Chapter Text
You arched your back in pain, groaning as you sat up, glancing around the small cavern you landed in, confused on how you were still alive. Barring a few cuts and bruises that weren't that big, no other injury was present; it made you feel a bit better knowing you didn't break anything. Looking below you, at the patch of golden flowers, you stared at them for a second before glancing up at the hole above you, mentally measuring the distance from the ledge and the ground, knowing you should have either died, or broken a few bones. With a shake of your head, you sighed and stood, gaining your balance quickly before heading through the only dark opening without a second thought. An doorway was at the end, giving off quite a scary feeling, to which you only brushed off, walking through the room.
It probably wasn't the best idea, walk through an unknown hall, through and unknown door into an unknown room? It was pretty stupid, especially since you had no idea what was on the other side. Despite the fact you've done it plenty of times on the surface. This was an unknown area that you didn't trust.
Another patch of flowers came into view, as well as a small cat looking monster lying in the middle. It had cat ears, but as well as dog ears on the side of its head, wearing a yellow and blue stripped shirt, seeming to be whimpering. For a few seconds, you stared at it, almost entranced by the strange monster. With short steps you walked towards it, e/c eyes scanning the small being. Once a few feet away, it turned, fear evident on it's face, though it tried to hide it quickly with a stuttery sentence.
"H-hoi! I-I'm Temmie! Temmie th-the Tem..." It, sounding like a female so possible she, trailed off and tried slinking back, her eyes averting to the golden flowers. "P-please don't hurt me..." She mumbled, looking ready to cry.
You laughed softly and knelt beside the patch, reaching out towards the monster like you would a dog or cat, palm up and relaxed. Temmie slowly raised her head and stared at your hand, seeming to contemplate whether she should advance to you, or run and hide. You just sat patiently and smiled softly at her, your snake bites shifting slightly as well. The smiley piercing poked from under your lip as you smiled, catching the shy monster's attention. She took short and slow steps towards you, keeping an eye on your hand, as she studied the metal that disappeared under you lip as your smile dropped to a small, closed lip one.
"What's the metal in your mouth?" She asked, peering at your lips with curiosity.
"A piercing," you laughed softly. "See? I'm not gonna hurt you."
Temmie shook her head and slinked back again. "You might not, but he might. The man that lives in the ruins, he'll kill you. All they need is one more SOUL and the barrier is broken."
You did not like the sound of that. Considering the fact that the stories you've read on monsters and the history of them, a SOUL was one of the main assets, next to magic, monsters needed to live. A SOUL was the main component that made up monsters, as well as humans. You loved to look everything up about monsters and learn about them ever since they were introduced in history when the war between monsters and humans was a subject. You found every book, every article, everything on monsters and the history, learning quite a lot. Learning the fact that a human SOUL was valuable in the monster world and how humans once used magic to create the barrier to keep the monsters in the underground, and the only way to break it was to gather seven human souls. It was the most fascinating subject you've ever learned about.
"A human SOUL?" You questioned, motioning for the monster to come closer to pick her up.
Temmie reluctantly complied, crawling into your arms and curling against your chest. "That's right! Monsters need human SOULS to open the barrier! And if monsters get all seven, we're all free!" Her smile fell into a frown, stealing a quick glance at the second opening out of the small area you both were in. "But, I think humans would be endangered then because monsters are very mean down here... Temmie thinks that monsters will try to get revenge-"
She stopped talking as her eyes widened, still trained on the opening. Your eyebrows furrowed as you turned to follow her gaze. Your eyes landed on a goat monster wearing a long purple robe with an orb between two wings and three triangles beneath it, with the middle triangle inverted on it, a hood covering his curly horns. His fur was black, but his beard and mane was a golden color, standing out against the dark fur. His blood red eyes landed on you after staring at Temmie for a few seconds, a grin settling on his muzzle.
"Oh, you poor thing," he cooed, stalking over to you slowly, "You're hurt! Come, come. I'll patch you up." His gaze rested on Temmie. "You can.. uh... bring your little friend with you as well."
Temmie trembled in your arms, hiding her face just below your collarbone. You nodded slowly, cautious of the monster before you. His smile widened as you agreed to follow him, beckoning for you to come as he stalked back out of the room. With a short sigh, you followed, keeping a few feet of distance between you and him.
It probably wasn't your best idea to follow a monster that another was afraid of, but you didn't really have a choice, scared that if you said no... You didn't know what he would've done to you; though it probably wasn't anything good. He gave off a creepy and insane vibe, his smile adding to it. You shrugged it off, but left the thought in the back of your mind to remind you he wasn't as nice as he seemed. Temmie clung to your f/c shirt, curling under your jacket, which you had unzipped and covered her in, still shivering. You continuously glanced down at her, naturally trying to create a larger space between you and the goat; something you usually did as a reflex when walking behind someone, avoiding being close to them.
The man kept glancing back as you both walked through puzzles easily, obviously meant to kill people or keep them away. As you three neared the end, he stopped walking and laughed softly, turning to you.
"I'm so sorry, I never even introduced myself!" He extended a paw towards you. "My name is Asgore, protector of the Ruins."
"Y/n..." you replied, hesitantly taking his paw with your unoccupied hand, keeping a tighter hold on Temmie, who had been silent the whole time.
Asgore nodded and resumed walking ahead, going through another door, beckoning you to follow. With a soft sigh, you stared at the doorway and bit your lip, the piercing slipping under your teeth.
"This is probably the worst idea I had," you mumbled to yourself, and Temmie, who nodded, but remained silent.
~~~
"I WAS RIGHT, THAT WAS THE WORST IDEA I HAD!" You avoided the balls of fire Asgore threw at you, destroying the interior of his house, holding Temmie, who was slightly screaming, shouting at you that yes, it was a bad idea to trust him, tightly against your chest.
"Go to the basement!" Temmie shouted over Asgore and the sound of fireballs flying past your head. "I think the door's down there!"
"You think?!" You shouted back, dodging another fireball, too close to your jacket for comfort. "Fine!"
Taking the risk, you dove past Asgore, tucking your head in and protecting Temmie as you rolled past, jumping to your feet the minute you could, rushing down the steps to the basement, gagging as the smell of blood invaded your nostrils. The dark area didn't give much light, making it hard to see, but at the end you could see the outline of a door. Asgore shouted behind you, another fireball whizzing past your head and smashing against the door. A few more feet and you turned so your shoulder slammed into the door, unable to slow down your running. Wincing in pain, you grabbed the handle and tugged, growling at the fact it didn't open. Cursing loudly, you stumbled away as another fireball smashed against the door, not far from your face.
He stopped throwing them, awaiting your decision. A low orange light illuminated in front of you, four buttons levitating giving you the choices of Fight, Act, Items and Mercy. Your hand hit 'Mercy' without a second thought, crouching to dodge another fireball. Temmie poked her head out of your jacket and growled at Asgore, whimpering as a fireball soared past your shoulder, over her head.
The orange buttons, 'Mercy' again.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE!" Asgore shouted, throwing another fireball that completely missed you, hitting the handle of the door.
You tried the handle again, jumping back at the heat, but pushed through it, pulling the door open and slipping through, flashing Asgore a quick smile, pushing the door shut again as another fireball hit the stone. You could hardly feel the cold as your adrenaline ran through your veins, running as fast as you could through ankle high snow away from the Ruins. As soon as you got far enough away, you slowed your steps to a stop, leaning on a tree to support your weight as you panted. Temmie's paws loosened their grip on your shirt, but didn't leave the warmth of your jacket. The cold didn't seep through the material of your jacket, but the wind pushed the freezing air towards your chest and into your jacket. Shivering violently, you pulled your jacket together and zipped it, keeping Temmie in to keep her warm. You sighed, watching your breath disappear into the air, starting to walk further, keeping to the path that wasn't that far off from the woods you ran into, glancing behind you every few seconds.
"That could've gone worse," you mumbled, covering your face with one hand and holding Temmie up with another, hoping to warm your face with your hand.
Temmie grumbled in response, seeming to doze off in the warmth of your jacket, her weight becoming a bit heavier since she wasn't holding herself up by clinging to your shirt and trembling in fear. You bit your lip rings as you wandered, glancing around the the frozen land in fear of getting killed by another monster. Picking up a fallen stick, long enough to be a sword, close to a walking stick, and gripped it tightly, even though you knew it wouldn't protect you against monsters.
The soft rhythm of Temmie's breathing calmed you, but made you more protective of her, knowing you had to protect something smaller than you, almost like a child, scared of those more powerful and larger than her. You laughed quietly, teeth chattering as you realized how feminine you sounded. You sounded like a mother and her kid when in reality it was almost like having a younger sister and being the big brother that protected her from everything that would hurt her.
The calm feeling lasted so long, and you were so caught up in your thoughts, you didn't even realized how cold it was, or the fact your fingers went numb minutes ago. What brought you back from the serene feeling was the snapping of the stick in the distance. Of course, it was a pretty cliche horror movie thing. Person walking around in the woods alone and the murderer is following them, they step on a stick that breaks and alerts the victim, yada yada.
You laughed softly at the thought, trying to keep you spirits up as you continued to walk along the path, making sure to check behind you and to your sides as you did. So far, nothing appeared. It calmed you a bit, knowing there wasn't really anything around. You could almost allow the serene feeling to come back, if Temmie hadn't yelped and jumped in your jacket, staring fearfully over your shoulder.
"another human. how interesting..."