Chapter 2: Two worlds
The butterscotch pie Toriel tediously prepared had long grown cold. The cavern was silent, nothing but the sound of her nervous pacing and occasional sighs filled the dense air. '..Such a lovely young child, what if some monsters got a hold of him? Oh I feel so...'
"..."
A soft scuffle echoed through the halls, they grew louder and louder with each passing breath.
"It's probably some monster making a ruckus, isn't it?" Toriel reasoned.
Another noise erupted from the abyss, a noise she'd couldn't tag on any of the monster dwelling in the ruins. "...the noise...it's the sound of...flesh?!" She ran to the entrance.
"I'm sorry..."
Sure enough, the boy limped through the entryway, he coughed up a clump of blood. "...I came so late." Naruto was surrounded by her warmth once more, and just for a second, he didn't feel the pain any more.
"I-I'm sorry my child, it was irresponsible of me to leave you so long for some silly surprise."
"Quit it!" Naruto pushed away from Toriel. "You don't have to treat me like a baby every time I get a little hurt! It's those damn puzzles that took me forever!"
"What about the monsters?"
"They...didn't give me any trouble..." He rubbed his throbbing arm. "But forget about that, I wanna see this surprise you were talking about!"
'So that's why he's so hurt.' Naruto tailed Toriel as she began walking away. "...well the pie's a little cold, so while I warm it up, you can rest up a bit."
The smell of stale chocolate and cold pie swept Naruto into Toriel's cottage. Before entering, he slipped off his muddy sandals and placed them next to the door. Toriel ushered the spiky blonde into a room down the hall. "Please rest in the guest room, I'll be back with the pie in a jiffy." She said.
Naruto looked around, the small pile of toys and cutesy layout was a dead giveaway this room once belonged to a child. 'It's really clean here for a guest room, I guess not many people visit here.' He settled down on a small bed hugging the right wall.
"I wonder how everyone is doing back at home? Hehe, I bet they haven't even realized I'm gone."
His eyelids grew heavy. "...it's not like...they...care."
OoO
'You want to stay here don't you? Ha-ha, who could blame you? She's the only one who doesn't treat you like trash.'
'...I still want to go back...it's still my home.'
'Don't you want to continue feeling the love of a...mother? Don't you ever wonder how it feels? You're so alone...you're so depressed...you're so...hurt.'
'But I still have...a dream.'
'What is your dream?'
Then he remembered.
*THUD
"OW! Ow-Ow! Damn it!"
Naruto's fingernails dug into the floorboards, he pushed himself up. A buttery-sweet smell hit him like a bullet then it finally dawned upon him Toriel warmed up the pie she was babbling on about.
The pie plate sat comfortably on his arm while he walked out of the guest's room. Past the foyer, Naruto walked in the living room where Toriel was reading by the fireplace.
'I guess I gotta tell her...-' Naruto cleared his throat and set the butterscotch-cinnamon pie on the table. 'Alright! Let's do this!' He puffed out his chest, the subtle melody of Toriel's rocking chair hastened as the spiky blonde approached.
"Ahem! Goat lady, I-"
*thud
"-oh!" She proceeded to follow with an 'are you okay?' but he stopped her.
"..." Naruto raised from his helpless position. "I know I mess up a lot, but...I don't want you to worry about me!"
"What're you saying, child?" She sputtered. "I won't have to worry about you since you'll be staying here with me, won't you, I mean, we'll be doing so many fun things together, I even set a curriculum up for your edu-"
His foot swiped across the floor. "I want to...go home."
"This IS your home. Would you care to know about the book I'm reading, it's called 72 uses for snails: limited edition."
"How do I leave?"
"Do you um want to learn about an interesting snail fact? Well, did you know that snails are the slowest known moving creature on earth?! I guess they can't escarGO when you want them to. Hahahaha..." Toriel stood up. "Excuse me," She hurried out of the room.
"..." Naruto shook his head. "Where'd she go?" He huffed, steaming out of the living room. The foyer lead to either the hallway or a series of stairs leading down to the basement. 'I'll try the basement.'
Toriel heard the sounds of light footsteps approach her. "You want to know how to return to 'home', do you not?" Another sigh. "Ahead of us will lie the end of the ruins and the entrance to the rest of the underground-I'm going to destroy it. No one will be able to leave the ruins ever again. Stay here and don't follow."
Even though Toriel told him no, she knew he wouldn't listen-just as all the other times. So she continued to talk. "Every human who's fallen down here meets the same exact fate, time and time again. They come. They leave. They die. ...he...Asgore will kill you. This is for your own good. Go back to your room."
Naruto didn't go back so she didn't stop. "This is your last warning. Go back." They entered the last room, Toriel headed towards the purple door, his only chance of freedom. "Fine then, you're just like all the others, if you want to leave so badly, then...then you must prove your strength worthy, with a fight."
"My strength?" Naruto repeated, then smiled confidently. "I already told you, I didn't kill any monsters." He clenched his soul. "And I don't intend on killing you either."
"..." Toriel didn't say a word.
An array of fireballs surrounded the hyper blonde. His finger dug further into the ground with every separate fireball pounding on him. "And...Toriel..."
'I'm...I'm gonna get through this!'
Another set of fire balls buried through his clothes, scorching his rough skin. "...I don't think...you want to do this either...so..."
"...?"
Without a shirt, the fire stayed, cooking his skin even longer until there wasn't enough fuel to sustain itself. Not a sound except for the slow crunch of soil.
"Wh-what are you doing? What're you trying to prove?"
"I..won't...fight...you." He was breathing heavily.
More fireballs surfaced and dined on Naruto's back. The fire tore down the layers of his skin, then he did an odd thing, the corner of his mouth slowly curled up. "Stop it." She choked. "Please."
The other corner curled up. 'Despite all this pain he's in...he still manages a smile?! This boy...I've never seen such...'
"...why are you making this so hard? Go back upstairs or, no," Toriel's arm suddenly dropped to her side. "Ha-ha...it's pathetic, is it not?" Her eyebrows knitted together. "I can't even save a single child, I understand, you would be unhappy-trapped inside this place."
"When you get used to these ruins, they get very small. It wouldn't be right for such a lively child like you to grow up here. For you, I'll put aside all my worries and if you truly wish to leave these ruins, I promise not to stop you."
"Just please, my child, do not come back." Toriel went up to Naruto and gave him his last hug, she got out a dark blue lump then pulled it over him. "-and here's an extra shirt, I'm sorry for burning your old one."
"Wait." Naruto said, she stopped.
"...?"
"...I...I never felt the love of a mother before and being with you...it makes me wonder...if this is how it would...feel..." He turned and flashed a sincere smile. "Thank you."
OoO
Naruto tugged at his new shirt. "What's this symbol anyways?" It was your typical shirt, comprised of mostly cotton, loose fit, round neck. The only thing that wasn't typical was the faded white symbol that adorned the front. "I know I've seen this somewhere before...ah, it was on Goat lady's dress!"
"Ding-ding-ding!"
'...!...it's that flower again!' With so much attention on his shirt, Naruto hadn't realized He walked right into a patch of vibrant green grass-a perfect place for a certain yellow flower to pop up and mock him.
"What do you want?!"
"Tell me, just what were you trying to accomplish? Standing out there like that, don't you know...?!" His starched face twisted dramatically. "In this world it's...KILL OR BE KILLED!"
"There was..." He muttered in response. "...something I had to prove to her."
The corner's of Flowey's mouth no longer curved and his stem hunched over into an arch shape. "What were you trying to prove?"
"That I was strong."
"You think you're so high and mighty don t'cha?! Well I hate to break it to you, but the world of monsters doesn't take kindly to humans, so what if you went by without killing a single one of those monsters! When you exit these caverns you're bound to meet a relentless killer, and what'll you do then? Sit back and let them ki-"
Much to Flowey's annoyance, Naruto wandered off towards the door.
"What the- where do you think you're going?!"
"You talk too much." He stopped, shifting only slightly to meet Flowey's grimace. "Listen, if I ever face a monster like that, I'll fight them. I won't have to die for their sake."
Flowey opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and plunged himself under the earth.
XxxxXxx
-Snowdin-
Hundreds of needle thin trees extended miles long, they crowded up most of the area so one could only take a small, narrow path to exit. The sheet of snow was fresh, crunching softly under Naruto's feet as he ventured further and further into the abyss.
'I don't see anyone...here...ah, it's so creepy!'
*THUD
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Naruto muttered a nasty word, then continued to get back up, he cocked his head around to try and find the culprit. "...! That's it!" A heavy weighted stick laid perpendicular to his pathway. It was far too heavy to try and pick up so he snapped off a small twig.
*snicker-snicker
"...!" He tightly gripped his twig.
*rustle
His movements hastened. "Hey! If someone's out there, come on out and face me!" Naruto hollered.
The sound of snow-scrunching got louder and louder until he could make the shadow of someone approaching him. The shadow stood still for what seemed like the longest two seconds of Naruto's life.
"Human." He drew the out the U longer than he should've.
"-you sure do talk big. Why don't you come over here?"
His twig snapped in half. "S-sure!" He sputtered, not wanting to be labeled a coward, he inched over to the person. That is if you counted a short, living, breathing skeleton dressed in the most comfortable clothes as possible a person.
A hand composed entirely of bones slinked out of his jacket sleeve. "Come on. Shake my hand, will you?"
A/N: Next chapter the spaghetti king himself makes his debut, along with some jokes I've been wanting to try out