Chapter Text
Four young monsters stood outside of the King’s house in the capital city. Three stood back in a tight group, and one close to the door.
“Undyne. Don’t do it!” Aaron hissed under his breath. Shyren and Woshua were peeking out from behind him. A young, slim monster, still a child, glared back at them.
“What happened, Aaron?” Undyne barked at them. “Is the ‘little girl with noodle arms’ braver than you? You said you won’t fight little girls, but I’ll show you who’s stronger and tougher, you meat-head.” Undyne turned towards the door and pounded it with her fist. “Open up, Asgore Dreemuur! Open this door and face me!”
“Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no” Woshua burbled.
“He’s...killed humans...Undyne. Humans are...strong.” Shyren said quietly.
“Hah!” Undyne laughed. “Humans are strong because they’re mostly water! I’m mostly water too!” She pointed to her chest with her thumb. She looked thoughtful for a second “Well, at least half. Probably. I think? I know water magic, anyway!”
“Undyne, look. I’m sorry I called you a little girl with noo-” Aaron started, but Undyne had already turned back towards the door and started hitting it again. The door rattled in its frame.
“I’m calling you out, King Asgore! Get out here, you old goat!” Undyne took two steps back. She started forward again, and swung her foot at the door as hard as she could. The door swung open, Undyne’s foot hit nothing but air, and she lost her balance and fell backwards onto her rear end.
“Ooooowww.” Undyne whined with her eyes squinted shut in pain.
“Oh my. Are you alright?” A deep voice said above her. Undyne steeled herself, opened her eyes, and looked King Asgore square in the...knees. She went a bit pale as she tilted her head way back and saw two big, brown looking down at her in concern. Dang, he was bigger than she was expecting. Still, she couldn’t back down now. Undyne hopped to her feet, put her hands on her hips, got on her tip-toes to give herself a couple extra inches, and put on her meanest face.
“King Asgore Dreemuur, I, Undyne...of...the Waterfall, challenge you to a duel to the de...to uh...to first wound!” she said, pointing at Asgore
“Why in the world would you want to do that?” Asgore frowned.
“To prove to these bozos,” She pointed behind her. “that I’m the toughest, strongest, and bravest monster under the mountain!”
Asgore looked over her head with a puzzled look on her face. Undyne turned around to see that the street behind her was completely empty. Her jaw dropped.
“Ah. I see. I had a friend that...uh...no one could see when I was younger as well. His name was Mister Fuzzy and he liked to get into all kind of trouble when my parents weren’t around.” Asgore said, kindly.
“They’re not imaginary! They’re just cowards!” Undyne yelled and stamped her feet.
“Well then, you certainly proved who the bravest is, didn’t you?” Asgore smiled. Undyne narrowed her eyes and growled. How dare they! How dare they tease her! How dare they belittle her! How dare they just abandon her! And how dare this big...wimpy...loser patronize her like that! Undyne clenched her fist and her growl turned into a roar as she spun around and swung at Asgore as hard as she could. Asgore took one step back and Undyne’s fist only just grazed the folds of his shirt.
“Is that really necessary, now?”
“Shut up!” Undyne stepped forward and threw another punch. Asgore gently nudged her hand to the side, causing her to swing wide. She tried to hit him with an uppercut. He tilted his head back and she missed. She feinted a blow to his right side, and when he sidestepped, she jumped into the house behind him. She kicked backwards to try and hit the back of his leg. Asgore simple lifted his leg up, let her foot shoot under it, and then he stepped out into the street. He didn’t want to fight inside the house. He had just vacuumed the carpet. Undyne growled again. She couldn’t lay a finger on him, and he wasn’t even fighting back! She charged him, tried to hit him again and again. Each time he either side-stepped her punch or batted her hand out of the way.
“You’re not even fighting me! Why won’t you hit back!” Undyne yelled.
“Why would I?” Asgore shrugged.
“Because I’m going to beat you up!” Undyne pressed her attack harder, punching, kicking, trying to grapple, but she couldn’t seem to get more than the edge of his clothes.
Undyne didn’t know how long this went on. All she knew was that soon she was breathing heavily and sweat was pouring down her face. She couldn’t touch him, and he hadn’t lifted his hand to do more than parry her blows. All he did was look at her with a concerned expression. It was absolutely infuriating.
“Why!” She swung and missed
“Won’t!” She swung again, and was parried.
“You!” She tried to sweep at his leg. He stepped over it.
“Fight!” She stood up and actually dove at him, trying to knock him to the ground. Asgore twisted to the side. By the time Undyne even registered what happened, her chin struck the pavement with a crack. She yelped, grabbed her chin, and curled her body up into a ball
“Aaaahh! Ow! Ow ow ow ow!” Undyne cried out, rocking gently on the ground. She pulled her hand away from her chin for a second. There was a grey streak on her palm. First wound. She had lost, just like that. Undyne felt a shadow envelop her. She tried to get back to her feet, but she only got as far as her hands and knees. She felt completely spent.
“You won. You won, okay?! Leave me alone.” She croaked
“Don’t fuss.” Asgore said. He kneeled down and put a finger under her chin. He lifted her head up so he could see her face. Undyne looked at him, and all she saw was concern on his face. Asgore saw a mixture of pain, frustration, and humiliation on hers. Tears were starting drip down her cheeks. He also saw a nasty scrape on her chin.
“Tsk. Let’s get that cleaned.” He rumbled. He stood back up, put a hand under her arm, and lifted her back to her feet like she weighed nothing. She was wobbly for a second, but she managed to stay up. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t even look at Asgore. She just nodded and followed him into the house.
“This may sting a little.” Asgore brought a bowl of steaming water to Undyne, who was sitting at his living room table. Undyne smelled something medicinal in it. He pulled a cloth out of the water, squeezed it out as best as he could with one hand, and dabbed her chin with it. Undyne’s face curled up into a wince, but she held her head firm and still.
“Very good.” He said, and dropped the dirty cloth back in the bowl and set it on the table. He pulled a wide, self-adhesive bandage out of his pocket, and a small tube of...something. Asgore partially unwrapped the bandage and squeezed a squiggle of thick, cloudy gel onto the cotton pad. He placed the pad against her chin, pulling the wrapping away and sticking the bandage to her skin in one, smooth motion.
“There were go. Hopefully it won’t scar now.” Asgore stood up. Undyne rubbed her chin to smooth down the edges of the bandage, and then seemingly became very interest in the tabletop. There was a few seconds of silence. Before Asgore cleared his throat.
“Would...um...would you like some tea?”
“...Uh...yeah, sure.” Undyne shrugged, still not looking at him. Asgore picked the bowl off the table and went into the kitchen, leaving Undyne to her thoughts.
Asgore seemed like such a big softy. Obviously he was very fast, very strong, and skilled, but he didn’t act like a fighter. Just by the way Asgore moved, Undyne knew that he could have laid her flat by the time she went in for the second swing. Then why didn’t he? Well, on second thought, why would he? He didn’t have to try to harm her even once and Undyne still lost the battle.
Huh.
A few minutes later, Asgore stepped into the living room with a tray. On it was a steaming teapot, two cups with saucers, and a little bowl of sugar cubes.
“Here.” He placed it on the table. “This is yellow flower tea, my favorite. I grow them myself.” He filled both cups and placed one in front of Undyne. Yellow flower tea, huh? Well, she wasn’t going to be afraid of trying new things. She picked it up by the handle, put it to her lips and drained half of it in one go.
“Careful! It’s still very hot.”
Undyne shook her head “Nah. It’s perfect.” She gave a snaggle toothed grin, but she was pretty sure there was steam coming out of her ears. She decided to let the rest cool for a bit. Asgore took the tiny teacup in his massive hands, held it by the handle with his pinky out, smelled the tea, and then took a sip.
“Ahhh, perfect.” He smiled and placed it back on the table. “Now, would you like to tell me why you wanted to fight me?”
“Because my friends are jerks!” She scowled. After a few seconds, her expression softened. “Well...only one is. I guess. Shyren is too shy to say anything like that, and Woshua is too...occupied with cleaning. But Aaron was making fun of me because he’s got great big muscles and I don’t!”
“Muscles don’t mean everything.” Asgore said.
“That’s what I tried to tell him!” Undyne threw her hands up. “He’s all ‘Hur dur, I got arms like a royal guard and you got little noodles with hands attached to them’ and I’m telling him that I’m still stronger and tougher than him and I could kick his butt any day of the week and twice on thursdays and he’s all ‘well I don’t fight little girls, doy’ and I said I would prove it by fighting the toughest monster under the mountain and so…here I am. Hi.” She gave a small wave.
Asgore chuckled. “Well, you did fight me. And you tired me out quite a bit.”
“Yeah...but…” Undyne slumped in the chair. “I fought as hard as I could and you didn’t even fight at all and I still couldn’t beat you. I mean, I couldn’t even land one hit on you. Maybe I'm not really good at fighting.”
Asgore saw how dejected she looked, and felt a stab of guilt. In a sense, he admired the child. She stood up to a monster that was much bigger and stronger than she was. She didn’t back down and she didn't give up, even when it was obvious she couldn't win. She fought and fought until she couldn’t fight anymore. She had a lot of spirit, a lot of fire. She had determination, and he still needed human souls. Maybe...
“Well...would you like me to teach you how?”
She looked at him suspiciously, “How to what?”
“How to fight. How to beat me. You have a lot of potential, child. I think you can, with time and practice.”
Undyne’s eyes went wide. “Really?!”
Asgore nodded firmly.
“Yes! Yes yes yes! Thank you!” She bounced in her chair. She probably would have hugged the huge monster if there wasn’t a table in the way. Asgore laughed.
“Very well. Come back the same time next week and we’ll start. For now, you should finish your tea before it gets cold.”
“Oh, right.”
God, Undyne hated traveling through Hotlands. Even with the elevator system cutting most of the travel time down, any time she was outside, she felt like she was walking in an oven. By the time she got to the boat person, she was covered in sweat and her fins felt like they were about to crack.
“Tra-la-la. Care for a ride?” The boat person sang.
“Yeah. One second.” Undyne wheezed. She dropped her bag in the boat, stepped off the bank and plunged into the river, still wearing her clothes. The boat person looked over the edge into the water. After a few seconds, Undyne’s head popped back to the surface. She spat a stream of water out of her mouth.
“Ahh! That’s much better.” She grabbed the edge of the boat, leaned over, and tumbled head over heels onto boat’s deck, landing on her back.
“Where will we go today?” The boat person asked, leaning over and looking down at her.
Undyne pointed to the air. “The waterfall, please!”
“Then we’re off.” The boat person picked up a long staff and used it to push away from the riverbank. Once they were a few feet out, the boat caught the current and started to travel down the river.
“The water is calm. It’s a lucky day today.” The boat person said in a sing-song voice.
“Sure is.” Undyne smiled, as she lay on her back and watched the sparkling gems at the top of the cavern go by.
***
As the years went by, Undyne traveled to Asgore’s house once a week for training. Some weeks it was sparring with wooden staves, wooden swords, and wooden shields. Some weeks it was exercising and endurance training. Some weeks she would practice using her water magic to hit straw targets. She was especially good at that. After each and every training session, they had a cup of tea together. Although she never really seemed to “bulk up” very much like she first intended to, Asgore was proud to see her growing into a tall, strong, young lady.
One week, they were sparring with wooden staves. The house basement echoed with the rhythmic, furious clacking of wood hitting wood. Asgore tried not to look it, but he was barely keeping up with her. Each blow he blocked rattled his arms, and she nearly slipped through his defenses multiple times already. Soon, they locked their staves and stared each other down. Asgore with his gentle smile, and Undyne with her rusty-saw grin. Asgore had once told her to train make sure she had no weaknesses, but when the battle really counted, to make sure to focus on her strengths. Well, she was really good at target practice, wasn’t she? She probably wasn’t going to win this, but it was worth a try. Even if she messed it up, she was going to go out in style. Asgore hooked his staff behind her leg and tried to pull forward and trip her up. Undyne nimbly vaulted backwards, several feet away from Asgore. She landed on one knee, raised her staff, cocked her arm back, and let it fly with all her might. Asgore only had time to look surprised as the end of the staff hit him square between the eyes. He tumbled over backwards, and Undyne’s staff landed next to him.
Undyne felt shock. She actually hit him! Then she felt regret. Did she hurt him? Oh no. She shouldn’t have thrown it so hard. She ran over to him.
“Aw, dang! I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Are you okay?”
Asgore groaned and opened his eyes. He was seeing double for a few seconds, but he managed to focus on Undyne’s concerned face looking down at him. Then he did something Undyne wasn’t expecting. He started laughing, loudly.
“Huh? Did I knock you silly?” Undyne look puzzled.
“Ah ha ha ha! You did it! You beat me! Very good!”
“Oh…I...guess I did, didn’t I?” Her face slowly started to shift into a wide smile. “Yeah! I did!” she pumped her fist in the air.
“Help me up, please.”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Undyne grabbed Asgore under the arm and hauled him back to his feet. Asgore brushed the dust off of his pants. He turned to Undyne and placed two heavy hands on her shoulders.
“Undyne, I’m very proud of you. You’ve grown into a strong, capable warrior. You’ve traveled a long way and worked very hard to get here.”
Undyne’s face turned a bit red. “Aw...thanks, Asgore.” She looked a bit concerned. “So, is that it? Is my training over?”
“Oh ho! Not by a long shot. You beat me once. That does not mean I don’t have more to teach you. And you never really stop learning. Remember that. You will still come to me for training on your days off, but I think we can call it a day this time, at least.”
Undyne looked relieved. “Oh! Okay. That’s good. I actually kind of look forward to...wait, days off?”
“Ah! Yes. I almost forgot to make it official. Come with me.”
They both put their staves back on the rack, and Undyne followed Asgore upstairs. She was still trying to figure out what he meant when he made his way to the living room. He flipped through some of the books on the shelf, and after a minute, pulled out a dusty piece of paper. It was folded over, and a wax blob bearing the royal seal was barely keeping it shut. It was obvious that this letter was a couple years old. He turned towards Undyne stood straight and formally, and presented her with the letter. Undyne looked at Asgore curiously. She took the letter and ran her finger under the fold, breaking the seal. She opened the letter and read.
“I, Asgore Dreemuur, in my capacity as king of all monsters under the mountain, hereby formally offer Undyne of the Waterfall the position of Knight of the Royal Guard, along with all benefits, equipment, and compensation formally entitled to the position, effective immediately as of the presentation of this letter to the Knight Captain of the Royal Guard.”
The King’s flowing signature covered the bottom of the letter.
Undyne first felt a pang of embarrassment. The “Undyne of the Waterfall” was just to make the whole “Challenge the King to a Duel” thing more dramatic when she was a kid. But her expression slowly shifted to shock and then to glee as the rest of the letter sank in.
“The Royal Guard? Really?!”
“Yes. I am offering the position to you. Do you accept?”
“You bet I do! Thank you! I’m gonna be the best Royal guard you ever had.” She lept in the air and then wrapped her arms around Asgore, giving him a crushing hug. Asgore looked surprised for a second, before smiling and patted her on the back.
“No need to thank me. You more than earned it.” Asgore said as Undyne stepped back and tried to stealthy wipe her eyes. “Now. Why don’t you get cleaned up and make yourself look presentable before you go meet the captain."
"Will do!"