Frisk walked down the path before seeing a sign as she walked up to it.
"Warning, Dog Marriage." she read before smiling. "Oh yeah, those two are nearby. They're a really cute couple."
With that Frisk walked down to some loose snow before giggling as she remembered the switch which she walked back to press before a familiar clicking sound told her what she needed to know.
Walking back down the path Frisk smiled before stopping as two dogs in armor holding large axes approached her.
"What's that smell?" questioned the male dogs.
"Where's the smell?" the female dog asked as Frisk smiled remembering the first time she fought the two of them.
"If you're a smell…" the male dog started.
"… Identify yoursmellf." the female dog finished as the two of them continued circling Frisk before surrounding her.
"Hm, here's that weird smell." the male dog noted. "It makes me want to eliminate."
"Eliminate you." the female dog declared as the two of them engaged Frisk in a fight.
The moment the fight started Frisk lied down on the ground and started rolling around in the snow and dirt before getting up just as the two dogs tried to strike her with their axes.
"Hold still. Smells don't move like that." the male dog said as the two of them stopped swinging their axes.
"You're a very strange smell." the female dog added.
"Yeah, I think you're right." Frisk told them. "But, do I really smell that weird?"
"Huh, what do you…" the male dog started before sniffing Frisk again. "Wait, that smell…"
"Are you some kind of weird puppy?" the female dog asked curiously.
Frisk smiled hearing that before reaching up and petting the female dog.
"A dog that pets dogs?" the female dog asked in shock. "Amazing."
"Hey, don't leave me out." the male dog requested as Frisk smiled and started petting both of them.
"Wow, dogs can pet other dogs?" the male dog inquired in amazement.
"A new world has been opened up for us." the female dog added. "Thanks weird puppy."
"You're welcome." Frisk smiled as the two of them walked off only to frown. "Sans… if there's any way you can hear me, I'm keeping my promise to you, and this time I think… no, I know we'll be able to stay and live on the surface for good."
With that thought in her mind and determination filling her SOUL Frisk walked down the path before seeing X's on the ground as she smiled again before solving the puzzle only to notice Papyrus and walk up to him.
"Human, what are…" Papyrus started before pausing. "Wait, you solved this puzzle already?"
"Well your puzzles really helped me figure out how to try this one." Frisk answered.
"Really, wow my puzzles must be even greater than I thought they were." Papyrus smiled before pausing. "Wait, but what did you do with the spaghetti I left for you?"
"Oh, well…" Frisk started before smiling. "I thought I could share it with you and Sans after the puzzles."
"Wow, you're quite smart human." Papyrus praised. "You may even be able to solve this next puzzle easily."
"I don't know, if you came up with it it's probably going to be really hard." Frisk admitted following Papyrus before arriving at a larger puzzle of X's. "Oh, this looks tricky."
"Well, you took quite a while to get here and so I tried to improve this puzzle by arranging the snow to look more like my face." Papyrus explained. "Though the snow has frozen to the ground and so the solution to this puzzle is different."
"Different?" Frisk asked. "Does that mean you don't know the solution?"
"Well technically yes, but fear not human. I the great Papyrus will solve this conundrum and then we can both proceed." Papyrus stated confidently. "Feel free to try it on your own if you'd like though."
Frisk couldn't help but smile hearing that. "Alright, I'll try."
With those words Frisk walked around the outside of the puzzle looking at it while Papyrus watched before she suddenly smiled and tried solving it only to end up trapped.
"You were very close human, would you like some help?" Papyrus offered. "I the great Papyrus am more than willing to assist you in solving this puzzle."
"Not yet, I think I can solve it." Frisk replied. "Plus trying to solve the puzzle is part of the fun."
"That is very true, alright human then carry on but know that I am here if you need any advice on how to solve this puzzle." Papyrus told her causing Frisk to smile as she walked around the puzzle again before she laughed. "Oh, is something amusing you human?"
"I think I figured out what I did wrong." Frisk answered before walking into the puzzle again and successfully solving it the second time. "Yes, I did it."
"Incredible human, you solved it." Papyrus stated proudly. "You have a natural talent for puzzles."
"Thanks, you're really good at making them Papyrus." Frisk smiled. "I can't wait to see what the next puzzle is."
"Nyehehe." Papyrus laughed. "The next puzzle is quite fun, though it may be too difficult for you to solve."
"Well I'll do my best to solve it." Frisk smiled as Papyrus walked off and she walked up to Sans. "Oh, hi."
"Hey, nice job on that puzzle." Sans mentioned. "You solved it pretty easily."
"I guess, but Papyrus' puzzles are so much fun, even if it took a long time I would still try to solve it. He's really cool." Frisk replied causing Sans to chuckle.
"Yeah, Paps is pretty cool." Sans nodded with his own smile. "By the way are you feeling any better about your friend?"
Frisk looked down hearing that. "A little, but I still with there was more I could do for him."
"I know the feeling Frisk, sometimes you just feel like you can't do enough." Sans admitted. "But I'm sure that if your friend knows you care about them that'll help them get through whatever it is they're doing."
"I hope so." Frisk admitted sadly before smiling again. "Well, time to see what the next puzzle is."
Sans chuckled. "Yeah, you have a good point."
With that he walked off in the opposite direction as Frisk smiled and continued only to immediately see a grid of grey tiles with Papyrus and Sans standing next to a machine.
"Human, this next puzzle is incredibly special. It was designed by the great Dr. Alphys." Papyrus explained. "Do you see the tiles in front of you?"
Frisk looked at the tiles before smiling. "I see them Papyrus."
"Well, once I throw this switch here they will begin to change color." Papyrus explained. "Each color does something different."
"Really? What do the colors do?" Frisk asked curiously.
"I'm glad you asked, you see red tiles are impassible and you cannot walk on them. Yellow tiles are electric, they will shock you if you try and step on them, and green tiles set off an alarm and force you to fight a monster." Papyrus explained
"Red I can't waok on, yellow zaps me, and green is an alarm." Frisk repeated. "Got it so far Papyrus."
"Good, then next is orange tiles which make you smell like delicious oranges. Blue tiles are water tiles; however, the water is filled with piranhas that will bite you if you smell like oranges and if a yellow tile is next to a blue tile the blue tile will also zap you." Papyrus continued
"So orange makes me smell like oranges but then I'll get bitten by piranhas in the blue tiles and if the yellow tile is next to the blue one I'll get zapped." Frisk summarized.
"Exactly human, next purple tiles are slippery and will slide you to the next tile. The slippery soap smells like lemons, which piranhas do not like." Papyrus said with a smile.
"So if I step on a purple tile I won't get bitten by piranhas?" Frisk guessed.
"Exactly human." Papyrus smiled. "Finally pink tiles… well they don't do anything at all."
Frisk nodded. "Ok, I think I get it. This sounds really fun."
"There's one more detail you should know, this puzzle is entirely random. Once I pull this switch it will create a puzzle that nobody has ever seen before." Papyrus smiled before pulling the switch as the tiles randomly started changing colors only to end up with a pink path in the center of red tiles.
"Huh, that's no fun." Frisk frowned. "I'm sorry Papyrus, the puzzle didn't work."
"No, it's quite alright human." Papyrus mentioned. "The puzzle was random so this was something that could have happened."
With that Papyrus walked off slowly as Frisk crossed the path and turned to Sans.
"Shame about the puzzle." Sans mentioned. "It wasn't really fun to just walk across the path like that."
"I know, and I feel really bad for Papyrus." Frisk agreed. "He looked upset that the puzzle ended up being so easy."
"With a random puzzle like that you never know what could happen." Sans shrugged. "Still doesn't make it fun when you get one that simple."
"Do you think there's anything I can do for him?" Frisk inquired. "I don't want him to feel bad."
"I'll see if I can talk to him." Sans offered before smiling. "You know Frisk, I really appreciate what you're doing for him."
Frisk smiled hearing that. "Then, I guess I should keep going."
"Makes sense to me." Sans nodded. "I'll see you up ahead."
"Alright." Frisk smiled walking past Sans and seeing a dog wearing armor trying to build a snowdog. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about this."
Frisk smiled as she walked past before pausing and turning to see if the dog needed any help only to see it staring at the snow before giggling to herself and walking past to a puzzle with several more X's on an icy part of the ground before smiling as she walked in a spiral before pressing a button and pretending to skate as she went across the forest only to feel some snow fall on her head as she looked down causing the snow duck to fall off her head.
Continuing along the path Frisk noticed several piles of snow and a small dog house before she smiled even more while checking each pile of snow before reaching the last one. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot I get to play with him for a little while."
As if on cue the head and tail of a small dog popped out of the last pile of snow before barking happily only to emerge from the snow revealing it was wearing a large suit of armor and holding a spear.
"Come here boy, come here." Frisk smiled holding out her hand as the dog bounced up to her excitedly. "Good boy, you're such a smart boy."
As she said that Frisk started gently petting the dog causing it to wag its tail before she picked up a small snowball and threw it causing the dog to excitedly run and try to grab all the snow where it landed as it brought it back to Frisk only to flop down in exhaustion.
"Oh, are you tired boy?" Frisk asked with a small smile before gently petting it behind the ear as it looked up at her contentedly. "I need to go now, but I promise we can play a lot more in the future ok?"
The dog just looked up at Frisk before licking her and jumping back into armor and walking off.
"They're all so cute, maybe I'll ask mom about a puppy when we get to the surface." Frisk smiled thoughtfully as she walked forward seeing the all too familiar bridge. "Papyrus' 'Gauntlet of Deadly Terror' I finally made it to Snowdin, just wait Sans, I promise things will work out for all of us."
(Frisk has nearly reached Snowdin town and is working hard to ensure the monsters reach the surface for good. Next chapter Frisk will arrive in Snowdin and begin her battle with Papyrus. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)