#hyuld ep

[hyuld-story]

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Since the hunger in your belly has mostly subsided, you decide to explore your surroundings more. The pond is small enough that you can see most of it, so there's little left to find here. As you swim closer to where the edge of the pond meets the stream, you can feel strength in the current.

Lurking on the edge of the pond, you see a small- no, big fish? Its certainly a good bit bigger than you, why did you think it is small? Confused, you hover in place for a moment. The fish, regardless of size, seems pretty unaffected by the current. It easily keeps its place amidst the flow, facing upstream. The stream looks a lot like the pond, clear water, mud, rocks, and algae, as well as some leaves and grass dipping into it here and there.

Bam! The fish charges towards you with frightening speed. Moving with all the strength you can muster, you manage to narrowly avoid its sharp teeth. A bite would be fatal. You need to escape, barely have time to recover. It's about to charge again.

Every fiber of your being screams at you to run, to hide, but there's nowhere to hide. The pond is empty except for you and your enemy. The swift current of the stream will certainly sweep you away. But even if you don't know where it will take you, it seems better than certain death. With a flick of your tail, a choice is made.

You roll and fumble for a moment, unused to the speed with which the stream carries you. As the current puts the danger further and further behind you, so too goes the fear that had begun to overtake you.

All too soon, the peaceful trip comes to an end.

Not far ahead, the stream seems to pass though a bunch of debris. There are a number of long straight branches interlocking with each other, a grate? The ends of this "grate" are buried deep into the earthen banks of the stream. Above it, there seems to be a bunch of weirdly uniform rocks. One of them must have fallen, because it now lays against the grate and the bank, with a small space underneath. The grate itself is partially covered in piles of leaves, sticks, and mud. Beyond the grate, the water is black, like night. night? Anyway, you are pretty sure you wont be able to see in there.

Swimming upstream is truly not an option. And to make matters worse, the fish has appeared again. There isn't much time. Aided by the current, it's closing in. Swept up against the grate, you are left with two choices:

Swim through the grate

Swim under the rock

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Our first action scene!! How'd I do? Maybe don't answer that haha, I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it

I think I'm pleased, since this project is the first time I've really stretched my writing muscles in a while. For the past few months (or even years) most of what I wrote was just lore dumps and character profiles. Also It's been years since I wrote anything episodic. Anyway, sorry it's kinda late and I hope you enjoy!

What do we think about the four navigation options? This would mean five options if half episodes continue to not be considered the "next" episode. Half episodes being primarily art pieces and technically skippable.

[hyuld-story]

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Episode 1.5: This is (You)

The Cosmic Tadpole... First | List | Next

[hyuld-story]

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You decide to hunt the little bugs that are skittering about the water's edge. They are on the surface of the water, which is a dangerous place to be. How do you know that? No matter, you have a stomach? to fill.

You swim carefully and gently until you are below the l=the little creatures. They are a bit bigger than you thought, but you should be able to manage. It also means you need to eat fewer of them to be satisfied.

You shoot upwards in a sudden burst of speed. Your careful timing and aim lets you grab one with your mouth. They are faster than you thought. the bug is hard in your mouth, and still wriggling despite your bite. with another crunch, you crack its hard exterior. As shuffle it around your mouth, it breaks into pieces small enough to swallow.

Finish with this one, you swim towards where the others have gathered, but they flee amongst the plants dangling into the water. the plants get in your way, blocking your view and access to the bugs. For some reason, the slender brown leaves give you an uncomfortable feeling. it grows as you get closer. what is this? Fear? why? of what? some silly little leaves?! No way! You bump your nose into a green leaf. it flutters from the impact, and then settles back into the swaying with the slight current in the pond. Hah! see? just leaves.

you swim down again, trying to get into position to nab another bug. the brown leaves follow. slowly but surely, they begin to reach further into the water, all pointing in your direction. This gives you very, very bad feeling.

You dart hurriedly back to the open water away from the bank. A carnivorous plant, you think, though not sure what it means. Better to stay away from that section of the bank. For some reason, the bugs don't seem to pique the plant's interest. They have yet to leave its shelter, but you are mostly full anyway.

what next? (reply/comment!)

Eat some Algae

inspect other parts of the bank

inspect the entrance to the stream

try to eat a rock Prev | First | Next

[hyuld-story]

“Plop”

A small splash is heard.

You open your eyes, for the first time? You are in a shallow pond, worn into the mud and gravel by a stream that’s flow has now shifted. The pond water is mostly clear, with only a slight current running through it. Off to the left is the stream. You are floating just above the bottom of the pond, roughly in its center. The pond is a few feet wide, maybe a meter, and slightly greater in length. It was a good spot to land… ?

You are small. Mostly round, with a flexible oblong protrusion on your rear. A tail? You’re shaped like a tadpole? You can swim and see decently enough, that’s for sure.

The sunlight is warm, and the water cool. You can see trees and bushes beyond the waters edge, reaching high into the sky from your perspective. Their foliage is lush and green. The sky is mostly clear, and the sun neither high nor low. You have a sense that it is morning.

You’re hungry. There are small bugs on the surface by the edge of the pond. As well as some plants growing in the bank. Algae grows here and there amongst the rocks and mud that make the bed of the pond.

What will you do? (Comment!)

Hunt: bugs

Forage: plants

Forage: algae List | Ep1.5 | Next

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Hello! This is episode 1 of this currently untitled story. I’m not sure how much I’ll be working on this, but I had the idea for the start and wanted to put it out there.

This is a choose your own adventure style tale, where you choose an option and the next ep. Will be based off it! Future episodes will have proper polls, when I get some followers and have good response times. Until then I’ll just pick the first or most common comment!

I’m thinking future episodes will be longer, there wasn’t much to put here lol

[hyuld-story]

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Pushing off the grate with all your might, you launch yourself under the rock. The space is small, but you still have plenty of room.

The fish swims by. Once. Twice. It peers under the rock and snaps at you, but it cannot reach. Smack! It slams itself against the rock. It snaps again, this time at nothing. Frustration? Who cares, it can't get you. After circling again a few times, it swims away, back upstream.

Once your nerves finally settle, you realize the stress has left you quite tired. Not to mention hungry. You had been full enough before, but the excitement sapped you strength.

Luckily, there is algae growing along the grate. Not to mention the leaves stuck there. The rotting ones seem quite unappetizing, but there are some fresh ones that should be safe to munch on.

Once you've squirmed out from under the rock, you are once again pinned to the grate by the current. No matter, the greens are in reach. The algae; while not bad, is rather bland, so you decide to sample everything that looks edible. The round leaves all taste about the same, and similar to the algae, it's nothing special. The pointed leaf actually hurts your mouth, so you don't really taste it, and aren't trying the others that look like it. The greenish stick tastes a bit sour, and is too woody for you liking, especially with no teeth. Whatever, it doesn't have to taste amazing, just fill your belly and give you energy.

But for some reason, after stuffing yourself, you only feel more sleepy. well, you'll be safe under the rock, so getting some rest wont matter too much. In fact, it sounds quite nice, maybe, you'll even take… a quick nap. Just close your eyes… for a minute… then… and just like that, safe under the rock, you've fallen into a deep sleep.

Something is strange. You can hear… voices? the sound far off, distorted. Whatever they are saying, you can't understand. Perhaps you've forgotten? Suddenly, there is light. The bright blue sky stretches as far as you can see. Slowly but surely, the sun is covered by a strange shadow. why is that for so familiar? The sky turns dark, so dark the starts can be seen, as if its night. A bright light appears, chasing the shadow. then everything it green. is that grass? no, trees? why are they so small? or… why are they so big to you now? but they're getting bigger, and bigger! and then-

You wake with a start. It was a dream. looking out, its barely light enough to see clearly. based on the shadows, its morning again. Did you really sleep so long? And you're already hungry again. Famished, even. Oddly enough, getting out from under the rock is a lot harder than it was yesterday… You munch on leaves and algae until you feel full once more. It feels easier to swim away from the grate than the day before, perhaps you could:

Return to the pond

Swim up the first tributary

second tributary

third tributary

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You'll have to wait a few days for the map to come out in Ep4.5, from which you'll have a slightly better idea of where the tributaries may take you. Though of course you can only see things you've seen before.

505 words, almost perfectly hit my goal! Anyway, hope you enjoy!!

[hyuld-story]

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You wriggle among the leaves until you can slip through the grate. It's even darker than night, since the night has the stars and moons, whatever those are.

The current is weaker, but still carries you along. After swimming at a consistent depth for a moment, you bump into a rough to rock face. Weird. Swimming down a little further, you notice the current is strange.

The water swirls around you. What is this? It's like, it's almost like something big is swimming right next to you. But nothing that big could fit through the grate. Unless, it didn't come in that way?

Your trail of thought is broken by a sudden touch. Something is grabbing you! The pressure quickly turns to pain, your stomach and back are screaming. You wriggle with all your might, but the assailant only tightens its grip. Your vision sparks brightly, stars floating around, everything fades into red, and black. The pain too, begins to fade, like a distant memory, as you drift into nothingness.

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