#i dunno but ill use thhis for now

[shuuos]

amber and buttercups

UH SO I AM WRITING AN ACTUAL FIC WROW

i didnt know ao3 had a waiting list to get an account??? so ill post this there..... eventually. for now it’s gonna b right here tho so that’s........ neat...... ill try to post new chapters every friday but given that i am Not the Fastest Writer Ever i’ll probably b off schedule for the first few chapters until i get the hang of this!! anyways, enjoy this sparsely edited first chapter that was supposed 2 be longer buuuut i decided to save the rest for chapter 2

the undertangled au belongs to @izadreamer​ !!!

update: it’s on ao3 now!! if you’d rather read it there ;)

chapter 1 - once upon a time

Frisk

In their short life, Frisk would say that they’ve been through… a lot of weird stuff. Honestly, there’s nothing that can surprise them at this point.

Or that’s what they thought. Turns out the universe loves proving them wrong.

They have no idea where they are, except that it is dark. *The void? Chara suggests calmly. The thought makes their blood run cold. They know what happened to Gaster - will it happen to them, too? Can humans even be erased, the way monsters can?

Chara doesn’t seem to notice their fear, though, *How did we get here? I do not remember falling into the CORE.

“*That - that’s not funny.” A bad taste rises in their throat, and they swallow it down. Void or not, they don’t want to throw up here. Just the thought makes their heart pound. *I am sorry. Chara says, but they say it in that voice they use when they’re not really sorry, but feel like they need to say it anyways. Frisk doesn’t call them out on it, though. They probably didn’t mean to scare them - they’re friends, after all.

Instead of answering, they stand up. Their legs feel weird, like they’ve been sitting too long. *Somehow, it seems there is a solid surface underneath you. Try walking forward. They carefully do so, relaxing a bit each step. It’s comforting, the thought that they’re not going to fall. “*I’m gonna look for a way out,” Frisk tells Chara.

It’s hard, though, when everything is black. They’re doing less looking and more flailing their arms around wildly. From inside their head, they can hear Chara laughing at them. Better at them than their scary jokes, though. So they go on in what they hope is the right direction (because they don’t know what they’ll do if it isn’t.)

Chara stops talking after a while, like they’re thinking of something. Frisk pretends not to notice. It’s a bit too quiet without their chatter, though, and it scares them a bit. They wind up the music box in their locket, and listen to the song. It makes them want to cry, but better that than going crazy from how quiet it is.

*Frisk… Chara says suddenly. Frisk doesn’t like the way their voice sounds, but it’s not enough to stop them from walking. *Frisk, they say again, sounding even more worried now. They still don’t stop walking, because they want to get out of here right now.

*Frisk, there is no-!

Instead of ground, they step right into - a hole? Off a cliff? They can’t really tell. But that’s not important because they’re slipping and they can’t catch themselves, can’t keep themselves from falling. Again.

There’s nothing they can do now except for wait to hit the ground. Is there even any ground in the void? Or are they going to keep falling until they die? Would they be able to die here?

Falling in the void is strange - it feels less like falling and more like they’re floating. Like the girl from that movie Alphys likes, the one about a floating kingdom. It’s not a good comparison, though, because they’d love to be in that movie and they hate being here.

*...is that a light? Frisk can’t see it, but they feel it burning them up. Then they see it. It’s bright, brighter than the sun, and it’s growing. It eats up the darkness until they can’t see anything but white.

And eventually, that fades, too.

Varian

Varian is hauling equipment to his lab when the sky bursts into light.

It blinds him and leaves his head pounding, as if someone is hammering a nail into his skull. By the time it’s over, he’s gasping for air, hoping it’ll be enough to ward off the nausea.

Above him, there is a small silhouette, stark against the bright blue sky. At first, he thinks it’s a meteor, but as it descends, he can make out hair and clothes and oh god that’s a person. He watches as they crash into the trees and land with a dull thud.

And just like that, the trance is over. Everything processes at once - therewasalightandthenacometpersontheyfelltheyfell - and he’s not sure what to do now. The scientific part of him is screaming to look, because whatever that was, it definitely wasn’t natural. As if that wasn’t incentive enough, there’s a tugging sensation in his stomach, like something’s pulling him towards them. Weird.

Ruddiger jumps on his shoulder, shooting him an apprehensive look. Varian gives him a quick pat and mutters, “It’s ok, buddy, this’ll only a minute.” He’ll go in, see who it is, and then go get help if they need it. And they’re going to need it, because scientifically speaking, they’d at least have a few broken bones, if they’re lucky.

Bile rises in his throat as he realizes they could be dying. Could be dead.

Nope, nope, he is not going to think about that. He’s just going to focus on seeing what happened right now, that’s all. He can worry about that later. Besides, he can’t deny that he isn’t curious, and what kind of scientist would ever deny his own curiosity?

Not him, that’s for sure, he thinks to himself as he follows his gut into the tree grove.

The first thing Varian notices is the blood. There’s not that much - just near their head, but it’s still enough to make him feel woozy. Ruddiger digs his claws into his shoulder, reminding him what he’s here for, and he takes a deep breath. He doesn’t recognize their strange clothes. Must not be from here, he thinks. They’re small, too; just going off of their height, he’d say they’re about half his age.

Between their arms, something flashes bright gold, catching his eye as he stumbles back a bit from the sheer amount of blood.

He has to get his dad, a doctor, anyone. He can’t - he wasn’t expecting so much blood. He‘s prepared to run when a sudden cold overtakes his wrist, as if someone with icy hands was grabbing him. *The bleeding is superficial, a voice whispers in his head, leaving will only make it worse.

But they need help-

*Then help them! You cannot let anyone else know that we are here!

Varian can’t tell if they are his thoughts or not, but he finds himself being pulled towards the child nonetheless. Ruddiger hops off and scampers to their side. He bats at their head, and they shift slight in response. He watches with baited breath as they lift themselves up, limbs shaking. After a moment of struggling, they somehow manage to get into a sitting position, tucking their legs underneath them.

How-? A glimmer of pride, one that is not his own, rises up in him, and the icy grip holding on to him vanishes. At that moment, the child turns their unfocused eyes on him - well, in his direction. They blink once, twice, and slur in a strange accent, “*…Kara?”

Their face is bloodstained in a way that makes his stomach churn, so he tries to focus on their eyes, which are glowing even redder than the apples he feeds Ruddiger sometimes. Huh. That’s… weird.

For a moment, the two just stare at each other, though Varian can’t really tell if they’re looking at him or in his general direction. Then, for some reason, they reach for him with outstretched arms. They kind of look like Ruddiger when he wants to be held - wait.

“You… you want me to carry you?” The thought is foreign, absurd, and he’s pretty sure moving them is a bad idea, but they don’t really give him a choice. Ignoring his protests, they lean forward and slump against him. Blood sluggishly leaks from them all the while, staining his clothes.

What’s he supposed to do now? He’s not some kind enough of… childcare expert! He’s the opposite of a childcare expert-!

*Oh my god, just carry them! the voice snaps. He readily obeys, slipping an arm under their legs and lifting them up. They only feel about as heavy as Ruddiger, much to his surprise (are kids supposed to be this light?). As if summoned by his thoughts, the raccoon chirps, holding a broken locket in his hands.

A deep sadness resonates within him, and Varian is startled by it. He’s never seen the thing before, why is he so upset at the sight of it?

Regardless, he allows Ruddiger to store it in the apron pocket, and picks up the broken pieces. From what he can tell, it’s not the actual locket that’s broken, but a music box inside of it. He is relieved; machinery isn’t difficult to fix, as long as you have all the right pieces.

Ruddiger hops on his shoulder and he stands up, his legs only slightly cramped. After a moment, he decides to head directly to his lab rather than try to pull a cart while carrying a child and Ruddiger. He’ll come back for it later; there’s no reason for anyone to try and steal the materials.

. . .

The voice was right, Varian thinks idly as he wraps thick bandages around the unconscious child. Other than the gash on their head and a few cuts on their hands, they’re completely fine. It’s more like they happened to stumble in a particularly rocky area than fell from the sky.

They passed out sometime while he was carrying them, which he only figured out when he laid them down on the table. God, he immediately assumed the worst with how limp they were then.  He just hopes they don’t fall off somehow.

Whatever he had been hearing back there, and he knows he heard something, has gone silent. Quite frankly, he’s relieved. It was really starting to stress him out.

“Ruddiger!” Varian calls as he stumbles to his work-desk. “Tell me… when they wake up, ok?”

With a sigh, he slumps over the scattered papers in a dead faint.

Chara

Chara watches with amusement. The human boy seemed to be aghast at the sight of blood, but they did not realize to this extent. The raccoon - Ruddiger? - stays seated next to Frisk, watching the boy anxiously.

*It is alright, Chara tells it gently, you can go with him. “Ruddiger” stares at them instead. They blink, and remember that their locket is still in the boy’s possession.

They do not feel comfortable with Frisk knowing it is broken, and they say softly, *Actually, could you help me wake him up?