A child arose in the middle of the night. Making sure not to disturb those who were sleeping in the same room, she quietly left her bed, her feet unsteadily touching the floor beneath her.

Everyone called her Frisk.

When she was merely two, she had lost her parents. A devastating car accident, she had been told.

As a result, she had grown up in the town orphanage. It was a little crowded, but still… it was the only home she knew.

The benefactors had tried their best to take care of everyone who lived there with what little funding they had. For the most part, the children there were well-fed, well-clothed, and well-sheltered.

However, their efforts to meet their physical needs came at a price. The benefactors were often too busy to afford to be acquainted with everyone. Frisk was thankful that they were so generous, but never really felt indebted to them.

Other than that, there wasn't really much she felt that she lacked.

Well, no. There was something. She had gotten very bored with her life.

It was a well-known fact at the orphanage that once a child hit a certain age, their chances at adoption grew very slim. Frisk was well beyond this age, having hit her eleventh birthday a few weeks back. This meant that if she remained, nothing was ever going to change for her.

And because of that, there was nothing left for her here. That was why she was going to leave it all behind that night.

That would require her to succeed in her plan, first. And if she were to succeed, she would have to act quickly.

Frisk crept down onto the floor and reached underneath the frame of her bed, blindly gripping onto the things that she had hidden there.

She held up her clothes. They were very comfortable, something that would suit the trek ahead of her. She hastily changed into them within the dark, discarding her plain nightgown onto the floor.

Next, she picked up a drawstring bag that she had prepared in anticipation. The food, water, and money that it contained had been difficult to obtain, yet she had managed to store them for the journey ahead of her. She slung it over her shoulder. Urgently, she pulled on a pair of socks, and then put on the shoes sitting by the side of her bed.

Now that Frisk was ready, then came the hard part: getting out.

The main entrance was firmly locked every night, so there was no use going there. The window in her room was too small to open and climb through, so she had to memorize a location of a window in the hallway in order to take the most direct path outside.

The child cautiously made her way to the window and struggled to open it, trying not to make a ruckus. Her fingers anxiously fiddled with the locking mechanism for a while, due to her limited understanding of how it worked.

But eventually, with a short click, the window unlocked. She summoned her strength and slowly pushed it up, letting in fresh air from outside.

A shiver was sent down the child's back. The temperature of the spring night was a bit chilly. She silently scolded her past-self for not picking a warmer outfit, but she would be forced to shrug off the cold. It was too risky to go back now.

As she poked her head through the window, she realized that she had made a miscalculation, since the window was located on the second floor. She needed to go, though; there wasn't much time to come up with a new plan.

The child crawled through the window, looking at the ground beneath her. She swallowed her fear and flung herself outside, letting gravity take ahold of her.

She managed to land feet-first in the grass below, but the impact of the fall had knocked her right over. She quickly scrambled to get up, doing her best to disregard the intense strain placed on her legs.

She took a moment to glance back on the orphanage behind her, feeling a mixture of fear, success, and excitement. There was little time to waste, though.

As Frisk rushed away, a huge grin rose on her face. It had really worked! The plan was going much more smoothly that she had anticipated.

A small, shrill yip stopped her in her tracks.

She panickedly glanced behind her to find, to her relief, that it was just a little white dog, probably one of the strays that wandered around town. Nothing more.

She began to run away from the dog, realizing that she might be caught if it made a commotion. It made no attempt to pursue her, soon hopping away in another direction.

Once Frisk was a safe distance away from the orphanage, her nerves were finally able to calm down. Her swift, boyish dash slowed to a light jog.

She headed off towards the heart of town underneath the night sky, her path solely illuminated by the lampposts lined up along the road.

Frisk had found a spot in the alley to rest for the night.

As strange as it was, sleeping in odd places wasn't a new experience to her. On occasion, when she would walk on her way home from school, she would take different paths, exploring the town as she walked through it. One time, about a year ago, when she got so lost that she couldn't find her way back to orphanage before night fell, she randomly picked a spot away from the road to huddle up and fall asleep.

As one could imagine, the owner of the store was surprised when he went to open his store in the morning and found a child, napping blissfully without a care in the world.

She got in a lot of trouble once she returned to the orphanage, but strangely, nothing was done to prevent her from exploring further. So that's what she continued to do.

But it was going to be a while before she returned, this time. If at all.

At the break of dawn, the child's eyes snapped open. She picked herself up, rubbing her eyes, and began to walk.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for: a bus station. Timidly, she sat down on a bench, waiting for a ride.

There wasn't anyone else there with her, but she didn't mind that. She spent a lot of time thinking to herself, since she was curious about pretty much everything. As a result, she generally wasn't a talkative person, so many of the other kids just left her alone when she wasn't playing with them.

There were a few friends she talked to on a regular basis, however. Those didn't come along too often, though.

Frisk tapped out a rhythm with her feet on the ground in order to calm herself down.

After what seemed like an eternity, the roar of the approaching bus reached her ears. She glanced back up and shakily began to rise from her seat.

Frisk reminded herself that it was only a bus, despite its large size. Still, as the bus came to a complete stop, she cautiously approached it, terror still holding her back.

Automobiles had been a fear of hers, stemming from the knowledge of her parents' demise. She recalled moments during her youth when she would wait for long periods of time before crossing the street if someone wasn't holding her hand.

Although her phobia had become less extreme, it never really went away. She would still cringe if someone in a car drove past her, even if it wasn't moving very quickly.

But really, if she wasn't going to take the bus, the alternative was walking the entire way. She really didn't want to do that.

So she summoned her determination and stepped onto the bus.

The driver was a middle-aged man, a little surprised that a young girl was riding by her lonesome. He watched on as Frisk took an empty seat, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone else.

Despite this, the bus took off, continuing on its route.

Frisk stared outside the window, viewing the world pass by from her seat. She watched on as people— mostly adults— passed along the sidewalk, bringing a start to their daily lives.

Of course, she wasn't on a mere sightseeing trip. She had a destination in mind.

The orphanage had a considerable collection of books, which was expanded occasionally due to donations. She spent most of her free time reading them, since there wasn't much else to do.

One book in particular she took a liking to was donated when she was nine years old.

It described the ancient tales of the war between humans and monsters. The two races had ruled over the earth, but war broke out between them. After lots of fighting, the humans had ended up victorious. Using a magical spell, the humans sealed the monsters underground.

What interested her was that many versions of the tale claimed that the monsters were imprisoned right under Mt. Ebott.

The myth was well known around town among its residents, since it was situated so close to its base. Still, very few actually believed that the stories were actually true.

Still, no one would approach the mountain. It was said that no one who climbed would ever return.

Ever since she had heard of Mt. Ebott, it had always intrigued Frisk. Sometimes, she would look at pictures of the mountain and dream of climbing it. If she could go anywhere to visit… Ebott would be the place that she would choose.

It seemed that very little was going to stop her now.

The ride lasted about an hour. Once the bus came to the edge of town, she handed all of the money that she had to the driver, telling him to keep the change.

She hopped off with a spring in her step and ran off, leaving the driver very confused.

Frisk passed through the trees and came to a clearing, finding herself at the foot of the mountain.

It was a warm, humid spring day. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and the weather was perfect for a game of catch.

She stared in awe at the sight ahead of her. Seeing it in reality, up close… well, the pictures couldn't really compare.

The child grinned to herself, filling with determination, and began her trek up the mountain.

Not long after beginning her journey, Frisk came upon a small pond. She knelt down close to it, eyes wide in fascination.

The child stared down at her reflection, a smile spreading across her face as she recognized herself: hair that barely reached her shoulders, youthful features, dark brown eyes — that was Frisk!

A small fish bobbed to the surface, disturbing the reflection. Frisk dipped her finger in the water and watched on as the fish timidly drew back from it.

With a sudden motion, her hand snapped towards the tiny animal in an attempt to grab it, but the fish wriggled out of her grasp, leaving her empty-handed. The child giggled as the fish began to swim to the other end of the pond, clearly spooked by the disturbance.

As she dried her hand off on her shorts, she took a deep breath. The mountain air was crisp and clean, since the mountain had been left untouched by humanity.

She closed her eyes, listening to the birds chirp among the trees. Everything felt so natural and at peace here, not like the chaos of the orphanage…

Her thoughts began to drift to her home. She wondered if anything would happen there without her.

Well, probably not, she assumed. She had never really been influential there. Besides, the benefactors wouldn't care. When other kids ran away, whether successfully or unsuccessfully, they never seemed to care that much.

She assumed that her friends would be able to deduce where she had headed. After all, she recalled telling one of them that she wanted to visit Mt. Ebott one day, and she knew them well enough to know that they could put two and two together.

But of course, none of them would be insane enough to pursue her. And they probably wouldn't mind making new friends in her place.

That meant that she really couldn't feel worse by leaving everyone she knew behind, so it only made her more motivated to continue the ascent.

Panting in exhaustion, Frisk pulled herself upwards, having clawed her way up a rocky slope. Once her entire body was steadily located on firm ground, she collapsed, her muscles immediately giving way after the intense strain placed on them.

Slowly, she rose from her spot, wiping the sweat from her brow. The child stumbled towards a tree and took a seat beneath it, seeking shelter from the hot afternoon sun.

Frisk took the bag off of her back and took out a plastic water bottle. She took off the cap and took a short sip, relieving her mouth of its dryness. Since that was all the water she was able to get her hands on, she could not afford to drink it all too quickly.

She replaced the cap and sloshed the water around in her mouth before swallowing it all down.

A long stick on the ground nearby caught her attention. Trees were not a common sight back in town, so it had interested her.

She reached over for the stick and picked it up, wielding it like a toy weapon. She tightened her grip on it, taking note of the way the bark felt against her hand.

After resting for a few more moments, she stood back up, slinging the bag back over her shoulder. She turned to the mountain's peak and pressed onwards, holding onto the stick by her side.

The child accidentally bounded forward and fell down, not having noticed the rock jutting out from the ground in her path. As she hit the ground, she felt the sharp, excruciating pain running through her leg.

Swiftly, she picked herself up and noticed the situation: her leg had flown into a branch sticking out from the side, leaving a gash through her skin.

The sight of blood sent a wave of nausea through her. A stream of it slowly crawled down from the wound, leaving a warm, sticky trail.

A low, pained whimper escaped the child's mouth.

Dropping the stick for a moment, Frisk used her fingers to carefully wipe away the blood. As she was about to wipe it against her clothes, she decided against it, leaving a streak of blood on the other leg instead.

She unrolled her sleeve and peeled a bandage from her arm. It had covered an injury that had mostly healed by then, and it was still somewhat sticky, despite being used a few times.

Without hesitation, Frisk patted it down on her newly obtained wound, letting out a sigh of relief. It still stung, but it felt a bit better.

She snapped up the stick and stood back up, finding the strength to continue.

The climb continued into the evening, the light of day fading slowly into the darkness of night.

Frisk's gaze turned upwards. When she had began her ascent, the sky was perfectly clear. Over time, however, clouds had steadily began to form, until they formed a shadowy sheet in the sky. They cast a dark, unsettling gloom on the mountain.

Something small fell onto her face. She brought her hand to it, finding that it was a drop of water.

Uh oh.

Frisk scanned her surroundings, searching for some shelter from the oncoming rain. The foliage on the trees wouldn't be thick enough to prevent the water from reaching her, so there was no luck hiding there.

Up ahead, she found it— making it out in the dark, her eyes focused to the wide mouth of a cavern in the mountainside.

With the destination set, she scrambled past the trees in order to reach it. Drops of moisture were already falling from the sky, landing on her clothes, on her face, on the ground around her.

Suddenly, she was yanked back, filling her with further fear and agitation. In her haste, her bag had been caught on a low-hanging branch, preventing her from moving further.

Immediately, the child freed her arms from the straps of the bag and left it behind: she could come back for it later, even if it would be soaking wet.

The rain was falling down in torrents now. Frisk desperately scaled a steep slope, still holding onto the stick in her hand.

As she drew close to the cavern, viewing the darkness that lay within, a thought occurred to her. It might contain something that wouldn't want to be disturbed. But, the rain pounding down on her clothes reminded her that it didn't really matter right now— she would worry about it later, as long as she got out of the rain.

With a final burst of speed, Frisk rushed inside, grateful to have a roof over her head. Wet and exhausted, the child let out a sigh of relief and wearily took a seat.

She viewed deeper into the cave, finding that it was too dark to explore past the entrance, but it seemed that nothing else was present, bar a few insects. She stayed close to the cave's mouth, watching as the rainfall outside slowly escalated into a downpour.

A bright flash of light from outside startled her. A few seconds later, a loud thunderclap sounded, sending her to the ground in shock. She began to curl up into the fetal position on the floor, shivering in terror.

She soon came to rest, listening to the sound of thunder and the roaring rain.

The night passed.

Once Frisk woke up, she found that the storm had ended. It was morning now, and sunlight was pouring into her surroundings.

She rose to her feet, the chirping of the birds reaching her ears.

Slowly, she began to wander outside of the cave, looking outside at the world beneath her. She had a choice to make: either continue up the mountain further, or quit now and make her way back down.

However, there was something about the cave that had protected her from the rain that spoke of so much to explore. Frisk began to turn around, unable to resist the urge to explore it.

The child quietly descended further into the cavern, taking small, careful steps.

The sunlight grew dimmer, but did not cease to be present entirely. Long vines snaked along the walls, leaves catching what little sunlight they could. In the corner, a tiny lizard hopped from one rock to another, chasing down a cockroach scuttling about.

As she went a little further, she took a sharp intake of air at the sight that greeted her, nearly stumbling backwards. In the back of the cave, surrounded by vines, stones, and the roots of trees… lay a huge, gaping hole. She had never seen anything like it.

After managing to tear her eyes away from it, she looked to the floor and noticed that there appeared to be some small, muddy footprints leading up to it. Footprints of children like her, she imagined.

Frisk walked up to the pit, creating her own set of prints. She began a slow descent to approach it, trying to see where it led to. However, she was so focused on viewing what was inside, that she had forgotten to look straight down… and was unable to notice when her foot got snagged on a vine.

The child lurched forward, losing her balance. Dread rose in her heart, as she saw where she was headed: straight into the abyss.

A loud scream escaped her throat, a desperate cry for someone to help. Of course, nobody came.

As she fell, her senses began to fail her. Swiftly, her surroundings faded to pitch-black, and she could no longer hear the empty air whistling past her ears.

And like many before her, she was claimed by the earth.

AN (Author's Note): Welcome to "A Child Gets Stuck in a Cave."

This is going to be a retelling of Undertale, but of course, with a few twists and turns along the way. I'm going for the light-hearted and goofy side of the game, something that I haven't commonly seen among the Undertale fanfiction community, sadly…

Oh well. This is a thing that exists, now.

Next time: underground shenanigans begin.