Frisk lay still in the grass. The sound of metal boots clunking against the floor was growing distant. They held their breath, hoping that whoever was walking in that massive suit of armour – was her name Undyne? – would not bother to come back.
They waited until they could no longer hear the sound of her clanking armour. Then, they slowly began to ease themselves into a more comfortable position. As they stretched out their arms and their legs, still sitting, they felt a painful soreness in them. They had not moved an inch for several minutes out of fear of alerting Undyne to their presence. The grass was tall and provided adequate cover, but it was also noisy, and the slightest brush against it created an audible rustling sound.
Something else was rustling in the grass as well.
They froze and held their breath. It didn't sound like Undyne was coming back, or they would have heard the loud clunking of her boots. Whoever was moving around in the grass was probably much lighter. But they were quick, too, and the rustling was coming closer towards them. In the darkness, under the cover of the tall grass, they could hardly see beyond their own arms. They tried to listen to the rustling carefully to determine the direction at which this person would approach him. Then, they moved their hands up in front of their face to defend themselves .
Several blades of grass parted to reveal a familiar child in a bright green sweater with long brown hair. Frisk exhaled, initially in relief, but tensed again when they realized that Chara was staring at them. Staring with those piercing eyes.
"Greetings, Frisk," Chara said, sounding somewhat self-amused. They walked up to Frisk and crouched down, a frown coming over their face.
"I was hoping that you'd show a little more determination. What were you thinking, holing up in the grass? If Undyne had spent just a minute longer searching for you, she would have found you." Chara narrowed their eyes. "Hiding makes you weak. At the moment that the enemy finds you, you'll be completely vulnerable. In that situation, you wouldn't stand a chance against Undyne. She'll destroy you, and then she'll take you to the king, Asgore."
Frisk tried to pull away from Chara's gaze. They understood Chara's frustration towards them for hiding, for leaving themselves so defenceless. But, no matter what, they never wanted to fight. They hid because they wanted to avoid a confrontation – so that they wouldn't have to harm Undyne.
"You know what happens to humans that get taken before the king, don't you?" Chara said, folding their arms. "The King kills them, and then he takes their soul."
Chara stood back up, laughing quietly to themselves . For a few seconds, they turned their eyes away from Frisk, and Frisk felt the freedom of being able to move again. They nervously sat upright.
"I suppose I ought to have expected as much," Chara said with a smirk. "You've wasted so many opportunities to kill your enemies. When Papyrus spared you, you could've turned against him and murdered him on the spot. Every person in that pathetic little town, Snowdin, could've been your prey. Don't you get it? If you don't kill anybody, you'll never get stronger. You'll never become powerful enough to achieve your goals – to crush those standing in your way."
Frisk flinched at those words. In a way, they were true. They didn't want to crush anybody, but, at the same time, they also weren't getting stronger. Sooner or later, they would encounter an enemy – Undyne, perhaps – that they wouldn't be able to stand against. They would, of course, try to talk their way out of a confrontation, but what if they had no choice but to fight?
At that moment, there came another rustling sound. Both Frisk and Chara turned their heads in time to see a little yellow round head emerging from behind a cluster of tall blades of grass. Bright, curious eyes stared back at them. Frisk recognized it to be the monster kid from back in Snowdin Town – the kid that idolized Undyne.
"Uh, hi!" the monster kid said, chirpy. He emerged fully out of the grass and walked towards Frisk.
"Yo...did you see the way that she was staring at you?" he continued. "That...was AWESOME! I'm SO jealous! What'd you do to get her attention?"
Chara glared at the kid. Frisk remained frozen, unsure of what to say to either of them.
"You're a nuisance. Get out of here," Chara said. They raised their arm, as if they were about to hit the kid.
Almost instantly, Frisk stood up and stepped in front of the kid protectively. Their hands reached for the toy knife that they kept hidden inside their pocket. They had no intention to use the knife – and they hadn't found the need to, so far – but, if things became violent, they wanted to have some way of defending themselves . Plus, the toy knife was only just a toy – what harm could it really do?
To Frisk's surprise, Chara put their arm back down.
"So, u-uhh...who are you?" the kid asked, leaning his head out from behind Frisk to glance at Chara.
"Me?"
Chara lowered their head for a moment, as if to think about their answer. They still looked a bit angry, but they seemed to be willing to put on some semblance of self control.
"I'm nobody," Chara said at last, snickering. "But, if you want me to be, I can become your worst nightmare. Your cruellest enemy."
"A-are you a human?" the kid continued to ask, his voice beginning to quiver. Frisk slowly reached out to hold the kid's shoulders.
Chara shifted their feet and angled themselves slightly away from them. "No. I'm not a human."
"Really? Are you a monster, then?"
At this, Chara's expression grew enraged again. They seemed, for a moment, to be ready to snap, but – to Frisk's surprise – they didn't. Instead, Chara grew calm again after only about a second of anger.
"That's funny," Chara said in a softer tone of voice. "You actually thought to ask first if I was a human."
"Well...are you?"
"No. I'm neither human nor monster."
As Chara spoke, their voice seemed to grow quieter, perhaps even sullen. The expression on their face had become strangely gloomy. They turned their eyes to the ground and furrowed their brow.
"So...what are you?" the kid continued asking.
"What am I?"
Slowly, Chara reached their hand out and grasped a tall blade of grass beside them. Frisk thought they saw, for a brief moment, Chara's hand shaking as it held on the grass. Then, Chara turned their head back up to look at them again.
"If you want to know what I am – well, I'm dead."
Chara threw their head back and laughed. It was a choked laugh. They were holding something back.
"But, umm, I don't really get it," the monster kid said. "I mean, how can you be not a monster, or a human, but just...dead?"
"You think I care if you understand?!"
The monster kid shirked.
Chara threw a menacing glare at Frisk, and Frisk felt a chill go down their spine. They had never seen that look in Chara's face before. Chara usually looked – and spoke – with a bold and arrogant confidence, as if they were always in the right. But, now, there seemed to be just a tiny flicker of doubt on their face. Their eyes no longer held that piercing quality, but had become unusually distant. Even so, they continued to be frightening.
Frisk looked up at the ceiling. Little blue worm-like strands dangled from the roof, glowing like tiny stars. The stars of their home world, that is, which many monsters had never seen before.
"It doesn't even matter," Chara said, their voice choking up again. They cleared their throat before continuing.
"You want to know what happened to me, kid?"
They broke off the blade of grass and threw it to the ground. A tiny white flower fell alongside it.
"I killed myself."
Chara turned around and walked away.
Frisk couldn't find the will to move. For a while, they remained frozen, wondering about what Chara had meant. They didn't understand who or what Chara was, either. All they knew was that Chara was someone close to them, someone whose presence filled them with a powerful determination. Chara was aware of that, too. They were connected in a way that wasn't entirely clear, and the more they thought about it, the more their mind became filled with questions. Where did Chara come from, and why were they always so eager to kill people?
They felt the monster kid tugging with sharp hair-blades against their arm, pulling them out of their thoughts.
"That person was weird," the kid said before turning away. "Yo, maybe Undyne's still around. Let's go and watch her beat up more bad guys!"
Frisk stood up and nodded slowly.