Frisk was holding Toriel's hand as she led them through Snowdin. They had almost mastered walking at this point, though at times they still stumbled. They were going to the town square where Asgore had arranged for Frisk to meet Noelle.
Frisk was excited. They had never interacted with other people their age before so this was all new. They also wondered what Noelle looked like. Asgore had said she was a reindeer but that meant nothing to them.
It wasn't snowing so Toriel would permit them to play for as long as they liked. After a while, they arrived at the meeting place and there were two Monsters already there. One had antlers and was a little shorter than Toriel. The other had long blond hair and was about twice Frisk's height.
"Greetings, Principal Holiday," Toriel said.
"Hello, Mrs. Dreemurr," she responded. Frisk felt Toriel's hand tighten around theirs in response.
"That's not my name," Toriel gritted.
"Really? Because last I checked your legal name is still Toriel Dreemurr," Holiday stated. "And as you are an employee at my new school I will stick with the formalities."
Toriel said nothing in response.
"Anyways, my king recommended this 'play date'," Holiday stated. "So, where is your 'child'?"
"Right here," Toriel said, pulling Frisk from out behind her. They hadn't even realized they had tried to hide behind Toriel.
Frisk waved pleasantly, though the deer-like Monster looked at them with a rather cold expression.
"And where is your child?" Toriel asked.
"Noelle," Holiday called down to the girl by her legs. She shyly went around her mother, trying to look up at Frisk but her eyes kept going to the ground.
Frisk let go of Toriel's hand and stepped forward holding out a hand to Noelle as a way of greeting. She still didn't look up at them and even took a step back.
Frisk turned to Toriel. 'What's wrong?' they signed.
"She's just shy, Frisk," Toriel explained. "Remember what the king said?"
"Does your child not speak?" Holiday asked.
"Frisk struggles with spoken words," Toriel explained. "They have learned sign language to make up for it."
"Hmm. Impressive," Holiday mused, sounding genuinely amazed. "I have taught Noelle some sign language as well so communication should not be an issue."
"That is nice," Toriel said pleasantly.
Frisk faced Noelle again and waved to get her attention. 'My name's Frisk,' they signed. 'It's nice to meet you, Noelle.'
Noelle still didn't say anything but Frisk could see her forcing a smile.
'Is something wrong?' they asked. 'I'm not going to hurt you.'
Noelle still didn't speak.
"Why don't you two go play?" Toriel suggested. "Mrs. Holiday and I need to discuss the school."
"That is acceptable," she agreed. "Noelle, why don't you show your new friend to the playground?"
Noelle nodded before walking away, Frisk following. She led them through the snow-covered walkways to an area that had swings, slides, and other things Frisk didn't know.
'Is this where we're going?' they asked. Noelle didn't give any response. 'Hey, can you understand me?'
Noelle nodded, which was the first gesture Frisk had seen from her.
'You can talk, right?' they asked. They got another nod. 'Are you too scared to talk?' Noelle didn't give any response, just shyly looked away. 'That's okay. You can sign, though, right? We can just talk like that.'
Noelle looked surprised before bringing her hands up. 'Sure,' she signed.
'Cool. So, what first?' Frisk asked.
Noelle looked at the various pieces of playground equipment before nervously looking back. Frisk followed her gaze and saw their moms back there, conversing with each other but keeping an eye on them.
Frisk waved to get her attention. 'Hey. Don't worry about them. This is OUR time. So, what first? I've never been to a playground before.'
That got Noelle to genuinely smile. She looked over everything before deciding on the slide. She led Frisk over and they climbed the short stairs then slid down it. While it was nice Frisk found the short drop boring. But there was a taller one that curved around.
'Let's do that one instead,' they suggested.
Noelle looked scared for a moment. 'Mom won't let me do that one. Says it's too dangerous.'
'Well, she's not here now,' Frisk signed. 'She's not even looking this way.'
Noelle turned and sure enough, Frisk's mom was keeping her occupied. Frisk reached the slide first, then climbed the much taller staircase, Noelle behind them.
'I'll go down first, then you come after I reach the bottom,' Frisk signed. They went down the slide, which was much better than the mild slope of the first one and the curving around they found was really fun. Once they reached the bottom, they tapped the slide hard enough for Noelle to hear it.
Then she came down, screaming in joy the whole way. She was giggling when she reached the bottom. 'That was great!'
'Yeah,' Frisk agreed. 'What now?'
Before she could decide they heard someone else yelling as they went down. A yellow lizard shot out of the slide, skidding on the ground.
"Yo! That was awesome!" he exclaimed, shooting straight up. As he stood, Frisk saw that he had no arms. "Yo! Hi there!" he greeted the both of them. "I haven't seen you before." He looked at Frisk as he said that. "And you're that hoofed girl who always has her mom hovering around her."
Noelle tried to hide behind Frisk but they were too small.
Frisk faced the newcomer. 'Hi there,' they signed.
The newcomer looked puzzled when Frisk did that.
He probably doesn't know sign language, the voice said. It's not something everyone's taught.
Frisk struggled with their voice to greet instead. "Hi. I'm… Frisk," they said slowly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Monster Kid. But everyone calls me MK," he greeted. He held his tail out and Frisk grabbed it to shake it. "So, what was that thing you did with your hands?"
Frisk wasn't sure they could speak that long. Instead, they wrote in the snow. It's sign language, they wrote. I struggle with speaking so it's how I talk.
"Wow. So cool!" MK said excitedly. "Wish I could do it, but…" He pointed to his shoulders, indicating his lack of arms. "Hey, do you guys wanna play with me?"
Frisk wanted to. They looked back at Noelle and signed to her. 'You want to play with him?'
Noelle looked nervous. She raised her hands, probably to respond, but she was shaking too much.
"Hey, it's okay if you don't want to play," MK comforted. "I've just never had many friends before. It would be nice to play with others."
'Come on, Noelle. He seems nice,' Frisk encouraged. 'The king said you needed friends and he's offering to be yours.'
Noelle debated on that for a while before shyly nodding her head.
"Awesome!" MK said, skipping in the snow. "Come on! I've always wanted to swing on the swing set! You guys can push me!" He ran to the mentioned set.
Frisk wasn't sure how this worked. The slide was straightforward. They watched as MK hopped onto one of the swings using his tail to hold onto the rope.
"So, can one of you push me? I've never been able to do it myself," he asked. Noelle looked like she wanted to but was still a little too shy. Frisk decided to do it instead. They went behind him, placed their hands on his back and shoved lightly. MK went up a little bit. "Come on, harder than that!" he encouraged. Frisk did so, pushing harder, making MK swing a little further. Frisk took a step back to avoid the backswing. "Come on, dude! I know you're small but surely you're stronger than that!" MK encouraged. "Push me as hard as you can!" Frisk did as asked, shoving with all their might and MK went up much further. "Yeah! This is awesome!" he shouted. "Again!" He swung back down and Frisk pushed him again. They did it a few more times. Noelle became less tense the more MK shouted in joy. She eventually got on one swing and started doing it herself.
Frisk's arms were quickly getting tired so an idea came to them. With a bit of effort, they summoned their magic hands and started using those to push. Pushing with those hands was hard, but they managed.
"Yo! This is awesome! Your turn, dude!" MK came to a rest and hopped off the swing. Frisk understood and hopped on. "Alright. I'll start you off gentle, since you're so small," MK said. With his head, he pushed Frisk on the swing. They held on with their hands preventing him from pushing them off. With each swing, MK pushed a little harder, making sure Frisk was comfortable. After a few minutes, they were all done.
"So, what now, dudes?" MK asked.
Frisk looked around, spotting a set of equipment linked together by walkways. There were slides, bars, and all sorts of things Frisk didn't have words for. They pointed to that.
"The jungle gym! Good idea! Let's go!" MK ran ahead, Frisk and Noelle following. For what felt like the next hour, MK showed them every part of the jungle gym, even explaining to Frisk how each part worked and how to play.
After a while, MK wanted to build a snow fort next. With their help, the three of them managed to build a pretty impressive fort.
However, the fun was cut short when Noelle's mother came up. "Noelle! What are you doing?!" she shouted.
Frisk took note of how Noelle froze up at the shout.
"We were just playing," MK said.
Toriel was following and looked at the fort the three of them made. "Did all three of you make this?" she asked. It was no simple mound, there were actual walls and she was pretty sure she saw the early makings of trestles.
"Yeah!" MK enthused. "Frisk's really good at this. Sure, they don't talk – at least not in a way I understand – but the supports were their idea."
"Impressive," Toriel commented.
"Regardless, Noelle's not supposed to be playing in the snow. And not with him," Holiday stated, pointing at MK.
"Hey, we were just having fun," MK defended. "And why am I so bad to be around?"
"You're immature," Holiday answered.
"I'm… what?" MK asked, confused.
"They are just children," Toriel said. "Let them have their fun."
"I don't want Noelle to have such a bad influence."
Frisk slapped some snow, getting their attention. Then they furiously signed. 'He's not a bad influence. She's been relaxing ever since he showed up. If you ask me, I think he's a good influence and a good friend.'
"I didn't ask you," Holiday said sternly. "And what would you know of such things? You're a child yourself."
'I know more than you, lady.'
"Frisk," Toriel said sharply. "Mind your manners."
'I'm not going to. Not with people like her,' Frisk signed. 'You know my past and you should be able to guess why.'
Toriel didn't comment as that response bordered dangerously close to what Asgore ordered be kept secret.
"Quite the child you have," Holiday criticized. "Did you teach them to be so rude?"
"Perhaps it would be best to take this discussion elsewhere," Toriel suggested. "But, Mrs. Holiday, I do need to inform you that both your daughter and this child are in my class. So regardless of what you want today, they will be close to each other once the semester starts."
The deer-Monster huffed, pinching the area between her eyes. "Very well. But I'm warning you, child," she said sternly, looking at MK. "Mistreat my daughter or give her bad ideas, I will hold you responsible." She turned and left, returning to the bench.
Toriel sighed in relief before looking at Frisk. "We will be having a talk about your attitude when we get home," she warned. "For now, though, enjoy your time with your friends." With that, she walked back to sit with her boss.
"Well, that was tense," MK commented. "What did you say to make her so mad?" Before Frisk could try, MK held up his tail. "You know what, never mind. I don't want to know. I wouldn't understand it anyway. Let's just get back to our fort. Maybe we could have a snowball fight!"
Frisk was excited to hear that. They could still remember the day after they arrived at Snowdin and saw those kids playing. Though how MK was going to participate, Frisk didn't know.
They played until it was time to go home. MK waved bye to the both of them as he walked to his house. Noelle was taken by the hand and lead home by her mother. Toriel did the same with Frisk, but they did it with more of a smile. They waved bye to Noelle and signed that they hoped they could meet again.
Once the house was in sight, Toriel saw Asgore waiting on the porch. She huffed and Frisk felt her grip tighten. "What are you doing here, Dreemurr?" she demanded as she and Frisk walked up onto the deck.
"I came to see how it went," Asgore said. "And I came to you first, because I have a suspicion that Noelle's mother might not have an account without bias."
"Well, from what I saw, Frisk had fun," Toriel said. "Another child had shown up while they played. I did not get their name."
Frisk gave a slight tug with their hand, informing their mother to let go so they could sign. 'He called himself MK. Yellow lizard. No arms. Very chatty.'
"I believe I know who you are talking about," Asgore mused. "Undyne has mentioned that child likes to follow her around."
"Noelle's mother said they might be a bad influence," Toriel added.
"I highly doubt that," Asgore chuckled. "MK is excitable but he's not a bad kid by any stretch of the imagination."
'He helped Noelle relax,' Frisk signed. 'He was really happy to be around us in fact.'
"You might be seeing more of him, then," Asgore suggested. "He might help little Noelle out of her shell, with you there to aid, of course."
"One more thing, Asgore," Toriel added. "After she had spotted her daughter playing with MK, she got rather… strict."
"I know," Asgore said. "She has always been like that and Rudy's death has not helped things. She's rather protective of her youngest."
'She seemed kind of mean to me,' Frisk signed.
Asgore knelt down so he wasn't towering over Frisk. "She's just doing what she feels is needed to protect her child. I'm sure you've seen it. Noelle is not the bravest and she does scare rather easily. When you have a child who is frightened by even the simplest things, it's easy to give in to fear yourself and… overcompensate for that."
Frisk sighed as they heard that. 'I guess I could cut her some slack.'
Asgore pat them on the head. "Good man." He stood up. "I will speak to the Holidays about today now. I'm sure though that I'll be able to schedule another play date if you wish?" Frisk nodded eagerly. "I will also talk to MK's parents as well to see if he can join next time."
'Sounds good!' Frisk signed happily.
Asgore nodded to Toriel before departing, though she did give him a look the entire time. "Well then. I shall make supper."
'Can I help?' Frisk asked.
Toriel shook her head. "You are still too young, Frisk. A few more months and then I will let you help."
Frisk did get to play with Noelle and MK a few more times. Each time, Noelle relaxed around the both of them a little more. Frisk tried to teach MK sign language, but without the book it was rather hard. Still, MK gave his all, doing his best to learn what Frisk and Noelle signed so he could partake in their conversations.
Though Frisk realized that it couldn't be like this forever. School would start up soon and Noelle and MK were signed up while Frisk wasn't. Toriel was doing her best to get them up to the correct grade level, but they wouldn't be able to get there before school started.
One day, while they were playing, a trio of older Monsters showed up. Two were clearly the same species, while the third looked like a mini-snowman with a comically oversized hat. The two that were the same looked like blue and green chickens with snowflake-like heads and the green one had a pair of sunglasses.
"Man, what are these kids doing here?" the green one asked snidely.
"Looks like they're in our territory," the blue one said.
"Yo!" MK said. "The playground's fair game. It can't be yours."
"Doesn't matter," the green one scoffed. "We don't want kids in our space. Especially babies." He pointed to Frisk as he said that.
Frisk looked cross when he called them that. Technically, they were nine, the same age as the other two and physically, they were four.
"Frisk's not a baby," MK said. "They're a big kid, Chilldrake."
"I call that a baby," Chilldrake said.
"And they're not looking at my hat," the mini-snowman said.
Frisk huffed. They wanted to sign but MK didn't know enough to be a translator.
"Wait… that hoofed girl?" the blue one said. "Haven't I seen her somewhere?"
"She's Noelle," MK said.
"Right. The scared deer," Chilldrake said. "Explains why she's shaking so much."
Frisk glanced and Noelle was trembling a lot. If Frisk had to give a word to her stance, they'd call it 'fleety'. She was clearly scared of these kids and they weren't exactly being nice, either. Maybe this was the type of crowd her mom was worried about.
That gave Frisk an idea. They hid one of their hands behind their back and summoned their magic.
I see what you're doing, the voice said. That will scare them off.
"Hey, quit looking away from my hat!" the small snowman shouted.
"If you kids don't leave, things are going to get ugly," Chilldrake warned.
"Is that so?" a new voice said, causing the teens to freeze up.
Everyone turned and Holiday was walking up. No one saw the smug look on Frisk's face.
"P-P-Principal Holiday!" the teens shouted.
"What were the three of you doing?" she demanded.
"Just chilling out," the blue one said nervously.
"I highly doubt that," she said. "From what I saw, it seemed like you were threatening my daughter and her friends." She looked at each of them sternly. "So, you three can have detention for a week."
"But school hasn't even started!" the blue one protested.
"Principal," Holiday reminded. "You can start once the semester begins. And Chilldrake, no sunglasses in school. Same goes for you and your hat, Ice Cap."
"No! Not my awesome hat!"
"Let's not get into any more trouble than we are," the blue one recommended.
"Good idea, Snowy," Holiday said. "Now I suggest you and your friends leave."
"Let's book it!" Chilldrake said, running away with the other two following.
MK sighed. "Thanks! But how did you know we needed help?"
"Frisk informed me," Holiday said.
"But you were halfway across the playground," MK pointed out. "How did they tell you?"
Frisk summoned their hands and had them sign in front of MK. 'I can use magic to make these at almost any distance.'
"So cool!"
"Frisk," Holiday said. "Thank you for summoning me. And, MK, thank you for defending my daughter."
"No problem! That's what friends are for," MK said. "Those three are just big bullies. I wasn't going to let them pick on my friends."
"Thank you," a quiet voice said. Frisk and MK looked at Noelle.
"Did you just speak?" MK asked excitedly. "Cool! I mean, I knew you could talk. You clearly aren't mute. But I've never heard you speak before."
'Me neither,' Frisk signed. 'You have a nice voice.'
Noelle lightly blushed at the compliment.
Her mother looked surprised at that. She probably wasn't expecting her daughter to ever speak around strangers.
"Come on! Say something else!" MK encouraged. "If you can talk, you could translate whatever Frisk signs so I don't have to be left out of what you guys say!"
Noelle looked like she wanted to but she was still trembling too much.
'It's okay. You don't have to,' Frisk signed. They tapped MK and touched their pointer and middle finger to their thumb to try and get him to quiet down.
"Yeah, okay. You don't speak if you don't want to," MK conceded.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
MK looked like he wanted to blurt something out, but refrained himself. He shook his head to get those words out. "So, what next?"
End of Chapter 10
A/N Now I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking something like "Noelle? But she's from Deltarune, and this isn't listed as a crossover." Well, that is true, however, this isn't Deltarune Noelle. It's Undertale Noelle. For those who aren't lore nerds, the Winter Alarm Clock dialogue drops many hints that Noelle has a counterpart in Undertale. This has spawned many a fan theory and it's not uncommon for her to appear in Undertale stories nowadays. So that's what I'm doing here. Also, fun fact, she originally wasn't even going to appear in this story. But then Deltarune Chapter 2 dropped, and things just snowballed from there. That being said, she isn't just a cameo or one-note character. She has a role and a character arc that developed as I wrote the story. So expect to see more of her.
Along those lines, be on the lookout for more characters from Deltarune showing up in later chapters. While none will have nearly as large a role as Noelle, they were fun to include, and allowed me to fill in some necessary roles and flush out the world I'm building. (Also serves as subtle foreshadowing of where I'm going, but that's for another book.)
Anyways, see you next time.
