Chapter 3: Navigating the Ruins

Suddenly, after sitting against the lavender wall for a few moments, I heard… something. It was not footsteps, but hopping. After what sounded like multiple jumps, it stopped just outside the door and sounded a light croak. It must have been the Frogit from earlier. I figured it would be okay if I just took a peek at it.

Slowly, I stood up and walked over to the door. When I peered through the opening, I saw the little white frog gazing up at me from the other side. Wanting to see how it would react, I decided to try being nice. I gave it a little wave. "H-hi, there," I greeted. "I'm sorry about earlier, I really didn't want to hurt you."

The Frogit looked at me curiously. "You don't want to hurt us?" it ribbited.

"No, I don't. I think you're a really sweet little monster."

Blush crept onto its cheeks. "Really…?" It seemed to smile. "Why, thank you, human. I… I do not want to hurt you if you do not want to hurt us."

I decided to push fully through the door, despite what I'd been told, and kneel down by the frog. I smiled a little at it. "Thank you."

It nodded. "Sure. You know, the Ruins aren't really that dangerous. If you talk to the monsters you meet here like you did to me, they probably won't want to fight you. I mean, they may not be as accepting as I am, but if you figured out what to say that would get them to not want to fight, I bet you could make them understand that you mean us no harm."

"You think I could?"

"Yes. You seem like a really nice human."

I smiled gently. "Well, I don't want to hurt anyone if I don't have to. I don't think it's right."

"Good for you, human," croaked the frog. "I really appreciate that you understand us. Really, we do not like to cause trouble. Thank you for being kind in return." It turned and looked ready to hop away. "I am sorry, but I must go now. Good luck getting home!" With that, it leapt away and disappeared through a dark doorway. I called my thanks after it.

Now I was alone, again. But, as the Frogit had said, the Ruins wouldn't be too dangerous if I showed mercy. I decided not to go back to the long room, but to continue exploring by myself. Toriel would take a long time, anyway.

This room was the largest I had seen yet. There was not much in it apart from a path leading to the far side and some piles of fluorescent red leaves. I wasn't sure where the leaves had come from; there were no trees in the room. It was strange, but interesting. I kicked one pile and it exploded into the air. I giggled childishly as I watched them flutter to the ground. Doing this alone in a new, unexplored place made me more determined and ready to discover all that awaited me.

Suddenly, my new phone rang loudly, vibrating my pocket and making me jump. I quickly fumbled to get a hold of it, and flipped it open.

"Hello..?" I said as I lifted the old device to my ear.

"Hello, my child," came Toriel's unmistakable voice from the other side. "This is Toriel. I just wanted to make sure that you are doing alright. I am sorry that you cannot leave the room I left you in, I just fear that it will be too dangerous without my guidance in the rooms to come."

I hesitated. Of course, I had left the room, and I didn't want to go back. But… I also didn't want to lie. I thought for a moment. "I'm fine, I haven't gotten into any trouble." I hoped that would work.

"Oh, that's good," Toriel responded. "Also, I am sorry to bother you, but… For no reason in particular, do you prefer cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Taken off guard but relieved at the change in subject, I had to pause and think. "Um… butterscotch, I guess."

I heard Toriel hesitate. "Alright, thank you. But, just out of curiosity, you do not dislike cinnamon, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"Oh, good. Okay, I am sorry for bothering you. Be good until I return, alright?"

I smiled involuntarily. "Okay."

There was a click as she hung up. I returned the phone to my pocket, relieved that I didn't have to flat-out lie to her. Even though I didn't know her very well, she felt familiar, somehow, almost like my mother back up on the surface. And through that familiarity… I didn't want to be rude to her. I sighed. I didn't have time to wait around. I needed to find a way to get out of here. If that meant disobeying Toriel… I guess that's what I would have to do.

I went to continue toward the far door, following the path in the middle of the room. Suddenly, I felt a burning pain on my right arm. I halted and jumped with a shriek, wondering what had caused it so suddenly. I looked to my right to see a strange-looking insect monster hovering above one of the piles of leaves. As soon as it saw me make eye contact, it looked like it was going to cry. "I-I'm sorry…" It whispered. Looking away from me, it released a flurry of tiny moths that flew in my direction. When I let one touch my shoulder, thinking it was harmless, I immediately realized what had burned my arm. They were magical moths.

Despite the wounds I had earned from the attacks, I decided to try to get it to stop attacking peacefully. "Hey," I said gently. The monster flinched at my words, and tears began to run down its face. I was hit with a pang of sympathy. "I don't want to hurt you, please don't cry." It whimpered and released more moths. Knowing what they did, this time, I stepped out of the way before they could touch me. I tried again: "What's your name?"

It hesitated. "Whimsun…" The insect monster stared at me, then burst into tears, zipping out of the room and down the hall. "Oh, I-I can't do this! I-I'm sorry! I don't want to hurt you either!"

I gazed after it for a moment, stunned, then realized the burns, again. "Ow…" I hissed as I ran my fingertips over the areas. I would have to be more careful if I was going to make it out of here safely. I clutched my arm and painfully continued toward the doorway, hoping I wouldn't run into anything dangerous in the next room.

To my relief, it was just an empty, short room. I walk ahead with a sigh, focusing hard on anything other than the burns. Just as my thoughts were beginning to wander, I felt the ground under my foot crack, and I screamed as my body plummeted through the floor. I landed on my stomach a few seconds later with a harsh "oof" as the breath was knocked out of me. My head spun from impact, but I composed myself quickly and looked around in case any monsters were there. There was a Frogit in the corner, but it was just watching me calmly and didn't look threatening. I heaved myself up and noticed I had fallen on more of those red leaves from the room before. If it wasn't for them, my fall might have been much worse. I silently thanked them.

The only ways to go were two stairways, one to my right and one to my left. I thought before climbing: Which one might lead where I needed to go before my fall? I tried the stairwell on my right. It was darker than the rest of the Ruins inside, and I was happy to see light again when I got to the top. I was back in the room with the cracked floor. I looked to my right and saw that the room I had come from was now on the other side of the hole I had fell through. I smiled and continued on my way.

I saw the Whimsun from before hovering in the corner. As soon as it saw me, it looked terrified. I smiled at it, and after a moment, it smiled back faintly. It fled before anything else could happen.

I looked around. This room had a row of spiked flooring about halfway through it, blocking progress. On my side, there was what looked like another pressure plate… And a big rock. I glanced a sign on the wall that read "three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them". This puzzle seemed easy. I walked over to the rock and leaned my weight against it, feeling it begin to slide across the floor. I gave it one final shove, trying to ignore the resurfacing pain in my arm, and it came to rest upon the plate, triggering all the spikes to be sucked down into the floor. I grinned, somewhat proud of myself. I entered the next room.

I stopped in my tracks. The room was very large, and the entire floor was covered with cracks. Before deciding to attempt walking on the cracks, I came up with a plan. I went to the edge of the solid flooring and began tapping along the edge of the cracked area. When I reached an area that seemed to be stable, I stood up and slowly put my foot on it and applied my weight little by little. When it held my whole body, I started tapping with my foot around the area I was on. I felt like I was making my way through a minefield.

More holes opened up under my pressure, and through them, I could see the room below. Leaves covered only some areas of it, and others were blank. I squinted to make out the sign: "please don't step on the leaves". I looked straight down. There were leaves directly beneath all the places with broken ground. I quickly understood: the upper room was the lower one's mirror image.

This gave me a good idea of where to walk. I stared down the hole for a while, trying to memorize as much of the pattern as I could. I continued carefully but confidently, following the pattern, but testing the ground a little bit before each full step. I made it about half way across the floor before I couldn't remember any more of the pattern and stepped somewhere wrong. I barely managed to keep myself from falling through the newly-created hole. Through it, I glimpsed a monster that looked like a pile of jello crawling along the ground. I flinched when I saw the broken pieces of the floor crumble down on top of it. It stopped, observing me above, shot a lazy ball of slime through the hole (that I easily dodged), then gave up and continued crawling along. My fear eased.

I glanced at the pattern below again, then was finally able to make it to the door. I sighed in relief, letting myself feel stable again. I was happy to just see another rock-sliding puzzle in the next room. This time, there were three pressure plates and three rocks, and a waterway across the middle of the room with a bridge covered with spikes. I began to make my way to the first rock, but froze as soon as I saw another one of the jelly monsters in the room. It had no eyes, but seemed to be staring at me.

Nervous energy crept into my chest as my Soul shone through my sweater, letting me know that this jelly monster was not as laid back about my presence than the last had been. The monster burbled, then lobbed multiple balls of slime at me, which popped in the air and multiplied into fans of smaller balls. I tried to dodge as best I could, but a couple made contact with my leg and good arm. Pain rushed through my veins causing me to let out a little shriek, but I clenched my jaw and tried to hide it.

"H-hey, please don't fight me," I stammered, fighting back the cries that were trying to come out. "I-I don't want to hurt you."

It stopped, seeming to think about what I might have said. It started flattening a bit, like it was lying down. I felt it "looking" at me expectantly. Not wanting to chance it attacking me again, I tried to understand what it meant. Did it want me to lie down, too? I tried it. It felt unbelievably good with all the pain I had been in. The new wound on my leg stopped hurting, too, once I got the pressure off it. The monster jiggled a little bit and made another burbling sound that seemed a little more happy than the last. I think it must have been happy with me, considering that my Soul's glow faded.

I realized how exhausted I was when I felt sleep start to tug at me. I begrudgingly heaved myself up before I could obey it, knowing I couldn't just stop in the middle of this place. I had to keep going.

"Thank you," I whispered to the monster, which burble once more and crawled away into the last room.

I limped over to the first stone and began to push it with all my might. The first one reached the pressure plate. Then I moved to the second. Then I put my hands on the third…

"Hey!"

I jumped back with a startled yelp, glancing around the room in alarm to try and find the source of the angry voice.

"Who said you could push me around?"

I riveted my gaze at the rock. "E-excuse me…?"

"I said, I never gave anyone permission to move me. I'm stayin' right here."

A rock was talking to me, now. I was beginning to think I was going insane. "I… I'm sorry, sir. I just need you to move over so I can get across those spikes."

"So you're askin' me to move over?"

"Yes, please."

"Alrighty, just for you."

I watched as the large stone scooted toward the pressure plate, then stopped after only a few inches. "U-um, could you go a little further?"

"Hmm? You want me to move more?"

I nodded. "Yes, please."

"Alrighty then." The stone inched the the left, away from the plate. I sighed in defeat.

"What? Was that the wrong way?" The rock asked.

"Yes, sir. I'm very sorry, but could you move over to the pressure plate, please?"

"Sure."

Finally, it scooted all the way onto the plate. I smiled as the spikes went down. I walked over to cross the bridge. "Thank yo-" The spikes went back up as I was just a few steps from them. I froze and looked back at the rock. It had moved off of the plate. "U-um, sir…"

"Hmm?" came the rock. "What, did you want me to stay there?"

I nodded. "Yes, please…"

The rock moved back onto the plate. "Alright, kid. Good luck out there."

I finally made it across the little bridge. "Thank you!"

The room I entered was another hallway… but it smelled strongly of cheese. I plugged my nose as I walked past a short table with a piece of hole-filled, orange cheese sitting on its surface. Beside it sat what looked like a small pile of golden coins. Curious, I scraped the coins off the table and into my pocket. I desired that if they were used as currency in the Underground, they might come in handy later. I ran out of the room, not wanting to smell the cheese longer than I had to.

Somehow, the burst of adrenaline I had gotten from running had brought back the feeling of determination.