Chapter Text
"Knock-knock."
"Who's there?"
"Juno."
"Juno who?"
"Juno any other good jokes?"
I giggled loudly at the joke. We finally reached the Echo Flowers and we have spent about fifteen minutes now listening to all the little messages they each had to say. Almost half of them contained terrible puns and knock-knock jokes told off by some random monster to mess with people who wanted to listen to the flowers.
And by random monster I of course mean Sans.
"Sans!" Papyrus exclaimed after we listened to the seventh joke, sounding very agitated.
The flowers around him echoed, "Sans!", causing me and Sans both to laugh out loud. Papyrus turned on the flowers and began to shout at them.
"Don't copy me!"
"Don't copy me!"
"Stop it!"
"Stop it!"
"I'm a stupid-head!"
"I know you are!"
"NYEH?!"
If it weren't for Sans' lack of lungs, he would have died laughing right then and there.
I struggled to regain my breath and swallow the continuous giggles that bubbled in my chest. "I really love these flowers! They're so amazing and interesting!"
"Well, most times they are," Papyrus grunted. "They also look very beautiful, like blue sapphires with water trapped in them."
"Sounds really pretty," I smiled. I heard Papyrus yelp and I giggled.
"Oh, no, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot you can't see! I did not intend to tease you!"
"That's okay, Papyrus, I think I can see what they may look like in my head." I walked over to a lone echo flower, which didn't have a message told by another passerby. smiled and began to softly speak.
"For anyone who happens to hear this message, I promise you all that I'll help everyone in the Underground. Rest assured that Queen Toriel's dictatorship will not last forever."
The flower echoed my message, and I smiled as it was set for everyone to hear.
"Aww, that was so sweet and meaningful!" Papyrus cooed happily.
"And a bit risky," Sans added. "What if someone we don't need them to hear hears it?"
"Well, I didn't say what my name was," I shrugged. "And I didn't say whether I was a monster or human."
"I suppose you got a point there."
"We should probably get moving now," I suggested. "As much as I love this place, we can't stay forever."
Spending just a few more seconds with the Echo Flowers, the three of us made our way through the region once again. We kept pushing on until a choking scent caught my attention. I sniffed the air and coughed, and I immediately detected it to be smoke.
"Guys, what's that smoke coming from?" I asked the brothers, who paused to sniff the air and cough a bit as well. "Is something on fire?"
"I think it's coming from the Temmie Village," Sans replied.
"Temmie Village?"
"It's a secluded village in Waterfall, and it's home to these little weird monsters called Temmies," the skeletal monster explained. "Something must have happened to their village after Queen Toriel came to power."
"Let's find it and make sure they're okay," I suggested boldly.
"But all the Temmies have fled the village," Papyrus pointed out. "There may not be any left."
"I'm still gonna check. My promise was to make sure every monster is okay, and I won't leave any monster behind!"
"Very well," Sans chuckled. "Follow me, I know where it's hidden."
The monster led me and Papyrus down a path south from the Echo Flowers. The path took a few minutes to walk down until finally we came to a turn. I heard the occasional dripping of water nearby, and I felt the presence of a cave before us.
"Ooo, a spooky cave!" Papyrus exclaimed excitedly. He bounded towards the entrance before shouting out, "HELLO!" The sound bounced off the walls of the cave, making it echo. "It's like an Echo Flower, only in a scary dark cave form!"
"The entrance is usually hidden by a big waterfall," Sans commented. "C'mon, let's go. It's pretty dark, though, so be careful not to trip."
The three of us made our way into the cave, our footsteps echoing throughout the dark void. Everything was quiet save for the footsteps, occasional drips of water, and the heavy breathing of a frightened Papyrus. He suddenly let out a scream, causing Sans and myself to jump with a startled yelp.
"SOMETHING IS TOUCHING ME!" Papyrus wailed, leaping around frantically. He stopped abruptly before giggling sheepishly. "Er... False alarm. It was only my scarf. I'm still not used to wearing this thing yet."
"Oh, Papyrus," I laughed affectionately.
We finally reached the end of the cave, and almost immediately we were thrown into little coughing fits. The smell of smoke was much stronger here in the village, although it wasn't completely intolerable. There were no flames, yet smoke still drifted from the burned areas of the small village.
"How terrible," Papyrus sympathized. "All the houses have been burned down."
"It doesn't look like there are any Temmies around, though," Sans observed. "See, kid? They all escaped."
"Well, at least they weren't injured," I sighed. "Though I do wish I could've met one of them."
I turned with the brothers to exit through the cave before a new sound caught my attention. I heard a soft pitter-patter of paws walking along the singed ground, and I turned around. "Guys, wait, I hear something!"
Sans and Papyrus stopped as well and looked over the village until finally Sans took a step forward. "Hey, what do you know? There's one left."
"Let's go see if she's okay!" I followed Sans and Papyrus as they approached the little monster. I didn't know what Temmie looked like, but according to the pitter-patter of her paws she was probably a mammalian monster.
"Hey, I think I know this Temmie," Papyrus commented thoughtfully.
"Don't all Temmies look alike?" Sans argued.
"Well, yes, but this one's slightly bigger than the others. She wanted me to buy these shredded pieces of construction paper from her."
"Hello, there," I greeted Temmie gently. I could feel as her gaze rested on me, and I backed away startled when she gasped.
"HOOMAN! HOI! I'M TEMMIE!"
"Hi, there, Temmie," I giggled. "My name is Frisk, and these are my friends: Sans and Papyrus."
"TEMMIE KNOW PAPERUS!" Temmie squeaked excitably. "TEMMIE ASKED PAPERUS FOR MUN! BUY TEMMIE FLAKES!"
"Uh, it's Papyrus," the taller skeletal monster corrected, making sure to emphasize the 'Y' in his name.
"Are you alone here, Temmie?" I asked.
Temmie's voice fell, indicating they were saddened. "TEMMIE ALL ALONE... TEMMIE FRIENDS LEFT VILLAG... TEMMIE SELL TEMMIE FLAKES NOW AT TEM SHOP. NO MORE COOLEG. MAKE MUN TO BUILD."
"You're trying to sell Temmie Flakes so you can rebuild your village?" I clarified. It was right then and there I felt my heart break for the poor monster.
"TEMMIE HAZ NO MUN. TEMMIE NEED MUN. BAD."
"Well... What if I bought some Temmie Flakes from you?"
Temmie gasped loudly, perking right back up. "HOOMAN BUY TEMMIE FLAKES?"
"Sure!"
"TEMMIE LOVE HOOMAN! TEMMIE GET TEMMIE FLAKES FOR HOOMAN! TEMMIE FLAKES FOR SAND AND PAPERUS!" With that, the monster bounded off.
"It's still Papyrus," Papyrus groaned.
"That's really sweet of you, kiddo," Sans chuckled, patting my back gently. "Though I recommend you don't eat those things; they're just construction paper after all."
"Have you ever tried them?" I asked.
"Well... No," the older brother stammered. "But I've heard that's what monsters say."
"If monsters told you Papyrus' scarf was ugly would you agree with them?"
"Point taken."
"My scarf isn't ugly..." Papyrus whined.
"I know it isn't, I was using it as an example," I reassured the monster with a smile.
"TEMMIE BACK!" Temmie exclaimed as she bounded back up to us. I reached down and grabbed a small plastic bag full of little flakes that felt as fragile as dried leaves. "20 MUN!"
"Here you go, kid," Sans said, handing me a small fabric pouch he pulled out of his pocket. I had earned Gold when encountering many other monsters prior before helping them out in one way or another. I kept all the Gold I earned in a pouch, but the pouch itself was too large to fit in my pants pocket so Sans offered to carry it for me.
I opened the pouch up and counted out 20G before giving it to Temmie. "Here you go."
"TANKS!" Temmie squeaked, taking the pieces.
"I'm gonna try one." I opened the bag and took out a random flake before popping it into my mouth. It melted almost instantly in my mouth like cotton candy and it was so incredibly sweet. Having a sweet tooth, I absolutely adored it! "It's delicious! They're so sweet!"
"Really?" Papyrus reached a hand into the bag and took out a flake. I heard Sans shrug before taking one as well. I waited as the brothers consumed the flakes, but their reactions were the opposite of mine: Sans let out a strained moan of disgust as Papyrus coughed with a choked cry.
"W-Well, if you like s-sour..." Sans rasped.
"SOUR? THAT WASN'T SOUR! THAT WAS SO SPICY!" Papyrus retorted loudly before coughing again.
"What?" I replied. "But it tasted sweet to me."
"TEMMIE FLAKES HAZ DIFFERENT FLAVORS!" Temmie declared proudly. "RED IZ HOT! BLUE IZ SALTY! GREEN IZ BITTER! PINK IZ SWEET! YELLOW IZ SOUR!"
"Well, that makes sense I guess..." Sans grunted. He and Papyrus searched through the bag of Temmie Flakes until they pulled out another one - pink ones I was guessing - and ate them. Their reactions changed, but it wasn't one that accompanied any sweetness.
"Now mine is sour!" Papyrus cried.
"Not mine," Sans hissed. "Mine's salty. Way too salty."
"What colors did you take?" I asked the brothers.
"Pink," they both replied in unison.
"TEMMIE MESSED UP..." Temmie whimpered.
"It's okay, Temmie, don't worry about it. In fact, how about this? I'll buy another bag of Temmie Flakes." I bent down to Temmie's level and handed the Gold pouch to her. "You can keep the change."
Temmie gasped loudly. "THAT A LOT OF MUNS. HOOMAN SURE?"
"Sure, I'm sure! I hope this'll make rebuilding Temmie Village a bit easier."
I yelped as Temmie suddenly flung herself into me, hugging me tightly. The little monster was vibrating intensely. "TANK U! HOOMAN IZ BEST!"
"No problem," I giggled, hugging the fluffy monster back. She leaped off of me and, after returning with another bag of Temmie Flakes, bid farewell to us.
"BOI HOOMAN! BOI SAND! BOI PAPERUS!"
"It's- Oh, forget it," Papyrus grunted, giving up on trying to correct the monster.
"Bye, Temmie!" I called back, waving to her. "Good luck on rebuilding the village!"
"That sure was considerate of you, helping Temmie out the way you did," Sans commented as we entered the tunnel. "Just hope we won't need more Gold for where we're going."
"I'm sure we don't," I assured the skeletal monster. "Besides, it was still worth it. I made a vow and I'm more than happy to give up some Gold to do it."
"It's a shame none of these are actually good," Papyrus grunted, sifting his hand through the bag of Temmie Flakes.
"Maybe we can find someone who really needs a good meal and give them to them?" I suggested. "After all, when you're hungry you'd be willing to eat anything."
"Sounds like a plan, kiddo," Sans chuckled.
"By the way, is Temmie some sort of cat monster? She felt really soft and it felt like she was purring."
"Well, she's kinda like a cat but kinda like a dog, too. And she was vibrating, not purring; it's a weird thing Temmies do."
I nodded in understanding. A joke suddenly flashed through my mind and I smirked. "Speaking of which, if I were an animal I'd probably be a cat."
"Oh?" Papyrus sounded very confused. "And why's that?"
"Because I'm really frisky!" I grinned brightly as Sans snorted and Papyrus groaned.
"Man, that was pretty good," Sans snickered, "no kitten."
"Sans!" Papyrus snapped.
"What's up, bro? You knead something?"
"STOP!"'
"Don't be such a downer, Papyrus," I laughed. "These jokes are absolutely purr-fect!"
"FRISK, PLEASE!" Papyrus begged.
"Okay, okay, we'll stop," I giggled, trailing off.
"Thank you."
I shot a smirk at Sans before finishing, "...Paw-pyrus!"
"NYEEEEEH! I AM SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS!"
I laughed loudly as Sans burst into hysterics and Papyrus practically screamed his head off. Needless to say, I was having a total blast even if a certain skeleton wasn't. It was at times like this where I just had a feeling nothing could go wrong.
...But it did.
"Sans. Papyrus. We meet again."