FurtherDown

Chapter 8, Pages 142-164

(A.N. I am SO sorry that this chapter took SO LONG. I promise, the flow of chapters will resume. Also, in this past week I have written a bunch of stuff, which I will type and post, so that's coming too I guess. Hope you enjoy Chapter 8 overall, and if you haven't read FurtherDown so far yet, then I highly recommend it, especially if you're stuck in the Undertale fandom like me. :/ There's obviously eight chapters and about 34 pages altogether, so go ahead, knock yourself out. :) It would really make me happy! Thanks much, have a good day/night!)

The rain poured nonstop as the monsters treaded along the Earth, the ground wet, and squishy under their feet. Like pebbles, the large, heavy, raindrops pelted against the monster's skin and fur, the gloomy, grey, sky reflected their emotions. Water ran down the sides of a large, old, boulder that rested on the right side of the trail they followed. Lightning flashed before Papyrus's eye sockets, the bright, violent, light blinding him as he closed his eye sockets quickly. When he opened them to the soggy, wet, world, he looked behind him to see if the group of monsters behind him were keeping up.

The hoard of monsters walked miserably behind the skeleton and fish lady. Undyne had dragged him up to the head of the migration to be a 'Pathfinder' with her. He was certainly honored, just wet, and a bit down, and disappointed in the weather. "When I said we'd get to see it all, I meant the drier aspects of such a statement." Papyrus complained. "Aw, come on, Papyrus! It's just a little rain!" Undyne said jokingly, lightly punching him in the humerus. Undyne's ginger hair was matted to her neck and shoulders, rain dripped from the frayed ends of her hair onto her thick and wide shoulders, which rolled down her muscular arms and back. She gave her friend a worthy grimace as Papyrus looked down at his mud-caked boots with disgust.

"Yes, rain that is cold, wet and slippery. We can barely even see, and we're supposed to be the guides?!" "Pathfinders, I believe is what Asgore called us." Undyne clarified. "And I can see just fine! Your eye sockets must be full of water." Undyne nudged Papyrus and chuckled. "They are not! At least not anymore." Papyrus said the last part quieter. The two monsters stopped at the top of the hill and waited for the rest of the monsters in tow to catch up with them. Toriel and Asgore lead the group of monsters up the hill towards Papyrus and Undyne who waved to signal them that it was safe to continue. Many of the monsters had backpacks or packs of their belongs that hung from their shoulders and rested on their backs that they carried with them. Many of which, were packed to the brim. "The storms certainly come up over that mountain range in a hurry. One minute it was sunny, then- BOOM!" Undyne shouted, flinging her arms up above her head for emphasis.

A sudden loud thunder boomed over their heads, shaking the ground below their feet. The loud, pounding, sound of the skies shook Papyrus to his core. The thunder rolled out, quickly silenced by the sound of scattering rain. Spooked by the noise, Papyrus quickly wrapped his long skinny arms around Undyne's torso, squeezing her slightly. She flinched; then wrapped her fingers around Papyrus's forehead, and pushed him away from her body. Papyrus stumbled backwards a couple of steps, gathering his balance. "Aw, c-come on, Pap! Don't let a little Surface weather get you down! Royal Guardsmen aren't afraid of, whatever the heck that was." Undyne said, sounding a little thrown off by his gesture. Wiping rain water off of his forehead, Papyrus looked down at the ground, but looked up into Undyne's determined eyes to speak.

"But I am not a Royal Guardsman. And, now that we are on the Surface, I doubt I ever will be." The skeleton said; a bead of water falling off of the bridge of his nose as he turned his head away from her gaze. Undyne looked over her shoulder in disbelief. "Now just wait a minute, who ever said that there wasn't going to be anymore Royal Guard?" Undyne asked with a stern face. "U-Um-" Papyrus started. "Nobody. And do you know why?" "I- We-" "Because, we're needed now more than ever!" Papyrus took a half step back; Undyne straightened up, getting ready to speak. "Look, Pap, I want you to see something." Undyne turned around, her arm draped around Papyrus's shoulders. They both stood tall in the rain, looking over the small crowd of wet, soaked, monsters. "There's a whole race of us, or, at least, all that's left of one. We're all really different, but there's one thing that makes us all the same right now: we're weak. We're scared. We're vulnerable. Okay, that's three things, but you get my point." She turned around, looking down at the ground. She almost seemed to in another world, distant, talking to herself. "That needs protecting. That's what being in the Royal Guard was ever about. Just because we've made it above soil, doesn't mean everything's gonna be sunshine and roses. This is going to be hard, and dangerous. So the question is," Undyne paused, taking in the last of the calm, but intense, moment. She then raised her hand, balling it up into a fist, and let it torpedo into Papyrus's humerus.