//------------------------------//
// Chapter One: Suffering In A Different World 
// Story: A Demon's Second Chance 
// by Perfectly Insane 
//------------------------------//

I’ve never been teleported before, and that still might be the case, since I'm not sure how I came to be where I am.

One moment, I was in the empty abyss, waiting for Frisk to pull me out just to watch them go through the same routine I’ve seen dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Then my eyes got heavy, which in itself was a red flag considering I didn’t have a body and shouldn’t even be able to get tired, and I closed them. 

The next, I was on my back in a clearing, the sky lacked a single cloud and the sun shone so brightly it burned my newly opened eyes. It’d been so long since I’d been outside that I’d actually forgotten what it was like. This was what everyone in the underground wanted so badly, what Asriel and I tried to obtain. 

The warmth of the sun on my face, so soothing it could overwhelm any kind of cold.

The feeling of the soft ground against my back.

The cool wind blowing against my face.

“Eh, it’s overrated.” I said as I raised my body, wincing as a sharp pain stabbed me right in my thinking organ. “Oh headaches, how I didn’t miss you. Wait...headaches?” I realized what that meant as I glanced down, my legs, which were longer than I remember them being, were right there. I quickly stood to my feet, raising my hands, which were also bigger than I remember, to my face. I struggled to stay on my feet and balance myself enough to walk around. it had been so long since I’d done so I’d somewhat forgotten how, but it came back to me quickly.

“Am I...is this a dream?”  I recalled a saying that if you think you're in a dream, then you could pinch yourself because you could not feel pain in a dream. I pinched my cheek, sharply inhaling at the sudden sensation. “I’m...alive? I...have my own body? I have my own body!” As I shouted, a tingling sensation went through my neck as it vibrated. It felt so different speaking with an actual body, I had honestly taken it for granted.

A rare wave of happiness washed over me as I let out a relieved chuckle, frantically rubbing my hands against my body as I enjoyed having one again. “How? Why? Actually, you know what? I don’t care!” I pumped my hands above my head, so filled with relief that I couldn’t help tearing up. “You hear that Frisk? I’m free! And I…” I stopped as I glanced around, noticing my surroundings.

I was in the middle of a clearing of some sort. Surrounded by trees so large and thick I could barely see between them, and I could also see that there was a patch of sunflowers where I was just lying. Whoever or whatever brought me here had a clear sense of humor. 

“..don’t know where I am. This isn’t the forest near the mountain, where am I?” 

I looked around for any kind of landmarks or anything that might tell me where I was, but I really couldn’t see anything because of how tall the trees were. I tried to think back to the last thing I could remember: it was at the end of yet another horrid genocide run, whether Frisk was looking for something or was just doing it for fun, I still didn't know. A genocide run was when Frisk would kill every single monster in The Underground, even the ones they were friends with, out of some twisted sense of pleasure or curiosity. Seeing them do that so many times only reinforced my hatred for them, but even I had become desensitized to the slaughter after a dozen or so times; not that that makes me hate them any less. At the end of each genocide run, I tried to be as intimidating as possible to convince them that I could actually stop them. For whatever reason, they never called my bluff. 

Now I was in the middle of a forest I didn't recognize, for a reason I didn't know. I carried a fear in the back of my mind that Frisk was going to show up like a specter, returning the favor I’d given to them and following me around, narrating on my adventure with a tint of pessimism. 

I waited tensely for a solid minute for any sign of that uncaring freak, holding my breath as I hoped that I was just being paranoid. Frisk didn’t show up, which meant only one of two things: Frisk had absolutely nothing to do with this, or it worked the same way it did with me where they just kind of see everything through my eyes. If it was the second, then I could at least hear them saying something. Regardless, neither really gave me much in terms of answers. 

I decided to give myself a once-over, hoping something there would give me a hint of some sort. I had an exact replica of the clothes I wore when I died, though sized up to fit my new body. My green and yellow striped shirt, brown pants and shoes, all of which didn’t have a single stain or anything and seemed completely new. I'm noticeably taller now, my head farther from the ground than I was used to seeing. My arms and legs had grown longer, my hands and feet bigger, and the rest of my body followed. 

Speaking of appendages, I apparently got two new ones on my chest. 

“Yeah, those...those are different.” I murmured to myself as I cautiously brought my hands to the unfamiliar curves, giving them a gentle touch to confirm to myself they were there.

I vaguely remembered seeing these on Toriel and some of the other female monsters. At the time, I didn’t know if that was something unique to monsters or females, but now I guess I’ve got an answer for that question. Don’t know what they’re for other than being kind of odd, but they’re here. 

The last change to my body that I could notice was my hair: It had always been short, but now it was longer, going down to about my shoulder. It was honestly kind of annoying; my bangs kept getting in my eyes and pissing me off. First chance I got, I’m cutting it. 

I really wish I had a mirror or something so I could see more. Right now, I could only assume my age. I was about twelve when I died, which was in no way my current age. Maybe I'm around my late teens? Hard to tell. 

As I was walking around, I saw out of the corner of my eye something attached to my back, completely weightless as I couldn’t even feel it there. I reached my arms around and tried to grab it, only needing two attempts before finally getting a hold of it and lying it on the ground in front of me. 

It was a cloth, brown backpack, about half the size of my torso with several pouches. I found myself curious where it came from, and how it carried no weight at all. I opened it and peered inside, only for there to be nothing in there. 

I raised my eyebrow, questioning what the point was of giving me a backpack that had nothing in it. However, seeing it did remind me of something. I stood up and extended my hand, mocking the motions I’d seen Frisk go through countless times to access their menu. 

I genuinely did not expect it to work, it was a long shot that by some miracle hit the bullseye. 

I jumped back when I saw the small screen appear in front of me, vanishing just as I pulled back my arm. I hesitantly extended my arm again, the screen reappeared in front of me. It seemed identical to the one Frisk used at first glance, then I saw some things were missing. There was no cell, which made sense since I didn’t have a cellphone, only stat and items. My name, level which was just one, my hp which was ten, and gold which was zero, all at the bottom left. In the stats itself were my AT and DF stats, both at five. My weapon and armor, which were nothing, and my zero EXP along with the ten I needed to level up, a goal I didn’t intend to pursue. My kills were also at zero. If I can help it, they were going to stay that way, I refuse to become anything like them.

I poked on the item tab with my finger, opening it and seeing what I had. A couple of bottles of water, some gauze and bandages, a few loaves of bread, and…

“A heart shaped necklace? No, it can’t be…” I tried equipping it, only to hear a shuffling noise from the backpack like someone had just slipped something in there. 

I furrowed my eyebrows and opened it, seeing that something had appeared inside. I reached both my hands in and took it out, holding the necklace as gently as I could. It was exactly as beautiful as I remembered it being; The gorgeous golden chain that connected to a heart shaped pendant at the end, the delta rune symbol engraved perfectly into it; a painful reminder of a prophecy that I foolishly believed I was fated to carry through. 

My fingers trembled as I opened the locket, letting out a choked sob as I saw the words ‘Best Friends Forever’, a hot tear rolling down the side of my face. A flash of anger at the memory of Asriel, with a hard swallow I pushed it down again, leaving that icy sharpness to weigh down my chest like I deserved. It wasn't his fault. I was the one dumb enough to think Asriel could kill so easily. Of course I would get a new family and tear it apart over a stupid hope. I was angry at him for failing me, but hated myself more for asking in the first place.

Yet I couldn't ignore how deeply I still cared about them, I could never bring myself to hate him or The Dreemurr family. Even after everything that humanity did to them, they treated me with nothing but kindness and accepted me as one of them. They cared for me as if I were their own child. Asriel was the closest friend I’d ever had, he made me believe that life was worth living. 

And what did they get for it? Despair and death because of my selfishness and inability to let my hatred for humanity go, only my childishness was to blame for thinking my plan would actually work. The worst part was that I knew Asriel would probably forgive me for it. 

I wiped the tear off my cheek, slipping the necklace on as the pendant dangled onto my chest, right where it belongs. 

I took a deep breath and closed the backpack, picking it up and putting it on by the straps, still completely weightless. I didn’t have time to think about the past. I knew that if I did, the anguish would cause me to collapse and I’d break down right here. 

At the very least, I wanted answers. I needed to know who, or what, decided that I of all people deserved a second chance. 

I didn’t know anything about directions or survival. I’ve only ever left my village once when I went to Mt. Ebott for...the reason that I did, and that was only because it was a giant landmark. All I could do was do the same thing and hope I made it to somewhere with people. 

If worst comes to worst, this place looked like it would have various kinds of plants and berries. I might be able to live off of that until I could find somewhere, assuming there were any close by. 

I went off on my first adventure in this new life, still burdened with the memories and regrets of my last one.

____

Since I wasn’t even sure what time it was when I woke up, I couldn’t tell how long I’d been trudging through these thick woods. It was about dusk now, the sun had almost completely set, leaving me with very little light left. The noises of the night followed with various animals and bugs, making it impossible for me to tell if I was being hunted by predators in the dark. 

The strange thing was that the landscape had started to change, less of a forest and more of a swamp. I’d never been to one myself, but some of the occasional stories I heard from the other people in my village and the books I read gave me descriptions that fit here. 

There was thick, discolored water that likely carried all kinds of diseases and leeches. The air, so rancid it burned my eyes and I couldn’t help but scrunch up my nose, by far the worst thing I’ve ever smelled. The deeper I got the more I could hear the sounds of dozens of frogs croaking.

I stopped in the middle of a path I was on. There was no way I was going to sleep in a swamp, nor did I think I could stand being here for much longer, it stretched on long past what I could see. Not to mention I still wasn’t used to having a body again, or all the problems that came with it. I’ve had to pee at least four times,  THAT was not fun to relearn- and I'd only had one bottle of water. My legs hurt, and it turns out my now long hair absorbed heat too well, and the hot swamp was only making it worse. 

I had no idea how Frisk dealt with having to walk everywhere; one of the many things I’ll never understand about them. 

Luckily, I had only walked in one direction, so it was just a matter of backtracking and finding a nice, cool tree to sleep under. Maybe I’d be attacked by wild animals in my sleep, maybe not. 

As soon as I turned to go back, the ground beneath me began to rumble as my entire body vibrated. A deep, animalistic growling came from behind me, louder than anything I’d ever heard before. 

Cold, piercing fear overwhelmed me as I slowly glanced over my shoulder, hearing the danger but still not seeing it. The swampy waters around me slapped harshly against the shore as I recognized a creeping vibration gently shaking the ground. All the water I could still see was rippling, something big was coming. Just as I was getting the sense to run, everything stopped.

Then the water to my right exploded, covering me in the thick, disgusting slush of the swamp.

A shadow, gargantuan in size, emerged. The dying lights pierced the trees in small bursts, glinting off of scales as whatever it was continued to ascend from the swamp, towering over me now and still growing. Murky water ran off the behemoth like waterfalls. It was taller than anything I’d ever seen besides a mountain itself, about the size of two full grown trees before it finally stopped. I almost couldn’t believe it was alive, praying a tower had just decided to erupt from the swamp until I saw it moving. 

The shadows around its head began swaying as I peed for the fifth time that day. I barely noticed. My eyes desperately worked to get used to the darkness that was quickly descending on the forest, letting me see the monstrosity had not one, but four reptilian heads. Each slithering like a snake as its glowing green eyes stared down at me; the only remaining light as the sun abandoned me and left me in the darkness, alone with this thing!

I was terrified, frozen stiff by the monstrosity before me. Even back in the underground, there was nothing like this. Its huge body was so large it could eat dozens of people my size and not even be close to full, its tail was bulky enough to rip through several trees with ease. 

There were various books in The Underground, some of them came from human stories and mythology, one of the few things created by humanity I was interested in. Only one came to mind that matched this creature's characteristics, coming from the many disturbing stories of the Greeks.

This was a fucking Hydra!

It let out a foghorn like roar as one of the heads reeled back like a catapult about to launch, teeth shining big and sharp enough to rip through me like wet paper. 

Adrenaline pumped through my body as I realized what it was about to do, my flight or fight response kicked in, and I was not fighting this thing. I coiled my legs and jumped as far as I could, feeling the force of the hydra’s head flying forward and biting in the spot I was in just a second ago as the explosion of air from its passing pushed against me, forcing me farther away. 

I grunted as I hit the ground a few feet away, getting my first taste of actual pain; I still hated it. I opened my eyes and glanced back at the hydra, half of my face now covered in mud. There was blood on their maw, red blood. 

My face scrunched up in confusion, lowering my gaze as I was pretty sure-

All the color left my face as I saw that, just below my knee, my right leg had been chomped off, blood quickly pooling as it leaked out of the nub that was my leg. Debilitating pain hit me as I screamed, gritting my teeth as I had to fight the urge to throw up at the sight of my mangled limb, trying to raise it up with my hands and to bleed less so I wouldn’t pass out. 

I barely had time to think as I saw the hydra’s three other heads begin to move toward me, eager to pounce on its prey now that it was crippled. 

“NO! ST-stay away!” I shouted as I feebly tried to crawl away, unable to get more than a few inches before one of their iron maws bit down on my arm, eliciting another shrill shriek from me as their carnivorous teeth tore into my skin and bones. 

Horrible teeth lifted me into the air. I flailed my two uninjured limbs, bile forcing its way up my throat and out of my mouth as I vomited. Once I was in the air, I could actually hear the sound of my flesh ripping and bones crunching before it happened, all I could do was scream as both of my arms were ripped off. 

The pain was like nothing else I’d ever felt before, it was like losing a part of myself, agonizing in a way nothing else I’d ever experienced physically had been. I’ve seen Frisk die in hundreds of different ways, but none that came to mind were nearly as gruesome as what I was experiencing. My body began to get cold as blood poured out of me, I would have thrown up again if I had anything left in my stomach. All I could do was scream and cry

“I...please, I don’t want to die, not again.” I begged weakly, my face sticky with my own tears and puke. My mind was getting dizzy as darkness slowly took over my vision, the time between each of my heart beats getting longer, the entirety of my body shutting down and unable to stay conscious with the blood loss. 

Of course, they didn’t listen to me. Feeding on my limbs like rabid dogs that hadn’t been fed for days. All I could do was sob and cry as despair became the only thing I could feel, accepting my fate that this is where I would die. No one was coming to save me. 

They let go of me as I began falling through the air, looking down and seeing that I was dropping into the only of the four heads that hadn’t consumed a part of me yet, I could tell due to the lack of my blood on their teeth. I could see down it’s throat, so large it resembled a cave more than the mouth of an animal. Large, daunting teeth that were so big parts of me would likely get stuck in between them. 

“I’m sorry, Asriel.” I mumbled my last words, unheard by the person I wanted to say them to. 

I descended into the gaping maw of death, darkness taking over my vision and the endless hole of their gullet being the last thing I’d ever see. 

The worst part about it was, the very moment before their teeth came down upon me like an executioner’s axe, I think I could hear my own skull being crushed. 

___

After I could no longer feel my body, something stirred deep inside my soul. It was a desire to not die, a determination to stay alive. An inferno of passion coursing through my veins like raw fire as I pushed with my mind, refusing to accept that this was how I die! 

I opened my eyes, finding myself back in the clearing I woke up in earlier, the sun in the sky again. I was breathing heavily, my heart beating so rapidly it was the only thing I could hear. I looked down at myself, seeing the necklace around my neck and my backpack resting on the ground. 

My arms extended out in front of me, not a single sign of injury and thoroughly attached to my shoulders. I let out a shaky, relieved chuckle as I saw my arms still there, my legs trembling so violently that I couldn’t keep standing, my knees giving out as I fell down. 

The solace was temporary, however, as the graphic memory of brutal death was fresh in my mind. The immeasurable pain, the nausea as I was losing blood much faster than my body could make it from the nubs where my limbs used to be, covered in my own tears and vomit. I broke out into a cold sweat as I wrapped my arms around myself, my entire body shivering and my teeth chattering uncontrollably. 

I gagged and threw up again, the little food I had in my stomach spewing onto the ground beside me. I wiped my face as I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. 

What did this mean? Why was I back here? I died. That was undeniable, I was eaten alive by a mythological monstrosity, the memory much too vivid to be a dream. Did I...have the save/load ability now? Like Frisk did? That was the only explanation I could think of that made sense. Still, there shouldn’t have been anything to load as I hadn’t come across a save point or anything, nor did the option even come up after I died like it had so many times for Frisk. 

I stood to my feet and extended my right arm, the screen I was quickly becoming familiar with appearing in front of me. Everything was the same as the first time I checked it, with the exception of the necklace I'm now wearing. I decided to test something and clicked on the bottle of water, hearing it appear in my backpack. I flipped it open and saw it appear in there, pulling it out and seeing that it was the same one I had drank before, which could not have been a coincidence. 

I placed the bottle back in the backpack and put it on. I did feel a sort of burning feeling inside me before I appeared here, but I’d never experienced it from Frisk’s perspective, I couldn’t say if it was the same. 

When I followed Frisk around, it was more like being a backseat in their mind than anything else. I know they could hear everything I said, but they never showed any signs of acknowledging it. I could see and hear everything they could, but I couldn’t feel anything they did. Not the warmth when they were hugged by my foster mother who cared about me when I didn’t deserve it, or the pain as they died multiple times because they refused to fight back. 

However, if that was truly what this was, then...how could Frisk go through that so many times? I’ve watched them die countless times to enemies just to come back unfazed, going head first into the same battle and completely unhindered from their previous loss. How? What was pushing them to keep going like that? They were a child who shouldn’t have been able to take the horror of dying over and over, again and again in different ways. That kind of drive...quite frankly, was terrifying. 

I’ve experienced death only once myself before the hydra. I’d eaten bushels of buttercups, until I was too weak to even move or stay awake, falling unconscious until my organs shut down and I passed away. My only relief was that I had passed out before the real agony of it set in, coming to when Asriel absorbed my soul and, in our shared body, carried my poison-riddled body to my village, then watching as the humans killed us mercilessly. 

Of course, that was only after I tried to convince him to slaughter all of the humans there. No doubt that would have resparked a war that wouldn't have ended. Another whisper of manipulation I had to carry.

I didn’t want to go through that again. The burden of living through death was overwhelming, and I knew I would never forget it. But, if the rest of this forest had things like that, and I now had the save/load ability like Frisk did, it was unavoidable. I know for a fact I was alive now, I needed to know if I had this hellish power too. 

I walked up to the nearest tree, reaching down and picking up the sharpest rock I could see. I carved a tally mark into the bark, representing my first, and hopefully only, death in this new world. If something went wrong and I perished once more, this place was my save point, and I would come back here. If the tally mark wasn’t on this tree, I would know if I truly had the save/load ability or not.

“Now, if I remember right, I went in the direction opposite of the sun. This time, I’ll go towards the sun. There’s no way anything could be worse than…” A shudder went down my spine, I tried to push down the memory, keeping it off my mind along with half a dozen of other things I wasn’t prepared to deal with. “That.” 

 I really wish I had a hair tie to put my hair back or something, or at least had something sharp enough to cut it off. I put as much of my hair as I could behind my ears, which didn’t really do much since it just kept falling in my face anyway. After about thirty minutes of going through the forest, getting all kinds of plants on my clothes that wouldn’t get off without a lot of effort and almost tripping over several stray roots, I heard something much different than anything I’d heard so far. 

This pathway I was going through was much more clumped with trees, bushes, and various other things, making it harder to get through. There was also a lack of animal noises or any signs of wildlife at all, which made the silence all the more deafening and eerie. 

That was when I heard screaming, distinctly different from an animal, almost human even. I followed the direction that it came from, arriving to a clearing not unlike the one I woke up in, minus the yellow flowers. The yelling had come from a group of...people? They were humanistic, yes, but not entirely. Their entire body was covered in a layer of fur instead of skin, hooves instead of feet, and somewhat longer faces than normal. They were standing on their back legs and cowering against a tree, eyes wide and mouths open as if they were afraid for their lives.

They looked like...well, horse people. Some variant of monster from Mt.Ebott if I had to guess. Actually, they were very similar to Aaron, a total jock of a monster Frisk encountered once, minus the bulging muscles and fish tails. They couldn’t be older than maybe twelve, and were smaller than me. They were also wearing relatively clean clothes, which meant they were surely from a town somewhere nearby and had a family waiting for them.

I had little time to pay attention to anything else, hearing what sounded like dogs growling, but much deeper. My eyes widened when I turned to the source; a pack of wolves, five in total. The thing that surprised me the most is that they were made completely out of wood from head to toe, with spring green eyes and leaves for eyebrows. I saw that one of them had blood on their mouth, with orange feathers in between the wood that made up their teeth.  

I glanced back at the horse-people and saw that the orange one had a chunk bitten out of one of their wings that I hadn’t noticed before, big enough to where it’d be almost impossible to ever fly with it. I also noticed that the white one had a horn sticking out of their forehead, jogging an old memory I had of reading about unicorns and pegasi. Judging from that hydra I met before, this world had mythological creatures in it, though I can’t say I remember hearing or reading about dogs made out of wood. 

From now on I would refer to them as wood dogs, as good as a name for them as any. 

It would have been too easy for me to abandon them and move on, no reason for me to endanger myself for these children I didn’t even know. Yet the very thought of it caused a pit of guilt to open in my stomach. If I left them there, they’d die without a doubt. I don’t know how much of a difference I could truly make. But if I left here without even trying, I would never stop asking myself what would have happened if I had helped them, it would haunt me for the rest of my life. 

“Dammit.” I mumbled to myself as I jumped out of the bush I was in, right into the clearing. “HEY! Look over here!” I shouted to try to get their attention, which worked. 

Some of the wood dogs heard and turned towards me, growling and trying to ward me off from their rightfully earned prey. Two others continued to move in on the girls, ensuring that their prey would go nowhere. The girls themselves glanced at me and only became more afraid and somewhat confused. To them, I must have looked like another predator or something, since I didn’t have fur or a face like theirs.

The closest one pounced at me, its jaw opening as it aimed for my throat. It was much slower than I expected it to be, and I'm good at dodging from having watched Frisk evade attacks I didn’t think they could. I managed to jump to the side, though I was still getting used to this body and couldn’t move as fast or as well as I’d like. 

I saw out of the corner of my eyes one of them lowered its body, preparing to pounce onto the girls like that one did to me. I refused to let that happen, I would not have another child’s blood on my hands. I ran towards them. I had no weapons on me, not even a stick, so all I could do is use what I had. I clenched my right hand and reeled it back, sending it forward with all the strength I could muster when it leaped towards them, punching it in the jaw.

I sent its body flying, slamming it into a tree with a loud thud. I winced as I pulled my hand to my chest. I’d never punched something before, I didn’t expect it to hurt so much, but there was a certain...satisfaction to it. I also noticed that while their bodies were hard, they were surprisingly very light, I could probably pick one up and throw it if I wanted to. 

“Are you...here ta help us?” The yellow one said with a heavy drawl in her voice.

I glanced back at them, trying to ignore the stinging in my hand. They were huddled together as close as they could be, the color drained from the orange ones face and their teeth gritting as they tried not to show their pain from the bite wound, but they were a bit less afraid than before. 

“As little as it’s worth, yeah.” I responded as I turned back to the wolves, seeing that they were quickly surrounding me, they had deemed me a threat. “I’m really lost in these woods. I’m hoping that if we get out of this, you guys will take me to whatever place you’re from.” 

I knew that was an excuse I was telling myself as much as them. I didn’t want to admit that I just wanted to help them and trick them into thinking I was a good person. I just...couldn’t take the guilt of another child dying because of me. 

Another wood dog tried to attack me, failing when I grabbed it by its throat, its teeth grazing me when I moved my head after it tried to take a chunk out of my face. I spun around and threw it at another one, a sound similar to a log falling onto another log when they connected. I saw another running towards me at full speed. I sprinted and met it halfway, kicking him in the muzzle and hearing something akin to whimpering. 

Compared to the fights I’d seen Frisk in, how he memorized every move, dodging these guys and hitting them after was a piece of butterscotch pie. The problem is I didn’t want to kill them, and I’m not even sure if I could. I can recognize that these were wild animals, they weren’t evil and hunting for sport like humans would, they were just hungry. 

Even if I wanted to…

I saw the one I punched earlier get up, and other than shaking its head, unaffected by my attack, reinforcing what I was thinking. I don’t know what made and kept these things alive, but I knew the only way to kill them would be something like fire magic, which I'm incapable of. 

I could keep fighting, sure, but to what end? I couldn’t even say whether these things could get tired or not. If it came down to a battle of attrition, I’d lose. I couldn’t run either, these girls behind me were too terrified to move, they’d die. There was only one chance I had. From what I understood of wolves, every pack had an alpha, who they saw as the strongest and the leader. If I could beat the alpha into submission, they may decide to retreat and find weaker prey, leaving us alone. 

Now just to figure out which one is the alpha. 

The wood dogs were starting to surround me from all directions, more than likely intending to attack me all at once, having realized one at a time wouldn't work. If I could tell which one the alpha is I could attack them first, and do as much damage as possible. Making it harder is the fact that they all looked the same! None were bigger or had any change in their color scheme, could have been clones of each other for all I knew. 

My only hope is to guess an-

A loud, primal roar interrupted my thoughts, even the woods dogs had stopped their advancements on me and lowered their heads. Ice cold fear filled my body at the sound, immediately reminding me of the hydra, the only thing that came to my mind that could make a sound that loud. 

I fearfully looked to my left, the tops of the leaves shaking as something approached. I first saw large, circular green eyes in the darkness, then the rest of the body followed. The good news is that it wasn’t the hydra, the bad news is it was a wood dog big enough to come up to the hydra’s stomach, much larger than me and more than enough to eat me in one chomp. 

As it approached, all the others began to back away, out of respect or fear of it, I couldn’t tell. The alpha walked up to me, opening its mouth and breathing hot air onto me, its teeth half the size of my body. While I wasn’t nearly as terrified as I was when I saw the hydra, I still couldn’t stop shaking as I knew there's just as little I could do to fight this thing. 

“Oh, sh-” I was interrupted when it used one of its massive lumber legs to try to hit me, just slow enough to allow me to get out of the way. 

It wasn’t even half as fast as the hydra, but if that had hit me, I’m sure most of the bones in my body would be broken. I got to my feet as fast as I could after leaping to the side, my mind running as fast as possible as I tried to figure out what to do. My thoughts were interrupted by sharp, intense pain as one of the woods dogs bit into my shoulder from behind, eliciting a yell out of me. 

I was so focused on how to deal with the alpha I had forgotten about them, just assuming they were going to leave me alone and let the alpha deal with me, which was my fatal mistake. I pushed through the pain and wrapped my hands around its throat, lifting it over my shoulder and smashing it onto the ground in front of me. 

“Look out!” 

I heard one of the girls behind me yell, turning just in time to see one of the other ones lunging at me. I brought up my left arm defensively as it sunk its teeth into my forearm, I screamed as I slammed my fist against its nose to try to get it to let go, but it wasn’t budging. I could do nothing more than shriek as a similar pain came from my ankle, another wood dog digging its teeth deep into my leg and forcing me to my knees. 

The second I collapsed, the others took advantage and bit into different parts of me. I fought back the best I could, but the pain was becoming too distracting. The one I had thrown onto the ground earlier decided it wasn’t done with my shoulder and sunk its teeth right back into it. I screamed as they took sizable chunks out of me, blood soaking through my clothes as I sobbed. I’d been defeated. I couldn’t stand up, I could barely fight back, not like it would get me anywhere anyway. 

I closed my eyes as I accepted my fate, expecting one of them to rip my throat out. After a few seconds though, I was still alive. I opened them to see why, seeing that the wood dogs had stepped away from me, chewing on whatever parts of my flesh they had torn out. The alpha was approaching me again, the ground shaking slightly with each step. 

I understood what was happening now. The wood dogs had weakened me, making sure I could not run or put up much of a fight. Then, they were going to allow the alpha to eat me, likely letting the lesser ones feed on the remains of my corpse and those girls I was about to die trying to save. It lowered its head with its mouth agape, about to consume me. 

I didn’t want to stare into the maw of death again, not when I would be fully conscious this time. I turned my head to the girls, seeing that two of them had tried to shield their eyes and not witness my fate. One, the snow white one, had her eyes wide open, too horrified to close them or look away. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.” 

My last words, yet another apology. This time, I did not hear the crunching of my own body as I did with the hydra. One moment I was alive, the next nothingness as it smashed me between its teeth.

_____

I woke up, the closest term I could think of that fit, back in the clearing from before. My heart was erratic and seemed ready to beat out of my chest, but my body is whole again. I acted fast, putting my backpack on and running towards the tree. 

When there were no tallies on it, it confirmed what I’d been dreading: I was now cursed with the ability to reset. I fell to my knees as this terrible reality hit me, wrapping my arms around my shoulders to try to comfort myself. 

I thought that being brought here was a blessing, but the truth was that things were just worse. Now, not only was I not allowed to die, but I must experience agonizing death over and over. And to what extent? What was the end game? For Frisk, there was a goal in mind: Be the angel who’s seen the surface and make the underground empty, the delta rune prophecy, which they were the ones to fulfill.

To think, that absolute monstrosity was considered the angel. And I, Chara Dreemurr, the demon. It was so ironic it almost made me want to laugh, if I didn’t hate laughing. 

What was the point for me? Would I just keep resetting until I grew old? Would I just die over and over again until I lost the determination to continue? What is the endgame?! What cruel being did this to me? 

I sat there for five minutes on the verge of tears, clutching my head and my nails digging into my skin as I asked myself question after question, spiraling. Panic rose as I began to hyperventilate, the implications of my questions getting worse with each one.

The image of those three girls’ faces flashes in my head, their terror stricken expression begging for someone to help them. 

I began to calm down. Now wasn’t the time to panic or ask myself questions I couldn’t get answers to, those girls needed me. If I didn’t go, they would die there, and it would be my fault because I could have done something. 

I took a deep breath and got to my feet, picking up the same sharp rock and carving two tally’s in the same tree. I would save them, that was my goal for now. I would think about everything after when lives weren’t on the line, when I had time to ruminate.

I wasn’t saving them to try to be a hero, I learned long ago what happens to those who try to be heroes. I was doing this because I'm human and selfish. I would save them to relieve my own guilt and so they would lead me to a town or something, nothing more. 

After all, humans were trash, especially me. 

I gripped my necklace in my hands as I walked towards the backpack, slinging it over my shoulder and attaching it. I went full sprint in the same direction I had before, this time knowing exactly where the tree roots were and the quickest path. 

It was hard to keep track of time, but I think I got there a few minutes before I had earlier. There was no screaming this time, probably a good sign. I hid in the same bush I had previously, the three girls already being there, I tried to make my panting as quiet as possible. The orange one didn’t have a chunk missing out of her wing this time, which meant this must have been before. 

I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but they had eager smiles on their faces and were happy. The orange pegasus said something with a sly smirk to the white unicorn, causing her to playfully shove them. She moved back a few inches into a tree, bumping it slightly. Familiar green eyes opened beside it that they didn’t see, its gaze rising to the orange one’s wing. 

My heart skipped a beat as I knew what was going to happen. 

“MOVE!” I screamed as loud as I could, startling them as they jumped and looked into my direction. 

I grabbed my backpack and held it in front of me, shoving the orange one to the ground right as the wood dog jumped out of the bush with its mouth open. It bit down right onto my backpack, its teeth penetrating easily and threatening to tear it apart. 

I used all my strength and pulled the backpack towards me, thrusting it forward into the tree and slamming its head into it as hard as I could. How light they were is ridiculous, like having a pillow fight with a cloud against a wall. 

I grunted with each thud, until its head was crushed as it crumbled into a pile of sticks, tossing the backpack to the side. It was useless to me. 

“Who the heck ‘re-” 

The yellow one was interrupted by growling that came from all directions, more wood dogs came prowling out of the trees and bushes totally surrounding us. This made it clear to me that these wolves were already planning to attack before, and had just decided to cover every spot before ambushing them. How I didn’t run into one when I came here, I had no idea. 

They didn’t hesitate this time, the closest one running straight towards us. I didn’t hesitate either, not this time. I ran toward it and slid on my knees under him, which hurt a lot more than I thought it would. I grabbed it by the tail when it went over me, biting the inside of my cheek to try to ignore the splinters digging into my hands. I jumped to my feet and swung it overhead, its body hitting the ground with a sickening thud as it let out a high pitched whimper. 

“Behind yo-” 

I didn’t even let the white one finish before I reacted, clenching my hand as hard as I could and swinging behind me with enough force to turn my entire body around, closing my eyes and just hoping I was right. I felt the painful vibrations in my knuckle as my fist met wood dog face, its body twirling in the air like a spintop as it crashed to the ground. 

The punch hurt a lot, but I was more prepared for it this time and dealt with it better. Though it was made worse by the splinters stabbing into my hand. I was breathing heavily, already tired enough to want to pass out, one of the many cons of having a body again. 

“Holy horseapples!! Whatever you are, you are awesome!” the orange pegasus yelled, pumping her hands in the air as if to cheer me on. 

I really wasn’t. I was just copying what I’d seen Frisk and the monsters they fought do countless times. Frisk had become an unquestionable master at dodging, and since I experienced the same things they did to an extent, so have I. The monsters they fought were no slouches either, Undyne was a hardened warrior that proved just as much of a challenge as that trash bag comedian did. I really was just mocking them, combined with the fact that the wood dogs were easy to read and predictable, I'm confident that I could last long enough if I stayed focused. 

Even still, I was doing poorly. I was getting too tired too quickly, everything hurt and I just couldn’t get my breathing under control. But, I was determined to keep going as long as I could, even if just to learn more for the next time. I didn’t want to die and was terrified of it, but I also accepted that with how weak I was now, that it was a possibility I couldn’t ignore. 

“Listen to me: You guys...need to go to wherever you’re from...and get help. Before...the alpha gets here.” 

They looked at each other with confused expressions, like they didn’t understand a single word I’d just said. The white unicorn turned to me. “The alpha? What are yo-” 

Like this was some kind of messed up play and that line was a cue, I heard the unmistakable battle cry of the alpha. I could see the trees in the distance begin to shake as it moved through them, the same direction as before. 

In sync with it, all the wood dogs I had knocked down were getting back up, even the one that had collapsed when I crushed its skull. The broken apart wood and sticks began to manifest and form back together. The beast ignored the colorful trio and came straight towards me. The only wood dog that I hadn’t hit yet had remained in the back, patiently waiting for its chance to attack. 

“It doesn’t matter, just go! I can hold them off as long as you need, please, just get someone who can take care of these things!” I shouted as loud as I could, narrowing my eyes and pursing my lips in an authoritative scowl. 

They shrinked away from me when I screamed at them, looked at each other, and then nodded. They ran off in a random direction, which I found somewhat odd why the orange one didn’t use her wings, but maybe she was just panicking so much she didn’t remember she could do that. 

The alpha pushed through the trees, much more aggressively than before as it knocked some of them down. 

“Hey, big guy. Was just talking about you.” I said sardonically. Of course, it didn’t react in any noticeable way. 

Just like last time, they began surrounding me, the alpha planning to kill me when I’m weakened like the coward it is. But I wasn’t going to stand by and let them, not again. I ran towards the closest one, kicking it right in its ugly, bark snout. Another pounced on me, going for my ankle. I quickly raised my foot and brought it down on its head, then picked it up by the throat and threw it into a third one that was trying to sneak behind me. The crunch of them hitting one another was quickly followed by the sound of wood clattering. 

The last two tried pouncing on me at once, I managed to stop one by uppercutting it and sending it into a backflip onto the ground, but the other one sank its teeth into the front of my shoulder. I yelped out in pain, but I didn’t intend to give it the chance to take anything out of me this time. I placed both of my hands on its underside, prying it loose before it really set in its grip and tossing it on the ground behind me. These things had surprisingly weak bite strength and needed a few seconds to really get in whatever they were trying to eat. Whatever was giving these things their sentience did a good job of giving them shape, but a poor one of giving actual structure. 

Before the wood dogs could attack me again, I extended my arms outward, puffing my chest out as much as I could and raised my head. I only had one idea for how to deal with the alpha, the same way I prevented Frisk from destroying everything: Bluffing. 

“What’s...wrong? Have to have...your pups fight for you? You’re just a...big coward.” I’m sure I didn’t look or sound nearly as intimidating as I was trying to be, especially since I couldn’t catch my breath. By the way, it could tell I was challenging it. 

The Alpha let out a loud bark, which I presumed was telling the others to back off. They listened, the ones on the ground got to their feet, and they backed away with their heads lowered. When they were back hiding in the bushes, their green eyes the only part that was visible as they watched, that was when I made my move. 

I know I couldn’t run, there was no way they would let me. I couldn’t win either, there wasn’t a Snowdin’s chance in hell that even if by some miracle I beat the alpha, the remaining wouldn’t pounce on me to try to become the new alpha. My best chance was to hold out as long as possible, and hope that those three could bring back help. 

I ignored the pulsating pain in my shoulder, the blood soaking through and staining it red, as I jumped off the ground and latched on to its ankle. If I was lucky, I could pull off enough of the wood to where it would cave in under its own weight. I don’t know if individual parts could reform, but all I could do was try. 

It shook its leg as it tried to force me off, but I held on tight to one of the logs, digging my nails in and gritting my teeth. I pulled with all my might, using all the strength I could muster, but it wasn’t enough. I don’t know if I wasn’t strong enough, or if the magic that bound it together was just too powerful, but I couldn’t do it. 

Before I even had the chance to try anything else, it raised its leg, slamming it into the ground. The vibrations violently reverberated throughout my body, loosening my grip. It pulled its leg back and kicked forward, launching me off it like I was a flea it had just flicked. 

I crashed straight into a tree with enough momentum to where I could hear some of the wood crack on impact, along with my spine. I screamed as immense pain coursed throughout my entire body. My arms went numb, which could not have been a good sign. All I could do was scream, my ears ringing and I barely even realized how hard I was biting the inside of my cheeks to try to block out the pain, the coppery taste of my own blood filling my mouth. I couldn’t tell if my body was trembling from the severe pain or the fear of dying. 

I could, however, make out the sound of the alpha’s footsteps approaching. I ached and the anguish exploded in my head turning it to a blinding whiteness, causing me to go dizzy and my vision blurred as I saw multiple wood dog alphas approaching me, which wouldn’t have really affected my odds of survival even if it were real. 

I actually felt the slightest sense of relief, glad that I was going to die and this agony was going to end, giving me a chance to do this all again. Then a steaming pile of shame hit me: That was the same kind of mindset Frisk had. How could I allow that thought to even come across my mind? Death is horrible. Pain is horrible. Resetting is awful. I hated this. I hated being so weak. I hated having this power. I hated having to die over and over again to get anything done. I hated that I knew I would become desensitized to it like Frisk. I hated that dying had always been the only thing I was good for. 

Most of all, I hated being human. 

“STOP!” 

Right as unconsciousness was taking me, I heard a voice that sounded distant, it was impossible for me to tell whether they were really far or if that was just from the concussion I probably had. 

I raised my head, blurrily seeing a figure landing in front of me, their wings flapping as the gentle breeze coming from them hit my face. Darkness at the very corners of my vision, but I could make out some things about this figure. They were a pegasus like the orange girl from before, meaning they were probably another horse person. Their pink hair, or mane I guess, straight like silk. Their fur was yellow and probably just as soft as her mane looked. 

Like a golden god that came to save me, they stood against The Alpha, their wings spread out like I was their child. I could see it stop in front of her, vaguely hearing the figure saying something in a lecturing tone, though I was unable to to make out what they were saying. 

They walked up to the alpha, not an ounce of hesitation or fear in their body as they pointed their finger in its face. It actually pouted and sat down like a dog being scolded by its master. It might have just been the dizziness, but I think it was whimpering. 

I began to fade in and out of consciousness, a few minutes could have passed as easily as a few seconds to me. When I opened my eyes again, the alpha was gone, and I assume so were the other dogs. The figure began to walk towards me, but my vision had become so blurry, I’d have had a better time of making them out during a heavy rainstorm. I couldn’t make out any of their facial features, just that their wings had receded and weren’t visible anymore. 

They bent down in front of me, bringing their right hand to their face and pushing a strain of hair behind their ears. I could make out their smile. It was small but gentle, and carried so much kindness behind it. 

“Are you alright?” 

Her voice was distinctly feminine and soft spoken like she was speaking to a crying child. Her voice and smile felt so familiar to me, I couldn’t help but think of my mother, my real mother. The one who treated me with unyielding kindness no matter what I did, the one who made me enough pies to stuff me full, the same one who had an unhealthy obsession with snails. 

“T-tori..el?” 

I slurred out, losing consciousness completely this time and passing out, my last thoughts were of my mother who took me in as her own child, even when my real ‘family’ didn’t.