The Forest Part 4

The duo sat still for a while as they waited for something, anything, to follow up from that inhuman cry.

"What the fuck was that thing?" Frisk whispered.

Flowey didn't say anything immediately, but rather stared in the distance, looking very nervous yet thoughtful.

"I-I know this sound very well but.." he began.

"But you don't remember?" Frisk guessed.

"Oh we only met a few hours ago and already you know me so well," the flower replied without turning to her.

"Well, don't flatter yourself, it's kinda par for the course now," Frisk said. "Still, that was without a doubt the creepiest fucking thing I've heard."

"Ugh, it sounded so familiar yet I just can't place it!" Flowey said and gave out a frustrated sigh. "Give me a moment and I am sure it'll come back to me."

"Or better yet, let's go check it out," Frisk said bluntly.

Flowey turned and stared at her as if she had just casually admitted to having murdered someone.

"Seriously?" he exclaimed, almost breaking his whisper. "Oh, please tell me you're joking."

Frisk casually shrugged.

"Why not?" she asked seriously. "It's not like death is a problem for me or anything. Hell, if I die, we'll just come back here and we'll continue on knowing at least what's out there. It's a win-win situation in my eyes."

"But didn't you just say earlier that you were worried you might transport back to the ruins with the old man?" Flowey asked.

Frisk turned abruptly silent for a moment.

"Well yeah, it's just…" she began and sighed. "I dunno I guess you're right. It was a stupid idea."

Flowey stared back anxiously at the source of the sound.

"Fine, go then," he whispered bluntly.

"What, are you serious?" Frisk asked back, feeling almost a bit excited.

"I mean it's your choice and it's not like I can stop ya," Flowey answered. "But please don't tell me you're gonna take me along on this dreadful excursion of yours."

"What you think I am just gonna leave you here alone here?" Frisk whispered. "Of course am I gonna take you with me."

"What?" Flowey whispered in surprise. "Are you… ugh, fine. As I said, it's your choice."

"Aww, c' mon, cheer up," Frisk whispered somewhat merrily. "It'll be like a little adventure."

"Yeah an adventure where we could get killed, captured or both by some unspeakable horror," Flowey whispered bluntly.

"Well I'm in," Frisk whispered.

With that said, or rather whispered, she put Flowey on her back and began carefully to fight through the heavy snow and vegetation. As she did, Flowey began to slowly lean into the backpack and huddle.

Frisk now wandered once again through the thick snow and foliage and began to slowly feel more nervous, yet also more intrigued at the same time. She felt like she was now incredibly capable and determined to push through any obstacles she could just to see what was on the other side, no matter how dangerous or stupid she considered that action to be.

But pushing through the snow was no gruesome challenge though. In fact, it was much easier than last time as it became more shallow and thin the further she went, and before she knew it Frisk was now lightly jogging.

"So what do you think it'll be?" she asked Flowey, partly to ease her growing nervousness.

"You seem unusually cheery for a girl heading into possible instant death," Flowey simply replied.

"I mean, it helps to always keep myself in a good mood I guess," Frisk whispered casually and shrugged. "Besides, we don't even know if whatever this thing is is really dangerous or not."

"Fair point," Flowey whispered. "But to answer your question, well, it can be any number of things, from being some poor harmless kid with a strange voice or voice infection, to an omnivorous eldritch abomination that eats flowers and drags you into hell where it tortures you for a long time before putting you out of your misery."

"Ok, that last part was… needlessly detailed and dark," Frisk replied and chuckled anxiously. "Got like any deep-seated issues or… hang on. Those… demon things don't actually exist do they…?"

"Of course not, I'm just preparing us for the worst is all," Flowey replied. "I have no idea what the worst can actually be."

"Oh that's good," Frisk said while pushing through some very thick foliage. "The fact that those things don't actually exist I mean, not that you have no idea what the worst is. But whatever it is. Even if it's something like a monster clown or a running pile of baby demon zombies or whatever, I am sure that we will absolutely make- holy fucking shit, what is that?!"

As she removed the last piece of foliage, Frisk and Flowey came into a large opening of covered in thin snow, and saw by a large rock a few meters in front of her, lying wounded and covered in dozens of bruises and little garbage, perhaps the strangest creature she had seen, not just in the underground, but in her entire life. With every other creature she had seen down here, there was at least something on earth that she could easily compare them to, like a skeleton, a frog or an anthropomorphic hybrid of a goat and a lion. This thing, however, seemed to be utterly alien from any animal or object on earth at first glance. The closest thing she could compare this creature was to a reindeer due to its brown-furred body that was almost identical to a reindeer body, besides the lack of a tail.

But the head of the creature, which was massive and about the same size as the body, looked nothing like the head of any other beast she knew about.

It had two antlers, or rather one and a half, protruding from the top that resembled tree branches, and one of them even had what looked like a small pine tree protruding up from it. The other antler was much shorter and clearly broken, with a small piece still dangling off from it. The ears were the most "normal" part of the head, besides the fact that they more closely resembled rabbit ears than a deer's and they protruded upwards between the antlers. Then there were the eyes, which unlike a normal deer, were facing the front like a human, and they were completely white except for a small black line in the centre like a cat's eye.

But by far the weirdest part was its mouth, or rather at least what Frisk assumed was its mouth. It took up over half the creature's face, but rather than opening up and down like most creatures, the mouth opened up by the sides like a scissor, which gave the creature a complete alien quality. It seemed to breathe in and out from this strange mouth and Frisk could occasionally see dozens of razor-sharp teeth inside.

Besides the aforementioned broken antler, it was also covered in bruises and shrapnel wounds, and there was a bloody stump where one of its hooves should've been. Not to mention, the creature was also covered and tangled in some leftover garbage.

At the moment, it didn't seem to notice Frisk or Flowey, and if it did then it clearly didn't care about them. Rather it seemed to wail and whimper softly.

"What the hell is that thing?" Frisk whispered.

Flowey rose up from the open backpack to take a look, and his eyes became filled with clarity.

"Ahh these things," he answered. "Don't remember what they are called, but I've seen them before. They are harmless. Mostly. If you don't irritate them at first that is."

"God, what could've happened to it?" Frisk asked.

"Well, first of all, calling them an "it" is just rude." Flowey began. "Second, what seems to have happened is that either he or she stepped on a landmine or a boobytrap, or some kid messed with it using some deadly magic. As for the garbage? Well, I remember some stories of teenagers decorating those things with garbage as a prank so that's probably unrelated to its… current state."

Frisk stared emphatically at the wounded and whimpering creature.

"Wh-what do you think we should do?" she asked softly

"I dunno," Flowey answered. "What do you think?"

"I… I don't think it's gonna make it," she whispered. "Maybe I should…"

She sighed in despair. She assumed that if this thing worked similar to an ordinary deer, it was most likely going to die slowly and painfully. But she recognized that there was perhaps one thing she could do, and even though she hated that suggestion, she believed it was the best mercy she could give it.

"Frisk, what are you thinking?" Flowey asked anxiously.

She wordlessly picked up the red-hued knife from her pocket.

"I- I think it's for the best," she whispered sadly.

Flowey looked at her utterly shocked.

"Uhh, are you not just dumb but crazy as well?" he exclaims.

"Why do you think that?" Frisk asked genuinely. "Don't you think that leaving this animal like this, to die slowly and in pain, is a worse option."

"It's not that," Flowey began. "What I'm getting at is that-"

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"What were you getting at?" Frisk asked.

"Never mind," Flowey answered.

"Wait what were you going to say?"

Flowey turned to her and for a moment she could've sworn there was a glint of a devious smile on his strange face.

"Y' know what?" he began. "I was wrong, and you were right. I think putting it out of its misery is the better option."

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

"Absolutely," Flowey said confidently.

Hearing his agreement, Frisk assumed that she would feel more assured in this action, but she now felt rather more hesitant instead. To make things worse, she also felt a bit that the flower was now hiding something.

But she didn't think much of that and turned back to the wounded creature, which had stopped whimpering and now seemed to be waiting for its inevitable death.

"Alright," Frisk said.

She carefully crept towards the wounded monster, like the way she assumed she should approach a wounded deer when it suddenly and quickly turned it's strange head to her making Frisk stop in her tracks. The creature, however, did nothing. Just stared at her, seemingly uninterested as if she was just yet another tree in the wood.

"Hey, it's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you," Frisk lied.

The creature made no sound as she continued towards it with the red knife firmly gripped in her hand. Even though she had felt the sensation of taking another life with the old monster from the ruins, Frisk still felt awful in doing this. She wondered desperately at that moment whether there was some way to save this creature, anything, but she could think of nothing.

As Frisk closed in on the creature, she raised her empty hand in the air as if to calm it.

"Yeah that's it, be calm," she said reassuringly. "It's alright. It will just be-"

"Are you mocking me kid?" an elderly male voice suddenly said. "Or are you actually planning to stab me as well? Why isn't my current suffering enough?"

Frisk stopped creeping and now stared at the creature utterly stumped.

Did it just…? she thought

"Wait, you can talk?" Frisk asked.

"Of course I can," the voice replied. "Why wouldn't I? Do I look like some sort of weird dog to you or something?"

Frisk felt utterly apologetic. The strange creature on the ground now seemed to have an expression on its bizarre mouth that seemed to show a feeling of utter insult.

"Oh shit, I am terribly sorry!" Frisk exclaimed. "I wasn't aware that you could speak and..."

She heard Flowey snicker behind her. She felt annoyance and frustration build up within her, and she turned around and sawm just as she expected, a large grin on the flower's face, stretching from leaf to leaf joined by his soft laughter.

"You- you knew?!" Frisk asked him in near anger.

"Uh yeah I did," Flowey said grinning. "What? Is it not funny when I pull the same gag twice?"

"Is- is this a joke to you?!" Frisk exclaimed. "I almost just murdered that guy. What, if he didn't say anything, were you just gonna let me cluelessly stab him? Is that it?"

"Do you think so little of me, of course not!" Flowey said, still grinning. "I'd have stopped you if it went too far."

Frisk sighed.

"God you're such a fucking asshole Flowey," she said.

The flower shrugged smugly.

"Yeah sorry Frisk," he apologized, but Frisk wasn't sure if he was genuine or not. "It was just such a good opportunity to-"

"Umm, I'm still here kiddos," the creature interrupted. "Typical teenagers. Not caring about the elderly even when one is literally dying in front of them."

"Oh sorry," Frisk said and put the knife back into her pocket. "Don't mean to be rude, but I just kind of assumed you weren't really… well, sapient."

"So you were just gonna put me down like a wounded dog is that it?" the creature said.

"You make it sound so… worse," Frisk began. "God, I said I'm sorry!"

The creature gave out a strange sound that eerily resembled a sigh. Then he looked down on the ground as if in despair.

"It's alright kiddo," he said and winced in pain. "I don't think there is any way you can make my situation worse anyway. Gah! So anyway, I guess you're not from around here are you?"

"Oh, what gave it away?" Frisk asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"Many kids these days are dumb and unobservant yes," the creature began. "What with them misusing their brains by twiddling all day on their phones or pulling dumb magic pranks on us unsuspecting elderly. But in all my years of experience, I've never met someone so out of touch as you."

"Yeah, you have no idea how accurate that actually is," Frisk answered.

If he finds out I'm human, she thought. Then how the hell is he gonna react? Will he call someone or… god, this is stressing.

"Thought so," the creature said. "So judging by your look and ignorance, I am guessing you are from Apetown is that it?"

"Oh umm…" Frisk began.

She quickly turned towards Flowey for desperate guidance at this moment, and for a split second, she was almost sure she saw him wink.

"Um, yeah," Frisk said. "I'm an ape from… Apetown. All the way from… downtown Apetown."

The creature stared at Frisk with squinting eyes as if it would help him see better, and Frisk felt her sweat began to form on her neck. Then the creature just rolled his eyes and puffed.

"Bah, of course, you're an ape monster," he exclaimed with a hint of grudge. "Of course. Why wouldn't you be?"

Yes, save! Frisk thought.

Meanwhile, the wounded creature seemed to be somewhat irritated.

"By the gods and the angel, why does it always have to be ape monsters?" he whispered to himself.

"I'm guessing from your words and tone that you don't really, uh, like my kind?" she asked him.

"Is that what you're hearing?" the creature asked back and sighed. "Alright, truth is, I got no qualms with your kind. Not in general that is. But no offence, for the past few years, you hermits have been swarming up here in the tens and messing with our ways and such. Ever since Mickey and his dumb lackey Willy showed up that is. Ugh, I should've expected they'd bring more of their kind up-"

"Wait what did you just say?!" Frisk quickly asked.

"I said I should've expected-"

"No, before that!" Frisk urgently said.

"Ever since Mickey and Willy showed up?" the creature asked, sounding confused. "Why?"

"Who-who's Mickey?" Flowey asked nervously.

Whether it was due to some distant memory or instinct, of some frightened curiosity, or simply because it was the exact name that the old monster had warned them about, the mere mention of that name threw Frisk and Flowey into a state of desperation. It was as if finding out who this "Mickey" is was the only thing that mattered at this current moment, and Frisk felt herself mentally prepare for whatever evilness or horror the wounded creature would lay on them.

But both Frisk's and Flowey's excitement and fear dwindled immensely after the creature simply shrugged.

"Dunno," he said. "Except that he's a real asshole whose damn leftover traps put me in this situation. But besides that, I know nothing about. Like everyone around here."

"Ok is there at least anything you can tell us?" Flowey asked.

"Like just a little bit?" Frisk added.

"You two seem strangely interested in that guy," the creature said with the same tone of confusion as before.

"It's just umm," she began, trying to make their reason sound not that weird or crazy. "We've heard that name before. And not in a good way that is."

"Well of course you have," the creature said. "Everyone's heard of that name. Of the great champion of our current king and kingdom. Of our great saviour, Mickey."

He said that last line with a clearly distinct sneer.

"Bah, what a grand hero he is," he added sarcastically. "Most likely a bunch of lies. Nothing more than a con artist I'm sure. If he's so great, then why the hell are we still in this accursed situation?"

"Wait, didn't you just say a moment ago that no-one knows who he is," Flowey said curiously. "But if that's the case, then how can he also be a known hero at the same time?"

"Well that's just the thing isn't it?" the creature said. "He's popular and well known, yet at the same time, we barely know jackshit about him. He apparently just showed up one day and we are now suddenly supposed to accept that he's some hero or champion? Bah, malarkey!"

Somewhere in the middle of the strange creatures monologue, Frisk had sat down to ease her legs and later on she became to bothered to keep her focus that she didn't even think much about the wet snow that was uncomfortably soaking her pants. She also didn't notice immediately that his expression had now suddenly taken on a darker look.

"But if you really wanna know something, then I've heard some rumours," he began after a short pause, now sounding almost frightened. "That he has supposedly done some… dark things. Evil things even. But eh. What do I know? I've lived alone in these woods all my life, and I don't go to town much. Hell, I don't even have a working TV anymore, so maybe I am merely the one who's ignorant. Who knows? Maybe the people in town can tell you much more. But I wouldn't bet on it though. Last time I was there, which wasn't long ago I might add, I asked some monsters, young and old, about this Mickey fella. Most of them knew just as much as me, while many seemed hesitant about even mentioning him. So expect much if you go there. Oh, I think I might've spoken too much. Terribly sorry."

"Oh no no it's fine," Frisk said. "It's fine, I've... heard longer. God, you should see my old teacher."

She turned to look at Flowey who, as Frisk judged by his expression, seemed incredibly invested in the creature's talk

"You got any of that?" she asked him.

"Oh yeah, plenty," he answered. "Practically all of it I think. When you have basically just a half-empty mind like myself, it's really handy to fill in those dozens of holes with some useful information, no matter how plentiful. Or at least, that's how I think it works."

Well good to know at least one of us got more than half, Frisk thought. God, I'm so tired.

"Well, doesn't really matter if you didn't listen to me," the creature said. "But it nice that you did though at least. Honestly, I just thought it was really good to speak overall. Really helped keep my mind off the pain- gah, gods."

He groaned a bit as more blood began spewing out of the red stump.

"Oh, shit!" Frisk exclaimed. "Umm, take it easy, mister, I can…"

"Nah don't worry kid, it's fine," the creature said. "It can't get any worse than this."

Frisk looked at the red stump which was surrounded by pools of blood that instantly vaporized before her very eyes into dozens of dust particles that became indistinguishable from the snow. After a short while, the bleeding seemed to have stopped.

"Is there... anything I, or rather we, can do for you?" Frisk asked him somberly.

The strange creature became thoughtful for a moment. Then, as if quickly coming to a decision, he turned and pointed with his strange mouth towards the thick trees to his left.

"See that cabin over there," he said. "That's my old home. Now if I can remember correctly, there is supposedly a completely full bottle in one of the kitchen cabinets, labelled emergency. I was on my way to get it myself, but then my wounds grew too severe and my body completely gave up. Can you perhaps snatch it for me? I'd be forever grateful if you did. The cabin is only two rooms big, a living room and the kitchen I mentioned, so you won't get lost."

Frisk turned to the direction he pointed and indeed saw a small cabin, hidden about just from sight within the trees. It was a bit of a walk away, yet even from a distance where it looked like a tiny toy house the size of her palm, Frisk could see that it was old and rotting.

"Alright," she said. "We can do that."

The creature gave out a breath of relief.

"Thank you girl," he said. "Thank you very much. Mayhaps, there is still hope down here."

"Wait, you don't think there are any traps that way right?" Flowey asked cautiously. "Like the one that got you."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure there isn't," the creature said. "The one that got me was actually quite far back. Like 2 hours ago or so."

"You-you've been walking like that for hours?" Frisk exclaimed. "Holy shit."

"Yeah, yeah, can you get me that bottle now?" the creature asked.

"Oh sorry."

She stood back up and wiped the wet snow from her pants.

"What was your name again?" she asked.

"Gyftrot," the creature said. "Name's Gyftrot, like in gift and rot."

"Alright Gyftrot," Frisk said. "We'll be a moment. I promise."

"You better," Gyftrot said.

"Right."

With that said, Frisk began to head towards the cabin with a bit of speed in her steps. The snow became heavy once again as they left the clearing, so running was impossible at this point.

"So…" Flowey began as Frisk trod through the snow. "What have we learned about Mickey?"

"Well…" Frisk began. "We know that he's real at least, and not like a collective delusion with the old guy and you, no offence. Not sure that's good though, but we at least know what to really look out for. Also, he's supposedly a monkey creature I… guess? And a knight? I think Gyftrot said something about that, and also that he's possibly dangerous… and evil… and mysterious as well. It's not much, but it's at least something to go off on. If I were being honest, I somehow feel like I know less about Mickey now than before."

"Well he did mention a king," Flowey said. "That Mickey was his champion or something. Strange though, that he mentioned a king in the current sense. Now that I think about it, Smiley Trashbag also did that. Very strange indeed. I kind of would've thought that…"

He turned abruptly silent.

"Kind of would've thought what?" Frisk asked.

"Oh sorry," Flowey said. "Kind of got lost in thought."

"You know something I don't or…?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Flowey said. "I think I might've just misplaced a memory somewhere or something."

"Alright then," Frisk said with a bit of suspicion and continued on.

After a few more difficult steps, they had arrived at the broken-down shack. It somehow managed to look worse up close, with a large gaping hole one side, like something big had burst through, and a holey roof held up by old wooden walls that looked like they could collapse at any moment. The shack was about the size of two bedrooms and the roof was just high enough for her to reach with her hands.

Frisk slowly stepped through the large hole and heard the floorboard creak by her step, and as she entered she carefully walked through what she assumed was supposed to be the living room, with the only hint being a single, decayed couch that was half-sunken through the broken floor. Frisk half-expected that she would fall through the floorboards with every step.

"Weird that he would leave this bottle here, and whatever's in it, for god knows how long rather than take it with him to where he lives now," Frisk pondered. "Especially since it seems to be something important. I just don't get it."

"Ahh, well there are a lot of things you don't get about monsters," Flowey said. "No offence of course. You're new here after all. Like did you know that they have a huge affinity for riddles and puzzles?"

"That… doesn't surprise me as much as it should," Frisk said while she crept into a room smaller than the one before, that only held a few cupboards and a large wooden table.

"Still," she continued. "Don't see what that has to do with my previous question though."

"Oh it probably doesn't," Flowey answered. "That was a good point actually. So much so that I was actually considering if this a perhaps weird puzzle of his. Even then, I'm about as stumped as you if I were to admit. Huh. Stumped and not because of a memory loss. Gods how I missed that feeling."

"Alright keep being cocky back there," Frisk said.

Flowey didn't seem to notice her mild roast, or at least Frisk noticed he didn't care much as he gave out no reaction or backfire.

There were about 6 different cupboards nailed on the walls above what looked like an old kitchen sink, including some empty spots that seemed like they once held more cupboards, as proven by the small piles of broken wood that were all placed on the floor right below each of the missing frames.

First thing Frisk did was to rummage through them with her foot, the one that still had a shoe on it, but she found no bottle, any shards of glass or piles of liquid.

"Why is he so sure that the bottle is still even in here?" Flowey asked.

"C' mon, glass-half-full Flowey," Frisk said.

"I'm just saying," Flowey began. "This place has clearly been abandoned for… gods know how long. And judging by the stench it's probably been much longer than that, yuck. But I'm just thinking practical. Bunch of monsters must've looted this place before us. Hell, maybe dozens of humans have come here as well. Not to mention that mister Gyftrot back there didn't even think to put up a lock on the cupboards for some reason."

"Yeah, I've considered that," Frisk said while peeking through one of the remaining cupboards. "Still, better to check and be sure rather than to give up prematurely. And besides, glass-half-full remember?"

Fortunately, her cautious but clear optimism proved valid, as immediately after she opened up one of the larger cupboards, she saw deep inside a large glass vial the size of a beer bottle with faded ink writing on it that clearly once said emergency.

"Aha," Frisk said and smiled. "See, what did I tell you Flowey?"

"I mean I never denied that the bottle couldn't still be here," Flowey said in a low voice, almost muttering it.

Frisk reached in and grabbed the bottle, which surprised her by how warm it felt, and pulled it out into view.

It was about the size of her elbow, and a bit heavy since. Its glass was sickly green and nearly impossible to see through unless you stared at it longe enough.

The first thing both Frisk and Flowey noticed was its heavy alcoholic smell. Frisk recognized it immediately. In fact, she knew that smell very personally.

She removed the brown tap out of curiosity and sniffed. There came an absolutely putrid stench that caused Frisk to wince before she quickly closed it back up, but not before it filled and drowned the room in a stench resembling rotten fruit and faeces.

"Gah fuck me," Frisk exclaimed.

"Dear angel," Flowey exclaimed. "This might just be one of the worst things I have ever smelled. And that's saying a lot."

"Guh, so you think this gunk is gonna save the reindeer thing out there?" Frisk asked as she cringed from the leftover stench.

"Well possibly," Flowey answered. "I do faintly remember hearing stories of magical healing potions and other drinks that can cure almost any wound. But if I also remember correctly they are mostly used in hospitals and science experiments, due to the difficulty and expense in making one. In that case, it's very strange and also incredibly convenient that he just has one laying around here casually."

"Well, whatever's the reason," Frisk began. "Let's hope it works."

"Indeed."

Frisk slowly crept back over the rotting floorboards, back through the large gap and shivered as her shoeless foot entered the snow.

Now remembering how cold and wet her feet felt, she hurriedly travelled back to the creature by following her own footprints.

If that house didn't kill me, she thought. Then hypothermia definitely will.

But as she backtracked through the snow, Frisk began to have uncomfortable thoughts and concerns towards the bottle. It was mostly due to the surprising familiarity it gave, and what that same familiarity could possibly entail.

"Frisk is something wrong?" Flowey asked, having noticed her subtle but visible distress.

"I dunno," Frisk began. "I just have this weird feeling about this bottle. Or suspicion rather. I'm probably wrong though. At least I hope I'm wrong. We'll see."

She came back through the clearing, where the strange mouthed creature still lay in the same spot, trying to get some newspaper out of its horn using just its head.

"Took you long enough," Gyftrot said as he noticed the duo. "It's not like I'm dying here or anything."

"Relax," Frisk said. "I'm here ain't I? I got your stuff. Now drink up."

She sat down on one knee and opened up the foul smelling-bottle before bringing it to his strange mouth.

"Thanks," Gyftrot said. "But I can handle the rest myself."

He grabbed the bottle from her hands using his pincher mouth and in a very strange set of movements, which Frisk found incredibly weird to watch, he succeeded in perfectly adjusting it using just his mouth and teeth, and began to drink. It was like watching a gymnast performing a near impossible technique that he had mastered his whole life.

But Frisk couldn't bring herself to wonder or feel much awe about the creatures strange habit, as she found herself unable to hide her suspicions any longer.

"That's not medicine is it?" she asked him.

As if on command, the creature carefully placed the bottle on the snow with his pincers.

"Is that what you thought?" he answered. "No. Of course, it isn't."

I knew it, Frisk thought sadly.

Gyfrot then picked up the bottle again and took another gulp, perhaps the biggest he had taken so far.

Even though she had suspected the true nature of the bottle, and even though she barely knew him, she still couldn't help but feel awful in hearing it confirmed.

"Does… does that mean you're gonna die?" she asked anxiously.

Gyftrot placed the bottle back down while cringing from the strong taste.

"Well unless you can find a doctor in these woods within a minute or two then yeah," he said.

Frisk didn't know what to say at this point. She turned to Flowey as if expecting him to have an answer but he just looked at her surprised and a bit sorrowful as well.

"Shit man I…" Frisk began and turned back towards the dying creature. "I- I don't know what to say I-"

"You don't need to say anything," Gyftrot replied. "It's fine. I've been waiting for this day for a while now. Hell, I've been keeping just this magic booze stashed away for a long time just for something like this. You see its magical qualities make it so that it gets much better the longer its kept in a place that's very personal in the owner's memory. It's high-quality stuff, something that's fitting for royalty to drink."

He grabbed the bottle up from the snow with his pincer and handed it towards Frisk.

"Here have some," he said. "On the house. Since you were so kind to me after all, heh."

Frisk reached and grabbed the warm bottle from the pincer. She wasn't particularly fond of the taste in alcohol, having tried some variants plenty of times, so she took it purely out of courtesy.

She opened the top letting the disgusting smell appear and then took a quick swig.

The taste reminded her of mould and rotten grapes and fruit, and it made her want to immediately puke it all out. But she instead grinned and forced the remains down her throat.

"So, how does it taste?" Gyftrot asked.

"Ugh, it's umm delicious," lied Frisk while grinning. "Sorry, I just drank it wrong is all."

"Thanks for your courtesy, but you don't have to lie," the creature said. "Was pretty sure you wouldn't like it anyways. These things are often an acquired taste you see."

"Ok then," Frisk said as she handled Flowey the bottle.

To none of their surprise, Flowey spat out the drink as soon as he took just a single and small swig.

"Good angel…" he said while handing Frisk back the bottle with his wines. "I'm sorry old-man but gods. This liquid is atrocious. Even calling it one is an insult to liquids in general."

Gyftrot laughed softly by his words, and it was one of the strangest sounds Frisk had ever heard come from a living creature. It was like hearing an old deer attempting to imitate human laughter.

"Gods I always love seeing you kids try these," Gyftrot said and grabbed the bottle from Frisk's hand using his mouth.

He took another large gulp and Frisk found it now rather disgusting to watch him drink it.

"Gah," Gyftrot began and placed the bottle carefully in the snow with his pincer mouth. "Kind of expected a different reaction from a human but eh."

Frisk felt her stomach swell from the sudden and casual revelation of the monster.

"You… you knew I was human?" she asked in surprise.

"Oh, you truly are?" Gyftrot asked. "It was more of a guess really. But no, I didn't suspect it all the time. I didn't think of it until you were gone to fetch my drink. You see I thought you looked strangely familiar the first time I saw you, and you also didn't look like any ape monster I've seen, what with your clean-shaven fur and brownish underskin. Not to mention your complete ignorance."

"Ok then…" Frisk said nervously. "Are you gonna…"

"C'mon kiddo," Gyftrot said, having noticed her unease. "Do I really look like someone who could pose a threat to you? Honestly, I don't even give a crap that you're human. Just makes these final moments much more interesting."

He attempted to lift the bottle up again, but suddenly he dropped it as fast as he grabbed, and out of it spilt a bit of brownish liquid on the white snow.

Then he stared at the bottle on the snow, looking utterly helpless.

"I… I can't feel my mouth anymore," Gyftrot said, not in a tone of worry but rather of little surprise. "Or my body for that matter. Can you… help me drink the rest? I've suddenly grown rather weak at the moment."

"Oh sure thing," Frisk said and leaned forward to grab his strange mouth. "Flowey? A little help?"

"Right," the flower replied without hesitation.

Flowey used his elongated vines to support the bottom Gyftrot's mouth while Frisk reached for the bottle with her loose hand. It was a really clumsy affair, but she succeeded and then proceded to feed the creature like she was feeding a little lamb milk from a bottle.

The creature drank it all up, every single last drop from the bottle, and it went on for so long that Frisk almost thought it was bottomless for a second.

The drink slobbily ran down the creature's cheek, or at least what Frisk assumed was his cheek, and seemed to grow stuck in the fur, and in a short moment, it was clear the foul-smelling bottle was finally empty due to its lightness and no more leftovers liquids leaking out by the sides.

But Gyftrot still kept chugging for a few moments on the now empty bottle as if he wanted to savour the taste as best he could. Then after a short while, he grunted softly and Frisk noticed it was him signalling that this was good enough.

Then as soon as she removed the empty alcohol bottle from his drippy mouth, he suddenly, and very casually, extended a horrendous looking thick, brown vine from his mouth to clean out the remains on his jaw. It took Frisk a moment to realizes that this disgusting appendage was his tongue due to her momentary shock.

"Ahhh, that was… worth it," Gyftrot said and detracted his strange tongue. "My last meal you could say. You may keep the bottle if you don't mind. A memo of me. I obviously don't care about it anymore. Heh. I gotta say. I was very lucky you two were here. Very lucky indeed."

"Is there…" Frisk began, feeling a lump in her throat. "Is there anything else we can do for you? Like is there someone I should call or…"

"Funny that you should concern yourself so much with someone you've known for less than half an hour," the creature said.

"Oh sorry," Frisk said. "It's just…a habit I-"

"Bah, you don't need to apologize or even justify it kiddo," Gyftrot said. "Kindness is… not something one should have to usually defend in this world. And to see such kindness from a human, one that I would've expected from a monster, is… marvellous. Imagine. Dying at the hands of a human. A selfless one at that. Never would have imagined it in my life."

He gave out a sad sigh.

"But to answer your previous question," Gyftrot began. "No. There is no one left to care for me. I-"

The creature suddenly began to violently cough.

"Hey, hey take it easy, mister," Frisk said and softly patted his back.

The cough began to lessen and Gyftrot began to breathe easy again as it's strange face suddenly took on a melancholy expression.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you very much. Frisk wasn't it?"

She nodded.

"What a strange name," Gyftrot pondered. "Frisk."

"That's more of a nickname actually," the girl clarified. "My real name is actually Fransisca, but everyone just calls me Frisk either way so yeah, it's basically my official name at this point."

Gyftrot chuckled a bit, and then immediately began to cough loudly again.

"Woah, Woah, slow down," Frisk said gently.

The creature quickly stopped but then spat out some blood, which then quickly turned into small dust particles that vanished in the snow.

"Never had any children," he began. "Never really liked them for a long time, nor have I ever had any interest in having them. Relationships were never my thing either, so I always believed I would die alone. Kind of thought it would be better like that."

Gyftrot coughed again and spewed a bit more blood. Then he took a short breather and continued speaking.

"But… this is nice," he began. "Having someone with me in my final moments is… better than I expected. So thank you, Frisk. Even if I've only known you for a short moment, it's nice to have you here. And you too, Flowey, let's not forget you as well."

"Well it's the best we can do now," Flowey said, and Frisk felt herself notice a hint of sadness in his tone.

Gyftrot gave an expression that seemed to resemble a smile, or at least that was what Frisk guessed based on his strange mouth.

"But even if I'd miraculously survived this," he continued. "I doubt I'd have any children either way. But now I know at least… that I should have perhaps appreciated them more."

"I mean, anything can happen, right?" Frisk said, tears forming in her eyes.

Gyftrot gave out a deep sigh.

"Not this time kiddo," he said, his eyes beginning to daze. "Not… not this time."

The eyes of the creature became sleepy and he now stared up at her in a way like he didn't even see her anymore.

"Mister?" Frisk asked. "Are you still there?"

His breathing became very calm. After a few seconds, it was almost as if he was asleep with eyes open.

"... mister?" Frisk asked worryingly.

He gave out one feeble breath before he turned abruptly silent, his eyes now staring up at the girl while his body made not a single stir or sound. Then, he began to dissipate, and before Frisk could react, the air and ground were covered in swirling dust that moved softly in the breeze.

Author's note:

So a few days late from my not-so-promised release date, so it's here whatever.

This is a very somber chamber, featuring what is, in my opinion, my favorite scene so far. I'm honestly not really sure if the bottle will come into play, as Gyftrot giving it to Frisk was a last-minute addition, but hey, maybe I'll find some way to squeeze some relevance of it sooner or later.

I honestly don't have much else to say that I haven't said a million times already, except that I found this chapter surprisingly difficult to write. Maybe because the stress of school is growing on me, but fuck it. I am really enjoying writing this fic and seeing all the comments and support, and I am not gonna quit any time close.

I am determined to finish this story, and all my other, non-fanfiction stories I've been planning.

Speaking of which, I am about halfway done with my short, original, fantasy horror story set in a world of my making. Of course, I'm technically not really about halfway done since I've yet to run over it and share it with a bunch of other writers who'll give me notes and such, but I am certain I will be done with it before new years eve 2020.

But I also said in my last update that I would've been most likely be done with this chapter last weekend* so yeah. Anything can happen.

*I mean it was only a few days delay so it's not much to judge about.