KOTV 12 SOUNDS LIKE WHISTELING?

The little ghost hopped left and right across the path, over a hill, onto a tree trunk, spin around in circles, spin around to look back at Frisk, all the while never stopping. It couldn't seem to contain its energy.

Frisk's legs had nearly given out from all the running.

"Ha-hey, wait, I can't keep up!" she was afraid to say it too loud, and so it came out like a whisper. Her heart felt another pang of worry: Does that skeleton even need to hear me to find me? Her frantic breath puffed white around her as she turned and looked about.

Dissuading the impulse to ask no one more questions, Frisk willed her legs to keep going- despite their aching and wobbling beneath her that almost sent her sprawling with the slightest misstep. When it seemed she could run no more, her feet crossed the border of the forest, and she stood on a crossroads. Everything was quiet, her breath was loud, and puffed white before her vision, and the storm had reduced to a calm, peaceful snow. A white haze lay thick however, so her field of vision was still quite short.

Slowing, the ghost craned its long neck and set its spotlight eyes on Frisk, still looking across the field. It was expressionless, save for a nose and ear twitching while it said: "Keep moving." It turned, skipped around, whisping about slowly like the smoke tail of a candle flame until it flickered out and vanished entirely.

"Huh? Hey, wait!" Frisk hurried forward, looking for prints in the snow, but she found none. Her shoulders sagged as she realized her guide had gone. A stillness came over her, and she took a deep breath, not really looking at anything while she chided herself. What am I doing relying on demons anyways? She gawked at herself. How do I know they're leading me anywhere safe after all they've done to hurt me? Hmm… the skeleton… I can't really trust him either because he still probably wants to drop kick me in the face. But I don't know if I'm better off on my own or not. But how do I find someone that doesn't want to hurt/hunt me?

"I'm so confused… Why am I here?"

What am I going to do if he finds me? She shivered at the thought. I'm a harmless bookworm! I don't know how to fight! I only know what it looks like to fight! Anxious, and trembling, she let out a sigh, wrapped her arms around herself, and began to walk. At least the snow was thinner here. Somehow. Her legs were so wet and cold… snow stuck to her skin and hair, and her clothes while some parts that had gotten wet had actually frozen.

I hope my toes aren't frozen off by now. It might have been a crazy thought, but it also might not have been given the circumstances. As much as she tried, she just couldn't shake the disturbing thought. She tried approaching the idea rationally at least… Obviously my toes are still attached because without them I would lose my balance. I haven't lost my balance and fallen yet, so that means my toes are not frozen off! Unless they're only half frozen and haven't cracked off the whole of my foot yet, so they would still support me even if they were mostly frozen…

"Aaaggghhh…" Frisk groaned in dismay at her spinning thoughts. They were creeping her out; sounding so curious and casual. It was almost like she was listening to someone…

Her thoughts continued: If my toes did break, or I couldn't walk anymore from exhaustion, what then? Well, I would have to crawl through the snow. And then maybe my fingers would freeze off. And what would I do without fingers? Fingers are important. If I can't use my fingers, I'll have to use my arms. And if I can't use my arms, then I'll have to use my teeth. Or my face.

"I could just figure out how to make an igloo. Those are warm, right?" she said to herself lightly, trying her best to calm herself down. When she still felt doubtful, she just got frustrated with herself. "Shut up already, sheesh… You're walking, you're breathing, its fine, and if you lose a few toes, it's still fine… at least you won't bleed to death because your blood would be frozen… ugggh…." She wiped her nose on her sleeve, and imagined how red her face must be now.

Noise. A jolt went through Frisk and she froze to listen.

It sounded like… singing? Whistling…? The wind? Frisk swiveled, steadily looking around. The snow was so thick she could barely see ten feet in front of her. But then there was something. Tall and broad shouldered, striding through the snow with pure confidence was a giant. A red scarf thrown about his neck flared out behind him and billowed in the wind like a cape. Holes and tears speckled the edges from use.

Gulping in fright, Frisk lunged away and plopped into the snow, holding her breath while her heart hammered. She could have sworn someone could have heard it thundering a mile away.

The whistling stopped. "Eh….?" There was a crunch of a foot halting, and a *thuck* noise as something sharp seemed to impale the snow. The silence was almost eternal, before the snow steadily began to crunch again, and the whistling continued.

As careful as she could, she raised her head to spy over the clumps of snow. How could he have not seen her? Was she that covered in snow? His back was turned, her breath caught as she saw the source of the whistling- a massive spike of bone as long as a sword, half as long as the skeleton that wielded it, casually spinning it in his hand like a baton as he walked along.

She waited long after the crunch of snow and the whistling was gone before she stood.

But there was another stranger. A few yards away, she could just make out a silhouette that vaguely looked like the shape of a stout deer. After a moment, she realized it was coming closer. For reassurance, she looked down at her feet, and saw that they were indeed stopped in the snow. She was not moving closer, they were. When she looked back up at the deer, she was nearly face to face with- him.

He had a coat of chocolate brown, thick and somewhat curly fur at its longest, around his neck and chest, white socked, and white under bellied, with light brown fur around his eyes and nose. His head was slightly wider than a normal reindeer, supporting three handsome eyes, large black pupils with faint brown irises.

Above his eyes… well… It would have been a polite thing to describe the antlers sweeping away from his head as proud and majestic, but… as ornamented as they were with so many flashing Christmas lights, it was hardly accurate. He looked absurd. But no smile came to Frisk, instead she felt frightened. The… three eyed reindeer looked so angry! And he was talking. That made it worse.

Her feet made her shuffle back through the snow, but she ended up falling down and making a "uff!" as she did. And that was what caused the reindeer to notice her, and fall silent.

"Hmm?" he tilted his head at her, stretching out his neck and picking forward through the snow, thin legs taught with muscle and thick fur. His three eyes squinted at her, and then widened, ears pricking forward at once. The lights and ornaments jingled from his antlers, clacking together, reflecting dancing reds and greens across his head and neck.

Gulping, Frisk sat silent, gazing up at the monstrous reindeer. As decorated in the holiday spirit as he was, he looked as though he might trample her any moment. But the expression on his face quickly softened as he looked her up and down.

The reindeer's breath puffed white then- he'd been holding it. Then he raised his head up, still looking down at her. He was slow to say: "What are you doing out here?" he coughed.

The question seemed so random and normal, she hadn't been prepared for it. "Uh… I got lost…" she found herself stumbling over her words, and blinking in confusion.

"Hmm… you have no fur… what are you wearing?"

"… a sweater?" She suggested.

The reindeer snorted. "You've made very poor traveling plans."

"Yeah…" Frisk laughed, and then stopped, surprised at herself.

"Do you know where you're headed?"

"No," Frisk laughed gloomily, "I have no idea where to go."

He gave her a lopsided look then, quirking his eyebrows at her. "Right you said you got lost…" he looked up, right in this case, and his ears flicked forward and back, and when he looked back at her, he puffed more air through his black nose. "The path that leads directly out of the woods- you see where I'm looking? You need to go that way. There's a bridge you will have to cross. There's a rail- hold on to it; there will be ice that will try its best to trip you."

Frisk glanced at her knees, and the snow, and realized how cold her back was getting. Climbing to her feet, she spun around and shook out her shirt. "Aaaah so coold!" she hissed.

The reindeer had shifted himself back a step to give her room. They stared at each other for a moment. Frisk frowned, leaning to one side as she peered up at the reindeers' horns. "Would you like some help getting that off?"

"What?" he jerked his head a little in surprise, and the lights and wires jingled and clinked together.

Frisk had her hand raised, pointing to the tangled colors. "Are those what you were upset about?"

The reindeer blinked his surprise. He looked about, stamped his feet, obviously nervous. "Well, yes…" he sighed. "It was a prank."

"A prank?"

"Obnoxious kids thought I was a tree…" he dipped his head a little, but not too far that he couldn't watch her.

"They must have been some tall kids." Frisk remarked, reaching up to wind away some of the lights. "How are these even working? There's no power outlet." As she took them away from the reindeer, the lights suddenly went dark.

"There are lots of magical items here. It's not really too complicated to understand. The lights reacted to my magic... my energy. But not every monster is the same." He shrugged, "Thank you for removing that awful apparatus."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Confused, she wrapped them into a small roll around her arm, and then threw the bundle around her shoulder after fitting her arm through.

"You're not going to just drop it?"

"No, someone might trip over it," Frisk shrugged, and managed a smile, fidgeting a moment before saying, "Well, thank you for the directions. I'll… just… uh…" she turned, waving to the reindeer as she did so, and trudged on back to the path.

After a moment, the reindeer muttered, "You're going to freeze before you get there…" then the snow crunched lightly behind Frisk, and then he trotted up beside her, peering down at the frail human kindly. "I can't just leave a child with no cat to walk through a blizzard alone. Hop up, and I'll carry you to town."

Blinking rapidly and stepping back, Frisk waved her hands, "Wha- wait, you don't have to do that…!"

"Nonsense!" he looked around for a moment, then waved his head towards a massive clump of snow. "Climb up that snow poff. It should give you enough height."

Looking defeated, but freezing and blue, Frisk shivered, "Are you sure?"

"Quite." He nodded once, and stepped beside the snow poff, waiting.

Frisk fidgeted for a moment, but gave in with a sigh: "Okay." Poking her legs like a crane over the snow, she crossed over to the snow poff to size it up. It was just a giant deflated snowball about four feet high. It was hard, but it wasn't slippery. Pressing her fingers into the snow was like digging her fingers through tiny knives from the ice, but she grit her teeth, leaned her weight forward and dug her knees into the snow. Slowly, she climbed up on the tips of her shoes, sidled to the edge of the snow poff and hooked a leg over the reindeer. She managed to ease her weight onto his back so that he didn't get hurt. She looked at her hands, wondering if the snow might have actually cut them- but they only appeared red.

"Put your arms around my neck. Don't tug on my fur, just keep a grip. Don't want you to fall." When she had done so, he swayed forward, and broke into a trot. Frisk jerked at first, her arms slipping a little, and legs shifting, but she managed to keep her grip. The reindeer had thick and bristly fur speckled with snow, but he was warm. Frisk kept herself tense, arms and legs stiff, her face leaning onto the reindeers' fur. Lifting his legs high and making fine circular holes in the thick snow, the reindeer trotted on at a fairly smooth gate, and still fast. From the taller height, Frisk could see a lot more and farther of the area. It was very beautiful and white, and quiet…

Then the ground disappeared and there was a slippery icy bridge beneath them and suddenly Frisk was holding on for deer for life.

"I've got you, don't worry… but keep a good grip, understand?" he kept at constant trot across the bridge, never once slipping.

Frisk sighed in relief after they had crossed the bridge. It had taken way too long to cross it. "Thank you so much, I don't think I could have done that by myself."

The deer was silent for a moment, but his sides rumbled and then he said: "I suppose it is a bit scary, but it is a well-constructed bridge. It was meant to withstand the cold- though I suppose you weren't…" his voice trailed off.

He continued on at a trot, through thicker and deeper snow and through woods and off paths.

Frisk was silent for a while about it, but then she piped up and asked: "You don't want to take the paths?"

"Ah, no. There are dogs. I'd rather avoid them if I can, and I would suggest you steer clear of them as well."

"Why?" Frisk hesitated, watching the dogs march on their patrol from the distance.

"Pff- Why?" he spluttered, "Because! They're just as obnoxious as the pranksters who adorned me in their cheap plastic rainbows." He huffed in frustration.

"Just stay low to my back, and stay still if you can."

"Thank you for helping me get so far…" Frisk said after a while of silence, "But I don't really know what to do from here."

"The first thing we'll do is get you someplace warm. Don't worry, I know a place with nice monsters who'd love to take you in. From there, you can figure out where you want to go, or where to stay."

Now they crossed down a bank, and Frisk had to tense and lean back and forward again when he landed on his front legs and his rear leveled again.

Ahead of them, tall buildings rose up from the snow as dim grey and brown, brick and mortar. They weren't always too much to look at, but the shape of them was oddly varied. The height and width of doors and floors, and the size of stone for the walls was different for many of the buildings. The roofing was often tile, but other times just metal.

The deer skipped through the snow between them, weaving between shadows down the snow covered alleys for a few minutes before stopping, and looking up at a tall, wide building with ornate trims with swirls and clouds. The doors might have befit a barn they were so big.

"This is the inn. Go on inside, and tell them you haven't got a place to stay, you're alone… and they'll take care of you."

"Think they will?" Frisk swung herself over and off of the deer. Her joints ached from the fall, and she cringed, trying to shift the weight on her legs, but it didn't really seem to help much.

"Most definitely. These are kind people. They'll warm you up, and help you get to where you want to go."

Frisk was still, and just stared for a moment, but then the deer gave her a nudge. "Head inside," he said gently.

"Thank you!" Frisk shivered, stepped onto the porch, pushed at the door. It wouldn't budge. When the bundle of lights on her shoulder sagged, she shifted them back up, and decided to pull on the door instead. It swung outward, and warm light washed over her and cast shadows in the hoof prints in the snow.