16 DA-THE UNDERGROUND SUN IS THE CORE

Frisk wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, but suddenly the morning light was pressing on her eyes and opening them. She squinted through the rays that filtered through her window, over the country hills and the few buildings dotting them. The ceilings of the underground spread high above, hanging like a sea of stone. It seemed endless, vanishing over the horizon and a bright white light in the distance. Although the source of the light could not be seen.

Curious, Frisk rolled the blankets Rachel had likely tucked her under away, curled her legs beneath her and stared out the window. "If that's not the sun, what is that?"

"That… is the Core."

"The Core?" Frisk turned to see who had spoken, but there was no one there. Chilled, and with a burst of adrenaline she leapt out of bed and rushed down the stairs.

An aroma like bacon and eggs reached her nose. Rachel was in the kitchen. Her ears twitched in Frisks' direction and she looked up at the slightest of sound. "Mornin!" she smiled, "Hope you're hungry! Take a seat, say your thanks, and have a bite."

The table was spread with plates and utensils, and there were pots and bowls of rolls, what seemed to be eggs and bacon, along with a few other few unrecognizable foods. Much if it had been grabbed already, but it seemed there was still enough… Seated around the table were a dozen young monsters chattering or chittering away with childlike enthusiasm. Frisk might have felt a pang in her heart at not seeing any humans and feeling terribly out of place… But the monsters' happiness was the cause of the ache in her, not their faces.

"Mornin!" Henry carried a basket of laundry past Frisk, who despite being ravished, was rooted in place.

Rachel gave the human a second glance, nodded knowingly, and stopped what she was doing to make Frisk a plate. "Scuse me, hand me that please," one of the kids oblidged, and within a few seconds she'd sat a plate down at an empty seat beside a bear with long floppy ears, dark brown fur, with paws that were more like thumbs than a real bears. Rachel caught their attention, "Someone new, a girl named Frisk is going to sit here. A'right?"

The bear gave a slight nod.

Rachel waved a hand at Frisk, and she came over and sat down.

"Hi," the bear said softly, "I'm Jared. Nice to meet you Frisk."

"Yeah, you too," she grinned, and fumbled with her fork. She poked at the eggs.

"Would you like some salt?" the bear scooted over a small shaker with a stubby black claw.

"Thanks," she sprinkled it across the eggs, and started to eat.

After a while, she realized someone across from her was staring.

Frisk glanced up at them, but they blinked and looked away. "Sorry," they mumbled. "Just- uh… thinking."

"When did you come in?" a boy, a scrawny dark orange almost pug like faced kid said. When he shifted in his feet, something black and webby shifted behind him. Oh. Bat wings.

She swallowed her food before she answered. "Late last night."

"Late this morning," Henry corrected as he walked past.

"Oh, uh, okay. Were you out in that storm?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "It was absolutely freezing. I thought I was going to loose my toes."

"How long were you out in it?"

She paused. "Had to have been the entire day. It was walking for a really long time, it was dark, then it got light again, and then it got dark."

"Wow. Did you have any idea where you were going?"

"Does anyone?"

"Someone told me about the inn, and helped me here."

"Oh, yeah? Nice of em."

"Bret, you ask too many questions. Let her eat." The next one who spoke was taller, had four horns branching from her head, and other placed like her shoulders and wrists. Her clothes were cut short on her shoulders to avoid the horns. She resembled a german shepard, in color and shape, but with thin fur, a Mohawk of brownish gold along her head and spine. Around her joints and horns the skin was callused and black. Her arms were long and slender, but taught with muscle. She might have been one of the oldest of the kids. She looked really tough, but not unfriendly.

"Ah… I'm Enyo by the way. What was your name again? Frisk?"

"You heard right. Enyo?"

"Yep," she downed a glass of orange juice.

"Bout done?" she glanced at Frisks' plate.

"Yeah… uh, what was that… purple stuff?"

Enyo's eyebrows lifted, "You've never eaten grizo?"

"No?"

"Huh. It's a type of bird."

"Oh."

"Its like a chicken," she scooted her chair back and sighed, stretched her arms toward the table. "Agggh," she yawned, baring all the teeth of a dog. Her canines were a little longer than normal though, and her tongue was purple. "Im gonna get up, wanna come with?"

"Frisk can't go outside with you, Enyo," Rachel said.

"Oh?" she tilted her head in a curious way. "Has she got a coat?"

Rachel was silent for a moment. "If you've got one to spare, then she can."

"Would ya mind?"

Frisk shook her head, "No."

"Ha, I've got one. It'll look like a dress on you though!" she got up, and walked around the table. Frisk got up and went after her, following her up the stairs.