Wandering Through Waterfall

As they entered waterfall, the air changed became warmer and more humid. It was a strangely rapid switch between temperatures and biomes. There was probably some sort of invisible magical barrier or something that kept the cold in one place.

Once again, this place didn't make much sense. It's not like there was a corridor full of slush or some other kind of transition area. It was just snow, and then not. Whatever. Magic.

There was a red monster next to a blue flower. He was talking into it and the flower was repeating back what he said. An interesting phenomenon, but not terribly useful. It was just a weird magic flower that could somehow repeat sounds like a parrot.

And next to this flower was Sans, sleeping at what looked like another sentry station. And this station had snow on it. There was no snow anywhere else here, it was too warm and wet for snow to last. But this station just had to have snow on the roof because, for whatever reason, magic couldn't even follow its own rules.

Magic kept all the snow back in the Snowdin area. Fine. Didn't make sense how that worked, but it was a rule. Now, in Waterfall, there's no snow except on the roof of this station. Why?

They sighed. If they spent too long thinking about the stupid snow on Sans' station, they'd never find shelter before dark. Or night, or whatever it was down here. There didn't seem to be any natural light Underground, just magic. Maybe the magic would darken this dark area more or something around nightfall? Nighttime in Snowdin was obvious because the area was so bright. Here though, they weren't sure.

Either way, they should find shelter from the elements and the captain before they got tired. If nothing else, their body would tell them approximately when night was.

They walked past a sleeping Sans with the intention to find somewhere safe. Just after they passed him, they heard him start talking to them.

"Hey kid, I was just about to take my legally required break. Wanna join me?" He asked.

They didn't trust him, but they had to comply. If they screamed at him or ran away, he'd probably just chase them down and hurt them for being a problem. He had no reason to look out for their well-being, so they didn't want to give him any reason to threaten it.

"C'mon then. I know a shortcut." Sans held out his hand and waited for them to take it. When they didn't, he just kept holding it out. "On my honour, it's just a hand. No woopie cushion this time. If you don't take it, we'll have to walk, and I'm lazy. So just… take it."

They stared at the hand and slowly reached for it. They couldn't see anything in it or on it. It was just hand bones. They clasped his hand gently and felt a strange dizzying sensation. They blinked and suddenly they were in a bar.

"Welcome to Grillby's." Sans said. He walked them up to the counter and gestured for them to take a seat. The various patrons greeted him, asking him what he was doing here again, and didn't they just see him fifteen minutes ago? It seems that the gossip mongers were right. Sans was pretty popular around here.

They climbed up on the bar stool and looked around. The dogs they had met the day before were playing cards in the corner. It was difficult to tell what game they were playing. They weren't even sure that they were all playing the same game. They all had different amounts of cards and they weren't all doing the same things with them.

On dog was matching numbers, another was drawing cards, a third was just snorting at cards on the table, trying to flip them over. They couldn't tell who was winning whatever game they were playing.

"Order up kid, pick something." Sans said. The small menu card only had two options, burger or fries. They chose fries.

"Alright Grillbz. A double order of fries, kid's treat." Sans ordered.

Their eyes went wide. They couldn't pay for it. They only had a couple of coins left, definitely not enough to pay for even a single serving from a restaurant.

Sans chuckled, "Relax kid. I'm just messing with ya. Grillbz knows me, he'll put it on my tab." Why would he joke about something like that? Or was he trying to make them indebted to him for buying them food? What was his angle?

The fire man who took their orders walked into the back to prepare the food. As he did, the sounds of the bar faded until everything was quiet. They could still see the dogs moving and playing cards, but they couldn't hear anything except Sans.

"I heard from my bro that you're headed to the capital to see the king. That's pretty brave of you." Sans said. He leaned over the counter and put his head in one hand. "You know what the king does with humans he finds, right? I'm not sure if you've really thought this whole thing through. Going on adventures is all well and fun, but you've gotta face reality some day. If you make it there, well, no human has ever come back."

They looked down. Sans was making them nervous. What exactly did he want with them? Did none of the other monsters here notice the weird silence bubble around them? Or did they know about it and not care? Was this a normal thing that happened?

"Sometimes, you just gotta know when to quit. Things are good here. Good food, good friends, bad laughs. What else could you ask for?" Sans asked them. They didn't have an answer. All they really wanted right now was to get home, and the only chance of that happening, however slim, was getting to the king.

"When my bro offered you a place to stay, he was serious, y'know?" Sans commented. He must have understood that they weren't going to speak to him. If he wanted to keep talking, that was fine. The longer they listened, the longer they spent unharmed. Hopefully he wouldn't take so long that they couldn't find shelter before nighttime, though.

"He's been pretty down, but having you around really lifted his mood. For his sake, I'd like to say you're welcome here, but I don't think you'd believe me." Sans said. At least he knew that much. "I know you don't talk much, so I'll just accept a yes or a no. Have you ever heard of a talking flower?" Sans' eye sockets went dark as he asked. Did Sans know about Flowey? Were they in league with each other? Did he want to trick them into giving up their soul or something so that he could give it to Flowey? They shook their head.

His eyelights came back, "You really haven't seen an echo flower? There's one right by my station. It repeats the last thing it heard over and over again. You don't really talk though, so maybe you didn't notice."

They swung their legs to release some anxiety. This conversation was really weird. They didn't like it, but they couldn't just leave.

"I think someone's been pranking my brother with these flowers. He comes home sometimes, saying that a flower has been telling him things. Awful, terrible things. But sometimes, it's friendly. If you see anything like that, let me know, 'kay? Or do me a favour and tell the prankster to leave my bro alone." Sans requested. They had no intention of telling him anything or ever calling him. He creeped them out.

Suddenly, the sounds of the bar hit their ears again. They flinched at the unexpected noise. The fire man brought two plates of fries from the back room and set them on the counter.

"Thanks Grillbz. Put it on my tab." Sans said. He looked over at them and offered them a bottle of ketchup. They shook their head. There was no way that they'd accept any food from him. Who knows what sort of magic he could've put in that ketchup. "Okay. More for me then." Sans proceeded to remove the top of the bottle and drink the ketchup.

Their appetite was spoiled by the sight. Drinking condiments was just gross. They pushed the fires around on the plate while Sans slowly munched his. They weren't sure if he'd noticed that they weren't eating anything. As he finished his plate, he offered his hand to them again.

"Welp. Good chat kid, but my break is just about over. I'll take you back to where I found ya, 'kay?" It wasn't a question. It was an order. Take his hand.

When they took his hand, the strange dizzying sensation hit them again. They blinked and were back in Waterfall, right where they'd been before. The snow was still on the roof of the sentry station.

They quickly took their hand back and ran away from Sans. They didn't know what he wanted from them, but they knew they should stay away from him. Whatever he wanted couldn't be good.

What he told them about the king could be useful information though. Humans who met the king didn't come back. That implied one of three things. First option: the humans were killed by the king or lost their souls to him. Second option (and very unlikely): the humans were living with the king and just never left his residence. They were pretty sure that this wasn't the case, or at least one monster would have been gossiping about it. The final option is what Papyrus had suggested. The king led them to the barrier and let them go. In that case, the humans would have returned to the surface and never come back.

They really hoped that the third option was the truth, but they knew that the first was more likely. If there was one monster like Flowey, then there were certainly more. If there were any monsters who wanted to kill them and/or steal their soul, it would be a monster with power. The king and the captain and anyone who worked closely with them would be ideal candidates for soul-stealers.

After all, what better way to show their power than to show off how they had captured, killed, or taken the soul from a human.

As they walked through some tall grass, they heard Papyrus' voice in the distance. They couldn't tell who he was talking to. Papyrus was only audible because he spoke loudly. The other person must have been speaking at a normal volume.

"The human I told you about? Unfortunately I was… unable to capture them. I tried my best, but they slipped through my impenetrable defenses."

"No, I do not know where they went. If I had to guess through, they probably want to go to the capital to see the king. He's such a great guy and all."

"Do we need to capture them if they are going to the capital anyway? They are not dangerous, they never even attacked back when er battled!"

"Um, yes. I did battle them and still could not capture them even though they didn't fight back… But that does not mean that they defeated me! No, I am the great Papyrus and could not be beaten by such a small human!"

"Oh, I see. So we still need to capture them? I understand. I'll do what I can to help you."

They knew that they couldn't trust Papyrus. He never wanted to help them in the first place. Their anger flared briefly, but they pushed it down. Getting angry right now wouldn't help anything. They heard heavy footsteps come closer, then move farther away. Whoever Papyrus was talking to must have left. They quietly crept forward to try to avoid detection.

There was another strange star that they touched. They felt rejuvenated and more determined to push forward. There was a nice room with water and flowers. The water was deep, but they could easily swim across if they wanted to. They didn't want to get wet if they didn't have to though.

A plaque on the wall said that lining up four flowers would cause them to bloom and form a bridge, even on moving water. This could only be explained by magic.

Sure enough, when they picked up four buds from the ground and tossed them in the water, they bloomed and froze in place. Cautiously, they stepped onto the flowers. It seemed that the plaque was right, because they didn't sink. Across a bridge were more flowers and bell on the wall. Another plaque said that ringing the bell would cause any flowers in the water to wither, and the buds to regrow.

These were definitely magic flowers.

They made another flower bridge to continue onwards. They passed by some echo flowers and a toy telescope. The echo flowers had voices of monsters who wished upon the sparkling stones on the ceiling, as if they were stars. It was kind of sad. They wanted to see the sky, but only had a cheap imitation in the form of glowing stones.

If they ever saw the sky again, they'd make sure to appreciate it for the monsters who couldn't.

As they continued on, they walked along a boardwalk with plaques outlining some of the history of the underground. It was the humans who trapped the monsters underground. The humans were scared because the monsters had the power to absorb human souls. This was only because human souls were strong enough to exist after the human had died.

This kind of magic and soul stuff was terrifying. They didn't blame the humans on the surface for trying to keep the monsters away, but trapping them underground might have been too extreme. Just keeping them in a separate city or country or something should have been enough.

Suddenly, their phone rang. Maybe it was Toriel? Did she change her mind and want them back? They couldn't go back now, but they at least wanted to hear that Toriel wanted them. That she made a mistake in getting rid of them.

They wanted to hear that someone cared about them enough to want to keep them around.

They answered the phone. It was Papyrus. He was asking them how he should identify them if he saw them at a distance. They weren't stupid. It was obvious that he was going to give the information to someone who wanted to capture them or hurt them. He audibly winked and said he'd tell them that they definitely were still wearing the same clothes. Was he trying to pretend like they had clothes that they could change? He just saw them a while ago. They weren't carrying anything except a few food items in their pockets.

Papyrus was useless at best and actively harmful at worst. They were confident that they'd made the right choice by not staying with him. If they had, they'd probably be captured or dead by now. They hung up on him and resolved to keep their guard up. If Papyrus was feeding accurate information to their hunter, then they had to be extra careful not to get caught.

They stepped on a small wooden raft. It was stationary until they stepped on, then it floated across the water to another boardwalk. It was an uncomfortably open area. There was nowhere to hide. They decided to just run as quickly as they could.

It was a good decision. As they started running, bright spears of light came shooting at them from the pillars in the water. Someone was trying to impale them with magic spears. Papyrus was the worst.

They did their best to run erratically, but some spears still grazed them and put holes in their clothes. They only had one set, and it wasn't clean anymore. They didn't want their clothes to be torn too. If they got ripped up too much, then they wouldn't be able to wear them anymore. The last thing they wanted to be (other than dead) was naked.

They hadn't even done anything, but were still being hunted just because they were them. Maybe they could have been anyone and this still would have happened, but they weren't. They were always being bullied and treated terribly just because they were them. It wasn't fair before and it still wasn't fair. No matter where they went, being themselves was a bad thing.

At the end of the boardwalk, they dove into the tall grass and hid. They held their breath and stayed completely still. A knight walked into the grass. Slowly, the knight took large, heavy steps towards them. They silently prayed to anyone who was listening to stay hidden. If that knight found them, they'd be dead for sure.

For the first time since they fell, lady luck smiled upon them. The knight reached into the grass and picked up some other monster kid who was also hiding in the grass. They walked put the kid down and walked away. They were safe for now.

Slowly and quietly, they crept towards the far side of the grass. They needed to avoid being found again. If that knight caught them they wouldn't just be captured. They'd be killed painfully.

As they exited the grass, the monster kid popped out beside them.

"Whoa, did you see Undyne? She touched me! She's so cool! I'm never watching my face again!" The kid chattered happily, "Tough luck. A few more steps and she might've touched you too!"

The kid ran off and tripped. It was good to know though. That knight was Undyne, the captain of the Royal Guard. She was the one that Papyrus was talking to. It was even more important to avoid her now. If she was the captain, she was guaranteed to be the strongest monster in the Underground, except for maybe the king.

Their phone rang again. It was Papyrus. He asked if they had changed their clothes like he had hinted about. They hung up on him. His calls were not helpful and completely unwanted. The sooner he left them alone, the better.

It wasn't as though they were friends. They didn't even know how he'd gotten their number! How did he know that they even had a phone? Annoyed and tired, they pushed on.

They found another star next to some crystallized cheese. More random inedible food on a table.

Sans was up ahead with a telescope. He was standing in front of an offshoot cave and offering peeks into the telescope. They wanted nothing to do with him and his scam, so they just walked on by.

The next area was peaceful. The water glowed a pale blue and the grass glowed a deep green. The only sound they could hear was running water as it flowed between the cattails and under small bridges. This place was beautiful.

If they didn't need to find somewhere to sleep, they could stay here for a long time. As it was, they thought they could afford to take their time here. Undyne had walked off somewhere else, and her armour was loud. If she was coming, they were confident that they would hear her over the soft trickling of the water.

The bridges formed a maze between the small islands. They wandered around, taking in the atmosphere and listening to the echo flowers. This seemed like a popular place for monsters to come to reflect or make wishes. Some wished to see the stars, others to move to a new place. Some wished for their families and good things to come.

All the wishes had one thing in common: they wanted freedom. They wanted a utopia where they could live the life they wanted peacefully. At their cores, it seemed that most monsters were generally good. Much like kids probably were before they were molded by adults and their inflexible opinions.

They felt a sort of empathy for the monsters. They were trapped for being what they were, even if they didn't actually do anything. They represented something different from humans, and humans found that threatening. Those humans used their superior strength and authority to send the monsters away.

They didn't like the parallels between the humans above and their parents.

As they walked around, they found a pair of dusty ballet shoes. The shoes were a bit too big for them, so they left them behind. They must have been abandoned a long time ago, to be so dusty. They wondered who the shoes could have belonged to. Did they belong to a monster? Or did they come from the surface somehow?

They didn't know, and it probably didn't matter. If someone lost them, then hopefully they'd come back to find them again. Eventually they came to the end of the bridges. The place was beautiful, but they couldn't stay. It was too open to camp out there overnight. Someone would definitely find them and bring them to Undyne. They moved on.

There was an offshoot cave with a piano in it. Only five of the keys worked. They didn't know much about music, but five notes couldn't be enough to do much with. They were pretty sure that most songs used more than five notes. This cave was clearly a dead end and not hidden enough. If they hid here, they'd probably be found, so they moved on.

They passed by a statue with water dripping on it. It seemed to be a memorial to someone or something. They didn't know what, and they didn't have the time or will power to try to find out. Just ahead there was a bucket of umbrellas. They took one and continued moving forward.

It was good that they had taken an umbrella because the ceiling was constantly leaking water in this corridor. They took some comfort in the familiar sound of rain on their umbrella. It made them miss their home.

They remembered how their mom would dress them up on rainy days. She'd make them wear rubber boots that almost reached their knees. Their hair would be tied back and tucked under a hood, to keep them dry. Their mom would zip their raincoat up to their chin and give them a child size umbrella to hold. Being able to hold their own umbrella made them feel so grown up when they were that small.

They didn't like the rain, but they missed how much their mom showed them that she cared. Tears threatened to spill from their eyes, but they pushed the feeling back. They tried to make another wall to hold their emotions back. It was so much harder now than it was when they ran away. They couldn't understand why.

Suddenly, the monster kid ran up beside them.

"Yo, mind if I share your umbrella? I forgot to take one." The kid asked.

They nodded and kept walking beside the other kid. The kid chattered about Undyne, stopping every so often to wiggle in excitement. They idolized her, as they probably should. She was the one who "protected" them from stray humans and heroically captured them. In the eyes of monsters, she was justice. They couldn't blame the kid for admiring the person who wanted to capture and/or kill them.

They returned the umbrella to another bucket when the water stopped falling from above. The kid kept walking with them. It was kind of nice to have company that didn't try to attack them. The kid probably didn't attack them because the kid didn't know that they were a human. They didn't want to correct them.

In the distance, the capital was visible. At some point, the king had must have had his subjects build a castle. There was no way that the building was a natural formation down here. The kid stared at the castle with wonder. Perhaps it was common for monsters to never leave the area they were raised in. That would certainly explain why the Snowdin townspeople considered Sans and Papyrus new additions to the town, despite having been there for years.

The kid helped them climb a wall, then ran off. The kid said they'd take the long way around and meet them later. They hadn't seen another way through Waterfall, but maybe they had just overlooked a path. The kid surely knew this place better than they did.

They continued forward and found another boardwalk area. There seemed to be a second boardwalk below the one that they were on, so the kid must have been correct about there being another way.

Without warning, spears of light shot up from below the boardwalk. Undyne was here. They ran.

The boardwalk looped back on itself several times, but they had the advantage here. Undyne was shooting from below, meaning that she couldn't see exactly where they were or where they were standing. She could only guess based on their footsteps. They ran until they eventually found a long bridge.

As they ran onto the bridge, they could hear heavy footsteps close behind them. Undyne had them trapped. The only way they could run was straight ahead, and the bridge wasn't wide enough to dodge.

Undyne lifted her spear, and they held their hands over their face. It was a reflex, but it wouldn't protect them. They closed their eyes and braced themselves for pain. It didn't come.

Their stomach dropped as wind started to rush by. Undyne had cut the bridge, and they were falling.

Suddenly, they realized that this was it. They were actually going to die.