What it Means to Persevere

Grillby's Rock Bottom

Grillby moved on as Gaster had. He greatly missed his mate and his child, but if Wingdings said they would meet again, they would. While destiny seemed to draw his beloved to the mysterious wall in the woods, Grillby decided that it was time he went home, too. He was older now, wiser. Stronger. His parents couldn't hurt him without him hurting them back. Besides, he wanted to see Rocksha again. He hoped that the Earth Elemental, who had been the first to give him kindness and a job, was faring well in this changing world of theirs. He wondered how Rock Bottom was doing now that humans and monsters were segregating from each other. Was Rock Bottom even still open? There was only one way to find out. Weather always made travel difficult, but Grillby's fear of water was minimal, and getting himself the gear necessary for a rainy day was do able. Grillby was reminded of those early days into his relationship with Wingdings, when that stubborn skeleton forced him to walk through water in order to be rid of his phobia. Honestly, he couldn't have been happier to be made to do something... because the memories now were worth it.

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It was a cool, clear day from the rainy weather Grillby had been doing some travel in. Anxiety had kept him mostly at Inns within each village he passed through for rest and a break from the danger. Wingdings and Amiri hadn't strayed from his mind. He still missed them and wondered how they were faring on their own journey. He imagined that Amiri was intrigued by every sight and sound, and Wingdings, being the scientist he was, told her every little detail about it even though she was just a little baby. It filled the silence, though, so why not? Grillby wished he was with him, but there was something inside him that knew he could not. Wherever Wingdings and Amiri were going, he wasn't welcome. Unfortunate, but at least Grillby had this backup plan on where to go until they met again. Speaking of... Grillby looked at the break in the road, the name of his hometown scratched out with a knife and painted 'DANGER: MONSTER LAND' in red. Grillby sighed softly and turned onto the road. What better place for a monster than in Monster Land?

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The streets were quiet when Grillby came in. At first, he feared it was empty. Upon seeing some monster in their garden, though, he thought differently. It was around that time when people would be inside eating, which he felt was encouraging for Rock Bottom. It would be full of people! Grillby rushed himself to the bar he had found his voice in... to see it in shambles. Most of the lettering was gone, leaving it to be 'RO      T   ' instead. The doors were boarded up, the windows broken. Upon inquiring about it with the locals, Grillby learned that when the troubles with the humans and monsters began, a fight had broke out in the bar and Rocksha had thrown out everyone involved. Bitter and angry, the human told others and a mob of humans broke in and tore the bar apart. Rocksha had tried to talk them down at first, but a mage had been among their ranks. She had to fight for her life and ended up getting arrested for using magic against 'defenseless' humans. She had been sentenced to execution. Most of the monsters stayed inside to avoid trouble from the humans, even if humans mostly avoided the place now.

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Grillby knew the fear they were feeling in this town and it was that fear that inspired him to start rebuilding the Rock Bottom back to the way it was, from the inside out. As far as he was concerned, the Rock Bottom was his now and he would pay any kind of money to keep it. None of the furniture was actually broken, only tipped over and dirty. The alcohol and food was gone, but Grillby could replace that like he replaced the windows. He painted the words back onto the building and prepared for the lull. People wouldn't come right away. They were scared, uneasy. It would take time for their curiosity to win them over so they could come in and find solace in the warm and inviting atmosphere that Rock Bottom, no, that Grillby himself brought. This was the dream he always wanted and he would continue to run the Rock Bottom Bar until the war started 14 years later and he became a Captain. Now, though, he turned on the radio to let his customers know that he was ready for business and he waited for them to wander in.

Prequels, am I right? Kidding. So this was a fun little thing, digging into the memories of one of the best ships of all time (in my opinion). Now I only have to finish the sequel (Lost and Found) and the Skeleton Homeland Series will be complete! Shout out to Haru_Writes_0 who is just really awesome. They have a lot of amazing books if you wanna go check those out. We also have a joint account Kyru_Joint where I am working on some rewrites for some of my older books along with cowriting with characters you may recognize, like Trepidation from Human of Snowdin. Have a great morning/afternoon/night!

-Kyran