The Forest Part 3

Deep in the snow-covered woods, the air was silent and still while the cold breeze dwindled into a cool chill. Frisk, carrying Flowey, had been walking for just over half an hour since their meeting with the quirky yet suspicious skeleton, and during that entire time the duo didn't speak much, as the flower spent most of the time hiding in the backpack while Frisk focused more on the path ahead, just as Flowey had commanded her to. She had obviously many questions to ask, but for now, she didn't want to be too much of a bother for him.

After a while, Frisk began to have a growing worry that she was starting to get lost, even though Flowey had told her just a short while ago to "just keep following the road". Still, she felt uneasy. Not to mention, her legs were beginning to tire. She was not used to walking for such a long time, especially not through hard snow while wearing only a single shoe that was clearly not made for winter, with her having lost the other one after she threw it at the old monster in the ruins. That foot was now wearing nothing but a soggy sock, and every other step was painful as she felt dozens of rocks or twigs pierce through it. To make matters even worse, Frisk hadn't gotten a good rest in a while, not counting that time in the ruins where her sleep was interrupted by a terrifying nightmare, and all she wanted to do now was let herself fall on the side of the road and sleep.

Thankfully, her wish for rest seemed to have been granted a while later when she came across a large tree log that had fallen on the side of the road.

Thank god, she thought.

It was thankfully not too small for her to sit on, or too wide and tall so that she couldn't reach it. The log looked so perfect that Frisk felt suspicious for a moment as if it was placed there specifically for her.

But in her tired stupor, she didn't think to care much, and so she sat on top of it and immediately felt dozens of splinters through her jeans, and noticed thus it was perhaps not so perfect altogether, and so her suspicions began to dwindle. Then she loosened the bag, still holding Flowey, and placed it on the ground by her dangling feet, and positioned it so that it lay against the log.

"Why are we stopping?" Flowey asked and peeked out of the bag.

"No real reason," Frisk answered and shrugged. "Just wanted to take a short rest. It's not like we are in a hurry or anything right? Plus, my legs are starting to ache."

"Do you also want it to be my turn to carry you from now on, eh?" Flowey asked sarcastically.

"Oh please, it's only a short pause," Frisk replied.

"Well I'm just more worried about something sneaking upon us from these woods," Flowey admitted.

"Eh, we don't need to worry about that much," Frisk replied. "Thankfully I just discovered that I am a time traveller who travels through time whenever I die. God that sounds even weirder out loud."

She stared into the deep woods in front of her and gave out a short exasperated sigh.

"Man I wish I had wifi or something," Frisk said. "I only have like offline 2 apps on my phone and one them such garbage."

"Yeah that should definitely be your number one concern right now," Flowey said sarcastically. "Hey while you're basking in your grief up there, I'm gonna sit back and ponder back to all the choices I made that led me to this exact moment."

"Ok, you do that," Frisk said, not really paying attention to him.

"Why waste my breath?" Flowey muttered to himself very softly.

Frisk kept staring for a while at the white, snowy trees ahead of her. Now that she was focusing on it, she saw that deeper in the trees and foliage grew so thick that they practically formed an organic wall. Frisk felt a bit unnerved when she imagined in her tired mind that maybe there was something behind there, watching and listening in on her and Flowey.

It also unnerved her a bit on how there wasn't a single sound. No birds chirping, no blowing of the wind. That and the utter stillness of the place made it feel like the place was frozen in time. Yet, even after living her whole life in a cramped and noisy town, where she lived for years in a noisy cramped board school, Frisk had somewhat gotten used to the quiet. The bareness of life down here felt so predictable and familiar, yet it also felt strangely nostalgic, It was as if she had once lived here before, for many years. It was a strange sensation, and she couldn't fully understand it herself.

After a while, she decided she had enough of staring at the dull, dark woods and so she laid down with her head on the log. The log was just long enough for her legs to dangle off the other end, and she put one of her palms behind her head like a fleshy pillow. If she didn't wear a good enough hoodie, the splinters would've most likely been of much annoyance for her arm. Once she was done adjusting herself, she stared at up at the "sky" above. The distant crystals were almost indistinguishable from stars, and Frisk was sure they were put there on purpose to emulate the night sky on the surface. Yet, even though she knew they were just crystals on a cavern ceiling, she was utterly absorbed by the sight.

"Wow," she simply said. "I've seen a night sky full of stars only once before, but this… this might just take the cake for second best."

"Hang on," Flowey said and peeked out of the bag in curiosity. "Have you really only seen the night sky on the surface once?"

"Well, no millions of times actually," Frisk said. "I've only just seen it once when it's filled with stars. At least once that I can remember. Most of the time it's just empty darkness."

"That's strange," Flowey said with a hint of intrigue. "I was always under the impression that stars were still objects."

"Oh, they are," clarified Frisk. "They are. Well, if you want to get technical, stars really are moving, just slowly and so far away that we can't see it."

"Ok, but then what happens to them?" Flowey asked like a curious boy asking his grandmother questions during storytime. "If what you are saying is true, then why does the sky so often turn empty as you say?"

Frisk smiled a small grin.

So this is what it feels like? she thought.

"You seem to be very interested in stars."

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Flowey said. "So few monsters these days have lived to see them that it's practically mystical. Hell like most monsters, I've been interested in them ever since I was a young kid. Although, perhaps in my case more than others."

"Since you were a kid huh?" Frisk asked with a feeling of curiosity. "Speaking of which, how old are you exactly."

"Oh, I am… not really sure exactly," Flowey confirmed.

"Let me guess," Frisk began. "You don't remember?"

"Yeah that's it," Flowey said and sighed. "Although if I had to guess, I'd say that I am… um… about 15 or so."

"Really?" Frisk asked. "Are you sure? You sound older than that. Like, judging by that voice I'd say you were at least in your twenties."

"Well it's just how I feel," Flowey said. "By the way, you didn't answer my question on why the stars vanish."

"Oh sorry," Frisk exclaimed, as she had almost forgotten that question. "Well umm, they don't go anywhere. We just can't see them because of all the light pollution. At least that's how it is in most places here in Ireland. I'm sure there are dozens of places here on earth left unspoiled.

"Ireland?" Flowey asked, sounding obviously confused. "What? Is that some sort of human drink or something?"

"Ah right," Frisk said. "That's the uh, country we are in. Or under rather. I don't know why I assumed you guys would've heard of it considering you've obviously been down here for like a thousand of years or so."

"Two thousand actually," Flowey corrected. "At least from what I've read."

"Huh."

Both of them turned silent as Frisk began to think.

Two thousand years without seeing the sun and stars? she thought. Sounds awful.

Flowey looked at her for a moment, and then he joined her in looking up at the "stars".

"It's so weird," he said. "I've always just assumed this was such a normal thing for humans. Seeing the stars. Weird to hear it's seemingly just a special commodity."

"Ehh it's not that special," Frisk said. "Most of the time, you just need to hitch a ride to the countryside and there you go. I've just never had such an opportunity. Me and most others."

As she kept staring at the cavern ceiling, Frisk began to yawn. The sleepiness was finally getting to her.

"Man I'm tired," she said. "I think I haven't slept properly in like…2 days or something."

"I thought you fell asleep in the ruins back there?" Flowey said.

"Yeah but, only for like 15 minutes or so," Frisk answered.

"You slept for at least an hour," Flowey said. "Trust me I was there."

"Oh really?" Frisk said, feeling mild shock. "Huh, nevermind. Time down here is so frigging weird. But either way, I am not sure if you know it or not, but an hour of sleep is barely enough for a human, especially if I hadn't slept the night before."

"You didn't sleep the night you came down here?" Flowey asked with a hint of curiosity.

Still staring at the ceiling, Frisk sighed. What Flowey had asked was something she really didn't want to get into it at the moment.

"It's a long story," she simply said. "Tell you later."

"Alrighty then," Flowey said. "Y' know. There is a town not so far from here."

"You mean… a town of monsters?" Frisk asked, feeling a mixture of unease and excitement at that idea.

"Uhh, obviously," Flowey said. "What else did you expect down here? A town of dogs?"

"Do uhh monsters still live there?" Frisk asked. "In that town I mean. And are they all sane like you or have they all turned... well crazy like the guy from the ruins?"

"Nah they are all fine monsters, last I remember," Flowey said. "It's a poor town, but the monsters there have managed surprisingly well. Then again, it's been a few years since I've been awake so things might have changed a bit."

"So you are saying that it might not be there anymore?"

"Ehh maybe, but I am cautiously optimistic. There is also a nice inn there owned by this nice bunny lady and-"

"Wait, did you just say bunny lady?!" Frisk asked and turned her head sideways to him in surprise and intrigue. "Seriously? You have bunny people down here."

Flowey looked up at her, with an otherwise bland expression hinting at slight annoyance.

"Really?" he said. "Is that what weirds you out? After everything you've seen so far?"

"Oh, good point," Frisk said. "It's just how casually you said it felt so… I don't know. Go on."

"Alright," said Flowey. "So anyways, normally it costs money to rent a room for the night, but I am sure she will be generous enough to let a lost, tired and starving little girl and her frail flowery companion to stay there for free for at least one night."

"Uhh, I'm not starving," Frisk said.

"Obviously, but she doesn't need to know that," Flowey said.

"Ahh, I see where you are going," Frisk said. "But wait, won't she, and perhaps the entire town now that I think about it, recognize me as a human?"

"Nah I wouldn't worry about that," Flowey reassured her. "As I said to smiley trashbag back there, most monsters have no idea what a real human looks like. If anything, they'll just think you're one of those ape monsters from down south. Most of them are very isolationist, so it would also help explain your ignorance of the world for them."

"Well, that's convenient," Frisk said.

"Yeah, it is," Flowey said. "So anyway, we convince the aforementioned bunny lady to let us share a single room together for the night and-"

"Hey Woah, Woah, Woah!" Frisk exclaimed as she felt a sudden rush of confusing emotions. "I uh, I think you are perhaps going a bit too fast for my liking."

"What?" Flowey said, utterly befuddled by her reaction. "What are you going on about!"

"Wait, what are you going on about?" Frisk asked back.

"I'm simply saying we should get a room there for the night so that we won't have to sleep the night in this gods-forsaken forest," Flowey answered.

"Oh," Frisk said, feeling incredibly embarrassed and dumb. "Yeah uh, that makes much sense."

"Where did you think I was going with this?" Flowey asked genuinely.

"Oh nowhere!" Frisk quickly said. "Nowhere at all. I guess I am just… tired and not thinking straight."

"Sleep deprivation does that to ya," Flowey said. "That's why you should rest. Gives you a clearer head afterwards."

Frisk chuckled. The way he phrased that reminded her of a certain someone.

"You're kinda starting sound like that old guy from the ruins," she said.

"Yeah, I'm sure that being stuck with him for years might have had some effect on me," Flowey said and smiled back.

Frisk, on the other hand, stopped smiling as memories and thoughts she had tried her hardest to repress these past few hours now came rushing forward.

"Still don't wanna talk about him eh?" Flowey asked.

Frisk didn't answer for a short while. She didn't really know how to answer. The flower was right, she didn't really want to talk about or even think about him. But she felt that she had to do that sooner or later, so she decided to be somewhat honest.

"What is there to talk about?" she asked back, staring at the ceiling. "I met him, he was crazy, I was scared of him, and just as soon as I began to warm up to him, I found out he lied to me and wanted to keep me trapped with him forever. But even then, I still feel awful for having killed him though."

"Even though you completely undid that?" Flowey asked, sounding as if she just said some incomprehensible gibberish.

"Yeah," Frisk said. "But the fact that I did it in the first place is just…"

She sighed. While the guilt of the murder seeped out of her gut, deep within her, she could feel a fear surfacing. A fear that she might've put the old hermit in a worse place than before she met him.

"Honestly, I still feel kinda sorry for him," Frisk admitted. "Even though he was clearly messed up I think that in the end, he was just… lonely. The other creatures in the ruins seemed to be somewhat scared of him, I guess, and now that he's completely alone for good… man, I don't want to even think about it."

"So you're suggesting that you should return and give me back to him, eh? And that I should spend the rest of my life giving him company?"

"Of course not!" Frisk exclaimed.

"I know, I was just messing with you," the flower said.

"Oh," Frisk said. "Sorry, I'm just… kinda slow now I guess."

As she now thought back to the old monster, she realized that all she could possibly focus on was utter despair. Even the small but nice moments she tried to picture were silenced and drowned by the sounds and visuals of her hands covered in blood and the creature's cries of rage and agony.

"Let's talk about something else now shall we?" Frisk said after a while.

"Yeah that's a good idea," Flowey said. "Let's not dwell on him or we'll fall into utter depression. So then, what do you wanna talk about?"

Frisk stared in the air thoughtfully. As she pondered on what to pick, she decided to sit back up. That proved to be surprisingly difficult, as her muscles had gotten somewhat numb from lying still for so long, but after an unnecessarily long time, she finally conquered that difficult challenge and adjusted herself back to her sitting position. After that, she stretched her arms and yawned.

Then she thought hard. She wasn't stumped because she couldn't find anything to talk about, but rather the opposite. She had so many questions swirling around in her head. Questions about the world, this mountain and especially of monsters, including how they work, how many are there, what they generally look like and so on. She half wanted to unload all of her questions at ones like an avalanche of words, like she would have done if she was 6 or 8. again. Frisk then half-realized that this weird place, with all its wonder and mystery, was starting to make her feel like a kid again. A scared, confused kid with so much more questions and answers about the world.

Then finally, she finally decided on a topic. It was a big topic, and she sort of picked it on random, but it was perhaps up there amongst the things she was most curious about, simply because of how incredible it was, and how no matter the answers she would get, it would change her view on the world, and perhaps life in general.

"You mentioned souls that one time," she said to Flowey. "I'm still really curious about them. I mean, there are a bunch of different cultures and religions on the surface so with many interpretations and ideas of what a soul is. Not to mention all the people that reject the idea of souls entirely. The fact that I, just some random, teenage-girl with emotional issues, finally finds an absolute answer to this question, before all scientists and scholars, is just… mind-blowing and… kinda awesome. It honestly makes me feel somewhat cocky. Sorry. Kind of vent a bit overboard."

"A bit yeah…" Flowey said. "Alright then. Souls it is. I still have knowledge left in my noggin. I think. So where do you wanna start."

"Ok so umm, how do they work?" Frisk asked excitedly.

Flowey looked at her with a thoughtful expression. If Frisk didn't know any better, she would have assumed he was stumped.

"That's kind of a big question y' know," he answered. "I may know, or rather used to know, a lot more than most inhabitants down here. But even the smartest monsters down here still don't know the full mechanics or power of them. Even the royal scientist himself, who by the by is the smartest and perhaps also the strangest monster in the underground, hasn't come to a definitive truth yet."

"Then can you then at least tell me the basic?" Frisk asked. "Like I'm sure you guys know something right?"

Flowey looked down on the ground and put one of his vines under his face like a person putting their palm on their chin to ponder.

"Ok, so how do I start," Flowey said, and turned towards her. "Hmm… well for starters, every sentient being is split into 3 separate parts, the body, the soul and the consciousness. Even though they are all "separated", quote on quote, they are still bound to each other in a strange way. That's about what most monsters down here learn on their first day in school. Are you still with me?"

"Yeah I am," Frisk said.

If schools taught shit like this at home, she thought. I think I never would've skipped class.

"Alright, because this is where it gets a bit more complex," Flowey began. "When you die, your body rots while a large part of your consciousness, which is the thing that makes you you, moves into your soul. The easiest thing I can compare it to is when you take a file from your computer and move it into another folder."

"Holy shit!" Frisk said as she felt a sense of incredible revelation. "Are you… are you saying that there is truly life after death?"

Flowey stared at her for a good few moments with a strange expression on his face. It seemed like a mix of awkwardness and sorrow, like a person trying to think on how to announce something disappointing to a person on the peak of their excitement.

"Ehh, no one really knows," Flowey said after a while. "After the owner dies, their soul quickly vanishes afterwards. No one knows where they go, or heck, if they even go anywhere."

"Oh," Frisk said, feeling mildly disappointed.

She was sort of hoping for a more clear answer on this. Still, she felt a bit satisfied with what Flowey told her.

"Well at least it's good to know that souls exist right?" she said. "At least there's still hope for… something after death."

"Oh yeah, I bet that uh, feels great," Flowey said.

Frisk wasn't sure what it was, but she felt like he was hiding something.

"What's wrong," she asked him.

"Oh nothing," he said. "Nothing at all. Hey, wanna see what your soul looks like?"

"What?" Frisk exclaimed.

"Your soul," Flowey said simply. "Wanna see it? I can use some simple magic to take it out of your body for a short while. It's not gonna hurt or anything I promise."

Frisk stared at Flowey with her mouth wide open in shock. Then, thinking it was a joke, she chuckled, although somewhat awkwardly. But then she noticed that Flowey had almost the same, no-nonsense expression on his face as he usually does.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Of course," Flowey said. "Have I lied to you so far? Well besides that one time an hour ago when I lied to hide my fear, but you get the deal."

"I don't know," said Frisk, feeling a bit hesitant. "Isn't removing my soul from me somewhat… dangerous?"

"Well I am not technically gonna remove it from you, I'm just gonna remove it from your body," Flowey said.

"Uhh, those two sound like the same thing," Frisk said.

"Ok, I'm not in the mood to get into the metaphysical nature of all this," Flowey began. "But long story short, even if it's removed from your body, it's still bound to you in a way, and when it comes to humans you can't sever the bond unless you kill them first, and since we both know you are immune to that, it's not really a problem."

"Umm ok then," Frisk asked. "But I dunno, this feels weird."

Flowey looked at her with the sternest expression Frisk had ever seen him make.

"Listen," he began. "If I could or even wanted to take your soul, I would've done so the moment I was awake again."

"I wasn't even suggesting that but now you just put that idea into my head and now I'm extra scared," Frisk said nervously.

Flowey looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then shrugged.

"Fine then," he said. "If you don't want to see it, then it's your choice."

"Oh uh, wait, wait I wanna see it!" Frisk said quickly.

She wasn't sure if it was the way Flowey said those last words, or whether she really did change her mind, but before she could think, Frisk had already said those words almost instinctively.

"Uh, what?" Flowey asked back, and for a moment Frisk saw a small, satisfied grin on his face.

"Yeah fuck it," Frisk said. "Do the thing. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Are you really, really sure?" Flowey asked somewhat mockingly.

Frisk became quiet again. Truthfully, she wasn't sure at all. On one hand, this was perhaps the first time in hours she was somewhat nervous and unsure of the talking flower. On the other, she knew she might not get such an opportunity in the future.

So after a few seconds, she just nodded and said:

"Yeah sure."

There came a large, satisfied smile on Flowey's face, perhaps the largest smile Frisk had ever seen, and it unnerved her somewhat.

"Alright then," he said. "Now hold still. This won't hurt. But since this is your first time it might feel a bit weird."

Even with that said, Frisk closed her eyes in preparation.

She expected to feel a jolt or some sort of uncomfortable sensation at least, but what came next was surprisingly quick and painless, and felt as ordinary as drinking water. Once she opened her eyes again, she almost gasped as what she saw, she thought was undoubtedly the most amazing thing she had ever seen. In the air in front of her, there floated a red, heart-shaped object of seemingly pure energy. It looked very quaint in hindsight, and it was very small, barely the size of her palm. But during the moment, the mere sight of it made Frisk believe in a world beyond her scope and knowledge.

Everything around it grew darker and darker, and even the cavern crystals far above seemed to fade into nothingness. In the end, all she could see in front of her was a red, glowing object that was the brightest and most colorful thing in the whole world. Yet, strangely enough, Frisk didn't feel one bit frightened. She felt rather familiar with it. Calm even, and she wasn't sure if it was due to some strange magical effect or simply her fascination, but Frisk found herself unable to move her eyes from it. She was so mesmerized by it, that she found herself unable to think properly.

"Holy shit," she said in astonishment. "Is that… my soul."

"Indeed it is," Flowey confirmed.

"Wow, it's so… it's so red," she muttered. "Are all souls like this?"

"Well if you're talking about the structure then yeah," Flowey began. "But human souls aren't exclusively red. They can be blue, purple, orange and so on. Heck, I distinctively remember that one theory that there might even be souls with colours the human mind can't comprehend. How does that work you ask? I don't know. Now here is the cool part. The colours are said to reflect the owners defining trait, like a green soul, would, for example, represents kindness and such belongs to someone who's very kind, while a person with a cyan one means he or she is very patient."

"Wow," Frisk said. "Alright, then does a red soul say about me then."

Flowey looked turned towards the soul, seemingly impressed by the implication of it.

"It means you have a high amount of determination," he said. "That's a good thing. Very good actually. In my mind, it's perhaps the best possible soul trait. You see, even if it's just a tiny tinge, every human has what we call determination in their soul. It's not really determination in the literal sense, but it's rather some sort of hidden force within every human. This force is believed to be the sole thing that gave humans a major advantage over the monsters so many years ago. Humans were immensely determined in comparisons to monsters. That's why they won. A red soul just means that you have higher points of determination than most other humans. That plus all the magic in the air down here is my guess as to how you gained your special power. Frisk? Are you even listening to me?"

"Umm, yeah I think," Frisk said, sounding almost as if she was drugged. "You were talking about my soul… and uh, determination and... sorry, I just feel kinda numb and… confused all of a sudden. It's fine though. It's fine. I think. Yeah, I have this feeling that it's fine."

"Oh, I guess your mind is not used to be separated from your soul huh?" Flowey observed. "Eh, it's your first time. I'm sure it comes with practice. Well, back in you go then."

With that said, the red light, vanished completely, and in that instant, all the light and colours that were missing in the world during that short moment came back as if they were never gone from her sight, but merely hidden from her consciousness.

"Wow, that felt… euphoric," Frisk said, sounding sober again. "I feel like my mind has expanded like ten times."

"Yeah it does that to you," Flowey said and smiled. "The first time that is. It's kinda all downhill from here."

"Hey, can I see yours?" Frisk asked excitedly.

Flowey quickly his head to face her, looking very surprised and obviously taken back by that question.

"What?" he asked.

"Your soul," Frisk said. "You can do that right? Show it to me? I'm super curious now."

"But I-"

"C' mon, let me see," Frisk egged him on like a little kid. "Please? It's not like I can take in y' know."

"But it's just… it's just…"

It was at that moment that Frisk noticed the strange sadness in his tone and posture.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently.

"I… I don't have a soul," Flowey said.

Frisk felt taken back by that answer.

"What?" she exclaimed. "Wait. Do monsters not have souls?"

"Of course they do," answered Flowey. "It's just… I'm not a monster."

"Really?" Frisk asked in a confused manner. "Then… what are you?"

"I'm a flower obviously," he answered simply. "A talking one yes, but a flower nonetheless."

"Umm, ok then what's the difference between a monster and a, uh, talking flower?" Frisk asked.

"Well one has a soul, the other doesn't," Flowey answered. "One is sapient and can talk, the other one… ehhh isn't supposed to be. I'm kind of an anomaly in that case."

"That feels kinda like a non-answer but ok," Frisk said. "But if you're just a simple flower as you say, then why do you have like, I dunno, a face? How can even you talk, and do all that crazy shit like extending your vines?"

"I dunno, I dunno, and I dunno," Flowey answered. "I guess I am just magical or something."

"But wait, if you don't have a soul then... what happens to you when you die?" Frisk asked. "Like where does your mind go and...?"

Frisk stopped in her words as Flowey expression took on a dreary turn. He didn't have to say anything as Frisk could tell by his pained look exactly what the answer was, and she felt sorrow begin to cling to her heart.

"Oh," she said. "That's uh… god, I'm sorry."

"Nah it's fine," Flowey answered while staring melancholically at the ground. "I've accepted this fate for a while now."

They both stared at the ground quietly for a moment while this thought dawned on their minds.

"Can't imagine how it feels," Frisk said sympathetically.

"Yeah I don't think anyone can," Flowey said without looking up.

Then as if to lighten the mood, he suddenly began to chuckle.

"Y'know," Flowey began. "The funny thing is, this is exactly how I discovered this power. To reset that is. You see, once I was uhh… let's say on the verge of dying, and during that moment I thought to myself-"

There came suddenly an indistinguishable sound of something rustling in the bushes far behind them, and Frisk turned around as if the entire forest had just yelled at them.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"I dunno," Flowey whispered back.

"Think it's that weird skeleton guy again?"

"Well, in that case, I'd rather it'd be a killer on our trail."

Frisk let herself stood up from the log and kneeled down on one knee. She and Flowey then practically huddled together as they stared at the direction of the sound for a good few moments. They could barely see anything as there were too many trees and shrubbery in the way. But they waited and waited, and after a while, the air was completely still again.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was nothin-"

Before Frisk could finish her sentence, there came suddenly a much worse sound from deep within, a sound so weird and uncanny that it sent shivers and dread through Frisk's entire body, and she froze from it. It came from somewhere deep within the thick foliage, and it sounded very much like a cry of a reindeer in pain with an uncanny hint of a human quality to it.

"Holy shit," Frisk whispered.

"Yeah that's definitely not smiley trashbag," Flowey said, sounding almost as stunned by the sound as Frisk.

Author's note:

Just FYI, the thing at the end might not be as amazing as it sounds. Hell, it's arguably not that amazing at all. Just wanted to have a cliffhanger in the chapter.

But anyway, I'm back.
I am sorry for the delay, I had much going on, et cetera.
It's kind of a habit at this point I think. Having long delays between chapters. I'd be surprised to hear if I still have some of my old readers around here.

But here it is, finally. I mostly blame my laziness than anything. I have NOT lost interest in this story, nor am I losing it anytime soon. The reason for most of the delays is simple, pure procrastination. I do think I might have some attention problem, but I am not gonna try to diagnose myself or anything.

As for the chapter itself. What dangers and adventures could possibly be coming to Frisk and Flowey after a month hiatus. Talking. Yes talking. I felt like having a chapter where they just talk...
Maybe should've delayed my break for a bit.
On the bright side, I am kind of far with the next two chapters, with the one after this being almost done since it was originally gonna be part of this chapter. But then I realized that writing and going over it would take too long, so I decided to split it in two so I could update the story much earlier.

I think that's all I've got to say now so adios. See you soon.*

*I'll try to at least.

Edit: So I just realized I forgot that Frisk was partly barefoot at this point since she threw her other shoe at "the creature" at the end of the ruins chapter, meaning that I just made a bit of a continuity error.

So I went ahead and updated this chapter so no-one can pester me in the future about it.

Also, good news. I am almost done with the next chapter after this. Just need to write 1 or 2 more paragraphs and then do a simple run over, fixing some errors and making minor changes. I expect the chapter to be up and ready about this weekend, but I also have to deal with school and finishing Borderlands 2 as a build-up for the 3rd game so I'm not making any promises. But I am personally optimistic so... keep an eye out this weekend.