A Tale in the Caverns

An adaptation of Cave Story by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya

Author's Note: What's this? Another novelization of this game? Well, yes. But like my Undertale adaptation, I'm hoping I can bring enough of a spin on the story to keep things interesting. Here's hoping that works for me.

Before we begin, I should give credit where it's due. The cover image for this story was made by yours truly, while the sprites were obtained from the Spriter's Resource. They were ripped by Random Talking Bush from Cave Story , a game that I highly recommend if you haven't played it.

With all that out of the way, let's begin!

Chapter One: Awakening

From somewhere, a transmission…

"Somewhere" was the only good way to put it. The room was covered entirely with sheets of nondescript metal, with no windows and only a single door that didn't even open. No proper ventilation system seemed present either- in fact, the only reason the room's sole occupant hadn't suffocated in the time he'd been there was that a small crack in the wall allowed fresh air in. Considering the vault-like chamber's lack of food or water, that wasn't much comfort to him anyway.

Kazuma Sakamoto had been stuck in there for at least a whole day and a half, growing increasingly more frustrated with his predicament. He was miserably hungry, he hadn't been able to drink anything, and though he couldn't tell for sure he had a hunch that he smelled less than pleasant to say the least. His only solace was in the computer sitting on a desk in the middle of the room. It had plenty of power to work with as well as a fairly strong connection to the wireless network he'd set up with his peers. Using both of those to his advantage, Kazuma was desperately attempting to contact someone for help. One hand frantically rattled away at the keyboard while the other rustled through his short, dark green hair just to keep himself busy.

Connecting to network…

Logged on.

Starting IM chat.

"Sue? Are you there? It's me, Kazuma! I managed to escape without being noticed (at least I think I did), but I got lost along the way. Now I'm in some kind of shelter with nothing in it…"

That was partially a lie. There was one other thing besides the computer in the room with him: a large device consisting of two metallic cylinders with an opening glass tube connecting them and a control panel along the side. A teleporter. However, Kazuma couldn't rely on it- even if the thing was working properly, it would only bring him somewhere he had no desire to return to.

"Been in here for… I don't know, two days now? If you're reading this, please respond. Please?"


Elsewhere…

The air was still within the cavern. Not a single trace of movement could be detected, as if time had simply frozen without warning. There were no native creatures to be found, no drips of water falling from the cave's ceiling, nothing at all. It could easily have been written off as completely uninteresting were it not for the crumpled figure laying face-down on the floor. He was sprawled in a rather awkward position with his legs half curled inward and his arms bent and sticking out at odd angles. It wasn't comfortable, understandably.

Wait, how did he know that?

It took him a moment to realize that he was awake. Nothing appeared to have jolted him out of his slumber, and there was no sign of anyone else around. Consciousness had come surprisingly without fanfare to the mysterious individual, and for at least another minute he continued to just lay there in the dirt and rocks, processing everything up to that point.

Unfortunately, "everything" didn't consist of much. In fact, it consisted of nothing at all; he couldn't remember a thing about what had happened to him, where he was, or even who he was. The young man struggled with all his willpower to call back some kind of memory, but was met with disappointment once again. For all intents and purposes, it was as if he'd just appeared out of thin air.

Eventually he came to the conclusion that continuing to lay there on the floor wouldn't help much in the whole "figuring out who he was" business, and moved to climb to his feet. That was where he noticed a second problem: absolutely every part of his body felt unbearably stiff, and considering the sheer amount of dirt he was caked with he suspected he'd been unconscious in that spot for a VERY long time. With each attempt to move, his underused joints struggled and emitted what sounded worryingly like popping sounds. Although none of it caused him physical pain, he could feel his body resisting him every second that he tried to suddenly call it back into action.

Several minutes of awkward shuffling later, he'd somehow managed to pull himself up into a sitting position and cleared off some of the dirt covering him. The young man took the time to inspect his unfamiliar body while he tried to get the feeling back in his legs. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with bright red pants, at the bottom of which a sturdy pair of black boots could be seen. A soft green scarf was around his neck, tied in such a way to look more like a bandana. His arms- the only parts of his body he could currently see- were a stark white and felt oddly squishy but at the same time hid something hard underneath. Was that normal?

He noticed a small pond in the rocks nearby and dragged himself over to it, still unable to stand properly. A face just as pure white as his hands looked back at him from the reflection, with messy black hair and blue-gray eyes. Speaking of eyes, there were odd grooves running from them straight down to his chin, almost dividing his face into three sections. Placed where his ears should have been were a pair of strange-looking green receptors, with short antennae extending upwards.

Curiosity thus fulfilled, the young man stood up and turned to look for an exit. Three things immediately came to mind. One: despite being so stiff before that he could barely move, his legs had now permitted him to stand up without even feeling forced. He almost hadn't noticed given his heavy focus on trying to comprehend who or what he was. Two: there was an exit to that particular room of the cave just behind him. Three: a hat was sitting on the ground not far from where he'd been laying. It was also covered in dust, but he could see that it was just as red as his pants. Picking it up, he saw a rectangular silver imprint on the front of it with a single word written on it in neat handwriting.

"Quote."

Was this hat his? Was that his name? He supposed it was a start at least, and decided to take this first bit of information along with him. Sadly, seeing the word did nothing to further improve his lost memory. The young man- Quote- dusted off the cap and put it on his head. He was now a rather unsightly combination of colors, not that he knew it.

Double-checking to make sure there was nothing else of interest in that small cave, he proceeded to walk out through the exit he'd seen. All it led to, though, was a tunnel extending in two directions. One way forward was blocked by collapsed rocks too heavy for him to move, the other seemed to stretch down further into the dark cavern. Quote sighed and turned to begin trudging down the corridor. His quest to discover who he was had officially begun.