Thump, thump, thump, thump, CRUNCH!
"ARRchh!" Flowey hissed as something heavy crushed down against his fragile body.
"OH NO, I'M SO SORRY!" The weight lifted, he looked up. Papyrus, who was wearing what appeared to be homemade jogging gear was staring down at him looking frantic. "ARE YOU HURT SMALL FLOWER PERSON?!"
Ugh... he must have fallen asleep in the middle of the path. He looked at the damage to his stem, it was minor and would heal itself given enough time... though it did sting a little...
"It's okay, i'm fine..." He winced, pulled himself up to his full height then putting on a smile to calm the skeleton.
Papyrus simply frowned and shook his head. "NO. THERE IS NO EXCUSE, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION! I SHALL MAKE IT UP TO YOU!... SOMEHOW..." He brought a gloved hand up to his jaw and seemed to ponder it for a moment. "I KNOW! AFTER TRAINING I WILL BRING YOU SOME OF MY DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI! AND I'LL PUT EXTRA EFFORT INTO THIS BATCH TO SHOW HOW SORRY I AM!
Great, more food he couldn't taste, just what he needed... though this training did sound interesting. Papyrus wanted to be in the Royal Guard, right? Well, It looked like he'd just found his next project.
"That's okay, you don't need to go to all that trouble for me, really. Though I would be interested to know more about this training you mentioned?"
"WELL, IF YOU ARE SURE... BUT I MUST STILL MAKE IT UP TO YOU... OH, I KNOW! AS YOU SEEM INTERESTED IN MY TRAINING, I WILL ALLOW YOU TO TAG ALONG FOR MY MORNING PRACTICE!"
Perfect. "That sounds great!"
"OF COURSE IT IS, THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS FINDS A WAY TO MAKE PEOPLE SMILE!"
Flowey twisted on the spot to relieve some of the stiffness in his stem, then ducked underground and popped back up slightly ahead of the skeleton. "My name is Flowey by the way."
Papyrus seemed confused for a moment, but smiled when he spotted Flowey up ahead. "IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU FLOWEY! AND I'M SURE UNDYNE WILL BE DELIGHTED TO MEET YOU, TOO!"
The two traveled side-by-side through the damp Waterfall caves. Flowey remained mostly underground, popping up occasionally to get his bearings (memorizing the lay of the land was a little tricky when you're main form of navigation involved vague magical signals in an otherwise sea of nothing) and to reassure the skeleton that he was still there. After several minutes of walking and the crossing of a large body of water, he decided to strike up a conversation.
"Is Undyne the person you're on your way to train with?" He asked from the shore of the dark lake as Papyrus stepped off a long wooden bridge.
"YES, SHE IS A GREAT WARRIOR AND WITH HER GUIDANCE, SOME DAY, I TOO SHALL BE JUST AS GREAT... MAYBE EVEN LEAD THE ROYAL GUARD MYSELF!... OR MAYBE NOT."
"Well, she sure sounds great!" He chuckled internally but tried not to show it, then added. "Oh, do you want to lead the Guard some day?"
"I..." Papyrus looked conflicted, he stopped walking for a moment, Flowey took the opportunity to duck down and surface in front of him. "NO."
Huh, up until now Flowey had gotten the impression that Papyrus aspired to reach the top, but it appeared that this wasn't his motivation? "So why do you want to get in?"
"WHY WOULDN'T SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME WANT TO BECOME A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD?" Papyrus made a dramatic pose before walking on, Flowey snickered at his oblivious vanity. "I WILL BECOME A FAMOUS GUARDSMEN! AND EVERYONE WILL WANT TO BE MY FRIEND!"
So, he wanted fame? That made sense, his ego was big enough... though with that in mind, not aiming to lead was a little odd. He'd seemed dedicated enough to take the task on, anyway. Maybe there was more to it than that?
"I have no doubt that you will! I can tell you're the sort with the perseverance to pull it off."
Papyrus stopped and almost seemed to blush. "WHY THANK YOU FLOWEY! YOU KNOW... EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE JUST MET, YOU REMIND ME OF MYSELF. I SHALL BE SURE TO REWARD YOUR FAITH IN ME!"
They passed through the large cavern of luminous plants and water, Papyrus jumped over a small water channel while Flowey burrowed underneath and surfaced in the cave on the other side. The space felt like a sort of hub, several openings led to smaller caves where a few of the Waterfall residents had set up their homes, a couple of which he vaguely recognized. In the centre stood a pool of calm dark water, the tranquility of this cosy hollow filled Flowey with determination.
"UNDYNE'S HOUSE IS JUST OVER THERE." Papyrus pointed to an opening through which Flowey could just see the edge of an interestingly shaped house and a training dummy.
Papyrus trudged towards it and Flowey followed. The house appeared to be shaped like a giant fish, the doorway resembling a menacing set of pointed teeth. Papyrus smiled down at him, he looked excited. "READY?"
Flowey nodded. Papyrus appeared to crack his knuckles, then knocked on the door which almost immediately slid open with a thud as menacing as it's visage... and who was stood in the doorway? Non other than the fish monster he'd seen on his first loop around, the same one who'd comforted Alphys, but this time she wasn't wearing her armour.
She gave the skeleton a big smile. "Hello Papyrus, ready for training?"
"I SURE AM! AND THIS TIME I BROUGHT ALONG SOMEONE NEW!"
"Oh, that's nice. Hello..." Undyne appeared confused, she looked around either side of the skeleton before finally casting her gaze downwards. Her eyes widened when she spotted him.
He smiled as brightly as he could. "Howdy, i'm Flowey. It's nice to meet you."
"Hello Flowey." She put on a smile but he could tell it was strained, she glanced sideways at Papyrus and hissed a whisper under her breath that he could barely hear. "What sort monster are they?"
"A TALKING FLOWER MONSTER?" Papyrus whisper-shouted back, Undyne cringed.
"There's no such thing, and flowers don't talk!" She snapped before clamping her mouth shut and looking embarrassed.
The exchange was very amusing, Flowey could have sat and watched them argue but he had a mission to fulfill. "Say, I know this must be pretty confusing to you, and believe me, I understand! I don't want to get in the way, so, if you want, you can just pretend as though i'm not here? "
Undyne looked annoyed but forced a smile again. "No no, it was very rude of me and I apologize! Any friends of Papyrus are friends of mine!" She cleared her throat and looked back at Papyrus with a more natural expression. "Come inside, i'll make us all tea before we start." She turned to head back but stopped and eyed Flowey uncertainly. "Do you... need any help getting in?"
Now that she mentioned it, though he was more than capable of following them both inside on his own, she might not appreciate her floor tiles being dislodged in the process. He looked to Papyrus who seemed to get the message. He crouched down and held out an arm which Flowey was able to climb up, eventually settling his head over the skeleton's shoulder just as he'd done with Suzy.
After wiping his feet on the doormat, Papyrus followed Undyne into her house. It was a surprisingly airy space inside, the floor tiles were coloured in pastel shades of blue and yellow while the walls were covered in pastel pink and blue fishy wallpaper. Papyrus sat down at the wooden table as Undyne filled a kettle with water and placed it on the hob to boil. He felt tense, like he was eager to get going but was forcing himself to remain still. Flowey wanted to decline the tea but decided against it, instead he let his eyes wander around the room. There wasn't much to it, mostly a standard kitchen setup... apart from the piano on the far side. It looked well kept, he wondered if Undyne played it often...
"Here we are. Be careful, they're still hot." That was fast. Undyne brought over three steaming hot cups and placed them on the table before sitting down. "Always drink tea before a workout, it removes some of the tension from your muscles so you don't hurt yourself!" She smiled and looked at Flowey. "Asgore taught me that."
He eyed the dark liquid, it smelt good but looked far too hot to drink just yet. Papyrus however, had no such reservations. He grabbed his cup and started downing it straight away, apparently unaffected and possibly even oblivious to the scorching temperature. Undyne smiled as she too took a sip, better bite the bullet Flowey sighed and picked up his cup with a root.
"Today we are going to start with a short jog, then I will be coaching you in magical technique against the training dummy. Your friend can stay and watch... If they like... I guess..."
Flowey took a sip, his mouth burned but he tried not to show the pain. "Sounds great, I'l be sure to cheer you on Papyrus!" He offered the skeleton a reassuring smile but Papyrus seemed strangely hesitant.
"UNDYNE, I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM... RIGHT NOW... AND SO DOES MY FRIEND... RIGHT NOW... FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON OTHER THAN COMPLETE COINCIDENCE. WE SHALL MEET YOU OUTSIDE IN A FEW MOMENTS."
He hastily pulled away from the table causing piping hot tea to spill everywhere before Flowey could set his cup back down. They made their way out through the door and into the quiet area beside the pool of dark water. No one else was around.
"Did I say something wrong?" Flowey asked, confused and a little annoyed. At least his SAVE point was nearby if he'd somehow screwed up badly.
"YES... NO..." Papyrus looked away, clenching and unclenching his fists. "LOOK, I AM DOING YOU A FAVOUR BY ALLOWING YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PRACTICE, BUT I DON'T LIKE LYING TO UNDYNE... "
Flowey frowned, what was this skeleton going on about now? "Lying about what?"
"I CAN SEE THAT YOU ARE PLAY ACTING TO MAKE HER THINK THAT WE ARE FRIENDS AND I AM VERY FLATTERED THAT YOU WOULD DO THIS FOR ME BUT-"
"Well... why can't we be friends?" Flowey cut him off.
Papyrus furrowed his brow, it seems it was his turn to be confused. "YOU... YOU WANT TO BE MY FRIEND?"
Flowey attempted to give the impression of a shrug, which was difficult without any shoulders. "Why not, you seem like a cool guy."
"YOU REALLY THINK I'M COOL? I..." Papyrus was at a loss for words, he looked at Flowey with an expression of such animated happiness it was almost comedic.
"If you two are done we are starting. NOW!" Undyne called from outside her house. How long had she been standing there? Then again, not that it mattered...
After a short round of warm-ups and stretching the two monsters set out with Flowey still wrapped around Papyrus' arm. They leapt the small channel of luminous water into the larger cavern with ease and followed the path around, running into a small cave entrance which opened onto a stone walkway over another large and shallow body of water; one of the residents waved a tentacle as they passed. The next room looked much like the quiet area outside Undyne's house.
"Hey Shyren!" She called to a small floating fish monster and waved as they passed by.
"...Hi Undyne..." Came the quiet reply, then the timid monster dived into a pool of water and swam out of sight.
"You know, I used to give her piano lessons..." Undyne panted as they entered the next room. "... But one day she stopped showing up. She won't talk about why..."
Up ahead water poured down like rain from the cavern ceiling, they passed a strange and very weathered statue. It looked to have been there for a long time, but Flowey had never seen it before... It had an appearance similar to a Boss Monster...
"Where did that statue come from?" He asked as they jogged right by a bucket of umbrellas and into the foreseen downpour.
"Oh, that statue's been here forever... no one knows where it came from.
"WHAT STATUE?"
"... You never noticed?"
"NO TIME TO TAKE IN THE SCENERY, I AM COMPLETELY FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND!"
Within seconds they were all completely drenched, but Undyne and Papyrus didn't seem bothered at all. He supposed that water wasn't really a problem when you didn't have skin or fur, it didn't bother him anymore, either. He looked at the puddles on the ground, watching his reflection distort as Papyrus' boots crashed down, sending splashes and ripples across the water's surface. Somehow, he felt a deep sense of sadness in the pit of his stem, but he couldn't quite describe it.
They reached a short cliff and the two monsters jumped it with surprising grace, the trail above led to a confusing set of wooden bridges and platforms. Undyne didn't hesitate, she negotiated the platforms with ease, recklessly jumping over gaps which, from the looks of it, led to a dangerously high drop into the dump.
"Fuhuhu!" Her eyes filled with determination and she smiled with each death-defying leap. Papyrus on the other hand, remained slightly more cautious about the path he took.
Eventually the two jumped down to a bridge on a lower layer and followed it to a cave opening through which they were able to drop directly into the quiet area.
"Heck yeah!" Undyne called in triumph, punching a fist into the air as she halted in front of her house. Flowey could hear Papyrus' breathing, he sounded more exhausted than her but hid it well. "Good job!" She praised as he came in just a few steps behind.
"You did really great!" Flowey mirrored the praise, the skeleton's face lit up.
"Now, onto the REAL training! Fuhuhu~" Undyne beamed devilishly and pointed to a spot on the ground in front of her training dummy.
Papyrus bent down and held out his arm, allowing Flowey slide off and plant himself back into the soil. The moisture around his roots came as something of a relief, even though he'd not been uprooted for all that long. The skeleton moved to stand in the spot Undyne had designated, he looked nervous.
She stood tall beside him with her arms behind her back. "Okay, let's start simple. Summon a wave of five, equal height white bullets."
Just as commanded, five identical white bones burst from the ground. They remained static while Papyrus waited on Undyne for further instruction.
"Okay, basic waveform! I want you to maneuver them into a column and hit the dummy."
He did so, the bones aligned obediently in front of him and left no marks on the ground as they glided effortlessly towards the training dummy, disappearing after each hit with a soft thud. The dummy showed little damage.
"You can hit harder than that! Now, do it again but this time form a row."
A row of white bones launched forwards, this time slightly faster. A tear formed in the fabric as three of the bones hit while the remaining two sailed straight past and dissipated against the cavern wall.
"Better, but you're still holding back too much! Same again... but this time CURVE them on approach!"
The bones started out as a straight row but curved in so that each hit the target simultanously sending a cloud of dust into the air.
Undyne grinned. "You've improved! Okay, that's enough basic stuff, onto advanced techniques! I want you to start varying the heights, dynamically."
Papyrus frowned and concentrated as he summoned up the next wave, each bone stretched and contracted in sync with each other. He sent them towards the dummy in a column, each one scraping against the fabric as they hit, by the time the last had dissipated a large hole had been carved into the front and the stuffing was spilling onto the ground.
"It's a good start but you made it way too easy to dodge. Try to make the patterns less predictable... and surround the target before striking!"
Papyrus hesitated. "THAT DOESN'T SEEM VERY FAIR."
"Do you know what a human is capable of? Because I sure as hell don't! If you want to take one down you better be prepared for ANYTHING! Now, attack the enemy with all you've got!"
Flowey had a pretty good idea about what a human was capable of, but he didn't say anything. He'd known what this training was for, he'd known that the goal of the Royal Guard had shifted from protection to capturing humans... but her comment brought this knowledge back to his conscious attention. And he didn't like it.
Papyrus quickly threw his reservations aside. The bones materialised from the ground, this time rising and falling in rhythmic but alternating patterns. They glided to the dummy in a much messier formation. Twisting and spinning, they encircled the target before crashing into it. The dummy exploded into a cloud of cotton and wooden splinters which flew in every direction, a stray chunk barely cleared Flowey's head.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Undyne cheered while punching the air again.
Disembodied grumbling came from seemingly nowhere as the fragments of the dummy brought themselves back together and recombined to become just as pristine as though it had never been touched. It glared at them for a moment before resuming it's usual absent pose.
Undyne put her hand behind her head and smiled awkwardly. "Oh, sorry."
"It's fine. It's fine. IT'S FINE..." Well okay then...
"I guess we ought to give the dummy a break..." She materialized a spear in her hands. "Think fast!" And threw it to Papyrus who caught it easily, his body began sparkling with green magic.
He stared at the spear. "YOU WANT TO SPAR? NOW?"
Undyne formed another energy spear and rolled her shoulders, assuming a combat-ready posture. "Why not? It'll help me gauge your progress better! You get first attack!"
"WOWIE..." Uncertainty flashed across his face but was quickly replaced by a cunning smile. "WELL IN THAT CASE..." Hes said slyly "I HAVE AN ATTACK THAT I THINK YOU MIGHT FIND VERY... GROUNDING."
He raised a hand and several ethereal looking cyan bones and one slow white bone materialized around Undyne. She remained perfectly still as the light blue bullets passed harmlessly through her, all while looking slightly bored.
"Have you been taking combat advice from your brother again?" Then blue magic sparked across her skin and she almost fell to her knees as the white bone barely cleared her shins. "Now THAT'S what I like to see! En garde!"
Her grin stretched from ear to ear, in fact, both combatants had similar expressions on their faces. A volley of spears appeared from behind her and moved at a moderate pace towards Papyrus. Using the spear she had given him he blocked each one with ease.
"WHO IS HOLDING BACK NOW?"
A row of six white bones rose from the ground and oscillated as they curved around Undyne who jumped them with slightly more effort than would otherwise have been expected. The blue magic looked to be weighing her down.
"Oh, you really shouldn't have said that!"
She looked devilish, spears appeared to either side of Papyrus, this time moving slightly faster. He blocked the first but was grazed by the second and third before managing to block the remainder. He cringed slightly, but Flowey knew that the lack of harmful intend made the hits little more than slaps on the wrist.
He summoned his next volley, multiple rows which gradually rose and fell in a prism shape. Undyne had to take a running jump to clear them, she cackled as the last bones passed beneath her feet and hit the ground with surprising grace.
"You're doing great, but you need to work on your footwork!" The spear in Papyrus' hands disappeared along with the green magic which had been covering his body.
Undyne tapped her spear to the ground and patches of white magic appeared beneath his feet, he jumped away as they erupted into more spear-shaped bullets.
"UNDYNE?!" He protested nervously as he danced across the cave floor, avoiding contact with most of the spears.
The spears stopping coming. "Is there a problem Papyrus?"
"FOR ME? OF COURSE NOT!" He folded his arms and shook his head defiantly. "I JUST... DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD BE USING THAT ATTACK WHILE FLOWEY IS AROUND." Huh, what? Was Papyrus using him as a scapegoat now?
Undyne looked at Flowey and frowned. "Why not?"
Papyrus stuck to his conviction. "WHAT IF ONE OF YOUR SPEARS RANDOMLY APPEARS UNDERNEATH HIM?" ... He sounded serious, was he genuinely concerned?
"So what? They wanted to be here, they should be prepared for a few cuts and scrapes. It's not like we're fighting for real..." She dismissed him and resumed her fighting posture. "Anyway, it's your turn."
They sparred for the better part of a half hour, exchanging waves of bones and spears in increasingly elaborate patterns while switching in and out of blue and green magic modifiers. Papyrus had incredible stamina, he took a great deal more punishment from Undyne's more advanced attacks without faltering than Flowey had expected... yet he got the impression that he was holding himself back more than he needed to be. And it looked like Undyne felt the same way, he could see it on her face, she was enjoying herself but behind her eyes was a hint of frustration which Papyrus seemed oblivious to.
A bone sailed close and Flowey pulled himself underground then popped back up after it had passed. "That should be enough for today, good fight!" Undyne dismissing her spears and walking over to Papyrus to give him a good, hard pat on the shoulder. They both looked exhausted.
"WOWIE, THANK YOU UNDYNE!" He panted.
She paused to catch her breath before speaking again. "I need to go over the guard reports now, but we'll train again same time tomorrow okay?"
"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL NOT LET YOU DOWN!"
She smiled broadly at him. "That's the attitude I like to see!" Then walked to her house, turning around at the door to call back to call back. "See ya later Papyrus!" Then the door shut behind her.
Papyrus stared after her for a moment. The quiet felt awkward, Flowey decided to say something. "I was really impressed by your skills back there Papyrus."
That seemed to snap him out of it. "WELL OF COURSE YOU WERE! I AM REALLY GREAT AFTER ALL."
Flowey held back a snort. "So, do you think she'll be letting you into the Guard soon?"
"OF- OF COURSE! THERE ARE STILL SEVERAL MORE ADVANCED TECHNIQUES THAT I NEED TO LEARN FIRST, BUT I AM SURE THAT I WILL REACH THE END OF MY TRAINING SOON. UNDYNE SAYS THAT I'M PROGRESSING WELL!"
That falter... did the skeleton doubt himself? "Well, If it were up to me you would be in already!" He would need to speak to Undyne about Papyrus' training at some point, the fish monster seemed to know the skeleton very well. In the mean time an idea occurred. "Say... could you train me?"
Papyrus looked surprised. "TRAIN YOU FLOWEY? I-"
"It was an idea I just had. My mom used to say that the best way to understand something was to teach it to someone else, so I thought, why not? That way you get to practice and I get to learn some cool fighting moves!" He had to admit that watching them spar did look like fun and he'd wanted to join in once or twice...
Papyrus brought his hand to his chin and considered it for a moment. Then, finally, he put it down and smiled."WELL, AS YOU ARE MY COOL NEW FRIEND, I SHALL AGREE TO TRAIN YOU IN THE ART OF MAGICAL COMBAT! IN FACT, WITH MY GUIDANCE YOU MAY EVEN MAKE THE GUARD YOURSELF! NYEH HEH HEH!"
Well, that'll be the day...