Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The gentle rustling of the leaves as small animals ran through them, and the babbling brooks always seemed to calm you after a stressful week at work. You were never sure what it was about camping that allured you, after all the bugs were quite the nuisance, but Mount Ebbot always proved to be enchanting enough to keep you coming back.

"Ah shit I really hope I didn't forget my headlamp again, setting up camp is gonna be ass without it".

Sure enough, after a few moments of rummaging the headlamp was nowhere to be found.

"Greatttt, thanks Lora for making me stay late, now I get to set up my camp during sunset." you grumbled as you trekked on.

After a few more minutes of dodging thin tree branches and trying your best not to stumble into briar patches, you finally settled on the perfect spot. Well . . . If a clearing of grass, twigs and pebbles could be considered perfect.

You set down your backpack and began to take out your tarp and sleeping bag. Most people like to camp in big fancy tents and blow-up air mattresses, but that can only be done if you have the money to buy those things and some way to carry them. It didn't bother you too much, backpacking was more freeing in a way. Being closer to nature was a win in your book, or at least that's what you always seemed to remind yourself repeatedly when trying to sleep on the cold hard ground each time.

Having the indent of a rock in your ass in the morning seemed way better than having to listen to your next-door neighbor loudly having sex with his girlfriend behind your bedroom wall. It's not that you minded, I mean hey good for him, but it kept you up all night and made you delirious during the day. It was embarrassing enough to be seen in public without makeup on the weekends, but especially when you were too tired to remember to bring your wallet to pay for your groceries.

A firefly landing on your knee broke your train of thought.

"Hello beautiful." You grinned as the firefly crawled down your leg.

A very simple and warm reminder that you were never alone. Once it flew away you got started on building a fire and making a quick meal before bed. You took out a pack of hotdogs that you'd been trying to get rid of for the last few weeks and cooked a few.

"No ketchup and no buns . . .yum."

You silently ate as quickly as you could so you could stargaze before attempting to sleep. If there is one thing in the world you've always loved most it's the way the night sky glimmers and shines.

Sleep came quickly after your admiration of the stars but proved to be brief when the boom of a thunder cloud awoke you. Startled, you jumped up and rushed to pack any loose items into your backpack. The tarp you had hanging over your sleeping bag was not nearly adequate enough against this storm, so you packed it quickly and ran in search of a cave nearby.

Completely drenched, you managed to find a cave to duck into and maybe set up camp in if the storm refused to dissipate quickly. As you stumbled in the darkness to find a place to set down your backpack, you barely felt the pebble under your foot as you took a step and slipped. To your absolute horror, you were suddenly falling, and it felt endless.

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You woke up atop a pile of leaves feeling as if every inch of your skin was a single bruise. You quickly got up and regretted it instantly.

Your head was thumping, and your vision was blurred and starry.

“Oh fuck I must have hit my head when I fell.”

Wait . . how am I still alive after that fall??

You panicked and searched for any sign you had broken a limb or injured yourself in any dramatic way, but you found nothing significant. Just some small cuts on your legs and scattered bruises. You were thankful to feel your backpack was still on your shoulders. You assumed your backpack helped break your fall and you were suddenly much more thankful to always be carrying so many things.

You realized suddenly that you were standing in what seemed to be ruins of some kind.

“How could these pillars have gotten here?”

Moving towards what seemed to be either an exit or an entrance, you decided to take a chance.

It wasn’t like you had any choice.

Chapter Text

Stepping on the overgrown dying grass, you made your way towards the path. You came upon a grand archway. Not that you’d consider it to be grand now. The cracks and broken pieces on the ground indicated no one had cared for it in quite some time. Walking through it, you found a room similar to the one you had fallen into. In the center of the room, surrounded by ash, was a small golden flower, and it was beautiful, so you went up to sniff the petals. It smelled . . . sad? You weren’t sure how something could smell like an emotion, but it felt strangely right.

You cautiously crept to reach yet another doorway. You had a feeling that you would have to walk through a lot of them. These rooms were like copies with slight variations. A set of old marble staircases surrounded by decaying leaves greeted you. As you slowly ascended and peered through to the next room, you noticed a rusted metal sign.
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“Only the fearless may proceed.”

That was quite a chilling statement to read, considering you had no choice but to continue on.

The faded purple of the ground and walls were a bit off-putting. The silver buttons sunken into the ground and the lever on the wall struck you as odd. You carried on past them and into a room that was much larger than the rest. The running water underneath the rotting bridges was long past its prime, mucky and filled with dead leaves.

Carefully crossing over the first bridge another lever came into view, but it wasn’t what caught your eye.

Carved into the brick around the lever was “DON’T TOUCH '' and “Be Quick! She’s always nearby.”

A pit grew in your stomach. Something was starting to feel very off about all of this. You continued on doing your best to ignore the scratches etched into the wall.

There's no use in upsetting myself, I might need that adrenaline rush later.

Stepping carefully over a set of grates you came across a battered training dummy. You gave it a gentle pat on the head, the poor thing seemed to have been through so much. Stuffing flew everywhere as the fabric finally gave out. It seems your touch was the last thing the dummy could handle. You felt kind of guilty but walked on, it was just a training dummy after all.

The next room was completely empty which was odd compared to the previous rooms. You decided to keep heading towards some kind of exit.

“There has to be an end soon.” you said.

There was another metal sign, but it was covered in grime and unreadable. You used the cuff of your hoodie to try and wipe off some of the dirt. Underneath the mess, the sign read, "The western room is the eastern room’s blueprint.” That didn’t make any sense, the previous room was empty. Checking again for any signs of a map, you noticed the floor. There was something beneath the leaves, a change in color. You brushed your sneakers across the ground to clear the leaves away, and laid eyes on what looked to be a path of some kind. You quickly walked back to where the sign was and decided to check the next room to figure out how to proceed. You were met with a platform of spikes overtop of more murky water.

Metal spikes?? No thanks.

You looked to see if you could find a way around them but decided against getting into the water. It seemed like a bad idea to risk getting your clothes and backpack wet, especially in such unfamiliar territory. You remembered the path in the last room and decided to try and memorize it. Fumbling for your phone to take a picture you cursed yourself internally.

“Fuck I must have dropped it somewhere when I fell.”

You whispered. “I guess walking the path over and over will have to do the trick if I wanna get through this unharmed.”

After three tries you mustered all the courage you held in your body to try and go over the spikes.

You walked very slowly and carefully, knowing that one wrong move would mean impaling your foot. You really didn’t feel like finding out what your blood looks like all over and inside your shoes. Just the idea of being pierced made all the nerves in your body tingle and you involuntarily shivered. Slowly but surely, you managed to make it across the platform.

The next room felt endless.

Were you ever going to get through these dreary ruins?

The end of the hallway was so far that the doorway seemed ant-sized. Deeply unsettled by being out in the open for so long you began speed walking and started into a run halfway through the room. You slowed when you noticed a lone pillar, cracked and crumbling. You had a sinking feeling that something had to be hiding behind it. You slowly crept past it, never taking your eyes off of the pillar, not even blinking. If you could just make your way past without making a sound, maybe whatever was there wouldn’t notice you.

Unless it already knows I'm here.

The thought was too much to handle so you immediately dismissed it.

If something, or someone knew I was here, they would’ve gotten to me by now.

That calmed you slightly but that calmness left your system immediately when you accidentally stepped on some leaves. The sound of the crunch rang throughout the hollow room and you froze.

Something is MOVING.

A maternal voice moved from behind the pillar towards you. “Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pil-”. The feminine tone of her voice set your nerves a bit. She fell silent as she stepped into view and your jaw dropped.

She’s a giant GOAT??

You weren’t religious but having grown up in church you were wary of this speaking goat. You locked eyes with her and she seemed flustered, as if she had expected you to be someone else.

“Oh! How strange, it seems that you aren’t the child I was waiting for. Apologies for sneaking up on you my dear, I am Toriel, Caretaker of The Ruins.” She said cheerfully

“Oh um, nice to meet you Toriel.” You said quickly, hoping she wouldn’t be able to hear the shake of fear in your voice.

Caretaker? This place is a mess, what could she possibly be doing?

“The pleasure is all mine, my child!” She looked you over, and you felt the hair on the back of your neck stand up and your body tense.

Something about her feels wrong.

You weren’t sure what it was that felt off about her, aside from her being some kind of giant humanoid goat. She began to move a bit closer so you held in the urge to step back, and feigned a small smile instead.

“It is getting quite late and you look ever so tired small one, perhaps you would like an escort to my home at the end of the ruins.” she beamed.

Something about her presence made it seem like a bad idea to disagree with her.

“That’s very kind of you Toriel, thank you.” You said, stretching your pseudo-smile a bit. The goat woman grinned from ear to ear. Her once sharp teeth cracked and dulled into a friendlier shape.

Did she file her teeth to appear less threatening?

“Honestly it’s nothing, I couldn’t bear to leave a young thing like you out in this condition.” she cooed, “You simply must come with me.” You didn’t have a choice.

Walking slowly towards the dilapidated home you couldn’t shake the dread that was forming a pit in your stomach. This woman felt dangerous and you sure as hell wouldn’t be sticking around long if you could help it. This whole place felt like some sort of complex trap with her home as the endgame.

No, words with ‘end’ are not what I need to be thinking about right now. I’m going to find a way to get as far away from this off-putting woman as soon as I can.

“Here we are dear! Welcome to my humble home.”

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Sour floorboards creaked and groaned beneath you as if begging to be put out of their misery and replaced. Once cheerful wallpaper was now yellowed and peeling down. Sagging and torn furniture rested in her living room. Dust coated almost everything except her dated kitchen that was somehow sparkling clean. You noticed a bit of fur clogging the drain but figured Toriel couldn’t avoid it. Although it still felt odd that she seemed to only take care of one aspect of the entire ruins.

Why not her entire home? It didn’t seem very big so far.

“Oh dear I wasn’t expecting company anytime soon, I hope you’ll excuse the mess.”

If she knows it's a mess, why would she let it get to this state?

“Oh it's really no problem, I wasn’t expecting to be here either.” You halfheartedly chuckled

But Toriel remained silent with that eerie smile on her maw lips. You tried to hold in a shiver but you felt her eyes as she noticed.

“My child, you must be so cold! It does take a bit to get used to the chill of the underground.”

Oh fuck I’m really underground. How the hell will I get out of here??

“Here, let me show you to the guest room. I think there may be something you can use to warm up in the wardrobe.” She began walking and turned back to you “Right this way my dear.”

Reluctantly you slowly followed her into unknown territory. You really hoped this wasn’t some kind of scheme to get you cornered within her home. As you reached the door you noticed the door knob was loose from the door, as if it had been jerked repeatedly. You swallowed nervously in anticipation as the door creaked open. A small child’s room met your eyes.

I thought she said this was a guest room, but it clearly belongs to a kid.

She briskly walked inside and over to a large wooden wardrobe. Opening it and riffling through its contents so quietly muttered to herself. You couldn’t help but notice that the clothes were all in various sizes and conditions. A small faded T-shirt with 1987’ printed on it caught your eye first. Then you noticed a toddler sized pink frilly dress that looked damn near brand new. As she continued her search for something big enough to fit you, all you could think about was why on earth she had all these clothes. You turned to observe the contents of the room and noticed a crate filled with children's shoes of various sizes. Your confusion turned to dread as you felt something sinister had to be afoot.

“Ah! Here we are dear! I found you a lovely sweater amongst this old rubbish.” She proudly lifted the sage green sweater with an unidentifiable stain on the sleeve. It looked like it just might fit you, so you carefully took it from her paws.

“Do you have a bathroom?” You realized quickly that your choice of phrasing was in poor taste but she didn’t seem to mind your unspoken second question.

“At the end of the hall my child, but do let me know before you use it. The lock is broken.”

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Stepping into the bathroom, you felt a sting of humiliation. You typically hadn’t had to announce you were using the restroom since childhood. You would wait until your breaks at work, and you never had to say anything to your friends, probably due to the lack of many personal relationships. You tended to keep to yourself, but not because you didn’t like people. Your social unease got in the way of everything. 

Closing the door, you immediately recognized that Toriels’ phrasing had been misleading. There couldn’t be a broken lock as the doorknob was entirely smooth. 

Maybe she doesn’t have a lock because she doesn’t want to be kept out lives alone.

You looked down at the green sweater and attempted to identify the stain. It was a sort of brownish-orange that didn’t quite look like blood or vomit, but also didn’t seem like any condiment stain that you’d ever tried to scrub out of a shirt. A sigh of minor defeat escaped your lips as you exhaled.

I guess I should go ahead and change into this mysterious sweater. Toriel could realize I was bluffing earlier if I leave this bathroom without it on. 

With a hint of fear at the answer, you mumbled, “I wonder who you once belonged to.” 

As you slipped it over your head, you recognized the faint scent of the cucumber melon body spray you had once applied religiously in middle school. Whoever this belonged to either shared the same juvenile appreciation for the perfume and continued to use it into adulthood, or this belonged to a tween. Both options concerned you deeply.  

You turned in the mirror and evaluated your appearance, trying to ignore the stain. 

Damn, I look pretty good in this. I really love this shade of green.

After a few moments of admiring the sweater, you decide you’ve been in the bathroom long enough. If you were here for too long Toriel may become concerned and check on you. You’d prefer to not face the reality of the door being lock-less. 

As you turn off the light and begin to walk down the hall a warm and somehow familiar scent wafts toward you. Immediately it hit you, it was your favorite dessert. You were smelling pie. Making your way to the living room you noticed in your peripheral vision that it was becoming darker outside. 

That’s odd. Why would the lighting change that way if we’re deep underground?  

An overly loud crackling and popping sound snapped your attention. Your paranoia was unjustified as your eyes met the fireplace. The fire was curling and waving as if performing a ballet whilst consuming everything in its path mercilessly. Being an avid camper you had sat in front of many fires, but never one as seemingly aggressive as this. You decided to shift your focus to the giant goat woman baking in the kitchen. 

“Hey Toriel, that smells divine, what are you making in there?”

“Oh! That was awfully fast my child. I was hoping the pie would be ready before you returned.”

“My my! That color looks lovely on you, it compliments your hair color very nicely.”

“That’s very kind of you to say Toriel, wait- were you making that pie before I arrived?”

 I can't imagine how you could’ve made it so quickly otherwise .

“Oh heavens no my child, it's only been a matter of minutes.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get any sort of baked goods into the oven so quickly, that is very impressive.”

“I have my magic to thank for that! Now if you please, take a seat. I’ve recently been re-reading a fact book on snails that I believe you would find interesting.”

Toriel ushers you to sit on a cushion next to her chair, which feels demeaning, but you chose to ignore it. 

“Did you know that snails can be carnivorous? Such seemingly docile creatures. . .”

“Wow, that- I did not know that. That is actually hard to believe.”

“I assure you that it is true, would you like to see the included photograph?”

“N- No! That won’t be necessary, thank you.”

Don’t insult the goat, don't insult the goat, don’t insult the goat.

Toriel looked at you with the slightest touch of annoyance and the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. She slammed the book shut and stood up. 

“Very well my child, allow me to check on the pie.”

As Toriel walked into the kitchen you attempted to calm yourself. This woman was making you a dessert, your favorite dessert even. You had no real reason to be put so on edge by her. It was rude of you to act so jumpily around her. You mentally chastised yourself for being such an unappreciative guest, clearly, she was just doing her best. But even so, your goosebumps remained. As you were swept more deeply into thought you hadn’t realized that Toriel had already returned, pie in hand paw.

“Are you alright young one?”

“Toriel! Yes, I’m perfectly fine, thank you. I was just staring into space.” You gave her a small smile and chuckle to placate her from worry. 

“The pie is finished! Come sit with me and I’ll cut it for you.”

“That is very kind of you Toriel, I appreciate it.” 

You stood up and walked quickly towards a chair at her table, but as you approached it you noticed the wood was rotted and you would surely break it. You walked to another chair and tested it out instead. Having successfully sat down, you smiled up at Toriel. It wasn’t often anymore that you received homemade pie. Your mother stopped baking for you as soon as you turned 18, and your job was so demanding that you hadn’t had time for baking in over a year.

But your smile diminished a bit when you got a hint of lemon when she cut into the pie. You had always added lemon juice when you were trying to cover up adding too much of something bitter.

What is in this pie?

As she placed a rather large slice on your plate, and a very small slice on hers, your suspicions were damn near confirmed. A being of her size could never be satisfied by that little food. Whatever was in this needed to exit your body as quickly as possible. You thanked her graciously and began very quickly eating the slice she gave you.

“My my, It seems that someone was hungry.” she giggled to herself.

You didn’t like it one bit. You felt your stomach turn.

“I really was. Could you excuse me? I need to use the restroom.”

Toriel simply closed her eyes and nodded. Seeing this you got up as fast as you possibly could without gaining suspicion from her. Walking towards that bathroom door you could feel how wrong the pie was throughout your entire body. You needed to vomit and fast. You swung the door open and shut it quickly behind you and ran to the oversized toilet.

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Hey everyone, I know I left you on quite the cliffhanger. I want to apologize for my absence. I just got out of the psych ward and am picking up the pieces of everything that led up to me being there, and taking some time to work on myself. I fully intend to continue writing this story, but it may be a long ride. I can't promise consistency as my life is not consistent at all right now. Thank you for your patience, I hope to have to next chapter out within the next month.