A/N: Frisk learns that they need to learn how to dodge more. If they didn't, it would be fatal.

Finally things are starting to pick up.

It wouldn't be MY kind of story without some angst. Truly a Wolfie Classic.

Thank you for my beta for help with the writing and the Spanish!

Frisk noticed there was some kind of cardboard building off the side of the road and pointed it out to Becca. They could easily read the sign from there declaring it to be a masterpiece made by the not-yet-a-very-famous-royal-guardsman. Frisk found themselves grinning at the sight of it, just imagining Papyrus trying to build a sentry station himself. Becca frowned, however.

"They really don't take him seriously." She murmured. Frisk gave her a questioning look. She tapped her knuckles against the cardboard. "If they did, they would've given him an actual sentry station. Poor guy."

Frisk wasn't as cheerful anymore. They crossed their arms over their chest to retain more of their body heat and shivered. Well, they would gladly try their best to cheer Papyrus up if that was the case. He was a young skeleton, but Frisk wanted to keep him happy. He seemed like a cheerful fellow. It would be nice if Frisk could actually just chat with him, though. He took over most of the conversations and didn't even give the humans a chance to talk before he was off again.

Sans had been right about there being more monsters around now. Frisk and Becca had to battle two strange new monsters together before they could even move into the next area. One was a strange bird that (as Frisk quickly discovered) liked bad ice puns. The Snowdrake left the battle ecstatic at his eager audience as Becca couldn't stop her giggles at the jokes. Her cheeks were bright red after the battle.

"Don't give me that look!" She snapped, ducking her head so Frisk couldn't see past her curly hair. Frisk bit their lip to stop their smile. She could be so cute, they decided.

The other monster was the strangest being Frisk had met yet. The entirety of their focus had been on the Icecap's ice cap. It was amazing! Frisk could just imagine wearing it on their own head. The Icecap preened at the attention and kept attacking. Becca, in her frustration over the situation and tired of being stabbed by falling ice, had attempted to steal the hat. Icecap dodged and glared at them suspiciously.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Becca cried as she grabbed for her knife. Frisk stiffened in alarm and shook their head at her. They didn't want any fighting. They had one more idea they could try before they risked beating the monster into submission (which Frisk really hoped they wouldn't have to do). When their turn came around again, Frisk tore their eyes away from the astounding sight of Icecap's hat. The battle paused briefly as Icecap tried to maneuver itself back into Frisk's line of sight. Frisk continued to ignore it.

"Hey! My hat is up here!" Icecap cried, attacking more angrily. Frisk cringed as their health dropped again. They really needed some healing, but when Becca looked about ready to hand over their last bit of food, Frisk shook their head. Becca followed after Frisk and ignored the Icecap's wondrous hat. Disappointed and no longer receiving attention, the Icecap decided to leave. The Souls of the children returned to their body, leaving Frisk to acknowledge all of their wounds.

The younger human stared at their battered body. Their legs were becoming bruised and their face was chilled from the cold. They wouldn't mind a nice drink to wash down all of this food they'd had to consume. Their healing items were practically gone because of Frisk. Becca hadn't really needed any at all. She seemed to be able to take more attacks than Frisk. Was that because she was older?

"Look out!" The girl screamed, and Frisk only heard a large crack. They looked up to see a large tree branch falling towards them, but they didn't have enough time to move. They only registered the pain hitting their head before it all went black.

Not yet. I don't want to die yet. There's so much I need to do.

[LOAD]

Their Soul shattered.

Frisk blinked their eyes open. Their body was no longer in any pain at all. They looked up. There was no tree branch falling towards them. Becca was over by the box again, reading the sign. Frisk recognized this entire area. This is where they had last formed their Save.

Their stomach dropped out. They had died. The darkness that had surrounded them still seemed to seep into their skin despite it not being their. They had felt their skull indent right before it had all gone black. Becca's scream still echoed in their ears. They put their face in their hands. They had died.

On the bright side, they mused to themselves, at least they now knew that Frisk really could go back in time to their last Save. That was useful information to know. At least if they died they knew it wasn't permanent. At least, not when Frisk didn't want to stay dead. They shivered again. As they had thought, dying wasn't fun. Disappearing was easier, but now Frisk knew what it really felt like. They had disappeared and died. They didn't want to die again.

They had died twice in the Underground.

Becca didn't seem to notice anything as she repeated her words about the box. Frisk decided not to bring it up. They didn't want the girl to be upset about Frisk dying a second time on her watch. They had a feeling she would just blame herself when in actuality she had tried to save them.

Frisk gladly went along with meeting Papyrus again and his discovery of the humans . . . but they noticed right away the dialogue was different. Papyrus recognized them, but couldn't really explain it. Becca was just as baffled as he was. Sans shot them both a look, but Papyrus powered through to continue his speech anyway. Frisk didn't say anything.

"That was . . . weird." Becca murmured to Frisk after the brothers had left. She glanced at Frisk. "How could he possibly know us?"

Frisk licked their chapping lips. "My power . . ." They murmured, unsure, "works. But it looks like the last timeline . . . doesn't completely erase memories?"

Becca gaped at them. "You used your power? Did you die?" Frisk nodded. "How?"

"I didn't . . . dodge quick enough."

"You need to get better at dodging!" Becca scolded. Frisk could tell that she was just scared for them. They may have the power to come back to life, but that didn't mean they should allow themselves to get used to dying. "Or build you EXP!" She handed over the last food item quickly. Frisk reluctantly ate the small piece of candy. It healed them up a little more than halfway.

"What?" Frisk asked, confused. They had heard her use that term before, but they didn't understand what it was outside of a video game. Unless she was still using video game terms.

Becca frowned at Frisk seriously, and then dragged them off to the side of the road. She leaned in close to the other human so only they could hear her. "There's this . . . thing called EXP and LV. I know, more video game crap. When you . . . defeat a monster . . . properly defeat one . . . you gain EXP. And the more EXP you gain, the higher your LV. And your health and attack increases."

Frisk felt a chill run down their spine in understanding. They stared at her. Becca kept her face stern and serious, but Frisk understood she was not at LV1 like Frisk was. They were thankful that she was willing to find another option with Frisk around. Frisk couldn't imagine killing any of the monsters. They didn't want to imagine it.

"Experience and Level?" They asked quietly.

"Probably." Becca admitted. "I've only heard the acronyms used before." Why would monsters even have acronyms like that? It was hard to imagine the scenarios needed for them to consider something "experience" if they killed a fellow monster. Frisk decided that they would rather stay at low health and at LV1 than to gain any EXP.

The two of them again faced off against a Snowdrake and an Icecap. This time Frisk anticipated the attacks better and resolved the fights much faster. Becca seemed to appreciate it. Frisk walked slowly and waited for the inevitable. When Becca cried out for them to look out, they dodged quickly out of the way. A branch that was the size of them slammed to the ground, shaking both of the humans up. Frisk wasn't surprised that they had been killed by that thing. It probably weighed more than them.

"I t-told you the Underground is hazardous!" Becca helped Frisk to their feet and hugged them to her. Frisk stared in confusion. "That's where you died." She whispered, her voice trembling. "I saw it."

Frisk was silent as they touched her arm. "Your power?" They asked quietly. She nodded against their shoulder. They were both shaking now, but Frisk couldn't tell if it was from emotions, fear, or the cold. They were unsure of what to do with the hug, not used to being hugged at all. Eventually they hesitantly hugged her back before they pulled away.

"I'm okay." They told her. She nodded, but her face showed she was still making the effort to contain herself. They waited for her to do so before they continued on. They would need to be much more careful now.

The next area had another sentry station. The humans glanced at each other curiously. This one was a proper sentry station made of wood. It had a little face of a dog near the top of it. Becca stopped to read the sign aloud for both of them considering it was in that strange monster language again. Frisk would need to learn how to read these signs soon. "'Absolutely NO MOVING!'. That doesn't sound very good." She rejoined Frisk and grabbed their hand. "Let's be careful." Frisk nodded as they slowly moved forward, but the moment they passed in front of the sentry station another monster appeared.

It was a dog! It was standing on two legs with a dog treat in its mouth. Frisk thought it looked like it was wearing a black mask because of its fur markings. It glared around, eyes shifty. It didn't seem to notice the two children frozen in front of it. "Did something move?" It grumbled out from around its dog treat. If Frisk could see it correctly, it was a smoking dog treat. "Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things." That was a bit of useful random dialogue. "If something WAS moving . . . for example, some humans . . ." The dog threw itself in front of the humans' path and growled, "I'll make sure they NEVER move again!"

Magic latched onto Frisk and Becca's Souls as the battle commenced. Whenever Frisk ran into a battle with the monsters, their souls seemed to resonate something about the monster. The dog's name was Doggo and he was dressed in what looked to be some army pants and a tank top. He pulled out two swords and glared around the humans. Whenever one of the children shifted, he locked eyes with them.

"He can only see us if we move . . .?" Becca murmured aloud, her own knife in her hand. A toy knife would be nothing against real blades, Frisk thought, but Becca was the one with EXP.

"Yes!" Doggo replied despite the question being rhetorical.

Frisk stared hard at Doggo's soul to check the strength of the monster. If they focused through the black and white form of the monster, Frisk's Soul allowed them to read more about the monster's upside down white soul. From what Frisk could tell, the monster became easily excited by movement and had hobbies that included squirrels. He was really just a dog!

"Don't move an inch!" Doggo yelled, as he swung his blade at Frisk. They only had just enough time to notice that his blade was the same color of light blue as Becca's Soul before they instinctively tried to dodge back. The blade of the dog's sword matched the restrictions on Frisk's Soul's movement and despite their best efforts, their Soul was slashed. Frisk cried out in pain, trembling. There went part of their health.

"You-!" Becca yelled at Doggo as her own turn came. She brought her knife up and slashed back at Doggo. The dog yelped, stumbling backwards at the attack. His ears and tail briefly tucked low before he recovered himself gamely and attacked back. Becca's eyes narrowed at the light blue of the sword and held completely still. The sword slid right through her Soul leaving her completely unharmed. Frisk didn't know if that was because of her usual Soul's movement or not.

Wait, when Becca held still sometimes during battle, a monster's attack didn't hurt her. Was that because she was light blue? Souls were magic too, so she had "light blue magic" in her Soul. And Doggo was using light blue magic on his swords. It made sense to Frisk then. 'Don't move an inch' he had said. If Frisk held still when light blue magic was cast, the attack would go through them unharmed!

It was Frisk's turn then. They were curious to put their theory to the test, but they had a different idea. They lifted their stick. Becca shot them a look, clearly thinking they were going to Fight, but Frisk instead threw their stick. Doggo's reaction was instantaneous. He dropped to all fours and barked as he ran after the stick, picking it up with his mouth and bringing it back. Frisk fought him for the stick for a moment before they pulled it from his mouth and threw it again. Doggo again ran after it.

They played fetch for a little while until Frisk didn't throw the stick again. Their chest was aching from their wounds. Doggo was thrilled though, happily wiggling as light blue magic wrapped again around his sword. It appeared that Frisk was going to test their theory anyway. "A FUN STICK APPEARS!" He cried as he swiped at them. Frisk held completely still as Becca made an alarmed noise, but the sword passed right through them without harm.

Becca didn't hesitate to Spare the monster right afterwards. Doggo seemed a bit confused, but definitely still excited. "Huh! I was hurt, and then a stick appeared out of nowhere, and then disappeared. Was it a ghost stick? Did I just return to the afterlife? I need some dog treats to think about this." He turned and hopped back into his station, grabbing some more at his dog treats to munch on them thoughtfully. Frisk was tempted to ring the little bell he had at his station to catch his attention again, but Becca scooped up the gold left on the ground and grabbed their hand to drag them further along.

"A stick!" She muttered in disbelief. "Because he's a dog! Frisk, you're a lil genius sometimes!" Frisk smiled at her until she shoved them in their chest. They cried out and shivered at the rush of pain. "But you're also an idiot! You're almost dead!"

"yeah kid, you don't look so hot." Becca stiffened at the appearance of Sans, who grinned at the both of them. "lettin' the cold get to ya?" He asked.

"How did that guard know there were humans around?" Becca demanded, turning on the skeleton. "Was it your brother? Frisk was nearly killed!"

Sans seemed unconcerned. "my bro got a little excited, but he didn't say anything to the other guards. they don't listen to him anyway. chances are it was orders from higher up."

"What do you mean?" Becca asked, her voice dropping with horror.

"i mean that you kids better watch your backs. the underground's on alert for humans. word travels fast among the guard, and the civilians are also on the lookout." Sans pulled his hand from his pocket and held out what looked to be a cold bottle of milk. He gave it to Frisk. "drink up, buddy. this'll give ya strong bones."

"Thank you." Frisk said gratefully as they drank the milk. Their body healed almost completely and their Soul no longer ached. Frisk felt a bit more sturdy now. If they had to guess in terms of video game logic, they would say their defense had increased some.

"try not to die, alright? wouldn't want a nice kid like you to die in a place like this." Sans told them. "anyway, got something important for you two to remember. my brother has a very special attack. if you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you."

"We had to figure that out the hard way." Becca said. Sans dismissed her. He seemed a bit annoyed with her, Frisk thought. They wondered if Sans somehow knew that Becca had a higher level. Or maybe Sans was just a little annoyed she had cut him off. Frisk drank a little more of the milk.

"here's an easy way to keep it in mind." Sans continued. "imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right? stop signs are red, so imagine a blue stop sign instead. simple, right? when fighting, think about blue stop signs."

"That's not helpful at all!" Becca cried, stomping her foot. She seemed extremely frustrated. Frisk could tell that her nerves were getting to her. It probably didn't help that they weren't the best when it came to battles. They would need to get better and stop being hurt so much. They were out of healing items, after all.

"Blue stop signs." The younger human nodded in understanding. Sans winked at them. Becca made a disgusted noise and stormed off, only to slide across the ice she hadn't seen. Her legs scrambled under her before she slipped and slid all the way over to the other side of the area. Frisk tried not to laugh. Sans gave a short wave to her. Becca made a rude sign and stood up to attempt to read the sign that was in the middle of the ice.

Frisk turned back to Sans and tilted their head at him. He raised a bony eyebrow. "Papyrus?" They asked.

"you'll see 'im again. he's up ahead planning his next trap." Frisk nodded in understanding.

"Frisk! Snowdin is to the East! Let's hurry before we freeze!" Becca called, waving them over. Frisk nodded and was about to run around the ice to join her when Sans said,

"friendly advice: i'd head north real fast. might meet someone new." Frisk turned to ask him about who he meant, but the skeleton was gone. Frisk looked around for him. He was a strange skeleton, they decided before they rejoined Becca. They pointed North.

"No, East is that way. The sign said so." Becca pointed further down the path. Frisk pointed a little more insistently towards the North. The girl opened her mouth to say something, but then paused as grunting reached both of their ears. They quieted down and listened carefully. Unable to parse what the noise was, the two walked forward warily. They reached the peak of the snowy hill in the north and looked down at the overhanging cliff. There was a human boy there, punching at air and chatting with what appeared to be a snowman. Becca sat up, alert.

"That's Sandro!" She told Frisk. The boy was dressed properly for the cold, although his buzzed hair probably chilled him more. His fluffy pink earmuffs would only keep his ears warm. He had warm tan skin and, although it was hard to tell through his snow jacket and pants, he appeared to be thicker set than Frisk was. He was wearing a single pink glove that Frisk thought looked familiar and he appeared a bit upset. Becca motioned for Frisk to follow as they hurried to join him.

"Sandro!" Becca called, waving her hand to get his attention. The boy spun on his heel and punched towards her. She froze in place as his fist stopped right in front of her chest. He laughed at her and pulled his fist back. He was missing a tooth, Frisk noticed.

"Becca, you still flinch!" He teased. He was shorter than Frisk was, but only by a little bit. He didn't appear much younger than Frisk either.

Becca crossed her arms, her happiness at seeing the boy quickly turning into annoyance at the greeting. "And you still punch people on sight!"

"Not punch. Just punch at." Sandro puffed himself up before he really took notice of both of the humans. He pointed a finger and waved it between both of them before stopping at Frisk. "Wait . . . ¿Quién eres? ¿Otro niño humano?" He sounded a little surprised with whatever he was saying.

Frisk stared at him, not understanding. That sounded like it was possibly Spanish, but they weren't sure. They glanced at Becca for help. "This is Frisk." She introduced. "They fell down into the Underground today. Frisk, this is Sandro, and he doesn't understand that not everyone speaks Spanish."

Sandro rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, mildly offended. "It's not my fault you don't know it. Hola, Frisk." He held his fist out. Frisk bumped theirs to it, smiling. "Did you fall down on accident too? Who knew that the hole was so crumbly?"

"Sandro!" Becca snapped. Frisk just gave an awkward smile and didn't respond.

"You're a quiet one!" Sandro continued unheedingly. "Anyway, Becca I thought you didn't want to leave the Ruins? What're you doing out here?"

"I thought it was time to leave." Becca admitted. She dropped her arms and stared at the snowman before she said, "We want to leave. Do you want to come with us?"

"Leave the Underground?" Sandro gaped before he frowned in thought. He rubbed at his chin. "I don't mind . . . but I can't go yet! I have to defeat Papyrus first! That's why I'm out here training!"

"Wait, Papyrus? That skeleton? Why do you want to beat him?"

"To prove I'm stronger!" Sandro jumped and threw his fist into the air, scattering some of the snow around him. "He's so strong, and I don't want to leave Snowdin unless I beat him! It was the deal I made!"

"We need to meet him anyway." Becca told him. "He's trying to capture us because he knows we're human."

"¿En serio? He did not notice for me."

"Sans says the Underground is on the lookout for us. It's not safe for any humans." Becca's voice was serious now. She touched his arm. "Come with us, please."

Sandro's cheeks turned a little red and he ducked his head. "Okay." He finally said. "Voy contigo. But first I need to find my glove. I looked in the box back a ways, but it wasn't in there!" He held up his bare hand, upset once again. Frisk suddenly remembered where they had seen that glove before. They reached into their pocket and held out the pink glove they had gotten from the box. Sandro lit up at the sight of it. "¡Mi guante! ¡Lo encontraste!" He took the glove and slipped it back on, wiggling his fingers. "Thank you!"

Frisk nodded back and pointed at the snowman curiously. It seemed strangely sentient, now that they thought about it. And Sandro had been speaking to it. Frisk would not be surprised at all if it was alive, and if it was, they wanted to be introduced.

"Oh no, do not mind me." The snowman said, proving that it was indeed alive. "Please, continue talking with your friends."

"Oh! My friends, this is a snowman! Snowman, my friends and I are leaving the Underground!" Sandro told the snowman.

"I wish I could go with you." The snowman admitted. "I want to see the world . . . But I cannot move. Sandro, if you and your friends would be so kind . . . please, take a piece of me and carry it far away."

"Are you sure?" Sandro asked, surprised.

"That won't hurt you?" Becca gazed at the snowman's body.

"Not if it is only a piece or two." The snowman responded.

"Right! I will do it!" Sandro grabbed a chunk of the snowman and pounded it into a ball before he shoved it into his inventory. Frisk stepped forward and tilted their head, holding out their hands to be sure they could as well, before they too grabbed a piece and put it into the pockets. Strangely enough, the snow didn't melt. It must be magic.

"Thank you . . . and good luck, travellers!"

"Let's get going, guys. Sandro, do you know the way to Snowdin? We're not exactly dressed for this weather, and we still need to deal with Papyrus." Becca said.

"Of course I do! I live there, after all! It's still a bit aways, but I will lead you. Follow me!" Sandro dashed ahead. Frisk and Becca shared a look, half-amused and half-exasperated, before they ran after their new party member.

A/N: This won't be the last time Frisk (or anyone) dies, just so you're aware. The Underground in this world is more perilous. And I'm referring to the Underground itself, not just the population.

Also, Sandro has some Spanish lines. I'll translate them down here if anyone needs them, but they're pretty basic.

Finally, a head's up with the kids. The discussion of gender will be brought up because not all kids understand to call Frisk they/them. So there will be some gendering from some of the children. Children are young and make mistakes. This will be discussed, so don't take it as me giving Frisk a gender please! The way I write Frisk is so the reader can apply their own headcanon onto them. If you believe they're a female, then they are to you! If you believe they are male, then they are to you! If you believe they're anywhere in between, or even alternating genders, then that's what Frisk is to you! However, I will be using they/them to refer to Frisk. I do not mind if you think of them one way or another.

There's a picture of Sandro now on my tumblr!