Running

Seperation

"Hey kiddo, time to g- oh, jeez Frisk. Did you sleep at all?"

Frisk turned their head to Sans slowly, clear bags under their eyes. "I think you slept better than me..." They mumbled. They didn't mean to come across irritable, but lack of sleep was weakening their kindness filter.

"Normally I'd say otherwise.. Not this time." Sans frowned, scratching the back of his skull. "You gonna be okay to go today, Frisk? It wouldn't be hard to convince Tori to let you stay home."

"N-No..." Frisk tried to get out of bed, but they end up rolling out, face planting into the carpet. ".....math test..." They muttered to Sans. The skeleton held back a laugh, helping the exhausted child up. "Alright, embodiment of determination. I'm dropping you off on the way to work today since Tori had to leave early for a meeting. Just meet me downstairs when you're ready."

Frisk took a few moments to register that Sans had left the room before shuffling their way to their wardrobe. Through unopened, sleep encrusted eyes, they somehow managed to get dressed into a pair of overalls over a red and yellow striped shirt. They grabbed their violet school bag, slumping it over their shoulder before walking face first into the wall beside their door. They moaned, rubbing their face before exiting the room and making a right to the stairs.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed joyfully at the sight of them, scaring the living daylights out of Frisk as they fell forward from the stairs. The tall skeleton reached his arms out, catching the fallen human. "WELL, THAT'S ONE WAY TO DO IT!"

"Thanks Papyrus." Frisk laughed as they were gently set down. Papyrus held up a darker purple duffle bag. "I MADE YOU SPAGHETTI FOR LUNCH! IT'S IN THE TUPPERWARE NEXT TO YOUR TUTU AND BALLET SHOES!"

"Thanks Papyrus." Frisk smiled warmly, trying their best to hide their disappointment upon remembering there was a ballet practice after school that day. The instructor was strict, practices were long, and sleep was already trying to kidnap them.

Sans walked in from the kitchen to their right, adjusting his tie. He was dressed in a black suit, dress shirt untucked and tie hanging loosely. It was enough to present his character; lazy as can be, but a hard worker nonetheless. He grabbed  his umbrella, tossing Frisk theirs, whom barely caught it. "I heard it's gonna rain. Outta be prepared."

"Y-Yeah, thanks." They hugged Papyrus farewell and scurried out the door after Sans.

"HAVE A GOOD DAY AT SCHOOL HUMAN!"

Frisk was surprised to turn from shutting the door to Sans, hand extended out to them. "Come on, I know a shortcut." He said with a smirk. Frisk smiled. "You and your shortcuts."

They took his hand, a bright blue glow consuming them, before they vanished from the lawn.

Just circle C.

Frisk shook their head. 'No, C can't be it, dividing three numbers is not gonna give me that big of a number...'

Chara made an audible sigh. Toriel taught English. I have no idea what any of that bull-

'Hey, I told you to watch your language.' Frisk frowned, putting their pencil down so they could flip through the math test. Ten more pages of word problems trying desperately to make real life situations out of rather useless math material. Frisk started doing a math equation on the side. They frowned. If the math was right, they couldn't afford to miss any more than three questions if they wanted at least a B. The majority of their test however was blank with nearly every question number circled to come back to.

Frisk sighed and let their head drop onto the desk, shutting their eyes. They were too tired to be this stressed out. They took a deep breath. "I can do this." They whispered before lifting their head.

They hadn't noticed how silent the room had grown.

In fact, they weren't in the room at all.

They stood up slowly, looking at the darkness that surrounded them. "Sans...? I'm gonna be mad if you're pulling another prank..." Their voice echoed in the darkness around them. "...Okay, I-I changed my mind, please let this be a prank." They called into the silence that refused to break. They sighed, rubbing their eyes. "Some prank this is... I bet Sans is ju-"

"Frisk!!"

They whipped around to see Chara in the distance, clawing desperately at the void like ground as shadowy arms attempted pull them into the nothingness beyond. "H-Help!!"

"Chara!" Frisk ran forward, horrified as Chara lost their grip, being dragged at rapid speeds. Chara was screaming, absolute terror on their face as they tried to pull away from the being. A cold unfamiliar voice was bellowing around the children. You two have been running for long enough... To truly move on you must learn not to forget...!

"Chara!!" Frisk ignored the voice, taking a diving leap towards their friend, catching their hand, holding onto them tightly and desperately pulling against the shadows. "Chara, hold on!"

"Frisk!" The two locked eyes. Frisk gasped as images flashed across their eyes - blood, bodies, falling, flowers. Chara felt the shadows trying to grab at Frisk in their dazed stats, and they immediately reacted by shoving them away, letting the shadowy arms drag them away into the darkness, away from Frisk, away from hope.

"Chara!!"

"Frisk Dreemurr!"

Frisk awoke with a start as their teacher, Ms. Partings, slapped a ruler across the desk. They looked around, confused and horrified. They were back in the classroom, now empty, loud chatter in the hallway. Ms. Partings watched them with a mixed expression of dismay and concern across her aged face. "Frisk, did you sleep this whole time?"

"I-I..." They looked down at their barely touched math test. They didn't really care about it anymore. Not right now.

"Frisk, you look sick.." Before they could protest, Ms. Partings had picked up their test. "Go to the nurse. I'll let you finish this on Monday."

Frisk nodded their thanks, briskly grabbing their bag and exiting the classroom.

...

It had been a long time since Frisk felt this way - alone. Since they had fallen into the underground, they had always had Chara.

But right now, there was nothing.

Ahead in the hall, Frisk noticed someone else standing still in the movements of students hurrying to their next class. The figure grinned seeing them, though the rest of their face was hidden in shadow. They motioned for the child to follow, before disappearing into the crowd. Frisk gasped, running through the students to where the figure had been standing by the double doors that lead to the back exit of the school. A crumpled piece of paper was laying on the floor, worn and yellowed with age. They carefully opened it, examining it.

"... I'm coming, Chara."

With determination burning in their eyes, they walked out of the building.

They knew where they had to go.