Author's Note: This fanfic is based on a forum adventure I'm currently involved in on the MSPA Forums website. It's written in the style of the Homestuck comic, but with only a single protagonist. All of the underlined commands were actually submitted by readers on the forums, so this is an "authentic" adventure experience. Hopefully the transition between adventure and fanfiction isn't too awkward. I apologize for the weird formatting of the commands, but for some reason the Doc Manager on this website won't let me use the little arrow that Hussie uses to signal "next page".
Anyway, here goes nothing!
You don't know who or even WHAT you are, but you're drowning. Ocean waves fold over your head as you are pulled under; dragged down by a weight tied to your left ankle. The water is murky, impenetrably grey, and you can't even see your own hands as they claw for the surface. You kick out, straining to get your head above the water to take a breath, and for a second it seems like you're about to make it. But then the weight -a metal ball-and-chain, maybe, or some kind of stone anchor - drags you under again. Panic bubbles up inside your chest as you realize that, if you don't do something to save yourself within the next minute or two, you're pretty much screwed.
What will you do?
==) Feel for how this weight is attached to you.
You lean forward and reach toward your legs, feeling around for the place where the weight is attached. There seems to be a rope connecting you to the weight, and you run your hands along its length until you feel the spot where it connects to your ankle. The water is pitch-black now. You're working by touch alone. Numb fingers fumble with the knot for a few seconds, but it refuses to come undone. By the feel of the thing, it's tied up like some kind of miniature noose. What the fuck. Who would even do that?
You're beginning to feel kind of dizzy, and you have sunk so far below the surface that you can barely even tell which way is up. If you don't get this thing off of you soon, you're not going to have the strength or mental capacity to do anything else, ever again.
==) Try to grab hold of the weight so you can take the tension off the rope and loosen the noose.
You lean forward even farther, feeling for the other end of the rope. No matter how hard you pull or how far you reach, you can't seem to get to the bottom of it. You're not even sure whether or not there's an actual weight attached to it. When you first found yourself here, you automatically assumed there was a weight, and your mind supplied the image of an anchor. Seriously, what else could be dragging you underwater by the ankle? But now you're not so sure. For all you know, the rope could be tied to some kind of coral reef on the ocean floor.
You're REALLY freaked out now. This is like something out of a nightmare! You're practically upside-down now, doubled over and clawing at the endless braided fibers. Even though everything around you is completely dark, tiny golden stars flash at the edge of your vision. Just as you think you're going to pass out, a tiny bit of your memory comes back to you. You remember that you always carry a dagger hidden in a holster up your sleeve.
==) Cut that rope with all speed then kick as hard as you can until you break the surface.
Reaching into your sleeve, you feel the familiar smoothness of cold metal. Yes! You still have a chance of getting out of this alive. With the dagger in your hand, you begin sawing at the rope. It's thick; resisting your advances for a few seconds, but you grit your teeth and carry on. After a few seconds, with a strength born of absolute desperation, you manage to cut all the way through it.
You kick against the water as hard as you can. Instantly you're rising, shooting up through the murky water like a cork popping out of a bottle. But all this fumbling with the rope has taken far too long, and you've sunk much too far. The yellow sparkles are dancing all over the darkness now, painfully bright. Every cell in your body is crying out for oxygen, and you have an almost irresistible urge to just open your mouth and breathe in a lungful of water. You clasp a hand over your mouth to stop yourself, but you just can't help it. You gasp through the cracks between your fingers, but instead of relief there's just a flood of salty water rushing down your throat. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck, you think, and it's very nearly your last thought, ever. But just then, you finally breach the surface of the water.
Your eyes fly open, expecting to look out at the ocean you nearly drowned in. But instead, you see the inside of the room that has been surrounding you the whole time. You've only been dreaming. Welcome back to the world.