Posting In AO3 Is Way Too Intimidating To Me Because It's Full Of Such Great Writing So. I'm Just Gonna.

Posting in AO3 is way too intimidating to me because it's full of such great writing so. I'm just gonna. Leave this here instead of there and run. First chapter of my Inscryption fic:

Lost little fawn

Another flying ant fell as they slammed their palm against it, killing the bug against a nearby tree. They wrinkled their nose and cleaned off the goo from the bug, feeling repulsed by it. “I hate this stupid forest.” They mumbled under their breath, fanning their hands to keep the bugs away. “Botopia didn’t have bugs.” They lamented, and with their next step, their hoove fell into a mud puddle. They groaned in annoyance, taking their hoove out of the wet dirt and shaking it to clean it off momentarily. Botopia didn’t have mud, either. But then again, they hardly belonged there anymore.

With a sigh, they continued walking through the rough path. Their bag felt heavier than ever as they carried it on their back, but leaving it was hardly an option. In a way, they wished that the bag had been heavier. It carried everything they had ever owned, after all.

Their ears perked up and moved at every tiny noise from the forest. A snap of a twig, ruffling of leaves, anything. They felt unsafe in the woodlands and would not let their guard down. Who knew what creature could leap out from the darkness and attack them? They were clumsy enough as is, with those bothersome new hooves and legs to get used to that still made them lose their balance occasionally, even after days of walking. The uneven terrain did not help at all. They didn’t need a beast chasing them on top of that. A grizzly, a wolf, hell, even a stoat could overpower them in that moment —stupid forest and stupid beasts and stupid everything.

They missed the factory. The loose dirt underneath their hooves was nothing like the cold metallic floor they were used to, just like the air filled with the smell of melted materials compared to the damp atmosphere they were in right now, scents of different beasts surrounding them and merging, making the task of figuring out what exactly lurked behind the shadows impossible. They missed the clanking of machines or clogs moving in unison, their ears finding patterns in those familiar sounds they never thought they would sicken for. Instead, now they were enveloped by random critters and cries, their head snapping every once in a while to an unexpected direction just to check they were still safe. Nothing followed a pattern in that disorganised hell. How did nature bloom in such chaos yet refuse to do so in the factory, where everything and everyone had its place? Nonsense. But then again, they weren’t complaining about that. Botopia was much better than those lands, full of disgusting lifeforms. Inferior and frail ones. Imperfect.

Yet, for as much as they missed their home, a subtle pain settled down in their chest. They stopped and looked down at their new legs. P03 had no sense of empathy or care for its people, that much they had realised too late. They scolded themselves yet again. Looking back, volunteering for P03 to test a new card mechanic had been stupid. More than stupid, idiotic. Ridiculous. Nonsensical. Mindless. And many other adjectives of the same meaning. Of course, it had seemed like a bright idea at the time. They were P03’s favourite, were they not? It had taken them in as one of its own robots, despite being fully human. And they had not disappointed. They had learnt from the scrybe of technology. Later on, it taught them, but they had to use other methods initially. Seeing parts of plans, overhearing conversations not meant for them, sneaking glances at code. And each time, they had returned to their beloved scrybe with a solution for its worries. A fixed version of the code P03 had tackled from the wrong angle. A list of vulnerabilities that could arise from the plans it made. P03 was at first angry at them for interfering, jealous even that they could spot things a robot as perfect as itself could not.

But those feelings soon faded, being replaced with pride as the scrybe realised they had no ill intent and only meant to help. To learn from it. P03 saw greatness in them. It told them if they worked hard enough, they could become the best apprentice in the factory. And they did. They worked hard, harder than any machine or living being. They offered to be P03’s lab rat, both when it came to trying out new game mechanics and strategies. So, of course, when the robot requested a volunteer to try out a new game mechanic, a sort of bonus that would let a robot turn every other turn into a beast… Well, they were the first and only ones to present themselves. To test the machine, P03 first had to ensure it worked on living beings, be they robots, humans, beasts, or, paradoxically, skeletons. Then, it would move on to test it on cards. They didn’t understand the process perfectly, but that’s why P03 was the scrybe, and they weren’t. They understood technology but not quite magic, let alone the mix of the two. P03 knew better. It wouldn’t endanger its most precious apprentice just because of a possible game mechanic, right?

Things did not go according to plan.

And now, here they were. In the middle of the woodlands, cold, tired, angry. Betrayed. They kept walking, the soft moaning of the wind caressing their ears, the sound of their hooves hitting the dirt echoing through the forest. Not long after, they finally reached it —the dreaded cabin in the woods. Property of Leshy, scrybe of the beasts. The only hope they had left.

They stared at the door, hesitating. P03 had refused to aid them after the machine malfunctioned, saying that the piece of machinery was a priority, along with the game mechanic. They had then travelled to the tower of mages and wizards, but Magnificus had apparently been too busy “training” his students to even look at their problem. Then they went to Grimora, and while the old lady had been far more affable than anyone else, she could not do anything to aid them, as her powers had little to no effect on the living. Alas, they found themselves before the door of the scrybe of the beasts. They had learned to hate Leshy and all he stood for. P03 had told them how ugly nature is, how imperfect it is. Yet P03 had turned its back on them, and Grimora had suggested visiting Leshy. They had nothing to lose, after all.

With a heavy heart, they knocked on the wooden door and waited.

Welp, there it is. The main character is my newest OC so I'm still getting used to writing them, but I think I like how it ended up. This would take place in a state of the game equivalent to act 2, not sure yet if I want it to be right before Leshy taking over or a different state of the game altogether. I have a rough general idea of where I want to take this, but for once Im enjoying writing as I go, so who knows where this could end up at. If you are still here, thank you for reading! <3

Posting In AO3 Is Way Too Intimidating To Me Because It's Full Of Such Great Writing So. I'm Just Gonna.

More Posts from Green-crow