Chapter Text
[ AUGUST 5th, XXXX ]
[ MT. EBOTT. ]
“Chara.. Chara, be careful.”
You’d heard the warnings time and time again. Every time you approached the cave that Mt. Ebbott had, your parents had gotten onto you about how you "needed to be more careful" and "have some self preservation" or whatever. It’s not like you were actually gonna go in or something; you were just getting close! No harm in that, you thought.
Then again, they got onto you over everything.. Going into the woods, roughhousing with your friends a little too much, even running too fast while playing tag! Who gets onto their kids about playing tag?!
Today had been the final straw. They got onto you for going into the woods again because you fell and scraped your knee. It was nothing, really; you’d been hurt worse, but they treated it as if you were going to bleed out and die right then and there! You decided that the only way that they were going to stop nagging you about safety was if you showed them, once and for all, that your favorite places were as safe as can be! How were you going to do that, exactly?
By sneaking out and having them find you completely unharmed.
It was a foolproof plan, you thought. ...Until you were falling down the gaping hole that sat in the middle of that cave you loved to get close to.
Seconds turned to minutes.
Minutes felt like they dragged on into hours.
And then you hit the ground.
Right on your arm.
Blinding pain overwhelms your senses, filling your vision with white light for a split second. A cry is ripped from you, and you're helpless to stop it. You try to move it, and you're immediately hit with pain. You think you broke something. When your vision returns to normal, for the most part- it remains blurry due to tears- you see that you’re in a field of flowers. Beautiful, pink flowers.. You’ve never seen any like them before. You don’t think so, anyway; you can’t think much past that due to how much your arm is hurting.
fall?! So much for being safe and sound.
...
You think you hear something.
...
Soft rustling, paired with footsteps.
...
Then, a gasp.
You sit up at that, pushing yourself up with your good arm. Your chest feels tight, and for a moment, you don't think you have the energy to speak. You question if you even want to for a moment, but your curiosity about the source quickly takes over.
“Hello?”
You say the words softly at first, but you repeat it a bit louder a few seconds later.
“Hello?”
...
“Hello?”
A new voice! It sounds like a young boy’s. He can't be any older than 12.
Cautiously, you look around, and it doesn’t take you long to find the likely source of the voice. His head is peeking out from behind one of the many pillars surrounding you, and when the two of you make eye contact, he smiles and steps out from behind it.
He’s a goat monster! His fur’s light brown, and he wears a sweater similar to yours.
“Howdy! You took quite a fall, didn’t’cha?” He greets you before approaching, kneeling to look at your arm. You don’t refuse; any help is better than no help at all, right? You do, however, try to give a witty response.
“Yeah, no kidding...” You mutter, earning you a laugh from him. He doesn't seem to falter at all at your comment.
“Y’er funny! What’s your name?”
“... Chara.”
“Ooh! That’s like my name! Is it short for anything?”
“Nno. ...What would it be short for?”
He pauses at that, seemingly thinking for a second, then chuckles a little.
“Huh. That’s funny. The name’s Caramel!”
“Caramel?”
“Mhm!”
You snicker. You can't help it; Caramel's a candy, not a name. He huffs, and gives you a- what you assume is lighthearted- glare.
“Somethin’ funny?”
“A little. I’ve never met anyone named Caramel.”
“Well, now ya’ have!” He retorts with a grin, then stands up straight. Once up, he offers you his paw. Again, you don’t refuse the help (though you're sure you could've gotten up on your own, given enough time), and take hold of it before hoisting yourself up. .. It's softer than you expected. Then again, you don't know what you expected in the first place.
He hums in thought, then lets out a quick 'Oh!' before continuing, “You ‘oughta see my mama. Y’er arm looks real busted up, after all."
His comment makes you glance at your arm. It's not bleeding much; it's just scraped, but you can tell just where the impact was. You wince at the sight, a small hiss leaving you.
He keeps talking. "She should be able to help ya’!”
You blink at the offer. “Really?” The offer seems too good to be true, but you couldn't care less. Your arm feels like it's throbbing with pain, and if a total stranger is willing to help you, what're you gonna do? Not accept it?
He nods enthusiastically, and before you know it, he's dragging you away from the flowers, grinning from ear to ear.
"Mhm! C’mon- she’s gonna be real happy to meetcha!”