A fell wind cast upon the warrior, cloth draped from her arms. Standing, with unwavering resolve against a foe well beyond her ken. An imposing behemoth, towering to peaks unimaginable.

A warrior beyond warriors. A tattered Dummy. Her options, possibilities, and prospects laid out before her, in a shimmering purple menu.

|Chara - 10/20 HP|

|Fight| |Act| |Item| |Mercy|

She wondered about how serious her caretaker was, well, taking this. Then pondered what actions she could take. What things she could muster, hitting the prompt, it shone, revealing the deepest contemplations. The possibilities dreamt up from within, cementing what were probably her brightest ideas. Or, at least, the most dominant ones in the moment.

|Check| - |Bully| - |Talk| - |Joke|

Chara checked the Dummy.- A Tattered Dummy. There are deep gashes, stitched many times over on this dummy. The fabric isn't unified anyone, made up of a patchwork collection of things. Aside from the spaces that are burnt, at least.

Naturally, the Dummy did not respond with any form of action or attack. Continuing to stand there...menacingly. She hummed some, tempted to tell a joke. Lighten the mood maybe? Or maybe give it a good whack, and see what happens?

|Fight| |Act| |Item| |Mercy|

She gripped the stick, scanning it over. Her red eyes turning to the commands, sighing some. She decided to fight. The prompts vanishing, as she visualized her balance, and the windup for the swing. Like a sliding scale, of sorts. With a quick swing, she struck at the Dummy.

However, her lack of a proper stance, as well as the stick being lighter on the swing than anticipated, resulted in a bit of a miss. It made her snicker, finding it amusing before noticing the frown from Toriel.

"I-I'm sorry, I...I kind of messed that up." She noted, laughing nervously. "I bet I looked like a Dummy, huh?"

"That's alright, please try again." Toriel requested, sternly.

"Right, Alright." Chara frowned.

The sight of this frown prompted Toriel to glance to the side. Closing her eyes for a moment, she thought. Seeming to realize her behavior, she managed a smile.

"My child-" The girl glanced back at her caretaker. "That last joke...left me in stitches,"

Seeing the little smile, hearing the little snicker made her genuinely feel much better. She considered her next action carefully. Getting a little smile of her own.

|Chara - 10/20 HP|

|Fight| |Act| |Item| |Mercy|

Chara decided to act.

|Check| - |Bully| - |Talk| - |Joke|

Chara told a joke to the Dummy. "You know, you look like a good friend of mine. He's a Dummy too." She motioned with the stick. "Maybe you're cut from the same cloth."

Toriel smiled a little, shaking her head. The Dummy didn't respond, either because the joke was bad, or it just didn't get it. Chara wasn't sure, but that was fine.

|Chara - 10/20 HP|

|Fight| |Act| |Item| |Mercy|

Chara decided to act.

|Check| - |Bully| - |Talk| - |Joke|

Chara told another joke to the Dummy. "What's wrong, ain't'cha goat anything to say, Toriel?"

The woman chuckled. "Wow...I for-goat about your puns."

The Dummy respectfully listened to their exchange. But didn't laugh itself. Too high brow for puns, it seemed.

|Fight| |Act| |Item| |Mercy|

Chara decided to act.

|Check| - |Bully| - |Talk| - |Joke| - |Toriel|

Chara focused her attention on Toriel. "You forgot my puns?" She asked. "I'll have to investi-goat why."

Toriel stifled a laugh, while covering her couth with her hand. The Dummy looked on with silent approval at this turn of events.

"My child, you're a menace." The goat-lady smiled steadily. "Bravo." She clapped some. "However...we should proceed, no?"

Seeing her smile more consistently than before, gave Chara the will to Persevere.

Humming a little, she turned her focus back to the Dummy. She envisioned the Dummy not as a titanic foe, but instead as another warrior. One she had ventured long with, before finding themselves on the opposing end of a conflict.

Truly, despite the long adventure they had together, it was destined to end in violence. She reflected on this, pondered the trivial nature of bloodshed, and war. That such friends would turn against one another in the end. Perhaps, she wondered, there was a comfort in being put to rest by an old friend, rather than an unknown stranger.

Then she snapped out of her little daydream, and snickered, amused with herself. Come what may, it was time to finish the fight. The girl looking over her 'weapon' briefly.

She then examined her opponent, taking into account the rather glaring damaged points to it. The stitches were a bit lacking, and she wagered a single good hit to any of them would suffice. She watched the projected images fade, as she already knew what she was going to do. |Fight| as it were.

Lashing out, with what she believed was an epic roar, she swung her mighty weapon. And it...thumped and didn't really do anything. Prompting a confused look, and a glance to Toriel who didn't seem all to surprised. Testing herself, she hit it again, harder this time. Blinking in a sort of genuine surprise.

Chare felt continued confusion. She was...somehow positive she was capable of hitting much harder than that. Her heart glowed above her chest, her breathing growing a touch unaligned with her desire to remain calm. Some shadowy substance stretching through the cracks of her soul, oozing, unseen by her guardian.

"Well done, we can-" Toriel began.

However, she didn't listen, instead she felt embarrassed, and frustrated. She wanted to do well at this, needed to do well at this. Checking the stick, her soul shined all the more, even as the color seemed to dim. Her power rushing into the swing, her movements hard and precise. Brought down with a loud snapping and tearing noise filling the air.

The end of the stick snapped, slamming against the floor beside her. The main part of it still in her hand, as the remains of the dummy began to slouch, and collapse to the floor. Shredded like paper, stuffing pouring out, nearly spraying from it, her eyes widening as this happened.

A voice whispered to her. "See, I told you it'd be fun." A dark ink welled in one of her eyes. "To tear them apart."

The ink seeped, and dripped to the ground. The glow of her eyes fading, as she rubbed her eye. Finding the ink staining part of her sleeve.

"I...I'm sorry." Chara apologized, the dark fading back into color. "I didn't...I didn't mean to break it."

Toriel stepped over, and picked up the broken end of the stick. Examining the remains of the dummy, and the main tear of it. Her clawed finger gliding across the clean cut, of the surprisingly deep slash. It seemed to have been torn by the force of the swing, rather than the strength of the would-be weapon.

The girl was quiet, watching. Replaying it, feeling increasingly anxious as her guardian didn't say anything. After a moment, the monster-lady got up, and smiled some. Patting her on the head.

"It's okay, it's alright my child." She said in a soft voice. "Don't be upset, it's only a dummy. And trust me, there are plenty more in the world."

Chara blinked and noticed Toriel little snicker. "Y-you aren't mad?" She asked worriedly. "I can try and fix it, but-"

"Chara, look at me-" She motioned, gaining the child's attention again. "It's alright. That's what they're meant for. Right?"

"Are you sure?" Chara asked, having expected to hear something different. "I-I thought you'd be angry."

Toriel considered something for a moment and responded. "What does a skeleton tile his roof with?"

"Huh?" The girl asked. "tile, uhm, what?"

"Shin-gles." Toriel answered, making finger guns.

The pause lasted a few moments, before Chara began to chuckle. Rolling her eyes some at the joke. She tried to let the feeling go, but it felt...terrible.

"B-but, you really aren't-" The girl tried to ask again.

"Did I ever tell you about the knight, afraid to fight?" Toriel asked, gaining a look. "Did I?"

"No, I don't...think so?" She replied.

"His name was Sir Ender." The monster joked, making Chara smile, as she snickered some herself. "His best friend loved showing up unannounced, but that's why he was called Sir Prize."

"Wowwwww." Chara remarked between laughs, while plopping on to the ground. "H-hey, why was the suit of armor empty?"

"Well, I dunno, why was it empty?" Toriel asked, crouching down before her.

"Cuz the owner went out for the knight." Chara grinned, as the two laughed a little too hard at their own dumb jokes.

They relaxed for a little while, waiting for their laughter to die down. Letting themselves enjoy the moment. It wasn't too much longer though, before Toriel cleared her throat, and offered her hand.

"We should continue, my child, we still have a ways to go." The woman said, as Chara took it, and was helped back to her feet. "The ruins aren't the safest at night."

"Okay." Chara hummed, giving a glance back at the dummy.

She felt the grasp on her hand was much softer this time, as if Toriel was taking extra care. The girls smile not fading, even as she wondered about the whisper. Best, she wagered, to forget about it for now. It was likely just her imagination, after all.

With that, they left the room, and continue on the path.