Frisk slapped their alarm clock when it went off. They excitedly got up and started getting dressed. Toriel was at the door to their room, ready to tell them to get up when she saw them running around.

"Excited?" she asked teasingly.

'First day of school! Why wouldn't I be?' Frisk signed.

"Well, I will have your bag and breakfast ready by the time you get downstairs," Toriel said. She closed the door, allowing them the privacy to finish. Once dressed in their blue-and-purple stripped shirt and blue pants they headed downstairs. Toriel had breakfast set up for them and they eagerly ate.

"Slow down," she chuckled. "You will choke."

'I'll be fine,' Frisk signed. 'Can't I have some more?'

"You will be having lunch at the school at the same time as your friends so it will not be needed," Toriel explained. "Now, your bag is sitting by the door. Give me a moment and we will walk together."

Frisk eagerly waited on the couch, backpack slung on their shoulder. Once Toriel finished her breakfast and had her own bag packed she walked out of the kitchen. "Shall we?"

Frisk hopped off and took her hand. They walked to Waterfall, arriving before the rush of kids for the classes. Toriel gave Frisk a tour of the school once they were through the door. There were several classrooms but the one Frisk was interested in was Toriel's, where they would be for their classes. There was also a gym, cafeteria, spare rooms, a closet, and offices. Among those were Principle Holiday's.

Frisk saw that she and her daughter were already there. Frisk walked up to Noelle and greeted her.

"Hi, Frisk. Ready for your first day?" Noelle asked, to which Frisk nodded. Toriel walked into the office to talk to the principle, setting some of her stuff down as she did.

"So, I know this is a bit of a stupid question to ask," Noelle whispered, "but did you have a school on the surface or anything like it?"

Frisk shook their head. 'Everything I learned was all about how to survive. I did teach myself to read. Sort of.'

"Well, I trust you know it isn't always fun, right?" she asked. "Most of the time we have to be quiet and there are tests on occasion."

'Mom's filled me in on most of that,' Frisk signed. 'I can manage all that.'

"Good. So, what do you want to do while we wait for class to start?" she asked.

'Maybe teach me more about school and what each room is for?' Frisk suggested.

"I can do that," Noelle agreed. "Follow me."

For the next half an hour, Noelle gave Frisk a thorough tour of the school, as well as a rundown of the schedules. They would be in class from nine to twelve-thirty, at which point they would take a half-hour lunch break, then class for another two hours until three, when recess came around, then one last hour of classes until the school day ended. Toriel gave them both a schedule of what subjects she would teach and when during the day.

MK showed up ten minutes before class started and he helped prepare Frisk for their first day of school. At nine o'clock, the bell rang which caused Frisk to flinch a bit at the sharp noise. With that, it was time to sit at a desk.

Frisk was assigned a specific seat which was near the teacher's desk and MK and Noelle were nearby, sitting next to them. There were nine desks total, but three remained unoccupied. The other students were a blue bird-like Monster with glasses and a vest with a pocket, a white cat with black hair and a pink stripe that gave off a very 'goth' vibe, a green snake with sunglasses and a blue baseball cap.

"Good morning class," Toriel greeted.

"Good morning, Miss Toriel," all the students except Frisk greeted back.

"Before we get started today, we have a new classmate. Frisk, turn around and wave 'hi'," Toriel encouraged.

Frisk turned in their seat and waved to all the students.

"Everyone, this is my child, Frisk," Toriel explained. "They have trouble speaking but they can understand spoken language. How about you introduce yourselves?"

The bird Monster stood on his desk, going first. "Very well, teacher. I am Berdly, the star of this class. The smartest bird in this school and all around-"

"Berdly, please do not stand on your desk," Toriel chided gently. "And that is enough from you."

"Understood," Berdly said, sitting back down. Frisk had a rather bad feeling about him.

The cat Monster stood up next. "Catti. Hi." She sat back down. Frisk almost giggled at how short that was.

The snake straightened up. "Name's Jockington," he introduced. "Nice to, meet you, Frisk. And if you want to join, the cross-country team, speak to me." He partially curled back up.

"Now that we all know each other," Toriel began.

"Wait, isn't Frisk supposed to introduce themself?" Berdly interrupted.

"Well, yes, but as I said, they struggle with speech," Toriel reminded. "I feel that an introduction on their part would be too stilted. Now if there are no more interruptions, let us get started."

The next three-and-a-half hours were certainly an experience for Frisk. Every hour, Toriel went to a new subject, covering all the basics needed. They read along with their books, listened to their mom's lectures and worked on the papers she gave them. Eventually, the bell rang again indicating lunch time. Frisk followed the rest of their class to the cafeteria where all the other classes were having lunch at the same time.

While the lunches there weren't as good as Toriel's cooking, they certainly had more variety. MK told them that the menu changed almost every week so there would always be something new to try. Frisk got to sit down with their friends though the rest of the class sat at the same table.

"So, how you liking lunch so far?" MK asked. Frisk gave a thumbs up by way of answer. "It's awesome, right? I like it when it's some of the more exotic surface foods."

"You think everything is awesome, MK," Berdly snarked.

"Just telling Frisk what to expect," MK explained. "And to not worry. Because the stuff is awesome."

"Yeah," Jockington agreed. "Surface foods, pretty cool."

"Exotic foods. Not bad." Catti droned.

"I don't like most of the meats," Noelle admitted. "But the more exotic plants are cool. We do our best to replicate those. We get the menus and recipes from a dump not too far from here. It's where all the trash from the surface collects and Monsters look through it for bits of human culture."

"Who cares about boring human stuff?" Berdly sarcastically asked.

'I do,' Frisk signed. 'I find it all interesting.'

Noelle tapped them so they were looking at her. 'Berdly doesn't know sign language.'

"What's that weird thing you're doing with your hands?" Berdly wondered.

"Sign language," Catti said.

"What's that?" Berdly asked.

"For deaf and mute. Allows talk. Through gestures," she explained.

"Sounds dumb," Berdly said.

"It's not dumb, it's really cool!" MK shouted. "Frisk can talk without having to say a word. So can Noelle."

"It's not that cool," Berdly said snidely. "And besides, what can they possibly do with it? It's boring."

Frisk frowned. 'It's the only way I can talk, bird brain. Besides, what do you know? I haven't seen a lick of smarts from you yet.'

MK snickered at that, but neither he nor Noelle translated.

"What was all that?" Berdly wondered. "Praising my incredible wit?"

"Called you bird brain," Catti said. "Doesn't think you're smart."

Frisk snickered at Berdly's expression. They looked at Catti. 'Do you know Sign Language?'

"Some. Not all. Can get gist," she explained.

"Hey!" Berdly shouted. "I'll have you know in my last school, I got two blue ribbons in excellent competitions of intelligence. I have a straight A grade and I'm the smartest person here."

'Aside from Noelle,' Frisk signed. 'She's pretty smart, too.'

Noelle blushed lightly at Frisk's compliment.

"What did they say?" Berdly demanded of Catti.

"Praised Noelle. Smarter than you," she said.

"What? No way," Berdly denied. "She can barely speak."

'I can't talk at all and yet I'm probably the second-smartest person here,' Frisk signed.

Berdly looked at Catti, expecting translation. "Really want to know?"

"Yes!"

Just before Catti could say, the bell rang and either by coincidence or design, she gave her translation as it rang.

"That's the, end of lunch," Jockington said. "Put trays, in the sink, and return to class."

Everyone picked up their trays and carried them, walking in a line one-by-one to dump them in a massive tub to be washed.

After Frisk dumped theirs, Catti stopped them for a moment. 'Speak truth,' she signed. 'Berdly. Too arrogant. Hand language. Powerful magic. Study more.'

Frisk was amazed that she could sign, but got that that was probably the limit of what she knew. But she did give Frisk something to think about as they returned to class.

The next two hours were fairly uneventful for Frisk. Recess came and Frisk got to see what it was all about. A small playground, different from the one in Snowdin, was behind the school. Kids of all ages were there, playing on the equipment or various games that Frisk was unfamiliar with.

Frisk was standing with Noelle and MK as they observed the playground. 'So we've got half an hour to enjoy ourselves?'

"Yep and it's going to fly right by," MK said. "I got an idea for a game we can all play."

"What is it?" Noelle asked.

"Tag," MK answered. "We can even get the others in on it. What do you say?"

"I'm not that fast," Noelle said.

"You don't have to be. You can just hide instead," MK explained. "Come on! It'll be fun!"

After a moment, Noelle agreed. MK got Berdly, Catti, and Jockington into the game as well. They all stood in a circle as MK laid down the rules.

"So we can't go outside the fence," MK stated. "You can hide anywhere that can fit you, just make sure that whoever's 'it' can successfully find you. So no cramming into hard-to-reach places." Everyone looked at Jockington as MK said that. "You can hide with other people. And whoever is 'it' first has to give everyone a count of ten for a head start. The game lasts until the bell rings and the winner is whoever got tagged the least."

"So, who's it first?" Jockington asked.

"Perhaps the youngest," Berdly suggested snidely, looking at Frisk.

"Frisk's never played," MK said. "So they're not going first."

"We could use a rhyme to pick," Noelle suggested.

"Do that," Catti said.

"Okay," MK agreed. "Frisk, you stand off to the side since you're not a part of this."

Frisk stepped out of the circle to watch. The remaining five closed the circle tighter, then Noelle started off, pointing to someone as she spoke her rhyme, slowly getting faster, but also pointing at random as well with each beat of the rhyme. Eventually, she ended on Berdly.

"I'm 'it' first?" he said incredulously. "No! I demand we go again!"

"Rules are rules," MK said. "So, you got to give us ten seconds to run before you can chase us."

"Fine," Berdly seethed. "But I'm starting now, so you better run."

Like that, everyone shot off, Frisk sprinting as fast as they could. There were a few hiding places, but Frisk had a suspicion that Berdly was going to look for them first.

The jungle gym, the voice suggested. It has a tunnel you can hide in.

'But that might be the first place he'll look,' Frisk signed.

If you go in the middle, it will give you time to run away. You're smaller, so you can walk in it while he will have to crawl. And the hard plastic means he can't sneak up on you, so you will have plenty of warning. And the tunnel curves, so he won't be able to see you easily.

Frisk took the advice, though they wondered if it could be considered cheating since someone was helping them. They climbed the stairs that lead to the level the tunnel was on and sure enough, they were able to walk in and stopped halfway through it.

Good. Now, like you suspect, he will probably look for you here first. Fortunately, there is a solution should that happen. You're quite agile for your size, so if he chases you out, you can hop on top of the tunnel's entrance. He'll assume you ran somewhere else, as there are plenty of other paths down or up. Once he's gone, you can go back to the tunnel and wait it out until the bell rings.

'Good idea,' they signed. 'Hey, while we wait, do you want to talk?'

Why? And about what?

'Well, have more of your memories returned?' Frisk asked. 'It's been over a year.'

There was silence for a moment before he spoke. Actually, yes. I can recall more of my past, but there's still some blanks. I can't recall who my parents are and yet I have memories of them.

'Well, what do you remember about them?'

I'm… I'm not sure. I think my mom liked to bake and my dad liked plants. It's weird, I can recall eating a pie my mom made, I can see her smile, but I can't see her face. And whenever I try, I see Toriel instead.

'Hey, at least it's something,' Frisk signed. 'Do you remember your name?'

Hm… I think so, the voice said. I… I can almost see it. It's… odd sounding. I think… I think it was… A… As…

"Hey! You in there?" a snide voice shouted.

Nice timing, Frisk thought. They could hear Berdly climbing into the tunnel and they focused to hear which end. The sound bounced around a lot, but Frisk was able to pinpoint which end Berdly was coming from. Frisk walked to the opposite end.

Let him catch a glimpse of you, so he knows it's you he's following, the voice suggested. Frisk slowed a bit, making it seem like they were crawling and looked behind to see Berdly's beak and blue feathered head poking around the bend.

"There you are!" he shouted, crawling faster. While the size difference between them wasn't great, it was enough that Berdly had to get down on his hands and knees to fit, while Frisk was able to crouch. Once Berdly saw them, they got up on their feet and started running as fast as they could, leaving Berdly behind.

They leapt out of the tunnel, turned left and ran two paces before leaping up and grabbing the bars of the walls, climbing up and above the exit. Berdly crawled out a couple moments later. Just as the voice suspected, he didn't look up, but looked between the two separate staircases, trying to figure out where Frisk had run. He made for the set that went down, perhaps thinking that Frisk returned to the rest of the playground so they would have room to run.

Once he was out of earshot, Frisk leapt down and climbed back into the tunnel. They sat back down at the middle point, waiting for when Berdly came back. That trick might not work a second time, but Frisk already had an idea around that. Just in case.

'So you were saying?' Frisk signed. 'What's your name?'

Oh, right. I think it was… A… As… The voice paused for a long moment as he tried to think. A… s… r… i… e… l… As… ri… el.

'Is that your name? Asriel?' Frisk asked, spelling out the name.

Yeah. Yeah! It was! That was my name! Asriel. My name is Asriel!

'Nice to finally meet you, Asriel,' Frisk signed.

But you've known me this whole time, Asriel pointed out.

'Not quite. It's been… more like an echo, I think. After all, you didn't really know anything about yourself at first.'

Fair point.

'Do you have a last name?'

I think so… but it's eluding me just as much as my first name was.

'Well, you don't have to worry about it,' Frisk decided. 'Calling you 'Asriel' in my head is enough for me.'

Thanks, Frisk, Asriel said. Now, we should keep an ear out in case Berdly comes back.

'Good idea.'

He didn't come back. Frisk sat there the whole time until the bell rang, at which point they climbed out and reunited with the rest of their class. Berdly did manage to get Noelle, Catti, and MK, but Frisk and Jockington both evaded him, the snake doing so by doing what snakes do best.

Berdly was embarrassed when Frisk revealed they had hidden on top of the tunnel and had returned to it after he was gone. Apparently, after that brief chase, Berdly had managed to find Noelle, who had tagged Catti, who found and re-tagged Berdly, who tried to get Jockington but failed and then tagged MK, who managed to tag Catti again who tagged Berdly, which is how the game ended, with him as the loser and Frisk and Jockington winners, as neither got tagged.

"You hid in the tunnel? Dude, that was so clever. I'm jealous," MK said excitedly. "Wish I had thought of that."

"Doesn't mean anything," Berdly said. "You got lucky. Next game, I'm going to smoke you out."

"If you can find them," Jockington pointed out. "Frisk, you're really, clever. If I had arms, I would take off this hat in respect to your skills."

"Smart goat," Catti said.

"It was pretty smart," Noelle congratulated. "I tried to outrun Berdly but that didn't work. I was able to hide for the rest of the game."

They returned to class. The last hour flew by for all of them. Once the final bell rang, everyone packed up their stuff. Berdly gave Frisk the stink-eye as he left, Catti waved as she left, her older sister Catty picking her up. Jockington waved with his tail as he left. MK stayed for a moment to say bye to his friends.

"How was your first day?" MK asked Frisk.

'Not bad,' Frisk signed. 'I could get used to this.'

"Cool. Well, see you tomorrow!" He waved with his tail as he left, leaving Noelle and Frisk by themselves.

"Hey, that was really impressive what you did for tag," Noelle encouraged. "But Berdly might expect it tomorrow, if we do it again."

'I figured. Don't worry. Next time, I'll come up with a different method.'

"So, what do you want to do? Our moms are still working," Noelle asked.

'Study? I could use the help,' Frisk suggested.

"Sure! Here, let's get set up."

They studied while Toriel and the Principle were wrapping up their work. Noelle helped Frisk with things they didn't quite get while in class. After about an hour it was time to go home. The two kids packed up, their moms escorted them home. Frisk waved bye to Noelle, anxious to see her again tomorrow.

Once they got home and Toriel took Frisk's backpack off, she asked about their day. "Did you enjoy school?"

'I did!' Frisk signed happily. 'It was a bit strange but my friends helped me out.'

"Glad to hear that. I saw you and Noelle doing a bit of work while Carol and I were wrapping up."

'Yeah, I might need her help with some of the things I learn in class,' they admitted.

"It is no problem. Whatever you need to do to pass, feel free to do it. I also saw you playing with the others. What did you think of them?"

'Well, Jockington is kinda cool. Catti's… strange. But in a good way. And Berdly… is he always that way?'

"As far as I can tell," Toriel answered. "I have been trying to tone it down but I fear I am not having much luck. Still, I will keep trying."

'Good luck with that.'

"Now, I will make us some dinner," Toriel said. "You may change into something more comfortable if you wish."

'Okay.' Frisk went back upstairs, slipping into clothes that weren't as tight. They were eager for tomorrow and for their second day of school.

End of Chapter 14