"So…ummm…T-toriel…," Shinji managed at last, after they'd been walking in silence for a while. "H-how did you know to look for me?"
"I check the Ruins every day to see if a child has fallen," Toriel said. "You're the first child to come down here in quite some time, actually."
"I-I don't really remember why I'm here, though," Shinji said. "But can you help me get back?"
Toriel seemed taken aback for a moment. She smiled. "There's no need to worry about that right now. I'll take you to my house."
Shinji decided not to press the matter. They walked along in silence until they approached what looked like a puzzle.
"Is this a puzzle?" Shinji asked, curious.
"Yes, very good, my child," Toriel said, proudly. "I'll show you how to operate them. To make it through the Ruins, you'll have to solve them. I hope you can do it."
She walked over several stones that sank into the ground as she walked over them. Directly in front of them, a door slid open, revealing a passage behind it.
"Do you see, Shinji?" Toriel said. He nodded, and she smiled and continued to lead him forward. After they walked for a while, they eventually found themselves in another puzzle with spikes, which Toriel looked at and continued to lead him through, looking worried. At last she arrived at the end of one of the puzzles and looked at him more sadly than before. In front of her was what looked like a plastic dummy."
"This is a dummy," Toriel said. "It represents the Monsters you'll encounter inside the Ruins. You have a choice - you can talk with them, or you can fight them. I can't tell you which to choose, Shinji, but remember that not every Monster wants to fight with you."
"Walk up to the dummy and interact with it like you would a Monster. Stall for a moment, and I'll interrupt."
Shinji walked up to the dummy as instructed. Staring into its lifeless face, he couldn't really think of what to say.
"Err…so, I guess, you...don't want to fight?"
Shinji paused. Indeed some of the Monsters wouldn't want to fight. But maybe some would...Toriel said that he could fight. Just what would that look like.
Unsure of what to do, he extended his hands. This was what Toriel had done. He was surprised when an image flashed in front of his eyes - he recognized it easily. It was a targeting indicator. It looked almost like the one in Unit-01. A scrolling bar moved across the target. He guessed he could send an attack at any time.
Toriel came up from behind him and he quickly hid the targeting image. She smiled at him.
"Very good, Shinji," she said. She walked towards the puzzle room's exit, and looked behind her sadly.
"I'm going to go ahead now and get some things ready for you. You can be a guest in my house," Toriel said. "But to do this, I'm going to have to leave you alone for a while...Just stay here, Shinji. I'll return shortly." She smiled kindly at him. "Oh...here's a cell phone. It'll allow us to talk to each other when we want to. So you won't really be alone!"
To his credit, Shinji stayed in the room for quite a while. He even received a phone call from Toriel asking if he prefered cinnamon or butterscotch - he answered butterscotch, but cinnamon-butterscotch worked just as well. But eventually, he realized he just couldn't stand there. So he stepped forward. And he'd barely advanced that far at all before he saw a figure approaching, as his red heart again appeared beside him.