Chapter 4: Understanding
"I was a general in the war as Fuku said," Grillby said to the girls sitting in his lap. "But before the war, there was peace."
"What changed?" Frisk asked.
"Humans feared monsters would rule the world and so started the war," the orange fire elemental said. "I joined the fight, but resolved to not attack unless I was attacked first. Every monster followed this rule, but the humans unfortunately didn't as they were afraid of our magic."
"Because we can do things humans can't?" Fuku asked.
"Yes," Grillby said with a nod before looking at the green fire elemental. "I'm well aware of the stories about my being fierce and not one to have angry at you, but I'm afraid those stories are a little exagerrated."
Frisk nodded. "I've never seen you get angry, Uncle Grillby," she admitted.
"It takes a lot to get me angry," he said. "I believe I know where that story might have come from."
Seeing they were eagerly listening, he smiled. "I was on patrol on the east side of the mountain when I saw a human male hitting a human female. I noticed she was trying to get away, but she was trying to protect her stomach, which was quite large for her small frame."
Frisk gasped. "She was expecting a baby," she said.
"Yes," Grillby said. "When I realized she was pregnant, I stepped in to stop the male, who foolishly ran at me, but I sent him to the ground by just moving and he tripped."
Fuku giggled. "Bet that surprised him," she said.
"It did and when he saw fireballs coming at him, he fled, swearing to come with reinforcements. I turned to the pregnant woman, who was looking at me with both fear and awe. I knew I had to get her to somewhere safe, but if the other humans saw me with her, it wouldn't go well."
"What did you do?" Frisk asked.
"I picked her up and carried her to the hospital, keeping to behind the buildings to avoid notice. The doctor was shocked to see us, but when he saw the woman was expecting, he helped her out and I stood guard. It was no doubt a good thing I did because that man, who I later learned was her ex-husband, came back with reinforcements, forcing me to protect not only the woman, but the doctor too."
Grillby raised a hand and a wall of fire surrounded the three of them. Fuku looked at it in awe. "The wall of fire," she said. "A fire monster's main protection."
"That's right," he said, squeezing her shoulder. "I managed to drive them back and the sheriff took care of them. The doctor, knowing that the army would no doubt be coming after hearing that a monster was in town, helped me to escape through the back, but not before the mother let me hold her child."
Frisk's eyes sparkled. "She let you hold her baby?" She repeated.
The orange fire elemental chuckled. "She insisted upon it, actually," he said. "She had given birth to a fine, healthy son and amazingly, the boy didn't cry as I held him, but he looked straight up at me and even grasped my finger."
Fuku was amazed. "He trusted you," she said. "I heard somewhere that babies can tell if someone is trustworthy or not."
The young human girl nodded. "My grandmother once told me that," she said before looking back at her uncle. "So, you escaped?"
"Yes, but after another battle. I had to use a lot of magic, which made it look like I had several rings of fire around me, which resulted in some of the people getting burned, something I wasn't happy with," he said.
"But they had attacked you and you were defending yourself," the green fire elemental girl said. "That wasn't your fault that they were stupid humans." She gave her human friend a sheepish look. "No offense, Frisk."
"None taken," the child said as she agreed the humans that had tried to trap the orange fire elemental had been stupid to do so.
Grillby nodded. "Another story is that an orphanage director was abusing children and a couple of them had run into monster territory. I found them while I was patrolling and not only healed them, but they asked me for help," he said before smiled. "As you both might have guessed, I can't ignore a child who needs help."
He closed his eyes a moment before opening them. "I went to the orphanage and stopped the cruel human, who engaged me into a battle and I was very angry that they were hurting innocent children. The battle ended with her having second-degree burns and she was in the hospital for a long time while a new director came in. I visited the orphanage once more afterwards and the kids swarmed towards me, calling me a hero." He sighed a little. "If only more human adults were like those children: open-minded and unafraid."
"Some of them must be, because Frisk is," Fuku pointed out gently. "She's not scared of you."
Frisk looked a bit sheepish. "Actually...I was afraid of him when I first met him," she admitted.
The green fire elemental looked at her in surprise. "No way. For real?" She asked.
"Yeah," the human child said. "I met Grillby when I was walking through Snowdin looking for Uncle Papyrus and I got cold. The next thing I knew, someone grabbed me and pulled me in here and when I saw a person on fire, I got scared."
Grillby chuckled. "Ran through the restaurant and tried putting chairs in my way to slow me down," he said, tickling Frisk's side to make her giggle. "But she learned quick that it wouldn't."
The ten-year-old giggled again. "I ran into his office and hid under his desk, closing my eyes and thinking if I couldn't see him, he wouldn't be able to find me," she admitted. "But he did."
"Quite a wiggle worm," the orange fire elemental said in amusement. "You wouldn't stop squirming."
"That was because you kept tickling me," she retorted without heat. "Which helped me see that if he was an evil monster, he would have hurt me, but he didn't."
Fuku smiled a little before looking sad. "I agree with Grillby," she said. "I wish more humans were like you, Frisk. Willing to be open-minded and not judge just because of what we are."
"Perhaps there will be someday," the orange fire elemental said with a nod before looking at Fuku. "So, am I truly so terrifying now, young one?"
She giggled. "No," she admitted before looking sheepish. "I'm sorry."
A hand gently rested on her head, stroking it soothingly. "It's easy to believe stories to be true, especially when you've been told them so much that it seems that it must be true," Grillby said gently. "And that's where a lot of people get misguided ideas about things."
"Like you, Uncle Grillby," Frisk said. "Those stories painted you to be an evil monster, but you're not."
"Far from it," he said before nuzzling his nose against her nose, making her giggle. "In case you haven't noticed, I love children."
"I can believe that," Fuku said with a smile. "You wouldn't have tickled us or told us a story if you didn't."
Smiling, Grillby began tickling them both and they giggled and laughed, squirming to get free, but they were trapped as the male fire monster tickled them both, chuckling in amusement before blowing playful raspberries into their necks, making them squeal louder before he let them up and Frisk snuggled into his hug, as did Fuku, who smiled as she saw he really was gentle. She could also see that the stories about him were exagerrated.
She then had a thought and nodded as she rested her head on the orange fire elemental's shoulder. Frisk helped me with Grillby. I'm going to help her with Undyne, she thought to herself.
She only hoped the fish woman would be willing to listen.
Will Fuku be able to save Frisk from Undyne? Stay tuned to find out! :)
And please leave a review, but no flames!
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