Chapter Text
Susie awoke this morning much the same as she always did.
Hungry.
She threw the covers off of her as she sat up, gave a yawn, and stretched her arms. As always, breakfast was the first concern before anything else as she got out of bed and headed straight for the kitchen. Slices of bread shoved into a toaster, a pan fired upon the stove as she threw a couple of eggs, shell and all, into it to be cooked
The smell of the toaster nearly catching fire alerted her that her toast was ready. Even the highest setting didn't toast the bread nearly to her liking so she had fiddled with it to make it not stop toasting until she pressed the button to release it.
She pulled out two entirely charred pieces of bread, cooked crispy to the point it would chip the teeth of most monsters.
But for the dragon? She bit through the pieces no differently than chips. She quickly shoveled the scrambled mess of egg and shell into her maw straight out of the pan before washing it all down with a glass of water.
Stomach satiated she could now handle other concerns. She went back to her bedroom to get some clothes on, it was always after she ate she realized how cold it was in nothing but her boxers and a tank top. She pulled on her jeans, shirt, boots, and finally, her jacket.
She stepped out onto the street and began the walk to school. She pulled her jacket close to her as it was a rather brisk morning. The summer was over and the enjoyable weather was gone for another year.
Though hopefully she wouldn't be here by next Summer.
She walked into school, the other students giving her space as she made her way to class. Practically rolled out a red carpet down the middle of the hall just for her.
Only her.
She went into Ms. Alphys class and ignored how quiet everyone got the moment she passed them on her way to her seat. Energetic morning conversation turning to hushed whispers, animated movement becoming a still picture.
"S-Susie! It's great to s-see you on time today." Stuttered Ms. Alphys with a smiling, yet nervous face. Susie gave a grunt of acknowledgement as she propped her head onto her hand. The last few students filed in as class began to start.
Another wonderful day in Hometown high. She sighed through her nose as she looked to the clock to count down time till lunch.
She didn't much see the need in staying at school after the meal, but the last thing she needed was officer Undyne barking at her for truancy again and it's not like she had much better to do anyways. She went through the motions as she always did, waiting for nothing more than the bell to release her.
She went to lunch by herself. She returned to class by herself. And when she got back home after the school day she would still be all to herself. Nothing more than a handheld video game and a few DVD's to keep her busy until tomorrow.
By the time the final bell had rung her stomach was growling fiercely and she found herself walking into the woods to see if she could find anything worth eating, avoiding her home, avoiding the town.
She grabbed a handful of berries here and there as she travelled deeper into the forest. Her goal was a few miles out but she didn't mind the walk. She always got a certain sense of calm in the solitude of being this far away from everyone else, and she noticed she had missed being out here all week. Being alone out here seemed right. Seemed normal. There was no one else here after all.
Not like town. People all around in town... yet alone all the same.
After an hour or so of walking her nose perked up as she noticed a certain smell in the air.
Food! And meat at that! She was pretty sure it was fish being cooked if her nose was right. Must be some campers out... she could probably raid their supplies if they left their campsite after they ate. She noticed the smell was coming from the direction of her destination and hoped they hadn't taken all of her prize.
As the smell got stronger she did her best to approach silently. Not the easiest feat for her but so long as she made sure a dried leaf or twig didn't get under foot she should be fine. She just had to hope her stomach wouldn't betray her. The few berries were not doing much to stop the growling.
As she heard the sound of the fire crackling she got low and found a thick patch of bushes to approach from. Sure enough the site was right where she thought it would be.
Under the only apple tree in the whole forest.
She did her best to peek out to see without being seen herself. She had lucked out, the monster was sitting with their back towards her at the small fire. All she could make of them was that they had brown hair that went just a little past their shoulders and were wearing a red and green long sleeve sweater along with plain brown pants.
There were indeed a few fish stuck on some makeshift skewers leaned in towards the fire. And a couple apples. She wanted to kick herself for having never thought of roasting them herself.
Looking around the site she noted that there was no tent to be found. A makeshift lean-to had been made under the tree. And she didn't see a cooler or any other supplies. Which meant even if they left after eating there would be nothing for her to snatch. She looked up at the tree noting there were still plenty of apples so it wouldn't be a complete bust.
And if she had no reason to steal from the camper there was no reason to keep hiding. They couldn't claim the tree for themselves after all.
She stood up and walked out towards the tree. "Hey, don't mind me just here to grab a few apples." She announced. The monster gave a jump out of fright, nearly falling over and turned towards her. Fearful crimson eyes stared into her own and she realized quite quickly this wasn't some random camper.
It was a human. She had never seen a real one before, but she had seen enough pictures to recognize the creature. It stood up on its bare feet and looked ready to bolt out of there and Susie's mind worked quickly.
"Easy there buddy, no need to panic." She spoke softly as she could manage and held her hands up placatingly in front of her, taking note of the red collar on its neck. "No need to run off to your owner, everything's okay."
If she could keep it from alerting whoever it belonged to she could snag the fish for herself and come back for the apples later. It seemed to calm down just a tad bit but kept its eyes fixed on her as it backed away slowly, back just slightly arched down towards her.
"Easy." She said as she stepped closer. She reached down and grabbed one of the fish and started backing away slowly herself. As soon as she was completely out from the campsite she hightailed it out of there, chomping down on the fish as she ran.
The releasing bell of class the next day couldn't come sooner as Susie bee lined it for the woods again. The meager school lunch she had quickly ran out and she was sure whoever was camped out under her apple tree would be gone.
Makeshift sites like that were usually made by hikers on the move after all. She could get her fill of as much of the tree's sweet fruit as she wanted.
As she approached she noted the same aroma from yesterday. Whoever it was was still here and had food cooking again. She forewent the sneaking around, simply walking up to the tree as if it had her name on it and saw that the human was by itself again. She looked down at the fire and saw the same dinner as yesterday. Fish and roasted apples.
The human didn't move from its sitting position as she came this time. Merely keeping its eyes wide open, stalking her as she moved to the fire. Its legs were just barely making restrained twitches, as if its animal instincts couldn't decide between flight or fight.
"Easy little fella. Just gonna grab a fish." She kept her eyes peeled for anyone to suddenly show up as she picked up and bit into the bony, meaty morsel. She took more notice of the small size of the lean-to and figured there was only one monster out here. All by themselves, nothing more than their little pet to keep them company.
A pet...
Nah. Too much hassle.
She threw the skewer into the fire, yanked up one of the roasting apples and as she bit into the sweet mushy fruit she again wanted to kick herself for never having tried one like this before. Easily one of the best things she had ever eaten, practically a dessert. She stood for just a bit but decided against eating more of what was left.
As far as the camper knew the little human here was the only other thing that would be eating this food. Didn't need to get the little fella in too much trouble.
It's eyes steadily looked her up and down in curiosity, legs still doing that twitching as it slowly tilted its head to the side. As if seeing her from a better angle would tell it something.
"What? Why do you keep staring at me?" She asked. An odd feeling, being the center of attention...
The next day as she went marching to the tree she noted the smell was just a tad different. It still smelled like meat. But not fish. Heartier. Richer. She peaked out of the bush and saw that a spit had been made above the fire. Hard to tell with the fur and head removed but it looked like a rabbit was being cooked.
Which was not a good sign at all. It most likely meant the monster was armed. She had tried her fair share of catching rabbits before and they were way too damn fast.
She also saw that the human was sitting on the opposite side of the fire, facing towards the bush she had been coming from.
And a couple of apples roasting on the side closest to her.
Almost as if she was expected to show up again.
She walked into the clearing and the human didn't even look frightened of her, simply giving her that same blank stare it had yesterday. She reached down and grabbed the apples but before she could leave the human reached over to its side into some leaves that were piled up next to it.
And pulled out another, already cooked, rabbit.
It held the roasted food out to her and her mind came to a halt. Was it giving that to her? Its red eyes were staring straight at her own as it continued holding the food out for her. She walked over and grabbed the offered meal and she was now close enough to the human to make out the snowflake shaped tag on the collar.
Krismas Holiday
XXX-XXX-XXXX
She didn't know anyone by the name of Holiday. Though she supposed she didn't know every single monster living in Hometown. She wasn't quite sure the phone number was the right area code either, though she didn't use a phone often enough to know for sure.
"Thanks." She said as she took the offering. This would be a bit hard to eat on the go...
Screw it. It gave it to her, if its owner didn't like it that wasn't her fault. She sat down at the nice warm fire and bit I to the succulent meat with wild abandon, chomping right through the bone, until every last trace was gone.
Susie let out an appreciative sigh but paused as she realized what she just did.
Her eating habits typically made others... A bit antsy around her... Especially when bones got involved. She slowly looked at the human on the other side of the fire to see how worried it may have been to be next on the menu.
It was smiling. The thinnest little grin of content on its face.
Huh. That was new.
The next day was Saturday, which luckily meant she didn't have to deal with the monotony of her school day.
No school lunch either though.
She made her way into the woods first thing in the morning. If the camper was still around Susie was planning on doing something she never thought she would do.
Thanking them. The food had been a blessing this week and with a whole ass rabbit and several fish down her gullet she supposed at the very least she could say thank you.
That... and maybe even see if they'll teach her how to catch food like that. Would make her life a whole hell of a lot easier.
When she made it to the site the fire was barely still going and there was no sign of the human or its owner. It was still quite early in the morning so she decided to check the lean to and see if they were still asleep. She looked in and saw the human sleeping peacefully.
Where was the monster?
She walked back over to the fire and accidentally stepped on a few leaves. The human shot up from its sleep in a panic but when its eyes fell on her it calmed down.
It came out of the makeshift shelter and gave a big stretch before walking over to a small pile of wood and grabbed a few pieces to throw onto the fire. She blinked at that and wondered how hard it must have been to train it to maintain a fire.
Smart they may be, humans were still animals.
She looked around for any signs of the owner but upon finding none she sat herself down to wait. The fire was building back up and it was a pleasant source of warmth this brisk morning. The human tentatively walked towards her, slightly crouched, head tilted down, and slowly lay down next to her, placing its head against her leg.
Susie gave a shrug and patted it a few times on its head. It was making some kind of soft rumble and though she at first thought it to be purring she was pretty sure it was just snoring. She gave a small yawn as she and the human sat there to wait for its owner's return, absently scratching its scalp as she waited.
Two hours later and Susie's patience had run out.
"Where the hell are they!?!" She screamed out. The human jolted awake looking around. "Where the hell is your damn owner?" She asked as she pointed her finger towards its collar. "I wanted to thank 'em for the food but I ain't waiting all damn day for em!"
It tilted its head at her and Susie sighed.
"Just so bored out here!" She said abrasively. The human stood up and began walking out of the clearing. Great going Susie, it was all about you a minute ago, now you went and scared it off.
Not a surprise really, she thought bitterly.
It stopped and looked back towards her when it reached the edge of the clearing. Susie stared at it for just a moment before realizing it was waiting for her and got up to follow behind. She didn't know if it was going to its owner or not but she was ready to do anything other than just sit here.
They only walked a few minutes before coming up to a rabbit caught in a makeshift snare. Whoever was camping out here really knew their stuff. The human walked up to the struggling creature and with a quick stomp of its foot the rabbit fell still. It untied the rabbit and then-
Reset the snare?!
Its fingers worked quickly re-tieing the vines and sticks until it was ready for its next catch.
"How the hell'd you do that?" Susie asked amazed. She had tried her hand at making these before but she could never get the thing quite right. The human looked to her and quickly threw its hand into the trap, setting it off. It then began to set it back up, this time much slower.
Wait.
Was it actually showing her how to do it? She paid as close attention as she could and as soon as it was done it threw its hand back in setting it off once more. The human then moved to the side, allowing her space.
Susie knelt down and tried her best to recreate what it had done when suddenly her hand was tapped and the human made a small circle with its finger. She had missed a loop in the knot. When she was done it looked almost identical to how it had looked before. She slowly put her hand into it...
And it went off with a snap!
"Hell yeah! That's awesome!" She yelled excitedly. She reset it once more, this time leaving it to its prey. She looked over at the human to see its eyes practically shining, clearly sharing in her excitement. "Uh, thanks for showing me that!" It stood up and began walking further away from the campsite and Susie eagerly followed as they went to four more of the snares, another rabbit in one of them.
They walked further out until they came across a creek flowing through the woods. The human knelt down at the water and got to work dressing the rabbits. It bit down into the dead animals back, tore out a chunk of fur and skin and then reached into the hole with its fingers. She had to quickly turn away from the sight. If it had a knife she could have probably watched and learned but something about just tearing into it bare handed made her stomach lurch.
They made their way back to the campsite and the human set the now cleaned rabbits on the spit to cook. She took a closer look around the makeshift site as she waited.
Nothing here had been bought, it had all been made from materials found in the forest itself. It was also bare bones as could be. A monster would have at least fashioned a bed of straw or something in the lean to, though it was just bare dirt.
The lean to that was just the right size for the human in front of her...
"You're not out here with a monster, this is your campsite." She said to it. It looked at her with curious eyes, and motioned towards the spit. "What? No I didn't ask how to use the spit roast, I said this is your campsite." It blinked at her and went back to work turning the rabbits over. "Which means you're the one who's been feeding me." Susie realized. Sure it had given her the rabbit yesterday, but realizing it was sharing its own hunted down food, and not its owner's, simply felt altogether different to her. She plopped down on the ground next to the fire as she thought that over.
"Not sure if there's any point saying thanks to something that can't understand me." She said softly. "Still though, for what it's worth, thanks." She sat silently as the rabbits continued to cook, her mind working everything out.
The human was out here alone. It had made its own fire and shelter. It could make traps, cook, and apparently could also fish.
It was clothed and had a collar.
"Ah shit, you're lost out here aren't ya?" She asked. The human stared blankly at her as it continued to work the rabbits. "Guess I'll take ya with me when I head back to town. Can give your owner a call when we get there."
The rabbits were cooked and Susie ate hers quickly, chomping straight through the bone. The human was taking its time eating around them and laying them to the side. Susie stood when it was done and began to head towards town. "All right lil' dude, follow me." She patted her leg a few times, though the human made no move to go with her. "Come on, let's get ya home." It continued to stare at her and sat still where it was. She gave a quick whistle and patted her leg again. "Follow me."
No reaction.
"Fine, whatever." She walked towards it, intent on reading the tag again to reread the number on it. "I'll just give your owner a call when I get back." When she reached out for the tag the human suddenly backed away. "Easy, just gonna check your collar out for the number." She walked closer and the human again retreated further away. "Really, come on, just hold still!" She said impatiently.
She made a sudden lunge but it quickly sidestepped her and she hit the ground. She stood up, beating the dirt off her. "Fine! Stay out here for all I care!" She said as she kicked the dirt. "Best I've eaten in a while anyway." She grumbled as she left for town.
She swung by the convenience store on her way home to grab a snack and saw a sign taped next to the door.
Missing
human
male
red eyes
brown hair tan skin
Answers to Krismas
Please contact Carol Holiday
XXX-XXX-XXXX
25 12th street
5000g reward offered for any information leading to him being returned home
Susie nearly fainted. Five thousand?!? She was pretty damn sure that much money had never passed through her hands in her whole life, let alone all at once! She forgot all about her snack and made her way to the address listed on the poster, 12th street was clear across town but for that amount of money Susie would have walked to the next town over.
She recognized the house as she came up to it as the one that had been up for sale for years. She was pretty sure it had never been sold due to the sheer size of the place and the large asking price that was sure to have come with that. These monsters were loaded for sure. There was even a new fence put up around the place, 10 feet high vertical bars going around the yard.
How the hell did it climb over that? She walked over to the gate to see that it was open, but paused before walking in, eyes looking again at the sheer height of the fence.
What was she supposed to tell them? Hey it's out in the woods, trust me? No way they'd pay her for that. She wasn't taking any chances here. She'd go back tomorrow and just drag it back herself. She turned around and walked back home, still forgetting about getting anything to eat on the way.
The next day when she arrived at the site she didn't see the human anywhere. She checked the lean-to and saw its clothes neartly folded and placed into the corner. She looked through them, just the sweater and pants. The collar wasn't here. She stood up and gave a loud whistle.
"Krismas! You around here?" She yelled out.
She looked and saw that the fire was still going so it couldn't be far. Maybe checking traps? Or fishing? It had fish the first few days, it obviously knew some way of getting them. She tried remembering which way the creek was but drew a blank. She had just followed it around yesterday, she didn't pay much attention to which way they went.
She looked up at the tree and figured she'd get a snack as she waited. She grabbed hold of one of the lower branches, climbed up and grabbed a few. She was just about to bite down before remembering how good they were roasted. She noted the few sharpened sticks that were close to the fire and stabbed the apples and placed the sticks into the dirt, recreating the angle and distance best she could.
A few minutes later she heard something approaching and turned to find the human walking up. Its hair and skin appeared soaked, obviously having been in the water, though it didn't seem to have any fish with it.
Without the clothes she took note that it had a much scrawnier build than the sweater and oversized pants made it appear. Not an ounce of body fat to be seen. Judging by the little bit of lean muscle framing it's body she didn't necessarily think it was starved but it did make her wonder just how long it went before figuring out how to catch its own food.
It gave her a cautious glance before going to the other side of the fire, and kneeling down as close as it could to the heat to dry off.
"No luck fishing I guess?" She idly asked. "Damn, could have went for some." It began brushing its fingers quickly through its hair, shaking off more of the water. She'd just have to wait for it to lower its guard. She could grab it, and carry it back to its owner. It'd be back where it belonged and she could pocket quite a good bit of money. Win-win.
It began leaning its neck in towards the heat, moving the collar back and forth to dry it as well. Its hand was on the tag, surely just using it as a hold. When it was satisfied it was dry it walked over to the lean to and pulled its clothes back on.
Why did it even bother with clothes? Didn't monsters just put their pets in clothes cause they thought it was cute? Surely it was more comfortable out of them.
Though she supposed the sweater did look pretty soft. It was certainly in better condition than her own clothes. She inwardly scoffed. Whether it was with its rich ass owner or out in the damn woods it was better off than she was.
"Apples are ready." She said grabbing one and holding it out to it. It still kept its distance. "Come on. Nice roasted apple. I know you like em." She said as she waved it back and forth. It slowly walked towards her and took the skewer. It backed away and sat down to begin eating. She ate her own in just two bites. God damn it, why was she just now learning how good they were cooked? "I'll grab two more for us." She told it as she began making her way to the tree. She saw that the human was too busy eating to notice how close she had gotten as she began to pass it.
Now or never.
She quickly grabbed the human in a bear hug, wrapping completely around its arms. It dropped the apple in a panic and began struggling immediately, doing its best to kick its legs back towards her. "Easy boy, easy. Calm the hell down, you ain't getting away." Its struggling didn't let up in the slightest. It was much stronger than it looked, though Susie luckily had a clear size advantage. She'd just have to wait for it to tire itself out.
"Just calm down Krismas. I'm taking ya back home, I ain't stealing ya." The human still continued to fight back in her hold as she began making her way back to hometown. Her arm suddenly erupted in pain as it had been able to reach far enough to bite down. She damn near let go, but the reward money was more than worth the pain, and there was definitely no way she was getting close enough again to regrab it. It didn't seem able to bite through her scales so at least it wouldn't leave lasting damage. It would bruise at worst, if at all.
"Bite all ya damn want. I'm taking ya home dude." She continued walking towards town. The pain thankfully eased up and then-
"Let go of me!"
Susie's feet came to an abrupt halt and found herself frozen to the spot she stood.
What... The hell did she just hear?
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One of the most important events in ancient monster history was the domestication of humans. Being made of dust offered early monsters a natural defense against most animals as dust provides no sustenance to their purely biologically driven systems. Humans however, for reasons unknown, were ancient monsters' only known natural predators. It is believed this predation is what drove monsters to first domesticate ancient wolves, now modern dogs, as a means of defense. Domestication of humans is well thought to have begun somewhere between seven and nine thousand years ago, though some speculative evidence has shown that unique instances of human and monster working together may have taken place as far as twelve thousand years ago. Regardless, this event is what cemented Monsters as an unchallenged species in the world, and allowed for an expansive amount of growth in the millenia since.
Excerpt from A complete history and guide to the caretaking of humans: chapter one