A/N: I know, this chapter is a week late. I'm really sorry about that. My only excuse is "life". I'm currently at a summer camp, and homework is killing me, so expect updates for the next couple weeks to be sporadic. In better news, I hit 500 views! I actually hit 600, but 500 is a nicer milestone. In celebration, this chapter has an extra 1000 words. So enjoy!

Chapter 8: Frisk

The room we were in was dark. I could feel the dark enclosing around me, almost like a second skin. It circled around, looking to feed on our souls. That sounded like something Chara would say, I mused to myself. It was cold, too, chilling me to the bones. I could barely feel my fingers or toes because the cold was numbing them. I was scared that we would be trapped in that small corner of Snowdin forever, stuck right outside the Ruins and unable to get back to Mom's house. Maybe we would starve to death here, or better yet, freeze to death. I wondered all of a sudden why my thoughts were so dark. It must have been Chara's influence finally getting to me.

I was scared, too, of the world beyond. Chara always said I was adventurous and brave, but I wasn't so sure. And even if I used to be brave, the last week with Patience by my side had surely quelled those characteristics. I wanted to go back to Mom and eat butterscotch pie and catch bugs together. And it was only now that I realized that if we saved our here, and we probably had to, we might never see Mom again. Especially with the huge locked door blocking us off from the Ruins. As I looked back, I realized that the door could be the last purple thing I saw for a while, which was a shame, since I was really starting to grow on that color. The door also had a large Delta Rune on it, which Mom had told us was the symbol of the kingdom. Mom... I missed her, already. I missed Patience, too. Patience was a good friend to talk to, even though they never said much about themselves. But it was nice to have someone to talk to.

So I was pleasantly surprised when the door opened and sunlight streamed in. It felt warm on my skin, partially making up for the freezing cold, though I could still feel some of it under my skin. And the darkness was quickly fading too, hiding away. Within moments, the room was entirely filled with light. The sun glared in my eyes, and my vision was blinded for a couple seconds. It was then that I realized that the person opening the door might not be nice. In fact, considering Toriel's description of life outside the Ruins, there was a good chance that whoever opened the door was in fact one of our enemies. So I was somewhat conflicted on whether the door opening was a good thing or a bad thing. As my vision cleared, I noticed a tall figure standing in my view. A few moments later, I realized it was a skeleton, clad in red and black spiky clothing. He looked menacing, with a jagged smile that revealed his intentions towards us.

Papyrus—for that was who the skeleton probably was—didn't even react in surprise to seeing two humans, which I found unusual. Had he ever seen a human before? Perhaps he did make some expression, but without skin, I had no idea what it might be. In either case, he didn't visibly react to seeing us, at least not for the first few seconds. Then he smirked, and began to speak.

Papyrus spoke in a loud, jagged voice that matched his personality, or what we had seen of it, perfectly. His voice sounded like razors, sharp and cutting. I wondered how someone could even sound evil in their voice. Even Toriel didn't sound that bad, and she was a demon when we first met her, all those days ago. "Heh heh heh...two humans? What a surprise? Isn't this interesting! We have, what, siblings? Twins? Friends? Oh, you'll enjoy this. Two humans..." He seemed drunk on happiness, though his cruel expression didn't change, and neither did his sharp voice. "One for me, yes, and one for Asgore. In fact...Asgore doesn't even need to know this one exists. You!" he yelled, pointing at me. "Out!"

With apprehension, I slowly made my way out of the room and into the sunlight, Flowey still wrapped around my wrist. I wondered if the two had ever met, or more specifically, if Flowey had ever met Papyrus in the current timeline. I doubted it; as Flowey said himself, he was a coward, and he probably hid and fled from every monster he found. How else would he have made it to the Ruins without dying? For a moment, I was happy, with the sunlight on my skin and fresh air blowing through my hair. Then I realized what Papyrus had meant by one for him and one for Asgore. Chances off I was being marched to see Asgore and be butchered, but Chara... I didn't want to finish that thought. Unfortunately, it was finished for me by Papyrus. "And you!" he almost yelled. "Stay here. I will come back for you...later."

The door slammed shut between me and Chara, and I wanted to scream, or cry, or fall to the ground motionless. Flowey had taught us to LOAD without RESETting, and I wanted to do that, too, but I knew the same result would probably happen. No, the only thing I could possibly do was wait here and follow Papyrus's orders. Maybe I could escape from him when the time came. But for now, I was trapped and alone. Without Chara. I didn't know how many times I had ever thought that phrase to myself. 'Without Chara.' It was rare, for sure. It was always the two of us together, like a bond. I wasn't supposed to be separated from them. That just wasn't possible. It didn't make sense. We were a unit.

But there was nothing I could do. Papyrus marched me away, and the long corridor ahead was mostly a blur. I couldn't think very well. Right before I walked along a thin and unsteady bridge, that looked like it was on the verge of collapse, I felt a little tugging on my wrist. I looked down, and noticed Flowey. The I realized that at least I wasn't completely alone. Flowey was company, perhaps not the company I was looking for, but company nonetheless. And I would take any sort of company I could. I had to hold onto something, anything, anyone. Suddenly, I felt a rush of energy flowing through me. I was ready to travel, even without Chara. I would find a way to escape form Papyrus and find Chara again. There had to be some way. We would get out of Snowdin, no matter how long it took. Knowing that eventually I would succeed filled me with determination.

When I came to focus again, I realized Flowey was pointing at the bridge. Now that I was fully in focus, I inspected it again. The bridge was narrow and would make for a precarious walk. Above the bridge and to either side was a row of deadly sharp spikes, even sharper that the ones in the Ruins. I did not want to imagine the pain the would come form being impaled on one of those. The crossbeam above the bridge was very high, probably to allow Papyrus to walk across it. Suddenly, I realized why Flowey was pointing to the bridge. One of the ropes holding the bridge up looked a little worn and about ready to break. And I still had that toy knife in my backpack; even if it wasn't magical, it still served as a good tool for cutting ropes. I had a plan, and I was ready to execute it.

"Look! A human!" I screamed, pointing towards one of the many trees.

Luckily, and hilariously, Papyrus actually fell for the trick. "Where?" he said, comically looking around. But I wasn't planning to answer. Before Papyrus had even realized what was going on, I had taken the knife out of my backpack, dashed across the bridge, and sliced the rope. The bridge crashed against the opposite wall, creating a large thump that probably alerted every monster around. But I didn't care. Papyrus was on one side of the bridge, and I was on the other. I had escaped, but there was all of Snowdin to get through, and I had to free Chara, too. I still had a lot of work to do, but I was filled with determination to do it.

Surprisingly, Papyrus didn't give chase. I expected him to use his magical powers as a monster to repair the bridge or make a new one, but he did neither. He simply grinned a wicked smile at me, and despite me successfully escaping, I felt like I had somehow lost.

"Don't you remember?" he said. "I have two humans. Run all you want. Your little friend here is going to be my personal pet." For a moment, I was worried for Chara's safety, but I realized that they couldn't die, and they had a chance of escaping and joining me. In fact, as I thought about it, I realized this was a blessing in a way; now, at least, we had a chance. And no matter how slim those chances were, I would take it.

Then Papyrus spoke again, and my heart sank. "And you have all of Undyne's Royal Guard to get past. Don't think you're free, either. You'll go to the capital, one way or another." I realized the truth in his words. And worse, I didn't dare save without Chara with me. Messing with magic could have unexpected consequences, according to Flowey. If either of us died, we'd have to go through all of this over again. And I doubted we'd get exactly the same results twice in a row, due to luck. I could understand why Flowey looked so worn down and beaten up when we had first met him: Retrying this a hundred or a thousand times would break even the strongest. But for this attempt, at least, I was determined, and the three of us would eventually succeed.

Before Papyrus could break my renewed morale, I dashed off, not daring to look back. The trees closed in on me, enclosing me within their hold. The spiky branches looked like weapons, to tear me into a hundred or a thousand pieces. Each and every mark looked like a part of a jagged smile, the faces leering at me, seeming to say "You can't escape." The shadows closed in, leaving nothing but dark and cold ahead. Suddenly, I realized that I was thinking such dark thoughts, almost like Chara would. I wondered why. Perhaps it was because of the general atmosphere of this place, dark and cold. Perhaps it was just Flowey and Chara rubbing off on me, with their dark personalities. I couldn't tell. But I knew that no matter how many tries it took, we would succeed. And as I realized that we could eventually do this, the trees seemed to recede. The light grew larger, and I once again had hope in a better future. A future where monsters could live happily, without having to kill or be killed.

As I passed the trees, I noticed a blue lamp about my height to my left. Right next to it was a normal-looking sentry station. I wondered why it hadn't been turned red or dark, like the rest of this place. As I passed, I noticed there were bottles of ketchup, mustard, and relish inside. Weird. I didn't have time to think about it, though. I dashed past it, and saw the glistening light of a SAVE point up ahead. But I knew I couldn't save, not without Chara. I just had to hope they would be okay. And I would to. Beyond the SAVE point, there was a crossroads. To the left, there seemed like a relatively harmless bandanna lying in the snow. It looked like an item from one of the humans that fell down.

I was about to take a quick detour and take it, when Flowey screamed "Stop!" Surprised, I crashed to a halt, sending snow flying into the air ahead of me. I looked towards him, clearly expecting an explanation.

"First off," he said, "That's probably trapped. Why would there be a human's item just lying on the ground there? It's clearly bait for some human who wants it. Plus, I doubt we'll come across the other item, on the run like this. We just have to hope Chara will get it, and even if they don't, we probably don't need the magic anyways. Second, I was going to tell you more about the Royal Guard, but Papyrus interrupted me. They're dogs, I said that, and there are five of them. I only know that one of them, Doggo, is blind. I have no idea about the weaknesses of the rest. And two of them, they love each other, like sickly sweet nose nuzzling. That's...basically all I was going to say." He seemed flustered. "But go ahead. Doggo's station is there. You might see him, you might not. And if you do, make sure to not move, and don't make any noise. If he can't hear you, he can't find you."

Cautiously, I followed Flowey's instructions. I tiptoed into the area, and spotted a dog sitting inside another sentry station, just as Flowey had said. He didn't see me, so I started tiptoeing forward, making sure to not make a sound. Then I stepped on a stray leaf, and it crunched beneath my shoe. Doggo perked his ears up, and every muscle in my body froze simultaneously in fear. I couldn't do anything as Doggo opened his mouth and spoke. "Who's there?" he said. I didn't dare answer. With frightening slowness, he got up from his station and started to move out. I could barely move. I knew I was caught. I could only watch as Doggo slowly came over to me, holding his paws out so he could catch anyone in his way.

Suddenly, I had an insane idea. I crouched to the ground, being careful to not make a noise. Doggo's paws stretched over me, and he tested the area where he had heard the noise, waving his arms around. My face was perhaps half an inch away from his left leg. I tried my best to not move, but I could feel my muscles started to get tired. With the same slowness, Doggo retreated. I slowly returned to my normal position, standing up, and began my tiptoeing away. When I finally reached a distance that I thought was out of earshot, I collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. That was close. Too close.

Flowey echoed my words. He seemed shocked too that my strategy had somehow worked. In fact, I could barely call it a strategy; it was an on-the-spot decision that by all means should have failed. But it didn't, for whatever insane reason, and I would take every bit of luck I got. Up ahead, there was an icy path, and another crossroads. As I slipped across, I noticed a lone snowman to the left. "That has to be a trap," I told Flowey.

"Actually, I've never seen that snowman before. Try it out," he said.

I was skeptical, but I walked towards the snowman, eyes peeled for any possible trap. Surprisingly, nothing popped out of the shadows, no spikes and no cannons. As the snowman came into view, I noticed more details about it that I had missed. From afar, it looked like a typical snowman, with a carrot nose and button eyes, but as I looked closer, I realized the button eyes were actually moving, seeking me out and fixating on my figure. The mouth, too, twisted into a...smile? I was confused. Nothing in this world so far had ever looked happy. The smile certainly looked genuine, and I couldn't find any hidden malice or evil in its smile. Then again, it was a snowman, and I couldn't read snowman facial expressions very well.

When the snowman began to speak, I wasn't surprised in the slightest. I had met enough talking creatures in this place; a snowman monster was nothing out of the ordinary. And plus, I had already seen it move and smile; of course it was a living creature. However, it's words did shock me, because I certainly wasn't expecting them.

"Please...angel...help me..." Angel? Why was he calling me an angel? Plus, I was almost positive it was a trap, but if the snowman really did need help, I didn't think I could deny him. And we had infinite tries. If this was a trap, we could always just load our save and try again. Suddenly, I realized what the expression of the snowman really was. It was a pained smile, but I hadn't noticed because snowman facial expressions are hard to read. "I'm pretty sure it's not a trap," Flowey said, interrupting my thoughts. "A real trap wouldn't call you the angel." I shot him a confused look. "The angel from the prophecy, remember. It can't be you, you fell down with Chara. And I doubt the prophecy is true, anyways. But the snowman thinks you're the last human. The angel. The savior. A trap would probably call you a human. That snowman must be really desperate. Come on, let's go to it."

I reached the snowman, and it sighed in relief. "Thank you. Please...take a piece of me. Save it from this world. Take it to the surface. And with that piece, rebuild me." Rebuild? I was confused.

"Won't it melt?" I asked, still unsure of the entire situation.

"It is magical. Quickly!" Without hesitation, so pulled off a piece of the snowman, mentally wincing. The snowman smiled, one last time. "Thank you..." Then it slowly faded away, leaving nothing but dust. Wait, dust? From a snowman?

"It's dead," said Flowey, reading my expression. "All dead monsters turn to dust. Put that in your backpack. We still have a lot of work to do. There's no time to waste. We have to stay ahead of Papyrus."

I placed the snowman piece in my backpack, suddenly realizing the symbolism of the gesture. The snowman was counting on me, a tiny 10-year old, to rebuild him on the surface. I didn't even know if I was going to get to the surface, and here was another person counting on me to make it there. That made three, Chara and Flowey being the other two. I could feel an almost physical burden on my shoulders. I had to make it to the surface, even though I wasn't the angel of the prophecy. I had to carry everyone's hopes and dreams. But I had Chara and Flowey with me, and they'd help. So as long as we stayed together, we could do anything. So as long as I held on to my hopes, I believed we could face the king. I believed we could call off the "kill or be killed" rule. It would just take time and determination. And I knew we had a lot of determination.

Before Papyrus could catch up, I quickly ran back to the slippery area, and nearly fell flat on my face. Taking a left turn, I came across what looked like a plain piece of land, with the snow below cleared out. It looked suspiciously like a trap, so even before Flowey told me what to do, I sidled along the side of it. I made sure not to touch any place where the snow had been cleared out, and though it took a lot of effort, I did reach the other side. I wondered briefly what kind of trap it was, but I wasn't willing to risk doing everything over again just for curiosity. I began walking ahead, where I head a faint crunch of leaves somewhere far behind me.

Afraid, I began sprinting, being careful to make as little sound as possible. I didn't dare look back, for fear that I might see Papyrus chasing after me. In my haste, I nearly tripped over a small bridge ahead. It looked just like the other one, unsteady and not stable, but I didn't even bother inspecting it closely. I ran across it, and reached a large snowy area. Ahead looked like two sentry stations. I wondered why there were so many of them around here. There was a relatively large sign in front of the stations, but I didn't even bother to read it. Sentry stations meant enemies, and I was not in the mood for more enemies right now. To my right seemed like a large field with a snowball on one side and a hole on the other. It looked like a game for monster kids, but I was relatively sure there was some kind of trap on it. I dashed around it, not daring to touch the ball or the area. Spikes blocked the way ahead, but they seemed to be deactivated.

I was running so quickly that I didn't even realize it when I ran straight into a dog. It was as tall as my head, and wore a sword and shield on its paws. The sword was pure red, with a black hilt, and the shield was covered in red and black, too. I noticed a Delta Rune on the shield. I wondered to myself how many I had seen so far, and how many more I would see before we reached the king's castle. Its eyes were pure red, and I was filled with absolute terror. It was, by far, the most evil dog I had seen in a while, even scarier than Papyrus.

"That's Lesser Dog," whimpered Flowey. Lesser Dog? If this was lesser, then what were the normal dogs? What was Greater Dog? I didn't have much time to ponder the situation though. My soul appeared in front of me, and I was once again mesmerized by its beauty. Music began playing, a sped up version of dogs barking in a way that sounded almost scary.

I had only a couple seconds to think of what to do. I tried petting the dog, but it expertly dodged my hand and nearly sliced it off with its sword. I realized why dogs like this were part of the Royal Guard: they were menacing, scary, and very strong. I quickly drew my hand back, realizing that kindness probably wasn't the solution here. But before I could come up with any ideas, the dog came at me, slicing with its sword. I ducked and dodged, and wondered where I had gotten all this skill from. Mom hadn't practiced with us; she said it was too dangerous. And Flowey had never tried to fight us, either. But I was moving to either side and dodging like a professional, and I wondered how. Only Chara had this kind of skill. But there wasn't much time to waste. For a moment, Lesser Dog's onslaught paused, and I had time to think.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. But there was no way the same trick could possibly work twice. Anyway, it was the best shot I had.

"Look!" I yelled, pointing towards the two dog sheds. "A human!"

"Human?" growled Lesser Dog. Even though he was supposed to be surprised or confused, I couldn't hear either of those characteristics in his voice. It sounded more like a bear growling than a dog barking. There was no time to waste, though. I broke off running at a breakneck speed. My legs were starting to get really tired, but I had a mission to do. I had to reach the end of Snowdin, at least. And hopefully, Chara would escape from Papyrus by then.

At most half a second after I passed the deactivated spikes, they sprung to life, blocking me off from Lesser Dog. Realizing that I was safe, I stopped, panting. I marveled at my luck. Had the spikes sprung up two seconds later or a second sooner, I would be dead, either by spike or by sword. Flowey seemed to agree. "HOW did that work? You are SO lucky! That would have taken me at least ten tries! And you go ahead and do it on your first!" I smirked in response, but internally had no idea how that had worked, either. Anyways, it was time to move on. Hopefully Chara had escaped by now, but I doubted it. I decided to relax my tired muscles and actually walk to the next area.

I spotted the twinkle of a SAVE point up ahead, but before I reached it, I walked across a seemingly normal area with a piece of paper lying on the ground. "Don't touch it," Flowey advised, but I knew that before. I bent down to look at it. It seemed like a regular word search called Junior Jumble. It was clearly made for kids. I ignored it and walked on. I passed a patch of what looked like more deactivated spikes, but these ones didn't spring to life behind me, like the others.

As I approached the SAVE point, I noticed some details that I hadn't seen before. There was a note on the ground, followed by two tables, one with a plate of spaghetti and another with an unplugged microwave. When I reached it, I bent down and read the note. "Please enjoy this spaghetti," it said, in relatively neat handwriting. I didn't need Flowey to tell me not to eat it. The spaghetti was cold, anyways, and seemed stuck to the table. All of the settings on the microwave read "Spaghetti", which I found humorous.

Knowing that eventually Chara and I would meet again, and defeat Papyrus, and head to Waterfall, and—actually, we had a lot of work to do. But knowing that we were eventually going to do it filled me with determination.