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 3
Too Fast. Too Soon.
Summary: Our new challenger is given the chance to learn Bones, and is able to speak with the previous Champion. Despite their differences, it's gonna take their cooperation to escape this game of life and death, will they survive?
Memory Transcription Subject: Ginsha, Unwilling Challenger Date [Standardized Human Time]: October 20, 2136
“Perhaps you can understand Bones.”
Suddenly, one of the cards in my hand floats up in front of me, and I notice that instead of having blood droplets, its price is displayed as bone icons.
“The resourceful opossum costs two bones.”
Looking at his side of the board, I see he placed down a Bat again, and it seems luck is on my side this time once again as I place a squirrel, and then sacrifice it to place a Bullfrog in front of it. As I sacrifice the squirrel, I notice a small token appears to my left.
“From the death of your creature you’ve gained a Bone.” “You will not lose this until it is spent… or the battle ends.”
I press the bell to end my turn, and my Bullfrog easily defeats Leshy’s Bat; he then places an Elk Fawn to oppose my frog, which deals it one damage before it moves away to another tile. Reaching to my deck, I draw another card and notice that it’s the same card of a Farsul, but this time I notice something new. Instead of its face imitating one of the human snarls, instead it appeared with a frightened expression, but stranger than that the image was moving, seeming as if it were exhausted. What caught my interest next was the name on the card, it no longer said “Yaina” in that space, instead new words kept appearing on the card, as if it were speaking.
“If.. I’m trapped in one of Leshy’s cards..” “Does that mean that.. All of those animals I sacrificed…”
Its eyes then look towards me, only for it to appear to scream, and although no sound could be heard, the terror in their expression was louder than even the most fear-driven shriek.
“A-Arxur! Get- get away from me!”
In an attempt to not draw attention from Leshy, I draw a squirrel and–while I sacrifice it in order to place my Stoat to get rid of Leshy’s Elk–I speak lowly to try and calm down the Farsul.
“Calm yourself, I’m just about as trapped in this game as you are.”
My words seem to reach them, as they appear to stop panicking, yet still seem very distressed. I decided to split my focus between the game and talking with the Farsul.
“I just want to go home…” “Being stuck in this cabin isn’t the best, I’ll agree with you there. I just came out here on some kind of rescue mission.” “..Rescue? Is that your idea of a sick joke?” “Wasn’t my idea, wasn’t even my Chief Hunter’s idea, the humans got him to do this.” “The humans.. They… they did what?”
Before I could respond, the encounter had ended and the cards in my hand were whisked away by whatever kind of sorcery Leshy seems to have. The next space on the map was another card choice, and just like the last one, two cards were placed in front of me.
“The meek Sparrow. An inexpensive, if feeble, flying creature.” “The thieving Raccoon! It gathers the bones of my creatures for you.”
I recognize the symbol on the Sparrow card, it would be able to attack over most cards, such a power would be incredibly useful moving forward. Taking that card in hand, the map rolls out, and I move to the next space, after which Leshy places down some strange, carved stones on the table, with card-sized tiles on them. Along with the stones, there was the faint scent of blood in the air surrounding them.
“You stumbled into some strange stones in the mist.” “You were compelled to choose a worthy sacrifice. One that will be lost forever…”
Suddenly, all of my cards are laid out between me, with the Farsul looking around before seemingly recognizing this area. Before their face changes to one of fear
“Please.. Not this place…”
I look down at them, tilting my head slightly. They look up at me, before speaking again.
“This… ritual, it puts the Sigil from one card onto another.”
With their advice in mind, I look over my cards and identify a good upgrade. I lay my Adder onto the bloodied stone, and place my Stoat on the other. The Adder card disappeared, and on the Stoat was now a blue patch with the same skull-and-crossbones the Adder had on it. Looking at the next space on the map, it seemed similar to the skull spaces, albeit slightly different. When the tiles appeared, Leshy placed some form of Totem on his side of the table.
“Behold my totem. It inscribes my Canines with the Airborne sigil.”
On his side was a Coyote, and just like he said it had the same sigil as the flying creatures, it was even floating slightly like they did as well. Before I could move, I noticed a new row of tiles illuminated on his side, these having arrows pointing towards my direction.
“You may now see my moves ahead of time.”
Huh, helpful. Looking at his next move, it seems he plans to also play a Bat card on an empty space. In my hand was the Stoat, Bullfrog, and Yaina. I place my Bullfrog in the Coyote’s path and ring the bell before turning my attention to Yaina.
“Leshy keeps calling you ‘the champion’, what’s that about?” “…” “I.. I found the cabin after I crashed, and played Leshy’s game.” “But… despite succeeding, and defeating it.. I find myself back here.” “So… is there no way to get out of this?” “I don’t know…” “Whether you like it or not, if we want out then we’re going to have to work together.” “…How can I trust you? I trusted that winning this sick game would let me out.” “Neither of us are in a position to lie to each other, not with… whatever sorcery Leshy has.” “…”
Their expression seemed contemplative, and once again before our conversation could continue, my Bullfrog and deadly Stoat had won the battle, resulting in the map being rolled out once more. Up ahead was another card choice, where I got a Cat, which Leshy says won’t die when sacrificed, which sounds very useful. The path ahead splits into two, the right path leading to another one of those sacrificial altars, the other leading to some kind of fire. Deciding that there’s no use in transferring another Sigil, I move to the fire. What appeared before me was a group of humans in rags and skins wielding primitive weaponry.
“You came across a small group of survivors.” “Faces shrunken from starvation, they huddled around a campfire.” “They looked upon your group of creatures and beckoned.” “ ‘Come, warm one of your creatures by the fire.’ One said…” “ ‘Warm it by the fire. That will enhance its power.’ Said another.” “You noticed one of the survivors wiping drool from their mouth.”
Well, these humans definitely can’t be trusted. But the prospect of making one of my cards stronger is definitely an enticing one. Looking over my cards, I once again see Yaina appearing terrified, their eyes squeezed shut.
“Please… No…”
Looking closer, I can’t help but notice that the Sigil on their card looks unfamiliar. Seemingly noticing my confusion, Leshy gestures behind me to my left, where a large book sits.
“Behold. The Rule Book.”
Looking inside of it, I flipped through until I came across that sigil, taking note of how several pages seem ruined. After a moment, I find the same sigil, Double Strike, “A card bearing this Sigil will strike an opposing space an extra time when attacking.” With such a sigil… I could make Yaina into a much more powerful card. Putting the book back, I whisper an apology to them as I place them near the fire.
“Ngh…” “The fire warmed the Champion, enhancing their power.” “One of the survivors reached towards them.”
My breathing hitched, did I make the wrong choice?
“Another gnashed their teeth.”
Please don’t let this happen.
“Without a word, you pulled the Champion away from the fire and left.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, before trying to rid that defective fear from myself that the earlier thoughts had. Up next was another battle, and Leshy’s side had an intimidating looking beast, almost reminiscent of a Zurulian, albeit much more ferocious, and its stats were a bit intimidating as well. However, I got lucky in my first draw, so I placed my Stoat to block it and the Cat safely in an empty space. My Stoat takes out the Grizzly, although another one I hadn’t noticed before moves into position and takes out my Cat. Looking over the cards in my hand, I formulate a plan. Taking the bottled squirrel card, I smash it against the leg of the table and place down the squirrel before sacrificing it and placing Yaina down and then hit the bell. If I’m right, then the total damage should be en—
{ERR: Minor Data Corruption – Recovering Data. . .}
“Too fast. Too soon.”
What… just happened? Where did all of these Grizzlies come from?
“No, please no…”
Leshy’s turn comes and it’s not even close, whatever happened just rigged him to win, and I wince as I witness Yaina’s card disappear.
“You’ve lost.”
The straightforwardness of his words send a chill through my body. What’s going to happen to me now? If winning gets you recycled into just another card, what happens to losers?
“Using this as a learning opportunity may be the only way to mitigate my disappointment…” “Get up from the table.”
My body seems to move on its own, pushing away from the table and standing up.
“Fetch me the Candlestick from atop the barrel besides the door.”
As I walk over to the door, I can feel my senses returning. There wasn’t even a barrel there when I first got here. Reaching the door, I reach over and grab the candlestick.
“Bring it here.”
I walk back over to the table, setting the candle down on Leshy’s side before going and taking my seat again.
“Let me explain something to you.”
He blows out one of the candles, the heat at the table dropping by a minimal amount.
“That was one of two mistakes you can make here.” “If you make another, I must sacrifice you.”
My heart skips a beat at those words, what in the Prophet's name could he mean by that?
“Now, where were we…”
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