Branches On A Tree

Reunions

Being chased by Undyne was all too familiar. Frisk usually knew her battle routine, and what to expect from her, but this time she wasn't as predictable as usual. In the end, Undyne would only give up if shown mercy to, and that wouldn't be an option right now.

What Gaster told them, about controlling monsters by hurting them, sent shivers down their spine. It was horrible.
Frisk was fairly sure it was caused by one of the hands that were pressed tightly to Undyne's forehead. Gaster did the same thing to them with another hand and it did really hurt, but clearly not as bad as Undyne was hurting right now. Frisk didn't dare to turn and see just how far back she was. At least they seemed to have outrun Gaster long ago.

They ran as fast as their tiny legs could carry them towards Snowdin. Sans and Papyrus would still be there. Without Gaster nearby, they wouldn't be exposed to the same cruel mind control as Undyne, and they could help remove the hand from her face. Hopefully, that would stop the pain so she could snap out of it and they could flee together. Though Frisk was already tired from the earlier sprint, they were determined to get help for her bestie. Their body ached from the effort, but they kept going. Past Doggo's sentry post, past the Snowman's location and down the hill with the married dog's sentry stations.

When they made it to Papyrus's spaghetti-trap they noticed that Undyne was gone.

For a moment the only sound Frisk heard was the beat of their heart pounding in their ears and their own winded breaths. Looking around their surroundings they could establish that this place was as empty as the rest of the underground seemed to be. They were almost starting to believe that Undyne had disappeared somewhere else. Even so, that fact didn't make them feel any better. She could be anywhere.

Then suddenly, a teal spear flew right past them slightly brushing against their cheek. It didn't cause much damage, but it startled them and set them off balance and they fell down the edge of the cliff beside the table with the unplugged microwave. It wasn't really a big fall, but big enough to knock the air out of their lungs when they hit the ground. The layers of snow on the ground slightly attenuated their fall, but they still landed pretty bad.

They lay still for a while, catching their breath. In the heat of the moment they didn't hurt that much, but when they finally tried to get up and keep running, their right leg didn't respond at all. They fell back down on the ground with tears flowing from their eyes. Not until a few moments had passed did their body seem to suddenly realize what just happened and a splitting pain began to spread. The agonizing dull throb that settled in their leg was just a little worse and it felt just like the time they broke their it when they were little.

When they finally raised their head, the sight in front of them made their heart freeze. A large beast-like skeleton monster, with fierce, glowing eyes slowly approached them with wobbly steps. It looked rather grim, kind of reminded Frisk of something that could have originated from a zombie story, with tattered pieces of fabric loosely hanging from its back and its eerie eyes. The tired expression indicated that it had just been awoken from sleep, but it seemed to have perked up remarkably when it noticed them.

The first spontaneous reaction was that they were intimidated by its size, but at the same time, it seemed kinda familiar. It's piercing blue eyes looked right at them and it's long tail dragged on the ground as it slowly got closer. It seemed to be quite unsteady as it moved. It sort of looked as if it was going to trip over its own feet.
Frisk immediately tried to make a run for it. Hopefully, they'd be able to outrun it, even in this state, because they were in no shape for a battle right now. The pain in their leg was too much and they couldn't move very far. Not even their determination to run away could overlook that fact.