"...So..." the High Tyto grumbled. "...It seems as though the monsters of legend weren't as much a myth as we once thought."
"I'm just as surprised as you are, Your Pureness. And honestly, I've got some pretty mixed feelings about it. On one wing, my first impression of that one we spoke with was overall good; she seemed harmless enough, and she she even gave the young general a lending wing when she fell through."
"And you believe that through an adverse interaction with the magic composing the Barrier, she was transformed into a human?"
"That's the theory. Aside from the human part, everything she said to us about her matched, from the name to the shade of her eyes."
"Well, Tarn, we both know that shape-shifting magic is not foreign to us; if natchmagen could do it, then there's no reason to say monster magic can't. Who knows? They may not be all that different from each other."
"Yes...On the other wing, just because one's nice enough doesn't mean they all are. She could be in grave danger, Your Pureness, and I'd like your thoughts on the-"
Metal Beak rose his wing abruptly, signaling Tarn to silence himself.
"...Something's happening."
A gust of cold wing blew through the tree tops. The Sooty Owl's gizzard twisted into a terrified knot, yet at the same time, he felt a course of adrenaline flood his veins.
He knew this combination of feelings all too well; it was the feeling one felt when flying into war.
"...You're right." he realized.
"What?"
"She's just entered the battlefield; I can feel it in my gizzard."
"...Oh, no...Who? What? I'm scared to imagine..."
Another haunting image came to his mind. It was a picture of the white-feathered king of the Ga'Hoole Tree, Boron, mask, claws and all, with a burning hatred in his eyes.
That type of enemy...
"The most dangerous kind of enemy, Tarn. Something fierce. Something vicious. Something so determined to kill her that it won't stop until one of them is dead."
"What do we do?" Phillip finally asked, his already quiet voice quaking.
There was a long silence before the High Tyto finally answered him.
"...Nothing," he replied flatly.
Tarn and his protégé exchanged glances, their beaks somewhat agape.
"I know what you're both thinking," the old warrior told them. "You must think I'm yoiks, right?"
He couldn't help but let out a bit of a chuckle after he said it.
"...No. There's nothing we can do. Sending another Pure One into the mix will just cause havoc down there, I know it will. She's dealt with foreign forces by herself before, and things turned out for the better, is that not the case? In fact, is that not why we are here on the mainland with the eagles right now?"
"...That is the case, your Pureness," the Burrowing Owl confirmed.
"Young Ginger may be exceptionally apt on the battlefield, but her true talent is peace-making. She is a diplomat; she knows how to work with people. And when she can't talk her way out of things, she'll fight, and she'll fight valiantly. This is her battle. Let her fight it."
"...How will we know if she-"
"Time will tell, young Phillip. Time will tell..."
An eerie song seemed to echo through the trees as the wind howled through the leaves. A great cloud blew over the sun and cast the forest in a shadow, and the king of the Pure Ones could hear the rumble of thunder above growing stronger. Louder. Angrier.
The earth itself seemed to be in tune with Ginger's gizzard as she faced whatever beast wanted her dead.
The thunder, pounding like a drum-her beating heart.
The wind, bending even the tallest trees-her strength.
The cascade of rain that was soon to follow-her fighting spirit.
The brewing sky, ready to unleash its fury...her DETERMINATION.
The earth was ready to clash against the enemy with all its strength, and ready to bring new vigor into the ones who looked up to it with the storm it was forming.
But the earth refused to die.
...
Ginger glared up at the captain's unarmed face as she emerged from the shadows, scanning her over.
Sans wasn't joking when he had called her a "fishwife."
She really WAS something like a fish, albeit a very humanoid one. The scales on her face were a murky greenish-blue, and red-webbed fins protruded on either side of her head where there should have been ears. The sharp, crooked teeth that jutted out of the top of her mouth were nearly as yellow as her slit-pupiled right eye, and where her left one should have been there was instead a dark eyepatch. Her hair was nearly as red as blood, and it blew like a red banner in the hazy wind.
Good Glaux...She's HIDEOUS! Ginger almost wanted to say, trying not to let the confident smirk on her face soften into a mocking laugh. Undyne's ugliness made her feel that much better about her human form.
The fish flashed a menacing grin.
"Ready to die?" she taunted.
"Not today, fish-face."
They assumed their fighting stances.
"En garde!"
"Have at thee!"
Ginger swiftly fired one of her arrows, and her enemy just barely missed. She shot the human a poisonous glare, then summoned one of her arrays of spears, pointing them all down at her. They took their time approaching the target, and Ginger found herself dodging each and every one.
"Not bad," Undyne sneered. "Then how about this?"
She sent a wave of energy at the human, sending up the pebbles from the ground as it washed over her. The human felt something happening to her SOUL again, and it revealed itself to have lost its flaming red-orange hue and become a sickly shade of green. It darted back to where it belonged, and Ginger suddenly realized that her feet had stuck where they were, fastened on the ground.
She couldn't move.
"As long as your green, you can't escape me, human! Unless you can face this head on, you won't stand a chance!"
She summoned a streak of smaller, pointed bullets, coming at the target head on. Ginger noted that they seemed thin; could she block them with her bow?
Ginger tried this, and to her surprise and joy, it worked. Each of the three mini-spears dissipated the moment they touched the bow, and she was left unharmed.
"This is too easy," Ginger sneered.
"Then how about I give you more of a challenge?"
Now the bullets were coming from both her front and her left. And they were going faster.
Fortunately, she still blocked them all. And the moment she blocked off the last one, she aimed her bow and shot at the monster's shoulder in a split second. The tip completely embedded itself into her shoulder plate, and Undyne staggered back sporting a grimace.
"Direct hit!" the human cheered.
The fish monster winced as she reached up and yanked the arrow out of her armor before snapping it in two and casting it to the side. Ginger could see that a good half of the tip was red with her blood; it had gone in pretty deep.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that!" the captain roared, striking up another array of bullets.
And now they were even faster.
And coming from every direction; even the back.
But the human didn't give in; she cut off almost every spear as they came, no matter what side they approached from. Even the back ones weren't as hard as they seemed; she just had to catch sight of them before they drew near and time her blocks right. Only one of the back arrows hit; and with her Temmie Armor, it didn't do very much.
But then Ginger's SOUL flashed back to scarlet, and she just barely noticed a larger spear coming her way from the side in time to duck beneath it. Ginger lifted her leg, and it actually complied; her feet were free to move again.
"I'll give you some credit," the monster snarled. "You've held on longer than the last human did against me."
"Well, unlike the last human, I came prepared."
"Really? Then let's see how well you prepared for THIS!"
Now there were spears coming up out of the ground at her, and Ginger zig-zagged forward towards the enemy as they continued to strike from below.
She was approaching melee range, and Undyne summoned another one of her longer spears in preparation. The younger warrior analyzed the position of the monster as she got closer, looking for a place to strike. She noted that her legs were spread apart in her stance...maybe far enough apart to...
Oh, she won't be expecting this...
Just when it appeared the human was going to head-on tackle her, it dove down at her feet. When the captain looked down, she was gone.
"Wha-"
And then came a swift series of blunt blows right to her spine, just hard enough to stun. Right when she turned around to face the offender, she was met with a hard thwack up the chin, and then another, stronger one right to her face.
If Undyne had a nose, it certainly would have been broken by the impact.
For good measure, Ginger tore off her cloak and flung it into the monster's face, and she tangled herself in the fabric trying to break free of it, emitting a series of angry grunts and muffled curses.
The human took the opportunity to escape through the tunnel going north through the spire; she had another trick up her sleeve.
Finally, Undyne freed herself of the abandoned cloak and stood tall again, her eye almost glowing orange with fury. When she scanned her surroundings, the human was gone; she must have escaped through the tunnel and up the path leading into Hotland.
She couldn't let her get there.
The captain rushed through the tunnel in pursuit of the human; she was still nowhere to be seen. The human had to be somewhere close by. There was no way she could get down the path that quickly. If SHE couldn't do that that quickly, there was no way a scrawny human could.
"...You're a thorn in my side, and in everybody else's down here!" she growled.
"You know what's worse than a thorn in the side?"
Her voice came from somewhere above and behind, and the captain turned to face it; nothing there but the jagged spikes of the rock formation and the inky shadows it cast.
Undyne continued meandering the area, searching for the smallest sign of the enemy. It had gone eerily quiet.
"No...What?" she inquired, hoping it would get the human to show its face again.
Instead, her question was answered by an intense pain going through the back of her leg at the joint, just missing the kneecap. It was one of the only weak points in her armor. The pain was incapacitating; she fell forward and caught herself with her own hands as she collapsed, calling out as she did.
"How about an arrow to the knee!?" the human finally said.
Undyne reached back to remove the projectile from her leg; she would be sure to deliver twice as much pain to he human.
The sound of metal boots approaching, lighter and quicker than her own, came fast.
"Or how about-"
Just when she managed to pull out the arrow, she was met with the powerful, metal slam to the side of her face.
"A boot to the head!"
The fish monster let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a pained groan and an angry holler as her arms caved in, and her adversary pushed the same armored foot she'd attacked with atop her head and pressed her face down into the dry dirt.
"Had enough yet?" she taunted.
Undyne growled as she mentally tried to shake off the pain, and flashed another ugly grin.
"...I was just warming up!"
And the beast grabbed Ginger by the foot, rolled over and sent the human falling flat onto her stomach. She tried to stand back up and make a run for it, but she was a moment too slow. Before she knew it, the Captain of the Royal Guard had pinned her down onto her back with her own foot, and she summoned a spear and pointed it down at the human's face, just inches away from her left eye.
"Now..." the monster roared. "Now I've got you. Anything you'd like to say before losing your head?"
"Yeah...What's Papyrus doing here?"
"What...?"
She turned her attention towards the path beneath the spire behind them.
"Papyrus?"
*But nobody came.
He wasn't there.
But what DID make itself present was another blow to the side of her head; this time with BOTH of the human's feet, and it knocked the monster back onto her own feet, though badly disoriented by the attack. Ginger saw this, and she took the chance to further decrease her rightness of mind with two more jabs, right to her ugly face, followed up by the strongest straight punch she'd ever thrown, so strong it made her own hand sting, even with the protection of her gauntlet.
"Shouldn't have taken off your helmet, fishy!"
Undyne exclaimed in shock and agony at the blow, bringing her hands up to her face. Ginger took the opportunity once more, bolting up the northern path.
When the captain finally opened her eyes again, she saw the human heading down the pathway, Hotland bound.
"You filthy LIAR! GET BACK HERE!" she hollered, staggering back onto her feet again and bursting into her own sprint. It wasn't long until she began to catch up with the enemy again. Ginger tried to hasten her already fast gait, trying to push herself to the very limit, but it was futile; somehow, even clad in her heavy set of all-metal armor, Undyne was nearly twice as fast a runner.
She was just nearly upon her when Ginger got the smart idea to stop in her tracks and duck down again. The fish monster failed to react quickly enough, and tripped over the knee-high obstacle the human had curled herself into.
"Ha! Thanks for DROPPING by!" the Pure One remarked, leaping over her with a powered stride and turning back to face her, a smug grin spread across her face.
The beast snarled.
"Come on! Let me STICK around a little longer!" Undyne retorted, sending another wave of magic energy sweeping over her.
Just like that, Ginger's feet were stuck to the ground again.
"Oh, come on..."
And Undyne used the same attacks as before; the tiny spears coming at her from all directions, but this time, they were faster than ever. Ginger was hit by a good three of the first wave, and even with her armor, she was beginning to be worn down.
"For years we've dreamed of a happy ending," the captain proclaimed. "I'm not gonna let you snatch it away from us when sunlight is just out of reach! Give up, already!"
"It won't make a difference! Every time you knock me down, I'll get right back up!"
"UURGH!" she growled, summoning another array of bullets, all of which Ginger blocked out this time. "Alphys told me humans had something called DETERMINATION, and that was what made them so strong. I see now what she meant by that...But I'm determined, too! Determined to END THIS! RIGHT NOW!"
Now for her next trick; the arrows came from all directions, but they weren't pointing straight forward. Ginger wondered why...
Only to find out that it was because they swerved around and hit from the side they pointed at in a very confusing manner!
She only managed to block four of the ten bullets, and by the time the assault had ceased, she was nearly battered into collapsing. She huffed, then rose a hand to her cheek; the skin had broken there, and her face was slippery on the metal finger tips. Sure enough, the bronze-yellow metal of the finger was wet with red.
"What's the matter, punk?" Undyne sneered. "Can't handle a little blood?"
"I've seen plenty of blood! In my last battle on the surface, my stomach was torn clean open and I still fought!"
"I'll believe it when I see the scar! You're just a coward, thinking you can intimidate me with your lies! 'WHAT'S PAPYRUS DOING HERE?' You sicken me! Alphys made me think humans were cool...But even your giant robots and flowery swordswomen can't convince me that you're anything less than the scum of the earth!"
"I don't know anything about that! But you know what I do know?"
"What?"
"That I at least have two eyes to see just how NUTS you are!" she answered, firing another arrow from where she stood.
The monster's eyes widened, and she dodged the arrow just before it went right into her middle. When she turned back to face Ginger, her huge, menacing smirk shrank into a tiny frown. The human raised a confident eyebrow.
"Gotcha," she mocked in a whisper, winking with her left eye to add insult to injury.
Undyne tightly shut her one right eye.
"Gonna cry me a river, now?" she scoffed. "That'd be a sight to-"
Before she could finish, the fish monster opened her eye again. The yellow sclera had darkened into a black void, and her slit pupil flashed white against it, now shining with a passionate hatred as intense than the fyngrot of any hagsfiend. She bore her jagged teeth again in a beastly scowl.
"...Oh," Ginger said flatly, realizing her potentially fatal error.
"...How DARE YOU...!?" she snarled. "I. WILL..."
Another series of bullets appeared around her, more plenteous than ever, and a heavy mix of the standard blue and the off-throwing yellow ones. Ginger paid close attention to the direction the yellow spears were pointing in, even at the speed they were going, and managed to block all except one blue bullet and all but two of the yellow ones.
Undyne flashed her SOUL back to scarlet again, and the human ducked beneath another larger spear as it whizzed by without warning.
"SLAUGHTER YOU!" the creature finished. "Forget the surface! This! THIS JUST GOT PERSONAL."
"Try me!" the human snapped as she turned tail yet again, turning the corner heading east and passing an electric sign that read:
"WELCOME TO HOTLAND!"
Almost there... she said to herself, throwing her arms behind her to give her gait a streamlined speed. For a split second, she realized that this was how the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park III ran, tilted forward and on their toes, just like so many birds did. And that was what made them so fast.
The only thing Ginger was missing was the sturdy tail for weight balance; despite the speed of her gait, she felt as though she would fall flat onto her face should she slow down, like Kidd so often did when he ran.
And then when the sound of the captain's metal footsteps entered her ears again, she remembered WHY she was running like so.
Keep it up or you'll never watch Jurassic Park III again!
She had so much more than that to live for, but it was still enough to make her legs pump just a bit faster. Even so, Undyne was still gaining ground; by the sound of it, she was only a few yards behind her. Ginger clenched her fist. If she tried the obstacle trick again, she might become predictable. She had another idea.
When the fish monster was just about to grab her by the shoulders again, she spun around to face her and sent a hook flying clean into her jaw, powered by her entire torso.
Ginger caught sight of something small and yellow fly out of Undyne's mouth before she covered it. She caught a whiff of raw fish, with just a tiny bit of a metallic tint to it, and she saw blood dripping from the fish's mouth and leaking out of her fingers.
Holy racdrops...Did I just knock her tooth out!? That's awesome!
But she barely had time to celebrate her feat; she had to keep going before the beast could regain her senses, and she bolted back down the path, finally passing the sign and exiting the tunnel.
Now, the atmosphere had turned from cool to humid, but she could barely tell, and she could care less. She passed a sentry station; Sans was there, and he had apparently dozed off, completely oblivious to the events playing out before him.
Ginger crossed a wooden bridge, hovering a good twenty feet over a lake of lava; the heat wave rising up from the molten rock hit her almost instantly, and she didn't even realize it until she was already across. Finally, her legs' pleas to rest were answered, and she staggered to a halt just ten feet away from the bridge; her armor might not have been as thick as Undyne's, but it was still trapping in heat, and it was getting to her quickly. She couldn't go on like this without giving herself a heatstroke.
The human turned around just in time to see the monster stumbling forward across the bridge, twice as badly affected by the heat and humidity than herself. The scowl on her face that she'd flashed at the lazy skeleton was wearing off, and as she stumbled forward, she nearly lost her footing on the bridge and fell into the pool of magma below.
"...Armor...so...hot..." she huffed with a low growl, her eye glazing over. She wasn't even sure what she was looking at anymore, her vision had gotten so cloudy.
"But I...can't...give...up..."
Readying another arrow, the human stepped back slightly, only slightly, as she watched the captain fall to her knees, reaching out towards the human with the hand not being used to keep her from collapsing, in a vain attempt to grab her.
"Come...back...here...you...son of..."
She emitted an obnoxious combination between a gag, a cough, and a gasp for breath, and her arm gave way, letting her fall onto the bridge, the wind having been completely knocked out of her.
Ginger watched for what felt like an hour, though in reality, it was barely half a minute. Every so often, Undyne would open her eye again and mumble something unintelligible, trying to crawl forward across the bridge. But it was obvious that she wasn't completely there. She wasn't going to be getting up any time soon in the state she was in.
"...Heh..." the human huffed. "Heh heh...Hah ha...Ha ha ha...! Ha, ha!"
Her relieved chuckles strengthened into a victorious laugh.
"Ha, ha, ha! HA! Parry that, you sprinking casual!" she spat. "If I wanted to, I could finish you off right here, right now!"
And she was very tempted to do so to the one who had relentlessly stalked her through Waterfall and had just tried to outright murder her face-to-face.
But the promise she'd made to Bob held fast with her; if she killed Undyne, all of the people that looked up to her...Papyrus, Kidd, many others...They'd lose all hope.
"...But I'm not going to," Ginger continued after stepping closer to the creature and leaning over her enormous form. She wasn't even sure she could hear her, but she still said it. "I'm not going to stoop down to your level and turn into the cowardly scum you think I am. Just to prove how wrong you were."
"I'll..." the monster wheezed. "...Kill...you..."
"Really?" she mused. "Let's see you try."
The captain rose a shaky arm up at her, using the other one to try and lift herself yet again. But after a few seconds of wobbling, it gave right back in, and as she collapsed onto her stomach, just like before, her eye rolled up into her head, and she went limp, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Ginger watched for a few seconds as she lay there, motionless; the only movement she could detect was the slow, shallow rise and fall of the beast's middle as she struggled to breathe.
"Look at you...You're ridiculous!" she giggled. She was defeated, she was completely out of it, she was helpless! She was...she...
She didn't look very good. If she didn't do...something, she'd probably die anyway, cooking alive in her oven of a set of armor like the fish she was.
"Ah...I'd go get the lemon and butter, but, uh...Catch and release, I guess? Papyrus wouldn't like hearing that you were roasted alive...Neither would Kidd...or anyone else..."
She looked around in search of someone to help her out; there was no way she could drag the heavy monster all the way back to Waterfall.
But instead of another monster, her eyes settled on a water cooler, sitting in the far northeast corner of the island in the lava they were on.
"Oh, joy and rapture..." she huffed. Even if she wasn't in near as bad shape as Undyne, she still had to prevent herself from meeting the same fate.
The water cooler provided paper cups, one of which she gladly took from the dispenser before pushing the tab on the faucet and generously filling the little disposable cup almost all the way to the top. Instead of swigging it down in one gulp, she savored the drink; it was no spring water, having a bit of a bitter hint from the impurities from the cooler itself, but it was cold and it was wet, and that was all she cared about.
"Sweet nectar of the Sacred Forces..." she gulped as she finished off the beverage. She filled the cup again and turned to look at the fallen captain; her eye had opened back up, and she was staring up at her with a strange, delirious, almost pleading expression.
"Thirsty?" she asked as she showed Undyne the cup full of water, another smug grin spreading across her face. The human looked at the cooler again; there was still PLENTY of water in it. It wouldn't hurt to just...
"Whoops," she remarked, tipping the cup and letting the water spill out onto the hot, dry dirt, which eagerly soaked it up. The monster's eye widened at the sight of the human sadistically pouring the water out onto the ground before her.
"N...no...You..." she pleaded, reaching forward once more, only to lose consciousness yet again, emitting a parched cough before she did.
Ginger filled the cup one last time, then drew near the monster, getting a better look at her face. It looked very dry-no sweat, even-and very bruised from all of the punches the young fighter had thrown at it. The trickle of blood running down her chin from the corner of her mouth was drying up, too, sticking to her face. The human sniffed; she could have sworn she smelled cooking fish already.
"Alright, fine. No more foolin' around. But I'm not doing this because I feel sorry for you. This is for everyone else's sake."
She stooped down before her battered face and poured most the water over the top of her head, wetting it; her green-blue scales seemed to absorb some of the moisture. The piscine creature groaned and coughed again. Ginger rolled her eyes, then grabbed her by the chin and tilted her head up to pour the rest of the water directly into Undyne's mouth through her crooked overbite. When she put her heavy head back down, she saw some of it begin to dribble out.
"Jeez, swallow the stuff," she told her with an unamused frown, crossing her arms. "I'm not your mom."
"Uuuuugh..." she moaned, beginning to regain her senses.
"Well, I hate to leave you in the dust, but...Wait. No I don't. Anyway, I'm gonna make like a bird and flock off."
Saying this, Ginger leapt back over the creature with a bounding stride and bolted back to the sentry station she's seen Sans at on the other side of the bridge. The skeleton was gone; maybe he'd wizened up and made his own retreat before the fish could screech at him for being a lazy, useless bum. Either way, it seemed like a smart decision to duck beneath there before Undyne could regain her senses all the way and comprehend what she was doing.
Soon enough, Undyne's clanging, albeit unsteady footsteps drew near, but she didn't bother approaching the station; she just staggered by, focusing more on staying awake long enough to get back to Waterfall from this muggy hell than searching for the human again. She'd get her chance again, and there were mercenaries in Hotland that knew how to handle her if she got there before she could. Right now, she just had to rest.
The human peeked out from the sentry station the moment the monster disappeared down the tunnel, sliding the bow and unused arrow back into her bag. Hopefully, she wasn't going to be coming back any time soon.
"Oh, man..." she heaved, a smile inching its way across her face. "Heh. You're not goin' so soft, after all, you know? You still got it, Ginger. You still got it..."
It was just then that her phone rang. She fished it out of her pocket, flipped it open and answered the caller.
"Hello?"
But there was no answer. Nothing but static.
"...Hello?"
"ALAN."
As soon as she realized what'd been said, she burst into a laughing fit. Papyrus did the same on the other end as response to her reaction.
"How's it goin' Papyrus?"
"YOU'RE ASKING ME HOW I'M DOING? IM NOT THE ONE GOING OFF TO FACE CAPTAIN UNDYNE ON THE BATTLEFIELD! NYEH HEH HEH HEH! BUT YOU SEEM IN GOOD HUMOR. ALL WENT WELL, I'M HOPING? DID YOU, PERHAPS, EVEN MANAGE TO CONVINCE HER TO...NOT CAPTURE YOU?"
"Ah...I'm a little bruised up, but I took less of a beating than the fish. Heck, she almost croaked with the heat; she chased me all the way to Hotland and collapsed on the bridge above the lava. If it hadn't been for me, she might not have made it."
"OH, HUMAN...EVEN AFTER ALL OF THE THREATS SHE MADE TO KILL YOU, YOU STILL HAD THE HEART TO GIVE HER A HAND. I'M TEARING UP JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!"
"Aw, come on, Papyrus. Don't get all sappy on me."
"NYEH! UNDYNE SAYS THAT TO ME SOMETIMES...YOU KNOW SOMETHING, YOU ALMOST SEEM LIKE A SMALL, HUMAN VERSION OF HER IN SOME WAYS. YOU ACT SUPER TOUGH AND YOU FIGHT LIKE A BEAST, BUT DEEP DOWN YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT PEOPLE. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHY YOU FIGHT THE WAY YOU DO! FOR YOUR FRIENDS!"
"Heh, yeah...Guess you could put it that way. Gerson said something to that extend the first time I visited him. Oh, and if you're wondering, Undyne's on her way back to Waterfall, I think; probably heading home."
"LIKELY SO! OUR TRAINING SESSION IS IN JUST OVER AN HOUR. OH, THAT REMINDS ME! I CALLED TO ASK YOU ABOUT THE GRAND IDEA I JUST HATCHED UP!"
"I'm all ears."
"PICTURE THIS: YOU. ME. UNDYNE. AT HER PLACE. MAKING SPAGHETTI! HONING OUR BATTLE SKILLS! HANGING OUT TOGETHER AND BEING THE BEST OF FRIENDS!"
"Uh...Me? Friends? With HER?" she scoffed. "Give me a break, Papyrus; never in a thousand years, willingly at least."
"OH, JUST GIVE HER A CHANCE! EVENTUALLY, SHE'LL COME TO REALIZE JUST HOW GOOD YOU ARE, EVEN IF SHE DOES NEED A LOT OF CONVINCING! WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY I'M INVITING YOU TO COME WITH ME TO HER HOUSE! IF WE CAN CONVINCE HER THAT SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO KILL YOU, I'M CERTAIN YOU TWO WILL END UP MAKING GREAT PALS!"
"Aaaaand, you're positive that she won't end up splattering my blood all over her walls like she said she was gonna do?"
"DON'T WORRY, HUMAN! I HAVE A FOOLPROOF PLAN!"
"That being...?"
"YOU'LL SEE! SO, WHAT DO YOU SAY? MEETUP AT HER PLACE AT SIX?"
"I...Well...Okay, but I'm bringing my bow just in case things go awry."
"DEAL! SEE YOU IN AN HOUR! HER HOUSE IS IN ONE OF THE NOTHERN PATHS IN WATERFALL, NORTHWEST OF TEMMIE VILLAGE! YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY MISS IT IF YOU SEE IT! THE HOUSE ITSELF LOOKS LIKE AN ANGRY FISH!"
"I think I know where it's at; I've been around that area a few times recently, and I think one of my Temmie friends went there himself to help out with leading her off course when we were trying to send her off my trail."
"A TEMMIE, YOU SAY! ONE MADE YOU THAT SET OF ARMOR AS WELL, RIGHT?"
"That's right. But this Temmie-his name's Bob-He's uh...a little more...how do I put this...normal, then the other Temmies. I mean, don't take that the wrong way, I love how the Temmies speak and act, but...Bob is, like, a breath of fresh air among their antics, you know what I mean?"
"AH, YES! HE CERTAINLY SOUNDS LIKE A FINE FELLOW! WELL, TALK TO YOU LATER!"
And he was gone. Ginger smiled; he was REALLY what she'd just needed, after all that went down.
But as comforting as they were, his words were not a panacea for her wounds. She was an absolute mess; her cheek was scabbing over and wet with blood, her sides were bruised from the inside out from the magic mini-spears, her good fist was sore from all of the punches she threw with it, her armor was tattered and bloodstained, and her hair was a greasy, tangled mop.
"Wouldn't be surprised if I look like I came right out of a coffin," she remarked before heading back west for Waterfall. Perhaps she could buy some food from somewhere to patch herself up before showing up at the captain's house.
Gerson...Maybe some more of his Sea Tea would do me some good, if he doesn't mind it.
She followed the path from which she came, down the Echo Flower Path and navigating the mushroom maze. She could almost smell the deliciously earthy beverage already, and...Didn't he also have crabapples? Anything that'd help her out. Frankly, even if she did like the Sea Tea, she didn't care whatever food she could get hold of would taste like, as long as it healed her wounds.
...
"Good Queen of Monsters in a flowery muumuu!" the old tortoise exclaimed when he caught sight of the battered human entering his shop.
"I know," Ginger sighed, making sure she wasn't trailing any blood into the den. "I look like death, don't I?"
"You look like younger me came back from the past and decided to clobber you! What've you been doin!? Fightin' against the captain herself!?"
"Uh, well...Yes, actually, Mr. Gerson. I did. And, uh...You could say I technically won. She should be fine, though; went back home."
"Well...'s long as she's alive...Can I getcha anything?"
"Maybe some more of your Sea Tea. And I think I'll have a crabapple to boot. Anything to patch myself up."
"Oh, well, sure thing there, kid. If I don't, you might end up keelin' over right here in front of me! Heh heh heh heh!" he remarked as he tended to preparing the beverage, the same as last time. While he waited for the water to boil, he fetched something from one of his shelves, tossing it up in his surprisingly nimble hand as he made his way back over to the human with it.
Ginger dug out 43G to make the exchange; now she only had 24 to spare, but if this helped her out, she could always get more.
"That's for the Sea Tea, too; I'd give a tip like I did last time, but I'm startin' to run a little short compared to last time we met."
"Well, that's just fine; I don't need no tip; just happy to have this stuff of my hands, is all. You and your tall bony friend just made my job a whole lot easier with your helpin' an old man out, that's for sure. Here's the Crab Apple, there ya go..." he told her as he dropped the fruit into her open palm.
"Oh..."
"Somethin' wrong?"
"No, no...Just was, uh...expecting something a little different from this, I guess..."
The crabapple he'd given her wasn't a crabapple, but a literal CRAB APPLE. It was shaped very much like a crab, and the salmon-red skin splotched with lighter yellow patches was soft and almost wet to the touch.
"Well, what WERE you expecting?"
"Uh...Something a bit more round and small, I guess..."
She bit into it curiously; it tasted like a cross between a watermelon and a pear, and the flesh was so juicy, when she sank her teeth into it, it spurted some of it out.
Not bad...Better than the Sea Tea, actually.
"The crabapples on the surface are like that," she explained after she swallowed. "And not anywhere near as sweet and juicy as this, they're more, uh...sour and stiff. Erm, I just had a thought; have you ever considered using these to make tea?"
"Well, shoot, I certainly have!" he replied. "Although I will admit; it works a lot better in Golden Flower than in the Echo Flower blend I whip up here. It clashes against the nice, down-to-earth taste and aroma with its sweetness; completely overrides it, actually. And if there's too much tea in the mix, you can't taste the Crab Apple. There's no thin line of balance, no matter what you try to do to them. It just doesn't work off the paper."
"Oh. I see what you mean."
"'Up, water's boilin'. Here it comes."
...
*Waterfall-Quiet Zone
*File Saved
Ginger sighed, then made her way back over to the small pool of clear water just west of the Save Point, dangling her legs over the edge. The toes of her shoes just barely scraped the surface as she lightly kicked them in a tedious fashion, watching the tiny ripples forming from the little scuffs she made on the water.
She looked at her reflection; her wounds had mostly disappeared, except for a few tender spots n her sides and one on her cheek, but she was still covered in dirt, perspiration, and a few drops of dried blood. And the smell of it wasn't too pleasant either.
"Well...Hope there ain't nobody watching right now."
Ginger removed her stuffy armor and the now tattered cloak that she'd retrieved on her way back through the spire tunnel again and stored them away in her bag. The armor stowed away surprisingly well inside, much to her satisfaction. Then she removed the bag itself from her shoulders, and slipped her footwear off, now only in her shirt and shorts, then dipped herself into the small spring, not giving a hoot that she was getting her clothes all wet, to cleanse herself of the grime the battlefield had coated her with. Even after a good ten minutes of scrubbing her scalp with her bare hands in the water and running her fingers through the length of her tawny hair, she could swear that it still had dirt and grease in it. If she ever needed Woshua and his soap hose, now would have been the time.
But she finally got everything off, even without the aid of soap.
The human grunted as she pushed herself out of the water and sat back onto the ledge, shaking some of the water off her feet before fastening her socks and shoes. She stood up, then wrung her hair, and then finally took her shirt up and squeezed the water back into the small pool, looking down at her reflection again to make sure she hadn't missed anything.
And then, when she saw her abdomen, she paused.
"Wait..."
She leaned over the water and squinted, her shirt still lifted up to expose her toned middle. There, going across from the left and curving down at the right half, just below her ribcage, was a somewhat jagged line, slightly darker and pinker than the rest of her skin. Where did that come from?
But that was when she remembered.
"Oh...That..."
She didn't know how she hadn't noticed that scar before; maybe it was because of the white feathers that used to grow over it, and they concealed it from vision. But now that those were gone, she could see it clearly. It wasn't an old mark; the fight with the Black Kite from overseas had only happened a month prior to now, and other than the scar, it had healed quite nicely.
"Huh...Interesting."
She wasn't particularly bothered by it; her shirt could hide it easily, and even so, it was something to show off. Maybe gloat about to fellow warriors. And it could be far worse; she could be missing an eye, like the fish monster that had tried to kill her barely a half hour ago.
Speaking of which, hadn't she openly disbelieved her claim?
"I'll believe it when I see the scar!"
One more thing to prove her wrong about; she grinned, then sighed.
If things went wrong at her place, she might have to repeat that whole episode all over again.
A/N: Sooooo, how was that? I never thought I was the best at depicting fight scenes in written form, but I think this is one of my better attempts at that.
I know I've said this, like, too many times now, but thanks for readin'! Remember to leave a review! :D