Slice of backstory
They fell down a hole like Alice when they were a kid, and entered a whole new world of magic and mayhem. It was a surprise to find that the Monsters were just as human as they were, more so really.
Monsters were made of love and compassion…Chara not so much.
They’d fallen in the dead of night and woken to some tall (compared to them at any rate) skinny goat boy just looking at them, wide eyed somewhere between awe and fear. The moment their eyes met his, they stared at one another unmoving. Their head was swimming - possibly because they had hit it - and they weren’t exactly sure what they were looking at, it all felt like a dream…
But as the seconds went on they noticed the soft tremble of him as they simply stared at one another and they coughed out a strained ‘boo’.
He jumped, flinched, scrambled back, and let out a startled sound that sounded exactly like what you’d expect out of a goat like creature. Chara started laughing, a wheezing sound, and rolled over to begin the arduous journey to their feet. They managed to get to their knees before the nausea became too overwhelming.
As they took slow steadying breaths a figure moved out of the corner of their eye. That boy – thing. “And what exactly…” Inhale. Exhale. “Do you think you’re doing?”
Despite their acerbic tone he kept edging closer. Tentatively he put his arm around their waist and his shoulder under theirs. “You’re hurt. You need help.” Ignoring the spinning in their head and their rolling stomach, they grit their teeth and pulled sharply away from him to their feet.
“No I don’t. I don’t need anyone.” The room tilted unsteadily around them, but they were upright and their dinner remained where it was supposed to be. The boy crouched before them looked confused for a moment, before relief flooded his features.
He stood with a tentative smile. “Oh! You must be a boss monster then.” His posture said he was no longer afraid of them and for the life of them Chara couldn’t figure out what was going on. The room was beginning to stop circling and they tried to get a better look at him.
Small horns looking somewhat unfinished and covered in soft white fur like the rest of him, long ears, a snout that was somehow arranged to make speaking like a normal person possible, and his odd red eyes… Monster was one word for the goat boy, though they’d dub him the anthropomorphic goat plushy. After some consideration - and the room settling a bit more firmly around them - Chara decided to go along with it. If he was a hallucination it wouldn’t make much difference, and if he wasn’t…
Well, he’d looked awfully happy to discover they were a ‘monster’. They risked looking around the cave they were in. Dark, but moonlight filtered down from the crevice they’d fallen from. “Yeah…Monster is one word for it.” They took careful step forward, swayed, and glared at the boy as he made a movement to catch them. Chara refused to take help.
They didn’t need it. They’d grit their teeth and get through this.
As they made their slow way, pausing whenever a wave of pain or nausea hit them, the boy kept pace with them and rambled on harmlessly. About how his name was Asriel, that he wasn’t actually supposed to be in the ruins since they were considered unsafe, but he’d snuck way from his babysitter – and anyways he was too old to have a babysitter right? – and while on one hand they really didn’t care, at least it gave them something to focus on other than their aching body, and that sick feeling that was probably a concussion.
Chara did have to admit he was actually useful to have around. The ruins were littered with traps that, while not overly challenging, would have been a real drain to figure out on their own when just moving forward was taking all their energy. But Asriel ran ahead of them, chatting amiably and shooting them worried looks whenever they paused. When they finally reached a house he perked up considerably, as they were almost there.
Where ‘there’ was they wasn’t quite sure, but followed tensely behind him. They’d stumbled across other creatures, that while not exactly like the goat boy, were enough to convince them that maybe there were monsters under the mountain. Luckily he proved useful again, hardly stopping to talk as they were in a hurry, and the ‘froggits’ and ‘whimsuns’ seemed to take him seriously.
In the house they went down some stairs, then down a long hallway, and as much as they didn’t want to admit it, had Asriel not been there, Chara wouldn’t have made it this far on their own.
About halfway down it, the purple on purple walls and floor and the flickering of the torches sent their head into more confusion and they was just so tired. When he offered his arm again they didn’t refuse it, just gripped his fuzzy limb like a life line and kept trudging.
Finally they came to a huge door that swung open before them automatically, and slammed shut behind them with a foreboding sense of finality.
Everything was covered in snow.
There were trees and bushes, and a proper clear lane. Confused they looked up, but while there was a bright light in the sky, there was also an obvious stone roof. “Almost there.” Asriel offered as he pulled forward. They hoped so.
Chara’s steps were unsteady, and the goat boys bare feet padded alongside them softly, but every now and there they heard the scrape of shuffled walking behind them. Adrenaline shot through them and they pulled to a stop.
Asriel looked at them but they put a hand to his mouth causing him to shut it immediately and blush. They turned, reaching into their pocket for their knife. There wasn’t anything there, but their heart still thudded in their chest. It increased the sick feelings, but also helped them push their way past them. Asriel tried to step around them, see what they was looking for, but they threw out an arm to keep him behind them.
They did need him, and he couldn’t even tell they were a threat.
From behind them came an eerie voice, deep and chilly like the air around them. “that’s no way to greet a new friend.” They whirled around and would have fallen had Asriel not caught them. The world spun and their stomach heaved, but they refused to give into weakness. Chara glared at the figure before them, a skeleton that was at least a head shorter than them.
They stared at one another and Asriel held them up and began explaining about how they were a boss monster that he’d met while playing hide and go seek with someone named Papyrus, and really the boy seemed to never stop rambling.
Not that they really should be complaining. His voice was soothing and gave them something to rebuild their equilibrium around. Finally they righted themself, and Asriel let them go without needing to be told.
The skeleton’s face was stretched into a grin, understandable having no lips they supposed, but his eyes were focused on them in a way they didn’t like.
“a boss monster huh? how humerus.” Their companion let out a chuckle at the pun, but Chara was positive he knew. Which made him dangerous. One hand wrapped around the knife in their pocket and the other around the arm of Asriel.
He looked so pleased, was even blushing. He was some kind of oblivious. Tension hung in the air. “goat to tell ya, your friend there looks like she needs to chill a bit.”
Asriel nodded, suddenly very serious. “I think she’s going to fall down soon. I’m going to take her to Mother. She’ll know what to do.” As if on cue Chara swayed.
The adrenaline had faded and they felt even worse than they had to begin with. Their vision swam and went spotty, and there was a rushing sound in their ears. Asriel grabbed their shoulders and held them up as their hands had lost all ability to grip. “Hey. Stay with me. Come on.”
They were going to pass out. That wasn’t good. Head injuries and sleep weren’t supposed to go together. The skeleton’s voice cut through the rushing noise surprisingly well. “well kid, don’t look now, but I think she’s falling for you.” Anger. Anger was their rock. They were always angry and this guy just rubbed them the wrong way.
“I’m dying numbskull.” They managed to spit out, latching their hands into the soft sweater of the body before them. Asriel was looking pretty pale, even taking into account his white fur. They were moving, they were being half dragged along, there was warmth around them, and an irritatingly smug face in front of them whenever they managed to focus their eyes.
“heh good one. hey why did the skeleton cross the road?” There was an expectant pause, and from somewhere above them they heard a strained laugh.
“Why Sans?” Came the indulgent question. They were dying and these two fools were making jokes.
“to get to the other side.” They let out a groan as the ground beneath them became unstable and their nausea increased tenfold. At the way the world seemed to flow around them or at the pun they weren’t sure which.
“I hate you.” They managed to ground out. They had pretty much hated everyone in their life, but right now they couldn’t put a face to anyone they hated more than this… this smiling bodybag in front of them.
Asriel made a sound of protest but Sans just laughed. “Don’t worry kid. She’s not getting under my skin.”
Things got even harder to focus on after that. It was hot, then the floor fell out from under them, there was a droning noise, alternating flashes of light, all of it made them want to be sick and pass out. But every time they came close one of the two jokers with them would say a stupid pun at them and they’d grit their teeth just long enough to say something pithy.
Forget determination – they were surviving out of pure spite.
“Oh my child, who is that?” That was a voice they didn’t recognize, a woman’s. There were indistinct sounds of worry from Asriel, and then they finally faded out.