Underearth/Book 2/Prologue

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A young boy opened his eyes as the sun's first rays of the morning shined through a crack in the tent of blankets and rugs that the boy called home. Sitting up, the boy rubbed at his eyes with one hand while the other felt along the rough ground for his boots. Once found, the boy grabbed them and put them on. He then put his hand outside the tent to get a better test of the temperature of the day. Chilly. The boy pulled his hand back in and reached for the blue sweater with two pink stripes that he'd been sleeping on the night before. After undressing from the warm but holey black sweat shirt and pants he used as sleepwear and dressing in more presentable clothing, the boy folded up the blanket he used and exited the tent.

This boy's name was Frisk Anecros Anendotos, a twelve-year-old boy who acted somewhat more mature than most other twelve-year-olds. Today to fight the chilled mid-September weather he'd put on dark blue jeans and a lighter blue sweater. He never bothered with his messy hair, as it would always get more messy the more he'd try and order it. Plus with the activities of the day, it would become more dirty and messy anyway.

First order of business was to find breakfast. Not an easy thing to come by when you have no proper home or income; but there were those within Athens, the city Frisk was in, who would offer free meals to those who could not get them any other way, such as the homeless. However, such people became more and more rare after the Mad Man, a rampant serial killer, had burned down every homeless shelter in the city and murdered all those who administered over them. Although the Mad Man hadn't made the front news all September, people were still living in fear of him.

After exiting his tent, Frisk closed it back up and looked around the alley-way he'd made his home in. After a bit, he exited into the street and looked around at the surrounding environment. There were a few people walking around, making their morning commute. Frisk went up to one of the people walking around.

"Excuse me sir," Frisk said, "could you spare some money?"

The man he'd asked brushed him off and began walking away. Frisk went up to a few other people, though ended with the same result. Eventually, one of the people he'd asked did give him some money, enough to buy something at least.

"Thanks!" Frisk said, running off to the nearest restaurant.

After ordering some food and eating, Frisk was once again on the road, heading for an alley-way close to the edge of the city. This was where he would wait for his good friend Artemis, a dark-brown-haired girl that was a year younger than Frisk. She too was homeless, though Frisk didn't know her reason. Frisk's own reason was because an automobile accident had killed his parents, and his older brother, who took care of him and his younger sister for some time, abandoned them both on the streets and went his own criminal way. Soon after this event, his sister Aliza had disappeared, leaving Frisk on his own.

After about fifteen minutes, Artemis appeared at the mouth of the alley-way.

"Frisk" she called out to him.

Frisk looked over at Artemis.

"Hey Art!" Frisk called back as he approached her. "Are you ready to start hunting?" he then asked.

"Well... no, not really." she replied. "I've never even used a bow before."

Frisk chuckled. "Well first, we have to finish making it."

Frisk was referring to an earlier conversation the two had. Artemis was telling Frisk about the trouble she had finding food and how her sister Amelia was beginning to get sick because of it. Artemis cared about Amelia to a fault, growing very over-protective of her. Frisk then told her about a book he'd read, saying that the nearby forest was a great place for hunting game, but neither of them had ever gone hunting.

"But I'm good at stealing, and it's easier." Artemis replied.

"You're eventually gonna get caught, Artemis. Then who will look after Amelia."

Artemis remained silent for a bit before speaking again.

"Alright, you made your point."

"Great, then lets go."

The two of them then began heading for a stretch of woods just north-west of Athens. Upon arrival, they made haste to where they'd stored the bow that was being crafted. Once they retrieved it, Frisk reached into his pocket and pulled out a long piece of string.

"Now all we have to do is put this on it."

Frisk attached one side of the string to the base of the bow, tying it on so it wouldn't move anymore. He then tied the top of the string in a hoop.

"Help me bend this." Frisk said to Artemis as he took his free hand to the top of the bow and began trying to bend it down.

Artemis came over and grabbed the top with her two hands and began pushing down. After a bit of effort, Frisk finally managed to loop the string into a notch at the top of the bow.

"There we go." Frisk said, somewhat exhausted. He then gave the bow to Artemis, turned around, and pulled out a few long, straight, narrow sticks that they had fashioned into arrows.

The two went somewhat deeper into the woods and spent the rest of the morning looking for something to kill. By lunchtime, they'd managed to kill a rabbit.

"Nice shot, Artemis." Frisk complimented as a makeshift arrow sank deep into the flesh of a brown forest rabbit. Artemis didn't speak though, as she was in slight shock at the sudden death she had just administered. Frisk stood up and grabbed the dead rabbit. "This should last for the rest of the day." he then said, handing the corpse to Artemis.

Artemis continued to remain silent, staring at the rabbit.

"Artemis?" Frisk asked in a concerned voice.

"I killed it..." Artemis said solemnly.

"Well... yeah, that's the idea." Frisk said.

Silence reigned between the two for a few more seconds.

"Listen," Frisk began, "in this world, it's kill or be killed, in many senses. You killed this rabbit so that you and Amelia could live. Who knows when your next meal might be, but with this—" Frisk gestured to the rabbit "—you have that certainty."

Artemis continued to be silent.

"Artemis, the best thing you could do now is cook it up and give it to Amelia; for her health."

Artemis looked at Frisk. "Y-yes... of course." she said, taking the dead animal in her hand.

"So, wanna head back? It's about noon." Frisk asked, looking up at the sky.

"Yes."

The two then trekked back to the city, arriving about an hour later, going their separate ways at their usual alley-way, and Frisk made way for the tent in his alley-way when he heard a sudden scream not too far from him. Looking around, Frisk saw nothing, not even a single passerby heading on their way. Another scream rang out, coming from an empty alley-way. Frisk ran straight in to see what was going on.

Deeper into the alley-way he went until he came across three large, imposing men mugging a woman. Seeing this, Frisk clenched his fists and approached the men.

"HEY!!!" he shouted.

The three men turned around, one of them holding a knife at the woman.

"Well well well, if it isn't little Frisk." the man holding the knife said.

Frisk's eyes widened at the voice.

"Yup, most definitely Frisk. Only you had those freak eyes. Upper half blue, lower half brown. Pick a color, would you!?" he sneered.

"W-w-w-" Frisk stuttered.

"Yup, it's me! Surprised?" he said, grabbing the woman by the arm and throwing her toward the exit of the alley-way. The man then approached Frisk, who was paralyzed with fear. As he got close, the man lowered the cloth mask that was covering his face.

"William!?" Frisk finally sputtered out.

"Remember what I told you last time we saw each-other Frisk?" William asked. "You know, when I left you and Aliza to the street dogs!?"

"I-I-I'm out, freak." Frisk quoted, "Don't follow me unless you wanna die."

William then grabbed Frisk by the shirt.

"That's right! I'm glad you remembered. So what are you doing here, interrupting me with my prey?"

"I heard a scream—"

"And so you came to play hero? Oh that's rich."

Frisk remained silent.

"You know, I've gotta say, I'm sick of your filthy little face. And you just happened to show up at the perfect time. See, I've had this itch ever since the Underground Hole suddenly emptied, and all these pieces on the streets don't quite itch it right. Maybe this itch is an itch for murder, wouldn't you say?"

As William finished saying this, he took up the butt of the knife and hit Frisk over the head with it, knocking him out.