A gust of wind blew across the narrow footpath. Frisk brought up a gloved hand, readjusting the beanie on his head. Gravel crunched under his feet as he grunted, glancing down at the rolling landscape, a humble town just barely visible through the lush forest below. The path came to a sudden stop, a small cliff face before him.

He reached up, grabbing onto one of the rocks sticking out from the hillside, looking up in time to see Carter reaching down, arm outstretched. Frisk in turn reached his up, allowing himself to be pulled over the ledge. A pebble was kicked loose as Frisk climbed over the top, clattering to the footpath a dozen feet below.

"Thanks." He huffed as he stood, tugging one of the straps on his backpack.

Carter let out a chuckle, his breath visible as he nodded. "You're pulling me up next time. Dude, what are you carrying in that pack?"

Frisk replied with a playful punch to his arm. "Only lunch and dinner." The pair turned back to the task at hand, finding themselves face to face with the mouth of the cave they had come here for. Carter reached into a side pocket on his pack, producing a flashlight. Upon clicking it on, he bowed, dramatically waving Frisk on.

"Age before beauty!"

Frisk rolled his eyes. "I'm older than you by a month." Still, he also let his light illuminate the cave floor, leading the way in. The gravel turned to dirt with patches of smoother stone under their feet. Frisk let his eyes wander, scanning the cave walls. The occasional drop of water could be heard falling from the ceiling, splashing against the Earth.

With the daylight still barely visible at the far end of the tunnel, Frisk slung his backpack down from around his shoulders, setting it down against the cave wall. He unzipped the top, taking his electrical lantern out. The light gave a scarce hum, but it was effective at lighting up the area around them. Next up, lunch.

As Frisk removed his gloves, he looked up at the distinct sound of a bag of chips crinkling. Carter paused as it was opened. "What? Potato chips are good!"

"Depends. What flavour?" Frisk immediately countered as he pulled out a ham sandwich.

"Salt and Vinegar," came the response without hesitation.

Frisk arched an eyebrow. "Hope you brought enough water. We still have to get back down, you know."

Carter scoffed. "Don't worry about it. I brought a few more bottles up." "...You going to get your driver's when you turn sixteen?"

Frisk nodded. "Oh yeah. First thing on my list. What about you?"

Carter leaned back, crossing his legs out in front of him. "Not sure yet. Might wait a month or so first."

"Well you let me know when you do, be a pleasure to kick your ass on that dirt road around the Corn Maze." As Carter laughed, Frisk looked deeper into the cave. Despite being near the back wall, a beam of light caught his eye. He picked up the lantern, walking deeper down to the cave's end. Sure enough, the back wasn't so much a wall, more a pile of smaller boulders and rocks.

"Here, help me out with this."

Carter grunted as he stood up, walking to join his friend.

"Think there's something behind there?"

Frisk cracked his neck. "One way to find out, right?" He slowly climbed up the uneven pile, starting to pull rocks away from the top to widen the gap. Carter, meanwhile, worked on another portion to try and form a second gap on the right side of the pile. As he pulled on one of the larger rocks though, he found it wedged against the cave's wall. Seeing what he was trying to do, Frisk clambered down from his perch, putting his hands on the bottom, with Carter moving his to the top.

"On three. Ready?"

Carter nodded.

"One, two, three!" Together they managed to wrench the rock free, and with it the rest of the pile tumbled forwards, clearing up a gap big enough for them to fit through.

On the other side, a small beam of light shone in through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating a hole in the ground, grass growing out of the dirt surrounding it. Frisk approached carefully, looking over the edge. He couldn't see the bottom.

"Whoa…" Carter exhaled as he stepped over. "How deep do you think it is?"

Frisk stepped back from the ledge, kicking a pebble over the edge. The two leaned over again, watching as the pebble bounced off the walls, falling into the depths below...but the sound of the pebble hitting the bottom never came as it left their sight.

"Deep," Frisk responded confidently. Carter looked up, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hey Frisk. You know there are legends about this mountain right? About monsters that live below the surface? They say people have fallen down. And they've never come back."

"Nice try. You can't scare me with ghost stories anymore." Frisk could make out little outcrops and ledges on the way down in the uneven walls. He reached his foot over and managed to find a small foothold. Feeling around through the grass he eventually found a solid handhold, and swung himself over the side. Carter stood up quickly.

"Whoa, what're you doing?"

"What does it look like? Seeing if I can get a bit lower and see the bottom!" Frisk kept slowly working his way down. Carter got down on his hands and knees anxiously.

"Hey I don't know if that's a good idea. What if you fall?"

"Oh don't be st-" No sooner had Frisk opened his mouth before the foothold his left foot dug into gave way! Dirt showered down as he hung on flailing out slightly while Carter tried to scramble around to the other side, reaching down to him. Before Frisk could grab on though he lost his grip. He let out a gasp and dug his fingers into the loose soil, scrabbling to try and slow his descent! His feet suddenly touched rock and he fell over backwards, finding himself on his back. As his head leaned over the side of the narrow precipice he was quick to drag himself to a seated position, backing himself up against the cave wall. Carter's voice rang out.

"Frisk?! You alright?!"

Frisk tried to slow his racing heart, taking two deep breaths before looking up to see his friend's face peering over, some distance above him. "Yeah!"

"Okay, I'm going to go get help alright?!"

"Toss my backpack down! It's got some extra stuff I might be able to use if this takes a while!"

Carter flashed a thumbs up, and his head disappeared. A minute later Frisk looked up again just as his bag was dropped over the side...but not near where he was. He quickly shuffled around and reached out over the edge, just barely catching one of the straps as it fell past! As he looked down though, something caught his eye. Something was shimmering in the still air.

He dragged the bag back up to him, resting it nearby. Just as the bag was brought to him though, the shimmer disappeared. Frowning, and with curiosity getting the better of him, Frisk dared to slowly reach his arm down below the precipice. Sure enough before his arm could get to its full length, the shimmer returned. He slowly waved his hand around, and the shimmer followed. It was almost like a reflection off of a lake's surface...only there was no water around.

"What are you?" The thought echoed through his mind as he reached his hand out further, the shimmer getting brighter until it almost resembled a translucent pale white. His fingertips touched the surface...and immediately the rest of his hand was pulled beneath it!

"Oh! No, nonononono!" Frisk gasped as he tried to hook his feet against the precipice, trying everything to pull himself back, but whatever this...thing was, had him. It took just seconds for his feet to be pried loose, and Frisk was jerked down into the abyss below.