Gonertale

Cold Welcome

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: humans and monsters. One day, a war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell that only humans could pass. Many years later, on Mount Ebott in 201X, a human climbed the mountain. They say those who climb the mountain never return. The human tripped on a vine and fell deep into the cave of the monsters.

Frisk woke up on a bed of golden flowers, ready to meet the cheerful monsters. They came from a long line of people who knew the monsters well, even fighting beside them during the war. Sadly, Frisk's great-great-grandparents died in that war and the monsters couldn't even get to the bodies, but Frisk's great-grandparents knew how good the monsters were. They were always cheerful and kind to new people.

The sky was far above. Frisk had quite a long fall but felt fine. It seems like the flowers helped. They felt like there was someone kind looking out for them, despite being the only one in this rocky room. Frisk walked deeper into the cave, a stick in their hand and a bandage on their knee.

They saw a flower. It looked like one of the golden flowers that broke their fall, but this one was gray and looked depressed.

"A... A human?" the flower said. "This is the longest one yet. I might as well watch them while I can. The monsters would love to take their powerful soul... wait... I could use that soul! It could be what saves ME!"

Suddenly, a red, heart-shaped object appeared on Frisk's chest. It looked the same at every angle.

"A red soul?" the flower said. "Perfect! That's the one that can help me the most! Howdy, new friend! I'm Flowey! Flowey the killer flower who can keep going!"

Suddenly, the flower summoned large, white, pill-shaped objects around Frisk. The pills quickly hit them. Flowey laughed maniacally as Frisk felt weak and fell onto one knee, barely alive. More pills appeared, but suddenly, balls of fire turned them into ashes. A large fireball hit Flowey, making him flee. A goat woman walked up, looking sadder than Flowey. She was crying.

"I can't afford to see another child die," she said. "Why am I so sad? I only had one nightmare, but I'm sadder than when it happened."

Frisk's soul disappeared, making them feel relieved. They were still confused.

"What in the world is going on right now?" they asked. "Who are you?"

"I am so sorry," the goat said. "I am Toriel. I... I had a bad dream, but it feels like I had it repeatedly in one long night. I... I do not know what is wrong with me. I am sorry. I need you to stay close to me, alright? I can not let you die."

Toriel walked deeper into the wide cavern. It grew into a well-constructed cave system, so precisely built with purple walls and a purple floor, not too bright, yet still bright enough to be welcoming. There were puzzles blocking the way that Frisk knew they could solve, but Toriel kept solving them quickly. In one part, there were lots of spikes. Frisk knew they couldn't solve that, but they didn't have to because Toriel picked them up and carried them across swiftly, yet carefully. They were now in a room with a dummy that somehow looked depressed.

"Monsters will attack you," Toriel said. "If any are near you, call my name and I will make sure they never hurt you. Be sure to stall their attacks by talking. Try it with the dummy."

"Okay," Frisk said. "Hey, dummy! What's it like being a dummy? Having your name be an insult. Sounds like your life must suck. Everyone else's lives suck, too. Monsters are really weird. I guess that's what happens when you live in a cave for this long. Chronic depression."