"I spared you because you are but a child. The adult humans are savage killers. But you... Maybe you can learn that we just want to see the sun again." Toriel muttered, taking Frisk by the hand and walking them through the Ruins. "... Hmph. I apologize. I went on a rant there, haven't I?" she said. Knowing that she only spared Frisk because they were young didn't make Frisk feel determined at all. "I am glad, however, that you haven't attempted to kill any monsters yet." She said. Toriel stopped, staring up at a dead-looking tree, its wood darker than a night sky, but its leaves were the color of a fiery sunset. A pile of the crimson leaves was bunched around the roots of the tree, and Frisk wondered to themselves why the leaves weren't on their branches. A single leaf, on a limb of the tree caught their eye, and as Toriel walked past the tree with them in tow, they watched it twirl down to add to the pile. Just like everything in the Underground, it fascinated Frisk. They were in awe of Toriel, of the precariously well protected Ruins, the puzzles, and the magical monsters dwelling within. Were the Ruins the only part of the Underground? They couldn't possibly be near the Exit, so Frisk quickly put away that notion.
"You're the first human that has actually fallen down into here in a long time..." Toriel muttered, letting go of their hand and turning to them right in front of a door to a house. "... I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you, little one." She said, the poor light catching the purple gemstones set into her circlet. "Six humans have fallen into here before. They all wanted to go home. I tried to protect them and keep them here, but they all left. And they were all killed. If you want to live, I think you should stay here. But note that if you try anything, you will be killed on the spot." Toriel explained to them, before opening the door and walking in. Her cape disappeared out of sight, and Frisk, a chill running up their spine, glanced back at the ebony tree before running after her.
Her house, at least, they assumed it was Toriel's house, was rather dull. The only source of cheer was the fire burning in her hearth, and the bright little kitchen she had. "I might be the guardian of this place, but that doesn't mean I should have anything more than the normal monster." She explained to Frisk. That made sense to them, but the dark stairs leading into the shadows in the front room peaked their curiosity. "Oh. Before I forget... I have been keeping a room for any innocent humans like you. Follow me." Toriel said, before walking past the stairs into another hallway. She opened the first door, and Frisk was surprised. Her house was purple, just like the rest of the Ruins, but this room was a warm orange and brown tone. "Your room. Feel free to rest as long as you want to." She said, before resting a hand on their head. Toriel quickly stopped the gesture of genuine care she had given Frisk, and quickly turned, leaving them with their room.
Frisk slowly walked in, glancing around. It was nice, yes... But they wanted to go home, and that was the thing. Living in a world of magic and monsters would be fun, minus the fact that no monster would ever trust them completely. And nothing could overcome the fact that they wanted to go to the only home they had known. They didn't have friends in their training camp, for they were much too quiet for any other person to care much for even greeting them. They were often teased for the way that they looked, with their choppy brown hair that they cut themselves with a knife they had stolen from the kitchens, and the many cuts and bruises that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Frisk sighed, closing their room's door and sitting on the bed. It might be true that they didn't have friends, that they were bullied, but living in a world where everyone expected you to stab them in the back wasn't something they wanted. Frisk looked down at one of the legs of their jeans. The fabric was completely destroyed, and Frisk winced.
They didn't have any wounds left from being dragged into the Underground by that weird flower, but the sight of dried blood and the torn fabric made their leg ache just thinking about it. Frisk took out their knife, cutting away the ripped fabric, being extremely careful not to cut themselves while doing this. They had experience with cutting their hair, and they had only accidentally cut themselves once or twice, causing a few cuts to appear on their face. Eventually, Frisk, finishing their job, found themselves with pants that were half shorts and half jeans. They tossed away the bloodied denim onto the floor, and started to cut away at the other leg. They usually didn't care for looking good, but they felt like they had to in front of Toriel. Minutes later, Frisk found themselves laying on top of their bed, scraps of the cut fabric around them and staring up at the ceiling. Toriel had told them just how dangerous the Underground was, but they still wanted to go home. As they thought more and more, their eyes started to close, their body finally deciding that they had had enough of being almost killed.
...
Frisk woke up to a glorious smell. What was that? They had never smelled it before in their entire lives, and they realized just how hungry they were. Frisk hung their legs over the side of their bed, reaching for the little lamp set on a bedside table. They flicked on the light, adding the warm yellow glow to their room. Set on the floor was a plate with... Was that a pie? Frisk had seen their instructors back in their training camp have those, but they had never been allowed a slice. They picked it up, but a strong feeling immediately told them not to eat it right away. What a shame. Frisk opened the door to the hallway, taking in more of the scent of the pie that Toriel had made. As they walked into her living room, they saw Toriel sitting in a large reading chair next to the fire, flicking through a file. "Oh, you're up." She said, closing the file and getting up. She inserted the file into her bookshelf and took a different, more colorful looking book out. "Did you sleep well?" She asked, and Frisk nodded.
Toriel sat back in her reading chair, opening the book up. It appeared to have a snail on the cover. "Please, feel free to take a look around. If you cannot tell, I am very glad that you are living here. I even held off of making snail pie today. ... Did you need something?" She asked, leaning over to look at them. Frisk, feeling nervous, whispered to her about wanting to go home. Her gaze hardened, and she huffed. "You know what I told you." She said, but Frisk pushed her again. "Please, go take a look around." She said, before staring back at the book. Frisk raised a hand to touch her shoulder, but Toriel sighed. "Go take a look around." Toriel ordered, and they left her, going to explore her home. The kitchen was filled with the scent of the pie, and if Frisk stretched up on the tips of their toes, they could see the huge pie pan. The size of it intimidated it too much to even consider eating it themselves. They left the kitchen, walking past Toriel once more, who stared at her book like her life depended on it.
The front room again peaked their interested. The stairs that led down there... What was down there? They turned from it, forcing themselves to keep walking past their room to go explore the hallway. Frisk opened a door, and found themselves in a large room with a gigantic bed. They glanced down at a bucket set by the door, and their stomach turned upon seeing that it was crawling with snails. Ew. They walked into the room, looking at everything. Frisk glanced at a journal opened wide on a desk. There were several notes charting the position of human camps inside of the Underground and how many humans that there might be. But circled, was a terrible joke involving goats. 'I don't know how i GOAT here!' Frisk nearly burst out laughing, and they glanced over the rest of the page, filled with jokes of a similar caliber. 'GOAT any last words?' The notion that Frisk was invading Toriel's privacy slowly came over them, and they decided to leave... After one more pun. 'I've made some very GOAT puns to turn a BAAAd day into a GOAT one!' Maybe Toriel wasn't as hard and silent as Frisk initially thought.
Frisk sighed, turning from the journal, and left her room. At the end of the hall was a single room, boarded up with a mirror hung next to the door. Frisk stood on their toes to look at themselves. Not in bad shape for being dragged into the Underground. They turned, deciding to explore downstairs. They were quiet as they walked down the stone steps, staring at the slimy looking walls. Was this a basement? Frisk kept walking, their footsteps making barely any sound as they moved through the tunnel. Why would Toriel have tunnels under her house? They kept moving, wishing they had more light, when the shape of an intricate door appeared in the dark. Frisk squinted, reaching out to touch it when a fire flared in front of them, making them yelp and dart backwards. They blinked, trying to adjust to the light of the fire in front of them, when a light whipped up behind them.
"I don't know what you're trying to do." Toriel's voice said, echoing in the empty tunnel. Frisk turned, seeing her and biting their lip. "I have given you everything you need, and you still want to attempt what would be suicide?" She muttered, her gaze cold as she looked at Frisk. She took the hilt from her belt, holding it in front of her. Toriel put her hand where the blade would have been, and raised her hand into the air. Frisk gasped as a fire danced to life on top of the hilt. Toriel was using a flame sword. They were on the end of that flaming sword, and at the mercy of the cold heart of Toriel. "I was trying to protect you, but you still want to leave. Stand aside, little one." She said, gritting her teeth. "Come with me peacefully and I will not hurt you." Frisk, their eyes adjusting to the light, quickly explained that they wanted to go home, even if that meant leaving her. Toriel sighed, lowering her sword. "Fine..." She said, and Frisk sighed in relief. "Show me... Show me that you're strong enough to survive the Underground!" She roared, before charging at Frisk, swinging the sword in a large arc to hit them.
Frisk yelped, darting aside. Toriel's back was to the door, and the rage glared in her purple eyes, her stern face illuminated by the sword. She charged at them again, stabbing with her sword and catching Frisk off guard with her speed. Frisk failed to dodge her stab, her sword hitting its mark and searing their leg, leaving a cut where it hit them. That wasn't normal fire. There was a blade behind that fire, conjured from the magic Toriel used. "Fight back! Show me you can live!" She ordered, raising another wide strike. Frisk ducked, barely dodging it. They tried their best to ignore the pain jolting through them, and told her that they didn't want to fight. She sneered, slashing at them again. "How do you expect to live when you can't even fight?!" Toriel asked, and Frisk dodged again, once again with their back to the door. Toriel stabbed at Frisk, catching her mark perfectly by slashing at their hand.
Their cuts started to feel like they were burning, hotter and hotter, but they needed to stay determined. Frisk continued to ignore fighting Toriel, trying to dodge and dodge. When Toriel had landed a few more hits on them, her attacks began to slow, allowing them much more time to dodge. But another stab later, her sword was impaled in the corner of the stone wall, with Frisk cowering in front of her, hurt and just wanting it to be over. They tried their best not to cry, to show Toriel that they were strong, but their tears flowed anyways, looking away from Toriel. The heat from the sword above their head made them beyond nervous, and the burning from their cuts burned. Toriel drew the sword from the wall, staring down at Frisk. She knelt, sheathing her sword and putting a gentle hand on their head as they sobbed. "... Of course... I wouldn't be protecting you if I killed you..." She whispered, before her hands glowed with healing magic. Frisk slowly stopped shaking, realizing that Toriel stopped attacking them. They sniffed, rubbing their eyes.
A small smile was on Toriel's face as she looked down at them. "The Ruins are small when you get used to them... And the monsters here would probably be afraid of you. What kind of guardian would I be if I didn't make them all happy? What kind of friend would I be if I didn't let you go...?" Toriel took a shaky breath, looking at them in the eyes. "... Just know... That if you do end up leaving... You will never be able to return to the Ruins. Please... Think about it." She said, before holding out her arms and hugging them like she didn't want to let go. Frisk hugged her back, becoming filled with determination, knowing that she genuinely cared about them. "... Good luck... My child." She said, standing up and walking off into the tunnels. Toriel glanced back at them, showing Frisk a glimpse of tears within her purple eyes, before turning and almost running off. Frisk slowly got up, slight guilt within them as they walked their separate ways from Toriel. No matter what happened, they needed to get out of the Underground.
The sharp cold outside of the Ruins made Frisk wish that they had some of Toriel's fire. They shook their head to clear that thought, before walking into the woods, glancing back at the tall purple door of the Ruins. Tall, thin, gray trees stretched up to the nonexistent sky, their branches coated in frost and snow. Frisk rubbed their hands together, crossing their arms and walking through the snow. They felt lonely without the thought of someone being near them, but they continued anyways, a chill running up their spine. Frisk took another step, and they stopped suddenly, blinking in disbelief. Why did their step suddenly sound so much... Louder? Frisk glanced around them, before walking off.
Watching them was someone, running over a conversation they had had in their head. "I don't know where you disappear sometimes. You're not even at your station!"
"and so what?"
"I mean, what if some humans come out of nowhere and attack you? What would you do then? You never even train, or... Do anything at all!"
"pff."
"Don't you dare walk off! I'm talking to you! Fine! Go be useless somewhere else!"
They gritted their teeth, shaking their head to clear their thoughts and staring at Frisk walking through the snow from their perch high above the ground in the trees. Frisk neared a bridge, which had bars over it. Frisk blinked, staring at it. They could probably fit through there... Steps crunched through the snow, and Frisk stiffened up, knowing that someone had been following them. They turned slowly, seeing someone just as tall as them standing behind them. The figure held out a hand, and it occurred to Frisk that... They wanted a handshake? Frisk shook their hand, and could barely keep the smile off of their face as the sound of something like a balloon deflating went off. The person who Frisk had shook hands with pulled down his fluffy gray hoodie, pulling down a dark gray bandanna with the pattern of a smile from their mouth.
"the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny..." He said, and Frisk stared at him. "what's with that look? it's supposed to be funny. i'm sans. sans the skeleton. you're a human, aren't you?" Sans asked, and Frisk nodded. "wow. that's hilarious." Sans said, his eye glowing blue for a moment before leaning past Frisk. "to be honest, i'm supposed to be on patrol for humans... but i don't really feel like capturing them. my brother on the other hand, papyrus? he's a human hunting fanatic. actually, i think that's him right now. go right through these bars. yeah, straight through." Sans said, and they walked into a clearing. The clearing had a snow covered station of sorts, and an odd shaped lamp. "stand behind that lamp." He said, and Frisk darted behind it.
A tall skeleton, much taller than Sans appeared, wearing full body armor that clanked loudly as he walked. "Sans! You haven't re-calibrated your traps yet! What are you doing?" He said, and Sans shrugged.
"meh. i was busy looking at this lamp." Sans said.
"What if a human comes through?! What will you do?" The tall skeleton said, obviously getting pissed at Sans.
"i would tell them to look at this lamp."
"Sans! Shut up about the lamp! Focus!"
"papyrus, papyrus, calm down. just look at this lamp." Sans said, shrugging.
"SANS! I TOLD YOU TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THE LAMP!" Papyrus yelled, and Sans snorted. "Sans, this is serious! So act like it! What have you even done today?!"
"oh, me? i've got a ton of work done. a skele-ton."
"SANS THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOUR PUNS! We need to find a human!" Papyrus retorted.
"i think this lamp might solve that problem." Sans said, mentioning the lamp again and making Papyrus yell in rage. A ring tone started to go off, and Sans got out a cell phone. A rarity nowadays, even on the surface. "oh, one sec. i need to take this call. why not look at the lamp while i'm on the phone?" He said, and Papyrus sighed heavily, before stomping off. "guess he was pretty skele-done." Sans said, before tapping something on the phone and holding it up. He listened for a few moments, before scowling. "another one? now? but a hu- and i still can't tell my brother that i'm doing this?! wait, how much gold? ... fine. i'll be there in a second." Sans huffed, before snapping the phone shut. "you can come out now, kid. i'd like to keep an eye socket out for ya, but i got called to do a job. don't worry. i'll be back in a bit. try to avoid my bro, alright?" Sans said, before walking off across the bridge. Frisk watched him leave, before walking out of the cover of the conveniently shaped lamp. Seriously, that was way too convenient to be true.
But Papyrus' mentioning the fact that Sans hadn't set his 'traps' up made a feeling of dread come over them. Traps weren't good, and something told Frisk that they were meant specifically for humans. In the direction that Papyrus had left, Frisk started to walk off. Eventually, they knew that somehow they would leave the Underground.
And that filled them with determination.