They walked to the left. They walked to the right. If they were going anywhere they'd reach it eventually. For now, it just felt good to walk.

These Ruins were definitely dark, but they were also surprisingly well lit from occasional holes in the ceiling not unlike the one Frisk had fallen in through. It made the ancient pillars and dusty old buildings a bit less eerie than they might have been otherwise. They still kept a firm fist clenched around the tree branch they'd been using as a weapon. So far they'd learned anything could pop out from behind these pillars. This place was weird.

Case in point, the voice in their head piped up without warning.

"If I might make an observation," said the voice, "Toriel said she lives nearby nowadays, and the path is very linear. You could already be there by now. Wandering aimlessly only increases your chances of encountering hostile monsters."

"Whatever," Frisk retorted. "I'm not scared of them."

Somehow they were able to talk to the voice entirely in their head, without moving their mouth. They didn't really know how. They didn't really care. All they really needed to know was that the voice was named Chara, and they'd died a long time ago. Frisk didn't plan on joining them.

"I did not say you were," Chara said slowly. "I am merely... trying to understand why you do what you do, Frisk."

"Does it matter?"

"To me? Yes. Yes, it matters a lot." Chara hesitated. "You seem more sure of yourself than I have any right to be. Therefore I have been trying to learn from you. That entails watching you carefully. Trying to decipher your guiding philosophy."

"My phil-what now?" They hunched their shoulders, picking up their pace as much as they could. "I'm just trying to survive."

"Understandable. As the flower said, it's kill or be killed. Yet I still find myself confused." Chara was quiet for a moment, as though deeply hesitant. "...if mere survival is the goal, why have you not hurried to Toriel's home? She knows what's best. You'll be safe with her."

Frisk almost wanted to laugh. Half their bruises were from people they were 'safe' with. The goat creature looked friendly enough, but they knew better. She'd be all sunshine and smiles until the first time they made her angry. Then she'd show them what she really was.

'Course, this time Frisk didn't plan on running away. If this new mother tried anything funny she'd find out exactly what Frisk really was.

"...you are not a trusting person, are you?" Chara asked. They didn't expect or wait for an answer. "I understand. When I first came here I was hesitant about letting others close to me as well."

"Maybe if you'd stayed that way you'd still be alive," Frisk snapped. They put a deliberate bite into their words, and felt that the scathing message had been received loud and clear. They really had no idea what had killed Chara, but whatever it was, what they'd said had shut them up. It was plain the words hurt a lot.

Frisk tried not to care. Even if they were inclined to apologize there wasn't any time for it. The world went white and their whole body went rigid.

They still had no idea why it happened, but when they fought a monster everything went black and white. Chara didn't know either, but they'd said they'd heard something about magic doing funny things to light when it was being used heavily. At this point Frisk really didn't care. All they cared about was checking to see how much of a threat the new enemy was.

This one was a weird, gross little creature that kinda looked like a teeny tiny person with moth wings and a crying face. It made Frisk very uncomfortable as it approached sniffling. They kept a suspicious eye on it, not wanting to get close.

"Whimsun approached meekly," Chara announced after a moment. Frisk rolled their eyes, keeping a respectable difference between themself and the freakish little bug.

"I can see that," they said impatiently. "But what is it? Is it dangerous?"

Chara thought for a moment. It seemed to Frisk that if they had a body they'd shake their head.

"No," they replied finally. "This monster is too sensitive to fight."

The air fuzzed with magic; the Whimsun was attacking. Frisk tensed up in case Chara was wrong, but it turned out they were as right as always. Tiny copies of the moth monsters spun around them but never came close to actually touching them. The thing kept muttering apologies and breathing quickly. It seemed terrified—like it was just trying to scare them away rather than hurt them.

Only because it was too small and scared to take their SOUL, though. Crying or not it had still started this fight. It was still one of the freaks that Frisk had grown up hearing about. If it had a chance it would go for the kill, just like that flower. After all... 'why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this'?

The Whimsun flinched when they stepped forward.

Chara watched them intently from inside their skull, waiting to see what they'd do. Weirdly it almost felt like someone else was watching, too. Frisk decided they didn't care. They didn't care who was watching, they didn't care about Toriel's little lecture about mercy, and they definitely didn't care how familiar the terror in the thing's eyes was. They didn't care. They refused to care.

Maybe back home they were as pathetic as this thing was. But around here...

They swung their branch with all their might, crushing the Whimsun like the bug it was. It barely managed a whimper before it crumpled into a flattened layer of milk white dust.

The light went back to normal. Chara was quiet and thoughtful for a moment before they spoke again.

"You won," they said quietly. "And your LV increased."

"That's... cool." Frisk tried to brush some of the dust off of their stick, only to get it on their hands instead. The stuff was surprisingly sticky, and they resorted to wiping it on their striped shirt to get it off. "Uh... what's LV?"

"That is a good question," Chara replied. "LV is one of your stats. It's complicated, and I don't fully understand it, but I believe it represents how powerful you've become."

"You mean I get stronger when I kill these things?"

"These 'things' are called monsters," Chara said, sounding offended on their behalf. "But... yes. Yes, I believe so."

Frisk pondered this, picking gold coins out of the dust smear in front of them. Trying not to think of the tear-streaked face that had been here a moment ago. "...cool. 'Bout time something gave us an edge."

"Us?" It was hard to tell what Chara was feeling, if anything. Their feelings were kind of closed off, but Frisk could sort of make them out. They were like shadows in the dark. They blended in with the rest of the nothing, but you could make them out if you paid attention.

"Yeah, us," Frisk repeated. "You and me. We're in this together."

"No." Chara's tone was strange. It wasn't exactly angry, but neither did they sound happy with what Frisk had declared. "As you made clear, my choices resulted in the end of my life. Don't treat me as a participant in... whatever you are doing with yours."

Frisk frowned. As much as they'd hate to admit it out loud—or in their head—they were already kind of relying on having a partner down here. They needed someone to tell them about the monsters that kept popping out of nowhere. They needed someone who knew their way around this place, who knew what things like HP and LV were. And...

...and it was nice having someone with them in the dark.

"You're already part of this," Frisk argued. "You're already helping me."

"It's different," Chara said. "I am not swinging the weapon. I am not choosing what to spare and what to kill. I am merely giving you the details you need to make informed decisions."

"Yeah, that's still helping. And if I get killed, you get killed, so like I said: we're in this together."

"...together," Chara said finally. "You really want to work 'together' with someone who threw their own life away?"

"Don't have a lot of choices," Frisk replied. "But even if I did, you seem pretty cool. If I'm gonna take on the world... it might as well be with a partner like you."

Chara was taken aback. But slowly, surely, something seemed to light inside of their half of their shared head. Was it warmth? No... whatever it was, it wasn't exactly friendly. Was it passion? No... that wasn't the right word either. It felt more like... a drive. A drive to do right by their partner this time. A drive to set a goal and complete it this time.

Determination.

Yeah. That was the right word.

For their own part they felt a great many feelings. They kept walking back and forth. Part angry. Part confused.

Scared. God, they were so scared. They couldn't be powerless again like when that flower had them. Or back home when-

They were so relieved when another monster interrupted their darkly spiraling chain of thoughts. Another Froggit, this time. They crushed this one too. As the hours passed they did the same to another bug thing. To some kind of talking vegetable. To some one-eyed freak. To anyone dumb enough to pick a fight with them.

They weren't who they were on the surface. They weren't going to be that jumpy, confused, frightened mess. Down here they had a chance to be someone... something stronger.

They thought they heard something and spun around, branch in hand, ready to fight. Half looking forward to fighting. But the Ruins around them remained quiet this time, chillingly empty.

"...but nobody came," Chara muttered. They were quiet for a long, eerie amount of time. The two of them just stood still in the meantime, but something was happening on the inside. The confusing mess of feelings Frisk had been getting from Chara thus far was starting to melt into something more solid. Their determination was becoming overpowering. They continued in a sharper tone than before. "Now. If we're done pacing, can we move forward? If we are 'partners' in this I vote that we stop wasting time."

Frisk shook for a moment, but hardened themself. They were determined too. They turned in the direction of Toriel's home and started walking, not feeling so small anymore.

If anything they were starting to feel like these Ruins weren't big enough for them.