What Lies Beneath
gonna schedule post my entire first completed fic (arc) so i can increase my reach (and will be copy-pasting this intro across all the posts)
firstly, the thanks
thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 on Reddit for making his story The Nature of Predators on both Reddit and Royal Road
thanks to Daniel Mullins for creating the game Inscryption
huge thanks to u/Gearing-Up (their Ao3) for their initial crossover fic A Card Game With Leshy, read on Reddit and Ao3
massive thanks to my ideas man and co-writer: RaphaelFrog (Reddit Twitter Instagram) without him i wouldn't have even gotten a single chapter done 💀
and lastly, big thanks to sisterlucifergraphics for making the divider used for these chapters!
as always, notes, summary, and body text are copied right from Ao3 which you can also read: Here without further ado, Chapter 4
CW: ripping a tooth out
The Messenger
Summary: After traversing the forest and gathering some beasts to her caravan, Ginsha finally encounters a wicked figure with creepy smile. His bent teeth, unkept beard and overall demeanor fill her with unease.
Memory Transcription Subject: Ginsha, Unwilling Challenger Date [Standardized Human Time]: October 20, 2136
As Leshy rolls out the map once again, his last words echo in my mind. What does he mean by that? If I make another mistake, then I’ll be sacrificed?
Shaking myself from my thoughts, I look back down at the map and see the end, which has another depiction of a human skull, although this time it has some kind of headwear with two tools crossed under it. The path directly ahead splits into two card choices, but after the first is another item sack, with the other having a sacrificial altar. Looking to my right, I don’t really see a need to get more items, since I still have two, so I move to the right to see what cards to pick from.
“The unkillable Cockroach. It returns to your hand after dying.” “The regal moose buck. Creatures of the wild make way for it.”
Before me is an insect that seemingly can’t die, or an… incredibly intimidating prey creature, with stats to back up its supposed stature. As I look at the cards, a thought strikes me; if I’m going to get out of here, I’m going to need Yaina’s help, and while I can figure out later a way to hold onto her card without Leshy knowing, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a way to get her back into me hand should I feel the need to play her. If that scream I heard was any indicator, they would actually feel pain, and as defective as it would be to say, I don’t want that for them.
Moving forward to the next space, Leshy places the sacrificial altar onto the table, and I can see Yaina trembling slightly as I choose the Cockroach to be sacrificed. As I reach over to Yaina to receive the sacrifice, I see them speak and tightly shut their eyes.
“Not this…”
Feeling an unfamiliar ache in my chest, I place their card to receive the sigil from the Cockroach, and just like that, the map comes back out and I reach the end. The tiles change to a dark green and the already dimly lit cabin suddenly becomes incredibly dark.
“The trees seemed to close in around you as a chill mist descended.” “In the distance you could hear the clinking of metal on stone.”
While Leshy was right about the sound of metal and stone, there was metallic grinding and a droning percussion as well.
“A hobbled figure stands in your path” “HEEEEEE-HAWW! ‘TIS THE PROSPECTOR.”
He had grabbed a mask from the darkness and held it over his face, wielding a pickaxe in the free hand. The mask had the appearance of a human, but with teeth bent terribly out of place and its facial fur looking as if it hadn’t been groomed in ages. Along with his cosmetic change, there was a skull on his side with two candles coming from the eye sockets. Do those have a similar meaning to mine?
Looking down at the board, there were two cards on Leshy’s side, a Pack Mule and a Coyote, with the mule looking incredibly thick for a card. I play my Squirrel and place the Bullfrog to block Leshy’s Coyote, and with a ring of the bell it goes down, leaving the Mule to move aside the frog, with an Adder coming down in front of it and taking it out. Drawing a new card I get Yaina, and a plan forms in my mind. I play the Cat to sacrifice for Yaina, who takes out the Adder and adds two points of damage to Leshy’s scale, but the Mule moves in their way, and a Bullfrog deals one damage right back to me. Looking at my hand I come up with a plan; I play a Sparrow in front of the Bullfrog, which should be able to take it out by next round, and also secure myself a win, as Yaina will clear the Mule, and the Cat will block the River Snapper coming in. hitting the bell, everything plays out exactly as planned, save for the four new cards I find in my hand.
“DAG NAB IT! MY MULE!”
Leshy- the Prospector- their sudden outburst nearly causes me to drop my cards in surprise. Looking at the new cards, I find myself looking at a River Otter, a Pronghorn, and another Cockroach. As Leshy’s turn plays out, I look over the board; my Sparrow will be free to attack next turn, but if I play my Stoat now I can get rid of the River Snapper to secure this even more. With a ring of the bell, the frog and snapper go down, and with Leshy seemingly out of cards, everything plays out and I see the scale tip entirely towards Leshy’s side.
“How brutal of you…” “You dealt more damage than you needed to win.” “However, in my game, such feats are rewarded…”
And with that, a few of the weights–no, not just weights, looking at them closer I can see that those are human teeth. With Leshy’s words, a few excess teeth are collected in a small bowl.
“I hope you didn’t think it would be that easy…”
With these words, Yaina seems to tremble, and a realization hits me as Leshy blows out one of his candles.
“Thar’s gold in them cards!”
With his pickaxe, he strikes down every single one of the cards on my side of the board, each one turning into gold nuggets.
“G-g-gold! I’ve struck gold!”
After this, he removes the cards from his side and prepares to place a single Bloodhound. Looking down into my hand, I see Yaina has returned, just as the Sigil allowed, and they seemed to be in quite some pain. Not seeing much to do, I simply draw another Squirrel and end my turn.
“Git ‘em.”
Leshy’s Bloodhound destroys the gold in front of it and another Adder is being readied. Looking down at my cards, I don’t see a way I can finish this fight quickly, until I see the items next to me. Reaching back for the rulebook, I look to see if the items are in there, and to my luck, they are; the fan will allow all cards to attack directly, while the pliers are more vague, something about the pain being temporary.
Having a plan in mind, I draw and play a squirrel to block the hound until the Adder frees up a space, after that I play my Wolf and an Opossum in the free spaces. With the cards in place, I use the fan to allow them to attack directly, and as I reach for the pliers I hesitate slightly. The weights on the scales are teeth, does that mean… Before I can stop myself, I reach over and grab the pliers.
What am I doing? You’re winning is what you’re doing.
I reach the tool up towards my jaw.
Is this really going to be worth it? Just do it, pull it now!
{ERR: Minor Transcription Error – Severe Pain Detected}
My ears are ringing, vision is blurred, and I feel a small weight in my hand as I hear a dull thud to my right. As my senses clear, I’m suddenly aware of two things: first being the excruciating pain coming from my mouth, the second being that I’m breathing heavily. Looking down in my hand, I see an Arxur tooth–not just any tooth, my tooth–and on the floor to my right are the pliers I used to rip it out.
Is this why they smelled of Farsul blood? Why their imitation of a human’s “smile” was obviously missing a tooth?
Composing myself, I pick my deck back up to see Yaina with a shocked expression as I drop my tooth onto the scale.
“A well earned point of damage.” “I didn’t think you would really do it.”
My tail lashes at Leshy’s remark, but I manage to suppress a growl. Before I hit the bell, I sneak Yaina’s card into the palm of my hand to maybe hold onto them between these battles. With the strikes from my Wolf and Opossum, Leshy blew out his candle and removed the skull, the atmosphere suddenly returning to normal.
“Allow me to light your candle once more. I won’t be killing you quite yet.”
The implications of his words aren’t lost on me as my second candle is relit, and all but one of my cards are whisked from my hand.
“As a reward for overcoming a boss, I grant you an opportunity to…”
There’s a moment of silence with Leshy seemingly looking around in his darkness for something.
“I appear to have misplaced my chest, please retrieve it from under the painting.”
After taking a moment to catch my breath, and attempt to ignore the lingering pain from my ripped out tooth, I get up from the table and notice said painting and a large box beneath it on a table. Going over, I crouch against the box, acting like I’m catching my breath again to check up on Yaina, but before I can speak, they do first.
“You… you really did it too.” “I’m assuming you did the same… am I wrong?” “…” “No, you’re not…”
Before our conversation can continue, however, a strange green ooze seeps in from a crack under the painting, and before I know it a pair of eyes and some kind of mouth appear from it.
"Aaargh… The pain… It still haunts me after all thouse years. Oh! You're finally here. Come here later or Leshy might start getting suspicious. I have Arghhhh… Important informations for you Challenger!”
My confusion keeps me from reacting to this talking ooze, but Yaina appears very startled by its sudden speaking, and for once I’m grateful that they’re in a card, otherwise this cover would be blown. Picking up the chest, I bring it over to the table before sitting down.
“Thank you.” “As a reward you are granted the opportunity to select a… rare card.”
Leshy then opens a box, revealing 3 cards with similar designs on them to Yaina’s card.
“Canine. Hooved. Reptilian. Feathered. Insectoid. The Amalgam is all.”
An abomination of a creature if I’ve ever seen it, and somewhat underwhelming if I’m being honest.
“The holy Mantis God. A perfect incarnation of Terror.”
A fragile card, although if its Sigil is anything to go by, it strikes three spaces instead of one, a tempting choice.
“The eternal serpent. Death strengthens it forever.”
A shockingly fragile card for its cost, but what does Leshy mean by that? Death strengthens it forever? It even has the same sigil the Cockroach does… Deciding to take a chance, I take this Ouroboros for my deck. Glancing down to my hand, I notice Yaina saying something.
“Red eyes…”
only after i had finished with this arc did i realize you don't get overkill damage when out damaging a boss's first phase
oh well /shrug
also please lmk if this should also be tagged with 'self harm'
reblogs very much appreciated! Tumblr thrives off rbs more than likes but likes are nice too! ^^
