Notes: I would say this chapter is where the story really picks up. It has been one of my favorite chapters to write for this story, for a couple reasons. One, we get some backstory on Amber that fleshes her out a bit more as a character. Two, and more importantly to me, I finally got to write my favorite character in Undertale in earnest :D

Chapter 4

Puzzled

Amber crossed a small bridge with an oddly out of place log structure on top. So far there was nothing and no one around, and the fact that there was a spooky forest with dead trees surrounding her didn't quell the feeling of isolation whatsoever. In fact it only added to her anxiety.

Why were there trees in a cave? Why was there snow? She could still somewhat see the top of the cave, but it was much farther away than it had been in the ruins. Oh well, at least she hadn't run into any homicidal houseplants or mother goats with fire powers out here.

As she made it across the bridge, Amber saw a sight that just felt…off. On the snowy ground was a randomly placed lamp, and behind the lamp was some sort of toll booth hut. Curious about this oddity, Amber walked over to the lamp.

She poked it with a sheet-covered hand, and the lampshade barely moved. She then went over to the toll booth and looked behind it. There was some surveillance equipment, indicating this was some sort of checkpoint, but there was also ketchup, mustard, and relish.

"Is this a hot dog stand?" Amber asked herself, mostly to hear her own voice amid the eerie silence, "Does this mean somebody will come back here? Should I wait, or should I leave to avoid being seen?"

Amber grabbed the relish and tucked it under the sheet with her, gulping down some of the contents before sealing the jar and placing it back where she found it. She didn't know when she would find food again, so she hoped whoever this belonged to didn't notice anything amiss.

After eating the conveniently placed relish she decided to leave, rationalizing that monsters were more dangerous than no monsters. It was better to feel alone than to realize she very much wasn't. After all, Toriel seemed very insistent that the monsters out here would want to kill any humans they found. Better safe than sorry.

She continued on her way, and the scary dead trees gave way to wide paths and charming little pine trees. Amid this picturesque scenery, Amber saw another time rewinding star. She touched it immediately with no regard to its heat. After all, one of these little things saved her life. Perhaps it would have to do so again someday.

As she continued walking, suddenly a strange creature jumped in her path and blocked her way! She screamed and jumped back, seeing a bird-like monster with a huge head, and teeth that rotated like the blades of a chainsaw!

"What's with the frosty reception?" The bird asked in a deep booming voice, "Can't take a joke?"

Amber just stared at the new monster, and he stared right back at her, seemingly expecting something.

"Macaroni and freeze!" He suddenly exclaimed, and then quickly looked back at her.

"…Huh?" Amber grunted, baffled.

"Know what my favorite ice cereal is? Frosted! Hahahaha!" The monster laughed at his own joke.

Amber was too stunned to give much of a reaction. Did this thing have a Brooklyn accent? Why was it making bad puns? What did it want? Why wouldn't it let her leave?

"Hey, I just realized…my own name is a pun! Hahahaha!" The monster boomed with laughter.

"What is your name exactly?" Amber inquired.

"Snowdrake," The monster replied helpfully, "Ice to meet you!"

"Heh heh heh," Amber pity-laughed, just grateful this guy seemed harmless.

"Hey, laughs! Dad was wrong!" Snowdrake declared proudly.

"Your dad doesn't like jokes, huh?"

"Nah, he loves 'em!" Snowdrake corrected her, "Just…not mine. He's a famous comedian, but he says I'm not funny. Well, I'll show him! I ran away from home, and when I become an even bigger comedian than him, that'll show 'im!"

"Well, as a fellow member of the 'daddy issues' club, I hope you knock 'em dead," Amber grinned, "Well, figuratively."

"Thanks, random ghost!" Snowdrake replied before running off into the forest.

Amber breathed a sigh of relief. Not only was her disguise working, but the first monster she met since the ruins actually seemed friendly.

"Poor guy," Amber mused to herself, "His voice is too scary for him to be funny. Eh, then again, maybe down here that is what a funny voice sounds like."

As Amber ventured further down the path, she started to feel a little more confident in her surroundings. She mostly saw snow, trees, and the occasional dog house. That last part was strange, but she didn't dwell on it.

Everything was fine until she ran into a sight that was both familiar but also surreal in this outdoor setting…a spike strip.

These tall spike strips also existed in the ruins, and Amber remembered hurting herself on one when she climbed over it instead of solving the puzzle that deactivated it. Amber hated puzzles, she hated spikes, and now she was confronted with both…again.

"Hello, newcomer!" A reedy voice bellowed from behind her.

"Aaahh!" Amber screamed and turned around to see who was calling her.

She was tired of getting jumpscared by monsters, but this time she felt justified. This monster was probably the most unsettling thing she had seen yet. It was a living skeleton, somehow even taller than Toriel, and wearing a red and white outfit that could best be described as 'maybe superhero, maybe pro wrestler'. Its grin was wide, and its eye sockets seemed to move with each new expression it made. Everything about its stance, its voice, and its costume was intense.

"What brings you to the masterful puzzle gauntlet of The Great Papyrus!?" The skeleton asked dramatically.

"Uh…yeah. Hey Jigsaw, little help?" Amber asked flatly, gesturing to the spikes.

"Why don't you just float around them?" The skeleton asked, "You are a ghost, after all!"

"I can't," Amber admitted, "Come on man, please? I've had a really rough couple days. It would really help me out."

"You can't?" The skeleton asked quizzically.

Then the skeleton grabbed Amber's arms and squeezed her tight, causing her to wince under her sheet.

"Oh my god! You're turning corporeal!? Congratulations! What body are you going to choose!? Oh, you must be so excited!"

"Uh…yeah, r-really excited," Amber stammered, "Um, what was your name again?"

"I am The Great Papyrus! Puzzle master, chef extraordinaire, and future member of the Royal Guard! Nyeh heh heh!"

"Um…is there a name I can call you for short?" Amber asked uneasily, intimidated by just how close he was standing to her.

"You can call me Papyrus!" Papyrus replied gleefully, "Are you going to Snowdin?"

"Maybe. Is that the closest town from here?"

"It sure is! You'll love it!" Papyrus declared, "Snowdin is such a quaint little town! Everyone knows everyone, though for some reason people tend to forget my name. I don't know why. I speak in third person and everything!"

Amber didn't reply, just walked closer to the spikes and waited for Papyrus to lower them for her. He went over to a pine tree and pulled a lever behind it, deactivating the puzzle.

"Thank you."

"No problem! Say, would you like for me to guide you to Snowdin?" Papyrus offered.

"Oh, um, well…" Amber was trying to figure out how to refuse without offending the skeleton.

"Great!" Papyrus invited himself before she could finish her sentence, "You're going to love Snowdin!"

Papyrus put his hand on her back in what he surely thought was a friendly gesture, but Amber just felt like she couldn't escape this guy. Somehow Papyrus's energy made Snowdrake seem chill.

Heh, chill… Amber thought to herself. OMG, now I'm doing it!

"So, um, Papyrus…" Amber struggled to think of something to say to make this walk less awkward, "Why are there so many puzzles around here? Did you make them?"

"I sure did!" Papyrus beamed, "These are all traps to capture a human! Nyeh heh heh heh!"

"C-capture a…human?" Amber squeaked nervously.

"Yep! I'm going to be the one! I will capture the final human soul, and then Undyne will make me an official member of the Royal Guard!"

"So this really is a nether world where humans are hunted and their souls get ripped out of their bodies!" Amber shouted, confirming her worst fears about the world she found herself in.

"If you think that puzzle was a doozy, just wait until you see what else I cooked up for my target!" Papyrus practically shook with excitement, "When I capture that human, then the whole underground will know the name The Great Papyrus!"

That was when Amber realized something…

"Papyrus? You mean like the parchment font?" Amber asked skeptically.

"Maybe," Papyrus shrugged, "Why? What's your name?"

"Amber."

"Amber…that's kind of a weird name for a ghost," Papyrus offhandedly commented.

"Says the guy named after a font," Amber retorted.

"Says the ghost named after fossil syrup!" Papyrus shot back.

Amber laughed out loud at that one. She'd never thought of the concept of amber like that, but Papyrus had a point. Her laughter caused Papyrus to laugh too, and suddenly the walk didn't seem quite so uncomfortable.

On the way to the town, they passed more of Papyrus's handiwork. Most of the puzzles reminded Amber of the game tic-tac-toe, and each one had that stupid spike strip for some reason. Papyrus was kind enough to deactivate them all, and also helped her solve the puzzle he made on a frozen lake to activate a hidden path. She didn't know how to ice skate, and she fell down a few times, but she wouldn't let Papyrus help her up. After all, if he accidentally pulled off her lousy disguise and saw she was a human, well…

By the time they made it to the bridge leading to Snowdin, Amber was exhausted, but Papyrus seemed even more invigorated by their little jaunt.

"Do we really need to cross this bridge?" Amber asked nervously, "It doesn't look stable."

"Oh, it's very stable!" Papyrus declared, "It's just painted rocks. Oh, but don't cross it yet!"

Amber froze in place in front of the bridge, jolted by Papyrus's sudden warning.

"Why? What's wrong?" Amber hurriedly asked.

"I haven't shown you my last puzzle!" Papyrus excitedly told her.

Amber growled under her breath. If she had to see one more tic-tac-toe board or spike strip she was going to scream. Well, scream in frustration instead of fear. Well, there would probably be some fear too. Well…Amber decided to dismiss this entire train of thought.

Papyrus pulled out a remote control and pushed a big red button. When he did, the sight that greeted Amber was horrific. Lowering from the roof of the cave were pendulum blades, a giant mace, giant spears, and a random dog. Below them rose a fire cannon, a regular cannon, and more spears. This was cartoonish levels of violent instrumentation, and Amber shook with terror. This wasn't just a puzzle anymore. This was intent to kill.

"This is my last puzzle before Snowdin!" Papyrus informed her cheerfully, "I'm not allowed to leave this one active while I'm away. This is the ultimate test for any human that solves all my other puzzles! Cannons, blades, spikes! No human will be able to escape the sheer ferocity of this gauntlet of deadly terror! Do you want to see it turned on?!"

"No!" Amber quickly shouted, but then backtracked and stammered, "Um, uh, I mean I wouldn't…want to ruin the surprise…or anything. Ha hah hah…"

"Great idea!" Papyrus agreed, "If I ever find a human, I'll call you so you can see me capture them! Nyeh heh heh heh!"

"Great…" Amber groaned softly.

With that Papyrus deactivated the 'puzzle' so that they could cross the bridge together. Amber couldn't hold his arm because of her sheet, but she really wished she could. She felt very unsteady on the bridge, and Papyrus seemed to know where he was going. Part of her felt stupid for trusting this homicidal maniac with her life, but as long as he didn't know she was human, she figured she should be safe. At least, she hoped that was the case.

Once they were across the bridge, they were greeted with a quaint little town full of cozy little cottages, monster children at play, and a big sign that read: WELCOME TO SNOWDIN. When she saw the resident monsters…

"Aww, they're bunnies!" Amber gushed, "I didn't expect the monsters here to be bunny people!"

"Well, what did you expect in such a cold environment?" Papyrus asked.

"Honestly? More skeletons," Amber shrugged.

"Oh, I wish!" Papyrus scoffed, "My brother and I are the only skeletons in town. I don't really remember seeing many other skeletons at all, to be honest."

"What about your parents?" Amber inquired, "Do, um…do skeletons have parents?"

"Oh, sure we did, but that was a long time ago," Papyrus replied, his tone slightly more subdued than before, "Our mom died during the war. I was too little to remember her. Our dad stuck around longer, but for some reason I can't remember what he looked like. In fact, I don't even remember his name! So, for most of our lives, it's just been me and my older brother Sans. He's a lazybones, but a good guy at heart. He always tries to help me out, even if his version of help is very half-baked. That being said, I wish he would stop leaving his sock collection all over the house! I even found one on the stove!"

"Ugh, I think that's in the annoying brothers handbook or something," Amber laughed, "My little brother is always leaving clothes in weird places. One time he chucked a jacket behind the couch. Unfortunately for the rest of us, that jacket had cheese in the pocket. Everything smelled like Limburger for a month!"

"Sans did that once with a pair of shorts! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!" Papyrus cackled, "Did your brother ever replace your spaghetti sauce with ketchup? Like, pour out the sauce and squeeze an entire bottle of ketchup into the jar!?"

"Please! James isn't that creative," Amber rolled her eyes, "Though when he was 10 years old he did replace the filling in my Oreo cookies with toothpaste. They were mint Oreos though, so I didn't notice."

"What about sleeping at work?" Papyrus egged on as they walked into the shop, "Sans will clock into work, and then just take a nap immediately! One time I caught him wrapped in our blanket from home! It feels like all he does anymore is sleep! It's not healthy!"

"You know, that kind of does sound like James," Amber realized, "Of course he's only 17 so he doesn't really have a job yet. Still, he doesn't focus on school like he should. He'll just sit at his computer all day, playing video games, looking for all the world like he's taking root in that chair. I mean, I get it, school sucks. Thing is though, Mom and Dad aren't going to support him forever. They're not exactly responsible people either. He needs to get good grades so he can go to college, or at least get a decent job. My scholarship is the only reason I have a chance of not being stuck in that above-ground dungeon they call a house for the rest of my life, and that's only possible because I applied myself."

"That's what I've been telling Sans!" Papyrus commiserated, "Dreams don't happen by doing nothing! If I want to get into the Royal Guard, I have to work for it! If he wants to do something in life besides slowly rot away, then he needs to get off his tailbone and work for it! Amber, I know we just met but…can I tell you something a bit…personal?"

"I physically cannot stop you," Amber dryly replied.

"Sans is, well…I'm worried about him," Papyrus admitted as he idly picked up a cinnamon bunny, "He's always been a little weaker than the average monster, but I always assumed he had everything under control. He's always been so strong, but lately…he doesn't want to…do anything anymore. He doesn't dress, he doesn't shower, and he eats constantly! He spends so much time at Grillby's eating greasy food and getting drunk…I feel like I'm trying to hold onto him, but he's slipping away from me! I don't really have anyone to talk to about this. Sans isn't just my brother, he's my best friend. Well, one of my best friends. I have many friends, of course! I am very great, after all."

"I'm guessing you get stuck doing all the housework," Amber ventured.

"How did you know!?" Papyrus exclaimed in shock, "Do I look tired? Please tell me I don't look tired!"

"No, no. It's just…your brother kind of sounds like my dad," Amber sheepishly told him, "I love my parents, but they both have…issues. My dad is fine when he takes his meds, but…when he doesn't…he just doesn't do anything. I look at James wasting away playing video games, and I worry he'll end up like Dad. Mom is the only one in their household that works, and when she gets home she just sits on her phone while watching TV. Neither of them have the mental or physical energy for James, and they didn't for me either. I felt like I had to do everything when I lived with them."

"Wowie, I didn't know ghost families were so complicated," Papyrus commented.

"Yeah…ghost families…" Amber sighed.

Amber couldn't help but feel like Papyrus's literal statement also made for a nice metaphor. Ghosts in each other's lives. Living together but living apart. No one did anything together anymore. They all just tried to stay out of each other's way. Amber learned to stop caring so much about her parents a long time ago, as they gave so little of that concern back. James could be a jerk at times, but she still worried about him. He was still young. He could still turn his life around. If only he would listen to her instead of trying to hide away from the world…

While they were in the store Papyrus bought a bunch of items, including cinnamon bunnies, spaghetti noodles, eggs, and some popsicle looking things they called bisicles. Amber didn't have any money, nor did she know what was edible, so she just stayed close to Papyrus while he shopped. At any moment she could've left him behind and travelled on, but she didn't even know where she was going. Having the boisterous skeleton around for company seemed better than being alone with her thoughts and her miserable situation.

"Say, Amber! Would you like to hang out at my house?!" Papyrus offered, "That would really cement us as best friends!"

"Um, sure, if you want…" Amber timidly replied, not sure what she would find in a skeleton's house.

"Great!" Papyrus cheered, "Oh, can we make a quick stop at the library first? I need to check out a book on hanging out."

"You need to what now?" Amber asked quizzically.

"Well I don't want to mess anything up!" Papyrus reasoned, "Friendship requires a lot of research and data!"

Amber didn't know what else to do, so she followed Papyrus to the library. She felt like she was getting led to a lot of random places by this boney human hunter. Oh well, at least he was nice and friendly…for a human murdering abomination that resided in a nether world dystopia.

At the library, Papyrus set his groceries on a table and looked for the book he wanted on hanging out with friends. Amber looked for books too, though mostly it was so she could figure out more about the world she now found herself in.

She didn't have time to read one book all the way through, so she skimmed quite a few. She learned that the monsters did indeed call themselves monsters. That was strange, but at least she didn't have to try to figure out what strange alien language their species name came from.

Speaking of names, she also learned that they operated under a monarchy, and their king was both nearly immortal and bad with names. Snowdin was probably the most creatively named area on the map. Everything else had names like Waterfall, Home, New Home, and Hotland.

Another thing she learned was that the war Papyrus mentioned likely referred to a massive conflict between humans and monsters, and it ended with the monsters trapped under a mountain for all eternity. Amber had never heard of Mt. Ebott, and of course no one would believe her if she said monsters were real. This didn't make any sense. This war was a major point of reference in monster history, and yet to humans the very beings they banished were little more than children's fables to them! How could this be? How could everyone forget about the monsters?

One thing the monsters didn't have any books on was surface geography. Amber couldn't figure out what state (or maybe even what country) Mt. Ebbot was located in. If Amber could figure that out, then she would know how far away she was from her apartment.

"That's a lot of books!" Papyrus exclaimed when he made it to Amber's table.

"Shhh!" The librarian hissed from behind his counter.

"Ignore him. He does that all the time!" Papyrus dismissed the librarian.

"Shhh!" The librarian warned again.

"Oh, are you done?" Amber whispered, "Do you want us to leave now?"

"In a minute!" Papyrus replied, "They got some new books in this week! I found one on classic cars!"

"You like cars?" Amber asked offhandedly while she skimmed another book.

"I love them!" Papyrus happily exclaimed, "My brother and I both collect car magazines, and I even have my own race car bed! Someday I would love to drive in a real car on a real road on the surface! Ah, a monster can dream…"

"Driving sucks in the city," Amber muttered as she read, "There's too much traffic. The bus isn't really better though. It's like being trapped butt-to-gut with the weirdest people who ever existed, and not in a good way."

"You sound like you know a lot about it," Papyrus noted, "Hm…are you old enough to remember the surface?"

"Um…" Amber sweated inside her sheet when she realized how intensely Papyrus was scrutinizing her, "Um…yeah. I'm uh, really freaking old, I guess."

"Cool!" Papyrus smiled, unaware of how tense Amber felt, "Hey, maybe you'll be fully corporeal by the time we make it back to the surface! You should pick out a body that lets you drive a car! If I were picking out my own body, I would want something tall with lots of hair! Like a mop!"

Amber didn't reply, but just sighed and continued reading. What could she even say to this guy? He seemed kind of insane. As if the puzzle traps weren't a dead giveaway to that conclusion.

Amber didn't have time to read much else before Papyrus shouted that he would like to escort her to his house for their official hangout as best friends. He sure knew how to make even the most mundane things sound important. It might've been a little embarrassing to Amber, if she weren't already covered in a bedsheet to hide her face.

There was one thing she managed to read before they left however, and it was perhaps the most unsettling thing yet. It was a book about the power of human souls. It reminded Amber of that evil flower, and how he told her that the tiny heart in her chest was her soul. That was the thing Toriel accidentally killed that one time, and it was apparently more powerful than Amber realized.

The power of a human soul, when combined with a monster, could help them travel to the surface. The power of seven human souls was enough to break the barrier altogether, and the only reason it hadn't happened yet was because humans didn't generally fall down to the underground. In fact, it was so rare that it had taken hundreds of years for the monsters to collect only six of the seven souls they needed for their mission. Only one was missing, and even someone as dense as Amber could put two and two together.

Her soul could unleash monsters onto the surface world. If she was captured, it wasn't just her own death that was guaranteed. The monsters would start the war anew, and this time only one species would survive…

The difference this time though? Humans weren't prepared. Humans didn't believe in monsters, and humanity was full of disjointed people that couldn't agree on anything. The odds of them mobilizing in time to save themselves from the organized and vengeful monsters was unlikely.

As Papyrus led Amber to his house, a big two story place near the library, she couldn't help but feel the knot in her stomach as she fully realized the situation she was in. Her soul could doom the entire world. Her death could start a genocide.