-A/N-

Hey anonymous reader, thanks for that: "It is a really great story and I hope you continue soon!"
Its good to know that I'm still on track to make a fine story.

Please enjoy this cliffhanger less chapter :)

-A/N END-

Hide and seek

It wasn't easy for them to keep up with Monster Kid although they seemed used to running.
Observing the small yellow monster through their eyes she was a bit impressed how it managed to catch itself every time before it could fall when it's feet slipped on a small ice patch or trampled snow.

Turning their head every few meters they made sure that Frisk was keeping up with them as they guided them to the edge of town.

Leaving the space between the last two buildings she saw three small monsters (probably these other kids Monster Kid had talked about since their height matched their own) standing between the town and the forest seemingly waiting for Monster Kid as every one of them turned their head to them as one of them spotted the two of you.

"Yo guys!", ramming their feet into the snow the yellow monster stopped abruptly one or two steps away from the other kids, "Sorry for the delay I needed longer then I thought."

One of the three, a small white rabbit monster in a pink dress, spoke first shrugging their excuse off.
"No problem it wasn't that long."
Looking past Monster Kid to Frisk she added, "Who's that?"

Spinning around flinging the yellow triangles running in a line form their head the whole way down to the tip of their tail from side to side they exclaimed happily, "That is Frisk they are passing through and I've invited them to play with us!"

Becoming so suddenly the center of attention seemed to stress them a bit as she could feel how their whole body tensed on the gazes of the four small monsters.

Seemingly satisfied with this explanation the small rabbit greeted them with a friendly wave, "Hi Frisk I'm Alice."

Shaken by the fast waves composed of panic and doubt from the red heart expressing their seemingly small to not existent experience about friendly contact with other children she decided to lend them her support in 'how to make friends'.
"Psst. Say hi and something friendly like that you like her dress."

Hearing her voice in their head seamed to calm them a bit as the fear oozing from the heart changed partly into uncertainness.
Gathering their bravery they shyly waved back and replied, "Hhi Alice nicee dress."

Beaming proudly straightening said item of clothing she thanked them, "Thanks my aunt made it she has a shop her in town."

Getting such a positive reply eased them a lot so that they flinched only a bit as the next monster eager to meet them pushed itself past Alice.

It had the form of a white bird about their height beak filled with sharp teeth like ice shards and face covered with a big snowflake.
"Hello name is Snowdrake and how you can see on my mask made of ice I'm a really cool guy."

Hearing Frisk giggle on this she needed one or two seconds to find the 'pun' in his greeting.
That. Was an absolutely horrible joke if you would even dare to call this a joke.
Feeling the tides of emotions from the heart lighten up she added shortly after, But at least it seems like it 'broke the ice'.
...
Oh god it is contagious.

Seemingly pleased by their reaction the bird monster made space for the third child to introduce itself.

This one looked like a tiny snowman with legs whose body was shrunken down to use the redundant mass for a overproportional big head that didn't even missed the traditional orange carrot like nose.
"Hi I'm Caspar", tapping the ice stalagmite he used as a hat in a effect-seeking gesture to capture some stray light he added, "friends call me caps."

Entering the icy cone the light got broken down into various prismatic colors conjuring small rainbows around his head when it left the improvised prism.
Pretty.

Starring in awe at the spectacle Frisk noted, "Hi niice cap."

Straightening himself it seemed that Caspar was eager to elaborate further about this but Alice interrupted him.
"So what is the plan?"

Finally a good question.

Still observing the scene trough Frisk's eyes she noted that the other children looked to Monster Kid on this matter waiting for him to speak.
Huh? Seems the little lizard is the popular kid in town.

Turning to the forest said monster shouted, "Come on guys I know the exact right thing to do!"
And with that they speeded up shortly followed by the other monsters and Frisk.

"...and so he waited the entire night in front of her door until Undyne opened it again then seeing him still standing there she decided to give him at least some warrior training to honor his dedication."
Taking a sip of the ketchup bottle in front of him Sans gave his words some time to sink in before he added, "but to be honest it's, uh, still a kinda work in progress situation."

"Really at three in the morning?", feeling the corners of her snout curling up into a amused smile Toriel imagined how she would've reacted to such a disturbance, "Slamming the door seems a bit harsh but I think I wouldn't act very differently when someone would dare to disturb me at such a time."

Raising her tea cup to take a short sip she added unheard, Except if such a person would have wakened Frisk with that.

Placing the cup back down she asked casually, "So what is so special about this Undyne person that your brother asked her instead one of the other guards how he could join their ranks?"

"oh there is nothing really special it's just so that she's the boss of these guys," raising a bony hand he pointed across the small tavern to one of the corner tables where Dogamy and the other guards where eating a late lunch.

"what else?", stretching his fingers out one for each fact he told her what he seemed to remember about the guard leader.
"she is really tough… she is close to the king… most of the kids here think that she is really cool… she seems to have a bit of a deadly fixation on humans since she lost her left eye when she killed one of them… sometimes she invites people for lunch… she lives in a house that looks like a fish..."
"and that's all what I remember," shrugging he reached out to the quickly emptying ketchup bottle taking another draught.

Deadly fixation on humans!? KILLED one of them!?
"Well that sounds like a truly interesting person. Where does she live?"

He shrugged again, "somewhere in Waterfall I think. I never bothered visiting her."
"Papyrus should know I could ask him about that. but why do you want to know?"

Shrugging herself she played it causally, "Oh just to know if Frisk and me would meet her on our way." So that I can avoid her.
"I mean if she is some kind of celebrity it could be really exciting for Frisk to see her." From far away without her seeing us.

"that doesn't sounds so bad," the look of the white dots gazing out of his eye sockets suddenly changed from simple attention to a blankly staring expression, "but I don't think it would be very good for your little girl to meet them if you know what I mean."

Her grip around the small tea cup fastened spontaneously on hearing this producing faint screeching noises as her talons carved small rills into its surface.
What does he know?
Smiling politely exerting the skills she had acquired in her former profession she managed to hide how alerted she was while continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened at all.
"Really?"

"yeah you know since she taught Papyrus cooking and you were worried that she could overeat herself."

"Oh she did? Does she cook… as bad ...on the same level as your brother?"
Looking again the staring expression in his eyes was gone replaced by the same polite attention they had displayed before.
Relax. No one knows.
And you made sure that the guards wont know either for at least the next day.
Loosening her grip around the cup she moved her shoulders a bit to drag her dress away from the small shaved spot where she had sacrificed the soft white fur to mix a elixir that covered Frisk's human scent with her own.

Not answering the question his attention shifted to some point behind her, "speaking of the guards it seems they want something."

Turning around she saw Dogaressa making her way through the room to the two of them.

Reaching their table the female canine seemed still desperate to calm the waves between her husband and the tall goat monster as she offered, "Hey Toriel since we are still waiting for further orders and have some free time we decided to play some poker until our Boss calls back would you be interested in joining us until Frisk is done playing?"

Overthinking the situation for a moment she agreed. What could possibly go wrong?
"Gladly what is about you San-," turning back to the table the small skeleton was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did he go?"

Shrugging Dogaressa replied, "I've no clue he does that sometimes," mimicking a explosion with her hands she added, "Just puff and he is gone without leaving even the smallest scent trace behind."

"Well perhaps he is not a fan of poker?"
Still irritated by the sudden disappearance of the skeleton she followed the female guard to the other table where another guard wearing a pink tank top and brown camouflage trousers was already shuffling a deck of cards.

The arrival of the skeleton was besides the faint sound of suppressed air and the chinking from millions of snowflakes breaking when his weight suddenly pressed down onto them not really spectacular as he appeared out of nowhere still holding a almost empty ketchup bottle.

Feeling the cold wind he noted that he had missed his target by multiple meters.
welp looks like I overshoot a bit, his jaw formed into a self praising smile as he took a quick look at his surroundings, but the result is not that bad considering that I had to make sure that every one else was looking into another direction while taking the shortcut.

So lets see where Papyrus is…
Rounding a corner he emerged from behind his and Papyru's home entering the small area between the house and the garage his Brother had built for a so called 'car' he wanted to own when Monsters had returned to the surface.

"HELLO MY FRIEND HOW ARE YOU? I'M FINE. DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE CHILDREN ARE AT THE MOMENT?"

found him.. friend? children?
Stopping on the sound of the booming voice of his brother the smaller skeleton tilted his head questioningly as he tried to make out more of the ongoing conversation Papyrus had with someone else in the garage.

"ALREADY IN WATERFALL!? FANTASTIC! I KNEW THAT MONSTER KID WOULD GET MY SECRET HINT ABOUT UNDYNE NYE-HEH-HEH."

"…," concluding from the sudden silence from his brother before he continued someone else was talking but he was not near enough to hear them.

"YES MY FLOWERY FRIEND IT WAS A TRUE MASTERSTROKE FROM ME THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO TELL THEM THAT 'THERE IS A REALLY STRONG FISH IN WATERFALL TODAY' NYE-HEH-HEH."

Stepping a bit closer Sans could hear how his brother rummaged through the garage probably gesturing dramatically to underline his words with the right atmosphere of 'coolness'.

"I'M SURE THEY WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME MEETING UNDYNE AND SEEING HER ON LOOKOUT FOR HUMANS. AND WHO KNOWS PERHAPS THEY WILL EVEN SEE HER FIGHT AGAINST THIS NEW HUMAN THE GUARDS WERE TALKING ABOUT! WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT!?"
His voice changed suddenly from exited high to the a bit smaller concerned tone he had heard last when Papyrus stepped accidental on his 'pet stone' and wanted to know if it was alright.
"I MEAN TORIEL'S CHILD SURELY LOOKED A BIT TROUBLED SO MEETING UNDYNE SHOULD BRIGHTEN THEIR DAY RIGHT?"

Another voice much less nosier and with the more high pitched overtones of a child answered his brother every word overdosed with enough sugar to kill a grown man, "Of course my big bony friend. I'm sure they will have the time of their live meeting Undyne. And by golly I'm certain they will remember it until the end of it."
Sugary sinister chuckles ended the last sentence of Papyrus 'friend' that were shortly after joined by Papyrus louder laughs who seemed to had missed the irony in this statement entirely.

I think I've heard enough. so let's see to whom he is talking.
Raising his bony hand he knocked onto the garage door.
"knock, knock."

"WHO'S THERE?"

Feeling the smile on his face growing bigger he answered, "a herd"

"A HERD WHO?"

boy that is almost to easy with him.
"a herd you where here so I came over."

With one harsh movement the door in front of him was opened inwards revealing his brother and the dusty interior of the garage.
"SAAAAANS! HOW OFTEN I'VE TO TELL YOU THAT THIS KIND OF JOKES AREN'T FUNNY!"
Arms akimbo the tall skeleton gazed down onto his brother blocking the sight onto his mysterious 'friend'.

"dunno stopped counting after ten."
Pushing himself past his brother his eyes darted quickly from side to side scanning the bare earth that served as the garage floor but except from a small hole in the ground that was to small for even the smallest monster to fit through (and was not even near one of the walls) he was unable to see to whom Papyrus had talked to.
"what ya doing in here?"

Papyrus was still gazing down on him but seemed not to wonder about the sudden disappearance of his 'flowery' friend.
"I WAS TALKING TO A FRIEND UNTIL YOUR UNFUNNY JOKE CHASED HIM AWAY!"

"a friend you say?"
was that again this ominous flower he told me about?
but when how did they escape from the garage without me noticing them?
I think it is about time to meet this 'friend' of him.
"well every friend of my brother is surely a friend of mine too so why don't you introduce me to them when they visit you next time?"

Clapping his hands the tall skeleton forgot about his anger in an instant.
"THAT WOULD BE A WONDERFUL IDEA! I'M SURE YOU TWO WOULD GET ALONG VERY WELL ."

"yep I'm sure of that." after they answered me some of my questions.
"oh by the way Toriel asked where she could find Undyne could you help her with that?"

"OF COURSE I CAN WHERE IS SHE!?"

"at Grilby's playing poker with the guards."

"THEN WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR!? A LADY HAS REQUESTED THE ASSISTANCE OF ME THE GREAT PAPYRUS SO HURRY ON! NYE-HEH-HEH!"
Spoken this he was out of the door and already two houses afar before Sans even realized that he was gone.

Looking after the red scarf doing its best to wave dramatically behind Papyrus rushing down the street he sighed.
"jeez what an enthusiasm."

Leaving the garage he took a few steps to follow his brother before his vibrating cellphone announced a new message.

Turning away he pulled the small device from his blue hoodie taking a quick look at the received text.
"I'll catch up with him later need to check this first..."
And with that he was gone leaving only two holes in the snow where his foot were standing a second ago.

This place was scary.
It was poorly lit by luminescent plants creating small isles of light on the ground and dim glowing stones that were scattered over the cave roof generating the illusion of an eternal night filled with the sounds of unknown things stalking trough its darkness.

But in your eyes the worst parts where the ponds.
They were everywhere their waters not reflecting anything glowing in a light blue shade hiding their bottoms so that you could never be sure if you were standing in front of a flat puddle or a bottomless pit.

Making your way from one glowing plant to another avoiding the ponds by at least five meters your feet pounded the ground in a fast rhythm as your eyes where desperately looking for a hiding spot.

"You know breaking a ankle is a technical loose right?"
Although the scary girl tried her best to sound dead serious it was easy for you tell that she was enjoying the game as much as you were as you felt short joyful impulses coming from the mind space where she resided pointing out different hiding spots and alternate paths.

Stepping onto one of the wooden footbridges crossing one of the larger ponds your speed decreased considerable as you were fully sensible how easy it would be to slip on the wet planks and fall down into the cold water lurking beneath.
"The furrther you are *pant* the lonnger they ned to fiind you *pant* so theey will giive up evvent- *cough* eventuually and you win."

"Yeah but they will probably not play again with you so soon when you win the third time in a row."

She is right...
Concern flooded your mind like a raising tide taking the joy with it absorbing all other thoughts and trammeling your steps.
Perhaps I should go back…

"Whats wrong?"

Clutching one of your upper arms half embracing yourself your voice was shrunken down to a whisper by the suddenly much more intimidating silence above the motionless body of water beneath you as you answered the scary girl.
"Perrhapps you're right. I shouuld go back so that they can fiind me."
Already turning you added quieter, "I don't wannt them to be mad."

Conveying you the feeling of a irritated glance the scary girl didn't seem to understand you behaviour completely as she replied, "Okay… But I don't thin-"

"READY OR NOT HERE I COME!"
Hearing Monster Kid's excited shout in the distance you quickly took the first step on your way back to the others.

But the faint sound of metal scratching over stone diverted your attention before you could take the second.

Looking over to one of the pond sides it needed you quite some time to spot the tall figure standing partially behind one of the large columns supporting the cave roof although its body reflected the light from the plants in a dim glimmer.

Gazing over to the shiny 'monster' it seemed that it gazed right back at you evaluating you silently like a hawk starring down onto a mouse, it was rather uncomfortable.

"Frisk? I've a real bad feeling about this..."

Breaking the tense moment the shiny monster took a step forward emerging from the shadow of the column.

"Its a kniight!"
Voice struck with awe your eyes rested onto the heavy plate armor following the elaborate engraved sigils running in lines circles and spirals over its metallic surface forming complex patterns that seemed not only to reflect incoming light but also to glow from within in a deep blue light.
How cool...

Uneasiness underlined the next words from the scary girl as if something was scaring her.
"Frisk. We should go."

But you knew that there was nothing to be afraid of because knights were always the good guys in the movies fighting with honor for anyone who was not able to defend themself rescuing princesses and turning the tide of battle when needed.
"No its fiine they are okay."

The knight moved again.

"See they are even wavving at us!"
Seeing the raised arm of the knight you waved back smiling happily on this simple sign of friendliness.

"No listen to me!"
Her voice sounded suddenly much more urgent.
"That is a fully armored knight over there-"

"I know thhey are cool riight?"

"That is not the point! You simply don't dress up like that unless you want to fight someone! AND they are not even waving they've just extended their arm upwards without waving it at all!"

"Perhaaps they are on thheir way to a festiva- oh lookk!"

Arm still raised five deep blue sparks shot upwards from the fingers of the knight to stop several meters above them and suddenly stretch into... wands?

Tilting your head in curiosity you asked the scary girl, "What are theey doiing?"

"They are using magic but I don't know what this kind of-"
Suddenly the knight thrusted its arm downwards in a fierce movement pointing now directly at you.
"FRISK LOOK OUT!"

Wrapped up by the uncommon things taken place in front of you only your eyes reacted widening in shock as the five wands(?) blurred to schemes as they darted down to you.

Your body moved on its own throwing itself to the right evading the fast objects impacting on the very spot you were just standing a second ago.

Still not able to react you starred blankly at the spears composed of deep blue magic that had dug themselves deep into the planks before their shapes flickered and wavered as they vanished into thin air.

The shout of the scary girl broke you out of your paralysis dragging your attention back to the here and now, "Run... RUN RUN RUN!"

Wheeling around you broke into a fast run whimpering in fear as another five sparks shot upwards in the outer corners of your eye and the loud "CLANG CLANG CLANG" from metallic soles let you know that the knight pursued you.

Something collided with the footbridge shaking the planks under you and filling the air with the sound of splintering wood you didn't look back.

Again the air howled protesting against the objects forcefully cutting through it as another spear passed your head by mere centimeters before it broke the blind mirror of the pond beneath showering the planks in a fountain of water.

Breaking through the veil of droplets you reached the end of the footbridge and left the treacherous glow of the water highlighting your position to the knight but its steps echoing behind you were still coming closer without faltering.

Short whimpers escaping your mouth you entered a large field of light blue glowing grass taking back the same way you had come just a minute ago.

Suddenly the steps behind you stopped.

Perhaps they lost me.
Feeling a glimmer of hope you tried to speed up even more but to your dismay the short though had been enough to distract you from the way so that you noticed the small bump hidden by the grass only after it tripped you.
This saved your life.

Something shoot over your body laying face first in the dirt piercing through the spot where you chest would've been before it vanished in the distance.

"Don't move."
The voice of the scary girl was quiet and sounded as shaken as you felt in the face of a deadly monster pursuing you and letting you wish nothing more than to you jump to your feet and run.

But you trusted her and so you held still to anxious to even turn your head as the heavy steps of the knight passed you stopping not even a meter apart so that they were now blocking your way back to the other children.

Hearing the sound form metal scratching over metal you pressed your lips shut trapping the faint whimpers inside your throat as the knight looked around trying to locate you.

You didn't know how long you were laying there in the dirt not moving a muscle breathing so little that soon your whole body was screaming for oxygen and holding your eyes tightly closed in the childish hope that they wouldn't be able to see you when you couldn't see them.

Then the knight moved again going back into the direction where it came from its steps echoing through the cave somehow conveying you its anger about the lost prey.

Waiting a bit longer to be sure that they were gone you stood back up keeping your head down moving as carefully as possible to the end of the grass still holding your mouth shut chest shaken by silent whimpers.

More used to this kind of experience the fear coming from the scary girl was nearly gone when she spoke again.
"I think we are safe now. But we should go back to… Toriel as quickly as possible okay?"

Not trusting your voice you nodded the end of the field already in sight.

Sensing your state of mind she continued, "Don't worry Toriel will protect you. She is the best substitute mum you could wish for."

Getting rubbed in again that Toriel was in fact not your mother stung but at least it distracted you from the deadly knight still haunting your thoughts.

Leaving the grass behind you pondered with yourself about discussing the possibility the paper was offering to you with the scary girl but you were interrupted before you came to a conclusion.

"GOT YOU!"

Wheeling around heart nearly jumping out of your chest you expected to face the knight that somehow had sneaked back without making a sound but it was only Monster Kid smiling brightly at you seemingly happy that they had found you.

Deeply relived you waved at them acknowledging your defeat in this round of hide and seek.

The scary girl on the other hand wasn't as happy as you were.
"What is wrong with you lizard!? Sneaking up on us like that are you trying to kill me again!?"

Not hearing the rant from her Monster Kid told you how easily they found Snowdrake and Caspar before the three of them searched for you until the other two children gave up and went back home for dinner.

Not wanting to impolite interrupt their story you waited until they stopped to breath before you quietly asked, "Could you pllease briing me back to Torriel now?"

"Oh right you don't know the way."
Blinking two times they seemed to ponder about something then turned around shouting with excitement, "Follow me I know a shortcut!"

Not wanting to be left behind you ran after the yellow lizard like 'monster' dashing deeper into the cave.

"GREETINGS IT'S ME THE GREAT PAPYRUS COMING TO HELP OUT A LADY! NYE-HEH-HEH"
Standing in the open door of Grilby's the best (and only) pub in town Papyrus gave the present monsters some time to admire his dramatic entrance before he went over to the corner table where his good friends (the guards) were playing cards.

"HELLO FRIENDS SANS TOLD ME THAT TORIEL HAD A QUESTION ABOUT UNDYNE DO YOU WOULD KNOW WHERE SHE IS SO THAT I CAN HELP HER?"

Placing a card down Dogamy answered absently, "Don't know she excused herself and hasn't come back since."

Staring with pure devotion at his own cards Greater Dog lifted on of his big arms pointing to the counter, "Not so soon ago little Alice came and the lady talked a bit with her then she was gone."

"THANKS MY BIG FRIEND I WILL INVESTIGATE THIS!"
Filled with enthusiasm he went over to the counter where the white rabbit monster in its pink dress was drinking a hot chocolate.

"HI ALICE HOW IS YOUR MOTHER DOING? YOU WOULDN'T KNOW WHERE THE BIG GOAT LADY IN THE PINK DRESS WENT WOULD YOU?"

Smiling through a small chocolate mustache she replied, "Hi Papyrus mum is doing great you should stop by some times and check out her goods perhaps you could find something to enhance your armor?"
Pausing for a moment thinking looking over to the guards table she continued, "The lady? She asked about Monster Kind… I told her that they were gone playing in Waterfall… and that I didn't went with them because waterfall is so wet and muddy…"
She shrugged, "After that she left really fast."

"MYSTERIOUS WHY WOULD SHE LEAVE? WASN'T SHE WAITING FOR HER CHILD TO COME BACK FROM PLAYING?"
Standing there pondering about the whereabouts of Toriel and what he should do next multiple sounds from the guards table interrupted his line of thoughts.

"Driiiing Driiing!"
"Dit Dit Dit!"
"Beeep Beeep Beep!"

Laying simultaneously down their cards the canines produced their cellphones form their black coats checking the newly arrived texts.

Locking back up Dogamy gestured the monster behind the counter the owner of the pub Grilby himself, "Grilby Undyne has found the human and messaged us to assist her as quick as possible would it be okay if we pay later when we come back?"
Already standing the lieutenant waited until the man composed entirely of fire gave him a short nod before he and the other guards left in a quick pace.

"WOWIE UNDYNE HAS FOUND THE HUMAN?"
Awe filled his voice.
"THAT WILL BE A AWESOME FIGHT I WISH I COULD SEE IT."

He paused for a second.
"APROPOS UNDYNE I WONDER IF MONSTER KID AND TORIEL'S CHILD HAVE ALREADY FOUND HER?"

"I told you you shouldn't have listened to this slippery little lizard. Believe me they ditched us and are probably laughing right now about your stupidity."

Keeping your voice down you whispered your answer quietly to the scary girl although standing on another footbridge crossing a seemingly bottomless abyss there wasn't really anyone that would have heard you anyways.
"They said thhey will be back ssoon. We just nneed to wait a bit longger."

Once again the scary girl conveyed you the feeling of rolling eyes.
"Yes they said they will be back soon but what if they don't come back? What are you going to do then?"

Unsure about what to say you kept quiet it wasn't the first time she had brought this up in the last few minutes but although you were initially absolutely sure that Monster Kid would come back in the next moment any second they didn't reappear unsettled you a bit more letting the arguments of the scary girl sound much more reasonable with each repeat.

Changing to a more urging tone she repeated again, "You have to call Toriel she can come and pick us up she knows this place better then its king. Just tell her that you are in waterfall over a abyss with many footbridges."

Producing the cellphone Toriel gave you you hesitated staring down onto the "one" button you knew that you had to press it down for three seconds then the phone would call Toriel for you but, "Are you surre that she woouldn't be mad for disturbbing her just to picck us up?"

Hearing your thin voice and being able to feel what you were feeling she tried to console you.
"Yes I'm sure trust me the worst thing that could happen is that she checks you once again from tip to toe to make sure that you're alright."

"Okay," you took a deep breath, "I trust you."
Your finger pressed the button down into its socket letting the screen of the small device flickering to live displaying the phone status.

one
...
two
...
thre-

Eyes widening in fear you quickly lifted your thumb from the button as the horribly familiar sound of metal scratching over metal reached your ears.

Gazing down onto a lower parallel running footbridge you saw the knight from before making its way over the abyss its helmet turning from side to side searching for something or someone.

Receiving no further input from you the small screen of the cellphone darkened again.

Carefully raising your foot to step back the scary girl speaking quickly let you lower it again.
"DON'T! They haven't spotted us yet! Just keep quiet don't move and they will be gone."

Okay.
Keeping your eyes on the knight you could feel how your chest cramped a bit as the memory from the chase before was still to fresh to simply ignore it.
I can do that.

The knight stopped turned around and let its gaze wander over the other footbridges running below and on the same level as their own.

Please please don't look up.

Conveying you the feeling of her hand grabbing yours the scary girl tried to calm you.
"All will be good they are nearly gone just look they started walking again."

To afraid to whisper you just nodded very short.

Trying to distract yourself you looked down onto the phone in your hand making Toriel mad with a call was a possibility but it would still be better then facing the deadly knight.

Suddenly the small screen lit up again without that you would've pressed a button displaying a single row of numbers giving you only enough time for your eyes to widen in horror as you realized what was going to happen next.
Then the phone rang.

Loud and clear echoed the sound of a old-fashioned eight bit ring tone through the cave and the knight wheeled around its gaze shooting up to you locking with your own.

For a second none of you moved as the cellphone in your hand still played its unnerving ring tone then the arm of the knight raised once again skywards shooting the familiar sparks from its fingers and you started running away from them.

Moving forward you put the still ringing phone back into your pocket without even thinking of taking the call.

Behind you the first spears impacted the footbridge filling the air with the sound of forcefully suppressed air and splintering wood.

Piercing through the planks a spear missed you only because its impact had shaken the footbridge enough to let you loose your balance.

Falling down you threw yourself forward in reflex mimicking the action heroes from comics and movies but although it saved you from the other spears tearing a hole into the bridge behind you your forward momentum combined with the angle of your fall created enough force for something in your pocket to splinter with the high noise of breaking glass.

Skidding over the wet footbridge the remains of the broken object in your pocket jammed between your body and the solid planks dug themselves into your flesh forcing your mouth open in a wailful cry of pain.

Shouting in your mind the voice of the scary girl underlined with ache urged you back to your feet.
"DON'T STOP! OR THEY WILL GET US!"

Continuing your way you were now unable to run as every second step was met with the sensation of blazing pain engulfing your leg and letting your chest cramp in fast short whimpers.

More staggering than walking eyes clouded with tears another shout from the scary girl stopped you.
"FRISK STOP!"

Stopping dead in your tracks you needed a moment to comprehend what had alerted her.
Blinking trough the water in your eyes you realized with horror that the footbridge you were standing on ended in nowhere it was a dead end probably created when a part of the bridge collapsed years ago.

Turning around to track back a fearful sob escaped your mouth as your eyes looking for a escape were met with the image of the knight entering the platform you had passed moments ago connecting multiple footbridges.

"CLANG CLANG CLANG," like unavoidable fate itself the knight strived forward summoning causally a spear into their right hand as they saw you standing there with your back to the abyss unable to reach another footbridge in time before they would've reached you.

"Okay okay don't panic..."

Hearing the fearful voice of the scary girl telling you that she was as helpless as you you tried to retract.
But your probing foot was only meet with the edge of the bridge.

Breaking down into uncontrollable sobbing you pleaded for mercy, "Plleasee"

Hearing your wobbly voice and seeing the tears streaming down your face the knight who had already passed half of the platform hesitated for a moment but continued then in the same pace as before.

Seeing them still closing in you cried out, "Heelp. Pllease. Please soomeone hellp," although you knew that it was futile since you hadn't seen a single soul other then the children and the knight when you passed through waterfall.

But against all odds somebody came.

Blazing light flared up behind the knight and a harsh voice filled with motherly fury echoed from the far walls.
"Step away from my child or you will not have much time to regret it."

Toriel!
"Mum!"

Seeing Frisk standing there with tear-stained face still shaken by sobs and the red drops on the ground leading over the platform to one of their legs where something had left dark stains on their trousers she felt boundless relief that she had found them in time on the one hand and raging fury on the other letting the fireball she was holding double in size.

Wheeled around the knight was now facing her spear risen in a defensive gesture.

Turning the hand with the fire ball palm first to the imbecile who had dared to attack her child she repeated stressing each word, "Step. away. from. my. child!"

Surveying her the knight lowered its spear and spoke in a voice which was greatly distorted by its helmet giving it a deep brassy sound, "This is none of you business miss. By standing order of the king every human has to be captured ans its soul harvested to free our kind."

Hearing again of this mad scheme did nothing more then to fuel her anger even more.
"As it concerns me the king can go and fu-," remembering that Frisk was still standing behind the knight she corrected herself, "water his plants now leave or bear the consequences!"

Seemingly disgruntled by her words the knight raised its spear again shouting out in anger as well, "DON'T speak like this about the king! And don't think that this little flame of yours could endanger me! This armor was forged by the royal scientist herself to withstand the blazing fires of Hotland! I could jump into a pit of lava and would emerge withou-"

Feed up with this rant the fingers of her raised hand moved in a blur forming multiple signs and geometric forms before she thrusted it forward mumbling a short word.

The fireball collapsed into itself and flared up in blinding light as it shot forward crossing the gap between her hand and the heavy plate armor faster then someone could blink.

As expected the sigils engraved into the helmet lit up with deep blue magic trying to protect their bearer when they came into contact with her spell but although the armor was indeed a good piece of work it was made by someone who never had battled with human warlocks therefore it was not designed to deal with a fire spell that concentrated high amounts of fluctuating heat onto a very small space.

Grunting in pain the knight staggered sideways as the fireball unleashed its might in a dazzling flash of light leaving a coin sized hole in the sigil pattern where the metallic surface had been molten.

Already treating Firsk's injuries in her mind she requested again, "As I said leave or bear the consequences."

Regaining his balance the knight took a short look over its shoulder to her child before they replied, "Then so it shall be. But don't think I'll go down easy missy."

Summoning another fireball her voice was now cold as ice as she commanded Frisk, "If you insist. Child close your eyes you should not see this."

Concentrating to formulate the next spell in such a manner that it would reduce the knight to ashes without endangering her child or setting the platform on fire the next words of the armored monster irritated her so that she hesitated for a moment instead of throwing the deadly fire straight away.

"Oh thank you for that that should make things much easier."
This words spoken their arm holding the spear shot upwards.

Expecting a attack her arms crossed in front of her chest preparing a magic shield in reflex.

But instead of throwing it they let go of the spear as their hand reached its highest point over their helmet sending the weapon swaying through the air…
Directly into Frisk's direction who well-behaved had closed her eyes as Toriel had instructed.

"CHILD WATCH OUT!"
Although she dashed forward with inhuman speed using every trick she knew to move faster she could only helplessly watch as the spear bumped into the planks bounced back and collided with Frisk's legs shoving them over the end of the footbridge.

Their legs pulled away form them their upper body slammed heavily down onto the bridge their hands flailing around desperately clawing for a hold but slid away on the wet planks as their weight dragged them over the edge.

Lungs deprived of air by the impact they couldn't even cry for help but seeing the scared look in their eyes when their hands failed to grab the end of the footbridge her mind stepped in to play its own version of their fear shaken wobbly voice in her head.
'Toriel please help me. I'm scared. Please save me. Please...'

Throwing herself forward she extended her arm to Frisk hoping to grab the child before it left her reach but they were already to deep so that only her talons reached them scratching for a moment over the skin of their fingers.
Then they were gone.

"Child no."
Whispering the words into the dark abyss that had just stolen her child her mind was filled with painfully strong dismay before boundless fury replaced everything else as her muscles tensed preparing to fling her around her magic already forming burning halos around her hands.
"YOU TERRIBLE CREATURE YOU WILL PAY FOR THI-"

Something hard hit the back of her head erasing her thoughts and sending her into the senseless depths of unconsciousness.

-A/N-

See? As promised no cliffhanger *puts sunglasses on* because you know they've 'fallen' down.

(Sorry for that but it seems that all this bad puns are indeed contagious ;)

But jokes aside I noted something while writing this (and perhaps you did too in this or other fan fictions), Monster Kid seems to have no canon gender assigned to them (at least I haven't found any).

So since I'm going on a short vacation and will probably do a writing pause in this time I'll just leave this here *puts question (which is Monster Kid's gender?) down onto the ground* and look further into this when I'm back.

If you wish you can tell me what you think should be the answer to this but rest assured if there is nothing when I come back then I've still this as a plan b.

*shows big red button (echo -n 'Monster Kid is '; if [ $((RANDOM%2)) -gt 1 ]; then echo 'male.'; else echo 'female.'; fi)*

Oh and if you should have any questions or guesses about the plot just post them, I'll answer these as long it is no real spoiler (or tease you with a cryptic comment/question if it is.

So that said have a good time *waves goodbye* see ya on the next chapter.

-A/N END-