Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim ownership on any fiction portrayed or mentioned in this fanfiction, including, but not limited to RWBY.
Chapter 1: Entry 1 - Introduction
I am going for a walk. Well, more like I was going for a walk. I did not know whether I noticed it before or after the dog sized scorpion. Honestly, for someone who considers himself a rather observant fellow, not noticing the fact that I am in a completely different forest with bigger trees, bigger plant life and apparently bigger fauna too is really embarrassing. Of course this wasn't what I thought at the moment. Not noticing the change in scenery can be attributed to the probably flowing change from one forest to another that occurred. Not noticing the dog sized scorpion barrelling toward me would have been decidedly deadly. Luckily I didn't.
Alright, this looks like the perfect moment for a recap. I, a random guy, managed to find the most vibrant part of the forest and subsequently got myself attacked by a hitherto unknown species of land lobster. Plus poison tail. Might be wise not to forget that bit. Logically I survived, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this and adding lots of… everything to make this at least somewhat readable. I assure you, it actually went along the lines of this: Me walk. Forest change. Me obvious. Me see scorpion. Me stop. Scorpion see me. Me turn. Me run. Me scream.
I turned, ran and screamed. Veni, vidi, vici my ass. Eat your heart out Caesar ´cause I won. Yes, I won. Not through an epic battle or with the help of an unknown power I just realised was sleeping inside of me ever since birth. No, my first stroke of panicking genius was climbing up a nearby tree. Dogs can't climb trees, so one could assume that the land lobster, being of similar size, won't also be. Sure, insects -sorry arachnids- are well known for reaching just about every surface, but my adrenaline addled brain somehow still concluded that physics would work against a bug -arachnid- of that size.
In his defence, my brain is usually more reliably than that, especially if on were to be aware of the fact, that bears bigger than the five star menu of doom climbed bigger trees in good old Siberia. I learned one thing from the internet and in my time of need it did not come to me. Let this be a lesson to everyone involved: You might learn sometimes something, but just like TV, its gonna drill holes into your brain. Now, if you didn't manage to deduce what happened by reading my snarky off tangent thoughts, let me enlighten you: The damn thing started climbing the damn tree.
Still, I did call it a stroke of luck for having the higher ground, didn't I? Now Lobster, as that abomination of nature is going to be referred to from now on, was obviously not made to climb trees. Not only was it difficult for him -assumed gender- to get his stubby little feet on the bark, resulting in the rather funny view of a giant scorpion bashing his head against a tree. Being stupid, yet not dumb, sadly meant that in the end Lobster figured out that going sideways helped in grasping the bark with his feet. However I nevertheless got a much needed reprieve, which I invested into gathering my thoughts and trying to find a way out of this.
Now, I ignored the giant scorpion trying to kill me, I ignored the extremely vibrant plants around me, noticing them only now. I also ignored my silent thoughts on how I did not recognized the surroundings nor did I give any attention towards the fact that these trees wore a thick canopy in spite of February being its usual self last I checked. Having taken note of all the things I ignored I finally returned my undivided attention to Lobster. Who has already figured out how to climb trees with eight legs and was slowly approaching. Racing thoughts don't always give results. You may consider this a warning. There are people, who can deal with sudden changes of their situation, however even they would be high pressed to sort out mine. At least that's what I keep telling myself. In all honesty, I am not proud to admit that I drew a blank while sitting in the tree. Thus I was doubtlessly relived when my second stroke of luck followed my first.
Remember the probably poisonous tail? I did. Lobster did too. Barely avoiding being stung, I huddled back as far as I dared on branches thinner than I would like them to be and kept constant watch of the stinger embedded in the bark before me. I kicked it. More of a stomp, really. Yet still one of the more or less thoughtless actions made by me today. The result of this one? The stinger got stuck in the wood. Having Lobster distracted by his ridiculous anatomy failing, I finally snapped out of my funk and with a final stomp on the stinger, that actually managed to at least break the outside chitin layer, I turned around, jumped of the tree and proceeded to finish my involuntary cardio run.
Sadly I didn't come far.
While my humble self is indeed capable of running an extended amount of time over uneven and partly difficult terrain, especially when under duress, I wasn't able to completely escape from my predator. Obviously, to claim that I simply tripped would be absolutely untrue to the correct happenstances, yet for lack of patience to write out the actual events and leaning writing paper I am forced to simply skip to the result of this peculiar episode that sent me airborne over the bushes. Having been propelled by Lobster smashing into my back, it could be counted as a small miracle that I only suffered some scratches and brushes.
Bravely I ignored the dust in my eyes and proceeded to roll, quiet involuntarily in fact, a small hill down. Somehow evading every single tree in my path I managed to make my escape even more humorous and cliché by landing in a small, but deep and fast, river. Luckily there was no waterfall. Nonetheless I was glad that I haven't mysteriously lost my aptitude for swimming. Keeping myself afloat on the water I let the current carry me away, all the while eyeing my surroundings in search for my adversary through panic filled eyes.
The water gave me a much needed break. It always helps me to calm down, no matter whether it is the ocean or a bathtub. Being carried away at a semi-constant speed and seeing no Killer-Bugs jumping out of the bushes dotting the shore helped in calming my heart. For the first time since my fateful meeting with Land Lobster I was able to honestly think about my situation. Considering resent events I came to the following conclusion: Something happened. Something that goes beyond me coming across an oversized scorpion.
Yet I couldn't connect the dots. My situation was way too bizarre to recognize any pattern, any similarity to other things. Being assaulted by Chinese finger food "Family Edition" came entirely out of the left field.
Putting thoughts of figuring this out aside, I concentrated on considering my next step.
Leaving the river would be a bad idea since Lobster might have friends and family.
Staying in the river would not be optimal either. While the river was indeed carrying me out of hostile territory, I do not know where I am being carried. Of course there are often settlements near flowing water ever since the middle ages, so I might get lucky and come across one before I suffer hypothermia by being wet too long.
Incidentally the choice was taken away from me after a few minutes by a beaver dam behind the next river curve, suitably super-sized to fit into my bigger than normal surroundings.
Since potentially meeting Lobster the Greater was not a potential but a clear "NO" I proceeded to climb the rather big dam in the hopes of continuing my long distance swim on the other side. Scrambling over piece after piece of logs and branches I barely managed to come halfway up before I collapsed in momentary exhaustion. It truly is a testament to the pure shock and adrenalin coursing through my veins, that I managed to come this far at all. Alas, my twinkling of peace had to be disturbed by a source most unwelcome.
Guess who?
That's right boys and girls and apache attack-helicopter, Land Lobster is in the house. Well, more like on the house, considering that he was directly above me on top of the beaver dam. Seeing as he graciously decided to announce his presence by…roaring?...screeching?...it sounded like a screech but it was way to deep to be even remotely considered one. Anyway, that sound was the last thing I heard before I hit the water. No way was I staying anywhere near that monster.
You might think that I landed in the water ready to swim away. This wasn't what happened. Instead the current brought my still underwater body underneath the beaver dam. It turned out, that the entrance to the beaver home was located exactly there. Still exhausted, I flailed in the water till I grabbed something I could use to heave me out. Only then, as I blankly stared at my dim surroundings did the penny drop and I realized that this must be the inside of the beaver dam.
The second thing I realized was the silence.
The dam was, as I surely already mentioned, big. The fact that some light came through the logs and at least provided a dim shine was already astonishing. Not to mention that I fitted through the entrance in the first place. However, the dam wasn't big enough to block out all of the sounds. If I listened carefully I could hear birds chirping and water rushing by. Not a peep from my newest stalker. Did it leave? Is it lying in wait for me to leave this safehouse? Can it swim? If not, is it trying to reach me trough the walls by pushing past the logs? No, I would hear it if it did.
I was scared. Scared of even moving a bit, lest I woke the beast my mind portrayed in every corner of the round wooden cave I am hidden in. Till now I acted reactionary. I didn't think much, I simply did. Even now as I write this down I struggle to remember details about this little unwilling adventure of mine. Of course there is one thing I do remember: Do not rest completely motionless in a semi-comfortable position if you don't want to fall asleep during your vigil.
Especially when there are monsters nearby.
A.N.: Location? Unknown. Time? Now isn't that the question... Any guesses?
By the way is the format alright? First time posting here. Any other suggestions?
