little goody two-shoes shtick you've been using to get yourself around! 'Oooooh!" she mocked. "'I'm making such a huge difference by helping random strangers!' You know what would be more valuable to everyone! If you were DEAD!"
Now the human was angry; Undyne had trampled over her pride and spat on it. Her rage began to build, and her blue eyes developed a fiery glow.
"If you think I'm a coward, and that I only strive to urge others on," she announced, holding fast onto her bow and readying another arrow. "I'll fight you right now!"
"That's it, then!" the monster answered, assuming a fighting stance. "Now more running away! Let's settle this once and for all!"
"Do your worst, you masked beast!"
The creature snarled, then rose her hands to the sides of her head and pulled up, setting an object on one of the spikes jutting out off of it, making a metallic *clank*. The shadows cast by the jagged spire obscured the image, but upon closer inspection, Ginger realized what had been done.
She'd taken off her helmet. The ultimate sign of personal conflict.
This was going to be a brutal fight.
A/N: Bet you all know what was in that envelope Sans got...heh heh heh, I love putting little easter eggs and references in this story; makes things funnier. Also, the inclusion of Jurassic Park III...It'll definitely spawn some more humor down the line. It's technically the worst movie in the series, which makes the fact that the characters enjoy it so much sort of a joke itself.
Also, don't let the title of the chapter deceive you. Even though it has the same name as one of the music tracks from the game(which plays at the very end of the True Pacifist Route) we're nowhere near the end. Au contraire, we're not even halfway done yet!
Oh, and for all you fellow Ga'Hoole nerds out there(if any) I changed some things up from the books to better fit the Pure Ones' role as protagonists in this series.(Despite their moderately differing objectives, they're technically the movie-verse Pure Ones, even though there are several book characters also mentioned.) In the books, the Snowy Owl's name is Bylyric, but the Symbol of Bhachtyr is still the canon name of the emblem. I switched these things up because canonically, the Symbol of Bhachtyr is a...uh...haggish symbol, if you know what I mean. And ah don wan that.
Got to admit, it looks sprinkin' awesome, though.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Remember to leave a review, and stay tuned for the fight!