The Leaves of the Ruins

Toriel takes a rest in the leaves at her feet
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	Leaves picked up in the light wind of the ruins, Toriel walking back after checking to see if another child had fallen down. Luckily, none came today, but there was still tomorrow… and she feared what would happen if one did fall. But at least for another day she didn’t have to worry about keeping them away from the clutches of the other monsters.

	The old queen rubbed her temples, the long time of exile draining on her well being. She was woefully isolated, none of the monsters of the ruins dared talk to her, neither the ribbiting Froggits nor the bashful Whimsuns, and none of the children she tried to save stayed for more than a few days. Her empty nest felt like it was expanding, and she could do nothing but just wait and watch.

	There was always leaves in the ruins. They never went away, the same piles were there since Toriel first left, and had been in the same place, like they hadn’t moved since the ruins were first abandoned. The slight wind from the entrance above ground sometimes picked up a few from one pile and blew them to another, but they always seemed to come back. The bright orange were a rather nice contrast from the purple of the walls, Toriel always enjoyed the nice splash of color.

	Time moved oddly in the underground. The leaves didn’t decay, they never left. They just stayed still, as if caught in a purgatory for plants. Everything seemed to age so slow, yet time went by fast. Toriel felt old. Her age didn’t show, despite being centuries old, she was rather limbre, and her wits were still about her. She only needed glasses for reading, and she was quite strong compared to most other monsters. But the generations she’s seen gone by, the occasional moment of forgetting what she was doing, how long she had truly been alone for… it all added up and weighed down on her. She felt so indescribably old.

	But it felt like it just yesterday when she had last seen her children and… well she didn’t like to think about that for too long.

~~~

	The crisp leaves crackled underfoot, the sound reminding Toriel of an age when she was much younger, running and stamping around under big trees with joyful giggles. She felt suddenly tired, in the doorway near the room where rocks could talk. The leaves seemed especially still here, nothing touched them. She yawned, maybe it would nice to take a small rest for a while. Nothing was ever gonna go anywhere.

	Small rustles sounded as she lied down on the leaves, which were surprisingly soft and springy, almost like grass. Sighing, she closed her eyes, her ears flopping to the side.

	It felt nice.

	A quiet voice spoke up, “Oh…” Toriel looked up, spotting a white blob peeking from the entrance to the next room, “I didn’t know anyone else lived here… I guess I’ll leave.”

	Toriel looked at the monster, almost uncertain what she had seen. It looked like a blanket had grown arms and a face and learned how to fly. She could sense that they were very old, but they had a young look about them, and they seemed timid, much like a child. Toriel almost pleaded, “Wait!” She cleared her throat, settling down “I mean… Wait, is this where you usually like to lie?”

	The ghost nodded, “I usually come around here since no one really can get into here, at least not that I’ve seen… The quiet is a great place for me to think and lie down and feel like garbage.”

	Toriel felt sad for the ghost, scooching over to make room in the orange bed, “Well, I won’t bother you. I suppose we could just lie here and feel like garbage… together.”

	A small smile appeared on the ghost’s face. “I guess we could.... Sure. My name’s Napstablook, but people call me Blooky. Well, they used to.”

	“My name’s Toriel. I’m the caretaker here.” She put on a small smile as she watched Blook lie down next to her. There was a short silence. “What do you mean ‘used to?’”

	“Oh... I only had one friend, but he left not too long ago…”

	Toriel’s smile disappeared, “Oh, that is horrible. I’m sorry.”

	“It’s ok… he was close but… sometimes people just split apart.”

	Something tugged at Toriel’s heart. “I… I guess so.” She sniffed, wiping an eye. “Though, not always.”

	There was another silence, between the two, Toriel turned to look at the ghost, “What was he like?”

	“Hm? Oh…” sighed the ghost, “He was like family to me… well he WAS family to me. He and I were as close as we could be… and he loved humans. He even went to a Human Fan Club meeting... and met this one scientist. We were still close then.”

	Toriel listened intently, a feeling of sorrow and familiarity spreading through her. “But… he just spent more and more time with this other monster... and they became really good friends. She would come over every once in awhile... and would listen to music I made and sometimes she would bring these show that we would watch… it was fun, but I could feel that my friend was drifting away from me.”

	Tears formed in Toriel’s eyes at what she knew was coming next. “Well… one day he said he was going to hang out with her at her lab... and he just… never came home. I haven’t seen him since…”

	It was grossly familiar to her story, and she closed her eyes but couldn’t help but cry. “Oh… I’m sorry... was it that boring?”

	“No, no not at all. It’s just… painfully similar to what happened to one of my friends.” She sniffled, wiping the tears from her cheeks, “I feel bad for him, but I don’t know if I could face him again. He did something rather awful.”

	She opened her eyes, letting the tears spill out, “And I… I did something rather awful as well.”