KNOCK ON WOOD: Snowdin Forest (Ch.10) (Patreon)

Main Quest Update:

A World In Ruins

• Figure out what comes next
• Follow Flowey

Frisk held up their arm as the Pip-boy dinged. There was a new app on the list between their notes and the map. Curious, they began to see what it entailed, but a vine wrapped around their arm and yanked them forward.

Flowey smiled cheerfully at them. Or at least, he was showing his teeth and the corners of his mouth were turned up. “Wow, friend, don’t you know it’s rude to ignore someone talking to you?” His expression relaxed and he let them go. “Besides, there’s way more interesting things to look at than your wrist computer thing. Look!”

Disgruntled by the manhandling, Frisk turned to look out the hole… and stopped.

“oh…” Napstablook whispered, but Frisk didn’t hear them.

“...Trees?”

Pines, to be exact. Tall and thin and packed so closely together that Frisk could hardly see past them. They breathed deeply, and wow Frisk hadn’t realized how they’d missed the smell of nature. In the Ruins, everything was… musty. Not outright unpleasant, but when they weren’t in range of the spider bakery everything just smelled of rot and decay. Out here? The forest was clean and fresh, and Frisk had missed that so much.

“Well, you look happy!” Flowey shouted from behind them.

Frisk blinked, startled, and stopped with their hand an inch from the bark of a thicker-than-average pine. They’d walked out of the hole and across to the treeline without even realizing it. Their cheeks hurt, from smiling wider than they had since they fell.

“oh… you must really like… trees…” Napstablook murmured. The ghost floated into Frisk’s view, prompting them to turn and face them, still grinning. The grin diminished slightly when they saw the troubled look on their friend’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

Napstablook’s body billowed out in their version of kicking at the ground, and a sudden localized gust tossed a stone a few paces into a mud puddle. “it’s… i can’t feel temperatures, but… there’s supposed to be snow…”

Flowey dove into the rubble, popping back up next to them. “Yup! Golly, Frisk, you should have seen this place a few weeks ago when it was still cold here. Snowdin was one of the prettiest place in the Underground, in my opinion.” He paused, tilting his head. “On the other hand, as a flower, I’ll admit it’s more pleasant now.”

Oh, well that was disappointing. Frisk loved the snow. Still, the trees were a good consolation prize.

Flowey stared at them, ever-present grin on his face. “Yup, just a few weeks ago it was snow everywhere. Then it started warming up for some reason. Not too long ago.”

Frisk shrugged, and started walking, following the treeline.

“oh, um, i dont think you should go far, ms tori--”

Flowey popped up in front of them, just a little too close for comfort. “In fact, I think it started not too long after you fell into the Underground! If you’d made a beeline for that hole in the wall, you could have seen it!”

They blinked. “Too bad, I g-guess.”

The flower stared expectantly for a moment longer, but whatever he was looking for he didn’t find. Instead he just smiled again. “Okay, cool. Just wanted you to know that!” With that, he dove down again and didn’t resurface.

“...”

“...”

“That was weird,” Frisk noted. “I w-wonder what he’s upset about. Did you say something, N-Napsta?”

The ghost did their best imitation of an awkward shuffle. “it’s… nothing…”

They waited a moment to see if the ghost would change their mind, but when they didn’t speak up again, Frisk gave them a comforting pat on the back and went back on their way.

Did the Ruins go full circle? Or did the wall eventually run into the wall of the cave? The ceiling was even higher here, if the narrow strip of not-sky they could see between the forest canopy and the top of the purple wall was any indication. How big was the Underground anyway?

“big enough, i guess,” Napstablook said when they asked. “the ruins are just a small part of it…”

Exciting! They’d known from bits and pieces they’d picked up from the monsters that there was more, but they’d come under the impression that the Ruins was blocked off from the rest somehow. Now that there was a way in and out? They couldn’t wait to see the rest!

Their Pip-boy dinged.

-----------------------------------

Quest Update:

A World In Ruins

• Explore the Ruins (58%)
• Greet Toriel
• Figure out what comes next.
• Follow Flowey

Completed! You leveled up! (Lvl.4) Oh boy! One Action Point Av-Av-Av--kzzt

Exploring the Ruins will be separated into a separate Quest.

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New Main Quest:

Snow Way Home

• Find the trail

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Oh, that was odd. Frisk wasn’t sure what most of that meant, but having a goal to work towards was useful, at least.

“...can… you turn the radio back on?” Napstablook asked.

Frisk was happy to oblige. Music was nice while they were exploring.

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sans

It had been a while since the last go-round.

Or so he assumed. Sans didn’t have any actual way to confirm or deny that there hadn’t been a reset recently, whatever recently meant in that context, but he at least hadn’t had a single feeling of deja vu in a good month. He’d even almost started to think that whatever it was had gotten bored, but then last week he’d gotten a feeling. It was only a minor thing, but he had gotten up to get something from the fridge, and then halfway there he suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.

It might have been a coincidence. But Sans trusted his gut.

Speaking of, he--

“a-choo!”

--he pulled a pillow out of the empty place under his shirt and settled back against it in his station. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the counter.

check

hp: .9/1

“grumble,” he said out loud. Sans was sick of being sick. If he wanted to be congested, he’d play in traffic during rush hour. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket. “this blows.” He sneezed as hard as he could into the tissue. “that blew. heh heh… hoooo…”

Man, he was tired.

Despite how he acted, he did do his job, usually. He enjoyed it, even. Sentry work meant sitting in one place and doing a fat lot of nothing, and his post in particular was so far from everything else that it was perfect for catching some z’s. All he had to do was notice if a human came up the trail, which hadn’t happened in years.

a streak that’ll be broken soon

Maybe it wouldn’t be. Maybe the human would never leave the Ruins. Maybe they’d trip and die and it would never be his problem. But he wasn’t going to hold his breath, because it’d slip right through his fingers.

You know what else was slipping away? Consciousness.

“Erk!” Sans jerked awake, keeping an eye socket on the gate. He had it all planned out. The human would come through the door and he’d sneak up behind them, give them a scare to judge their character. If they reacted badly, they got the joy buzzer. If they reacted goodly, they got the whoopee cushion. Simple.

Sans yawned. No, got to stay awake. He was out of practice at it, but he didn’t want to miss when the human showed up. Which might not happen today. Or ever.

well. Sans shifted slightly. maybe a little shuteye wouldnt hurt.

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Location discovered: Door to the Ruins

Frisk paused at the door. It was simple stone the same color as the rest of the wall, with a vaguely familiar symbol on it.

“H-Have I seen that before?”

“maybe? its everywhere underground,” Napsta replied.

“What’s it mean?”

“oh… i dont know, sorry. i never paid attention in history class…”

Hm. Well, it probably wasn’t impor--

Ding!

Discover the significance of the mysterious symbol.

…Frisk gave the device a confused look. They wished they had the manual to this thing.

Anyway, they’d found the path from the Ruins, and so they set off down it. It just sort of continued off in a straight line, out of sight. It was a curious effect, actually; there was no way it was so far that they just couldn’t see the end of it; rather, the everpresent light that filled the Underground just stopped a few dozen yards away. After they’d walked a ways down the path, the Ruins Door vanished into the darkness behind them. It was like there was a spotlight centered on them, and any attempt to see past the edge of the light was a chore in eyestrain.

Was this how the Underground was lit? Frisk hadn’t seen many light sources, no torches or lamps that they could remember, but most rooms and tunnels were perfectly bright…

Actually, now that they thought about it, the darkness was static, wasn’t it? There was a place where the trees ventured out onto the path, just a little, creating an almost-doorway. Frisk could only see the other side when they got close. It was like even in this more open space everything was divided into rooms? What was up with that?

Monster architecture continues to astound.

They’d ask their friend, but Napstablook didn’t really like talking much. It was probably just as simple as ‘magic.’

They stepped carefully over the bridge, wondering about the… arches? That stretched diagonally across the tiny chasm. It wasn’t pretty enough to be decorative, but they couldn’t think of another reason for its existence.

On the other side of the bridge was a tiny shack. It looked more like one of the refugees’ vendor stalls actually, albeit more permanent. Something blue was behind the counter.

“oh, i know him.” Napstablook hovered over to the figure. “he used to take a telescope out to… waterfall and look at the ceiling…”

“Why would he d-do that?”

Napstablook sagged. “oh… it was so pretty… i guess it still is, but--”

“SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!!!!!”

Both of them jumped at the horrendously loud shout. Napsta eeped and faded out of view, leaving Frisk alone with the lump and the approaching shouter.

For a split second, Frisk thought that the figure who stepped in from the next ‘room’ was another human. But they were just slightly too tall and far, far too thin. They looked at his face and were greeted with bone.

The skeleton jogged past them without noticing them and slammed both hands on the counter. “SANS! I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN BED!”

The lump did not respond.

“HONESTLY, THE ONE AND ONLY TIME I ALLOW YOU TO SLACK OFF, AND NOW IS WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO WORK? UN. BELIEVABLE!”

The lump snored, loudly and through what sounded like a runny nose.

“AND! WHEN YOU DO COME TO WORK! YOU ONLY DO SO TO NAP!” The tall skeleton grumbled in frustration, slapping a hand against the booth again, and the subject of his ire slumped over from the impact, hood falling away to reveal another, smilier skull. The tall one sighed, disgusted. “YOU’RE IMPOSSIBLE.”

With that, he reached under the mantle of his cape and returned with a thermos. The thermos was several feet long for some reason.

“LUCKILY FOR YOU, I HAVE EXPANDED MY CULINARY HORIZONS IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH YOUR ILLNESS! CHICKEN SOUP IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL, ACCORDING TO THIS BOOK I READ, AND ALSO GOOD FOR COLDS!”

“Th-Th--” That’s what I’ve been told, too, Frisk didn’t say. Stupid tongue.

“INDEED! SO IT MUST BE TRUE IF WE BOTH HAVE BEEN TOLD IT INDEPENDANTLY FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES! NYEH HEH--” He whirled around with a gasp, pointing a finger an inch from their face. “HEH?!?!”

Frisk backed up a step. “H-H-Hello.”

He sucked in air through his teeth. This lasted a good thirty seconds, during which he looked from them, to the other skeleton and back again several times. It got to the point that Frisk worried for his health… though, if he’s a skeleton, what did healthy mean?

Any pondering they might have done on that subject was cut short when the skeleton found his voice again.

“YOU! ARE YOU A--wait, no. AHA! DID YOU COME FROM THAT DIRECTION?” he asked, pointing back towards the Ruins.

Frisk took a long moment to consider the question. “...Maybe?”

He crowed in triumph, finger pointed up at the sk--ceiling. “NYEH HAH! SO YOU ADMIT TO COMING THROUGH THAT OSTENTATIOUS DOOR!”

“I d-did not leave through the door,” Frisk corrected quietly.

“...YOU DIDN’T?”

“No.”

He sagged. “OH. WELL THEN. I WAS TOLD--BUT NEVERMIND THAT. IF THAT’S THE CASE THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? MONSTERS FROM THE RUINS ALMOST NEVER LEAVE!”

“O-Oh, well. We found a hole in the wall that the earthquake made, and I w-wanted to explore.” Frisk shrank under his scrutinizing gaze as the skeleton loomed over them.

He rubbed his chin suspiciously, squinting at them. “IS THAT SO… IF THAT’S THE CASE…” He brightened, teeth parting in a goofy grin. “EXCELLENT INITIATIVE! I APPROVE THIS DESIRE TO EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS!” He flashed a thumbs up, and the sourceless light gleamed off his teeth. “I MYSELF SEEK TO BROADEN MY EXPERIENCE EVERY SINGLE DAY! BEHOLD!” He pulled the thermos back over to himself and showed it off. “LET NO MONSTER ACCUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, OF BEING A ONE-NOTE CHEF! INDEED, MY KITCHEN CONCERTO CONTAINS MANY NOTES, ALL COMING TOGETHER IN A GLORIOUS MEDLEY OF SOUPS AND SALADS! THIS ONE IS SOUP.”

Moving almost faster than Frisk could follow, the so-called Papyrus removed the lid and poured a measure of soup into it, handing it off to them.

Well, they were kind of hungry, and even if there was no snow it was kind of chilly. Frisk accepted the hot soup gladly and downed it.

…Or they would have, except that the instant it touched their tongue, their entire body seized up and refused to swallow. This left them with a mouthful of scalding hot liquid that tasted… that tasted, and unable to resolve the situation.

Papyrus looked ecstatic. “OH MY! THAT EXPRESSION! THOSE TEARS! CLEARLY, MY CULINARY SKILL HAS TRULY MOVED YOU!” He laughed, then faltered. “I WISH I COULD SHARE MORE WITH YOU, BUT I’M AFRAID MY BROTHER NEEDS IT.”

The skeleton turned to place the thermos back on the counter, and Frisk took the chance to spit the soup onto the grass. They wiped at their watering eyes and tried to forget the flavor.

“BUT FEAR NOT! I WILL GLADLY PROVIDE YOU WITH MORE!” Frisk started turning green. Papyrus blinked, eye sockets closing in defiance of the rigidity of bone, then grinned. “WOWEE! THAT’S A FUN TRICK!”

Papyrus turned back to the station and frowned. His brother was asleep, but didn’t appear to be enjoying it much if the subtle tightening of his eye sockets was any indication. He retrieved the pillow from where it had fallen and placed it under his brother’s head. “Honestly, Sans, why wouldn’t you just stay home if you were going to sleep?”

After a moment’s hesitation, he unclipped his cape and spread it over Sans’ shoulder. It was far too small to actually cover anything, but it seemed to help him relax anyway.

Frisk, cautious but a but braver now that Papyrus’ attention was elsewhere, asked, “Is he okay?”

Papyrus started, looking at them with surprise. “OF COURSE! WELL. YES. MY BROTHER HAS GOTTEN SICK BEFORE, THOUGH IT’S BEEN AWHILE.” He scowled. “I KNEW ALL THAT GREASY FOOD WOULD BE BAD FOR HIM. OOH, HE REALLY DRIVES ME UP THE WALL SOMETIMES.” He tapped his foot, aggravated. “OR PERHAPS IT’S THAT HE KEEPS WEARING THE HEAVY COAT DESPITE IT WARMING UP.”

“Oh! I heard about that,” Frisk said. “I w-wish I could have seen the s-snow…”

He gave them a look and smiled. “WELL… I KNOW SOME PLACES WHERE THE SNOW ISN’T ALL MELTED YET. I COULD…SHOW YOU? IF YOU’D LIKE??” he offered, sounding nervous.

“Could you?” Frisk grinned, excited.

Mirroring that excitement, Papyrus struck a pose. “NYEH HEH HEH! BUT OF COURSE! FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS BOTH KIND AND RELIABLE! ALSO, IT’S ON THE WAY TO MY PUZZLES, WHICH MUST BE RECALIBRATED.” He took large steps forward.

“Oh, that c-could be fun,” Frisk said, walking quickly to keep up with the skeleton’s longer stride. “All the p-puzzles in the Ruins got sh-shut down. I haven’t seen any ye--”

They ran into the back of Papyrus’ legs when he suddenly stopped and whirled around, grabbing them by the shoulders. “WHAT?! YOU HAVEN’T SEEN A SINGLE PUZZLE? EVER???”

“Well… My d-dad liked to do crosswords--whoa!”

Papyrus hefted them onto his shoulder. “UNACCEPTABLE! PUZZLEWORK IS ONE OF MONSTERKIND’S MOST SACRED TRADITIONS! I MUST RECTIFY THIS ISSUE IMMEDIATELY! HOLD ON!”

Hold on? To wh--at?!

Papyrus began sprinting and the landscape sped past.

A few moments later, Frisk started laughing. “Faster!”